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New Versions of Windows Live Applications Released
2007-11-07 12:18:00
Microsoft has today released enhanced versions of Live Applications that include Messenger, Live Writer, Live Mail, Live Photo Gallery and Family Safety Beta. In fact each of these new applications deserve a deeper review but for this post, i would limit to the enhancements that these applications offer: Now you can post your photos to Flickr in addition to Windows Live Spaces directly from inside Windows Live Photo Gallery Set up your events, manage invitations, and collect photos from everyone using Windows Live Events Live Calendar let's you manage your schedule and share your availability. Automatically rotate and group your photos by time when you import them using Windows Live Photo Gallery Windows Live Writer lets you work off-line and easily add maps, videos, pictures, and more to your blog Keep all your e-mail in one place using Windows Live Mail Use Windows Live OneCare Family Safety to keep track of your what children are doing on-line Set up a vacation auto-reply in Wi...
More About: Released

Windows Live Messenger IM Control for your blog/ website
2007-11-07 11:41:00
here's a blog/website widget that is sure to get you jumping in your chair - the Live Messenger IM Control. The Windows Live Messenger IM Control lets people on the Web reach you in via your normal Messenger interface. The control also shows your Messenger status. Live Messenger IM Control just runs in the browser and lets site visitors message you without requiring Messenger on the visitor's machine.  It doesn't even require the visitor to have a Live Messenger account as they can post as anonymous user. The IM Control is supported in IE6, IE7, and Firefox 2.0 on Windows and Firefox 2.0 on Mac OS.  So, how do you get started? To use the IM Control: 1. Go to http://settings.messenger.live.com/applic ations/websettings.aspx.  Sign in with your Windows Live ID as needed. 2. Turn on your Web settings to show your presence and receive IM from the Web.  3. Pick a way to show your presence (the icon or the mini-messenger window) 4. Copy the HTML from the page and pos...
More About: Website , Windows Live Messenger , Blog

Microsoft Server 2008 (and a FREE Express Edition) Announced
2007-11-06 15:12:00
Microsoft is announcing Microsoft Search Server 2008 and Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express . Given that even small companies now have extensive internal knowledge repositories search across all of them becomes critical. Search Server 2008 and Search Server 2008 Express offer an enterprise-ready search solution that will let people find the information quickly and easily. Earlier the only option from Microsoft stable for enterprise search involved  deploying Microsoft Office Sharepoint 2007. The search master Google also has an enterprise product for search with the lowest version (Google Mini Search Appliance) not supporting connections to other information repositories at a price of USD 6000 / yr. The beauty of it all is that Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express, is a free, downloadable Enterprise Search product.  A release candidate of Search Server 2008 Express is available at http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch the search experience is similar to the familiar...
More About: Microsoft , Free , Edition

Svcutil.exe crashing in VS 2008 BETA 2
2007-10-24 06:35:00
while experimenting with VS 2008 Beta 2 and WCF, i cudn't generate the client proxy using svcutil.exe. I built the server as a WPF application and hosted the service there (self-host). i was using netTcp binding for the service. in preparation to get the client working, i created a new IIS application and created a directory under the main directory called App_Code. I copied all the code for Service and the Contract in the App_Code directory so that it be JIT compiled before use. Added the service.svc and web.config to the application. Then browsing to the URL gave me the test page. then svcutil.exe was to be used but it kept crashing. a live search got me to this page: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/burste g/archive/2007/07/27/WCF-Test-Client-svcu til.aspx and that did it! Technorati tags: WCF, svcutil.exe

An inspirational post
2007-10-11 18:27:00
they say that in the darkest hour you can see the light.. and it is that time now.. in a recent meeting, the VP of Microsoft India gave a very sound advice that i would like to share with you. it holds true for everyone and especially people who are befuddled with the things around them (esp me).. i do wonder though whether any inspiration/ good thought ever did any good to anyone in the corporate world.. but this may benefit me and you .. so here it goes: Some things I wish I had known when I was 30 ?Don?t let someone else define what success means for you this finds its origin in not letting others (including managers)tell you what you are and what you are not good at! you are successful when you you believe you are! ?Know your strengths & focus on these ?No one ever became great focusing on their dev needs this is divergent in the thought that it encourages you to hone and further work upon your strengths rather than working on your weaknesses. mostly all the reviews and fe...
More About: Inspirational , Post

Upgrading Database Server to SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition for DNN websi
2007-10-09 14:55:00
i have been using multiple instances of SQL Serve r Express 2005 to provide backend services to a few websites. SQL Server Exress 2005 provided a quick and FREE way of running the database. however, since it is meant for testing purposes the Express edition doesn't scale well and gave reliability issues from time to time. also, using Management Studio Express locked the DB exclusively rendering the site inaccessible. Today i spent some time upgrading the database to full fledged SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition . the installation was effortless and I immediately applied the SP2. however, when i tried to use the client tools they were still the ones from Express Editions. trying to install the full version of client tools always ended with an error - "Your upgrade is blocked because the existing component is a later version than the version you are trying to upgrade to". also, there seemed no direct way to uninstall the express editions that i had running. Researching the first issue...
More About: Database

Word Viewer 2007 is released
2007-10-04 08:24:00
if you don't have Office 2007 and have started to receive docx files from individuals, you can now read the same using the newly released Word Viewer 2007.. the word viewer replaces all earlier releases... true to its name, the viewer let's you view the Word documents but don't let you edit the same... the Word Viewer enables free viewing of .docx and .docm with the same visual fidelity as the full version of Word 2003. Get the FREE download here Technorati tags: word viewer
More About: Released

New version of Live Search is available!
2007-10-03 14:59:00
A new version of Live Search is now released. this release supposedly created a WOW when it was first showcased at the recently held company meeting in Redmond. There is progress in two critical areas: the core technology that delivers relevant search has improved dramatically.  there is focus on four key search experiences: Entertainment, Health, Local, and Shopping (represents 40% of total queries) the search index has been expanded 4x times! also there is a improvement in query intent for misspelled and plural words. In the entertainment field a unique way of showing content as it relates to other celebrities (xRank) has been developed.  (Try tom cruise and check out the xRank and the live in browser previews of the videos) . in shopping, you can search for a product or a product category (try Palm Treo 650 or the category ?digital cameras?) and utilize not just the rich answer, but the expanded opinion index that intelligently crawls review sites . it also presents a...
More About: Live Search , Version

Comparing UX technologies for performance
2007-10-03 13:08:00
For people who are figuring out what direction to go as far as future technologies is considered, here's a 3rd party community effort to get that answer as far as performance of the various technologies go: http://bubblemark.com/ the same javascript is used to animate in various RIAs so that the results are isolated to the performance of the platform itself. Technologies compared are Silverlight (JS & CLR based), Flash (with Flex), Java (Swing) etc. Long story short: Different browsers behave differently to the RIA frameworks. Best is Opera and worst is FireFox. "The unexpected is that WPF/e is faster than Flash despite the fact that it?s been in the market for years." The source code is available and community has posted their results using the code. Conclusion: start using Silverlight! Technorati tags: silverlight, flash
More About: Performance , Logi , Perform

Migration from Office live over!
2007-09-29 10:16:00
well the "forced" migration away from Office Live is now over.. i have successfully migrated the domain and email accounts. the content on the website and the email is gone.. i am making a new start with these.. the experience of migrating the domain was very simple and very painless. and if you want to know who i host my domains with - godaddy.com. and where have i migrated from Office Live - Google Apps. in a few days i will publish a comparison of the two light SME services.. Technorati tags: office live, google apps