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• Letter to Ballmer: Making Better Consumer Devices

  - by andrewbrust

  Last year, I wrote Steve Ballmer an email, and he was kind enough to write me back.  The email contained a scan of a column I wrote praising Microsoft’s BI strategy.  His reply contained three simple words: “Super nice  thanks.” Well, now I’d like to write to Steve again, in an open letter format, and this time the love may be a bit tougher.  But I’m still super earnest. The past two days have been eventful ones for Microsoft: The company announced the departure of company veterans Robbie Bach and J Allard and the market announced Apple is now besting Microsoft in market capitalization. Plus, announcements were made that make it plain that Ballmer will, in effect, be running Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices division himself. With that in mind, I’d like to offer my list of a dozen things I think Microsoft’s CEO should do to improve that division’s offerings and, hopefully, its bottom line. So here goes:   1. On Windows Phone 7, Stay the Course The press is teeming with headlines and reader comments proclaiming the death-before-arrival of Windows Phone 7.  That’s plain silly.  You’ve got the makings of a great and unique SmartPhone platform, and you’re the only company (even considering RIM) that can offer full fidelity Exchange integration, not to mention implementing Office on the device.  Let the existing team finish this puppy and ship it. And then have them pump out a few updates, over-the-air, quickly.  Show them that Google Android’s not the only product that can do good, rapid dot releases. And another thing: make sure your OEMs’ devices have flawless touch screens.  If they don’t, then you shouldn’t certify them for delivery to customers.  Period. Oh, and kill the Kin, quietly.  It was DOA, and you know it.   2. Move Media Center to the Xbox Platform Media Center is, at its core, a good product.  But delivering a media distribution and DVR platform on a sophisticated PC operating system like Windows 7 just creates too many moving parts.  Xbox already functions as the best Media Center extender device – it should actually be the hub as well. Media Center is mostly based on .NET code – and XNA is a .NET environment for Xbox – find a way to bridge that small gap and make Media Center a joy to work with instead of a frustration.  Beating Apple TV out of this sub-market is the lowest hanging fruit on the tree (goofy pun, but it’s true).   3. Integrate Media Center with Mediaroom, or Kill the Latter You have two media products with almost identical names.  One is for standalone DVRs and the other is for IPTV cable set tops with DVR capabilities.  Can we merge these please?  My previous request of putting Media Center on Xbox would seem to tie into this nicely, since you’ve announced plans to do that with Mediaroom already.   4. Fix the Red Ring of Death People love the Xbox, but they really don’t love sending their consoles back every 18-24 months, when they get a bunch of red lights flashing on power up.  You’ve handled this defect about as gracefully as possible, but it’s been around for a long time now and it doesn’t seem to be fixed yet.  You can do better.  In fact, you must do better, or you insult your customers.   5. Add Blu Ray to Xbox I know, streaming movies are the future; physical media is legacy technology.  So if that’s true, why did you back HD DVD so hard?  You know why: for now, the film studios won’t allow a large selection of new release, HD, surround sound content be distributed on any medium other than Blu Ray or cable pay per view/on-demand.  Don’t you want home theater buffs to see the Xbox as a fantastic device for their rigs?  Don’t you want to put PlayStation 3 out of its misery?  And if you follow my suggestions above (move Media Center to the Xbox and fix the Red Ring problem), you’d have it all sewn up.  Do I think Blu Ray functionality will move a lot of units?  No.  Do I think that it would move more units with desperately needed influential home theater consumers?  You bet.  And you might sell more ZunePass subscriptions in the process. But while you’re at it, make the fan quieter, please.   6. Make More of Windows Home Server Home Server is a fantastic product.  And for reasons unknown to me, it seems like you’re letting it languish.  Development of the add-in ecosystem seems underfunded.  WHS’ unparalleled ease of use and reliability for home PC backup (and emergency restores) goes unsung.  Product cycles are slow.  Support for your OEMs, who are doing great work, especially in the green space with Atom CPUs, seems lacking.  You’ve married a trophy girl and you keep her cloistered at home!  That’s cruel, unusual and, um, incredibly ill-advised.  Make use of this ace card, and while you’re at it, give it real integration with Media Center.  The integration thus far proof-of-concept quality.  You should go way past that – both products will benefit immeasurably.   7. Set Up a Partner Platform for Custom Installers There’s a whole sub-industry of companies that install, integrate and configure home theater, security and connected home products.  They have an industry group. They are influential in the high-end of the consumer electronics industry, and so are their customers.  They love Media Center and they love Windows Home Server.  But I have talked to several of them at the Consumer Electronics Show and they tell me you don’t love them.  They find it very difficult to do business with Microsoft, even though they want nothing more than to sell and evangelize your platform.  This is a travesty.  Please fix it.  Get Allison Watson and the Microsoft Partner Network on board and have her hire someone who knows how to run a channel program for consumer electronics companies.  Problem solved.  Markets expanded.   8. Make Your Own Hardware In other areas, I know you love your partners.  I help run one, so I appreciate that.  But when it came to Xbox and Zune you built them it yourself (albeit on a contract basis, which is fine).  Windows Phone 7 has a chance to work as an OEM play, but it would work better if you produced the devices.  At least consider building a reference device that sells alongside your OEMs’ offerings.  That’s what Google did with the Nexxus One.  And while that phone was not itself a big seller, it catalyzed two wonderful things : (1) a quality bar was set and (2) partners exceeded it.  Before the Nexxus One, the best Android handset out there was the Motorola Droid. The Nexxus One was better, and the HTC Droid Incredible and Evo 4G are now even better than Google’s phone, which is why Verizon and Sprint decided not to carry it.  Imagine if all Windows Phone 6.x devices were on par with the HTC HD2.  I tend to believe you’d have a lot bigger market share than you do now.   9. Continue with Your Retail Initiative From what I hear, it sounds like it’s going well.  And this goes right along with making your own hardware.  When you build it, they will come.  And then it makes the likes of Best Buy and Staples do better.   10. Make an Acquisition (or Two) TiVo and/or Moxi look ripe for the picking.  With their ability to build stuff people love and your ability to run a business, you might just have something.  But do a better job than you did when you bought Danger.  Buy the ideas, not just the customers, eh?   11. Make Beautiful Stuff You’ve heard this one before, I know.  But I have some head-shrinking advice on this one.  You know that Apple obsesses over its industrial design.  You know that appeals to consumers.  But it seems you think doing so is Apple’s game exclusively and so you shouldn’t even try.  Bull dinky.  Come to New York and visit the Museum of Modern Art’s Architecture and Design gallery.  You’ll see that lots of companies and product categories have had very high design value well before Apple existed.  You can do this, and the Zune HD was a great start.  Now run with that.  Find those negative voices in your head that are telling you that you can’t and shut them up.  For good.   12. Burst the Bubble Some of the products you’ve built seem like they were conceived in a bizarro world.  That would appear to be the result of groupthink.  You must do better.  And there’s lots of people willing to advise you.  This includes just about everyone in the Regional Director program, and probably a bunch of MVPs.  Heck, I bet the guys at Engadget could help out too.  Imagine if you let them see the Kin before it shipped.  Talk to high-end gear consumers.  Talk to Best Buy and CostCo customers too.   Signing Off I hope this was of value to you.  As I wrote this I kept telling myself how obvious, even trite, some of these pieces of advice were and then, because of that, doubting they’d really help.  But I decided that they must not be obvious to Microsoft.  Sometimes when you get wrapped up in stuff, it’s hard to clear your head.  I think my head’s pretty clear here though (I’m wrapped up in other stuff), so maybe my perspective can help.  If not, well, then, I guess they all can’t be super nice.

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• Oracle Fusion Applications: Changing the Game

  - by kellsey.ruppel(at)oracle.com

  Originally posted in the Oracle Profit Magazine, November 2010 Edition. When the order processing system red-flags a customer's credit status, the IT department doesn't get the customer's call. When a supplier misses a delivery date for a key automotive assembly, it's not the CIO who has to answer for the error. Knowledge workers (known in IT circles as "users") are on the front lines when an exception occurs in an established business process. They're also the ones who study sales trends to decide when to open a new store in an up-and-coming neighborhood, which products are most profitable, how employee skill sets are evolving, and which suppliers are most efficient. In short, knowledge workers are masters of business as unusual. Traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other familiar enterprise applications excel at automating, managing, and executing standard business processes. These programs shine when everything goes as planned. Life gets even trickier when a traditional application needs to be extended with a new service or an extra step is added to a business process when new products are brought to market, divisions are merged, or companies are acquired. Monolithic applications often need the IT department to step in and make the necessary adjustments--incurring additional costs and delays. Until now. When Oracle unveiled the much-anticipated family of Oracle Fusion Applications at Oracle OpenWorld in September 2010, knowledge workers in particular had a lot to cheer about. Business users will soon have ready access to analytical information and collaboration tools in the context of what they are working on, so they can make better decisions when problems or opportunities arise. Additionally, the Oracle Fusion Applications platform will make it easy for business users to tweak processes, create new capabilities, and find information, often without the need for IT department assistance and while still following company guidelines. And IT leaders will be happy to hear about new deployment options, guided implementation and setup tools, and cost-saving management capabilities. Just as important, the underlying technologies in Oracle Fusion Applications will allow organizations to choose among their existing investments and next-generation enterprise applications so they can introduce innovations at a pace that makes the most business and financial sense. "Oracle Fusion Applications are architected so you don't have to do rip and replace," says Jim Hayes, managing director of the consulting firm Accenture. "That's very important for creating a business case that will get through the steering committee and be approved by the board. It shows you can drive value and make a difference in the near term." For these and other reasons, analysts and early adopters are calling Oracle Fusion Applications a game changer for enterprise customers. The differences become apparent in three key areas: the way we innovate, work, and adopt technology. Game Changer #1: New Standard for InnovationChange is a constant challenge for most businesses, whether the catalysts are market dynamics, new competition, or the ever-expanding regulatory environment. And, in an ongoing effort to differentiate, business leaders are constantly looking for new ways to do business, serve constituents, and bring new products and services to market. In addition, companies face significant costs to keep their applications up-to-date. For example, when a company adds new suppliers to a procurement system, the IT shop typically has to invest time, effort, and even consulting fees for custom integrations that allow various ERP systems to communicate with each other. Oracle Fusion Applications were built on Web services and a modular SOA foundation to ease customizations and integration activities among all applications--whether from Oracle or another vendor. Interfaces and updates written in ubiquitous Java, rather than a proprietary coding language, allow organizations to tap into existing in-house technical skills rather than seek expensive outside specialists. And with SOA, organizations can extend a feature set or integrate with other SOA environments by combining Web services such as "look up customer" into a new business process managed by the BPEL orchestration engine. Flexibility like this has long-term implications. "Because users capture these changes at a higher metadata layer, not in the application's code, changes and additions are protected even as new versions of Oracle Fusion Applications are released," says Steve Miranda, senior vice president of applications development at Oracle. "This is a much more sustainable approach because you don't incur costly customizations that prevent upgrades and other innovations." And changes are easier to make: if one change is made in the metadata, that change is automatically reflected throughout the application interface, business intelligence, business process, and business logic. Game Changer #2: New Standard for WorkBoosting productivity comes down to doing the basics right: running business processes more efficiently and managing exceptions more effectively, so users can accomplish more in the course of a day or spend more quality time with the most profitable customers. The fastest way to improve process efficiency is to reduce the number of steps it takes to execute common tasks, such as ordering office equipment from an internal procurement system. Oracle Fusion Applications will deliver a complete role-based user experience with business intelligence and collaboration capabilities provided in the context of the work at hand. "We created every Oracle Fusion Applications screen by asking 'What does the user need to know?' 'What does he or she need to do?' and 'Who do they need to work with to get the job done?'" Miranda explains. So when the sales department heads need new laptops, the self-service procurement screen will not only display a list of approved vendors and configurations, but also a running list of reviews by coworkers who recently purchased the various models. Embedded intelligence may also display prevailing delivery lead times based on actual order histories, not the generic shipping dates vendors may quote. The pervasive business intelligence serves many other business activities across all areas of the enterprise. For example, a manager considering whether to promote a direct report can see the person's employee profile, with a salary history, appraisal summaries, and a rundown of skills and training. This approach to business intelligence also has implications for supply chain management. "One of the challenges at Ingersoll Rand is lack of visibility in our supply chain," says Mike Macrie, global director of enterprise applications for global industrial firm Ingersoll Rand. "Oracle Fusion Applications are going to provide the embedded intelligence to give us that visibility and give us the ability to analyze those orders at any point in our supply chain." Oracle Fusion Applications will also create a "role-based user experience" that displays a work list of events that need attention, based on user job function. Role awareness guides users with daily lists of action items and exceptions. So a credit manager may see seven invoices with discounts that are about to expire or 12 suppliers that have been put on hold because credit memos are awaiting approval. Individualization extends to the search capabilities of Oracle Fusion Applications. The platform uses Web-style search screens powered by an Oracle enterprise search engine, with a security framework that filters search results so individuals will only see the internal information they're authorized to access. A further aid to productivity is Oracle Fusion Applications' integration with Web 2.0 collaboration and social networking resources for business environments. Hover-over text will reveal relevant contact information whenever the name of a person appears in an Oracle Fusion Application. Users can connect via an online chat, phone call, or instant message without leaving the main application, reducing the time required for an accounts payable staffer to resolve a mismatch between an invoiced charge and the service record, for example. Addresses of suppliers, customers, or partners will also initiate hover-over text to show contact details and Web-based maps. Finally, Oracle Fusion Applications will promote a new way of working with purpose-driven communities that can bring new efficiencies to everything from cultivating sales leads to managing new projects. As soon as a lead or project materializes, the applications will automatically gather relevant participants into an online community that shares member contact information, schedules, discussion forums, and Wiki pages. "Oracle Fusion Applications will allow us to take it to the next level with embedded Web 2.0 tools and the embedded analytics," says Steve Printz, CIO and vice president, supply chain management, at window-and-door manufacturer Pella. "[This] allows those employees today who are processing transactions to really contribute to the success of the company and become decision-makers." Game Changer #3: New Standard for Technology AdoptionAs IT becomes a dominant component of how businesses run and compete, organizations need to lower the cost of implementing applications and introducing new application features. In the past, rolling out new code often required creating a test bed system, moving beta code to a separate system for user feedback, and--once all the revisions were made--moving version one of the software onto production systems, where business users could finally get the needed new features. Oracle Fusion Applications will use a dedicated setup manager application to streamline this process. First, the setup manager will help scope out the project, querying users about their requirements. "From those questions and answers we determine the steps and the order of those steps that will enable that task," Miranda says. Next, system utilities will assign tasks to owners, track completion status, and monitor the overall status of a programming effort. Oracle Fusion Applications can then recommend Web services that allow users to migrate setup choices and steps across all the various deployments of the application. Those setup capabilities automate the migration from test systems to production systems, as well as between different business units that may be using the same application. "The self-service ability of the setup manager helps business users change setups with very little intervention from the IT team," says Ravi Kumar, vice president at IT services company Infosys. "That to me is a big difference from how we've viewed enterprise applications before." For additional flexibility, organizations will be able to adopt Oracle Fusion Applications modules in either of two modes: a single-instance alternative uses one database for all Oracle Fusion Applications, while a "pillar mode" creates separate databases to underpin each application. This means IT departments running any one of Oracle's applications or even third-party applications can plug Oracle Fusion Applications modules into their environment and see additional business value created on top of their existing systems. And Oracle Fusion Applications offer a hybrid approach to deployment. The applications are all software-as-a-service-ready, so customers can choose on-premises, public or private cloud, or a combination of these to suit their business needs. It's that combination of flexibility and a roadmap for the future that may be the biggest game changer of all. "The Oracle Fusion Applications architecture allows us to migrate our company at a pace that's consistent with our business strategy, whereas before we might have had to do it with a massive upgrade," says Macrie of Ingersoll Rand. "We're looking forward to that architecture to really give us more flexibility in how we migrate over time." For More InformationUser Input Key to the Success of Oracle Fusion ApplicationsTransforming Coexistence into Strategic ValueUnder the HoodOracle Fusion ApplicationsOracle Service-Oriented Architecture  

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• That’s a wrap! Almost, there’s still one last chance to attend a SQL in the City event in 2012

  - by Red and the Community

  The communities team are back from the SQL in the City multi-city US Tour and we are delighted to have met so many happy SQL Server professionals and Red Gate customers. We set out to run a series of back-to-back events in order to meet, talk to and delight as many SQL Server and Red Gate enthusiasts as possible in 5 different cities in 11 days. We did it! The attendees had a good time too and 99% of them would attend another SQL in the City event in 2013 – so it seems we left an impression. There were a range of topics on the event agenda, ranging from ‘The Whys & Hows of Continuous Integration’, ‘Database Maintenance Essentials’, ‘Red Gate tools – The Complete Lifecycle’, ‘Automated Deployment: Application And Database Releases Without The Headache’, ‘The Ten Commandments of SQL Server Monitoring’ and many more. Videos and slides from the events will be posted to the event website in November, after our last event of 2012. SQL in the City Seattle – November 5 Join us for free and hear from some of the very best names in the SQL Server world. SQL Server MVPs such as; Steve Jones, Grant Fritchey, Brent Ozar, Gail Shaw and more will be presenting at the Bell Harbor conference center for one day only. We’re even taking on board some of the recent attendee-suggestions of how we can improve the events (feedback from the 65% of attendees who came to our US tour events), first off we’re extending the drinks celebration in the evening! Rather than just a 30 minute drink and run, attendees will have up to 2 hours to enjoy free drinks, relax and network in a fantastic environment amongst some really smart like-minded professionals. If you’re interested in expanding your SQL Server knowledge, would like to learn more about Red Gate tools, get yourself registered for the last SQL in the City event of 2012. It’s free, fun and we’re very friendly! I look forward to seeing you in Seattle on Monday November 5. Cheers, Annabel.

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• Free Webinar Featuring Oracle Spatial and MapViewer, Oracle Business Intelligence, and Oracle Utilities

  - by stephen.garth

  Maps, BI and Network Management: Together At Last Date: Thursday, January 20 | Time: 11:00 a.m. PDT | 2:00 p.m. EDT | Duration: 1 hour Cost: FREE For years, utilities have wrestled with the challenge of providing executive management and other decision makers with maps and business intelligence during outages without compromising the performance of their real-time network operations and control systems. Join experts from Directions Media, Oracle and ThinkHuddle in this webinar for a discussion on how Oracle has addressed this challenge by incorporating Oracle Spatial data and the dashboard capabilities of Oracle Business Intelligence into a new application, Oracle Utilities Advanced Spatial Outage Analytics. Jim Steiner, Vice President of Spatial Product Management at Oracle, will provide an overview of Oracle's spatial and location technology, including Oracle Spatial 11g and Oracle Fusion Middleware MapViewer, and describe how Oracle is using this technology to spatially-enable many of its own enterprise applications. Brad Williams, Vice President of Oracle Utilities, will describe why and how the company developed Oracle Utilities Advanced Spatial Outage Analytics, how it works with Oracle Utilities Network Management System, and how this can deliver improved decision support and operational benefits to utilities. Steve Pierce, Spatial Systems Consultant with ThinkHuddle, will discuss architectural aspects and best practices in the integration of Oracle's spatial and BI technology. Following the presentation, attendees will have an opportunity to engage the panelists in a live Q&A session. Who Should Attend Executives, decision makers and analysts from IT, customer service, operations, engineering and marketing - especially in utilities, but also any business where location is important. Don't miss this webinar - Register Now. Find out more: Oracle Spatial on oracle.com More technical information on Oracle Technology Network Information on Oracle Utilities applications var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13185312-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

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• Streaming Netflix Media with My Wii

  - by Ben Griswold

  Late last year, I wrote about Streaming Media with my Sony Blu-ray Disc Player. I am still digging the Blu-ray player setup but guess what showed up in the mail yesterday?   That’s right!  A free Netflix disc which now let’s me instantly watch TV episodes and movies via my Wii console.  I popped the disc into the console and in less than 2 minutes the brain-numbingly simple activation was complete.  (Full-disclosure: I already had my Wi-Fi connection configured, but I’m confident that the Netflix installation disc would have helpfully walked me through this additional step if need be.) As it turns out, the Wii Netflix UI offers far more options than what one gets with the Blu-ray setup.  Not only can I view my Instant Queue, but there’s a list of recently watched movies, a list of recommended titles by category, the star rating system, movies information and nearly everything you find on the web.  I reread Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability on a flight back from Orlando on Wednesday, so my current view of the world may be a little skewed but, the brilliance of Netflix Wii’s user interface is undeniable. It’s not like the Blu-ray navigation is complicated but the Wii navigation feels familiar and intuitive. How intuitive?  Well, you won’t find a single bit of help text on any of the Wii screens – just a simple and obvious point-and-click navigation system.  And the UI is really pretty (which is still very important if you ask me) and so easy it became fun. Did I mention the media streaming works!  Yep, we watched 2 half-hour kid videos yesterday without any streaming issues at all.  If you have a Netflix account and a Wii, order your disc and give it a go. It’s good stuff.

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• HTG Explains: What’s a Solid State Drive and What Do I Need to Know?

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Solid State Drives (SSDs) are the lighting fast new kid on the hard drive block, but are they a good match for you? Read on as we demystify SSDs. The last few years have seen a marked increase in the availability of SSDs and a decrease in price (although it certainly may not feel that way when comparing prices between SSDs and traditional HDDs). What is an SSD? In what ways do you benefit the most from paying the premium for an SSD? What, if anything, do you need to do differently with an SSD? Read on as we cut through  the new-product-haze surrounding Solid State Drives. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video] Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More Glowing Chess Set Combines LEDs, Chess, and DIY Electronics Fun Peaceful Alpine River on a Sunny Day [Wallpaper] Fast Society Creates Mini and Mobile Temporary Social Networks

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• The Low Down Dirty Azure Blues

  - by SGWellens

  Remember the SETI screen savers that used to be on everyone's computer? As far I as know, it was the first bona-fide use of "Cloud" computing…albeit an ad hoc cloud. I still think it was a brilliant leveraging of computing power. My interest in clouds was re-piqued when I went to a technical seminar at the local .Net User Group. The speaker was Mike Benkovitch and he expounded magnificently on the virtues of the Azure platform. Mike always does a good job. One killer reason he gave for cloud computing is instant scalability. Not applicable for most applications, but it is there if needed. I have a bunch of files stored on Microsoft's SkyDrive platform which is cloud storage. It is painfully slow. Accessing a file means going through layers and layers of software, redirections and security. Am I complaining? Hell no! It's free! So my opinions of Cloud Computing are both skeptical and appreciative. What intrigued me at the seminar, in addition to its other features, is that Azure can serve as a web hosting platform. I have a client with an Asp.Net web site I developed who is not happy with the performance of their current hosting service. I checked the cost of Azure and since the site has low bandwidth/space requirements the cost would be competitive with the existing host provider: Azure Pricing Calculator. And, Azure has a three month free trial. Perfect! I could try moving the website and see how it works for free. I went through the signup process. Everything was proceeding fine until I went to the MS SQL database management screen. A popup window informed me that I needed to install Silverlight on my machine. Silverlight? No thanks. Buh-Bye. I half-heartedly found the Azure support button and logged a ticket telling them I didn't want Silverlight on my machine. Within 4 to 6 hours (and a myriad (5) of automated support emails) they sent me a link to a database management page that did not require Silverlight. Thanks! I was able to create a database immediately. One really nice feature was that after creating the database, I was given a list of connection strings. I went to the current host provider, made a backup of the database and saved it to my machine. I attached to the remote database using SQL Server Studio 2012 and looked for the Restore menu item. It was missing. So I tried using the SQL command: RESTORE DATABASE MyDatabase FROM DISK ='C:\temp\MyBackup.bak' Msg 40510, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 Statement 'RESTORE DATABASE' is not supported in this version of SQL Server. Are you kidding me? Why on earth…? This can't be happening! I opened both the source database and destination database in SQL Management Studio. I right clicked the source database, selected "Tasks" and noticed a menu selection called "Deploy Database to SQL Azure" Are you kidding me? Could it be? Oh yes, it be! There was a small problem because the database already existed on the Azure machine, I deployed to a new name, deleted the existing database and renamed the deployed database to what I needed. It was ridiculously easy. Being able to attach SQL Management Studio to remote databases is an awesome but scary feature. You can limit the IP addresses that can access the database which enhances security but when you give people, any people, me included, that much power, one errant mouse click could bring a live system down. My Advice: Tread softly and carry a large backup thumb-drive. Then I created a web site, the URL it returned look something like this: http://MyWebSite.azurewebsites.net/ Azure supports FTP, but I couldn't figure out the settings until I downloaded the publishing profile. It was an XML file that contained the needed information. I still couldn't connect with my FTP client (FileZilla). After about an hour of messing around, I deleted the port number from the FileZilla setup page….and voila, I was in like Flynn.   There are other options of deploying directly from Visual Studio, TFS, etc. but I do not like integrated tools that do things without my asking: It's usually hard to figure out what they did and how to undo it. I uploaded the aspx , cs , webconfig, etc. files. Bu it didn't run. The site I ported was in .NET 3.5. The Azure website configuration page gave me a choice between .NET 2.0 and 4.0. So, I switched to Visual Studio 2010, chose .NET 4.0 and upgraded the site. Of course I have the original version completely backed up and stored in a granite cave beneath the Nevada desert. And I have a backup CD under my pillow. The site uses ReportViewer to generate PDF documents. Of course it was the wrong version. I removed the old references to version 9 and added new references to version 10 (*see note below). Since the DLLs were not on the Azure Server, I uploaded them to the bin directory, crossed my fingers, burned some incense and gave it a try. After some fiddling around it ran. I don't know if I did anything particular to make it work or it just needed time to sort things out. However, one critical feature didn't work: ReportViewer could not programmatically generate PDF documents. I was getting this exception: "An error occurred during local report processing. Parameter is not valid." Rats. I did some searching and found other people were having the same problem, so I added a post saying I was having the same problem: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsazurewebsitespreview/thread/b4a6eb43-0013-435f-9d11-00ee26a8d017 Currently they are looking into this problem and I am waiting for the results. Hence I had the time to write this BLOG entry. How lucky you are. This was the last message I got from the Microsoft person: Hi Steve, Windows Azure Web Sites is a multi-tenant environment. For security issue, we limited some API calls. Unfortunately, some GDI APIS required by the PDF converting function are in this list. We have noticed this issue, and still investigation the best way to go. At this moment, there is no news to share. Sorry about this. Will keep you posted. If I had to guess, I would say they are concerned with people uploading images and doing intensive graphics programming which would hog CPU time.  But that is just a guess. Another problem. While trying to resolve the ReportViewer problem, I tried to write a file to the PDF directory to see if there was a permissions problem with some test code: String MyPath = MapPath(@"~\PDFs\Test.txt"); File.WriteAllText(MyPath, "Hello Azure");     I got this message: Access to the path <my path> is denied. After some research, I understood that since Azure is a cloud based platform, it can't allow web applications to save files to local directories. The application could be moved or replicated as scaling occurs and trying to manage local files would be problematic to say the least. There are other options: Use the Azure APIs to get a path. That way the location of the storage is separated from the application. However, the web site is then tied Azure and can't be moved to another hosting platform. Use the ApplicationData folder (not recommended). Write to BLOB storage. Or, I could try and stream the PDF output directly to the email and not save a file. I'm not going to work on a final solution until the ReportViewer is fixed. I am just sharing some of the things you need to be aware of if you decide to use Azure. I got this information from here. (Note the author of the BLOG added a comment saying he has updated his entry). Is my memory faulty? While getting this BLOG ready, I tried to write the test file again. And it worked. My memory is incorrect, or much more likely, something changed on the server…perhaps while they are trying to get ReportViewer to work. (Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it). *Note: Since Visual Studio 2010 Express doesn't include a Report Editor, I downloaded and installed SQL Server Report Builder 2.0. It is a standalone Report Editor to replace the one not in Visual Studio 2010 Express. I hope someone finds this useful. Steve Wellens CodeProject

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• Trace Your Browser’s Roots on the Browser Family Tree [Infographic]

  - by ETC

  The world of browsers is far more diverse than a glance at the big four browsers might lead you to believe. Check out the roots of your browser in the Browser Family Tree. You’re likely aware of mainstream browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera, but do you know where they came from? That many of them share a common forefather? Not only that but what about lesser known browsers like Tamaya and OmniWeb? The browser family tree is a diverse thing. Hit up the link below to check out the full Browser Family Tree. Browser Family Tree [Wikipedia via Hotlinks] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Macs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple? MacX DVD Ripper Pro is Free for How-To Geek Readers (Time Limited!) HTG Explains: What’s a Solid State Drive and What Do I Need to Know? How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Sync Blocker Stops iTunes from Automatically Syncing The Journey to the Mystical Forest [Wallpaper] Trace Your Browser’s Roots on the Browser Family Tree [Infographic] Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video] Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More

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• Favorite Programmer Quotes…

  - by SGWellens

    "A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing." — Emo Philips   "There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't. " – Unknown.   "Premature optimization is the root of all evil." — Donald Knuth   "I should have become a doctor; then I could bury my mistakes." — Unknown   "Code softly and carry a large backup thumb drive." — Me   "Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live." — Martin Golding   "DDE…the protocol from hell"— Charles Petzold   "Just because a thing is new don't mean that it's better" — Will Rogers   "The mark of a mature programmer is willingness to throw out code you spent time on when you realize it's pointless." — Bram Cohen   "A good programmer is someone who looks both ways before crossing a one-way street." — Doug Linder   "The early bird may get the worm but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese." — Unknown   I hope someone finds this amusing. Steve Wellens CodeProject

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• Macs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple?

  - by Eric Z Goodnight

  Chances are you have at least one “creative” friend who’s a Mac advocate. Ever wondered how Apple got a reputation as the “creative company,” or why artists are so drawn to them? Surely, computers can’t make you creative, can they? Maybe you’re an avid Mac Hater, or maybe you’re an Apple advocate—chances are you’ve heard of this myth and wonder why people all seem to think this way. Take a look through the history of Apple, and see why Macintosh has become so synonymous with desktop publishing, photography, creativity, and design industries. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Macs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple? MacX DVD Ripper Pro is Free for How-To Geek Readers (Time Limited!) HTG Explains: What’s a Solid State Drive and What Do I Need to Know? How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Sync Blocker Stops iTunes from Automatically Syncing The Journey to the Mystical Forest [Wallpaper] Trace Your Browser’s Roots on the Browser Family Tree [Infographic] Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video] Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More

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• Apple’s Sep 10th event confirmed. iPhone 5S and low cost iPhone 5C launch is expected

  - by Gopinath

  The much rumored Apple event on September 10th is confirmed. Apple sent official event invitations to media houses and popular bloggers across the globe with the title "This should brighten your day". For the past couple of months there are a lot of speculations on next generation iPhone. Media and bloggers are dubbing it as iPhone 5S and rumored to have finger print sensor for biometric authentication, 12- or 13-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, and a gold-colored variant. Another speculated surprise Apple may pull out is a low cost variant of iPhone called as iPhone 5C. In order to fight Android penetration, Apple is speculated to announce a plastic iPhone in multiple bold colors similar to the Nokia phones. The new iPhones will be running on iOS 7, a new flat UI which is drastically different from previous versions. iOS 7 is in beta for several months and it heavily barrowed user interface clues from Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system. What ever Apple is going to introduce on September 10th, gadget freaks and investors are eagerly waiting to see if Apple can continue innovating after Steve Jobs. Since 2011 this is the big launch

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• Your finger prints may unlock your iPhone and it’s digital wallets

  - by Gopinath

  The next version of iPhone is going to have a biometric sensor which may allow your finger prints to authenticate and authorize – unlock the device, sign in to an account, authorize a credit card transaction, etc . The iOS 7 beta 4 released couple of days ago had many traces of biometric software libraries embedded in the OS and they make it pretty clear that Apple is preparing a new iPhone with finger sensor. Biometric sensors are not something new in digital devices. Most of us have been already using them on your laptops to unlock the computers as well as to launch applications. Though these sensors are available in many devices, they are hardly reliable. My personal laptop has a biometric sensor and half of the time either it does not work or it does not recognize my finger prints. When works, it works like a charm and very easy to unlock my device. But Apple is known for delivering great products by nailing down technical challenges and blending technology with beautiful user interfaces.  They had been doing when Steve Jobs was leading the pack and hope his legacy will be carried forward by Tim Cook by delivering amazing products in coming months.  I expect iPhone finger sensors to work flawlessly. Photo credit: flickr/nettsu

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• Sync Blocker Stops iTunes from Automatically Syncing

  - by ETC

  If you’re looking to put a end to iTunes overly aggressive syncing, Sync Blocker is a free application that puts an end to automatic iTunes synchronization and keeps your iPad, iPhone, iPod, and iPod Touch data from being accidentally deleted. There are settings within iTunes you can toggle and even keyboard shortcuts you can use to temporarily suspend the syncing while mounting your iOS device. If you want to skip that hassle, however, and rest easy knowing that your iOS device will only be synced and updated when you give an explicit go ahead, Sync Blocker is a free application for both Windows and Mac OS X machines that completely blocks iTunes from syncing without your permission. Previously $22, Sync Blocker is now free. Hit up the link below for additional information and to grab a copy of the software. Sync Blocker [Zelek Software via Addictive Tips] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Macs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple? MacX DVD Ripper Pro is Free for How-To Geek Readers (Time Limited!) HTG Explains: What’s a Solid State Drive and What Do I Need to Know? How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Sync Blocker Stops iTunes from Automatically Syncing The Journey to the Mystical Forest [Wallpaper] Trace Your Browser’s Roots on the Browser Family Tree [Infographic] Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video] Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More

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• Etch a Circuit Board using a Simple Homemade Mixture

  - by ETC

  If you’ve been dabbling in DIY electronics projects but you’re not so excited about keeping strong acids around to etch your circuit boards, this simple DIY recipe uses common household chemicals in lieu of strong acid. Electronics hobbyist Stephen Hobley wanted to see if he could create an etching solution that wasn’t as dangerous and noxious smelling at traditional muriatic acid solutions. By combining regular white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and table salt, he created a homemade etching solution from ingredients safe enough to store in your pantry. The only downside to his recipe is that, compared to traditional etching solutions, the process takes a little bit longer so you’ll have to leave your board in the solution longer. Not a bad trade off for the ability to skip using any oops-I-burned-my-skin-off acids. Check out the process in the video below: Hit up the link below for more information and and interesting explanation of the chemical process (he talks about not quite understanding it in the video but two chemists write in and give him the full run down). DIY Etching Solution [Stephen Hobley via Make] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Macs Don’t Make You Creative! So Why Do Artists Really Love Apple? MacX DVD Ripper Pro is Free for How-To Geek Readers (Time Limited!) HTG Explains: What’s a Solid State Drive and What Do I Need to Know? How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Etch a Circuit Board using a Simple Homemade Mixture Sync Blocker Stops iTunes from Automatically Syncing The Journey to the Mystical Forest [Wallpaper] Trace Your Browser’s Roots on the Browser Family Tree [Infographic] Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video]

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• Five Bucks says you’ll Bookmark this Site: jsFiddle.net

  - by SGWellens

  In my never-ending wandering of technical web sites, I've been encountering links to jsFiddle.net more and more. Why? Because it is an incredibly useful site: It is a great 'sandbox' to play in. You can test, modify and retest HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. It is a great way to communicate technical issues and share code samples. There are four screen areas: Three inputs* and one output: The three inputs are: HTML CSS JavaScript The output is: The rendered result Here's a cropped screen shot: What am I thinking? Here's the actual page: Demo *There are other inputs. You can select the level of HTML you want to run against (HTM5, HTML4.01 Strict, etc). You can add various versions of JavaScript libraries (jQuery, MooTools, YUI, etc.). Many other options are available. If I wanted to share this code with someone manually, they would have to copy and paste three separate code chunks into their development environment. And maybe load some external libraries. Not many people are willing to make such an effort. Instead, with jsFiddler, they can just go to the link and click Run. Awesome. I hope someone finds this useful (and I was kidding about the five bucks). Steve Wellens CodeProject

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• Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2)

  - by Bakhtiyor

  I have mailserver configure using dovecot+postfix+mysql and it was runnig fine in the server(Ubuntu Server). But during last week it stopped working correctly. It doesn't send email. When I try to telnet localhost smtp I'm connecting successfully but when I do mail from:<[email protected]> and hit Enter it hangs on, nothing happen. Having reviewed /var/log/mail.log file I've found out that probably(99%) the problem is on postfix when it is trying to connect to MySQL server. If you see the log file given below you can see that it says Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2). Nov 14 21:54:36 ns1 dovecot: dovecot: Killed with signal 15 (by pid=7731 uid=0 code=kill) Nov 14 21:54:36 ns1 dovecot: Dovecot v1.2.9 starting up (core dumps disabled) Nov 14 21:54:36 ns1 dovecot: auth-worker(default): mysql: Connected to localhost (mailserver) Nov 14 21:54:44 ns1 postfix/postfix-script[7753]: refreshing the Postfix mail system Nov 14 21:54:44 ns1 postfix/master[1670]: reload -- version 2.7.0, configuration /etc/postfix Nov 14 21:54:52 ns1 postfix/trivial-rewrite[7759]: warning: connect to mysql server localhost: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) Nov 14 21:54:52 ns1 postfix/trivial-rewrite[7759]: fatal: mysql:/etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-alias-maps.cf(0,lock|fold_fix): table lookup problem Nov 14 21:54:53 ns1 postfix/master[1670]: warning: process /usr/lib/postfix/trivial-rewrite pid 7759 exit status 1 Nov 14 21:54:53 ns1 postfix/cleanup[7397]: warning: problem talking to service rewrite: Connection reset by peer Nov 14 21:54:53 ns1 postfix/master[1670]: warning: /usr/lib/postfix/trivial-rewrite: bad command startup -- throttling Nov 14 21:54:53 ns1 postfix/smtpd[7071]: warning: problem talking to service rewrite: Success I tried netstat -ln | grep mysql and it returns unix 2 [ ACC ] STREAM LISTENING 5817 /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock. The content of /etc/postfix/mysql-virtual-alias-maps.cf file is here: user = stevejobs password = apple hosts = localhost dbname = mailserver query = SELECT destination FROM virtual_aliases WHERE source='%s' Here I tried to change hosts = 127.0.0.1 but it says warning: connect to mysql server 127.0.0.1: Can't connect to MySQL server on '127.0.0.1' (110) So, I am lost and don't know where else to change in order to solve the problem. Any help would be appreciated highly. Thank you.

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• 4 Top Tips from the Exceptional DBA Award judges

  - by Rebecca Amos

  There's still time to celebrate your achievements as a DBA – or those of a DBA you know – by submitting a nomination for the Exceptional DBA Awards 2011. To help you get started, here are some top tips from the judges on what they're looking for from this year's winner [hint: it's very likely you're already exceptional!]: "An Exceptional DBA must be able to communicate effectively and clearly with both technical people and the client." Steve Jones. "Exceptional DBAs are like police officers: we're here to serve and protect. Both serving and protecting are vital parts of the job, and we can't just focus on one." Brent Ozar "DBA work can be routine. Exceptional DBAs are enthusiastic about their work and are rarely bored, as there is always something new to learn and master." Brad McGehee. "Remember that cost is an important factor for your company. The ability to save your company money with a different technical solution will make you an Exceptional DBA, and can make you exceptionally well liked." Rodney Landrum. So whether you've brought a team together for a project, taken steps to protect the security of your servers, or learnt a new topic to understand an element of your job better, it's likely you’re already taking the steps that make you the Exceptional DBA the judges are looking for. To get more insider info from the judges, download your free poster of their top tips, and then get started on your entry: www.exceptionaldba.com.

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• Code Bubbles: Disruption comes to the IDE

  - by andrewbrust

  If you’re like me, you might see the open source Eclipse IDE as a copy or, more generously, a port of the Microsoft’s Visual Studio for the non-.NET world.  It’s not that Microsoft invented the IDE (I would credit Borland with that), but they really took the idea and ran with it for the first version of Visual Studio .NET in 2002.  The question is whether someone outside of Microsoft could take the modern IDE yet another major step forward in both principle and productivity. I think that has actually happened already, and I think the innovator in question is a second-year Computer Science PhD student at Brown, named Andrew Bragdon.  His project, which he calls Code Bubbles, is an IDE that allows for editing, debugging and exploration of code in “bubbles” which remind me a little bit of the discrete note tiles on OneNote…but they’re much more than that.  Bubbles actually allow for call stack traversal, saved debug sessions, sophisticated breakpoint and value watch behaviors and more.  And because bubbles, unlike windows, are borderless, and focus on code fragments rather than whole files, the de-cluttering effect is unbelievably liberating.  The best way to understand what Code Bubbles does is to watch the screencast video:     Code Bubbles is an IDE for Java development.  Why didn’t Microsoft come up with something like this for .NET devs?  Between the existing features in Visual Studio 2010, its WPF code editor, and the fact that OneNote’s UI bears some affinity to Code Bubbles’, it’s interesting that Microsoft still has not thought outside of its own “box” to get us something like this. Heck, that’s easy for me to say.  But it’s easy for you to say that you’d like something like this in Visual Studio sometime soon.  That’s because the ASP.NET site within UserVoice is taking votes on this very issue.  Just click this link and vote! Thanks to my fellow Microsoft Regional Director Sondre Bjellås for making me aware of Code Bubbles, and to RD Steve Smith for creating the UserVoice voting option.

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• "Oracle Fusion Is Worth Your Consideration," States Mark Smith of Ventana Research

  - by Richard Lefebvre

  After attending OOW 2012, Mark Smith of Ventana Research has written a great blog post on Oct 4th, 2012 titled "Oracle Fusion for CRM and HCM Ready with a Mobile Tap." In this blog post, Mark goes on to say: "It was a great opportunity to get close to the Oracle Fusion Applications, which the company presented as proven and ready, with customers using them on-premises and in private and public cloud computing usage methods. In keynotes from executives Larry Ellison, Mark Hurd and Thomas Kurian and application-focused sessions with executives Steve Miranda and Chris Leone, Oracle repeated the message that Fusion Applications are not just for cloud computing and web services but are also accessible through mobile technology called Oracle Fusion Tap that operates natively on the Apple iPad. The company left no confusion about its applications' readiness for cloud and mobile computing, and provided insight into future advancements." Mark also states: " After two days of Oracle and customer sessions, along with a visit to the demonstration stands in the exposition area, it was clear that Oracle has made an important change in its approach to the market and its executive-level commitment to Fusion Applications. I saw more dialogue with partners to complement its applications, and many announcements, including Oracle's on partners in Fusion CRM, who were also visible during presentations and demonstrations." In closing, Mark makes the following proclamation: "Oracle Fusion is worth your consideration whether you are considering a move to cloud computing or still run applications on-premises or use a hybrid approach which provides more choices to customers than just a cloud computing only approach. We are now in a renaissance of business driving what it needs from business applications, and vendors that convince business they can be trusted will be at the center of a new world of cloud, mobile and social computing." This post is really worth a read. You can find the entire post here.

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• SyncToBlog #10 Lots of Azure and Cloud Links including MIX10 videos

  - by Eric Nelson

  Just getting a few interesting cloud links “down on paper”. I last did one of these on Azure in Feb 20010. Cloud Links: Article on Debugging in the Cloud http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/azurescale  A sample app that demonstrates monitoring and automatically scaling an Azure application in response to dropping performance etc. Basically a console app that checks perf stats and then uses the Service Management API to spin up new instances when needed. Azure In Action book is imminent :) Running Memcached in Windows Azure from the MS UK team Using Microsoft Codename Dallas as a data source for Drupal also from the MS UK team I often mention them – but this post is the biz! Metodi on fault and upgrade domains Detailed blog post on comparing Azure AppFabric Service Bus REST support to the free Faye Ruby+JavaScript gem that implements the JSON publish/subscribe protocol Bayeux. AppFabric LABS allow you to test out and play with experimental AppFabric technologies. Details of the upcoming VM support in Windows Azure Nice series of posts from J D Meier in the Patterns and Practice team How To Use ASP.NET Forms Auth with Azure Tables  How To Use ASP.NET Forms Auth with Roles in Azure Tables How To Use ASP.NET Forms Auth with SQL Server on Windows Azure And sessions from MIX10 held March 15th to 17th: Lap around the Windows Azure Platform – Steve Marx Building and Deploying Windows Azure Based Applications with Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 – Jim Nakashima Building PHP Applications using the Windows Azure Platform – Craig Kitterman, Sumit Chawla Using Ruby on Rails to Build Windows Azure Applications – Sriram Krishnan Microsoft Project Code Name “Dallas": Data for your apps – Moe Khosravy Using Storage in the Windows Azure Platform – Chris Auld Building Web Applications with Windows Azure Storage – Brad Calder Building Web Application with Microsoft SQL Azure – David Robinson Connecting Your Applications in the Cloud with Windows Azure AppFabric – Clemens Vasters Microsoft Silverlight and Windows Azure: A Match Made for the Web – Matt Kerner Something for everyone :)

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• Free Windows Azure event next Monday in London (29th March)

  - by Eric Nelson

  I just heard that we still have spaces for this event happening next week (29th March 2010). Whilst the event is designed for start-ups, I’m sure nobody would notice if you snuck in :-) Just keep it to yourself ;-) Register using invitation code: 79F2AB. Hope to see you there. The agenda is looking pretty swish: 09:00 – 09:30 Registration 09:30 - 10:15 Keynote  ‘I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now....’– John Taysom, Active Seed Investor 10:15 - 10:45   The Microsoft Vision for Cloud Computing – Steve Clayton, Director Software + Services, EMEA 10:45 - 11:00   Break 11:00 - 12:30 “Windows Azure in Real World” – hear from startups that have built their business around the Azure platform, moderated by Alistair Beagley, Azure UK Developer and Platform Lead 12:30 - 13:15 Lunch and networking  13:15 - 14:15  Breakout Tracks, moderated by our Azure Experts 1. Windows Azure Technical Overview - David Gristwood, Application Architect, Microsoft 2. SQL Azure Technical Overview – Eric Nelson, Application Architect, Microsoft 3. Commercial insight into Windows Azure and what this means for BizSpark Start-ups - Simon Karn, Commercial Lead, UK Windows Azure Incubation Team, Microsoft 14:15 - 14:30 Session change over 14:30 - 15:30   Breakout Tracks, moderated by our Azure Experts 1. SQL Azure Technical Overview (repeat) - Eric Nelson, Application Architect, Microsoft 2. Deep dive into Windows Azure – Neil Kidd, Architect, Microsoft Technology Centre 3. Lessons Learnt - Windows Azure in the Real World interactive session – Two customers hosted by Matt Deacon, Enterprise Architect, Microsoft 15:30 - 16:00 Break & Session change over 16:00 - 17:00 Breakout Tracks, moderated by our Azure Experts 1. PHP / Ruby on Azure Simon Davies, Architect, UK Windows Azure Incubation Team, Microsoft 2. Commercial insight into Windows Azure and what this means for BizSpark Start-ups (repeat) - Simon Karn, Commercial Lead, UK Windows Azure Incubation Team, Microsoft 3. Lessons Learnt - Windows Azure in the Real World interactive session #2 Two customers hosted by Matt Deacon, Enterprise Architect, Microsoft 17:00 - 18:00 Pitches and Judging 18:15 Wrap-up and close 18:15 - 20:00 Drinks & Networking

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• Visual Studio ALM MVP of the Year 2011

  - by Martin Hinshelwood

  For some reason this year some of my peers decided to vote for me as a contender for Visual Studio ALM MVP of the year. I am not sure what I did to deserve this, but a number of people have commented that I have a rather useful blog. I feel wholly unworthy to join the ranks of previous winners: Ed Blankenship (2010) Martin Woodward (2009) Thank you to everyone who voted regardless of who you voted for. If there was a prize for the best group of MVP’s then the Visual Studio ALM MVP would be a clear winner, as would the product group of product groups that is Visual Studio ALM Group. To use a phrase that I have learned since moving to Seattle and probably use too much: you guys are all just awesome. I have tried my best in the last year to document not only every problem that I have had with Team Foundation Server (TFS), but also to document as many of the things I am doing as possible. I have taken some of Adam Cogan’s rules to heart and when a customer asks me a question I always blog the answer and send them a link. This allows both my blog and my understanding of TFS to grow while creating a useful bank of content. The idea is that if one customer asks, all benefit. I try, when writing for my blog, to capture both the essence and the context for a problem being solved. This allows more people to benefit as they do not need to understand the specifics of an environment to gain value. I have a number of goals for this year that I think will help increase value in the community: persuade my new colleagues at Northwest Cadence to do more blogging (Steve, Jeff, Shad and Rennie) Rangers Project – TFS Iteration Automation with Willy-Peter Schaub, Bill Essary, Martin Hinshelwood, Mike Fourie, Jeff Bramwell and Brian Blackman Write a book on the Team Foundation Server API with Willy-Peter Schaub, Mike Fourie and Jeff Bramwell write more useful blog posts I do not think that these things are beyond the realms of do-ability, but we will see…

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• WebLogic Weekly for June 20th, 2011

  - by james.bayer

  Welcome the first the first edition of the WebLogic Weekly.  The WebLogic Server team has been trying to extend our community outreach to new mediums like an Oracle WebLogic Youtube Channel (how-to videos and feature showcases), Twitter (sharing WebLogic links, typically blogs), and a Facebook page to do a better job sharing information, providing learning alternatives to product documentation and perhaps most importantly collecting feedback from all of our users using the tools they prefer.  This is our attempt to provide a round-up what has been going on in WebLogic over the past week.  If you would like to have something shared here, use the #weblogic tag on tweets, post on the Oracle WebLogic facebook page, or comment on these blog entries. Blogs WebLogic Server: Listing Groups of an Authenticated User by Steve Button Weblogic, QBrowser And Topics by Eric Elzinga Weblogic, Topics And (Non)-Durable Subscribers by Eric Elzinga Database Web Service using Toplink DB Provider by Vishal Jain WebLogic Server – Use the Execution Context ID in Applications – Lessons From Hansel and Gretel by James Bayer Getting All Server’s Lifecycle State in a Domain by Jay SenSharma Steps to Move Messages From One Queue To Another Queue Using WLST (Updated Version) by Ravish Mody Events If you want to share a story of something innovative you or your organization has done with WebLogic Server or other Fusion Middleware, you could win a pass to Oracle Open World 2011 and share the story there.  See Ruma Sanyal's posting on the Application Grid blog for details.  The deadline for submissions is July 22nd, 2011.

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• Desktop Fun: Music Icon Packs

  - by Asian Angel

  If you really love music and want to liven up your desktop then get ready to create a desktop concert with our Music Icon Packs collection. Note: To customize the icon setup on your Windows 7 & Vista systems see our article here. Using Windows XP? We have you covered here. Sneak Preview For our desktop example we decided to go with a touch of anime musical fun. The icons used are from the Guitar Icons set shown below. Note: Wallpaper can be found here. An up close look at the icons that we used… Notes icon set 1 *.png format only Download Notes icon set 2 *.png format only Download Notes icon set 3 *.png format only Download Notes icon set 4 *.png format only Download Big Band Set 1 *.ico format only Download Big Band Set 2 *.ico format only Download Acoustic Guitars *.ico and .png format Download Acoustic Guitar *.ico format only Download Guitar Icons *.ico format only Download Guiter Skulll *.ico format only Download Dented Music *.ico format only Download Music Icons *.ico format only Download Ipod Mini *.ico format only Download MP3 Players Icons *.ico format only Download MusicPhones icon *.ico and .png format Download Wanting more great icon sets to look through? Be certain to visit our Desktop Fun section for more icon goodness! Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Desktop Fun: Video Game Icon PacksDesktop Fun: Sci-Fi Icons Packs Series 2Why Did Windows Vista’s Music Folder Icon Turn Yellow?Restore Missing Desktop Icons in Windows 7 or VistaAdd Home Directory Icon to the Desktop in Windows 7 or Vista TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips HippoRemote Pro 2.2 Xobni Plus for Outlook All My Movies 5.9 CloudBerry Online Backup 1.5 for Windows Home Server Download Songs From MySpace Steve Jobs’ iPhone 4 Keynote Video Watch World Cup Online On These Sites Speed Up Windows With ReadyBoost Awesome World Cup Soccer Calendar Nice Websites To Watch TV Shows Online

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• Glowing Chess Set Combines LEDs, Chess, and DIY Electronics Fun

  - by ETC

  Anyone who says that the centuries old game of Chess cannot be improved upon has obviously never played with a glowing chess board. Today we take a look at a cheap glass chess set modded to glow from within. Instructables user Tetranitrate had a glass chess set he scored on-the-cheap and had always wanted to illuminate it in some way. He ruled out illuminating the board itself (no good way to keep track of the piece colors) and putting a battery in each piece (too big of a pain, over complicates the design). His final solution, the one seen in the photo here, was to build a wood and copper board, run a low voltage across the surface of the chess board, and affix a conductive copper ring to the bottom of each chess piece to power the LED embedded inside. In this manner the pieces would glow on the board and then go dark as soon as they were removed from play. Hit up the link below for additional details on the build and instructions on building your own. LED Chess Set [Instructables] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video] Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More Glowing Chess Set Combines LEDs, Chess, and DIY Electronics Fun Peaceful Alpine River on a Sunny Day [Wallpaper] Fast Society Creates Mini and Mobile Temporary Social Networks

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