Comment Feed for BHpaddock

Re: Introduction to Windows 7 Libraries

BHpaddock — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:28:26 GMT

You cannot "delete" the Libraries node. Why would you want to do this?

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Help Desk with Chris Pirillo on Channel 9 Live (Pilot Episode)

BHpaddock — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:00:09 GMT

Interesting. I wonder who this "brain trust" will consist of

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Windows 7: Find and Organize Part 2 - Building Federated Search applications

BHpaddock — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:59:41 GMT

For those of you wondering if the ailing economy has taken its toll on Microsoft employees, you can now see that I apparently can't even afford a decent hair cut

What does specify whether or not I can filter the results by a returned tag?

In-memory filtering works for any property, but since in-memory filtering may often operate over a subset of the results on the server, the usefulness may be limited over large result sets.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Windows 7: Empower users to find, visualize and organize their data with Libraries and the Explorer

BHpaddock — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:37:25 GMT

Bas - The federated search feature works over both the LAN or the internet. If the server were to implement OpenSearch and RSS/Atom search results, then yes, you could potentially do what you described.

I think what Paolo was getting at was that this functionality (what we call "Search Connectors") is separate from Libraries, and that these search locations cannot be added to libraries.

However, within your LAN environment, you very much can add your WHS shares to your libraries if they are indexed on the WHS machine.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Windows 7: Find and Organize Part 1 - The User Experience

BHpaddock — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:09:42 GMT

The preview pane now has a button on the right side of the commands module to turn it on and off. It also has a hotkey, Alt+P.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Windows 7: Find and Organize Part 1 - The User Experience

BHpaddock — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:14:51 GMT

I don't know how WMP editing affects the files in Win7, but I can try to find out. I've never had a problem with it, though. I'm sure David, Paul, and others will be checking out this thread and taking note of your feedback, so keep it coming!

Hopefully part 2 will be up soon, featuring yours truly =D

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Windows 7: Find and Organize Part 1 - The User Experience

BHpaddock — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:02:07 GMT

All the library operations, like showing the "album" view, operate over the Windows Search indexer. It gets the metadata information from the file, using the registered property handler for that file type. The out-of-the-box handlers should cover all the common media cases just as in Vista.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Rebecca Norlander - Challenge and Success

BHpaddock — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 05:16:37 GMT

I met Rebecca back in January at an event she helped organize, she's a bright and charming woman.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: The Best XNA Movie in the UNIVERSE

BHpaddock — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:20:38 GMT

<--------- "Paolo's Friend"

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Jeff Henshaw and David Alles - Xbox 360 and Media Center: Living room of the future

BHpaddock — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 05:10:27 GMT

I wish they'd stop pushing 802.11a. It's ancient technology.

I recommend users to buy "Pre-N" devices. Way faster than g/a, way better range, and less interference.

Oh and Scoble, don't take HDTV advice from those guys. A 720p native set like my Samsung DLP is the lowest you'd want to get.

But nowadays there are 1080p DLPs shipping with much better black levels and of course a much higher resolution (with continued support for 720p and 1080i, etc).

If I were looking today, I'd be looking at an HL-R5078w like this one:

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/reviews/20051004/samsung_tv.html

They can be had for $2500ish if you look around.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Shell Team - Exploring and Using Windows Vista

BHpaddock — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 00:30:59 GMT

Kieran wrote:

With Vista also maintaining index data of all (well, most) the data on the search scope, Isn't the replication of data (google's desktop search and others) a cause for concern? Any means being worked out for a standard index file format that can be used by other applications?

Any developer can interact with the Windows Desktop Search indexer in three ways:

1) You can add support for your file formats using an IFilter
2) You can add support for non-file based data stores using Protocol Handlers

and...

3) You can access the data in the WDS indexer by sending a query and consuming the results. Right now this is done via OleDb. At the PDC, we showed some of the changes and enhancements that are being made to the WDS APIs for Vista and our future down-level releases.

Having multiple indexers is a possibility today and will continue to be a possibility in the future. However, there will obviously be a performance concern if you run more than one simultaneously.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Shell Team - Exploring and Using Windows Vista

BHpaddock — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 20:53:35 GMT

I also felt that Catherine's questions seemed to disrupt the flow of the interview/demo. Everytime she asked a question I was thinking, "Yeah, we get it... let him keep going." I'm just not sure she understood what kind of audience this was for... it seemed like her questions were meant to
A) Get explanations for things that she thought might be too technical.
B) Sort of marketing-esqe as another poster said above - like in a bad TV advert. "So you mean I can add my own thumbnail provider? Wowzers!!!"

Nothing at all against Catherine, I just like Scoble's interview technique a bit better

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Shell Team - Exploring and Using Windows Vista

BHpaddock — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 02:46:12 GMT

DownUnderGeek wrote:

I always thought WinFS was pretty much a file search function. This already seems to be part of Vista.

So "what else" is WinFS all about ?

WinFS is not a search technology. WinFS is a new kind of relation data store, kind of a hybrid between a database and a filesystem.

Instead of putting a Word document into a Folder, you'd just submit it to the database. Then instead of browsing through a specific folder path, you would run a query to retrieve the document.

Of course, you can still represent the data as a hierachical set of folders, but the same file can be reached through many paths.

To the user, the basic functionality is a lot like what Desktop Search and the Vista shell will provide. In my blog, I've posted about why I think WinFS may ultimately be unnecessary - or at least not as revolutionary as it once might have been.

However, there are major differences between WinFS and Desktop Search - and WinFS is not directly comparable to anything currently available... except perhaps SQL Server, which is basically what WinFS is.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Shell Team - Exploring and Using Windows Vista

BHpaddock — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 02:40:34 GMT

mycroft wrote:

Also, anyone know if there will be a text box on the taskbar for search like in Windows Desktop Search? It's nice to be able to search without opening a new window up.

The Deskbar is not part of Windows Vista.

The current plan as I'm aware of it, is that we'll probably still have a Deskbar for you to install onto Vista.

Of course that's a ways out and subject to change.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Shell Team - Exploring and Using Windows Vista

BHpaddock — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 20:37:55 GMT

Manip wrote:

Search -- Does it support a wider range of queries, such as Google's minus (-) or quotations (" ") or some other Microsoft home-grown format for getting exactly what you want?

I think they're supporting the same or similar syntax to what the current version of Windows Desktop Search uses for Advanced Query Syntax. Vista uses our indexer but the Shell team is kind of doing their own thing... So I can't say for sure.

But I believe you should be able to say "kind:email" or "To:John Smith"

And stuff like that.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Office Communicator

BHpaddock — Thu, 19 May 2005 01:26:46 GMT

scobleizer wrote:

Manip: synchronize Outlook? Or synchronize your PC in general?

Exchange keeps my Outlook synchronized automatically among multiple machines.

I have an Exchange server. And you can pry it from my cold, dead hands.

But before a few months ago, I didn't have an Exchange server. Those were the dark times.

Seriously though... One thing I want more than anything from Microsoft is very simple:

Exchange Personal Edition.

I would actually name it something cooler, but I'm being realistic in my request

MSN has worked toward this with Hotmail (which, as I understand, is now Exchange 2003 powered) - offering very good Outlook integration (for e-mail, calendar, contacts, etc).

But there are still a lot of features it lacks. If they added full mobile support (ie. Server Activesync) and OWA... it would be close. They also need to fix the way Outlook rules apply to secondary accounts.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Pablo Fernicola (and others) - An hour with the Avalon Team

BHpaddock — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 23:34:46 GMT

nukeation wrote:

Bottom line is, just wait till this goes BETA. Then see what people will do with Avalon - anyone who is not convinced then will surely be.

Thanks for the response, although I still have questions.

My biggest concern remains Avalon integration with VS 2005. Is Avalon going to ship with VS 2005, or be an add-on? Right now it looks like the latter.

That's what I meant by "second-class citizen." I'd rather have Avalon in VS 2005 from the get-go. Unfortunately, my understanding is that it won't be ready in time. Will we see a VS 2006 update? Or will Avalon remain an add-on like it is in the current CTPs?

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Pablo Fernicola (and others) - An hour with the Avalon Team

BHpaddock — Sat, 16 Apr 2005 21:53:52 GMT

What I want to know is:

How does Avalon relate to Windows Forms 2.0? Does it?

From what I understand, when I fire up Visual Studio 2005 (after beta 2 or RTM), the visual Designer mode will feature Windows Forms 2.0 controls. But those aren't Avalon controls.

So, will VS 2005 support Avalon controls in the designer? Is Avalon and the rest of WinFX planned to be released along with .NET 2.0 and VS 2005, or after?

Will Avalon apps require users to install a redistributable package in addition to the .NET Framework 2.0? Or will .NET 2.0 support Avalon out of the box (so to speak)?

Avalon (especially paired with tools like ZAM 3D) has me very excited. But I'm a little concerned about:

1) When does Microsoft expect developers to start writing Avalon applications instead of Windows Forms apps. When VS 2005 comes out? When Longhorn comes out? When Orcas comes out?

2) Will Avalon be a second-class citizen in Visual Studio 2005?

3) How many prerequisites are Avalon apps going to have for the end-user on XP/2003 (I'm making the assumption that none will be needed on Longhorn).

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Ben Armstrong - Running Virtual PC and Virtual Machines

BHpaddock — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 04:15:50 GMT

Haha, I caught that Longhorn screen as soon as the video started. I wonder if he's running the build we'll get in two weeks at WinHEC

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Introducing MSN Toolbar Suite - Silicon Valley team (and demo!)

BHpaddock — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 02:57:51 GMT

For reference, on my system I had it index my documents, emails, downloads, pictures, videos, and music, along with my network dropbox share.

All told, it indexed about 250GB of files in about 10 minutes.

This is on an A64 3200+ with 1GB memory. Very quick indeed.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Introducing MSN Toolbar Suite - Silicon Valley team (and demo!)

BHpaddock — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 00:07:30 GMT

Shannon wrote:

How does this compare to Copernic Desktop Search?
Does it index music (file names and ID3 ifo)?
Does it index images?
Does it index videos?
Does it index Firefox Internet cache and history?
IE Internet cache and history?
Can you configure the file types to index (locations or full text)?
Does index content of Word docs and PDF?
Does it have a preview window for full-text searches?
Does it highlight search terms in the preview window?

So far, I've found that it does index media files (at least WMA, but I'm pretty sure others as well). However it won't do so if you have shmedia.dll unloaded (as Explorer won't be able to access that information either).

It also indexes Word documents. And a user above said that Indexing Service plugins work, including one for PDF files.

So I'd imagine it's quite customizeable at that level.

As for browsing history, I don't think it does it yet. But I'll keep looking.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Dan Appleman - Where are teenagers feeling computing pain?

BHpaddock — Mon, 16 Aug 2004 19:26:19 GMT

On cookies:

Like Scoble said, your personal information isn't written to a cookie. The cookie writes a text string which identifies you to the server. The server then can look-up the information you provided when you last visited the site (because your information is stored alongside that text string on the server).

The server can only store what information you give it... So many people, including my own grandmother (who was brainwashed by my "all-knowing" mac-evangelist uncle) think that simply by having cookies enabled, people can find her address and come to her house and steal all of her earthly possessions.

At the same time, she had her iMac plugged directly into the cable modem (and it wasn't one of the new ones with built-in NAT).

Which, of course, I fixed for her.

The other thing about cookies is that the ONLY site that can access a specific cookie is the one that created it in the first place.

The only "abuse" of cookies that has become commonplace is that used by Ad companies.

Basically, countless web pages who use the same Ad service have an include that both pulls the advertisement from the Ad server, AND lets the ad server access its own cookie.

The way they use this is simple... When you click on an Ad, the Ad server registers that you clicked on a certain kind of ad... maybe one for a new computer system.

Then the next time you go to a site that uses that particular Ad service, their include can check your cookie, look you up in their database, and say "hey, this guy (user 25234523423423423) clicked on an ad for Gateway in the past. Let's show him an ad for Dell instead of the one for Coke."

At no point does the ad service have your name, phone number, address, or anything else... Even if you buy something from one of their clients. Only their client should get your information.

So they can track your tastes, or which of *their* websites you like to visit... but nothing more.

posted by BHpaddock

Re: Dean Hachamovitch - Do you have the hottest seat at Microsoft?

BHpaddock — Mon, 16 Aug 2004 05:10:46 GMT

Personally, I am very very fond of Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com). It's a completely free IE shell with several features that I've come to rely on.

Here they are in no particular order:

1) Pop-up blocking. IE has this now, but didn't when I started using Avant.

2) Ad blocking. Can be done manually for IE by editing the HOSTS file, but that's not exactly user-friendly Of course, this I think is the least likely to be added to IE... as Ads are in many cases a legitimate money maker for web sites.

3) Tabs. When I discovered that I could middle-click on a link and have it open up in a background tab, I fell in love with Avant. Before Avant I would have to right-click, select "Open in new window," and then alt-tab back to the original page.
Avant's tabbing system is especially useful for forum browsing and research.

4) More menu customizeability. My monitor's resolution is 1920x1200, and I like having my Back/Forward/Stop etc. toolbar at the upper left, with the File/Edit/etc. menus to the right of them, and the tab window MDI controls (maximize, minimize tabs, etc.) on the right. ALL on the same line, though. With the address and search bar on the second line, and my customized Links bar on the third. I keep my tabs themselves at the bottom of the screen, just above the status bar.

5) Inline search queries. I can type "g robert scoble blog" into the address bar and get a google search for that string. Or I can type "d combustification" to lookup that word on dictionary.com.

And most recently, I've set it up so that I can type "kb 145629" to look up any KB article by its number in the MS knowledge base. This has become a great way for me to look up the details of a particular hotfix.

posted by BHpaddock