InsideMicrosoft

We've Moved!

2004-12-25T19:11:00.000-05:00

InsideGoogle
now at google.blognewschannel.com
or google.blognc.com, if you're lazy

RSS 2.0 Comments RSS 2.0

InsideMicrosoft
now at microsoft.blognewschannel.com
or microsoft.blognc.com, if you're lazy
RSS 2.0 Comments RSS 2.0

That's it. My blogs have now moved to my own site and dedicated hosting. Only its more than just dedicated hosting. I put out the call not long ago for some good people, and I'm gathering together some very talented bloggers and net programmers to create the next thing in blogging, a blog news organization. We want to create a network of blogs that works together to create a news site, but without all the crap of traditional media (and I should know, I work for the bad guys as well). The Blog News Channel aims to be the first news organization to provide personal news, written by real people who you'll get to know, each covering a beat obsessively like any good blogger. Everything you liked about blogs, all in one place, arranged and organized in one place.

For now, we're still building the interface that makes it all tick, but four blogs are already up and running for you to digest. InsideGoogle and InsideMicrosoft retain exactly the same obsessive focus that brought you here in the first place. BusinessBits (RSS 2.0 / Comments RSS 2.0) written by Devin Reams, a business major at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will have a focus on corporate moves and the stock market (stay away from Google and Microsoft!). Finally, The Society Junta (RSS 2.0 / Comments RSS 2.0)is our look at politics, from "BFranklin", a longtime political blogger and insider. You can also go to our Open Source (RSS 2.0 / Comments RSS 2.0) blog, where Amit Agarwal will soon begin blogging about the open source movement and all those subversive computer movement like Linux and Firefox (think of it as the anti-InsideMicrosoft). Coming blogs will focus on independent films, Apple Computers, and Gadgets, plus I'm still recruiting bloggers for other subjects (if you're able, email me at random12345@gmail.com).

I think this can be the start of something special and new. If you'd like to be a part of it, let me know. I've got ambitious plans for www.blognewschannel.com/ (for now it just says hi, but bookmark it, because its going to get real interesting), and I'll need good people to lend a talented hand. Everybody, make the trek over there, because this post is the last one you'll see either at BlogSpot or LiveJournal, so I'll need you to change your bookmarks and RSS. I want to know what everyone thinks, so email and comment your butts off. Let's welcome the New Year with the Blog News Channel!

Postscript - I'd also like to give a major shoutout to Ma tt from LSBlog, who has given me an enormous amount of assistance. Without his help, this would have taken weeks, instead of six days. Check out his blogging software, LSBlog, at lsblog.com. It has some major advanced features you wish your blogging software offered, and is definitely worth it.

Happy Holidays

2004-12-24T16:33:00.000-05:00

I 'd like to wish a merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it, and happy holidays to everybody else, or at least happy vacation. Whether or not this is a special time of the year for you, use it as the opportunity it is and spend time with your loved ones. I've been to far too many sad occasions these last few months and trust me, you never know when you'll get another chance. Please, party, talk, and just sit around, but make the most of it.

Four New Unpatched Windows Vulnerabilities Discovered

2004-12-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

Slashdot reports that four unpatched Windows vulnerabilities have been found.

C|Net has details on two of them. A Chinese security group, Xfocus, discovered them and posted the details online. The first one is an image vulnerability, that an attacker could take advantage of to compromise your system when you view a specially crafted image. The other is a problem in the Windows Help system, and could affect any program that opens a help file. Basically, all versions of Windows and all browsers and email clients are affected.

Security Focus has the info on the other two bugs, also found by Xfocus, a Microsoft Windows Kernel ANI file parsing crash and Dos vulnerability. Both vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to either crash or freeze a system.

More Discussion On The EU Court Decision

2004-12-23T16:36:00.000-05:00

Todd Bishop has a roundup of all the opinions in the press about Microsoft's loss in the EU Media Player trial, from the despondent

This is a very serious setback for Microsoft - Bloomberg News

to the triumphant

Right decision, wrong continent - Boston Globe

New MSN.com?

2004-12-23T12:02:00.000-05:00

Possible new MSN.com, with MSN Search Beta at the top of it. As long as I don't lose MyMSN, a simpler, easier to read MSN.com is a good thing.
(via SEO Roundtable)

Microsoft Looks Back At 2004

2004-12-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has released its look back at 2004, and what it considers its major accomplishments of the year (some of which were released, other which are in development), including:

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Windows Marketplace and MSN Music
Huge strides for Xbox, including Halo 2 and Xbox Live
MSN Premium
MSN Search
MSN Spaces
MSN Hotmail upgraded and with more storage
MSN Messenger 7.0 beta
Microsoft Operation Manager 2005
Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
Office 2003 Service Pack 1
Microsoft Office Live Communication Server 2005, the product that will bridge the three major IM networks
Visual Studio 2005
.NET Framework 2.0
SQL Server 2005

And the grandaddies of them all:

Windows XP Service Pack 2
Longhorn (which may be a long time away, but still underwent a lot of work in the last twelve months)

What will 2005 bring for Microsoft? So far, signs point to a very good year, especially for the MSN division.

How To: Optimize Adobe Reader 7.0

2004-12-23T09:48:00.000-05:00

Microsoft's Jonathan Hardwick has some tips tips on his MSDN blog on how to speed up your install of the new Adobe Reader 7.0 so it loads faster. His advice:

In Edit-Preferences, do the following:

General tab: turn off “Automatically save document changes”
Internet tab: turn off all three checkboxes
Page Display tab: turn on “CoolType”
Search tab: turn off “Enable fast find”
Startup tab: turn off “Show messages and automatically update”

In View-Toolbars, turn off “Rotate view” and “Search the internet”. Under “Show button labels”, turn them all on so you can figure out what the heck those icons means.
Fire up Windows Explorer and do the following:

Navigate to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\
Right-click to create a new subdirectory, and call it plugins_uninstalled
Move all the .api files from the plug_ins subdirectory to your new plugins_uninstalled subdirectory, except for AcroForm.api (for form-filling) and EScript.api (dependency of AcroForm.api).

Finally, go to Start-Run-All Programs-Startup, and right-click and delete the “Adobe Reader Speed Launch” link that Adobe silently added to your startup process.

Of course, many of these changes will cause you to lose some functionality, so check to see if you need any of them. Still, getting rid of many of these extraneous features should do more good than harm if all you want to do is read PDFs.

MSN Search Will Be Everywhere

2004-12-23T09:38:00.000-05:00

internetnews.com spoke with MSN product manager Justin Omer at Search Engien Strategies Chicago, and he explained to them how MSN Search will start making its way into a variety of Microsoft products. There are no plans for bundling the toolbar suite with other products, such as Office, Internet Explorer or even Windows, but technology from the new search engine and the Desktop Search will make its way into a variety of products, and many products will take advantage of MSN Search, if you have it installed.

"However," Osmer added, "the technology behind [search] is a cross-company effort right now," and it's already being used in a number of Microsoft products. "The technology will be important to Microsoft across the board," he said. "The search effort has helped the company to reinvigorate search."

Microsoft wants to avoid any situations similar to what happened with Windows Media Player this week. When MSN Search goes fully live, Microsoft will release APIs that will let both web and product developers take advantage of it. Don't be surprised if someone puts that API to use to put MSN Desktop Search in all sorts of Windows applications, from RealPlayer to Photoshop, or even as a Firefox extension. Microsoft aims for MSN Desktop Search to be the way all products search the system for files, and the API is what will make that possible.

Don't expect MSN Search and MSN Desktop Search to leave beta at the same time. While both are part of Microsoft's new search strategy, they are still being produced by different teams, Osmer explained. Interestingly, he also noted that MSN Desktop Search is based largely on code from the Sharepoint server products.

We took that shell, made it unique to us for the client environment, added bells and whistles, and integrated it into the toolbar suite.

Also, MSN Search may not add web history ever, since from a security standpoint it creates more problems than it is useful. Google has run into many issues and criticism from the fact that if you've ever typed in any sensitive information into Google Desktop Search, someone can likely find it and use it, a problem which becomes even worse when security flaws allow outside attackers use of Desktop Search results. Osmer praised this and other advantages of MSN Desktop Search, including its use of the Windows logon to protect your results from other users of the computer, and allow multiple users on a computer to all use MSN Desktop Search seperately. Only one user can install GDS per system. Finally, Osmer could not resist taking a dig at Google for their endless beta periods.

Some people release the beta for long periods of time. That's not our model. We want to have it in beta long enough to collect user feedback and make sure whatever we turn into the final meets certain criteria, but we want it to be as short as possible.

John Battelle Predictions For 2005

2004-12-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

John Battelle did a very good job with his predictions for 2004, and his look ahead for 2005 looks pretty solids as well. Go read his post in a new windows, and come back here for my thoughts.

What else will happen? Will MSN Search continue to grab headlines and red state net users? Will Google finally open up and reveal what goes on inside its walls? Will blogging conquer its problems with ethics and editing? Will Desktop Search ever live up to the hype? Will Google conquer search spam? Will Google Images ever get updated? Will Slate still exist? Will MSNBC still exist? Will Steve Ballmer start blogging (Bill Gates never will)? Will newspapers ever catch on with younger people?

MSN Search Wiki

2004-12-22T14:13:00.000-05:00

The MSN Search Weblog announces today that they have a wiki over at Channel 9. I find it kind of cool that the first topic listed for each section is always "competitors". They even link to the forums at Webmasterworld. Microsoft sure is more community oriented than most people think, and more so than some of its "competitors".

Microsoft Loses EU Case

2004-12-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

The Europen Union court has upheld the earlier ruling against Microsoft, and the software giant has already said it plans to try to settle the case. The ruling holds in place sanctions against MS that include unbundling Windows Media Player, revealing confidential communictions protocols, and paying over $600 million in fines. More importantly, this ruling makes those sanctions go into effect sooner, rather than later, since the case's main point had been Microsoft lobbying for a stay.

If Microsoft cannot settle, it will undoubtably take as much time complying with the rulings, in the hopes that it will win a future appeal. Most likely, Microsoft will claim that, like in the case of Internet Explorer, Media Player is too tightly integrated with Windows, and will take a very long time to unbundle. Microsoft counsel Brad Smith said the company had not decided yet whether to appeal (waiting for a settlement), but had two months to make that decision. A statement on Microsoft's web site said that the company was hopeful, since the court said it had established a prima facie case in support of its position on the major aspects of the case, arguements which are now required to be considered on appeal.

Rick Sherlund at Goldman Sachs said, "Our view is that the decision itself is not that harmful for Microsoft's business, but rather sets a precedent where the EC could argue that future enhancements to the operating system such as search or antivirus must similarly be unbundled."

It's an excellent point. If courts are going to rule that Microsoft must remove enhancements from the OS because they are anticompetitive, then why should Microsoft make those enhancements? While Media Player was made to compete with Real, it has become a much better product, and, over time, far less "evil" than Real's offering. If you unbundle Media Player, what will people use? The non-user friendly non-supported Winamp? The bordering on spyware RealPlayer?

Microsoft's antivirus and antimalware solutions are not being released to combat Norton, but because consumers have demanded them, but will rulings such as this one hurt Microsoft's ability to release these sort of products? I certainly hope not. While no one wants to see Microsoft take down small but innovative companies, everyone who uses Windows wants it to get better. Well, Windows is better off for Windows Media Player, and that alone makes this ruling a bad precedent.
(via MarketWatch)

Microsoft Comment Spam War Goes Mainstream

2004-12-22T04:45:00.000-05:00

Well, now eWeek has picked up on the MSDN comment spam problems I've been writing about the last week or so. MS has been employing all sorts of measures against the spam, which originates mostly in China, including moderated comments and turning off commenting on old posts. A much simpler solution would be to replace all the URLs in comments into redirect URLs, much like Blogger does. Considering how bad these things have gotten, redirect URLs should be standard at this point.
(via Alex Barnett)

The Future: Journalism Is Dead

2004-12-22T04:16:00.000-05:00

This Flash video is just unbelievable. I love it and hate it at the same time. EPIC 2014, by Robin Sloan, chronicles what will happen over the next four years, as companies like Google tear down all notions of information and news media, destroying traditional media institutions and giving every user access to information that is as personalized and communal as it is sensational and devoid of ethics. I agree that, the way things are going, traditional media will be destroyed by the internet. However, I believe that a new form of media can be created on the internet, one that leverages citizen journalism with old media rules of ethics and organization. You'll see more of what I mean over the next few weeks. Is traditional media dying? Yes, but that doesn't mean that the news has to die as well.
(via Alex Barnett)

Paint.NET Server Swamped

2004-12-22T03:21:00.000-05:00

The Paint.NET team has been getting complaints from the the Washington State campus IT detartment. The server output 75 gigabytes in one day, something like 10,000 downloads. They've limited the server to 42 gigabytes a day for the time being, and a mirror has already been set up. Still, I think its great that so many people are downloading such a quality product. I wonder how many referrals I sent their way?

UPDATE Paint.NET got Slashdotted! Now their servers are doomed. Luckily, this also means someone has set up a torrent and a mirror

Microsoft's 7 Tips For Bloggers

2004-12-21T19:40:00.000-05:00

Microsoft's Small Business Center's Jeff Wuorio says "a blog can be a boon for your business", and offers seven tips for corporate, and all, bloggers on how to get started. The areas to focus on:

Identify your audience
Decide where your blog should live
Start talking
Get into the practice of "blogrolling"
Emphasize keywords
Keep it fresh
Watch your traffic closely

Microsoft Sells Slate

2004-12-21T17:55:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has sold Slate, the popular online magazine, to the Washington Post for and undisclosed amount. Slate, which had been controlled by Microsoft since its launch in 1996, reportedly draws six million users a month, and manages to break even financially. Slate Editor Jacob Weisberg promises that Slate will not see any major changes. Slate will continue to be available on MSN, which, according to Investor's Business Daily, drove 50-60% of its traffic. In an interview with IBD, Weisberg indicated the Slate was sold for less than MarketWatch.com was ($500 million).

The Seattle Times reports are that the Post had been seeking unique content distinct from its newspaper articles for some time now. Reuters points out the sale came only one day after Slate published a piece critical of the Post's series on maternal homicides. Slate's Redmond offices will be shuttered, but its New York and Washington bureau's will remain operating.

From Slate's home page:

And just to the right of it:
The Washington Post's Muddled Maternal
Murder Series

Microsoft Sells Links Studio To Take-Two

2004-12-21T17:03:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has sold Indie Built, developer of Links, Amped and TopSpin to New York-based publisher Take-Two Interactive. This comes just months after MS closed down their XSN-team sports games studio, back in August. The sale of the company and its golf, snowboarding and tennis video games, represents the end of Microsoft development on sports games, and a is part of the strategy to focus on platform defining games in the Halo 2 mold. Take-Two is expected to continue running the studio, and comtinue employing its 70 Salt Lake City-based employees. The studio was sold for an undisclosed sum.

My opinion: They should have given it away for free, in return for a guarantee from Take-Two that all future Grand Theft Auto games are released on the Xbox on or before their Playstation release dates. That would be worth a lot more than whatever Indie Built was valued at.

Report: MSN Has Caught Google

2004-12-21T16:49:00.000-05:00

A report to be published in the next issue of the British weekly New Scientist says that MSN Search has caught up with Google, at least on technical grounds.

It asked software engineers to test an early version of Microsoft's MSN Search service. The experts gave MSN Search high marks for quick retrieval of data, for the quality of hits, the ability to respond to natural-language questions and possibility of finetuning the search.

"The differences between the search engines are now so slight, it's going to be hard for any company to differentiate on technical grounds," Chris Sherman of SearchEngineWatch website in Darien Connecticut, told New Scientist.

Because Google basically reinvented search, there is a perception that catching up to them is impossible. If Microsoft can erase that perception, then it can beat Google based on its other offerings. Of course, the first step to pulling even with Google is releasing MSN Search Beta to the general public.
(via News24)

A Look At Ten Years Of Access

2004-12-21T03:57:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious. Just read the whole thing, seriously. It's worth it.

Microsoft, WSU Release Paint.NET 2.0

2004-12-21T03:46:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Microsoft has a free alternative to Windows Paint, designed and built with MS's guidance by students at Washington State University. Paint.NET v2.0 (released today) is only a seven megabyte download, and represents one of the most professional alternatives to Photoshop I've seen. Not everyone can pay the enormous cost of Photoshop, and Paint.NET v2.0 has plenty of advanced features, including the most important one, layers. It also has unlimited undo, lots of effects (and you can download more, or even create your own using an API), ink support for Tablet PCs, red-eye removal, auto-leveling, and layer importing from other files. One cool design feature: Dialog boxes become transparent when laying on top of the image, so they don't block your view. I wish Photoshop did that! It's not going to challenge Photoshop for market supremacy, but its light-years ahead of Paint. A must for any Windows user. What a great product!

(via Rick Brewster's blog)

DOS: More CPU Intensive Than Windows

2004-12-21T03:16:00.000-05:00

Ben, the Virtual PC Guy, posts about a fascinating and little known fact about DOS. Apparently, unlike modern Operating Systems, which stop doing anything when there is nothing to do, DOS doesn't even know what that means. When you're doing nothing, DOS is actually locked "in a very tight loop of code which is responsible for blinking the cursor and checking for new user input". So DOS actually uses any and all available processor cycles. You need a modern utility to actually get DOS to slow down. Interesting.

Halo 2 Increases Xbox Live Usage 500%

2004-12-21T03:07:00.000-05:00

Usage of Xbox live increased 5X since the release of Halo 2, from one million in the week preceeding release to 5-6.5 million, a trend which is reportedly still going strong. This data comes courtesy of a study by Sandvine, courtesy of David Fries' MSDN blog, where he says:

Not like this is something we didn't know was going to happen, but interesting nonetheless...

I think an increase was expected, but these levels are unprecedented. Xbox Live is credited by many as being a significant contributer to Xbox's meteoric rise in market share.

MSDN Blog Embroiled In Slashdot Flame War

2004-12-20T23:43:00.000-05:00

Microsoft's Peter Torr has an MSDN blog post about his experience with Firefox. Although Firefox is perceived as more secure than Microsoft Internet Explorer, as he points out, many of IE's security features are not present in Firefox, especially the digital signing of downloads and warnings about malicious programs. Whether or not IE is less secure than Firefox is a question that begs investigation (sheer number of viruses proves nothing, since IE is attacked as the top browser), but the absense of warning dialogs is something Firefox should address. He also bemoans the fact that Firefox is downloaded from mirrors, a process that is 50 miles west of safe, and that there's no easy way to turn off some plugins.

But that's only the beginning of the story.

The post got slashdotted:

How Can I Trust Firefox?

Posted by timothy on Monday December 20, @09:11PM
from the how-could-anyone-trust-ie? dept.
TheRealSlimShady writes "Peter Torr (who?) from Microsoft invites a certain flamewar with his essay 'How can I trust Firefox?' He raises some interesting security related points about the download and installation of Firefox, some of which should probably be addressed. The focus is on code signing, which Microsoft is hot on. Of course, the obvious question is 'Do I trust Firefox less than IE?'"

So, back at MSDN, Peter gets his with 200 comments:

# - firefox is teh rox! sux0r
# - Btw, didn't your mother teach you to always save to disk instead of running files from the online location! tut tut
# - Yeah - I know - "Wait until the next version. It'll be awesome. Honest." (c) 1972-2005 Microsoft, Inc.
# - Uh-oh, here comes slashdot...
Anonymous Coward
Flame on!
# - Congratulations, you just started a flamewar. >:(
# - You sir, Peter Torr, are a tool! You REALLY need to take the time you spent analyzing Firefox, and do the EXACT same thing with ALL MS software prior to XP SP2. IE only gained its current level of security as a result of SP2 which has taken HOW many years to reach this level? Think about it.
# - The solution is perfectly obvious. Entice a acquaintance to download and install everything before you; then get the binaries from he or she once you have determined everything to be safe and sound.
Everyone needs a guniea pig. A naive co-worker, gullible little brother, perhaps one of your elderly parents if you're the ungrateful type. But regardless, the result is the same: Better them than you!
In fact, I don't trust this webpage.. it's running asp.net. I'm outta here.
# - I never heard of Firefox until this blog.
I installed it and like it better than Internet Explorer now.
Thanks for the tip guys. I'll make sure to tell everyone about Firefox now.
# - I'm sorry, I'm not drinking your Koolaid, and less and less people are these days, thank $DEITY.
# - That was surprisingly long for derived bull$#!7.
# - Hehe, this blog is M$ BS all over, i have never had trouble or suspicion obtaining and getting firefox, and i DO know better :P
# - Die Microsoft! Die a horrible and painful death by a thousand throw-ups and homosapien bacteria that digests you from the inside out! Mwahahaha!
# - Bill Gates: Peter, what sort of sycophant are you !!
Peter: What sort of sycophant would you like me to be ?
# - Stop spreading such FUD.
# - HES A MICROSOFT EMPLOYEE, RETARDS.
# - I'm sure your boss is very impressed with your defense of IE. Your promotion and bonus check are on the way... er... yeah.
# - Boo! What's this censorship bullpoop! Tell me what a police state looks like, this is what a police state looks like! I'm burning my copy of XP in effigy right now! Die!!!

Hehe. Flame wars cool.

Compare All The Desktop Search Tools

2004-12-20T19:25:00.000-05:00

Goebel Group has put together a handy matrix to compare all the major free desktop search systems. It looks at

Autonomy Beta 1.7
Ask Jeeves Desktop Search
Blinkx
Copernic
DT Search
Google Desktop Search
ISYS:desktop
MSN Toolbar Suite
X1

and compares them on:

Download size
Operating System
System Requirements
File types
Email
Audio
Video
Images
Browser Supported
Deskbar
Content Integration
Enterprise Integration
Security
Languages

(via Search Engine Watch)

Microsoft Faces Big Decision In EU Court

2004-12-20T16:59:00.000-05:00

This week is the deadline for European Union judge Bo Vesterdorf to decide if a March ruling requiring Microsoft to unbundle Windows Media Player, disclose certain communication protocols, and pay $611 million in fines, will go into effect immediately, or be stayed indefinetly pending appeal. Given past rulings, MS has only a 50% chance of being granted a stay, says BusinessWeek. BW also discusses the possibility MS will lose on Media Player, but get the stay on the comm protocols, since once revealed, they can never be made confidential again.

Digitally Signed Email

2004-12-20T15:32:00.000-05:00

So, today I got my first digitally signed email, a Mac.com email sent to a Hotmail account, but read in MSN Explorer. I'm not sure who's responsible for checking for digital signatures, MSN or Hotmail, but I applaud it either way (and I especially applaud Apple for using it). Still, shoudn't digitally signed email not wind up with the rest of the junk mail?

Clipping Tool For MSN Deskbar

2004-12-20T02:47:00.000-05:00

The Interoperability Blog presents a neat tool for the MSN Deskbar: 25 (or so) lines of code that add a clipboard function to the Deskbar. The idea is that you can type "clip [shortcut]" and get the URL of any shortcut you've stored pasted into the clipboard. While a useful function for power users, I don't see too many people getting it (especially since you'll need to compile it yourself). I have a solution, of course: If it's such a small amount of code, why not just build it into the next update of the Deskbar? Shouldn't prove too hard.

Postscript: I must admit that after blogging about "Interoperability Month" Saturday night, me and the little lady had twenty minutes of bad jokes and giggling about the word "interoperability". I don't know what it is, but that word has hilarity written all over it. I'm afraid this post may start it all over again...

Scoble Ignites Wrath

2004-12-20T02:26:00.000-05:00

So, Scoble ranted about how Microsoft is getting its butts kicked all over the place by the iPod, and about what needs to change. People are pissed at him.

Yeah, it was an insulting rant. Who cares? He's right. Jeez. Google needs a kick in the pants, too, but anyone who steps out and tries to criticize them will get eaten alive by the blogosphere.

Still, back on topic, Scoble's only right if Microsoft wants to beat Apple now. MS took years to beat Palm, but did it by offering cheaper, more advanced products until Palm ceded the marketplace to them. There's no reason Microsoft might not be taking the same tactic with Windows Media devices. In fact, don't be surprised if that's exactly what happens.

InsideExpanding

2004-12-19T02:59:00.000-05:00

So, I'm slowly making my way through the list of bloggers interested in joining in my plan to create a network within the blogosphere. I'm in the process of contacting everyone back. You can still contact me (I can never have too many good people). I've pretty much settled on a domain, but if anyone knows of a good, available domain, I could use some help. More importantly, I need advice on web hosting providers, so please contact me at random12345@gmail.com if you can help, or to submit your interest in signing up. I would recommend sending a link to your blog, or something you've written extensively about online, since if you don't, I'll just be asking you for it anyway. I also need someone with experience in website programming, specifically some more advanced techniques (you'll see what I mean).

Anyway, why should you be interested? The pitch:

There are countless thousands of blogs out there. So many bloggers write for months and give up when they realize they have no audience. I'm looking for the bloggers who are willing to post numerouse times per day in a news-driven style about targetted topics, so as to leverage the blogs against each other, creating a blog network that takes advantage of the combined strength of all the bloggers involved. I need well-spoken bloggers who are looking to increase their visibility, and are willing to be consistent, dependable, and professional enough to earn the respect of the blogosphere.

If you want an example of what I mean by consistent and news-driven, just read this site. I post 2-300 times per month, and my goal is a simple one: Don't miss a single news item. If you can offer me a decent commitment, I can offer you a decent opportunity.

Unicode Blog Sponsorship

2004-12-18T22:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist mentioning it.

Michael Kaplan ends one of his posts with:

This post brought to you by "ᄴ"

... because, as he explains:

3 - Inspired by the television show Sesame Street, which used to suggest that each episode was sponsored by various letters and numbers. While the folks at CTW get the high profile sponsors like A-Z and 0-9, I will be looking to the rest of Unicode to sponsor my posts, from now on....

I just think that's great.

This post sponsored by ₪.

Microsoft Comment Spam Wars Continue

2004-12-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well the recent rash of comment spam on MSDN weblogs continues, with the IE blog starting to complain, and forcing Andy Boyd to quit his blog and start a new one using WordPress, but not before getting mighty po'd:

I'm tired, of whoever the jackpipe is with the Chinese domain names continually asking me to go to spankingrannies.com or whatever...

Why start my own you ask? We're Microsoft and have $70B and surely can install some sort of widget to prevent stupid feedback spamming? Well, you'd think so.

I'm pretty sure $70 billion is low-balling it, but still...

Microsoft Announces Interoperability Month

2004-12-18T22:09:00.000-05:00

Starting January 18 is Interoperability Month at Microsoft, with a series of 40 webcasts focusing on why it matters to the business, common strategies and methods, and guidance on specific implementation scenarios between the major platform players. Also involved will be giveaways and special technical guidance from MS. More info at interopmonth.com.
(via NETNew MS blog)

Microsoft Spyware Deal Brings Christmas Present For One Company

2004-12-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

When Sunbelt made a deal with Giant Company Software to share their spyware definition files, it had no idea that the deal would soon bring them millions of dollars and large amounts of manpower in the form of Microsoft R&D, all for free. Apparently Sunbelt had a prior deal with Giant, and after some legal wrangling, Microsoft has released a statement that it will provide Sunbelt with spyware definitions through July 2007. From eWeek:

"This is fantastic news for us because we co-own the Giant code and all future definition updates," Sunbelt president Alex Eckelberry said in an interview with eWEEK.com. "We now get the benefit of the Microsoft research on anti-spyware to give us, bar-none, the best anti-spyware signature database on the market."

Sunbelt's president has already explained that he intends to use the definition files to go head-to-head with the Redmond giant. Great luck for them, but I hope they have some sort of plan for dealing with 7/07, when they have to do the work on their own. My advice? Get bought, probably by McAfee or Symantec, who would love to get their hands on MS's spyware solution.
(via Microsoft Watch)

User Community Rallies Behind MSN Deskbar

2004-12-18T19:37:00.000-05:00

The MSN Search Weblog has linked to DeskbarShortcuts.com, a site aiming to put together a database of MSN Deskbar shortcuts (more here). I don't think I'm reaching to suggest that this should scare the hell out of Google. I've been arguing for a while that Google's strategy of appealing to the tech elite would fail as Microsoft reaches out to the masses. MSN has released in the last month Spaces, MSN Desktop Search, and the MSN Deskbar, all of which are appealing to the typical computer user in ways Blogger, GDS, and Google Deskbar can't, and a user-site dedicated to Deskbar shortcuts is only the beginning. Google can release APIs for all its products, but shortcuts work a lot better for most users. Google has got to work at giving its products more mass appeal, because that is the one area MSN is killing them in.

Looking For A Blogger

2004-12-17T14:05:00.000-05:00

Since InsideMicrosoft has joined InsideGoogle as a well-trafficked blog, I think the time is ready to expand a little further. I'd like to start another blog, but I won't be writing it. In case it isn't obvious at this point, I'm building a network (and don't be surprised if everything moves to a domain in the next few weeks). So, I haven't settled on the topic of the blog (and it needn't be tech-related), but I am looking for an untapped, dedicated blogger. The blog would have to have a news focus, and be updated constantly and consistently. Feel free to suggest possible topics as well (InsideApple, InsidePolitics, InsideGadgets) that you'd like to see explored. If you know of anyone who I should consider, IM me (check the profile) or comment with contact info.

And yes, there is money involved.

MSN Spaces Gets Upgraded

2004-12-17T11:31:00.000-05:00

We got our MSN Spaces improvements today, and Mike Torres has the 411 on what's changed:

Weblogs.com pinging: Thanks in large part to the work Dave & team did to improve the reliability of Weblogs.com, and some minor tweaking and testing of our implementation, our success rate has jumped from about 0-5% during our first week to close to 100% today. This means more and more of your content will start being syndicated around the web (if you have a public space and have Weblogs.com pinging turned on).
MSN Search results: Due to a goof-up on our part involving the infamous robots.txt file, the search results for spaces have been a little wonky (oops). This will start to heal itself.
Blog edit layout: A bunch of people had been kind enough to alert us of what appeared to be a security issue – but was actually just a layout bug (you know who you are! Thanks for looking out!) After today, you don’t have to worry about this happening again.
Mobile publishing: This is somewhat of a corner case, but it is a big deal to Microsoft employees and other gadget geeks around the world. Posting an image from the (phenomenal) Audiovox SMT5600 phone via email now works without having to have text in the body of the mail; just a photo will do.
“Space not available”: Some of you may have been receiving “Space not available” errors if you setup a space during the first 24 hours the service was live. This problem should now be fixed, and the likelihood of getting into this state on sign-up again is much, much lower. The one gotcha is that if you had one of these spaces, you will have to go into Settings: Permissions and reset your space to Public (or whichever setting you like best.) If you are still seeing this error, please send us Feedback using the link at the bottom of the page and we will look into it.
Sign-in/out: We made some updates that will help improve that pesky sign-in/sign-out issue in places like the comments area. If you don’t know what I am talking about, don’t worry about it. It was harmless – but it was pretty darn annoying, so we fixed it.
Usability: It is now easier to get into “author” mode from “preview” mode on your own space. Just click “Customize” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, where “Preview my space” is usually shown.
A bunch of other random fixes: Without going into too much detail, there were other little things we did to improve your experience with Spaces.

Good stuff. I don't think anyone was expecting the a revolution a week in, but it is so refreshing to see quick fixes. Some Blogger bugs never seem to go away. If this is going to become the new status quo at MSN, with fixes every few weeks, it won't be long before everyone is singing their praises.
(via Scoble)

The Realities Of MS

2004-12-16T13:52:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Technical Lead Michael Kaplan on his MSDN blog talks about the face that he has Multiple Sclerosis. Michael may be suffering with the disease, but he still has his sense of humor, making too many puns off the acronym MS. Referring to multiple sclerosis (but, of course, not saying so), Michael goes on about how MS is evil, MS sucks, MS is like a virus, and then says, "No this is not a tell-all about a full-time Microsoft employee slamming his employer." It's reassuring to see some strength and humor in the face of such a debilitating condition. Good luck, Michael, and my thoughts and prayers go out to you.

Microsoft Spyware Seeker Is Coming

2004-12-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

Microsoft announced today that it has acquired GIANT Company Software, makers of anti-spyware and internet security products, for the sole purpose of handing those products over to Windows users. From the press release:

Microsoft plans to make available to Windows customers a beta version of a spyware protection, detection and removal tool, based on the GIANT AntiSpyware product, within one month. The upcoming beta will scan a customer's PC to locate spyware and other deceptive software threats and enable customers to remove them. The tool will be configurable to block known spyware and other unwanted software from being installed on the computer. It will be available for Microsoft Windows 2000 and later versions.

This news comes not long after it was leaked that MS is working on an antivirus solution for customers as well. Both of these programs represents the majority of the user community's failure to avail itself of already available products. Most users who are struck with viruses are not willing to pay for an antivirus, and most users hit with spyware do not scan their computer with free tools like AdAware and Spybot. Because users refuse to arm themselves, but complain about MS software not being secure, Microsoft is buying up companies and devoting millions in company research on projects that should be unnecessary. Well, at least this means that in eight months, every Windows user should have an antivirus and spyware detecting program.
(via the Unofficial Microsoft Weblog)

Postscript - GIANT's spyware research center is called "SpyNet". Sorry, but that creeps me out.

MSN Spaces To Be Upgraded Today

2004-12-16T03:43:00.000-05:00

Scoble had a Meetup last night, and he reports that present at the Meetup was Jay Fleugel, lead program manager for MSN Spaces, who announced the service will be seeing an upgrade. Today. A week and a half after it launched.

I'm impressed. Not only are they working even after the product launch to continuously roll out fixes and new features, the changes coming today were recommended by the blogosphere. The team apparently scanned the comments from the various blogs and implemented the two things that were most asked for that could be coded quickly. I wonder what they are? Wanna speculate, faithful readers?

If we see this kind of dedication and rolling upgrades from the MSN Toolbar Suite and MSN Search teams, Google is in for the fight of its life. Who the hell can compete at that sort of level?

Possible changes:

No censorship
Search-friendly URLs
Post timestamp editing
New templates
More control over RSS feeds (wishful thinking)
API support (not even close to likely, not for months)
CSS layout editing
More comment control (ban IPs, for example)

How To: Google Desktop Via MSN Deskbar

2004-12-16T01:12:00.000-05:00

So, I took an idea from a previous post and constructed a Google Desktop Search shortcut for the MSN Deskbar:

@gds,http://127.0.0.1:4664/search&s=[gdscode]&q=$w

You need to replace [gdscode] with your Google Desktop code. Just open a GDS page and look at the URL; you'll see it and know what I mean. Replace [gdscode] with the code and paste the text in the MSN Deskbar, and hit enter. Now, you can search Google Desktop Search via the Deskbar. Just type "gds search", replacing search with whatever you are searching for. To search GDS for fish, just type "gds fish" and hit enter. Is there a simpler way to use Google Desktop Search? No way. Not even Google's Deskbar is that simple. If you like the MSN Toobar Suite, but still need to use GDS (like I do), this is the way to do it.

UPDATE: This works for any search engine, of course. Steve Makowsky puts out the code for Feedster:

@rss, http://www.feedster.com/search.php?q=$w

You can create any search engine code. Go to your favorite engine and search for anything. In the URL, find the search term, and delete it and everything after it. Copy what's left of the URL to the Deskbar, add "@[shortcut]," to the beginning (comma included, and replacing [shortcut] with whatever shortcut you want), and "$W" to the end. Examples:

Yahoo: @yahoo,http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=$w
Jeeves: @jeeves,http://web.ask.com/web?q=$w
Search InsideGoogle using Google: @insidesearch,http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Ainsidegoogle.blogspot.com+$w

Once you get used to the shortcut language, it can be like second nature to add shortcuts for every site you like.

UPDATE 2: Steve Makofsky provides a like to Yahoo Maps traffic maps for the MSN Deskbar (which you can read about at InsideGoogle):

@traffic, http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?csz=$w&trf=1

UPDATE 3 : DeskbarShortcuts.com has begun the process of creating a database of Deskbar shortcuts. Included in the list is my InsideGoogle search link (for no reason!) and these useful ones:

Slahdot: @slash,http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=$w
Froogle: @froogle,http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=$w
Google News: @google-news,http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=$w
Wikipedia: @wiki,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$w
A9: @a9,http://a9.com/$w
MSDN: @msdn,http://search.microsoft.com/search/results.aspx?st=b&na=80&amp;amp;qu=$w&View=msdn

See Google, this is what happens when you provide these things for all users. An API may make the geeks salivate, but Microsoft is doing a much better job reaching out to the masses. Worried yet?

Previous tips:
MSN Toolbar Suite Tips 12/13/2004

Using the Windows shortcut key
Arranging emails as conversations
Commands using the = key

How To: Remove MSN Deskbar Buttons 12/14/2004
More MSN Toolbar Suite Tips 12/14/2004

Installing on Windows Server 2003
Saving and constructing custom searches
Add Network Paths

Index PDFs In MSN Desktop Search

2004-12-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

Forget to (or not notice the option to) install the iFilter program to allow indexing of PDFs in MSN Desktop Search? Well, the MSN Search Weblog gives us a link to the download site. They also have some other info, including addressing support for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x64, additional languages, web history, and Mozilla.

I know the PDF plug-in was available on zero day, but if MSN can release plug-ins on a regular schedule to give the Toolbar Suite added functionality, well, that would be just great. I kept waiting and waiting for Google to add to its desktop search, but nothing has happened for two months. Major points go to whomever continuously supports their desktop search with good plug-ins.

And yes, I used "whom" in a sentence, you crazy people.

Xbox Gaining Lots Of Market Share

2004-12-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

Major Nelson from Xbox Live has some stats that should make Microsoft very happy. Microsoft has slashed Playstation 2's market share lead by 70% over the last year, from 27% to just 8%. In November 2003, Playstation 2 had 51% of the market to Xbox's 24%, now PS2 leads 45% to 37%. Xbox console sales increased 48%, compared to PS2's 18% decrease, while Xbox software sales increased 77%, compared to PS2's 1%. Xbox has all of the momentum moving towards the next-gen consoles. I think Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas proved that PS2 is a dead system; every review seemed to mention how much better the game would have played on Xbox.
(via Brian Johnson's MSDN blog)

Using Amazon In Microsoft Office

2004-12-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

Charles Maxson has designed a way to get Amazon data from Amazon's Web Service API in a Ui in the Office 2003 Research task pane. Instruction are here (but believe me, it isn't simple), and here's what it looks like in use:

Cool and useful.
(via John R. Durant's MSDN blog)

Microsoft Hit By Rash Of Comment Spam

2004-12-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

Lots of MSDN blogs have been hit with comment spam in recent days (examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and that's just today!), forcing Microsoft employees to take drastic measures. Reports are that many of the comment spammers are coming from China.

Desktop Search Roundup + First Impression: Ask Jeeves Desktop Search

2004-12-15T20:47:00.000-05:00

Here you go folks: What I think of Jeeves' offering, plus, I declare a winner (for now).

So, I got Jeeves Desktop Search to work. How? By shutting down every single program on my computer. And when that didn't work, I closed my internet connection, and then I was in business. After allocating all my system resources to the program and selecting the "Fast" method of indexing, Jeeves started indexing things.

I don't like at all Jeeves' practice of automatically selecting the first search result and previewing it in the right pane. If I want a preview, I'll click on it. If I wanted a preview when I was trying to open a video in Media Player through Jeeves, well, that just wouldn't make a lot of sense, would it? Don't play my music without prompting! Dont' play movies without prompting! If my hard drive was loaded up with pornographic images, I'd be pretty pissed if Jeeves started playing porno flicks and showing naked pictures while anyone could be looking over my shoulder! And the preview window only displays snippets of text documents, not the whole thing. This preview window is a good idea in concept, and only in concept. I hope they offer thumbnails as an alternative in future releases, since I can't stand the thing. There has got to be a way to turn the thing off.

Otherwise, the program seems decent, indexing as expected in about the same amount of time as everybody else. I kind of like that it doesn't use IE, since I found that I was always "losing" my Google Desktop Search when I clicked on things, so I had to memorize its IP address. On the other hand, MSN's interface does a better job acting as a hybrid of IE, Explorer and its own thing, plus it has more options, so I think it wins on the interface.

Who indexes more? Jeeves found 12,920 files, MSN found 13,275, and Google found 3,126 (not including things like email and AIM, which the others didn't index). I was stunned to discover that Google had indexed so few files. As for relevancy, Google actually loses points because of its cache! Most of its results were files I had already deleted, something it should be smart enough to eaither bump from the index or push to the bottom, with a little "Supplemental Result" tag. MSN and Jeeves don't have any relevancy ranking, but at least MSN makes up for it with the ability to sort columns, something Jeeves barely offers, and both of them have an edge on Google by displaying all the results on the same screen. Ultimately, MSN has the most useful search results page, followed by Jeeves and then Google.

Google is faster. MSN has more cutomizable option (Jeeves has basically none). Google has better online functions. MSN has more features (although Google's cache is very useful). MSN displays metadata, but won't index it. Google handles email best. MSN handles Windows best (naturally). Google handles files better. MSN handles previews best, with image thumbnails, followed by Google's cache and Jeeves preview (which is practically a negative).

So, having tested these three early desktop search offerings from the major search engines, who's the winner?

Interface - MSN, Jeeves, Google
Resources & Speed - Google, MSN, Jeeves
Search Results - MSN, Jeeves, Google
Advanced features - MSN, Google, Jeeves
Internet Options - Google, MSN, Jeeves
Ease of Use - Google, Jeeves, MSN
Index depth - MSN & Jeeves (tie), Google
Index detail - MSN, Jeeves, Google
Email - Google, MSN, Jeeves
Communications - Google, MSN, Jeeves
OS Integration - MSN, Google, Jeeves
File types - Google, MSN, Jeeves
File preview - MSN, Google, Jeeves
Security - MSN, Jeeves, Google

The winner (for now)?
In the category of "Desktop Search", Best Overall Product

- MSN Desktop Search

Google takes second place.

While Google's offering is the only one with seemingly no bugs, and the fastest, smoothest interface, it is also the weakest product, with no interface, no options, and no ability to do anything with your results. Google essentially created a powerful engine, and dumped it on you with no product to take advantage of that engine.

MSN's product is polished. It's powerful. It can do a lot of things. I can use it to browse my computer, something I could never do with Google's. It has kinks, and it needs a ranking system, but its tops in my book.

Jeeves is too rushed, too buggy, too weak. It has promise, and I believe it could pull into second place with a few lines of code allowing customization of the interface and more rankable columns, but without those, it's little more than two windows and a search box. It has no vision, no purpose, but it has a chance, if it sees an upgrade soon.

My plan? I'll keep Google and MSN, but turn off indexing my hard drive in Google. I'll use Google for its communication search (email and IM) and MSN for my hard drive. That makes MSN the desktop search tool I find best, and Google the not-as-good-product with some decent features I really like. Jeeves? It kinda annoys me, and I have no reason to keep it over the others. This is one product, unlike the other two, that has earned its "beta" title.

Bill Gates: FAQ'd

2004-12-15T13:12:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has published a FAQ on Bill Gates. It's a Word document, so I'm posting the full text so no one has to go through any annoyances:

Bill Gates Answers Most Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What kind of role did fate or luck play in your success?
A. I get a lot of questions about my success, so I'll answer several and then reflect on the importance of mistakes, the flip side of success.
Luck played an immense role. Some of it came after I entered the business world, but my lucky streak started much earlier than that.
I was fortunate to have family and teachers who encouraged me. Children often thrive when they get that kind of attention.
I was incredibly lucky to become boyhood friends with Paul Allen, whose insights proved crucial to the success of the company we founded together. Without Paul, there would have been no Microsoft.
Our timing in setting up the first software company aimed at personal computers was essential to our success. The timing wasn't entirely luck, but without great luck it couldn't have happened.
The importance of being born at the right time is a point I make in the revised edition of my book, The Road Ahead:
"My friend Warren Buffett, who's often called the world's greatest investor, talks about how grateful he is to live at a time when his particular talents are valuable.
"Warren says if he'd been born a few thousand years ago, he'd probably have been some animal's lunch. But he was born into an age that has a stock market and rewards Warren for his unique understanding of the market.
"Football stars should feel grateful too, Warren says. ‘There just happens to be a game,' he says, ‘where it turns out that a guy who can kick a ball with a funny shape through goal posts a fair percentage of the time can make millions of dollars a year.' "
Like Warren and today's football stars, I was born at the right place and time.
When you're lucky and successful, it's important not to get complacent. Luck can turn sour, and customers demand a lot of the people and companies they make successful. Big mistakes are rarely tolerated. I hope to remain successful, but there are no guarantees.

Q. In the history of Microsoft, what was your happiest moment?
A. If I had to pick one it was the launch of the IBM PC in 1981. Either that or back in 1976 when our version of BASIC first ran on the Altair, the very first personal computer.
But I don't much celebrate milestones such as these because I view my job as a job only partly done. Computers aren't on every desk in every home yet, and they're not as easy to use as they should be. When we achieve these goals, I'll have something to really be happy about.
Like everybody, I hope that my very happiest moments are ahead of me.

Q. How do you spend your time?
A. I spend less time in the office than I used to, partly because I have family now but more because electronic mail has freed me to work at home in the evenings and on weekends. I still work 10 or more hours each weekday, not including business-related social functions, and another 10 or so hours most weekends. And I'm still keenly conscious of how I use my time. I always ask: "Am I doing the things that are the most important?"
As I have for years, I spend about half of my work time with product groups. I spend another quarter of my time in customer-related activities where I get feedback. I spend the rest in general management activities such as board meetings, press interviews, hiring, budget reviews, and writing.
I put in about three hours a day working on my computer. Half of that time may be spent browsing the Web or trying out software, and half may be spent reading and writing e-mail, including reports.
Fortunately, e-mail has given me the flexibility to do many kinds of work from nearly anywhere—and in little snippets of time. If I'm enjoying a nice Saturday or Sunday at home and I come up with a good idea, I can write it up and send it off in half an hour—and then get back to my family.
Once quality-of-service guarantees are available, you'll pay a slight premium for priority communications guaranteed to arrive on time. You won't want or need to guarantee instant delivery of e-mail, voicemail messages or many kinds of Web pages. But for Internet-based "phone" calls, videoconferences, and many kinds of entertainment communications, you'll pay a little extra for top-quality service.
I used to work all night in the office, but it's been quite a while since I lived on catnaps. I like to get seven hours of sleep a night because that's what I need to stay sharp and creative and upbeat. I envy people who thrive on three or four hours of sleep a night. They have so much more time to work, learn, and play.
Because there aren't enough hours in the day, it's tempting to try to do two things at once. Right now I'm perfecting reading a newspaper and riding an exercise bike at the same time—a very practical form of multitasking.

Q. What do you think is more important to your success, raw intelligence or hard work?
A. Hard work, without a doubt. But not just my hard work. What really matters is the hard work of people who come to work with me.
Raw intelligence weighs most heavily in a little contest like a math puzzle. But over a period of years, when you're in business building complex projects and working with customers, success is much more a result of dedication and persistence than brilliance.
I don't mean to discount intelligence. I value it highly, and it is essential to many kinds of success.
But even when intelligence appears to be the reason for a success, hard work probably had a lot to do with it, too. Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." I believe that.

Q. Please explain the secret of your success.
A. There is no one secret to success. But certain attitudes and approaches contribute to success. I'll describe three that help me.
First, I am acutely conscious of the value of time.
For example, when I go to a meeting I keep specific objectives in mind. There isn't much small talk, especially if I'm with colleagues I know well. We discuss accounts we lost or where overhead is too high, and then we're done. Bang! There are always more challenges than there are hours, so why be wasteful?
Second, I watch the competitive landscape carefully.
Microsoft is always searching for the new thing that is coming along, whether it is in a research lab or at another company. We try to understand what other people are doing, even if their apparent mission is so distant that it is not obvious competition.
We focus on what companies do well, as opposed to what they do poorly. We don't dismiss a company as unimportant just because a lot of things about it may be less than perfect. The company may be doing something important; it may not even know that it is important.
We end up looking at a lot more potential threats than ever become real, and there's a constant flurry of memos from employees who are alarmed about one thing or another. We don't cry wolf too often, though.
Third, I don't settle for platitudes when discussing management challenges.
There is a kernel of wisdom in certain platitudes, such as "Listen to your customers" or "Capture all the information."
A well-chosen platitude can get people thinking in an appropriate framework. At times a manager makes a valid contribution by saying, "Hey, let's think of this from the customer's point of view."
What annoys me is the manager whose only contribution is spouting platitudes. I've been in meetings where clear-cut issues are on the table, and the total contribution of a participant is to say things like, "Well, we should only do what the customer wants. Let's keep that in mind."
This is a poor substitute for thoughtfulness. Of course you want to please customers, but how? What are the trade-offs involved?
In a large company, translating the sentiment behind a platitude into effective action often means setting up a system. This can be a non-trivial problem.
One platitude I embrace is that a company should be customer-driven—it should pay close attention to what customers say they want, and then put that knowledge to work. At Microsoft we pursue the goal through systematic effort. For example, we log every telephone contact with each customer, and analyze the results both to provide better customer service and to improve our products.
We're far from perfect at it, but we're better off with these systems than we would be if we settled for platitudes alone.

Q. When do you think the first computer will become as intelligent as a human?
A. Sometimes when I use software I get the feeling there is something there behind the screen. Could some kind of consciousness emerge from all this information processing? After all, isn't that just what the brain does? (Nicholas Riley, Sussex University, Great Britain, nichr@cogs.susx.ac.uk)
I don't know when computers will become intelligent.
A lot of people, including me, have been optimistic that we could teach a computer to learn the way a human does. But progress has been incredibly modest over the last 20 years.
Today's computers can play a pretty good game of chess. But computers and humans couldn't be more different in the way they go about trying to win. Any results that appear to be "learning" on the part of a computer are achieved purely through the brute-force enumeration of different possibilities. This is not intelligence.
For the next 20 years, I expect the computer to remain a tool rather than become a fellow thinker. Computers will become truly intelligent someday—but I question whether this will happen in my lifetime.
On the other hand, computers are on the verge of being able to talk, and when they do it will be easy to imagine that they are intelligent.
Within a few years, even small, affordable personal computers may have personalities and possibly idiosyncrasies. These machines will speak rather naturally in a human voice, if that's what we want.
They will behave as if they understand many of the verbal commands we give. They will try to be helpful. They may even act sympathetic when we face frustrations.
Giving computers the trappings of intelligence will make them easier to use. But it won't mean they really think—yet.

Q. Do you regret not finishing college?
A. I quit college to start Microsoft, and I don't regret that. But I enjoyed college a lot, and I wish there had been time for me to finish.
When you hear success stories about people who quit college, it may be tempting to believe that education doesn't matter for the entrepreneurially minded. But unless a person has an idea that's very time-critical, and is concerned that he or she might never have as good an idea ever again, it's probably better to finish.
For one thing, it is unusual for a person to be taken seriously in business when he or she is very young. It is hard for a teenager to raise money and hire good people.
More importantly, college is full of lessons. Besides coursework, there is valuable learning outside the classroom during the college years.
Certainly having a degree can be critical for getting a desirable job later on, For example, even though Microsoft was founded by a couple of college dropouts, it's pretty unusual for us to hire somebody for a key position who is interrupting his or her educational career.

Q. Who coined the name Microsoft?
A. I did, but I don't think coming up with the name was an achievement. It was the obvious name for a company devoted to microcomputer software. One of the benefits of being the first in a field is that you can claim the obvious name.

(via Microsoft Watch)

Who Ripped Off Who?

2004-12-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

Todd Bishop has a post about MSN Desktop Search and Apple Spotlight, asking "Which came first?" Eric Longstaff asserts that MSN Desktop Search is too similar to Spotlight to be a coincidence, but Todd refutes that. I agree with his and Paul Thurrott's claim that Google Desktop Search and Spotlight were developed as a response to WinFS. Both companies saw WinFS as what it was, a revolution in operating systems (the new Mac) and search engines (the new Google), but saw the endless delays as an opportunity to steal its thunder and make Microsoft look like a slow, lumbering dinosaur. Microsoft, realizing it needed to release something now, took people from the WinFS team and bought Lookout to scramble together a product that could compete in the intervening years. I'd say they did a pretty good job.

Bill Gates Joins Berkshire Hathaway

2004-12-14T23:43:00.000-05:00

Really rich Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has joined the board of really rich company Berkshire Hathaway, which is run by fellow really rich guy Warren Buffet. Gates is a longtime investor in the company and a friend of Buffet. Berkshire Hathaway shares, which I have mentioned are anathema to stock splits, edged up $100, or less than .2 %, to $85,100.
(via MarketWatch)

It's Patch Tuesday

2004-12-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

Six security updates today:

Security Bulletin MS04-040 - Critical - HTMP Elements Vulnerability - does not affect XP SP2, 64-bit, or Win 2003 systems - may interfere with WMV HD DVD playback in Windows Media Player

Security Bulletin MS04-041 - Important - Remote Code Execution - affects all versions of Windows - Includes "Table conversion vulnerability" and "Font conversion vulnerability", both allowing a website to execute the Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0 Converter - affects only those with administrator privileges.

Security Bulletin MS04-042 - Important - Remote Code Execution and Denial of Service - affects NT 4.0 SP6 - Includes "Logging Vulnerability" and "DHCP Request Vulnerability" - allows an attacker to send DHCP messages to create DOS attacks.

Security Bulletin MS04-043 - Important - HyperTerminal Vulnerability - affects all versions of Windows, except 98 & Me - Allows an attacker to use a HyperTerminal buffer overrun, exploited through TelNet, to control a system.

Security Bulletin MS04-044 - Important - Windows Kernel Vulnerability and LSASS Vulnerability - affects all versions of Windows, except 98 & Me - a logged on user could take advantage of the Windows Kernel to elevate priveleges and take undue control of the system - may cause NT 4.0 systems with hard disks larger than 7.8 gigabytes to fail, and Veritas Backups to fail.

Security Bulletin MS04-045 - Important - Name Validation Vulnerability and Association Context Vulnerability - Affects NT 4.0 and Win 2000 / 2003 - an attacker can construct a malicious network packet to completely control a system or force a system to restart after a denial of service attack.

More MSN Toolbar Suite Tips

2004-12-14T14:50:00.000-05:00

Here's some more MSN Toolbar Suite tips and tricks from Brandon Paddock:

Installing on Windows Server 2003
/c /t: to unpack and then
msiexec /i MsnToolbarSuite.msi TBSDEVCODE=1

More shortcut options:
Type “@” in the bar to see some information about shortcuts you can add.

o If you type “@cmd,=cmd” you can create a shortcut that will open a command prompt when you type “cmd” and press enter.

Custom Searches
You can use the “$w” parameter to specify an input field for your shortcut. For example, you can type @google,http://www.google.com/search?q=$w to create a google query. Then, when you want to run a google search, just type "google something" to search google for “something”.

Furthermore, you can see a list of your current shortcuts by looking in the \Documents and Settings\YourName\Application Data directory for the file MsnDeskbarShortcuts.ini.

Here are some examples:

word= =winword
cmd==cmd
d=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=$w
g=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=$w
kb=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;$w
m=http://beta.search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=$w
rl=http://411.com/search/Reverse_Phone?phone=$w
gg=http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=$w

If you find those useful, you can paste them right in to your MsnDeskbarShortcuts.ini file (you may have to reload the toolbar to make them work, not sure).

Add Network Paths
You can add UNC paths to the index list. Thusly, you can search any anonymously accessible network shares, such as \\jonscomputer\music

These are some excellent tips. If you find any more, please submit them.

Previous tips:
MSN Toolbar Suite Tips 12/13/2004

Using the Windows shortcut key
Arranging emails as conversations
Commands using the = key

How To: Remove MSN Deskbar Buttons 12/14/2004

Firefox Market Share Increases 34%

2004-12-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

According to a study by Web analytics firm WebSideStory, Firefox's share of the browser market grew 34% in just one month, from 3.03% on November 5 to 4.06% on December 3. Microsoft Internet Explorer lost 1.09% of its users, dropping to 91.80% over the same period. As this table shows, IE's losses have been trending and accelerating:

U.S. Browser Usage Share

Browser	12/3/2004	11/5/2004	10/8/2004	6/4/2004
IE	91.80%	92.89	93.21	95.48
Firefox	4.06	3.03	2.66	*3.53
Non-Firefox Netscape and Mozilla browsers	2.83	2.95	3.05	*3.53
Other	1.25	1.07	1.03	.95

* WebSideStory did not track the Firefox browser separately until Oct. 2004. The June 4, 2004, figure includes all Netscape and Mozilla-based browsers, including Firefox.

The study encompassed 30 million daily visitors to 20,000 websites in 200 countries.
(via Alex Barnett's MSDN blog)

How To: Remove MSN Deskbar Buttons

2004-12-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

Do you want a more minimal MSN Deskbar? Do you not use the drop-down buttefly button or the search arrow? Well, you can remove it. The Channel 9 guys did it in their video, and Gimpster explains in their comments how you can do it.

Here's how it works:

Go to the Registry Editor (you can type "=regedit" in the Deskbar to save time).

Go to My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MSN Apps\DB.

Right-click and click New > DWORD Value.

Name it "Buttons".

Double-click on it and change its value to "1".

Close the Registry Editor.

Right-click on an empty toolbar space and click Toolbars > MSN Deskbar to clear its checkbox, then do the same thing again to bring it back.

You should be left with something like this:

Pretty cool. Now, where's my Reg Hack for Google?

As always, do not edit the registry unless you know what you are doing. It is very dangerous work.

Bill Gates: Google Is Cool

2004-12-13T23:18:00.000-05:00

John Battelle points to a Newsweek article that is just fun to read. The article concerns Microsoft's belated but powerful entry into the search game. Bill mentions how Google is so cool because they all dress in black. The article also explains how Microsoft rejiggered interanl resources in eighteen months to create a search engine on par with Google's, and in nine months to create a possibly superior desktop search tool. A portion of the Desktop Search team came from Longhorn and WinFS, bringing ideas from there into the MSN release. Also, Microsoft believes its desktop search is superior because it has a proper interface, while Google's web / desktop hybrid is more confusing.

MSN Toolbar Suite Tips

2004-12-13T15:49:00.000-05:00

The MSN Search Weblog has some tips for the Toolbar Suite:

Start any task, quicker

By default you can jump focus to the Deskbar by pressing CTR+ALT+M. For fans of the Window’s key – go to Deskbar options and enter SHIFT+Q (or any letter not already in use). Now when you press Windows+Q you’ll jump to the Deskbar and be ready to search right away.

Find entire conversations

After finding an email you were looking for, try right-clicking on it. Select “Show Conversation” and we’ll automatically refine the search results to show all the emails from the conversation thread.

Also, Jonathan Hardwick notes that you can preface anything in the Deskbar with the equals sign (=) and turn it into a command. This means by typing =, the Deskbar behaves exactly like Start>Run. Excellent timesaver.

MSN Desktop Search First Impressions

2004-12-13T15:39:00.000-05:00

Well, indexing didn't take that long. Much faster than Google's.

Okay, if you've installed the MSN Toolbar Suite and finished indexing, you can click on the search arrow in the MSN Deskbar and get a blank MSN Desktop Search page. You have three options, in addition to the regular Web, News and Images. The Desktop tab has options to search Everything, Documents, Email, Music, and Pictures & Video, plus a drop down list with a ton of options. Files has the same options, except it replaces email with Pictures (what the difference is between "Pictures & Video" and "Pictures"), and the Outlook Express tab has just Email. Search speed is determined by your machine, and you can see the time your search took in the status bar.

The results page has thumbnails of any photos, shows full-size icons, and has sortable columns, all things you don't get with Google. You get file sizes, dates modified, and the author's name. It displays full meta date, but does not index all of it, so while you can search for MP3s by artist, album, but not genre or year. Unlike regular Windows search, you can't search by date or file size, but a simple solution exists: Search by something you do know, like file type, and then sort the columns by that criteria. There appears to be no limit to the number of results you can see per page.

What can you specifically search for?

Mail attachments
Contacts
Outlook data:
- Email
- Meetings
- Tasks
- Notes
Text documents
Spreadsheets
Presentations
Music
Pictures
Videos
Folders
Favorites
Programs

What do I like?
Options - MSN gives you a lot of options to consider in your searches, from types of searches, sorting, meta data, all built into the interface (no search limiters to remember, although they work too).
Interface - MSN Desktop Search has an interface, unlike Google, and its very intuitive and familiar. Google Desktop Search asks "What could be more familiar than a web page?" and MSN answers handily. Unlike Google, MSN Desktop Search acts like a normal Windows Explorer, letting you right-click on items and have the normal context menu, but also acts like IE, in that any file that can be run in IE can run in Desktop Search,like MP3s.

Dissapointments:
Email - No Outlook Express integration (although it indexes the data), and no Hotmail indexing. I can't believe it has no Hotmail indexing. That seems to be a no brainer, and yet, it doesn't happen. Of course, Google can't index Gmail, so I guess everyone left out that feature.
No AIM conversation logs - Just for the AIM logs, I will keep GDS installed. There is unbelievable value in finding a phone number that you lost through an AIM log.

So, which is better? My first impression of MSN Desktop Search is that it outperforms Google. Of course, I was way too impressed with GDS in the first place. I think desktop search is a bit overrated. I don't use GDS anymore, except for AIM searches. Time will tell if MSN proves more useful. It's a better product, but I'll have to see if I actually wind up using it on an everyday basis.

MSN Toolbar Suite vs. Google Desktop Search

2004-12-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

While I wait for indexing to complete, here's a comparison of the MSN Toolbar Suite vs. Google Deskbar / Toolbar / Desktop Search:

What Google has that MSN doesn't:
Deskbar has custom searches and API
Indexes AIM convesations and Internet Explorer History
Has buttons for special searches, as opposed to only drop-down selection.
PageRank display
Advanced Google options (cache, translate, backlinks)
Can index Hotmail

What MSN has that Google doesn't:
All the products are integrated, rather than a strange collection of disparate products
Can run Desktop Search from Toolbar and from Windows Explorer
Local Search
Mail notifier
IM status
Go to my MSN Space
More Form Fill options
Highlight search terms
Indexes lots of file types (including PDFs) and metadata

Did I miss any?

How To Use The MSN Toolbar Suite

2004-12-13T14:11:00.000-05:00

The MSN Toolbar Suite has a full set of options you can access by right-clicking the MSN butterfly / magnifying glass icon in your system tray (the area with the clock) and clicking Indexing Options. You might want to turn on indexing of file attachment (under Desktop Search), set the MSN Deskbar shortcut key (under Deskbar) from the default Ctrl-Alt-M, customize toolbar buttons (under Toolbar), turn off Form Fill and Highlight, and change some pop-up blocker options (or turn it off if you like some other blocker better).

MSN Toolbar Suite uses the new MSN Beta search engine, so you get Near Me searches built into it, as well as most other categories, like News, Images, Dictionary, and so on. The buttons for Hotmail, Messenger and Spaces include options to share the page you are on via those services, and Hotmail and Messenger have numbers that notify you of new messages and online buddies.

Once you've installed the MSN Toolbar Suite, you should see a Desktop tab in MSN Search (it is also accessible via the drop down green arrow next to the search button. If your coputer is in use, MSN won't index it by default, but you can force it to by right-clicking on the system tray icon, clicking Indexing status, and clicking Index Now. Indexing only takes up 20% of my system resources on my Pentium 2.4 GHz system, and moves at a pace of roughly 13 files per second, even while I'm playing music. If you want indexing to stop, you can tell it to snooze for any amount of time.

That's it for the Toolbar Suite. Next: MSN Desktop Search

MSN Toolbar Suite Launches

2004-12-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has launched the MSN Toolbar Suite. The suite contains a new MSN Toolbar, the MSN Deskbar, toolbars for Outlook and Windows Explorer.

From the press release:

Quick, precise retrieval of desktop files.
Consumers can quickly and easily search
the thousands of files on their PCs, including Outlook Contacts or Calendar files, Adobe PDFs files, or Microsoft Office Word or PowerPoint® files. As a result, consumers will save time and increase their productivity.
Information when and where it's needed.
The MSN toolbars
save time, allowing consumers to find precisely what they need with less effort, when and where they need it, with less effort and within seconds. The MSN toolbars are conveniently designed to work with Outlook, Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer and the Windows desktop. The MSN Toolbars also give consumers quick access to MSN Messenger, MSN Hotmail® and MSN Spaces, enabling them to initiate common communication tasks right from the bar, including e-mail, instant messaging and inserting URLs into Spaces blogs.
Familiar interfaces and useful results.
Consumers can use desktop search when browsing files in Windows in a comfortable and familiar format, enabling them to open files in their associated application directly from their desktop search results and enabling quick access to actions such as managing, sharing, deleting or playing files.
New MSN Search service.
MSN Toolbar Suite displays Web search results from the recently launched MSN Search Beta release,* a new algorithmic search engine built by Microsoft and designed to help consumers find precisely the information they are looking for by providing more useful answers to their questions and more control over their search experience.

The Toolbar Suite is a 4.7 megabyte download, about 11.5 times that of Google Desktop Search (which makes sense, since it has more programs). I'm putting together a full review right now, but right off the bat, I'm extremely dissapointed that it only supports Outlook and not Outlook Express. This is a free program, so why does it only support the version Outlook you have to pay for?

Scoble Says MSN Toolbar Suite Is "Wicked"

2004-12-13T01:03:00.000-05:00

Operating on the assumption that today's big announcement is the Toolbar Suite (since everyone but Bill Gates has said so), Scoble has this to say about the new product:

Everyone lately has been saying "Microsoft is slow" or "Microsoft can't react to Google" or "Microsoft has lost it."

Oh yeah? Come back on Monday. Remember last Sunday when I said I had seen something that left me speechless? Well, in the videos I filmed (and I filmed more than 1.5 hours worth with nearly the entire team working on the thing that's being shipped into beta on Monday) I am heard saying "that's wicked."

The really wicked thing, though, is that this team (the one shipping a beta on Monday) did not exist before last April (and, most of the team didn't join until June or July, which is when they really started their work).

On Monday you'll hear how this team -- in less than seven months -- designed, built, tested, and delivered a pretty darn cool new product.

Can Microsoft move fast? Is seven months fast enough? We'll see.

I might add that this post is mostly about the failure to get WinFS to market in time. Is Scoble saying MS threw enormous resources into Monarch because of the WinFS delays? Seems that way to me. Oh, and what did he say a week ago?

Yesterday had a wonderful Channel 9 interview with another Microsoft team too. Oh, this is gonna be a fun one. I can't talk about it, but they are working very hard to make sure that Santa has a little gift for all of you that you'll like. I hope they get it done, I was very suprised at it. Speechless, actually.

Happy holidays, indeed.

MSN Desktop Search Toolbar Suite Coming Today

2004-12-13T00:47:00.000-05:00

Well, someone finally said it out loud.

Neowin "revealed" the worst kept secret in the blogosphere, that Microsoft's big announcement at 1 p.m. Eastern / 10 a.m. Pacific today will be the MSN Toolbar Suite, which of course contains the long anticipated MSN Desktop Search. Also expected is the beta release of Microsoft Office Outlook Live (let Mary Jo Foley and BetaNews explain what that does). Neowin says that MSN Toolbar Suite was codenamed "Monarch" and will be available at beta.toolbar.msn.com.
(via Scoble)

The Code Room: Microsoft Reality Show?

2004-12-12T02:57:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Studios and MSDN TV have created a reality show. The Code Room is a reality show where three coders are locked in a room and given a task to code something in a limited amount of time. Try as I might, I can't tell if this is a joke, some nice PR for ASP.NET, or a serious attempt at creating a Microsoft TV series that appeals to geeks and reality show fans. In concept, the show can't possibly appeal to anyone who doesn't work in IT, but the actual pilot is kind of interesting. It's kind of fun, if you give it a chance to grow on you, and is more entertaining than the typical videos MSDN TV puts out. Some thoughts:

The host seems to have no idea what everyone else is talking about, but is satisfied with looking perky.
I guess if people will watch shows about home remodeling, they might watch this too.
At the very least, if all you ever wanted was a look at ASP.NET in action, this is your chance.
The main convention of reality television, people not getting along, is intact, so there is some entertainment value.
I like how they create the "ticking clock" aspect of the show, by providing the three coders with enough laptop batteries to last five hours. Using a laptop all day, I know there are things they should have done to save battery life, but didn't.

The Code Room web site
The MSDN TV page for the show
(via the Windows Mobile Team blog)

Five Windows Patches Coming

2004-12-12T00:09:00.000-05:00

Mary Jo Foley reports via eWeek that five Windows patches are coming this SuperPatch Tuesday. The Security Bulletin Advance Notification, where Microsoft provides advance notice of the patches, reports, "the greatest maximum severity rating for these security updates is Important". eWeek has some speculation as to what security vulnerabilities the updates may address.

It's Coming...

2004-12-11T19:32:00.000-05:00

What's coming? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Monday morning, 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, MSN has announced an important conference call. I'll be blogging during it, so expect a post at 1:02 p.m. with the big news. I'm going to need some ominous Brukheimer-movie music playing...

The small details from the MSN PressPass site:

Media Alert: MSN to Announce Important News via Teleconference

REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 10, 2004

What: Telephone conference call announcing a significant new MSN® service in the United States.

Who: Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of the MSN Information, Services & Merchant Platform division at Microsoft Corp.

When: Monday, Dec. 13, 2004. Teleconference begins at 10 a.m. PST

Teleconference Information:Call-in number (U.S.): (800) 559-9370
International: +1 (847) 619-6819

When prompted, participants need to ask for the MSN teleconference to gain access to the call.

Members of the press can visit http://www.microsoft.com/presspass for forthcoming press materials.

Teleconference Replay Information: Audio replays of the teleconference will be available from 11:30 a.m. PST Dec. 13 until 11:59 p.m. PST Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004.

Call-in number (U.S.): (877) 213-9653 Pass code: 10512165#

International: +1 (630) 652-3041 Pass code: 10512165#

Members of the press also can visit http://www.microsoft.com/presspass for a transcript of the teleconference.

Oh, and seriously, if you have been reading this blog for a while, you probably already know what's coming.

Scoble says Channel 9 will have videos.

UPDATE: Scoble, talking on his blog about WinFS, the advanced, searchable file system that is coming for Windows in several years, and asking why we don't have something that "show[s] us patterns in... my hard drive?"

Actually, on Monday, we might just have an answer for that too. The MSN search team is announcing something and they have opened up their teleconference to the public. Also, I'll have some videos up on Monday. The upcoming week is going to be a big week for the search industry.

Do I have to draw a freakin' picture?

Hotmail: Since 1996

2004-12-10T10:53:00.000-05:00

Eileen Brown links to the updated MSN Hotmail Fact Sheet, and notes that it says Hotmail has been around since 1996. So, I did some checking, and I've been on the same Hotmail email address since 1997. I had no idea I was an early adopter. I was just trying to use eBay :-). Looking back, its easy to forget that there was a time when Hotmail was just another startup, until it was bought by Microsoft in 1998. I'm feeling kind of sad, realizing all those years of email I deleted due to a lack of storage space.

80,000 Legal Songs?

2004-12-10T04:07:00.000-05:00

Scoble says he ran into a guy at the Media Center geek dinner who claimed to have 80,000 songs, all legally acquired, on his Media Center PC. Are there even 80,000 songs to listen to?

Yahoo Announces Desktop Search

2004-12-10T04:02:00.000-05:00

Yahoo announced yesterday plans to release its desktop search product in about a month, in early January. Yahoo's desktop search will be free and based on X1's desktop search technology, meaning (a) it's more advanced than Google's and (b) it's not really a Yahoo product, no more than this story is about Yahoo DVD players. Still, its another check mark Yahoo can claim, and in the current phase of the search war the emphasis is on having all the products everyone else has, so I guess its a good thing. It is also a good thing for consumers, since we get a (likely slimmed down) version of X1 for free.

MSN Desktop Search, an in-house product that integrates with the operating system, is expected sometime this month, and leaked info pointed to a powerful product. Google Desktop Search, despite making a big splash in October, has fallen from the public interest as better (but not free) products received major press, free publicity they owe to Google. Will we see a GDS 1.5 upgrade by February? Considering that the MSN Toolbar quickly overtook the Google Toolbar despite not being a better product (and tied to a bad search engine), its a given that MSN Desktop Search will beat Google's if GDS doesn't see a new version.

As for Yahoo? We'll have to see how it differs from MSN and regular X1 before predictions can be made. Yahoo released a slide comparing it to "the competition", and here's the data:

	Yahoo	Competitors
Relevance	Ability to pivot data by any dimension: recency, creator, recipient, type, etc.	Ranking only by date and relevance
Comprehensiveness	Ability to index 225+ data types, email attachments	5 data types, attachments not indexed
Freshness	V1.0 Beta: Scheduled in increments V1.0: near real time	Near real time
Presentation	Rich native user-interface Search-as-you-type, previews, post-search actions	Limited to HTML rendering

So, what have we learned? More ways to search and sort data, more file types, email attachments, an interface, search-as-you-type. No real-time indexing (and don't expect the final release to be real-time, just smaller increments), no explanation of how it searches the more file types (does it list them, or can it read meta-data?), and I don't like search-as-you-type (unnecessary, slow, and annoying). Does this list make a better product than Google's? Yes and no. It's more usable, but how much more usable is unclear. It's certainly not as good as Apple's Spotlight, and I expect MSN Desktop Search to be more similar to Spotlight than either Yahoo or Google. Of course, this info is still very vague, and the product we see in January could be the best yet, making us look at out MSN Search that we installed weeks before and consider switching.

Notice that when Yahoo says "Competitors", its clearly working off of Google's feature list. I hope this doesn't mean they're only looking to Mountain View for competition, because they'll just get clipped from behind.

Coverage so far:
Financial Times - Like Google's desktop tool, the Yahoo product will initially make it easier to find email and files stored on the hard drive of a PC. The internet company then plans to extend the software to draw in other personal information stored on servers over the web, said Mr Weiner.
Yahoo's search tool is based on technology developed by X1, a start-up created by Bill Gross, head of internet incubator Idealab.
Mr Gross was also the architect behind GoTo.com, which later changed its name to Overture and was bought by Yahoo last year for $1.6bn. By giving advertisers a way to link their messages to relevant internet search results, Overture has been core to Yahoo's effort to create an alternative to search juggernaut Google.
CNet News.com - The Yahoo-branded application, available in early January, will let people search their PCs as well as the Web via Yahoo Search, but future iterations will include navigation for Yahoo's instant messenger archives, address book and free e-mail service.
Associated Press - ... and Ask Jeeves Inc., which runs several online search engines, plans to unveil its
desktop offering next Wednesday.
Washington Post

John Battelle - ... the FT, which I think (inadvertently, I am sure) broke an embargo to publish this (I have seen a demo and was planning on posting late tonight or in the morning)... (By the way, I'm told that Ask will launch its desktop search product next week, Dec. 15th, to be exact.)
Seattle PI

UPDATE: AOL's desktop search, based on Copernic, is coming:
And AOL? The company plans its own desktop search application that is packaged as part of the new AOL browser that's in beta testing. Any AOL member can access this by signing into AOL, then using the keyword "beta" to reach the beta download area. I've just downloaded the beta but haven't had a chance to play with it. But the desktop search is powered by Copernic, another well regarded desktop search app. It was CNET's editor's choice in a recent review of desktop search apps. (Google Desktop was unrated in that review because it was too new but drew plenty of praise).
Andy Beal says X1 is very slow and processor consuming, while Copernic is much easier on the system. Did Yahoo pick the wrong dance partner?

New Holiday-Themed Faces For MSN Spot Watches

2004-12-09T15:27:00.000-05:00
Gizomodo says:
Microsoft has released a few new faces for their MSN SPOT watches—some of them aren't even ghastly! They're 'winter'-themed, with snowmen and reindeer and a New Year's Countdown clock. I want to hate it, but it's a pretty neat, I'll admit. How cool would it be if someone would release a watch that you could upload Flash or SVG faces to? If you have a decent screen you could do so many interesting things.
The link to SpotStop for more info is currently not working, but you can try again later.

InsideGoogle: Is Loyalty All That Matters In Search

2004-12-09T13:49:00.000-05:00
I made some points over at InsideGoogle about how MSN's excellent portal (and Yahoo's) pose a serious threat to Google, one that may already spell a significant loss of market share. It is my firm belief that the moment MSN Search Beta becomes the default MSN engine, Google will lose a lot of market share, making the race for search dominance a tight, neck-and-neck three-way race. Historically, in an even matchup between companies including Microsoft, MS always wins, so Google better watch out. If the search was comes down to a few percentage points, Microsoft will eventually win it. Check out the Google side of the arguement.

Windows Feedback Panel

2004-12-09T11:51:00.000-05:00
Microsoft has the Windows Feedback Panel, a program customers can join to provide feedback to the Windows team and help with its development. Chris Pirillo weighs in on it:
Windows Feedback Panel? My first bit of feedback: don't require a download. Second bit of feedback: try listening to the conversation in the blogosphere, too.
Alex Barnett (ominously) responds on his MSDN blog:
Thanks Chris, we're listening.
Interestingly, Alex calls his post "Feedback on Feedback on Feedback". Does that make this "Feedback on Feedback on Feedback on Feedback"?

Microsoft's Company Archives

2004-12-08T22:46:00.000-05:00
Ben Armstrong, Program Manager at Microsoft, brags on his MSDN blog about Microsoft Archives, where the company stores vast amounts of records about products and press releases dating back to the early days of the company. He points out these tidbits: Windows 1.0 was demonstrated at the 1983 Comdex, but was never released. Windows 1.03 was the first version of Windows to be made publicly available in 1985
Soon after releasing Microsoft BOB, we then released the 'Microsoft BOB Plus Pack'. Hmmm... Don't know what to say about that :-)
In 1980 Microsoft actually released their own PASCAL compiler - this was something that I never knew. This compiler was maintained through to 1988.
I wish I could get a look at some of those archives. I'd probably get a lot of cool posts out of them.

Microsoft: Answer Survey, Win Prizes

2004-12-08T22:40:00.000-05:00
The SQL Server team at Microsoft is raffling off prizes to the first 500 respondents who fill out a survey about the application development experience working with data platforms. You need to be an application developer and fit the profile to enter. More information at the .net DElirium MSDN blog. The objectives of the survey, which should only take 10-15 minutes, are:
To understand the existing, as well as upcoming challenges that has the potential of hindering optimal performance and productivity of those who develop applications and software components.

To direct software manufacturers and its partners toward building powerful products that enable greater success among software development professionals.

Determine the levels of priorities around improvements in data handling from the view point of developers.
You can check out the survey site here, and forward this info as an email to anyone who might be interested here.

Ken Jennings Turns Down A "Real Job" From Microsoft

2004-12-08T16:28:00.000-05:00
All-time Jeopardy champion and new Encarta spokesman Ken Jennings was apparently offered a job as a software development engineer at Microsoft a few months ago, but he turned that down, later accepting the higher paying but less substantial role as a product hawker. Gretchen Ledgard notes on her MSDN blog:
A few months ago, I contacted Ken about a Software Development Engineer role with Microsoft, but he never wrote me back. :( I don’t blame him … being a spokesman for a product is probably a cool job. But wouldn’t he get even more satisfaction from actually developing the product … not just talking about it? :)

Ken (and the rest of you brilliant minds out there), you know where I am. :)
Considering Jennings was a software developer in Utah before hitting it big on Jeopardy, it's surprising that an offer from the world's largest software company, one that was clearly impressed with him, didn't even warrant a reply. When Jennings' fifteen minutes are over, he may wish he had taken Microsoft up on that offer.
(via Seattle PI)

MSN Wave 11 Details Leaked

2004-12-07T21:14:00.000-05:00
Neowin has details on Microsoft's planned major revamp of MSN, being called MSN Wave 11. The new MSN will feature very tight interaction, creating a community among its users. It will feature a revamped Hotmail interface, one that centers on interaction. The Hotmail interface has three panes, arranging emails in a way that makes it easy to track conversation topics (there is even a "Hot Topics/News" portion). Updates to MSN Spaces will inlude Group Spaces, which are much like LiveJournal communities, while Messenger will introduce Circles, all of which will work together to better communicate among groups of friends.

Messenger will feature user-customizable layouts and lots of little bars that you can add into it that do things like read RSS feeds, file sharing, search, radio, news (headlines, weather, traffic...), and maybe even integrated Windows Media Player. Messenger will also be able to dock on the desktop, or, if your feeling like having some fun, you can minimize it but keep some of the bars and push them whereever you want them to be. Messenger will also feature photo sharing. You can have an "Avatar" on Messenger that can "purchase" new clothes and accessories with points (no word on how you accumulate points).

Finally, there's MSN Marketplace, which is like an Orkut that actually makes financial sense. You can list anything you want to sell, stuff you want, and recommendations, and people who know you or are close enough can bid on them.. Messenger automatically notifies people when stuff you might want is listed by someone you know. It's like a useful Orkut, a more trustful Craigslist, an eBay for your social circle. Neowin describes it as, "It is like eBay except with people that you already know and trust directly (or a few degrees out)".

MSN is focusing the development on these key parts:
Me (My Identity)
My Relationships (My Social Network)
Catch up
Publish & Archive
Communicate
E-mail, IM, & SMS
Voice & Video
Share
Fun (Play Together)
Neowin had some screenshots, but Microsoft requested they take them down (although some intrepid people saved them). I wouldn't mind seeing some (assuming I didn't save them all already)...

I gotta say, I love using MSN (so much to the point that I rarely use Firefox). It does have a very tight interface that manages to dump a ton of features into a single screen in a way that actually works (try finding all the Firefox extensions you need and getting them to work right). I can't wait for these improvements (and wouldn't mind a chance to beta test them *wink* *wink*). I use all the little widgets MSN has, and they certainly make my life easier. Why do I have to wait till 2006?
(via Seattle PI)

Microsoft Pairs With Inline Skater For Good Cause

2004-12-07T20:09:00.000-05:00
Krzysztof Dzienniak rolled into Microsoft's Redmond headquarters today, completing a 100-day, 3,000 mile journey that will benefit two sick Polish girls. Krzysztof wanted to help the two girls, one of whom was born with a brain disease, the other lost her leg in accident, pay off over $20,000 in medical bills. He heard of Bill Gates' 2003 trip to Poland and his generous charitable donations, so he decided to skate across the entire United States to appeal to Gates for the money. He notified Microsoft's Poland spokesman Bartlomiej Danek, and headed off on his adventure. Microsoft set up an employee giving campaign, which promised to match all donations, including $1000 that Bill Gates already gave. He left August 28 and travelled roughly 32 miles a day, only taking off his skates when the terrain was impassible on inline skates. Krzysztof wore out three sets of wheels, and hed to beg passers-by for $150 for new skates when his were stolen at a gas station in Pennsylvania. No word yet from Microsoft on how much money was raised, but rest assured it will probably prove worth his effort for those two little girls back home. -AP

Who Owns Your MSN Space?

2004-12-07T18:59:00.000-05:00
According to Microsoft's Michael Connolly, you do.

Some bloggers have wondered what Microsoft will do with their content, since the terms of use clearly give MS all the rights:
For materials you post or otherwise provide to Microsoft related to the MSN Web Sites (a "Submission"), you grant Microsoft permission to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites
Well, Michael assures you that MSN won't steal the photos from your vacation and make a bundle off of them:
Who Owns My Blog Content?
An interesting discussion has cropped up around the ownership of content you post to your Space. Specifically, a few people have dissected the legal language in our Terms of Use, and interpreted it as saying that we somehow own your creative work.
That is not the case at all. You own the content you post. Period.
I’m not a lawyer, but we have one of those guys down the hall. He says that the wording in the TOU is all about granting us the right to post your content and share it out on MSN. Since you own it, we need that right to actually draw it on the screen.
Hope that clears this up. We’re looking at make changes to the wording of our TOU so it’s less confusing.
Good to know.
(via Scoble)

Google Stealing Microsoft's Quality, Not Quantity

2004-12-07T16:03:00.000-05:00
The Seattle Times reports that Google has stolen people from Microsoft. Not too many, mind you, but Microsoft says it is losing some very good people. Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Windows platfrom division:
We lost some people who went to Google, who we didn't want to lose.
Link

Give The MSN Search Wheel A Whirl

2004-12-06T16:13:00.000-05:00
You may have noticed the MSN Search Wheel. It is part of an ad campaign for MSN Search. You ran the cursor over it and it spun real quickly before settling on a search, which you could check out by clicking the search button. It's one of the most effective web ads I've ever seen, and you can find out more by checking out IMediaConnection's discussion of it. Miss the wheel? It's over here, but the search doesn't actually work.
(via Search Engine Watch)

Microsoft Goes To Great Lengths For Compatibility

2004-12-06T15:00:00.000-05:00
From Larry Fosterman's blog
Slavish Compatibility

It's no secret the levels of effort that Microsoft goes through to maintain software compatibility.

However, it's not as well known that Microsoft's hardware division has a similar passion for compatibility

Back in the early 1990s, Valorie worked on printer drivers for Windows 3.1. Her division was led by Steve Shaiman (another person in the division was a program manager named Gabe Newell)

When Steve was cleaning out his office one day, he found a box in his office, and he checked what was inside it.

It was the very first shipment of Microsoft Mice, newly arrived from the factory in Microsoft Taiwan.

He kept one for himself, gave one to Valorie, and sent the rest to the Microsoft archives. Valorie, in turn gave the mouse to me, since she knew I had a collection of Microsoft mice hung up on my office walls.

Fast forward ten years, it's now 2001. I'm working in the Connected Home Business Unit, which was (at the time) located in the same office area as the Microsoft hardware group.

Just for grins, I showed the device compatibility tester for the hardware division (the entire wall of his office was covered in mice).

So what's the first words out of this guys mouth?

"Hmm. I wonder if this thing works with our current drivers? No reason it shouldn't.."

He removes the mouse from the packaging, plugs it into the serial port of his Windows 2000 machine, and the mouse driver on the machine detected the mouse, and started using it.

So the current Microsoft mouse driver even supports the very first Microsoft mouse ever delivered.

Now THAT'S compatibility.

Ken Jennings Becomes Encarta Spokesman

2004-12-06T13:29:00.000-05:00
Record-Smashing Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings has been picked up by Microsoft to be the spokesman for Encarta. Jennings, who won $2.5 million in 75 consecutive victories on the quiz show, will embark on a nationwide media tour called "Quiz the Whiz", challenging news desks to stump him with questions from the new Microsoft Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005. In an "interview" with Microsoft PR, Jennings said:
Jenkins: The Internet can be an incredible resource, but the scary thing is you never know what's out there or whether the answer you will find will be accurate. In fact, out of curiosity I searched for myself once and turned up all sorts of erroneous information. One seemingly reputable and authoritative page even had my name wrong! That's why I really enjoy using Encarta: all its content has been reviewed by a team of editorial experts and all the Web sites include approved content.
No one told Microsoft the irony of misspelling Jennings name Jenkins in that paragraph and 14 other times on that page. Oops.

PR goofs aside, this is just a great idea. Jennings is the reigning king of the quiz, and fits Encarta so well. We're going to be seeing him on news shows for a while anyway, at least with this quiz it'll be fun. And you can be sure that if some hapless local broadcaster stumps him, it'll be all over the blogosphere within twenty minutes.
(via Microsoft Watch > BetaNews)

Create Custom Emoticons In Messenger 7

2004-12-06T12:47:00.000-05:00
Did you know you can create custom emoticons in MSN Messenger 7 Beta? Eileen Brown explains on her MSDN blog:
In the main MSN Messenger window, click the Tools menu, and then click Create Emoticons.
On the My Custom Emoticons page, click Add.
On the Add a custom emoticon page, type the file name of the image on your computer you want to use.
-or-
Click Find Image to locate the picture.
On the Select a custom emoticon page, click Open.
Type a keyboard shortcut for the new emoticon.
Type a name for the emoticon (optional).
To add the image to your list of emoticons, click OK.
Take that, SuperBuddies! This is a very cool feature, and I'm impressed with MSN for just giving it away while AOL Instant Messenger nickel-and-dimes everybody. Good move, guys! Take a look at my lame-o attempt at creativity.

Why MSN Spaces Censors

2004-12-06T12:02:00.000-05:00
Dare Obasanjo, a Program Manager working on MSN Spaces, has a post explaining the whole MSN Spaces censorship situation. Apparently, this is creating quite a stir on the net and at MS; the Boing Boing post is the number one result for MSN Spaces on Google (not on MSN Search, though). He links a post by Mike Connelly (Spaces Group Program Manager) on his Space that explains:
We block a set of specific words from being used in 3 areas: the url you select, the title of your Space, and the title of your blog entry. These three fields are reused and displayed in a variety of areas, like search results, so we thought it would be a little thing we could do to cut down on the obvious cases that would most easily offend.
He also explains that there was a bug where the filter was turned on for comments, and since it wasn't designed for long blocks of text, it reported false positives (that's been fixed). I can't agree witht the filtering of blogs, since it limits their ability to be used as a legitimate news source. Perhaps MSN could find a way to censor the search results, so while there could be anything in your Space, searches would show a bunch of *******. Doorway pages as a form of parental control? Could work, could work.

Spyware: Good For You?

2004-12-06T07:55:00.000-05:00
Now I've heard everything.

Wired News has an article that basically says that, to some people, spyware is a good thing, the price of downloading software. These people? College students who would rather have the spyware that comes with file-sharing software than not.

The program in question is called Marketscore, and it comes bundled with IMesh. By all accounts, Marketscore is a nightmare of a program. It installs without warning, reports everything you do, and can read encrypted data such as passwords and credit card numbers.

To most people this would be a bad thing. But according to posters at IMesh's forums, spyware is good, because "without spyware there's no such thing as free software", and "you have to support spyware if you're going to have free file-sharing applications". Really? I've been using BitTorrent forever without any spyware. I have a ton of open source applications that have no spyware. Even all of the good anti-spyware programs are free, yet seem to not need spyware. Spyware is not the price of doing business; its the price of doing business with sleazy companies.

As the article continues, it explains how some college campuses, realizing Marketscore has been installed on a huge number of campus machines, have blocked the Marketscore ports to prevent the spread of the program and the incredible security risk it poses. Because Marketscore hijacks over your internet connection, those who have it lost their connection, and are complaining that they want the university to stop blocking it.
"This sucks," said a Pennsylvania State University student in an e-mail interview. "I can't surf the web and I can't trade files if I uninstall the spyware. Why can't the college let me do what I want to do with my computer? The school computer security guys are being way more annoying than the spyware was."
Really? The campus security guys, who don't want everyone's credit card info being handed to a company that has already done malicious action just by putting the software on your PC and hijacking the HOSTS file, they're worse? Buy a clue.

I wonder if these moronic proponents of spyware realize that it is slowing down their computer? That the reason they can't play a decent game of CounterStrike is because Marketscore is ""routing your internet activities through our service". That the reason a nearly new 2.0 gigahertz computer runs like my old Cyrix 150 MHz because the spyware has turned it to molasses. That irresponsibly installing this stuff only hurts yourself in the end, and that no amount of stolen music can justify letting some company yank your credit card out from under you.

Oh, and that at some point, the RIAA is going to realize that Marketscore has the names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of everyone it needs to sue. Yeah, that'll be a pretty day.

Still worth it?

Steve Ballmer Remembers His Roots

2004-12-05T16:24:00.000-05:00
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has never forgotten where he came from. Ballmer spent part of last week at Focus: Hope, a civil and human rights organization based in Detroit that offers machinist and technology training. Thanks partially to Balmer, who is from Detroit, more than $7 million has found its way to Detroit charities, $5 million of it to Focus: Hope. Ballmer's father worked as a manager at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn. His mother was raised in Detroit, near Focus: HOPE's headquarters on Oakman Boulevard. The most interesting thing? After he was done with the philanthropy, the $12 billion dollar man morphed into the tech support guy.
After announcing the donation, Ballmer toured a computer classroom and became the ultimate help desk for students.

He offered a few troubleshooting suggestions to a woman whose computer often crashed while shutting down, promised a Microsoft technician would visit a man whose pop-up blocker wouldn't stop risque ads from appearing and gave out his secretary's phone number when he couldn't immediately solve another woman's e-mail problem.

Who Knew Microsoft Could Be Funny?

2004-12-05T01:10:00.000-05:00
Microsoft a few months ago instituted some cost cutting measures, including knocking down the availability of supplies and number of supply rooms. Since there has been a lot of complaining, some members of the Exchange team made this video (WMV 8MB) to show the extent of the problem. Hilarious stuff. The video even has some auditions that just didn't turn out right. Clearly, not having supplies to make paper airplanes, MS employees have had to find something to do with their free time. Some screen caps (taken, of course, with Windows Movie Maker):

(from KC Lemson's Exchange and Outlook blog)

How To Capture Video With Print Screen

2004-12-05T00:41:00.000-05:00
I had such a hard time pulling this off, I figured I needed to post about it. We needed a screen cap from a video for an article (layman's terms: I needed to use Print Screen to get a picture from a video). Problem is, when you play video, it's not actually part of your screen, its being played over your screen, so Print Screen just ignores it. Paste it into Photoshop, and all you see is a black square, or weirder, the video, still playing. Luckily, there's a stupid hack that fixes this. Open your video in Windows Movie Maker, go to the part you want, and hit Print Screen. Voila! I recommend hitting the button to go to full screen so you get a better quality shot. I got the idea to use Movie Maker from this post at SitePoint Forums (athough that tip was only a starting point, since it didn't work). Presumably, other image editing tools might work, but this is the one most Windows users should have. Have fun!

Some Windows Freebies For The Holidays

2004-12-04T23:59:00.000-05:00
Microsoft has released the Winter Fun Pack for Windows XP. It includes:
Three new hholiday-themed visualizations for Media Player 10
Five new skins for MP10 (four for the holidays, plus the Halo 2 skin)
Windows Media Player 10 PowerToys - With the Holiday Music Auto Playlist Pack, the Song Signature Plug-in (let your friends know in your emails what song you're listening to, and adds a Blogging plug-in to Media Player), and the Media Info Exporter Plug-in (export your playlists to Excel, Access, HTML, or XML)
Some new wallpaper images from Corbis
The TweakMCE2005 PowerToy for Windows Media Center Edition 2005 - Access settings in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 including remote control settings, Skip and Replay timings and more.
Kris the Holiday Dancing Elf - A 3D animated character that dances to the beats of the music that's playing on your desktop.
Photo Story 3 for Windows - Create photo slideshows with narration, effects and music that are easy to share with friends.
There is one catch: You need a Genuine Copy of Windows XP. Trust me, it checks. Cool stuff.
(via the MSDN Student Flash blog)

MSN Spaces Gets Blog It! Toolbar Button

2004-12-03T15:33:00.000-05:00
Scott Isaacs, a Architect for MSN Web Experience, has created a toolbar button for instant blogging from IE, which he calls Blog It!. The button allows you to select text, click the button, and get an instantly populated entry, replete with title, text, link, and trackback. Click here to get it.
(via Omar Shahine's blog)

Ballmer: I Misspoke Re: Bill's Spam

2004-12-03T15:15:00.000-05:00
Steve Ballmer, in a speech at Michigan State University's Eli Broad College of Business Wednesday, notes that reports that Bill Gates receives 4 million spam emails a day were inaccurate, because he misspoke. From the Detroit Free Press article:
At the top is everyone's list is spam. That's true even for Gates, who Ballmer says gets about 4 million pieces of e-mail -- most of it junk -- every year. (Ballmer said he misspoke a few days back when he was quoted as saying Gates gets 4 million e-mails a day.) Ballmer says only about 10 junk e-mails make it into his e-mail inbox each day because of anti-spam technology the company has developed.
Oops.
(via Techdirt)

Marqui's Cute Flash Demo

2004-12-03T01:21:00.000-05:00

This post sponsored by Marqui
Do you want to know what exactly Marqui does? Well, they've created a Flash movie that shows what they do. The short story: Companies that use Marqui can deliver a message instantly, coordinating a press release or similar message accross various mediums (press release sites, blogs, mailing lists, newsletters, corporate websites) in perfect sync. While this is something every company has to do, Marqui's system is designed to let a small company work as well as a large one with much less staff (or, theoretically, to let a large company fire a lot of workers and let the system handle all the time-consuming work). Anyway, I encourage you to watch the Flash demo, not just because you'll get a good idea of what they do, but because its kind of funky. Is it just me, or are they ripping off the Jetsons?)
Oh, and you may notice the obnoxious border. It's so, if you really don't trust me, you know when I'm talking about Marqui's product. It won't go around posts about the program, since they may count in the program, but nobody worries about what I say there, just posts about their business. But seriously, if you don't trust me so much that you need obnoxious red borders, maybe this isn't the blog for you.

Spaces Censors

2004-12-03T00:20:00.000-05:00
Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin decided to test out lots of profane blog titles. Turns out MSN Spaces censors certain blog titles. The seven dirty words are out, as are most other similar words (anything you'd hear on NYPD Blue), except for one. On the other hand, "Pornography", "Whore" and "Lolita" are out. Weird. I guess you can't have a porno theme for your blog. You can say whatever you want, but MSN is trying to censor blog titles (your focus) and post titles (your discussion). Guess we'll see a lot of |337 speak blog titles.

Feedster Has An MSN Spaces Page

2004-12-02T23:59:00.000-05:00
Gary Price at Search Engine Lowdown reports that Feedster has launched a special interface that searches only MSN Spaces (although, as Scott Johnson explains, its still loading feeds). Cool stuff. Not olny this, but you can localize your searches to specific blog services with the &host= search operator. That means that if you want to search Blogspot for Google blogs, just type in the search box "google &host=blogspot.com".

New Drop Down Search Button Feature For MSN Search

2004-12-02T14:13:00.000-05:00
SEO Roundtable reports that MSN Search has added a new drop-down search button for quick access to several search options (so far, it only works on PCs). They are:
Web
News
Images
Look up word
Encarta
Stock quotes
Find Movies
Shopping
rustybrick likes them, although he notes that "Most usability experts, I think, dislike drop down menus". I think its great, since it eliminates the "Tab problem" and drives users to use features like Encarta they might not otherwise. Still, I think any good search engine needs as many "invisible tabs" (those little boxes that give you results from other areas of the search engine, like two News results in a regular search) to be properly useful, so lets hope we see some of those as well.

You know what would be a great feature? Custom searches in the drop down box. I'd like if instead of using the search builder, I could program in options from it that I commonly use. Just a thought.

Will MSN Spaces Support An API?

2004-12-02T14:02:00.000-05:00
Microsoft's Dare Obasanjo comments on the possibility of an MSN Spaces API. If you don't want to click the link, he basically says that the existing APIs (Blogger and MetaWeblog) are not so feasible becauseof security concerns, and because they don't support the various features of Spaces. MSN doesn't want people to just post, they want to see all the options in use. Plus, as a business sense, they need users taking advantage of all the features or else how will they show the differences between them and their competitors? As for creating their own API, which they think is a great idea, except for that they don't want a million APIs out there. They'd rather not have a different API for every service, splitting the market even further and making things difficult for everyone. Which brings up the most likely third option, supporting the Atom API, which aims to replace all the major blog APIs. MSN would rather throw its support behind market integration than try to drive a wedge in, which is great for everyone. Of course, if Atom can't support all the features of Spaces, then once, again, they're not interested.

Final answer? No plans to develop or support any APIs, but MSN is closely watching in the hopes that it can eventually.

MSN Spaces First Impressions

2004-12-02T01:07:00.000-05:00
I've been playing around with Spaces for the last hour, and I am surprisingly impressed. Unlike most blog tools, Spaces runs like a program, with an actual interface, as opposed to a series of options and HTML editing. When I want to edit my Blogger interface, I have to learn how to code HTML (which for me, is similar to pulling teeth). In Spaces, I get to select the page Modules I want, and I can drag and drop them wherever I want. And remember when I said that I hoped they wouldn't have only five templates? That's not actually the case. See, in most systems, we need a large number of templates to work with the general look of the page. Spaces templates work differently than most blogs. They are page guides, or Layouts, seperating the page into three columns, two even columns, one column and a sidebar (on either side), or no columns at all. On top of those Layouts, you overlay one of many Themes, that simply give the page a look. So, you actually get control right at your fingertips to rearranging all the page elements.

There are several modules: Blog, Profile, Archives, Blog list (Blogroll), Book list, Updated Spaces and New Spaces, Music list, Photo album, Custom list, and, thankfully, Categories (when will we see that in Blogger?). You can arrange them in any way you want, putting any module in any column. If you want your blog in sidebar and the profile in the main area, you can (and look like a fool while doing it).

First impression: Out of the box, users can do more with Spaces than Blogger. Its easier to use, and gives simple access to features that take a lot of effort for Blogger users. Major bloggers will not like the loss of control, but new users will be thrilled. Microsoft wants to bring blogging to the masses, and they have created a tool that is perfect for that. Spaces is more than enough for 95% of bloggers, while the other 5% can use Blogger and Typepad, which require far more work to get working, but yield better results.

My point? Spaces has a good chance at actually winning, despite being late to the game. Blogger makes me happy, don't get me wrong, but if all I wanted to do was post and be social, and found HTML frustrating, I might have switched already. Hit the "Next Blog" button on the top of this page, and tell me how many blogs you see shouldn't switch to Spaces to improve their blog. In my estimation, only 5% of them have any reason to stick around. Maybe Google had better create a smarter and more versatile interface for Blogger before it realizes Microsoft has stolen all of its users.

Video Of Spaces In Action

2004-12-01T22:59:00.000-05:00
Channel 9 has a video that shows you all the features of MSN Spaces, so you can call yourself an expert in just a short period of time (or if you can't wait for the site to start working):

Video length: 00:14:15.
Download the Video
Watch the Video

MSN Spaces Launches

2004-12-01T22:00:00.000-05:00
Microsoft's blogging service, MSN Spaces, has launched. Highlights from the press release and the fact sheet include:

MSN Spaces Debuts Alongside Improvements to MSN Messenger and MSN Hotmail To Help Customers Connect in a Seamless and Meaningful Way

Spaces is released in beta, as well as a public beta of MSN Messenger 7, updates to Hotmail, and lots of integration.

"Communicating with others is the No. 1 thing people do online. As widely used as our individual services are today, we know we can do more to help our customers communicate across the different modes they use, like blogs, instant messaging and e-mail," said Blake Irving, corporate vice president for the MSN Communication Services and Member Platform Group. "The investments MSN is making in MSN Spaces, MSN Messenger and MSN Hotmail are designed to break down some of the barriers between the services so people can focus less on the technology and more on the people they care about."
Spaces is available in 14 languages and 26 locals. Spaces is not just a blog, but a dynamic online scrapbook where consumers can share photo albums, personal music lists and more. You get 10 megabytes of space for photos. Readers can receive notifications of updated Spaces through Messenger. You can sign up for Spaces at or through Messenger.

Spaces can be made private, or limited to specific people. You can allow comments. Spaces gives detailed statistics (something every blog tool should have).

You can upload pictures and create slideshows on your Space, share playlists, or purchase music. There is also a feature called Contact Cards, which are a snapshot of what your space is currently about, so someone can get a quick peek at your blog. Spaces offers RSS feeds, and MSN will be launching My MSN soon, which can act as an RSS reader. You can post by email or mobile phone. There are five templates and 15 backgrounds (hopefully more are coming).

The new Messenger has some weird features where you try to jolt the attention of your contact by "nudging" the window, "winking", or throwing animations around the screen. ~~The Messenger site does not seem to be working yet, and the Spaces site is very slow, so I'll have more of a write-up when they're stable.~~ The sites will be up at midnight, Eastern Time.
(via Dare Abasanjo's blog)

UPDATE: The Las Vegas Sun has an article. They focus on the fact that all Spaces bloggers need Passports (as well as all commentors). Microsoft is hoping to leverage the interoparibility of its services to give users a good reason to check them out. Expect to see the final release in June. You may notice the new MSN Search in the Messenger beta. Also:
Although Microsoft trails Google and AOL, Gartenberg said it's not too late because blogging is only just catching on with mainstream users.

According to a February report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, only 2 percent of Americans have created blogs, while 11 percent have read those of others.

Microsoft Looking For A Few (4,300) Good Men

2004-12-01T18:51:00.000-05:00
http://blogs.msdn.com/JobsBlog/archive/2004/12/01/273339.aspx in response to a recent Scoble post about the need for developers in the U.S., that there is a serious need for new people at MS.
although, we've said it before, I'll say it again. We currently have about 4,300 open positions at Microsoft across all groups and disciplines. Roughly 1,500 of those are what we would consider industry product development positions (SDE, SDET, STE, PM). Of these 1,500 openings, 95% of them are at corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA. We offer an awesome relocation package and I would be happy to share with you my own relocation story. I made the trip all the way from Cleveland - a long way away from home these days!
Bottom line: Companies aren't outsourcing to India; they just can't find anybody here! The U.S. doesn't have enough programmers, and the government doesn't put effort into training the populace to handle a tech economy. The government should be setting up tax breaks for people who study for high-tech fields in college, so we don't have as many people with political science degrees. Not to say those people are stupid (I have one), but we need incentives for people to enter the industry. Microsoft noting it needs 4,300 new people may excite those who are already in that field, but no recent high school graduate is looking at those numbers and seeing an opportunity. If India can do it, surely we can. Will we?

New Windows Update Today

2004-12-01T16:46:00.000-05:00
Microsoft has released "Windows Security Update for December 2004" (info here).
The Microsoft Windows security update for December 2004 is a cumulative security update that resolves a newly discovered issue in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1), a component of Windows. If you have any of the software listed on this page installed on your computer, you should visit the Windows Update Web site to install the related update.
(via Brian Johnson's blog)

Microsoft Antivirus Is Coming

2004-12-01T16:36:00.000-05:00
The next and most important cog missing in the MS security package is an antivirus solution. Forbes says we can expect one in mid-2005. This is based on information from McAfee, which says it expects having to compete with Microsoft around that time. Currently, MSN 9 (which I use) bundles McAfee's Antivirus and Firewall for free, but Microsoft declined extending that contract to MSN 10. McAfee believes MS will use MSN 10 as a way to ease MS Antivirus into the consumer market. I gotta say, I use the McAfee firewall and not the Windows one, because its just better. If MS Antivirus is as simplistic as Windows Firewall is, MSN users are going to be pissed at losing a good product they already like. Microsoft can release an antivirus, and should, but shooting MSN customers in the foot while doing so would be a terrible idea.
(via Seattle PI > Watching Microsoft Like A Hawk)

MSN Search Extensions Available

2004-12-01T16:24:00.000-05:00
The MSN Search Weblog points out some extensions people have created for the new engine. They are:
DEVVPL's tool checks your rankings on specific keywords.
An MSN Search widget (pictured at right) that sits in your system tray and pops out a search box when you click it.
A Firefox plugin.