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Matt's ASIQS blog posts have been migrated to there new home on footheory.com.
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Matt's Weblog

May 2007 - Posts

  • The Windows Live Team Releases Next Betas in Concert

    Finally, the much anticipated next release of Windows Live Writer is here.  The Writer release it seems was coordinated with Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Mail v.Next betas. 

    Writer Beta 2 Splash (1)

    Writer's new UI experience is apparent from the Vista Glass-like splash screen.  Some of the welcome product improvements include:

    • Improved WYSIWYG editing
    • Table editing for layout
    • Inline spell checking
    • Local/online sync - I've had issues with this in the past
    • The ability to add RSS tags/categories would be cool.  Funny, though, I'm not able to add them as shown on Writer Zone.  The screen cap below shows what I'm getting.

    Writer Beta 2 Cant Add Categories

    You can learn more and download Live Writer here.  Though, Live Writers extensibility seems more focused and easy to do I'd like to see Word (out of the box) provide more fully baked blogging functionality: flickr4writer/tags4writer-like functionality and direct HTML editing (even if verbose) would go a long way.  I'll continue to use Live Writer as my primary blogging tool but all-in-all the release isn't earth shattering.  Oh - and by the way, all of my current Live Writer plug-ins continue to work (nice).  My overall take - definitely download it. 

    So I look out and Tim's already drafted a new Writer extension for subtext.  Some more good stuff..

    As for Live Messenger: call me a simple but I like the new Vista-like skin.  I haven't yet found any new features of note - but I'll keep my eyes open.  I would have liked to have seen things like tabbed and dockable conversations and the like but - perhaps we'll see something at release.  Ok - now I'm even more interested in getting my hands on the new Yahoo! messenger.  I know that isn't the reaction the Mothership wanted to elicit with this release but - well...  Here's a snip of the new UI (buddies names obfuscated, of course, to protect the not so innocent). 

    Live Messenger 8.5 Beta

    Live Mail, though I've not yet downloaded the new beta, seemed not all that helpful for me as I'm an Office/Outlook 2007 user.  I had two issues with the prior beta: 1) live contacts didn't sync with my Outlook contacts (this is a big one for me) and 2) Though I like the tight integration with Hotmail, I use Outlook for work (Exchange) and SMTP email accounts and I don't like to use two clients.  I'd like to see a tighter experience with the premier client (Outlook).  To be fair though, I need to download it and try it out.

    So in recap: the two releases were good but very cautious.  No need to elaborate on the fact that I'm a big Microsoft proponent but this triple-releases' product backlog (Scrum-terminology ;-)) seems to have been driven by the Risk analysis team.  Come on Live team - let's get some balls or point out to management that more resources are needed.  There are huge expectations in this space.  I speak only for myself here, but I know this was a widespread sentiment: I was expecting that with the Live initiative roll-out and early small releases that we'd get small but regular functional tidbits.  Perhaps "shame on me" for working up my expectations.  However, after getting months of Live Writer daily digests: with no real feedback on upcoming features this drop was light.  Perhaps communicating what the release schedule is, and it can be done without hard commitments to the community, expectations wouldn't be so steep.  Hell what am I saying, they should be steep!

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  • Song Identification - Very Cool

    So I'm watching TV while catching up, from a weekend in LA, on some reading and I had to rewind the DVR for this one.  The commercial started out in a narrative of a "music hunter that prowls the streets" (paraphrasing).  The guy in the commercial stops in front of a shop were a creepy guy stands watching, seemingly, for potential suckers and a small boom box is playing a song that catches the guys attention.  He raises his phone and clicks a button.  A second later he looks at the phone and in its display reads - "Song ID: Song Identified": with the songs name. 

    Oh - that's frick'n cool!

    The commercial was for one of Verizon's V Cast phones.  However, after some quick, and very light, research I find that the technology isn't brand new (no big surprise - coming out of Verizon) or limited to any provider for that matter.  Take a look at the Verizon feature and here's a good post on the subject where the writer describes the possible technology behind the Verizon implementation as well as some alternatives for non-Verizon customers, like me.

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  • Foo Theory Blogger Gets On The NetFx3.com Rolls

    Bennie, a fellow Foo Theory founding member and friend, will have his Workflow Foundation posts aggregated on the wf.netfx3.com blog roll.  Some excellent content man! 

  • RE: Tim's Post on Avoidance Tools

    So I got a kick out of Tim's post on Twitter and Avoidance Tools. 

    Here's a modified version of my comment to his post.  One of these days I'll figure out trackbacks etc and do this stuff right.  Maybe I'll email Tim Wink.

    -----------------------------

    Hilarious Tim! Not many, of anybodies, posts do I agree with wholly but as I signed up for Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/mortiz) last night I too am feeling my way through my use of it. So tonight I've been looking to see who of my friends are also using Twitter and he kills me with his comment on posting about going to breakfast (LOL). It really hit home as I posted in a restaurant parking lot earlier tonight from my phone, while the wife was feeding our newborn, about the "family date" we'd just had.

    I do see Twitter as a good way to journal though: the SMS functionality brings a lot to the equation. For different people posting this way may be helpful in different ways. For me, at first glance, it could be 1) a way to remember what I'm doing professionally so that I can drive out larger post content later. Although, I think to myself, might I just consider looking at my calendar. 2) after reading my Twitter posts from last night it may be a way to help me review my work/life balance over time (ya - not likely). BTW: feel free to give me a break, I wont be posting every few minutes normally. It was my first night with the Twitter/TwitBox combo so I was doing more discovery than normal journaling. 3) ...

    Personal/Targeted Posts

    So to posting about going to breakfast or family date night: I'm wondering if there may be coming, and there might already be, a way to keep some Twitter posts non-public or targeted. As I'm sure some of my friends/followers will, perhaps, be interested in my work day happenings but not so much my family/personal interests. I'm also not so sure I want to post things about my family for review by others but don't want to give up the ability to journal personal stuff.

    Avoidance

    To another of Tim's points, Twitter and the other services he enumerates do seem to be bringing us even closer to a sort of no-touch voyeur/exhibitionist place Embarrassed. Though to disagree on one point: Tim, of all people, need not worry (in general) about personal contact/communication. He makes time for a lot of people professionally and for friends/colleagues, it just so happens to be his job. Besides, who decided, and why is it consensus, for instance, that phone calls are better than, say, lunch?  Or to go even further back just showing up at dawn at your buddies door step. Of course time, ok and maybe appropriateness, is the answer. But I pose that time, or even the fact that we may not actually like some people, is why we don't communicate directly. Based on this and other posts, though, Tim fleshes out something that I've too noticed of myself: that family, or those closest to us, sometimes get less attention that they deserve.

    So as I typed this original reply (actually while typing) I found myself thinking… Maybe with friend/group categories we can communicate through Twitter our next Band of Brothers lunch. But damn, this is another example of the trapping, not to mention a ridiculous idea. So next I think: just pick up the phone and call, oh but wait I'd have to call 10/15 people, so just send out an email to the distro list. Then, when we do actually get together, we can go old-school and punch each other in the arm for not getting together more often Wink.

    Hold on: Did Tim just coin another one? Avoidance Tools (dunno). Take a look at his MILF concept. But I digress - well, maybe this whole post is ...

    Bringing it back

    So my last point is, and I know I'm stating the obvious and going a little tangent, but.. We're not always thinking about building the next burgeoning tech business model: but sometimes, in particular, people like us, want to just drive out our next personal technical project. Hmm.. Maybe another reason Twitter can be helpful. Note to self: reason #3/4...

    I closed the post reply with a poke at Tim about getting the "Band" out to lunch...  On the other hand, I've missed the last couple of get togethers.  Damn-it Einstein, why couldn't you just figure out how to slow down everyone else before leaving?!  Note to Hawkings: problem statement...

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