The Prototype Library just hit RC3 for the 1.5.1 release more details available from the Ajaxian Blog.

Dustin Diaz has an excellent article detailing seven JavaScript techniques you should be using. I’ve had a quick scan through and I’m defenitely going to be consuming this one in more depth. Covering handy tips within the text like what the !! does, it’s chock full of great stuff.

You still reading this! get over there right now and read up!!!!! :0)

A friend of mine has been posting up some JavaScript entries on his blog recently and I highly recommend a visit. We are currently evaluating Ext JS library at work and a couple of us are brushing up our JavaScript. This post on ThinkSharp has some great info in it. He’s updating that post regularly with new additions so keep checking back to see if there’s something you didn’t know before.

pkware are giving away free personal licenses of their SecureZip application. No catch either.
SecureZip allows you to secure messages and attachments in Outlook protecting your files being stored or transfered.
You need to visit their site and input your email address to get a message with your download link but it’s a free license and not trialware. Cool!

A List Apart has a web survey up which they are using to get a picture of the web development industry. In their own words:

The information youve so generously shared with A List Apart will help us form a picture of the ways web design is practiced around the globe. We hope that making this data available will have a positive effect on best practices and employment, and will enhance public understanding of, and respect for, our profession.

I think it’s a great idea, there is a chance you might get a prize if you submit your name and email at the end of the survey. Either way its a great idea and will be interesting to see the shape of the web design industry today. So if you are involved in web development on any scale, fill out the survey and lets see what the results come out like.

Click the image below to be taken to the list apart survey

Weired Alsings American Pie… sort of ;0)
Star Wars fans prepare to chuckle :0)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gi4Nt_xxg]

and a Weired al tribute to Yoda :0)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuGOL4x3SH4]

Rico is about to get it’s first major update for a while now. As this post on Ajaxian details, there are a few changes that should keep Rico relevant and a solid choice of Library for Ajax development.

Microsoft have released the official Beta 1 of the next version of Visual Studio (codename Orcas). As usual the MSDN site has a ton of information and the download links. Channel 9 also have a video with Soma discussing Orcas and related stuff.

I’m looking forward to Orcas, I think it’s going to be the best .Net IDE they have produced yet. Whether it will be less buggy than 2003 and 2005 both were is yet to be seen but having Javascript and CSS intellisense will no doubt please many people. I especially like that they have added the capability to use the /// method of commenting like in C# to JavaScript allowing developers to add intellisense to their own JavaScript Libraries.

The Web Development UI has had a decent polish too making it far more useable.

Scott Guthrie has also posted on new features including Lambda Expressions and Query Syntax

The MSDN Downloads give you the option of an iso though that option appears to be available for MSDN subscribers only at the moment but you can get a VPC image in the same way the CTP images were released which is a better option as you’ll not screw up your machine with beta software ;0)

WPF/E has been officially named by microsoft. The new name? Silverlight.
Tim Sneath has an anouncement on his blog that details what Silverlight is.

Learn to Light up the web with Silverlight visit the official Silverlight website.

I just found this great blog entry on Ajaxian that highlights a superb piece of JavaScript that will enable you to include Shortcut keys in your web applications. This is great news as it will improve accessibility and make for richer interfaces. I haven’t yet managed to find details of licensing but it looks good and I suspect it’s opensource.

The Ajaxian Blog has a bit more detail or you can hop straight over to OpenJS and see the detail in full.