In case you have not heard there is a new beta of Yahoo Messenger that adds a load of features. I have been using it for about a month or so and it works well for the most part - remember it is still in Beta. Now you can even make phone calls, read the related story . ...

Off the top of my head I cannot think of any true value for this (also I am not a System Engineer, so maybe its just that). Cisco is ready to release a new device that hands XML traffic and is supposed to bring “advanced XML security and management capabilities”. Cisco has a new new AON (Application-Oriented Networking) group (*groan*, talk about overusing a terminology) and has partnered with leading middle ware vendors such as SAP and IBM. The device is suppose to add new functions such as XML message parsing, schema validation and digital signature validation. ...

An editor’s note warns “Technology, the laws, and limitations imposed by manufacturers and content owners are constantly changing, Thus, some of the projects described may not work, may be inconsistent with current laws or user agreements or may damage or adversely affect some equipment. Your safety is your own responsibility, including proper use of equipment and safety gear, and determining whether you have adequate skill and experience.” How scary. And how refreshing. Make, a new quarterly put out by O’Reilly Media, a publisher of computer and technology books in Sebastopol, California, is a throwback to an earlier time, before personal computers, to the prehistory of geekiness - the age of how-to manuals for clever boys, from the 1920s to the ’50s. ...

If you have not got an MCE yet and are thinking of a small factor (like a laptop), check out Toshiba’s new Qosimo’s - drool! I have seen the old version in the stores and they are an absolute dream, the screen is just awesome and now they have improved it!

Firstly this is not a Java bashing and I don’t preach to say .NET/C++, etc is faster. However, based on what I have seen it sure is slow - slow like a snail. Maybe its the time that takes to load the VM or maybe it Swing - gurk! I like how Andy puts it - “One man’s feature is another man’s bloat”. He has a very objective article on the area which are slow, what Sun is doing to address it and what the main issues (with the developers) are - who don’t know how to use it. He talks about the Memory, JVM, Desktop and Java2D. ...

Recently there has been a lot of hype and talk about Monad Shell (a.k.a MSH), not sure why, but such are the state of things. What is Monad? Simply it is the new command line interface to the Windows Server OS and is code named Monad Shell. It is fairly powerful and has its roots set in VMS and AS400 environments. I would check out the quick demo (15 mins) thats shows the power of the shell - very exciting and interesting. ...

Well I have been thinking of something like this and stumbled across Tor: An anonymous Internet communication system via /. Has anyone used this? What do they think? What is it? Tor is a toolset for a wide range of organizations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet. Using Tor can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and more. Tor also provides a platform on which software developers can build new applications with built-in anonymity, safety, and privacy features. ...

If you are worried about repetitive-strain injuries, then check out a few alternative devices that you might find more comfortable.

Meenakshi encountered this on her laptop at home and had to install the hotfix. Be aware that after you install security update 873333 (MS05-012), you may find out that DBCS attachment file names are not displayed in Rich Text e-mail messages and you may receive a “Generic Host Process” error message (if you are on XP sp2). You may also find that File names are not displayed in e-mail messages (where the format is Rich-Text) that include file attachments when the following conditions are true: ...

I am thinking of joining up Yahoo! Music Unlimited - quickly while they still have the promotional price - and its cheaper than Napster and Raphsbody, has anyone signed up? What is your feedback?

Google Login Screen Google it seems since yesterday changed their login screen and you need to validate - is there some phishing stuff going on which is why they introduced this? Also I had to clear out my cookie before I could login to gmail, as it did not like it. Check out the screen shot.

Well it seems I stand corrected (sort of), and these are rare moments so enjoy it.. *grin*, seems like it was a user error (again sort of - in a minute on that) when I talked about the issues with ClickOnce earlier. The problem there was that the installation can only be supported via http and not using ftp (which I have chosen), once you change it to http you are golden. Moving on, why do I say a user error (sort of)? Well mainly because the Publish Wizard as far as I can see is not very explicit about this and unless you know (which now you do), you will get into this issue. ...

Last few days I have been messing around with the Beta 2 edition of Whidbey (now its called VS.NET 2005, but I still prefer Whidbey). If you recall my previous post about ClickOnce , my experience so far has not been good. I imported my clock applicaton (more on the issues importing it at another time) to Whidbey and tried to deploy it but for some reason it did not work and get a non descriptive error saying: ...

Storage is one thing which is never enough, yes even that terabyte of space you have sitting at home! (You do have that much right?). Anyways, all is not lost. Check out the Silicon Image/Hitachi Storage demo which puts 2.5TB of storage in a tiny package, connected to the system by SATA 2.0 interfaces capable of 300MB/sec transfer rate. Or how about Sapphire Technologies Blizzard , which is a liquid metal cooled X850 XT using technology developed by Nanocooling. Based on technology developed to cool nuclear reactors, the liquid metal cooler used in the Blizzard is completely sealed and uses a pump with no moving parts. Even if the metal does ever leak out, it’s non-toxic and environmentally safe. It remains to be seen if the new cooling technology enables quieter fans, but it’s certainly the most interesting new tech for cooling to come along in awhile. ...

If you saw my previous post about good free software one feature of Screamer Radio I forgot to mention is that is can save your stream you are listening to as MP3’s - and you have full control over the bit rate, file names, etc. Want to check out some samples? Well I recorded two songs from the Australian Station called Nova at 256 kbps; you can download the mp3s from here (6.4 mb). ...

These two choices for creating PDF’s and listening to Internet Radio are interesting because they are pretty good at what they do without all the bloatware from some of their competition and equally important - they are free! If you wanted to create PDF’s for your own personal use, now you can at an amazing price of free! CutePDF is a program which you can use for free for your personal use without any ads, popups, etc. Everyone cannot afford Acrobat Professional (but if you can its worth every penny), but this is pretty cool too. ...

The CLR team has a couple of slides from their roadshow where they talk about two tracks, one discusses what happens insight the CLR, if you have some of the books recommended in the presentation, none of this would be new to you. It covers things like the IL which is the abstract representation of an execution semantic and how that is represented using an abstract stack machine, where we consecutively execute each instruction, using the stack as the evaluation of that execution and how this stack abstraction works. And two, there is a discussion on perf engineering including the GC, costs and pitfalls, etc. ...

CNet is reporting that Microsoft said Thursday that it will introduce new XML-based file formats for its Excel, PowerPoint and Word applications when the company launches its Office 12 software package next year. Company officials said the move to replace Microsoft’’s traditional binary file formats with open-standards-based XML versions will allow companies using Office 12 to more easily access data across XML’’s various applications. Microsoft pledged that the shift to XML, also known as Extensible Markup Language, will decrease the size of many individual files and make documents created in its Office products more resistant to corruption. While Microsoft’’s Excel and Word programs already offer some XML compatibility, the new formats will bring those applications, and PowerPoint, into a “full fidelity” version of the standard, said Takeshi Numoto, senior director for the Microsoft Office System. The biggest advantage of the new formats, Numoto said, will be their capacity to allow workers to access data from various documents without opening individual files, and to allow workers to use that information in new ways. ...

I remember reading about this a little while ago and now ExtremeTech has a review. Ergodex has a fully programmable keyboard called the DX1 Input System. It is a USB peripheral device designed for users to arrange (and rearrange) an assortment of programmable keys anywhere on its 11-inch x 9-inch “DX1 Pad.” The concept is simple: You begin with 25 DX1 keys, place as many of them on the DX1 Pad in any layout you wish, and use the included software to assign functions to each one. ...

A tool provided by Microsoft could let people get around a check meant to prevent those with pirated copies of Windows from downloading additional software from the company, according to a security researcher. The threat is mitigated because the keys generated by the GenuineCheck tool expire “rapidly,” the Microsoft representative said. Consequently, it would not do anyone much good to put up a Web page with a list of keys. Still, somebody would be able to generate a key and use it immediately on a PC with a pirated copy, or pass it on to a friend. ...

ExtremeTech interviews Microsoft VP, Todd Holmdahl who is responsible for all the hardware development, hardware and semiconductor teams, manufacturing, and test teams for the XBOX 360 - pretty interesting insight on how MS developed this from the ground up with IBM and ATI and on what to expect from the new device on the hardware front. ...

But to get your hands on one you have to go to China … or ask someone you might know there…

At last now you can personalize the google home page - options include seeing your emails (from gmail of course), stock market, news (from Google New, BBC, NY Times, etc), Weather, etc. Interestingly slashdot features on the list - separately - which means *sigh*, more noise is now going to be generated there. Check it out here .

If you are a star wars then check out the Store Wars - hilarious. Thanks to Wai for sending this one over.

Thanks to Wai for passing this one. I think both my MS and Linux buddies will enjoy poking the penguin - you need to keep as it for a little while.