I don’t know when this went online because I’ve been mostly disconnected lately, with the moving and all, so I haven’t been able to keep up with the blogosphere, but still I would like to present you a new Microsoft site.
First, do you know about Channel 9 and Channel 10?
Channel 9 was one of Microsoft’s first initiatives to open up to the general public. Today it’s a website where developers, IT pros and other geeks can learn everything about past, present and future Microsoft technologies via videos, forums, blogs, etc.
I’m talking about optimistic concurrency of course.
As I’ve said before, my blog now runs on a new engine. To make a long story short, I lost my old blog, I wanted to play with the newest Microsoft technologies, so I picked up the engine my friend Patrice is working on that uses ASP.NET, C# 3.0 and LINQ (and a sprinkle of ASP.NET AJAX here and there). And it’s great! What’s more, I now have material for blogging.
When I announced my new blog last night, I forgot to mention something: I should have added the word “Beta” somewhere near the logo, because this site is far from being complete. And I’m not talking about content, because we all know that a blog is never complete when it comes to content (unless it’s closed), I’m talking about code!
No, this is not a “Web 2.0” web site, it’s just that the engine I’m working on to host this hasn’t been finished.
So, I don’t really know when this will be true because it will depend on the time the new IP address replicates through DNS, but still, I’m back online!
So, my previous host lost most of my data. I will slowly restore/rewrite as much as I can.
For now, enjoy the new look and new engine, of which I will probably be writing in the following weeks as I develop it further with my friend Patrice.
I’ve got plenty of invites for Joost and, this will sound weird, I don’t have enough friends to give them to. So, since Joost is encouraging me to give them away however I want, the first 999 people to request one, will get it. Use the comments.
Here you have their promotion video:
Joost is a way to watch TV on the Internet. Their software is pretty good, unfortunately their content is not.
One word: relevance.
I was looking for information on WPF/e (now Silverlight) today and, without thinking twice, I went to Google to find it. However, after seeing how good the results were for this Microsoft technology, I thought I go take a look at the Redmond-giant’s own search engine and see how it performed.
Disappointing, to say the least.
Take a look at the results (I’m shrinking them to put them side by side, but you can click to see them better):
I got to 81 while teaching (yes, I know I shouldn’t play in class…)
I might have guessed more if I had been doing only that and if it were more flexible with spelling (”The Bahamas” is not the same as “Bahamas” for example).
How many can you do?
As you probably read before in my blog, I’ve had a crippled version of Windows Vista since I installed it. Microsoft calls it the “N” version.
Well, as of yesterday, my Windows is complete!
Microsoft is pushing the Nsku Media Restore Pack for Vista x86 (KB925749) through Windows Update. A “recommended” update described as:
Media Restore Pack (MRP) and Format Restore Pack (FRP) are non-discoverable, regulated releases required to satisfy consent decree agreements for Windows sale in certain markets.
It has happened, my Office Professional 2007 trial has expired… And entering a new Trial key did not extend my trial period for another 60 days :(
If only I could get my hands on one of the at least two keys I legally have the right to (one from MSDN and one from helping out during the TechDays.)
I do have to congratulate Microsoft on the way they are managing licensing with Office 2007, though.
Since Patrice tagged me, I guess it’s my geek duty to share 5 things people don’t know about me with whatever stranger stumbles upon my blog (and the few regular readers.)
I’ll need a moment to think though, because if there are aspects of my life that are not public it’s probably because I like them that way.
There’s a trip to China coming up soon (Saturday), so I’ll have some time to think then.
