Simple ClearType Config

ClearType Setup: "ClearType delivers improved font display quality over traditional forms of font smoothing or anti-aliasing. ClearType improves readability on color LCD displays with a digital interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat panel displays. Readability on CRT screens can also be somewhat improved. "

Nice intro article on blogs

StreamLine :: How Blogs Work in 7 Easy Pieces: "How Blogs Work in 7 Easy Pieces "

Am I the kiss of death - or what?

I added weatherpixie to my site - it is now dead
I added a Feedster ATOM->RSS converter - it is now dead.

does anyone want to pay me to link to a competitor site?

More Architecture reading To Do

Crossing the Border: Service Boundaries and Architecture:

"In the creation of Service Oriented Architectures, service boundaries define the interactions between applications. Internal to those applications is the concept of tier boundaries and component boundaries. Which technology should you use to communicate across these boundaries?"

Virtual networks

Virtual networks with Virtual Server 2005:

OutlookPower Magazine Syndication

OutlookPower Magazine on your Web site:
This is a really good source of stuff microsoft & Outlook related.

Great Quote

'The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.'
Dorothy Parker

Where is the Weather Pixie?

I can normally go here

WeatherPixie at Auckland Airport

but the link is dead - is it just me (corporate firewall maybe)?

A Warm Kiwi Welcome

DevHawk - Passion * Technology * Ruthless Competence: "Architecture Down Under
I'm off for New Zealand today"

J2EE or .NET?

The Smart Choice for Smart Clients: J2EE or .NET?: "So Which Framework Should I Use, .NET or J2EE?
Unfortunately, the decision between frameworks still has no clear-cut choice. J2EE has more to offer in terms of no-touch deployment, but only .NET provides pre-packaged synchronization logic and in-memory manipulation of DataSets. As with all applications, choosing the right technology depends heavily on your specific application's functional and technical requirements. "

Blog Boom

Technorati tracks 3 million blogs
"We're seeing over 275,000 individual posts every day. That means that on average, more than 3 blogs are updated every second. The median time from when someone posts something to their weblog to when it is indexed and available for searches on Technorati is 7 minutes. And we're striving to handle the load. But to be perfectly frank, it isn't easy."

You THINK!

IMHO This service really rocks. Tecnocrato has received some flak but just like Christopher Carfi I think these guys should be given a loud round of applause.

I Want one

NASA to build 10,240-processor Linux computer:

NASA Calls it Project Columbia. The 10,240-processor system will be used to design equipment, simulate future space missions and model weather patterns. The Ames system uses 512-processor nodes, each of which will have more than 1,000 gigabytes of memory.

Linux creator Linus Torvalds said in an email interview "Scaling up to ... 512 CPU's is pretty damn studly, Putting 20 of them in a cluster and making them be programmable as a single machine is pretty hot."

Behold, The man with the plan

Pat Helland's Video page
> The Nerd, the Suit, and the Fortune Teller
> Metropolis
> Autonomous Computing

A whole bunch of Office updates released today

Microsoft has released a number of Office 2003 updates today.

• OneNote SP1.
• Service Pack 1 releases for the Office 2003 Suite, Visio 2003, and Project 2003.
• Updated Junk Filter

Interestingly, Microsoft is offering two different downloads for each SP1 release - a full installer (big) and a special installer for those who have their original installation CD at hand (much smaller).  - you haver to clicl the Mote Information link to find this out.

Go to the Office Update web site to determine which updates are available for your system.

Following in Nic's footsteps

Back up and running. Kinda.: Tis the season for laptops to die badly - just before Tech Ed - at least I get to take a clean PC.

Architecture Update

.NET Architecture Center: : Messaging Patterns in Service-Oriented Architecture, Part 1: must look at this

Upgrade or Die?

InfoWorld: Microsoft invests $50M to spur Windows, Office upgrades: "Many businesses continue to rely on older version of Windows on the desktop. Research firm Gartner Inc. in a poll of attendees at its U.S. Symposium in October last year found that only 14 percent of attendees had upgraded to the three year-old Windows XP. The poll, answered by 186 people, represented more than 1.3 million desktops and 460,000 laptops. "

The other day I used Office 97 on Windows 95. you know it still works!
I could type a letter, insert graphics, print it, file it, search for it.
Comparing 97 to 2003 I find that setting up tables is just as confusing and bullets & auto-numbering is still brain dead. When I go to a ramdom place in the document hit the delete key it is still a game of russian roulette as to what formatting will be applied, and deleting inside a bullet list is something only to be tried AFTER prozac.

After squillions of R&D could they please fix this stuff and not worry about reference book look-up, online collaboration (does ANYONE use this)

And while we are at it why does Windows still forget that I prefer detailed list view in explorer.

Brilliant marketing idea

the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company: "'Ask inside! We can custom-order alter egos.' Promising capes, masks and shrinking gas, the sign adds, 'If we don't have it, a superhero doesn't need it.'

Further curiosities lie within. In the rear, past floor-to-ceiling shelves bearing grappling hooks and utility belts, a secret door masked by a steel bookshelf swings open to reveal - shazam - a tutoring center. "

what a neat idea to make tutoring fun for students (and make a buck while you are at it)

Reality TV we all want to avoid

UserFriendly Jul 19 2004

It had to happen one day

First Windows CE virus emerges: "A virus designed to demonstrate security holes in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows CE operating system but not to cause damage was identified by security companies over the weekend. "

Sounds like a yawn - but is actually quite cool.

Microsoft Office Information Bridge Framework: "The Microsoft Office Information Bridge Framework is an infrastructure and toolset that enables powerful Office-based solutions. Using Information Bridge, developers can create solutions that connect Microsoft Office System programs to line-of-business systems in an intuitive, cost-effective way. These solutions extend the value of the Microsoft Office System by providing the ability for information workers to consume line-of-business data that is, to view, retrieve, and act on critical business information within the Microsoft Office applications. "

this leads to
Office Zealot:
and
IBF Home:

More on Asperger's

What are the diagnostic criteria of Asperger's Disorder?: "All six criteria must be met for confirmation of diagnosis.?"

Lookout!

Why did microsoft buy out Lookout?: "Think of it this way: You find pencils to be useful, but you always run out of erasers, so you buy those extra eraser blocks. They aren't critical, but it makes a big difference to your experience. Suddenly Bic buys the eraser block makers and takes them off the market. When you ask what's going on, Bic says, 'We're busy working to integrate eraser blocks into our new highlighters'.

Lookout's technology might make sense in MSN, but it also made sense in Outlook. The question is, why is it now unavailable for it's originally intended purpose? "

Sometimes Common sense wins.

DotComGuy Goes Bust and Changes Name: "The man who legally changed his name to DotComGuy changed it back Tuesday - to Mitch Maddox.
In 2000, Maddox spent one year at home and living off purchases made on the Internet. Video footage of his life was streamed on the Internet 24 hours a day and attracted worldwide media attention."

When good patterns go bad

Humor: .NET Architectural Anti-Patterns: "Catastrophe oriented architecture, Pattern oriented architecture, Interface oriented architecture, XML oriented architecture "

Make it go away

New Version MSN Messenger: "What's New
Minor update: Version 6.2 Released Thursday, 22 April 2004"

I upgraded in April - Why does it still nag me to upgrade? Any replies appreciated.

Language wars

CausticTech on Language Snobs: On programmers, their love of language and the wars that they fight.

Microsoft Acquires Lookout

"Microsoft announced this week that its MSN subsidiary is purchasing Lookout Software, which makes a highly regarded email search tool for Microsoft Outlook 2003 (in a bit of irony, Outlook detractors have often referred to Outlook as Microsoft LookOut). It's unclear how MSN will leverage the Lookout technology (MSN isn't responsible for Outlook), but I expect to see the technology integrated into future versions of the MSN email client and, possibly, MSN Hotmail. However, Microsoft has announced that the Lookout Software team will be working with the MSN Search folks, which also makes me wonder if this deal is about more than just searching email." - WinInfo Update

http://www.winnetmag.com/

How to make money from receiving SPAM

Computerworld - Microsoft wins $4 million spam verdict: "According to Microsoft, the company has filed 60 lawsuits in the US against spammers in the US and other countries. Of those cases, Microsoft so far has settled four, won six by default, had one summary judgement, and had one case dismissed.

The company has been awarded $US54 million in judgments from spammers, five of whom were among the top 10 known spammers, Microsoft said. "

Pete Wright's writes about Linux

Nasty gun toting narrow minded short sighted hippies: "In short, the Linux crowd wants, once again, to puts tens of thousands of people out of work, get something for nothing, and then no doubt royally mess it up by sticking 101 different flavours of user interface on it before complaining that people in the real world 'just don't get what we're trying to do'. "

A site that is well done is a joy to behold

Auckland Traffic - Congestion report

Shame the traffic stinks.

I drive home through this

Motorway Cam: "Central Motorway Junction looking south at the link between State Highways 1 and 16"

This is really quite cool

memepool.com: "memepool
the clothes have no emperor "

Who wants to be my buddy?

Microsoft launches new developer support program: "Microsoft launched an 'Adopt an ISV' program, in which Microsoft employees are paired with software makers to offer assistance and guidance on how to work with the software giant. Already 800 Microsoft workers, including some senior executives, have signed up to be a buddy."

Online Seminars - Master List

Microsoft Online Seminars: "Welcome to Microsoft Online Seminars. Here you'll find the latest streaming media seminars presented by the experts. "

Ahh found it again

Design Patterns: "The Gang of Four (GOF) patterns are generally considered the foundation for all other patterns. They are categorized in three groups: Creational, Structural, and Behavioral. Here you will find information on these patterns "

Equally old - and good

You need Developers, not Programmers: Developers, and Programmers - thr crucial difference

On oldie but a goodie

Career Calculus: "Don't work for a manager
who is actively hindering
your practice of
constant learning.
Just don't do it."

Seven Pillars of Pretty Code

Whitepaper: Seven Pillars of Pretty Code:

"The essence of pretty code is that one can infer much about the the code's structure from a glance, without completely reading it. I call this 'visual parsing': discerning the flow and relative importance of code from its shape. Engineering such code requires a certain amount of artifice to transform otherwise working code into working, readable code, making the extra step to leave visual cues for the user, not the compiler. - Christopher Seiwald"

Great Money Quote

Seth talking blended - Oliver Thylmann's Blog: "Money is like air to people. It's essential to life, but it is not the reason of living..

I am hoping, and believing, that the current focus on the profit bit will become less important, or rather less focussed on, as it does not have as much weight for a company success as the others. This would mean that to really make a profit, your focus needs to be on something else. And that will likely be very good indeed."

Seth's Blog: Blended

who's real and who's not: All the cues we use to figure out who's real and who's not appear to be fading away.

interesting look at what makes something worth time, effort & money as social indicators vanish.

Here it is - the ultimate swiss army knife.

Victorinox Swiss champ XXLT swiss army knife. : "72 features - the addition of the Swiss Flame - & a tool for every occasion.
A fully loaded swiss army knife from the Victorinox."

OR how about this?
SWISSMEMORY USB Storage
in a VICTORINOX Pocket Knife:

VICTORINOX CyberTool : "Developed for our times when computers and electronics rule the day. Thanks to 13 different screwdrivers.
They are part of the official equipment for the NASA space-shuttle crews.

Go ahead - make my day"