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growled on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 8:26:38 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at coding
I just read an interesting post by Phil Haack (of You've Been Haacked) about lazy developers.  I can certainly see myself in some of his statements.  D'oh!
 
I think that I've overcome quite a bit of that in the last 8 months [that I've been programming in .NET], but I sometimes catch myself cutting corners for deadlines or out of sheer laziness.  Not a good habit to get into...especially when you're in my situation of still learning the language.
 
Anyway, for any of you dev-types out there this is a nice little reminder.  Know when to be lazy!
 
 
Tags:
growled on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 7:43:17 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
Have you heard the rumor?  Microsoft might be in talks with Time Warner to purchase AOL.  Honestly, I'm too much of a peon to know anything, but I thought this image [from UserFriendly.org] captured it quite well though...
 
 
 
growled on Monday, September 19, 2005 2:58:15 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
Diez y nueve.  That means 19 for you non-Spanish speaking folks out there.  Why the number 19, you ask?  Well, I've noticed a few referrals to this space from http://www.technorati.com/blogs/Microsoft
 
As some of you know, this is a list of blogs by Technorati that have posts tagged with "Microsoft."  Smarter people than me understand how this list is compiled and why it is in the order it is, but suffice it to say that I'm number 19 on this list of 333 blogs.  Not too shabby, eh. ;-)
 
Who's number 1?  Well, that would be Robert Scoble of course.  Mike Torres comes in a very respectable 4th.  And even our UK buddy, Chris (aka Overdo), comes in before me at 12th.
 
Still, I'll take 19 out of 333.  Especially since my posting here has been so hit or miss lately. :)
 
~tod
 
growled on Friday, September 16, 2005 2:31:37 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
Mini-Microsoft.  The popular anti-hero of Microsoft.
 
I don't agree with everything he says, but some of it makes sense, some of it hits the nail squarely on the head and most of it certainly is entertaining [given my insider perspective].
 
Mini doesn't reveal his identity [although he does confirm that he is indeed a "he"], but he does give his first interview and to Business Week Online no less.  Read it here.
 
If you're interested in hearing a contrary opinion of Microsoft then I highly recommend reading what Mini-Microsoft has to say. 
 
~tod
 
growled on Thursday, September 15, 2005 5:06:53 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at ramblings
This has got to be the worst corporate attempt at blogging I've seen yet. 
 
Thanks to gapingvoid for sharing.
 
 
Tags:
growled on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 7:19:37 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft

Well, the [preliminary] verdict is in.  Kai-Fu Lee is now limited to interviewing and site location activities.  No speech.  No natural languages.  No search.  No R&D strategizing.  Nada, zip, zero!

Of course, this is just from today’s preliminary injunction order (not a permanent thing), but is even stricter than the temporary restraining order granted in July ’05.  Full story here.

~tod

PS: I’m not judging guilt or innocence, only regurgitating some interesting news as it becomes available.

Tags:

growled on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 6:34:33 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft

It’s been awhile since I’ve done any server imaging, but I remember that it was a huge PITA even with the best software available at the time (Ghost).  Just the other day a co-worker and I were talking about imaging software being developed by Microsoft that would be included with Vista.  Well, it turns out we have some available for Windows Server 2003 (Enterprise edition only) named Automated Deployment Services (ADS).  Go get it here!

 

Disclaimer:  I have not used this software yet so I’m making no claims about its goodness or badness, but it must be inherently good since we developed it…right. ;-)

 

~tod

 

PS: Only on Enterprise edition?  WTF?

 

Tags:

growled on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 3:55:27 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft

I’ve been using Kahuna, the most recent Hotmail beta, for a month or so now and I’ve got to say that I’m really digging it!

Pros:

  • Simple and clean look
  • Fast and responsive!
  • Quick keys!
  • Automatically saves mail sent to the “Sent messages” folder
  • Automatically fills in To and Cc lines with Contacts as you’re typing their name
  • Ability to highlight multiple messages for deleting or moving to sub-folder
  • Preview pane
  • Good sort-by options (date, from, subject & size)
  • Easily move from one mail to the next without refreshing the whole screen

Cons:

  • Not clear how to mark messages as Junk or Spam other. I can move them to the Junk e-mail folder, but I don’t know if that marks future messages from that sender as spam.
  • Unable to adjust the number of messages or contacts listed on the screen at one time (10, 20, 30, etc.).  I would prefer to list 50 or 100 messages and scroll up and down rather then click the next arrow for every 14 messages.
  • Lack of custom filters for routing messages to specific folders based on sender and subject line criteria
  • No auto signature
  • It was a little tricky determining how to view the full size email message the first time I used Kahuna. I accidentally double clicked the message title and that did it.

All in all, I’m really enjoying Kahuna over the previous version of Hotmail.  It’s much smoother, easier on the eyes and responsive than the old, clunky version.

~tod

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growled on Friday, September 09, 2005 5:59:00 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at ramblings
I took today off from work for two reasons.
  1. To try out my new set of irons at the driving range. Cleveland TA6s. Oh yeah, I just know I'm going to get an extra 20 yards off these babies [in my dreams]!
  2. Finish painting our house. The body of the house is basically done, but now we need to finish up the trim which is about 25% done.
But fall is officially here and it started off with a bang!  At 5:30 AM this morning we had an hour long thunder storm complete with bright bolts of lightning and house-rattling thunder!  A rarity in these parts in case you didn't know.  We get plenty of drizzle...about 9 months out of the year to be exact, but only one or two good thunderstorms a year.  The forecast had said cloudy this morning and light rain later this afternoon.  That's the last time I listen to the weather forecast...really, I swear!
 
So, instead of doing #1 or #2, I'm catching up on reading some of my RSS feeds, playing with my daughter, playing some Doom 3 on my Xbox [the game that is taking me months to finish] and hanging out in my PJs.  Just the picture you needed, eh. 
 
growled on Thursday, September 08, 2005 8:28:53 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at ramblings
I've been in training for the past 3 days at the convention center in downtown Seattle. Here's a quick snapshot I took (with my Audiovox 5600 SMT) from the 28th floor (where my class is located):
 
 
It's not an awesome [or even very good] photo, but I think it does show the general flavor of Seattle.  Unlike most large metropolitan cities, all of the buildings are surrounded by trees.  If you squint you can even make out the Cascade mountains along the horizon.  You can't see it from here, but most of the highways are lined with huge evergreens.  In short, I love the way they've built the city to incorporate as much of the environment as they can.  It's a beautiful area.  I plan to live here the rest of my life.
 
Why am I posting this hugely off-topic picture and subject?  Well, the devastation in New Orleans has me thinking and reflecting [as it does most of the people I know] which makes me thankful for what I have and where I live.  This is just a poor digital caption representing that. 
 
~tod
 
ps:  ignore that white vertical stripe on the right side...it's just a reflection from the window.
growled on Thursday, September 08, 2005 8:05:17 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
Interesting...if I quit today, tomorrow I would be violating the MSN Spaces Code of Conduct.
 
"You will not...attempt[s] to impersonate a Microsoft employee...."
 
 
 
ps:  no, I'm not planning on quitting!
pss:  on a [somewhat] more serious note, it's nice to see the CoC be pretty short, sweet and to the point instead of 5 pages of blah.
growled on Thursday, September 08, 2005 7:39:10 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
 
The Microsoft vs Google saga just might come to an end next Tuesday (9.13).  I'm waiting with baited breath (as I'm sure all of you are too)!
 
growled on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 9:38:13 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
Despite my recent irritation with MSN Spaces and threat to leave, I'm going to stick around for the long haul.  I enjoy several parts of the product and they keep promising and hinting at improvements.
 
Although, I think I will go the route of Eric Swanson and create a separate site for www.todhilton.com instead of just redirecting it to my space.  A few benefits to that:
  • My hosting provider gives me very rich historical information (obviously only for those that hit the friendly url versus the space directly)
  • I'll be able to customize to my little heart's content

~tod

ps:  happy chris? 

growled on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 9:29:31 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
 
It sounds like a lot of propaganda and mud from both sides, but still a semi-interesting read.
 
growled on Sunday, September 04, 2005 9:44:14 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)
barked at microsoft
I'm trying right now to update my other Space (dedicated to my little girl) and Spaces keeps asking me to log in, but then kicks me to the sign up page which then returns the error "Cannot find server."  This @$%^&*( sucks!

If this keeps up then I will move over to dasBlog!