Blogging from Microsoft Word 2007 Beta 2

Interesting new feature in Microsoft Word 2007 Beta 2. Hopefully this makes it to my blog!

Missing "Release" configuration option in Visual Studio 2005

Here is a post that describes why there's no "Release" configuration in Visual Studio 2005 for web projects (i.e. ASP.NET 2.0 projects). Apparently Microsoft did away with this VS.NET 2003 style of web development and now you decide the build configuration by making the setting in the web.config i.e.



or



More at this post:
http://www.developersdex.com/asp/message.asp?p=1116&r=4616579

Ubuntu Shipit - Free Linux anywhere in the world!

A friend recommended that I place an order for Ubuntu Linux CDs via https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ - apparently Ubuntu offers free shipping on its CDs anywhere in the world - yes you read right. What's more, they'll even do custom builds but you must justify the need. There is a quick registration process (they need to know where to mail out the CDs).

Standard builds support X86, AMD64 / EM64T and Mac. Shipping costs them the same whether you order the smallest or the largest package, so you might as well go the whole hog and help spread Linux cheer to friends and family.

Your shipment contains installers and "live" CDs, so you can try out the software before installing it. Be prepared to wait 4-6 weeks for delivery. Honestly, I can't wait!

Gnome 2.14 - Feature Overview

In what seems to be a pretty significant update (at least in terms of performance) to the Gnome platform, Gnome is inching forward to its 2.14 stable release. Davyd Madeley, a Gnome hacker, has an interesting one-pager with what you can expect to see from Gnome 2.14 when it is released March 15th.
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Blog by mail

This is a test for Blogger blog by mail.

Gmail + Gtalk now active

Google chat got added to my Gmail account this morning. I like the job they've done with integrating contacts into the chat UI. For those who haven't noticed, there's a "standard without chat" option in the footer which lets you remove the gtalk integration if you so desire.

If you want to rename a contact you added via Gmail + GTalk, mouse over the contact's name and click on "contact details", then click edit contact info (since the name is pulled from your contacts list). When you're done editing contact info, click save and the name will update in the GTalk UI.

Gmail spam - what's the world coming to?

In the past 2 days I have received more spam on Gmail than I received ever since I received an invite about a year ago. One of them even made it to my inbox! I don't see how Gmail can remain immune to spamming as it grows more popular. On the bright side at least I don't have to download the mail to my computer.

Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview - My $0.02c

I know you'll find a million sites that give you the lowdown on Microsoft's latest and greatest. So I'm going to spare you all that. Instead, I'll list pros and cons (basically stuff that works well and stuff that doesn't quite cut the mustard) in comparison with Firefox 1.5.

The Good:
1. Seamless upgrade from IE 6 SP1 to IE 7 B2P (Beta 2 Preview). Existing toolbars (Google Toolbar 4.0 Beta installed on IE 6 SP1, works without a hitch on IE 7 B2P)
2. Tabbed browsing (yes, finally)
3. Shortcuts work just like Firefox (Ctrl+T opens a new tab, middle click on tab closes it, middle click on link opens in a new tab).
4. IE 7 uses Firefox's RSS icon (this was well publicized a few months ago on the IE Blog - http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/)
5. IE 7 Beta 2 Preview is uninstallable.
6. Anti-phishing built in (I still have to take this for a test-drive)
7. True full-screen (auto-hides the address bar / toolbars tabs etc). Only the status bar remains.
8. Delete Browsing history just like with Firefox 1.5
9. Native browser support for RSS feeds (I need to go further into this)

The not so Good:
1. No themes
2. Limited set of extensions (just the usual google / yahoo / msn toolbars)
3. Zooming works ok, but the corresponding % value does not get updated.
4. Some sites are broken (notably Microsoft's very own http://asp.net/ - the menu is navigation menu is messed up) Update: Looks like this has since been fixed
5. You still get the annoying "click" sound when you click on a link or a page is done loading.
6. When in full-screen mode, pressing Alt+d should ideally pull down the hidden address bar section and set focus on the current text in it, but it does not. You have to take your mouse up there and do the needful.
7. I felt the refresh button was weirdly placed (ofcourse, I know there's always F5)
8. Poor user feedback for being on a secure website (just one obscure, easy to miss lock icon set to the right of the address bar). Firefox makes this more apparent by changing the background color of the address bar.
9. No "Find as you type" - lets hope it makes the cut in future builds / RTM
10. Longer than necessary scrolling on some pages

Not Really Bugs, but Great to have Anyway:
1. No re-ordering of tabs

New Windows "Feature"

1. Create a file called 'notepad.bat' on your desktop
2. Right-click -> Edit and enter the word 'mspaint' (no quotes)
3. Save and close
4. Open Internet explorer and browse to your favorite site
5. Right-click -> View Source

Do you see what I see?

Introducing IE, the Firefox extension...?

Want a way to never ever have to leave your Firefox browser and launch IE (yes, even for Windows and office updates and all those IE-only websites)? There is a way thanks to IE Tab. This lightweight Firefox extension will load any IE site by switching engines, and using IE as an embedded browser.

But what really makes the icing on the cake is that it works with Firefox 1.5 RC3 (which I happen to be using right now).

What are you waiting for? Get Firefox!