Sunday 28 June 2009

Scientists create first electronic quantum processor

They also used the two-qubit superconducting chip to successfully run elementary algorithms, such as a simple search, demonstrating quantum information processing with a solid-state device for the first time. Their findings will appear in Nature's advanced online publication June 28.
Scientists create first electronic quantum processor
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External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint

The External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint is intended to help address an organization's ability to communicate with external business partners across the Internet using Windows® SharePoint® Services 3.0 or Microsoft® Office SharePoint Server 2007. It consists of software and guidance that will help you to deploy a customizable solution that teams can use to collaborate securely with partners outside the firewall. The toolkit’s familiar SharePoint interface makes the solution easy for project team members to understand and use.
External Collaboration Toolkit for SharePoint
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Backing Up and Restoring Databases by Using the SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 Tools (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0)

Backing Up and Restoring Databases by Using the SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 Tools (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0)
Backing Up and Restoring Databases by Using the SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 Tools (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0)
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Moving the Databases (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0)

By following the steps in this document, you have learned how to locate the databases on a server running Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services and move them to a different drive on the same server or to a separate server running Microsoft SQL Server 2000. After you have moved the databases and restarted IIS, test the databases in their new locations by browsing to your Web sites and viewing pages, document libraries, and lists.
Moving the Databases (Windows SharePoint Services 2.0)
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Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog

The public update for the Service Pack 2 expiration date issue is now available for download.

The update can be applied before or after Service Pack 2 installation.  If the update is applied prior to installing Service Pack 2 it will prevent the expiration date from being improperly activated during installation of Service Pack 2, if it is applied after Service Pack 2 it will remove the expiration date incorrectly set during installation of Service Pack 2.

The update is applicable to all of the products that this issue affected (see the list in the KB linked below).

Installation instructions and download links for x86 and x64 are available in this KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971620

The direct download link for x86 is: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/F/5/2F51AB71-1325-49D2-9CB9-18DEC4780E99/office2007-kb971620-fullfile-x86-glb.exe

And for x64: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/B/5BBD34A9-C528-42B0-8A5F-9A8997B25C32/office2007-kb971620-fullfile-x64-glb.exe

We will be updating the existing Service Pack 2 download package with a new package that includes this fix within the next 4-6 weeks.


Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog
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BBC NEWS | Technology | Pirate Bay retrial call rejected



A Swedish court has thrown out a request for a retrial by the four men behind The Pirate Bay website.

The four were found guilty of promoting copyright infringement in April and face jail sentences and hefty claims for damages.

The Pirate Bay's lawyers called for a retrial when it emerged that one of the judges in the case belonged to several copyright protection groups.

The Swedish court said the judge's affiliations did not bias the case.

The Svea Court of Appeal said Judge Tomas Norstrom should have declared that he was a member of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Swedish Copyright Association before the case went to trial.

"The fact that he failed to shed light on this does not however mean that there was any wrongdoing during the proceedings that would require a retrial," said the court in a statement.

"This was not a case of bias," concluded the court.

No appeal is allowed against the judgement.

The Pirate Bay is well-known for hosting lists of websites where people can get pirated copies of movies, music, software and TV shows.

The Pirate Bay defended itself saying that it did not infringe copyright because none of the pirated material is stored on its servers.

The court found them guilty because, it said, they continued to operate the service even when they knew users were being pointed to pirated material.

The four men behind The Pirate Bay, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde, were sentenced to one year in jail and told to pay damages of 30m Swedish kronor (£2.3m, 2.7m euros) to entertainment companies such as Warner Bros and Sony Music Entertainment.

In response to the ruling Peter Sunde said The Pirate Bay would now file charges against Sweden for violating the human rights of the defendants.


BBC NEWS | Technology | Pirate Bay retrial call rejected
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Saturday 27 June 2009

Slashdot Technology Story | The Battle Between Google and Facebook

A story at Wired delves into the ongoing struggle between Google and Facebook to establish their competing visions for the future of the internet. "For the last decade or so, the Web has been defined by Google's algorithms — rigorous and efficient equations that parse practically every byte of online activity to build a dispassionate atlas of the online world. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions a more personalized, humanized Web, where our network of friends, colleagues, peers, and family is our primary source of information, just as it is offline. In Zuckerberg's vision, users will query this 'social graph' to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire — rather than tapping the cold mathematics of a Google search. It is a complete rethinking of how we navigate the online world, one that places Facebook right at the center. In other words, right where Google is now." A related article at ReadWriteWeb suggests that while Facebook's member base is enormous, the company hasn't taken advantage of its influence as well as it should have, though the capability for it to do so still exists.
Slashdot Technology Story | The Battle Between Google and Facebook
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Tuesday 16 June 2009

As time went by, Microsoft seemed to confuse company watchers — and, more
importantly, its customers — even more as officials attempted to clarify what
.Net was and why it mattered. Further confounding matters, Microsoft's marketing
minions began attaching the .Net name to just about every next-gen Microsoft
product. (What was Windows.Net? Or Office.Net?)

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/operating_systems/the_disappearnet_campaign.html


I was reading this and just had to post a link because it reminded me of major problems my company had because of .NET. My small web development company was pushing (through me) Microsoft and through my partner Java. The DotNet bust hit us and then Microsoft released .NET. For the first 2 years the net impact of .NET was to utterly confuse the entire market place, to make it harder to sell things, harder to find staff, and harder to make a living.

Perhaps the failure of Microsoft to see how a background technology like .NET should be rolled out to the nerds WITHOUT confusing buyers and users will be marked as a sign of key problems with the entire market focus. Any technology sales person worth their salt will tell you the need to keep marketing messages clear without cluttering it with technology, but Microsoft seemed to clearly miss the boat on this one. These failures would be repeated via MSN and Vista.

Microsoft has to prove it still can do what it was always best at: provide solutions that people can understand and use.

Monday 15 June 2009

Ultimate BIOS Guide: Every Setting Decrypted and Explained! | Maximum PC

Ultimate BIOS Guide: Every Setting Decrypted and Explained! | Maximum PC
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But Macs don't get viruses right?



Security experts have discovered two novel forms of Mac OS X malware.

OSX/Tored-A - an updated version of the Mac OS Tored worm - and a Trojan called OSX/Jahlav-C were both found on popular pornographic websites.

Users logging on to these sites are asked to download a "missing Video ActiveX Object" but are sent a virus payload instead.

While most viruses target PC users, there has been rise in the number of attacks on Mac systems.

Graham Cluley, a security expert with anti-virus firm Sophos, told the BBC that the small number of Mac viruses had made some users complacent.

"There is a lot less malware on Mac than for Windows, so Mac users sometimes feel invincible.

"Apple have marketed their system on the line of 'you won't suffer spyware like you would on Windows' and that has reinforced people's attitudes.

"And one thing we do know is that you are less likely to be running anti-virus software on a Mac than on a PC," he said.


BBC NEWS | Technology | Experts warn of porn Mac attacks
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The 64 bit test

Another sanity test for business people confused by IT.  If IT is saying you need to inflict the cost of a 64bit migration of all SharePoint servers NOW, check to see how much RAM designs include.  If RAM remains 4GB you can be sure that you IT depart is just parroting something they heard or read and really have no true idea why this is the case.

For 4 GB of RAM or less 32 bit architecture is not only fine its sufficient and perhaps better.  The benefit of going 64 bit is that you can expand the RAM, and until you are prepared to get more RAM for servers you have no real reason to go 64 bit.
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Sunday 14 June 2009

Massucci's Take: MySpace problems may spread to Facebook, Twitter

As exciting as it must be for these executives to be working at these companies as they grow quickly, there's cause for concern. Grow too fast and the costs can't be contained. Grow slowly and you are in danger of becoming irrelevant. Take a buyout and you likely lose control. Decline buyout attempts and take the risk that there won't be enough money or revenue to help sustain future demands.
Massucci's Take: MySpace problems may spread to Facebook, Twitter
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Gates on Economy



I have to say I miss this little nerd.
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Friday 12 June 2009

No IE in EU Win 7

European buyers of Windows 7 will have to download and install a web browser for themselves
BBC NEWS | Technology | No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe

No IE in EU Win 7 No IE onboard Windows 7 in Europe

Thursday 11 June 2009

Now That It’s The One Millionth Word, “Web 2.0″ Can Be Retired To The Dictionary

What do you do if you are an obscure language group in Austin, Texas looking for attention? You declare “Web 2.0″ the one millionth word in the English language. So says the Global Language Monitor, which looks at usage of words on the Web and adds them to its online dictionaries. “Web 2.0″ has been in common usage for a long time, even though Merriam-Webster does not yet recognize it. But interest in the term peaked long ago, and everyone is pretty much ready to move on now. Even John Battelle and Tim O’Reilly, who popularized the term with their Web 2.0 conferences, realize the term is stale. They are looking to extend their brand by calling their next conference “Web Squared.” I guess Web 3.0 was taken.
Now That It’s The One Millionth Word, “Web 2.0″ Can Be Retired To The Dictionary
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BBC NEWS | Technology | Slump prompts workplace snooping

The global economic slump is prompting IT staff to snoop on colleagues, suggests research.

A survey of IT workers by Cyber-Ark found that 35% of those questioned had viewed confidential information, such as salaries and redundancy lists.

The majority of those questioned, 74%, said they could get round the controls locking away confidential information.

Many admitted that they would steal information from businesses if they were fired.

Most popular among those planning to steal data when they left were copies of customer databases, passwords for an e-mail administrator account, and merger plans.


BBC NEWS | Technology | Slump prompts workplace snooping
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Google Docs vs Live


Google Docs offers a lot of features, but the interface is sparse and I often find it a bit confusing. No feature changes made over years of this. I get the feeling Google can't bring itself to spend money to improve it or kill it. And the documents begin to be unworkable after about 1000 words or so.


Office Live has less features but a better UI. Live only runs on XP and Vista Windows machines running standard browsers. I could not test on a Mac but it did not work on any of my Linux machines and did not work properly on my Windows 2000 machine.

The use of the Office client has positives and negatives. Negatives is that you have to have Office 2003 or later. Positive is you can build rich complex and large files. So I guess the positive is that it works, whereas Google Docs poor performance on larger files means it does not work.
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Friday 5 June 2009

Microsoft offers unworkable solution to Bing porn | Larry Magid at Large - CNET News

As I pointed out in an earlier post, searching for certain terms on Microsoft's new Bing.com search engine brings up videos that display hardcore porn within the Web site and because the porn is playing within Bing instead of the site where it's hosted, the videos are not necessarily blocked by parental control filters. And monitoring programs designed to tell parents where their kids have been are likely to simply report Bing.com instead of the site that actually hosts the video.
Microsoft offers unworkable solution to Bing porn | Larry Magid at Large - CNET News
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Thursday 4 June 2009

BBC NEWS | Technology | Windows 7 release date announced

Windows 7, the next major release of the world's most popular operating system, will be officially available to the public on 22 October.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Windows 7 release date announced
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Why Windows 7's netbook success isn't a slam-dunk

Microsoft officials are trumpeting this week, via a new posting on the Windows Blog, that PC World, the largest electronics retailer in the UK, is removing Linux netbooks from all their stores and “going all-Windows.” Microsoft’s public line is consumers have spoken and they “want Windows because it’s the only OS that gives people the choice, compatibility, familiarity and simplicity they need.”

The post doesn’t mention that Microsoft offers PC makers XP at a cut-rate price (estimated to be about $15 per copy for netbooks, compared to an estimated $35-plus per-copy for XP on laptops/desktops. It fails to acknowledge how few netbooks are running Vista — because Vista’s hefty system requirements made that proposition impossible. The post doesn’t mention the growing number of Microsoft OEM partners who are working on Android/Linux netbooks. (The latest to join that pack: Acer, which is promising an Android-based netbook for Q3 2009.) And it fails to note that Microsoft still has not publicly announced how and if it plans to get Windows 7 on ARM-based netbooks.


Fom Why Windows 7's netbook success isn't a slam-dunk http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=2938
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Wednesday 3 June 2009

Bing Ad



Best part may be its on Google's youTube
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A Complete Project Management Solution Built on SharePoint

Bamboo's newest, complete solution is called SharePoint Project Management Central or “PM Central”. Want to see how it works? Watch this video.

In a blog post announcing the new solution, Bamboo Project Management Team Lead Wes Bryan says that the functionality built into PM Central is based on two things:

  1. Bamboo's years of experience providing Project Management technologies for SharePoint
  2. Their own internal experience using SharePoint for project management (they make a good case study)

A Complete Project Management Solution Built on SharePoint
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Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Office Developer Conference moving to SharePoint Conference 2009



NET: Office Developer Conference will not take place this year; instead we are including the Office Developer Conference content within the SharePoint Conference. If you are an attendee of Office Developer Conference in the past, we strongly recommend you come see us at the SharePoint Conference in October, where we’ll cover Office client development in depth. Be sure to sign up for the Technical Preview as well!
Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog : Office Developer Conference moving to SharePoint Conference 2009
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Holy Twitter! Tweeting from the pews - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

When Kevin Joyce, the 29-year-old pastor of the nondenominational Imagine Fellowship in San Antonio, Texas, looks out at his congregation during his Sunday sermons, he sees “a lot of illuminated faces.”

But it’s not the word of God that’s lighting them up. It’s their smartphone screens.

“We hold our service in a movie theater and keep it dark so we can protect the screen,” says Joyce, who not only encourages his congregation to use Twitter and "tweet" in church, but projects the live Twitter stream on a giant screen during services. “When I look out, I’ll see a lot of people texting and the screens on their phones light up their faces.”


Holy Twitter! Tweeting from the pews - Tech and gadgets- msnbc.com

So if you could learn the #-phrases they use you could Tweet at them
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Tuesday 2 June 2009

Microsoft has unveiled its new control system for the Xbox 360



Microsoft has unveiled its new control system for the Xbox 360, at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles.
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Monday 1 June 2009

Wave goodbye to Google Docs?

Google is releasing what some have called a SharePoint killer in Wave. I won't go in to reviews of the vapourware product, but just take this chance to remind people that Google already has a SharePoint killing app: Google Docs.

When Google Docs came out I started using it. I set a project for myself to write and store all my graduate school papers in Google Docs, and I have been doing this now since 2006. I have written part of about 10 term paper documents.

Real life usage is so important. If I had just open Google Docs and wrote a page or two I might say its great, but having tried to use it again and again to produce 2,000 to 4,000 word documents (not that big) I can honestly say it is NOT ready for prime time.

The problem is it that it is doing in the web browser more than a web browser can do. I have worked on Ubuntu, Open SUSE, Mac and Windows XP all 32-bit. I have used it with IE 6, IE 7, IE 8, Firefox, and Google browser.

The problem always starts to kick in at about 1,500 words in to the document. It takes forever to do anything, and by the time all browsers respond you can have clicked yourself in to a problem. I sometimes forget between term papers but when I return to write a paper I have the same problem again and again. I never have been able to finish a 2,000 page document in Google Docs.

You just need a word processor client. Its that simple. You only want to send up saves to the web and you certainly don't want to use a browser as you main information management tool.