In today’s world it can be important to keep an eye out for what is going on behind the scene on your computer.  Windows Sysinternals Process Monitor V2.02 has evolved into a must have utility!

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

The title Process Monitor really does not convey the functionality of this tool.  It does not just monitor processes, it allows you to monitor:

• Processes and thread activity
• Profiling events
• File system activity
• Registry activity
• Network activity

All of this with filtering ability to zero in on a target.  It is a mature product and comes with many useful features.

Give it a test spin and see what it can do for you.  Just turning on the network monitor and watching what all processes in your computer are communicating over the network can be revealing.  Got a trojan house app on your machine?  This will not only show you when it communicates over the net, but also your are able to track down what processes and threads it has, watch registry settings it is using and where it is located on your drive.

It seems Plastic Logic has shown a demo this fall of their new Plastic Logic Reader, which is a tablet which uses Electric Paper (some refer to as electric ink) which is a monochrome display which is lightweight, flexible and low power.  Here is a little more on their new reader:

Would be nice to have, but sure would great to have color!

http://www.plasticlogic.com/product.html

Somehow I have managed to skip the earlier betas of IE8, but yesterday I decided to give it a shot.  While the toolbars a little tacky compared to Vista’s styling, the overall impression is no hardship over IE7.  The download package of IE 8 Beta 2 comes with both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions (for those running Vista 64 or XP 64):

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/worldwide-sites.aspx?icid=ie8_asdf123

I did read the release notes and it said that this version of IE was incompatible with Netflix Instant Viewing of movies, but on my Vista 64 it worked fine.  You can always remove it if you have problems.

New Tab

When you click to open a new tab, it now has options for you instead of just showing a blank page:

As you can see from the image (click on it to enlarge), you now have options for that page such as “reopen closed tabs” which shows a list sites you have recently closed in another tab and even an option to reopen the sites you last had open when you closed IE, which is great if you ever close the browser by accident :)

Tab Grouping

An interesting feature they have added is “Tab Grouping”:

Tab Grouping simply highlights the tabs that you have launched of a a page.  That is, if you are on a tab and open a link into a new tab (hold down CTRL and click a link on a page) it will be highlighted with the same color of tab as the parent.  However, if you manually drag that tab to a new position on the bar, it will lose its grouping color.  It would have been better to have tab grouping such as Vista where it would have them in one tab with a drop-down list.

Searching Updated

Back when Vista Beta came out, I switched back to using IE instead of Firefox.  It had enough features for me along with having a decent RSS feed reader built it thus eliminating the need for an additional program (hassle to maintain, I am browsing, RSS feed browsing complements the experience).

When I made the switch, I hated the quick search box in the upper right of the IE frame as it appeared to be just wasted space to me, that is until I started using it and adding providers (tip, if you do not have answers.com added under that list, visit the site and then select to add that provide, VERY handy to have around).  I spend a lot of my time in that box now and seldom go to a search engine directly anymore.

In this new version of IE, there have been some major upgrades to the search box:

As you can see, it now provides suggestions from the currently selected search engine, based on what you have typed at that point along with a selection of links that might apply from your past browsing history.  Also note that along the bottom of the drop-down menu is a list of icons show the various search providers you have installed to easily switch to a different engine.

Address Box

Similar changes have been made to the address box (where you type in a URL) although it does not appear to be based on the currently selected search engine:

This also adds possible matching or related links from your Favorites links.  There is also a reminder at the bottom of the keyboard shortcuts you can use one what you have typed so far.

Developer Tools

Also included in this version is an enhanced version of the IE Developer’s Toolbar:

The functionality of this tool if far beyond the scope of this post, but a few features really seemed to jump out there.  First if the “Document Mode” drop-down that allows you to select IE 7, IE 8 and Quirks mode.  By changing this, the current window in IE will be changed to represent that document mode.  This can even be handy for those that are not technical, when the page they are visiting does not display properly.  Next to this feature is the Browser Mode which is similar functionality.

This tool also has a “pinned’" mode that embeds itself to the bottom of your browser window instead of being shown as a separate window (as above).  I personally like the separate window mode myself.

While there are a lot of other features in this new version along with enhancements to the rendering engine, the above features were what caught my attention.  Microsoft is clearly heading in the right direction!

What's on TV tonight? No need to look to a limited cable, satellite or broadcast, why not pull your shows through the Internet?  Your choice, many free or small monthly fee!

Netflix has for some time now, offered unlimited streaming video for a low monthly fee (currently only $8.99 per month unlimited online viewing and includes having one DVD out at a time via the mail).  Recently they made a deal with Starz! to offer much more content.  It is only the beginning though, expect to see more deals and more content coming down the road.

If you want to watch your shows for free but with commercials, you can look into Hulu.  They allow you to watch many full length shows anywhere from “Chuck” or “The Fringe” down to “Woody Woodpecker” or “Alf”.  All free, but you have to put up with some advertisements.

There are others in the market also, but the new guy on the block appears to be Google with YouTube, which has announced they will soon begin delivering full length shows with advertisements through their network.  For more information their announcement:

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN1037791320081010?rpc=44

Choices keep coming and within another year or two, I wonder how many people will have cable, satellite or antennas for entertainment..  It seems we are heading for one large pipe coming in to bring Internet and all other services running through that pipe. One monthly bill with make life a bit easier ;)

It has been a number of months since I checked into browser stats.  After doing the rounds of my sites and found IE is slipping fast and Firefox is closing in on the leading browser.  Here are the stats from one of my non-Microsoft centric sites:

That is a big shift from the past where IE had 85% of the market.  While Firefox has moved to be the real contender to IE, it is worth noting how in only being available for about a month, Google’s Chrome has already supplanted Opera and Safari.

While different sites had a small variation from the above stats they were still quite close and IE never topped 56% which is a massive loss of market share.  Even with that percentage, almost 30% of those using IE where still using IE 6, which has vast rending flaws.

Microsoft needs to get their heads out of the “clouds” and get to work in making sure IE 8 is ready for primetime or they will find themselves in the minority of market share even though they have the majority by Operating System.

Microsoft has released a new product of SysInternals called Desktop V1.0.  It is a simple utility to visualize your desktop offering up to four virtual desktops.  You can activate different desktops by either using the icon in the system tray or by hotkeys.  When you first install it,  you have the option of setting the hotkeys for desktop switching:

As mentioned you can also active a different desktop by selecting the icon in the tray:

When you click on the tray icon it displays a panel to select the desktop you want:

When you switch to a different desktop, all your background and any icons you have on the desktop are replicated to your other desktops.  The taskbar in each desktop only displays the apps running on that specific desktop and some tray icons may be missing.

All seems okay and could be useful since it even detects my dual monitors, but all is not a go on my Vista 64 system.  The scroll wheel on my mouse only works in the primary desktop, others do not seem to detect the scroll wheel (that is a show-stopper for me, I will not use a system without a scrollwheel).  But beyond this, some useful system tray icons do not carry across all desktops and while writing the post, I did have a quirk where it would not access the icons on my primary desktop for a period of time.

UPDATE: I had an IE instance open in my primary desktop and when I would double click a link on the desktop in one of the virutal desktops, it would open a tab inside the IE instance in my primary desktop.  Had a lot of tabs open in that instance before I found out what was going on ;)

Seems like, on my system at least, I will have to wait for Version 2.

Here is the link if you wish to try it out for yourself:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc817881.aspx

Chrome cartoons not telling the truth?

http://www.newmobilecomputing.com/story/20244/Google_Chrome_Considered_Harmful

There are lots of comments to read through ;)

Edit:

Another Google Chrome Security Flaw Identified:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210500290

Unless you are under a rock somewhere, you have probably heard and may have even tried Google's new web browser called "Chrome".  Yes, it is fast, if only all the others were this fast, but...

First their is the EULA, their terms of service which I would imagine they will change:

http://tapthehive.com/discuss/ This_Post_Not_Made_In_Chrome_Google_s_EULA_Sucks

They basically are saying that everything you post with the web browser automatically gives Google copyright license to use that content forever for free.  Probably just something left in from some other EULA, but watch out.

How about security?  Do you want Google receiving identifiable information about everything you do on the Internet?

http://wildermuth.com/2008/09/02/More_On_Chrome

Another issue with Chrome is that it does not handle Silverlight properly and so you cannot view any sites that use Silverlight (such as recently, the Olympics!).  There are some other bugs showing, but it is a beta, so they will probably be fixed soon.

I am sure other things will appear over the near future and Google will probably fix them.  For me though, I doubt there will be any Chrome in my future as I am too attached to Microsoft Internet Explorer with its features such as the search box in the top right that allows you to quickly use many different search engines or the built in RSS feeds amongst other things.

If there place is to offer a stripped down browse that is only fast, it does not mean a lot to me.  The other features current browser provide along with plug-ins you can add are more important than the speed it renders a page.

The most important part about Chrome is that it should make Microsoft and Mozilla beef up their rendering and standards compliance.  We will see over the next year or so.

Microsoft really hit the ball out of the park with WLW (Windows Live Writer).  It is hard imaging running a blog without it.  Now that SubText blogging software and BlogEngine.net both fully support WLW.

Today I ran I got a message that the version of WLW I am using (the tech preview) will end in October.  While browsing to see if there was an updated version yet, I ran unto the following blog:

http://www.live-writer.net/

It has quite a few more plug-ins listed, although most of them are not have the great of importance to me, but they might for you.  Diffidently a site to subscribe to their feed!

Was actually searching for something else and ran across a few plug-ins to try with Live Writer.

First is the Dig This plug-in:

 http://www.download.com/Digg-This-Plugin-for-Windows-Live-Writer/3000-12777_4-10796049.html?tag=lst-5

I would show you what this looks like, but SubText does not currently allow script tags.  Waiting for next version.  Might get around this weekend, adding that ability to my current version if I have the time.

Another one is Insert Polaroid:

http://www.download.com/Polaroid-Picture-Plugin-for-Windows-Live-Writer/3000-2379_4-10794601.html?tag=lst-7

That could be handy!  Would be even better if could have several overlapping..

   1: public class MyCoolClass

   2: {

   3:     MyCoolClass ()

   4:     {

   5:         Console.Write("This could be cool");

   6:     }

   7: }

That was from Code Snippet:

http://www.download.com/Code-Snippet-Plugin-for-Windows-Live-Writer/3000-2017_4-10795995.html?tag=lst-10

Yep, Insert Emoticons Plug-in:

http://www.download.com/Insert-Spaces-Emoticon-Plugin-for-Windows-Live-Writer/3000-2381_4-10796685.html?tag=lst-6

And then there is:

Funny Cats 9

Video plug-in:

http://www.download.com/Insert-Video-Plugin-for-Windows-Live-Writer/3000-2068_4-10799500.html?tag=lst-6

These were really handy.  Should spruce up the old blog!

Try a search on Downloads.com and find more of them!

I decided today to try Windows Live Messenger again.  Back a ways, I used it all the time, but found I was offline due to being busy more than I was online.  May still be the fact, but I thought I would give it a looksy. 

After installing, I wanted to try using a different account.  All I could find was it wanting to create a Windows live account and forcing to either a .live.com or .hotmail.com account.  A quick search for "Microsoft passport" (since I knew that was how it started out) and the first link was:

https://accountservices.passport.net/ppnetworkhome.srf?vv=550&lc=1033

Down the page a bit there is an option to use "your own e-mail address".  I surely did not need another email account, so this is the one I needed :) 

After I got Messenger setup, I noticed that it does not work with the default mail program, only Outlook (it may have worked with others but I did not find a way).  So, I did some searching and found a wonderful add-on to Messenger Live, called "Messenger Plus! Live".  If you use Messenger Live, this is a free must have addition:

http://www.msgpluslive.net/

The program adds a ton of features:

• Messenger Skinning
• Log Search
• Tabbed Chats
• Custom Sounds
• Quick Texts (really handy for those that do not type well)
• Colors, formatting and commands
• HTML chat logging
• Personalized Status categories - Can finally set as "in the outhouse.."
• Place contacts on your desktop
• Polygamy (run multiple Messenger Sessions)
• Event Viewer and Event Logging (you are on the phone and something came through Messenger, but you missed it, not any more, find out what who or what it passed by)
• Messenger Lock - Lock, hide and password protect your Messenger
• Easy contact management
• Ability to monitor multiple external email accounts and add a shortcut to your email program is you are not using Outlook (I have used Thunderbird for years now)
• Scripting!

Yeah, that is a lot of powerful features.  Microsoft needs to check into purchasing this to permanently add into Messenger!

Okay, that was still not quite the end of it, I also decided to try out Windows Live Writer while I was at it.  Not sure I will need to log into SubText much anymore :)  This is a handy tool and works quite well with SubText (my blog engine of choice).

This post is my first post with Windows Live Writer and it looks like there will be many more!  Nice little clean product!

I know have probably forget to add something here, but it will have to wait I guess :)

Found a post about this product on CodeProject today, so I tried it out.  Was surprised to see my largest folder was C:\Users and more specifically, my user profile in at just over 50 GB..

The utility is called TreeSize Free:

http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

Not long ago, I saw an interview with an fascinating man, “Sir Richard Branson”, which is not your typical billionaire.  For those that do not know him, he is the founder of Virgin Records, followed by Virgin Airlines among many other businesses.  More information about him at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson

During the interview Branson mentioned an answer to our current fuel issues may be helped by Syntroleum, synthetic fuels based on the Fisher-Tropsch process which can use natural gas, coal or biomass as feedstock.  I decided to check out this a little more and found:

http://www.syntroleum.com

And interesting site to say the least.  You might want to browse around the various links on the site along with their press releases.

Branson has a site called Virgin Green Fund containing information about his involvement and investment in energy.  If you click on the News option, it has a few articles of the push to replace fossil fuels (including jet fuel) with biofuels.

http://www.virgingreenfund.com

In the interview, Branson mentioned that Virgin Atlantic would fly one of its 747 jumbo jets on biofuels by the end of 2008 if not sooner.  This would be a big news item as we can see electric earth bound transportation, but not so much for jets, they are tied to fossil fuels.  If they can go biofuel, it could have a huge impact on CO2 emissions and supposedly cut fuel costs.

Researching around these sites along with others, it is interesting what is listed as coming in 2008-2010.  It could be quite exciting in the alternate energy world over the next couple of years.

I know many of us complain about the high fuel prices of late, but it is those high prices and fear of supply that is accelerating the drive technology for alternates!

Looks like we offically have a new legal music downloads.  Well, sorta free, they are ad supported.  You can even use them with some MP3 players and take the music with your!  Note: Not iPod friendly..

Hip-Hop, Electronica, R & B, Rock, Easy Listening, Reggae, Blues, Latin, Country, World Music (??), Jazz, Classical, Gospel, Cajun, Celtic, Vocal, Avant-Garde, Comedy, New Age, Folk,  and World (??).  Those are just the top level Genres.

 Check out:

http://www.SpiralFrog.com

I have read about the new feature in Windows Vista that will help increase your machine's performance by using space on a ReadyBoost compatible USB flash drive.  It is supposed to help systems that have smaller memory kick up the performance a bit (not as good as adding more RAM, but it suppose to help).

My main development machine has a bad motherboard in it where one bank of memory slots will not work.  It currently has 1 GB of high speed RAM.  For Vista Ultimate running Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, Developer version of SQL Server 2005 and MS Office 2007, the small amount of RAM can cause severe file swapping and periods of time where the machine seems to be unresponsive up for at times up to 45 minutes.

Today I pickup up the 4 GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro USB Flash drive for $40.  It is listed as being ReadyBoost compatible so I thought it would be worth a chance.

After cutting it out of its plastic packaging (I really hate that stuff), I popped it into the USB port.  After a few seconds it was prompting me if I wanted to auto-run the file that was on the USB driver (came with a couple things) and use it to speed up my machine.  I choose the latter and used all but about 700 megs of the drive for ReadyBoost.

In just normal operations I do not notice much a difference.  But…..  When I have VS 2008 Beta 2 up with a project open, SQL Server Management Studio, Excel 2007, Word 2007, a few IE windows open and my swap file is consuming almost 2 GB of space, the system seems to still be responsive!

While this is not huge test, it does appear to help considerably when my machine would normally bog down to a crawl.  That is exactly what I was hoping would happen!

So, I do not know of how much ReadyBoost helps in normal operations, but when RAM gets time and the swap file kicks in, on my system at least, it does appear to help a great deal.  Was worth the price!