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• Bytes by MSDN - Let's talk Cloud

  - by Wallym

  While I was at DevConnections in Las Vegas, I was honored to be interviewed by Tim Huckaby for "Bytes by MSDN" on Cloud Computing. Here's a short intro from the talk:Do you believe in the Cloud? Wallace McClure, Founder and Architect of Scalable Development, Inc., does. His customers are extremely interested in the value and economies of scale that Cloud Computing, and more specifically, Windows Azure can bring. Building out an infrastructure that supports your web service or application can be expensive, complicated and time consuming. Or you could look to the Microsoft cloud. The Windows Azure platform is a flexible cloud–computing platform that lets you focus on solving business problems and addressing customer needs. Wally talks about all this, and more, in this interview with Tim Huckaby, and in his Windows Azure podcasts.

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• Polished DIY Projector Is Painted Right onto the Wall

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If you’re contemplating building a projector screen but find yourself not entirely unhappy with just projecting right onto the wall, this simple paint-it-on-the-wall upgrade is for you. Check out the above video to see the steps required to patch, paint, and frame a space on your wall to serve as a projection screen. You’ll need spackle, sandpaper, white paint, and some very basic carpentry skills to complete the simple wood frame for your painted-on screen. If you’d like to create a screen using the same technique but make it removable (for adjustments or to take it with you when you move out) you can just as easily use the paint-it-on technique with a piece of hardboard instead of the drywall. [via Hack A Day] HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using? HTG Explains: What The Windows Event Viewer Is and How You Can Use It HTG Explains: How Windows Uses The Task Scheduler for System Tasks

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• Convert a Door Peephole Viewer into a Fisheye Camera Lens

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Commercial fish eye lenses are a niche product and carry a hefty price tag; if you’re looking to goof around with fish eye photography on the cheap, this $6 tutorial is for you. Courtesy of Dave from Knobtop–a thrifty DIY photography video blog–this hack uses dirt cheap parts (the whole build is composed of a PVC pipe reducer and a door peephole lens) to bring you fun fish eye photography on a budget. Check out the video above to see the build and the results, then hit up the link below to check out the notes on the video for more information. Fisheye Lens for $6 [via DIY Photography] HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It? HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me? HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux

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• Mario Warfare Episode 1: Invasion Day [Video]

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Back in September we shared the trailer for Mario Warfare with you–a clever live-action take on the battle in the Mushroom Kingdom. The team behind it just released the first full length episode, check it out here. We loved the trailer and the first episode is just as awesome; clearly combining the landscape and politics of Super Mario Bros. with highly stylized fighting and CGI was the right choice. If you’re interested in following the project check out their YouTube Channel and Kickstarter. Mario Warfare Episode 1 Secure Yourself by Using Two-Step Verification on These 16 Web Services How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot

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• Is There a Center of the Universe?

  - by Akemi Iwaya

  From our earliest days mankind has debated what should be defined as the center of the universe, a ‘definition’ that continues to evolve as our technology and knowledge of the universe improves. Follow along with mankind’s historical progress on defining the center of the universe and learn some great facts about the debate with this terrific TEDEducation video. Is there a center of the universe? – Marjee Chmiel and Trevor Owens [YouTube]     

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• How to Store the Contents of Your Office ‘Zip File’ Style [Humorous Image]

  - by Asian Angel

  There is plenty of room for that new computer you were wanting, but you had better hope that you do not need an item from the bottom of the stack moments from now… You can view more organizational wonderment and visit Michael’s website using the links below… OMG – OCD (Image Collection) Visit the Artist’s Website – Michael Johansson [via MUO] 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8 What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8

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• No Rush, Defragging that Drive can Wait [Humorous Image]

  - by Asian Angel

  That drive is only fragmented a little bit…nothing to worry about there. View a Larger Version of the Image You should defragment this volume. Ya think?! [via Fail Desk] What’s the Difference Between Sleep and Hibernate in Windows? Screenshot Tour: XBMC 11 Eden Rocks Improved iOS Support, AirPlay, and Even a Custom XBMC OS How To Be Your Own Personal Clone Army (With a Little Photoshop)

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• GoodFil.ms Suggests New Movies Based on Friends’ Picks

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Goodfil.ms is a movie suggestion engine that doesn’t suggest movies based on what the critics say or how many anonymous internet points a movie has received, but instead takes into account your personal tastes and the tastes of your friends. From the Goodfil.ms FAQ: Films are social. The best way to find movies is through the people you know. We’ve designed Goodfilms from the ground up to show you what your existing friends are watching and rating, and to focus on showing you what the people around you think about films instead of a random grab bag of “internet voters” or highly specialised critics. Their FAQ file is filled with links to detailed posts about the specifics of the process, so if you’re the curious type we strongly suggest checking it out. In addition to the social-ranking side of Goodfil.ms there’s an excellent “Recent Releases” section for major streaming services like iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Prime–even if you don’t sign up for the social side of the site you can still keep an eye on the best new releases across the board. What To Do If You Get a Virus on Your Computer Why Enabling “Do Not Track” Doesn’t Stop You From Being Tracked HTG Explains: What is the Windows Page File and Should You Disable It?

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• My MIX10 recap at the Montreal User Group

  - by pluginbaby

  I’ve just done a session at the Montreal .NET User Group to share what I learnt at MIX10. I talked about: Silverlight Media Framework open sourced Silverlight 4 RC Windows Phone 7 Internet Explorer 9 Pivot OData Jesse Liberty cancelled at the very last minute so for the second part of the meeting we had Louis-Philippe Pinsonneault presenting Windows Phone 7, we can thank him for his quick preparation just a few hours before the meeting! You can view all MIX videos (keynote and sessions) for free at: http://live.visitmix.com/Videos Here are the other links I mentioned on my slides: http://www.silverlight.net http://developer.windowsphone.com/ http://www.ietestdrive.com http://www.getpivot.com http://www.odata.org   Download slides (french)   Technorati Tags: MIX10

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• 11 Extinct Technology Sounds

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Extinction isn’t exclusively a biological function; here’s a roundup of 11 sounds that have gone the way of the Dodo. Mental_Floss shares a roundup of 11 technological sounds lost to the ages, including rotary telephones–see above–flash cube snaps, television warmups, TV station sign offs, and more. One thing we’re shocked they didn’t include is the sound of an acoustic modem connection–but in fairness quite a few people are still using dial-up to connect to the Internet. 11 Sounds Your Kids Have Probably Never Heard [Mental_Floss via BoingBoing] Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Tablet: the How-To Geek Review HTG Explains: How Hackers Take Over Web Sites with SQL Injection / DDoS Use Your Android Phone to Comparison Shop: 4 Scanner Apps Reviewed

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• ASP.NET Podcast Show #149 - MonoDroid Development on the Apple Macintosh OSX

  - by Wallym

  Given that I have a cast on my arm, I installed the MonoDroid Development Framework for Apple Macs today.  I walked through it and found that things are pretty much the same as with the MonoDroid plugin for Visual Studio 2010.  This post shows the video displaying this.  This video is based on MonoDroid Preview 11.1. Subscribe to everything. Subscribe to WMV. Subscribe to M4V for iPhone/iPad. Subscribe to MP3. Download WMV. Download M4V. Download MP4. Download MP3.

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• SharePoint Q&A With the MVP Gang

  - by Bil Simser

  Interested in getting some first hand knowledge about SharePoint and all of it’s quirks, oddities, and secrets? We’re hosting not one, but *two* SharePoint Q&A sessions with the MVP crowd. Here’s the official blurb: Do you have tough technical questions regarding SharePoint for which you're seeking answers? Do you want to tap into the deep knowledge of the talented Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals? The SharePoint MVPs are the same people you see in the technical community as authors, speakers, user group leaders and answerers in the MSDN forums. By popular demand, we have brought these experts together as a collective group to answer your questions live. So please join us and bring on the questions! This chat will cover WSS, MOSS and the SharePoint 2010. Topics include setup and administration, design, development and general questions. Here’s a rundown of the expected guests for the chats: Agnes Molnar, Andrew Connell, Asif Rehmani, Becky Bertram, Me, Bryan Phillips, Chris O'Brien, Clayton Cobb, Dan Attis, Darrin Bishop, David Mann, Gary Lapointe, John Ross, Mike Oryzak, Muhanad Omar, Paul Stork, Randy Drisgill, Rob Bogue, Rob Foster, Shane Young, Spence Harbar. Apologies for not linking to everyone’s blogs, I’m just not that ambitious tonight. Please note that not everyone listed here is guaranteed to make it to either chat and there may be additions/changes at the last minute so the names may change to protect the innocent. The chat sessions will be held April 27th, 2010 at 4PM (PST) and April 28th at 9AM (PST). You can find out more details about the chats here or click here to add the April 27th event to your calendar, or click here to add the April 28th event (assuming your calendar software supports ICS files). See you there!

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• Fix: Azure Disabled over 49 cents? Beware of using a Java Virtual Machine on Microsoft Azure

  - by Ken Cox [MVP]

  I love my MSDN Azure account. I can spin up a demo/dev app or VM in seconds. In fact, it is so easy to create a virtual machine that Azure shut down my whole account! Last night I spun up a Java Virtual Machine to play with some Android stuff. My mistake was that I didn’t read the Virtual Machine pricing warning: “I have a MSDN Azure Benefit subscription. Can I use my monthly Azure credits to purchase Oracle software?” “No, Azure credits in our MSDN offers are not applicable to Oracle software. In order to purchase Oracle software in the MSDN Azure Benefit subscription, customers need to turn off their {0} spending limit and pay at the regular pay-as-you-go rate. Otherwise, Oracle usage will hit the {1} spending limit and the subscription will be immediately disabled.”  Immediately disabled? Yup. Everything connected to the subscription was shut off, deallocated, rendered useless - even the free Web sites and the free Sendgrid email service.  The fix? I had to remove the spending limit from my account so I could pay $0.49 (49 cents) for the JVM usage. I still had $134.10 in credits remaining for regular usage with 6 days left in the billing month.  Now the restoration/clean-up begins… figuring out how to get the web sites and services back online.  To me, the preferable way would be for Azure to warn me when setting up a JVM that I had no way of paying for the service. In the alternative, shut down just the offending services – the ones that can’t be covered by the regular credits. What a mess.

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• D Bitly Shortens Links on Android Phones

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If you share a lot of links from your Android phone (or would share more if it was easier) D Bitly is an unofficial Bitly client that makes short work of URL shrinking. Not only can you shorten URLs with D Bitly but you can also access your URL shortening history at Bit.ly. Shared a link via IM or email earlier in the day and want to share it right now from your Android device? You can pull it up and one-click share it from D Bitly. Want to shorten a new URL? You can shorten it, share it, and add it to your shortened URL history. Hit up the link below to grab a free copy and take it for a test drive. D Bitly [Android Market via Addictive Tips] HTG Explains: Photography with Film-Based CamerasHow to Clean Your Dirty Smartphone (Without Breaking Something)What is a Histogram, and How Can I Use it to Improve My Photos?

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• LDom Direct - IO gives fast and virtualized IO to ECI Telecom

  - by Claudia Caramelli-Oracle

  By Orgad Kimch, Principal Software Engineer. Originally posted on Openomics blog. "As one of the leading suppliers in the telecom networking infrastructure, ECI has a long term relationship with Oracle. Our main Network Management products are based on Oracle Database, Oracle Solaris and Oracle's Sun servers. Oracle Solaris is proven to be a mission critical OS for its high performance, extreme stability and binary compatibility guarantee." Mark Markman, R&D Infrastructure Manager, ECI Telecom ECI Telecom is a leading telecom networking infrastructure vendor and a long-time Oracle partner. ECI provides innovative communications platforms and solutions to carriers and service providers worldwide, that enable customers to rapidly deploy cost-effective, revenue-generating services. ECI Telecom's Network Management solutions are built on the Oracle 11gR2 Database and Solaris Operating System. Please read the full post here, and discover a new successful case history that well explains how Oracle technologies are "engineered to work together” for providing better values for Oracle customers.

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• Microsoft Sql Server driver for Nodejs - Part 2

  - by chanderdhall

  Nodejs, Sql server and Json response with Rest This post is part 2 of Microsoft Sql Server driver for Node js.In this post we will look at the JSON responses from the Microsoft Sql Server driver for Node js. Pre-requisites: If you have read the Part 1 of the series, you should be good. We will be using a framework for Rest within Nodejs - Restify, but that would need no prior learning. Restify: Restify is a simple node module for building RESTful services. It is slimmer than Express. Express is a complete module that has all what you need to create a full-blown browser app. However, Restify does not have additional overhead of templating, rendering etc that would be needed if your app has views. So, as the name suggests it's an awesome framework for building RESTful services and is very light-weight. Set up - You can continue with the same directory or project structure we had in the previous post, or can start a new one. Install restify using npm and you are good to go. npm install restify Go to Server.js and include Restify in your solution. Then create the server object using restify.CreateServer() - SLICK - ha? var restify = require('restify'); var server = restify.createServer(); server.listen(8080, function () { console.log('%s listening at %s', server.name, server.url); }); Then make sure you provide a port for the Server to listen at. The call back function is optional but helps you for debugging purposes. Once you are done, save the file and then go to the command prompt and hit 'node server.js' and you should see the following:   To test the server, go to your browser and type the address 'http://localhost:8080/' and oops you will see an error.   Why is that? - Well because we haven't defined any routes. Let's go ahead and create a route. To begin with I'd like to return whatever is typed in the url after my name and the following code should do it. server.get('/ChanderDhall/:status', function respond(req, res, next) { res.end("hello " + req.params.name + "") }); You can also avoid writing call backs inline. Something like this. function respond(req, res, next) { res.end("Chander Dhall " + req.params.name + ""); } server.get('/hello/:name', respond); Now if you go ahead and type http://localhost:8080/ChanderDhall/LovesNode you will get the response 'Chander Dhall loves node'. NOTE: Make sure your url has the right case as it's case-sensitive. You could have also typed it in as 'server.get('/chanderdhall/:name', respond);' Stored procedure: We've talked a lot about Restify now, but keep in mind the post is about being able to use Sql server with Node and return JSON. To see this in action, let's go ahead and create another route to a list of Employees from a stored procedure. server.get('/Employees', Employees); The following code will return a JSON response.  function Employees(req, res, next) { res.header("Content-Type: application/json"); //Need to specify the Content-Type which is //JSON in our case. sql.open(conn_str, function (err, conn) { if (err) { //Logs an error console.log("Error opening the database connection!"); return; } console.log("before query!"); conn.queryRaw("exec sp_GetEmployees", function (err, results) { if (err) { //Connection is open but an error occurs whileWhat else can be done? May be create a formatter or may be even come up with a hypermedia type but that may upset some pragmatists. Well, that's going to be a totally different discussion and is really not part of this series. Summary: We've discussed how to execute a stored procedure using Microsoft Sql Server driver for Node. Also, we have discussed how to format and send out a clean JSON to the app calling this API.  

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• New Article on OTN: Tips for Securing an Oracle Linux Environment

  - by Lenz Grimmer

  Some time ago, we published Tips for Hardening an Oracle Linux Server on the Oracle Technology Network. This article focused on hardening an Oracle Linux system right after the initial installation, exploring administrative approaches that help to minimize vulnerabilities. This week we issued a second part,Tips for Securing an Oracle Linux Environment, which focuses on the operational part: detecting intrusion attempts, auditing and keeping systems up-to date and protected. If you manage Oracle Linux systems in your environment, check out these articles for some invaluable hints and suggestions on how to improve and maintain security of these servers!

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• Fiction to Reality Timeline Charts Introduction of Sci-Fi Concepts to Real Life

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  Videophones, voice-controlled computers, heads-up displays, and other technological innovations made their first appearances in Sci-Fi. This dual timeline charts the first appearance in Sci-Fi against the date of commercial success for the product in the real world. Hit up the link below for the full resolution image. The Fiction to Reality Timeline [via Cool Inforgraphics] How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 3 How to Sync Your Media Across Your Entire House with XBMC How to Own Your Own Website (Even If You Can’t Build One) Pt 2

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• Access PC Settings Easily from Your Desktop in Windows 8 and 8.1

  - by Akemi Iwaya

  Accessing your system’s settings in Windows 8 is not exactly the most straight-forward of processes, so if you need to change your settings often, then it can be a bit frustrating. With that in mind, the good folks over at 7 Tutorials have created an awesome shortcut that will take all the hassle out of accessing those settings, and make ‘tweaking’ Windows 8 much easier. After downloading the zip file, extract the exe file and place it in an appropriate folder, then create a shortcut. Once you have the new shortcut set up in the desired location (i.e. desktop or pinned to the taskbar), accessing your system’s settings has never been easier in Windows 8 and 8.1! Special Note: If you are someone who runs files through VirusTotal before using them, be aware that two listings there (Commtouch and Symantec) will flag the file as malware. We had no problems on our system whatsoever and believe the malware flags to be false positives. Download the Desktop Shortcut to PC Settings, for Windows 8 & 8.1 [7 Tutorials]     

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• Declaration of Email Signatures [Video]

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  In honor of the Fourth of July and as a public service to highlight bad email signature practices, College Humor shares a peek at what the Declaration of Independence would look like if Founding Fathers shared our modern sensibilities about email signatures. Declaration of Email Signatures [College Humor] Download the Official How-To Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless

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• Vampires – Folklore, Fantasy, and Fact

  - by Akemi Iwaya

  Halloween is practically here, so what better time is there than now to look into the history of vampires? Michael Molina has put together a great presentation looking at the folklore and types of vampires throughout history, sorting facts from fiction, and more in the TED-Ed channel’s latest video. Vampires: Folklore, fantasy and fact – Michael Molina [YouTube]     

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• Oracle SOA and the Sun acquisition

  - by Demed L'Her

  I just presented the SOA product strategy at the Oracle + Sun Welcome Event this morning in Redwood Shores, after 2 earlier sessions on that same topic in Atlanta and Reston. That made me realize that I still haven’t blogged about the Sun acquisition – you might wonder how I managed to ignore the elephant in the room! Reality is that we have been very busy lately working with our new colleagues from Sun on a joint strategy and the resulting engineering plans. Let me help you navigate the Oracle website by giving you the links you really need if your main focus of area is integration and SOA technologies: Entry point into all material relating to the Sun acquisition (and since you are there you might want to check the non-SOA content, such as the hardware story that is quite interesting) Hasan Rizvi’s webcast on the combined SOA strategy Schedule and registration for the live Welcome Events taking place around the world – a great opportunity to ask questions that are not answered in the material we have posted on the web So with this welcome to the Sun customers and Java CAPS users!   Technorati Tags: jcaps,java caps,sun,soa,oracle,glassfish esb,seebeyond,acquisition

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• Mono for Android Book has been Released!!!!!

  - by Wallym

  If I understand things correctly, and I make no guarantees that I do, our Mono for Android book has been RELEASED!  I'm not quite sure what this means, but my guess is that that it has been printed and is being shipped to various book sellers.So, if you have pre-ordered a copy, its now up to Amazon to send it to you.  Its fully out of my control, Wrox, Wiley, as well as everyone but Amazon.If you haven't bought a copy already, why?  Seriously, go order 8-10 copies for the ones you love.  They'll make great romantic gifts for the ones you love.  Just think at the look on the other person's face when you give them a copy of our book. Here's a little about the book:The wait is over! For the millions of .NET/C# developers who have been eagerly awaiting the book that will guide them through the white-hot field of Android application programming, this is the book. As the first guide to focus on Mono for Android, this must-have resource dives into writing applications against Mono with C# and compiling executables that run on the Android family of devices.Putting the proven Wrox Professional format into practice, the authors provide you with the knowledge you need to become a successful Android application developer without having to learn another programming language. You'll explore screen controls, UI development, tables and layouts, and MonoDevelop as you become adept at developing Android applications with Mono for Android.Develop Android apps using tools you already know—C# and .NETAimed at providing readers with a thorough, reliable resource that guides them through the field of Android application programming, this must-have book shows how to write applications using Mono with C# that run on the Android family of devices. A team of authors provides you with the knowledge you need to become a successful Android application developer without having to learn another programming language. You'll explore screen controls, UI development, tables and layouts, and MonoDevelop as you become adept at planning, building, and developing Android applications with Mono for Android.Professional Android Programming with Mono for Android and .NET/C#:Shows you how to use your existing C# and .NET skills to build Android appsDetails optimal ways to work with data and bind data to controlsExplains how to program with Android device hardwareDives into working with the file system and application preferencesDiscusses how to share code between Mono for Android, MonoTouch, and Windows® Phone 7Reveals tips for globalizing your apps with internationalization and localization supportCovers development of tablet apps with Android 4Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.Now, go buy a bunch of copies!!!!!If you are interested in iPhone and Android and would like to get a little more knowledgeable in the area of development, you can purchase the 3 pack of books from Wrox on Mobile Development with Mono.  This will cover MonoTouch, Mono for Android, and cross platform methods for using both tools.  A great package in and of itself.  The name of that package is: Wrox Cross Platform Android and iOS Mobile Development Three-Pack 

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• POV Christmas Tree Is a Holiday-Themed DIY Electronics Project

  - by Jason Fitzpatrick

  If you’re looking for an electronics project with a bit of holiday cheer, this clever POV Christmas tree combines LEDs, motors, and a simple vision hack to create a glowing Christmas tree. POV (or Persistence Of Vision) hacks rely on your visual circuit’s lag time. By taking advantage of that lag POV displays can create the illusion of shapes and words where there are none. In the case of this Christmas tree hack a spinning set of LED lights creates the illusion of a Christmas tree when, in reality, there is just a few LEDs suspended in space by wire. It’s not a beginner level project by any means but it is a great way to practice surface mounting electronics and polish up your PCB making skills. Hit up the link below for the full tutorial. POV Christmas Tree [Instructables] HTG Explains: Do You Really Need to Defrag Your PC? Use Amazon’s Barcode Scanner to Easily Buy Anything from Your Phone How To Migrate Windows 7 to a Solid State Drive

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• Windows Azure: Announcing release of Windows Azure SDK 2.2 (with lots of goodies)

  - by ScottGu

  Earlier today I blogged about a big update we made today to Windows Azure, and some of the great new features it provides. Today I’m also excited to also announce the release of the Windows Azure SDK 2.2. Today’s SDK release adds even more great features including: Visual Studio 2013 Support Integrated Windows Azure Sign-In support within Visual Studio Remote Debugging Cloud Services with Visual Studio Firewall Management support within Visual Studio for SQL Databases Visual Studio 2013 RTM VM Images for MSDN Subscribers Windows Azure Management Libraries for .NET Updated Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets and ScriptCenter The below post has more details on what’s available in today’s Windows Azure SDK 2.2 release.  Also head over to Channel 9 to see the new episode of the Visual Studio Toolbox show that will be available shortly, and which highlights these features in a video demonstration. Visual Studio 2013 Support Version 2.2 of the Window Azure SDK is the first official version of the SDK to support the final RTM release of Visual Studio 2013. If you installed the 2.1 SDK with the Preview of Visual Studio 2013 we recommend that you upgrade your projects to SDK 2.2.  SDK 2.2 also works side by side with the SDK 2.0 and SDK 2.1 releases on Visual Studio 2012: Integrated Windows Azure Sign In within Visual Studio Integrated Windows Azure Sign-In support within Visual Studio is one of the big improvements added with this Windows Azure SDK release.  Integrated sign-in support enables developers to develop/test/manage Windows Azure resources within Visual Studio without having to download or use management certificates.  You can now just right-click on the “Windows Azure” icon within the Server Explorer inside Visual Studio and choose the “Connect to Windows Azure” context menu option to connect to Windows Azure: Doing this will prompt you to enter the email address of the account you wish to sign-in with: You can use either a Microsoft Account (e.g. Windows Live ID) or an Organizational account (e.g. Active Directory) as the email.  The dialog will update with an appropriate login prompt depending on which type of email address you enter: Once you sign-in you’ll see the Windows Azure resources that you have permissions to manage show up automatically within the Visual Studio Server Explorer (and you can start using them): With this new integrated sign in experience you are now able to publish web apps, deploy VMs and cloud services, use Windows Azure diagnostics, and fully interact with your Windows Azure services within Visual Studio without the need for a management certificate.  All of the authentication is handled using the Windows Azure Active Directory associated with your Windows Azure account (details on this can be found in my earlier blog post). Integrating authentication this way end-to-end across the Service Management APIs + Dev Tools + Management Portal + PowerShell automation scripts enables a much more secure and flexible security model within Windows Azure, and makes it much more convenient to securely manage multiple developers + administrators working on a project.  It also allows organizations and enterprises to use the same authentication model that they use for their developers on-premises in the cloud.  It also ensures that employees who leave an organization immediately lose access to their company’s cloud based resources once their Active Directory account is suspended. Filtering/Subscription Management Once you login within Visual Studio, you can filter which Windows Azure subscriptions/regions are visible within the Server Explorer by right-clicking the “Filter Services” context menu within the Server Explorer.  You can also use the “Manage Subscriptions” context menu to mange your Windows Azure Subscriptions: Bringing up the “Manage Subscriptions” dialog allows you to see which accounts you are currently using, as well as which subscriptions are within them: The “Certificates” tab allows you to continue to import and use management certificates to manage Windows Azure resources as well.  We have not removed any functionality with today’s update – all of the existing scenarios that previously supported management certificates within Visual Studio continue to work just fine.  The new integrated sign-in support provided with today’s release is purely additive. Note: the SQL Database node and the Mobile Service node in Server Explorer do not support integrated sign-in at this time. Therefore, you will only see databases and mobile services under those nodes if you have a management certificate to authorize access to them.  We will enable them with integrated sign-in in a future update. Remote Debugging Cloud Resources within Visual Studio Today’s Windows Azure SDK 2.2 release adds support for remote debugging many types of Windows Azure resources. With live, remote debugging support from within Visual Studio, you are now able to have more visibility than ever before into how your code is operating live in Windows Azure.  Let’s walkthrough how to enable remote debugging for a Cloud Service: Remote Debugging of Cloud Services To enable remote debugging for your cloud service, select Debug as the Build Configuration on the Common Settings tab of your Cloud Service’s publish dialog wizard: Then click the Advanced Settings tab and check the Enable Remote Debugging for all roles checkbox: Once your cloud service is published and running live in the cloud, simply set a breakpoint in your local source code: Then use Visual Studio’s Server Explorer to select the Cloud Service instance deployed in the cloud, and then use the Attach Debugger context menu on the role or to a specific VM instance of it: Once the debugger attaches to the Cloud Service, and a breakpoint is hit, you’ll be able to use the rich debugging capabilities of Visual Studio to debug the cloud instance remotely, in real-time, and see exactly how your app is running in the cloud. Today’s remote debugging support is super powerful, and makes it much easier to develop and test applications for the cloud.  Support for remote debugging Cloud Services is available as of today, and we’ll also enable support for remote debugging Web Sites shortly. Firewall Management Support with SQL Databases By default we enable a security firewall around SQL Databases hosted within Windows Azure.  This ensures that only your application (or IP addresses you approve) can connect to them and helps make your infrastructure secure by default.  This is great for protection at runtime, but can sometimes be a pain at development time (since by default you can’t connect/manage the database remotely within Visual Studio if the security firewall blocks your instance of VS from connecting to it). One of the cool features we’ve added with today’s release is support that makes it easy to enable and configure the security firewall directly within Visual Studio.  Now with the SDK 2.2 release, when you try and connect to a SQL Database using the Visual Studio Server Explorer, and a firewall rule prevents access to the database from your machine, you will be prompted to add a firewall rule to enable access from your local IP address: You can simply click Add Firewall Rule and a new rule will be automatically added for you. In some cases, the logic to detect your local IP may not be sufficient (for example: you are behind a corporate firewall that uses a range of IP addresses) and you may need to set up a firewall rule for a range of IP addresses in order to gain access. The new Add Firewall Rule dialog also makes this easy to do.  Once connected you’ll be able to manage your SQL Database directly within the Visual Studio Server Explorer: This makes it much easier to work with databases in the cloud. Visual Studio 2013 RTM Virtual Machine Images Available for MSDN Subscribers Last week we released the General Availability Release of Visual Studio 2013 to the web.  This is an awesome release with a ton of new features. With today’s Windows Azure update we now have a set of pre-configured VM images of VS 2013 available within the Windows Azure Management Portal for use by MSDN customers.  This enables you to create a VM in the cloud with VS 2013 pre-installed on it in with only a few clicks: Windows Azure now provides the fastest and easiest way to get started doing development with Visual Studio 2013. Windows Azure Management Libraries for .NET (Preview) Having the ability to automate the creation, deployment, and tear down of resources is a key requirement for applications running in the cloud.  It also helps immensely when running dev/test scenarios and coded UI tests against pre-production environments. Today we are releasing a preview of a new set of Windows Azure Management Libraries for .NET.  These new libraries make it easy to automate tasks using any .NET language (e.g. C#, VB, F#, etc).  Previously this automation capability was only available through the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets or to developers who were willing to write their own wrappers for the Windows Azure Service Management REST API. Modern .NET Developer Experience We’ve worked to design easy-to-understand .NET APIs that still map well to the underlying REST endpoints, making sure to use and expose the modern .NET functionality that developers expect today: Portable Class Library (PCL) support targeting applications built for any .NET Platform (no platform restriction) Shipped as a set of focused NuGet packages with minimal dependencies to simplify versioning Support async/await task based asynchrony (with easy sync overloads) Shared infrastructure for common error handling, tracing, configuration, HTTP pipeline manipulation, etc. Factored for easy testability and mocking Built on top of popular libraries like HttpClient and Json.NET Below is a list of a few of the management client classes that are shipping with today’s initial preview release: .NET Class Name Supports Operations for these Assets (and potentially more) ManagementClient Locations Credentials Subscriptions Certificates ComputeManagementClient Hosted Services Deployments Virtual Machines Virtual Machine Images & Disks StorageManagementClient Storage Accounts WebSiteManagementClient Web Sites Web Site Publish Profiles Usage Metrics Repositories VirtualNetworkManagementClient Networks Gateways Automating Creating a Virtual Machine using .NET Let’s walkthrough an example of how we can use the new Windows Azure Management Libraries for .NET to fully automate creating a Virtual Machine. I’m deliberately showing a scenario with a lot of custom options configured – including VHD image gallery enumeration, attaching data drives, network endpoints + firewall rules setup - to show off the full power and richness of what the new library provides. We’ll begin with some code that demonstrates how to enumerate through the built-in Windows images within the standard Windows Azure VM Gallery.  We’ll search for the first VM image that has the word “Windows” in it and use that as our base image to build the VM from.  We’ll then create a cloud service container in the West US region to host it within: We can then customize some options on it such as setting up a computer name, admin username/password, and hostname.  We’ll also open up a remote desktop (RDP) endpoint through its security firewall: We’ll then specify the VHD host and data drives that we want to mount on the Virtual Machine, and specify the size of the VM we want to run it in: Once everything has been set up the call to create the virtual machine is executed asynchronously In a few minutes we’ll then have a completely deployed VM running on Windows Azure with all of the settings (hard drives, VM size, machine name, username/password, network endpoints + firewall settings) fully configured and ready for us to use: Preview Availability via NuGet The Windows Azure Management Libraries for .NET are now available via NuGet. Because they are still in preview form, you’ll need to add the –IncludePrerelease switch when you go to retrieve the packages. The Package Manager Console screen shot below demonstrates how to get the entire set of libraries to manage your Windows Azure assets: You can also install them within your .NET projects by right clicking on the VS Solution Explorer and using the Manage NuGet Packages context menu command.  Make sure to select the “Include Prerelease” drop-down for them to show up, and then you can install the specific management libraries you need for your particular scenarios: Open Source License The new Windows Azure Management Libraries for .NET make it super easy to automate management operations within Windows Azure – whether they are for Virtual Machines, Cloud Services, Storage Accounts, Web Sites, and more.  Like the rest of the Windows Azure SDK, we are releasing the source code under an open source (Apache 2) license and it is hosted at https://github.com/WindowsAzure/azure-sdk-for-net/tree/master/libraries if you wish to contribute. PowerShell Enhancements and our New Script Center Today, we are also shipping Windows Azure PowerShell 0.7.0 (which is a separate download). You can find the full change log here. Here are some of the improvements provided with it: Windows Azure Active Directory authentication support Script Center providing many sample scripts to automate common tasks on Windows Azure New cmdlets for Media Services and SQL Database Script Center Windows Azure enables you to script and automate a lot of tasks using PowerShell.  People often ask for more pre-built samples of common scenarios so that they can use them to learn and tweak/customize. With this in mind, we are excited to introduce a new Script Center that we are launching for Windows Azure. You can learn about how to scripting with Windows Azure with a get started article. You can then find many sample scripts across different solutions, including infrastructure, data management, web, and more: All of the sample scripts are hosted on TechNet with links from the Windows Azure Script Center. Each script is complete with good code comments, detailed descriptions, and examples of usage. Summary Visual Studio 2013 and the Windows Azure SDK 2.2 make it easier than ever to get started developing rich cloud applications. Along with the Windows Azure Developer Center’s growing set of .NET developer resources to guide your development efforts, today’s Windows Azure SDK 2.2 release should make your development experience more enjoyable and efficient. If you don’t already have a Windows Azure account, you can sign-up for a free trial and start using all of the above features today.  Then visit the Windows Azure Developer Center to learn more about how to build apps with it. Hope this helps, Scott P.S. In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu

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