I've been running Vista as my main dev box for about 12 weeks now, and I couldn't be happier that SP1 is going to be rolling out soon.  In my opinion, it can't get here soon enough.  Vista, in my opinion, is just not mother-in-law-proof.  For the record, my laptop is rated as an overall 4.5 "experience index" (on a 1 to 5.9 scale)**, which is not too shabby.  A 4.5 (with 5.9 video scores) allows me to see all of the glassy UI Vista effects.  For argument's sake, I'm going to ignore my personal beef(s) with developing on Vista, and will discuss general interaction I've had with the OS.

Last week I had all sorts of slowdown issues that required me to download Process Monitor to chase down a rogue process that was eating my HDD I/O.  What was that process?  Windows Defender.  Defender decided to run a full HDD scan in the middle of the afternoon, despite the schedule being set to run in the middle of the night.  The result?  My laptop came to a screeching halt, barely allowing me to get at Task Manager to perform emergency shutdowns of my freshly edited VS code.  Awesome.

Then there was this kicker: I played IT-guy for my niece.  She was having issues with her relatively new, relatively fast Compaq/HP notebook, and when I took a peek at it I noticed how much crapware was installed.  Seemed like the perfect example for an FDISK with a fresh XP install.  So, as that computer was being wiped, I was using my Vista box to download all the latest drivers.  I thought this would be a time-saver, as the plan was to download it all, then burn it to a CD.  Boy was I wrong.  Downloads worked like a champ, but when I went to burn the CD (using the internal Vista DVD/CD burner), this is what Vista calculated:

 

No, I am not kidding.  No, I did not Photoshop this image.  17 items.  578 MB.  This wasn't the first "best guess", but rather 3 or 4 excruciating minutes into the 578 MB copy.  Let's do some math, shall we?  32,996 days = 2,850,854,400 seconds. 578MB/2.85B seconds = 0.20 bytes/second = 1.62 bits/second.

My circa-1980 Commodore 64 had a 14.4kbps modem that was 8,878 times faster than that.  You know what?  It felt like it.  I could nearly see the electrons moving. 

[**Note to Microsoft: fire the idiot that determined a 1.0 to 5.9 scale.  1 to 5.9??  What the heck?  Was this built by the same joker that decided 0 to 158 1/3 is a good passer rating?]

This message is for me.  If you, the reader, like this list, you're welcome to bookmark either Scott's site or mine, but I need this link here to save me the 5 minutes of my life I lose every time I go looking for the list.  Scott's a prolific writer, and digging through his "Tools" tag isn't simple.

That was a horrible sentence.

Without further adieu, Scott Hanselman's 2007 Ultimate Developer and Power Users Tool List for Windows.

After setting up a few different domains to use Google Apps (specifically Google Analytics and Gmail), I've found a few best practices and an order to make the process go a bit more smoothly.

Before we get started, I'm assuming that you have a domain name set up with the registrar of your choice.  If you don't have any preference, I'd suggest you use GoDaddy.  Their UI is horrific, but their prices are fantastic.  I've on occasion had to deal with their customer service, and they've been top notch.  I'm also assuming that you have the rights and the skills to edit DNS entries and add JavaScript to a website.  The latter isn't life-or-death, but you won't be able to use Analytics.

From here down, let's call your domain "mydomain.com".

1. Set up a new "root account" email  Even if you have an existing Gmail account, it's best to have an account dedicated to mydomain.com.  This is especially so if you have or maintain many domains, and are planning on moving them to Google Apps.  The big payoff for this is step #8 (below).  So,
   • Visit Google and sign up for a new Gmail account.
   • Hint!! Use [mydomain.com]@gmail.com as your Login Name.  This will keep things nice and tidy, and you'll never have to guess what your admin account name is.
   • Make sure to use a strong password and save it somewhere safe like VirtualKeyChain.com
2. Sign up for Google Apps  Creating your Google Apps account gives you access to all of the fun Google toys, like Gmail, shared calendar, and online spreadsheets among other features.
   • Visit Google Apps and pick the option that best fits your organization: small, enterprise, school, or family/group
   • Sign up using the "root account" email you created above, i.e. mydomain@gmail.com
   • For the Apps account, you'll need to create an administrator account login.  I suggest something very original, like admin@mydomain.com or administrator@mydomain.com.
   • Hint!!  It's easy to forget (or not notice) this, but you and all users can reach their shared domain Google page via http://partnerpage.google.com/mydomain.com
3. Verify your domain ownership  This step proves to Google that you are really who you say you are, and you do indeed have the rights to the domain.  Google has a good FAQ on what this is all about.  Follow the link at the top of your Google Apps dashboard that says "Verify your domain."
   • You can perform this verification by either creating an HTML file on your root website at mydomain.com, or by creating a CNAME record in your DNS entries.  Pick your poison, and follow the instructions.  Google will provide you with a unique CNAME or html page that you need to add to DNS or your website (respectively).  Hit 'Verify' once you're done.
   • The verification process may take 48 hours, especially if you use CNAME
4. Gather all existing email account information  This is important, as midway through the next step, you're likely going to lose access to your old mail server. 
   • If there is a way to export user names and passwords, do so.  If you can't do that, at least copy all of your email names to manually generate accounts in Gmail.
   • Send out a warning to all users to make sure to download/read all mail on their server
5. Activate Gmail  Before starting this step, make sure your client knows their email server is changing.  Once you set your DNS entries, the web will start propagating the change which will likely cause some confusion.  You'll notice that on your Google Apps dashboard, Email is the only application not activated by default.
   • Click on "Activate Email" and read the instructions for setting up your DNS entries for your MX records.  There should be around 7 MX records.
   • Go to your DNS manager and add those records as shown, making sure to delete any existing MX records you currently have.
     • You may not be able to set the priority exactly as Google suggests, but just get the order right, i.e. set ASPMX to the lowest (0, 1, 5, etc), then ALT1 & ALT2 to the next, and so on.
   • Click "I've completed these steps" and wait for Google to "see" your MX changes.
6. Add Email accounts
   • Using the information you collected in step 4 above, generate new users.  
   • Per RFC requirements, make sure to add postmaster@ and abuse@ addresses.  Because Gmail automatically (and quietly) listens to those accounts, you can only create these as "lists," but that's a preferable method.  When you create them, you'll see "Google Support" is already in the distribution list
7. Sanity Check: make sure you don't have any DNS issues  I'm a fan of the free DNS tools available on the web, my favorite being DNSStuff.com.  You can just type your domain in and get a report of all of the potential or real issues with your DNS records.  Since you just fooled with your DNS, it always helps to have a fresh check to make sure you didn't do anything "bad."
8. Sign up for Google Analytics  Outside of Gmail, Google Analytics is definitively the crown jewel in the set of domain applications.  What's very odd about this tool however, is a) Google does not include this application in it's set of applications for domains, and b) you cannot use a non-@gmail.com domain email address to sign up for Analytics!  This is why step #1 up above was so key.  You can now sign up for analytics using your mydomain.com@gmail.com account, and keep your stable of applications all together. 

Where are we now?  We now have a single Gmail account that serves as the home for all administrative communications on our Google Apps.  This isn't as simple as it sounds.  Although you could have used any old Gmail account, what happens if you want to give administrative rights to someone else you work with, or the client themselves?  You certainly wouldn't hand over your personal Gmail account login, but this is now an easily transferable object.

I sat up in bed this morning with a brilliant (read: retire-in-three-years) idea:

"A web site that allows you to exchange your unused gift cards for cash or another card!" I shouted out loud.

Quickly, I ran to my GoDaddy account and typed as if I was racing someone around the world for the same domain name...

"GiftCardTrader.com" I shouted.
"Taken.  Drats.  How about GiftCardExchange.com?!"
Uh oh.  0 for 2.

That last one sounded like a winner, but after visiting GiftCardTrader.com and finding nothing, I thought, just hoped, "maybe this hasn't been done!"  If GiftCardExchange.com wasn't taken, I might be on to something.

Whoops.  Damn.

Well, looks like in October of 2005, someone in the Midwest had the same idea and went live with what looks to be a great service, CardAvenue.com.  If you're like me and have a stack of cards that are to stores you have little interest in (really, who needs 3 gift cards to Red Lobster?), then give this service a whirl and let me know how it goes.

After all, it was my idea.

Microsoft just refreshed their beta Live Writer product which is a client based WYSIWYG editing tool for blogs.  I use DasBlog as my blogging engine, and was interested to see how Live Writer worked with it.  Well, this is my first post with the tool, and it seems to have worked swimmingly.  Live Writer processed and married with my blog without a single hiccup, and that certainly passed the mother-in-law test.

One of the issues I've had with DasBlog since switching from Blogger.NET is that you can't easily manage how hyperlinks work via the embedded WYSIWYG editor.  Live Writer works much like Blogger did, in that you highlight text, click "Insert Hyperlink..." and there's a nice little checkbox that allows you to manage if users go to a new window (target="_blank") or get redirected from your site.

Another big plus is the ability to easily manage the position of embedded pictures (as you can see at the left).  Again, if you want to mangle with HTML, you can certainly accomplish the same goal within the site itself, but this does certainly make life much easier.

My only cons about the Live Writer product is with the installer

• For some reason (I'm sure there's a logical reason for it, but I don't have the time to research it right now**) it needs to shut down MSN Messenger during install. 
• MS is really trying to package other tools during this install.  Not such a fan of that; please just let me install the products I want and leave me alone, thank you very much.

Scott Hanselman created a list of other blog editors he has used, and I'll get around to checking them out at some point if this doesn't fit the bill.

[**Update: Looks like Microsoft is shoving MSN Messenger down the installer's throat.  If I weren't a Messenger user, I'd be pretty upset about new crapware magically appearing, so let's put this feature squarely in the cons column.]

With the release of v2.0 of dasBlog, I decided to give it a try.  After working with BlogEngine.NET, I felt dasBlog was a bit easier to set up and get running.  When I was setting up BlogEngine, there was some content on the home page (on some of the themes) that I desperately tried to find how to edit.

After digging through some code, I found that code (the About Me) was not editable via any UI.  I feel that BlogEngine is going to be a good product for someone that really wants an engine to integrate into their existing app, but I just wanted something to capture my rambling thoughts.

Your mileage may vary.

When my old hard drive fritzed out my installed XP, a bolt of fear went deep through my soul. The main reason for that was the 17.8GB of music I have on that drive. Once I realized it was still there, I exhaled again, then decided I would no longer keep my music on my local drive. Seems simple enough; tell iTunes where the music is at and off we go.

Unfortunately, iTunes really -- and I mean really -- wants to keep music locally. Especially when you're actively using it as the client for netcasts, things can get confusing quickly.

This issue no longer bothers me because I found, fell in love with, and useiTLU, or iTunes Library Updater.  Lifehacker has a great how-to article, so I won't duplicate it here.  Just let it be known that I approve of this software.  

Saw a post about GoPingMe.com, a service that allows you to set multiple reminders that are sent via SMS to your cellphone.  It sounds interesting enough, and the screenshot (below) really sells the idea.

Here's the catch:  In the terms of service, the following is buried in the middle of the mess of a Terms of Service contract:

You agree to allow ZETETIC LLC to contact you via email, telephone, or postal mail for the purposes of marketing, advertising, announcing new products and services, or informing you of updates to SERVICES you already use.

Now, I really don't mind if you want to send me an advert in the SMS.  I can ignore that just like anything else.  But what I can't stand for is you [potentially] selling my cell-phone number to a bunch of spammers.  Especially with all of the great dialer tools freely available, it doesn't take much for someone to set up a couple of phone banks, liberally seed some telephone numbers, then send the machines off to do the dirty work. 

Yeah.  Good luck with your service, fellas.

Two notes today; first, I found WebbAlert.com today.  My diagnosis?  Meh.  I guess if you've got a crush on Morgan Webb, the ex-Tech TV sideshow hottie, it's eye candy.  For the rest of us, the information seems trite at best.

One story was interesting however.  Successful Software created a piece of "software" that was nothing but a text file renamed to .EXE and uploaded to download sites.  The textfile said, "This program does nothing at all."  What did he get in return?   16 awards, and some interesting comments like, "Great job, we're really impressed!!![sic]"

So, note to self, if you're ever downloading sofware from a vendor and they mention any/all of the vendors listed on Successful Sofware's post, well, caveat emptor.

Tips & tricks for using Spambayes on Vista

Be sure to visit all the options under "Configuration" in the Admin Menu Bar above. There are 16 themes to choose from, and you can also create your own.