Posted by: kurtsh | May 26, 2006

WEB: Windows XP Media Center Edition information sites

Folks that have Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 installations will find this list useful.  This is a list of all web sites I know that cater to Windows XP Media Center Edition users. 
 
It’s cool because there are a 101 different add ons you can apply to your Media Center if you’re a geek.  This products not much good for Mom & Dad but if the geeks of the world that want a customized experience for their DVR solution, then this is it.
 

http://thegreenbutton.com/

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Posted in Info

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

DISCOUNT: Pocket PC Accessories, Upgrades & Repairs

Any of you who own Windows Mobile powered devices need accessories like "charge & sync" cables or screen protectors or want to see if you can get the memory on your device bumped up, go to http://www.pocketpctechs.com and use this discount code:  "PPCMA03" to get a 10% discount across the board.

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Posted in Offer

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

RELEASE: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack

On Tuesday, May 23rd, during Bob Muglia’s WinHEC 2006 keynote address, we announced the availability of the Scalable Networking Pack for Windows Server 2003! 

Here are some links to important resources and customer ready materials that are now available:

*NEW* Scalable Networking TechNet site
For more information about the Scalable Networking Pack, including whitepapers, datasheet, FAQs, partners and to download the bits.
http://www.microsoft.com/snp

Scalable Networking Pack Market Bulletin:
Overview of the announcement with supporting executive quotes from 12 launch partners:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/news/bulletins/snp.mspx

BobMu PressPass WinHEC Q&A:
A bunch of great mentions about the Scalable Networking Pack announcement:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/may06/05-23BobMu.mspx

Scalable Networking Pack Partner Announcements:
Five launch partners issued same day, supportive press releases:  

NetworkWorld Article:
John Fontana has already written a great article about the Scalable Networking Pack
Microsoft tweaking OS to boost networking performance, scalability
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/052306-microsoft-os-boost-performance.html?page=1

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Posted in Release

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

COMMENTARY: Windows Live Local & “Collections”

I like this thing.  I’d give it about an 8 out of 10 right now.
 
Windows Live Local’s new "collections" capability gives me the ability to create a collection of places/locations that I can keep alive as a "work in progress" on the Internet and share with others.  I can enhance the list of places and everyone will be able to get the new locations when they revisit the collection.
 
Here is my first collection.  It’s a list of Japanese Restaurants that I’ve been sharing amongst friends and co-workers.  Being that I’m Japanese and was raised with Japanese traditions and Japanese food all my life, I like to think I’m something of a authority on the topic.
 
 
I have 5 beefs with the software however, and I’ve rolled all of these up the chain.  I’d encourage you to do the same through the Feedback site:  (http://feedback.live.com/eform.aspx?productkey=wlsearchlocal&local=en-us&P2=&P4=LIVE&P6=&P9=34.041609121994426/-118.459985&searchtype=Local%20Search)
  1. Comments.
    Why is it so hard to expose comments about a location?  The creator’s comments about the location are what add value to the collection – NOT the collection of locations itself.  So what if there’s a list of geographic locations?  People will know how to get there but they won’t know why they want to go there in the first place.  Additionally, these comments should be persistent and well exposed.  I should see them when I hover over the location, or I should at least see them when I right mouse click on the location.
  2. URLs.
    Why is there no easy way to expose a URL for each location to enable people to click to jump to an online review that I’ve written or a place to find more information about the location?  This should be obvious in the same way that comments are obvious and the right-mouse menu would be the perfect place for it.
  3. New/Updated locations.
    If I update a collection, why aren’t the new items tagged as "new" – maybe even with the date/time that it was added?  My visitors need to know what’s been added since the last time they visited.  The whole point of putting this online is so that people can constantly get updated with new changes right?
  4. Zoom Out on every Addition to the Collection.
    Every time I add a new item to the collection, the map zooms out.  What a pain!
  5. Export
    How do I export my location list to something like an Excel spreadsheet?  Or an Outlook Contacts list?  Why isn’t this integration built in?
  6. Alerts.
    Why isn’t this tied into MSN Alerts?  People should be notified of when things have changed on my collection in the same way that people are notified of when my blog changes.
  7. RSS.
    Why isn’t this list an RSS feed?  This list should enable people to subscribe to it and then click on the link to see it geographically.

 

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Posted in Commentary

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

MULTIMEDIA: Free Office 2007 Training

The 2007 Office system is designed to increase individual impact, simplify collaboration, streamline business processes and content management, and improve business insight. Microsoft Learning can help you examine the new products by providing you, for a limited time, free training, e-learning, books, and skills assessments. Classroom training is also available for IT professionals and Home and Office workers.
 

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

TOOLS: Microsoft Standard User Analyzer

The Standard User Analyzer helps developers and IT professionals diagnose issues that would prevent a program from running properly without administrator privileges. On Windows Vista, even administrators run most programs with standard user privileges by default, so it is important to ensure that your application does not have administrator access as a dependency.
 
Using the Standard User Analyzer to test your application can identify the following administrator dependencies and return the results in a graphical interface:
 
• File access
• Registry access
• INI files
• Token issues
• Security privileges
• Name space issues
• Other issues
 
This tool also complements the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.0. ACT 5.0 will include a User Account Control agent that you can deploy to user desktops to identify applications that require administer privileges. The Standard User Analyzer is designed to be run on the developer or tester’s workstation to test and troubleshoot a specific application. Issues identified with the Standard User Analyzer can also be entered into you ACT 5.0 database so you can track the application compatibility across your environment.

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Posted in Tools

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

BOOKS: “Windows Vista Product Guide”… now in Word .DOC format & downloadable from Microsoft.com

The "Windows Vista Product Guide", aka "The Book of Windows Vista" has been rereleased in Word .DOC format.  It’s 60MB in size but it doesn’t requires you to install WinFX to read it, like it did before when it was posted in .XPS format. 
 
It goes through every feature of Windows Vista and covers both the consumer and the Enterprise side of the house.
 
 

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Posted in Books

Posted by: kurtsh | May 25, 2006

RELEASE: Microsoft Soccer/Football Scoreboard

Follow your favorite teams and players during the FIFA World Cup tournament with Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard. This fun program allows you to access all the latest tournament news and information with the click of a button! Live game data allow you to monitor your favorite teams progress in real-time. Want more? Check out your team’s fixture (schedule), standing, and news as they advance through the tournament. If you are a soccer fan, don’t miss a minute of the action. Download Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard today!
 
Customize your experience with RSS
Do you have a favorite web news feed? Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard acts as a RSS reader. Enter your favorite sports-related RSS feed into the application and watch it display the news headlines all on its own.
 
All times local
The Microsoft Soccer Scoreboard displays all dates and times according to your Windows XP’s time zone setting. No more calculating start times only to find out you are off by an hour or more.
 
Available in multiple languages
Microsoft Football Scoreboard is available in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, and Ukrainian.
 

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Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: kurtsh | May 24, 2006

RELEASE: Windows Live Local releases New Version!

Tonight, we launched the new version of Windows Live Local, introducing features like user collections and integration with Windows Live Favorites, real-time traffic in 35 US metros, expansion into UK and Canada, and loads of other new features that our user have been asking for. 
 
Check it out:  http://local.live.com
 
New features:
 
User Collections
 
Collections are a major evolutionary step for our scratchpad.  They allow users to not only add business listings or custom pushpins to their scratchpad, but to save multiple different collections to the cloud using their Windows Live ID and share those collections with friends, family, colleagues, or the internet community as a whole.  Try it out—create a collection of your favorite places to eat when on the road, historic theaters where you grew up, strange oddities like giant yarn balls and frying pans in the Midwest, or whatever else strikes your fancy.  Share the links with your IM buddies, over email, or blog them to Spaces.  
 
And when you do try out collections, make sure to upload a few to www.PassThePOI.com. 
 
Traffic
 
With support for about three dozen metro areas in the US, our partnership with Traffic.com provides our users with additional tools to enhance the mapping and directions experience.  Flow data shows a quick visual representation of current traffic conditions across a wide area, making it easy to spot and avoid trouble spots.  Incident and construction information adds more detail, giving users a better idea what might be causing a delay so they can judge how long it might last.
 
International Support
 
In this release, we have added support for Canada and the UK with maps, routing, address find support, local search, and more.  We have expanded bird’s eye for the first time outside the US by adding a variety of locations in the UK.  We will continue to add bird’s eye with the goal of covering at minimum 80% of the US and western European populations within 2 years, plus much more I am sure.
 
With this release, we also added support for city to city routing across most of western Europe, Australia and other regions.
 
New APIs
 
With this release, we have also updated the Virtual Earth Map Control with support for driving directions, geo-coding, instant mashups with Windows Live Local collections, and more. See http://blogs.msdn.com/virtualearth/archive/2006/05/23/596729.aspx for more info on the API.

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Posted in Release

Posted by: kurtsh | May 24, 2006

RELEASE: Windows Live Local Add-in for Outlook

Today, we announced the online availability of Windows Live Local for Microsoft Outlook, a free downloadable software add-in for Outlook that will incorporate information from Windows Live Local, including maps, driving directions and travel times into the Outlook calendar appointments.
 
Windows Live Local for Outlook enables you to add maps and directions to your Outlook meeting requests, calculate the travel distance between your start location and your appointment location, adjust your meeting departure time based on the estimated travel time, store custom locations, as well as print the map and step-by-step driving directions to take with you on the road.
 
 
 

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