Recently in Tech Category
I yesterday installed the Office 2010 beta and almost immediately came across a fairly serious "bug". It's debatable whether the bug was caused by Microsoft (i.e. a fault on the part of Office) or by myself, as you'll see when I explain what I did and what the solution is.
What I did.
1 - Installed Office 2010 x86 as a side-by-side install with 2007 (on Windows 7 x86).
2 - Ignored the "reboot now" prompt as I needed to open and print a word document
3 - Opened the document in Word 2007
4 - Waited whilst Office 2007 setup did *something*
5 - Printed document and closed word.
6 - Rebooted
7 - Loaded Outlook 2010
This is where my problems began. I received an error message about "Default Programs" over the top of the splash screen, the "backstage" screen was perpetually telling me that my files were being upgraded and that I needed to update the "Connector". Also, when clicking "Send/Receive" I received a "Not Implemented" modal dialog. It's also worth mentioning that Outlook was absent from the Default Programs control panel applet.
How I solved it.
1 - Uninstalled Office 2010
2 - Rebooted
3 - Re-installed Office 2010
4 - Rebooted
5 - Loaded Outlook 2010
Et Voila, problem solved.
What I did.
1 - Installed Office 2010 x86 as a side-by-side install with 2007 (on Windows 7 x86).
2 - Ignored the "reboot now" prompt as I needed to open and print a word document
3 - Opened the document in Word 2007
4 - Waited whilst Office 2007 setup did *something*
5 - Printed document and closed word.
6 - Rebooted
7 - Loaded Outlook 2010
This is where my problems began. I received an error message about "Default Programs" over the top of the splash screen, the "backstage" screen was perpetually telling me that my files were being upgraded and that I needed to update the "Connector". Also, when clicking "Send/Receive" I received a "Not Implemented" modal dialog. It's also worth mentioning that Outlook was absent from the Default Programs control panel applet.
How I solved it.
1 - Uninstalled Office 2010
2 - Rebooted
3 - Re-installed Office 2010
4 - Rebooted
5 - Loaded Outlook 2010
Et Voila, problem solved.
From: Opera applauds scepticism on MS browser pledge (on The Register).
The last paragraph:
Not that it'll make the blindest bit of difference though; 99% of home computer users don't know a massive amount about computers, so they'll answer the question "How do I get on the internet?" with "I'll choose the thing called Internet Explorer". Business users will, for the most part, have their access to a browser decided by Corporate IT, who will inevitably choose IE to ensure compatibility with their web-based LOB applications that have been around for a decade and rely on IE6's odd layout behaviours, or other IE proprietary technologies like ActiveX.
Yet another wonderful waste of money perpetrated by the EU, thank you very much one and all for dumping money I've paid in taxes down the drain. *Le sigh*
The last paragraph:
"For the installed base of IE users, Windows updates and IE updates should come preloaded with other browsers and a ballot screen. The ballot screen with a choice of at least five browsers should also be provided to customers who buy Windows through the retail channel to upgrade their PCs."Errr, whaaaat!? Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera. There, that's five browsers named, and the last 3 are marginal (at the moment). The only use I've ever found for Opera as a browser is on my mobile. On the PC it's unintuitive and crap. Yes, crap. I primarily use Firefox, followed by IE. Safari I wouldn't use if I was paid (unless it was a *lot* of money) thanks to the way Apple Update used to (and may still) treat it. All that non-withstanding, surely if Microsoft are going to be required to do this, surely Apple (as the monopoly O/S provider for Mac') should be required to do the same?
Not that it'll make the blindest bit of difference though; 99% of home computer users don't know a massive amount about computers, so they'll answer the question "How do I get on the internet?" with "I'll choose the thing called Internet Explorer". Business users will, for the most part, have their access to a browser decided by Corporate IT, who will inevitably choose IE to ensure compatibility with their web-based LOB applications that have been around for a decade and rely on IE6's odd layout behaviours, or other IE proprietary technologies like ActiveX.
Yet another wonderful waste of money perpetrated by the EU, thank you very much one and all for dumping money I've paid in taxes down the drain. *Le sigh*
The review of CryptoLicensing for .NET that Roy Osherove posted recently was very well written and covered a topic that I've long held a mild level of curiosity around. That topic being protecting code/software that's written using a .net language from a licensing perspective.
There's a whole black-market industry surrounding the cracking of software and irrespective of the legality or ethics of it, I'm pretty sure a lot of people have used cracked software at some point (bonus points and the moral high-ground to those who claim they haven't and are actually telling the truth!). Be it cracked/patched software, a serial number generator, a serial number that everyone's using, there are ways and means. By far the simplest is probably with something like WinRAR that pops up a "Please purchase WinRAR license" dialog box and relies on honesty, with more complex and convoluted solutions like Microsoft's OS licensing that can go horribly wrong if their activation servers have a bad day. Not to mention the "what will happen when" scenario for when Microsoft finally get bored of providing activation servers/services for Windows XP.
The thing that particularly sparked my interest was a comment from Frans Bouma, which could be summed up pretty much as saying "whats the point?", which seems to be a very good question. My opinion is that some form of licensing/activation solution at least raises the bar and reminds people using the software isn't actually free for them to use and do with it what they will. Plus, software that has an "n-day trial" that's expired is likely to get paid for if it's expired and then its use is required. I frequently install software for a single/ocassional task that has a "30 day trial" attached, or similar, and then promptly forget about it. When I then come to perform that task again 6 months later, if the price is right I end up buying it. If not, off comes the software and something else is found.
A fantastic example of this is a project I worked on about 2 years ago, I'd played around with a trial version of some .net data access layer generating software (I can't for the life of me remember what it was, one laptop later and it's not installed - but I have the license key somewhere!) a few months before that for a one-time-use tool I needed to write and then had this project thrown at me with a very tight deadline and no other development resource. I remembered the software, loaded it up, "out of trial", bugger! One credit card transaction later the license key was in my inbox and in the product. So, licensing control software worked for the publisher concerned!
Now, I wonder if there's a trial version of CryptoLicensing available that I can have a play with,....?
There's a whole black-market industry surrounding the cracking of software and irrespective of the legality or ethics of it, I'm pretty sure a lot of people have used cracked software at some point (bonus points and the moral high-ground to those who claim they haven't and are actually telling the truth!). Be it cracked/patched software, a serial number generator, a serial number that everyone's using, there are ways and means. By far the simplest is probably with something like WinRAR that pops up a "Please purchase WinRAR license" dialog box and relies on honesty, with more complex and convoluted solutions like Microsoft's OS licensing that can go horribly wrong if their activation servers have a bad day. Not to mention the "what will happen when" scenario for when Microsoft finally get bored of providing activation servers/services for Windows XP.
The thing that particularly sparked my interest was a comment from Frans Bouma, which could be summed up pretty much as saying "whats the point?", which seems to be a very good question. My opinion is that some form of licensing/activation solution at least raises the bar and reminds people using the software isn't actually free for them to use and do with it what they will. Plus, software that has an "n-day trial" that's expired is likely to get paid for if it's expired and then its use is required. I frequently install software for a single/ocassional task that has a "30 day trial" attached, or similar, and then promptly forget about it. When I then come to perform that task again 6 months later, if the price is right I end up buying it. If not, off comes the software and something else is found.
A fantastic example of this is a project I worked on about 2 years ago, I'd played around with a trial version of some .net data access layer generating software (I can't for the life of me remember what it was, one laptop later and it's not installed - but I have the license key somewhere!) a few months before that for a one-time-use tool I needed to write and then had this project thrown at me with a very tight deadline and no other development resource. I remembered the software, loaded it up, "out of trial", bugger! One credit card transaction later the license key was in my inbox and in the product. So, licensing control software worked for the publisher concerned!
Now, I wonder if there's a trial version of CryptoLicensing available that I can have a play with,....?
Stop Blaming Technology and Own Up to Responsibility
Never a truer word spoken. The number of times we see a "XYZ will solve everything", or, "ABC is no good for anything" is silly. Use the right tools for the job, don't try and use a screwdriver to hammer a nail in and don't expect an adjustable spanner to fit all sizes of nut. Metaphors aside, take a read of the linked blog entry, well worth reading.
Side by side: UI changes from Windows 7 beta to build 7048
Shiny, pretty. I've, personally, never had performance issues with Vista (or with anything else for that matter, so I'd quite like the Cialis/Viagra spam to stop, heh). If Windows 7 is faster than Vista, I'm gonna be laughing! What I do hope is that some of the UI "annoyances" where it takes longer to do things in Vista than XP are resolved. Like, getting to the screen to adjust multiple-monitors, t'was on the desktop right-click in XP. In Vista it's desktop right-click then choose option from window that opens. Ugh.
ASP.NET Configuration File Hierarchy and Inheritance
Must read in detail. I need to work out if it's possible to include/exclude different HTTPModules (say different modules for processing file uploads) in different levels of a single asp.net application by having web.config files in sub-directories. Initial (10minute) investigation seems to indicate it works in Cassini, but not in IIS6. Grr!
Never a truer word spoken. The number of times we see a "XYZ will solve everything", or, "ABC is no good for anything" is silly. Use the right tools for the job, don't try and use a screwdriver to hammer a nail in and don't expect an adjustable spanner to fit all sizes of nut. Metaphors aside, take a read of the linked blog entry, well worth reading.
Side by side: UI changes from Windows 7 beta to build 7048
Shiny, pretty. I've, personally, never had performance issues with Vista (or with anything else for that matter, so I'd quite like the Cialis/Viagra spam to stop, heh). If Windows 7 is faster than Vista, I'm gonna be laughing! What I do hope is that some of the UI "annoyances" where it takes longer to do things in Vista than XP are resolved. Like, getting to the screen to adjust multiple-monitors, t'was on the desktop right-click in XP. In Vista it's desktop right-click then choose option from window that opens. Ugh.
ASP.NET Configuration File Hierarchy and Inheritance
Must read in detail. I need to work out if it's possible to include/exclude different HTTPModules (say different modules for processing file uploads) in different levels of a single asp.net application by having web.config files in sub-directories. Initial (10minute) investigation seems to indicate it works in Cassini, but not in IIS6. Grr!
Engineering Windows 7: Beta to RC Changes - Turning Windows Features On or Off
Hurrah.
Sorry, what that actually should say is, "why should I care?". A lot of people on the Interweb seem to be making a very big thing about IE being removable from Windows. So? Due to the sheer size of its market share, any developer who does anything web related is going to need it turned on. 99% of end users (of the non-technical have google.com as their homepage and type www.bbc.co.uk into the google search box to get to the bbc site - don't gasp, I've seen it!) will have it switched on.
Making Internet Explorer optional really won't be the big event people seem to think it is. *shrug*
At least it's Friday ;-)
Hurrah.
Sorry, what that actually should say is, "why should I care?". A lot of people on the Interweb seem to be making a very big thing about IE being removable from Windows. So? Due to the sheer size of its market share, any developer who does anything web related is going to need it turned on. 99% of end users (of the non-technical have google.com as their homepage and type www.bbc.co.uk into the google search box to get to the bbc site - don't gasp, I've seen it!) will have it switched on.
Making Internet Explorer optional really won't be the big event people seem to think it is. *shrug*
At least it's Friday ;-)
ASP.NET MVC Release Candidate 2
It's here, still need to look into it in detail and get my head round it. Lazy me!
The Suggestion Box is for suggestions, that's why it's called a Suggestion Box
"Yuhong Bao" does seem to be the randomest commenter on the planet.
It's here, still need to look into it in detail and get my head round it. Lazy me!
The Suggestion Box is for suggestions, that's why it's called a Suggestion Box
"Yuhong Bao" does seem to be the randomest commenter on the planet.
Previously: Sql Server 2005 - Surface Area Configuration won't save
Just a quick update; installing Service Pack 3 (yes, I know I said SP2 in the previous post, my bad!) was a non-starter as the SP install attempted to connect to the instance and failed. The message did point me in the direction of the Sql Native Client being corrupted.
Uninstalling and reinstalling the Native Client allowed the service pack to install, allowed the local Sql Server Management Studio to connect and also allowed me to change the "allow external connections" from "Local Only" to "Local & Remote Connections" on both named pipes and TCP/IP. Unfortunately, I can't prove that this allowed external connections to succeed as I didn't have access to another machine on the network.
This morning, the machine is once again refusing to save the "external connections" settings in the Surface Area Configuration Manager, again! :( (This may have something to do with anothe person working on SSL on IIS on the box concerned though, perhaps?)
Just a quick update; installing Service Pack 3 (yes, I know I said SP2 in the previous post, my bad!) was a non-starter as the SP install attempted to connect to the instance and failed. The message did point me in the direction of the Sql Native Client being corrupted.
Uninstalling and reinstalling the Native Client allowed the service pack to install, allowed the local Sql Server Management Studio to connect and also allowed me to change the "allow external connections" from "Local Only" to "Local & Remote Connections" on both named pipes and TCP/IP. Unfortunately, I can't prove that this allowed external connections to succeed as I didn't have access to another machine on the network.
This morning, the machine is once again refusing to save the "external connections" settings in the Surface Area Configuration Manager, again! :( (This may have something to do with anothe person working on SSL on IIS on the box concerned though, perhaps?)
A New Look for Visual Studio 2010
Now, I don't particularly care what VS2k10 looks like as long as it does the job, but some of the new functionality like multi-monitor support and a better extensibility model do interest me quite a lot. There have been numerous times I've thought "It'd make my life easier if I could just add to VS so it did XYZ" and then I've been put-off by the heinous monster that is its current extensibility model. I'm sure it's very strong, but, yeuck!
"Fix it" - The Next Evolution of KB Articles and WER
I'm sure AOL had something similar, about 10 years ago, within their client software for resolving connectivity and other AOL related issues (oh yes, there were many, many issues!). It's nice to see Microsoft finally implementing something similar as this will take the pain out of solving some computer related problems for a lot of people.
Now, I don't particularly care what VS2k10 looks like as long as it does the job, but some of the new functionality like multi-monitor support and a better extensibility model do interest me quite a lot. There have been numerous times I've thought "It'd make my life easier if I could just add to VS so it did XYZ" and then I've been put-off by the heinous monster that is its current extensibility model. I'm sure it's very strong, but, yeuck!
"Fix it" - The Next Evolution of KB Articles and WER
I'm sure AOL had something similar, about 10 years ago, within their client software for resolving connectivity and other AOL related issues (oh yes, there were many, many issues!). It's nice to see Microsoft finally implementing something similar as this will take the pain out of solving some computer related problems for a lot of people.
IIS7 Compression. Good? Bad? How Much?
I've, more often than not, seen IIS compression either ignored or treated as an incomprehensible black-art. This blog entry makes the costs/benefits and the differing levels available with IIS7 absolutely crystal clear. A must read.
Application logging - yes it is important
One thing not mentioned in this post is the Windows Event Log, I can't remember where I read it but I'm fairly sure that the "lowest cost" way to log in a Windows environment is using the event log. Nothing else will return control to your program quicker, with a lower disk/cpu cost than the event log. Well, other than not logging ;) ... With Vista/Server 2008 the event log gets a lot more powerful.
Vista's UAC: 8 ways how to elevate an application to run it with Administrator rights
Not a lot more to say other than, turn UAC off at your peril. It's worth its weight in gold. Heavy gold at that!
I've, more often than not, seen IIS compression either ignored or treated as an incomprehensible black-art. This blog entry makes the costs/benefits and the differing levels available with IIS7 absolutely crystal clear. A must read.
Application logging - yes it is important
One thing not mentioned in this post is the Windows Event Log, I can't remember where I read it but I'm fairly sure that the "lowest cost" way to log in a Windows environment is using the event log. Nothing else will return control to your program quicker, with a lower disk/cpu cost than the event log. Well, other than not logging ;) ... With Vista/Server 2008 the event log gets a lot more powerful.
Vista's UAC: 8 ways how to elevate an application to run it with Administrator rights
Not a lot more to say other than, turn UAC off at your peril. It's worth its weight in gold. Heavy gold at that!
A batch of links, stuff I've read, or intend to read again and actually use (Yup, a "memo to self" type entry).
The last one is one that has attracted a lot of comments (53 at the time of writing), mostly people screeching about Microsoft not having consistently updated the UI in XP/Vista to match the visual style. My experience is that the majority of the UI that hasn't been updated is in areas that are seen once (the example Larry gives), or seen so seldom that it's barely rememberable. Surely things like UAC (yes, I happen to like the "protection" it offers - mainly due to the lack of family tech support I've had to provide on Vista boxes), Start Menu search (aka: mana from heaven) and all the other goodies in Vista are far, far more important?
- Gary Pilkington - Do you test your private methods?
- The Storage Team at Microsoft - Disabling Last Access Time in Windows Vista to improve NTFS performance
- Larry Osterman - Everyone wants a shiny new UI
The last one is one that has attracted a lot of comments (53 at the time of writing), mostly people screeching about Microsoft not having consistently updated the UI in XP/Vista to match the visual style. My experience is that the majority of the UI that hasn't been updated is in areas that are seen once (the example Larry gives), or seen so seldom that it's barely rememberable. Surely things like UAC (yes, I happen to like the "protection" it offers - mainly due to the lack of family tech support I've had to provide on Vista boxes), Start Menu search (aka: mana from heaven) and all the other goodies in Vista are far, far more important?
Seeing a review of Spotify on The Register prompted me to comment about it here. It's brilliant.
It's like Yahoo! Music/LaunchCast/whatever they're calling it now, done right. Yahoo announced it would be available ad-free to BT Broadband users (or something to do with paying BT money), but didn't offer an option for non-BT Broadband users. So I stopped using it. It was also "radio" based, so you couldn't control exactly what you listened to just "what sort of stuff" you listened to.
Spotify on the other hand, is brilliant. The free version gives you the odd advert here and there, and the paid for version is damn cheap. Yes, it's subscription model, but at 99p for a day, �10 for a month or �100 for a year, I'm buying!
Pros
It's like Yahoo! Music/LaunchCast/whatever they're calling it now, done right. Yahoo announced it would be available ad-free to BT Broadband users (or something to do with paying BT money), but didn't offer an option for non-BT Broadband users. So I stopped using it. It was also "radio" based, so you couldn't control exactly what you listened to just "what sort of stuff" you listened to.
Spotify on the other hand, is brilliant. The free version gives you the odd advert here and there, and the paid for version is damn cheap. Yes, it's subscription model, but at 99p for a day, �10 for a month or �100 for a year, I'm buying!
Pros
- Sound quality/speed to start playing is very high
- Free version is very ad-un-encumbered
- Pricing model is very affordable. As much music as you want, every day, for less than half the cost of buying a track a day from iTunes
- Some music is still missing / badly categorised
- The player/streamer does not look like a Windows application, just as uncanny valley annoying as iTunes.
- There's no way to integrate the stream into Media Player or show visualisations, etc,.. would be nice in a "playlist/queue has been setup, now the party's starting and I want the screen to look funky" way
Visual Studio add-in: CopySourceAsHTML
How very, very, very useful! Certainly looks better than the one I've been using. Time will tell!
TestDriven.Net 2.19: Release Notes
Nothing more to say really, there's a new version to upgrade to. Time to upgrade.
And finally, someone complaining (albeit mildly and constructively!) that the IE8 installer progress bar doesn't render in a useful fashion when youn use a non-Microsoft provided theme on Windows XP. Given that using a non-MS theme involves patching DLLs and generally putting your O/S into an unsupported state, a non-useful render of a progress bar is pretty good going. Given that "fixing" this would involve Microsoft putting in a code path in their installer, along with UI components, to cater for their O/S being in an unsupported configuration - I don't see it happening any time soon..
How very, very, very useful! Certainly looks better than the one I've been using. Time will tell!
TestDriven.Net 2.19: Release Notes
Nothing more to say really, there's a new version to upgrade to. Time to upgrade.
And finally, someone complaining (albeit mildly and constructively!) that the IE8 installer progress bar doesn't render in a useful fashion when youn use a non-Microsoft provided theme on Windows XP. Given that using a non-MS theme involves patching DLLs and generally putting your O/S into an unsupported state, a non-useful render of a progress bar is pretty good going. Given that "fixing" this would involve Microsoft putting in a code path in their installer, along with UI components, to cater for their O/S being in an unsupported configuration - I don't see it happening any time soon..
50 of the Best Ever Web Development, Design and Application Icon Sets
More of a note to self, yet again, as the rubbish I create in Windows Paint really shouldn't be inflicted on anyone, not even myself as placeholders!
Birth of a Security Feature: ClickJacking Defense
I'm actually really surprised that this feature hasn't surfaced sooner, but that's with 20/20 hindsight. I guess it's a natural extension of the Client Access Policy type stuff Flash and Silverlight have been doing.
More of a note to self, yet again, as the rubbish I create in Windows Paint really shouldn't be inflicted on anyone, not even myself as placeholders!
Birth of a Security Feature: ClickJacking Defense
I'm actually really surprised that this feature hasn't surfaced sooner, but that's with 20/20 hindsight. I guess it's a natural extension of the Client Access Policy type stuff Flash and Silverlight have been doing.
Google's "Don't be Evil" mantra seems to be rapidly falling by the wayside.
I was doing a bit of a tidy-up on my laptop today (Sony Vaio purchased mid-2008) and noticed in Programs and Features something called "Browser Address Error Redirector". The only menu option was "Uninstall/Change" and only by hunting down into the registry was I able to find the uninstall string:
Another comment on this: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/05/googles-browser-address-error.html
I was doing a bit of a tidy-up on my laptop today (Sony Vaio purchased mid-2008) and noticed in Programs and Features something called "Browser Address Error Redirector". The only menu option was "Uninstall/Change" and only by hunting down into the registry was I able to find the uninstall string:
regsvr32 /u /s "C:\PROGRA~1\GOOGLE~1\BAE.dll"Now, not only does this hide from the user (by not specifying the manufacturer) that it's from Google, but, the name almost makes it sound "official". Pah. To make matters worse, the uninstaller just unregisters the DLL, leaving it sat there on the PC. Erm, that's *not* uninstalling!
Another comment on this: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/05/googles-browser-address-error.html
Found via a comment on the IE Blog.
I don't know if it'll work for you, but, I just disabled the "Research" toolbar through "Manage Add-ons" and immediately Internet Explorer 7 loads a lot more quickly.
Worth a try!
I don't know if it'll work for you, but, I just disabled the "Research" toolbar through "Manage Add-ons" and immediately Internet Explorer 7 loads a lot more quickly.
Worth a try!
