Werner Vogel, CTO of Amazon.com has an article which was published a few months ago where we talks about the misconception of how most people think that web services are distributed objects. Here is an excerpt from the article. The hype surrounding Web services has generated many common misconceptions about the fundamentals of this emerging technology. Web services are frequently described as the latest incarnation of distributed object technology. This misconception, perpetuated by people from both industry and academia, seriously limits broader acceptance of the true Web services architecture. Although the architects of many distributed and Internet systems have been vocal about the differences between Web services and distributed objects, dispelling the myth that they are closely related appears difficult. ...

Fortune is running a story about the golden age of microchip graffiti is fading. But these images were never meant to be seen in the first place. “I saw something that looked different from most other things on the chip,” Davidson recalls. He cranked up the magnification and looked again. “I saw this Waldo thing,” recalls Davidson, referring to the character in the Where’s Waldo? cartoon books. At first Davidson thought the microscopic Waldo served as a kind of anti-copying feature, but a few months later, on the same chip, he found a teeny tiny Daffy Duck. Now the hunt was on. ...

I am looking (Karan has been on the lookout also) for a good ergonomic chair for my study at home and want to get your feedback on which ones you like and what do you think the price is right for that? I also need to take into account shipping to UK if something is only available in the US (or buying in the US and shipping to UK given the £ to $ ratio). ...

As promised earlier, the Sanbox is up - go give it a whirl and let me know your thoughts. Also the code and release build of the World Clock are up there. Check it out and let me know what you think of it and also any bugs and feature enhancements you would like to see. ...

[Listening to: 04-dzihan__and__kamien_-_ford_transit_160_lame_cbr - AsianLounge_Cd2 - AsianLounge_Cd2 (04:50)]

[Listening to: 04-dzihan__and__kamien_-_ford_transit_160_lame_cbr - AsianLounge_Cd2 - AsianLounge_Cd2 (04:50)]

[Listening to: 04-dzihan__and__kamien_-_ford_transit_160_lame_cbr - AsianLounge_Cd2 - AsianLounge_Cd2 (04:50)]

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[Listening to: 04-dzihan__and__kamien_-_ford_transit_160_lame_cbr - AsianLounge_Cd2 - AsianLounge_Cd2 (04:50)]

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[Listening to: 04-dzihan__and__kamien_-_ford_transit_160_lame_cbr - AsianLounge_Cd2 - AsianLounge_Cd2 (04:50)]

Microsoft has released an early version of the CTP of Indigo and a newer version of Avalon (from the PDC) and is now available on MSDN to download. I would certainly be downloading this and checking it out in the very near future. There are some known issues, so make sure to read the release notes.

Don’t worry, you guys are not that lucky, I am still alive and kicking, just been busy at work (hey I do need to work sometimes). Between work and doing my World Clock and finalizing the components for the Media Center PC (yep, after long debate, most of the components are ordered) , did not leave me too much time to blog. In addition to all this trying to figure out which TV to buy (I don’t own a TV as of now if you believe it), which cable/satellite service to subscribe to, and travel (am in lovel Brussels where the temperature today is in the mid 60’s - how sweet is that). But, as promised, the sandbox will be up soon , along with the details and some source code. Also you will have the full details on the Media Center once it is up - all in good time. :) ...

Microsoft Watch is reporting some details on what IE 7 features would look like. It has taken a page, err… tab I mean from Firefox and would be tabbed, improved support for CSS 2.0, IDN (international domain names), transparent PNG, etc. There are rumours about a built-in news aggregator. And of course, improved security which will include reduced privilege mode by default, no cross-domain scripting and/or scripting access, improved SSL user interface and possible integration between IE 7.0 and Microsoft’s new anti-spyware service (in beta currently). ...

Picked this up off slashdot . Militants killed in an encounter in New Delhi on Saturday night planned to attack leading software companies in Bangalore in addition to the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun, Delhi police said on Sunday Indian police claim the men were members of Lashkar-e-Toiba - a Wahabi militant group fighting for an independent Kashmir. Apart from maps of call centers police also recovered 100 kilos of dynamite, 10.5 kilos of RDX explosive, 450 detonators, three AK-56 rifles and a satellite phone. ...

I created a new area called Sandbox; for those who have worked with me previously can understand what this means. That is not a blog, just a place for me to start uploading some bits and seeing how they exist in the world or cyberspace. :) Right now there is nothing much there that is publicly going to be reached, but you can try hitting it at www.desigeek.com/sandbox . ...

Microsoft is readying more than just 64-bit Windows releases. It’s also developing 64-bit versions of a handful of its key desktop and server apps. You an get all the updates here . Now, I only need to know when they ship MCE in 64 bit so I can really use the AMD64 I am planning on buying. :)

Then waddle over here and check it out.

You might have seen this already, if not, MSDN has a six-part article extensively examining the data structures in .NET 2.0 covering the usual suspects and then some not-so-usual unless you have written some compilers such as BST’s, graphs, red-back trees, etc. Quite an interesting read when you have some time.

How many times have you wished you had someone to talk to when the order you placed online is botched? I know I had this recently, when Amazon screwed up and I was waiting to talk to someone and in the end had to email a general customer service account and go back and forth on that many times before it was fixed - something that would take only a couple of minutes on the phone. So, if you can relate to me, here are two sites that might be of help. The first one is specially for Amazon and eBay and the second one has a few companies such as Dell, Apple, Visa, Mastercard, United, American Airlines, T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, Sprint, etc. If you have any more information (numbers/links/etc) that you would like me to add here please let me know. ...

Chandu Thota has a pretty cool application called BogMap . What is a BlogMap you ask? It is a place where blogs meet maps and location. You can also Use BlogMap you can geo-code your blog, browse already geo-coded blogs and search for blogs. Once geo-coded, you can get your own BlogMap location using a simple url. This is me: ...