Entries for Gio

Word best practices [Word best practices]

Gio — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:23:31 GMT

Can anyone suggest a decent website/book/tutorial on MS Word best practices? We hired a new person and she needs to improve a little on the use of styles...

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Why is ASP more expensive than PHP? [Why is ASP more expensive than PHP?]

Gio — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:36:42 GMT

So, my company received a couple of estimates to remake our website (we really need to, the actual one has been done so poorly that we have serious SEO problems). The goal is to present the company, redo the catalog/e-store and plan to add a little social to it in the near future, all of it in two languages. Nothing extremely complex, but to do things well, it requires a little bit of work.

What surprised me is that all of the estimates we gathered from different contractors are much much cheaper when using PHP than ASP by a factor of 2 or more. Honestly from the little ASP and PHP I know, I don't understand what could justify such a sharp cost difference.

Is it because ASP is more complex or because it is associated with fancier development? Or maybe PHP has more widely available modules?

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Online HTML editor [Online HTML editor]

Gio — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:09:23 GMT

Our contractor asked me if we have any preference for the online text editor of our new website. Do you have any suggestions?

Out of curiosity, what does C9 uses and what do you think of it? I remember it was said in an old thread, but I can't find it right now.

Thanks

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Google Voice [Google Voice]

Gio — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:51:29 GMT

I would like to know what anyone thinks of Google Voice (cannot try it in Europe as of now). I'd be also curious to know if there is any competing service at the moment. Wouldn't that be an interesting integration for Messenger?

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Another interview request for C9: OpenXPS [Another interview request for C9: OpenXPS]

Gio — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:33:01 GMT

As a supporter of XPS as an alternative to PDF I am curious to know what is going to happen to the format now that it has become an official standard and became OpenXPS. How OpenXPS will be introduced to the Windows Platform? Which partners are supporting it and how? The official blog is a little quiet as of late, so I am asking here. Thanks.

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Linux on Windows Virtual PC [Linux on Windows Virtual PC]

Gio — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:34:56 GMT

Anyone had any luck installing a Linux distro on Virtaul PC in Windows 7 (64 bits host, but I guess it shouldn't matter).

I just downloaded the ISO i386 image of Fedora 11, created a virtial pc, loaded the ISO file, but the screen disappears a few seconds after selecting the install option (I tried the first two options). I tried with "noreplace-paravirt" and "noreplace-paravirt i8042.noloop clock=pit" parameters which helped me in the past with Virtual PC 2007 and an older Fedora and Suse verion, but nothing happened this time.

Anyone has tried and succeded? Thanks

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Windows 7 and Chipset driver question [Windows 7 and Chipset driver question]

Gio — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:47:58 GMT

I have a spare license of Windows 7 and since I would like to move my configuration from no RAID to RAID0, this could be a good opportunity to upgrade. Unfortunately, my Dell Precision T5400 does not ufficially support Windows 7, but I doubt that there will be any problem (the upgrade advisor did not show any warning).

I saw that other Precision models that are sold with Windows 7 do not have a Chipset Driver in their respective drivers download pages: do I need one or not? Did Microsoft finally include the driver on the Windows installation? Thanks

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C9 improvements? [C9 improvements?]

Gio — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:16:17 GMT

Did I miss something or Channel9 got some improvements lately? Like a search box, more space for videos, etc?

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Who decides what's on my phone? [Who decides what's on my phone?]

Gio — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:30:05 GMT

My old HTC did not endure the harsh treatment I reserved for it and I had to buy a new phone. I eventually got an HTC Touch2 because it was in my price range and it supports sync with hotmail and exchange.

What surprised me was the number of apps that come with the phone. While on Windows we have some degree of freedom of what is installed on it and what isn't, on Windows Mobile not only you are bound to what MS provides but also to what the manufacturer (or, worse, the serice provider) decide you should use.

I mean, why do I get Opera AND Internet Explorer?

Why is there a third party GPS program (paying service by the way)?

Why do I have Google maps?

Why is there a link to an ancient Live Search widget?

Why can't I choose the aps I want, say from the Marketplace?

Shouldn't I be able to legally and easily make my own rom like I can make a custom install of Windows on a PC?

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NYTimes: France Moves to Win Back Control of Content [NYTimes: France Moves to Win Back Control of Content ]

Gio — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:37:14 GMT

I think this is good news: more publishers, more content, smaller prices (competition).

However this will only be so if eBooks will be interchangeable on all devices (i.e. I don't have to own a Kindle a Sony e-reader, and who knows what else to access content from different providers).

In your opinion, at the moment, what is the best suitable format for this purpose?

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Migrating hosting service, please help [Migrating hosting service, please help]

Gio — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:43:59 GMT

We want to migrate our website from one host to another (from Aruba to eNom). Our experience with Aruba was far from stellar, and now I am having serious problems recovering our MSSQL. Basically access to the server that hosts the database is only allowed from the online management system and I don't seem to be able to connect from Visual Studio. All I was able to do was download a back up of the database (databasenam.bak) but I am not able to open it with MSSQL Express.

Has anyone migrated from Aruba and been able to recover the database? Does anyone know if I can open the backup file on the local machine (with visual studio or SQL Express)? Does anyone have any other suggestion?

The old agreement expires next week, so I am a little bit in a hurry. Thanks a lot.

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Adobe support for 64 bits is plain horrible [Adobe support for 64 bits is plain horrible]

Gio — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:16:54 GMT

Sorry, I just need to vent. I spent half an hour trying to understand why I could not search the content of PDF files even though the PDF iFilter comes with Acrobat 9. Guess what the problem was? If you are using a 64 bits Windows version (Vista in my case) you need to update it manually (it is not like Acrobat does not have a built in update mechanism). Why on earth Acrobat must have such a horrible 64 bits support (yes, you don't even get document previews)?

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Instant on laptops [Instant on laptops]

Gio — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:51:10 GMT

I just read a couple of reviews of upcoming laptops (one from HP and one from Dell) that feature instant on solutions. Besides the fact that if the laptop is in sleep mode, it turns on almost instantly anyway, I am a little worried that stuffing a micro OS in the BIOS might increase significantly the attack surface for viruses and the like. These small OSes have internet connectivity, feature web browsers and even skype, which need constant updating and patching to stay safe. Unfortunately, in my experience, hardware manufacturers (at least Dell, I have not owned an HP in a long time) are not so good at releasing fixes and updates.

What is your take on that?

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Windows 7 Deployment question [Windows 7 Deployment question]

Gio — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:29:46 GMT

In the office we have three similar desktops and one laptop (three Dell precision with similar, but not identical hardware). If I were going to upgrade those to Windows 7, which method would you use? 3+1 seems to me like the perfect pain in the neck number: too many to install the systems one by one, not enough to create an image (I am not even sure you can deploy an image if the video cards are not the same: three different model of nVidia).

What would be your suggestion?

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Saving the planet or saving yourself [Saving the planet or saving yourself]

Gio — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 08:06:14 GMT

While the media talk about pollution, global warming, and the end of the world, I was wondering if anyone is making small changes in his/her everyday life in order to minimize waste or CO2 emissions or both.

Did you switch to organic food/products? Do you try to minimize the use of your car? Do you lower the thermostat in the winter? Do you set your computer to go on standby more often?

I am not interested in the specific actions, but I am curious to know if you worry enough that you made a small change, you worry a lot and changed your lifestyle, or you don't care because this is just propaganda?

Thank you for your answers.

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Lots of talk about Zune [Lots of talk about Zune]

Gio — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:23:14 GMT

While Dovella is flipping out because the Zune will only be US for a while to come (I gave up the hope to see an alternative to the iPod in Europe a long time ago), I would like to know if anyone knows anything about the launch of the Zune Marketplace in the phantomatic 18 countries mentioned earlier this year.

After all, some sort of Zune software could be incorporated in our cell phones not too far in the future (which might be more convenient than having a separate device), but what I find more important are the sources for content. Not even Apple has been able to offer an interesting online store for movies over here (please correct me if I am wrong).

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Batch renaming [Batch renaming]

Gio — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:14:04 GMT

Any advise on a simple batch rename program that can automatically add some metadata already in the file to the filename itself?

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Youtube to rent movies online? [Youtube to rent movies online?]

Gio — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:45:25 GMT

Not that engadget is a reliable source of information, but if this is true, it might be a sign that old DVDs (or BluRay, or whatever) are finally dead.

On another note, I don't have high hopes that the service will be worldwide, but maybe it could spark some interest to bring some of the online stores overseras...

Edit: I did not noticed that the news is on other websites, so it might be true.

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Microsoft Expression subsciption link [Microsoft Expression subsciption link]

Gio — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:30:14 GMT

Am I missing something or the login link for subscribers on the Expression product site (www.microsoft.com/expression) is a little too hidden down the bottom of the page?

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Who pays for the NYTimes Tech column [Who pays for the NYTimes Tech column]

Gio — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:21:56 GMT

I like the NYTimes. I read it almost daily, but its tech column is one of the worse I have ever read: honestly I feel it is an Apple loving, Microsoft bashing commercial.

Today the main article Apple’s Sleek Upgrade is worse than usual. It starts with a couple of hits at Microsoft: Apple delivered Snow Leopard one month ahead of Windows 7, Windows Vista is full of bloatware, etc.

Then the article states that Snow Leopard is much more than a "service pack [sic]" and that most changes are under the hood to improve stability and speed. Great improvements, by the way, as they require patches or upgrades for Photoshop CS3, Word and other programs...

The conclusion is even better: the great innovation is not the new OS, "[i]t’s the radical concept of a software update that’s smaller, faster and better." Didn't the author just state that Snow Leopard is much more than a service pack?

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RGB or CMYK profile? [RGB or CMYK profile?]

Gio — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:57:23 GMT

Can anyone tell me how to figure out if a laser pritner uses RGB or CMYK ICC profiles? Dell tech support could not answer the question about their own printer and I am having a hard time calibrating...

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Building another home server [Building another home server]

Gio — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:01:34 GMT

I am going to build another home server for my office but I am having troubles finding a fanless or extremely silent case (ideally for an atom processor or similar) with space for at least TWO 3.5in hard drives. The first one I made used a Shuttle case and motherboard but I find it very noisy. What is your suggestion?

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Office really needs better vector support [Office really needs better vector support]

Gio — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:01:11 GMT

I am really curious to know if Word (and Office) 2010 improves a little on its support for vector graphics.

Currently I think this is a real limitation for the whole Office suite (I am using 2007): SVG is not supported in all but one app, EPS only prints well on PS printers and looks horrible on screen, and very few applications export EMF correctly (Expression Design does not support EMF at all and Illustrator EMFs are plain horrible). The best workaround I found is to export AI files to SVGs and open them in Visio (the only Office program that seems to support them). From Vision you can save decent EMF files which look pretty good on any printer and on screen once in Word, Excel, etc.

It would be great if one could import vector graphics from Expression Design (which plays well with Illustrator) in some sort of XML format. Do you know of any improvements in Office 2010?

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The future of XPS [The future of XPS]

Gio — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:25:51 GMT

Now that XPS has been approved as a standard (well, openxps, as there are some differences), I would like to know more about where Microsoft want to take it.

At the moment it looks to me it is more a competitor of PS than PDF and I think its Windows viewer is lacking some basic editing features (extracting and adding pages, watermarks, comments, etc.).

What is the official word about XPS at Microsoft?

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copy command over network [copy command over network]

Gio — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:51:02 GMT

Does anyone know if the copy command works on a network? I am trying to copy a ps file to my network printer, but it does not recognize the network port (copy filename.ps NtwkPort00:). Thanks

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