A beta version is out and its available with WS2008

The launch press release is very promising.

This deserves more than just a press release. I will update this post with more details, especially how it relates to VMWare’s technology.

A while back I subscribed to the Microsoft Architecture Journal. Over the years it has been one of those magazines that finds it’s way to my desk and remains there till I get to see some of the pictures.

There was a pleasant surprise for me last week when I discovered that Microsoft had come out with a beta version of an Architecture Journal Reader

It is a .NET 3.0 desktop application that is built using WPF . Here is a brief description of the application from the application download page,

“Demonstrating many of the UX principles highlighted in recent issues, this new reader is a locally installed application that enables you to take every issue of the Journal into a searchable, immersive, and easy-to-read experience. The application synchronizes with our content management services so that you’ll automatically have access to the latest Journal issues without needing to download PDF files or checking online.”

The Architecture Journal as you know is a magazine and the Journal Reader application essentially gives you all the Journal content in a digital format right on your desktop without some of the usual browser annoyances. Its goal is to improve the overall user experience of the magazine reader.

Here is a sample screenshot of the Front Page,

Apparently, A lot of publishers have adopted this technology and have implemented news readers using “a news reader SDK”.

I haven’t tried any of these readers yet but the idea is certainly catchy. I for one have always enjoyed a cup of coffee and a newspaper without being distracted on weekend mornings.

If you are new to facebook application development here are ten rules that should help you,

This is just a compilation of a message thread from the facebook developers forum.

1. Add viral features as soon as possible (best before launching your app)
2. Make things simple. Users don’t read.
3. Stupid ideas work best. Don’t try to change the world.
4. Build and program on a platform with scalability in mind.
5. KISS ( Keep it Simple Stupid )
6. If you bother to put the time in, make sure you are on a good service provider so your app actually works!
7. The answer is in the forum.
8. If you think something is broken, check facebook bugs before making massive changes
9. Don’t neglect or quit your day job, as this is all fun and games.
10. Don’t jump in head first. Create a simple app to start and learn the framework, shoot for the stars later.

Here are some more tips for social app developers from the open social folks at google

Its Day Nine and HappyWishes on FaceBook has over 100 installs. Thanks to all the users of HappyWishes, you are all in for a very surprising treat.

Thanks again and please post your reviews and suggestions on the application discussion board.

Facebook released their application platform last May. The “platform” allows developers to create applications for facebook users.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been busy creating a facebook application HappyWishes which allows facebook users to send Wishes to their friends and family for any happy occasion.

Check it out. It was fun coding it and I hope you enjoy using it.

Your comments and reviews are always welcome.

John Schwartz of The NY Times writes about a new engineering college where the emphasis is more on “experiential” learning.

The article teaser captured my attention,

“In an era when software matters more than steel, …”

You can read the full article here.

I believe there is some truth to this statement, simply because even a seemingly hardware centric product like the iPod is so successful because of its software. I am not an iPod user but just imagine using the iPod without iTunes. Organizing and building the music collection would be very difficult without a good piece of software. It certainly was not a pleasant experience to rip/search/download, organize mp3 files in the pre-iTunes years.

Yes, We are in the era of software and The NY Times said so

I just read an interesting story on the cbc technology section about a white list approach to computer security.

Who is going to maintain this “white list”? Is there already a consortium of application vendors that have agreed on this “white list”?

If this gains traction there are some interesting technology and business issues that need to be solved. Overall, interesting times ahead for security software industry.

Once again Google is right but unfortunately has to fight old bureaucratic companies, to do the right thing. It’s an open fact that Cisco and ATT have been in bed for a long time.

What this Red Herring story writer does not get is not only press time from Google (funny, a story published on the web with no timestamp, just a date ) but the fact that companies like ATT have indeed stymied innovation.

Case in point, well the internet, which was developed by government research funding to connect networks like ATT and MCI that did not talk to each other, very well, huh!

Executives at large telcos don’t care about innovations or changes and they rarely have passion for new technologies. But they do passionately pursue their bonus checks,options and benefits package, nothing wrong with that except that in order to do so they have to kill competition and maintain status quo, often times ruthlessly and by ANY means necessary.

An open access spectrum means a cell phone user can use any phone (device) on any wireless carrier. Have you ever wondered why you can’t use the same phone on a T-Mobile network and a Verizon network? The technology to use mobile phones, devices on any network is available but its a way of the phone companies to tie us down to their network.

If you ever get a chance to talk about open access, say yes to it … trust me that will open up the real competition and give us more cool stuff like the internet and bring us out of the dark ages.

St Louis Park, MN now has wireless broadband internet access, well almost.

Two weeks back they installed the wireless poles in my area, see the one closest to my house on the 16th street/Zarthan Ave intersection.

I called the 365×24x7 support line this morning only to be told that the service will not be available until mid-August

Another minor annoyance that I found out was that the professional installation was “mandatory”, the FAQ page says otherwise,

” Is There a Mandatory Professional Installation?

No. Professional installation is optional for all service levels. Most subscribers are able to install the gateway and start using ParkWiFi by following installation instructions provided when they receive the gateway. ”

Another 3 weeks does not seem too long a wait and I hope that its worth the wait !

Update: 29th November 2007 10:08 CST

It’s almost December 2007 and still no sign of a working city wide WiFi network. I guess I will have to wait for the yet to be announced Google & Co nationwide broadband service or may be a community based broadband network even.

I like this camera. I bought this camera a couple of weeks back ( last week of June 2007 ) from Walmart.com in preparation for my trip to the East Coast with my mom. A picture is worth a thousand words so take a look at the pictures here.

A short summary of what I liked and what I did not like about the Norcent DC-1020,

Likes

Dislikes

Tip: Get the starter bundle and the energizer battery charger from walmart its a good deal if you can get your hands on it.