Hi All,

In short, the answer is nothing is impossible.. but.... 

Well, Check the answer for yourself here - http://ask-leo.com/can_i_combine_two_internet_connections_to_get_a_faster_connection.html.

Regards,

Bhavik

Hi all,

Just a FYI - Windows 7 Beta 1 is gonna be launched today at 0000 hrs PST. Make sure you download your copy, since its a limited download - ONLY 2.5 million downloads available :P

Regards,

BV.

Hi,

Well its not a security flaw. But you need to know about 'Zune Transcoded Files Cache'. Today I was cleaning up my Hard Disk (M/C has Vista) and while diggin in through the folders, I found an interesting folder -> C:\Users\B\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Zune\Transcoded Files Cache. This folder had around 2GB worth of '*.tmp' files. :P

More info about the 'Feature' is explained here. Also the cleanup on the same (not sure yet), is present in Disk Cleanup (Accessories\System Tools).

All I want to say is that you can safely reclaim this wasted space and keep doing so periodically.

Thanks,

Bhavik Vora

/* Updated Content */ 

Hi all,

Firstly wishing you all Happy Diwali and a prosperous new year (a hindu festival and tradition).

So wots up within Microsoft, Well PDC is the answer. Today is the forth and last day of PDC 2008 which is happening at Los Angeles. PDC has be a ground for Microsoft where it showcases the upcoming technologies and releases to the developers/industry/press. The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) consists of several hands-on/labs and sessions for these releases.

Major attractions at PDC 2008:

1. Windows Azure:

With all the buzz around Software + Service (S+S or better known as SaaS) increasing, more no. of companies are trying to get on the Service wagon to gain the most of it. Cloud computing, cloud OS and Cloud applications are now a reality with many new companies showing the power of SaaS. Microsoft is here with an OS in the cloud. Windows Azure is the base of the Windows Azure Services platform which is basically a set of developer services that extends the windows programming model to the cloud. Windows Azure offers a platform to support scalable applications – support for languages and frameworks like ASP.NET, AJAX, LINQ, WCF and WF. Also Windows Azure provides scalable storage with support for simple blobs, tables, queues etc.

Live Meeting and Live Mesh are already using Windows Azure. While Sharepoint and Dynamics are already been offered as a service. Windows Azure assures 0% down time for the applications hosted on its platform, unless developers host a broken piece of code. It was nearly impossible since OSes need to be patched and may require a downtime for the app. But Windows Azure achieves 0% downtime by moving the app to a different server while patching a particular server and moving it back. Azure also has plans for support for Java and PHP (as in its bound by Azure services).

2. Windows 7

Its the product that most awaited by customers (who disowned Vista for their stable Xp OS). Well before I make a statement here, I’ll like to try Windows 7 all by myself. Basically Windows 7 is Vista code with lot of improvements in the areas where people have complaints about Vista. A lot of improvement to some of the age old screens (dated Win 95 times) have changed here including the Calculator, Paint and Wordpad. UAC can be now controlled. Its about – compatibility, performance and UAC. A lot of screenshots are available on ZDNet. A Windows 7 Developers Guide is available on Codeplex which explains all the new features with screenshot.

3. Visual Studio 10 and .NET Framework 4.0 with C# 4.0

The next in line is Visual Studio. Its CTP is available for download here. The Download is quite bloated since it has all the bits. Here’s a post on how to download it with ease. Havent been able to use it till now. This Version adds GUI driven programming for Silverlight. Its also gearling up for the new release of .NET - 4.0.

4. Live Application Suite and Live Mesh

Live Mesh - This has been the most written about application. Its the envision of Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect to provide cloud computing to all. Live Mesh is a framework in which you can sync content between various devices - PC, Mac and Windows Mobile Phones. It comes with 5GB storage space that can store your media - photos, movies, albums and even your personal files. There can be shared applications too. A demo of - To Do List and a TV Program Channel guide was done in PDC this year.

5. Office Web Application

The online version for Office is out ! Its a free product by Microsoft that enters the league of other Online Office products. Not much info known by me as yet.

Disclaimer: All the information here is based on the info found on different blogs/sources and not necessarily the internal sources. This does not represent any confidential information for my company. Also the views shown here are solely mine and in now way represent my employers views. Also I cannot vouch for the features mentioned here, since I haven’t tested them and also that it may change in the release versions.

Hi all,

I have released PhotoResizer 0.5. Its a new release, hope it is useful for you.

Its the first release to meet the deadline :P

Check its new home at - http://photoresizer.bhavikvora.com

Please send me your comments/feedback on it :) Awaiting eagerly !

Thanks,

Bhavik.

Hi,

For the last week, I have been tweaking the (old) release of PhotoResizer to include more features and remove bugs. I have released the version to few of my close friends, and based on their feedback, will release it here on the website. (Well if you are genuinely interested in beta testing the app before I release here, please send me an email :)).

Some of the features in the yet-to-be-released version are:

- Drag and Drop image fieles for selection
- Improved performance (multithreaded to give you better response)
- Bug Fixed: File resizing by pixels
- Setup for PhotoResizer

Haven't included many features, but the features included here were essential.

Hope this version is much stable and proves useful. Keep watching this space for more info.

PS. Previous release are here: http://blog.bhavikvora.com/page/PhotoResizer-Release.aspx
Its pretty old release and I'll recommend you wait till this weekend for the upcoming release.

Thanks,

Bhavik Vora

Well I have learnt few things working with Javascript(JS) and AJAX in ASP.NET. I thought I'll put it here which can be used by others. The post concentrates majorly on Javascript.

1. Using ASP.NET Variables in Javascript

You can use ASP.NET variables which are global (public of course) as follows:

Suppose in C# file you have:

public string random= "0";

You can use the variable in JS (actually the ASP.NET page replaces the variable name on runtime) as follows:

<script type="text/javascript">
   function Foo()
   {
      var var1 = '<%= random %>';
      alert(var1);
   }
</script>

2. Simulating ASP.NET AJAX Applications

While simulating ASP.NET AJAX applications, we cannot really differentiate between the request being Async and if the page has posted back. Here’s a simple way to find it out – Just add a delay in the function which is run as an AJAX request. For Eg.

System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(10000);

This will provide a delay of 10 seconds. So when the function freezes at this point for 10 secs, you can check whether other parts of the site are responsive. If they ain’t you know that its not an AJAX request.

3. Referring to ASP.NET controls in JavaScript

You can refer to the ASP.NET controls in Javascript code as follows:

var var2 = document.getElementById('<%= Label1.ClientID %>').getAttribute("InnerHtml");

In the above piece of code, Label1 is a Label and we use the InnerHtml attribute for extracting the Text Label.

4. Triming Strings in JS

Trimming in Javascript is kinda trivial in case you use RegEx. Here’s an example to do so -

strvar = strvar.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, '');

I’ll continue with few more tricks I have learnt in the next post. Thanks for the patience of reading the post :)

Regards,

Bhavik Vora

FYI.

Ps. Shipping Restrictions

The United States Microsoft Store cannot ship to international addresses. Microsoft Store cannot yet ship to P.O. Boxes, U.S. Territories, or APO addresses at this time. We plan to add support for APO addresses in early 2009.

Regards,

Bhavik Vora

Well, I have to admit that I have been ignoring a post over here for such a long time. I am sorry to all of my readers (I guess there ain’t many).

I wont give out reasons here. I’ll like to take out some time from my very tight schedule here at Microsoft. I am not burdened with work, but I am taking very slow at learning. Well working here at Microsoft is real fun, but the real fun is knowing people out here. I’ve been in touch with 3 different batches of college hires that joined this year- 2008. For all those whom I have met, I have been simply amazed by the immense knowledge these ‘geeks’ have. One thing to say, every one is unique in its sense.

Well I cannot promise to keep writing the blog, but I’ll make sure I put up a post (tech/non-tech) every week.

With this said, I need to get up for the Salsa Classes I have joined. And no, Salsa is not a new programming language ;).

Thanks,

Bhavik Vora

Its been more than 4 weeks now that I am working here at Microsoft IT, India in the Hyderabad campus. I cant deny the fun that we have here everyday. Each day is a new learning experience for me with respect to the functioning of Microsoft, its values and the commitments it has towards its customers. I am deeply moved by the stress that Microsoft puts on the customer satisfaction. Apart from work, the workplace is marvelous and has all sorts of games (XBOX, Cricket ground, Football, Table Tennis, Pool, etc) to keep you away from home ;) . Well the silly part - I miss my family and friends. I'll keep you all updated about everything here on my blog site - http://blog.bhavikvora.com

Regards,

Bhavik Vora