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So, just as I wrote that I wouldn't be posting much in future, I thought I would quickly post this little tidbit. There are various ways described online that you can use to detect if a client has Java WebStart installed. The problem is all of them require you to mix in VBScript for Internet Explorer and then use Javascript for the other browsers. There is a way you can support Internet Explorer and still use only Javascript. Check it out:

function jwsInstalled() {
    // For Internet Explorer.
    if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('MSIE') > -1) { 
        try { 
            var jws = new ActiveXObject('JavaWebStart.isInstalled'); 
            return true; 
        } 
        catch (e) { 
            return false; 
        } 
    } 

    // Firefox is happy with "x-java-jnlp-file". For Chrome and Safari 
    // this does not work, instead I just check for "x-java-vm". 
    // If they have a recent JVM installed, then they usually also have 
    // Java WebStart installed.
            
    return navigator.mimeTypes && 
           navigator.mimeTypes.length &&
                (navigator.mimeTypes['application/x-java-jnlp-file'] != null ||
                 navigator.mimeTypes['application/x-java-vm'] != null);
}

I use this to popup a little dialog and tell users to download a new JRE if Java WebStart is not installed. It works pretty well. And yes, it's 2009 and I'm still using Java WebStart ... although I do have a good reason for it. :-)

I haven't added any new blog posts lately. I blog quite infrequently anyway, but now that I'm working on my zinepal.com project all the blog posts are on the zinepal.com blog. Check it out if you're interested in staying up to date with what I'm doing. I don't think I'll be posting on this site very much in the near future. You can also follow zinepal.com on Twitter.

I have been lazy and haven't posted anything in a while. But, here is a cool short video of me presenting a pitch for zinepal.com at the Mobile Monday Vancouver event in November 2008.

The video was recorded and put together by Bruce Sharpe from Singular Software. Thank you, Bruce!

I've been pretty busy lately and haven't worked on zinepal.com that much.

Last week I also found out about the Knight Foundation News Challenge. The Knight Foundation is a not-for-profit group that grants awards to new media and journalism projects through their News Challenge. Unfortunately the 2009 challenge closed on November 1st and I didn't have enough time to apply.

Last year the printcasting.com project was awarded a significant grant through this challenge. The interesting thing is that their ideas are pretty much exactly the same things I am trying to achieve with zinepal.com. Now I really wish I had heard about this challenge sooner.

But at least now I know what the whole concept behind zinepal.com is called: printcasting. :-)

I demoed zinepal.com at Launch Party Vancouver yesterday. Go to the zinepal.com blog to read a bit more about it.

I also submitted a zinepal.com video for their contest. Go here to check it out and don't forget to vote for me.