Entries for David Oliver

Google Chrome, Google’s Open Source Browser Project [Google Chrome, Google’s Open Source Browser Project]

Sabot — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:19:43 GMT

http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-09-01-n47.html

The world doesn't need yet another browser.

Update: Now I've tried it, I'm not so sure !!! It's fast, simple and low on memory usage which all is ticking boxes for me as other browser like FF and IE have turned into bloatware of late. Nice one Google!

in reply to Google Chrome, Google’s Open Source Browser Project

The Banana-Splits are coming back !!! [The Banana-Splits are coming back !!!]

Sabot — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:20:18 GMT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7567840.stm

How cool is that ?!

in reply to The Banana-Splits are coming back !!!

Who needs Hyper-V ... VMware ESXi is now free! [Who needs Hyper-V ... VMware ESXi is now free!]

Sabot — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:56:05 GMT

VMware starts their fight back by deciding to give away their hypervisor offering.

The attractions of ESXi over Hyper-V are that the VMware product isn't on version 1 and it doesn't require an upgrade to Windows 2008 ...infact Windows isn't required at all.

The download can be found here.

The cynical amongst would accuse VMware of taking advange of the hype Microsoft had managed to generate about Hyper-V when it went RTM as now there is no clear advantage to taking the Hyper-V route, so what will be Microsoft's next move?

in reply to Who needs Hyper-V ... VMware ESXi is now free!

Linus's Security Rant ... He has a point [Linus's Security Rant ... He has a point]

Sabot — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:02:50 GMT

Linus Torvald has passed a few comments about security which are upsetting the security crowd, hmmm I think the line when he compares the OpenBSD crowd to a bunch of "masto*(tugging)*ing monkey" got them all in a tizz.

Read the full extract here.

I've always thought that a balance needs to be struck between security and functionality. The Linux crowd are all abit sensitive about ... well everything ... no wonder it's toys out of pram time. I wish the Linux crowd was abit more mature then prehaps they would get a few more listeners to what is a top-flight OS and the message about Open Source that is cool.

There is after no such thing as 100% secure and that after all is the secure game in a nuttshell, it's a percentage game. If you are asking for money and/or pesonal details on a website you tighten it up so much that it past squeeking. If it's a intranet site about your bosses favourite tree your aren't going to bother locking it down further than the hardening wizard.

in reply to Linus's Security Rant ... He has a point

IS DR WHO DEAD!!!??? (well the one played by David Tennant) [IS DR WHO DEAD!!!??? (well the one played by David Tennant) ]

Sabot — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:17:01 GMT

If you watch lastnights episode, it had a shock ending that we will be talking about for sometime, is he dead and transforming into another Dr ?????!!!!!!! ... C9's Richard Peat has explained all in his post with links to the scene's on You-Tube.

in reply to IS DR WHO DEAD!!!??? (well the one played by David Tennant)

Time for the 9 Guy to have a makeover? [Time for the 9 Guy to have a makeover?]

Sabot — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:56:53 GMT

I was looking through the new Beta site having a look at the shape of things to come, which all looks great by the way guys, but I happened to notice that poor old 9 guys was looking abit tired.

So do you think it's time for our mascot to have a bit of a makeover? Suggestion and even flexing the graphics program are most welcome!

in reply to Time for the 9 Guy to have a makeover?

Outsourcing development to the USA ?! [Outsourcing development to the USA ?!]

Sabot — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:34:41 GMT

Outsourcing seems to be the name of the games these days for many projects. The trend has been to source developers in India and other such places because the wage bill is cheaper and the numbers of trained developers are plentiful.

However, with the crisis in the sub-prime lending market effectively causing the now infamous 'credit-crunch' the USA seems to slipping into recession at worst or a down-turn at least.

The strength of the dollar isn't so good at the moment either.

But it's not all doom and gloom. The US has lots of developers and they are highly skilled ... and now they are very much cheaper than they were several years back. So I can sense an opportunity? Is it viable to hire US developers instead?

What I wanted to do is hear peoples opinions, examples and experiences before I run off and start recommending that we actually start a new trend towards the West rather than the East.

in reply to Outsourcing development to the USA ?!

BBC News: TV's top 25 put-downs published [BBC News: TV's top 25 put-downs published]

Sabot — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:14:09 GMT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7264321.stm

Sam Tyler - Life On Mars. To Gene Hunt: "I think you've forgotten who you're talking to." Sam: "An overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine-stained, borderline-alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding?"

... a bit like Blowdart ;)

in reply to BBC News: TV's top 25 put-downs published

Elonex ONE ... £99 Laptop ... launch on 28th Feb [Elonex ONE ... £99 Laptop ... launch on 28th Feb]

Sabot — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:45:42 GMT

http://www.elonexone.co.uk/

The thing is at this price it's unlikely to be running Windows. Infact anything to do with Microsoft is unlikely to be anywhere in sight.

This must be a worrying trend for Microsoft as affectly laptops are becoming so cheap the man in the street can afford to use them like commodity items, have more than one performing specific roles ... you can even have spares! Any not a Microsoft product in sight.

So what do you think? Worrying trend or passing fad?

in reply to Elonex ONE ... £99 Laptop ... launch on 28th Feb

Microsoft Longhorn Concept PC's ... Gorgeous! [Microsoft Longhorn Concept PC's ... Gorgeous!]

Sabot — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:47:24 GMT

Thanks to iStartedSomething blog for these pictures and write-ups.

Microsoft Oxygen concept desktop system that converts from typical use mode, to media viewing, to pen input.

Microsoft Zinc concept intended for countertop use.

Microsoft Carbon concept micro PC with high object value.

Microsoft Argon concept entertainment biased all-in-one PC.

Microsoft Cobalt convertible notebook/tablet system.

All I can say is that they are gorgeous! Certainly give the old Mac a run for it's money in the cool stakes. I really hope the real things aren't to far of these examples.

in reply to Microsoft Longhorn Concept PC's ... Gorgeous!

UK HMRC loses details of 25m people! [UK HMRC loses details of 25m people!]

Sabot — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:36:23 GMT

This story is incredible!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103566.stm

This a serious lapse of security of personal data. I don't believe I've heard of a more serious security breach.

HMRC have lost personal data again!

in reply to UK HMRC loses details of 25m people!

Tell us more about Iris UI Framework “UIX” behind Zune software eye-candy! [Tell us more about Iris UI Framework “UIX” behind Zune software eye-candy!]

Sabot — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:59:19 GMT

Did you read iStartedSomething.com yesterday?

Long Zheng post about his findings on a UI Framework previously undisclosed by Microsoft that is at the heart of the iTune beating Zune software.

So now 'the cat is out of the bag' on this would someone from Microsoft like to comment? Is this something that we can get our hand on anytime soon? Or just for the Zune?

in reply to Tell us more about Iris UI Framework “UIX” behind Zune software eye-candy!

Interesting Statistics on Microsofts Internal IT [Interesting Statistics on Microsofts Internal IT]

Sabot — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:36:23 GMT

Thanks to James McGovern for the original posting of these statistics. Thank you Microsoft for the transparency.

Microsoft internal IT:
600k connected devices
10,000 Servers
3 Datacenters 1 operations center
11% is virtualized in Microsoft Datacenters
330 of 385 servers run Windows Server 2008 (RC0) plus all 85 Microsoft.com servers
11 clustered systems
30,000 users in Redmond domain (50,000 with vendors)
NAP reporting 140K clients, 90 clients deferred mode

The Redmond Active Directory domain is running in Windows Server 2008 mode since last Thursday (Nov 1st)

Microsoft Email:
6 million internal emails per day
20 Million emails from Internet
97% rejected as spam
99,999 uptime

Worldwide:
140,000 end users
550 buildings
98 countries
1/3 of the sites are connected over Internet only
2300 Line of business applications
1 single SAP instance (5 Terabyte database)
Dynamics/MSCRM

Windows Live Services:
130,000 servers online
435 Million unique users
280 Billion pageviews daily
12 Billion emails daily
6 billion Instant Messages daily

Remote connect:
1 million VPN sessions per month
80,000 unique OWA users
Remote app portal
TS gateway 20,000 users
Direct Connect pilot

Microsoft.com figures:
55,7 million unique users, #4 overall site in US
280,5 Unique users worldwide #6 site worldwide
15,000 request a sec

in reply to Interesting Statistics on Microsofts Internal IT

Casewise to make a 100% Silverlight version! [Casewise to make a 100% Silverlight version!]

Sabot — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:22:54 GMT

I was at the Casewise Maximize conference this week in London, UK where they demonstrated a version of their famous corporate modelling tool in a browser written entirely in Silverlight.

I asked if this info was under NDA and they said no, so hence posting it here.

The intent is to offer it as a hosted service so more people can have some Casewise goodness without all the hassle of the expensive price tag. This is a much nicer and easier way to do process documentation than the old staple of Visio and Word.

Anyway this is well worth a C9 video.

in reply to Casewise to make a 100% Silverlight version!

Hi, I'm Chris and I am a VB.NET developer ! [Hi, I'm Chris and I am a VB.NET developer !]

Sabot — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:30:02 GMT

Fellow GWB member, Chris Williams has posted a very frank critique of what it is to be a VB.Net developer today.

http://geekswithblogs.net/cwilliams/archive/2007/10/23/116274.aspx

Why is it that VB is such a maligned language still? It's 100% .Net language these days. Have the C zealots won? Is VB heading for the sunset?

When the trend is now to head towards Dynamic languages, like Ruby with very high levels of abstraction why is VB so villanised when surely this language is the grand-father of this trend?

in reply to Hi, I'm Chris and I am a VB.NET developer !

Whats Your Favourite MSDN Article? [Whats Your Favourite MSDN Article?]

Sabot — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:59:37 GMT

MSDN is a Goldmine! I know you guys need no convincing.

So this is a chance to scour your favourites and post some of your favourite goldmine MSDN goodness!

Don't forget to say why you like this article, that way we can feedback so MS can do more of the same.

**********
. Metropolis - by Sir Pat Helland (Version 2.0 - I'm so glad he's back)

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa480026.aspx

This article was the catalyst on my SOA and Services journey, which now pays the mortgage and for the car!

. Secrets of Great Architects - by Don Awalt and Rick McUmber

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa480041.aspx

This article lets the cat out of the bag on what makes an architect a good architect.

. SOA in the Real World - by David Linthicum

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb833022.aspx

This article is the 'must read' before embarking on SOA. It hits the nail on the head about what it is and isn't and why you should care.

Right, that's enough from the Architects perspective what about you developers, designers and students then .....

in reply to Whats Your Favourite MSDN Article?

Re: This Just In [Re: This Just In]

Sabot — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:47:59 GMT

DoomBringer wrote:

Shhh the thread is now about cats.

Sorry ! Here is a picture of a fluffy cat looking mean !

Ahhhhh ....

in reply to Re: This Just In

Re: This Just In [Re: This Just In]

Sabot — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:36:30 GMT

When will they realise that most of us get Linux, use Linux, respect Linux, have it in our businesses running applications giving benefit.

But ... there is no point in take stuff that works off one platform to Linux, just cos we like it more, where's the business benefit in that???????????????????????????????????

Why we like Linux is less hassle so why create hassle? It's just not common sense. But sadly fanboys of all shapes and sizes don't see that, rose-tinted glasses and all that, thats why you can't have reasoned debate with them and why this post will just go sailing by as irrelevant. But thats why fanboys have become irrelevant, the world doesn't revolve around them.

And one more point Shooby ... there is a thread already on the

what it's all about

http://www.blogactionday.com/

On October 15th - Blog Action Day, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone's mind.

In its inaugural year, Blog Action Day will be co-ordinating bloggers to tackle the issue of the environment.

What Each Blogger Will Do

Bloggers can participate on Blog Action Day in one of two ways:

Publish a post on their blog which relates to an issue of their own choice pertaining to the environment.

For example: A blog about money might write about how to save around the home by using environmentally friendly ideas. Similarly a blog about politics might examine what weight environmental policy holds in the political arena.

Posts do not need to have any specific agenda, they simply need to relate to the larger issue in whatever way suits the blogger and readership. Our aim is not to promote one particular viewpoint, only to push the issue to the table for discussion.
Commit to donating their day’s advertising earnings to an environmental charity of their choice. There is a list of "official" Blog Action Day charities on the site, however bloggers are also free to choose an alternate environmental charity to donate to if they wish.

And that’s it.

If they choose bloggers can also promote the initiative itself. However they are also free to simply post on topic on the right day or discreetly donate to a charity without publicizing Blog Action Day.

in reply to Blog Action Day

DDD6 Session Voting is Now Open ... [DDD6 Session Voting is Now Open ...]

Sabot — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:18:15 GMT

HERE !

Barry Dorrans (Blowdart) has some very interesting sessions this time round, I am intrigued by the Web Services one, so I'm voting for that!

Other sessions that caught my eye are, Guy Smith-Ferrier doing a session on Astoria, Chris Seary has a session on 'Security for Software Vendors' which I can sense is going to be a popular one and where would DDD be without a session from Dave and Rich ... Swaggily Fortunes from NxtGenUG's answer to Ant & Dec!

in reply to DDD6 Session Voting is Now Open ...

Lara Croft must die! Escapist Games Review. [Lara Croft must die! Escapist Games Review.]

Sabot — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:10:57 GMT

Enjoy !

in reply to Lara Croft must die! Escapist Games Review.

Microsoft website on Open Source [Microsoft website on Open Source]

Sabot — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:52:38 GMT

Here !

From the FAQ ...

"Q. What is Microsoft's perspective on open source?

Open source is neither an industry fad, nor a magic bullet. Rather, the development methods commonly encompassed by the term open source have provided customers and developers with additional options among many in the technology ecosystem.

Q. What is Microsoft's open source strategy?

Microsoft is a platform company committed to building technologies that empower communities of developers and partners to deliver compelling software solutions to customers. This approach is reflected in the size and health of the technology ecosystem in which Microsoft participates:

750,000 partner businesses around the world that, according to the findings of a global study of 22,000 technology companies, earn an average of $8 in revenue for every $1 earned by Microsoft.
5,000,000 developers around the world who have created a vast array of applications using Microsoft platform technologies such as Microsoft Windows, Windows Live, Microsoft Office, .NET platform, Microsoft Windows Server, and Microsoft Xbox.

The Microsoft open source strategy is focused on helping customers and partners be successful in today's heterogeneous technology world. This includes increasing opportunities for business partners regardless of the underlying development model. In addition, it includes increasing opportunities for developers to learn and create by combining community-oriented open source with traditional commercial approaches to software development.

Q. Is this a new strategy?

In a heterogeneous technology world, developers, users, and entrepreneurs choose technologies that help them be successful. Today, numerous open source developers and business partners have chosen Microsoft technologies:

Developers have created more than 79,000 open source applications using Microsoft platform technologies that are available on the Sourceforge.net and Codeplex.com repositories.
Many companies who have chosen to build businesses around open source software are working with Microsoft to deliver value to our shared customers, including SugarCRM, MySQL, Novell, JBoss, Zend, XenSource, Sun Microsystems, Mozilla, Aras, SpikeSource, and Xorp.

Q. Does this site replace Port25 or CodePlex?

No. This site is intended to provide information about Microsoft and open source in one place, serving as a gateway for information about open source engagements and activities across Microsoft. CodePlex is the Microsoft open source project hosting Web site and will continue to be a resource for developers and consumers of open source projects. Port 25 is the public portal for the Open Source Software Lab at Microsoft, and will continue to be a resource for technical insights, blogs, and how-to information for the use of Microsoft and open source technologies together.

Q. Does this mean Microsoft is phasing out the Shared Source Initiative?

No. This site is intended to provide information about Microsoft and open source in one place, serving as a gateway for information about open source engagements and activities across Microsoft. This includes announcements concerning releases of Microsoft code for community development through the Shared Source program; however, the Shared Source Initiative (SSI) will continue to encompass the spectrum of programs and licenses offered by Microsoft to various communities of customers, partners, developers, and other interested individuals. This includes not only the processes for Microsoft product groups releasing source code for community development, but also, for example, the Government Security Program (GSP) for national governments and international organizations; the Windows Academic Program, supplying universities with concepts, code, and projects useful for integrating core Windows kernel technologies into teaching and research.

Q. What is the Microsoft position on intellectual property (IP) and open source?

Intellectual property (IP) serves a vital role in maintaining a healthy cycle of innovation in the IT industry. IP concepts—including copyright, trademark, patent, or public domain—are useful for developers to define terms of use that enable their project or business to thrive, regardless of what development model they choose. "

So there's me thinking that Microsoft was anti-Open Source? The conclusion I draw from reading this is Microsoft isn't against Open Source but isn't the only option they support.

So what makes Microsoft position in reality any different from Sun, Oracle and IBM and therefore the target for such industry derision?

Perhaps Microsoft actions of the past have pointed to a different policy and this is just a softening of the approach but I have to say that MS have been giving code away for years so wrapping it up in a pretty bow and calling it Open-Source made it different how exactly???

I'm not a Microsoft Zealot but if someone could explain I would be grateful for the clarity.

in reply to Microsoft website on Open Source

I'm not writing code any more! [I'm not writing code any more!]

Sabot — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:58:47 GMT

That's it! I'm done!

My new role (which is an EA) means I'm just not going to get a chance to do any more coding, in a-way I'm kinda sad. It's like the end of an era.

Does this mean, Sabot's grown up and isn't going to hang around here any more? Nah !!! C9 is ideal for spotting trends which is more than handy in my new role, so I'm still going to be here.

So do you think you are going to write code for the rest of your career?

in reply to I'm not writing code any more!

My take on why the Mac will be a rubbish gaming platform. [My take on why the Mac will be a rubbish gaming platform.]

Sabot — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:23:50 GMT

The recent annoucement by EA at the Mac developer conference to bring 6 titles to the Mac has thrown the spotlight on Mac getting more support for gaming.

I like my Mac but it will not be my first choice for gaming and this opinion isn't going to change any time soon.

Why?

1) I have a PowerPC based Mac, so as the new games from EA will use the TransGaming Cider software and that only works on Intel based Mac. So I will need to buy a new Mac.

2) Because the games will basically be the PC versions working under Cider so they will be slower because of the extra work the software will have to do and Cider isn't a magic sausage maker, you can't put PC in one end and Mac game pops out the other there will be expensive re-engineering that many gaming companies will need to do some serious ROI to see if it's worth it and they get their money back, as it's not cheap to developer games and you do have to sell'em cheap and lots of them to get the money back and then make a profit.

3) EA hasn't commited to any more games other than the 6 titles, so it is just a toe in the water. The 6 titles aren't exclusive. We'll have to see if this is enough to kick-start others into commiting to the Mac. I have 3 of the titles already on the PC

4) I don't get to choose the hardware in my Mac, unlike my PC and I do change my graphics card every 18 months - 2 years because I like to play the latest games and I like them to look the best they can be and move well. Same issue I have with consoles, games can look dated pretty quick on these things.

5) One of the failures of Mac gaming is actually Apple, they haven't push it much in the past an will take a lot of energy and money which I just don't see them doing whilst they have other easier win distractions like the iPhone to get up to speed.

6) The Mac needs a killer title and reason to go Mac, just like Halo did for the Xbox, Mac needs one of them and I'm not see it, even ID software with their new IDTech5 engine has a Windows and Linux version.

Ok so cash is an issue with everybody, but lets face-it, us Gamer will spend the money on gaming to get even better experiences, there is no point in using the cash argument because lots of people are and will continue spending £500+ on graphics cards!

So Mac gaming isn't going to be a success for me anytime soon, back to playing HL2 again and kicking myself that I should have waited and bought the PC version of Dirt as I hear it blows the Xbox 360 version away!!!

(also anyone want to buy a Wii I'm bored with it now)

in reply to My take on why the Mac will be a rubbish gaming platform.

C9 feature anti-troll suggestion: An Invite List [C9 feature anti-troll suggestion: An Invite List]

Sabot — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:22:03 GMT

I know suggestions for V4 are closed, thats fine, however it just accrued to me how do I avoid muppets pinging me when I use other services, such as Facebook, IM, my blogs?

By allowing a little pre (rather than post) filtering regulation.

For example,

The person who starts the thread, can set restrictions if they wish, that controls via invite or pre-reading posts before publishing them to the thread as an editorial function.

It's up to the 'editors' discretion whether to even allow anonymous post if they feel the post adds value.

However moderators decision is final so sanction posts and threads by a user can still be removed and the moderator can allow users the ability to be an 'editor' of their own posts, the privilege can be given and taken away and not automatically to protect against spammers.

I like this idea as it allows a high degree of self regulation allowing us all to help fight the troll & spammer menace.

I do understand that this could be misinterpreted as an elitist feature, this is not it's intent just acting like an editor like you would find in any newspaper or mag or blog today in any country in the free world, it's doesn't stop freedom of speech, it will however quickly show the skill of an editor and place them under resposibility to protect balance.

Also if you only allow your buddies to talk then this will also back-fire as no-one will follow your thread and it will quickly sink.

Like democracy and openness to florish requires protection from those that wish to take advantage.

I believe if this feature was in place then we could have great online debates here with the likes of Ray Ozzie as this would allow MS employees an added level of protect that many feel they need before they feel comfortable about posting here.

Nothing to stop you from crying foul either if your response isn't posted in a thread, just start another thread in the normal way!

Yes I'm sure this would add another line of debate, "You didn't allow my post in your thread" but it would control in-thread trolling and spamming greatly and is a normal, accepted solution that already exists all over the 'sphere.

in reply to C9 feature anti-troll suggestion: An Invite List