John Nack has posted a note to let us know that Adobe has posted Beta 2 of the upcoming Flash Player 10 to Adobe Labs. An Adobe engineer pointing out that on Mac OS X this new build runs the GUIMark test suite some 3x faster than previous versions. That's VERY welcome news given that Flash has always been a thorn in Mac-user's side no matter which browser you use or how fast your connection is.

In a somewhat crowded market, yet another visual CSS editor has been released that's certainly worth checking out.

Flux is a visual CSS editor that uses Javascript to add some flair to your designs. Flux allows you to drag & drop elements onto your page, move them around and watch your CSS files get updated.

Flux retails for $69, and a demo is available from The Escapers Web site.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a good way to specify the styles of fonts and other page elements on your sites. It makes it easier for you to update styles too, because when done right, you only need to make a single change to update the styles on multiple pages and elements.

To help you work with CSS, Hostm.com has created a free tool called Simple CSS, which runs on Macs, Windows and Linux. Simple CSS allows you to easily create Cascading Style Sheets from scratch, and/or modify existing ones, using a familiar point-and-click interface.

Users of Apple's Safari Web browser may be used to the ability to view PDFs natively right in the browser window, but until now Firefox users have been mostly left out in the cold.

Quartz PDF Plugin is a new add-on for Firefox 3 which brings the same capability as Safari. It worked perfectly in my tests. The plugin requires Firefox 3 running on OSX 10.4 or higher.

Sounds like a good deal, right? All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours - it’s that easy.

The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008. Join our community and this effort by pledging today.

For more information, check out the Download Day Web page. So far, over 1.3 million people have "pledged" to download Firefox 3. I suspect that the actual number of downloads will be higher though.

Once you download Firefox 3, be sure to check out some of the great extensions mentioned in my earlier post about great add-ons for Firefox.

Father's Day is tomorrow, which means tomorrow is the last chance to take advantage of the XtraLean Software Annual Father's Day Sale.

I wrote about this earlier this week, but just in case you didn't see it, here's the scoop:

Use the coupon code MACDAD08 when you purchase Shutterbug for $29.95 ($10 off the regular price) at the XtraLean store and you'll receive a serial number for both Shutterbug and ImageWell. For more info, read my original article.

WebDesignerWall has put together an extensive list of Web site design trends for 2008 to inspire your next Web design project. These sites which include vintage & retro, hand written note, grunge & splatter, watercolor, and large font styles, are all superbly designed and make heavy use of CSS, color and imagery.

In honor of Father's Day, XtraLean Software is offering a special deal for Mac enthusiasts. Buy Shutterbug at the discounted rate of $29.95 (normally $39.95) and receive ImageWell (normally $19.95) absolutely FREE!

Just use the coupon code MACDAD08 when you make your purchase before June 15th through the XtraLean Father's Day store.

With Firefox 3 in the final stages of beta, I've been looking at what extensions I use and whether or not I wish to continue using them. Since most extensions don't work in the beta version of Firefox without the use of Nightly Tester Tools, I've been living without most of them for a while.

Below is a list of extensions I consider must-have. All the extensions I've listed either work already with Firefox 3rc1, or work with Nightly Tester Tools forcing them to work.

For bloggers and designers who've spent many hours writing copy for a Web site, one of the most annoying things that can happen is to have somebody copy and paste their work word-for-word and paste it on their own site - many times with not so much as a credit link. You own the copyright, but who has time to scour the Internet for content thieves? Copyscape has the answer.

If you're a Web designer, you really should have WebDesignerWall bookmarked in your browser or RSS reader, it's a great resource.

Recently, they posted a rather lengthy SEO guide for designers to consider when working on their next project.

The article covers topics such as how search engines work, top SEO mistakes you can make (and probably have), general Do's and Dont's, and resources to further your SEO education.

That's a question I see a lot in Web forums all over the place. People constantly asking if XYZ site is down for everyone, or just them. As a Webmaster, seeing an error message when trying to load your site strikes fear and anxiety into your heart.

Thankfully, DownForEveryoneOrJustMe has the solution to put your heart at ease — or at least tell you that you've got a problem to deal with.

You simply type the Web address you wish to check into the entry box:

Then it'll tell you if the site is truly down or not:

I've used this a few times over the last few months and found it very handy.

I came across CSS-Tricks a while back while searching for effective ways to deter image/bandwidth theft (hotlinking) for a client. Not only did I find what I was looking for (method #2, if you're interested), but saw the site as a great CSS resource for designers and coders in general. Check it out.

Package design is a highly specialized and difficult niche to master. Thinking in 3D is hard enough, but pulling it off is even more difficult. If you're looking for a little inspiration, check out DZineBlog's Package Design Inspiration article.

If you work for a large publication, or even a large design firm, you may be familiar with Adobe InCopy as part of your InDesign workflow. If that is the case, you've probably noticed the lack of coverage in the mainstream blogs & sites around the Web.

Thankfully, the publishers of InDesignSecrets have launched a new site called InCopySecrets and it's loaded with tips, tricks, tutorials and more for users of Adobe InCopy. There's also a few general InDesign tips tossed in there, so it's worth checking out even if you don't use InCopy.