Kurt Shintaku's Blog

My boy Chandler has finally posted his own business blog, called the Southern California Unified Communications Blog:  http://www.socaluc.net/blog

In other words, if your focus or interest is around:

• Microsoft Live Meeting 2005
• Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005
• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
• Windows Live Messenger
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
• NetMeeting (now defunct)

…you’ll definitely want to check it out, or better yet, subscribe to the blog.  Note that this site is actually a Sharepoint Server 2007 web site and that he posts Powerpoints and other materials here as well at the root of the domain (http://www.socaluc.net) so it’s work setting as a favorite.

Check this video demonstration out:

This is the predecessor to the "Physics Illustrator for Tablet PC", a free program & educational tool for Windows XP Tablet PC or Windows Vista Tablet PCs. 

Essentially the idea is that a person could draw objects on a screen and actually animate objects using true newtonian physics:  Balls could roll down hill or over stationary objects depending upon their position relative to gravity.  Objects suspended from springs or threads could rock and bounce as they are impacted by other moving objects, creating tru animated examples of simple harmonic motion.

In any case, if you have a Tablet PC, the software is downloadable from:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=56347faf-a639-4f3b-9b87-1487fd4b5a53&displaylang=en

Are you a user of Virtual PC 2007?  There’s a dozen reasons why Virtual PC 2007 should be the virtual machine environment you use, not the least of which being that Virtual PC’s .VHD virtual machine format is rapidly becoming the standard for virtual machines in both the Windows ecosystem as well as the Linux/Xen ecosystem.  Also, it should be noted that Virtual PC 2007 is not only free to use and univerally available for anyone to use but all Microsoft training is done in .VHDs making it a great tool to learn with.

So if you’re using Virtual PC, here are a set of tricks I’ve learned along the way. 

• SHUTDOWN AFTER TURNING ON HARDWARE VIRTUALIZATION
  Sometimes you have to completely shutdown your computer for CPU/hardware-based virtualization acceleration to take affect; i.e. rebooting is not enough.
• SLEEP MAY KILL HARDWARE VIRTUALIZATION
  Sometimes sleep will disable hardware virtualization on PCs, so be careful if you sleep your machine.  You may find your Virtual PC machines grinding at a slower pace.
• SOUND ADAPTERS FOR WINDOWS VISTA
  Getting sound in Windows Vista virtual machines require that a special synthetic sound card be in place when setting up the virtual machine.  This can only be done in the VM wizard by selecting "Windows Vista" as the OS type to be used.  Every other OS type will use a synthetic sound blaster 16 ISA adapter which will NOT work with Windows Vista, seeing that Windows Vista no longer supports ISA adapters.
• VIRTUAL SERVER SCSI WILL SWITCH TO IDE ON VIRTUAL PC
  Virtual Server 2005 .VHDs that are using synthetic SCSI adapters to improve performance, if moved to Virtual PC 2007 environments, will shift over silently to using IDE adapters slowing down performance.  Virtual PC does not support SCSI.
• FULLY UTILIZE CPU FOR VIRTUAL PC ALL THE TIME
  Some laptops will shuttle down performance of their CPUs and putting them into low power modes resulting in environments not friendly (nor performant) for Virtual PC.  Here are instructions on how to maximize CPU utilization to ensure that the laptop doesn’t go into low power mode.
  – Stop running Virtual PC
  – Open notepad
  – Open %appdata%MicrosoftVirtual PCoptions.xml
  – Locate the <virtual_machines> section of the file and add this key:
    <enable_idle_thread type="boolean">true</enable_idle_thread>
  – Save the file and exit notepad
  – Start Virtual PC
  Virtual PC will fully utilize the processor in order to stop the laptop from entering a low power state.  The upside of this is that you should see no performance issues.  The downside is that it will drain your battery power much faster than normal.  As such – you should only use this option after you have tried all other possible solutions.
• FINISH BACKGROUND PROCESSES BEFORE WORKING ON HOST OR GUESTS
  By running this script on both the Virtual PC host & the guests then letting them settle, you will find that your machine’s UI’s will run much smoother.
          C:WindowsSystem32rundll32.exe AdvAPI32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks
  All that this command does is have the background services complete at a high priority instead of splitting time with the UI.  This allows them to "finish loading" quicker.

The Loan Origination Reference Application Pack shows how to build architectures that unify people, process and technology through familiar Office 2007 user interfaces.

It includes an architecture framework for lending with an Office Business Application (OBA) based scenario and BizTalk “MISMO” Accelerator for the loan origination process in banking. OBAs are an emerging class of business applications that connect existing line-of-business (LOB) systems with the people that use them every day through the familiar user interface of Microsoft Office, bridging the gap between how business process systems work, and how people work. The OBA Reference apppack for Loan Origination Systems (OR-LOS) will help our customers simplify document management, increase integrated workflow, improve efficiency and ultimately lower time-to-market offering for faster turn-around and reduced cost.

OR for Loan Origination Systems leverages both the Office Clients and the new server side components exposed through Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS). This is a unique way of building composite style applications that leverage Office Clients applications that are entry points into back-end business information and systems.

MOSS provides 6 key services:

• Workflow
• Search
• Business Data Catalog
• Extensible UI
• Open XML File Formats
• Website and Security Framework

OR for Loan Origination Systems includes several resources for developers and architects, including:

• A reference solution and a reference implementation for building Office Business Applications using Office 2007
• Scenarios for collaboration between the brokers and lenders with a retailer, and then extending back through a manufacturer and a tier-1 supplier
• Architecture Guidance:
  • Whitepaper on how to build sustainable banking architecture with OBA technologies.
  • Whitepaper that shows how OBA’s can solve regulatory pressures.
• Downloadable bits, including:
  • Demo websites and SharePoint site templates
  • Supporting documents (.doc, .xls) for reference scenarios
  • .NET Assemblies (workflows, utilities, activity libraries)
  • Web services (.asmx)
  • Reference data
  • XSLT files
  • BDC XML files
  • Scripts
• White paper on how to architect and build a supply chain OBA
• Screen-capture demos

DOWNLOAD:
The OR for Loan Origination Systems will be available for the general public for download on March 27^th at http://Msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb265266.aspx

For more information on OBA: http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/tool/OBA/default.aspx

If you’d like to get all the content from all the Technet Magazines from 2005-2006 in digital from including scripts and images, you now have the opportunity to do so.

We’re giving away free copies of the Technet Magazine archive on CDROM… Only the cost of shipping is incurred at 9.95. This is a limited time offer good until July 31, 2007. The price jumps back to 29.95 after that.

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/special. to tale advantage of this deal.

Additionally we’re doing the same thing for MSDN Magazine: All the 2000-2006 editorial content with source code is now available on a CDROM for just 9.95 until July 31, 2007. The price jumps back to 29.95 after that.

Go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/cdrom/2006 to order.

This is a quote from Steve Lombardi, mapping application developer & program manager extraordinaire: 

It’s not all glowing praise, [referring to the article referenced below] but one point is clear – .NET has won by a landslide in GIS [geographic information system] application development. ESRI [a leading GIS software vendor] held their dev con last week which draws 2500 or so devs each year (the ESRI user conf draws about 15,000 attendees). I’ve seen a number of bloggers report that this conference has turned into a .NET sig in recent years, and this year the number of attendees interested in Java development could ‘fit in a small kitchen’.

Excerpt from the article Steve referenced –

It’s clear everyone is programming in .NET these days. Sessions like "Developing AJAX ADF applications in .NET" packed in well over three hundred people. The equivalent session for Java desktop development could easily have been held in a small kitchen.

Between sessions people were encouraged to hang out in the "Meeting Center", an amply-caffeinated room where ESRI programmers made themselves available for chatting after their talks. IBM sponsored a "Java Lounge" for like-minded Java programmers to buzz about and get excited. The one time we saw anyone there I had to take a picture — and I swear he was reading want ads.

ARTICLE: 
http://www.palladiumconsulting.com/blog/sebastian/2007/03/who-was-at-esri-developer-summit-not.html

This is interesting.  It appears to be a GUI interface to script the conversion of Windows Installer .MSI files to SoftGrid Sequencer .SFT files.  The command line tools for generating .SFT files have always been around however it’s the first time I’ve seen someone write a GUI for conversions.

Be aware that even when you do a .MSI conversion, you’ll need to test the resulting package for functionality on the destination workstation, and also that this may be OS dependent.

Oh yeah – and it’s FREE.

SoftGrid Migration Tool Express v0.6
The SoftGrid Migration Tool is an add-on for the native SoftGrid Sequencer created by Dennis Damen & Rodney Medina.  The purpose of the SoftGrid Migration Tool is to help you “convert” existing automated application setups to SoftGrid Virtualized Applications (aka streams or sequences) with the least possible amount of user intervention. Freeware!
http://www.loginconsultants.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=10&Itemid=62

I’ll be the first to admit that there’s a lot of crappy gadgets being published out there.  But in that same breath, there are a lot of really good ones as well. 

The problem is that neither you nor I have the time to go hunt these down.  Enter "InsideMicrosoft’s" summary of "Good Windows Vista Gadgets".  Looks like Nathan over there have already done some really solid "filtering" for all of us on what’s been published. 

Nice work, Nathan.  Breaking news and nifty downloads are interesting but this is the kind of "laborious research" sharing of is the kind of information that I find most useful in a blog.

Good Windows Vista Gadgets – ISSUE 1:
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/archives/2007/02/27/some-good-windows-vista-sidebar-gadgets-issue-1/

Good Windows Vista Gadgets – ISSUE 2:
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/archives/2007/03/05/some-google-windows-vista-sidebar-gadgets-issue-2/

What am I using right now?
(In addition to the standard gadgets like the stock ticker and picture viewer)

• Dilbert Comic Gadget
• Woot! Gadget
• MultiMeter 1.23 Gadget
• Stopwatch Gadget
• eBay Gadget
• iClock Gadget
• Accuweather Mini Gadget
• Amazon Explorer
• System Info
• Drive Info
• iStat Battery

Imagine a paper version of a blog that collects the best hints and tweaks in the world of Windows Vista.  That’s Windows Vista Magazine.  It’s a magazine for consumer enthusiasts so there’s not much in the way of IT Pro knowledge but it’s still chock full of coolness.

Each issue of Windows Vista™ The Official Magazine is packed with helpful product insights, “How To” guides, tips & tricks and insightful product reviews. Use the “How To” articles to help you quickly set up and customize Windows Vista to match your own personal style. Use the product reviews to find cool new gadgets and hardware. Accelerate your productivity and creativity by using the magazine’s Windows Vista insights to help you do things like manage your family’s schedule, watch and record your favorite TV programs, and create unique and personal photo stories to share with families and friends. Get more done faster with Windows Vista and Windows Vista The Official Magazine.

http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/

Well, isn’t this an interesting little bit of news:
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3667201

…and this is up against Red Hat, Mac OS X, HP UX, etc.

—————————
March 21, 2007
Surprise, Microsoft Listed as Most Secure OS
By Andy Patrizio

Microsoft is frequently dinged for having insecure products, with security holes and vulnerabilities. But Symantec (Quote), no friend of Microsoft, said in its latest research report that when it comes to widely-used operating systems, Microsoft is doing better overall than its leading commercial competitors.

The information was a part of Symantec’s 11th Internet Security Threat Report. The report, released this week, covered a huge range of security and vulnerability issues over the last six months of 2006, including operating systems.

The report found that Microsoft (Quote) Windows had the fewest number of patches and the shortest average patch development time of the five operating systems it monitored in the last six months of 2006.