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Friday, October 31, 2003

MSDN: developer view of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Beta coming soon.

If you want a heads-up on what SP2 will have in it then take a look here.  It looks like Microsoft is trying to make a change at making their code a little bit safer.  They don’t look like they are doing a knee jerk response (like in Outlook attachments) but this looks more thought out. 

MSDN: developer view of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Beta coming soon.
[The Scobleizer Weblog]

Take Your Desktop With You In Your Pocket?

Here we go again….  Didn’t we talk about this a while back?  Seems they were listening…. AGAIN. 

"Small computers are great when you are on the move, but when you are at your desk you don't want to work on 6" screen -- you want a desktop computer's big monitor, big keyboard, and big mouse. Insert the MCC into the Desktop Cradle and your traditional desktop computing environment comes to life with your desktop monitor, full-sized keyboard and mouse. Everything is available to you, all your applications and data running in the Windows XP environment that you depend on." This apparently has a 1.0GHz processor, 256MB of RAM and a 10GB hard drive. It doesn't seem to be so much as mobile computing as much as you just cradles at all of your work points and you must move the MCC around with you.
[Pocket PC Thoughts]

"Cracks Appear In Microsoft Kodiak 'Store Story' "

Kodiak…  When, oh when, will we begin seeing this one? 

"This week Microsoft executives opened the door to a possible shift in that strategy at least with respect to Kodiak, the next-generation Exchange Server. While the plan remains to put Kodiak on the WinFS relational store, business pressures could abrogate that decision, the executives conceded."

Read the full article from CRN here


[MS Exchange Blog]

No More Ringing in Your Ears

I can’t wait for Vonage to start offering this.  Now I just have to find something funny to replace that ring with…  Maybe a busy signal? J 

If it's popular in Korea, you know it will wind up here. Your calls to a cell phone may never be the same, thanks to ring-back tones, which play music instead of bells when you connect. By Elizabeth Biddlecombe.
[Wired News]

Thursday, October 30, 2003

MSDN: developer view of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Beta coming soon.

If you want a heads-up on what SP2 will have in it then take a look here.  It looks like Microsoft is trying to make a change at making their code a little bit safer.  They don’t look like they are doing a knee jerk response (like in Outlook attachments) but this looks more thought out. 

MSDN: developer view of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Beta coming soon.
[The Scobleizer Weblog]

Take Your Desktop With You In Your Pocket?

Here we go again….  Didn’t we talk about this a while back?  Seems they were listening…. AGAIN. 

"Small computers are great when you are on the move, but when you are at your desk you don't want to work on 6" screen -- you want a desktop computer's big monitor, big keyboard, and big mouse. Insert the MCC into the Desktop Cradle and your traditional desktop computing environment comes to life with your desktop monitor, full-sized keyboard and mouse. Everything is available to you, all your applications and data running in the Windows XP environment that you depend on." This apparently has a 1.0GHz processor, 256MB of RAM and a 10GB hard drive. It doesn't seem to be so much as mobile computing as much as you just cradles at all of your work points and you must move the MCC around with you.
[Pocket PC Thoughts]

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Novelty farting dog sparks US terror alert

This story is quite funny. J 

Malodorous mechanical mutt mayhem
[The Register]

Vonage brings VoIP to Michigan town

How far can they take it before they ARE treated like a Bell company and subject to the taxes and red tape that comes along with it?

 

I do like the idea though. 

The Internet phone company strikes an agreement with a utility commission to offer its voice services to the region's households.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

Web whispers about Microsoft voice plan

ooooooh 

Details have leaked onto the Web about a new Microsoft application that will add voice recognition to handheld computers that use the company's Pocket PC software. Microsoft began soliciting beta testers in September for Voice Command, a software add-on for Pocket PC handhelds and Smartphones. According to information sent to testers, the software would enable them to control all basic functions of a device by talking into its microphone.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Backup Tivo Images

 I used to think the serial number was on the hard drive, but it seems that the Tivo serial number is located elsewhere.  Having said that I can now tell you about the bad time I have had with adding a second hard drive to my Tivo.  Regular readers may remember that I added an 80gig drive to my Tivo a while back.  As it turns out, this 80gig drive has a bad spot on it and causes the Tivo to crash any time it tries to write to it.  When I started looking into taking that drive back out I hit a brick wall….

 

Once you have added a drive it is a heck of a hard thing to go back to a single drive… Unless you don’t care about your stored movies.  A buddy of mine…who may or may not work with me, found the following site: ftp://ftp.abs.net/tivo/

 

The backup directory has oodles of backup images (I don’t know for how long so get them if you need them)

 

More news tonight if it works!

The Purpose-Driven Life - $11.19

For those that have been reading this at Church, here is an e-book version. 



The Purpose-Driven Life
List Price:$15.99
Your Price:$11.19

Average Customer Rating: 4.14

Buy now!

[Amazon: Books e-books]

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Novelty farting dog sparks US terror alert

This story is quite funny. J 

Malodorous mechanical mutt mayhem
[The Register]

Vonage brings VoIP to Michigan town

How far can they take it before they ARE treated like a Bell company and subject to the taxes and red tape that comes along with it?

 

I do like the idea though. 

The Internet phone company strikes an agreement with a utility commission to offer its voice services to the region's households.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

Web whispers about Microsoft voice plan

ooooooh 

Details have leaked onto the Web about a new Microsoft application that will add voice recognition to handheld computers that use the company's Pocket PC software. Microsoft began soliciting beta testers in September for Voice Command, a software add-on for Pocket PC handhelds and Smartphones. According to information sent to testers, the software would enable them to control all basic functions of a device by talking into its microphone.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Spam Pitches Are Mutating Faster

Why can’t the virus guys attack the spammer guys?  I don’t know what folks do that do not have SpamAssassin or some kind of internet appliance in between their mailbox and the never-ending heap-o-spam out there….

In my recent life as a trailer park redneck, I discovered that if I didn’t check my snail-mail box at least once every other day it would be too full for the mailman to put anything new in it.  Now, the fact that the only email I ever got there that was actually for me was my Time Warner and Power bill leads me to wonder just what went wrong here.  Spam has gotten worse in the snail-mail world too, you just can’t install SpamAssassin on your mailman. J 

Trying to stay one step ahead of ever-improving spam filters, spammers are creating and trying new tricks much more quickly. Antispam developers are keeping up, for now. By Ryan Singel.
[Wired News]

Support Webcast: RPC over HTTP

For those of you who have not done this yet… This should be something to check out! 

Unlock the mysteries of RPC over HTTP for Outlook/Exchange communication with Microsoft Outlook 2003 engineer, Brad Wilson.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003: 10:00 AM Pacific time (Greenwich mean time - 8 hours)

(This is short notice, but the webcast will be available for replay later.)

Support WebCast: Using Microsoft Exchange over the Internet (RPC/HTTP) with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

William Lefkovics


[MS Exchange Blog]

New Windows virus hits computers

Go patch your stuff…. 

A virus dubbed Sober which affects many versions of Windows is starting to spread more widely online.
[BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

Monday, October 27, 2003

Spam Pitches Are Mutating Faster

Why can’t the virus guys attack the spammer guys?  I don’t know what folks do that do not have SpamAssassin or some kind of internet appliance in between their mailbox and the never-ending heap-o-spam out there….

In my recent life as a trailer park redneck, I discovered that if I didn’t check my snail-mail box at least once every other day it would be too full for the mailman to put anything new in it.  Now, the fact that the only email I ever got there that was actually for me was my Time Warner and Power bill leads me to wonder just what went wrong here.  Spam has gotten worse in the snail-mail world too, you just can’t install SpamAssassin on your mailman. J 

Trying to stay one step ahead of ever-improving spam filters, spammers are creating and trying new tricks much more quickly. Antispam developers are keeping up, for now. By Ryan Singel.
[Wired News]

Support Webcast: RPC over HTTP

For those of you who have not done this yet… This should be something to check out! 

Unlock the mysteries of RPC over HTTP for Outlook/Exchange communication with Microsoft Outlook 2003 engineer, Brad Wilson.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003: 10:00 AM Pacific time (Greenwich mean time - 8 hours)

(This is short notice, but the webcast will be available for replay later.)

Support WebCast: Using Microsoft Exchange over the Internet (RPC/HTTP) with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

William Lefkovics


[MS Exchange Blog]

Three-day weekends from T-Mobile

Technodaddy ought to like this one!!! 

In an attempt to stave off defections once cellphone number portability goes into effect late next month, T-Mobile is expanding its unlimited weekend calling plan to include Fridays as well as Saturdays and Sundays. Read [Via PhoneScoop]...
[Gizmodo]

Sunday, October 26, 2003

Three-day weekends from T-Mobile

Technodaddy ought to like this one!!! 

In an attempt to stave off defections once cellphone number portability goes into effect late next month, T-Mobile is expanding its unlimited weekend calling plan to include Fridays as well as Saturdays and Sundays. Read [Via PhoneScoop]...
[Gizmodo]

Friday, October 24, 2003

Big problems with the Treo 600?

I have seen the Sprint version of this and it’s quite nice…. For a Palm device…. 

Rumors continue to spread that there is a serious bug with the GSM version of the Treo 600 (at least in the US) and that it could be as late as early December before they become available. No one seems to know precisely what's really going on. Meanwhile, Sprint's CDMA version of the Treo 600 (pictured at right) has been out for almost a couple of weeks now, prompting a few people to suggest some sort of sinister conspiracy between Handspring and Sprint to get people to switch carriers just to get their hands on the new Treo. Which is just crazy. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Thursday, October 23, 2003

Big problems with the Treo 600?

I have seen the Sprint version of this and it’s quite nice…. For a Palm device…. 

Rumors continue to spread that there is a serious bug with the GSM version of the Treo 600 (at least in the US) and that it could be as late as early December before they become available. No one seems to know precisely what's really going on. Meanwhile, Sprint's CDMA version of the Treo 600 (pictured at right) has been out for almost a couple of weeks now, prompting a few people to suggest some sort of sinister conspiracy between Handspring and Sprint to get people to switch carriers just to get their hands on the new Treo. Which is just crazy. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Have you patched E2K yet?

FYI for all you Exchange users out there! 

I'm sure you have all patched your Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000 servers to protect them from the vulnerability outlined in MS03-046:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-046.asp

If not, you shouldn't waste much more time. Exploit code is out there:
http://www.securiteam.com/exploits/6N00M0K8KE.html

William Lefkovics


[MS Exchange Blog]

Low-Cost Supercomputer Put Together From 1,100 PC's

I have often thought of putting together a home brew supercomputer but then I think “What the heck would I do with it once it was built?” 

A home-brew supercomputer, assembled from off-the-shelf personal computers in just one month, is about to be ranked as one of the fastest machines in the world.
[New York Times: Technology]

USB air purifier

I think if the guys at work knew about this one they would get one for me. J 

Ok, ok. So now there's a USB-powered ionic air purifier that pops into the back of a computer and cleanses the air of "smoke, dust, germs, and other dangerous particles." The perfect complement to that mouse which also doubles as a hand sterilizer. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Have you patched E2K yet?

FYI for all you Exchange users out there! 

I'm sure you have all patched your Exchange 5.5 and Exchange 2000 servers to protect them from the vulnerability outlined in MS03-046:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-046.asp

If not, you shouldn't waste much more time. Exploit code is out there:
http://www.securiteam.com/exploits/6N00M0K8KE.html

William Lefkovics


[MS Exchange Blog]

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Low-Cost Supercomputer Put Together From 1,100 PC's

I have often thought of putting together a home brew supercomputer but then I think “What the heck would I do with it once it was built?” 

A home-brew supercomputer, assembled from off-the-shelf personal computers in just one month, is about to be ranked as one of the fastest machines in the world.
[New York Times: Technology]

USB air purifier

I think if the guys at work knew about this one they would get one for me. J 

Ok, ok. So now there's a USB-powered ionic air purifier that pops into the back of a computer and cleanses the air of "smoke, dust, germs, and other dangerous particles." The perfect complement to that mouse which also doubles as a hand sterilizer. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Sagem springs hotspot in a box

This article sounds quite familiar to me for some reason. ;) 

Home brew
[The Register]

Net telephony grows on Time Warner

Don’t wait too long!  Vonage may beat you to the punch! 

The company's cable unit plans to expand its Internet phone service into three or four more cities by year's end and foresees a "more aggressive" deployment next year.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

SIPphone review

How long until we start seeing folks like Vonage and Packet 8 start supporting these kinds of devices?  Man that would rock! 

ExtremeTech review of the SIPphone, which looks just like a regular telephone, and is the latest brainchild of MP3.com and Lindows.com founder Michael Robertson. It's basically a telephone that plugs into an Ethernet port instead of a phone jack that let's you make free phone calls over the Internet to anyone else with SIPphone, anywhere in the world. Read...
[Gizmodo]

SuSE goes after Exchange - Infoworld Staff

OpenExchange… hmm.. 

Trying to cut deeper into the market share of Microsoft's Exchange Server e-mail system, SuSE Linux on Wednesday is rolling out a version of Openexchange that features improved server support for Windows Outlook users.
[InfoWorld: Top News]

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Sagem springs hotspot in a box

This article sounds quite familiar to me for some reason. ;) 

Home brew
[The Register]

Net telephony grows on Time Warner

Don’t wait too long!  Vonage may beat you to the punch! 

The company's cable unit plans to expand its Internet phone service into three or four more cities by year's end and foresees a "more aggressive" deployment next year.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

SIPphone review

How long until we start seeing folks like Vonage and Packet 8 start supporting these kinds of devices?  Man that would rock! 

ExtremeTech review of the SIPphone, which looks just like a regular telephone, and is the latest brainchild of MP3.com and Lindows.com founder Michael Robertson. It's basically a telephone that plugs into an Ethernet port instead of a phone jack that let's you make free phone calls over the Internet to anyone else with SIPphone, anywhere in the world. Read...
[Gizmodo]

SuSE goes after Exchange - Infoworld Staff

OpenExchange… hmm.. 

Trying to cut deeper into the market share of Microsoft's Exchange Server e-mail system, SuSE Linux on Wednesday is rolling out a version of Openexchange that features improved server support for Windows Outlook users.
[InfoWorld: Top News]

Fitness Racer: PC Control of an RC Car

I like the part about body movement. J 


[Slashdot]

HP's GSM/GPRS/WiFi/Bluetooth Pocket PC

I am speechless…. 

Word of a fancy new wireless iPAQ Pocket PC from Hewlett-packard that will have not just built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, but GSM/GPRS as well, so that it could be used as a cellphone and get online from almost anywhere. Supposedly will come out early next year. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Feed on Feeds

My bud <TechnoDaddy> got me hooked on Feed on Feeds but now I want to be able to post a selected item.  Don’t know how to do this just yet so I am back to NewsGator…. 

Monday, October 20, 2003

Fitness Racer: PC Control of an RC Car

I like the part about body movement. J 


[Slashdot]

HP's GSM/GPRS/WiFi/Bluetooth Pocket PC

I am speechless…. 

Word of a fancy new wireless iPAQ Pocket PC from Hewlett-packard that will have not just built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, but GSM/GPRS as well, so that it could be used as a cellphone and get online from almost anywhere. Supposedly will come out early next year. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Feed on Feeds

My bud <TechnoDaddy> got me hooked on Feed on Feeds but now I want to be able to post a selected item.  Don’t know how to do this just yet so I am back to NewsGator…. 

Saturday, October 18, 2003

Home!

We are in SC now! After a looooooooooooooooooong drive in a big ole' truck we are now in our new home. And it sure does feel like home too. The folks here are nice, even the pizza delivery man stopped in and gave us coupons, fridge mags and said we could order a free pizza as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. I thought that was kinda nice.

Of course, the first thing to be hooked up was the cable, then the modem, then the router and Vonage! All systems are a go for now.
Tomorrow we by a fridge to put the magnet on :) and continue to unbox everything. Where did we get so much junk?

Friday, October 17, 2003

Home!

We are in SC now! After a looooooooooooooooooong drive in a big ole' truck we are now in our new home. And it sure does feel like home too. The folks here are nice, even the pizza delivery man stopped in and gave us coupons, fridge mags and said we could order a free pizza as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. I thought that was kinda nice.

Of course, the first thing to be hooked up was the cable, then the modem, then the router and Vonage! All systems are a go for now.
Tomorrow we by a fridge to put the magnet on :) and continue to unbox everything. Where did we get so much junk?

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Vonage goes to Iraq

Now this is a cool story.  Way to go Vonage.  BTW: For those that didn’t know, I said goodbye to Bellsouth today as the family moves to SC.  The new house will have two outbound lines for calling (teenager) but NO Bellsouth connection.  Vonage is hosting my SC number and Packet8 is hosting a Pensacola number for me so that friends and family can call without long distance charges. 

Vonage, which offers flat rate broadband Voice over IP telephone service here in the States, is shipping a bunch of their Analog Telephone Adapter boxes to Iraq so that soldiers there can make free phone calls to their families during the holiday season. SkyFrames is providing the wireless satellite Internet connection. While obviously a PR move, it's a nice gesture nonetheless, and highlights the one thing we love most about Vonage: that you can take one of these ATA boxes (which are made by Cisco) with you when you travel, and as long as you have broadband, use it to make and receive calls from anywhere in the world as if you were in the US. One friend of ours brought his ATA with him to Tokyo when he moved there from New York, and was able to bring his 212 number with him. He can make unlimited calls to...
[Gizmodo]

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

archives fix

Thanks to someone who may… or may not be closely related to my general proximity during the hours of 8am to 5pm Eastern time, I discovered that my archive links were broke.  My MT config neglected to have the /pjmorr part in it….

 

I have fixed this so that people who want to look at the archives (or use NewsGator) can do so.

 

-P 

Monday, October 13, 2003

archives fix

Thanks to someone who may… or may not be closely related to my general proximity during the hours of 8am to 5pm Eastern time, I discovered that my archive links were broke.  My MT config neglected to have the /pjmorr part in it….

 

I have fixed this so that people who want to look at the archives (or use NewsGator) can do so.

 

-P 

Compaq Evo N1020v and the USB from hell

Well after a long and painful trip, I have finally fixed my PocketPC sync problems.  As it turns out, the Evo laptop has a BIOS setting for turning off the docking station, which is more like a port replicator than it is a docking station, which DOES NOT disable the USB ports.  It just makes them work under less power…..  At least that is what I have guessed at since they worked, kind of, so that with this option turned off all I could sync was the contacts, calendar and tasks.  Anything above that and I would get a sync error.  Go in, turn on the USB hub, windows XP auto-detects the USB root hub, installs the driver and now I am back in the land of happy PocketPCness…

 

 

Argh 

Matrix Revolutions To Be Released On Imax

This is cool!  Who is going to watch this at IMAX? 


[Slashdot]

Monkey controls robot arm through neural interface

 So now the money can dig in someone else’s butt too!!  They should hook these up at the zoo so when someone taunts them they can goose you.  This actually reminded me of someone I may/or may not work with.

Researchers at Duke have implanted a neural prosthesis in the brains of a monkey, connected same to a robot arm, and taught the monkey to work a third arm through the use of its mind. The Flash animation from the Duke U site is a scream. The filthy monkey, it manipulates its robot arm. Link (Thanks, Justin!)

[Boing Boing Blog]

Microsoft Readies Add-Ons For Windows 2003 File Replication Services

 FYI:  Not that anyone out there uses FRS.. J

Microsoft is prepping new troubleshooting and monitoring tools for Windows Server 2003 as part of a menu of server add-ons due this quarter, said one executive at the Momentum conference in New Orleans. The tools, code-named Sonar and Ultrasound, are designed to improve the Windows servers' file replication services and their operation in mixed environments and will be made available in a la carte fashion by the end of the year, said Michael Goulde, senior product planner at Microsoft.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Compaq Evo N1020v and the USB from hell

Well after a long and painful trip, I have finally fixed my PocketPC sync problems.  As it turns out, the Evo laptop has a BIOS setting for turning off the docking station, which is more like a port replicator than it is a docking station, which DOES NOT disable the USB ports.  It just makes them work under less power…..  At least that is what I have guessed at since they worked, kind of, so that with this option turned off all I could sync was the contacts, calendar and tasks.  Anything above that and I would get a sync error.  Go in, turn on the USB hub, windows XP auto-detects the USB root hub, installs the driver and now I am back in the land of happy PocketPCness…

 

 

Argh 

Sunday, October 12, 2003

Matrix Revolutions To Be Released On Imax

This is cool!  Who is going to watch this at IMAX? 


[Slashdot]

Monkey controls robot arm through neural interface

 So now the money can dig in someone else’s butt too!!  They should hook these up at the zoo so when someone taunts them they can goose you.  This actually reminded me of someone I may/or may not work with.

Researchers at Duke have implanted a neural prosthesis in the brains of a monkey, connected same to a robot arm, and taught the monkey to work a third arm through the use of its mind. The Flash animation from the Duke U site is a scream. The filthy monkey, it manipulates its robot arm. Link (Thanks, Justin!)

[Boing Boing Blog]

Microsoft Readies Add-Ons For Windows 2003 File Replication Services

 FYI:  Not that anyone out there uses FRS.. J

Microsoft is prepping new troubleshooting and monitoring tools for Windows Server 2003 as part of a menu of server add-ons due this quarter, said one executive at the Momentum conference in New Orleans. The tools, code-named Sonar and Ultrasound, are designed to improve the Windows servers' file replication services and their operation in mixed environments and will be made available in a la carte fashion by the end of the year, said Michael Goulde, senior product planner at Microsoft.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Saturday, October 11, 2003

Finding Hidden Mailboxes

Cool tidbit from the MS Exchange Blog. 

Here's something that Nino Bilic from Microsoft recently came up with on the newsgroups, and I thought I'd share it with you here. It's the sort of thing that I easily forget how to do!

What's a quick way of finding all the hidden mailboxes that you may have on your system?

Hidden mailboxes are identified by the fact that the attribute msExchHideFromAddressLists is set to a value of TRUE. All we have to do is perform a custom LDAP query against our AD to search for users with the above attribute set accordingly.

This can easily be done with Active Directory Users & Computers:

1. Bring up Active Directory Users & Computers.
2. Right-click your domain name at the top, and choose Find.
3. In the Find combo box at the top, select Custom Search.
4. Click the Advanced tab.
5. Paste in the following LDAP query and then click Find Now.

(&(objectclass=user)(msExchHideFromAddressLists=TRUE))

The list of hidden mailboxes will then be displayed. Don't forget that this will include System Mailboxes. Be sure to leave those alone!


[MS Exchange Blog]

Vonage decision due Tuesday

I don’t know if I mentioned this but I am using Vonage now in SC for my home number.  It rocks. 


[CNET News.com - Front Door]

Friday, October 10, 2003

ActiveSync 3.7.1 Released

I was wondering when they would release an update.  I have been wrestling with my pocketpc, out of the pocket of course, for quite a time.  Darn thing keeps telling me sync errors for no reason. 

Microsoft has released a small upgrade to ActiveSync, now at version 3.7.1. There are no new features over ActiveSync 3.7. Everything is centered on making ActiveSync connections more reliable and avoiding the dreaded Guest issue with a partnered device. (Meryl)
[Lockergnome's Technology News]

'Safe' zones to disable picture phones

 Hey, this is cool!  If this comes out I want one to sew into my underwear or something.  Not because I think someone would put a camera phone there, a thought not entirely undesirable but somewhat improbable, but because that would mean people wouldn’t be able to take pictures of me, a thought that is very desirable. J

Scroll down the page. "If you have ever been photographed somewhere you weren’t supposed to be, with someone you weren’t supposed to be with or doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing, a British company has your best interest in mind. Sensaura Ltd., together with Iceberg Systems, is in the process of developing what it calls 'Safe Haven’ — a technology that would disable picture phones by sending a signal notifying the phone it is in a privacy zone. Simply put, areas such as a school, office or warehouse facility could be designated as a localized environment in which imaging systems in mobile phones would automatically be switched off. However, the technology is still far from ready. Iceberg said it is in talks with leading handset manufacturers to develop phones that understand the signals and know what to do about them. Sensaura is an audio IP licensing firm; Iceberg develops mobile technology." (Marc Erickson)
[Lockergnome's Technology News]

Thursday, October 9, 2003

Two new Scribbler Tablet PCs from Electrovaya

I got to see their first generation product at the Tablet PC kick-off in Saint Louis.  It didn’t look all that great but it sure had good battery life.  This one looks like it could actually replace my laptop.  9 hour battery life!!!!!! 

We almost missed Electrovaya's new versions of its Scribbler Tablet PC, the SC-2000 and the SC-2010. Electrovaya isn't exactly one of the better known Tablet PC manufacturers, but their models do have some of the best batteries around. Anyway, the SC-2000 and the SC-2010 both have 1.2GHz Centrino processors, built-in 802.11b, 12.1-inch displays, integrated biometric fingerprint sensors for extra security, and detachable keyboard docking stations. The only difference is that the 2010 has a 40GB hard drive and 512MB of RAM while the 2000 has just a 30GB hard drive and 256MB of RAM. Read [Thanks to Christopher Coulter for reminding us about this one!]...
[Gizmodo]

Pioneer's new AV receiver supports Windows Media Audio 9

Man, there are too many cool things coming out that I really want!!! 

Pioneer is coming out with a new AV receiver called the VSA-AX10Ai-N that has support for Microsoft's new Windows Meda Audio 9 Professional format built-in. This means it can stream WMA 9 Pro files from a PC, including audio files in 5.1 channel surround sound. Combined with the recent news that Microsoft is trying to get its Windows Media Video 9 format accepted as an industry standard for video compression, this gives a pretty good indication that the next big push for Microsoft will be to get their software running on as many stereos and DVD players as possible. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Report: Cell phone explodes in trousers

I tried to think of something pithy to comment on this but hey, what can I say, it went off in his pocket…  Nothing additional needed… 

A consumer group charges that a Dutch supermarket employee is the second person to be injured by a malfunctioning Nokia phone in the past two months.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

We discover that you can't use a wireless mouse on an airplane

This is bizzar!! 

We were flying cross-country last night, and The Man, aka American Airlines, forced us to stop using the Kensington Pocketmouse Pro wireless mouse we were using while we were writing a few emails inflight. Apparently the wireless mouse, which has such a weak signal that it would stop working if I moved it more than six inches away from my laptop, was a threat to the safety of the aircraft....
[Gizmodo]

File Replication Service Diagnostics Tool (FRSDiag.exe)

I know some folks who need this.  I can’t mention their names or where they work though. 

FRSDiag provides a graphical interface to help troubleshoot and diagnose problems with the File Replication Service (FRS). FRS is used to replicate files and folders in the SYSVOL file share on domain controllers and files in Distributed File System (DFS) targets. FRSDiag helps to gather snap-shot information about the service, perform automated tests against that data, and compile an overview of possible problems that may exist in the environment.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

What's My Pirate Name?

I am Mad William Flint

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr! Check for your name at http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php

 

 

Wednesday, October 8, 2003

Two new Scribbler Tablet PCs from Electrovaya

I got to see their first generation product at the Tablet PC kick-off in Saint Louis.  It didn’t look all that great but it sure had good battery life.  This one looks like it could actually replace my laptop.  9 hour battery life!!!!!! 

We almost missed Electrovaya's new versions of its Scribbler Tablet PC, the SC-2000 and the SC-2010. Electrovaya isn't exactly one of the better known Tablet PC manufacturers, but their models do have some of the best batteries around. Anyway, the SC-2000 and the SC-2010 both have 1.2GHz Centrino processors, built-in 802.11b, 12.1-inch displays, integrated biometric fingerprint sensors for extra security, and detachable keyboard docking stations. The only difference is that the 2010 has a 40GB hard drive and 512MB of RAM while the 2000 has just a 30GB hard drive and 256MB of RAM. Read [Thanks to Christopher Coulter for reminding us about this one!]...
[Gizmodo]

Pioneer's new AV receiver supports Windows Media Audio 9

Man, there are too many cool things coming out that I really want!!! 

Pioneer is coming out with a new AV receiver called the VSA-AX10Ai-N that has support for Microsoft's new Windows Meda Audio 9 Professional format built-in. This means it can stream WMA 9 Pro files from a PC, including audio files in 5.1 channel surround sound. Combined with the recent news that Microsoft is trying to get its Windows Media Video 9 format accepted as an industry standard for video compression, this gives a pretty good indication that the next big push for Microsoft will be to get their software running on as many stereos and DVD players as possible. Read...
[Gizmodo]

Report: Cell phone explodes in trousers

I tried to think of something pithy to comment on this but hey, what can I say, it went off in his pocket…  Nothing additional needed… 

A consumer group charges that a Dutch supermarket employee is the second person to be injured by a malfunctioning Nokia phone in the past two months.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

22 pregnant cows killed by a single lightning bolt

I thought the part about the cows not knowing trees were bad was quite funny… Does that make me sick?  Wait, don’t answer that! 

A lightning strike in Florida has killed 20 pregnant cows and fatally injured two more. Link
[Boing Boing Blog]

We discover that you can't use a wireless mouse on an airplane

This is bizzar!! 

We were flying cross-country last night, and The Man, aka American Airlines, forced us to stop using the Kensington Pocketmouse Pro wireless mouse we were using while we were writing a few emails inflight. Apparently the wireless mouse, which has such a weak signal that it would stop working if I moved it more than six inches away from my laptop, was a threat to the safety of the aircraft....
[Gizmodo]

Active Directory Performance Testing Tool (ADTest.exe)

This looks kind of neat although I wonder what kind of effect it would have if some user just loaded it onto the production network?  I would think it would create quite a bit of replication traffic.  But if you are looking to figure out how beefy of a DC you will need at a site, this might help you out. 

ADTest is an Active Directory load-generation tool. It allows you to simulate client transactions on the host server. By varying client load, you can relate the transaction rate to resource utilization on the server and get some idea about the requirements for your environment. Because ADTest can perform generic Active Directory requests, it can also create an organizational unit structure inside Active Directory. You can add many organizational units and user objects in those ADTest-created organizational units. You can also add attributes to the user objects. Once you have created the Active Directory structure you require, you can use ADTest to perform various Active Directory requests, including Modify and Search. Several pre-built tests have been written to reproduce some typical activities you might want to evaluate. Examples of these pre-built tests are: an interactive logon, a batch logon, a search for a random user, and a modification of an attribute of a random user. By varying your hardware environment or other test parameters, you can gain insight into the performance sensitivities of your particular setup.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Tuesday, October 7, 2003

MSN Messenger Updates for Pocket PCs and Pocket PC Phone Editions

If you use IM on your PocketPC you will need to upgrade.  The folks at Pocket PC Thoughts shed the light on this upgrade. 

"As part of the MSN® Messenger Update, which ensures that our customers have the latest security and privacy protections when using the .NET Messenger Service, all .NET Messenger Service clients, including Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs and Pocket PC Phone Editions, are required to update to compliant versions of MSN Messenger client service software by October 15, 2003. Pocket PC and Pocket PC Phone Edition customers should update their MSN Messenger clients by downloading the following updates to their devices prior to October 15, 2003 to prevent any MSN Messenger service interruptions." The bad news is that it's not an XIP Flash update, but the good news is that it appears to only take up 227 KB of RAM on a Pocket PC 2002 device, and 150 KB on a Windows Mobile 2003. These figures were just pulled out of the air after Janak and I did the install, so don't take them as gospel.
[Pocket PC Thoughts]

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004

I don’t have Media Center but someone out there might.  I wonder if I could use these on my WinXP machine and SnapStream?  It has a remote…. 

PowerToys are additional programs that developers create after a product has been released. Downloading them can add more fun and functionality to your Media Center PC experience. Stay tuned for additional PowerToy releases.
[ActiveWin.com Headlines]

Monday, October 6, 2003

Shift key breaks CD copy locks

This is funny.  At least until the real music is only on the secure track…  If they flipped the content (putting the real music on the secure section and the extra content on the unprotected section) they would make it much more difficult to rip this kind of CD… 

A Princeton University student has published instructions for disabling the new anticopying measures being tested on CDs by BMG--and they're as simple as holding down a computer's Shift key.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

"Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy movie really on the way?"

I just finished listening to a 5 CD audio version of this classic and I loved it.  It was read by the author and quite funny.  Even if you have read it before I recommend trying this out.  I do hope it becomes a big screen event, but keep the makers of Battlefield Earth away from it! 


[Daypop Top 40]

Alcohol 120%

Alcohol 120%
Ultimate application for CD/DVD recording and emulation

Release Date:

 

2003-10-05

 

 

 

 

Version Number:

 

1.4.7.1005

 

 

 

 

 http://wav.alcohol-software.com/Alcohol120_trial_1_4_7_1005.exe

 

Wednesday, October 1, 2003

Microsoft faces possible class-action suit over security breaches

I know we have ranted about this in the past… So it looks like someone has gone one step further and actually done the paperwork.  Not sure though…  Doesn’t the EULA have a disclaimer in it somewhere? 

The proposed class-action suit claims that Microsoft's market-dominant software is vulnerable to viruses capable of triggering "massive, cascading failures" in global computer networks.
[Computerworld News]

Movielink, Road Runner unite on Net movies

I wonder… Is this why RoadRunner just recently changed the download limits to 3 Mbps?  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this…  RoadRunner upped the download limits to 3 Mbps!!!  Hehe 

The video-on-demand company will offer a co-branded service to broadband customers of Time Warner Cable's Road Runner, in a multiyear partnership between the two companies.
[CNET News.com - Front Door]

SMC Streaming Omnipotence

This is kind of cool.  I love to see new gadgets come out that bring video and music from the PC to the TV/living room environment.  This one has built-in WiFi so  you don’t have to run wires all over the place.  I haven’t tried one yet but I would if someone wanted to ship it to me. J 

SMC device talks a, b, g, and displays pictures, streams media: This catch-all device, which SmallNetBuilder says is as little as $195 from online stores, can handle all manner of still, audio, and moving media onto a TV via audio/video cables. You install software on your Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP box. [via SmallNetBuilder]...
[Wi-Fi Networking News]

Rumors of an HP Pocket PC Phone with WiFi

Oooooh a new gadget!  I wonder if my wife will notice if I buy one as soon as they are out…. Probably… 

There aren't any pictures or anything, but there are some rumors of a new "iPAQ 6000" Pocket PC from HP. This one looks like it'll be more of a Pocket PC Phone, and have quadband GSM/GPRS, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, an SD card slot, and an integrated digital camera. Could this finally be the cellphone with WiFi we've been dreaming of? Read...
[Gizmodo]