Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Back when Scoble was still working for us, he wrote up an internal list of 15 reasons many people should consider upgrading to Windows Vista.  I don’t know that it’s a very complete list but it certainly is a cool one.

1) All new networking stack. Many times the performance. You don’t care about performance? Interesting.
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=116349

2) All new audio stack. You don’t care about per-app audio?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=116347

3) New UI and graphics layer. You don’t care about a nicer UI with better video and audio integration?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=114694

4) New search integration and file management. You don’t have more than 3,000 docs, do you?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=114710

5) New fonts and readability technology. You don’t care about readability and experience, do you?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=146749

6) New kernel changes. Performance, security, and all that.
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=148820

7) New features for international users. Don’t care about seeing Japanese and English fonts on screen at same time?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=146169

8) New print technology. Don’t care about having better quality prints?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=137532

9) New installer technology. Don’t install apps?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=134577

10) New sidebar and gadgets. Don’t want to take advantage of that new high-resolution wide-screen monitor tech that’s now out?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=128231

11) New sideshow (external monitor for laptops). Are you gonna buy a new laptop next year? It probably will have one of these.
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=124796

12) New updated applications like Windows Mail. Don’t use email on your machine or answer questions in newsgroups?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=116711

13) New crypto technology. Wanna keep your stuff away from prying eyes?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=116710

14) New RSS platform. You wanna subscribe to RSS feeds?
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=80533

15) New sound experience by Robert Fripp. You gotta get Windows Vista if you want it.
Watch this: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=151853

Have you ever been surfing the web and wondered, "What the hell is this web page downloading into Internet Explorer?"

These days, most web pages are just a single HTML file with a bunch of graphics from the local web site but rather are massive, complex layers of frames, cookies, redirected objects and HTML pages.  A single web page like CNET.COM can:

• Place a cookie on your system from CNET.COM
• Show an advertising graphic from GoogleAds and place another cookie on your system from that ad
• Display some HTML in a separate frame that comes from NEWS.COM, a sister site and place another cookie on your system for that web site
• Display a banner at the top of the screen from ENGAGE.COM…

Etc. etc.  The bottom line is because the Internet provides such easy redirection without the end user knowing what’s going on in a browser session, and everything is so "cloaked", end users don’t know who they’re REALLY accessing when they hit a web page.

Unless you use a tool like HTTPWatch. 

One of my little secrets is using a HTTP spy-type application for determining where a web page is going and what they’re doing in order to figure out a company’s affliations, or to determine why a given web site takes so darned long to load.  This tells me who the culprit is and what it is that either is consuming a lot of bandwidth or what component it is that Internet Explorer is having trouble consuming.

HTTPWatch installs in Internet Explorer (both IE6.0 & IE7.0) and provides you with real time information about what it is that a given web page is really doing, where its going, and what kind of content is being pulled down.  It will record/log everything that’s going and and even decode HTTPS encryption or HTTP compression – something that most protocol spy applications have trouble with.

More importantly, it’s easy-to-use (it’s just a button on Internet Explorer) and the basic version is free.  The professional version is $249 which is no chump change but for the company that’s developing applications that communicate over the Internet or act as a portal, this tool can be incredibly valuable.

http://www.httpwatch.com

WHAT ABOUT FIDDLER?

For those of you looking for a cheap version that is, in my opinion, a less clean but a little more full featured without having to pay a dime, check out Microsoft Fiddler.  It does many of the same things without the elegance of HTTPWatch.  They even have a new tool out called RPASpy that will inspect HTTPS encapsulated packets however the tool is really alpha code and not very stable.

Be aware that Fiddler has always been a developer’s tool and isn’t exactly the most user friendly thing in the world if you’re not a web developer working on web services-based applications.

http://www.fiddlertool.com/fiddler/
http://www.fiddlertool.com/fiddler/rpaspy.asp

Virtual PC 2007 went silently to beta the other week on the 11th of October.  It, among other things, supports Windows Vista as a host operating system very well.

• Hardware-assisted virtualization*
  Virtual PC 2007 includes support for virtualization technology from Intel and AMD. By default, hardware-assisted virtualization is enabled if the feature is enabled on the physical computer. You can turn this assistance on or off for each virtual machine by modifying the virtual machine settings.
• Support for Windows Vista as a host operating system
  This beta release of Virtual PC 2007 introduces support for Windows Vista as a host operating system. The following versions of Windows Vista are supported: Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate.
• Support for Windows Vista as a guest operating system
  This beta release of Virtual PC 2007 introduces support for Windows Vista as a guest operating system. The following versions of Windows Vista are supported: Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate.
• Support for 64-bit host operating system
  This beta release of Virtual PC 2007 supports 64-bit host operating systems. However, there is no support for 64-bit guest operating systems.

Access to the beta is pretty much instantaneous.  They have posted both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Virtual PC 2007 on the site as well as a special Windows fix for AMD Pacifica Virtualization Technology that’s supposed to be installed BEFORE you install the Virtual PC 2007 beta if you have an AMD chip with Pacifica support. 

The 32-bit version is 25.7MB in size while the 64-bit version is a little larger.  There is a newsgroup for discussing the product online through Connect.microsoft.com and a place to provide Feedback directly on the site.

REGISTER FOR BETA: 
https://connect.microsoft.com/programdetails.aspx?ProgramDetailsID=874

Guys, seriously… pay attention to this entry because this announcement in my mind is a really big deal:

Microsoft is announcing something we’re calling the "Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack" and it’s a tremendous value.  I could reiterate what’s available here, but I’m not.  Instead I’m going to try to "net it out" for you.

1. COST:  The Desktop Optimization Pack is a packaged offering that costs $7-$10 per desktop license.  Price depends on volume.  And by the way, for comparison purposes, SoftGrid’s licensing alone used to be something like $200/desktop when Softricity sold it.
2. HOW TO GET IT:  It is ONLY AVAILABLE to customers with Enterprise Agreements (EA) or Desktop Software Assurance (SA).  And no, you can’t buy any part of it separately. 
3. NO VISTA REQUIRED:  Don’t worry.  Microsoft DOP does not require that you actually deploy Windows Vista and will work just fine with Windows 2000 or Windows XP.  It is put under the "Windows Vista" web site for marketing reasons to highlight what customers considering Software Assurance now to get the rights to Windows Vista Enterprise have in store for them. 

   (And as you’ll see, there’s a ton of value in DOP making anyone that turns down SA (WinVista) + DOP crazy in my mind.  I find it hard to believe there’s any significant company that wouldn’t see serious value in SA +DOP and at the pricing we’re doing it at, it’s just staggering.)

4. WHY?   We listened to a ton of feedback from our customers who need help with their desktop administration.  Really – we did.

   The DOP’s purpose is to make life better for the IT organization and eliminate difficult or repetitious pain generally associated with desktop operations.  In order to do this, we went out and acquired the top products in the marketplace for Windows environments that alleviates these pains. 

   It consists of 4 components from the companies we acquired:

• SoftGrid for Desktops:  The primary use for this technology is to allow applications to be deployed to desktops without affecting any existing applications already installed.  This is the desktop applicaiton packaging technology we got when we acquired Softricity.
• Policy Management Tools:  This will provide a testing ground for group policy before actual rules are deployed.  This is the end-to-end policy lifecycle technology for desktops we got when we acquired GPO Vault Enterprise from DesktopStandard.
• Desktop Recovery & Diganostics Tools:  IT users will be able to recover "dead" Windows installations without "reinstalling" and they’ll be able to recover deleted files or lost passwords in the event an employee leaves the company in a flash.  This is the technology we got when we acquired Winternals.
• Asset Inventory Services:  Customers will be able to tell how many desktops the "trial" version of Adobe Acrobat is installed on versus the number of desktops the FULL version of Adobe Acrobat is installed upon – normally a very difficult task.  It will provide this inventorying and counting service for over 430,000 applications – and growing.  This is the asset inventorying technology we got when we acquired AssetMetrix.

More on this at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/optimizeddesktop.mspx

If you’ve been in IT for any period of time, you know about Robocopy.  It’s a really cool tool that provides a lot of power for file copying in a little package.  Basically, it’s one of the IT guys’ best friends.  (For those uninitiated, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=72969 to download it – it’s part of the Windows Server Resource Kit.)

(As a quick aside, most people don’t know that Robocopy actually stands for Robust Copy, and not the police officer of robotic fame.)

The thing is, it’s never had a GUI.  Most tools that provide mass-copy services like the infamous RichCopy (a Microsoft internal tool that leaked out, and since thennew versions have been under lock and key requiring Microsoft corporate network access to actually function – dictatorial ‘eh?) have always had friendly GUIs that allow people to quickly get started copying a large quantity of file data.

Because let’s face it:  Most file copy jobs are simple.  They’re not conditional, they’re not fancy!

1. You just want to copy a a whole @#$% load of files from one network server to your local machine… or somewhere else and you want retries or you want the copy process to be network fault tolerant in the event the TCP pipe gets cut off across the WAN or something.
2. Or maybe you want to copy one big #$%^ file, like an .ISO image of a CDROM that’s 600MB or a VirtualPC .VHD file that’s 2.6GB in size and you don’t want to have to "start all over again" if the transfer fails 70% of the way through the copy.

Robocopy does all of this for you – so why not have a a good ol’ GUI?  Enter RobocopyGUI.  RobocopyGUI give you an easy to understand GUI interface for Robocopy but even more importantly, it generates script that you can save after using the tool so that you can then repurpose the Robocopy instructions you configured in the RobocopyGUI tool for your scripts.  Additionally, you can save all your settings so that you don’t have to "restart from scratch" every time you run the tool and set up settings.

DOWNLOAD:  Robocopy GUI (Utility Spotlight 11/2006)

(Thanks to Derk Benisch from the MSN Group for developing this tool, and thanks Joshua Hoffman for bringing this tool to light in the November issue of Technet Magazine.  Great article!)

I’ve been using the Soapbox service for a while now.  I think it’s pretty cool and the one thing I really like is that it uses Windows Media instead of Macromedia’s lousy excuse for a streaming protocol.  In the long run, if the pundits are correct, and that the future of television is sites like these for content distribution (and not IPTV… although personally, I don’t think the pundits are correct at all on this one) then Soapbox’s ability to use another protocol other than Macromedia streaming video, in particular Windows Media, will give it the ultimate edge over other sites that do only use Macromedia.

BTW:  Using the Soapbox beta you’ll be able to:

• Easily upload videos from any major digital video format (AVI, ASF, WMV, MOV, MPEG 1/2/4, 3GPP, DV, H.263, H.264)
• Do everything: search, browse, share, even upload your video, all without interrupting the video you’re watching
• Tag any video on the site to categorize it as you see fit
• Embed videos in your blog and email links to your favorite videos
• Set up customized RSS feeds by user, category, or tag to automatically get notified about new videos you’re interested in

BETA:  Wanna give it a try?  Join the beta by clicking here.  (http://ideas.live.com/AcceptInvitation.aspx?E911D8F6B550EC811A1806C58ACAFD260B0A5DE0BAAF0D676FDD2CB1B696FEB3C70F9E9904136E39C3B1AFA01074E1EA)

FEEDBACK:  You can provide feedback by going to the Soapbox team site at http://soapboxteam.spaces.live.com.

Have you ever accidentally hit Ctrl-Enter in Outlook and had your email SENT to its intended recipient accidentally – probably misspelled and incomplete?

You can disable CTRL-ENTER in Outlook by adding the following registry key:
Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftOffice11.0OutlookDisabledShortcutKeysCheckBoxes
String Value: CtrlEnter
Value Data: 13,8

Step-by-Step Instructions:

• Start –> Run, type REGEDIT press OK
• Locate the folder HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftOffice11.0Outlook
• From the Edit pull-menu, select New, then Key
• Type DisabledShortcutKeysCheckBoxes
• Double-click on the new key folder you just created
• From the Edit pull-menu, select New, then String Value
• Type CtrlEnter
• Double click on the new String Value you created and enter 13,8 in the Value Data field
• Close REGEDIT and restart Outlook for the changes to take effect

Have you ever accidentally hit SEND on an email before it should have been sent?

Ever found yourself frantically unplugging your network cable or shutting off your wireless to prevent the email from going out?

What if you had a rule that always delayed the transmission of any email you sent to give you a minute to "think it over" even after pressing the SEND button, except if you specifically indicate that the email needs to be sent immediately?
————————————

HOWTO: Delay the delivery of all outbound Outlook messages by 1 minute
(Unless there are 3 spaces in the subject line which will send the email immediately)

• On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts, and then click New Rule.
• Select Start from a blank rule.
• In the Step 1: Select when messages should be checked box, click Check messages after sending, and then click Next.
• In the Step 1: Select condition(s) list, select any options you want, and then click Next.
  If you do not select any check boxes, a confirmation dialog box appears. Clicking Yes applies this rule to all messages you send.
• In the Step 1: Select action(s) list, select defer delivery by a number of minutes. Delivery can be delayed up to two hours.
• In the Step 2: Edit the rule description (click on an underlined value) box, click the underlined phrase a number of and enter the number of minutes you want messages held before sending. (I enter "1" which is the default.)
• Click OK, and then click Next.
• Select any exceptions, except if the subject contains specific words .
• Edit the rule description (click on an underlined value) box, click the underlined phrase specific words and enter in 3 spaces.
• Click OK. Click Next.
• In the Step 1: Specify a name for this rule box, type a name for the rule.
• Click Finish.

Being that I used to cover the Media & Entertainment industry for over 7 years, this has always been one of my techie "dreams" and it’s finally become a reality.

Fox News arms its crews with Windows Mobile-based Treo 700w Pocket PC Phones and some live video transmission software.  And sure enough, Scott Wilder, a cameraman on staff broke a news story about the airplane crash in New York using a LIVE video feed from his phone.  That’s right… LIVE video from his phone and they broke the story before anyone else could cover it. 

I really hope someone from my previous client is reading this as I believe they are.   Eat that Blackberry.

Fox uses Treo to break N.Y. plane crash news

By Paul J. Gough
Fri Oct 13, 3:27 AM ET

When a single-engine plane crashed into an Upper East Side apartment building on Wednesday, Fox News Channel delivered early live video to its viewers from the crash site using a hand-held mobile phone souped up with streaming video.

Scott Wilder, a cameraman for the network, had been about 20 blocks away on another assignment when the crash occurred. Wilder ran uptown and reported live from the scene using a hand-held Palm Treo smartphone that uses the existing mobile network to transmit video to the Fox News control room. From there, Fox News sent it out live on TV to supplement other video being shot by local traffic helicopters.

Wilder’s work represents one of the first instances of a network using video captured via mobile phone camera live on the air. Fox News has experimented with the practice several times in recent weeks with CometVision, software designed by Ohio-based Comet Video Technologies.

"We’ve been waiting for the opportunity to get live pictures on the air from inside a cellular network, and we wanted to take it to the next level, make it easy for people and make it portable," said Ben Ramos, director of field operations for Fox News.

TV journalism already has deployed a digital-video camera attached to a mobile phone to transmit a live picture. In addition, most if not all of the networks have used mobile phone video, but not live. Ordinary citizens have made use of them at incidents including the London transit bombings and the South Asia tsunami, capturing footage for later use before any news cameras arrive.

The live picture quality from the crash site wasn’t spectacular, with scattered shots of the scene and little movement. Wilder talked to "Studio B" anchor Shepard Smith as he held the camera; the control room fed live pictures over the network to accompany Wilder’s commentary.

But Wednesday’s phone-borne report provided a different perspective in the early moments after the crash, when satellite trucks hadn’t reached the scene and the coverage was dominated by overhead shots. The video quality provides illustration for phone interviews that didn’t exist before without much more equipment.

CometVision runs on a Palm Treo 700-series PDA via the Windows Mobile operating system. The technology is able to transmit video over non-3G networks, using much less bandwidth than would normally be needed, Comet CEO Howard Becker said.

"We have it set up so you can push one button" and then it starts to work, Becker said. That includes automatically connecting to a computer at the Fox News studio, and sending an e-mail to a producer or anyone else at the network who has a link to the live stream.

No one at Fox News is suggesting that CometVision will ever replace video cameras; the technology is just another choice and it might, at some point, be used more often.

"The best use of it is still playing out, and that’s the beauty of 24-hour cable news," Fox News vp newsgathering John Stack said. "You’re playing without a net, so to speak. Ideally, you’d like to have a state-of-the-art live shot, but you don’t always have that luxury."

Fox News stumbled upon CometVision when a Los Angeles-based engineer stopped by Comet’s booth at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Comet wasn’t marketing the application for TV news, but Ramos said that Comet and Fox News began working together toward that goal.

Now every Fox News bureau has at least one or two of the Treos for photographers and other staff members to bring with them in breaking news or where it isn’t possible to bring a full-fledged camera for live coverage.

The first usage of CometVision was October 2, when correspondent Rick Leventhal drove from New York to Nickel Mines, Pa., to cover the Amish school shooting. "Studio B" anchor Smith introduced the video, shot out of the front window of Leventhal’s vehicle.

A Fox News staffer also used it recently in covering a story from an Atlanta courthouse. Both videos looked better than what was shot at the site of the plane crash, in part because cell phone network congestion seems to affect the picture quality, Becker said.

It was perfect for use in Wednesday’s early coverage because, even in media-heavy Manhattan, it’s not always possible to televise live pictures immediately from the scene of a breaking news event. That usually takes satellite trucks, which are slower to get into position than a reporter or photographer carrying a Treo.

There are still drawbacks, which should be eliminated as cell phone networks move to third-generation platforms and as a WiFi backup is developed.

"It’ll be used more when the picture itself is of higher quality," Stack said. "It’s OK now but it could get better. It depends on the nature of the story. If it’s an important enough story, we are more forgiving of picture quality and hopefully the audience is more forgiving."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Stephanie Krieger, a Document Production Expert by trade and a Microsoft MVP has come up with a list of 12 ways you can make your PowerPoint presentations better.

I have to admit:  I’m an arrogant SOB when it comes to Powerpoint presentations because in general, I think I maintain some strict adherence to the rules that were taught to me many years ago about Powerpoints creation.

For example:

• 4 BULLETS, 5 WORDS:
  Use no more than 4 bullets, with each line having no more than 5 words.
• GRAPHICS:
  Always have a graphic on each page to vary the template’s formatting.  Unless the point you’re making is one that’s climactic and the absolute focus of the presentation, people need a picture on the screen to focus on before embarking on reading you text.
• TELL THEM WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY, TELL THEM, THEN TELL THEM AGAIN:
  Set up your presentation in the beginning slides by explaining what you’re going to talk about.  Then go over it in detail, and finally conclude with the same point as a summary.
• CALL TO ACTION:
  Give your audience a "next step".  Some thing to do… a web site to visit… a book to buy… whatever it is.

…and so on and so forth. 

That being said, this is a really good primer that Stephanie has done.  Her write up is more from the perspective of the Powerpoint tool itself however it’s very useful.  I learned a thing or two.

LINK:  http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getworkdone/presentations.mspx