(Click to enlarge)
I just love how my desktop look right now. Windows 7 + Night blur + blu twitter client + gadgets, really, really nice. Plus, since it has an overall dark color my carbon footprint is lower. Ok, I just made that up. How does your desktop look right now?
I found this article on Redmond Pie on how to install Windows 7 calculator on your Vista machine. It’s easy and straightforward and the calculator is not only gorgeous but also contains tons of real-life enhancement over the old calculator.
If you noticed, I intended to include a little background on the screenshots to show how the new calculator nicely fit on the desktop. The buttons are nicely spaced out and the UI is very clear.
I’ve been testing Live Mesh for Mobile for almost a week and I must say it’s very impressive. The product is still in beta and except for some usability problems, it’s working like it’s supposed to. Also, this product is only available for US and UK users, however I managed to pull some strings off and get on the program, heh (Actually, here’s the trick, just install this CAB file on your Windows Mobile 6.x device, and your Windows Live account should be US – i.e. the country on your profile should be set to US – then fire up your mobile’s browser to this link). Here are some of the screenshots that I made:
Live Mesh icon on a Windows Mobile device
You will need a Windows Live account for your Live Mesh. If you have your old hotmail account, you can use that.
Once you’re in, the Live Mesh mobile client will list all of your Mesh folders. Just like on it’s desktop counterpart, you can add folders that you can sync in your own mesh.
Pictures are automatically synched on my desktop PC
If you’re asking what can you do with Live Mesh on Mobile, I’ll give you a very cool scenario. The ‘My Picture’ folder on my phone is included on my ‘mesh’ therefore whenever I take pictures, It is automatically synched to my PC. No need for manual transfer. No wires, no fuzz.
Now that my Zune is back on it’s feet, I wasted no time to update it’s content. First, I loaded two new games (Alien Games and Name That Song) in addition to the existing ones (Hexic and Texas Hold’em). There are a lot of available apps and games for Zune already considering that the XNA Platform is still in Beta. However, most of them are not yet ready for primetime. Most of their UI are poorly implemented.
Next is I enabled the “Audio Books” feature of my Zune. An audiobook is basically a recorded audio version of a book, usually read by the author or somebody else. This is really cool since I’m a heavy podcast listener/watcher. Enabling this feature for Zune is relatively easy. First, you need to download and install an Audiobook Manager. Currently, Zune supports only two of them, audible.com and overdrive.com. In this guide, I’ll be using audible.com’s audio book manager. During the installation, the manager will prompt you to choose a device from the pull down menu, choose Zune and click Ok. The installer will download the necessary files so that your Audible Manager recognizes your device.
Attach your Zune via USB cable. Once connected, your Zune’s screen should flash “connected” as if is connected on the Zune Software.
At this point you need an audible.com account to activate your Zune on the Audible Manager. You can get one for free here.
Once you have your audible.com account, Right click the “Microsoft Zune” icon on the lower left panel of your Audible manager and choose “Activate”. You will be asked for your audible.com’s account credential, supply as necessary.
That’s it! You’re Zune can now load audio books. Here’s a free audio book from Zune.net , “Black River” by Dean Koontz. The Audible Manager should open the link and download the file for you. Once it’s done, it should automatically synch the file to you device.
Ok, I’ll admit, I had trouble connecting my Zune 80 to my Desktop PC (with Windows Vista SP1) for almost 2 weeks (I know that’s quite a long time). The problem is every time I try to connect my device, Vista is able to detect it, however, installing its driver fails.
I scoured the Internet just to find a solution, I’ve been to forums, tech sites with no success. I tried so many things like rebuilding my INFCACHE.1, Manually installing the drivers, completely wiping out the Zune software and even resetting my Zune device but my PC is still unable to recognize my Zune. I suspected that it’s connected with my USB drivers because I had the same problem with my USB devices. Rebuilding the INFCACHE.1 did fixed this problem however but not with my Zune. Until I found this really, really weird solution from http://www.technologyquestions.com from a forum user named Davis (Thanks man!). I’m pasting his solution here since the forum thread is really long.
Hey all,
I realise this is an older thread, but I found a solution after several hours searching the net.
I am currently running Vista Home Premium, 2GB Ram, etc…
I was unable to use USB Flash Drives, as when vista tried to install the drivers, it would come up with an error similar to: cannot find the file specified.
To fix this and install the drivers, I had to do the following:
- Open Windows Explorer, then go to the following address line: C:\Windows\inf\setupapi.dev.log…double click
- This should open up Notepad..or equivelant.
- Go to the bottom of the log and press Ctrl + F, and search upward for ‘cannot find the file specified’
- I few lines above that you should see ‘SourceFile – [FileName]‘ and just above that ‘SourcePath – [Path]. You will find that if you go to that path, the specified file will not be there.
- If you then go to C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\ and find the specified file…copy it and paste into C:\Windows\inf
- When you try to install the drivers again, (using device manager -> reinstall drivers) direct the wizard to C:\Windows\inf and make sure ‘include subfolders’ is checked, and it should say drivers have been installed.
Hope this helps
And it worked like magic! When I plugged my Zune, Vista automatically installed all of the necessary drivers.
I’ve been itching to blog something about Photosynth, Microsoft’s jaw-dropping, award-winning, photo stitching technology but I can’t find a good subject to test this baby. Finally, I realized my trip to Mt. Pinatubo would be the perfect subject. I made a couple of shots on the crater so I thought it’d be really cool to “stitch” these photos together and create a 3D replica of the place. By the way, I took this photo way before I discovered Photosynth, that means these photos are not “orchestrated” to initially work with it. These are random shots and we’ll see how really good the software is in relating these photos together and building, not just a panoramic view, but a 3D replica of the place. Here’s the final product:
http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=d1a0e932-8f78-4186-9970-f9eddffdda59
(you need to install Photosynth’s plug-in for your browser. This is actually my biggest, if not the only, gripe here. MS should have implemented this using their Silverlight platform)
Update: WordPress does not allow iframe so that means the synth won’t be visible. Just follow the link above.
With the help of Microsoft Web Platform Installer, I was finally able to install IIS 7 on my Vista desktop. The installer is a collection of all the things you need to get you started with MS development. It includes IIS7, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition and the .NET Framework. This is a very clever strategy for MS to attract newbie developers.
Ok, so I just got off the phone and Accenture called me, which is really weird — how did they get my number? Anyway, they were inviting me to attend an MS Seminar event they’re hosting this coming May 21. Being the MS fan that I am, I quickly said yes without even thinking. After that, I checked Microsoft Philippines website to verify if there’s really an event this coming May 21. Yep, there is.Its a seminar entitled “MSDN Session: Windows Live Platform Technical Drilldown”. But wait a minute, it’s a different event! Ugh. How can I be so stupid?
So now I’m stuck with 2 events and don’t know which one to pick. I already made a commitment to the first event but the second event looks really interesting (I registered too, just in case, hehe).
Fresh from the oven, MS just recently launched the highly anticipated (if you’re following Robert Scoble’s blog, this is what made him cry) Worldwide telescope. Get it now!
The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0 visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope—bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe.
I’ve been following this product since I first heard about it. This was also presented at TED conference.
(Trying it now, very cool)
I know it’s a very tacky title, it’s a usual flame bait for fanboi’s around but I don’t care because I have just deployed two XNA games to my Zune! Translation: My Zune 80 can now play games. Before you react with “so what my <put your mp3 player’s name here> can play games years ago“, hear me out first. It’s not just about the game, XNA is a platform. It allows developers to create games and applications for Xbox 360 and Zune. So expect a lot of applications that will be developed for these devices. Since basically its .NET, expect a lot of .NET developers leverage their skills to develop applications for Zune.
It’s a CTP release so it’s not yet stable though I haven’t encountered any hiccups while installing it. Here, I took a few shots:
If you’re an early adopter like me, give it a try. Here’s a link on how to do it. If not, wait an official release from Microsoft.
P.S. About the title, I believe Zune is now gaining critical mass in the PMP arena. Its features are starting to mature. The “social” aspect of Zune is now being realized. I’d give it a year or two.
