Welcome to my tech corner on the web!

This is my tech blog, here you’ll find my thoughts on emerging technologies, things I like or not! I’ll try where possible to include podcasts.

You’re welcome to agree or disagree with anything I write about – freedom of speech welcome – All I ask is that you keep the comments civil!

Have fun, and if you want click on the about me link for more information on my technical background.

Is adapting early taboo?

I’m a developer who uses Microsoft technology, I have been for over 10 years, and have been a Windows user since 3.1 and before that MS DOS. Before I used DOS, I owned a ZX-Spectrum that was a small home computer with a whole 48k of memory.

When I reflect over these computing years, I have to say something has changed in the way we perceive new products, particularly if they’re Microsoft products. In the early days, any computing progress was welcomed and at times only a select few got access to new and emerging Betas. Things certainly have changed.

Microsoft lately release beta versions into the wild, and people like me adapt and start using them. I had Vista when it was called Longhorn and barely even worked. I used asp.net when it was still called asp+, I had the offical RTM Windows 7 2 months before it launched in New York. I now have Google Wave, and I’m experimenting with Visual Studio 2010.

Companies release beta versions to the public because of 2 main reasons.

1. Companies like Microsoft realized that beta versions of their product were getting leaked, because the technically minded wanted more insight into up and coming products. Technically minded people are great at surveying a product, and identifying missing features or finding bugs.
2. The deadline for any product is always yesterday, and its nearly impossible to catch and trap all bugs. Its also expensive to pay testers

Testers are a rare breed in all my development experience I have never worked on any product that has been tested to death. If anything most products only undergo about 3-5% of the testing that they should go through. This is why people like Jeff Atwood say – All software sucks. So if we don’t test our products who will? Well usually the client ends up taking on some of this testing, no one admits this though, and the customer ends up just being a frustrated user who reports the odd bug. But why not get software specialists to test products? Along comes Betas – essentially what Microsoft are saying is – HERE GUYS PLEASE TEST OUR PRODUCT!

Not that this is a bad thing – because for this testing service you do get early access to a product that you might otherwise have to wait an extended period of time for. I don’t mind any of this, of course you can always look at it dogmatically and think – “Why should I be testing for them?” The answer is you shouldn’t be, but if you don’t, you can be sure there are 1000’s of other developers out there willing to dedicate their time, so you can be sure this release model is here to stay, and its already become the standard of how software is released.

From a Microsoft point of view – I don’t think they fired their testers in exchange for free beta adapters. I don’t think they had great testing capacity in the first place – hence events like a blue screen of death at the Win98 launch or the utterly useless demonstration of speech recognition that shipped with Vista. So this new model can only benefit the end user.

What I do have a problem with is the negative attitude I face in the industry when wanting to adapt early. The .net framework is the best example I can think of. Version 4 is on the horizon but it seems most companies are still afraid of anything above v2. In my experience I’ve had to really struggle to get guys using v3.1 or v3.5 and because of this, in the time I’ve been using v2 I’ve lost out on all that new experience, and sad to say my LINQ is nearly non existent. Now v4 is coming out, and so all I say is “here we go again”.

Learn as much v4 cool stuff as you want, grab that VS2010 Beta and peek at the cool new language features in C#, but is it really helpful? you can be sure us early adapters will just get frowned at for another 2 years before prudent IT departments stop being afraid of it and brand it as safe to use.

So this is the frustration in being an early adapter, you get into new tech early, and end up having no real use for it until its been screened by the most anal retentive and gets globally accepted. Rinse repeat.

Win 7 Breaks VPN Clients

If you’re like me, you’re already a huge fan of Windows 7. Its simply the best OS Microsoft have produced to date. But as good an operating system that it is, it has one serious draw back. Most existing VPN clients don’t work with it.

In my line of work I use 2 custom VPN clients at the moment, and there simply isn’t a work around to get these clients working, except for running XP Mode.

Microsoft assure that VPN client vendors are upgrading their software to work with Win 7, so future versions should be fine, but at this very minute, if you’re using VPN on a daily basis, then be aware of this issue, more information can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd787668%28WS.10%29.aspx

Playing chess drunk, its not a bad idea

Once in a while, every club player needs to drop his inhibitions. Here is an example why : http://www.screencast.com/t/8Yc6dlwF9

If you want to end up in bad positions, PLAY DRUNK!

If you want to test your skill at getting out of these positions – PLAY DRUNK…

enough said, enjoy the vid

A programmers attempt at designing

We all know programmers are not designers, but sometimes a programmer is forced to push out a design. The fact is a web application developer often has to work closely with web designers, and their influence is bound to rub off.

You rub my back I’ll rub yours

Most programmers have friends who design, and it should be possible for designers and programmers to share their skills in an on going way so that programmers never have to think about design, in exchange they offer their programming services to designers. However in theory this simply doesn’t work out.

The fact is most designers simply do not require the full blown efforts of a developer most of the time. Most designers require some server functionality here and there, but typically this functionality can be found somewhere in an easy to implement script found using Google. Yes we’re talking about stuff like contact us forms, etc.

Another thing to consider is that most highly experienced designers are short on time. Every single designer I know, is always busy with some or other freelance project, and typically they get paid for this. Senior designers also have nothing to prove, they don’t need to beg your attentiion and so are not highly motivated unless there are some real incentives on the table. It’s a bit of a catch 22, because a less experienced designer might be willing to assist, but the end result can also end up being questionable.

Design as a framework is less reusable too, in comparison to programming. Sure some elements of the design can be reused, but designs should be distinguishable, and the web is also fashionable, what looked good last year, looks old school by today’s standards. I would say, because of this, each design is a custom piece of work, so the designer is less likely to get any inadvertent kick backs from this, than a programmer for example, writing an open source fully reusable library.

Because of these issues, I have been encouraged lately to help myself, and I decided to knock up a design for a small charting business based in Knysna, South Africa. I managed to complete this design and implementation in 5 hours, while the site is not 100% complete, it at least does give an example of what a programmer is capable of, when he/she commits to the situation at hand.

Now I was not completely in the dark, and I had input from an experienced designer, but I am proud to say most of what you see there is my work. The idea here is not to point you in the direction of a perfect design, but simply something that’s functional as some inspiration to you, if you are a programmer, before you say – I don’t design or I can’t design, have a look : http://www.jjsfishingcharters.com/default.htm

Why do I blog complaints?

Its an honest question and I’ll try give you an honest answer.

Q: Do I blog complaints as a form of tech nerd revenge?

A: The way I see it, I blog as a last , last , last resort, after having tried everything to resolve a situation with any Mega Corp. And I have to say a great deal of the time, my issue is resolved in a timely and expected manner.  But when its not (rare) or when I feel like I am falling prey to some or other cheap and dirty trick, I have no problem blogging about it, not really as a revenge tactic, but this is what I love about Word Press, anyone who is using Google has a chance to land on one of your blog posts. The way I see it , if that person happens to be looking for a public warning about a certain company or consumer product, and I’ve managed to give an unbiased account, and help someone else from making a mistake, then that is the outcome I want to achieve.

Q: How effective is complaints blogging?

A: Very effective, more effective than you would imagine. Michael’s Techbox is a rather small niche market tech site, with only a few dedicated readers, most of the readers of this site are all here for a reason, to find information. Even though its a small site, with a small following (around 100 reads a day) I’ve had some very positive feedback from my complaint related blog posts. Including Microsoft staff taking my suggestions seriously. I’ve had GoDaddy support staff personally contact after reading my blog post and provide me with better than average customer support. I’ve once had a serious complaint about Sony, and someone else in the community read this complaint and assisted me in finding a solution I had long given up on. More importantly I’ve had many people thank me for the warnings.

Ultimately why do I blog my complaints?

1. To create public awareness, but mainly there is a huge gap in our unspoken justice system. Mega corps mass produce, and typically things go well, but when things do not go well, the mega corp typically treats you as a powerless entity and knows very well that if you’re not going to buy this product, there are 100 other consumers who will. I blog complaints for everyone who has ever been in a frustrating situation with a Mega Corp, in the hope that by creating enough public awareness, products get enhanced, service gets better, and word of mouth gets out there, when a complaint is justified.

Recently I read a story about a lady who leased a car, had it stolen, insurance paid the leasing company full value of the car, however now they are demanding an additional full payment of the total value of the vehicle, and because they’re a mega corp, they’re getting away with it legally. In this case how else can the man on the street fight back? How other than blogging! Happy reading.

Warning : O2 Internet Czech Republic

I would like to warn fellow consumers about a new marketing strategy O2 have adopted that quite frankly is borderline daylight robbery.

This is from a recent personal experience in the Czech Republic, but since o2 is globalized, it wouldn’t surprise me if this giant was up to similar tricks in other countries.

The Scam:

Sign an o2 ADSL package and they will give you a free ADSL modem, more info here. Now notice in that link it says activation of this for 1 crown (essentially this is almost free). The information 02 put out in their marketing and sales (via phone support) is that, this 1 crown is the final cost for your modem. However, like I discovered the hard way, 02 will send you a 2nd more formidable bill for the modem the following month after sign up (1260 crowns).

I was a little annoyed by this scam behavior, and it seems I am not the only one. I didn’t realize this but 02 has already tarnished its reputation in the Czech Republic. The internet is flooded with complaints by Expats living in Czech having some or other issue with this company.

The resolution:

02 will accept this modem back if you return it (at your own costs) within 1 month of receiving it. Similar ADSL modem/ wireless routers retail from 1000 crowns, but if you already have a router, you can pick up an ADSL2 modem for around 500 crowns.

02 Internet is also much slower than UPC who are now offering full 100mbps fibre to door connections in cabled zones, but unfortunately for most people who can only get telephone ADSL the quickest you’ll get from 02 is 16mbps, but this is highly unlikely unless you’re living very close to the base station. Typically expect 4mbps – 8mbps.

Still if its at all possible at least attempt to sign with UPC first. Overall customer service is better. For example when UPC discontinued their 2mbps connections, they upgraded all their existing clients for free to 10mbps.

That’s all , you have been warned.

Could twitter be shitter?

Could someone please teach me how to extract truly valuable information from Twitter? The whole system to me seems like a searchable collection of verbal diarrhea.

I’ve really tried searching twitter for topics I find interesting, but in my experience most of the results (well ALL, but I will try to be diplomatic) are not very informative at all.

I can understand that Twitter might be used as an event tracking system or possibly even to quickly give others insight into your product development, but I’ve yet to see this being used effectively. A lot of companies have a link to a twitter feed, but its questionable if this is the inside track you might be looking for.

Just because someone said it, doesn’t mean they’re right, because so few people are really in the know, and so many people like to talk, a lot of the information you find on Twitter is speculative or downright wrong.

Are people who use Twitter bored or lonely?

Here are some typical twitter posts ! If these are yours you need to leave the house, right now!

Racquetball with the guys , it’s been awhile.

up early in the morning, had my breakfast at home, in the class right now. success.

Im sleepy. Never been like this in 6 months or so.

my internet is down yet my spirits are up

Yes they’re all colored pink because these posts couldn’t be more gay.

Sony Vaio VGN-AR41S Motion Eye Driver for Windows 7 64bit

This is the latest post for you guys who like me own a Sony Vaio VGN-AR41S and want to upgrade to Win 7. Its taken me a while, but quite by chance I’ve managed to find a driver that will work with the built in web cam – Sony call it a Motion Eye, but its really a Ricoh device.

I got this driver from the Sony Vaio VGN-AR51S driver pack, but I’ve put it up here for you to download. I’ve only tested this with 64Bit, but as far as I know it should work with 32bit well enough.

here is the link: http://cid-d53719d869fb8243.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Camera%20Driver%20^5Ricoh^6%206^2209G%20-%206.1005.209.0^_logo.rar

What was wrong with Vista?

Windows 7 will be released any day now, so its a good time to reflect on exactly why Windows Vista was such a huge failure in the market place. I believe the following points pretty much some it up.

1. The main reason why Vista failed was because it was the first OS by Microsoft to integrate hardware acceleration into the user interface. Typically running Vista meant having to upgrade hardware, the corporate world were simply not willing to roll out new hardware for no perceived value other than a flashy user interface. The actual visual effects were not typically usable, more of a novelty (need I mention the winkey tab effect). Win 7 however allows some level of interaction with the direct 3d interface, giving it purpose. Lets not forget that its nearly defacto for hardware to now have direct 3d processing capabilities, and the overall price of this capability has dropped considerably.
2. Windows Vista added very little new value to the world of computing. Windows XP can do anything Windows Vista can. Some argue that Windows Vista is more secure, however Microsoft had at the time released XP Service Pack 3, which really evened out the scales. Win 7 might not do a whole lot more, but what it has done is added better support for multi core computing, added some useful user interface features, and really polished things up under the hood.
3. Hardware manufacturers were slow to deliver drivers for Vista. For the first year of operation Vista was not widely supported, and mostly XP drivers did not work with Vista. Windows 7 in contrast does support Vista drivers.
4. Vista got a terrible name quickly, and home users and gamers ran a mile. Microsoft marketed Windows Vista all over the place, they spent an enormous amount on bill board and tv campaigns and everyone was excited to rush out and get it. However the excitement quickly turned into frustration and anger. Gamers found their games ran slower (sometimes by as much as 30%) than on XP.  No matter how you look at it, What ever XP did, Vista took longer to do it. Most people felt cheated.
5. Vista was the first OS to support DX10 gaming, however neither DX10 gaming was really advanced, nor the hardware to run DX10 games, meaning most people just ended up blaming Vista for this.
6. Finally Vista just ended up becoming an embarrassment, even after service pack 1 was released, and hardware support improved, Vista never dropped the stigma attached with the name Vista. Microsoft ultimately took a word with no meaning to anyone “Vista” and turned it into one of those words that when you hear makes you feel sick in your stomach.

Windows 7 Dooms day posts and Win XP

This is just a short message to those of you compelled enough to write articles on why it’s a good idea to avoid Windows 7. Example

I’ll start off by saying the longer you’ve been in this game the less you see : Linux vs Windows vs Mac, and the more you start accepting that its likely all 3 will be around and each OS has its individual strengths and weaknesses. There should be enough Linux vs Windows vs Mac posts on the internet to full a public library, so I don’t see how contributing yet another page on the subject will help anyone. Our attention should be focused on getting these systems to talk to each other in a standardized way. I would say its even more crucial that we even more clearly define web standards, so web apps work without propriety technologies like Active-x.

So should Win 7 be avoided? From a technical point of view it would make sense to use the OS that is best for the job you need it for. If you’re happy with XP and it does everything you want it to do, then by all means continue using XP. If you, like me want to get the most out of my computer, and are not scared to try new things, and are excited about new technology then I don’t see any compelling reason why anyone would want to avoid Win 7, unless perhaps you’re running old hardware.

Windows 7 IS a better operating system than XP, and why wouldn’t it be. I won’t talk here about visual effects and crap, lets skip straight to the core. Win 7 loads devices and drivers in parallel. Windows 7 is optimized for multi core systems. Windows 7’s explorer.exe process has been revamped, and its coded better than anything Microsoft has ever released. I’ll also mention networking and file sharing has got a lot better. Loading drivers for devices in Win 7 is also a heck of a lot easier, if you’ve got compatible hardware, you’ll never have to fumble for the installation disk.

Lets be frank though Microsoft did release a dud operating system, called Windows Vista, and this has caused people to distrust MS. But lets get back to business and get on with things. Win 7 is worth any money you’ll spend on it, and its time to move on with the times.