If you're an MSDN subscriber and use RSS to stay informed of things, you'll almost certainly want to add this feed to your OPML list:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/rss.xml

Updated as new subscriber downloads are made available.

KC Lemson relates a story about how imprecise terminology can lead to mistakes, and points out in the end that such mistakes can be avoided with a little proactive thought. I know I have been tripped up in conversations where I assumed the terminology being used meant the same thing to the person I was speaking to as it did to me, only to find out how wrong I was later. KC has a good lesson and story: 

"... To him, this was basic vocabulary. He knew that registry keys are on the left-hand side of regedit and have folder icons, whereas registry values are on the right-hand side of regedit and have different icons depending on their type. To me, “registry key” was just a part of the vernacular I'd learned and there were different types of registry keys, such as DWORDs, strings, etc."

Hi, my name is Greg, and I can't type to save my life.

It's been five minutes since my last typo. I have been typing since before I can remember. I've always had troubles getting the words right, and from an early age I knew I was just different than the others. I guess I just never learned. I can spell just fine, I just can't type.

That's why I love ieSpell, a program I discovered accidentally when I started using dasBlog for my web log a while back.

This is a great Internet Explorer add-in. It's free for personal use, it works well, and it helps me fix my typos so I look less stupid (note that I won't place full responsibility for whether or not I look smart on a computer program - that would be unfair, after all).

My blog software's web interface has a rich-text editor that does some simple HTML formatting and takes advantage of ieSpell if you download and install it, which is cool. But once I have it installed, I get to use ieSpell anyplace in IE where I might need it. For example, what if I am writing a comment in a HTML text box on someone else's web log? I can use ieSpell to check my prose in the form text box before I click the submit button on the page. So, as long as I'm not saying anything completely idiotic from a opinion or factual standpoint, it makes me look smart(er). I like that.

Update: ATTWS/Cingular customers with newer model RIM devices (like the 7290 for example) may find this method does not work. If so, call your service number and tell them you want them to activate your HTML browser on your device. It will be like wireless magic, and you'll be all set.

WAP browsing not working well for you? Feel the need to see the Google graphic when you go to do a search? Are the sites you're trying to browse simply broken when you try to view them on your RIM device in WAP mode? If you have a RIM Blackberry with the newer software, do this (mine's a RIM 7280 on AT&T Wireless, your mileage may vary):

1. Go to the M-mode web browser.
2. Choose Options.
3. On the keypad, type “RBRO” (without the quotes). An additional five or so menu items will appear.
4. Click on “Browser Configuration.”
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and look for the “Constrained Content Mode” field. Change this from “WML Only” to “Unconstrained.”
6. Click the wheel and choose “Save Options.”
7. Again, go to “Browser Configuration.”
8. Scroll down a few lines from the top to “Content Mode.” Change it from “WML only” to either “WML & HTML” or “HTML only” (your choice).
9. Click the wheel and chose “Save options.”
10. That's it. You can now browse HTML, graphics and all - just make sure your bandwidth allocations won't mean a big bill at the end of your billing month!

http://groups-beta.google.com/

The beta is on for the next version of Google Groups. Not only does it look a lot like GMail, when I go to the site, it logs me on with my Google GMail account ID automagically. I can mark topics with a star () and then click on the "My starred topics" link to do a quick search list of anything I've previously flagged with the star - a lot like the way it works in GMail, go figure.

Plus, I was able to create a new group right there on the groups web site, in about 2 minutes. Worth keeping an eye on.

It looks like come September you won't have to wait for a day or two or three anymore for Domain Name Service changes on the big-two TLD's to propagate when you add a domain (and possibly when you make a DNS change - still trying to figure that one out) on the Internet. All I can say is - what's taken so darn long?

In an email notice, Matt Larson of Verisign says:

"VeriSign Naming and Directory Services (VNDS) currently generates new versions of the .com/.net zones files twice per day.  VNDS is scheduled to deploy on September 8, 2004 a new feature that will enable VNDS to update the .com/.net zones more frequently to reflect the registration activity of the .com/.net registrars in near real time.  After the rapid DNS update is implemented, the elapsed time from registrars' add or change operations to the visibility of those adds or changes in all 3 .com/.net authoritative name servers is expected to average less than five minutes."

What that means is fast propagation of .com and .net DNS registration information on the primary Internet domain servers. From the Verisign DNS Rapid Update FAQ page:

How long will it take from when I register a domain or make a change to an existing domain on my registrar's web site until I see the change in DNS?

It depends on how the registrar's systems work and how long it takes the registrar to communicate your request to the .com/.net registry. Once the registrar successfully submits a command to the .com/.net registry, the new domain or changes to an existing domain should be visible in DNS on average within five minutes.

It happened this evening. I am sitting here, trying to figure out (without getting out of my chair)  what the darn thumping sounds are around the outside of my house, and I realize all of a sudden that the moths are out in force tonight for the first time this year, and they're hitting the windows as they try to get to my interior lights.

What a weird feeling - it took me a while to figure out what the noise was. Sounds like there are a lot of them out there. Early July - that's about right. Time to put the bug lights in the outside fixtures.

Just noticed two goofy mouse games while trolling through the RSS quagmire this weekend. By way of utterlyboring.com:

A Better "Hold The Button"

Remember Hold The Button, the game that challenged you to see how long you could hold down the button on your mouse? This game is just like that, but the button moves.

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Random Stuff

I just ran across a great blog entry by John Porcaro, a Microsoft Group Marketing Manager. He has some great ideas about writing your performance review - specifically the self-review. His key points and advice should make anyone who participates in a formal review process want to click on over and get his recommendations.

His article contains the details, but the outline of his advice is:

• Take time to reflect
• Think of your review as a living resume
• Be thorough
• Go with metrics
• Make it about YOU
• Don’t worry too much about missing an agreed-upon deadline
• Don’t forget the “extra credit”
• If there’s something negative to say, bring it up yourself
• Sometimes mistakes can be the best thing
• Realize that half the equation is perception
• Don’t sweat the review
• Ask your manager to edit some of their negative comments
• Don’t put it off until the last minute

Employee reviews can be (and when done well, are) a very useful tool, and present a real and valuable structured opportunity to learn what the next stage of growth is in our careers. It's important to place a level of import on your part of the review process that shows how important your career is to you, especially if you want others to take your career as seriously as you do.

This is interesting. Funny how the brain works (or doesn't, as the case may be).

Say the color of each word out loud, at a normal reading pace (Note: Don't read the word out loud - speak the color out loud):

YELLOW       ORANGE     BLUE     BLACK     PURPLE     BLACK     GREEN     PURPLE     GREEN     ORANGE     BLACK     PURPLE     YELLOW     RED     YELLOW     ORANGE     RED

A co-worker approached me not-so-recently (read: months ago) and asked about setting up a Terrarium server for developers at our company. It's a great idea - just a little hard to accomplish becasue my round tuit has been so heavilly taxed as of late. BTW, there is a public server available here. But we want to be able to do an internal version.

Anyhow, that's my community commitment (no more goals for me - just commitments) for the month. An official company game to give everyone interested the opportunity to grow as a programmer and learn more about .NET programming.

About Terrarium:

"Terrarium, a sample application built by Microsoft®, is game for software developers that provides a great introduction to software development on the .NET Framework.  In Terrarium, developers create herbivores, carnivores, or plants and then introduce them into a peer-to-peer, networked ecosystem for a survival-of-the-fittest type competition.  The game provides both a competitive medium for testing your software development and strategy skills as well as a realistic evolutionary biology/artificial intelligence model for evaluating the role that various behaviors and traits can play in the fight for survival.  Terrarium also demonstrates some of the features of the .NET Framework, including the Windows Forms integration with DirectX® for generating powerful user interface (UI); XML Web services; support for peer-to-peer networking; support for multiple programming languages; the capability to update smart client, or Windows-based, applications via a remote Web server; and the evidence-based and code access security infrastructure that protects participating computers from the mobile code they are running."

Pascal Belaud and family just has their second child, and made a very creative announcement:

• PRESS RELEASE: version 2.0 is now officially available

I laughed - and had to share.

Just a few links from recent blog-findings related to SharePoint and Infopath that caught my eye:

• SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Webcasts (past and future)
• Eli's SharePoint Resources (posting again becasue it's regularly updated)
• WSS FAQ
• Lamont Harrington's SharePoint List
• Creating Custom Site Definitions for SharePoint Site Creation
• Open Links in a SharePoint List-View Webpart in a New Window
• Use Windows Briefcase to Take Your SharePoint Libraries With You 
• Use the Research Pane in Office 2003 and IE6 to search your SharePoint Servers
• Integrate SharePoint Search into a CMS site using WebService
• Best Practices for Developing Web Parts for SharePoint Products and Technologies
• Implementing Lookup Fields with InfoPath

Over at CRN.com there's an article describing surprise in some circles that Office 12 won't be married to the Longhorn release of Windows.

What people may not remember is that Office 2003 (AKA Office 11 - the current version) was originally planned to release with what would become Longhorn (back in the day), and that as the Longhorn release has changed over time, that relationship was also broken off well before it reached the altar.

The fact that Microsoft keeps its productivity apps moving while building a healthy platform for them to run on - In other words not gluing them to each other - is a good thing. Longhorn will be a monster-sized change in the Windows operating system world, and while Microsoft will almost certainly build special hooks into Office 12 that will take advantage of Longhorn's new features when(ever) it's released, I'd expect (based on my conversations) that another version of Office will soon follow or parallel the Longhorn release, but Office 12 will include some pre-baked Longhorn capabilities. Besides, they'll have to support previous versions of Windows for at least some time, in order to allow people to properly interoperate.

Longhorn will be to Windows XP and 2003 what Windows 95 was to Windows 3.1 -- It will be huge, a major change in the way we use computing power from both the end-user and programming/design perspectives. Longhorn represents the next paradigm shift in the Windows computer world, if you will.

Microsoft now does a better job of quickly finishing better and more-frequent releases of their software. In-house quality assurance and release management tools implemented in the past year or two help them reach bug-free, clean code state ("Milestone Q") faster and with greater confidence, which better enables them to get products ready and out the door, with more features and fewer problems. It also enables them to switch gears and attack issues in existing products ruthlessly when needed.

I, for one, am glad we won't have to wait for Longhorn to keep growing and improving in areas like Office and some of the other productivity applications. New versions of Office mean we can reasonably hope for new or enhanced versions of other Office System tools, which we know are coming - specifically tools like Live Communication Server (look for some very cool and improved features there in the next couple of releases), SharePoint, Exchange and other Office System products on the server-side. Longhorn should be the platform to beat all platforms from a computing perspective, and other applications should be built to fit when Longhorn is ready (meaning feature-completed, tested and secured in a way that Microsoft has never done before). To do otherwise would be akin to the tail wagging the dog, and that just won't do.

A simple online web service allows you to take a Word-HTML file and clean it up quite a bit. Nifty:

http://www.textism.com/wordcleaner/

"This is intended for fairly basic styled text documents; there is no support for notes, sectioning, ‘widow’ and ‘orphan’ control, etc. Typographic quotes, proper dashes and other special characters, if they exist, will be converted to HTML entities to increase their portability among browsers and platforms. Links, tables and image references should come through fine. Everything else is stripped."