Microtastic

Microsoft announces Zermatt!!

Denzamoo — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:01:06 GMT

“Zermatt” is the codename of a .NET framework that helps developers build claims-aware applications to address challenging application security requirements using a simplified application access model. It is currently in beta, and the first final version is expected towards the end of this year. This framework consists of a comprehensive set of libraries that facilitate the use of "claims" in applications - in Microsoft's words: make them "claims-aware". This greatly simplifies the development of applications that will work within federated environments and the new identity metasystem technology that Microsoft is developing, and will give a push to adoption of the new identity technology.

Download the bits of the Beta of “Zermatt” Developer Identity Framework.

Technorati Tags: Identity,claims,.net

Apple news: Itunes and APP store

Denzamoo — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:39:35 GMT

OK for those who like it first....

The new version of iTunes is ready to download. It includes all the hooks for the new iPhone and version 2.0 software release and of course APP store.

App store is hidden at present but you can get to it by searching for AOL AIM in the store search then 'backing out' to App store. Here you will find all the goodie apps for free download or paid download.

Remember you still need version 2.0 of the software to run these!!

Technorati Tags: iPhone 2.0,iPhone 3G,APP store

Browser Memory Hogs......

Denzamoo — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:09:39 GMT

Have a look at the following investigation by Sam Allen.....

"The author developed a program to snapshot memory usage per process every 3 seconds on Windows. Using this he recorded 3 hours of memory usage for five different browsers under real-world usage scenarios: Safari 3.1, Firefox 3, Flock 1.2 (a browser based on Firefox 2), Opera 9.5, and Internet Explorer 8. A million data points indicate that Firefox 3 has a surprising advantage over the other browsers tested. These are real-world tests and not contrived benchmarks."

Technorati Tags: Firefox,IE,Opera,Flock

Review: SlickEdit

Denzamoo — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:43:03 GMT

SlickEdit is one of the old school editors that has survived the wonder world of the new IDE. Version 13

3 has just been released and it continues to blur the boundaries between a simple text editor and a fullblown IDE. While there are no visual form designers and other such wizbang graphics, what you get is an editor that you can use for many development tasks, including building, running, and debugging complete applications.

Ten versions down the road, and we now have almost too many features to list, but let's hit a few of the highlights. You get multiple windows and configurable everything, with colour-coding for all the languages your heart could desire. There is also a variety of language-specific indentation, auto-completion, and code prettification functions designed to save you typing while making your code look right. Add in a slick diff and merge tool, integration with loads of source code control systems (Subversion support is new in this release), searching that lets you use regular expressions or skip strings or comments (or limit your searching to strings or comments, for that matter) or what ever. You get a C-based macro language and just about any keyboard shortcut man (or woman) can imagine. And then there is built-in class and definition browsers making it super-easy and super-fast to jump to parts of your code. So overall SlickEdit is very fast; if you're used to waiting for an IDE to churn, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the responsiveness here.

From there, move on to the actual coding stuff. For example, you can open up a Visual Studio .NET solution directly in SlickEdit v13, build or rebuilt it, run it, even debug it with a full selection of watches, single-stepping, and other advanced debugging features. If you're working in C++ you also get a whole mess of refactoring features in the editor. Java developers get new support for Java Live Errors and the Hot-Swap Debugger (essentially edit and continue for Java), plus the ability to run JUnit tests from within the editor. The user interface has also been modernized from previous versions, with slicker icons and dockable windows for a more modern feel.

If you want to take the program for a spin, there's a trial available for download.

Find it here....

SharePoint Log on nags

Denzamoo — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:44:46 GMT

If you keep getting nagged for log ons when using sharepoint this will solve the problem almost 100% of the time. The trick is to use the Windows managed Stored username and password feature. To access this,

1. Simply go into Control Panel
2. Click User Accounts
3. Go into Managed Passwords and click Add
4. Type the URL of the server (without HTTP), for example portal.us.com
5. Enter your credentials and click Ok

Now anytime Windows attempts to access ANYTHING on this server it will use the use those credentials and your prompting issue should go away.

The downside to this is if you change your password, you need to remember to come change it here.

Technorati Tags: SharePoint,MOSS 2007,Vista Tips

O2 Plays fair in the UK with iPhone 3G

Denzamoo — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:16:26 GMT

O2 remains the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the UK for iPhone 3G. In keeping with Steve Jobs announcement the cost has been kept right as well.

O2 offers the following four tariffs for iPhone 3G:

£30/month - 8GB iPhone £99 - 16GB iPhone £159 - 75 Minutes - 125 Texts - Unlimited Data & WiFi - 18 month contract
£35/month - 8GB iPhone £99 - 16GB iPhone £159 - 600 Minutes - 500 Texts - Unlimited Data & WiFi - 18 month contract
£45/month - 8GB iPhone Free - 16GB iPhone £59 - 1200 Minutes - 500 Texts - Unlimited Data & WiFi - 18 month contract
£75/month - 8GB iPhone Free - 16GB iPhone Free - 3000 Minutes - 500 Texts - Unlimited Data & WiFi - 18 month contract

O2 is also offering existing iPhone customers the chance to simply renew their contract rather than having to pay it off coupled with a chance to upgrade their phone...

Finally O2 have announced a Pay and Go option as well!!!

Technorati Tags: Apple,iPhone

Microsoft Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool

Denzamoo — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:56:51 GMT

As we use more and more virtual machines, particularly for development, there is a risk because they don't get updated by pushing critical security or virus updates and then they are fired up six months later we can have a security problem.

Microsoft has a solution for their virtual machine environment adding to the virtual machine management tooling - the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool. This turns on your VMs, updates them and shuts them down automatically. You can find information about getting on the Beta at the link below.

Get it here

Technorati Tags: Virtual Machines,System Centre

APPLE WWDC 2008

Denzamoo — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:23:58 GMT

Technorati Tags: iPhone 3G,iPhone software

Steve Jobs announces the following:

IPhone 3G

IPhone price cut

IPhone 2 software (also for Ipod Toch)

mobileMe

ans 'snow leopard' OSX

Just for starters.....

BBC on-demand joins BT Replay

Denzamoo — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:03:34 GMT

After a period of being 'free' BBC content has joined Channel 4 as part of the BT Replay package. Not unexpected and whilst the content is free on iPlayer the quality is much better. Now all we need is to add in ITV.

Technorati Tags: BT Replay,BBC,iPLayer

BT Broadband Anywhere Mobile Usage

Denzamoo — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:42:58 GMT

This question has vexed the forums but the answer is very simple:

1. Make sure you have joined BT's on-line billing with your main phone/broadband account

2. Look up the direct debit reference number at your bank for your new BT Mobile account (starts GB********)

3. Go to you BT account and add account

4. Use the reference number and your Mobile number and there you have it -usage monitoring

Note: the monitoring lags by about 24 hours so beware!

Test Post

Denzamoo — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:46:12 GMT

Technorati Profile

Samsung LE46A656 setup

Denzamoo — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:02:54 GMT

Backlight - 5
Contrast - 95
Brightness - 60
Sharpness - 5
Colour - 56
Tint - 46/54
Black adjust - off
Dynamic Contrast - off
Gamma - +1
Colour Space - Auto
White Balance:
R-offset - 15
G-offset - 15
B-offset - 14
R-Gain - 19
G-Gain - 15
B-Gain - 26
Flesh Tone - 0
Edge Enhancement - off
Colour Tone - Warm 1
Digital NR - off
HDMI Black Level - Low
Energy Saving - Low - IMPORTANT

I feel these settings are superb for watching Blu-rays via a PS3. I have my PS3 setup so that the AV output is RGB, not automatic. You will need to do this if you want to control the HDMI Black Level. Also, make sure you have RGB range set to LIMITED and not full.

I advise using virtually the same settings for gaming as well. Change the backlight from 5 to 6, change the colour tone from Warm 1 to Normal and change the sharpness to 25.

Technorati Tags: Samsung LCD,LCD Settings,Series 7

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Tools: Visual Studio 2005 Extensions User Guide, Version 1.1

Denzamoo — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:59:09 GMT

This is the User Guide, Samples and Walkthroughs for the tools for developing custom SharePoint applications with the Visual Studio 2005 extensions for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, version 1.1 (VSeWSS 1.1). The user guide has sections:

Starting out in SharePoint Development
Walkthrough of the VSeWSS User Interface including the WSP View
The Team Site Project
The Blank Site Project
The List Definition Project
The Web Part Project
The Workflow Projects
Project Item Templates
Best Practices with VSeWSS
Changes from 1.0 to 1.1

Get it here!!!

Technorati Tags: MOSS 2007,Office Dev,WSS 3.0,VS2005 Extensions,WSS 3.0 Tools

Develop for SharePoint on Vista

Denzamoo — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:47:42 GMT

If you are a developer for SharePoint your best friend has been Virtual PC or VMWare. It’s now time to introduce a new friend, Bamboo Nation's SharePointOnVista go here for more info

Technorati Tags: MOSS 2007,Deve on Vista,WSS3.0

Ten Tips for Using SharePoint Server 2007 with Excel Services

Denzamoo — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:42:21 GMT

Learn ten tips to improve your use of SharePoint Server 2007 with Excel Services from the SharePoint - Excel Services forum.

Go here to download

SharePoint Placeholders Explained

Denzamoo — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:24:08 GMT

Thanks to Mike Breeze for this one.

New BizTalk Series poster - BAM

Denzamoo — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:17:47 GMT

Get it here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/7/c/d7c1bc18-8a77-4d94-88f8-217689c71325/BAM%20poster.pdf

Vista Tip: Creating an Elevated Command Prompt

Denzamoo — Sat, 24 May 2008 08:10:50 GMT

In the main UAC has provided a more secure Windows Desktop OS but there are times when this can be very annoying. On of those times is when attempting to run commands from our old friend the DOS prompt. What invariably happens, even though we logged on as an administrator, we get the UAC nag prompt! What need to do is run what is called an Elevated Command Prompt. The following allows you to set on up for future use!

To create an ECP as a shortcut on the desktop:

1. Right-click the desktop, and select New > Shortcut.

2. In the text box of the Create Shortcut dialogue box that appears, type cmd and then click Next.

3. On the following screen, type a name for your shortcut -- I use Elevated Command Prompt. Then click Finish.

4. Right-click on the shortcut you have just created and select Properties.

5. Select the Shortcut tab and click the Advanced button.

6. Check the box titled Run as administrator. (see below) Click OK and then OK again.

We now have our Elevated Command Prompt....

Technorati Tags: Vista Tips,UAC,Elevated Command Prompt

More on Satellite Direct UK bad practices

Denzamoo — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:55:40 GMT

Having blogged about these 'bandits' already I was interested to note that the BBC's Watch Dog have reported on them already!!!

More on Satellite Direct UK bad practises

Denzamoo — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:54:26 GMT

Having blogged about these 'bandits' already I was interested to note that the BBC's Watch Dog have reported on them already!!!

Reseting the HTC 620 for BT Broadband Anywhere

Denzamoo — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:44:00 GMT

There may come a time that a factory rest is required. The important thing to note here is that everything will go including all the BT stuff. So this blog is a guide to making sure you get it right!!!

Before starting ensure you have the following two cab files:

Switch the phone off
Hold down the 2 soft menu Keys.
Keep holding the soft menu keys
Press and hold the power button for no more than 3 seconds
Keep holding the soft menu keys
You should get a black screen with white text on it (if you don’t, repeat steps 1-5 but hold the power button in for less time!)
release the soft menu keys and press the green send key (the “make a call key”
The phone will go through a reset. This will take about 5 mins.
The phone is now in its factory state and we need to add the BT files
Copy the 2 cab files btnetWM6sp.CAB and BTBBASetupWM6spv1.6.CAB to the phone over using Active Sync
Execute btnetWM6sp.CAB on the device. The device will restart
Cancel the message about SMSs after the restart
Execute BTBBASetupWM6spv1.6.CAB on the device.
NOTE:THE CABS MUST BE APPLIED IN THIS ORDER
Switch device off and on again. You should now see the Handset setup wizard welcome screen.
The activation process will begin when you press Next.
The handset setup wizard will guide you through the setup process.
Successful setup will result in a restart of your phone.

Hope this helps!

Satellite Direct UK - Do not deal with this company!

Denzamoo — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:14:30 GMT

As anyone will know who has followed my various blogs last June I shifted from Sky to BT Vision and all has been well!

I moved for a number of reasons:

Cost - £40 is just too much
Content - what was I watching: well it wasn't on Satellite only
Picture Quaintly - one of the main issues (Sky told me to upgrade to HD!!!) in fact it is caused by a large tree just off my drive that has a preservation order on it! Sky guys took 4 visits to work this one out. Solution - move to HD and double the size of the dish (only £400).

So we (I) made the choice and cancelled (story in its own right!!) and sold off the kit.

Now to the meat of the blog: I had a repair insurance with Satellite Direct UK of Arundel (www.satellitedirectuk.com). So emailed them to cancel, phoned them to confirm after no reply. Was informed no rebate like real insurance copies give but all was cancelled. Waited for letter, never came and of course forgot all about it!

April 2008 credit card statement arrived with a new entry - Satellite Direct UK - and to add insult to injury for more money than the previous time. So I phoned them up and asked why. You know what's coming....you never cancelled!

Now to the really nice bit - they should have advised me of the increase, but didn't, of course they said the sent me a letter so I must have known, but they didn't - when I asked the customer services bod for the date of the letter he explained it wasn't policy to send them!!

Because I didn't know I was about to be charged I missed the chance to cancel (a second time). Phoned a number of times but no joy not even a 50% refund. And today received a letter telling me my equipment will be covered for another 12 months even though they know I don't have any equipment!!!

BT Vision Announces HD box supplier

Denzamoo — Fri, 16 May 2008 09:13:21 GMT

BT has announced that Pace Group will build its next generation of BT Vision digiboxes featuring a more powerful processor, better energy efficiency, and hard drive capacity able to store around 80 hours of standard definition video content. It will continue to offer IPTV functionality, for delivering Video on Demand and interactive functions, and could also offer high definition video, hence the more powerful processor. The new boxes likely won't be available until some time next year...

Information care of InfoTech

What is SOA?

Denzamoo — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:52:39 GMT

In the drive for greater success for business IT is finally starting to make the difference it has always promised. The reason is the move to the Service Orientated approach to the architecture that supports the business and provides the agility needed in today's market places.

Service Orientated Architecture, for a number of years, has been linked with building solutions with web services but that is extremely misleading. SOA is a blue print for how solutions, business processes and applications are delivered not simply the technology or 'building materials'.

All businesses have two aspects that define them: the core processes, applications and principles that underpin the business that rarely change and the things that change frequently such as prices, stock lists, customer experience and products. What is clear is that changes in the frequently changing level should not impact at the core level.

In a nut shell SOA provides us with the approach and blueprints to meet this goal. In essence a business can appear and in fact be very agile without having to rebuild it's core to achieve it.

SOA is the practice of grouping core business functions into independent services that don’t change frequently. These services can then be used or composed together to deliver solutions, services and applications the business requires. The win for business is these solutions and applications can be changed as the market or business dictates providing the agile edge that delivers success.

ASP.Net 3.5 news

Denzamoo — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:56:00 GMT

Sourced from: The official Microsoft ASP.Net site

New features are being added to ASP.NET and ADO.NET this year that increase the power of the .NET Framework 3.5. These enhancements target:

Enabling high-productivity data scenarios by using the ADO.NET Entity Framework, ADO.NET Data Services, ASP.NET MVC, and ASP.NET Dynamic Data.
Supporting test-driven development by using a powerful and extensible ASP.NET MVC framework.
Creating the best server for rich clients by using AJAX history support and ASP.NET controls for Silverlight.

What are the new features?
Where can I find these new features?
Where can I ask questions and discuss?
How can I learn more?