Just me

Moving to Spaces

2007-04-28T12:13:00.001-07:00

I finally made the choice and decided to move to Windows Live Spaces. I don't want to migrate all my blog posts to Spaces, but just write the new one on Spaces. Do check out my Space at http://prathiraj.spaces.live.com

Kaye effect

2007-04-19T15:33:00.001-07:00

Interesting stuff I came across today

From Wikipedia...

The Kaye Effect is a strange property of complex liquids which was first described by the British engineer Arthur Kaye in 1963.
The effect usually goes unnoticed, however, because it seldom lasts more than about 300 milliseconds

From YouTube...

later...

Live Messenger on Xbox 360

2007-04-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

By now everybody's (in the gaming world) talking about the next spring update for Xbox 360 and especially the new feature, integration of Live Messenger to Xbox 360 LIVE service. More details here. This is cool and a good move to bring the existing huge social networking infrastructure to the best gaming network out there. The features I like...

Messenger contacts can see what you're playing in Xbox
Instant messaging with Live Messenger users
Achievement information in the Achievement Unlocked bubble
VGA reference levels (when using VGA connectivity)
Disc information on the tray strip in the dashboard

I'm hardly waiting to get my hands on these features :-)

Oh and the new TID (Text Input Device) totally rocks, it blends in with the Xbox 360 environment perfectly. Too bad, no information on its availability yet.

later...

Live Writer: New paragraph & new line

2007-04-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Windows Live Writer is an excellent tool for writing blog post, especially the long ones like my last post, Writer saves a draft intermittently so that you don't lose your work in case of computer catastrophe.

Some of my friends who use Live Writer as their main blog composing tool, noticed as an issue that when hitting the <Enter> key in the compose window, Writer introduces double line space instead of a single line space. I found out today the reason and a workaround (actually a feature).

Whenever, you hit the <Enter> key, Writer introduces a new <p> (paragraph) tag to your blog HTML. This depending on your blog style shows as double line space. For a single line space, you actually need a <br> (break) tag in HTML and not the <p> tag. To insert a new line you can use <Shift>+<Enter>, when Writer encounters this key combination, it introduces a <br> tag. Some examples...

This line and the next line are separated with a <Enter> key

--This is the next line--

This and the next line are separated with a <Shift>+<Enter> key combination
--This is the next line--

In conclusion...

<Enter> for introducing a new paragraph
<Shift>+<Enter> for introducing a new line

Enjoy writing with Writer
later...

Journey to Krispy Kreme

2007-04-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sharing here my experience with Windows Live Search for Mobile application and how I used it to find my way to the mouth watering Krispy Kreme doughnuts

This is going to be a long entry with lot of screen shots of Windows Live Search for Mobile in action...

Last Sunday we were shopping in Lincoln Square (Bellevue, WA) and the thought of doughnuts flashed triggered by the Cheese Cake factory across the road. For me, doughnuts should be from Krispy Kreme, otherwise they're not doughnuts :-) I know there is a Krispy Kreme outlet we frequent in Issaquah (WA) but not the route to it. I pulled out my Windows Mobile 6 phone and launched Windows Live Search for Mobile, rest are the screen shots explaining how I got the route to Krispy Kreme.

I don't have a GPS hooked to my phone, so the first objective is to get my current location on the map, I did it by choosing the location as Bellevue, Washington and the query as Lincoln Square...

Bingo, got the location in the first hit and on clicking the result...

Look, there is a phone number too, this is very easy to call and find out about the business. I'm already there, and I need to find nearby Krispy Kreme, so I hit Search Nearby at the bottom of the screen and this time my query is Krispy Kreme!

Ooh, there is a Krispy Kreme in Seattle nearby, but this is not my favorite location, let's see what else we got...

The Issaquah branch is a bit farther away, but I'd like to go there instead of Seattle, so I clicked on it. Now the phone number is useful to call them and find out their business hours, but I know they're open for another couple of hours, so I clicked Directions To Here...

Neat, my start location is automatically set as Lincoln Square and the destination is Krispy Kreme, Issaquah. I hit Route...

Awesome, turn by turn directions and now for the Map...

Notice the traffic information overlay, uber-coolness :-) Now, if I'd hooked up a GPS unit, I would've got real-time turn by turn instructions (there's something for my next gadget shopping). There is no audible turn by turn directions in Windows Live Search for Mobile currently, a feature I hope will be there in future!

The whole process took only 2 minutes, I did the whole thing while walking to the parking garage to my car. And I took 15 minutes to blog about it because this is a very useful and cool application to have and I ought share it :-)

later...

Xbox 360 Elite

2007-03-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

The awesome game console now in black and with

HDMI out
120 GB Hard Disk
All black accessories

and it comes with HDMI cable :-)

I don't care about the HDMI out, my TV can do 1080p over component and I'm happy with that. 120 GB HDD is great if you download content from Xbox Live market place. I would've definitely thought of grabbing the 120 GB HDD (which you can buy separately) but I already have one for quite a while (goodness of beta testing), so no black Xbox 360 for me (for now!)

Check out the video and interview from On10.net

later...

Happyness

2007-03-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's Happiness with a y.

The Pursuit of Happyness is one awesome movie, a must watch one. Will Smith is at his peak in this movie and his son Jaden Smith is no less when it comes to acting.

It's one man's journey in pursuit of happiness.

later...

Unified communication

2007-03-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'd say this is a cool commercial for unified communications. I like the part where the assistant talks with the Exchange Server 2007. I've used this feature and it is so cool even if you're away from your Windows Mobile Smartphone ;-)

later...

My Windows Vista Wallpaper

2007-03-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

I'm always in search of new Wallpaper for my desktop. I need something subtle, not too distracting but at the same time cool. I've found a new one today :-)

(hit the image to download it, there are plenty of formats)

I also learned from bink.nu that a dreamscene is on the way, check out the video :-)

later...

Another iPhone - Smartphone entry

2007-03-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I should stop reading iPhone stuff for a while ;-) But this one is hilarious not to be passed on

Click on the image for the full ad

later...

On the occasion of the colorful festival

2007-02-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

Think what you can do...

Happy holi and let's do what we can do

and did you notice that Live Search gives the date and description of the popular festivals world wide, great! Search for Holi and see for yourself. Too bad, Google hasn't caught up yet ;-)

later...

iPhone UI on a Pocket PC ?!

2007-02-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

[Update: Replaced with another working video]

The iPhone is not even released in the market, the UI goodness is already being ported to Windows Mobile Pocket PC edition. I love extensibility...

~~[Oops...the video is no longer available, I guess Apple cops have abducted it]~~

If this gets released, we can have Windows Mobile features and iPhone UI goodness, cool!

later...

Windows Mobile 6: on10 video

2007-02-22T16:02:00.000-08:00

Check out the cool Windows Mobile 6, ok not as cool as the iPhone, but on the productivity front WM6 is the clear winner. Some highlights...

You can open and do minimal editing of Word, Powerpoint and Excels documents (only Office 2003 for now, support for Office 2007 is coming), even on the non-touch screen (Standard) devices!
You can flag emails on the device
You can search your exchange folders from the device (yeah baby!)
You can set Out Of Office message from the device
Windows Live built-in (Messenger and Hotmail contacts & mail sync)
and more!

later...

Crackdown

2007-02-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

...they threw the dumpster on my brother's head on his birthday party...

[updated with nice quality soapbox video]

Pretty funny ad, I've heard from fellow gamers that this game is addictive and fun to play. Oh you get to participate in Halo 3 beta when you buy the initial batch of the game :-)

later...

Are you Knack?

2007-02-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

are you leading a normal life?

later...

Windows DreamScene Preview is out

2007-02-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

We can now download the Windows DreamScene Preview for Windows Vista Ultimate. Remember this is a preview, but I didn't have any problems running the DreamScene content on my Dell E1405 laptop.

If you don't know what DreamScene is, head out here for a video

later...

Live Search for mobile

2007-02-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

The must have application for mobile phones with data plan has come out of beta, get it here

This is so far the best mobile application I've used. Even if you don't have a windows mobile phone, there is a J2ME version for the ordinary not so smart phones ;-) All you need to have is a data plan!

later...

Web 2.0 explained

2007-02-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a brilliant video explaining Web 2.0 by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University

later...

Soldiers testing new gadget

2007-02-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

Closely analyze the above pictures (clicking on them will open up a full size image). I'm sure they are not playing Gears of War in the field, according to this article, they're testing a new robot with a modified Xbox 360 controller, I guess it is the Xbox 360 controller for Windows. Another article details the technology and purpose of the robot they're testing, head here.

later...

Search this blog

2007-02-04T22:27:00.000-08:00

If you're using Windows Internet Explorer 7, the search box's down arrow should glow indicating there is a search provider

Dropping down on the arrow...

"Prathi's words" is the search provider for this blog and it can be added as one of the search providers in IE. It's just an easy way to search this blog and it's easy to implement too. The implementation details are here in MSDN.

later...

Bill on the Daily Show

2007-02-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

Update: Oops...the video is no longer available

Bill promoting Windows Vista on the hilarious Daily Show

later...

The "Wow" has started

2007-01-31T16:24:00.000-08:00

[Updated with the Windows vista TV ad]

The much awaited Windows Vista has finally launched! I'm totally impressed with the DreamScene, one of the Ultimate extras available only for the Windows Vista Ultimate version. If you're looking for upgrading your system, Vista is your choice. Even if you're not looking for upgrading just check out the features :-)

Here is the TV ad...

Yesterday I upgraded from Windows Vista Ultimate RC2 (yeah I'm an early adopter) to the release version and got the Ultimate extras available notifications. I eagerly installed the extras but to my disappointment the DreamScene is still not available, hope it comes soon.

later...

CES Bellagio water show

2007-01-29T12:07:00.000-08:00

Cool

later...

Click 4 The Cause

2007-01-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

http://Click4TheCause.live.com

http://nine-million.spaces.live.com

http://www.ninemillion.org

Ninemillion.org is a campaign lead by UNHCR to promote education and sport to refugee children worldwide. Microsoft has a seven year relationship with UNHCR which began during the Kosovo crisis when employees built a registration database for refugees. Both Microsoft and OSG have been involved in the campaign since it launched in June by hosting the site, setting up a space and now with the Click for Cause campaign.

Give to the ninemillion.org with every search.

later...

Short vacation and catch up

2007-01-28T19:34:00.000-08:00

Long gap between the last post and this one, the reason is I've taken a short vacation to India for 2 weeks at the start of the year. Now that I'm back and still catching up on the happenings in the new year.

Vacation was great and fun. It's never enough time to visit family and friends. January 3rd week is festival time in India and it was good to experience it in person.

Lot has happened (especially CES 2007) and am still catching up. Expect some of the late posts from January.

Oh, this might be the very belated new year wish ;-)

Happy New Year!

later...