Colours of the Microsoft Rainbow

AntiqueWhite, AliceBlue, Aqua, Aquamarine, Azure, Beige, Bisque, Black, BlanchedAlmond, Blue, BlueViolet, Brown, BurlyWood, CadetBlue, Chartreuse, Chocolate, Coral, CornflowerBlue, Cornsilk, Crimson, Cyan, DarkBlue, DarkCyan, DarkGoldenrod, DarkGray, DarkGreen, DarkKhaki, DarkMagenta, DarkOliveGreen, DarkOrange, DarkOrchid, DarkRed, DarkSalmon, DarkSeaGreen, DarkSlateBlue, DarkSlateGray, DarkTurquoise, DarkViolet, DeepPink, DeepSkyBlue, DimGray, DodgerBlue, Firebrick, FloralWhite, ForestGreen, Fuchsia, Gainsboro, GhostWhite, Gold, Goldenrod, Gray, Green, GreenYellow, Honeydew, HotPink, IndianRed, Indigo, Ivory, Khaki, Lavender, LavenderBlush, LawnGreen, LemonChiffon, LightBlue, LightCoral, LightCyan, LightGoldenrodYellow, LightGray, LightGreen, LightPink, LightSalmon, LightSeaGreen, LightSkyBlue, LightSlateGray, LightSteelBlue, LightYellow, Lime, LimeGreen, Linen, Magenta, Maroon, MediumAquamarine, MediumBlue, MediumOrchid, MediumPurple, MediumSeaGreen, MediumSlateBlue, MediumSpringGreen, MediumTurquoise, MediumVioletRed, MidnightBlue, MintCream, MistyRose, Moccasin, NavajoWhite, Navy, OldLace, Olive, OliveDrab, Orange, OrangeRed, Orchid, PaleGoldenrod, PaleGreen, PaleTurquoise, PaleVioletRed, PapayaWhip, PeachPuff, Peru, Pink, Plum, PowderBlue, Purple, Red, RosyBrown, RoyalBlue, SaddleBrown, Salmon, SandyBrown, SeaGreen, SeaShell, Sienna, Silver, SkyBlue, SlateBlue, SlateGray, Snow, SpringGreen, SteelBlue, Tan, Teal, Thistle, Tomato, Transparent, Turquoise, Violet, Wheat, White, WhiteSmoke, Yellow

MSDN Flash NZ, subscribe, just do it.

What time is it there? Simple, easy to use

The World Clock - Australasia / Pacific

Did you make the top 10?

Wired News: History's Worst Software Bugs: "Here, in chronological order, is the Wired News list of the 10 worst software bugs of all time � so far. "

When security goes bad.

Concurring Opinions:"The Airline Screening Playset: Hours of Fun"

The Sysadmin Song

The Sysadmin Song - avi - Google Video: "A funny song that sings the praises of System Administrators. Written by Wes Borg and Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie (deadtroll.com). "

FYI: USA Death Penalty

AM - US penalty reaches grim milestone: "Barring any last minute reprieve, convicted murderer Robin Lovitt will, tomorrow, become the 1,000th person executed since a moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in the United States in 1976."

How many GUID combinations are there?

Generating GUID Trivia:
"There are 122 random bits (128 - 2 for variant - 4 for version) so this calculates to 2^122 or 5,316,911,983,139,663,491,615,228,241,121,400,000 possible combinations."

User State Migration Tool (USMT) version 2.6.1

Download details: Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT) version 2.6.1: "This tool migrates user files and settings during large deployments of Windows 2000 or Windows XP. The USMT captures desktop, network and application settings as well as a user files, and then migrates them to a new Windows installation. (November 11, 2005)"

Requires genuine windows

Useful NZ Dates

NZ Public Holiday Dates:
2005 to 2009 State Schools Terms and Holidays:

A Survival Guide for People with Asperger Syndrome

A Survival Guide for People with Asperger Syndrome:"Chris & Gisela Slater-Walker are a married couple where one of the partners has Asperger's Syndrome. We hope to provide a positive message about Asperger's Syndrome within marriage, and to show that it is possible to maintain a functional and successful relationship.

Once - only E_Mail address

Give Out Your E-mail Address Without Fear Thanks to New Anti Spam Software Feature:
'Locked Address' concept introduced by Roaring Penguin Software allows customers to create secret e-mail addresses that only allow mail from a pre-determined sender."

I wonder if it is true?

The Pivot Point Post - We Build Smiles!: "A Fascinating Story"

Microsoft Office Live

Microsoft Office Live is coming:
"Microsoft Office Live will provide your company with its own domain name, Web site, and e-mail accounts for free."

open to U.S. residents only :(

Fuel prices NZ checkup

pricewatch

On the web you can find ANYTHING

Facts on Farts

Automagically spotting bad code

How To Make Bad Code Stick Out Like a Three-Legged Dog - The Code Project - C# Programming
"Warning - Thermonuclear Warhead: Some Detonation May Occur During Refactoring"

Is this news?

Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible
“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in The Gift of Scripture.

Time does fly by

The History of the Universe in 200 Words or Less

GO HOME, work is bad for you.

Work is Essential; But Take Care of Your Health : "It is confirmed that number of suicides, divorces, heart ailment, diabetes and mental depression are the highest in the software industry. "

Opera.is now free - with no ads either!

Welcome to Opera.com

Download it.

Fire & motion or Innovation?

Microsoft Showcases New User Interface for Office 12:

"While the Office applications have increased tremendously in power and added functionality in response to customer needs, the core UI has remained substantially unchanged for nearly 20 years. The command bar in Microsoft Office Word 2003, for example, looks much the same as the command bar in Word 2.0 did in 1998. In fact, the new UI is the biggest, most visible change to the way the core Office applications work since the introduction of the toolbar in 1997."

Joel on Software - Fire And Motion

Yet another way of making software that works just the same as the latest version appear old and crusty.
Yet another batch of controls to buy/develop to catch up with the latest look and feel.

Why not spend some time developing a version of;
1) Word that does not randomly muck up the margin / bullet / auto number / font settings
2) Access that does not bloat or crash but does work with a scroll mouse and conforms to basic Windows GUI rules
3) Excel that... well I must admit this application seems to work as it should - make it faster
4) Powerpoint that will restrict words on a page to 20 and slides in a presentation to 5 to stop DBP ;)
5) Publisher/Visio combination
6) Infopath... solution looking for a problem.

Shiver me timbers

International Talk Like A Pirate Day: "You are The Cap'n!

Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any man that stands between them and the mantle of power. You never met a man you couldn't eviscerate. Not that mindless violence is the only avenue open to you - but why take an avenue when you have complete freeway access? You are the definitive Man of Action. You are James Bond in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. Your swash was buckled long ago and you have never been so sure of anything in your life as in your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off their head if they show any sign of taking you on or backing down. You cannot be saddled with tedious underlings, but if one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.

What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!"

FYI only: Have people read your e-mail

7 Ways to Ensure Your E-mail Gets Read: "7 Ways to Ensure Your E-mail Gets Read"

Fun intro to .net programming

getexpress

Colour perception: Effect of surrounding colours

eChalk colour perception
"Our perceptionof colour is strongly affected by the surrounding colours"

Way cool.

Perfect use for a Trojan

Computerworld - New Trojan swaps porn for Koran:
"A new Trojan horse program circulating around the internet this week appears to be on a moral mission to stamp out adult websites, according to security research firm Sophos.

Instead of snooping for sensitive financial information or secretly taking control of an infected computer, the Trojan, called Yusufali-A, monitors web surfing habits. When it spots an objectionable term such as 'sex' or 'exhibition,' in the browser's title bar, it hides the website and instead pops up a message taken from the Koran, said Gregg Mastoras, a senior security analyst with Sophos."

NEEDED - someone to do this in NZ

www.sudden.co.nz:
"You can now send a mate a beer by SMS. Well, if your friend works in the City, in London. Oh hold on........I do. Hmm, interesting.

Buy a mate a beer

Brilliant piece of SQL analysis

Comparison of different SQL implementations

Top 10 Blog

Thank you the 18 individuals who voted for this blog
I made it to position 9 of 43

I would like to thank the academy...

TechEd 2005: Presentation Downloads

Microsoft New Zealand: TechEd 2005: Presentation Downloads

Does anyone want my opinion of the sessions I attended?
add a comment.

making holograms on the cheap

LASER POINTER HOLOGRAPHY:
"Creative Holography Using Inexpensive Laser Pointers
- My current magical journey of making holograms with a $7.99 laser pointer"

someone should do this

Must try this

handwriting tips: "Tips for improving your handwriting"

Access Goodness

Access World Forums: "Access World Forums"

Smile! The 'HoneyMonkeys' are looking out for you

Computerworld - New Microsoft security system scours web

In the unlikely event...

VOTE FOR ME

For those who only view my blog via RSS and are desperate to vote for me.

BTW my blog is 1 year old today

New Fonts in Windows Vista

Poynter Online - The Next Big Thing in Online Type: "The Next Big Thing in Online Type"

2005 Blog of the Year

2005 Blog of the Year: "the inaugural Blog of the Year Award "

VOTE FOR ME

my mother does not have internet access...

The Ghost in the machine

Computerworld - 'Car Whisperer' puts hackers in the driver's seat: "If you happen to hear a disembodied computer voice tell you to 'drive carefully' next time you're behind the wheel, you've probably met the Car Whisperer.

Released late last week at the What the Hack computer security conference in Liempde, Netherlands, Car Whisperer is software that tricks the hands-free Bluetooth systems installed in some cars into connecting with a Linux computer."

Eek

Think of it a training for SQL relationships editting

Planarity

Let the fight begin.

Computerworld Article: "Microsoft takes on Google with Virtual Earth
Web service and international versions on the way

...

Through a client application called Microsoft Location Finder that can be downloaded when a user clicks a "Find Me" icon in Virtual Earth, Microsoft accesses the MAC (media access control) addresses of wireless access points that a user's device can reach, whether or not the user is logged in to any of them, he says.

Microsoft has worked with third parties to assemble a database of router MAC addresses and the latitude and longitude of those access points. Location Finder finds the access points in the database and then triangulates the location of the user's device based on the signal strength of those access points, Law says."

Yes I am doing Access stuff ATM

The Access Web: "The Ten Commandments of Access"

At a loss for words

Download details: Access 2003 Add-in: Source Code Control: "This download contains the Access 2003 source code control add-in for communicating between both Microsoft Office Access 2003 Service Pack (SP) 1 and a source code control application (like Visual Source Safe 6.0). "

1) Why is this not offered in the original install?
2) Why have I not heard of this before?
3) Just on time for team systems to break it ;)

*UPDATE*
Don't bother.
I could not get it to work.
If you can let me know... all I get is am menu bar that never activates.
vapourware strikes again :(

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Resource Kit

Wanna Game?

Windows XP Game Advisor - Home: "Welcome to the New Game Advisor!"

Savage Chickens

Savage Chickens: Chicken Cartoons on Sticky Notes by Doug Savage: "One of a Kind "

Google Earth

Boogle Earth Versions:

Microsoft CRM skips V 2.0

Business Intelligence Pipeline :
"Microsoft Preps Next-Gen CRM

What had been called Microsoft CRM 2.0 and then CRM 2005 will officially be dubbed Microsoft CRM 3.0, said Brad Wilson, general manager for Microsoft CRM. The product is still set to be released to manufacturing in the fourth quarter, he said. "

SQL 2005 & Regular Expressions

SQL Server 2005: CLR Integration : Working with Regular Expressions:
"The following C# code can be used as a function in your queries (once it is deployed to your database) to perform pattern matching:"

Where I live

Google Maps

Fresh Geek Perspective

You are NOT inadequate.: "You rock"

Why is a dog asking me questions?

Secret Geek: "Award for the Silliest User Interface: Windows Search"

This MIGHT be good

Computerworld - Microsoft to ship Longhorn with RSS: "Microsoft on Friday announced its intention to fully support the RSS web publishing standard in its next generation version of Windows, codenamed Longhorn, along with plans to help application developers more easily create RSS-enabled applications for Windows."

Chris Auld, MSDN Regional Director.....

Syringe.Net.Nz - MSDN Regional Director.....: "Someone, well Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom (or generosity) has decided to let me wear a Regional Director hat for a period. Which is all really rather cool."

Painting with Acrylic

Microsoft offers beta of Adobe rival
"Microsoft has released a test version of a new professional graphics tool code-named Acrylic.

Microsoft describes the software--currently available as a 77MB free download--as bringing together pixel-based painting and vector graphics features. These capabilities will put the product squarely in the market currently dominated by software maker Adobe Systems with its pixel-focused Photoshop and vector-driven Illustrator products. "

Microsoft Acrylic Technology Preview - Home: "About Acrylic
'Acrylic' is the codename for an innovative illustration, painting and graphics tool that provides exciting creative capabilities for designers working in print, web, video, and interactive media."

Interesting articles on consequences of Bad Data

The Rising Threat from Bad Data: "Steven Calderon had a clean record, a clean conscience and no reason to think that his new employer's routine background check would cause any problem at all. Then the sheriff showed up at the office and took him to jail on warrants for child molestation and rape.
A nightmare? Sure, but Calderon figured it was a mistake that could be cleared up pretty quickly. He'd reported the theft of his Social Security number and birth certificate in 1993, so it was obvious that the bad guy was whoever had stolen Calderon's identity."

The only time Bill Gates will appear between Britney Spears & Jennifer Lopez

Computerworld - Britney Spears ranked top virus celebrity:
"Panda's top ten celebrity virus rankings are as follows:

1 Britney Spears
2 Bill Gates
3 Jennifer Lopez
4 Shakira
5 Osama Bin Laden
6 Michael Jackson
7 Bill Clinton
8 Anna Kournikova
9 Paris Hilton
10 Pamela Anderson
"

all known for sex appeal or criminal activity... so again, what is Bill doing there?

MS Office 12 - XML & ZIP

Microsoft Makes XML the File Format for the Next Version of Microsoft Office: :
Q&A: Senior Vice President Steven Sinofsky explains how making XML the default file format is likely to help customers

"A key benefit of the new format is substantially smaller file sizes -- up to 75-percent smaller than comparable Office 2003 files. This is one of the advantages we get out of using the combination of XML and ZIP technologies for storing our files. Since XML is a text based format which compresses very well, and the ZIP container supports compressing the contents, we are able to achieve these significant reductions in file size."

More than one monitor? GET THIS

Oscar's Multi-Monitor taskBar: "MultiMon Task bar
The real multi-monitor support in Windows puts task-bar only in the primary monitor. The extended monitors are plain 'takbarless'. There is no other way to add another taskbar to the extended monitor.
So I created my MultiMon taskbar. A secondary taskbar which will be put on extended monitor."

Error Handling in SQL Server - Good lookng articles

Error Handling in SQL Server - a Background

Implementing Error Handling with Stored Procedures

SpeedFan 4.24 - anyone use this?

SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer: "If you are looking for a tool that can change your computer's fan speeds, that can read your hard disk temperature and S.M.A.R.T. status, that can read temperatures, voltages and fan speeds and much more, then you came to the right place. SpeedFan works fine with Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2003 and Windows XP. And this is absolutely for free :-) "

MDAC R.I.P.

DataWorks WebLog : The end of the MDAC Redistributable [Brad Rhodes]: "MDAC 2.8 sp1 will be our last official redist of MDAC ...."

Common CRM Issues

Microsoft CRM UK Reseller:

"The Sales for Outlook client probably counts for a lot of the support issues our helpdesk receives. Problems fall into the following categories:
Installation
Missing toolbar
Sync problems
Promoting Emails
CRM Buttons do not work"

Google enterprise desktop search tool

Computerworld - Google releases enterprise desktop search tool:
"Free tool is available for download now on desktop.google.com/enterprise."

Improving the performance of Virtual PC over Remote Desktop

Virtual PC Guy's WebLog:

Flatlander: The parable of the managers

Flatlander: The parable of the managers: "The parable of the managers"

Blogger news

Computerworld - Google ponders Blogger, Gmail integration: "Google is contemplating various improvements to its popular Blogger weblogging service, including native image uploading and deeper integration with the company's Gmail webmail service, according to a Google executive.

Google is also considering the creation of an enterprise Blogger version, as well as letting users limit access to their blogs by creating private groups, says Biz Stone, Blogger senior specialist.

Although Blogger currently allows users to post text and photos to their blogs via any email program, Google is looking into a tighter integration with Gmail, Stone says."

Good grief - now we have cyber bullies

10 tips for dealing with game cyberbullies and griefers: "cyberbullies and griefers"

Meeting THE Architect

TheServerSide.NET - TSS Featured Entry: "Microsoft Matrix - by Michael Kaplan "

Nice RSS Reader

Synop > Weblogs > Sauce Reader Weblog - Sauce Reader v2.0 (BETA): "Sauce Reader v2.0 (BETA)"

The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005

The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005: "We are hosting the first and only Time Traveler Convention at MIT on Saturday, and WE NEED YOUR HELP! "

Why American programmers should not move to NZ

From User Friendly

Bookmark - Might be useful

Moving SQL Server databases to a new location with Detach/Attach: "Moving SQL Server databases to a new location with Detach/Attach"

Tech weenies in the sky

Welcome to IS Survivor Publishing:

Sung to the tune Ghost Riders in the sky.

A computer and a telephone were sitting on a desk,
Every time he looked at them he just got more depressed,
'Cause they couldn't be connected, and nothing did the trick,
When the telephone was ringing,
The computer sat there like a brick.

Chorus

Tippie yi Yaaaaay! Yippie yi Ohhhhh!
Tech weenies in the sky.


The tech he had a vision and he tried to make it real,
Wiring the two together should have very great appeal,
So screens can pop and calls can route and messages can play,
Keeping all the telemarketers,
And other pests at bay.

Chorus

He couldn't get it working despite everything he tried,
He opened up the box and found the motherboard was fried,
The software it was buggy and cabling was a wreck,
And in his deep frustration,
You could hear him cry, "Oh, heck!"

It took a lot of duct tape, Band-Aids, chewing gum and sweat,
He hasn't got it working but it hasn't beat him yet,
The amount of troubleshooting effort turned out to be huge,
And when he finally finished,
He knew it was a kludge.

Go into any call center and you'll see CTI,
From Little Rock to Bangalore the connection's riding high,
But on average users' desktops we can see the standard twist:
If it ain't built into Outlook,
It simply don't exist.

Chorus

If you want to be a hero; if you want to save the day,
You won't become a cowboy shouting "Yippie yo cayay!"
You'll do it in the wiring where no one else can see,
Solving all the mysteries,
Of computer telephony

Now it's wired with fiber optics and it almost seems to glow,
Though outside it's Minnesota with a harsh and driving snow,
Yes the nights here in the Northland are a bitter freezing cold,
But with computers hooked to telephones,
You'll never go on hold.

Chorus

Beer + code is not a good idea

Computerworld -Latest Opera browser: "Opera Software has added ... the ability to surf the web with voice commands "

can you imagine trying to get to http://www.dot.net.nz

Computer, DUB DUB DUB dot dot dot net dot nz

Then again, it would stop people surfing to any site with the word SPANK in the URL during work hours.

note to self - register the URL OhIGiveUp.com or HowDoIturnThisOff.net

Matrix Ping Pong

Matrix Ping Pong - Funny Videos

Ewww gross

Kitten Cannon

VS 2005 Release/License FAQ

Sean McBreen's WebLog : VS 2005 Product Line-up:
"A Picture Says 1,000 Words"

Security Myths - Part 2

Security Myths - April 2005:
"Myth 9: Security Tweaks Will Stop Worms/Viruses
If a dialog asking the user to make a security decision is the only thing standing between the user and the naked people frolicking on the beach, security does not stand a chance."

Note to self - read this

Exploration Through Example: "Introducing Agile to a legacy project"

I have sprained my Trapezius

and I hope this will help.

Pain Reference Chart

Trapezius Referred Pain Patterns

Useful SQL Server Resource

SQL Server 2000 Backup and Restore
"This paper discusses the types of backups that are available in SQL Server 2000 and how backup functionality can be used in a disaster recovery plan. It includes general recommendations on how to improve backup and restore throughput and several case scenarios. "

Moving from UK to NZ

Flatlander: UK-NZ Migration Archives: "Moving to New Zealand"

Nice to have an 'outsiders' perspective on New Zulund.
Welcome Welcome Welcome.

Security Myths - Jesper M. Johansson and Steve Riley do it again

Security Myths - March 2005:
I just love the registry hacks section.
looking forward to part 2

Coming soon to a PC near you...

Computerworld - Gates promises free antispyware, new version of IE

One Liners for Code Cowboys - Thank you Andy

I do know everything, just not all at once. It's a virtual memory problem.

Code so clean you could eat off it!

A computer scientist is someone who, when told to 'Go to Hell', sees the 'go to', rather than the destination, as harmful.

A core dump is your computer's way of saying "Here's what's on my mind, what's on yours?"

A good programmer is someone who looks both ways before crossing a one-way street.

Calculating in binary code is as easy as 01,10,11.

Computer Science: solving today's problems tomorrow.

Hey! It compiles! Ship it!

My operat~1 system unders~1 long filena~1 , does yours?

Programmer's Drinking Song: 99 programming bugs in the code / 99 programming bugs / Fix one bug / compile it again / now there's 100 bugs in the code!

Real programmers don't document. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.

Software isn't released, it's allowed to escape.

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don't...

The ultimate Technology test

The Furrygoat Experience: Critical Mass: The Wife Acceptance Factor

Shhhhh

Computing's silent revolution

Programming Fonts

Proggy Programming Fonts: "Monospaced Bitmap Programming Fonts
Looking for the perfect programming font ?"

If this was in Kiwi - would you use it? I would.

Computerworld - PayPal pals up with Australia, launches local site: "Online consumer transaction service PayPal has launched a localised Australian web site and service in a bid to bolster its fortunes in the Asia-Pacific region. "

What A great site for .net stuff

vbAccelerator.com - Advanced VB, C# and VB.NET Source Code and Controls: "Welcome to vbAccelerator.com, a site devoted to providing free, advanced source code to Visual Basic programmers since June 1998 and now also to the .NET and C# community. "