Are you using Internet Explorer 6 or 7? Are you seeing strange grey borders around Flash, Quicktime or Java? Well, you're not the only one... Thank god for software patents! Microsoft's update to Internet Explorer now has issues with embedding media such as Flash or Quicktime. Eolas has managed to succesfully sue Microsoft over the use of embedded media into hypertext which means that as of April 13th a patch has been distributed that changes IE's handling of embedded media. The issue wasn't particularily well handled, with many developers being left in the dark. To my knowledge some IE users have been seeing grey borders around embedded SWFs for a few months now without really being told what was going on. Thankfully, using Javascript to embed things like Flash (our favoured method) fixes the issue. Scripts like FlashObjects are far more versatile and reliable than the embed tag anyway, so maybe this isn't a bad thing after all. Now if only we didn't have to go back and update all these old sites...

The New York Times has a great piece on Parallels, a MacOSX application that will allow you to run Windows and Mac OS at the same time. I don't particularily need one more reason to absolutely adore the Mac Mini we just purchased but I gladly welcome it. While I haven't quite switched, I'm definetly more system-agnostic then I was before and being able to drag-and-drop between OSes will surely cement my current state of mind. The question is does it work? Can a $50 piece of software really be the holy grail of computing? Apparently so...

Parallels is very fast — perhaps 95 percent as fast as Boot Camp. (It's definitely not a software-based emulator like Microsoft's old, dog-slow Virtual PC program.) It's even fast enough for video games, although not the 3-D variety; for now, those are still better played in Boot Camp.

I wish I had time to actually try it out and am itching with anticipation. Could this be it? Could this mean that we can have single machine that does just about anything? My MacMini is faster than my current PC, it's quiet, and people go 'oooh' and 'aaah' when they see it. I've succumbed to it's irresistible charm. It's like a kitten that can burn DVDs.

It's easy to simply skim a million people, walk past them in a busy street, to drive by your store. Virals mostly skim people, they offer a quick glance at your brand. But virals needs to actively involve their audiences to truly be effective. It's the same recipe used in succesful video games, involve your audience, make him/her feel ridiculous, powerful, whatever. The appeal is universal: build a city with your name, try to beat the highscore... Make a mark.

Whether you simply provide a name/highscore/challenge system or allow me to upload videos, I will be far more attached to the experience (and more likely to pass it along) if I have left some mark on it, it's not just a random video. I'm more inclined to pass it along if I can say "Hey, I got 3240 points, try to beat it loser!" or "Check me out dancing like a monkey!" or in PlaydoJam's case "Hey, I just waved my arms in the air looking ridiculous. I netted four can you beat it? Look out for my picture on the scoreboard!"

What can only be described as a webcam-assised assist game is also quite possibly the first viral to make you break a sweat. Sure, some would argue that reliance on Director and webcams impedes its reach somewhat but the the overall experience is worth it (although I expect they could have done something very similar in Flash 8). It's better to touch 20% of people than skim 100%.