It looks like YouTube overnight introduced a new mode of HD on its web player… Users can now view in 360p, 480p or 720p, and I’m guessing depending on the video uploaded, 1080p would be available too. Cool!
I realise my screenshot of the actual video is not exactly great!
[great tune though – Plan B – Stay too Long]
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)
SQL Azure is now in CTP and for those who have received an invitation to test it out, you might be wondering how you can manage your databases via SQL Server Management Studio…. Here’s a few steps to do it:
- Set up your SQL Azure server and Administrator Username via https://sql.azure.com/
- On the SQL Azure website under Firewall Settings ensure you check “Allow Microsoft Services access to this server” and add your IP address to the IP Address Range
- Open SQL Server Management Studio
- Close the “Connect to Server” dialogue and click “New Query”
- In the “Connect to Server” dialogue box type the server name provided via the SQL Azure website, e.g: <servername>.database.windows.net
- Select Authentication to SQL Server Authentication
- Your username is the Administrator Username you set up in this format: <username>@<servername>
- Password is obvious?
From here you can run as much T-SQL as you like :)
Today (19th October) Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 was released – with brand new branding – we say goodbye to our multi coloured figure of eight and hello to a swish purple figure of 8! :)
What’s new with the SKU’s, well, Team Foundation Server is now available for x86 and x64 systems, and it seems that Team Suite Edition is now Ultimate Edition…
Download is available to MSDN Subscribers today:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/vstudio/dd582936.aspx
General availability is 21st October.
If like me you use Community Server as your blogging engine, you may find that your blog suffers a ridiculous amount of spam blog comments!? (Or is that just me?!) Well, I had left the blog unattended for just over a month due to being busier than usual and I found almost 3000 spam comments…. So, time for action!
You are probably aware that “Community Server support a robust rules engine based SPAM tool” which appears to be completely useless! This so-called can be found under your blog’s advanced configuration under the “Comment SPAM” header – it doesn’t really appear to provide much configuration at all…….
Enter “Manage Spam Blocker” – this is located at the Site Administration of Community Server: Site Administration > Content/Site Security > Manage Spam Blocker
In here you should have a number of rules available, all of which by default are disabled(!), enable IP Frequency, Forbidden Word Blog Spam (configure with words of your choice) and any others and away you go – sort of – it works, but its not fantastic, you will still get some spam….
Hoorah… I have just switched servers and all has gone well – hence this post! :)
I was hosted with eUKHost, on a Windows Shared Hosting package which is exceptionally good and great value for money. However, I require more flexibility, and whilst eUKHost offer Hyper V VPS Hosting, a better option arose which was to do a server share with a friend and colleague of mine, Chris, who runs Monexa Systems, check out the website to find out more about what he has to offer.
As ever I’ve got some plans to do stuff with the blog and the website… Lets see what materialises!
Practically all social media websites feature photos, and some are entirely based upon photos… So this tells us one thing, photos are important!
If you have a camera phone, then its likely that you’ll have taken some photos and really wished you could have uploaded the photo to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter there and then… Well now we can do that using email. Most phones are equipped with an email client, and Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter (Twitpic) provide a secret email address for every user to send their photos to… Resulting in the photos appearing on the website straight away – to get your secret email address, visit the following URL’s:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mobile/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/account/uploadbyemail/
Twitter: http://twitpic.com/upload/
If you want to send your photos to all three (or more) addresses in one go, then set up a contact named “Social Media” and enter each email address followed by a semi colon ;
This will mean you send one email and your photos appear on X number of social networking sites at the same time!
Microsoft has started a whole new initiative in recent aimed at technology startups. They have introduced a website called Microsoft Startup Zone which ‘helps technology startups around the world incubate ideas and drive innovation forward’ and the Startup Zone provides essential resources to get the most from Microsoft. The site contains a lot of information for startups from advice on getting funding, getting talent to getting customers.
Probably the most attractive offering, for startups, is the Microsoft BizSpark program which is a three year program designed to give startups a jump-start with no upfront enrolment costs (yes, FREE!)…. You’ll get:
- Software: MSDN Premium Subscription with Expression Studio
- Production Licenses: to host a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution on the Internet
- Professional Support: from Microsoft and community support from BizSpark Network Partners
- Global Visibility: profiling your company online in the BizSpark DB
So if you are umming and arring about your own startup plans, what are you waiting for?! This is the perfect opportunity!
To get started, ideally you need a network partner who will provide business mentoring, peer connections and other entrepreneurial resources, such as, Pixel Programming who are highly experienced in Microsoft .NET from version 1.0 through to 3.5, ASP.NET, Windows Forms and more…
Today I passed MCP exam 70-562: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – ASP.NET Application Development, and because I have also passed MCP exam 70-536: Microsoft .NET Framework – Application Development Foundation I am now:
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS): .NET Framework 3.5 – ASP.NET Applications
Woohoo. I have spent a lot of time ensuring I pass these exams, so I am really pleased.
The exam presented me with 50 ASP.NET 3.5 related multiple choice questions to complete in 3 hours. Ouch. Maximum score 1000, score to pass 700. It took me about 2 hours to complete all of the questions, then 10-15mins reviewing some I weren’t so sure about. I scored 731, so it was close, but at least I don’t have to re-sit as I did exam 70-536!
The questions covered the following areas of ASP.NET:
- Configuring and Deploying Web Applications
- Consuming and Creating Server Controls
- Working with Data and Services (ADO.NET)
- Troubleshooting and Debugging Web Applications
- Working with ASP.NET AJAX and Client-Side Scripting
- Targeting Mobile Devices
- Programming Web Applications
Next up (all in good time!):
- Exam 70-503 – MCTS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 - Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Application Development
- Exam 70-433 – MCTS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – Database Development
and at some point, the Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD):
- Exam 70-564 – MCPD: Designing and Developing ASP.NET Applications Using the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
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