This will be short, as I'm still exploring, but I just wanted to report a few things I've noticed in the whole 15 minutes since I installed the new OS X operating system on my MacBook Pro (Keep in mind I never tried a beta version, so this is all new to me):

1. jEdit actually looks really nice in Leopard! Apparently, the unified look-and-feel works well for Java apps, too.
2. Sherlock is gone. I'm probably the only person in the world that still used it, but I really liked to use it as a small Web-service client. (Sure, I liked Watson even better, but that's been MIA since Sun bought it from Karelia oh so many years ago). Oh well, all the more reason to write my own WSDL apps now.
3. Already, I can tell I'm going to like Spaces and Stacks.
4. Not so sure I really dig the shadows and lighting overall. The new icons are reminiscent of classic Mac icons to me (The "Aqua look" is obviously out now), which gives the whole Finder a snappy feel.
5. I've got

to go find that app that turns off the menu bar transparency. That's just a lot more annoying than it seemed it would be. (Update: How about that? It doesn't work anymore. Oh well, it was easy enough to fix by adding a white bar to the desktop picture itself..)

I'll probably add more to this post as I find new things, but so far, I like it. I really, really like it.

In the next few weeks, I'm planning to upgrade my trusty Verizon LG-8100, and I figured I'd ask if anyone here has any recommendations for a good Flash-enabled cell phone. My requirements don't seem too demanding, but unfortunately, finding a good fit hasn't been easy in the past. Here's what I need:

1. Must be supported by Verizon (So no iPhone. Sorry AT&T, but, um… I still haven't forgiven you for last time).
2. Must support Flash Lite (Again, no iPhone. What the heck, Apple?) I'm really ready to sink my teeth into Web app development now, but without a phone that supports Flash, it's

hard to get motivated. And now the kicker…

I'm leaning toward the Motola RAZR line, but I'm open to suggestions, and searching the usual sources online has just left me more confused. Finding one phone that supports SOME of the above needs is easy; finding the magic device that meets all three, on the other hand…

Any recommendations?

From the looks of comments on VersionTracker and elsewhere on the Web, some users are experiencing some pretty significant problems with the latest Flash Player 9 beta, version 9.0.60.184 (Really? We're using all FOUR sets of digits in publicly available version numbers?)

Granted, this is still a Beta test version, but when it shows up on common download sites — especially without the big word "BETA" after the version number — people tend to download first and ask questions later (in this case, a lot of questions). And when it "crashes the internet," they

tend to remember the product ("Flash") rather than the version number.

So while I'm excited about the new video capabilities of the latest Flash player, I also hope we'll all remember to warn our clients that indeed, it IS still a beta version, and yes, their mileage may vary. (And for the overzealous and underwhelmed, an uninstaller is also available here.)

And, ahem, perhaps Adobe might want to add the word "beta" to the evergrowing version number as well (and mention it on the installation splash screen, perhaps)? Apparently, there is a "ub" in the filename itself, but… as someone just asked me earlier tonight, "How was I supposed to get 'beta' out of that?!"