PCWorld are selling 750GB Maxtor OneTouch 4 external drives for £99, thats cheaper than I can buy a bare 750GB drive for!
December 26, 2007
December 21, 2007
Free Dev eBooks from MS Press
Microsoft are offering free VS2008 ebooks on LINQ, SilverLight and AJAX here http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urvs5cn3s8 if you sign up for them. Thanks MS!
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December 20, 2007
IE 8 and the ACID2 Test
I watched with interest the channel9 video from the IE team that IE 8 has finally passed the ACID2 test, which is one measure of standards compliance. they have a small movie showing how the ACID2 test progressed with various builds over the past few months (it should draw a smiley face, similar to the Aceed logo of the 80’s). It finally draws the image correctly.
You can try it yourself with your own browser here http://www.webstandards.org/files/acid2/test.html but don’t forget to check the reference image to see what it should look like (IE7 is not ACID2 compliant).
What is amazing is how far out of compliance some browsers are. If you are still using IE 6 I encourage and implore you to get upgraded to a better browser capability as provided by IE7, Firefox 2 or Opera 9. Its only when you compare the CSS rendering of FF2, O9 or IE7 with IE6 that you see how slow, wheezy and downright inaccurate it is with a modern AJAX site. As a company committed to providing our web services to appear like desktop apps using AJAX, IE 6 users always complain but it truly is their browser and not our sites which are at fault. If people won’t move on we can’t make the experience better. Its no good saying the display is rubbish and slow in IE6, its never going to get any better. So move on up, please!
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December 19, 2007
Tracking me …
You may or may not know that your mobile device can track you wherever you go, at least to the nearest cell which in a city can be tens of metres or several kilometres in the countryside. But did you know that someone (anyone) can actually track your phone by signing up for a tracking service where they can locate you or see where you have been on a map? I must admit I found it amazing that the mobile operators will provide this information without my consent to any third party. So, as long as I know the mobile number of the person concerned, I can subscribe to the service, check the box that says I have their permission to track them, and start watching where they are.
Safeguards ? Well the only safeguard is that an intermittent text must be sent to the device saying that it is being tracked. But this is only a code of conduct not a regulation. So, maybe the tracking company won’t be very diligent in sending the SMS or maybe you can have access to the phone and remove the SMS before the owner sees it. Anyway, its not very foolproof for the phone owner.
So what can you do about it? Well apparently not much… the mobile operators don’t seem to believe they have a duty to protect this information from being given to anybody at all on demand as for some bizarre reason its not deemed private information.
The solution? Well the only solution that I have found (in conjunction with my operator) is to turn off Location Based Services (LBS) which then does not collect the data which cannot then be forwarded to a third party. However, you lose any benefits of LBS that you may have enjoyed like finding local services to your current location.
Do you really want a burglar being able to see when you are not home, or being stalked by someone, I don’t think so. The mobile operators should classify this as highly personal data and not allow its use without explicit consent. What next, your call history?
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December 18, 2007
HTC 640 Wanted
Any hints on where I can get an HTC S640 apart from getting a Telus contract, in Canada?
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December 17, 2007
xmas Vista
Thanks Microsoft! just got a nice email telling me they are sending me a retail copy Vista for participating in the VHD development program. Unfortunately its coming from the US so will probably attract a hefty import duty charge which will make it not very free, but its the thought that counts.
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December 16, 2007
MinVista update
I spent a few hours further enhancing my MinVista implementation, and its getting closer. Hopefully I’ll get some time over xmas to refine it further, as I can see some good gains trimming away some of the fat in this build. Talking to people in MS the news sounds good, it seems the message has hit home that the succesor to Vista needs to be more svelte and modular so I’m hopeful beyond Vista R2.
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December 15, 2007
Mark Russinovich on MinWin, Server 2008 Kernel …
MarkR has done another cool chalk and talk on Windows internals in channel9 http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=365911.
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December 14, 2007
Stuck DVD in my iMac
When I did my last update of Leopard before the code was released with the last test build some weird stuff happened. One thing in particular was that the DVD drive was no longer visible in the Finder. This made a big problem because now the DVD couldn’t be ejected. Apple send me a final retail Leopard build a while ago but I hadn’t installed it but now I wanted to get it updated, but I couldn’t get the old DVD out. A bit of research revealed the answer which was to use the command line DRUTIL tool which worked a dream…fire up terminal and type this command
drutil tray eject
The man page is here http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/drutil.1.html
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December 12, 2007
ASK and ye shall receive
In our personal detail aware world, ask.com have just trumped Google by offering an option to delete search data and anything that would link you to it. Today, Google will retain data on searches you make for 18 months. That isn’t something you might want them to do, not because you search for anything illegal, but because someone else might use your browser or just use your data to direct market to you. There’s no reason why you should let Google take advantage of you like this other than you have no choice if you want to use their engine.
Well ASK changes that today with their ASK Eraser option which once switched on (look top right of their page) will not store any data about your searches which is really what Google et al should do too. Actually ASK is quite good overall with neat enhancements like page preview thumbnails before you go to a page and they seem to have shaken off the Jeeves moniker now too.
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December 10, 2007
Channel 4 HD launches
I was quite surprised, but pleased, to see Channel 4 HD appear on channel 140 tonight. Channel 4 HD is just a straight replica of the regular Channel 4 content which means if the source is not HD then it will show in SD, but that’s ok. Its a better approach than the BBC HD and forthcoming ITV1 HD channels where they merge bits from all channels and not necessarily at the same time as the SD channel. Even though the BBC HD channel is now fully launched as well, I don’t think they make the most of the capacity and don’t operate all day despite having sufficient content. The only downside is that there is no Channel 4 HD +1 which would have been nice. Its looking unlikely that there are going to be many more new channels on Sky as they are running low on capacity until new satellites are added, so Channel 4 HD +1 may be some way off, but lets hope not!
However, in the spring FreeSat will lauch with Free To Air delivery for ITV and BBC channels including HD. You can use your existing dish but you need a new receiver see here
http://www.freesat.co.uk/home.php
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December 9, 2007
WindowsMobile 6.1 preview
BoyGeniusReport got hold of a Motorola Q9 with WM 6.1 and they have done a video review helpfully picking out some of that latest features so that I don’t bust my NDA;
- Copy / Paste
- Domain Enroll in Settings (Enrolling in a domain will connect your device with company resources.)
- New home screen (pan left and right to check out missed calls, notifications like email, sms, etc.)
- Change Master Security Code
- Added text input settings
- Recent Programs when pressing Start menu
- Threaded SMS!
- When you compose an email, or SMS, and start typing the name of the contact in the “To:” field, the contact names finally pop up like Windows Mobile Professional!
- Internet Explorer now lets you define a homepage, and also zoom in and out using a nice and clean interface
- Task Manager now shows CPU usage as a whole, and also lists it by process
- Internet Explorer offers 6 zoom modes and copy / paste functionality
- IE also uses a new font, which looks worlds better
- ActiveSync will now try to automatically configure your Exchange settings once you enter an email address
- Wi-Fi indicator in the status bar, just as in Windows Mobile Professional
- New “Vista” home screen and theme
The list does however, miss out one feature that I think is probably the most important change for WM 6.1, but I can’t mention it…
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December 7, 2007
Dopod C730 ‘Cavalier’ ROM update
I just noticed that HTC have published an update for my Dopod C730 ‘Cavalier’ on their support site. No idea what it does, and its not the latest WM6 build. The update is ROM 1.16.708.7 with CE OS 5.2.1238.17445 and Radio 1.43.50.
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December 6, 2007
XP ON XO
I read with interest on the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7130637.stm) that Microsoft are porting XP to the OLPC XO. You might say, so what? and so would I normally… but, if MS can actually get XP working at a usable performance level then that improvement could be re-applied back to existing PC’s possibly realising increased performance. Although I’m not expecting to see a retail release for XO, MS seem quite serious as they have 40 engineers on the project. Clearly Vista would never be able to lumber onto the current XO platform but XP improvements are tantalisingly possible.
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December 5, 2007
oops…
Rather unbelievably this brand new Airbus A-340 was written off within metres of leaving the factory by accidentally hitting a wall. I’d like to see the insurance claim form …
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December 4, 2007
T-Mobile UK WM6 updates
Finally, TMO UK are releasing WM6 updates for 3 devices, the Compact III, The Vario II and fortunately the MDA Mail. Goto http://www.tm-phonedownloads.com/ to get them. Bizarrely, the MDA Mail is located under MDA but Other. I can’t figure out why its taken TMO UK so long to catch up with these updates although you do get a newer build, CE 5.2.1620.18125 which is a benefit I guess. I hope that they are going to also provide WM 6.1 updates for at least these devices, although I probably shouldn’t hold my breath.
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December 1, 2007
LWAP
I’ve always wanted a Land Rover Lightweight Air Portable ever since I first saw one as a lad. Today I collected it! Its a bog standard 2.25 petrol model with a hardtop in NATO matt green. Designed to be carried in Hercules transport aircraft and dropped by parachute it is, as its name suggests, lightweight with an aluminium body and all the upper body can be removed, great for the summer. Driving it back round the M25 was an experience! My first action was to brim up the fuel tanks (it has two) one under each front seat, so you have to remove the sea cover and lift the protective cover before opening the tank which you can then just watch filling up…
Driving is a whole other experience, because the fuel tank is under the seat the seat is not adjustable in anyway and was apparently designed for someone considerably shorter than me so I find myself sitting very close to the wheel … which is the same as fitted to the QE2 having a full 6 inch play before the nobbly wheels actually move in any direction. I quickly learned that making a manoeuvre requires advance planning. The LWAP only has 4 forward gears, spaced about 6 inches apart, which leads to much searching and crunching although I am mastering it better now but its still too easy to ride the clutch. Its slightly (very) noisy, which is great if you are outside as it sounds very military, but renders the occupants profoundly deaf. Also it doesn’t go very fast, so I won’t rack up any speeding points, and since the seat belts appear to be made from body webbing that’s just as well.
Aside from the 1960’s ergonomics, its great fun! I can’t wait for summer.
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