I think it's that time... Time to replace my current blog template with a new Blogger template. Please let me apologize in advance for any formatting/etc weirdness.
If you're reading this via RSS/ATOM/Feedburner/etc feed you'll hopefully not notice any differences.
Here we go...
Walter Stiers - Academic Relations Team (BeLux) - Grava CTP available
" "Grava" is the code name for a new set of tools from the Microsoft Education Products Group that is designed to allow the education community to create and assemble interactive materials that will increase discovery and allow learners to go at their own pace and learning style...
...
The "Grava" tools that are scheduled for release later in 2007:
- "Grava" Player—The "Grava" player enables users to view the rich interactive content created in "Grava" Authoring.
- Developer Tools—The "Grava" SDK is built on Silverlight..."
Working at one of the "Final Four" big US accounting firms, in a post Andersen/Enron world, means that I spend a good bit of my time each year doing mandatory self paced compliance/regulatory/employment policy/independence/etc training.
And well... Let's just say that... um... those CBT's are... um... well... yeah... :|
Seeing the Grava project today, and that it's based on Silverlight, has given me a glimmer of hope that maybe sometime in the future we might see work related CBT's that are... um... better...?
(Okay... it's a long shot, but better to have a little hope than to completely surrender to apathy ;)
You can only do so much with the currently available viable technology for our work CBT's (i.e. Flash). I'm hoping that Grava/Silverlight can knock down some barriers and provide the tools for building a better learning environment. Be it in Silverlight itself or in raising the bar for Flash.
We'll have to wait and see I guess. Still it's cool how MS is leveraging Silverlight. Gives me hope that this tech will stick and be around for a while...
"IE7Pro is an add-on for IE 7 which adds lots of features and extras to make your IE easier, more useful, secure and customizable. You can use IE7Pro as Tab Mix, AD Blocker, Flash Block, Super Drag Drop, Crash Recovery, Proxy Switcher, Mouse Gesture, Tab History Browser, Web Accelerator, User Agent Switcher, Webpage Capturer, Greasemonkey for IE and etc . Using IE7Pro, you can Close/Open tab by double left click, build your own greasemonkey script, switch proxy, switch user agent, block ads and flash, recover browser crash, apply super drag drop, auto scroll page, manage tab history, refresh tab automatically, open new tab from address bar and favorites, view page information and save whole page to images quickly and so on."
Trying this now... It sure looks pretty cool.
The Crash Recovery is the feature that got my attention (having just had IE crash, with a bunch of tabs of stuff I wanted to blog about... ).
Microsoft Downloads - Microsoft Interop Forms Toolkit 2.0
"This toolkit helps you bring the power of .NET to your existing VB6 applications, by allowing them to display .NET Forms and Controls from within the same application. Instead of upgrading the entire code base, these applications can now be extended one form at a time. The goal is a phased upgrade, with production releases at the end of each iteration containing both VB6 and VB.NET forms running in the same VB6 .exe process." [Description leached in full]
While this might come in handy, personally I'd hate to have to use it... Having two runtimes for one app, seems... well... icky.
But sometimes we just have to do "icky" ;)
Backstage at MED - A Wickedly Cool Conference Application
"We've been working on an application for a few months now that a lot of you have asked for when attending Microsoft Technical Conferences. The most common request is the ability to have a conference guide on your Windows Mobile device that saves you time and hassle of having to carry around a cumbersome printed conference guide and flipping through it to look for sessions and room locations.
So working with Daniel Wagner & Dr. Dieter Schmalstieg, researchers from the Graz Institute of Technology in Vienna, we've created Signpost 2007.
..."
Backstage at MED - Video about Signpost at MEDC 2007
"Daniel and I got podcasted today at MEDC 2007 and were asked to talk about Signpost 2007. checkout the video here: [here]"
I want this for PDC 2007...
But then that means I'll FINALLY need to get a smartphone... Well it will be for "work" so I should be able to sell it to my CHO [Chief Household Officer... i.e. my wife] ;)
phydeaux3 - Blogger with Header Image Uploading - and See Ya Old Blogger
"Over the past few weeks, Blogger appears to be completing the migration to New Blogger. All blogs that didn't get migrated previously have been moved over under cover of night and are now on the New Blogger platform. Meaning there is no Old / New Blogger anymore. It's just Blogger now. Users who weren't around to migrate their blogs are given the chance to "claim" their blogs via their Old Blogger account, so a google account can then be associated with their blogs.
..."
With no announcement or fanfare, there's now only one Blogger in town. Old Blogger is gone and it appears all blogs have been migrated...
I've been pretty happy with the New Blogger, and my only beef is that I'd wish they'd fix the "remember me" logon option... (And if that little thing is my only major beef, then I must be pretty happy with it ;)
Microsoft Downloads - Microsoft Codename "Astoria" - May 2007 Community Technology Preview
"The Microsoft Codename "Astoria" project is an incubation effort at Microsoft focused on exploring how various emerging world-wide-web technologies and concepts can be combined with the Microsoft Data Platform to provide a first-class infrastructure for building the next wave of internet applications.
The goal of Microsoft Codename Astoria is to enable applications to expose data as a data service that can be consumed by web clients within corporate networks and across the internet. The data service is reachable over regular HTTP requests, and standard HTTP verbs such as GET, POST, PUT and DELETE are used to perform operations against the service.
The payload format for the data exchanged with the service can be controlled by the client and all options are simple, open formats such as plan XML and JSON.
The use of web-friendly technologies make it ideal as a data back-end for AJAX-style applications, Rich Interactive Applications and other applications that need to operate against data that is across the web.
The first Astoria CTP is a dual release, making Astoria available in the form of downloadable bits that can be used to build data services that are entirely contained within a single computer or network and as an experimental online service that you can use to create online stores that are hosted by Microsoft and are accessible over the internet." [Description leached pretty much in full]
Interesting... I've built a couple web services just to provide a data access point for AJAX apps. This will be something I'll be keeping an eye on...
Note that one of the prerequisites is Orcas Beta 1...
Update #1 5/1/2007 @ 8:01 AM PDT:
Some more information on Astoria...
Project Home Page, Astoria Online Service
Pablo Castro's blog - Codename "Astoria": Data Services for the Web
"... This document introduces the concepts and motivations for Astoria. ..."
Because if I'm not coding my wife's going to put me to work in the yard (and it's HOT out there ;) I've added some cool suggestions from Rob...
The setup and source is now available on the CodePlex project page.
In short this release makes the utility much more resilient and adaptive.
Now if the Vista Speech Recognition (SR) is not running, that app doesn't force it to start-up. It uses the SystemParamatersInfo API call, with the SPI_GETSPEECHRECOGNITION action, to see if SR is running or not. If not it doesn't attempt to hook into the shared recognition engine and the countdown timer is not started.
Also the message queue (WndProc) in monitored and if the utility gets a WM_SETTINGCHANGED message, the SystemParamatersInfo is re-executed and if SR is THEN determined to be running, THEN we hook into the shared recognition engine and kick off the timer.
Lastly if we were already hooked to the shared engine, and the user kills SR, then we will also unhook from it and stop the timer.
Also I added a "Startup with Windows" checkbox (which pokes into the User's ...\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run registry key) and added a Seconds option to the countdown value (for if you want a 0:30 second timeout, etc).
While I'm certain there are still bugs, all in all I'm pretty happy with this release...
After getting some good tips from, and email chatting with, the Vista Speech Recognition (SR) team, it was time I "code up or shut up" on my "Speech Saver" idea...
So last night and early today I put together a very simple VB.Net system tray utility that after a few minutes of no voice activity it will turn SR off.
Check the the CodePlex project for more details, the source and the MSI...
Thanks again to Rob, Eric, Alex and the SR team for their quick responses, tips and information.
Related Past Post XRef:Benjamin Nitschke's Blog - XNA Racing Game downloads now available on creators.xna.com
"Nice one. The Racing Game Starter kit for XNA Game Studio Express I made last year is now available on http://creators.xna.com/Education/StarterKits.aspx
More information will be available shortly on the in-official website for the Racing Game (link to the xna creators club, screenshots, mod support and forums later): http://www.XnaRacingGame.com
Enjoy the Racing Game
My book Professional XNA Game Programming [Amazon link] for the Xbox 360 and Windows seems to be out too..."
Very cool... This new 127MB Starter Kit is available in both Windows and 360 flavors.
Update #1 4/27/2007 @ 7:26 AM (PDT):
Here's a little more information on the Racing Starter kit as well as a bunch of additional new stuff (samples, articles, tutorials and utilities) on Creators.XNA.com
XNA Team Blog - Content Update for creators.xna.com!
"This week brought us a new release of XNA Game Studio Express and now some great new content for http://creators.xna.com. You’ll find a list of the new additions below. Once you’ve found what you like, head over to the website and check it out!
..."
Microsoft Downloads - Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express 1.0 Refresh
"... This release is an update of the 1.0 version which contains improved functionality along with new features. Check out exciting new features such as Bitmap Based Fonts, 3D Audio, Windows Vista support, Game Packaging and more! The What’s New topic within the product documentation outlines the exciting new areas. ..."
The "Refresh" title threw me so I missed this yesterday. I didn't expect such cool new features in a "refresh". Wouldn't you think this amount of new and cool features would make it 1.5? Or an R2 or something?
Anyway... The Packaging feature is huge and could really jump start the XNA community and game releases.
(via CodeCube.Net - XNA GSE Refresh)
"There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start. "
This is a great, and pretty funny, 3.5 minute video providing a simple, plain english, explanation of why RSS/web feeds are "good," why they are great for the "normal user" and how to get started using them...
When I try (once again) to explain why Feeds are "good" to my wife, son and parents, THIS will be my starting point.
(via Information Governance Engagement Area - Video : RSS in plain English | LexBlog Blog)
Rob's Rhapsody - Windows Speech Recognition in Vista: Dictation Everywhere
"...
If you're a programmer (or don't mind dabbling), you certainly could though. In fact, you can create a simple shell script that does this like this:set Recognizer = CreateObject("SAPI.SpSharedRecognizer")
Recognizer.EmulateRecognition ("show speech options")
WScript.Sleep(1000)
Recognizer.EmulateRecognition ("options")
WScript.Sleep(1000)
Recognizer.EmulateRecognition ("dictation everywhere")set Recognizer = Nothing
When you run this it will connect to the shared recognizer that Windows Speech Recognition uses, it will pretend that the user spoke "show speech options", then wait for 1 second, then pretend that the user said "options", again wait for another 1 second, then again, pretend the user said "dictation everywhere".
..."
This has kick started my thinking on creating an automatic Vista Speech Recognition "stop listening" applet ("Voice Saver" applet instead of screen saver...? I like that... "Voice Saver" it is).
Here's what I'm thinking; A system tray applet, that after xx minutes of system inactivity (able to track voice inactivity?) it automagically executes the "Stop listening" voice command.
Shouldn't be too hard? (LOL, famous last words... ;) Looks like I have a new coding project...
Related Past Post XRef:Willy-Peter Schaub's Cave of Chamomile Simplicity - Windows PowerShell - Quick Reference Poster in BETA depo
"Two new quick reference posters have been deposited in the technology readiness BETA repository for comment, one ocusing on the PowerShell syntax and common tasks, and the other listing the standard PowerShell cmdlets.
...
- 0070 Microsoft PowerShell Scripting
- 0072 Microsoft PowerShell Scripting Cmdlets
- 0202 Microsoft Team System Branching
- 0202 Microsoft Team System Source Structure"
Some new, cool and professional TFS/PowerShell posters from the DRP (developer readiness program) site. Since these are beta, you'll need to register to access them, but registration is open to the public, standard and painless.
Related Past Post XRef:
TFS (and many more) Posters
Blogger Backup CodePlex Project - 1.0.0.5 Release Download
I've just released 1.0.0.5 of my Blogger Backup utility. Still alpha, but it's working (I used it about once a month to backup my blog). There's still a number of features I'd like to add, with "Backup posts since last backup" being the main one I want to add...
Here is a snapshot of what's in this release.
This is the beginning of support for saving the posts in different formats.
Atom Single (one file per post)
Atom Combined(all posts in one file)
[Pending] BlogML Combined(all posts in one file)
[Pending] HTML Single
[Pending] HTML Combined
[Possible] Open XML/WordML (Office 2007) Single [Require .Net 3 be installed]
[Possible] Open XML/WordML (Office 2007) Combined [Require .Net 3 be installed]
[Possible] PDF Single
[Possible] PDF Combined
[Possible] MHTML
etc, etc.
* This feature needs some major rework and needs a provider/plugin model.
Related Past Post XRef:
Blogger Backup v1.0.0.2 Alpha Release
Blogger Backup v1.0.0.1 Alpha Release
Blogger Backup Utility v1.0.0.0 Alpha Released
Blogger Backup using the C# GData Client Library...
Sorry guys, but due to a recent rash of comment spam I feel it's time to turn on comment moderation.
sigh...
"Project Description
XML Notepad 2007 provides a simple intuitive User Interface for browsing and editing XML documents.
This application is built using .NET Framework 2.0 in C#. ..."
Pretty cool...
(via Microsoft XML Team's WebLog - XML Notepad Source Code on CodePlex)
Update #1 4/23/2007 @ 1:30PM PDT:
It looks like this project has been pulled from CodePlex. The above link doesn't work (redirects to the CodePlex homepage and searching turns up Null.
If I hear more I'll update this post...
Thanks out to Fabio Alves for the heads up.
Update #2 4/23/2007 @ 6:21PM PDT:
The XMLNotePad CodePlex project appears to be back and the source reposted...
Related Past Post XRef:
XML Notepad 2007 2.3 Released
A couple weeks ago I picked up a copy of "Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software" and finally got around to reading it last night.
First off, this is a non-fictional book which developers and non-developers both can read and appreciate. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking about asking my wife and son to read it. To give them an insight into what the development world, my world, can be like.
From my perspective, the book is enough to make you laugh and cry at the same time. I would be surprised to find a developer/coder/programmer/QA/design/anybody involved in the software industry/etc who couldn't find something of themselves or their lives in this story. Too many times I'd chuckle or nod during my reading.
While I don't read non-fiction much, this book has me hooked...
Forensic Computing Ltd. - Computer Forensic Software Tools Downloads
"Listed below are software tools that have been found to be useful in forensic examination of recovered evidence.
This list is a living list and should have new tools added as they become available and supersede older tools, which should be removed.
Forensic Software tools for Windows
Image and Document Readers
Data Recovery/Investigation
Password Cracking
Network Investigation
Phone Investigation
PDA Investigation
Forensic LAB Tools..."
This is a pretty cool list of free, GPL, shareware and commercial EDD/Computer Forensic packages, tools and related utilities.
(via Microsoft Switzerland Security Blog - Computer Forensic Software Tools Downloads)
Posts
