As I write this, I am beginning to box up my belongings and prepare for another move across the Atlantic. I've accepted the position of CIO at AboutWeb - a staff augmentation and software development company based out of Washington, DC. I'm moving back into one of the richest ColdFusion communities and couldn't be happier about it. In addition to changes in my personal life, I am trying to introduce changes to the magazine. Beginning with next month's issue you will start to see these changes go into effect.

For one thing, I am going to try to gather articles that focus on one general subject area each month. I'd like readers to consider whether they'd be interested in writing for us - it's really not very difficult to do as long as you can make time to write the piece and exchange a couple of e-mails with me.

If you are interested in writing, the editorial calendar for 2005 is at www.sys-con.com/coldfusion/CFDJ_2005_Edi_Cal.pdf, and lists the topic of focus for each month as well as the deadline. That deadline is for the final copy, so articles are actually due anytime prior, preferably a week beforehand. Also, you can find guidelines at www.sys-con.com/coldfusion/writers.cfm.

If you don't want to write or don't know what to write about, let me know what you think of the new format(s) being introduced, and also if you'd like to write but aren't sure what to write about. I get a lot of e-mail to this effect, and I try to take into account the opinions expressed in every one of them.

With the pending release of Blackstone, there's sure to be a ridiculous number of topics waiting to be explored, examined, and explained for our readers. I should mention that though the issues will to focus on specific topics, we will still be running other (off-topic) articles in each issue as well, so don't let that discourage you.

This month, we have some terrific content. Isaac Dealey has written a great overview of the onTap Framework (which he wrote and distributes free of charge). I've received a lot of e-mail about framework coverage and would like to see more coverage each month of MACH II, FuseBox, onTap, and any other framework you would like to know more about. Joseph Flanigan has written a good introduction to the CFSQLTool and stored procedures. Both of these articles describe one approach to automating or handling the process of implementing CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) in CF applications.

Hal Helms has written a good introduction to decorator design patterns. In addition to a design pattern-focused issue next year, I foresee more discussion of architectural issues in general - especially after the release of Blackstone. Speaking of Blackstone, this month Ben Forta tells us all about what was seen and heard at this year's MAX convention.

Jeffry Houser has written an article for his "CF-101" column that examines ColdFusion Components in depth. We also feature part two of an article from Tom Peer, which explores the ways that developers can leverage their database. Matt Woodward explores Flex and walks you through rewriting a ColdFusion application user interface with Flex. In the Community Focus column, I offer a little bit of advice on preparing yourself for the release of Blackstone by way of reading blogs.

There's an old adage that says change is good. Well, I'm banking on it. CFDJ is your magazine. If you don't like something about it, tell me. If there's something missing or you feel you have something to offer, tell me. With all the changes coming up, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to let me know what you think of the changes and what other changes you'd like to see. My e-mail address is simon@horwith.com and I'm waiting to hear from you.