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Buried: Creature House Expression 3, Mac/Win Software.
The SW (Mac) says Beta, it's not, just re-branded

http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/gr aphic_designer/previous/expression3_home.aspx

DL

http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/en/gr aphic_designer/previous/expression3_downloadlinks. aspx

Goodies:

http://www.studioe3.com/lessons/index.asp

http://www.graphicxtras.com/products/express.htm

Get it while you can, 'cause after this ... it's (probably) gonna be gone.

My Anniversary present to you.

... it'll be interesting to see how people keep those in place without jeopardizing the layouts in IE7.

You can now self-sign certificates for those drivers in Vista.

Nope, YOU got it wrong. You can only self-sign TEST certificates. Test certs are not a very attractive option for wide deployment. Users must run bcdedit to enable test certs, and then they'll get "Test Mode" or something similar displayed on the four corners of the desktop. Not exactly a level playing field for open source drivers.

See Microsoft's documentation for the details.

Uhhh, the IE release candidate was out a week ago? Of real interest to slashdotters are:

IronPython 1.0 Release Candidate 2 - out today
Microsoft Robotics Studio (rather incredible...includes simulation environment) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?fa milyid=66d1363e-36a4-46be-ad36-01bcfbfb4969&displa ylang=en

Can I get these on the front page too?

Thanks,
Microsoft Marketing Department

Trying to work this out.. I don't think Microsoft are actually going to run all these drivers through their labs. It says this about it here:

Obtain a SPC from a commercial CA that issues digital certificates for signing kernel mode code. The list of CAs who provide Software Publishing Certificates (or code signing certificates) that can be used for kernel mode code signing is available at the "Microsoft Cross-certificates for Windows Vista Kernel Mode Code Signing" web page listed in the Resource section at the end of this paper.

So it sounds like just an extra $500 step after you've written your crappy drivers? A certificate means there's traceability back to the company that signed the drivers - but we've already seen phishing sites with SSL certs! Spyware authors are making plenty enough money to cover the cost of the cert. They already don't care about the software getting traced back to them - because of legalese EULAs...

Lots of companies deal with mixed environments. I've managed a few myself.

But the truth is most simply don't want to and why should they? Where's the return?

Like 95->98->2000->XP->Vista.... All free?

This is of course in response to my honest question regarding cost with Apples upgrades. But no-one seems interested in addressing that and point to the same thing instead. How long between each Apple upgrade? XP and XP Pro has been out since 2001 and continue to be supported with no clear EOL currently in sight (although Vista appears to be RC1).

That said I'm not trying to say Windows is better because of this, rather, as I said I'm new to Apple and I'm curious how the treadmill works. From the outside it seems a little funky, at the very least like a viable revenue stream if they ever *did* decide to go commodity. But all I get are these apples/oranges comparisons, unless of course I'm misunderstanding and Apple only releases *paid* upgrades every 3 to 4 years. But it doens't look that way, which is why I asked the question in the first place.

Lots of companies deal with mixed environments. I've managed a few myself.

But the truth is most simply don't want to and why should they? Where's the return?

Like 95->98->2000->XP->Vista.... All free?

This is of course in response to my honest question regarding cost with Apples upgrades. But no-one seems interested in addressing that and point to the same thing instead. How long between each Apple upgrade? XP and XP Pro has been out since 2001 and continue to be supported with no clear EOL currently in sight (although Vista appears to be RC1).

That said I'm not trying to say Windows is better because of this, rather, as I said I'm new to Apple and I'm curious how the treadmill works. From the outside it seems a little funky, at the very least like a viable revenue stream if they ever *did* decide to go commodity. But all I get are these apples/oranges comparisons, unless of course I'm misunderstanding and Apple only releases *paid* upgrades every 3 to 4 years. But it doens't look that way, which is why I asked the question in the first place.

I have to disagree. The best way to create a non-functioning web page is to use Frontpage which is only available on Microsoft Windows.

Q: How exactly can I share my 360 game to other 360 users? Will my game only be available to people with the XNA "Creators Club" subscription? Will it be available to all 360 users that have an Xbox Live account?

A: There is currently no supported way to share binaries on the Xbox 360. Currently, there are four requirements that must be met in order to share a game targeting Xbox 360 which is developed with XNA Game Studio Express.

1. The individual you are planning to share the game with must be logged in to Xbox Live and have an active subscription to the XNA Creators Club

2. The receiving user must have downloaded the XNA Framework runtime environment for the Xbox 360

3. The receiving user must have XNA Game Studio Express installed on their own development PC

4. The game project, including all source and content assets, must be shared with the receiving user. The receiving user then compiles and deploys the game to their Xbox 360.

I've worked with Visual Studio. So go on, tell me how to see every 4th and 5th element of a 1000 element array in the debugger, without having to type in each index individually

Well, to pick the obvious one first (sorry, it'll get better below): if you're looking for every n-th byte because your array in fact holds a sequence of struct's then you've probably got the struct defined somewhere in your project and typecasting your array in the watch window will do the trick (the array should probably have been an array of structs to begin with, but anyway...)

If you've got something more fancy in mind, then Visual Studio supports macros http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/b4c73967. aspx. For some reason the MSDN pages mostly discuss using macros for text editing, but they'll interface nicely with the debugger and the samples that were dumped on your harddrive by the VS installer should be enough to get you started (take a closer look at the VSDebugger macro).

VB macros may not be as simple as just adding printf statements, but *_they do not alter the flow of your program_*. Besides, not all environments provide a threadsafe prinf method. Don't misunderstand me, I agree that the printf statement does come in handy sometimes (Java including the toString method in java.lang.Object is a really nice touch). If you didn't have a threadsafe prinf it would make sense to write one yourself ...but the debugger gives you one for free.

Is there such a thing as an embedded platform that cannot generate any sort of output at all?

Of course it'll have to produce output in some way or another. If it didn't then why bother about the quality of its software ;-) But, that doesn't imply that it has a channel for you to dump your debug information on. I've been writing software for GSM SIMs the last eight years (geez, how time flies); we just don't have a channel to dump output on, the handset controls the IO pin. Or take Grishnakh's reply to my original post: I've tracked down bugs in embedded software using a single LED. ...imagine having to find a bug in any reasonably sized project by carefully counting 'heartbeats' instead of just firing up your simulator.

[...] the way I get a program working is first toss it at the compiler and fix all the syntax errors and such that it finds. [...] Next, I run it in the debugger, to catch the runtime errors. Once those are fixed, I get down to the business of finding and fixing the real errors

We're probably not that far apart then - guess I'd better call off the fight. Yes, the debugger is just a tool. A great tool though, that may save you from hours/days/weeks of tedious bugtracking. What puzzles me is when someone claims that we'd be better off without the debugger. That strikes me as just as silly as a carpenter claiming he'll do just as fine without the hammer...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/xna/this baby's just for windows. i would assume though, that eventually, they can port to the xbox360 with little fuss.

of course, being MS, they can create a whole lot of fuss about something so simple.

i was shocked reading TFA:

The shortcoming is evident if you run the sample included, a modern version of Spacewar. The game defaults on the joypad and you have to #define (yes, #define) a flag (USE_KEYBOARD) to allow the use of a Keyboard instead of a Joypad, crippling the "portability" of the game code. There's no way to transparently handle keyboard, mouse and joypad actions together unless you code it by hand. Frankly, in an era where even the lowliest mobile SDK has the functionality to completely abstract from the input device when writing game code, it is a bit discouraging don't see it in XNA.

a little bit too much of a mixed bag really. on one hand, it's great that a simple programmer (like me) can actually get to develop my own games for windows with as little fuss as possible *at least that's what i hope*. while on the other hand, if the TFA was to be believed, i guess i still have to wait. but kudos to MS for at least trying.

We're all capable of swapping the startup.wav for an empty file, should we so wish.

I lied, it looks like it's now available.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909095/

4. Can I use Express Editions for commercial use?
Yes, there are no licensing restrictions for applications built using the Express Editions

4. Can I use Express Editions for commercial use?
Yes, there are no licensing restrictions for applications built using the Express Editions

cmd.exe is not a shell, it's a system() interface.

What exactly do you mean by this? Is something lacking even with the enhancements to if and for (try cmd /? and if /? and for /?)?

Visual C++ Express is not a complete solution. It doesn't come with various tools such as nmake or the IDE [which is basically the only really good thing in VS anyways].

Then what's Visual Studio Express?

Still no shell

The 'cmd.exe' shell is more powerful than some people with memories of the limitations of 'command.com' know.

Or compiler

Visual C++ Express is a no-charge download. So is MinGW. And the JS and VBS interpreters come with Windows out of the box.

If you're not a worthless shrill just spouting FUD, please back up that statement.

Here you go, fanboy.

Oh, only the most fantastic guitarist I know of.
He was in Giles, Giles & Fripp before founding the band King Crimson.
He's known for his soundscapes (Frippertronics) and his increadibly fast and bizarre (machine-like) guitar play.

I have to say, I'm not much of a fan of Microsoft, but I have to admit they made a real good move getting Robert Fripp to do the soundscapes for their product.

For more on his work for Microsoft see this: http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/1/c/81cdb 151-0aae-4f50-ab44-654b5f7ae0db/Vista_Robert_Fripp _2005.wmv
Or to read the article posted on Channel 9: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=1518 53
Or maybe even read Robert Fripp's page on WikiPedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fripp

Microsoft Robotics Studio lets you control the NXT using a variety of languages from C# to Python to Javascript. It does not provide a solution to have more inputs and outputs (unless you want to add a second brick, which it does support).

It uses a tethered architecture though, so the code you write will actually be running on your PC.

1. If you'll notice from the article, about all they use that's open source is Linux and some compilers.

2. I run mostly MS software at my business, but the MS software that I run is highly customized. MS offers tons and tons of API's. Many more than most proprietary software companies than I've seen, in fact. If you want to find out more, visit: http://msdn.microsoft.com/

3. And, if you'll notice... companies like Google that use custom software to gain a competitive advantage certainly don't open source it.

The Microsoft Robotics Studio also supports the Lego NXT platform.

I work with my university's RoboCuphttp://www.robocup.org/ team. We've been looking at Microsoft Robotics Studio http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics/learn/default.a spx for doing a lot of our simulation (since it incorporates a plethora of features, and a great physics engine, and because Microsoft give us lots of *bling*).

The thing that struck me most while going over the studio was it's great tie-ins to real Lego robots, namely the old Mindstorms and the new NXT. It's pretty exciting and a great way for people to get into serious robotics without all the hassle of machining parts, soldering electronics, and programming firmware. Definitely a cool product.

Besides it being MS here is a pretty awsome site for samples, references, and tools for playing with Lego MindStorm.

If you're going to use XCOPY, Robocopy is even better:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?fa milyid=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displa ylang=en

http://ds9a.nl/splitpipe/examples.html

Combined with growisofs and tar it is a nice archive tool. Pretty flexible. The down side of all this multi-volume stuff is you have to be there unless you have the big bucks for things like tape changers. Archiving to another hard drive is your best bet for hands off.

Isn't there a built in thing for Windows?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/lea rnmore/bott_03july14.mspx
Have you tried this?

you can also use the built in backup utility in XP on a hard disk without much of a problem

Just thought I'd point out (because I'm not a fan of the XP built in bacup utils) that Vista sounds like it will have some much improved backup/restore utilities by default.

I'm afraid that it isn't true that there is no programmable interface for you to interact with Volume Shadow Copy Services. You can do this on an application by application / file by file / entity by entity basis. (Apologies for the long URI), but the documentation is around here in the library. http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url= /library/en-us/vss/base/working_with_selectability _and_logical_paths.asp Matthew

ROBOCOPY

Simple command line robust copy utility. I'm sure you can find the exe file around somewhere. If not, you can download it as part of the Windows 2003 resource kit tools and use the robocop.exe file on any Windows system (it is a standalone exe file, does not require any specific DLL or install files).

Here is short description of its usage.

But you can't redistribute the ActiveX/COM controls - unlike the grandparent's statement that the microsoft libraries can be redistributed suggests.

--jeffk++

Get a second HDD. Internal or external. Add a "Scheduled Task" that will run "backup.bat" periodically. backup.bat needs one line for an xcopy:

xcopy C:\ D:\ /d /e /h /o

The first run will take a while, since it's copying everything. Subsequent runs will only copy what's been modified since the last backup. It really doesn't get much easier than that, if you ask me.

I usually use synctoy powertoy for windows xp to do the backing up for me. It can run in a variety of modes and is usually good enough for most backups. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalph otography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

1. don't use DVD that's a waste... get an external hard drive - they're cheap, reliable and will be much faster to backup to and restore from
2. Microsoft SyncToy. there's no reason to spend money on a one touch backup solution, when microsoft has the software to do easy backups for free. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalph otography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx They built it for digital photography backups, but it will copy any file. Very simply gui for syncing between 2 folders/drives or backing up (mirroring) folders/drives. You can even schedule it as a windows task.
3. If SyncToy is too gui for you, then you can always download the server 2003 tools and use robocopy (it works on XP as well as server 2k3).

Win2k: if you have less than or equal to 512MB, set min to 1.5 times RAM, max to 2 times RAM. if you have greater than 512mb, set swap min/max to 1.5 times RAM. If you ever get an "out of virtual memory" error, defrag and add 100mb to min/max. If you have =/> 2GB RAM, disable swap, unless you are running server, in which case 4GB is the magic number.

The 2 drive swap method just doesn't seem to work as well on Win2k as it did on WinNT; no clue why, but i've tested it repeatedly.

WinXP Pro: Luser. why are you running the Windows ME of the 21st century? at least you aren't running WinXP home, though. just follow the guidelines for win2k, since that is all WinXP pro is, win2k with add-on crap, no changes to kernel or underlying function.

Win2003: No clue. Vista: Not only have no clue, but I promise you I never will.

Win2k: if you have less than or equal to 512MB, set min to 1.5 times RAM, max to 2 times RAM. if you have greater than 512mb, set swap min/max to 1.5 times RAM. If you ever get an "out of virtual memory" error, defrag and add 100mb to min/max. If you have =/> 2GB RAM, disable swap, unless you are running server, in which case 4GB is the magic number.

The 2 drive swap method just doesn't seem to work as well on Win2k as it did on WinNT; no clue why, but i've tested it repeatedly.

WinXP Pro: Luser. why are you running the Windows ME of the 21st century? at least you aren't running WinXP home, though. just follow the guidelines for win2k, since that is all WinXP pro is, win2k with add-on crap, no changes to kernel or underlying function.

Win2003: No clue. Vista: Not only have no clue, but I promise you I never will.

If you don't know where it comes from, clearly you didn't Get The Facts

Where are my mod points when I need them? +10. Mac OS X (10.3 at least) is stable performer. Not ideal - but over all Okay. Unix side of theirs is quite compatible with BSD.

Most of the Linux stuff I did compiled and worked w/o any problems on Mac OS X. I often used my iBook as additional portability test bed.

It's still more Open Source than Windows.

That's especially looks true when one compares Fink with the bastard CygWin or SFU. Under Fink I had no problems at all. CygWin with it's funny on-the-fly conversions (between Unix-way and Windows-way doing things) never stop me surprising.

On-topic. The article actually surprised me. Linux just reached mainstream - and journalists already try to send it back to nerd's underground. Or it's probably just change of target: before the very same kind of journalists claimed for whole decade that Apple is dead. It's just now they have more scapegoats for the cheap shot journalism. In the end, no way I would even consider informative the article filled so carelessly with lots of technical info - but without any decent references. The sentences like "[...] flip this switch, it'll unpack itself [...]" just highlight that the guy never left his desk for real IT back rooms.

About 30,000 computers are already in use in schools across the state, and the Education Ministry said about 600,000 students opted to take free software training classes this year.

The Education Ministry has an annual budget of 40 million rupees, or $1.86 million, to promote computer technology among the one million students, aged between 5 and 15, currently at school -- a sum that will be stretched as Mr. Baby attempts to fulfill his ambition of making all the state's "schoolchildren computer literate."

I'll consider using Firefox again once the developers stop marking bugs as INVALID, despite the exhibited behavior going against the standard. Particularly since it works correctly in the other major browsers.

Until then, I'll stick with Opera, thanks.

... wel a regular, 32Bit PC with regular 32bit Windows XP can only deal with 2Gb of RAM....

i like the part where you just pull facts out of your butt.

let's try including a source or two with our random assertions.

all XP's except for x64 support 4G of RAM; XP x64 supports 128G.

that's 2G of user space and 2G of kernel space.

both are your friend, and both can reside in physical RAM.

OS X is more expensive. If you like it more, that's cool, but your argument that it's cheaper doesn't hold up.

But I think it does hold up. First of all, I am emphatically not a Mac fanboy, I am linux fanboy. I bought a G5 to do video editing (Linux just isn't there yet) and to just, well, check it out. I'll be honest: I don't really like OS X. Well, I don't like the glossy GUI anyway.

Since I am Canadian, and the 'leaked' prices are in CAD, we'll use that. Tiger is listed for $149[1]. That's what I paid for a box set. I don't have to shell out for Leopard (point in fact I will not) so your "10.2, 10.3, 10.4) at $129 apiece" isn't really valid. That's just for the super fanboys. Windows Vista Ultimate, whatever that means, is $499. I don't know personally but I have gleamed from slashdot here that the home version is basically castrated and you need the premium version to do anything useful. Thats at $299. Still twice as much as OS X. How is windows cheaper again?

OK, now that we have talked dollars and cents, let's talk value. What does Windows come with again? IE, Notepad and a calculator? OS X comes with all that and more! Xcode for one, which is basically a full developers suite of tools including GCC et al. How much is a license for Visual Studio? $1,123.00![2] Ouch. Let's not forget all the industrial strength UNIX software that OS X is bundled with. And with fink you can install pretty much any OSS code written for Unix. I realize there is lots of freeware/OSS ports available for windows too but c'mon...

I think the real question here is how much does it cost to get a useable workstation. And I think OS X wins this handily. Again, I really don't care for OS X that much (the hardware is super-sweet though) but I guess I just don't get your math.

...you'd think that Microsoft ran out of chairs by now.

Windows 2003 Standard x86 is limited to 4GB of virtual address space. 2003 Enterprise x86 is limited to 64GB. Full details available here. Personally I work with server with more than 4GB daily, though so far none of ours have more than 4GB per processor board =)

According to MS, it's 1.5 times the total RAM. I assume you're asking because you're trying to avoid a fragmented page file. While the benefits of an unfragmented page file are dubious at best (since it will be randomly accessing different parts of the page file), it's better to err on the side of caution: If you have 2GB of memory, you likely have an equally compensating-for-something hard drive, so you probably won't miss 3GB of space, or even 4. It's better to waste a little space than have Windows run out of Virtual Memory. Otherwise, just let it do its dynamic page file adjustment thing.

If you're asking about creating a swap partition for Linux then 1.5X is also recommended. Just be generous, unless -- for some reason -- you've got 2GB of RAM and a 50 meg hard drive. Too much is always better than not enough.

Ouch, you're wrong on just about every single bullet!


-NO BACKUP Utility (Even *NIX has tar/gzip) and crond
you mean like this?


An integrated Web browser, inseperable (or with great effort) from the core OS
Every linux distro I'm aware of currently ships with a browser included... I've found it just as easy to remove IE as it is to remove mozilla.


NO Support for Firewall (I don't trust Microsoft's FireWall)
uhhh... zone alarm, blackice, your choice of offerings from symantec, kerio, kaspersky, the list goes on and on...


NO NATIVE DVD Player (due to "licence" cost)
...windows media player plays DVD's, VLC is free for download. Linux doesn't include any DVD player by default...


NO Ability to set permissions on files for multiple users
try right click properties and set your file permissions...


PISS-POOR Command Line Interface (try renaming 10 files, under Windows)
batch files my computer die-hard friend!


PISS-POOR User Management (try creating more than 10 accounts)
Ok, I have 10, now what?


NO SECURE AUTOMATION of COMMON TASKS (user management, file management ,etc )
Task scheduler...


--feeding the trolls since 95'!

If you company has at least 5 people you can check out some licensing options besides paying retail. If your smaller than that, your best bet is to try to chat up some local PC builder who gets OEM pricing. Anyway, I haven't seen any Vita pricing besides whats in TFA yet, but through these other non-retail channels your 50% request should certainly be at least in the ball-park.

What they're likely talking about is technology like Chimney, which, barring lawsuits, will be coming out in or around the time of Windows Vista. Effectively, instead of the TCP/IP stack coming from the OS and running on the main processor, the network card will have a processor and memory and run the TCP/IP stack there. This increases efficiency and reduces reduces latency because the main CPU doesn't have to get involved as much. In the future we will probably see things like SSL encryption being performed on the card as well.

I couldn't find active links for one or two of them myself, but here's an updated list -- in some cases these aren't the original sites, which have disappeared, so obviously it's worth being extra careful with antivirus software... apologies for the mess of links; the filter doesn't like short lines...

1by1 (play MP3s), AriskKey (recover passwords), AutoRuns (enumerate startup tasks), BurnCDCC (burn ISO images), CD (basic CD player), CDex (rip CDs + convert MP3/WAV), Copier [0X Copy Machine] (scan + print), CWShredder (clean spyware), DComBob (tame DCOM), DirLister (make quick file lists), Discover (force windows onscreen), DupeLocater (find and clean), FileRecovery [PC Inspector] (undelete), Folder2ISO (use with BurnCDCC), FoxitReader (read PDFs), GUIPDFTK (split/join PDFs), HijackThis (find spyware), HJSplit (split/join files), Identify_Boards (identify hardware), KatMouse installer (due to MS drivers), LCISOCreator (make ISO image from CD), Leaktest (test firewall), Microsoft keygen (people lose things), MultiRes (change res + force refresh), Multi Timer (stopwatch), NoteTab Light (text editor), NTest (test monitor setup), OnTop (pin windows to foreground), Process Explorer (task manager), ProduKey (recover passwords), Registry Commander (virus cleanup), ResHacker (examine executables), Rootkit Revealer (just in case) ShootTheMessenger (turn service off), Shred by AnalogX (simple filer shredder), TedNPad (unicode text editor), TFT (dead pixel locator), UNPnP (tame SSDP), UPX (compress executables), UnitConverter (what it says), utorrent (basic torrent app), VCdControlTool (mount ISO images),

I wonder if this geotagging could be combined with this photo tourism technology?

Furthermore, perhaps these photo tourism 3D reconstructions could then be combined with google earth so you could literally browse the planet.

Neato.

The state-of-the-art has benefited from Microsoft's 333 pages of Internet Standards and Protocols as well as their upcoming, 400+ page Guide to Defect Prevention