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

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

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

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

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

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

Office 2007....and why Lotus Notes ruined my day

Thu, 25 May 2006 23:13:36 GMT

So I took a look at getting the new Office 2007 Beta 2 to take for a test drive on my laptop. The install went great, the applications worked rather well for a Beta 2 product, and the UI changes were not as harsh as I thought they were to be.

So why did I de-install it less than 48 hours later ?

2 words: Lotus Notes

Unfortunately the "enterprise" e-mail system for me is Lotus Domino 6.5.x, and which you would expect to use the Lotus Notes 6.5.x client to work "well" with.

Since I come from an Exhange background, I am naturally biased towards a Notes world. I've worked at many large enteprises who migrated from Notes to Exhange for Messaging and PIM support, and never looked back. I suppose I will eventually write something on the pitfalls of the Domino platform where it comes to non-IBM integration, but let this rant exist about the client piece itself for now.

So in the past I used Outlook with the MS Domino connector to get my Email and Meetings. It's been a rather excellent solution as it let me use the familiar Outlook interface, but still utilize the existing Domino backend. I was able to read all my E-mail, Schedule meetings, and even look at other Calendars of people who are usin the full Notes experience. For the most part, I was ok missing the backend features of Exchange that Notes was lacking out of the box because I could do 90% of what needed to be done.

So I installed Office 2007 which upgraded my exisitng Outlook. This had the ability to break the Domino Outlook connector which I expected to happen. I thought of it as a chance to really give Notes a try and maybe I was wrong in my assumptions about what it can and cannot do as a messaging client. I figured I had a BlackBerry device that if all else failed I could function with.

So I went about using Notes 6.5.4 client, and this is what I found:

Limited Interface Customization
- I can't cusomize my Interface to be what I want it to as far as style and font sizes. For the most part I like a an 8pt font for my interface, and it turns out I am in the minority, and people prefer a 10pt font. This sounds trivial, but when you are sorting through messages, it means more information on the screen and less scrolling. I am told I can't change this interface as it would be a "Database Template" I'd have to modify. If I did choose to go that route, that the Server Admin would overwrite my custom template on refresh anyway, so it was a pointless excercise. Ok, so I think I can deal with that, and jsut chalk it off to not having personalization for my own style of information management. Yet, what if I wanted a LARGER font because I had poor eye sight. It appears I could not, and would be in the same position. This seems like a really big usability issue overall with Notes.

Delete is not Delete

So I can select a message and hit the DELETE key, but it does not delete the message. It marks it for deletion, and on next database refresh, it will disappear. This goes against pretty much all other deletion operations within a Windows system. Perhaps in a Linux or AS/400 system it is normal that selecting delete doesn't actually delete the item. It sounds very similar to the IMAP protocol, but with most IMAP readers I can choose to have it really delete when I tell it to delete, or at least remove it from my view.

F5 key means logout and not Refresh
- If you work in a Windows environment, and use most applications, the F5 key is to refresh the current view of the application. If you wanted to reload a webpage in IE or in FireFox, you would hit F5. If you hit the F5 key in Notes, it logs you out of your current session and you have to relog in. You have to use the F9 key to initiate a Refresh (F9 is also used to send/receive in Outlook). I have logged myself out so many times because every other WinApp uses F5 for refresh. Am I wrong for learning to use a common keyboard function that most applications use? Why can't Notes use the same usability guidelines?
Refreshing of messages period
- It seems Notes can be set to check for mail every x minutes. Yet if you receive mail in that time frame you won't know about it till the timer counts down. Using Notes, people would walk up to me and say "Did you see the Email I sent?" to which I respond "What Email?" and then proceed to hit the F5 key, logging me out. I then log back in, and yup there is the message. The solution is to set the refresh to only 1 minute to check for email, and even that seems spotty.
Forwarding a Meeting on my calendar
- if I am invited to a meeting and I plan to attend it, it will be on my calendar. If I want to invite someone else to the meeting because I think they should be there, I want to let them know about the meeting and put it on their calendar. In Notes I can choose to forward the Meeting to the user in question. This has the outcome of sending them the meeting details in a MESSAGE and not in a Meeting invite. So what happens is that it can get lost in their pile of email (Let's not talk about the sophmore filtering and 3 color choice for message tagging that exists to "help" you be organized), and it does not show up on their calendar. Sure I could delegate it, but I want to also be at the meeting so I don't want it to come off of my calendar. If I have a meeting on my calendar in Outlook (the same Domino backend), and I wish to ask someone to join me, I can forward the meeting to them. It sends them a meeting request which will show up on their Calendar correctly if they accept it. This appears to be a client issue, since the backend is the same.

I am sure I can spend alot of time going through my issues, but you will see that many people on the net have similar complaints. I believe it is said that Notes is the app that Admins love, and users love to Hate. Is that really a good place to be? Isn't it the users who need to be productive so that business thrives?

Many people at my org know I whine about Notes deficiences all the time, so they are used to it. They don't understand why I complain and Notes is just as good as any email platform. Then it turns out they have only used Notes in the modern enterprise, and have not worked with Groupwise or Outlook. I have to wonder, if all you know is one system, can you really know what is "just as good" anyway?

So yes, I wanted to try to use Notes. I know I can be biased because I am used to Outlook. Yet when I extended my hand to make peace with Lotus Notes, it kicked me in the shins and poked me in the eyes. I had heard it be said that using Notes every day at work is like being kicked in the balls everyday when you arrive at work. After my 48 hour wrestling match, I have to say that would be putting it lightly. I know change is hard, but when it's change in the backwards direction, it is even harder to accomplish. I could not stand using Notes any longer and had to remove Outlook 2007 B2.

Outlook is now re-installed and working fine once again with Notes, and I am productive again. Hopefully once Outlook 2007 reaches closer to RTM a Domino connector will re-emerge to save the day. This is why you get to look at Betas, so you can get an idea of what is coming down the pike. It may not all work, but at least you get an idea. I can deal with using Notes only for Notes applications (which leave alot to be desired in this age of Web based apps), but for the core messaging of Email and Calendaring, Outlook is king. Maybe Notes 7 is better, but do I really want to keep hoping only to get let down again?

Sure Notes integrates with Sametime, but how well do either interface with the Office Suite? I guess that is why Lotus Now has their own office suite they will be pitching soon. Funny, I remember they used to give the Lotus Office Suite away for free when you bought a new IBM Aptiva desktop computer in CompUSA. I wonder what will be different.