Here’s what I did to get MAMP Pro working so I could test the HTTPS pages of the site I’m working on.

1) Follow these instructions from Rocket Theme to the letter.  I didn’t need to deal with any of the “Possible Issues” section.
2) Go into “/Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/ssl.conf” and add a new vhost within the <IfDefine> blocks at the end of the page.  This vhost will mirror the settings of the vhost you would have already setup in MAMP:

<VirtualHost test.dev:443>
DocumentRoot "/Path/to/document/root"
ServerName test.dev
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/ssl_crt/server.crt
SSLCertificateKeyFile /Applications/MAMP/conf/apache/ssl_key/server.key
<Directory "/Path/to/document/root">
Options All
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>

3) That’s really it.  Restart MAMP and you’re good to go.

Thanks Greg Patterson of ground(ctrl) for putting this together.  Game time in a couple hours!

Update:

BKWLD Wins!  It was a great day and a close game.  Ground(ctrl) led with an early lead that they kept through most of the innings but BKWLD gradually wore away at it, eking out a victory in the last inning thanks to Shelby.

Central Park

Yummy Dinners

Racking up loads of frequent flyer miles for personal use…..

All sweet  perks of tireless travel, however the insights gained and personal bonds created with my clients far out way the value of my deep and diverse Gowalla passport!

Over the past three years BKWLD has cultivated a fairly rich stable of retail clients; challenger brands that need to create a one on one relationship with consumers through a truly “branded” web experience in order to grow market share and earn relevance in saturated vertical categories.  A brand website, not to be confused with a B2C e-store (even though they can work in cohesion) in the one chance brands have to, truly tell a story especially when we are dealing with minimal media dollars  limited to aspirational life-style shots and cheesy headlines for half page ad in the typical industry pubs. To truly look  and the DNA of the brand, the common thread of products sold and the motivation of the consumers purchase decision is a healthy and sometimes eye-opening exercise I enjoy conducting at our now custom and mandatory brand discovery kick-off meetings.

So now myself, the assigned CD, PM and often times CEO Ryan Vanni (he picks great restaurants) all shlep out to: Boulder or Carlsbad or MorrisTown New Jersey to meet with our new clients and learn everything there is now know about these brands and why people actually pay full retail for the stuff they sell.  We start out asking what we think are pretty simple questions: Who is your target,what does your brand stand for, what other brands do they wish to emulate etc. Often to blank stares and confused looks around the table!  Not only is this shocking but exciting as we begin to peel back the layers of what really makes these brands special.  This exercise had lead to some of our best work and would have never happened had we not got off our ass, and pushed these brands to think a little.

Currently we are “getting personal”  with Gregory packs on some product launch strategies, Smartwool on a new brand site, and Chobani Greek yogurt on a new social media platform, that being said my next three weeks are booked with face to face meetings that will lead to  some new Discovery Gold!

My Two Favs:

Gravis http://www.gravisfootwear.com/
Status Quo: T&A, Tats and killer tubs.
Discovery:  Gravis is smart, stylish and interesting to people who just like to be rad.
Results: an award winning brand site that makes the killer product the star, not the killer backside 720 the sponsored athlete can boost.

Red Ledge: http://www.redledge.com/
Outdoor Industry: Beards, Fleece, and snoot bubbles as we climb K2
Discovery: Red Ledge is real, honest, functional and funny as hell!
Results: a site the pokes fun of the industry and speaks to the real consumer, and a tagline that says it all: “Functional, Affordable Clothing – For Those Who Exist in Reality.”

Flash has a strong reputation for creating visually stunning websites, and rightfully so. Just head over to The FWA to see some of the best flash-based websites ever designed. As good as flash is at delivering rich media to the web, there are some serious downsides to consider.

One of the largest drawbacks to flash content is it’s relative invisibility to search engines and accessibility programs. The criticism is true when talking about Flash as a closed platform. The code written is compiled into a SWF, and then embedded online. This makes searching an indexing flash content extremely difficult for most search engines. Accessing Flash content is also a problem for screen readers and other accessibility programs.

These issues, combined with the popularity of the Apple devices, create a lot of hesitancy for companies to fully embrace Flash content in their projects and sirs. I’m going to talk about a few key principals that will help Flash gain visibility and accessibility across multiple platforms, and at the same time make Flash content easier to update and maintain.

Does it need to be Flash?

The first step, of course, is to figure out what content needs to be in Flash, and what does not. There’s no point to constructing a site using flash if the same design can be achieved using more open, standards-compliant code. Once the decisions have been made as to what content will be built in Flash, than it’s time to start thinking along the same lines as proponents of web standards.

Use the Principals of Web Standards

The primary rule in web development today is the separation of content from presentation. The same principal can be applied to Flash projects. Separating the content from the design means updating and maintaining the Flash site will be much easier if the code doesn’t need to be recompiled and edited every time a change needs to be made. Making things like the navigation, links, and photos flexible and external are all great steps to create clean, smart, and flexible projects.

Smart Degradation

If the Flash content and design are properly separated, than re-purposing the content is extremely easy. If the content is in XML format, it can be applied to an XML site-map which will help search engines index the site’s content much easier. In addition, there are browser and platform detection scripts which could allow you to display the XML content in regular HTML format if the browser or device isn’t compatible with Flash. (iPad anyone?) You can also detect older browsers and Flash players. Content can then be delivered in the most efficient way possible to all users.

For example, head over to the BKWLD site on an iPad or iPhone, and you will see that the features on the homepage are still visible and interactive. This helps serve the most people possible the site’s content, no matter what environment they are using to visit the site.

Hybrids

There is also the option of creating hybrid sites, which are very popular because they combine flash elements with standard HTML markup. This allows the user to have a rich experience, as well as giving search engines easy access to the site’s content. Making use of flashvars and XML/JSON add to the flexibility of the site by allowing Flash to communicate directly with the rest of the site.

SWFObject & Deep Linking

Making use of programs like SWFAddress and SWFObject allow the Flash content to be more transparent and visible to search engines. SWFAddress will create a specific URL for each page in a full-browser Flash experience. Knowing what section the user is on, and showing that section in the browser’s address bar allow search engines to look at specific pages, and create extremely accurate analytical reports.

SWFObject is a way to create valid code though the W3C Validation tools. Also, SWFObject has the ability to replace Flash content with a static image, which maintains the visual design if the user doesn’t have flash enabled.

Conclusion

It’s ultimately about choosing the right tool for the right project. Flash has many advantages, which need to be carefully weighed against the areas in which Flash falls short. The ideas described here can certainly help Flash communicate better with browsers, search engines, analytical tools, and accessibility programs.