Developer's Shelf

Microsoft releases a free ebook on Windows Azure

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 21:03:00 +0000

Microsoft just released a new free ebook - "Introducing Windows Azure for IT Professionals", in PDF, Kindle and ePub formats along with some companion materials as well.

Original Article: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2013/10/01/free-ebook-introducing-windows-azure-for-it-professionals.aspx

Microsoft had earlier released few other free ebooks:

"Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals", in PDF format.
"Microsoft System Center: Configuration Manager Field Experience", in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats, along with companion materials as well. You can also order the printed book.
"System Center: Designing Orchestrator Runbooks", in PDF, Kindle and ePub formats, along with companion materials as well. You can also order the printed book.

For news and releases of Microsoft books, please visit the Microsoft Press blog.

Free eBook: Programming Windows Phone 7 by Charles Petzold

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:40:00 +0000

Microsoft Press released a free eBook - Programming Windows Phone 7 by Charles Petzold. The book consists of 24 chapters and around 1000 pages, and shows the basics of writing applications for Windows Phone 7 using the C# programming language with the Silverlight and XNA 2D frameworks.

This book will also be available (for sale) divided into two fully-indexed print editions: Microsoft Silverlight Programming for Windows Phone 7 and Microsoft XNA Framework Programming for Windows Phone 7.

This book is divided into three parts. The first part discusses basic concepts of Windows Phone 7 programming using example programs that target both Silverlight and the XNA framework. It is likely that many Windows Phone 7 developers will choose either one platform or the other, but I think it’s important for all developers who have at least a little knowledge of the alternative to their chosen path.

The second part of this book focuses entirely on Silverlight, and the third part on XNA 2D. For your convenience, the chapters in each part build upon previous knowledge in a progressive tutorial narrative, and hence are intended to be read sequentially.

Download the free eBook in PDF (12.5 MB) or in XPS (26.7 MB) formats. The sample code for this book is also available for download (5.03 MB).

Read more about the details about the book at the MS Press site.

Issues with Profiling ASP.NET Web apps in VS2008

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:17:00 +0000

After a long time, I spent some time profiling one of the web apps I was working on and I bumped into some basic startup issues with the Performance Analysis tool i.e. Profiler. Here is a cut-to-the-chase version.

The first issue was:

The web site could not be configured correctly; getting ASP.NET process information failed. Requesting 'http://localhost/StarterSite/VSEnterpriseHelper.axd' returned an error:
The remote server returned an error: (500) Internal Server Error.

PRF0017: Can't launch server for 'http://localhost/XXXXXXSite/'.

Solution: If your virtual in IIS is mapped to a folder which is under SourceControl, the files may be read-only. Give write access to the web.config file. When VS Profiler runs, it modifies
the web.config file to insert certain configurations on the fly that enables VS to profile and attach to the w3wp.exe process. If the file is read-only, I found out that it barfs with this error.

The second issue was:

PRF0010: Launch Aborted. Unable to start vsperfmon.exe

Solution: Add %VSINSTALLDIR%\Team Tools\Performance Tools to the user path and system path.

With these two basic issues resolved, I was on my way.

If you still have issues, go to the MSDN Forums and search for your issues. One of the threads that helped me is:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vstsprofiler/thread/476beea9-32de-43d9-b35b-e8e31f16f31d/

Technorati Tags: Profiling,Performance Analysis,VS2008,Visual Studio

Visual Studio 2010 Released

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Bob Muglia announced the launch of Visual Studio 2010 in an event at Las Vegas today. The event is a global event happening all over the world.
I tweeted some of the cool features that were unveiled for the product and here is a very high-level list:

Multi-monitor support
Box-selection
No fuss JavaScript Intellisense
New Native Windows Animation API
New Native Ribbon Designer
Support for Sharepoint 2010 applications

Visual Web parts and designer,
Silverlight enabled,
deployment simplified,
Linq support

Debugging Sharepoint 2010 in VS2010 – simplified
Windows 7 Mobile apps development

Windows 7 Mobile designer view.
Integrated Device Emulator
Windows 7 Phone Marketplace coming later this year

Visual Studio Team Explorer Everywhere 2010
Code visualization

Dependency Graph,
navigate call stack,
generate sequence diagram,
UML 2.1 compliance

Improved Testing experience

New Test Manager,
Actionable Bug, with step-by-step doc. of what tester did with video of desktop recording when the bug occurred
Replaying keystrokes of previously recorded tests while tester did the testing
Intelligent Project Status built automatically with VS Team Foundation Server, VS2010 and Sharepoint 2010
and more… stayed tuned.

VS2010 Express Editions available for download at 10am PDT. VS2010 Ultimate and trial versions are available for download now. Checkout which version is best for you using this comparison chart.
Also, checkout the blog post (or the mirror) about the VS2010 release from Scott Hanselman. Also, checkout a very detailed post from Scott Guthrie.

Technorati Tags: VS2010,.NET 4,Visual Studio,ASP.NET

Apple iPhone SDK TOS Section 3.3.1 is unfair

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:30:00 +0000

Here’s what the Apple’s latest iPhone 4.0 SDK TOS Section 3.3.1 states:

Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).

Wow. Just unfair. If they want to tackle Adobe, there has to be a different way. Why tackle the whole developer community that wants to use their favorite cross-platform toolkit/language to develop for the most incredible platform.

After I bought my first iPod, I had no doubts buying the iPhone when it was released. Apple products have an impeccable sense for user experience. Everyone wants to own an iPhone and every developer like me would like to write apps for it.

I was so excited to hear the news about the upcoming iPhone 4.0 SDK release and blogged about it. So many cool enhancements for the developer and useful innovations for the user. Alas! By the end of the day of the release presentation, the news about the SDK TOS Section 3.3.1 was out.

It is very disheartening to see Apple’s stance towards banning cross-platform toolkits/languages to build iPhone apps.

I was drawn to buying a Mac to build apps for iPhone because I could work with my familiar toolkit/language. iPhone SDK was the first sign that Apple wanted to care and welcome developers to write code for its so called closed platform and several cross-platform toolkits were announced and flourished. The TOS Section 3.3.1 announcement is just closing the doors on the developer community. It is not only a loss to the developer community but to the user community as well. I hope the situation is reviewed and rectified by Apple. It is a humble plea…

Read Steve Job’s response to an email from Greg Slepak which sheds some light on the issue.

Technorati Tags: Apple,iPhone,iPhone SDK,Section 3.3.1,Steve Jobs

iPhone OS 4.0 – what is new?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:53:00 +0000

Apple hosted a preview event for iPhone OS 4.0 presented by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, on 04/08/2010 at 10am PDT at Apple’s campus and CNET blogged live about it. The following is a summary from that discussion.

User Features

Multi-tasking – this is the most predicted and most wanted feature. Double-click on Home button pops up window at bottom of the screen with apps that are open. See spoiler at the end.
Create playlists, 5x digital zoom in camera, Bluetooth keyboards, spell check, gift apps, Tap to focus video, Places in Photos, Home screen wallpaper, file & delete mail search results, web search from suggestions,Larger fonts for Mail, SMS & Alerts, Rotate photos, Sync IMAP notes, iPod out, Wake on wireless. – All in all 100 new user features.
Background audio - Audio APIs, used by apps like Pandora, which will now run in the background while switching between apps. The double tap of the home button will also work for Pandora as it does for iPod today.
VoIP – phone calls using Skype will continue while users switch between apps. Incoming calls over Skype now will show a notification that allows calls to be answered by user. User interface similar to regular phone calls when phone interface is not active i.e. blinking bar at the top to take the user back.
Background Location: Get GPS turn-by-turn directions while listening to music. Location updates will “wake up applications”. Indicator on top of apps to let users know that location data is being used.
Local Notifications – After the release of Push notifications earlier, now apps do not have to round-trip Apple servers for sending out notifications. Task completion notification will alert when a local task is completed i.e. uploading pictures while the user multi-tasks.
Fast-app switching: apps can hibernate to not use CPU and can wake up from where the user left off.
Folders: This is a welcome feature. It is a grouping mechanism for your apps and will help in flicking thru. apps. So, if I need a game, I know it is in the Game folder. :) Unlimited folders, wow. The implementation is beautiful as well. The folders can also be placed on the dock.
Unified Inbox: Yes, this is another wanted feature finally done. Multiple Exchange accounts – nice. Fast inbox switching, organize emails by thread, groups emails by date, open attachments natively with apps etc.
iBooks – comes to iPhone and iPod. New eBook reader. iBookstore, buy once and read anywhere on any device. Pages of the book will be synced across devices and bookmarks can be placed as well.
Enterprise: Improved and better data protection with encrypted emails and attachments with PIN codes. Allowing IT to deploy iPhones and manage them remotely. Pushing out apps wirelessly with iTunes sync, for mass distribution. Support for multiple Exchange accounts and support for Exchange server 2010, SSL VPN capabilities for Juniper and Cisco.
Game center: developer preview of a new social network for gaming.
iAd – Apple’s mobile advertising built into OS 4.0. For a whopping 60% split of the revenues, app developers can add iAd into their apps. Apple will handle all the sales and inventory data. Ads can be interactive with audio/video and can have menus too. Users can buy an app directly from within an app. iAds can be created using only HTML5!

Multi-tasking will not be available on iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2nd gen models. So, the fun is gone without multi-tasking. Will you upgrade to a 3GS?

Other things

No Java or Flash in OS 4.0, HTML5 is the choice made.
No unsigned applications running on iPhone.

Developer Features

API/SDK – Developers can now access calendar, still/video camera, photo library, and SMS data. All in all 1500 new APIs for developers.

Availability

Shipping summer of 2010. Developer preview on 04/08/2010. iPad gets it in the Fall.

Price

Hoping it will be a free upgrade but nothing announced yet.

All eyes will be at WWDC in June where we might see a new iPhone/iPod/iPod Touch/iPad model(s) being announced.

Technorati Tags: iPhone,iPhone OS 4.0,Apple

Microsoft Desktop Player

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:44:00 +0000

TechNet has a new resource Microsoft Desktop Player which brings all the help resources together at one place. You can try the beta offering of Microsoft Desktop Player, available now at www.microsoft.com/click/desktopplayer. You can also download it and install it locally. See the download link on the left bottom corner. Or, you can just try it out here as this Silverlight application can be embedded anywhere.

This site has been built with Microsoft Silverlight. Microsoft Silverlight delivers a new generation of high-quality audio and video, engaging media experiences, and interactive applications for the Web.

Click to install now!

By clicking "Click to install now!" you accept the Silverlight License Agreement.

Free e-book: First Look: Microsoft Office 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:58:00 +0000

To enhance the spirit of the holidays and to welcome the new Microsoft Office 2010 version, Microsoft Press has a FREE e-book for download for a limited time. The e-book “First Look: Microsoft Office 2010” by Katherine Murray, offers 14 chapters. The book is organized as below:

Part I, “Envision the Possibilities,” introduces you to the changes in Office 2010 and shows you how you can make the most of the new features to fit the way you work today. Chapter 1, “Welcome to Office 2010,” gives you a play-by-play introduction to new features; Chapter 2, “Express Yourself Effectively and Efficiently,” details the great feature enhancements and visual effects throughout the applications; and Chapter 3, “Work Anywhere with Office 2010,” explores the flexibility factor by presenting a set of scenarios that enable users to complete their work no matter where their path takes them.

Part II, “Hit the Ground Running,” focuses on each of the Office 2010 applications in turn, spotlighting the key new features and showing how they relate to the whole. These chapters provide a how-to guide for many of the top features you’re likely to use right off the bat, and they offer inspiring ideas on how to get the most from your favorite applications.

Part III, “Next Steps with Office 2010,” zooms up to the big picture and provides examples to help you think through interoperability. How often do you use the various Office applications together? Customer research shows that people often don’t realize how well the applications work together as a complete system—which means they might be laboring over items they could easily incorporate from somewhere else. This part of the book provides examples for integrating the applications and explores Office 2010 security and training opportunities, as well.

It is great to see Microsoft give away this e-book for free, to let the users of MS Office know what is new and exciting in MS Office 2010 version.

Download the e-book while it is available for free.

Technorati Tags: Office 2010,e-book,free

Visual Studio 2010 & .NET Framework 4.0 Training

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:43:00 +0000

Well, I am sure we have all been hearing and reading about the new betas for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0. I am sure some of us have downloaded them and are playing with them as well. But, Microsoft has made it easier for us. They have released a training course dedicated to these platforms. Download it today and live on the cutting edge.

The pre-requisites are:

and a burning desire to learn…

The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Course includes videos and hands-on-labs designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including: C# 4.0, Visual Basic 10, F#, Parallel Computing Platform, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX 4.0, ASP.NET MVC Dynamic Data.

While you are at it, check out some cool content on Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0 on Channel9.

Technorati Tags: Visual Studio 2010,.NET Framework 4.0,Training,.NET

How-to: Use Cucumber with .NET and C# under IronRuby

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:30:00 +0000

I will not go into how cool Cucumber is and all that because it is already established. If you have not experienced it, I think you should. It will make a big difference in how you look at code, testing and TDD.
I started using Cucumber on Ruby on Rails projects and I wanted to use it on .NET/C# projects. So, I will in very clear steps show you how to get Cucumber going for your C# projects. This post is just a primer to get your feet wet, but I will come back with follow up posts that will show a more complete project. So, here goes.
Step 1: Setup Ruby (MRI)

Download Ruby
Install Ruby (MRI version)
Check version of ruby and rake

ruby -–version
rake -–version

Update RubyGems

gem update --system

Step 2: Setup Cucumber and RSpec using MRI gem

Install cucumber gem

gem install cucumber

Install rspec gem

gem install rspec

Step 3: Setup IronRuby

Download IronRuby
Install IronRuby. I had to just unzip the file I downloaded into C:\IronRuby folder. You can pick any folder or choose to build IronRuby from source.

Step 4: Create a Cucumber wrapper for IronRuby

We need to create a script that will execute Cucumber under IronRuby very similar to cucumber.bat in your MRI Ruby folder. I have my MRI Ruby installed at C:\ruby.
Create a new icucumber.bat file in your MRI Ruby folder with the following contents:

@ECHO OFF
REM This is to tell IronRuby where to find gems.
SET GEM_PATH=c:\ruby\lib\ruby\gems\1.8
@"C:\ironruby\build\debug\ir.exe" "c:\ruby\bin\cucumber" %*

Check to see if Cucumber under IronRuby works

icucumber –help
you should see something as below. The output has been cut to preserve space.

Usage: cucumber [options] [ [FILE|DIR|URL][:LINE[:LINE]*] ]+

cucumber examples/i18n/en/features cucumber --language it examples/i18n/it/features/somma।feature:6:98:113 cucumber -s -i

http://rubyurl.com/eeCl

Step 5: Checkout some examples

In a command prompt window, go to the cucumber gem folder under your MRI Ruby installation. The folder path might look like C:\ruby\lib\ruby\gems\1.8\gems\cucumber-<version>\examples

Now, run a Ruby example:

cd i18n\en
icucumber features

Now, for the litmus test, run a C# example: (See section at the end for updates)

cd cs
compile.bat
icucumber features

You should see a lot of output scroll by and at the end you should see:
3 scenarios (3 passed)
12 steps (12 passed)
0m0.493s

Bliss! You have Cucumber running under IronRuby and running Cukes (that is what cucumber features are called) for your C# .NET code.

Feedback: I would like to hear from you about your experience running Cucumber for your C# projects.

Update: Missing cs examples
As of version 0.4.3 of Cucumber, the examples\cs folder is no longer there in the code downloaded with the gem. If you like to run the above code in the post, you can download the zip file for the code at tag 0.4.2 from here. From the top, you can download the zip by clicking on the "Download Source". Then you can copy the "cs" folder to your gem installation of your current cucumber version.

Update: Get color coded display
To get a nice color coded display on your windows command line, execute the following:

igem install iron-term-ansicolor

Resources
IronRuby/Ruby Links
IronRuby website
IronRuby Wiki
Ruby website
Cucumber Screencasts
http://railscasts.com/episodes/155-beginning-with-cucumber
http://railscasts.com/episodes/159-more-on-cucumber
Cucumber Presentations

Outside-In Development With Cucumber

View more documents from Ben Mabey.

Behavior Driven Development with Cucumber

View more documents from Brandon Keepers.

Cucumbered

View more documents from Joseph Wilk.

Technorati Tags: TDD,Testing,Cucumber,IronRuby,Ruby,Test Driven Development,RSpec

Free ASP.NET MVC Poster

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:13:00 +0000

RedGate has a free ASP.NET MVC poster for download.

By the way, the original diagram taken from Pro ASP.NET MVC Framework (Steven Sanderson, Apress). This is a great book.

Vanishing Magic folders in Vista

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:32:00 +0000

One of my friend at work had a strange issue today. He was seeing some folders and on clicking these folders he was getting an “Access denied” error message in Windows Explorer in Vista Enterprise SP1. The folders in questions are the ones with the little shortcut arrow icons next to them, as shown below:

The error message was as follows:

Well, the interesting thing I noticed is that these magic folders as I call them, look like the old XP folders somehow left over. I could not find a reason why they were here but I did find a way to get rid of them or at least not have to see them by turning off the “Hide protected operating system files (recommended)” setting under Organise->Folder and Search Options->View tab as shown below:

Once you check this setting on, poof, the mysterious magic folders are gone.

Hopefully, someone will benefit from this tip, as did my friend at work.

If anyone has found out what these folders are, please leave a comment as I am curious to know.

Technorati Tags: Vista,Tips,Tricks

Error: The Visual Studio performance and coverage logging engine is already running on the computer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:24:00 +0000

I have been head down into writing some tests and debugging them in Visual Studio 2008, and every other time I would get see that my test would get a yellow triangle with an exclamation sign and it said “Not Executed”. On clicking on the link for the error, the following error message is displayed:
Code coverage collection error: The Visual Studio performance and coverage logging engine is already running on the computer. Therefore, the test run cannot continue. Close the pending performance or code coverage session and then rerun the tests.

Although it was beyond me why Visual Studio performance engine would run but it was easy to just find it in Task Manager and just kill it.

Problem solved for now….

Free book: Mastering PowerShell by Dr. Tobias Weltner

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:37:00 +0000

This free digital version of the 567 page book, is a very detailed coverage of PowerShell V1 by the PowerShell MVP Dr. Tobias Weltner. He is also the inventor of the amazing PowerShell Plus.

The Table of Contents are:

Download Mastering PowerShell PDF book.

How to: Stress Test / Load Test databases

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:34:00 +0000

Well, we are often in a situation when we are near a release or adding more functionality or exposing more users to our application. One of the things we need to take care of is to make sure our infrastructure and our databases will live up to the extra load/stress. In this article we will see how we can stress/load test our database. To make it more organized it is desirable to create tests that relate to one or more usage scenarios. That way, we can pin-point what usage scenario has to be fixed for performance. It also in a way tells us which usage scenarios will work under the increased stress/load.
The simple idea is like this:

Run your application and record the database trace calls via SQL Profiler for a particular usage scenario.
We can break up the whole application into small usage scenarios so we can test and monitor them separately.
Perform operations on our application for one single user.
Take the SQLTrace/Profile output which tells us all the db operations that happen on a specific case for a single user.
Write a wrapper SQL script using all the above sql calls and run that in a loop for 100, 200, 300, 400 users with other varying parameters.

Well, what do you. I found a tool that does exactly that. Introducing SQL Load Test Tool.

SQL Load Test Tool, takes a SQL Profiler trace file and generates a unit test that replays the same sequence of database calls found in the trace file. The unit test is designed to be used in a Visual Studio Load Test. The code generated is easily modifiable so that data variation can be introduced for the purpose of doing performance testing. The tool generates code for both Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008. The user can start with using the application to generate a trace of the SQL statements which typically represent a usage scenario. They can then turn the trace into equivalent ADO.NET code program that can be used in a load test.
The tool generates a Visual Studio 2005/2008 Unit Test from a SQL Server Profiler trace. It extracts all the SQL statements and stored procedure calls from the trace and turns them into a single Visual Studio Unit Test, which can then be configured as a Visual Studio Load Test. The tool does not interact with the database itself when it analyzes the trace and generates the test code. It can therefore be used in “offline” scenarios.
The tool is intended to be used in conjunction with a client program that runs against a database. A trace of the client’s SQL Server activity is captured using the SQL Server Profiler. This represents a test scenario, which is then processed by the tool to produce a Unit Test that replays the scenario.

Installation and setup
1. Make sure SQL Server 2005 SDK is installed.
2. Make sure you have SQL Server 2005 Management Tools installed.
3. Install SQL Load Test tool.
4. You will need one of the following installed:

Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Testers
Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Test Edition
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite

Supported Functionality (from SQL Load Test site)

SQL Server 2005 only (others not tested).
ADO.NET 2.0 (others not tested).
Most data types.
Named input, output and input-output parameters.
Positional input parameters to stored procedures.
Operation timers generated for each database call.

Other helpful tools and utilities regarding stress and load testing databases

Read more about SQL Load Test tool at its Codeplex site. The site also includes a SQL Server 2008 Profiler template file for download to used with SQL Server 2008 databases. The tool is licensed under Ms-PL.

Update (06/18/2013): See the Spanish translation of this page by Maria Ramos.

Technorati Tags: load testing,stress testing,database,testing

Apple launches new iPhone 3GS and ships iPhone 3.0 software

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:45:00 +0000

Well, I had earlier written about the new iPhone 3.0 software updates, and now that software is being shipped by Apple to general public on June 17th, 2009. Download the update from the Apple site. Earlier, it was only available as part of the updated iPhone SDK for the developers.

Also, the new iPhone 3GS version has been launched for $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB). Also, note that the now old iPhone 3G is being sold at a revised rate of $99 (8GB).

So, what you get extra with the new iPhone 3GS hardware? In summary you get the following features:

	3 megapixels Autofocus Video recording
	Improved Performance
	Built-in video camera with editing
	Voice Control
	Compass

For a full list of features available with iPhone 3GS, please check http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3g-s/. Check out a guided tour of the new iPhone 3GS phone at http://www.apple.com/iphone/guidedtour/#medium.

For a detailed side by side comparison betwen iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G, please check page at http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare-iphones/

For consumers like me, who just got their iPhone 3G when it was announced, we can rejoice that Apple is released the iPhone 3.0 software for free and it includes some cool features which I mentioned in a previous post. The summary of those features would be:

	Cut, Copy & Paste
	Messages
	Spotlight Search
	Landscape keyboard
	Voice Memos

If you have upgraded to the new iPhone 3.0 software or bought a new iPhone 3GS phone, please feel free to share your views.

Technorati Tags: iPhone,Apple,iPhone 3.0,iPhone 3GS

Rails Magazine releases RailsConf 2009 Special Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:48:00 +0000

Special Edition – RailsConf 2009 Report!

This concise issue of Rails Magazine covers RailsConf 2009 – in-depth commentary, photography, pointers to related resources and an interview section.

If you did not attend RailsConf, this is one of the best ways to get up to speed on the conference, what’s planned for Rails 3 and related information.

For those who attended, this should provide a good recap and insights by presenting different perspectives.

As usual, we will provide this issue as a free pdf download in maximum two weeks. The print edition is already available and can be purchased through MagCloud for $3.

Please check back our site for our next regular edition – coming soon!

Buy print edition

A Word From the Editor by Olimpiu Metiu

RailsConf 2009 Roundup - Have it your way... by Casper Fabricius

Resources by Khaled al Habache

The Unofficial Guide to What’s New in Rails 3 by Rupak Ganguly

Interview with Ben Johnson by Ben Johnson and Bob Martens

Artwork by Duncan Davidson

Technorati Tags: Rails Magazine,RailsConf2009,RailsConf

My Lift-One Project - Sponsoring one child at a time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:50:00 +0000

Dear friends,

I have been sponsoring a child for the last 10 years. It is such a satisfying feeling, I cannot explain in words. I get letters and photographs of the child I am sponsoring and it brings tears to my eyes whenever I read his letters. It is just amazing what you can do with a few dollars to a person's life. I have seen this child grow through photos and letters sent to me. I write back to him often.

If you would like to make a difference in a child’s life, you can support my Lift-One Project at http://www.liftoneproject.org/goto/rupakganguly. Just go to the bottom of the page and click on the “Sponsor a child now” link.

I believe we can all change this world to be a better place by just doing our part.

I am trying to do mine. How about you?

Sponsor a Child Now.

Please spread the word to all your friends and family. We can all make a difference together.

Technorati Tags: Charity,children,sponsorship

Skype for iPhone - finally

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:05:00 +0000

Finally, the most wanted is happening for me: Skype app for iPhone. It will out on Tuesday. Can’t wait. I have been using Fring but the call quality is not that great. Not that I am complaining as that was the closest VOIP you could get on a phone. I will continue to use Fring for the multi-network chat capabilities. Also on the vine is the fact that Skype for Blackberry will be released in May.

[image credit to CNET]

Skype is already on Windows Mobile phones, Nokia N800/N810, and Sony PSP as well.

Happy calling and staying in touch!

Skype for iPhone: It's official | CTIA show - CNET Reviews

CNET Photo Gallery of Skype app

DaVinci: Microsoft Surface Physics Illustrator

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:56:00 +0000

Well, nothing much to write. Just see it. So simple, yet so mind boggling. Beautiful. Watch.

DaVinci (Microsoft Surface Physics Illustrator) from Razorfish - Emerging Experiences on Vimeo.

del.icio.us Tags: DaVinci,physics,surface

iPhone 3.0 – New Features

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Quick pointers while live iPhone 3.0 event is going on:

Free apps will still be available.
Peer to Peer connectivity – will use Bluetooth, will automatically pair and find other devices in the same area, without any WiFi. – Now this I love.
Peer to Peer gaming - My kids will be happy to play with each other in the car.
Stereo BlueTooth is now supported.
Accessories are more integrated

will be able to control speakers’ EQ.
will be able to control FM signal transmitter for cars.

Apple will work with Google to build the next great maps app. Make the API public so that apps can embed maps. Increased interactivity with maps.
Push Notifications – IM responses, weather notifications, alerts. TouchPets game more interactive. - Now this I love.
Proximity sensors ?
Streaming Audio Video over HTTP
Built in VoIP APIs.
Email sheet – send email without leaving the app.
Copy and Paste – YEAH!!! – finally. it works everywhere. - Now this I love.
SMS app has a camera icon. send photos.
Landscape mode in important Apple apps – mail, notes. Same usage as Safari has today.
Message App for MMS - send and receive files. multiple photos in a message.
new app – Voice Memos, share them over email
calendar app supports CalDAV, subscriptions via .ics - Now this I love.
search added to mail, calendar, iPod, notes – well search across all apps – introducing Spotlight UI.
notes app will sync via iTunes. - Now this I love.
Safari gets some new features like anti-phishing, wifi auto logins for hotspots, remembers login credentials, parental controls etc.

Most important:

iPhone OS 3.0 will ship this summer, free to all iPhone 3G customers
Available for original iPhones and iPod Touch ($9.95 update) although some options will not be available.

Update: Watch the exciting presentation video at Apple.com

Hello World – Building Azure Services Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:07:00 +0000

I am very excited about the cloud platform that Microsoft announced in PDC 2008 which I also blogged about earlier. MS also released the Windows Azure SDK (Jan 2009 CTP), Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio 1.0 (it works with Visual Web Developer Express 2008 SP1) and the Windows Azure Training Kit (Feb 2009 Update). Start by reading about Windows Azure and see how it works. Then go get the tools and install them. Then, let the fun begin…

Hello World project

Just follow the steps to create our first HelloWorld Cloud Service project:

1. Open Visual Studio 2008 or Visual Web Developer Express 2008.

2. Click New Project. Under Visual C# node, select Cloud Service. Then, select Web Cloud Service from the right hand pane of installed templates.

3. Give your project the name HelloWorld and a desired path to store the project.

4. Your first Cloud Service project is created.

5. Open the default.aspx page from the HelloWorld_WebRole project and change the page title between the <title> tags to “Hello World” and also type in the text “Hello World!” between the <div> tags.

6. Hit F5 to start your Windows Azure application in debug mode.

7. The Development Fabric and the Development Storage will start automatically. They will remain in the system tray.

8. You might see a popup like this when the Development Storage is setup for the first time.

9. You will see a web browser window open up with your web application.

10. Now, right-click the icon and click “Show Development Fabric UI” to open the Development Fabric. Note the IP Address of the HelloWorldContract points to the HelloWorld application we just created.

Some details about the project we just created:

The structure of the solution and notice that VS creates two projects – HelloWorld and HelloWorld_WebRole. HelloWorld_WebRole is a ASP.NET web application project. It contains a ServiceConfiguration.cscfg and ServiceDefinition,csdef files.

The ServiceDefinition.csdef file contains the metadata needed by the Windows Azure fabric to understand the requirements of your application, such as which roles are used. It will also contain configuration settings that apply to all instances.

The ServiceConfiguration.cscfg file lets you set the values for the configuration settings and the number of instances to run for each role.

This wraps up Part I where we created our first Windows Azure Cloud Service application. Check back for Part II shortly.

Technorati Tags: Windows Azure,Azure,Cloud Computing,Cloud

Several aliases for gmail, ease of accessing one

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:54:00 +0000

From an article at www.makeuseof.com:

Just about when I thought I got everything out of Gmail, I discovered my top favorite feature. We have published over 30 tools in Gmail RoundUp 1 and almost 80 tools and tips in Gmail RoundUp 2 but never mentioned anything similar to this one. Tribute for this one goes to my ‘I am not into computers‘ type girlfriend.

Let’s say that your email address is ‘GeorgeBush@gmail.com’, basically everything sent to any of the following email addresses will be forwarded to your primary email.

GeorgeBush@gmail.com

G.eorgeBush@gmail.com

Ge.orgeBush@gmail.com

…
…

GeorgeBus.h@gmail.com

GeorgeBush@googlemail.com

G.eorgeBush@googlemail.com

Ge.orgeBush@googlemail.com

…
…

GeorgeBus.h@googlemail.com

And that’s not all, you can place as many dots as you want, it can be even something like ‘G.e.o.r.g.e.B.u.s.h@gmail.com’ and you’ll still get it on ‘GeorgeBush@gmail.com’

Additionally, I just also found out that you can embed random text to your email ID using ‘+’ sign. That is to say ‘GeorgeBush+anythingyouwant@gmail.com’ can be used as your email address, as well.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/1-awesome-gmail-tip-you-dont-know-about-seriously/

Live Streaming: 2009 Swearing-In Ceremony

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:30:00 +0000

If you already do not know, the 2009 President swearing-in ceremony can be seen live at http://inaugural.senate.gov. An audio and video feed with CC is available.

Update: Some screen captured photos from the above live feed.

What a day! God Bless America.

Free Silverlight Training

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:12:00 +0000

Stumbled upon this partner program site ISV Innovation which offers some nice Silverlight and Expression training and it is FREE! Checkout their training offerings on .NET, SaaS, Visual Studio, Sql Server and others, while you are there...

Technorati Tags: Silverlight 2,training,.NET