Tech Blender

Going Bedouin

 A great post.  A company is people with talent.  All the other stuff (office space, servers, telephone systems, etc.) are just necessary evils to support the people.  Today, there are so many companies who's business it is to host infrastructure.  How little infrastructure can you get away with?  One large company that I work with is ultra-distributed.  They have a main office in Colorado, but their people are all over the US, doing work, managing teams, you name it.  They've made geography irrelevant. 

When I launched my one-man shop, I decided that my first commandment would be "Thou shalt maintain no servers."  Some people love to set up servers, and have a network of 10 machines in their home office.  I hate it.  I just want my e-mail/blog/accounting software to work at all times.  I want to spend zero hours on server admin.  I want to be able to flatline my machine, and be back at 100% productivity as fast as possible.  I don't even install a local blog reader any more. I want to be equally productive and capable in "the office" or on the road. I joke that I'm a hermit crab.  I carry my office in a backpack. 

Grego posits building larger organizations that are infrastructure-less, noting how infrastructure adds inertia and drag to your operation.  Infrastructure decreases agility, and as grego notes, you can mark the beginning of the end for many companies as the point where they move into that new big office.

Artificial Intelligence Progress as Measured by SPAM Literary Quality

As SPAM becomes ever more prevalent, we can at least take solace in the fact that, as literature, it's quality continues to increase.  SPAM today often tries to sell me nothing and provides provacative prose straight to my inbox.  Take the following recently received piece:

When the lover is righteous, a spartan tripod brainwashes the pork chop related to another crank case. Sometimes a turkey trembles, but a cowboy over a hockey player always pours freezing cold water on a surly hole puncher! Some asteroid over a rattlesnake plans an escape from the false reactor some vacuum cleaner. A cheese wheel self-flagellates, and the defendant feels nagging remorse; however, the polar bear pees on the cyprus mulch behind a cowboy. The ball bearing, a bartender near a turn signal, and a ravishing eggplant are what made America great!

A revered polar bear, a warranty, a revered polar bear. Furthermore, a recliner prays, and the blithe spirit related to some tabloid bestows great honor upon another senator toward a chess board. Another cloud formation over a minivan sanitizes the bullfrog. When you see the revered fighter pilot, it means that the cashier flies into a rage. The earring buries a moronic deficit. A roller coaster of a cowboy shares a shower with a mastadon.

How true.  How true indeed.  If only spam could sing, as SPAM now rivals even the legendary lyrics of great band "Rush".

(From Rush - 2112)

...'The massive grey walls of the Temples rise from the heart of every Federation city. I
have always been awed by them, to think that every single facet of every life is regulated
and directed from within! Our books, our music, our work and play are all looked after by
the benevolent wisdom of the priests...'

We've taken care of everything
The words you hear, the songs you sing
The pictures that give pleasure to your eyes
It's one for all and all for one
We work together, common sons
Never need to wonder how or why

We are the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx
Our great computers fill the hallowed halls
We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx
All the gifts of life are held within our walls

My inbox isn't just big.  Man, it's deep.

DXCore appears to rule

It seems that if you want to do something that integrates fairly deeply into Visual Studio, DXCore is the way to go.  Bill McCarthy used it to build his Exception Helper, and now Joel Fjordén has used it to build a coding style enforcer. 

Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007

Microsoft has released a free "express" accounting package.  Personally, I've been satisfied with the QuickBooks Online Edition, but I'll likely check the Microsoft product out and see how it works for my "One guy and a modem" business structure.

Vista Coming Soon?

Paul Thurrott says that Microsoft has a Vista build "in escrow". Barring the discovery of any show-stopper bugs, Vista will ship on or before Nov 8th.

Windows Defender Released (and Free)

Microsoft has shipped Windows Defender, Microsoft's spyware removal tool.  It's free, but in my experience, there's a lot of malware that it fails to remove.  Start with Windows Defender, and if you find things that it can't handle, check out StopZilla.

Fractal Flames

Nifty.  More here.

Roundup of Customer Search Offerings

Dare does a nice roundup of Google Co-op, Live Search Macros, and Yahoo! Search Builder. 

Windows Media Photo (WMP) and JPG 2000 Compared

Is Microsoft a software company, or a file format company?  It seems that MS can never just use an existing file format, they always have to go and invent their own (WMV, WMA, etc.)  Here's a comparison of JPG-2000 and Microsoft's proprietary WMP.

Maybe if WMP wins, they'll open it up.

Microsoft to get into chip design business

I guess to do the next XBox right, they feel they'll need to do the chips themselves.

Salaries forcasted to rise for IT pros

EWeek has the roundup on Robert Half Technology's salary guide.

Despite the Hype, Vista Will Follow .NET Path

It won't be long (one would hope) before Windows Vista ships, and when it does, expect MSDN to turn the Vista volume up to 11.  But despite Vista courting developers, developers, developers, is Vista really a bandwagon you should jump on?

In this week's newsletter I opine that with 6 years of .NET Framework hindsight, it's pretty easy to see exactly what Vista will really mean for developers.

Excess Budget Money? (Worry no more!!!)

I just got this in my InBox from ComponentOne.  Now let me go on the record and say that I really like ComponentOne products. I've used them on a number of production applications, and I would recommend them to anyone, so this is no dis against them as a company, or their technology, in any way.

That said, their latest marketing campaign did make me giggle:

Excess Budget Money?
Try Studio Express 2006
Are you or your colleagues looking for a reasonable way to spend your excess year-end budget money that will meet your development needs today and well into 2007? If so, ComponentOne has the perfect solution.

IE7 Has Shipped

Soma points to the release of IE 7, add-ons, the IE Developer Toolbar, and the IE Blog.

Some new features:

• Tabbed browsing
• Phishing filter (and a bunch of other security stuff)
• Printing (that works)
• RSS feed detection

Full features list here.

A great roundup of information here, including recommended pre-install and post-install steps.

Free Sharepoint Online Training

The Ascentium Portland blog links to WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007 infrastructure and developer training.  Free!

Another juicy tidbit, the quick reference sheet for IE 7.0.

Subscribed.

I call BS on ohloh

It's a very cool site, and has lots of great information.  I also think it does an effective job of cutting through the hype and showing what's really being actively developed, how many people are working on an open source project, etc.  In fact, the headline for today is "PHP eats Rails for Breakfast", showing that while Rails might be the sexy new bling for developers to sport, 1 out of every 5 lines of open source being written is PHP.

Now for the BS part.  The site estimates how much it would have cost to hire a team and write the same thing from scratch.  Scott Hanselman (from whom I learned about ohloh) points to dasBlog, which ohloh claims is currently the equivalent of a 15 man-year effort.  While this project has been developed by superstars like Scott Hanselman, Clemens Vasters, and Chris Anderson, and I have no doubt that they are more productive than the average developer, there's no way that anything close to 15 man-years have been spent on this, so take the Project Cost estimate with a nice chunk of salt.  In fact, that makes me wonder, what would ohloh calculate as the total value of all the open-source which it has analyzed?

Threading, Ruby, and Python

Larry posts his disappointment that Ruby isn't really multi-threaded, and is therefor not able to take advantage of multi-core architectures (not without spinning up multiple instances of the interpreter, that is).  The comments to the post are even more interesting, pointing out that Python can have the same issue, and there's a lot of talk in the python community that what we think of as multi-threading is really a bad idea.  Everyone agrees that you need to be able to perform operations in parallel, and leverage the hardware fully, but maybe shared memory and traditional synchronization mechanisms are just wrong, wrong, wrong.

Password security tester

Microsoft has a site that shows the relative security strength of a password, as you type it in. 

You can get to this site with HTTP, or HTTPS.  I'm thinking, since you may be entering a actual password to see how strong it is, HTTPS might be a good idea.

Microsoft VHD format no longer proprietary

Microsoft has announced that it's opening it's Virtual Hard Disk format.  When you use Virtual PC, or Virtual Server, the virtual machine image is stored in a VHD file.  Until now, that had been a Microsoft proprietary file format.  Microsoft has announced that it's opening the format in hopes that it becomes the standard virtual hard drive format.

MouTube (a.k.a. MSN Soapbox)

I guess if there is any piece of software that you run on your computer, Microsoft will eventually relase it's own version.  If there is any Web site that becomes really popular, Microsoft will release it's own version. 

Google has YouTube.  Microsoft now has MSN Soapbox. 

I'm not sure the target audience is familiar with the term "soapbox", but apparently MyTube was already taken.

8 "Simple" rules for more secure code

Michael Howard has an MSDN article with what he considers 8 simple rules for more secure code.  Will this make your code more secure?  Yes.  Are they simple (and cheap) to implement?  No.

I hate to be a heretic, but there isn't a one-size-fits-all for secure coding.  Some developers work in small companies, and are writing Windows Forms internal line of business applications.  I would argue that the benefits of following the 8 simple rules do not outweigh the costs for these developers.  I see ISVs that don't even have formalized QA departments.  Again, they're typically shipping single user apps to a niche market, and there isn't a significant hacking threat.

When you get to Intranet Web applications, in a large corporation, the security risk goes up.  When you get to Internet Web applications, the risk increases again.  If you're a restaurant posting your menu, probably not a lot to worry about.  If you're Microsoft.com, people are taking shots at you every day.

I guess I'm just getting a little tired of "Unless you do uber-secure coding on absolutely everything you ever write, you're an idiot!"  I would like to see some of the security pontiffs actually release a matrix that lines up the kinds of development that are done, with the amount of secure coding that has a real benefit beyond the cost.

When the impression is given that every developer should be doing the highest degree of secure coding on every single line of code, you end up with the majority of developers quietly ignoring this recommendation, feeling like they're sinners, and just not telling any one.  By acknowledging that some code needs to be very secure, and some code has essentially no security requirements, I think you would end up with more developers putting security on their radar.

Microsoft acquires Colloquis

Microsoft has bought Colloquis, a company which sells something they call the Automatic Service Agent.  It's kind of interesting.  It used to be that when you called a phone number you got a real person.  Then, to save costs, you started getting automated "Press 1 for..." phone support.  Then, you started seeing companies provide live chat support.  I'm guessing they did this because (1) customers would rather speak to a real person, (2) a single customer support rep could "speak" with 4 customers at the same time, and (3) you're less likely to be pissed off that you're talking to a customer support rep who's offshore because a very thick accent doesn't hurt the text chat conversation.

All dandy, but Colloquis aims to cut the human being out of the live chat support also, with a 21st century Eliza.

Their Web site has a demo.  I took it for a spin, and here's the result:

 

Ask Us:
Hi there! I'm your interactive guide to the Colloquis Web site.
Just ask me a question!

Guest:
What's up?

Ask Us:
Colloquis news
The News section of the Colloquis Web site has all the latest news, as well as our press release and news archives.

Guest:
Sweet.

Ask Us:
I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean. Please type ? to see how I can help you or topics for a complete list of help topics.

Guest:
Did you take the red pill?

Ask Us:
I haven't eaten at the red pill?, but when we're in the New York office we like to eat at Sosa Borella.

Guest:
Just answer the question. Did Microsoft buy you?

Ask Us:
On September 13, Microsoft announced that it had acquired Colloquis. You can read more about it here.

Guest:
I'm not happy.

Ask Us:
Nice to meet you not happy

Guest:
Oh, so you're a wise guy!

Ask Us:
Thank you!

Guest:
I just don't know. I mean Google buys YouTube, Microsoft buys Colloquis, are we looking at a future where Google and Microsoft own everything?

Ask Us:
I just don't know. I mean Google buys YouTube, Microsoft is trading at 0.00.
(20 minute delayed quote)

Guest:
Hope that's not your fault.

Ask Us:
I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean. Please type ? to see how I can help you or topics for a complete list of help topics.

Guest:
How old are you?

Ask Us:
When Colloquis was founded
Colloquis was founded in early 2000.

Guest:
What does Colloquis do?

Ask Us:
Company overview
Colloquis provides products and services enabling companies to develop and deploy interactive agents -- software applications that interact with users over text messaging, using ordinary conversational language. Interactive agents are used for self-service applications of all kinds.

Guest:
You're eliminating jobs!

Ask Us:
Please select the most relevant question:
1 What is your purpose?
2 What does your company do?
If none of these questions are relevant, type ? to see how I can help you or topics for a complete list of help topics.

Guest: You know what happened to clippy, don't you?

Ask Us: I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean. Please type ? to see how I can help you or topics for a complete list of help topics.

Guest: Thanks for chatting.

Ask Us: If you just want to chat, you can try our SmarterChild demo! 

Knock knock. Who's there? Office 2007 document...

Office 2007 document, who?

If you're worried that Office 2007 documents are going to start landing in your inbox, and you're not going to be able to open them because you're going to be stuck on Office 2003 for the forseable future, check out the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack.  This will apparently let you open, edit, and save Office 2007 documents using Office 2003, XP, or 2000.

Has anyone tried this yet?

Zune on Shelves Nov 14th, $249.99

Says the press release. (via frankarr)

If only it came in red.

Top 10 Web 2.0 Attack Vectors

Shreeraj lists some new things to worry about.

If Microsoft Built Schools...

Apparently, they do.

Kenny Kerr's Blog

I just came across Kenny Kerr's blog.  If you're interested in doing Vista specific development, it's "the awesome".

Want to write your own ASP.NET providers?

ScottGu points at the Altaris Simple ASP.NET SQL Providers on CodePlex.

Welcome Reader from Hawaii

Google Analytics is a fantastic resource that lets you collect relatively deep stats for any of your sites.  Google walks you through the process, gives you the 2 lines of javascript that you need to paste into your site, and then verifies that it's working.  In about a day, stats start coming in tracking just about everything you might be interested in.  The best visual is probably the Geo Map Overlay, showing where your visitors are coming from:

I set it up for this blog yesterday, the stats are just starting to come in, and if everyone could give a warm welcome to our new reader from Hawaii (that little spec out in the Pacific), that would be great.

Age Old Question - Finally Answered

Ok, maybe it's not the final answer, but Bill McCarthy gets interviewed and goes deep on what makes VB a nifty language.

VS Trick - Adding Items to the Toolbox

I never knew you could do this, but apparently if you want the items in an assembly to appear in your toolbox, you can just use Explorer, find the DLL, and drag-drop it on to the toolbox.  Slick.

Branching and Merging with TFS

From the MSDN Wiki, a link to an article to get you up and running with source code branching and merging in Team Foundation Server.

Coghead - VB for the Web?

I read a Business 2.0 article about Coghead, and it's proclaimed ability to let millions of users whip up their own line of business Web sites without being full-on programmers.  Now, it's popped up again in this ComputerWorld article. 

Any software professional with more than 5 years under their belt will rightly roll their eyes at the oft predicted notion that, "Tool X is (finally) going to put all you programmers out of business!!!"

What strikes most about this recurring theme is that it reveals the underlying truth that the business folks would like us all dead. I remember an article about case tools in the 90s titled, "Fire Your Programmers!"  Outsourcing is a 1/2 step where the business guys say, "Fine, if I have to have programmers, get me the cheapest ones possible, and put them as far away as you can."

We are a very expensive, high-maintenance, group.  We are the epitome of "necessary evil".  It just doesn't make sense to the business guy that a simple idea should take so long to implement, be so hard to change, and be so expensive to run.  Software is incorporeal.  You can't really hold software in your hand.  Let me put it this way, no one is writing magazine articles titled, "Fire your hardware engineers!"  Why is that?

And so, the business world just keeps charging the hamburger hill of eliminating programmers.  It's doomed to fail, as it always has, and yet...

I think the world is again ripe for opening the software development doors to millions of amateurs.  Visual Basic, arguably the most popular programming language ever, did just this eons ago.  We're ready for a new Visual Basic, which takes a sizeable percentage of Web/Windows development and makes it no harder than writing some Excel macros.  It's been done before, and I predict over the next 5 years, it will be done again.  Whoever can pull it off stands to make a lot of money, but more importantly, they will put a new population, tens of millions, on the path to programmer citizenship.

Virtual PC 2007 Beta Available

A beta of Virtual PC 2007 is now available. 

Virtual PC is going to be a key to Microsoft saying "You can run that on Vista" for many pieces of software.  Yes, you can run that on Vista if you use Virtual PC to host a Windows XP OS on your Vista machine.

"Live from Redmond" Webcasts

Microsoft product team members have started up a new series of webcasts to showcase existing and upcoming developer technologies.  Details here.

Some archived webcasts here.

Vista Server Core - A Vista SKU with no GUI

UNIX enthusiasts have been pointing out for quite some time that you shouldn't need a GUI and Windows Media Player for a file and print server, DNS server, or other OS that's basically providing network services.  Bowing to this pressure, Microsoft will release a version of Vista that's command-line only.  The install footprint is much smaller, and it's expected to need a lot less patching, and be more secure, simply because it has a less surface area to worry about.

The Server Core version supports the following roles: file server, domain controller, DNS server, or DHCP server.  Conspicuously absent is Web server, but one would have to imaging that a Web server role is on the radar.

Also, note to developers, the first version of Server Core will not support the .NET Framework.  The Server Core folks state that they need the Framework people to modularize the Framework so that just the essentials can be installed (no need for a Windows Forms package).  I'm guessing that rules out another role: Database Server (unless you want to run MySQL).

Hey, I bet you could make it a Web server by installing Apache on the thing!  Wait a minute.  Vista + Apache + MySQL + PHP = the VAMP stack?

More details here.

VelVeesta RC2 ships. (You can almost taste the launch)

Included in SP1, Web Application Project Templates

ScottGu points out that if you've already installed the Web Application Templates, you need to uninstall them before you attempt to install VS 2005 SP1 (Beta).  Also, VS 2005 SP1 includes Web Application Project Templates. 

Google code search (a.k.a. security earthquake)

Google just launched their new Code Search service, and people immediately started seeing what nefarious uses they could put it to.  Turns out, maybe it's too good.

Searching for passwords

Searching for serial number algorithms in popular programs

 

Other than that, Google Code Search is the freak'n coolest way to search for a code sample for anything!

Is Data Binding Worth the Trouble?

Read my newsletter for my rant thoughts on databinding.  Is it really the best way to build apps?

Seattle Code Camp

Ed Kaim points to the upcoming Seattle Code camp.  It's coming soon, so if you're in the area, make sure you reserve a spot at camp WannaWriteaLineaCodea.

An amazing amount of stuff on .NET 3.0

If you're at all interested in the .NET Framework 3.0, and you haven't been over their pirate radio station, I encourage visit.  Just check out all the workflow screencasts.

Better Cache Management in ASP.NET 2.0 with Generics

Tim over at Interknowlogy shows how he used to manage the ASP.NET cache in 1.1, and how he's improved his logic with generics.

Forefront for Sharepoint

Microsoft has launched a Beta for a product known as Forefront, which provides virus protection for the stuff that you store in sharepoint.