tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57740942011-11-08T21:42:32.122-08:00A running blog covering technology, including insights, news, and other stuff. Formerly known as Inside Windows XP Embedded.Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.comBlogger1141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1461606471879485232008-03-12T17:22:00.001-07:002008-03-12T17:22:45.865-07:00

Interesting - RateMyCop.com, a website to watch the watchers, gets some crap from LEO's, and the hosting company pulls the site quicker than you can say "You have the right to remain silent". The story is disturbing not only for the reaction of the hosting company (I won't name them - they don't deserve the publicity), but also the reaction of law enforcement officers who are afraid of ... what

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-89079219812591315662007-10-16T14:16:00.001-07:002007-10-16T14:16:51.643-07:00

Cool little dialogue between Grady Booch, the software engineer's software engineer, and Charles Cooper from CNET.  It's just scratching the surface, and made me think. del.icio.us tags: philosophy, grady booch, develoment, morality, ethics Debating the morality behind software development | Newsmakers | CNET News.com

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-71520952571006929562007-10-16T13:54:00.001-07:002007-10-16T14:19:14.019-07:00

I didn't hit on this until I read the subtitle in the story: The company rolled out nine new phones aimed at consumers who are entertainment hungry and fashion aware. [emphasis mine] My first thought was: entertainment addicted and fashion victims, more likely.  My second thought was: I guess you have to do something to keep people buying new phones every few months. What do I use?  A

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-89930927591900092502007-10-15T15:13:00.001-07:002007-10-15T15:13:18.663-07:00

Interesting ZDNet article, which parrots one of the arguments my wife had over OLPC (One Laptop Per Child).  The basic question, as stated in the article title, is whether a laptop will make that big a difference in the hands of a child with no electricity. Reading the comments, I came across a gem: Kids in third world countries have already been robbed of their childhood. They face the harsh

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-51784197112540772402007-10-09T14:02:00.001-07:002007-10-09T14:02:03.974-07:00

It's not a new technology, but the brief case studies look interesting. del.icio.us tags: technology Innovation | Don’t invent, evolve | Economist.com

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-57830062994860075602007-09-25T16:35:00.001-07:002007-09-25T16:35:33.218-07:00

This was a very cool read - light, but cool.  Imagine a computer that doesn't rely on the movement of electrons in a conductor/semiconductor, but rather the spin of those electrons.  While the article focuses on the heat savings, think of the speed increases as well... del.icio.us tags: technology, quantum mechanics, cool, physics It's all in the spin: Quantum physics cools down computers

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-71916749203544572042007-07-05T15:33:00.001-07:002007-07-05T15:34:40.400-07:00

So to is July 5, 2007, right?  7/5/07, if you live in the U.S.  Given the date, the byline linked to below at supercomputingonline.com is just a bit confusing then.  Here's my problem... I've some friends who work for Boeing Aircraft here in Seattle.  They have told me that the Dreamliner won't even be unveiled until July 8, 2007 (7/8/07, get it?  The 787 unveiled on 7-8-7?  Never mind...) 

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-80033822339380388222007-07-03T16:40:00.001-07:002007-07-03T16:40:10.755-07:00

A yearly study done by Evans Data, reported by InfoWorld (and being discussed on Slashdot), shows developers targeting Windows platforms fell to 64.8% this year, from 74% in 2006.  Developers targeting Linux rose from 8.8% to 11.8% a year ago - seems small until you realize that's a 34% increase, and Windows dropped 12%. A comment by caywen on Slashdot caught my attention: Microsoft's big

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-77804821354505799692007-07-03T10:23:00.001-07:002007-07-03T10:23:45.066-07:00

This is a month-old commentary from Cato, but it's still current in geological time...  Basically, it laments the politicization of Google, comparing it to the politicization of Microsoft a few years ago.  It's a different view on the Google v. Microsoft battle you hear about amongst lawmakers, and it's dead on. Parasite Economy Latches onto New Host del.icio.us tags: government, capitalism,

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-87034738727863077762007-06-27T12:08:00.001-07:002007-06-27T12:08:30.608-07:00

I played Pong when it came out.  Now, Pong has a new face, called Plasma Pong.  TBO reports on the game, which can download and play.  Very cool. del.icio.us tags: technology, geek, games, graphics

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-15855165532691690612007-06-27T10:18:00.001-07:002007-06-27T10:18:43.616-07:00

Scientific American has a brief article on Latanya Sweeney, a researcher at MIT who is dedicated to increasing data privacy.  The read is interesting, but now I want more on her and her work - when I find it, it comes here.  A Little Privacy, Please -- [ DATA PROTECTION ]: Scientific American del.icio.us tags: privacy, science, geek

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-50903857001128702052007-06-26T12:17:00.001-07:002007-06-26T12:17:56.548-07:00

Very cool, if it's real - desktop supercomputing with an easy programming model.  The UMD site has the same story, with a direct link to name the technology.  I'd rather see the API set the guy has come up with.  Maryland Professor Creates Desktop Supercomputer

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-81167888885412281692007-04-12T12:25:00.001-07:002007-04-12T12:25:23.100-07:00

I know it's not tech related, but I have yet to find a geek who hasn't read or enjoyed Vonnegut at some point in time, even if it's just Rodney Dangerfield asking Vonnegut if he read lips in "Back to School". Link to Novelist Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84 - BOOKS - MSNBC.com

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-64771674864550432262007-03-22T12:00:00.001-07:002007-03-22T12:03:56.711-07:00

Good news for the online world - a federal court threw out the COPA bill (Child Online Protection Act).  I love this quote from Senior U.S. District judge Lowell Reed Jr.: Perhaps we do the minors of this country harm if First Amendment protections, which they will with age inherit fully, are chipped away in the name of their protection. Brilliant.  Absolutely brilliant.  It's refreshing to see

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-7839783328174778772007-03-20T09:01:00.001-07:002007-03-20T09:06:49.966-07:00

Back in the days after college, I was a sysadmin for a multi-machine Unix shop.  I remember my first week, when I was trying to free some space on the main machine.  SOP is to clear /tmp, right?  So off I go, logged in as root, and do ls -alF /tmp - filled to the gills.  So then I enter rm * to clear it - no worries right? Of course, I had forgotten one small command - cd /tmp.  The good news was

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-8651387848138905262007-02-26T14:23:00.001-08:002007-02-26T14:23:35.901-08:00

Read the story, but here's a short summary: A judge in Cali was sentenced for possession of child pornography.  The prime mover in this case was a hacker who let loose a Trojan on the judge's computers and found the evidence that was used to garner the guilty plea. I'm not sure whether to be scared or not here.  Vigilantes with time on their hands, an axe to grind, and some coding skills rooting

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-50888705577181657412007-02-22T15:12:00.001-08:002007-02-22T15:43:52.063-08:00

I hate software patents. Ever since I read about some company owning a patent on XORing a cursor on and off the screen, I've been a software patent hater.  Software copyrighting - no problems, no issues.  Software patents - nothing but big paychecks for lawyers with more vocabulary than sense. So, with a disdain for software patents in mind, head to Betanews to read the latest on Microsoft v. AT&

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-35078980653629306472007-02-21T10:49:00.001-08:002007-02-21T10:49:39.212-08:00

...must come to an end.  And even some not so good things, to think about it. Anyway, what's coming to an end?  Easy - support for old software, of course!  In this case, the old software is Windows XP Embedded with Service Pack 1, also called XPE SP1.  When is also easy - April 10, 2007 (that's Patch Tuesday in April, for those of you keeping score at home).  What this means is that the April

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-76363503048585749212007-02-08T14:12:00.001-08:002007-02-08T14:31:07.252-08:00

Especially the New York Times. Oh don't get me wrong - not all papers are crap, and the NYT isn't completely crap.  But as anyone can tell you, even a little crap is very noticable, even if you pretty it up with flowers and perfume... Case in point: Edward Rothstein's article on Windows Vista.  Rothstein comes across as an "important art critic", a title I define as being a pretentious fool

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-69965306188428572832007-02-07T13:58:00.001-08:002007-02-07T13:58:58.189-08:00

A recent study from the University of Maryland showed that four Linux boxes, left alone for 24 hours and sporting weak passwords, were the victims of some 270,000 compromise attempts, roughly one every 39 seconds.  There are some interesting stats in the article, like what accounts were tried the most (root won, duh), what passwords were tried the most (the account name won with 43% there), and

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-21340844541744622762007-02-06T18:36:00.001-08:002007-02-06T18:36:16.874-08:00

People who know me, and people who have read the past few entries, know that while I drink the Microsoft Kool-Aid, I also quench my thirst at other water fountains.  One of those, for quite a while, was Palm - I owned a Palm IIIc as well as a Handspring Visor.  In fact, with the VisorPhone add-on, my Visor was my cell-phone for a while - show me a Pocket PC (not a Windows Mobile smart phone, a

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-52690750060817434262007-02-02T15:17:00.001-08:002007-02-02T15:17:36.491-08:00

I was reading Slashdot today (actually, I have it on an RSS feed in Klipfolio, so I read only what looks interesting), when I noticed what appeared to be a duplicate headline: Ocean Planets on the Brink of Detection I perused the description, and noticed a reference to PhysOrg, another newsfeed I have in Klipfolio.  I had seen that same headline this morning when I was going over my feeds. Now,

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-44273136050469383292007-02-01T15:00:00.001-08:002007-02-01T15:02:53.823-08:00

You know, there's a bit of a scuffle going on about Vista needing a good graphics card - apparently, Intel doesn't like the fact that nVidia chips are now more important to Joe Average-Windows-User.  I personally don't mind - more memory and a better video card were in the works for me anyway (Blender bogged XP down something fierce, and I wanted better graphics for Dungeon Siege and Neverwinter

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1169865221085604312007-01-26T18:33:00.000-08:002007-01-26T18:33:41.100-08:00

I've been reading other blogs lately, notably Raymond Chen's Old New Thing, and one thing is clear: Real bloggers write.  A lot. So, I figure, If I want to be read, I need to write.  A lot.  Actually, a lot more.  But there are two problems. The first is that I don't seem to have a lot of extra time to devote to a blog.  But when I think about that objectively, that's really a crock - I've got

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1165973731040178722006-12-12T17:35:00.000-08:002006-12-12T17:35:31.116-08:00

It's been a while since I've made a post - ten months, actually.  So this one will be big, and hopefully address a number of issues. I've handled a lot of questions over the past couple of weeks concerning the November set of Embedded security updates, the format of the updates on the OEM Secure Site, and some other things.  I want to get as much info out to as many people as possible and

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1140553738851157582006-02-21T12:25:00.000-08:002006-11-27T10:56:06.516-08:00

The February 2006 Security Updates for Windows XP Embedded with SP1 and SP2 are now available on https://microsoft.embeddedoem.com. Included are the following updates: MS05-054: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (905915) Reissued from December 2005MS06-001: Vulnerability in AVI Processing Could Allow Remote Code Execution (912919) JanuaryMS06-002: Vulnerability in Graphics

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1136666214259474872006-01-07T12:34:00.000-08:002006-01-07T12:36:54.270-08:00

The most recent XP Pro update, MS06-001: Vulnerability in Graphics Rendering Engine Could Allow Remote Code Execution (912919), has been release on the OEM Secure Site for XPE SP1 and SP2 users.--Jon

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1136577046472423672006-01-06T11:50:00.000-08:002006-01-06T11:50:46.536-08:00

Very cool - wish I was at CES to see this. Maybe, if I get a chance to go to MEDC this year, I'll see it then.High-end digital media servers run Windows XP Embedded

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1135195139863472462005-12-21T11:57:00.000-08:002005-12-22T07:59:54.583-08:00

For those of you regulars, you may remember once I mentioned that this is one of two blogs I maintain - the other is a personal blog on political issues. Tuesday, i oopsed and posted a politcal article to this blog. I apologize for that - this is a technical blog, not a political one, and I do my best to keep the two worlds separate. My apologies if I offended anyone with the inappropriate

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1134773135422048372005-12-16T14:43:00.000-08:002006-07-23T06:00:45.193-07:00

The December Security updates for Windows XP Embedded with SP1 and SP2 for use with the Desktop QFE Installer Tool are now available on https://microsoft.embeddedoem.com. Included are the following updates:904706 MS05-050: Security Update for DirectX: Vulnerability in DirectShow Could Allow Remote Code Execution (re-release)905915 MS05-054: Cumulative Security Update for Internet

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1134078624110923502005-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:002005-12-08T13:50:24.156-08:00

Interesting story, and more reasons why XPE is such a compelling platform for business.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1132172784787717892005-11-16T12:25:00.000-08:002005-11-16T12:26:30.126-08:00

Finally, the October update rollup is ready to go, in the format we've all come to know and love. I'll be pushing them out on the Download Center for Eval customers tomorrow, and making sure we don't have this drama in December...

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1132172659650947612005-11-16T12:24:00.000-08:002005-11-16T12:24:19.700-08:00

This is kinda cool - a company called CoroWare used XPE to quickly prototype a robot for a trade show. They cut development time by up to 60% - more details at the link at the bottom. Move over Mars Rover - here comes the Interplanetary Embedded Expeditionary Force! Evidence Details - Global Evidence Management System

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1131655902695491762005-11-10T12:47:00.000-08:002005-11-10T12:51:42.710-08:00

I'm trying to be neither alliterative nor redundant - the title just came out that way...Anyway, back on November 2, I noted that we were working on getting the October updates re-released as EXE and RTF files, rather than CD ISO format. Well, the web development team has the correct bits now and is working to rebuild the pages - I expect the job to be completed by early next week. Look for an

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1131058201503856062005-11-03T14:50:00.000-08:002005-11-03T14:50:01.570-08:00

While I'm normally excited to see technology spread into new areas, this one has me shuddering. You see, I ride a motorcycle ('96 Harley Davidson Wide Glide, in case you were interested), every day to and from work, rain or shine, day or night, hot or cold. I already have a tough enough time dealing with yuppies in BMW's talking on their cell phones on the highways and byways - now I'll have to

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1130956448808977932005-11-02T10:25:00.000-08:002005-11-02T10:34:08.856-08:00

If you've gone to the OEM Secure Site to scan for the October componentized updates, you've been both happy and confused. Happy because the releases are out there - confused because they're in a strange format.When the bits were released, they were released on CD - this means a few things. First, you can order an October XPE Update CD (that's probably not the name, but that's the spirit of the

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1130348724385988672005-10-26T10:25:00.000-07:002005-10-26T10:45:24.453-07:00

PSS has found a potential problem with XPE SP1 and SP2 systems after MS05-052 has been added to them using the Desktop QFE Installer versions of the updates. The issue is that ActiveX controls may not activate properly. If you experience this problem, add the following registry keys to your runtime:Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0000031A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1130260913193259952005-10-25T10:07:00.000-07:002005-10-25T10:21:53.230-07:00

There's a great post on the Embedded Team blog that stems from some work we've been doing in Windows Servicibility. My test lead, Randy, came up with this technique in a day - another day to clean it up and make it readable, and you have the post Lynda submitted. What is it?Well, it's how you can run two XPE databases on the same server, like maybe an SP1 DB along with an SP2 DB, all on one

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1129828674842947592005-10-20T09:58:00.000-07:002005-10-20T10:17:54.903-07:00

Well, part of the October updates are on the OEM Secure Site - the ones for use with the (inaccurately named) Desktop QFE Installer Tool have been posted. I'm looking into why the component updates aren't there - they were actually released by me the day after the desktop updates.A few notes about these persistent delays - in the past, the delays have been due to engineering delays. We wait

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1129685426256732262005-10-18T18:28:00.000-07:002005-10-18T18:30:26.256-07:00

Sorry to have to do this, but I'm getting tons of comment spam - at least 10 a day, from all my blogs. Since I blog on Blogger, they have a way to defeat it - code word verification. Simply put, if you want to comment, you have translate the modified bitmap phrase into typed text. Since automated systems can't do this, I don't get comment spam from them.It's a hassle for you, but to be honest,

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1129685042317082122005-10-18T18:14:00.000-07:002005-10-18T18:24:02.350-07:00

Hi, remember me? Been a LONG while since I've posted anything, I know (like July). No good news to report until now...Seems like Sean Liming's kept himself busy - head up to his Tools page, and towards the bottom, you'll see a link to a new tool called SLDDiff. For those of you who have his latest XPE book, the Windows XP Embedded Supplemental Toolkit, this will look familiar - it's a lot like

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1120858607474163782005-07-08T14:36:00.000-07:002006-02-08T23:27:10.470-08:00

A story on CRN tells the grim tale of the lifespan of an unprotected machine - according to information from Sophos, a machine on the Internet averages 12 minutes before it’s infected with a worm.  The Internet Storm Center estimates the time at 34 minutes, while an AvanteGarde study over two weeks calculated an average 4 minutes before an XP SP1 machine was compromised by bots.  Take it as you

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1120595392586982442005-07-05T13:29:00.000-07:002005-07-05T13:29:52.646-07:00

If you’re using SUS on an older XPE deployment, take note here – SUS 1.0 (which shipped with XPE SP1) is no longer available for download from Microsoft.  The Windows Update Services component in XPE SP2 supersedes it, and support for the old version ends in one year.  Remember, folks, I didn’t make this decision, I’m just reporting the news here… Oh, and expect the June security update rollups

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1119544019303040062005-06-23T09:26:00.000-07:002005-06-23T09:27:45.180-07:00

Yesterday, the following Desktop Security Updates for Windows XP Embedded were published to the OEM Secure Site at https://microsoft.embeddedoem.com:Windows XP Embedded with Service Pack 2MS05-019: Vulnerabilities in TCP/IP Could Allow Denial of Service (893066)MS05-025: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (883939)MS05-026: Vulnerabilities in HTML Help Could Allow Remote Code

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1118947063811941932005-06-16T11:37:00.000-07:002005-06-16T11:40:12.993-07:00

I sent off the requests for the recent round of security updates on Tuesday – they’re working their way through the release process and should be available soon.  I’ll update the blog once they’re posted to the OEM Secure Site.For the record, here is the list of updates that apply to XPE that we are releasing – remember, we only pick up Critical and Important fixes by default. XPE SP1XPE SP2MS05-

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1118436981838965872005-06-10T13:56:00.000-07:002005-06-10T13:58:51.606-07:00

Great news from Tech-Ed – the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center) team made a presentation about how security vulnerabilities are patched on Microsoft platforms and applications.  This is great background material and shows how much work goes into the updated binaries themselves.  All this work happens well before XPE ever gets to work the Embedded voodoo to bring you the componentized

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1118360825583573072005-06-09T16:47:00.000-07:002005-06-09T16:47:25.340-07:00

Not sure if this is common knowledge, but Microsoft publishes the Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification the week before security bulletins are supposed to come out.  While it identifies neither specific issues nor bulletins, it does give you a count of issues for Windows.  As a rule of thumb, any Critical or Important bulletin applicable to Windows is packaged to XPE, so the Windows

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1117867542331230312005-06-03T23:45:00.000-07:002005-06-03T23:45:42.336-07:00

Not sure if I plugged this before, but the latest episode of the Code Room focussed on embedded tech, and stars XPE superstar and eMVP Sean Liming – give it a look.  Not much on XPE, but it’s good to kill your lunch hour anyway.MSDN TV: The Code Room: Building Mobile Apps and Bluetooth Enabled Kiosks

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1117866835164096822005-06-03T23:33:00.000-07:002005-06-03T23:33:55.206-07:00

OK, it’s not strictly Embedded, but it may open the way for a new class of Embedded devices.  Office is opening their formats to be XML based, which in and of itself is very cool (side note: this will make publishing extra info about Embedded security updates much easier).  But what if someone were to come up with a way, outside of Office, to consume these new formats and put it on an Embedded

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1117083454360865352005-05-25T21:57:00.000-07:002005-05-25T21:57:34.406-07:00

File this as a follow-up to my talk at MEDC about XP SP2, XPE SP2, and securing your XPE devices – an internal analysis of XP SP2 found machines running it were 15 times less likely to have one of the top twenty malware apps on it than RTM or SP1 desktops.  Microsoft: SP2 makes Windows 15 times safer

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1117037651608162042005-05-25T09:14:00.000-07:002005-05-25T09:14:13.160-07:00

It was announced last night – Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS) is a reality.  Based on XPE SP2, WEPOS is a retail-optimised platform (not my term)… you know, I should talk in my own voice…WEPOS is an installable OS, like XP, but it’s based on XPE SP2, and it’s designed for POS terminals and other devices used in retail.  It’s not just our POS macro component with a lot of HW support

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1116882481605442692005-05-23T14:08:00.000-07:002005-05-23T14:08:01.660-07:00

This makes a lot of sense to me – I use variations of the same password on multiple websites, depending on the strength allowed or enforced, but would like to have different passwords in different places.  My solution?  My Pocket PC – I have a password saving app on my Dell Axim that I use to store these passwords (along with other sensitive info).  Protecting the info is the key, and by storing

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1116453388589137132005-05-18T14:56:00.000-07:002005-05-18T14:56:28.656-07:00

Interesting - this is the first I’ve heard of this, and it’s a good follow-up to my talk on securing XPE devices from MEDC last week.  While nothing in this article is specific to XPE, it will bear fruit for XPE device makers as a welcome side-effect of it’s goals of protecting XP desktops.  A variation of a honey pot, the “honeymonkey” concept doesn’t wait for hackers to come feast on the honey,

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1116348620410770102005-05-17T09:50:00.000-07:002005-05-17T09:54:24.413-07:00

Well, MEDC is over – sorry I didn’t post more last week.  For some reason, when I got back to Seattle Friday afternoon I was very tired – might have been the fact that I averaged 4 hours of sleep per night while in Vegas (go figure).The last day was pretty cool – I volunteered to referee the SumoBot competition, which was won by the lone RC entry from ASU.  We had some cool prizes, including more

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1115840776693440802005-05-11T12:46:00.000-07:002006-04-14T20:43:38.790-07:00

You know, I wish I had something to report from this morning, but since I had no commitments until this afternoon, I spend the morning in a small poker tourney (placed 7th out of 30, top five paid).However, I do have some info from last night’s Ask the Experts session, where I had a chance to talk to more than a few customers.  One thing that came up was using RDP to access a Minlogon XPE box –

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1115743725819040322005-05-10T09:48:00.000-07:002005-05-10T09:48:45.906-07:00

Mike Hall just got through with a demo of the new Windows Mobile 5.0 – part of the demo included an XPE SP2 device with HORM.  On stage, Mike pulled the plug on the device, then plugged it back in, and watched the device POST and reboot into the custom shell with about a 7 second delay. Sweet!If you missed the streaming keynote, you should be able to get it on demand from the webcasts site.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1115683684272213532005-05-09T17:08:00.000-07:002005-05-09T17:08:04.316-07:00

Well, the first post that was supposed to go out this morning took a while – seems my blog posting software, BlogJet, was configured to use the internal MS proxy server rather than auto-detecting (which explains a lot).Now it’s around 5pm – I’m running through my hands-on lab (HOL) to make sure it will work as advertised and get the kinks out of it.  After this is done (probably another 30

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1115683276504950092005-05-09T17:01:00.000-07:002005-05-09T17:01:16.603-07:00

Well, I’m here in sunny Lost Wages.  I always have problems sleeping when I travel, so I was out walking the casino floor around midnight and ordering dinner at 1am.  The thing I love about Las Vegas is that, if you don’t have a watch, you really have no idea what time it is – the casino is open and running 24/7, and the only way to tell time is either by the restaurant closings or the kids

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1115051495487667542005-05-02T09:31:00.000-07:002005-05-02T09:38:50.953-07:00

Updates updateWell, the April updates were posted to the OEM Secure Site last week – the date is April 29, which is right on for when they asked me to verify the bits downloads.  This time gap between desktop updates and component updates will be consistent through the early summer, but expect it to decrease as summer languishes into fall – that’s when we’ll have things in place to start to turn

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1113953040905792272005-04-19T16:24:00.000-07:002005-04-19T16:24:00.906-07:00

OK, I just approved the DL’s for the April security bulletins - expect to see them live later today or tomorrow.  I apologize for the long delay on this – my web release guys were swamped last week, due to two factors:  first, it was Security Bulletin time around here; and second, last week was spring break for the local school systems and lots of people had vacation planned with their families.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1113347267546249442005-04-12T16:07:00.000-07:002005-04-12T16:07:47.546-07:00

There are scheduled security bulletins today for XP Pro – we’re already working on the Embedded versions, and the desktop version should be on the OEM Secure Site by the end of the week, next Monday at the latest.To keep up to date, you can add the Microsoft Security Bulletin RSS feed to your favorite RSS reader (I use Serence KlipFolio) to get updates on what’s current, and keep a handy list of

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1113255778592608662005-04-11T14:42:00.000-07:002005-04-11T14:42:58.593-07:00

You know, I thought I had blogged this back in November, but I can’t find it.  In any case, here’s the story, trying to find the original AvantGarde report.  There’s scary news (Windows XP SP1 machines on the Internet were owned – not hacked, probed, tested, but owned – on average in four minutes) and good news (Windows XP SP2 with the Windows Firewall on by default kept the machine from being

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1113246926526985752005-04-11T12:15:00.000-07:002005-04-11T12:15:26.526-07:00

Well, I guess I better start updating this a bit more – there are actually people reading it that I didn’t approach with the request, “PLEASE READ MY BLOG!”  Not that I’m that desparate for a readership, but who knows?  Should I decide to turn the corner from Helpful Embedded Guy to Evil Genius, a solid readership makes for a ready source of Evil Henchmen recruits… :-)Anyway, on to the letter –

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1112315302592488212005-03-31T16:28:00.000-08:002005-03-31T16:28:22.593-08:00

Well, this is my first blog post from my new position on the Sustained Engineering team.  While my office move was done a few weeks ago, and I’ve been doing the job since then as well, it was just made official today (at least, that’s when it finally filtered up through the many various DB layers to show up in our address book).  So today, officially, I am no longer on the Embedded team.I’ll wait

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1111772921445449632005-03-25T09:48:00.000-08:002005-03-25T09:48:41.446-08:00

New BlogHave you checked out the new XP/LH Embedded Team blog yet?  You haven’t?  Why not?  Oh, I see, you’ve been busy.  Out of town, you say?  Off visiting the in-laws for a week?  Well, most libraries, even in that little town your spouse’s parents live in, have internet access – why not break away for a while and read some cool stuff?  You can’t tell me that your father-in-law account of the

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1111080316649635932005-03-17T09:25:00.000-08:002005-03-17T09:25:16.650-08:00

ZDNet is reporting a German visitor to CeBit trying to notify about a dozen companies that their products which use Linux are in violation of the GPL by not returning the modified source to the community.  The protagonist in our story, one Harald Welte, is the author of netfilter/iptables and a one man wrecking crew when it comes to tracking down GPL violators as part of the GPL Violations

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1110937577593056882005-03-15T17:46:00.000-08:002005-03-15T17:46:17.593-08:00

A quick update on some changes happening here at Microsoft.First, the bad news – I am no longer a part of the Embedded team.Now, the good news – I am moving to the Sustained Engineering team to handle servicing of XPE.  What this means is that XPE servicing will now be part of the servicing infrastructure for all of Windows.  This includes not only security and other updates, but also future

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1109878739182076752005-03-03T11:38:00.000-08:002005-03-04T10:08:31.076-08:00

OK, we’ve had one of our best people (namely Aaron Stebner) working on getting this working.  He’s got a set of steps that workaround the previously mentioned problems with applying the .Net security updates to XPE runtimes.  Look for the updates to be back on the OEM Secure Site within a week – in the meantime, you can DL the bits from the Download Center to test these steps out (Aaron shold

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1109805545358701662005-03-02T15:19:00.000-08:002005-03-02T15:19:05.356-08:00

The article itself isn’t what’s interesting here (well, it’s interesting, but on a different level)  – it’s the last three paragraphs that summarize the relevant portions of the book “They Made America”:Describing the development of CP/M, [Harold] Evans wrote that "[Gary] Kildall created the bedrock and subsoil out of which the PC software industry would grow.""Entirely out of his own head,

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1109791989924101012005-03-02T11:33:00.000-08:002005-03-02T11:33:09.923-08:00

Yes, we all know that, as a U.S. citizen, he can’t carry a title of nobility, but there is is anyway.  He can’t go by Sir William, but he can sign his name Bill Gates, K.B.E. (Knight of the British Empire).  And no, I don’t know if he’s taking jousting or swordsmanship training… :-)Yahoo! News - Bill Gates to Receive Honorary UK Knighthood

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1109377840922008592005-02-25T16:22:00.000-08:002005-02-25T16:31:41.566-08:00

OK, I mentioned Sean Liming's new book, Windows XP Embedded Supplemental Toolkit, in a previous post. I just got my copy of it today, and it looks good.Sean's covered most of XPE SP2, and relied heavily on the Embedded community to give him pointers, tips, and info. The updated Tips and Tricks from Embedded's own Lynda Allen are worth the read in and of themselves (ignore the MS ID numbers -

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1109122001867951342005-02-22T17:26:00.000-08:002005-02-22T17:32:19.343-08:00

This will go on the left in a few minutes - Sean Liming has a cool web site with some kick-ass tools on it. I'd be giving a look if I were you. His stuff is the best docs on XPE, and his latest toolkit is awesome, well worth the price of admission.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1109110605507867062005-02-22T14:16:00.000-08:002005-02-22T14:16:45.506-08:00

We've had some recent issues with the .Net security update for XPE desktop installs (MS05-004, KB 887219, ASP.NET Path Validation Vulnerability).  The way we do .Net installs on XPE isn't the way the update package thinks it should be, so the update won't install on XPE runtimes.  We're going to pull the update from the OEM Secure Site, and are working on a way to make this work for XPE runtimes.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1097797786607732552004-10-14T16:49:00.000-07:002004-10-14T16:49:46.606-07:00

The October set of Windows XP Pro security bulletins is out for XPE, and has been posted to the OEM Secure Site for use by XPE customers.  What's posted are the updates to the runtime for use with the (inaccurately named) Desktop QFE Installer tool.  Look for the database updates toward the end of next week on the OEM Secure Site and the Download Center.  We do the desktop updates first for two

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1097275931971963792004-10-08T15:52:00.000-07:002004-10-08T15:52:11.970-07:00

Check out the Embedded Download web page, and you'll see a new feature listed at the top - DirectX 9.0c for XPE.  This has been a long time coming, and we're happy to finally have it done (well, almost done - it's still being released to the OEM Secure Site, but that should happen Monday).

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1096994824882600562004-10-05T09:47:00.000-07:002004-10-05T09:47:04.883-07:00

You may have already heard about this, but if you head over the the download center, you can get the Tech Preview version of XPE SP2.  This is the RC version - the final version should be available fairly soon.You can read more about the tech preview on MSN Money as well.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1096930754121539412004-10-04T15:59:00.000-07:002004-10-04T16:01:41.923-07:00

Pretty cool - the State of Iowa Court Information SYstem is using XPE thin clients and Sygate's Security Agent 4.0.STATE OF IOWA JUDICIAL BRANCH SELECTS SYGATE'S ADVANCED ENDPOINT SECURITY FOR WINDOWS XP EMBEDDED THIN CLIENTS

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1095459377703319682004-09-17T15:16:00.000-07:002004-09-23T18:05:46.616-07:00

Here's a cool website for Robothon - SRS Mini Challenge, a robotics challenge.  One of our internal partners has built a robot based on XPE for this - here are the details he's given me (with personally identifying info removed, of course):It's built around a Via EPIA 5000 motherboard running XP Embedded with .NET Framework 2.0 Beta 1 off a Compact Flash card.  It can be remote controlled over

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1095370533948339932004-09-16T14:35:00.000-07:002004-09-16T14:35:57.766-07:00

Sean Liming, author of the books "Windows XP Embedded Advanced" and "Windows NT Embedded Step-By-Step" has opened the XP Embedded Center, a new web site around XPE.  If you have need of an experienced consultant with tons of embedded experience, drop by Sean's site and see what he can do for you.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1095098134263934722004-09-13T10:55:00.000-07:002004-09-13T10:55:34.263-07:00

From Sygate:Sygate Technologies introduced today version 4.0 of Sygate Security Agent for Windows XP Embedded, expanding its market leadership position by offering the most advanced security solution for Microsoft Windows XP Embedded devices. In addition to enhanced virus protection and anti-application hijacking, other key enhancements increase performance and manageability of the solution.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1094605273263709882004-09-07T18:01:00.000-07:002004-09-07T18:01:13.263-07:00

The first meeting of the Windows Embedded Developer's Interest Group (WE-DIG) was last Wednesday evening.  I would have posted a summary sooner, but shortly after the meeting, I was on vacation...Anyway, the first meeting was focussed on Windows CE 5.0 - not exactly prime subject material for this blog.   We had Mark Miller (CE Architect) and Chip Schnarel (CE Group Program Manager) available for

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1094079717364647772004-09-01T16:01:00.000-07:002004-09-01T16:01:57.363-07:00

I've been doing some work for a customer or two involving Remote Boot Services (RBS) and SDI, and have found a few things of interest.First, SDIMGR.WSF does run under XPE runtimes.  As with most everything XPE-related, however, there are a few caveats:You need to add SDIMGR.WSF and SDIAUT.DLL to the runtime (either manually or in a custom component you create - we don't have an SDI component).You

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1093649994144573742004-08-27T16:39:00.000-07:002004-08-27T16:39:54.143-07:00

There's a new whitepaper on MSDN that I've authored called Building Servicable Devices.  It's been in the works for a while - I wrote the bulk of it a few months back, but then ran out of bandwidth with all the XPE SP2 work I was doing.  By the time someone got traction on it, it was July.Anyway, the paper is there and covers some high level topics on how to think about servicing XPE devices. 

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1093368004331523032004-08-24T10:20:00.000-07:002004-08-24T10:20:04.333-07:00

I've been working on an issue for two different customers who are trying to use Remote Boot Server (RBS) as a deployment tool.  The scenario goes like this - build a remote boot image, boot a device using that RBS image, then copy a different image from your network to the underlying media on the device.  The steps for building the RBS SDI include booting the device through FBA, then cloning the

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1091726337904078382004-08-05T10:18:00.000-07:002004-08-05T10:18:57.913-07:00

I just joined the Windows Embedded Developer Interest Group (WE-DIG), based here in Seattle for now.  It's a group of embedded developers who use Microsoft technology - that includes Windows CE, Mobile, and of course, XPE.  Our first meeting is set for September 1, 6:30pm-9:00pm, on Microsoft campus - if you find yourself in Seattle around that time, drop me an e-mail and I'll give you directions

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1090002071248850752004-07-16T11:21:00.000-07:002006-02-06T17:28:36.986-08:00

Last week, I found an interesting document from the NIST (National Institute os Standards and Technology) titled Guidance for Securing Microsoft Windows XP for IT Professionals: A NIST Configuration Checklist (PDF version).  It's an interesting read - they cover a lot of ground, and it is aimed at XP Pro boxes living used in business environments (they do cover small home-based business PC's as

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1089764411470364902004-07-13T17:20:00.000-07:002004-07-13T17:20:11.476-07:00

July 14, 11:00am PDT, you'll want to go to the MSDN Webcast site for a webcast by Embedded MVP Brad Coombs (host and owner of XPE Files) for a talk on Windows XP Embedded.  I'll be there listening to him, and you should be too, especially if you're not quite sure if XPE is right for you.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1089747975428462172004-07-13T12:46:00.000-07:002004-07-13T12:46:15.436-07:00

I have installed an interesting application - BlogJet. It's a cool Windows client for my blog tool (as well as for other tools). Get your copy here: http://blogjet.com"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." -- Pablo Picasso

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1088707923960242642004-07-01T11:45:00.000-07:002004-07-13T17:24:02.486-07:00

Well Devcon is almost over - it's the last day of the conference, and not much is happening. I was able to review my speaker stats for the two labs and the session I gave - not bad, all around a 7 of out of 9 rating. The docs for these labs and sessions will be available at some point in the future - as soon as I know where they are, I'll let everyone know.All in all, it was a good show. I was

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1088445127190574892004-06-28T10:41:00.000-07:002004-06-28T10:52:07.190-07:00

I mentioned in an earlier blog about getting more memory for my laptop in order to run Virtual PC. Well, it works well - my laptop is still responsive even running an XPE image in VPC. Problem is, when the VPC is backgrounded, it's responsiveness is roughly analogous to the reflexes of a frozen bag of 12-count shrimp. The solution? Keep the VPC in the foreground. It won't ever be as

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1088443135985724742004-06-28T10:16:00.000-07:002004-06-28T10:19:24.416-07:00

OK, Devcon is here. I'm in the speaker room sitting next to John Vorchak, typing in my blog and reading some news articles. I need to track down Mike Hall so I can make sure my labs are correctly setup for tomorrow, and I need to make sure the whole thing runs smoothly, but other than that, today is an easy day. Of course, it's still early, plenty of time for the fickle finger of fate to

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1087964093200526322004-06-22T21:11:00.000-07:002004-06-22T21:14:53.200-07:00

Well, Devcon is coming up fast - I'm busy putting the finishing touches on the last lab I'm doing (a basic XPE lab) and wanted to make sure the readers here that are going to Devcon know this: Go to the Devcon Attendees site, and print out the materials for the labs and sessions you want to attend. I can't stress this enough - we'll have copies of the materials on hand, but from what I know,

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1087520203819012862004-06-17T17:56:00.000-07:002004-06-17T17:56:43.820-07:00

Not exactly XPE related, but cool anyway - atomic teleportation. Basically, NIST scientists have figured out how to transfer quantum properties from one atom to another with no movement involved. Reminiscent of quantum teleporation, but in this case the particles are bigger and the goal is more attainable - data transfer with computing applications. My only problem is gonna be trying to figure

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1087329974797839862004-06-15T13:03:00.000-07:002004-06-15T13:06:14.796-07:00

You know, I need to be more diligent before posting to my blogs. I've got the Google toolbar on my machines, with a Blog This! button on them. I find a cool website, I click Blog This! and create the post. Problem is I have two blogs - one for XPE, and the other a personal blog for political issues. If I'm not careful, I wind up posting political essays to this blog - not good juju. If you

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1087320514416600052004-06-15T10:18:00.000-07:002004-06-15T10:28:34.416-07:00

Well, my memory arrived for my laptop today. Got an e-mail from our Admin Assistant saying "Come and get it!" When I got to her office, she wasn't there, the door was locked, and my memory, wrapped in pink bubble-wrap, tempted me from forty-eight inchesaway. OK, so four of those inches were solid oak door, but still, it's agonizing. In any case, I've got a machine that runs VPC, so I'm

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1087248449656563082004-06-14T14:27:00.000-07:002004-06-14T14:27:29.656-07:00

Not exactly technically related, but good to know - mainstream media is now learning about blogs, blogging, and bloggers. TIME.com: Meet Joe Blog -- Jun. 21, 2004

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1086885271713056822004-06-10T09:33:00.000-07:002004-06-10T09:34:31.713-07:00

If you caught the last post, sorry. I have a politically oriented blog as well, and posted an entry to wrong place.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1086825396908940832004-06-09T16:50:00.000-07:002004-06-09T18:48:13.456-07:00

Just a quick update today. Been working on a spec for a really cool tool. I wish I could say more about it, but it's still in the planning/review stage. Once it's something more than vaporware, I'll make a small announcement. Also been working to make sure the Devcon XPE SP2 CD's are good to go. We had a meeting today on the lab machines we're gonna use at Devcon. Mike Hall is setting

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1086744045565105552004-06-08T17:58:00.000-07:002004-06-08T18:20:45.566-07:00

I thought, coming in today, I'd be able to handle a newsgroup issue about old QFE's not having additional info docs in them - easy breezy day, run down some info, fill in some doc forms, piece of cake. I had left early Monday evening to catch game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals (Calgary should have won it Saturday night, but it was entertaining, at least), so there was some late mail waiting for me

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774094.post-1085815373444586362004-05-29T00:01:00.000-07:002004-05-29T00:22:53.446-07:00

Hi all! Remember me? Been a while, but there's a good reason why... I'm not in charge of QFE's anymore. My colleague, Jay (you can meet him at Devcon in June) has taken over the XPE QFE efforts, and he's doing a great job at it. He's a new member of the Customer Strike Team - you may have heard him at one of our recent webcasts. So what have I been doing instead of QFE's? I've been

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18346654242100702767noreply@blogger.com0