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• Why Fusion Middleware matters to Oracle Applications and Fusion Applications customers?

  - by Harish Gaur

  Did you miss this general session on Monday morning presented by Amit Zavery, VP of Oracle Fusion Middleware Product Management? There will be a recording made available shortly and in the meanwhile, here is a recap. Amit presented 5 strategies customers can leverage today to extend their applications. Figure 1: 5 Oracle Fusion Middleware strategies to extend Oracle Applications & Oracle Fusion Apps 1. Engage Everyone – Provide intuitive and social experience for application users using Oracle WebCenter 2. Extend Enterprise – Extend Oracle Applications to mobile devices using Oracle ADF Mobile 3. Orchestrate Processes – Automate key organization processes across on-premise & cloud applications using Oracle BPM Suite & Oracle SOA Suite 4. Secure the core – Provide single sign-on and self-service provisioning across multiple apps using Oracle Identity Management 5. Optimize Performance – Leverage Exalogic stack to consolidate multiple instance and improve performance of Oracle Applications Session included 3 demonstrations to illustrate these strategies. 1. First demo highlighted significance of mobile applications for unlocking existing investment in Applications such as EBS. Using a native iPhone application interacting with e-Business Suite, demo showed how expense approval can be mobile enabled with enhanced visibility using BI dashboards. 2. Second demo showed how you can extend a banking process in Siebel and Oracle Policy Automation with Oracle BPM Suite.Process starts in Siebel with a customer requesting a loan, and then jumps to OPA for loan recommendations and decision making and loan processing with approvals in handled in BPM Suite. Once approvals are completed Siebel is updated to complete the process. 3. Final demo showcased FMW components inside Fusion Applications, specifically WebCenter. Boeing, Underwriter Laboratories and Electronic Arts joined this quest and discussed 3 different approaches of leveraging Fusion Middleware stack to maximize their investment in Oracle Applications and/or Fusion Applications technology. Let’s briefly review what these customers shared during the session: 1. Extend Fusion Applications We know that Oracle Fusion Middleware is the underlying technology infrastructure for Oracle Fusion Applications. Architecturally, Oracle Fusion Apps leverages several components of Oracle Fusion Middleware from Oracle WebCenter for rich collaborative interface, Oracle SOA Suite & Oracle BPM Suite for orchestrating key underlying processes to Oracle BIEE for dash boarding and analytics. Boeing talked about how they are using Oracle BPM Suite 11g, a key component of Oracle Fusion Middleware with Oracle Fusion Apps to transform their supply chain. Tim Murnin, Director of Supply Chain talked about Boeing’s 5 year supply chain transformation journey. Boeing’s Integrated and Information Management division began with automation of critical RFQ process using Oracle BPM Suite. This 1st phase resulted in 38% reduction in labor costs for RFP. As a next step in this effort, Boeing is now creating a platform to enable electronic Order Management. Fusion Apps are playing a significant role in this phase. Boeing has gone live with Oracle Fusion Product Hub and efforts are underway with Oracle Fusion Distributed Order Orchestration (DOO). So, where does Oracle BPM Suite 11g fit in this equation? Let me explain. Business processes within Fusion Apps are designed using 2 standards: Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) and Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). These processes can be easily configured using declarative set of tools. Boeing leverages Oracle BPM Suite 11g (which supports BPMN 2.0) and Oracle SOA Suite (which supports BPEL) to “extend” these applications. Traditionally, customizations are done within an app using native technologies. But, instead of making process changes within Fusion Apps, Boeing has taken an approach of building “extensions” layer on top of the application. Fig 2: Boeing’s use of Oracle BPM Suite to orchestrate key supply chain processes across Fusion Apps 2. Maximize Oracle Applications investment Fusion Middleware appeals not only to Fusion Apps customers, but is also leveraged by Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, Siebel and JD Edwards customers significantly. Using Oracle BPM Suite and Oracle SOA Suite is the recommended extension strategy for Oracle Fusion Apps and Oracle Applications Unlimited customers. Electronic Arts, E-Business Suite customer, spoke about their strategy to transform their order-to-cash process using Oracle SOA Suite, Oracle Foundation Packs and Oracle BAM. Udesh Naicker, Sr Director of IT at Elecronic Arts (EA), discussed how growth of social and digital gaming had started to put tremendous pressure on EA’s existing IT infrastructure. He discussed the challenge with millions of micro-transactions coming from several sources – Microsoft Xbox, Paypal, several service providers. EA found Order-2-Cash processes stretched to their limits. They lacked visibility into these transactions across the entire value chain. EA began by consolidating their E-Business Suite R11 instances into single E-Business Suite R12. EA needed to cater to a variety of service requirements, connectivity methods, file formats, and information latency. Their integration strategy was tactical, i.e., using file uploads, TIBCO, SQL scripts. After consolidating E-Business suite, EA standardized their integration approach with Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle AIA Foundation Pack. Oracle SOA Suite is the platform used to extend E-Business Suite R12 and standardize 60+ interfaces across several heterogeneous systems including PeopleSoft, Demantra, SF.com, Workday, and Managed EDI services spanning on-premise, hosted and cloud applications. EA believes that Oracle SOA Suite 11g based extension strategy has helped significantly in the followings ways: - It helped them keep customizations out of E-Business Suite, thereby keeping EBS R12 vanilla and upgrade safe - Developers are now proficient in technology which is also leveraged by Fusion Apps. This has helped them prepare for adoption of Fusion Apps in the future Fig 3: Using Oracle SOA Suite & Oracle e-Business Suite, Electronic Arts built new platform for order processing 3. Consolidate apps and improve scalability Exalogic is an optimal platform for customers to consolidate their application deployments and enhance performance. Underwriter Laboratories talked about their strategy to run their mission critical applications including e-Business Suite on Exalogic. Christian Anschuetz, CIO of Underwriter Laboratories (UL) shared how UL is on a growth path - $1B to $2.5B in 5 years- and planning a significant business transformation from a not-for-profit to a for-profit business. To support this growth, UL is planning to simplify its IT environment and the deployment complexity associated with ERP applications and technology it runs on. Their current applications were deployed on variety of hardware platforms and lacked comprehensive disaster recovery architecture. UL embarked on a mission to deploy E-Business Suite on Exalogic. UL’s solution is unique because it is one of the first to deploy a large number of Oracle applications and related Fusion Middleware technologies (SOA, BI, Analytical Applications AIA Foundation Pack and AIA EBS to Siebel UCM prebuilt integration) on the combined Exalogic and Exadata environment. UL is planning to move to a virtualized architecture toward the end of 2012 to securely host external facing applications like iStore Fig 4: Underwrites Labs deployed e-Business Suite on Exalogic to achieve performance gains Key takeaways are: - Fusion Middleware platform is certified with major Oracle Applications Unlimited offerings. Fusion Middleware is the underlying technological infrastructure for Fusion Apps - Customers choose Oracle Fusion Middleware to extend their applications (Apps Unlimited or Fusion Apps) to keep applications upgrade safe and prepare for Fusion Apps - Exalogic is an optimum platform to consolidate applications deployments and enhance performance

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• Why Fusion Middleware matters to Oracle Applications and Fusion Applications customers?

  - by Harish Gaur

  Did you miss this general session on Monday morning presented by Amit Zavery, VP of Oracle Fusion Middleware Product Management? There will be a recording made available shortly and in the meanwhile, here is a recap. Amit presented 5 strategies customers can leverage today to extend their applications. Figure 1: 5 Oracle Fusion Middleware strategies to extend Oracle Applications & Oracle Fusion Apps 1. Engage Everyone – Provide intuitive and social experience for application users using Oracle WebCenter 2. Extend Enterprise – Extend Oracle Applications to mobile devices using Oracle ADF Mobile 3. Orchestrate Processes – Automate key organization processes across on-premise & cloud applications using Oracle BPM Suite & Oracle SOA Suite 4. Secure the core – Provide single sign-on and self-service provisioning across multiple apps using Oracle Identity Management 5. Optimize Performance – Leverage Exalogic stack to consolidate multiple instance and improve performance of Oracle Applications Session included 3 demonstrations to illustrate these strategies. 1. First demo highlighted significance of mobile applications for unlocking existing investment in Applications such as EBS. Using a native iPhone application interacting with e-Business Suite, demo showed how expense approval can be mobile enabled with enhanced visibility using BI dashboards. 2. Second demo showed how you can extend a banking process in Siebel and Oracle Policy Automation with Oracle BPM Suite.Process starts in Siebel with a customer requesting a loan, and then jumps to OPA for loan recommendations and decision making and loan processing with approvals in handled in BPM Suite. Once approvals are completed Siebel is updated to complete the process. 3. Final demo showcased FMW components inside Fusion Applications, specifically WebCenter. Boeing, Underwriter Laboratories and Electronic Arts joined this quest and discussed 3 different approaches of leveraging Fusion Middleware stack to maximize their investment in Oracle Applications and/or Fusion Applications technology. Let’s briefly review what these customers shared during the session: 1. Extend Fusion Applications We know that Oracle Fusion Middleware is the underlying technology infrastructure for Oracle Fusion Applications. Architecturally, Oracle Fusion Apps leverages several components of Oracle Fusion Middleware from Oracle WebCenter for rich collaborative interface, Oracle SOA Suite & Oracle BPM Suite for orchestrating key underlying processes to Oracle BIEE for dash boarding and analytics. Boeing talked about how they are using Oracle BPM Suite 11g, a key component of Oracle Fusion Middleware with Oracle Fusion Apps to transform their supply chain. Tim Murnin, Director of Supply Chain talked about Boeing’s 5 year supply chain transformation journey. Boeing’s Integrated and Information Management division began with automation of critical RFQ process using Oracle BPM Suite. This 1st phase resulted in 38% reduction in labor costs for RFP. As a next step in this effort, Boeing is now creating a platform to enable electronic Order Management. Fusion Apps are playing a significant role in this phase. Boeing has gone live with Oracle Fusion Product Hub and efforts are underway with Oracle Fusion Distributed Order Orchestration (DOO). So, where does Oracle BPM Suite 11g fit in this equation? Let me explain. Business processes within Fusion Apps are designed using 2 standards: Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) and Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). These processes can be easily configured using declarative set of tools. Boeing leverages Oracle BPM Suite 11g (which supports BPMN 2.0) and Oracle SOA Suite (which supports BPEL) to “extend” these applications. Traditionally, customizations are done within an app using native technologies. But, instead of making process changes within Fusion Apps, Boeing has taken an approach of building “extensions” layer on top of the application. Fig 2: Boeing’s use of Oracle BPM Suite to orchestrate key supply chain processes across Fusion Apps 2. Maximize Oracle Applications investment Fusion Middleware appeals not only to Fusion Apps customers, but is also leveraged by Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, Siebel and JD Edwards customers significantly. Using Oracle BPM Suite and Oracle SOA Suite is the recommended extension strategy for Oracle Fusion Apps and Oracle Applications Unlimited customers. Electronic Arts, E-Business Suite customer, spoke about their strategy to transform their order-to-cash process using Oracle SOA Suite, Oracle Foundation Packs and Oracle BAM. Udesh Naicker, Sr Director of IT at Elecronic Arts (EA), discussed how growth of social and digital gaming had started to put tremendous pressure on EA’s existing IT infrastructure. He discussed the challenge with millions of micro-transactions coming from several sources – Microsoft Xbox, Paypal, several service providers. EA found Order-2-Cash processes stretched to their limits. They lacked visibility into these transactions across the entire value chain. EA began by consolidating their E-Business Suite R11 instances into single E-Business Suite R12. EA needed to cater to a variety of service requirements, connectivity methods, file formats, and information latency. Their integration strategy was tactical, i.e., using file uploads, TIBCO, SQL scripts. After consolidating E-Business suite, EA standardized their integration approach with Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle AIA Foundation Pack. Oracle SOA Suite is the platform used to extend E-Business Suite R12 and standardize 60+ interfaces across several heterogeneous systems including PeopleSoft, Demantra, SF.com, Workday, and Managed EDI services spanning on-premise, hosted and cloud applications. EA believes that Oracle SOA Suite 11g based extension strategy has helped significantly in the followings ways: - It helped them keep customizations out of E-Business Suite, thereby keeping EBS R12 vanilla and upgrade safe - Developers are now proficient in technology which is also leveraged by Fusion Apps. This has helped them prepare for adoption of Fusion Apps in the future Fig 3: Using Oracle SOA Suite & Oracle e-Business Suite, Electronic Arts built new platform for order processing 3. Consolidate apps and improve scalability Exalogic is an optimal platform for customers to consolidate their application deployments and enhance performance. Underwriter Laboratories talked about their strategy to run their mission critical applications including e-Business Suite on Exalogic. Christian Anschuetz, CIO of Underwriter Laboratories (UL) shared how UL is on a growth path - $1B to $2.5B in 5 years- and planning a significant business transformation from a not-for-profit to a for-profit business. To support this growth, UL is planning to simplify its IT environment and the deployment complexity associated with ERP applications and technology it runs on. Their current applications were deployed on variety of hardware platforms and lacked comprehensive disaster recovery architecture. UL embarked on a mission to deploy E-Business Suite on Exalogic. UL’s solution is unique because it is one of the first to deploy a large number of Oracle applications and related Fusion Middleware technologies (SOA, BI, Analytical Applications AIA Foundation Pack and AIA EBS to Siebel UCM prebuilt integration) on the combined Exalogic and Exadata environment. UL is planning to move to a virtualized architecture toward the end of 2012 to securely host external facing applications like iStore Fig 4: Underwrites Labs deployed e-Business Suite on Exalogic to achieve performance gains Key takeaways are: - Fusion Middleware platform is certified with major Oracle Applications Unlimited offerings. Fusion Middleware is the underlying technological infrastructure for Fusion Apps - Customers choose Oracle Fusion Middleware to extend their applications (Apps Unlimited or Fusion Apps) to keep applications upgrade safe and prepare for Fusion Apps - Exalogic is an optimum platform to consolidate applications deployments and enhance performance TAGS: Fusion Apps, Exalogic, BPM Suite, SOA Suite, e-Business Suite Integration

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• Week in Geek: IPv6 Capable Smartphones Compromise User Privacy Edition

  - by Asian Angel

  This week we learned how to “clone a disk, resize static windows, and create system function shortcuts”, use 45 different services, sites, and apps to help read favorite sites, add MP3 support to Audacity (for saving in MP3 format), install a Wii game loader for easy backups and fast load times, create a Blue Screen of Death in any color, and more. Photo by legofenris. Weekly News Links Photo by The H Security. IPv6: Smartphones compromise users’ privacy Since version 4 of the iOS operating system, Apple’s iPhones, iPads and iPods have been capable of handling IPv6, and most Android devices have been capable since version 2.1. However, the operating systems transfer an ID that discloses information about their users. Dumb phones can be attacked too Much of the discussion of security threats to mobile phones revolves around smartphones, but researchers have found that less advanced “feature phones,” still used by the majority of people around the world, also are vulnerable to attack. SCADA exploit – the dragon awakes The recent publication of an exploit for KingView, a software package for visualising industrial process control systems, appears to be having an effect. Threatpost reports that both the Chinese vendor Wellintech and Chinese CERT (CN-CERT) have now reacted. Sophos: Spam to get more malicious Spam is becoming more malicious in nature as trickery tactics change in line with current user interests, according to a new report released Tuesday by Sophos. Global spam traffic rebounds as Rustock wakes Spam is on the rise after the Rustock botnet awoke from its Christmas slumber, according to Symantec. Cracking WPA keys in the cloud At the forthcoming Black Hat conference, blogger Thomas Roth plans to demonstrate how weak WPA PSKs can be cracked quickly and easily using Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service. Microsoft Security Advisory: Vulnerability in Internet Explorer could allow remote code execution Provides a link to more details about the vulnerability and shows a work-around/fix for the problem. Adobe plans to make it easier to delete Flash cookies in web browsers The new API, NPAPI:ClearSiteData, will allow Flash cookies – also known as Local Shared Objects (LSO) – to be deleted directly in the browser’s settings. Firefox beta getting new database standard The ninth beta version of Firefox is set to get support for a standard called IndexedDB that provides a database interface useful for offline data storage and other tasks needing information on a browser’s computer. MetroPCS accused of blocking certain Net content MetroPCS is violating the FCC’s recently approved Net neutrality rules by blocking certain Internet content, say several public interest groups. Server and Tools chief Muglia to leave Microsoft in summer 2011 Microsoft veteran and Server & Tools Business (STB) President Bob Muglia is leaving Microsoft, according to an email that CEO Steve Ballmer sent to employees on January 10. Report: DOJ nearing decision on Google-ITA The U.S. Department of Justice is gearing up for a possible formal antitrust investigation into whether or not Google should be allowed to purchase travel software company ITA Software, according to a report. South Korea says Google Street View broke law Police in South Korea reportedly say Google broke the country’s law when its Street View service captured personal data from unsecure Wi-Fi networks. The backlash over Google’s HTML5 video bet Choosing strategies based on what you believe to be long-term benefits is generally a good idea when running a business, but if you manage to alienate the world in the process, the long term may become irrelevant. Google answers critics on HTML5 Web video move Google responded to critics of its decision to drop support for a popular HTML5 video codec by declaring that a royalty-supported standard for Web video will hold the Web hostage. Random TinyHacker Links A Special GiveAway: a Great Book & Great Security Software The team from 7 Tutorials has a special giveaway running during the month of January. Signed copies of their latest book, full 1-year licenses of BitDefender Internet Security 2011 and free 3-month trials for everyone willing to participate. One Click Rooting For Android Phones Here’s a nice tool that helps you root your Android phone effortlessly. New Angry Birds Free version 1.0 Available in the App Store. Google Code University Learn programming at Google Code University. Capture and Share Your Favorite Part Of a YouTube Video SnipSnip.it lets you share only the part of the video that you like. Super User Questions More great questions and answers from this past week’s popular topics at Super User. What are the Windows A: and B: drives used for? Does OS X support linux-like features? What is the easiest way to make a backup of an entire hard disk? Will shifting from Wireless to Wired network result in better performance? Is it legal to install Windows 7 Home Premium Retail inside VMware virtual machine? How-To Geek Weekly Article Recap Enjoy reading through our hottest articles from this past week. The 50 Best Ways to Disable Built-in Windows Features You Don’t Want The Best of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 How to Upgrade Windows 7 Easily (And Understand Whether You Should) The Worst of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: Basic Noise Removal One Year Ago on How-To Geek More great articles from one year ago filled with helpful geeky goodness for you to enjoy. Share Text & Images the Easy Way with JustPaste.it Start Portable Firefox in Safe Mode Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate Available, Here’s How to Fix Your Incompatible Extensions Protect Your Computer from “Little Hands” with KidSafe Lock Prying Eyes Out of Your Minimized Windows Custom Crocheted Cylon-Cthulhu Hybrid What happens when you let your Cylon Centurion figure and your crocheted Cthulhu spend too many lonely nights together? A Cylon-Cthulhu hybrid, of course! You can get your own from the Cthulhu Chick store over on Etsy. Note: This is not an ad…Ruth is a friend of ours, and this Cylon-Cthulhu hybrid makes the perfect guard for the new MVP trophy in our office. The Geek Note Whether it is a geeky indoor project or just getting outside, we hope that you and your families have a terrific fun-filled weekend! Remember to keep sending those great tips in to us at [email protected]. Photo by qwrrty. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Upgrade Windows 7 Easily (And Understand Whether You Should) The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: Basic Noise Removal Install a Wii Game Loader for Easy Backups and Fast Load Times The Best of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 The Worst of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 2011 HTG Projects: How to Create Your Own Custom Papercraft Toy Firefox 4.0 Beta 9 Available for Download – Get Your Copy Now The Frustrations of a Computer Literate Watching a Newbie Use a Computer [Humorous Video] Season0nPass Jailbreaks Current Gen Apple TVs IBM’s Jeopardy Playing Computer Watson Shows The Pros How It’s Done [Video] Tranquil Juice Drop Abstract Wallpaper Pulse Is a Sleek Newsreader for iOS and Android Devices

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• CI Deployment Of Azure Web Roles Using TeamCity

  - by srkirkland

  After recently migrating an important new website to use Windows Azure “Web Roles” I wanted an easier way to deploy new versions to the Azure Staging environment as well as a reliable process to rollback deployments to a certain “known good” source control commit checkpoint.  By configuring our JetBrains’ TeamCity CI server to utilize Windows Azure PowerShell cmdlets to create new automated deployments, I’ll show you how to take control of your Azure publish process. Step 0: Configuring your Azure Project in Visual Studio Before we can start looking at automating the deployment, we should make sure manual deployments from Visual Studio are working properly.  Detailed information for setting up deployments can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ff683672.aspx#PublishAzure or by doing some quick Googling, but the basics are as follows: Install the prerequisite Windows Azure SDK Create an Azure project by right-clicking on your web project and choosing “Add Windows Azure Cloud Service Project” (or by manually adding that project type) Configure your Role and Service Configuration/Definition as desired Right-click on your azure project and choose “Publish,” create a publish profile, and push to your web role You don’t actually have to do step #4 and create a publish profile, but it’s a good exercise to make sure everything is working properly.  Once your Windows Azure project is setup correctly, we are ready to move on to understanding the Azure Publish process. Understanding the Azure Publish Process The actual Windows Azure project is fairly simple at its core—it builds your dependent roles (in our case, a web role) against a specific service and build configuration, and outputs two files: ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg: This is just the file containing your package configuration info, for example Instance Count, OsFamily, ConnectionString and other Setting information. ProjectName.Azure.cspkg: This is the package file that contains the guts of your deployment, including all deployable files. When you package your Azure project, these two files will be created within the directory ./[ProjectName].Azure/bin/[ConfigName]/app.publish/.  If you want to build your Azure Project from the command line, it’s as simple as calling MSBuild on the “Publish” target: msbuild.exe /target:Publish Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets The last pieces of the puzzle that make CI automation possible are the Azure PowerShell Cmdlets (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj156055.aspx).  These cmdlets are what will let us create deployments without Visual Studio or other user intervention. Preparing TeamCity for Azure Deployments Now we are ready to get our TeamCity server setup so it can build and deploy Windows Azure projects, which we now know requires the Azure SDK and the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets. Installing the Azure SDK is easy enough, just go to https://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/develop/net/ and click “Install” Once this SDK is installed, I recommend running a test build to make sure your project is building correctly.  You’ll want to setup your build step using MSBuild with the “Publish” target against your solution file.  Mine looks like this: Assuming the build was successful, you will now have the two *.cspkg and *cscfg files within your build directory.  If the build was red (failed), take a look at the build logs and keep an eye out for “unsupported project type” or other build errors, which will need to be addressed before the CI deployment can be completed. With a successful build we are now ready to install and configure the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets: Follow the instructions at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj554332 to install the Cmdlets and configure PowerShell After installing the Cmdlets, you’ll need to get your Azure Subscription Info using the Get-AzurePublishSettingsFile command. Store the resulting *.publishsettings file somewhere you can get to easily, like C:\TeamCity, because you will need to reference it later from your deploy script. Scripting the CI Deploy Process Now that the cmdlets are installed on our TeamCity server, we are ready to script the actual deployment using a TeamCity “PowerShell” build runner.  Before we look at any code, here’s a breakdown of our deployment algorithm: Setup your variables, including the location of the *.cspkg and *cscfg files produced in the earlier MSBuild step (remember, the folder is something like [ProjectName].Azure/bin/[ConfigName]/app.publish/ Import the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets Import and set your Azure Subscription information (this is basically your authentication/authorization step, so protect your settings file Now look for a current deployment, and if you find one Upgrade it, else Create a new deployment Pretty simple and straightforward.  Now let’s look at the code (also available as a gist here: https://gist.github.com/3694398): $subscription = "[Your Subscription Name]" $service = "[Your Azure Service Name]" $slot = "staging" #staging or production $package = "[ProjectName]\bin\[BuildConfigName]\app.publish\[ProjectName].cspkg" $configuration = "[ProjectName]\bin\[BuildConfigName]\app.publish\ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg" $timeStampFormat = "g" $deploymentLabel = "ContinuousDeploy to $service v%build.number%"   Write-Output "Running Azure Imports" Import-Module "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Azure\PowerShell\Azure\*.psd1" Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile "C:\TeamCity\[PSFileName].publishsettings" Set-AzureSubscription -CurrentStorageAccount $service -SubscriptionName $subscription   function Publish(){ $deployment = Get-AzureDeployment -ServiceName $service -Slot $slot -ErrorVariable a -ErrorAction silentlycontinue   if ($a[0] -ne $null) { Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - No deployment is detected. Creating a new deployment. " } if ($deployment.Name -ne $null) { #Update deployment inplace (usually faster, cheaper, won't destroy VIP) Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Deployment exists in $servicename. Upgrading deployment." UpgradeDeployment } else { CreateNewDeployment } }   function CreateNewDeployment() { write-progress -id 3 -activity "Creating New Deployment" -Status "In progress" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Creating New Deployment: In progress"   $opstat = New-AzureDeployment -Slot $slot -Package $package -Configuration $configuration -label $deploymentLabel -ServiceName $service   $completeDeployment = Get-AzureDeployment -ServiceName $service -Slot $slot $completeDeploymentID = $completeDeployment.deploymentid   write-progress -id 3 -activity "Creating New Deployment" -completed -Status "Complete" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Creating New Deployment: Complete, Deployment ID: $completeDeploymentID" }   function UpgradeDeployment() { write-progress -id 3 -activity "Upgrading Deployment" -Status "In progress" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Upgrading Deployment: In progress"   # perform Update-Deployment $setdeployment = Set-AzureDeployment -Upgrade -Slot $slot -Package $package -Configuration $configuration -label $deploymentLabel -ServiceName $service -Force   $completeDeployment = Get-AzureDeployment -ServiceName $service -Slot $slot $completeDeploymentID = $completeDeployment.deploymentid   write-progress -id 3 -activity "Upgrading Deployment" -completed -Status "Complete" Write-Output "$(Get-Date -f $timeStampFormat) - Upgrading Deployment: Complete, Deployment ID: $completeDeploymentID" }   Write-Output "Create Azure Deployment" Publish   Creating the TeamCity Build Step The only thing left is to create a second build step, after your MSBuild “Publish” step, with the build runner type “PowerShell”.  Then set your script to “Source Code,” the script execution mode to “Put script into PowerShell stdin with “-Command” arguments” and then copy/paste in the above script (replacing the placeholder sections with your values).  This should look like the following:   Wrap Up After combining the MSBuild /target:Publish step (which creates the necessary Windows Azure *.cspkg and *.cscfg files) and a PowerShell script step which utilizes the Azure PowerShell Cmdlets, we have a fully deployable build configuration in TeamCity.  You can configure this step to run whenever you’d like using build triggers – for example, you could even deploy whenever a new master branch deploy comes in and passes all required tests. In the script I’ve hardcoded that every deployment goes to the Staging environment on Azure, but you could deploy straight to Production if you want to, or even setup a deployment configuration variable and set it as desired. After your TeamCity Build Configuration is complete, you’ll see something that looks like this: Whenever you click the “Run” button, all of your code will be compiled, published, and deployed to Windows Azure! One additional enormous benefit of automating the process this way is that you can easily deploy any specific source control changeset by clicking the little ellipsis button next to "Run.”  This will bring up a dialog like the one below, where you can select the last change to use for your deployment.  Since Azure Web Role deployments don’t have any rollback functionality, this is a critical feature.   Enjoy!

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• Why does Akonadi on KDE 4.6.0 refuse to start?

  - by Patches

  Akonadi refuses to start on my fresh installation of KDE 4.6.0 from the kubuntu-backports PPA on Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, preventing me from usking KMail. Here is the full error output: patches@pleistocene:~/.local/share$ akonadictl start Starting Akonadi Server... done. patches@pleistocene:~/.local/share$ Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb772e400] 3: [0xb772e416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6e9f941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6ea2e42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb74d62dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb757168e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb7581425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb758295d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6e8bce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb77ae400] 3: [0xb77ae416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6f1f941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6f22e42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb75562dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb75f168e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb7601425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb760295d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6f0bce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb778b400] 3: [0xb778b416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6efc941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6effe42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb75332dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb75ce68e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb75de425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb75df95d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6ee8ce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) search paths: ("/home/patches/bin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/bin", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/bin", "/sbin", "/bin", "/usr/games", "/usr/sbin", "/usr/local/sbin", "/usr/local/libexec", "/usr/libexec", "/opt/mysql/libexec", "/opt/local/lib/mysql5/bin", "/opt/mysql/sbin") Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db" Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck" Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection! executable: "/usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi" arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/mysql.socket") stdout: "" stderr: "Could not open required defaults file: /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi//mysql.conf Fatal error in defaults handling. Program aborted 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Warning] Can't create test file /home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/pleistocene.lower-test 110209 16:41:12 [Note] Plugin 'FEDERATED' is disabled. /usr/sbin/mysqld-akonadi: Can't find file: './mysql/plugin.frm' (errno: 13) 110209 16:41:12 [ERROR] Can't open the mysql.plugin table. Please run mysql_upgrade to create it. 110209 16:41:12 InnoDB: Operating system error number 13 in a file operation. InnoDB: The error means mysqld does not have the access rights to InnoDB: the directory. InnoDB: File name ./ibdata1 InnoDB: File operation call: 'create'. InnoDB: Cannot continue operation. " exit code: 1 process error: "Unknown error" "[ 0: akonadiserver(_Z11akBacktracev+0x35) [0x8086055] 1: akonadiserver() [0x8086516] 2: [0xb784e400] 3: [0xb784e416] 4: /lib/libc.so.6(gsignal+0x51) [0xb6fbf941] 5: /lib/libc.so.6(abort+0x182) [0xb6fc2e42] 6: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_Z17qt_message_output9QtMsgTypePKc+0x8c) [0xb75f62dc] 7: akonadiserver(_ZN15FileDebugStream9writeDataEPKcx+0xc4) [0x8087574] 8: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN9QIODevice5writeEPKcx+0x8e) [0xb769168e] 9: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(+0x103425) [0xb76a1425] 10: /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4(_ZN11QTextStreamD1Ev+0x3d) [0xb76a295d] 11: akonadiserver(_ZN6QDebugD1Ev+0x43) [0x8081b73] 12: akonadiserver(_ZN13DbConfigMysql19startInternalServerEv+0x1c27) [0x810c177] 13: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer20startDatabaseProcessEv+0xe3) [0x8087a23] 14: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServerC1EP7QObject+0xca) [0x8088b6a] 15: akonadiserver(_ZN7Akonadi13AkonadiServer8instanceEv+0x48) [0x808a1d8] 16: akonadiserver(main+0x364) [0x8080fb4] 17: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe7) [0xb6fabce7] 18: akonadiserver() [0x8080b81] ] " ProcessControl: Application 'akonadiserver' returned with exit code 255 (Unknown error) "akonadiserver" crashed too often and will not be restarted! I tried moving the ~/.local/share/akonadi folder and running it fresh, and I also tried starting Akonadi from a brand new user, all to no avail. Requested by @djeikyb: patches@pleistocene:~$ ls -ld ~/.local drwxrwx--- 3 patches patches 4096 2011-02-07 03:15 /home/patches/.local patches@pleistocene:~$ mysql_upgrade Looking for 'mysql' as: mysql Looking for 'mysqlcheck' as: mysqlcheck Running 'mysqlcheck' with connection arguments: '--port=3306' '--socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' mysqlcheck: Got error: 2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) when trying to connect FATAL ERROR: Upgrade failed patches@pleistocene:~$ mysql_upgrade -S ~/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/ Looking for 'mysql' as: mysql Looking for 'mysqlcheck' as: mysqlcheck Running 'mysqlcheck' with connection arguments: '--port=3306' '--socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' '--socket=/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/' mysqlcheck: Got error: 2002: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/home/patches/.local/share/akonadi/socket-pleistocene/' (111) when trying to connect FATAL ERROR: Upgrade failed

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• Where should I start with debugging my exchange server?

  - by joadha

  I'm (foolishly?) attempting to install Exchange on top of Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) over Virtual Box running on Mac OSX Lion. Everything went smoothly until I got to the "Readiness Checks" tab. Readiness failed spectacularly on Hub Transport Role and Mailbox Role prereqs. Before I go too far down the rabbit hole in attempting to remedy this, I was hoping I could get some input on where to start in all of this. I already set up the following Active Directory roles, but it didn't seem to help: Active Directory Domain Services Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services I also enabled an Application Server role. Those three are the only roles I've set up-- I cannot locate within Server Manager the Organization Manager role or any of the other roles referenced in the list of borkedness below. Is this a typical experience in Exchange installation? Is there a tutorial created by somebody outside of Microsoft? Here's the output from Readiness Checks: Summary: 5 item(s). 2 succeeded, 3 failed. Elapsed time: 00:00:53 Configuring Prerequisites Completed Elapsed Time: 00:00:00 Languages Prerequisites Completed Elapsed Time: 00:00:09 Hub Transport Role Prerequisites Failed Error: Active Directory does not exist or cannot be contacted. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/? linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=51e5500d-8b18-4eee-bb8e-925d063b60a1 Error: You must be a member of the 'Organization Management' role group or 'Enterprise Admins' group to continue. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=1d750594-9222-44d7-8f80-45e522e889e6 Error: Setup encountered a problem while validating the state of Active Directory: Could not find information about the local domain. Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Error: You must be logged on as an Exchange organization administrator to install or upgrade the first Hub Transport server role in the topology. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=e58f51fd-2c66-4a4b-914a-628dccf9a09f Error: The 'IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility' component is not installed. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=0a71c4f6-68de-40f7-94cf-74b73cbda37b Error: The 'IIS 7 Basic Authentication' component required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 Windows Authentication' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 .NET Extensibility' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=5f29a861-f472-4f11-a23a-04155373f5ed Error: This computer is not part of a Windows domain. Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Error: The user is not logged on to a Windows domain Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Warning: This computer requires the Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs. Please install the software from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=191548 Warning: The 'IIS 6 Management Console' component is recommended as it allows for the administration of all server roles. Install the component via Server Manager. Warning: Setup cannot verify that the 'Host' (A) record for this computer exists within the DNS database on server 10.1.10.1. Elapsed Time: 00:00:15 Client Access Role Prerequisites Failed Error: Active Directory does not exist or cannot be contacted. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=51e5500d-8b18-4eee-bb8e-925d063b60a1 Error: Unable to read data from the Metabase. Ensure that Microsoft Internet Information Services is installed. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=a4a4d339-4009-4fb7-b842-ca2ba79f13f0 Error: The World Wide Web (W3SVC) service is either disabled or not installed on this computer. You must exit Setup, install the required component, then restart the Setup process. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=9eeaa77f-4d46-4d9a-9c36-f262a075392b Error: You must be a member of the 'Organization Management' role group or 'Enterprise Admins' group to continue. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=1d750594-9222-44d7-8f80-45e522e889e6 Error: Setup encountered a problem while validating the state of Active Directory: Could not find information about the local domain. Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Error: You must be logged on as an Exchange organization administrator to install or upgrade the first Client Access server role in the topology. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=e58f51fd-2c66-4a4b-914a-628dccf9a09f Error: The 'IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility' component is not installed. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=0a71c4f6-68de-40f7-94cf-74b73cbda37b Error: The 'IIS 6 Management Console' component is not installed. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=0a71c4f6-68de-40f7-94cf-74b73cbda37b Error: The 'IIS 7 Dynamic Content Compression' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/? linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 Static Content Compression' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 Basic Authentication' component required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 Windows Authentication' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 Digest Authentication' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 .NET Extensibility' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=5f29a861-f472-4f11-a23a-04155373f5ed Error: This computer is not part of a Windows domain. Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Error: The user is not logged on to a Windows domain Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Warning: Setup cannot verify that the 'Host' (A) record for this computer exists within the DNS database on server 10.1.10.1. Elapsed Time: 00:00:14 Mailbox Role Prerequisites Failed Error: Active Directory does not exist or cannot be contacted. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=51e5500d-8b18-4eee-bb8e-925d063b60a1 Error: Unable to read data from the Metabase. Ensure that Microsoft Internet Information Services is installed. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=a4a4d339-4009-4fb7-b842-ca2ba79f13f0 Error: The World Wide Web (W3SVC) service is either disabled or not installed on this computer. You must exit Setup, install the required component, then restart the Setup process. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=9eeaa77f-4d46-4d9a-9c36-f262a075392b Error: You must be a member of the 'Organization Management' role group or 'Enterprise Admins' group to continue. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=1d750594-9222-44d7-8f80-45e522e889e6 Error: Setup encountered a problem while validating the state of Active Directory: Could not find information about the local domain. Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Error: You must be logged on as an Exchange organization administrator to install or upgrade the first Mailbox server role in the topology. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=e58f51fd-2c66-4a4b-914a-628dccf9a09f Error: The 'IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility' component is not installed. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=0a71c4f6-68de-40f7-94cf-74b73cbda37b Error: The 'IIS 6 Management Console' component is not installed. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=0a71c4f6-68de-40f7-94cf-74b73cbda37b Error: The 'IIS 7 Basic Authentication' component required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 Windows Authentication' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=41a25c5e-0d39-4e55-a1f0-7be885982236 Error: The 'IIS 7 .NET Extensibility' component is required. Install the component via Server Manager. Click here for help... http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.14&id=5f29a861-f472-4f11-a23a-04155373f5ed Error: This computer is not part of a Windows domain. Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Error: The user is not logged on to a Windows domain Click here for help... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/ms.exch.err.default(EXCHG.141).aspx?v=14.1.218.11&e=ms.exch.err.Ex28883C&l=0&cl=cp Warning: This computer requires the Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs. Please install the software from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=191548 Warning: Setup cannot verify that the 'Host' (A) record for this computer exists within the DNS database on server 10.1.10.1. Elapsed Time: 00:00:14

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• Can Microsoft Build Appliances?

  - by andrewbrust

  Billy Hollis, my Visual Studio Live! colleague and fellow Microsoft Regional Director said recently, and I am paraphrasing, that the computing world, especially on the consumer side, has shifted from one of building hardware and software that makes things possible to do, to building products and technologies that make things easy to do.  Billy crystalized things perfectly, as he often does. In this new world of “easy to do,” Apple has done very well and Microsoft has struggled.  In the old world, customers wanted a Swiss Army Knife, with the most gimmicks and gadgets possible.  In the new world, people want elegantly cutlery.  They may want cake cutters and utility knives too, but they don’t want one device that works for all three tasks.  People don’t want tools, they want utensils.  People don’t want machines.  They want appliances. Microsoft Appliances: They Do Exist Microsoft has built a few appliance-like devices.  I would say XBox 360 is an appliance,  It’s versatile, mind you, but it’s the kind of thing you plug in, turn on and use, as opposed to set-up, tune, and open up to upgrade the internals.  Windows Phone 7 is an appliance too.  It’s a true smartphone, unlike Windows Mobile which was a handheld computer with a radio stack.  Zune is an appliance too, and a nice one.  It hasn’t attained much traction in the market, but that’s probably because the seminal consumer computing appliance -- the iPod – got there so much more quickly. In the embedded world, Mediaroom, Microsoft’s set-top product for the cable industry (used by AT&T U-Verse and others) is an appliance.  So is Microsoft’s Sync technology, used in Ford automobiles.  Even on the enterprise side, Microsoft has an appliance: SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse Edition (PDW) combines Microsoft software with select OEMs’ server, networking and storage hardware.  You buy the appliance units from the OEMs, plug them in, connect them and go. I would even say that Bing is an appliance.  Not in the hardware sense, mind you.  But from the software perspective, it’s a single-purpose product that you visit or run, use and then move on.  You don’t have to install it (except the iOS and Android native apps where it’s pretty straightforward), you don’t have to customize it, you don’t have to program it.  Basically, you just use it. Microsoft Appliances that Should Exist But Microsoft builds a bunch of things that are not appliances.  Media Center is not an appliance, and it most certainly should be.  Instead, it’s an app that runs on Windows 7.  It runs full-screen and you can use this configuration to conceal the fact that Windows is under it, but eventually something will cause you to abandon that masquerade (like Patch Tuesday). The next version of Windows Home Server won’t, in my opinion, be an appliance either.  Now that the Drive Extender technology is gone, and users can’t just add and remove drives into and from a single storage pool, the product is much more like a IT server and less like an appliance-premised one.  Much has been written about this decision by Microsoft.  I’ll just sum it up in one word: pity. Microsoft doesn’t have anything remotely appliance-like in the tablet category, either.  Until it does, it likely won’t have much market share in that space either.  And of course, the bulk of Microsoft’s product catalog on the business side is geared to enterprise machines and not personal appliances. Appliance DNA: They Gotta Have It. The consumerization of IT is real, because businesspeople are consumers too.  They appreciate the fit and finish of appliances at home, and they increasingly feel entitled to have it at work too.  Secure and reliable push email in a smartphone is necessary, but it isn’t enough.  People want great apps and a pleasurable user experience too.  The full Microsoft Office product is needed at work, but a PC with a keyboard and mouse, or maybe a touch screen that uses a stylus (or requires really small fingers), to run Office isn’t enough either.  People want a flawless touch experience available for the times they want to read and take quick notes.  Until Microsoft realizes this fully and internalizes it, it will suffer defeats in the consumer market and even setbacks in the business market.  Think about how slow the Office upgrade cycle is…now imagine if the next version of Office had a first-class alternate touch UI and consider the possible acceleration in adoption rates. Can Microsoft make the appliance switch?  Can the appliance mentality become pervasive at the company?  Can Microsoft hasten its release cycles dramatically and shed the “some assembly required” paradigm upon which many of its products are based?  Let’s face it, the chances that Microsoft won’t make this transition are significant. But there are also encouraging signs, and they should not be ignored.  The appliances we have already discussed, especially Xbox, Zune and Windows Phone 7, are the most obvious in this regard.  The fact that SQL Server has an appliance SKU now is a more subtle but perhaps also more significant outcome, because that product sits so smack in the middle of Microsoft’s enterprise stack.  Bing is encouraging too, especially given its integrated travel, maps and augmented reality capabilities.  As Bing gains market share, Microsoft has tangible proof that it can transform and win, even when everyone outside the company, and many within it, would bet otherwise. That Great Big Appliance in the Sky Perhaps the most promising (and evolving) proof points toward the appliance mentality, though, are Microsoft’s cloud offerings -- Azure and BPOS/Office 365.  While the cloud does not represent a physical appliance (quite the opposite in fact) its ability to make acquisition, deployment and use of technology simple for the user is absolutely an embodiment of the appliance mentality and spirit.  Azure is primarily a platform as a service offering; it doesn’t just provide infrastructure.  SQL Azure does likewise for databases.  And Office 365 does likewise for SharePoint, Exchange and Lync. You don’t administer, tune and manage servers; instead, you create databases or site collections or mailboxes and start using them. Upgrades come automatically, and it seems like releases will come more frequently.  Fault tolerance and content distribution is just there.  No muss.  No fuss.  You use these services; you don’t have to set them up and think about them.  That’s how appliances work.  To me, these signs point out that Microsoft has the full capability of transforming itself.  But there’s a lot of work ahead.  Microsoft may say they’re “all in” on the cloud, but the majority of the company is still oriented around its old products and models.  There needs to be a wholesale cultural transformation in Redmond.  It can happen, but product management, program management, the field and executive ranks must unify in the effort. So must partners, and even customers.  New leaders must rise up and Microsoft must be able to see itself as a winner.  If Microsoft does this, it could lock-in decades of new success, and be a standard business school case study for doing so.  If not, the company will have missed an opportunity, and may see its undoing.

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• Five Ways Enterprise 2.0 Can Transform Your Business - Q&A from the Webcast

  - by [email protected]

  A few weeks ago, Vince Casarez and I presented with KMWorld on the Five Ways Enterprise 2.0 Can Transform Your Business. It was an enjoyable, interactive webcast in which Vince and I discussed the ways Enterprise 2.0 can transform your business and more importantly, highlighted key customer examples of how to do so. If you missed the webcast, you can catch a replay here. We had a lot of audience participation in some of the polls we conducted and in the Q&A session. We weren't able to address all of the questions during the broadcast, so we attempted to answer them here: Q: Which area within your firm focuses on Web 2.0? Meaning, do you find new departments developing just to manage the web 2.0 (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) user experience or are you structuring current departments? A: There are three distinct efforts within Oracle. The first is around delivery of these Web 2.0 services for enterprise deployments. This is the focus of the WebCenter team. The second effort is injecting these Web 2.0 services into use cases that drive the different enterprise applications. This effort is focused on how to manage these external services and bring them into a cohesive flow for marketing programs, customer care, and purchasing. The third effort is how we consume these services internally to enhance Oracle's business delivery. It leverages the technologies and use cases of the first two but also pushes the envelope with regards to future directions of these other two areas. Q: In a business, Web 2.0 is mostly like action logs. How can we leverage the official process practice versus the logs of a recent action? Example: a system configuration modified last night on a call out versus the official practice that everybody would use in the morning.A: The key thing to remember is that most Web 2.0 actions / activity streams today are based on collaboration and communication type actions. At least with public social sites like Facebook and Twitter. What we're delivering as part of the WebCenter Suite are not just these types of activities but also enterprise application activities. These enterprise application activities come from different application modules: purchasing, HR, order entry, sales opportunity, etc. The actions within these systems are normally tied to a business object or process: purchase order/customer, employee or department, customer and supplier, customer and product, respectively. Therefore, the activities or "logs" as you name them are able to be "typed" so that as a viewer, you can filter or decide to see only certain types of information. In your example, you could have a view that only showed you recent "configuration" changes and this could be right next to a view that showed off the items to be watched every morning. Q: It's great to hear about customers using the software but is there any plan for future webinars to show what the products/installs look like? That would be very helpful.A: We don't have a webinar planned to show off the install process. However, we have a viewlet that's posted on Oracle Technology Network. You can see it here:http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/testcontent/wcs-install-098014.htmlAnd we've got excellent documentation that walks you through the steps here:http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14571_01/install.1111/e12001/install.htmAnd there's a whole set of demos and examples of what WebCenter can do at this URL:http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/webcenter/release11-demos-097468.html Q: How do you anticipate managing metadata across the enterprise to make content findable?A: We need to first make sure we are all talking about the same thing when we use a word like "metadata". Here's why...  For a developer, metadata means information that describes key elements of the portal or application and what the portal or application can do. For content systems, metadata means key terms that provide a taxonomy or folksonomy about the information that is being indexed, ordered, and managed. For business intelligence systems, metadata means key terms that provide labels to groups of data that most non-mathematicians need to understand. And for SOA, metadata means labels for parts of the processes that business owners should understand that connect development terminology. There are also additional requirements for metadata to be available to the team building these new solutions as well as requirements to make this metadata available to the running system. These requirements are often separated by "design time" and "run time" respectively. So clearly, a general goal of managing metadata across the enterprise is very challenging. We've invested a huge amount of resources around Oracle Metadata Services (MDS) to be able to provide a more generic system for all of these elements. No other vendor has anything like this technology foundation in their products. This provides a huge benefit to our customers as they will now be able to find content, processes, people, and information from a common set of search interfaces with consistent enterprise wide results. Q: Can you give your definition of terms as to document and content, please?A: Content applies to a broad category of information from Word documents, presentations and reports through attachments to invoices and/or purchase orders. Content is essentially any type of digital asset including images, video, and voice. A document is just one type of content. Q: Do you have special integration tools to realize an interaction between UCM and WebCenter Spaces/Services?A: Yes, we've dedicated a whole team of engineers to exploit the key features of Oracle UCM within WebCenter.  While ensuring that WebCenter can connect to other non-Oracle systems, we've made sure that with the combined set of Oracle technology, no other solution can match the combined power and integration.  This is part of the Oracle Fusion Middleware strategy which is to provide best in class capabilities for Content and Portals.  When combined together, the synergy between the two products enables users to quickly add capabilities when they are needed.  For example, simple document sharing is part of the combined product offering, but if legal discovery or archiving is required, Oracle UCM product includes these capabilities that can be quickly added.  There's no need to move content around or add another system to support this, it's just a feature that gets turned on within Oracle UCM. Q: All customers have some interaction with their applications and have many older versions, how do you see some of these new Enterprise 2.0 capabilities adding value to existing enterprise application deployments?A: Just as Service Oriented Architectures allowed for connecting the processes of different applications systems to work together, there's a need for a similar approach with regards to these enterprise 2.0 capabilities. Oracle WebCenter is built on a core architecture that allows for SOA of these Enterprise 2.0 services so that one set of scalable services can be used and integrated directly into any type of application. In this way, users can get immediate value out of the Enterprise 2.0 capabilities without having to wait for the next major release or upgrade. These centrally managed WebCenter services expose a set of standard interfaces that make it extremely easy to add them into existing applications no matter what technology the application has been implemented. Q: We've heard about Oracle Next Generation applications called "Fusion Applications", can you tell me how all this works together?A: Oracle WebCenter powers the core collaboration and social computing services found within Fusion Applications. It is the core user experience technology for how all the application screens have been implemented. And the core concept of task flows allows for all the Fusion Applications modules to be adaptable and composable by business users and IT without needing to be a professional developer. Oracle WebCenter is at the heart of the new Fusion Applications. In addition, the same patterns and technologies are now being added to the existing applications including JD Edwards, Siebel, Peoplesoft, and eBusiness Suite. The core technology enables all these customers to have a much smoother upgrade path to Fusion Applications. They get immediate benefits of injecting new user interactions into their existing applications without having to completely move to Fusion Applications. And then when the time comes, their users will already be well versed in how the new capabilities work. Q: Does any of this work with non Oracle software? Other databases? Other application servers? etc.A: We have made sure that Oracle WebCenter delivers the broadest set of development choices so that no matter what technology you developers are using, WebCenter capabilities can be quickly and easily added to the site or application. In addition, we have certified Oracle WebCenter to run against non-Oracle databases like DB2 and SQLServer. We have stated plans for certification against MySQL as well. Later in CY 2011, Oracle will provide certification on non-Oracle application servers such as WebSphere and JBoss. Q: How do we balance User and IT requirements in regards to Enterprise 2.0 technologies?A: Wrong decisions are often made because employee knowledge is not tapped efficiently and opportunities to innovate are often missed because the right people do not work together. Collaboration amongst workers in the right business context is critical for success. While standalone Enterprise 2.0 technologies can improve collaboration for collaboration's sake, using social collaboration tools in the context of business applications and processes will improve business responsiveness and lead companies to a more competitive position. As these systems become more mission critical it is essential that they maintain the highest level of performance and availability while scaling to support larger communities. Q: What are the ways in which Enterprise 2.0 can improve business responsiveness?A: With a wide range of Enterprise 2.0 tools in the marketplace, CIOs need to deploy solutions that will meet the requirements from users as well as address the requirements from IT. Workers want a next-generation user experience that is personalized and aggregates their daily tools and tasks, while IT needs to ensure the solution is secure, scalable, flexible, reliable and easily integrated with existing systems. An open and integrated approach to deploying portals, content management, and collaboration can enhance your business by addressing both the needs of knowledge workers for better information and the IT mandate to conserve resources by simplifying, consolidating and centralizing infrastructure and administration.  

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• HTG Explains: Should You Build Your Own PC?

  - by Chris Hoffman

  There was a time when every geek seemed to build their own PC. While the masses bought eMachines and Compaqs, geeks built their own more powerful and reliable desktop machines for cheaper. But does this still make sense? Building your own PC still offers as much flexibility in component choice as it ever did, but prebuilt computers are available at extremely competitive prices. Building your own PC will no longer save you money in most cases. The Rise of Laptops It’s impossible to look at the decline of geeks building their own PCs without considering the rise of laptops. There was a time when everyone seemed to use desktops — laptops were more expensive and significantly slower in day-to-day tasks. With the diminishing importance of computing power — nearly every modern computer has more than enough power to surf the web and use typical programs like Microsoft Office without any trouble — and the rise of laptop availability at nearly every price point, most people are buying laptops instead of desktops. And, if you’re buying a laptop, you can’t really build your own. You can’t just buy a laptop case and start plugging components into it — even if you could, you would end up with an extremely bulky device. Ultimately, to consider building your own desktop PC, you have to actually want a desktop PC. Most people are better served by laptops. Benefits to PC Building The two main reasons to build your own PC have been component choice and saving money. Building your own PC allows you to choose all the specific components you want rather than have them chosen for you. You get to choose everything, including the PC’s case and cooling system. Want a huge case with room for a fancy water-cooling system? You probably want to build your own PC. In the past, this often allowed you to save money — you could get better deals by buying the components yourself and combining them, avoiding the PC manufacturer markup. You’d often even end up with better components — you could pick up a more powerful CPU that was easier to overclock and choose more reliable components so you wouldn’t have to put up with an unstable eMachine that crashed every day. PCs you build yourself are also likely more upgradable — a prebuilt PC may have a sealed case and be constructed in such a way to discourage you from tampering with the insides, while swapping components in and out is generally easier with a computer you’ve built on your own. If you want to upgrade your CPU or replace your graphics card, it’s a definite benefit. Downsides to Building Your Own PC It’s important to remember there are downsides to building your own PC, too. For one thing, it’s just more work — sure, if you know what you’re doing, building your own PC isn’t that hard. Even for a geek, researching the best components, price-matching, waiting for them all to arrive, and building the PC just takes longer. Warranty is a more pernicious problem. If you buy a prebuilt PC and it starts malfunctioning, you can contact the computer’s manufacturer and have them deal with it. You don’t need to worry about what’s wrong. If you build your own PC and it starts malfunctioning, you have to diagnose the problem yourself. What’s malfunctioning, the motherboard, CPU, RAM, graphics card, or power supply? Each component has a separate warranty through its manufacturer, so you’ll have to determine which component is malfunctioning before you can send it off for replacement. Should You Still Build Your Own PC? Let’s say you do want a desktop and are willing to consider building your own PC. First, bear in mind that PC manufacturers are buying in bulk and getting a better deal on each component. They also have to pay much less for a Windows license than the $120 or so it would cost you to to buy your own Windows license. This is all going to wipe out the cost savings you’ll see — with everything all told, you’ll probably spend more money building your own average desktop PC than you would picking one up from Amazon or the local electronics store. If you’re an average PC user that uses your desktop for the typical things, there’s no money to be saved from building your own PC. But maybe you’re looking for something higher end. Perhaps you want a high-end gaming PC with the fastest graphics card and CPU available. Perhaps you want to pick out each individual component and choose the exact components for your gaming rig. In this case, building your own PC may be a good option. As you start to look at more expensive, high-end PCs, you may start to see a price gap — but you may not. Let’s say you wanted to blow thousands of dollars on a gaming PC. If you’re looking at spending this kind of money, it would be worth comparing the cost of individual components versus a prebuilt gaming system. Still, the actual prices may surprise you. For example, if you wanted to upgrade Dell’s $2293 Alienware Aurora to include a second NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 graphics card, you’d pay an additional $600 on Alienware’s website. The same graphics card costs $650 on Amazon or Newegg, so you’d be spending more money building the system yourself. Why? Dell’s Alienware gets bulk discounts you can’t get — and this is Alienware, which was once regarded as selling ridiculously overpriced gaming PCs to people who wouldn’t build their own. Building your own PC still allows you to get the most freedom when choosing and combining components, but this is only valuable to a small niche of gamers and professional users — most people, even average gamers, would be fine going with a prebuilt system. If you’re an average person or even an average gamer, you’ll likely find that it’s cheaper to purchase a prebuilt PC rather than assemble your own. Even at the very high end, components may be more expensive separately than they are in a prebuilt PC. Enthusiasts who want to choose all the individual components for their dream gaming PC and want maximum flexibility may want to build their own PCs. Even then, building your own PC these days is more about flexibility and component choice than it is about saving money. In summary, you probably shouldn’t build your own PC. If you’re an enthusiast, you may want to — but only a small minority of people would actually benefit from building their own systems. Feel free to compare prices, but you may be surprised which is cheaper. Image Credit: Richard Jones on Flickr, elPadawan on Flickr, Richard Jones on Flickr     

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, September 02, 2012

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Sunday, September 02, 2012Popular ReleasesThisismyusername's codeplex page.: HTML5 Multitouch Example - Fruit Ninja in HTML5: This is an example of how you could create a game such as Fruit Ninja using HTML5's multitouch capabilities. This example isn't responsive enough, so I will be working on that, and it doesn't have great graphics, either. If I had my own webpage, I could store some graphics and upload the game there and it might look halfway decent, but here the fruits are just circles. I hope you enjoy reading the source code anyway.GmailDefaultMaker: GmailDefaultMaker 3.0.0.2: Add QQ Mail BugfixRuminate XNA 4.0 GUI: Release 1.1.1: Fixed bugs with Slider and TextBox. Added ComboBox.Confuser: Confuser build 76542: This is a build of changeset 76542.SharePoint Column & View Permission: SharePoint Column and View Permission v1.2: Version 1.2 of this project. If you will find any bugs please let me know at enti@zoznam.sk or post your findings in Issue TrackerMihmojsos OS: Mihmojsos OS 3 (Smart Rabbit): !Mihmojsos OS 3 Smart Rabbit Mihmojsos Smart Rabbit is now availableDotNetNuke Translator: 01.00.00 Beta: First release of the project.YNA: YNA 0.2 alpha: Wath's new since 0.1 alpha ? A lot of changes but there are the most interresting : StateManager is now better and faster Mouse events for all YnObjects (Sprites, Images, texts) A really big improvement for YnGroup Gamepad support And the news : Tiled Map support (need refactoring) Isometric tiled map support (need refactoring) Transition effect like "FadeIn" and "FadeOut" (YnTransition) Timers (YnTimer) Path management (YnPath, need more refactoring) Downloads All downloads...Audio Pitch & Shift: Audio Pitch And Shift 5.1.0.2: fixed several issues with streaming modeUrlPager: UrlPager 1.2: Fixed bug in which url parameters will lost after paging; ????????url???bug；Sofire Suite: Sofire v1.5.0.0: Sofire v1.5.0.0 ?? ???????? ?????： 1、?? 2、????EntLib.com????????: EntLib.com???????? v3.0: EntLib eCommerce Solution ???Microsoft .Net Framework?????????????????????。Coevery - Free CRM: Coevery 1.0.0.24: Add a sample database, and installation instructions.Math.NET Numerics: Math.NET Numerics v2.2.1: Major linear algebra rework since v2.1, now available on Codeplex as well (previous versions were only available via NuGet). Since v2.2.0: Student-T density more robust for very large degrees of freedom Sparse Kronecker product much more efficient (now leverages sparsity) Direct access to raw matrix storage implementations for advanced extensibility Now also separate package for signed core library with a strong name (we dropped strong names in v2.2.0) Also available as NuGet packages...Microsoft SQL Server Product Samples: Database: AdventureWorks Databases – 2012, 2008R2 and 2008: About this release This release consolidates AdventureWorks databases for SQL Server 2012, 2008R2 and 2008 versions to one page. Each zip file contains an mdf database file and ldf log file. This should make it easier to find and download AdventureWorks databases since all OLTP versions are on one page. There are no database schema changes. For each release of the product, there is a light-weight and full version of the AdventureWorks sample database. The light-weight version is denoted by ...Christoc's DotNetNuke Module Development Template: DotNetNuke Project Templates V1.1 for VS2012: This release is specifically for Visual Studio 2012 Support, distributed through the Visual Studio Extensions gallery at http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/ After you build in Release mode the installable packages (source/install) can be found in the INSTALL folder now, within your module's folder, not the packages folder anymore Check out the blog post for all of the details about this release. http://www.dotnetnuke.com/Resources/Blogs/EntryId/3471/New-Visual-Studio-2012-Projec...Home Access Plus+: v8.0: v8.0.0901.1830 RELEASE CHANGED TO BETA Any issues, please log them on http://www.edugeek.net/forums/home-access-plus/ This is full release, NO upgrade ZIP will be provided as most files require replacing. To upgrade from a previous version, delete everything but your AppData folder, extract all but the AppData folder and run your HAP+ install Documentation is supplied in the Web Zip The Quota Services require executing a script to register the service, this can be found in there install ...Phalanger - The PHP Language Compiler for the .NET Framework: 3.0.0.3406 (September 2012): New features: Extended ReflectionClass libxml error handling, constants DateTime::modify(), DateTime::getOffset() TreatWarningsAsErrors MSBuild option OnlyPrecompiledCode configuration option; allows to use only compiled code Fixes: ArgsAware exception fix accessing .NET properties bug fix ASP.NET session handler fix for OutOfProc mode DateTime methods (WordPress posting fix) Phalanger Tools for Visual Studio: Visual Studio 2010 & 2012 New debugger engine, PHP-like debugging ...MabiCommerce: MabiCommerce 1.0.1: What's NewSetup now creates shortcuts Fix spelling errors Minor enhancement to the Map window.ScintillaNET: ScintillaNET 2.5.2: This release has been built from the 2.5 branch. Version 2.5.2 is functionally identical to the 2.5.1 release but also includes the XML documentation comments file generated by Visual Studio. It is not 100% comprehensive but it will give you Visual Studio IntelliSense for a large part of the API. Just make sure the ScintillaNET.xml file is in the same folder as the ScintillaNET.dll reference you're using in your projects. (The XML file does not need to be distributed with your application)....New ProjectsATSV: this is a student project for making a new silverlight UI Bookmark Collector: This project is a best practice example of how to use content items in DotNetNuke. It allows you to quickly and easily manage a listing of external links.BPVotingmachine: BP Vote SystemClean My Space: Sort your files in a fun and fast! With Clean My Space you can!CutePlatform: CutePlatform is a platform game based around the PlanetCute graphics pack from Daniel cook, make him a visit in www.lostgardem.comDancTeX: This project is targeting the integration of LaTeX into VisusalStudio. Epi Info™ Companion for Android: A mobile companion to the Epi Info™ 7 desktop tool for epidemiologic data collection and analysis.Flucene: Object Document Mapper for Lucene.Netfluentserializer: FluentSerializer is a library for .NET usable to create serialize/deserialize data through its fluent interface. The methods it creates are compiled.hongjiapp: hongjiappidealthings educational comprehensive administration system: ?????????????????????????????????????????????.Java Accounting Library: The project aims at providing a Financial Accounting Java Library which may be integrated to any other Java Application independent of its Backend Database.mycnblogs: mycnblogsNETPack: Lightweight and flexible packer for .NETRandom Useful Code: This project is where I will store various useful classes I have built over time. Only the code will be provided, no Library or the like.Suleymaniye Tavimi: Namaz vakitleri hesaplama uygulamasidir. Istenilen yer için hesaplama yapar.

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, July 02, 2013

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, July 02, 2013Popular ReleasesMastersign.Expressions: Mastersign.Expressions v0.4.2: added support for if(<cond>, <true-part>, <false-part>) fixed multithreading issue with rand() improved demo applicationNB_Store - Free DotNetNuke Ecommerce Catalog Module: NB_Store v2.3.6 Rel0: v2.3.6 Is now DNN6 and DNN7 compatible Important : During update this install with overwrite the menu.xml setting, if you have changed this then make a backup before you upgrade and reapply your changes after the upgrade. Please view the following documentation if you are installing and configuring this module for the first time System Requirements Skill requirements Downloads and documents Step by step guide to a working store Please ask all questions in the Discussions tab. Document.Editor: 2013.26: What's new for Document.Editor 2013.26: New Insert Chart Improved User Interface Minor Bug Fix's, improvements and speed upsWsus Package Publisher: Release V1.2.1307.01: Fix an issue in the UI, approvals are not shown correctly in the 'Report' tabDirectX Tool Kit: July 2013: July 1, 2013 VS 2013 Preview projects added and updates for DirectXMath 3.05 vectorcall Added use of sRGB WIC metadata for JPEG, PNG, and TIFF SaveToWIC functions updated with new optional setCustomProps parameter and error check with optional targetFormatCore Server 2012 Powershell Script Hyper-v Manager: new_root.zip: Verison 1.0JSON Toolkit: JSON Toolkit 4.1.736: Improved strinfigy performance New serializing feature New anonymous type support in constructorsDotNetNuke® IFrame: IFrame 04.05.00: New DNN6/7 Manifest file and Azure Compatibility.VidCoder: 1.5.2 Beta: Fixed crash on presets with an invalid bitrate.Gardens Point LEX: Gardens Point LEX version 1.2.1: The main distribution is a zip file. This contains the binary executable, documentation, source code and the examples. ChangesVersion 1.2.1 has new facilities for defining and manipulating character classes. These changes make the construction of large Unicode character classes more convenient. The runtime code for performing automaton backup has been re-implemented, and is now faster for scanners that need backup. Source CodeThe distribution contains a complete VS2010 project for the appli...ZXMAK2: Version 2.7.5.7: - fix TZX emulation (Bruce Lee, Zynaps) - fix ATM 16 colors for border - add memory module PROFI 512K; add PROFI V03 rom image; fix PROFI 3.XX configTwitter image Downloader: Twitter Image Downloader 2 with Installer: Application file with Install shield and Dot Net 4.0 redistributableUltimate Music Tagger: Ultimate Music Tagger 1.0.0.0: First release of Ultimate Music TaggerBlackJumboDog: Ver5.9.2: 2013.06.28 Ver5.9.2 (1) ??????????(????SMTP?????)?????????? (2) HTTPS???????????Outlook 2013 Add-In: Configuration Form: This new version includes the following changes: - Refactored code a bit. - Removing configuration from main form to gain more space to display items. - Moved configuration to separate form. You can click the little "gear" icon to access the configuration form (still very simple). - Added option to show past day appointments from the selected day (previous in time, that is). - Added some tooltips. You will have to uninstall the previous version (add/remove programs) if you had installed it ...Terminals: Version 3.0 - Release: Changes since version 2.0:Choose 100% portable or installed version Removed connection warning when running RDP 8 (Windows 8) client Fixed Active directory search Extended Active directory search by LDAP filters Fixed single instance mode when running on Windows Terminal server Merged usage of Tags and Groups Added columns sorting option in tables No UAC prompts on Windows 7 Completely new file persistence data layer New MS SQL persistence layer (Store data in SQL database)...NuGet: NuGet 2.6: Released June 26, 2013. Release notes: http://docs.nuget.org/docs/release-notes/nuget-2.6Python Tools for Visual Studio: 2.0 Beta: We’re pleased to announce the release of Python Tools for Visual Studio 2.0 Beta. Python Tools for Visual Studio (PTVS) is an open-source plug-in for Visual Studio which supports programming with the Python language. PTVS supports a broad range of features including CPython/IronPython, Edit/Intellisense/Debug/Profile, Cloud, HPC, IPython, and cross platform debugging support. For a quick overview of the general IDE experience, please watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuewiStN...Player Framework by Microsoft: Player Framework for Windows 8 and WP8 (v1.3 beta): Preview: New MPEG DASH adaptive streaming plugin for Windows Azure Media Services Preview: New Ultraviolet CFF plugin. Preview: New WP7 version with WP8 compatibility. (source code only) Source code is now available via CodePlex Git Misc bug fixes and improvements: WP8 only: Added optional fullscreen and mute buttons to default xaml JS only: protecting currentTime from returning infinity. Some videos would cause currentTime to be infinity which could cause errors in plugins expectin...AssaultCube Reloaded: 2.5.8: SERVER OWNERS: note that the default maprot has changed once again. Linux has Ubuntu 11.10 32-bit precompiled binaries and Ubuntu 10.10 64-bit precompiled binaries, but you can compile your own as it also contains the source. If you are using Mac or other operating systems, please wait while we continue to try to package for those OSes. Or better yet, try to compile it. If it fails, download a virtual machine. The server pack is ready for both Windows and Linux, but you might need to compi...New ProjectsALM Rangers DevOps Tooling and Guidance: Practical tooling and guidance that will enable teams to realize a faster deployment based on continuous feedback.Core Server 2012 Powershell Script Hyper-v Manager: Free core Server 2012 powershell scripts and batch files that replace the non-existent hyper-v manager, vmconnect and mstsc.Enhanced Deployment Service (EDS): EDS is a web service based utility designed to extend the deployment capabilities of administrators with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.ExtendedDialogBox: Libreria DialogBoxJazdy: This project is here only because we wanted to take advantage of a public git server.Mon Examen: This web interface is meant to make examinationsneet: summaryOrchard Multi-Choice Voting: A multiple choice voting Orchard module.Particle Swarm Optimization Solving Quadratic Assignment Problem: This project is submitted for the solving of QAP using PSO algorithms with addition of some modification Porjects: 23123123PPL Power Pack: PPL Power PackProperty Builder: Visual Studio tool for speeding up process of coding class properties getters and setters.RedRuler for Redline: I tried some on-screen rulers, none of them help me measure the UI element quickly based on the Redline. So I decided to created this handy RedRuler tool. Royale Living: Mahindra Royale Community PortalSearch and booking Hotel or Tours: Ð? án nghiên c?u c?a sinh viên tdt theo mô hình mvc 4SystemBuilder.Show: This tool is a helper after you create your project in visual studio to create the respective objects and interface. TalentDesk: new ptojectTcmplex: The Training Center teaches many different kind of course such as English, French, Computer hardware and computer softwareTFS Reporting Guide: Provides guidance and samples to enable TFS users to generate reports based on WIT data.Umbraco AdaptiveImages: Adaptive Images Package for UmbracoVirtualNet - A ILcode interpreter/emulator written in C++/Assembly: VirtualNet is a interpreter/emulator for running .net code in native without having to install the .Net FrameWorkVisual Blocks: Visual Blocks ????IDE ????? ??????? ????? ????/?? Visual Studio and Cloud Based Mobile Device Testing: Practical guidance enabling field to remove blockers to adoption and to use and extend the Perfecto Mobile Cloud Device testing within the context of VS.Windows 8 Time Picker for Windows Phone: A Windows Phone implementation of the Time Picker control found in the Windows 8.1 Alarms app.???? - SmallBasic?: ?????????

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• HTG Explains: Should You Buy Extended Warranties?

  - by Chris Hoffman

  Buy something at an electronics store and you’ll be confronted by a pushy salesperson who insists you need an extended warranty. You’ll also see extended warranties pushed hard when shopping online. But are they worth it? There’s a reason stores push extended warranties so hard. They’re almost always pure profit for the store involved. An electronics store may live on razor-thin product margins and make big profits on extended warranties and overpriced HDMI cables. You’re Already Getting Multiple Warranties First, back up. The product you’re buying already includes a warranty. In fact, you’re probably getting several different types of warranties. Store Return and Exchange: Most electronics stores allow you to return a malfunctioning product within the first 15 or 30 days and they’ll provide you with a new one. The exact period of time will vary from store to store. If you walk out of the store with a defective product and have to swap it for a new one within the first few weeks, this should be easy. Manufacturer Warranty: A device’s manufacturer — whether the device is a laptop, a television, or a graphics card — offers their own warranty period. The manufacturer warranty covers you after the store refuses to take the product back and exchange it. The length of this warranty depends on the type of product. For example, a cheap laptop may only offer a one-year manufacturer warranty, while a more expensive laptop may offer a two-year warranty. Credit Card Warranty Extension: Many credit cards offer free extended warranties on products you buy with that credit card. Credit card companies will often give you an additional year of warranty. For example, if you buy a laptop with a two year warranty and it fails in the third year, you could then contact your credit card company and they’d cover the cost of fixing or replacing it. Check your credit card’s benefits and fine print for more information. Why Extended Warranties Are Bad You’re already getting a fairly long warranty period, especially if you have a credit card that offers you a free extended warranty — these are fairly common. If the product you get is a “lemon” and has a manufacturing error, it will likely fail pretty soon — well within your warranty period. The extended warranty matters after all your other warranties are exhausted. In the case of a laptop with a two-year warranty that you purchase with a credit card giving you a one-year warranty extension, your extended warranty will kick in three years after you purchase the laptop. In that many years, your current laptop will likely feel pretty old and laptops that are as good — or better — will likely be pretty cheap. If it’s a television, better television displays will be available at a lower price point. You’ll either want to upgrade to a newer model or you’ll be able to buy a new, just-as-good product for very cheap. You’ll only have to pay out-of-pocket if your device fails after the normal warranty period — in over two or three years for typical laptops purchased with a decent credit card. Save the money you would have spent on the warranty and put it towards a future upgrade. How Much Do Extended Warranties Cost? Let’s look at an example from a typical pushy retail outlet, Best Buy. We went to Best Buy’s website and found a pretty standard $600 Samsung laptop. This laptop comes with a one-year warranty period. If purchased with a fairly common credit card, you can easily get a two-year warranty period on this laptop without spending an additional penny. (Yes, such credit cards are available with no yearly fees.) During the check-out process, Best Buy tries to sell you a Geek Squad “Accidental Protection Plan.” To get an additional year of Best Buy’s extended warranty, you’d have to pay $324.98 for a “3-Year Accidental Protection Plan”. You’d basically be paying more than half the price of your laptop for an additional year of warranty — remember, the standard warranties would cover you anyway for the first two years. If this laptop did break sometime between two and three years from now, we wouldn’t be surprised if you could purchase a comparable laptop for about $325 anyway. And, if you don’t need to replace it, you’ve saved that money. Best Buy would object that this isn’t a standard extended warranty. It’s a supercharged warranty plan that will also provide coverage if you spill something on your laptop or drop it and break it. You just have to ask yourself a question. What are the odds that you’ll drop your laptop or spill something on it? They’re probably pretty low if you’re a typical human being. Is it worth spending more than half the price of the laptop just in case you’ll make an uncommon mistake? Probably not. There may be occasional exceptions to this — some Apple users swear by Apple’s AppleCare, for example — but you should generally avoid buying these things. There’s a reason stores are so pushy about extended warranties, and it’s not because they want to help protect you. It’s because they’re making lots of profit from these plans, and they’re making so much profit because they’re not a good deal for customers. Image Credit: Philip Taylor on Flickr     

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• OS8- AK8- The bad news...

  - by Steve Tunstall

  Ok I told you I would give you the bad news of AK8 to go along with all the cool new stuff, so here it is. It's not that bad, really, just things you need to be aware of. First, the 2013.1 code is being called OS8, AK8 and 2013.1 by different people. I mean different people INSIDE Oracle!! It was supposed to be easy, but it never is. So for the rest of this blog entry, I'm calling it AK8. AK8 is not compatible with the 7x10 series. Ever. The 7x10 series is not supported with AK8, and if you try to upgrade one, it will fail at the healthcheck. All 7x20 series, all of them regardless of age, are supported with AK8. Drive trays. Let's talk about drive trays and SAS cards. The older drive trays for the 7x20 series were called the "Riverwalk 2" or "DS2" trays. They were technically the "J4410" series JBODs that Sun used to sell a la carte before we stopped selling JBODs. Don't get me started on that, it still makes me mad. We used these for many years, and you can still buy them right now until December 15th, 2013, when they will no longer be sold. The DS2 tray only came as a 4u, 24 drive shelf. It held 3.5" drives, and you had a choice of 2TB, 3TB, 300GB or 600GB drives. The SAS HBA in the 7x20 series was called a "Thebe" card, with a part # of 7105394. The 7420, for example, came standard with two of these "Thebe" cards for connecting to the disk trays. Two Thebe cards could handle up to 12 trays, so one would add two more cards to go to 24 trays, or have up to six Thebe cards to handle 36 trays. This card was for external SAS only. It did not connect to the internal OS drives or the Readzillas, both of which used the internal SCSI controller of the server. These Riverwalk 2 trays ARE supported with AK8. You can upgrade your older 7420 or 7320, no problem, as-is. The much older Riverwalk 1 trays or J4400 trays are NOT supported by AK8. However, they were only used by the 7x10 series, and we already said that the 7x10 series was not supported. Here's where it gets tricky. Since last January, we have been selling the new style disk trays. We call them the "DE2-24P" and the "DE2-24C" trays. The "C" tray is for capacity drives, which are 3.5" 3TB or 4TB drives. The "P" trays are for performance drives, which are 2.5" 300GB and 900GB drives. These trays are NOT Riverwalk 2 trays, even though the "C" series may kind of look like it. Different manufacturer and different firmware. They are not new. Like I said, we've been selling them with the 7x20 series since last January. They are the only disk trays we will be selling going forward. Of course, AK8 supports them. So what's the problem? The problem is going to be for people who have to mix drive trays. Remember, your older 7x20 series has Thebe SAS2 HBAs. These have 2 SAS ports per card.  The new ZS3-2 and ZS3-4 systems, however, have the new "Thebe2" SAS2 HBAs. These Thebe2 cards have 4 ports per card. This is very cool, as we can now do more SAS channels with less cards. Instead of needing 4 SAS cards to grow to 24 trays like we did with the old Thebe cards, I can now do 24 trays with only 2 Thebe2 cards. This means more IO slots for fun things like Infiniband and 10G. So far, so good, right? These Thebe2 cards work with any disk tray. You can even mix older DS2 trays with the newer DE2 trays in the same system, as long as you have Thebe2 cards. Ah, there's your problem. You don't have Thebe2 cards in your old 7420, do you? Well, I told you the bad news wasn't that bad, right? We can take out your Thebe cards and replace them with Thebe2. You can then plug your older DS2 trays right back in, and also now get newer DE2 trays going forward. However, it's important that the trays are on different SAS channels. You can mix them in the same system, but not on the same channel. Ask your local SC if you need help with the new cable layout. By the way, the new ZS3-2 and ZS3-4 systems also include a new IO card called "Erie" cards. These are for INTERNAL SAS to the OS drives and the Readzillas. So those are now SAS2 instead of SATA like the older models. Yes, the Erie card uses an IO slot, but that's OK, because the Thebe2 cards allow us to use less SAS HBAs to grow the system, right? That's it. Not too much bad news and really not that bad. AK8 does not support the 7x10 series, and you may need new Thebe2 cards in your older systems if you want to add on newer DE2 trays. I think we can all agree that there are worse things out there. Like our Congress.   Next up.... More good news and cool AK8 tricks. Such as virtual NICS. 

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• VNIC - New feature of AK8 - Working with VNICs

  - by Steve Tunstall

  One of the important new features of the AK8 code is the ability to use multiple IP addresses on the same physical network port. This feature is called VNICs, or Virtual NICs. This allows us to no longer "burn" a whole port in a cluster when one cluster peer owns a network port. Traditionally, we have had to leave Net0 empty on controller 2, because it was used for managing controller 1. Vise-versa for Net1 on Controller 1. Then, if you have data going over 10GigE ports, you probably only had half of your ports running at any given time, and the partner 10GigE port on the other controller just sat there, doing nothing, unless the first controller went down. What a waste. Those days are over.  I want to thank and give a big shout-out to our good partner, OnX Enterprise Solutions, for allowing me to come into their lab and play around with their 7320 to do this demo. They let me make a big mess of their lab for the day as I played around with VNICs. If you're looking for a partner who knows Oracle well and can also piece together a solution from multiple vendors to get you what you need, OnX is a good choice. If you would like to talk to your local OnX rep, you can contact Scott Gill at [email protected] and he can point you in the right direction for your area.  Here we go: Here is what your Datalinks window looks like BEFORE you upgrade to AK8. Here's what the same screen looks like after you upgrade. See the new box? So here is my current network setup. I have my 4 physical interfaces setup each with an IP address. If I ping them, no problems.  So I can ping 180, 181, 251, and 252. However, if I try to ping 240, it does not work, as the 240 address is not being used by any of these interfaces, right?Let's change that. Here, I'm going to make a new Datalink by clicking the Datalink "Plus sign" button. I will check the VNIC box and tell it to use igb2, even though another interface is already using it. Now, I will create a new Interface, and choose "v_dl2" for it's datalink. My new network screen looks like this. A few things to take note of here. First, when I click the "igb2" device, it only highlights dl2 and int2. It does not highlight v_dl2 or v_int2.I think it should, but OK, it looks like VNICs don't highlight when you click the device. Second, note how the underscore character in v_dl2 and v_int2 do not seem to show on this screen. You can see it plainly if you go in and edit them, but from here it looks like a space instead of an underscore. Just a cosmetic bug, but something to be aware of. Now, if I click the VNIC datalink "v_dl2", on the other hand, it DOES highlight the device it belongs to, as it should. Seen here: Note that it did not, however, highlight int2 with it, even though int2 is connected to igb2. That's because we clicked v_dl2, which int2 has nothing to do with. So I'm OK with that. So let's try pinging 240 now. Of course, it works great.  So I now make another VNIC, and call it v_dl3 using igb3, and v_int3 with an address of 241. I then setup three shares, using ports 251, 240, and 241.Remember that IP 251 and 240 both are using the same physical port of igb2, and IP 241 is using port igb3. Next, I copy a folder full of stuff over to all three shares at the same time. I have analytics going so I can see the traffic. My top chart is showing the logical interfaces, and the bottom chart is showing the physical ports.Sure enough, look at the igb2 and vnic1 interfaces. They equal the traffic going over the igb2 physical port on the second chart. VNIC2, on the other hand, gets igb3 all to itself. This would work the same way with 10Gig or Infiniband ports. You can now have multiple IP addresses and even completely different subnets sharing the same physical ports. You may need to make route table entries for that. This allows us to use all of the ports you paid for with no more waste.  Very, very cool.  One small "bug" I found when doing this. It's really not a bug, it was designed to do this when VNICs were not around. But now that we have NVIC capability, they should probably change this. I've alerted the engineering team about this and they're looking into it, so perhaps it will be fixed in a later code. Here it is. Remember when we made the new VNIC datalink, I specifically said to click on the "Plus Sign" button to create it? I don't always do that. I really like to use the drag-and-drop method to create my datalinks in the network screen.HOWEVER, if you were to do that for building a VNIC, it will mess you up a little. Watch this. Here, I'm dragging igb3 over to make a new datalink. igb3 is already being used by dl3, but I'm going to make this a VNIC, so who cares, right? Well, the ZFSSA does not KNOW you are going to make it a VNIC, now does it? So... it works as designed and REMOVES the igb3 device from the current dl3 datalink in the background. See how it's now missing? At the same time, the dl3 datalink choice is missing from my list of possible VNICs for me to choose from!!!! Hey!!! I wanted to pick dl3. Why isn't it on the list??? Well, it can't be on this list because dl3 no longer has a device associated with it. Bummer for you. When you click cancel, the device is still missing from dl3. The fix is easy. Just edit dl3 by clicking the pencil button, do absolutely nothing, and click "Apply". The device will magically come back. Now, make the VNIC datalink by clicking the "Plus Sign" button. Sure enough, once you check the VNIC box, dl3 is a valid choice. No problem.  That's it for now. Have fun with VNICs.

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• Part 3 of 4 : Tips/Tricks for Silverlight Developers.

  - by mbcrump

  Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 I wanted to create a series of blog post that gets right to the point and is aimed specifically at Silverlight Developers. The most important things I want this series to answer is : What is it?  Why do I care? How do I do it? I hope that you enjoy this series. Let’s get started: Tip/Trick #11) What is it? Underline Text in a TextBlock. Why do I care? I’ve seen people do some crazy things to get underlined text in a Silverlight Application. In case you didn’t know there is a property for that. How do I do it: On a TextBlock you have a property called TextDecorations. You can easily set this property in XAML or CodeBehind with the following snippet: <UserControl x:Class="SilverlightApplication19.MainPage" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="400"> <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White"> <TextBlock Name="txtTB" Text="MichaelCrump.NET" TextDecorations="Underline" /> </Grid> </UserControl> or you can do it in CodeBehind… txtTB.TextDecorations = TextDecorations.Underline;   Tip/Trick #12) What is it? Get the browser information from a Silverlight Application. Why do I care? This will allow you to program around certain browser conditions that otherwise may not be aware of. How do I do it: It is very easy to extract Browser Information out a Silverlight Application by using the BrowserInformation class. You can copy/paste this code snippet to have access to all of them. string strBrowserName = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.Name; string strBrowserMinorVersion = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.BrowserVersion.Minor.ToString(); string strIsCookiesEnabled = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.CookiesEnabled.ToString(); string strPlatform = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.Platform; string strProductName = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.ProductName; string strProductVersion = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.ProductVersion; string strUserAgent = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.UserAgent; string strBrowserVersion = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.BrowserVersion.ToString(); string strBrowserMajorVersion = HtmlPage.BrowserInformation.BrowserVersion.Major.ToString(); Tip/Trick #13) What is it? Always check the minRuntimeVersion after creating a new Silverlight Application. Why do I care? Whenever you create a new Silverlight Application and host it inside of an ASP.net website you will notice Visual Studio generates some code for you as shown below. The minRuntimeVersion value is set by the SDK installed on your system. Be careful, if you are playing with beta’s like “Lightswitch” because you will have a higher version of the SDK installed. So when you create a new Silverlight 4 project and deploy it your customers they will get a prompt telling them they need to upgrade Silverlight. They also will not be able to upgrade to your version because its not released to the public yet. How do I do it: Open up the .aspx or .html file Visual Studio generated and look for the line below. Make sure it matches whatever version you are actually targeting. Tip/Trick #14) What is it? The VisualTreeHelper class provides useful methods for involving nodes in a visual tree. Why do I care? It’s nice to have the ability to “walk” a visual tree or to get the rendered elements of a ListBox. I have it very useful for debugging my Silverlight application. How do I do it: Many examples exist on the web, but say that you have a huge Silverlight application and want to find the parent object of a control.  In the code snippet below, we would get 3 MessageBoxes with (StackPanel first, Grid second and UserControl Third). This is a tiny application, but imagine how helpful this would be on a large project. <UserControl x:Class="SilverlightApplication18.MainPage" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008" xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignHeight="300" d:DesignWidth="400"> <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="White"> <StackPanel> <Button Content="Button" Height="23" Name="button1" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="75" Click="button1_Click" /> </StackPanel> </Grid> </UserControl> private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { DependencyObject obj = button1; while ((obj = VisualTreeHelper.GetParent(obj)) != null) { MessageBox.Show(obj.GetType().ToString()); } } Tip/Trick #15) What is it? Add ChildWindows to your Silverlight Application. Why do I care? ChildWindows are a great way to direct a user attention to a particular part of your application. This could be used when saving or entering data. How do I do it: Right click your Silverlight Application and click Add then New Item. Select Silverlight Child Window as shown below. Add an event and call the ChildWindow with the following snippet below: private void button1_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { ChildWindow1 cw = new ChildWindow1(); cw.Show(); } Your main application can still process information but this screen forces the user to select an action before proceeding. The code behind of the ChildWindow will look like the following: namespace SilverlightApplication18 { public partial class ChildWindow1 : ChildWindow { public ChildWindow1() { InitializeComponent(); } private void OKButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { this.DialogResult = true; //TODO: Add logic to save what the user entered. } private void CancelButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { this.DialogResult = false; } } } Thanks for reading and please come back for Part 4.  Subscribe to my feed CodeProject

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• System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException - Security perssmission issue

  - by Hiscal

  Can any one help me to resolve this error.My website hosted on shared environment. Server Error in '/' Application. System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to process request. ---> System.Security.SecurityException: Request for the permission of type 'System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' failed. at System.Security.CodeAccessSecurityEngine.Check(Object demand, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean isPermSet) at System.Security.CodeAccessPermission.Demand() at System.Net.ServicePointManager.set_CertificatePolicy(ICertificatePolicy value) at BirdieThis.WebService.golfService.BookGolfCourse(CourseBooking oCourseInfo, CoursePlayer oCoursePlayer, CoursePayment oCoursePayment) The action that failed was: Demand The type of the first permission that failed was: System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission The first permission that failed was: <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="UnmanagedCode"/> The demand was for: <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="UnmanagedCode"/> The granted set of the failing assembly was: <PermissionSet class="System.Security.PermissionSet" version="1"> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.EnvironmentPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Read="TEMP;TMP;USERNAME;OS;COMPUTERNAME"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Read="D:\Hosting\5457055\html" Write="d:\content\;d:\hosting\" Append="D:\Hosting\5457055\html" PathDiscovery="d:\hosting\"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.IsolatedStorageFilePermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Allowed="AssemblyIsolationByUser" UserQuota="9223372036854775807"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.ReflectionPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="RestrictedMemberAccess"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="Assertion, Execution, ControlThread, ControlPrincipal, RemotingConfiguration"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.UrlIdentityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Url="file:///D:/Hosting/5457055/html/bin/App_Code.DLL"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.ZoneIdentityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Zone="MyComputer"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.KeyContainerPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Level="Medium"/> <IPermission class="System.Configuration.ConfigurationPermission, System.Configuration, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.DnsPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Drawing.Printing.PrintingPermission, System.Drawing, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" version="1" Level="DefaultPrinting"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.Mail.SmtpPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Access="Connect"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.SqlClient.SqlClientPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.OleDb.OleDbPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.Odbc.OdbcPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.WebPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1"> <ConnectAccess> <URI uri="http://.*"/> <URI uri="https://.*"/> </ConnectAccess> </IPermission> <IPermission class="System.Net.SocketPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1"> <ConnectAccess> <ENDPOINT host="*.*.*.*" transport="Tcp" port="3306"/> </ConnectAccess> </IPermission> </PermissionSet> The assembly or AppDomain that failed was: App_Code, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null The method that caused the failure was: golfswitchs.BookGolfResult BookGolfCourse(mygolf.CourseBooking, mygolf.CoursePlayer, mygolf.CoursePayment) The Zone of the assembly that failed was: MyComputer The Url of the assembly that failed was: file:///D:/Hosting/5457055/html/bin/App_Code.DLL --- End of inner exception stack trace --- Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. Exception Details: System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to process request. ---> System.Security.SecurityException: Request for the permission of type 'System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' failed. at System.Security.CodeAccessSecurityEngine.Check(Object demand, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean isPermSet) at System.Security.CodeAccessPermission.Demand() at System.Net.ServicePointManager.set_CertificatePolicy(ICertificatePolicy value) at BirdieThis.WebService.golfService.BookGolfCourse(CourseBooking oCourseInfo, CoursePlayer oCoursePlayer, CoursePayment oCoursePayment) The action that failed was: Demand The type of the first permission that failed was: System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission The first permission that failed was: <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="UnmanagedCode"/> The demand was for: <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="UnmanagedCode"/> The granted set of the failing assembly was: <PermissionSet class="System.Security.PermissionSet" version="1"> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.EnvironmentPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Read="TEMP;TMP;USERNAME;OS;COMPUTERNAME"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Read="D:\Hosting\5457055\html" Write="d:\content\;d:\hosting\" Append="D:\Hosting\5457055\html" PathDiscovery="d:\hosting\"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.IsolatedStorageFilePermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Allowed="AssemblyIsolationByUser" UserQuota="9223372036854775807"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.ReflectionPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="RestrictedMemberAccess"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="Assertion, Execution, ControlThread, ControlPrincipal, RemotingConfiguration"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.UrlIdentityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Url="file:///D:/Hosting/5457055/html/bin/App_Code.DLL"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.ZoneIdentityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Zone="MyComputer"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.KeyContainerPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Level="Medium"/> <IPermission class="System.Configuration.ConfigurationPermission, System.Configuration, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.DnsPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Drawing.Printing.PrintingPermission, System.Drawing, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" version="1" Level="DefaultPrinting"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.Mail.SmtpPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Access="Connect"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.SqlClient.SqlClientPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.OleDb.OleDbPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.Odbc.OdbcPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.WebPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1"> <ConnectAccess> <URI uri="http://.*"/> <URI uri="https://.*"/> </ConnectAccess> </IPermission> <IPermission class="System.Net.SocketPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1"> <ConnectAccess> <ENDPOINT host="*.*.*.*" transport="Tcp" port="3306"/> </ConnectAccess> </IPermission> </PermissionSet> The assembly or AppDomain that failed was: App_Code, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null The method that caused the failure was: golfswitchs.BookGolfResult BookGolfCourse(mygolf.CourseBooking, mygolf.CoursePlayer, mygolf.CoursePayment) The Zone of the assembly that failed was: MyComputer The Url of the assembly that failed was: file:///D:/Hosting/5457055/html/bin/App_Code.DLL --- End of inner exception stack trace --- Source Error: Line 446: Line 447: oPayment.PayCurrency = "USD"; Line 448: oResult = oService.BookGolfCourse(oGolfItem, oGolfplayer, oPayment); Line 449: Response.Write(oResult.RetMsg); Line 450: Source File: c:\inetpub\vhosts\cfmdeveloper.com\subdomains\ind103\httpdocs\test.aspx.cs Line: 448 Stack Trace: [SoapException: System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to process request. ---> System.Security.SecurityException: Request for the permission of type 'System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089' failed. at System.Security.CodeAccessSecurityEngine.Check(Object demand, StackCrawlMark& stackMark, Boolean isPermSet) at System.Security.CodeAccessPermission.Demand() at System.Net.ServicePointManager.set_CertificatePolicy(ICertificatePolicy value) at BirdieThis.WebService.golfService.BookGolfCourse(CourseBooking oCourseInfo, CoursePlayer oCoursePlayer, CoursePayment oCoursePayment) The action that failed was: Demand The type of the first permission that failed was: System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission The first permission that failed was: <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="UnmanagedCode"/> The demand was for: <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="UnmanagedCode"/> The granted set of the failing assembly was: <PermissionSet class="System.Security.PermissionSet" version="1"> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.EnvironmentPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Read="TEMP;TMP;USERNAME;OS;COMPUTERNAME"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Read="D:\Hosting\5457055\html" Write="d:\content\;d:\hosting\" Append="D:\Hosting\5457055\html" PathDiscovery="d:\hosting\"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.IsolatedStorageFilePermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Allowed="AssemblyIsolationByUser" UserQuota="9223372036854775807"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.ReflectionPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="RestrictedMemberAccess"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.SecurityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Flags="Assertion, Execution, ControlThread, ControlPrincipal, RemotingConfiguration"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.UrlIdentityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Url="file:///D:/Hosting/5457055/html/bin/App_Code.DLL"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.ZoneIdentityPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Zone="MyComputer"/> <IPermission class="System.Security.Permissions.KeyContainerPermission, mscorlib, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Web.AspNetHostingPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Level="Medium"/> <IPermission class="System.Configuration.ConfigurationPermission, System.Configuration, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.DnsPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Drawing.Printing.PrintingPermission, System.Drawing, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" version="1" Level="DefaultPrinting"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.Mail.SmtpPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Access="Connect"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.SqlClient.SqlClientPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.OleDb.OleDbPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Data.Odbc.OdbcPermission, System.Data, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1" Unrestricted="true"/> <IPermission class="System.Net.WebPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1"> <ConnectAccess> <URI uri="http://.*"/> <URI uri="https://.*"/> </ConnectAccess> </IPermission> <IPermission class="System.Net.SocketPermission, System, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" version="1"> <ConnectAccess> <ENDPOINT host="*.*.*.*" transport="Tcp" port="3306"/> </ConnectAccess> </IPermission> </PermissionSet> The assembly or AppDomain that failed was: App_Code, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null The method that caused the failure was: golfswitchs.BookGolfResult BookGolfCourse(mygolf.CourseBooking, mygolf.CoursePlayer, mygolf.CoursePayment) The Zone of the assembly that failed was: MyComputer The Url of the assembly that failed was: file:///D:/Hosting/5457055/html/bin/App_Code.DLL --- End of inner exception stack trace ---] System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.ReadResponse(SoapClientMessage message, WebResponse response, Stream responseStream, Boolean asyncCall) +431766 System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters) +204 mygolf.golfService.BookGolfCourse(CourseBooking oCourseInfo, CoursePlayer oCoursePlayer, CoursePayment oCoursePayment) +80 birdiethis.web.test.BookClub() in c:\inetpub\vhosts\cfmdeveloper.com\subdomains\ind103\httpdocs\test.aspx.cs:448 birdiethis.web.test.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\inetpub\vhosts\cfmdeveloper.com\subdomains\ind103\httpdocs\test.aspx.cs:28 System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp, Object o, Object t, EventArgs e) +14 System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e) +35 System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +99 System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +50 System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +627 Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:2.0.50727.3603; ASP.NET Version:2.0.50727.3082

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• any clue in these logs why keyboard audio and internet are messed up

  - by mmj

  Jun 7 00:01:18 Isis lightdm: pam_unix(lightdm-autologin:session): session opened for user mimi by (uid=0) Jun 7 00:01:18 Isis lightdm: pam_ck_connector(lightdm-autologin:session): nox11 mode, ignoring PAM_TTY :0 Jun 7 00:01:26 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 (system bus name :1.36 [/usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1], object path /org/gnome/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale zh_CN.UTF-8) Jun 7 00:01:29 Isis dbus[610]: [system] Rejected send message, 2 matched rules; type="method_call", sender=":1.44" (uid=1000 pid=1763 comm="/usr/lib/indicator-datetime/indicator-datetime-ser") interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" error name="(unset)" requested_reply="0" destination=":1.15" (uid=0 pid=1219 comm="/usr/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon ") Jun 7 00:07:55 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): authentication failure; logname=mimi uid=1000 euid=0 tty=/dev/pts/1 ruser=mimi rhost= user=mimi Jun 7 00:08:11 Isis sudo: mimi : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/add-apt-repository ppa:colingille/freshlight Jun 7 00:08:11 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by mimi(uid=1000) Jun 7 00:08:32 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 00:11:20 Isis sudo: mimi : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/apt-get install gparted Jun 7 00:11:20 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by mimi(uid=1000) Jun 7 00:11:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 00:17:02 Isis CRON[2651]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 00:17:02 Isis CRON[2651]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 00:17:32 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mimi to gain ONE-SHOT authorization for action com.ubuntu.pkexec.gparted for unix-process:2655:96838 [/bin/sh /usr/bin/gparted-pkexec] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 00:17:32 Isis pkexec: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root by (uid=1000) Jun 7 00:17:32 Isis pkexec: pam_ck_connector(polkit-1:session): cannot determine display-device Jun 7 00:17:32 Isis pkexec[2657]: mimi: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=unknown] [CWD=/home/mimi] [COMMAND=/usr/sbin/gparted] Jun 7 00:48:15 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mimi to gain ONE-SHOT authorization for action com.ubuntu.pkexec.gparted for unix-process:3813:281120 [/bin/sh /usr/bin/gparted-pkexec] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 00:48:15 Isis pkexec: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root by (uid=1000) Jun 7 00:48:15 Isis pkexec: pam_ck_connector(polkit-1:session): cannot determine display-device Jun 7 00:48:15 Isis pkexec[3815]: mimi: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=unknown] [CWD=/home/mimi] [COMMAND=/usr/sbin/gparted] Jun 7 01:17:01 Isis CRON[3960]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 01:17:01 Isis CRON[3960]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 02:08:52 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: gkr-pam: unlocked login keyring Jun 7 02:17:01 Isis CRON[4246]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 02:17:01 Isis CRON[4246]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 02:17:05 Isis sudo: mimi : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/apt-get install unetbootin Jun 7 02:17:05 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by mimi(uid=1000) Jun 7 02:17:57 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=unknown ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/unetbootin 'rootcheck=no' Jun 7 02:18:59 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=unknown ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/unetbootin 'rootcheck=no' Jun 7 02:19:26 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=unknown ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/unetbootin 'rootcheck=no' Jun 7 02:33:21 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 02:40:04 Isis sudo: mimi : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/unetbootin rootcheck=no Jun 7 02:40:04 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by mimi(uid=1000) Jun 7 03:17:01 Isis CRON[5506]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 03:17:01 Isis CRON[5506]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 03:33:24 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/unetbootin showall=yes 'rootcheck=no' Jun 7 03:33:43 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 04:17:01 Isis CRON[6119]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 04:17:01 Isis CRON[6119]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 04:18:35 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mimi to gain TEMPORARY authorization for action org.debian.apt.install-or-remove-packages for system-bus-name::1.79 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/landscape-client-ui-install] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:19:11 Isis groupadd[6702]: group added to /etc/group: name=landscape, GID=127 Jun 7 04:19:11 Isis groupadd[6702]: group added to /etc/gshadow: name=landscape Jun 7 04:19:11 Isis groupadd[6702]: new group: name=landscape, GID=127 Jun 7 04:19:11 Isis useradd[6706]: new user: name=landscape, UID=115, GID=127, home=/var/lib/landscape, shell=/bin/false Jun 7 04:19:12 Isis usermod[6711]: change user 'landscape' password Jun 7 04:19:12 Isis chage[6716]: changed password expiry for landscape Jun 7 04:19:37 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.canonical.LandscapeClientSettings.configure for unix-process:6146:1543697 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/landscape-client-settings-ui] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:20:20 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.canonical.LandscapeClientSettings.configure for unix-process:6832:1555313 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/landscape-client-settings-ui] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:21:04 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.ubuntu.languageselector.setsystemdefaultlanguage for unix-process:6827:1555123 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/gnome-language-selector] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:21:08 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.ubuntu.languageselector.setsystemdefaultlanguage for unix-process:6827:1555123 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/gnome-language-selector] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:21:44 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action org.debian.apt.install-or-remove-packages for system-bus-name::1.87 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/gnome-language-selector] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:22:27 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mimi to gain TEMPORARY authorization for action com.canonical.LandscapeClientSettings.configure for unix-process:7830:1567424 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/landscape-client-settings-ui] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:25:50 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.ubuntu.languageselector.setsystemdefaultlanguage for unix-process:7876:1584865 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/gnome-language-selector] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 04:25:52 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.ubuntu.languageselector.setsystemdefaultlanguage for unix-process:7876:1584865 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/gnome-language-selector] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 05:11:57 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mimi to gain TEMPORARY authorization for action org.debian.apt.install-or-remove-packages for system-bus-name::1.95 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/gnome-language-selector] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 05:17:02 Isis CRON[8708]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 05:17:02 Isis CRON[8708]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 05:28:03 Isis lightdm: pam_unix(lightdm-autologin:session): session opened for user mimi by (uid=0) Jun 7 05:28:03 Isis lightdm: pam_ck_connector(lightdm-autologin:session): nox11 mode, ignoring PAM_TTY :0 Jun 7 05:28:17 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 (system bus name :1.32 [/usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1], object path /org/gnome/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8) Jun 7 05:28:32 Isis dbus[660]: [system] Rejected send message, 2 matched rules; type="method_call", sender=":1.44" (uid=1000 pid=1736 comm="/usr/lib/indicator-datetime/indicator-datetime-ser") interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" error name="(unset)" requested_reply="0" destination=":1.17" (uid=0 pid=1333 comm="/usr/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon ") Jun 7 06:17:01 Isis CRON[2391]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 06:17:02 Isis CRON[2391]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 06:25:02 Isis CRON[2492]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 06:25:02 Isis CRON[2492]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 07:17:01 Isis CRON[3174]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 07:17:01 Isis CRON[3174]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 07:30:01 Isis CRON[3397]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 07:30:01 Isis CRON[3397]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=unknown ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/share/checkbox/backend --path=/usr/share/checkbox/scripts:/usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games /tmp/checkboxQbuE6V/input /tmp/checkboxQbuE6V/output Jun 7 08:09:01 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=unknown ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/share/checkbox/backend --path=/usr/share/checkbox/scripts:/usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games /tmp/checkboxQbuE6V/input /tmp/checkboxQbuE6V/output Jun 7 08:09:59 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=unknown ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/share/checkbox/backend --path=/usr/share/checkbox/scripts:/usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games /tmp/checkboxQbuE6V/input /tmp/checkboxQbuE6V/output Jun 7 08:10:55 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 08:17:01 Isis CRON[4215]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 08:17:01 Isis CRON[4215]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 09:17:02 Isis CRON[4766]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 09:17:02 Isis CRON[4766]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 10:17:02 Isis CRON[5046]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 10:17:02 Isis CRON[5046]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 11:17:02 Isis CRON[5325]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 11:17:02 Isis CRON[5325]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 12:17:01 Isis CRON[5617]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 12:17:01 Isis CRON[5617]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 13:07:51 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: pam_unix(gnome-screensaver:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=1000 euid=1000 tty=:0.0 ruser= rhost= user=mimi Jun 7 13:07:51 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: pam_winbind(gnome-screensaver:auth): getting password (0x00000388) Jun 7 13:07:51 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: pam_winbind(gnome-screensaver:auth): pam_get_item returned a password Jun 7 13:07:51 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: pam_winbind(gnome-screensaver:auth): request wbcLogonUser failed: WBC_ERR_AUTH_ERROR, PAM error: PAM_USER_UNKNOWN (10), NTSTATUS: NT_STATUS_NO_SUCH_USER, Error message was: No such user Jun 7 13:08:03 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: pam_unix(gnome-screensaver:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 13:08:03 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: pam_unix(gnome-screensaver:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 13:08:03 Isis gnome-screensaver-dialog: pam_winbind(gnome-screensaver:auth): getting password (0x00000388) Jun 7 13:08:08 Isis lightdm: pam_unix(lightdm:session): session opened for user lightdm by (uid=0) Jun 7 13:08:08 Isis lightdm: pam_ck_connector(lightdm:session): nox11 mode, ignoring PAM_TTY :1 Jun 7 13:08:13 Isis lightdm: pam_succeed_if(lightdm:auth): requirement "user ingroup nopasswdlogin" not met by user "mimi" Jun 7 13:08:16 Isis dbus[660]: [system] Rejected send message, 2 matched rules; type="method_call", sender=":1.91" (uid=104 pid=5961 comm="/usr/lib/indicator-datetime/indicator-datetime-ser") interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" error name="(unset)" requested_reply="0" destination=":1.17" (uid=0 pid=1333 comm="/usr/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon ") Jun 7 13:08:18 Isis dbus[660]: [system] Rejected send message, 2 matched rules; type="method_call", sender=":1.98" (uid=104 pid=5999 comm="/usr/lib/indicator-datetime/indicator-datetime-ser") interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" member="GetAll" error name="(unset)" requested_reply="0" destination=":1.17" (uid=0 pid=1333 comm="/usr/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon ") Jun 7 13:10:15 Isis lightdm: pam_unix(lightdm:session): session closed for user lightdm Jun 7 13:17:02 Isis CRON[6181]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 13:17:02 Isis CRON[6181]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): conversation failed Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: pam_unix(sudo:auth): auth could not identify password for [mimi] Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: mimi : 3 incorrect password attempts ; TTY=unknown ; PWD=/home/mimi ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/unetbootin 'rootcheck=no' Jun 7 13:55:14 Isis sudo: unable to execute /usr/sbin/sendmail: No such file or directory Jun 7 14:02:33 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.canonical.LandscapeClientSettings.configure for unix-process:6736:3087856 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/landscape-client-settings-ui] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 14:02:51 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action com.canonical.LandscapeClientSettings.configure for unix-process:6752:3089992 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/landscape-client-settings-ui] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 14:03:14 Isis polkitd(authority=local): Operator of unix-session:/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session1 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mimi to gain TEMPORARY authorization for action com.canonical.LandscapeClientSettings.configure for unix-process:6763:3092515 [/usr/bin/python /usr/bin/landscape-client-settings-ui] (owned by unix-user:mimi) Jun 7 14:17:01 Isis CRON[6933]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 14:17:01 Isis CRON[6933]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root Jun 7 15:17:02 Isis CRON[7611]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0) Jun 7 15:17:02 Isis CRON[7611]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root

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• The Product Owner

  - by Robert May

  In a previous post, I outlined the rules of Scrum.  This post details one of those rules. Picking a most important part of Scrum is difficult.  All of the rules are required, but if there were one rule that is “more” required that every other rule, its having a good Product Owner.  Simply put, the Product Owner can make or break the project. Duties of the Product Owner A Product Owner has many duties and responsibilities.  I’ll talk about each of these duties in detail below. A Product Owner: Discovers and records stories for the backlog. Prioritizes stories in the Product Backlog, Release Backlog and Iteration Backlog. Determines Release dates and Iteration Dates. Develops story details and helps the team understand those details. Helps QA to develop acceptance tests. Interact with the Customer to make sure that the product is meeting the customer’s needs. Discovers and Records Stories for the Backlog When I do Scrum, I always use User Stories as the means for capturing functionality that’s required in the system.  Some people will use Use Cases, but the same rule applies.  The Product Owner has the ultimate responsibility for figuring out what functionality will be in the system.  Many different mechanisms for capturing this input can be used.  User interviews are great, but all sources should be considered, including talking with Customer Support types.  Often, they hear what users are struggling with the most and are a great source for stories that can make the application easier to use. Care should be taken when soliciting user stories from technical types such as programmers and the people that manage them.  They will almost always give stories that are very technical in nature and may not have a direct benefit for the end user.  Stories are about adding value to the company.  If the stories don’t have direct benefit to the end user, the Product Owner should question whether or not the story should be implemented.  In general, technical stories should be included as tasks in User Stories.  Technical stories are often needed, but the ultimate value to the user is in user based functionality, so technical stories should be considered nothing more than overhead in providing that user functionality. Until the iteration prior to development, stories should be nothing more than short, one line placeholders. An exercise called Story Planning can be used to brainstorm and come up with stories.  I’ll save the description of this activity for another blog post. For more information on User Stories, please read the book User Stories Applied by Mike Cohn. Prioritizes Stories in the Product Backlog, Release Backlog and Iteration Backlog Prioritization of stories is one of the most difficult tasks that a Product Owner must do.  A key concept of Scrum done right is the need to have the team working from a single set of prioritized stories.  If the team does not have a single set of prioritized stories, Scrum will likely fail at your organization.  The Product Owner is the ONLY person who has the responsibility to prioritize that list.  The Product Owner must be very diplomatic and sincerely listen to the people around him so that he can get the priorities correct. Just listening will still not yield the proper priorities.  Care must also be taken to ensure that Return on Investment is also considered.  Ultimately, determining which stories give the most value to the company for the least cost is the most important factor in determining priorities.  Product Owners should be willing to look at cold, hard numbers to determine the order for stories.  Even when many people want a feature, if that features is costly to develop, it may not have as high of a return on investment as features that are cheaper, but not as popular. The act of prioritization often causes conflict in an environment.  Customer Service thinks that feature X is the most important, because it will stop people from calling.  Operations thinks that feature Y is the most important, because it will stop servers from crashing.  Developers think that feature Z is most important because it will make writing software much easier for them.  All of these are useful goals, but the team can have only one list of items, and each item must have a priority that is different from all other stories.  The Product Owner will determine which feature gives the best return on investment and the other features will have to wait their turn, which means that someone will not have their top priority feature implemented first. A weak Product Owner will refuse to do prioritization.  I’ve heard from multiple Product Owners the following phrase, “Well, it’s all got to be done, so what does it matter what order we do it in?”  If your product owner is using this phrase, you need a new Product Owner.  Order is VERY important.  In Scrum, every release is potentially shippable.  If the wrong priority items are developed, then the value added in each release isn’t what it should be.  Additionally, the Product Owner with this mindset doesn’t understand Agile.  A product is NEVER finished, until the company has decided that it is no longer a going concern and they are no longer going to sell the product.  Therefore, prioritization isn’t an event, its something that continues every day.  The logical extension of the phrase “It’s all got to be done” is that you will never ship your product, since a product is never “done.”  Once stories have been prioritized, assigning them to the Release Backlog and the Iteration Backlog becomes relatively simple.  The top priority items are copied into the respective backlogs in order and the task is complete.  The team does have the right to shuffle things around a little in the iteration backlog.  For example, they may determine that working on story C with story A is appropriate because they’re related, even though story B is technically a higher priority than story C.  Or they may decide that story B is too big to complete in the time available after Story A has tasks created, so they’ll work on Story C since it’s smaller.  They can’t, however, go deep into the backlog to pick stories to implement.  The team and the Product Owner should work together to determine what’s best for the company. Prioritization is time consuming, but its one of the most important things a Product Owner does. Determines Release Dates and Iteration Dates Product owners are responsible for determining release dates for a product.  A common misconception that Product Owners have is that every “release” needs to correspond with an actual release to customers.  This is not the case.  In general, releases should be no more than 3 months long.  You  may decide to release the product to the customers, and many companies do release the product to customers, but it may also be an internal release. If a release date is too far away, developers will fall into the trap of not feeling a sense of urgency.  The date is far enough away that they don’t need to give the release their full attention.  Additionally, important tasks, such as performance tuning, regression testing, user documentation, and release preparation, will not happen regularly, making them much more difficult and time consuming to do.  The more frequently you do these tasks, the easier they are to accomplish. The Product Owner will be a key participant in determining whether or not a release should be sent out to the customers.  The determination should be made on whether or not the features contained in the release are valuable enough  and complete enough that the customers will see real value in the release.  Often, some features will take more than three months to get them to a state where they qualify for a release or need additional supporting features to be released.  The product owner has the right to make this determination. In addition to release dates, the Product Owner also will help determine iteration dates.  In general, an iteration length should be chosen and the team should follow that iteration length for an extended period of time.  If the iteration length is changed every iteration, you’re not doing Scrum.  Iteration lengths help the team and company get into a rhythm of developing quality software.  Iterations should be somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks in length.  Any shorter, and significant software will likely not be developed.  Any longer, and the team won’t feel urgency and planning will become very difficult. Iterations may not be extended during the iteration.  Companies where Scrum isn’t really followed will often use this as a strategy to complete all stories.  They don’t want to face the harsh reality of what their true performance is, and looking good is more important than seeking visibility and improving the process and team.  Companies like this typically don’t allow failure.  This is unhealthy.  Failure is part of life and unless we learn from it, we can’t improve.  I would much rather see a team push out stories to the next iteration and then have healthy discussions about why they failed rather than extend the iteration and not deal with the core problems. If iteration length varies, retrospectives become more difficult.  For example, evaluating the performance of the team’s estimation efforts becomes much more difficult if the iteration length varies.  Also, the team must have a velocity measurement.  If the iteration length varies, measuring velocity becomes impossible and upper management no longer will have the ability to evaluate the teams performance.  People external to the team will no longer have the ability to determine when key features are likely to be developed.  Variable iterations cause the entire company to fail and likely cause Scrum to fail at an organization. Develops Story Details and Helps the Team Understand Those Details A key concept in Scrum is that the stories are nothing more than a placeholder for a conversation.  Stories should be nothing more than short, one line statements about the functionality.  The team will then converse with the Product Owner about the details about that story.  The product owner needs to have a very good idea about what the details of the story are and needs to be able to help the team understand those details. Too often, we see this requirement as being translated into the need for comprehensive documentation about the story, including old fashioned requirements documentation.  The team should only develop the documentation that is required and should not develop documentation that is only created because their is a process to do so. In general, what we see that works best is the iteration before a team starts development work on a story, the Product Owner, with other appropriate business analysts, will develop the details of that story.  They’ll figure out what business rules are required, potentially make paper prototypes or other light weight mock-ups, and they seek to understand the story and what is implied.  Note that the time allowed for this task is deliberately short.  The Product Owner only has a single iteration to develop all of the stories for the next iteration. If more than one iteration is used, I’ve found that teams will end up with Big Design Up Front and traditional requirements documents.  This is a waste of time, since the team will need to then have discussions with the Product Owner to figure out what the requirements document says.  Instead of this, skip making the pretty pictures and detailing the nuances of the requirements and build only what is minimally needed by the team to do development.  If something comes up during development, you can address it at that time and figure out what you want to do.  The goal is to keep things as light weight as possible so that everyone can move as quickly as possible. Helps QA to Develop Acceptance Tests In Scrum, no story can be counted until it is accepted by QA.  Because of this, acceptance tests are very important to the team.  In general, acceptance tests need to be developed prior to the iteration or at the very beginning of the iteration so that the team can make sure that the tasks that they develop will fulfill the acceptance criteria. The Product Owner will help the team, including QA, understand what will make the story acceptable.  Note that the Product Owner needs to be careful about specifying that the feature will work “Perfectly” at the end of the iteration.  In general, features are developed a little bit at a time, so only the bit that is being developed should be considered as necessary for acceptance. A weak Product Owner will make statements like “Do it right the first time.”  Not only are these statements damaging to the team (like they would try to do it WRONG the first time . . .), they’re also ignoring the iterative nature of Scrum.  Additionally, a weak product owner will seek to add scope in the acceptance testing.  For example, they will refuse to determine acceptance at the beginning of the iteration, and then, after the team has planned and committed to the iteration, they will expand scope by defining acceptance.  This often causes the team to miss the iteration because scope that wasn’t planned on is included.  There are ways that the team can mitigate this problem.  For example, include extra “Product Owner” time to deal with the uncertainty that you know will be introduced by the Product Owner.  This will slow the perceived velocity of the team and is not ideal, since they’ll be doing more work than they get credit for. Interact with the Customer to Make Sure that the Product is Meeting the Customer’s Needs Once development is complete, what the team has worked on should be put in front of real live people to see if it meets the needs of the customer.  One of the great things about Agile is that if something doesn’t work, we can revisit it in a future iteration!  This frees up the team to make the best decision now and know that if that decision proves to be incorrect, the team can revisit it and change that decision. Features are about adding value to the customer, so if the customer doesn’t find them useful, then having the team make tweaks is valuable.  In general, most software will be 80 to 90 percent “right” after the initial round and only minor tweaks are required.  If proper coding standards are followed, these tweaks are usually minor and easy to accomplish.  Product Owners that are doing a good job will encourage real users to see and use the software, since they know that they are trying to add value to the customer. Poor product owners will think that they know the answers already, that their customers are silly and do stupid things and that they don’t need customer input.  If you have a product owner that is afraid to show the team’s work to real customers, you probably need a different product owner. Up Next, “Who Makes a Good Product Owner.” Followed by, “Messing with the Team.” Technorati Tags: Scrum,Product Owner

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• Stop Spinning Your Wheels&hellip; Sage Advice for Aspiring Developers

  - by Mark Rackley

  So… lately I’ve been tasked with helping bring some non-developers over the hump and become full-fledged, all around, SharePoint developers. Well, only time will tell if I’m successful or a complete failure. Good thing about failures though, you know what NOT to do next time! Anyway, I’ve been writing some sort of code since I was about 10 years old; so I sometimes take for granted the effort some people have to go through to learn a new technology. I guess if I had to say I was an “expert” in one thing it would be learning (and getting “stuff” done) in new technologies. Maybe that’s why I’ve embraced SharePoint and the SharePoint community. SharePoint is the first technology I haven’t been able to master or get everything done without help from other people. I KNOW I’ll never know it all and I learn something new every day.  It keeps it interesting, it keeps me motivated, and keeps me involved. So, what some people may consider a downside of SharePoint, I definitely consider a plus. Crap.. I’m rambling. Where was I? Oh yeah… me trying to be helpful. Like I said, I am able to quickly and effectively pick up new languages, technology, etc. and put it to good use. Am I just brilliant? Well, my mom thinks so.. but maybe not. Maybe I’ve just been doing it for a long time…. 25 years in some form or fashion… wow I’m old… Anyway, what I lack in depth I make up for in breadth and being the “go-to” guy wherever I work when someone needs to “get stuff done”.  Let’s see if I can take some of that experience and put it to practical use to help new people get up to speed faster, learn things more effectively, and become that go-to guy. First off…  make sure you… Know The Basics I don’t have the time to teach new developers the basics, but you gotta know them. I’ve only been “taught” two languages.. Fortran 77 and C… everything else I’ve picked up from “doing”. I HAD to know the basics though, and all new developers need to understand the very basics of development.  97.23% of all languages will have the following: Variables Functions Arrays If statements For loops / While loops If you think about it, most development is “if this, do this… or while this, do this…”.  “This” may be some unique method to your language or something you develop, but the basics are the basics. YES there are MANY other development topics you need to understand, but you shouldn’t be scratching your head trying to figure out what a ”for loop” is… (Also learn about classes and hashtables as quickly as possible). Once you have the basics down it makes it much easier to… Learn By Doing This may just apply to me and my warped brain.  I don’t learn a new technology by reading or hearing someone speak about it. I learn by doing. It does me no good to try and learn all of the intricacies of a new language or technology inside-and-out before getting my hands dirty. Just show me how to do one thing… let me get that working… then show me how to do the next thing.. let me get that working… Now, let’s see what I can figure out on my own. Okay.. now it starts to make sense. I see how the language works, I can step through the code, and before you know it.. I’m productive in a new technology. Be careful here though…. make sure you… Don’t Reinvent The Wheel People have been writing code for what… 50+ years now? So, why are you trying to tackle ANYTHING without first Googling it with Bing to see what others have done first? When I was first learning C# (I had come from a Java background) I had to call a web service.  Sure! No problem! I’d done this many times in Java. So, I proceeded to write an HTTP Handler, called the Web Service and it worked like a charm!!!  Probably about 2.3 seconds after I got it working completely someone says to me “Why didn’t you just add a Web Reference?” Really? You can do that?  oops… I just wasted a lot of time. Before undertaking the development of any sort of utility method in a new language, make sure it’s not already handled for you… Okay… you are starting to write some code and are curious about the possibilities? Well… don’t just sit there… Try It And See What Happens This is actually one of my biggest pet peeves. “So… ‘x++’ works in C#, but does it also work in JavaScript?”   Really? Did you just ask me that? In the time it spent for you to type that email, press the send button, me receive the email, get around to reading it, and replying with “yes” you could have tested it 47 times and know the answer! Just TRY it! See what happens! You aren’t doing brain surgery. You aren’t going to kill anyone, and you BETTER not be developing in production. So, you are not going to crash any production systems!! Seriously! Get off your butt and just try it yourself. The extra added benefit is that it doesn’t work, the absolute best way to learn is to… Learn From Your Failures I don’t know about you… but if I screw up and something doesn’t work, I learn A LOT more debugging my problem than if everything magically worked. It’s okay that you aren’t perfect! Not everyone can be me? In the same vein… don’t ask someone else to debug your problem until you have made a valiant attempt to do so yourself. There’s nothing quite like stepping through code line by line to see what it’s REALLY doing… and you’ll never feel more stupid sometimes than when you realize WHY it’s not working.. but you realize... you learn... and you remember. There is nothing wrong with failure as long as you learn from it. As you start writing more and more and more code make sure that you ALWAYS… Develop for Production You will soon learn that the “prototype” you wrote last week to show as a “proof of concept” is going to go directly into production no matter how much you beg and plead and try to explain it’s not ready to go into production… it’s going to go straight there.. and it’s like herpes.. it doesn’t go away and there’s no fixing it once it’s in there.  So, why not write ALL your code like it will be put in production? It MIGHT take a little longer, but in the long run it will be easier to maintain, get help on, and you won’t be embarrassed that it’s sitting on a production server for everyone to use and see. So, now that you are getting comfortable and writing code for production it is important to to remember the… KISS Principle… Learn It… Love It… Keep It Simple Stupid Seriously.. don’t try to show how smart you are by writing the most complicated code in history. Break your problem up into discrete steps and write each step. If it turns out you have some redundancy, you can always go back and tweak your code later.  How bad is it when you write code that LOOKS cocky? I’ve seen it before… some of the most abstract and complicated classes when a class wasn’t even needed! Or the most elaborate unreadable code jammed into one really long line when it could have been written in three lines, performed just as well, and been SOOO much easier to maintain. Keep it clear and simple.. baby steps people. This will help you learn the technology, debug problems, AND it will help others help you find your problems if they don’t have to decipher the Dead Sea Scrolls just to figure out what you are trying to do…. Really.. don’t be that guy… try to curb your ego and… Keep an Open Mind No matter how smart you are… how fast you type… or how much you get paid, don’t let your ego get in the way. There is probably a better way to do everything you’ve ever done. Don’t become so cocky that you can’t think someone knows more than you. There’s a lot of brilliant, helpful people out there willing to show you tricks if you just give them a chance. A very super-awesome developer once told me “So what if you’ve been writing code for 10 years or more! Does your code look basically the same? Are you not growing as a developer?” Those 10 years become pretty meaningless if you just “know” that you are right and have not picked up new tips, tricks, methods, and patterns along the way. Learn from others and find out what’s new in development land (you know you don’t have to specifically use pointers anymore??). Along those same lines… If it’s not working, first assume you are doing something wrong. You have no idea how much it annoys people who are trying to help you when you first assume that the help they are trying to give you is wrong. Just MAYBE… you… the person learning is making some small mistake? Maybe you didn’t describe your problem correctly? Maybe you are using the wrong terminology? “I did exactly what you said and it didn’t work.”  Oh really? Are you SURE about that? “Your solution doesn’t work.”  Well… I’m pretty sure it works, I’ve used it 200 times… What are you doing differently? First try some humility and appreciation.. it will go much further, especially when it turns out YOU are the one that is wrong. When all else fails…. Try Professional Training Some people just don’t have the mindset to go and figure stuff out. It’s a gift and not everyone has it. If everyone could do it I wouldn’t have a job and there wouldn’t be professional training available.  So, if you’ve tried everything else and no light bulbs are coming on, contact the experts who specialize in training. Be careful though, there is bad training out there. Want to know the names of some good places? Just shoot me a message and I’ll let you know. I’m boycotting endorsing Andrew Connell anymore until I get that free course dangit!! So… that’s it.. that’s all I got right now. Maybe you thought all of this is common sense, maybe you think I’m smoking crack. If so, don’t just sit there, there’s a comments section for a reason. Finally, what about you? What tips do you have to help this aspiring to learn the dark arts??

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, February 01, 2011

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Tuesday, February 01, 2011Popular ReleasesWatchersNET CKEditor™ Provider for DotNetNuke®: CKEditor Provider 1.12.07: Whats New Added CKEditor 3.5.1 (Rev. 6398) - Whats New File Browser now List all Anchor on selected Dnn Page (Tab) changes File Browser now uses DNN Cache instead of HTTP Session for Authorization Using now Google Hosted CDN Versions of jQuery and jQuery-UI Scripts (Auto detects if needed http or https)Chemistry Add-in for Word: Chemistry Add-in for Word - Version 1.0: On February 1, 2011, we announced the availability of version 1 of the Chemistry Add-in for Word, as well as the assignment of the open source project to the Outercurve Foundation by Microsoft Research and the University of Cambridge. System RequirementsHardware RequirementsAny computer that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010. Software RequirementsYour computer must have the following software: Any version of Windows that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010, which includes Windows XP SP3 and...StyleCop for ReSharper: StyleCop for ReSharper 5.1.15005.000: Applied patch from rodpl for merging of stylecop setting files with settings in parent folder. Previous release: A considerable amount of work has gone into this release: Huge focus on performance around the violation scanning subsystem: - caching added to reduce IO operations around reading and merging of settings files - caching added to reduce creation of expensive objects Users should notice condsiderable perf boost and a decrease in memory usage. Bug Fixes: - StyleCop's new Objec...Minecraft Tools: Minecraft Topographical Survey 1.4: MTS requires version 4 of the .NET Framework - you must download it from Microsoft if you have not previously installed it. This version of MTS adds MCRegion support and fixes bugs that caused rendering to fail for some users. New in this version of MTS: Support for rendering worlds compressed with MCRegion Fixed rendering failure when encountering non-NBT files with the .dat extension Fixed rendering failure when encountering corrupt NBT files Minor GUI updates Note that the command...MVC Controls Toolkit: Mvc Controls Toolkit 0.8: Fixed the following bugs: *Variable name error in the jvascript file that prevented the use of the deleted item template of the Datagrid *Now after the changes applied to an item of the DataGrid are cancelled all input fields are reset to the very initial value they had. *Other minor bugs. Added: *This version is available both for MVC2, and MVC 3. The MVC 3 version has a release number of 0.85. This way one can install both version. *Client Validation support has been added to all control...Office Web.UI: Beta preview (Source): This is the first Beta. it includes full source code and all available controls. Some designers are not ready, and some features are not finalized allready (missing properties, draft styles) ThanksASP.net Ribbon: Version 2.2: This release brings some new controls (part of Office Web.UI). A few bugs are fixed and it includes the "auto resize" feature as you resize the window. (It can cause an infinite loop when the window is too reduced, it's why this release is not marked as "stable"). I will release more versions 2.3, 2.4... until V3 which will be the official launch of Office Web.UI. Both products will evolve at the same speed. Thanks.Barcode Rendering Framework: 2.1.1.0: Final release for VS2008 Finally fixed bugs with code 128 symbology.xUnit.net - Unit Testing for .NET: xUnit.net 1.7: xUnit.net release 1.7Build #1540 Important notes for Resharper users: Resharper support has been moved to the xUnit.net Contrib project. Important note for TestDriven.net users: If you are having issues running xUnit.net tests in TestDriven.net, especially on 64-bit Windows, we strongly recommend you upgrade to TD.NET version 3.0 or later. This release adds the following new features: Added support for ASP.NET MVC 3 Added Assert.Equal(double expected, double actual, int precision) Ad...DoddleReport - Automatic HTML/Excel/PDF Reporting: DoddleReport 1.0: DoddleReport will add automatic tabular-based reporting (HTML/PDF/Excel/etc) for any LINQ Query, IEnumerable, DataTable or SharePoint List For SharePoint integration please click Here PDF Reporting has been placed into a separate assembly because it requies AbcPdf http://www.websupergoo.com/download.htmSpark View Engine: Spark v1.5: Release Notes There have been a lot of minor changes going on since version 1.1, but most important to note are the major changes which include: Support for HTML5 "section" tag. Spark has now renamed its own section tag to "segment" instead to avoid clashes. You can still use "section" in a Spark sense for legacy support by specifying ParseSectionAsSegment = true if needed while you transition Bindings - this is a massive feature that further simplifies your views by giving you a powerful ...Marr DataMapper: Marr DataMapper 1.0.0 beta: First release.WPF Application Framework (WAF): WPF Application Framework (WAF) 2.0.0.3: Version: 2.0.0.3 (Milestone 3): This release contains the source code of the WPF Application Framework (WAF) and the sample applications. Requirements .NET Framework 4.0 (The package contains a solution file for Visual Studio 2010) The unit test projects require Visual Studio 2010 Professional Remark The sample applications are using Microsoft’s IoC container MEF. However, the WPF Application Framework (WAF) doesn’t force you to use the same IoC container in your application. You can use ...Rawr: Rawr 4.0.17 Beta: Rawr is now web-based. The link to use Rawr4 is: http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.phpThis is the Cataclysm Beta Release. More details can be found at the following link http://rawr.codeplex.com/Thread/View.aspx?ThreadId=237262 and on the Version Notes page: http://rawr.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=VersionNotes As of the 4.0.16 release, you can now also begin using the new Downloadable WPF version of Rawr!This is a pre-alpha release of the WPF version, there are likely to be a lot of issues. If you...Squiggle - A Free open source LAN Messenger: Squiggle 2.5 Beta: In this release following are the new features: Localization: Support for Arabic, French, German and Chinese (Simplified) Bridge: Connect two Squiggle nets across the WAN or different subnets Aliases: Special codes with special meaning can be embedded in message like (version),(datetime),(time),(date),(you),(me) Commands: cls, /exit, /offline, /online, /busy, /away, /main Sound notifications: Get audio alerts on contact online, message received, buzz Broadcast for group: You can ri...VivoSocial: VivoSocial 7.4.2: Version 7.4.2 of VivoSocial has been released. If you experienced any issues with the previous version, please update your modules to the 7.4.2 release and see if they persist. If you have any questions about this release, please post them in our Support forums. If you are experiencing a bug or would like to request a new feature, please submit it to our issue tracker. Web Controls * Updated Business Objects and added a new SQL Data Provider File. Groups * Fixed a security issue whe...PHP Manager for IIS: PHP Manager 1.1.1 for IIS 7: This is a minor release of PHP Manager for IIS 7. It contains all the functionality available in 56962 plus several bug fixes (see change list for more details). Also, this release includes Russian language support. SHA1 codes for the downloads are: PHPManagerForIIS-1.1.0-x86.msi - 6570B4A8AC8B5B776171C2BA0572C190F0900DE2 PHPManagerForIIS-1.1.0-x64.msi - 12EDE004EFEE57282EF11A8BAD1DC1ADFD66A654mojoPortal: 2.3.6.1: see release notes on mojoportal.com http://www.mojoportal.com/mojoportal-2361-released.aspx Note that we have separate deployment packages for .NET 3.5 and .NET 4.0 The deployment package downloads on this page are pre-compiled and ready for production deployment, they contain no C# source code. To download the source code see the Source Code Tab I recommend getting the latest source code using TortoiseHG, you can get the source code corresponding to this release here.Parallel Programming with Microsoft Visual C++: Drop 6 - Chapters 4 and 5: This is Drop 6. It includes: Drafts of the Preface, Introduction, Chapters 2-7, Appendix B & C and the glossary Sample code for chapters 2-7 and Appendix A & B. The new material we'd like feedback on is: Chapter 4 - Parallel Aggregation Chapter 5 - Futures The source code requires Visual Studio 2010 in order to run. There is a known bug in the A-Dash sample when the user attempts to cancel a parallel calculation. We are working to fix this.NodeXL: Network Overview, Discovery and Exploration for Excel: NodeXL Excel Template, version 1.0.1.160: The NodeXL Excel template displays a network graph using edge and vertex lists stored in an Excel 2007 or Excel 2010 workbook. What's NewThis release improves NodeXL's Twitter and Pajek features. See the Complete NodeXL Release History for details. Installation StepsFollow these steps to install and use the template: Download the Zip file. Unzip it into any folder. Use WinZip or a similar program, or just right-click the Zip file in Windows Explorer and select "Extract All." Close Ex...New Projectsabcdeffff: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAutomating Variation: This project help you to automate the Site Variation in SharePoint 2010BAM Converter: DEMO Project showcasing several functionalities of Windows Phone 7 - Isolated Storage, Web Service Access, User Interface.cstgamebgs: Project for wp7DFS-Commands: A PowerShell module containing functions for manipulating Distributed File System (DFS). This allows admins to carry out DFS tasks using PowerShell without resorting to external commands such as dfsutil.exe, dfscmd.exe or modlink.exe.Disk Usage: Disk Usage is a small WPF tool to analyze the drive space on Windows. It can plot pie charts of the folder size. EPiServer Filtered Page Reference Properties: The EPiServer Filtered Page Reference properties provide you with the ability to restrict the pages in which an EPiServer can pick. The assembly once depoyed to your projects bin folder will add two new properties: -FilteredPageReferenceProperty -FilteredLinkCollectoinPropertyExample Ajax MVC address-book: This is an example application in PHP, using no framework but PHP only, utilizing MVC, SQLite, jQuery and Ajax. It is fully SOA. FlyMedia: FlyMedia is a simple music player written in C/C++ based on FMOD and Gdiplus. It aims to fly your media at a touch!Global String Formatter: The Global String Formatter library allows developers to deal with conditional string formatting in an elegant fashion. Developers specify a predicate and a corresponding string output function for each case of the formatting. The library plays well with DI frameworks.JS Mixer: JS Mixer is a simple UI over the YUI Compressor for .Net Library. It allows you to merge and minimize javascript files easily.LAPD: Lapd (Location and Attendance to Dependant People) make care-dependent people's life easier, improving the communication between their care providers and them. It is developed in C# over .NET Compact Framework 3.5motion10 SharePoint Twitter Status Notes Control: Change the normal SharePoint Status control to the motion10 SharePoint Twitter Status Notes Control and you can send your tweets to Twitter! Music TD: Music TD is a Tower Defence project by Cypress Falls High School programming team. It is our first game, made in XNA.OJDetective: a win32 project for detecting your submissons on OJOpalis System Center VMM Extended Integration Pack: A Opalis Integration Pack for VMM with extended Functions to the offical IP from Microsoft.Opalis Virsto Integration Pack: A Opalis Integration Pack for Managing VirstoOne Hyper-V Storage (http://www.virsto.com) Pimp My Wave: It will be both an open source implementation of Multiloader / Kies firmware flasher and modding tool like changing boot screens directly. RESTful Connector for SharePoint 2010: This is a reusable custom connector for Business Data Connectivity Serivces in SharePoint 2010. It uses a RESTful service as a data source and XPath to map the propeties.SCWS: SCWS - XML web service for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (AKA SCOM / OpsMgr). Developed in C# and .Net 3.5 with Visual Studio 2010. Can be used to get information on MonitoringObjects and to control maintenance mode. Ideal for integration with SCCM / ConfigMgr.somelameaspstuff: see titleSQLMap: Projeto com um Atlas do Mundo e suas divisões, salvos em tabelas no SQL Server, usando o seu módulo SpatialStackOverflow Google Chrome extension: Shows StackOverflow and StackExchange questions in new tab window in your Google ChromeSupMoul: Moulinette pour noter les supTodayTodo: This is software for manage every day tasks (one todo list for day). Silverlight (OOB), NoSQL, FullText Search for all task history

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, February 05, 2011

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Saturday, February 05, 2011Popular ReleasesNuclex Framework: R1323: This release is a pure XNA 4.0 release that no longer includes any XNA 3.1 binaries or projects. All x86 assemblies have been compiled targeting the .NET 4.0 Client Profile. Requires either Visual C# 2010 Express or Visual Studio 2010, both with XNA Game Studio 4.0. 3rd party libraries needed to compile and run the source code are included, so everything will compile out of the box. Changes: - Thanks to a generous contribution by Adrian Tsai, the TrueType importer now accepts standard Windo...Community Forums NNTP bridge: Community Forums NNTP Bridge V43: Release of the Community Forums NNTP Bridge to access the social and anwsers MS forums with a single, open source NNTP bridge. This release has added some features / bugfixes: Bugfix: Now supporting multi-line headers in all headers ;) / Thanks to Kai Schätzl for reporting this! Debug output optimized / Added a "Copy to clipboard" button in the debug windowFacebook C# SDK: 5.0.2 (BETA): PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO GIVE US SOME FEEDBACK: Facebook C# SDK Survey This is third BETA release of the version 5 branch of the Facebook C# SDK. Remember this is a BETA build. Some things may change or not work exactly as planned. We are absolutely looking for feedback on this release to help us improve the final 5.X.X release. This release contains some breaking changes. Particularly with authentication. After spending time reviewing the trouble areas that people are having using th...ASP.NET MVC SiteMap provider: MvcSiteMapProvider 3.0.0 for MVC3: Using NuGet?MvcSiteMapProvider is also listed in the NuGet feed. Learn more... Like the project? Consider a donation!Donate via PayPal via PayPal. ChangelogTargeting ASP.NET MVC 3 and .NET 4.0 Additional UpdatePriority options for generating XML sitemaps Allow to specify target on SiteMapTitleAttribute One action with multiple routes and breadcrumbs Medium Trust optimizations Create SiteMapTitleAttribute for setting parent title IntelliSense for your sitemap with MvcSiteMapSchem...Rawr: Rawr 4.0.18 Beta: Rawr is now web-based. The link to use Rawr4 is: http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.phpThis is the Cataclysm Beta Release. More details can be found at the following link http://rawr.codeplex.com/Thread/View.aspx?ThreadId=237262 As of the 4.0.16 release, you can now also begin using the new Downloadable WPF version of Rawr!This is a pre-alpha release of the WPF version, there are likely to be a lot of issues. If you have a problem, please follow the Posting Guidelines and put it into the Issue Trac...ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap: ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap 1.1 beta3: This is the beta3 release for the ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap version 1.1. Bug fixes in beta3: make the user interface for editing attributes keyboard friendly make the geoprocessing tools available for Python scripting (incl. sample scripts in the tool documentation) change in the logic for sending updates to the OpenStreetMap server updates to point symbology for the feature templates Changes from version 1.0: Multi-part geometries are now supported. Homogeneous relations (consi...patterns & practices SharePoint Guidance: SharePoint Guidance 2010 Hands On Lab: SharePoint Guidance 2010 Hands On Lab consists of six labs: one for logging, one for service location, and four for application setting manager. Each lab takes about 20 minutes to walk through. Each lab consists of a PDF document. You can go through the steps in the doc to create solution and then build/deploy the solution and run the lab. For those of you who wants to save the time, we included the final solution so you can just build/deploy the solution and run the lab.Mobile Device Detection and Redirection: 0.1.11.11: Improvements to Beta Release The following changes have been made in version 0.1.11.11: BlackBerry Version 6 devices (such as the 9800 Torch) are now correctly identified with a dedicated handler. Android powered devices are now correctly identified. Minor change to Provider.cs to improve performance and optimise data sent to 51Degrees.mobi if the option is enabled. GC.collect is no longer called at any point. All garbage collection now happens automatically IMPORTANT CHANGES This rele...TweetSharp: TweetSharp v2.0.0.0 - Preview 10: Documentation for this release may be found at http://tweetsharp.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=UserGuide&referringTitle=Documentation. Note: This code is currently preview quality. Preview 9 ChangesAdded support for trends Added support for Silverlight 4 Elevated WP7 fixes Third Party Library VersionsHammock v1.1.7: http://hammock.codeplex.com Json.NET 4.0 Release 1: http://json.codeplex.comFacebook Graph Toolkit: Facebook Graph Toolkit 0.7: Version 0.7 updates (2 Feb 2011)new Facebook Graph objects: Link, Note, StatusMessage new publish features: status update, post with link attachment new Graph Api connections in User object: statuses, links, notes internal code path improvement on Api object bug fixed: extra "r" character appears for strings with "\r" symbols in Json Objects bug fixed: error when performing Postback to the same page Tutorial and documentation available at http://fbgraph.computerbeacon.netHammock for REST: Hammock v1.1.7: v1.1.7 ChangesAdded support for cookies Added support for custom Content-Disposition types Fixes based on user feedback Supported Platforms.NET 2.0 .NET 3.5 SP1 and .NET 3.5 Client Profile .NET 4.0 and .NET 4.0 Client Profile Windows Phone 7 Silverlight 3 and 4 Mono 2.6 (See Mono and HTTPS)Phalanger - The PHP Language Compiler for the .NET Framework: 2.0 (February 2011): Next release of Phalanger; again faster, more stable and ready for daily use. Based on many user experiences this release is one more step closer to be perfect compiler and runtime of your old PHP applications; or perfect platform for migrating to .NET. February 2011 release of Phalanger introduces several changes, enhancements and fixes. See complete changelist for all the changes. To improve the performance of your application using MySQL, please use Managed MySQL Extension for Phalanger....Chemistry Add-in for Word: Chemistry Add-in for Word - Version 1.0: On February 1, 2011, we announced the availability of version 1 of the Chemistry Add-in for Word, as well as the assignment of the open source project to the Outercurve Foundation by Microsoft Research and the University of Cambridge. System RequirementsHardware RequirementsAny computer that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010. Software RequirementsYour computer must have the following software: Any version of Windows that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010, which includes Windows XP SP3 and...Minemapper: Minemapper v0.1.4: Updated mcmap, now supports new block types. Added a Worlds->'View Cache Folder' menu item.StyleCop for ReSharper: StyleCop for ReSharper 5.1.15005.000: Applied patch from rodpl for merging of stylecop setting files with settings in parent folder. Previous release: A considerable amount of work has gone into this release: Huge focus on performance around the violation scanning subsystem: - caching added to reduce IO operations around reading and merging of settings files - caching added to reduce creation of expensive objects Users should notice condsiderable perf boost and a decrease in memory usage. Bug Fixes: - StyleCop's new Objec...Minecraft Tools: Minecraft Topographical Survey 1.4: MTS requires version 4 of the .NET Framework - you must download it from Microsoft if you have not previously installed it. This version of MTS adds MCRegion support and fixes bugs that caused rendering to fail for some users. New in this version of MTS: Support for rendering worlds compressed with MCRegion Fixed rendering failure when encountering non-NBT files with the .dat extension Fixed rendering failure when encountering corrupt NBT files Minor GUI updates Note that the command...MVC Controls Toolkit: Mvc Controls Toolkit 0.8: Fixed the following bugs: *Variable name error in the jvascript file that prevented the use of the deleted item template of the Datagrid *Now after the changes applied to an item of the DataGrid are cancelled all input fields are reset to the very initial value they had. *Other minor bugs. Added: *This version is available both for MVC2, and MVC 3. The MVC 3 version has a release number of 0.85. This way one can install both version. *Client Validation support has been added to all control...Office Web.UI: Beta preview (Source): This is the first Beta. it includes full source code and all available controls. Some designers are not ready, and some features are not finalized allready (missing properties, draft styles) ThanksASP.net Ribbon: Version 2.2: This release brings some new controls (part of Office Web.UI). A few bugs are fixed and it includes the "auto resize" feature as you resize the window. (It can cause an infinite loop when the window is too reduced, it's why this release is not marked as "stable"). I will release more versions 2.3, 2.4... until V3 which will be the official launch of Office Web.UI. Both products will evolve at the same speed. Thanks.xUnit.net - Unit Testing for .NET: xUnit.net 1.7: xUnit.net release 1.7Build #1540 Important notes for Resharper users: Resharper support has been moved to the xUnit.net Contrib project. Important note for TestDriven.net users: If you are having issues running xUnit.net tests in TestDriven.net, especially on 64-bit Windows, we strongly recommend you upgrade to TD.NET version 3.0 or later. This release adds the following new features: Added support for ASP.NET MVC 3 Added Assert.Equal(double expected, double actual, int precision) Ad...New Projects.NET Micro Framework PTP library: .NET Micro Framework PTP library is implementation of Picture Transfer Protocol for .NET Micro Framework. It's developed in C# language. This library allows microcontroller with .NET Micro Framework to communicate with digital cameras. Asp.net learning: asp.net learningbrainydexter demos: Demos I have developed over time to showcase different techniques, ranging from graphics/opengl to crazy language specific (C++/C#) techniquesBrickFramework: BrickFrameworkCodecoFW-SL: CodecoFW-SL é um Framework desenvolvido em C# para trabalhar com Silverlight. Contem alguns controles e extensões para ajudar o desenvolvimento com Silverlight.Csharp Learning: My C # Learning examplejigsby: personal code dumpJuego de la Vida: Crearas vida con el mouseLogon Screen Launcher: Allows you to run applications at the Windows (XP/Vista/7) logon screen (Ctrl+Alt+Del) on system events, including logon/logoff, screen lock/unlock and startup/shutdown.MEF Silverlight Control Extensions: The Mef Silverlight Control Extensions gives you a declarative way of implement control importing using MEF.Membership, Roles and Profile Library (MRPLibrary): This project provides a simple abstraction for the Membership, Roles and ProfileManager ASP.NET providers as well as ASP.NET FormsAuthentication. The library creates required database objects automatically and uses web.config Membership, Roles and ProfileManager sections.Netpad: Basic .Net based text document editorOrchard Jumpstart: A jumpstart Orchard module, implementing basic module functionality. Created to make Orchard module creation a bit quicker:)Orchard Rewrite Rules: Orchard module to add rewrite rules to your website using Apache .htaccess file format.Outlook Social Connectors: The Outlook Social Connectors project was started as a 24 Hour Challenge Project. The project has several Outlook Social Connectors (Twitter, Fogbugz, ...) and aims to provide a framework for developing new connectors.Rail.Net: Small rail net application For rail analysisregistrudecasa: registrudecasaRelDB: A true relational database management system compatible with Tutorial D.RTP Tooltip: This DNN module instantiates an instance of DNNToolTipManager and allows you to enter a list of ClientIDs to TooltipifySSIS Report Generator Task (Custom Control Flow Component): SSIS Report Generator Task (Custom Control Flow Component)The Ministry of Technology Framework Extensions: The aim of the MOT Framework extensions project is to offer a variety of solutions for common 'boilerplate' development requirements and speed up the development process. Ongoing discussions and information on the library is posted up to http://www.theministryoftechnology.co.ukWindowsPhone 7 Live Soccer Scores: An Windows Phone 7 app which displays the live soccer scores from the Dutch eredivisie, English premier league, Champions league and Europa league.Wolfram Alpha Api 2.0: 20 january 2011 open new version of wolfram alpha api, version 2.0. This project will help you to work with the new api. Knowledge is power!Wurfl 51degrees Mobile Capabilities Viewer: A Web App to display all the Mobile Capabilities for a given user Agent, uses 51degrees.Codeplex.com .Net dll and Wurfl device files. The current sample in the downloads section of [http://51degrees.codeplex.com] doesnt display all Browser and Wurfl Capabilities for a UserAgent.XNA Command Console (XNACC): XNACC is a component that adds an interactive command console to your XNA project. It supports many built-in commands, as well as custom commands, key bindings, simple functions (macros), console variables and can use functions in external assemblies. Implemented in C#/VS2010.Xteq5: Xteq5 is an (hopefully) easy to use open source Windows computer management solution to get the job done.ZipArchiveReader: ZipLib is a ZIP file reader. It provides a simple way to read and write .zip files. The purpose of ZipLib is give ZIP file capabilities to ASP.Net applications which were granted minimum permissions. It can be a partial trust DLL that can run in Internet Zone and probably ...

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• Another Marketing Conference, part one – the best morning sessions.

  - by Roger Hart

  Yesterday I went to Another Marketing Conference. I honestly can’t tell if the title is just tipping over into smug, but in the balance of things that doesn’t matter, because it was a good conference. There was an enjoyable blend of theoretical and practical, and enough inter-disciplinary spread to keep my inner dilettante grinning from ear to ear. Sure, there was a bumpy bit in the middle, with two back-to-back sales pitches and a rather thin overview of the state of the web. But the signal:noise ratio at AMC2012 was impressively high. Here’s the first part of my write-up of the sessions. It’s a bit of a mammoth. It’s also a bit of a mash-up of what was said and what I thought about it. I’ll add links to the videos and slides from the sessions as they become available. Although it was in the morning session, I’ve not included Vanessa Northam’s session on the power of internal comms to build brand ambassadors. It’ll be in the next roundup, as this is already pushing 2.5k words. First, the important stuff. I was keeping a tally, and nobody said “synergy” or “leverage”. I did, however, hear the term “marketeers” six times. Shame on you – you know who you are. 1 – Branding in a post-digital world, Graham Hales This initially looked like being a sales presentation for Interbrand, but Graham pulled it out of the bag a few minutes in. He introduced a model for brand management that was essentially Plan >> Do >> Check >> Act, with Do and Check rolled up together, and went on to stress that this looks like on overall business management model for a reason. Brand has to be part of your overall business strategy and metrics if you’re going to care about it at all. This was the first iteration of what proved to be one of the event’s emergent themes: do it throughout the stack or don’t bother. Graham went on to remind us that brands, in so far as they are owned at all, are owned by and co-created with our customers. Advertising can offer a message to customers, but they provide the expression of a brand. This was a preface to talking about an increasingly chaotic marketplace, with increasingly hard-to-manage purchase processes. Services like Amazon reviews and TripAdvisor (four presenters would make this point) saturate customers with information, and give them a kind of vigilante power to comment on and define brands. Consequentially, they experience a number of “moments of deflection” in our sales funnels. Our control is lessened, and failure to engage can negatively-impact buying decisions increasingly poorly. The clearest example given was the failure of NatWest’s “caring bank” campaign, where staff in branches, customer support, and online presences didn’t align. A discontinuity of experience basically made the campaign worthless, and disgruntled customers talked about it loudly on social media. This in turn presented an opportunity to engage and show caring, but that wasn’t taken. What I took away was that brand (co)creation is ongoing and needs monitoring and metrics. But reciprocally, given you get what you measure, strategy and metrics must include brand if any kind of branding is to work at all. Campaigns and messages must permeate product and service design. What that doesn’t mean (and Graham didn’t say it did) is putting Marketing at the top of the pyramid, and having them bawl demands at Product Management, Support, and Development like an entitled toddler. It’s going to have to be collaborative, and session 6 on internal comms handled this really well. The main thing missing here was substantiating data, and the main question I found myself chewing on was: if we’re building brands collaboratively and in the open, what about the cultural politics of trolling? 2 – Challenging our core beliefs about human behaviour, Mark Earls This was definitely the best show of the day. It was also some of the best content. Mark talked us through nudging, behavioural economics, and some key misconceptions around decision making. Basically, people aren’t rational, they’re petty, reactive, emotional sacks of meat, and they’ll go where they’re led. Comforting stuff. Examples given were the spread of the London Riots and the “discovery” of the mountains of Kong, and the popularity of Susan Boyle, which, in turn made me think about Per Mollerup’s concept of “social wayshowing”. Mark boiled his thoughts down into four key points which I completely failed to write down word for word: People do, then think – Changing minds to change behaviour doesn’t work. Post-rationalization rules the day. See also: mere exposure effects. Spock < Kirk - Emotional/intuitive comes first, then we rationalize impulses. The non-thinking, emotive, reactive processes run much faster than the deliberative ones. People are not really rational decision makers, so  intervening with information may not be appropriate. Maximisers or satisficers? – Related to the last point. People do not consistently, rationally, maximise. When faced with an abundance of choice, they prefer to satisfice than evaluate, and will often follow social leads rather than think. Things tend to converge – Behaviour trends to a consensus normal. When faced with choices people overwhelmingly just do what they see others doing. Humans are extraordinarily good at mirroring behaviours and receiving influence. People “outsource the cognitive load” of choices to the crowd. Mark’s headline quote was probably “the real influence happens at the table next to you”. Reference examples, word of mouth, and social influence are tremendously important, and so talking about product experiences may be more important than talking about products. This reminded me of Kathy Sierra’s “creating bad-ass users” concept of designing to make people more awesome rather than products they like. If we can expose user-awesome, and make sharing easy, we can normalise the behaviours we want. If we normalize the behaviours we want, people should make and post-rationalize the buying decisions we want.  Where we need to be: “A bigger boy made me do it” Where we are: “a wizard did it and ran away” However, it’s worth bearing in mind that some purchasing decisions are personal and informed rather than social and reactive. There’s a quadrant diagram, in fact. What was really interesting, though, towards the end of the talk, was some advice for working out how social your products might be. The standard technology adoption lifecycle graph is essentially about social product diffusion. So this idea isn’t really new. Geoffrey Moore’s “chasm” idea may not strictly apply. However, his concepts of beachheads and reference segments are exactly what is required to normalize and thus enable purchase decisions (behaviour change). The final thing is that in only very few categories does a better product actually affect purchase decision. Where the choice is personal and informed, this is true. But where it’s personal and impulsive, or in any way social, “better” is trumped by popularity, endorsement, or “point of sale salience”. UX, UCD, and e-commerce know this to be true. A better (and easier) experience will always beat “more features”. Easy to use, and easy to observe being used will beat “what the user says they want”. This made me think about the astounding stickiness of rational fallacies, “common sense” and the pathological willful simplifications of the media. Rational fallacies seem like they’re basically the heuristics we use for post-rationalization. If I were profoundly grimy and cynical, I’d suggest deploying a boat-load in our messaging, to see if they’re really as sticky and appealing as they look. 4 – Changing behaviour through communication, Stephen Donajgrodzki This was a fantastic follow up to Mark’s session. Stephen basically talked us through some tactics used in public information/health comms that implement the kind of behavioural theory Mark introduced. The session was largely about how to get people to do (good) things they’re predisposed not to do, and how communication can (and can’t) make positive interventions. A couple of things stood out, in particular “implementation intentions” and how they can be linked to goals. For example, in order to get people to check and test their smoke alarms (a goal intention, rarely actualized  an information campaign will attempt to link this activity to the clocks going back or forward (a strong implementation intention, well-actualized). The talk reinforced the idea that making behaviour changes easy and visible normalizes them and makes them more likely to succeed. To do this, they have to be embodied throughout a product and service cycle. Experiential disconnects undermine the normalization. So campaigns, products, and customer interactions must be aligned. This is underscored by the second section of the presentation, which talked about interventions and pre-conditions for change. Taking the examples of drug addiction and stopping smoking, Stephen showed us a framework for attempting (and succeeding or failing in) behaviour change. He noted that when the change is something people fundamentally want to do, and that is easy, this gets a to simpler. Coordinated, easily-observed environmental pressures create preconditions for change and build motivation. (price, pub smoking ban, ad campaigns, friend quitting, declining social acceptability) A triggering even leads to a change attempt. (getting a cold and panicking about how bad the cough is) Interventions can be made to enable an attempt (NHS services, public information, nicotine patches) If it succeeds – yay. If it fails, there’s strong negative enforcement. Triggering events seem largely personal, but messaging can intervene in the creation of preconditions and in supporting decisions. Stephen talked more about systems of thinking and “bounded rationality”. The idea being that to enable change you need to break through “automatic” thinking into “reflective” thinking. Disruption and emotion are great tools for this, but that is only the start of the process. It occurs to me that a great deal of market research is focused on determining triggers rather than analysing necessary preconditions. Although they are presumably related. The final section talked about setting goals. Marketing goals are often seen as deriving directly from business goals. However, marketing may be unable to deliver on these directly where decision and behaviour-change processes are involved. In those cases, marketing and communication goals should be to create preconditions. They should also consider priming and norms. Content marketing and brand awareness are good first steps here, as brands can be heuristics in decision making for choice-saturated consumers, or those seeking education. 5 – The power of engaged communities and how to build them, Harriet Minter (the Guardian) The meat of this was that you need to let communities define and establish themselves, and be quick to react to their needs. Harriet had been in charge of building the Guardian’s community sites, and learned a lot about how they come together, stabilize  grow, and react. Crucially, they can’t be about sales or push messaging. A community is not just an audience. It’s essential to start with what this particular segment or tribe are interested in, then what they want to hear. Eventually you can consider – in light of this – what they might want to buy, but you can’t start with the product. A community won’t cohere around one you’re pushing. Her tips for community building were (again, sorry, not verbatim): Set goals Have some targets. Community building sounds vague and fluffy, but you can have (and adjust) concrete goals. Think like a start-up This is the “lean” stuff. Try things, fail quickly, respond. Don’t restrict platforms Let the audience choose them, and be aware of their differences. For example, LinkedIn is very different to Twitter. Track your stats Related to the first point. Keeping an eye on the numbers lets you respond. They should be qualified, however. If you want a community of enterprise decision makers, headcount alone may be a bad metric – have you got CIOs, or just people who want to get jobs by mingling with CIOs? Build brand advocates Do things to involve people and make them awesome, and they’ll cheer-lead for you. The last part really got my attention. Little bits of drive-by kindness go a long way. But more than that, genuinely helping people turns them into powerful advocates. Harriet gave an example of the Guardian engaging with an aspiring journalist on its Q&A forums. Through a series of serendipitous encounters he became a BBC producer, and now enthusiastically speaks up for the Guardian community sites. Cultivating many small, authentic, influential voices may have a better pay-off than schmoozing the big guys. This could be particularly important in the context of Mark and Stephen’s models of social, endorsement-led, and example-led decision making. There’s a lot here I haven’t covered, and it may be worth some follow-up on community building. Thoughts I was quite sceptical of nudge theory and behavioural economics. First off it sounds too good to be true, and second it sounds too sinister to permit. But I haven’t done the background reading. So I’m going to, and if it seems to hold real water, and if it’s possible to do it ethically (Stephen’s presentations suggests it may be) then it’s probably worth exploring. The message seemed to be: change what people do, and they’ll work out why afterwards. Moreover, the people around them will do it too. Make the things you want them to do extraordinarily easy and very, very visible. Normalize and support the decisions you want them to make, and they’ll make them. In practice this means not talking about the thing, but showing the user-awesome. Glib? Perhaps. But it feels worth considering. Also, if I ever run a marketing conference, I’m going to ban speakers from using examples from Apple. Quite apart from not being consistently generalizable, it’s becoming an irritating cliché.

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• Prepping a conference

  - by Laurent Bugnion

  I have had the chance to talk at many conferences these past few years, and came up with a way to prepare them which works really well for me. Most importantly, it would make it quite easy to overcome an emergency (for example if my laptop would suddenly lose data). The whole code as well as the slides and other documents are in the cloud. I also use source control for my demos, so that I always have the latest and the greatest, but also a history of changes I made to my demos. Finally I have a system of code snippets which works great, and I often had very positive remarks from the audience regarding that. Putting everything in the cloud The one thing I used to be the most scared of was a sudden crash of my laptop, and being unable to restore in time for a conference. Most conferences ask speakers to send slides a few days (or weeks…) in advance, but let's face it, we all have last minute changes to our talks and I always come in the conference with updated slides that I pass to the management team. The answer to that dilemma used to be working off memory sticks, and that worked not bad. However last year I started putting all the documents relating to a conference in a DropBox folder, and that works great too. Obviously DropBox works only if you have connectivity, so if I for instance update slides while on an international flight, I cannot save to the cloud. The obvious answer to that is to backup everything on a memory stick… but I have to admit, I have been trusting my luck and working off my laptop HD and then synching everything to the cloud after landing. Of course on some US national flights you get WiFi on board, so in that case it is even simpler :) Usually after the conference is done, I remove the files from DropBox and copy them to their "final destination". They are backed up from there to BackBlaze, the great online backup service I am using routinely (I currently have about 90GB of data in BackBlaze). Outlining the presentations I like to have a written outline of my presentations written somewhere. I keep it simple, just write the various sections of the presentation with timing. I guess it is a remnant of the time when I was a private pilot, and using checklists for flight preparation. For example: Demo about designability 15' (0:37) Switch to Blend Open MainPage.xaml Create a DataTemplate ... Here I can immediately see during the presentation if I am taking too much time for my demo (0:37 is where I need to be when I am done with this section of the presentation, and 15' is the time that this particular section takes). I keep these sections reasonable, I don't detail every step of the preparation. Typically I have one such section for every 10-15 minutes of my talks. Yes, I am timing my presentations. I keep adjusting these numbers when I rehearse, and this really helps to feel more confident during the presentations. This is especially important for presentations that are long, like my MIX11 demo which clocked at 57 minutes (I had a lot of stuff to show…). Such presentations are risky, because if anything goes wrong, you will have to cut stuff, so the answer to that is: Rehearse, rehearse and when you're done rehearsing, rehearse a little more. I also have a "Preparation" section where I outline what I need to do before a presentation. For instance: Preparation Reboot in VHD Make sure MSN and Twitter are not running. Open VS10 and load demo Open Blend and load demo Run the WP7 emulator ... I typically start preparing my laptop an hour before the talk, starting everything I need to start and then putting my laptop to sleep. Saving and printing the outline, Timing Printing is a real problem because it is really hard to find a printer at most conference venues, and also quite hard in hotels. To solve that, I simply write everything in OneNote (synched to the cloud, now you start to know what I like ;) and then I print it to a PDF (I use CutePDFWriter) that I save to my Kindle. During the presentation, I read the outline off the Kindle (I mostly just need a quick check to see how I am timing). For timing during the presentation, I use the free tool ChronoGPS on my Windows Phone 7, but of course any phone these days has a clock/chrono application. In some conferences, they even have timers that the presenters can see, but they tend to count down and I prefer to count up… so I just use my own :) Source control for demos For demos, I create a separate folder and use Mercurial as source control. Mercurial has the huge advantage (over SVN or TFS) to work offline too, so I can commit while on a plane, and all the history is saved. Then when I have connectivity I push everything to the cloud (I am using the fantastic Trunksapp.com for my private repositories). Here too the obvious downside is the risk of losing my last changes if my laptop crashes before I can push to the cloud, and here too the obvious answer would be to work from a memory stick… though I have to admit I didn't do that lately (except when I was writing Silverlight 4 Unleashed, where I was really paranoid…) And code snippets? I am one of these presenters who hates to type in front of an audience. I can type really fast (writing two books has this advantage, it really teaches you to touch type and be fast at it) but in the context of an audience, on a stage where it is often damn cold (an issue I had a lot in past conferences, air conditioning can freeze your fingers and make it really hard to type), it doesn't work as well. I don't know for you, but I really dislike seeing a presentation where the speaker uses the backspace key more often than others ;) To solve that, I like to have my code ready in snippets, and drag them to the screen. Then I can spend time explaining each code snippet, while highlighting portions of the code (always highlight what you talk about, the audience often doesn't even see the cursor and doesn't know where you are on the screen!) Over the years I have used various solutions for code snippets, and now I have one which works really well… if you take a few precautions! I use the Visual Studio Toolbox. Preparing the code snippets You can store code snippets in the Toolbox for anything, XAML, C# etc. I arrange the snippets in the order in which I need them, which is a great way to remember what comes next in the presentation. I also separate them by topic, to make it easier to find them, for example when I switch to the slides and then back to the code. Remember that no matter how experienced you are, you will feel more nervous on stage than while you are preparing, so any way to make it easier for you is going to be beneficial to the audience. To store a code snippet, I do the following: Open the final demo that you want to show to the audience in Visual Studio. In your code, select a snippet of code that you want to explain in particular. Make sure that the Visual Studio Toolbox is open (menu View, Toolbox or Ctrl-Alt-X). Drag the selected snippet from the code window to the toolbox. (if needed) drag the snippet to the correct location (for example between two other code snippets so that you can access it as you speak through the demo). Right click on the snippet and select Rename Item from the context menu. Select a meaningful name. For me I use the following conventions: If it is a method, I use the method's name. If it is not a whole method, I use a descriptive name. If it is the content of a method (i.e. the body only, without the method's signature), I use "-> MethodName". This reminds me during the presentation that this is only the body, and that I need to insert that into an existing signature. This is the case, for instance, when I use Visual Studio to automatically generate the members of an interface’s implementation; then I only need to insert my snippet inside the generated method body. Saving the snippets This is the most important!! It happened to me a few times that VS10 lost its settings. When that happens, the snippets are lost too! Yeah that really sucks, especially (as it happened once) when this is the case about an hour before a talk… Stress and sweat follows, not good conditions to start a talk in front of an audience believe me. Thankfully, saving snippets is really easy with the following steps: Select the menu Tools, Import and Export Settings. Select Export selected environment settings and press Next. Uncheck All Settings. Then expand General Settings and select Toolbox (only!). Press Next. Select your source control folder and save under a meaningful name (for instance Snippets.vssettings). Commit to source control and push to the cloud. By the way, this also has the advantage of applying source control to the snippets file (which is an XML file), so you get history for free on that file! Reimporting the snippets If VS loses its settings and you need to reimport the snippets, this can be done super easily and very fast. Make sure that the Toolbox is empty. When you import snippets, they are merged with existing ones, they do not replace the content of the Toolbox. Unless merging is really what you want, make sure that your Toolbox is clean before you import, it is really easier. Select the menu Tools, Import and Export Settings. Select Import selected environment settings and press Next. Select No, just import new settings and press Next. Press Browse and select the Snippets.vssettings file. Press Finish. Et voila, all your snippets appear again in the Toolbox. Whew, the worst was averted and you can start your demo without sweating! (I had to do that once literally 5 minutes before the start of a demo, while my laptop was already hooked to the projector, and it went just fine). What about special tools? When using special tools (for example beta versions of tools you have an early access to), or a special configuration of your laptop, things can get tricky because you cannot really be sure that you will get a laptop with the same tools and the same configuration at the conference. To solve that, I use the following precautions: I make my demos from a Virtual Hard Disk. The great John Papa made a very easy-to-follow web page where he explains how to create a VHD and install Win7 to it. This gives you the full power of your laptop (as fast as booting from the metal). For me, I have a basic configuration that I saved on a USB harddrive (Win7 plus drivers, basic settings for desktop, folder options, taskbar etc) and Visual Studio 2010 SP1 on it. When preparing, I start by copying this "basis VHD" to my laptop. I install additional tools and configurations. I save the VHD back to the USB harddrive in a different folder. This would allow me to reinstall my demo environment quite fast, for example in case of harddrive failure. Replace the harddrive, copy the VHD to it, configure the BCD and you can start. Unfortunately this only works if the laptop itself still works. In the worst case of total failure, my security is to back all the installers up: The installers I use are synched on all my laptops and backed up to BackBlaze. If the worst happens and my laptop is absolutely broken, I can download the installer from BackBlaze and install on another laptop. This of course takes some time, and if that happens 5 minutes before a presentation, well… I don't have an answer to that, except of course crossing my fingers. Still, all that gives me additional security. Conclusion Remember folks, talking to an audience, large or small, will make you nervous. Just ask Scott Hanselman :) The goal here is to create the best possible conditions for you, and to create an environment where everything is saved and easy to restore, where everything is well known and provides you with additional confidence. The cooler you feel before the presentation (and during ;)), the better your presentation will be. Here too, the goal is to provide the best user experience you can have, which in turn will make it more enjoyable for your audience! Happy presenting :) Laurent   Laurent Bugnion (GalaSoft) Subscribe | Twitter | Facebook | Flickr | LinkedIn

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, February 04, 2011

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Friday, February 04, 2011Popular ReleasesOJDetective: Branch828: New branch for testing.TVA Code Library: TVA Code Library v4.0.1 Release: This download contains TVA Code Library class libraries, tools, templates and help docs that target the .NET Framework 4.0. Build Date: 02/04/2011 Build Version: 4.0.1.62247 See TVA Code Library v4.0.1 Release Notes for a detailed list of changes.ASP.NET MVC SiteMap provider: MvcSiteMapProvider 3.0.0 for MVC3: Using NuGet?MvcSiteMapProvider is also listed in the NuGet feed. Learn more... Like the project? Consider a donation!Donate via PayPal via PayPal. ChangelogTargeting ASP.NET MVC 3 and .NET 4.0 Additional UpdatePriority options for generating XML sitemaps Allow to specify target on SiteMapTitleAttribute One action with multiple routes and breadcrumbs Medium Trust optimizations Create SiteMapTitleAttribute for setting parent title IntelliSense for your sitemap with MvcSiteMapSchem...Rawr: Rawr 4.0.18 Beta: Rawr is now web-based. The link to use Rawr4 is: http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.phpThis is the Cataclysm Beta Release. More details can be found at the following link http://rawr.codeplex.com/Thread/View.aspx?ThreadId=237262 As of the 4.0.16 release, you can now also begin using the new Downloadable WPF version of Rawr!This is a pre-alpha release of the WPF version, there are likely to be a lot of issues. If you have a problem, please follow the Posting Guidelines and put it into the Issue Trac...patterns & practices SharePoint Guidance: SharePoint Guidance 2010 Hands On Lab: SharePoint Guidance 2010 Hands On Lab consists of six labs: one for logging, one for service location, and four for application setting manager. Each lab takes about 20 minutes to walk through. Each lab consists of a PDF document. You can go through the steps in the doc to create solution and then build/deploy the solution and run the lab. For those of you who wants to save the time, we included the final solution so you can just build/deploy the solution and run the lab.Value Injecter - object(s) to -> object mapper: 2.3: it lets you define your own convention-based matching algorithms (ValueInjections) in order to match up (inject) source values to destination values. inject from multiple sources in one InjectFrom added ConventionInjectionFacebook C# SDK: 5.0.1 (BETA): PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO GIVE US SOME FEEDBACK: Facebook C# SDK Survey This is second BETA release of the version 5 branch of the Facebook C# SDK. Remember this is a BETA build. Some things may change or not work exactly as planned. We are absolutely looking for feedback on this release to help us improve the final 5.X.X release. This release contains some breaking changes. Particularly with authentication. After spending time reviewing the trouble areas that people are having using t...TweetSharp: TweetSharp v2.0.0.0 - Preview 10: Documentation for this release may be found at http://tweetsharp.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=UserGuide&referringTitle=Documentation. Note: This code is currently preview quality. Preview 9 ChangesAdded support for trends Added support for Silverlight 4 Elevated WP7 fixes Third Party Library VersionsHammock v1.1.7: http://hammock.codeplex.com Json.NET 4.0 Release 1: http://json.codeplex.comPhalanger - The PHP Language Compiler for the .NET Framework: 2.0 (February 2011): Next release of Phalanger; again faster, more stable and ready for daily use. Based on many user experiences this release is one more step closer to be perfect compiler and runtime of your old PHP applications; or perfect platform for migrating to .NET. February 2011 release of Phalanger introduces several changes, enhancements and fixes. See complete changelist for all the changes. To improve the performance of your application using MySQL, please use Managed MySQL Extension for Phalanger....Chemistry Add-in for Word: Chemistry Add-in for Word - Version 1.0: On February 1, 2011, we announced the availability of version 1 of the Chemistry Add-in for Word, as well as the assignment of the open source project to the Outercurve Foundation by Microsoft Research and the University of Cambridge. System RequirementsHardware RequirementsAny computer that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010. Software RequirementsYour computer must have the following software: Any version of Windows that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010, which includes Windows XP SP3 and...Minemapper: Minemapper v0.1.4: Updated mcmap, now supports new block types. Added a Worlds->'View Cache Folder' menu item.StyleCop for ReSharper: StyleCop for ReSharper 5.1.15005.000: Applied patch from rodpl for merging of stylecop setting files with settings in parent folder. Previous release: A considerable amount of work has gone into this release: Huge focus on performance around the violation scanning subsystem: - caching added to reduce IO operations around reading and merging of settings files - caching added to reduce creation of expensive objects Users should notice condsiderable perf boost and a decrease in memory usage. Bug Fixes: - StyleCop's new Objec...Minecraft Tools: Minecraft Topographical Survey 1.4: MTS requires version 4 of the .NET Framework - you must download it from Microsoft if you have not previously installed it. This version of MTS adds MCRegion support and fixes bugs that caused rendering to fail for some users. New in this version of MTS: Support for rendering worlds compressed with MCRegion Fixed rendering failure when encountering non-NBT files with the .dat extension Fixed rendering failure when encountering corrupt NBT files Minor GUI updates Note that the command...MVC Controls Toolkit: Mvc Controls Toolkit 0.8: Fixed the following bugs: *Variable name error in the jvascript file that prevented the use of the deleted item template of the Datagrid *Now after the changes applied to an item of the DataGrid are cancelled all input fields are reset to the very initial value they had. *Other minor bugs. Added: *This version is available both for MVC2, and MVC 3. The MVC 3 version has a release number of 0.85. This way one can install both version. *Client Validation support has been added to all control...Office Web.UI: Beta preview (Source): This is the first Beta. it includes full source code and all available controls. Some designers are not ready, and some features are not finalized allready (missing properties, draft styles) ThanksASP.net Ribbon: Version 2.2: This release brings some new controls (part of Office Web.UI). A few bugs are fixed and it includes the "auto resize" feature as you resize the window. (It can cause an infinite loop when the window is too reduced, it's why this release is not marked as "stable"). I will release more versions 2.3, 2.4... until V3 which will be the official launch of Office Web.UI. Both products will evolve at the same speed. Thanks.xUnit.net - Unit Testing for .NET: xUnit.net 1.7: xUnit.net release 1.7Build #1540 Important notes for Resharper users: Resharper support has been moved to the xUnit.net Contrib project. Important note for TestDriven.net users: If you are having issues running xUnit.net tests in TestDriven.net, especially on 64-bit Windows, we strongly recommend you upgrade to TD.NET version 3.0 or later. This release adds the following new features: Added support for ASP.NET MVC 3 Added Assert.Equal(double expected, double actual, int precision) Ad...WPF Application Framework (WAF): WPF Application Framework (WAF) 2.0.0.3: Version: 2.0.0.3 (Milestone 3): This release contains the source code of the WPF Application Framework (WAF) and the sample applications. Requirements .NET Framework 4.0 (The package contains a solution file for Visual Studio 2010) The unit test projects require Visual Studio 2010 Professional Remark The sample applications are using Microsoft’s IoC container MEF. However, the WPF Application Framework (WAF) doesn’t force you to use the same IoC container in your application. You can use ...VivoSocial: VivoSocial 7.4.2: Version 7.4.2 of VivoSocial has been released. If you experienced any issues with the previous version, please update your modules to the 7.4.2 release and see if they persist. If you have any questions about this release, please post them in our Support forums. If you are experiencing a bug or would like to request a new feature, please submit it to our issue tracker. Web Controls * Updated Business Objects and added a new SQL Data Provider File. Groups * Fixed a security issue whe...PHP Manager for IIS: PHP Manager 1.1.1 for IIS 7: This is a minor release of PHP Manager for IIS 7. It contains all the functionality available in 56962 plus several bug fixes (see change list for more details). Also, this release includes Russian language support. SHA1 codes for the downloads are: PHPManagerForIIS-1.1.0-x86.msi - 6570B4A8AC8B5B776171C2BA0572C190F0900DE2 PHPManagerForIIS-1.1.0-x64.msi - 12EDE004EFEE57282EF11A8BAD1DC1ADFD66A654New Projects.NET API for ZingChart: This is a .NET assembly that accepts key value pairs in the form of a dictionary object. It also allows you to set the properties needed for a ZingChart. It includes a ToJSON method that returns the appropriate JSON to rend either a Flash or HTML 5 version of ZingChart..net vkontakte api: vkontakte .net wrapper vor vkontakte api, written in C# 2.0CID Delivery: CIDContact Form for Umbraco: Contact Form for Umbraco is an extension for Umbraco (surprise!). It's supposed to be just like Umbraco: Simple, flexible and friendly.DashBoard: ProyectoenVerifyV2.0: Server Compare toolHttp Post: HttpPost makes it easier to post form data and upload files via HTTP. Supports uri-encoded and Multipart (http-boundary) formats. Written in C#, just 10 KBMemoDb: MemoDb is a memory database that supports transactionability. MemoDb is for mocking Linq providers in unit testing environments.MiRCraft: Mechanics Inspired Realitypower: educational purposesSpace Invaders Clone: <Space invaders clone> <C# with XNA 3.0>SSIS Dataflow Discoverer (DFLD): Dataflow Discoverer (DFLD) is a command-line discovery utility that detects and writes the metadata of SSIS dataflow columns to a SQL Server lookup table. DFLD detects Dataflows nested within containers up to any level of nesting. Test Case Editor 2010: TCE 2010 is a lightweight application that makes it easier for MTM users to edit both Test Cases and Shared Steps without using MTM. This project was inspired by ajryan at http://teststepseditor.codeplex.com However, it has since taken on a different functionality and appearance.TFS Project: Team Foundation ProjectTimeSnapper GCAL Plugin: TimeSnapper GCAL PluginTower of Hanoi: tower of hanoiTwilight 1.0 (Beta): My first Twitter application written in VB.Net and TwitterVB. It performs basic Twitter functions and is designed to run as a desktop client application. For more information about TwitterVB Goto http://twittervb.codeplex.comUnicode Regions Generator: A Silverlight app that generate unicode regions used in a file.WCF-Based Streaming File Server: Use a secure token to access a file on a remote UNC drive. The token expires after a period of time, and can be adapted into other security mechanismsWidget Twitter: Projeto que será apresentado no webcast Criando uma Aplicação (Widget) para o Twitter, no dia 24/02/2011.

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• CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, February 03, 2011

  CodePlex Daily Summary for Thursday, February 03, 2011Popular ReleasesValue Injecter - object(s) to -> object mapper: 2.3: it lets you define your own convention-based matching algorithms (ValueInjections) in order to match up (inject) source values to destination values. inject from multiple sources in one InjectFrom added ConventionInjectionFacebook C# SDK: 5.0.1 (BETA): This is second BETA release of the version 5 branch of the Facebook C# SDK. Remember this is a BETA build. Some things may change or not work exactly as planned. We are absolutely looking for feedback on this release to help us improve the final 5.X.X release. This release contains some breaking changes. Particularly with authentication. After spending time reviewing the trouble areas that people are having using this SDK (and Facebook in general) we decided to spend a good deal of time work...TweetSharp: TweetSharp v2.0.0.0 - Preview 10: Documentation for this release may be found at http://tweetsharp.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=UserGuide&referringTitle=Documentation. Note: This code is currently preview quality. Preview 9 ChangesAdded support for trends Added support for Silverlight 4 Elevated WP7 fixes Third Party Library VersionsHammock v1.1.7: http://hammock.codeplex.com Json.NET 4.0 Release 1: http://json.codeplex.comJSON Toolkit: JSON Toolkit 1.0: Updates: bug fixed: extra "r" character appear in strings with "\r"Phalanger - The PHP Language Compiler for the .NET Framework: 2.0 (February 2011): Next release of Phalanger; again faster, more stable and ready for daily use. Based on many user experiences this release is one more step closer to be perfect compiler and runtime of your old PHP applications; or perfect platform for migrating to .NET. February 2011 release of Phalanger introduces several changes, enhancements and fixes. See complete changelist for all the changes. To improve the performance of your application using MySQL, please use Managed MySQL Extension for Phalanger....Chemistry Add-in for Word: Chemistry Add-in for Word - Version 1.0: On February 1, 2011, we announced the availability of version 1 of the Chemistry Add-in for Word, as well as the assignment of the open source project to the Outercurve Foundation by Microsoft Research and the University of Cambridge. System RequirementsHardware RequirementsAny computer that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010. Software RequirementsYour computer must have the following software: Any version of Windows that can run Office 2007 or Office 2010, which includes Windows XP SP3 and...StyleCop for ReSharper: StyleCop for ReSharper 5.1.15005.000: Applied patch from rodpl for merging of stylecop setting files with settings in parent folder. Previous release: A considerable amount of work has gone into this release: Huge focus on performance around the violation scanning subsystem: - caching added to reduce IO operations around reading and merging of settings files - caching added to reduce creation of expensive objects Users should notice condsiderable perf boost and a decrease in memory usage. Bug Fixes: - StyleCop's new Objec...Minecraft Tools: Minecraft Topographical Survey 1.4: MTS requires version 4 of the .NET Framework - you must download it from Microsoft if you have not previously installed it. This version of MTS adds MCRegion support and fixes bugs that caused rendering to fail for some users. New in this version of MTS: Support for rendering worlds compressed with MCRegion Fixed rendering failure when encountering non-NBT files with the .dat extension Fixed rendering failure when encountering corrupt NBT files Minor GUI updates Note that the command...MVC Controls Toolkit: Mvc Controls Toolkit 0.8: Fixed the following bugs: *Variable name error in the jvascript file that prevented the use of the deleted item template of the Datagrid *Now after the changes applied to an item of the DataGrid are cancelled all input fields are reset to the very initial value they had. *Other minor bugs. Added: *This version is available both for MVC2, and MVC 3. The MVC 3 version has a release number of 0.85. This way one can install both version. *Client Validation support has been added to all control...Office Web.UI: Beta preview (Source): This is the first Beta. it includes full source code and all available controls. Some designers are not ready, and some features are not finalized allready (missing properties, draft styles) ThanksASP.net Ribbon: Version 2.2: This release brings some new controls (part of Office Web.UI). A few bugs are fixed and it includes the "auto resize" feature as you resize the window. (It can cause an infinite loop when the window is too reduced, it's why this release is not marked as "stable"). I will release more versions 2.3, 2.4... until V3 which will be the official launch of Office Web.UI. Both products will evolve at the same speed. Thanks.Barcode Rendering Framework: 2.1.1.0: Finally fixed bugs with code 128 symbology. It was envisioned that this would be the last release to target VS2008 but support will continue due in no small part to a desire to add SSRS support in the future.xUnit.net - Unit Testing for .NET: xUnit.net 1.7: xUnit.net release 1.7Build #1540 Important notes for Resharper users: Resharper support has been moved to the xUnit.net Contrib project. Important note for TestDriven.net users: If you are having issues running xUnit.net tests in TestDriven.net, especially on 64-bit Windows, we strongly recommend you upgrade to TD.NET version 3.0 or later. This release adds the following new features: Added support for ASP.NET MVC 3 Added Assert.Equal(double expected, double actual, int precision) Ad...DoddleReport - Automatic HTML/Excel/PDF Reporting: DoddleReport 1.0: DoddleReport will add automatic tabular-based reporting (HTML/PDF/Excel/etc) for any LINQ Query, IEnumerable, DataTable or SharePoint List For SharePoint integration please click Here PDF Reporting has been placed into a separate assembly because it requies AbcPdf http://www.websupergoo.com/download.htmSpark View Engine: Spark v1.5: Release Notes There have been a lot of minor changes going on since version 1.1, but most important to note are the major changes which include: Support for HTML5 "section" tag. Spark has now renamed its own section tag to "segment" instead to avoid clashes. You can still use "section" in a Spark sense for legacy support by specifying ParseSectionAsSegment = true if needed while you transition Bindings - this is a massive feature that further simplifies your views by giving you a powerful ...WPF Application Framework (WAF): WPF Application Framework (WAF) 2.0.0.3: Version: 2.0.0.3 (Milestone 3): This release contains the source code of the WPF Application Framework (WAF) and the sample applications. Requirements .NET Framework 4.0 (The package contains a solution file for Visual Studio 2010) The unit test projects require Visual Studio 2010 Professional Remark The sample applications are using Microsoft’s IoC container MEF. However, the WPF Application Framework (WAF) doesn’t force you to use the same IoC container in your application. You can use ...Rawr: Rawr 4.0.17 Beta: Rawr is now web-based. The link to use Rawr4 is: http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.phpThis is the Cataclysm Beta Release. More details can be found at the following link http://rawr.codeplex.com/Thread/View.aspx?ThreadId=237262 and on the Version Notes page: http://rawr.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=VersionNotes As of the 4.0.16 release, you can now also begin using the new Downloadable WPF version of Rawr!This is a pre-alpha release of the WPF version, there are likely to be a lot of issues. If you...Squiggle - A Free open source LAN Messenger: Squiggle 2.5 Beta: In this release following are the new features: Localization: Support for Arabic, French, German and Chinese (Simplified) Bridge: Connect two Squiggle nets across the WAN or different subnets Aliases: Special codes with special meaning can be embedded in message like (version),(datetime),(time),(date),(you),(me) Commands: cls, /exit, /offline, /online, /busy, /away, /main Sound notifications: Get audio alerts on contact online, message received, buzz Broadcast for group: You can ri...VivoSocial: VivoSocial 7.4.2: Version 7.4.2 of VivoSocial has been released. If you experienced any issues with the previous version, please update your modules to the 7.4.2 release and see if they persist. If you have any questions about this release, please post them in our Support forums. If you are experiencing a bug or would like to request a new feature, please submit it to our issue tracker. Web Controls * Updated Business Objects and added a new SQL Data Provider File. Groups * Fixed a security issue whe...PHP Manager for IIS: PHP Manager 1.1.1 for IIS 7: This is a minor release of PHP Manager for IIS 7. It contains all the functionality available in 56962 plus several bug fixes (see change list for more details). Also, this release includes Russian language support. SHA1 codes for the downloads are: PHPManagerForIIS-1.1.0-x86.msi - 6570B4A8AC8B5B776171C2BA0572C190F0900DE2 PHPManagerForIIS-1.1.0-x64.msi - 12EDE004EFEE57282EF11A8BAD1DC1ADFD66A654New Projectsanael: Algorithms of recognition using neural network based on facebook informationsBressam Contábil: TesteCrazyKTVfromCashbox: get song lists from Cashbox and inserted or update the crazyktv databasedatajs - JavaScript Library for data-centric web applications: datajs is a new cross-browser JavaScript library that enables data-centric web applications by leveraging modern protocols such as JSON and OData and HTML5-enabled browser features. It's designed to be small, fast and easy to use.Delta's Data Access Layer: The data access layer is designed to allow .NET developers to quickly integrate any IDb compatible data source in to their applications and easily fill business objects.Dynamic Mocking Framework: This framework is my first open-source project. With this framework you can mock any public properties and methods (virtual and non-virtual). Based on DynamicObject features of Microsoft Net Framework 4. Programming language: C# Loja em dia: Controle de lojaRovio Library: A wrapper library for Rovio mobile robot written in C#. Used for teaching Robotics courses at the University of Lincoln, UK.Scalable state synchronization infrastructure using P2P: An infrastructure that provides synchronization between peers using WCF P2P.Many applications need to share information between various instances of the application. This infrastructure simplifies the use of peer channel by handling the various patterns of nodes states.Send Documents as attachments with SharePoint 2010: Sends documents from SharePoint 2010 document libraries as email-attachments via Outlook. SheHuiShiJianZhongXin: ?????? - ?????SlimDXControl: SlimDXControl is a WPF control that wraps the complexity of managing a D3DImage for you. You just have to implement the actual DirectX rendering piece -- no messing about with device management or IsFrontBufferAvailableChanged. SplitWmvToBmps: Often task in image processing is to split video (wmv) file we got from web-camera or photocamera to set of bmpsTechpath: TechpathThats-Me App SDK: The Thats-Me App SDK implements the API interface of the social network "Thats-Me" and prepaire it for using on Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7TrackIT: time tracking appuDbCompare: uDBCompare compares various items (Doc Types, Media Types, Templates, Data Types, Relationships, Dictionary Items, & Macros) in the current Umbraco database to a remote database. Versioned TFS 2010 Build: Versioned Build for TFS 2010. Allows for 4 version numbers (Called Major, Minor, Emergency and Build), Will also update the build number into any AssemblyInfo files in the project before building (effectively giving your binaries the same version number).WalkMeIL: VS plugin that contains managed debugging engine.Where2Go: Travel CompanionZombies On Board: XNA, Flixel, Beholder, GameZune HD 2v2 Yugioh Calculator: A small yugioh calculator that can be used for 2 vs 2 duels with separate life points.

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