January 2010

Saturday, January 30, 2010

12 key features the iPad lacks

As the awe and adulation surrounding Apple's iPad announcement died down, chatter quickly turned to the plethora of features Apple deliberately excluded from the device:
1. iBooks is initially US-only
2. No built-in camera
3. No USB ports
4. No memory card read
5. Keyboard dock sold separately
6. No multi-tasking
7. No Adobe Flash support
8. Can only run Apple-sanctioned apps
9. Can only access iTunes videos and music
10. Lacks HDMI port
11. Screen is 4:3 aspect ratio, not 16:9 widescreen
12. No full GPS support

Business Intelligence Features in Excel 2010

If you're an Excel geek, you can't miss this collection of posts about the new Excel 2010 features on the Office 2010 Engineering blog.
The Excel team has made a number of improvements in the Business Intelligence area for Excel 2010, which have been covered in-depth on the Excel Team Blog.

First, the team added slicers, which are visual controls that allow you to quickly and easily filter your data in an interactive way. Slicers can connect to PivotTables, PivotCharts, and CUBE functions to creative interactive dashboards:

Part of an interactive Dashboard with Slicers and PivotCharts
A number of enhancements have been made to PivotTables- including the ability to modify values in PivotTable cells (writeback), more flexibility and power through named sets, and a series of other enhancements.
A new search filter is available for tables and PivotTables, which allows you to quickly navigate through large data sets.

The New Search Filter
Finally, the Excel and SQL teams have collaborated to create a PowerPivot, a powerful data analysis tool made up of two components: an add-in for Excel 2010 and a series of new features for SharePoint 2010.
"Designed for business users, PowerPivot […] delivers unmatched computational power directly within the application users already know and love — Excel. Leveraging familiar Excel features, users can transform enormous quantities of data from virtually any source with incredible speed into meaningful information to get the answers they need in seconds."

PowerPivot add-in for Excel 2010
Here's the full list of Excel blog posts about Slicers, PivotTable Improvements, and PowerPivot.
Slicers

Table and PivotTable Improvements

PowerPivot

Also, read about improvements in other areas of Excel:

Ref:
http://blogs.technet.com/office2010/archive/2010/01/28/business-intelligence-features-in-excel-2010.aspx

Speed Test Puts iPhone Right Behind Full Size Keyboard

Phil Gyford has tested the speed of six different input devices and found the iPhone beats everything but a full size QWERTY keyboard.

The six input devices used were:
- The Apple Newton
- The Palm Vx’s Graffiti
- The Palm Treo 650’s hardware QWERTY keyboard
- The Apple iPhone 3G’s software QWERTY keyboard
- Pen and paper
- A full-size QWERTY keyboard

The test was performed with a memorized 221 word text selection from the speech given by Aneurin Bevan to the British Labour Party in 1959 following their general election defeat.

While not exactly scientific, you can take a look at Gyford's results below. Interestingly, the iPhone was even able to beat a pen and paper which might surprise some people.

Read More

Internet GPRS/EDGE settings for iPhone(Telenor, Ufone, Warid, Mobilink, Zong)

Here are Pakistan cellular GPRS/EDGE settings for iphone 3.1.

UFONE EDGE/GPRS SETTINGS:

APN : ufone.pinternet
User Name : leave blank
Password : leave blank

TELENOR PAKISTAN GPRS/EDGE SETTINGS FOR IPHONE:

APN : internet
USER NAME : Telenor
Password : Telenor

MOBILINK PAKISTAN GPRS/EDGE SETTINGS:

APN : connect.mobilinkworld.com
USER NAME : leave blank
Password : leave blank

WARID PAKISTAN GPRS/EDGE SETTINGS FOR IPHONE:

APN : warid
USER NAME : leave blank
Password : leave blank

ZONG PAKISTAN GPRS/EDGE SETTINGS FOR IPHONE:

APN : zonginternet
USER NAME : leave blank
Password : leave blank

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Product Keys

See the product keys of MS Office 2010 Beta products...

Here is the page...

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Launch Date

Microsoft has announced that the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 will launch on Monday, 12 April 2010.
Read...

Dear Apple: What we want to see for iPhone 4.0

This is the first of a series of letters to Apple on your behalf, telling the gang in Cupertino what would make their wonder-phone even more wondrous. This letter strictly focuses on the iPhone OS in general – the home screen, navigation, and settings. Future letters will deal with hardware and applications.

Read the entire wish list...

The next letter will be published one week from today on Sunday 1/17. We'll be telling Apple what we want from the next iPhone's hardware. Want a different enclosure? Camera flash? RFID? OLED? Email them at tuawiphone [at] me dot com (by mid-day, Friday, January 15th at the latest)!

iPhone Touchscreen Performs More Accurately Than Droid, Nexus One

MOTO Development has posted results of a DIY touchscreen analysis for the iPhone, Droid, Droid Eris, and Nexus One.
Using a simple technique that anyone can perform at home, MOTO evaluated the resolution and accuracy of each touchscreen device. All they used was a basic drawing program, a steady hand, and a few straight lines drawn very slowly on the screen.
"The iPhone’s touch sensor showed the most linear tracking with the least amount of stair-stepping. The Droid Eris and Nexus One tied for second with only faint wiggling – but actually performed best at the edge of the screen. Last in the line-up was the Motorola Droid, which demonstrated significant wavy artifacts or “stair-stepping.”
You can take a look at how the tests were performed in the video below. A chart of the results can also be found below.

Microsoft Showcase

Microsoft Showcase is the site dedicated to the latest videos from MS. Mostly ads and other product related stuff is uploaded here.
You can also find how tos of new products such as Office 2010, Windows 7 etc.

Weapons of Math Instruction

Taken from...

Nexus One vs Droid vs iPhone [Comparison Chart]

Now that Google’s Nexus One phone has been revealed, the question everyone is asking is how does it compare to the other current top smartphones on the market, most notably, iPhone and Motorola Droid? Moreover, is it worth switching to Nexus One from your current device?
Overall, it seems just about impossible to pick a winner just off the specs, but here’s a look at how the device’s stack up:

Read the entire post...

Windows 7 has lots of 'god modes' (exclusive)

Those intrigued by the "god mode" in Windows 7 may be interested to know that there are many other similar shortcuts hidden within the operating system.
Intended for developers as a shortcut to various internal settings, such features have been around since Vista and even before, according to the head of Microsoft's Windows division, who tells CNET that the so-called GodMode settings folder uncovered by bloggers is just one of many undocumented developer features included in Windows.

In an e-mail interview, Steven Sinofsky, Windows division president, said several similar undocumented features provide direct access to all kinds of settings, from choosing a location to managing power settings to identifying biometric sensors.
As with the all-encompassing GodMode uncovered by bloggers, these other settings can be accessed directly by creating a new folder with any name (GodMode or otherwise) and then including a certain text string. Sinofsky noted more than a dozen strings create particular settings folders, in addition to the overarching GodMode folder option.
Sinofsky and others say the term GodMode was coined by bloggers; it was not something the company used internally to refer to the settings folders. Although Microsoft maintains many such undocumented developer commands to access such settings, all are replicated by the operating system's Control Panel settings.
Such undocumented means of accessing various settings have occurred in previous versions of Windows, and the GodMode identified by bloggers was also present in Windows Vista. Some users of the 64-bit version of Vista, however, say invoking the GodMode folder caused their machines to crash. Microsoft says it has yet to reproduce that problem, though several readers have said they have encountered problems.
It seems that the folks in Redmond have gotten a kick out of all the attention that the Godmode has gotten and have decided to have fun with it. Sinofsky sent a list of other commands that also create special folders (see list below).
Given the Vista issues, though, I would try these only on a Windows 7 machine, ideally a test machine. To make it work, create a new folder with any name, then a period, then one of the text strings below.
For example, the first one could be a folder named "muneeb.{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}" (use everything inside quotes--but not the quotes themselves).

Here's the list of strings:

{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
{62D8ED13-C9D0-4CE8-A914-47DD628FB1B0}
{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

And, as a reminder, to create the godmode folder itself, use this string:
{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Windows 7 god mode

Have you ever wondered if there are any secret Windows 7 features? Most games have a godmode, something that will enable all cheats and features. Windows 7 too. This is going to be a brief tutorial that will allow you to enable the secret godmode in Windows 7.

Create a new folder (right-click and click on “New Folder”). Right-click on the folder and click on rename, copy and paste this:
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
How to enable Windows 7 Godmode

This folder will now be a shortcut to the Windows 7 godmode.The godmode allows you to quickly access many Windows 7 functions via a GUI.

The Catch

The back half of that mysterious shortcut is actually a globally unique identifier (GUID) that points to a shell folder, in this case Control Panel. The segment at the beginning can be whatever text you want it to be. The resulting list simply opens Control Panel in Windows Explorer, displaying all available tasks and allowing you to group them using standard Explorer techniques. Way back in Windows XP Inside Out we wrote about techniques for creating shell folder views in Explorer using GUIDs; we dropped that coverage in Windows Vista Inside Out and Windows 7 Inside Out because there were other, more useful tasks to explain in our Explorer chapters.
All of the tasks in the "God Mode" list are already available in Control Panel. There is not a single new or hidden tweak here. Many of them are listed under the different category headings there. Some of the specific task links appear only in response to a search for a specific keyword; they represent alternate entry points to tasks that you might not find easily using the conventional navigation. Here, let me give you an example. The image below shows two side-by-side lists of tasks. The one on the left is the one in the folder you create using the Control Panel GUID. The one on the right is what you see if you go to Control Panel and type user in the search box.

This is going to be a complete list of all Windows 7 functions that you can access via the godmode. I recommend to print it.

Action Center

Change Customer Experience Improvement Program settings
Change User Account Control setting
Check security status
Choose how to check for solutions
Choose how to report problems
Fix problems with your computer
Restore your computer to an earlier time
Review your computer’s status and resolve issues
View all problem reports
View messages about your computer
View recommended actions to keep Windows running smoothly
View reliability history
View solutions to problems
View the Microsoft error reporting privacy statement online

Administrative Tools

Create and format hard disk partitions
Defragment your hard drive
Diagnose your computer’s memory problems
Edit group policy
How to add new hardware
Schedule tasks
Set up data sources (ODBC)
Set up iSCSI initiator
View event logs
View local services

AutoPlay

Change default settings for media or devices
Play CD’s or other media automatically
Start ot stop using autoplay for all media and devices

Backup and Restore

Back up your computer
Restore data, files, or computer from backup

BitLocker Drive Encryption

manage BitLocker
Protect your computer by encrypting data on your disk

Color Management

Change advanced color management settings for display, scanners, and printers

Credential Manager

Manage Windows credential

Date and Time

Add clocks for different time zones
Automatically adjust for daylight saving time
Change the time zone
Set the time and date

Default Program

Make a file type always open in a specific program
Set your default programs

Desktop Gadgets

Add gadgets to the desktop
Add the Clock gadget to the desktop
Get more gadgets online Restore desktop gadgets installed with Windows
Uninstall a gadget
View list of running gadgets

Device Manager

Update device drivers

Devices and Printers

Add a device
Add a printer
Change default printer
Change device installation settings
Device Manager
Scan a document or picture
Set up USB game controllers
View devices and printers
View scanners and cameras

Display

Adjust ClearType text
Adjust screen resolution
Calibrate display color
Change display settings
Change screen orientation
Connect to a projector
Connect to an external display
How to correct monitor flicker (refresh rate)
Make text and other items larger or smaller
Set up computer to use multiple monitors
View the name of the video card

Ease of Access Center

Accomodate learning abilities
Accomodate low vision
Change how your keyboard works
Change how your mouse works
Change the Narrator voice
Control the computer without the mouse or keyboard
Hear a tone when keys are pressed
Hear text read aloud with Narrator
Ignore repeated keystrokes using FilterKeys
Let Windows suggest Ease of Access settings
Magnify portions of the screen using Magnifier
Move the pointer with the keypad using MouseKeys
Optimize for blindness
Optimize visual display
Press key combinations one at a time
Replace sounds with visual cues
Turn High Contrast on or off
Turn Magnifier on or off
Turn off automatic window arrangement
Turn off background images
Turn off unnecessary animations
Turn on easy access keys
Turn On-Screen keyboard on or off
Use audio description for video
Use screen reader
View current accessibility settings

Folder Options

Change search options for files and folders
Change the file type associated with a file extension
Show hidden files and folders
Show or hide file extensions
Specify single- or double-click to open

Fonts

Change Font Settings
Preview, delete, or show and hide fonts
View installed fonts

Getting Started

Find out what’s new in Windows 7
Go online to find out what’s new in Windows 7
Go online to get Windows Live Essentials
Transfer files from another computer

HomeGroup

Choose homegroup and sharing options
Share printers

Indexing Options

Change how WIndows searches

Internet Options

Block or allows third-party cookies
Change security settings
Change temporary Internet file settings
Configure proxy server
Delete cookies or temporary files
Enable or disable session cookies

Keyboard

Change cursor blink rate
Check keyboard status

Location and Other Sensors

Enable location and other sensors
Enter a default location
View location activity

Mouse

Change how the mouse pointer looks
Change how the mouse pointer looks when it’s moving
Change mouse click settings
Change mouse settings
Change mouse wheel settings
Change the mouse pointer display or speed
Customize the mouse buttons
Make it easier to see the mouse pointer

Notification Area Icons

Customize icons on the taskbar
Remove icons from notification area (system tray) on the desktop
SHow or hide clock icon on the taskbar
Show or hide inactive icons on the taskbar
Show or hide the notification area on the taskbar
Show or hide volume (speaker) icon on the taskbar

Parental Controls

Set up parental controls for any user

Performance Information and Tools

Check the WIndows Experience Index
Free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files
Learn how to use your storage device to speed up your computer
Use tools to improve performance

Personalization

Change desktop background
Change screen saver
Change the theme
Change window colors and metrics
CHange windows glass colors
Enable or disable transparent glass on windows
Get more themes online
Lock the computer when I leave it alone for a period of time
Personalize your computer
Set screen saver password
Show or hide common icons on the desktop
Turn screen saver on or off

Phone and Mode

Set up dialing rules

Power Options

Change power-saving settings
Change what the power buttons do
Change when the computer sleeps
Choose a power plan
Choose when to turn off display
Edit power plan
Require a password when the computer wakes

Programs and Features

Add or remove programs
Change or remove a program
How to install a program
Run programs made for previous versions of Windows
Show which programs are installed on your computer
Turn Windows features on or off
Uninstall a program
View installed updates

Recovery

Restore your computer or reinstall Windows

Region and Language

Change display language
Change keyboards or other input methods
Change location
Change the date, time , or number format
Change the languages used for partially translated menus and dialogs
Change the way currency is displayed
Change the way dates and lists are displayed
Change the way measurements are displayed
Change the way time is displayed
Install or uninstall display languages

RemoteApp and Desktop Connections

Set up a new connection with RemoteApp and Desktop Connections

Sound

Adjust system volume
Change sound card settings
Change system sounds
Manage audio devices

Speech Recognition

Change text to speech settings
Set up a microphone
Start speech recognition

Sync Center

Encrypt your offline files
Manage disk space used by your offline files
Manage offline files
Resolve sync conflicts
Sync with other computers, mobile devices or network folders
View sync results

System

Activate Windows
Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows
Allow remote access to your computer
Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer
Change workgroup name
Check processor speed
Configure advanced user profile properties
Create a restore point
Device Manager
Edit environment variables for your account
Edit the system environment variables
How to change the size of virtual memory
Join a domain
Rename this computer
Restore system files and settings from a restore point
See the name of this computer
Select users who can use remote desktop
Show how much RAM is on this computer
Show which operating system your computer is running
Show which workgroup this computer is on
View advanced system settings
View running processes with Task Manager

Taskbar and Start Menu

Auto-hide the taskbar
Customize the Start menu
Customize the taskbar
Find missing Start menu
Group similar windows on the taskbar
Lock or unlock the taskbar
Organize Start menu
Restore Start menu defaults
Turn toolbars on the taskbar on or off
What happened to the Quick Launch toolbar?

Troubleshooting

Find and fix audio playback problems
Find and fix audio recording problems
Find and fix networking and connections problems
Find and fix printing problems
Find and fix problems
Find and fix problems with devices
Find and fix problems with homegroup
FInd and fix problems with transparency and other visual effects
Find and fix problems with Windows Search
Perform recommended maintenance tasks automatically
Record steps to reproduce a problem
Troubleshooting History

User Accounts

Add or remove user accounts
Change your account picture
Change your Windows password
Create a password reset disk
Create administrator account
Create an account
Create or remove account password
Create standard user account
Link online IDs
Make changes to accounts
Manage file encryption certificates
Manage network passwords
Turn guest account on or off

Windows CardSpace

Manage Information Card that are used to log on to online services

Windows Defender

Scan for spyware and other potentially unwanted software

Windows Firewall

Allow a program through Windows Firewall
Check firewall status

Windows Update

Check for updates
Turn automatic updating on or off

References:
http://windows7themes.net/windows-7-enable-secret-godmode.html
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=2724

Silverlight From Zero

Starts:	Wednesday February 17, 2010, 11:00AM Pacific Time
Ends:	Wednesday February 17, 2010, 12:30PM Pacific Time
Event Type:	Training/Seminar
Location:	This is a virtual event.
Website:	https://www112.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join?id=G2K4BH&role=attend&pw=PN6.%3CQ]rb
Intended For:	Developers, Architects.
Organization:	LIDNUG

Jesse Liberty, Silverlight Geek, is a Community Program Manager for Silverlight at Microsoft, and author of a dozen books on .NET programming. His presentation, Silverlight From Zero, assumes you are a programmer who wants to learn Silverlight fundamentals fast. In this high speed technical presentation Liberty will cover: What is it and how do I get it and why do I want it?, Xaml and Code, Silveright controls, transforms and animation, templates, the Visual state Manager, Data and Databinding, Data Validation and the basics of media.
Note: This event is PST (Pacific Time)