Bill Gates Jr. and William Gates Sr. with Charlie Rose
June 22nd, 2009
Archive
Archive for the ‘Microsoft’ Category
Proof I have connected Lotus Notes/Domino to MS Outlook!
April 24th, 2009
Welcome to IBM Lotus Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook. You have successfully installed and configured Outlook to connect to Lotus Domino.
IBM Lotus Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook now needs to populate your mail file. This will automatically start for you. The time of completion will depend on the size of your mail file and the amount of data needed to replicate for Mail, Calendaring and Scheduling, Contacts, Tasks, and Folders.
For more product information and updates on IBM Lotus Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook, go to http://www-306.ibm.com/software/lotus/support/damo/support.html
For a copy of the most recent release notes, visit http://www.lotus.com/doc
DAMO client help is also available from the Help menu. Choose Domino Access for MS Outlook Help.
To get the most of your experience with IBM Lotus Domino Access for Microsoft Outlook, read the Best Practices document. Unless otherwise instructed, follow the recommendations listed there.
Microsoft 2019
March 3rd, 2009
A very interesting view of the future from Microsoft Labs in 2019. The future of the wallet, education, health care, air travel, news papers, you name it….
Upgraded from Vista to XP
December 20th, 2007
There isn’t much to say on this topic, but just want those who read this blog to know that I’ve “upgraded” from Windows Vista to Windows XP. As Apple says, “to a more familiar” experience – rather for me a more “stable” experience.
Microsoft Vista – Trial #2
February 10th, 2007
This YouTube video illustrates my latest frustrations as of late.
Microsoft Vista – Trial #1
November 22nd, 2006
Being an IBMer has perks, I get to test some of our products for Microsoft Vista compatibility. I felt like blogging on this task because what I’m about to write will help those newbie Vista users if they run into problems.
The following is a list of what I did and the problems I ran into. I also have included the solutions to my experiences:
- Installing Microsoft Vista:
- I’ve never ever seen a more beautiful installation experience in my life. The install screen starts up when I boot the computer with the DVD. I am asked for the language and timezone that I am in, and I click Install Now. The installer will then ask me for the hard drive I’d like to install to, so I pick that and click continue. Almost 30 minutes later (or atleast thats how long it took me to eat and wash dishes) – Microsoft Vista is booting up for the first time!
- Good news: The thing I love about this install experience, compared to others, is the lack thereof configuration panes. I hate configuring systems upfront, because I usually tend to double check and alter configurations when I need that feature. This was pretty cool how it just got the job done and I didn’t have to watch my computer screen the whole time.
- Bad news: The progress bar on Vista when starting up pauses, for over 10 minutes – so I get curious and scared at the same time. I pull the plug on the computer and start up again, but this time I start Vista in safe mode. I find that Vista gets stuck again while trying to load the crcdisk.sys file. A little bit of Googling later, I find that if you unmount your pcmcia drivers then Vista may boot up.
- So I put the installation DVD back in, and try to repair my Vista from command prompt. I know from my XP machine where the pcmcia.sys files are (system32 and drivers directories). I simiply rename the files with .bak extensions. Restart Vista and presto!
- Using Vista
- Previous file restoration: To me its like CVS and its about time that I can restore a file to a previously edited version.
- Aero: A tricky one to get working. Apparenlty Vista rates your computer’s performance and if you have a 3.0 or higher for 3D gaming then Aero automatically turns on. I have a 128MB GeForce 6600 Nvidia card in my Toshiba M40, but apparently the display drivers that I got from Windows Update give this rating a mere 1.0! I thought of trying to install a different 6600 driver, I choose 6600 GT. Installed the driver, rebooted, and forced the recalculating of my computers performance, my index jumped from 1.0 to 3.9 on 3D gaming (take that sh*t
). Aero automatically turned on! - Using Aero: What can you do other than Windows Key + TAB for fancy Aero tricks? Other than the look and feel of the windows, this is lacking in my eyes. Whoopy ding-dong.
- Java: Java5 doesn’t install with Aero running – who knew. I got Java6 to install with Aero though, which is still in some RC or beta mode. So you’re pick, I haven’t had any problems with Java6 yet.
- Tagging: You can create contacts in your Contact list and tag pictures with keywords or contacts. Thus, when searching your files you get what you tagged. I think this is pretty cool.
- Side bar: I saw this with Google and Yahoo, why is MS so late on this? Anyways, its handy nonetheless.
XBOX 360 Crashed!
November 24th, 2005
There have already been reports of faulty XBOX systems. Some would say thats expected since Microsoft make it (based on the history of Windows), but I would say just don’t ever let Microsoft make a car.
Now to the XBOX problem. It doesn’t seem to be a common problem, so I hope things get fixed with elegance (if possible)
Problems included screens going black and the appearance of a variety of error messages.
“So, the Xbox 360’s been available for, what, 15 minutes, and already the crash reports are streaming in,” a poster on Engadget said. The sites did not say how widespread the problem was.
O’Donnell, who declined to say how many reports the company had received, said calls represent a “very, very small fraction” of units sold. The number of calls was not unexpected, she said.
O’Donnell said the best way to resolve the issues is to call 1-800-4MY-XBOX for trouble shooting. If that does not solve the problem, she said, Microsoft will repair or replace the unit.
The Economics of the Microsoft XBOX 360
November 21st, 2005
So everyone knows about the hype that the XBOX 360 has been creating. From a technical perspective, I think Microsoft did a great job in bringing in a custom Power5 processor for XBOX 360 over the old Intel Pentium III in the first edition of XBOX. As a result, games will be a lot better since the 360 will be able to render so many more polygons, giving graphics a more realistic touch.
However, from a business perspective, the XBOX product line may not be all what its made out to be. The first XBOX was a bloody disaster for Microsoft as it cost them approximately $4 billion in losses. Although the hype around XBOX 360 is huge, its only expected to rake in $1.5 billion in consoles, games, and accessories in just 3 months! Although this is hardly an uptake on the $4 billion loss, its quite impressive to see that Microsoft plans on puting 3 million XBOX 360 consoles into homes across North America.
Most people today see the 360 as just a gaming console in your home, however, this is Microsoft’s foot into your door. The Microsoft business will most likely use the XBOX 360 as a platform for delivering media to anyone’s home that is equiped with the XBOX hardware. – which is quite a smart move on their part. The good thing is that IBM will also benefit, since its their processor at the heart of this beast! Glad to see IBM and Microsoft doing good together.
Project Looking Glass: Look out Microsoft!
November 19th, 2005
If you have heard of Sun’s “Project Looking Glass” please give yourself a pat on the back!
Project Looking Glass is based on an open platform that experiments with 3D user interfaces. I’ve been quietly learning about this project in my spare time, and now that they have public demos I thought I’d express how cool I think it is. The project runs on Sun’s Java Desktop Operating System and allows 3D user interfaces to be controlled and handled in pure 3D. For example, if you are watching a video in the media player, you can take the window and “dock ” it along the side of the desktop. You can also turn windows “inside-out” so that they have a mirror effect. There are a tonne of other features too, I don’t have all day to write them out 
The most impressive feature is the desktop wallpaper. When the desktop loads and when you move your cursor from one end of the desktop to the other, the desktop behaves as if you are actually walking around – that is it shows you the desktop wallpaper from slightly different perspectives. You really have to try out the demo to see what I’m talking about (REQ: J2SE 5.0 and Java Web Start).
Why do I think this is so cool? Well it really comes down to the “feel” in “look and feel”. I don’t see other operating system developers taking a similar approach to Sun’s approach. Check out the project here.
Denistry Silent Auction: Win an XBOX 360!
November 7th, 2005
Wanna win an XBOX 360? For those of you at the University of Alberta, my sister’s denistry class is having a silent auction for their graduation. They got a smack load of really good things you can bid on, such as iPods, Gift Certificates, and even a date with a guy in their class! They are going to raffle off an XBOX 360 at the auction, which will be held at Boston Pizza on Whyte (in Edmonton).
My sister organized the event, which has a grande finale on November 18th. She asked me long ago to donate something, but I’m just a poor boy. So I decided to donate a website so they can do all their bidding online. If you want to bid you need a username and password, so if you want to participate e-mail me at patel.ashish@gmail.com.
The cool thing about the site is that it yet again uses the FinalFabric Framework that I’ve been using for a lot of sites. It only took me a weekend to setup and site (this includes settin gup the site, writing the code to do auctioning, and the management tools for my sister to control her content).