This has blog has moved to a new home! Please update links.: Blog

This blog is moving to http://jeftek.com

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:26:04 GMT

I recently came across the new Graffiti CMS system, and thought it might be time to move my blog off of WLS. WLS was great, but I wanted something I could dig deeper into the code on.

So if you are following this site, please head on over to http://jeftek.com

I'll leave all of the previous posts here for searching sake, but I have replicated all of the content to the new site. I updated the existing posts with links to the new location so it can still be found

Hope to you see you there.

Technology, Gadgets, Directory Services and Identity Management Blog at JefTek.com

The new RSS feed link is http://feeds.feedburner.com/JefTek if you want to update your feed reader.

Zune Multi-Format Support on Vista64

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:33:11 GMT

Looking for Information on using Zune with x64 Vista?

Please visit the article at it's new location on my new blog at: Zune Multi-Format Support on Vista64

Zune, Codecs, and Debugging

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 23:59:49 GMT

Zune Codecs and Debugging has moved to JefTek.com

ADAM, userProxy, and sidHistory: Not always what you expected

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:36:16 GMT

ADAM (ADLDS), userProxy, and sidHistory: Not always what you expected has moved to it's new location on JefTek.com

ILM and CryptoAdmin: XMA to the Rescue!

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 19:03:57 GMT

ILM and CryptoAdmin: XMA to the Rescue! has moved to a new Blog location at JefTek.com

ILM 2007 - "Out Of Memory Error" Hot fix is available

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:40:50 GMT

ILM 2007/MIIS 2003 - "Out Of Memory Error" Hot fix is available has moved to JefTek.com

Welcome to the MetaVerse

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:33:43 GMT

Welcome to the MetaVerse for MIIS/ILM has moved to its new location on JefTek.com

Music from Zune Commercials

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:05:19 GMT

Looking for the post on Music from Zune Commercials? I have moved most of the old content from this blog to my new blog.

You can read the original article at my JefTek.com blog here Music from Zune Commercials

The limits of Active Directory

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:38:43 GMT

The limits of Active Directory has moved to my new blog location at JefTek.com

ADAM/ADLDS Anonymous Bind with bind Redirection issue when passing NULL passwords

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:34:54 GMT

ADAM/ADLDS Anonymous Bind with bind Redirection issue when passing NULL passwords has moved to its new location on my blog at JefTek.com

64bit Domain Controllers and Event Log Max Sizing

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 02:44:29 GMT

64bit Domain Controllers and Event Log Max Sizing has moved to it's new location on my blog at JefTek.com

ILM/MIIS: FlowRuleName naming conventions

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 17:01:36 GMT

ILM/MIIS: FlowRuleName naming conventions has moved to the new location on JefTek.com

MIIS: MapAttributeForJoin Video and format example

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:21:28 GMT

I was catching up on my RSS feeds today, and I stumbled upon Alex Tcherniakhovski's video on Very practical example of using MapAttributesForJoin Method. It's an excellent video tutorial on using the MAFJ function.

In summary it goes into converting the data type's to a common data type to map them for a join rule.

I tend to use MAFJ quite heavily because I seem to deal with data systems that store the common data value in various formats.

I would say the most common one that I use, is the normalizing the format for storing the US-SSN identifier between the DS and the MV. Since often you will not be able to have the DataSource be formatted to what you have in the MV, this is a simple way to control that via extensions.

case "MAFJ_SSN":
{
	// MVentry.SSN = "123456789"
	// CSentry.SSN = "123-45-6789"
	// In order to make them "match" for join they need to
	// be equalized in format

	// using RegularExpressions replace the - in the SSN string
	string mySSN = regex.Replace(csentry["SSN"].Value,"-","").toString();	
		
	// mySSN = "123456789"

	// Add the formatted string to the Values collection to
	// be compared for JOIN.

	values.Add(mySSN);
}
break;

It should be noted that "values" is a ValueCollection so you could fill it with multiple formats of the value you wish to join upon. I suppose this could be used to map a persons name who might be "Joe", "Joey", "Josef", or "Joseph", so that it correctly joins the "Joe Smith" in the metaverse. I could see where you would want to join on a common name vs legal format of a name in some systems, but I have never had reason to do this myself.

tags: Microsoft+Identity+Integration+Server, MIIS, Extension

ILM/MIIS: Import Resolution rules for multiple CS AD objects to a single MV object: Tagging

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:09:05 GMT

ILM/MIIS: Import Resolution rules for multiple CS AD objects to a single MV object: Tagging has moved to my new blog at JefTek.com

Do you want to create your own Windows Live Writer Plugin?

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 23:15:51 GMT

Some of you may have noticed I've been keeping track of plugins that the community is developing on one of my blog posts. Others have been sending me links to their plugins, but the list is getting out of hand, which is a good thing.

If you want to develop your own plugin, there is an excellent article from Keyvan Nayyeri on writing plugins here.

You can join others in posting your projects on the common section on CodePlex for all toe share and see as well.

tags: C#, Windows+Live+Writer, Plugin, Coding

New Windows Writer Plugins for 08/21/2006

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 21:38:56 GMT

Peder's Custom Tagging Plugin - info - download - 08/24/2006

Del.icio.us Tagging - info - download - 08/21/2006

Get more (12) Windows Live Writer Plugins

tags: WIndows+Live+Writer, Plugin, del.icio.us, tagging

New Windows Live Writer Plugins for 8/20/2006

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 22:38:15 GMT

Steve Dunn's Code Formatter - info - download - 08/20/2006

Get more (10) Windows Live Writer Plugins

tags: Windows Live Writer, Code Format, Plugin

Free Software from Microsoft

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 00:17:37 GMT

Here is a list of some free software utilities and add-ons.

(this is posted more for me to go back and refer to at a later time)

Windows Live Writer Plugins for 08/18/2006

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:39:56 GMT

Marc Jennings has released his YouTube/Google video embedding plugin. (WLS still doesn't support embeding video BTW...hrm.)

Videos

Embed YouTube/Google Video - info - download - 08/18/2006

Get more (9) Windows Live Writer Plugins Here

tags: Windows+Live+Writer, Google+Video, YouTube, Plugin

LDAP queries are spaced out...

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 05:01:14 GMT

LDAP queries are spaced out... has moved to my new blog at JefTek.com

A new messenger arrived today...

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 03:35:46 GMT

I had called my wife on the way home from work today, where she happened to be getting the mail on her way up the driveway. She said a package was shoved in our mailbox, and asked if I had been expecting anything since it was really jammed in there.

Since I had no idea wht it could be I told her to open it up when she got into the house. As shre tore open the package she gasped "You're going to love this!", and proceeded to tell me that a "bag" had arrived for me.

What kind of bag? A Windows Live Messenger of course!

It was a token of appreciation for the Beta testing of Windows Live Messenger. It actually is a very nice bag, and will accomodate a laptop and some books with ease. The reflective tape is a bit "eh", but I guess safety is important.

Hmm...I still have my "Whistler" (Windows XP) Golf Umbrella somewhere too...

Thanks Microsoft! :)

tags: Microsoft, Windows+Live+Messenger, Gifts

MIIS: Provisioning New Object into a DB Management Agent

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:09:46 GMT

I saw the question of how to provision a new object into a SQL MA using MIIS, so I thought I'd just post a simple method I use often.

It's called ProvDB and can be added to the Metaverse Extension to be called based upon business logic.

I have a standard Correlation ID (CID) that ties data objects together, so this is what is used to provision the object into the DataSource. Once the Object is provisioned with this CID, the MA join logic will handle all other data flows. This makes its simplistic since the CID is the anchor for the MA as well.

Here is the standard method of ProvDB:

 void ProvDB(MVEntry mventry, string DBMA)
        {
            ConnectedMA ManagementAgent;    // Management agent object
            int Connectors;                 // Management agent connectors
            CSEntry csentry;                // Connector space entry objectt agent connectors

            // Get the management agent connectors

            ManagementAgent = mventry.ConnectedMAs[DBMA];

            // Get the management agent connectors.
            Connectors = ManagementAgent.Connectors.Count;

            // determine if this object may have a connector with this MA already.
            if (Connectors == 0)
            {


                try
                {

                   
                    csentry = ManagementAgent.Connectors.StartNewConnector("Person");
                    csentry["CID"].Value = mventry["CID"].Value;
                    
                    csentry.CommitNewConnector();

                }
                catch (ObjectAlreadyExistsException exAlreadyExists)
                {
                    string ExceptionMessage = null;

		// throw exception if you want to alert on duplicates, or just catch to let join rules resolve

		ExceptionMessage = "Duplicate User - in " + DBMA;
                  throw new UnexpectedDataException(ExceptionMessage);


                }

                catch (NullReferenceException exNull)
                {
                    string ExceptionMessage = null;
                    ExceptionMessage = "Null Reference Exception in " + DBMA;
                    throw new UnexpectedDataException(ExceptionMessage);

                }

            }
            else
            {
                // Do nothing.  Object may already have a connection.
            }
        }

So you could use a simple routine to determine if the object should be provisioned into the correct MA-CS.

If (mventry["employeeType").IsPresent && mventry["employeeType"].Value == "CONTRACTOR") 
{ 
	// Provision into Contractor system
	ProvDB(mventry, "ContractorDB")
}

So you can reuse this to provision objects based on the CID into different DBs since the provision ADD is handled by the MA interface.

[Edit: I had left in code referencing DN concatination for a DB. I removed this, since it is confusing. It was from an assumption I had that later turned out to be wrong. ]

tags: MIIS, Microsoft+Identity+Integration+Server, SQL

new Windows Live Writer Plugins for 08/17/2006

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 14:03:15 GMT

Tim has updated his flickr4Writer plugin to support authentication and sets!

Photos

Flickr Plugin - info - download - 08/17/2006

And a screenshot of Ed's Tablet Ink pluginWindows Table PC Ink Support

Ink Blog - info - download

Syntax Highlighter - info - download

Get more (8) Windows Live Writer Plugins Here

tags: Windows+Live+Writer, Live+Writer, Live, Plugin, Flickr

Clipboard to Image tool - Save that Screen Cap

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 01:01:23 GMT

Here is a simple, yet very useful tool for saving your ScreenCap buffer to a file for posting to a blog or sending in an email. It is alot easier than going into your graphic editor of choice to paste in and save!

ClipboardToImage

tags: software, tools, images

Codeformat and Tablet Ink Writer Plugin's availiable

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:27:23 GMT

DeeDee's CodeFormat - info - download

Windows Table PC Ink Support

Ink Blog - info - download

7 Writer Plugins availiable

tags: Windows+Live+Writer, plugins, blog

They are blinding me with SDTV!

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 20:47:52 GMT

I knew I wasn't getting THAT old that my eyes were going bad when I posted complaining about SDTV gaming being a disadvadvantage for gamers.

Joystiq is running a story about the woes of Dead Rising for SDTV users.

Joystiq can confirm that item descriptions, in-game dialogue, and mission objectives (given via text prompts) are unreadable on a 27" standard-definition TV set using component A/V inputs. That this "next-generation" title doesn't provide voiceovers for dialogue and mission objectives is questionable enough, but not testing the game in standard-definition resolution? C'mon Capcom, get to know your consumer base.

tags: Video+Games, Xbox+360, SDTV, HDTV

HDTV: Want It. Need It. Won't Get It.

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 13:41:06 GMT

If you are reading this on my WLS page, you can see my Xbox Live gamer score over there on the right. It's not a pathetic score, but it could be better. So what does my gamerscore have to do with HDTV?

My Gamerscore is suffering because I ~~suck at FPS games~~ am playing multi-player XBL games on my SDTV, when others have HDTV. This gives others the advantage to see a crisper display at further distances, which in an FPS game, allows you to spot and pick off an opponent before they can even see you. I know this seems like a cheesy excuse for poor FPS skills with the 360 controller, but it really does make a chasm between gamers when, they have unequal setups. I would compare it to having bionic vision, allowing you to see further and with more clarity than your opponent.

I have also noticed, that in recent games such as Dead Rising, where all of the text is not spoken via audio, but displayed on the screen, it's hard to read from a distance. Either I'm getting older, or they are developing games with people with larger and higher definition as the majority (Remember the King Kong problem?).

So why have I not broken down and purchased a fine new HDTV? Well for one, I can't afford what I would want, and other than my Gamerscore suffering, I can't justify the cost for what it will bring me.

Well, many years ago, when I was first moving out of my parent's home my father and I went shopping for a new TV for my new condo. We picked out, for what was then, a very nice 32" SDTV. I thought I should get a 36", but my dad talked me out of it, saying it wasn't worth the price.

Looking back, I would say he was right. It was just about the time when HDTV was taking off, and he had thought that prices would start dropping on TVs in the short range, so I might as well wait. The problem was, the HDTV market did start to take off, and with it, many different technologies came on the scene offering more choices than just the CRT based models.

Today we have CRT,Rear Projection, LCD, Plasma, and DLP versions of TVs at our disposal. There are 480p,720i/p, 1080i/p, which are all part of the broad term of HDTV. They come in all shapes and sizes from 13" to the massive 100" displays, so you can find one for just about any setting in the home.

So, with the technology on the shift, it's hard to know when to draw a line in the sand and break down and purchase one. As you can see from the picture above, the space is limited to what I an guessing would fit a 42" DLP, or maybe a 50" if I grease up the sides to have it fit into the TV alcove. This is not that huge of a gain over my 32", and buying something that "small" I think I would regret throwing down the needed cash, when I move in a few years and can fit a 70" at half the cost.

Yet, what about what HDTV brings to the movie and TV aspect of entertainment? Well, unfortunately till all the TV channels are in HDTV, I'm not compelled to feel I would get my money's worth from the HD channels I would watch. What about the yawning war of Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD? I think it's a pointless war, that by the time one beats the snot out of the other and is crowned king, we will be well on the way to getting rid of the need for physical media. I have not purchased a DVD in quite some months, because any movie I do watch, I either watch on Comcast's On-Demand service for my existing cable subscription, or I purchase an On-Demand movie to watch. It's easier to justify the $3.99 price for a movie I will most likely only watch once, instead of the $15-$20 for the same movie if I bought the DVD (How many people have really watched most of their purchased DVDs more than once?). I think the advent of ubiquitous broadband, and a large on-demand library of content offers more of a compelling reason, than purchasing media that will eventually become outdated (I own a VCR still. It's in a box in the garage somewhere.), and have to be replaced. Though I suspect consumers will continue to buy the same content on the new media formats as they are introduced (How many people own Star Wars on VHS and DVD, and soon to be HD-DVD?)

So, with all of that, what are the reasons for me to consider getting an HDTV? It is still to hopefully have a better gaming experience on my Xbox 360. :) It's the only situation where I am at a disadvantage because I am not using HDTV, unlike watching movies or TV. It's still a luxury item, that really doesn't offer that large of a benefit over the current format, for the cost to acquire it. Until, analog TV is turned off (2009 now?), I don't expect digital and HDTV's to be at a price point that they can justify the purchase over current SDTV. Please don't get me wrong, I love HDTV when I watch it on my father-in-law's 60" TV, and I would LOVE to have an HDTV, but when it comes down to the cost to what I gain, it just doesn't make it on my priority spending list.

Give me NEW technology that allows me to do NEW things with it. HDTV is re-packaging the same content in a newer and albeit much prettier box, but it's still the same thing. The DVD brought in the "extra content" aspect to movies, but in this day of online everything, much fo this content could be online and on-demand as well. Where is the revolution at this time?

If anyone would care to donate a nice new big HDTV so I can determine if it will improve my Gamerscore, please contact me. :)

tags: HDTV, Comcast, Xbox+360, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, SDTV

What is the point of the Live platform to users?

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 23:08:55 GMT

The question was posed on various blogs regarding the point of Microsoft's Live services branding and integration.

I thought about this, and tried to determine what does it mean to me as an end user, to have all the current services coming from a single provider, but still open enough to integrate with other best of breed, services from 3rd other third parties.

I'm going to list all of the current Live services I use on a daily basis, and why I chose to use them as it relates to my online choices. I'm going to try and identify the main service and what the other services I can utilize with them. I'm sure I will be called a fanboy for this, but sometimes you have to go with what works versus what doesn't work. In this scenario the name of the game is integration of services, and what that brings to the end user. Windows Live platform, though still unsure of itself, seems to be well on the way to delivering that integrated experience without walling in it's users to only live services. i will also try to identify what other non live services that I use that can be integrated into the user experience.

Windows Live Custom Domains
- Windows Live Mail

I have had my own domain names for the past few years, and have always been disastified with the other mail platforms I have used for mail. The idea of POP3 doesn't fit my mobility needs, and IMAP based solutions are useless behind firewalls in many corporate environments. This leaves the most accesiable solution to be web based mail. Since the custom domain include mailboxes on the Windows Live Mail service, this solves that problem because it has a a nice web based interface. One thing I would like to see this extended too, is allowing the custom domain to point the an associated Windows Live Space (IE www.userspace.com is the URL for http://userspace.spaces.live.com) for branding purposes. DNS aliasing can do this, but any links on the space still use the spaces.live.com domain. I had always hoped that

Windows Live Mail
- Windows live Messenger
- Windows Live Mail Desktop
- Windows Live Contacts
- Windows Live Custom Domains

This was the evolution of wanting to be able to use the hotmail web interface for some of my custom domain email addresses. While the original hotmail was not the greatest, it was simple, which meant that people of all technology backgrounds could grasp it easily. WLM has extended this with it's new web based interface. It now allows me to have a common contacts respository (something I have strived to do with other mail platforms and failed because those solutions were not mobile) with my IM client and my online and offline mail client. The addition of Windows Live Mail Desktop added the missing piece to allow me to sync my mailbox before going on an airplane, and then re-syncing when I got back to a data connection. AJAX is nice and pretty, but it doesn't do very well when you are not online to access the AJAX client. The ability for me to keep up with my email even on my Blackberry through the web browser makes it a truely on the go email solution for me as well. The tieing in of Live Contacts allows my contacts to manage their own contact information and for me to get updates as soon as they want to make them availiable. I have used yahoo mail, and I like their new interface. I have used Gmail and find it to basic of a service as it's to disconnected. It has recently added integration into Gtalk, but even that seems tacked on, and not how it could be done.

Windows Live Messenger
- Windows Live Contacts
- Windows Live Spaces
- Windows Live Mail
- Windows Live Favorites
- Xbox.com

This is most likely the glue that binds many of the services together. With the integration of several Live services via messenger, it makes it eaiser to find value in using other live services. The many uses for this service are to many to go into detail about, so I will try to create a simple list.

Manage my online buddies and their status
get notification (gleams) when buddies update their information or spaces
Get new mail notifications
monitor Xbox live friends
Access Windows Live Favorites
3rd party plugin SDK is availiable
Chat with Yahoo users
It all works seamlessly over my home connection of when behind a corporate firewall which is key when someone would like to access their mail from multiple locations.

Windows Live Mail Desktop
- Windows Live Mail
- Windows Live Custom Domains
- Windows Live Contacts
- Windows Live Spaces
- Windows Live Search

This was a missing piece for me as I had mentioned. The desire to have access to my email while I am in an offline state is essential for someone who may spend alot of time traveling, or in places without a web connection. Without an offline capability, even the most feature rich AJAX client, does someone no good. Using such protocols as POP3 and IMAP are useless behind a corporate firewall that only allows out port 80 traffic, which WLMD connects to a web service over. I can utilize it as an RSS reader, but because of lack of centralization of feed repositories across multiple machines I find it fails in comparison to others such as FeedDemon with NewsGator. I can now sit at work, on my desktop at home, or on my laptop and sync my Live Mail mailbox and have access from all those locations. It also integrates nicely into other mail systems that provide POP3 and IMAP when I am behind an unrestricted firewall. This is still a beta product, and it shows, but all of the main features seem to work well. The integration of my Messenger/Mail contacts in an offline mode is priceless as it is what I had always tried to achieve and fail with LDAP directories or Firefox Plugins which tried to store this data on a website to poll. BTW - where is Windows Live Calendar?

Windows Live Writer
- Windows Live Spaces
- Utilize Flickr media

This post was made using Windows Live Writer, and I think this product is one that extends the integration not only with Windows Live Spaces but many other 3rd party blogging solutions. The new plugin architecture will continue to bring further integration with other services which are not born out of the Live offerings.

Windows Live Spaces
- Windows Live Messenger
- Windows Live Contacts
- Windows Live
- Gadgets
- Any RSS Feed

WLS was the much awaited upgrade for the old MSN Spaces, and with it, it brought customization to the everyday user. The ability to have customized Weblogs has existed in many wonderful products, but the addition of Gadgets created by the more tech savvy allows people to choose what content they want to associate with their space. I am sure we will re-enter the over usage of flashing tags and dancing hamsters with some of these gadgets, but many are starting to show real value. The new Windows Live Writer brings a level of ease and simplicity to managing your own blog that I think it will allow those who were not so web savvy to be compelled ot give it a try. The integration of a friends list, and gleam notifications to buddies provides real value with using an integrated platform. Since RSS has taken off, and adding pretty much any RSS feed to my Space, I can pick and choose the content I want displayed from any third party who provides and RSS link. Currently the photo album support on WLS is subpar with that offered by Flickr, but since I can use my Flickr content in my Space, I get the best of both worlds.

Windows Live Favorites
- Windows Live Spaces
- Windows Live Messenger
- Windows Live Toolbar

I was a del.icio.us user for quite some time, for keeping track of my online bookmarks/favorites. The problem was I would add an entry, but always tend to end up using a search engine to find a link before turning to my online book marks. I like how WLF I can integrate into the desktop experience by using the WLF sync toolbar add on, so I tend to look there first before hitting the search engine. If they add a simple search provider in IE7 to search within my WLF, that might be a nice addition.

So in the end, I utilize many of these services daily, and I can choose to find alternatives. There are many plugins and services from many vendors which try to acheive the integrated "feel" by using open standards, but for the most part they are only within reach of the tech savvy or the IT crowd. When integration exists between compelling services which work together, and works very well, it would have to be a very compelling reason to choose a unitasking service from a non-integrated solution.

The tools are being made availiable to the public, and if there is not a form of integration you would like, go ahead and build it. The mindset of "It must be good, because it is Microsoft", is just a bad view as "It must be bad because it is Microsoft". Identify where the platoform is lacking (RSS feed Mobility!), and speak out how it could be made better. Through the usage of APIs, all kinds of new possibilities are coming about since the platform is there as a starting off point.

If by using an integrated platform, that allows me to bring in the best of other platforms so that my online experience is made better, what is bad about that? The general population will not want to, nor know how to integrate all the web has to offer, without a consistent platform umbrella to do it under. The internet may have been started by the tech savvy, but it is no longer the sole inhabitant of the internet.

tags: Windows+Live

You got your Flickr in my Spaces! You got your Spaces in my Flickr!

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 20:51:14 GMT

I have to say, this Flickr Plugin for WLW is just a great example of how things COULD work and more importantly SHOULD work together. I love the storage capabilities for keeping my photos on Flickr, and now that I can integrate that with my space postings, it is like the best of both worlds.

If this is a taste of things to come from the community, which combines simplicity and openess, we are in good times.

I was never one to use Technorati, but with the new Tagging plugin, there it makes it so easy to integrate I have no compelling reason not to use it.

tags: Windows+Live+Writer, Flickr

Windows Live Writer Plugins

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 04:37:44 GMT

It is the first day that WLW has been released and plugins are starting to trickle in nicely. I'm going to catalog them here till Live Gallery contains them.

Windows Live Writer Dev site

Photos
- Flickr Plugin - info - download - 08/17/2006
- Rob Miles' Flickr Simple Plugin - info - download - 08/24/2006
- Smug Mug - Coming soon
- Videos
  - Embed YouTube/Google Video - info - download - 08/18/2006
Tagging
- Multiple Services - info - download
- Peder's Custom Tagging Plugin - info - download - 08/21/2006
- Del.icio.us Tagging - info - download - 08/21/2006
Text Formatting
- Writer Code display - info - 08/15/2006
- DeeDee's CodeFormat - info - download - 08/16/2006
- Syntax Highlighter - info - download - 08/17/2006
- Steve Dunn's Code Formatter - info - download - 08/20/2006
Media Player Currently Listening
- Windows Media Player/iTunes - info - download

Windows Table PC Ink Support

Ink Blog - info - download - 08/17/2006

There is also a list of plugins being developed on CodePlex.

Excellent article from Keyvan Nayyeri on writing plugins here.

Please visit the new WLW Plugins Site

Since the new site is up, I am not going to update this blog post anymore, but hopefully the exisitng links will lead you to the above site. Thanks :)

Last Updated 08-25-2006

tags: Windows+Live+Writer, Plugin, Google+Video, YouTube, Tablet+PC, Flickr

Windows Live Clipboard....Coming soon?

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 04:15:20 GMT

While reading through the new Windows Live Writer SDK, I noticed many mentions about integration with Windows Live Clipboard. There appears to be a class related to data stored in your live clipboard known as the LiveClipboardContentSourceAttribute.

Thinking this is going to be some sort of web based clipboard application, I thought I'd do some research to get more details of what it was, and when it would emerge.

You can read more of this possible product on Ray Ozzie's Space

Essentially it appears to be a mechanism for transferring structure data (IE a Blog Entry, instead of just the Blog text) between normally disconnected apps.

So in reading I can see how this could be used in blogging. I could CUT the picture from my flickr album online, and PASTE it into my Blog where it would maintain the structure of the picture on Flickr.

This would make simpler to share common data types between 2 seperate applications simpler.

tags: Windows+Live+Clipboard

Windows Live Writer is here!

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 19:36:58 GMT

It appears that the new Windows Live Writer, Blog publishing tool will soon break onto the scene. I have been looking for a good tool that integrates well into WLS, and I am hoping this is it.

You can read about it's feature set on the official Space

It is also availiable for download today here

This is my first post with the tool and so far I am impressed with the WLS integration compared to the other products I've used as of late.

So far the interface is rather nice.
Plug-in Support seems very promising
Picture formatting seems to be corrected

Check back later for more.

So far I am impressed, but things I'd like to see added:

The ability to add Track Back URLs in the GUI for WLS- Today I have to publish, then go to the Spaces site to edit my post to add them. This might be availiable for other platforms, but appears toi be disabled by default for WLS
Add the "Insert Picture from Web" to the existing insert Window options on the main editing page. Today it is simply for the insert File from local, and you have to go to the insert Menu on top to insert from web.
Comment/Trackback management in the GUI - This would nice to be able to review comments in the gui like you can on WLS.

I will be checking out the SDK to see what I can do to get YouTube and Flickr Plugin support developed if possible.

The .NET Evolution in full force

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:27:19 GMT

Is .NET taking over the world?

I have been wondering the status of the .NET scenario, and it is good to see it appears to going strong.

like stealing games from a baby...and yet another reason I am going to hell

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 05:01:56 GMT

I am feeling pretty bad this evening. This would not be because I spent my evening playing the awesome new 360 game Dead Rising. I totally enjoyed the game, as it's a campy yet fun take on zombie horror films.

No, it is not because I didn't help my wife clean the house instead of playing video games all night.

It is because of the circumstances in which I happened to acquire the game this evening.

So on 8/8, the game was released, which means that it was shipping and would be available at retail stores for purchase on the 9th. Well, I decided I would take a gamble and check out the local stores such as Circuit City, Target, and Game Stop. I was to be disappointed, and indeed be told it would not be available till the next day. The friendly girl at the Game Stop mentioned I could pre-order it by putting $5 down, insuring there would be a copy for me waiting the as soon as it arrived. Ha! Why would I pre order, when I totally figured one of the other stores would have it, and I would not be left in the lurch. I told her I would take my chances and be sure to find a copy the next day.

So today came, and I was feeling ~~cocky~~ confident I would stop at the big box store on the way home and pick up my copy of the game. I could have stopped in before work, but I figured I had a good chance on find one copy available. So I had left work and headed over to Circuit City to find....no copies in stock.

Ok, I said I guess I have to humble myself and go to the Game Stop where the girl had chided me for not considering the $5 pre-order. I entered the store, and there she was behind the counter. I swallowed my hubris, and said hello and asked her if she had a copy of Dead Rising in stock. As she said "Yes, we have 1 copy left" I felt the chorus of victory spring forth in my head. This would last a micro second as she would then say while pointing to a nice young kid standing next to me, "He is waiting for his mother to arrive so he can purchase it.Since it's not reserved it is on a first come, first serve basis.". Ok, I thought this was fair, and yes I felt humbled because if I did pre-order (knowing I would be searching to find one anyway), this copy would surely be mine.

So the greedy, older, more ~~conniving~~ mature part of me says "I have cash to pay." thinking the only impetus for this kid to purchase the game was he was waiting for his mother to come pay for it. Yet again, I am knocked back as the young kid says "So do I." and proceeded to show me the wadded up bills he had saved in his wallet.

The store sales women tells him that because it is a mature title, that she cant' sell it to him unless his parents are there. The kid is frantically calling what I believe his mother to get her to hurry up to the store so he can buy the game before the mean man (me!) buys it.It is at this point that I start feeling bad for the kid, because I am sure I can drive somewhere else today to find this game if I can't buy it here, but he will have to convince his parents to do so, and he may not be so lucky. I had apologized to the kid, saying that I had been looking for this game, and that I had really wanted it. I think I was trying to make myself feel better than trying to assuage the fellow for his potential loss.

So, sales woman is in a bind. Two people are here for 1 game, and 1 of them is old enough and has the cash to purchase it on the spot, but the other had arrived first. So she had called her manager on what to do. Wisely, they decided to set a 5 minute timer, and if the boys mom came in, the game was his. If not, the game was mine. Fair and square.

So the timer is going, and in walks what appears to be this boys mom. It is at this moment I nod to the kid, as a sort of "Congrats, it's yours". The sales women tells me to hang on a second, as she ascertains if this lady is indeed the boys mom, to get the parental permission to sell him the title. As it turns out, it is his AUNT, and she will not sell the boy the game!

Victory is mine!

The boy understands, and smiles at me. He offers me his hand to shake, and congratulate me on obtaining the game. I shake hands in a flurry of joy and excitement, and start paying for my game. I feel bad for the kid, but the sales woman did the right thing. If she had sold him the mature title, and his mother later complained, she would be the one in trouble.

So I pay for the game, and the sales woman razzes me on how close I was to being gameless because I did not pre-order. She asks if I want to pre-order Gears of War, to which I am ~~cocky~~ confident, and say I do not need to pre-order. Now, the voice of reason chimes in, and reminds me of the last 20 minutes events. She is right, and I concede to put my $5 pre-order fee to hold me a copy on launch day. It's not like I wasn't going to look into getting it anyway,right?

So I leave the store with my new game like a little kid who has been saving all his chores/paper route money to buy. Oh wait, that's right I took it out from under that young kid. I felt really bad, and kind of wanted to go back to the store to buy the kid some MS points for being so mature about the situation. He could at least buy a XBLA game while I was at home killing zombies. Oh well, I was already in the parking lot near my car when I thought of this, so I did not go back in.

Sorry kid, but know for your sacrifice, I killed quite a few hundred zombies tonight and gained 100 Gamerscore. This ones for you! :)

I think I need to top off the old good karma tank after this....

Video Games Live 2006 - Chicago

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 05:31:46 GMT

Stacy and I just got back from Video Games Livein Chicago. I think we both were blown away by the performance and the integration of the music and video.

It was being held at the Rosemont theatre near Chicago, and with Wizard World going on there were sure to be many interesting characters in the audience. As you can see, there was a nice long line waiting for the doors to open before the show. I would estimate from the amount of people in the theatre, that perhaps 4000 people were there for the show.

I think Stacy was most impressed by the variance of people attending. While the "nerd" quantity was high, you can see just how pervasive video games have gotten by the "average" people who were in the audience. The ones who dressed up in costumes were most amusing (Stacy loved the Super Mario Brother's who took every moment to mug it up for photos), with Final Fantasy's Cloud taking the costume prize of the show.

Outside of the colorful characters, we were there to see the concert which began at 8pm. The mix of the video being played of either in game footage or CG renders from the games, while the orchestra and chorus played a live score was sublime. Listening to the music hitting their cues from the on screen video, you would think that these professionals had been practicing for months. It turns out they are not part of the traveling show, and are local talent who nailed the performance with only a few days practice.

The music performed ranged from classics of Donkey Kiong, Tetris, Outrun, Sonic the Hedgehog, Dragon's Lair all the way up to World of Warcraft and a finale of Halo.

I think the ones that struck me the most were the mix of orchestra and chorus for the Myst montage. It brought back memories of my father, and how he told us he would be this new thing of a CD-ROM for Educational Titles such as Encarta, but in reality he bought it for games like Myst which was out at the time. The World of Warcraft, and ultimately Halo were amazing as well.

They did a nice Medal of Honor score, but instead of in game footage, they used news reel footage of that era to give the sense of time, where this game had taken place. I thought it was a classy moment to honor what we may view as entertainment, was indeed derived from real world horror.

Pianist Lee Ann Leung, played a fury of music from the Final Fantasy, and ultimately Super Mario Brothers. The speed at which her hands moved on the big screen was amazing. (See Video Link below).

There was also a segment where a person who had done well in Space Invaders on the Fox News show, to come on stage and compete to win his Bonus score as cash. They used motion tracking on him to move the space ship on the big screen while he moved back and forth on the stage. Unfortunately he did not end up hitting the bonus ship before the timer reached zero.

Following the intermission they invited 2 random people from the audience to play Frogger on the big screen to compete in taking home a Ferrari branded Laptop worth $2,500. The runner up got the home version of Frogger that plugs into your TV.

Overall, the show was original, and inviting to all types of people. Stacy said she could see her parent's or even her grandmother taking enjoyment from the performance.As video games continue to bring in more money than TV and Movies, I expect we will see more events of this type sprout up over time. We look forward to next year when the show rolls around town.

Video from the performance:

The best moment was hearing Stacy giggle at sighting the "Rogues Do it from behind" T-shirt someone was wearing

tags: Video+Games+Live, Music, Video+Games

Blogging Clients for Windows Live Spaces

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 18:48:23 GMT

I like the new Windows Live Spaces, but the online post editor seems lacking for more than just simple posts. I have been looking for other clients used to make rich posts to the WLS service.

WLS uses the MetaWebLog API to allow clients to post to your space

Here is a list of clients I have tried with the new WLS

Word 2007 (beta 2) - Limited
- The interface is familiar and very efficient to create a pleasing rich post
- Posting to WLS seems to lose formatting, and any in line images are not preserved
w.bloggar - Limited
- Nice interface and simple to use
- Posting to WLS does not yield the same formatting as seen in Preview mode in client
- The website for this client was off line when I went searching for this. I could only find v4.00 to test with, so newer versions maybe available
Ecto- Supported
- nice interface with a lot of useful features including spell check
- Inserting images does not seem to work very well since it wants to upload the file by default. I have yet to get an image posted easily because it gives invalid method for "uploading" file even though I am not trying to upload. I will have to investigate more.
Windows Live Writer - Integrated
- This is MS's official Blogging software and will most likely offer the best integration into WLS
- The plug in support looks promising
- The spatial formatting for media integration is also very user friendly

I will try others and add them here as I try them.

I have some hope to see WLS support in the "Windows Mail Center" (Windows Live Mail Desktop) as this seems the perfect vehicle to be the all in one place for communications. There is "Blog It" functionality, but it utilizes the on line web form, not a client itself. Hopefully this will emerge once that product goes through more revisions.

Being scared is Heli-fun for a cause

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 05:05:08 GMT

So we just got back from the fun that was the Relay for Life event. The basic idea of the event is that teams are formed to raise money in a light hearted competition to be donated to charity. Over the past few years Fred has taken a lead role in organizing his companies team, and has taken the first place position of raising the most money.

There are many creative booths selling great food (the "Walking Taco" seemed popular this year), selling items, face painting, rocking climbing, you name it. It seems that the event is out growing it's small high school track where it is held, with even more people making a showing this year than previous years. The goal was to make 400k in money raised for cancer research, so we will know by the weekend if this was achieved.

For me this year, the most exciting event was..Helicopter Rides! Now if you know me, I'm deathly afraid of heights. I do not like roller coasters, or high dives, and even have a moment of hesitation on high up escalators. Yet, I love to fly commercially, and have often thought about flying in a helicopter, which really doesn't make sense. So when Fred mentioned there were helicopter rides at the Relay this year, I was excited and nervous at the same time. Leading up till yesterday part of me wondered if it would rain and the ride be canceled, and I was not entirely upset by that. As we saw the the helicopter fly in, I was filled with more excitement, but the tinge of worry was in the back of my head. Laura saw how fun the ride looked, so she decided to jump on board with me and Fred on the ride, which I think made us all happy we were going together. The ride lasted for all of 5 minutes, but it felt longer. I think I was surprised by the smoothness of the lift off compared to airplane flight, and how swiftly we were able to make turns in the air. I'm really glad I took the time to check this out, and can cross it off of that virtual list of things I've always wanted to do.

All in all, I think the Relay was once again a great time. I hope they did meet their goal this year, and hope it goes even bigger in the years to come.