It seems that our last challenge was (for one reason or another) difficult, or uninteresting.

So here is an update. It makes it *much* simpler BTW.

• The NSTv2 copy has been moved to the root of the domain! This means that instead of being on domain.com/??? it can now be found at domain.com!! If this does not make it easier, I don’t know what is left for us to do… :S
• A link has been added somewhere in the blog. it has been encrypted, and a redirection has been put in place, so I doubt you’ll find it by looking through the source… PHP and .htaccess work miracles you know :)

Best of luck!

-CG

Well, its official. Our development team has begun working on NSTv2! So here is your chance: find the location of the test server, and you’ll get a free link on our Blog for?a month and some recognition to boot! The hints:

• The test server has been mentioned on forums across the web, but not here :D
• Its a subfolder on a domain.. as in http://domain.com/neosmart_v2 (obviously not the real name!)
• One of the other foums with the NeoSmart Test server mentioned currently has a BIG project going on at the base domain!
• This contest will remain open for a week.
• If it becomes obvious that more help is needed, I’ll post a couple more hints ;)

Enjoy and Anticipate!
-CG

Well, from 7-8 GMT was a Vista Beta Chat on Scenario Voting..

Scenario Voting for those of you who don’t already know is a new feature in the beta program where members of the Microsoft Beta Team ask us to test out something in specific.. and we respond :D

Well, I missed most of the chat due to complications in the chatroom coding.. It turns out its not fully IE7 compliant, does not support Opera, and barely runs in Firefox….. {grumble} but that’s not important because for fifteen minutes I asked my questions, got quite a few answered, and then a fellow tester forwarded me the transcript :)

Here is the transcript for you to enjoy!

http://neosmart.net/ChatTranscript121205.doc

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Why are there two different sides to a coin? I mean, back when cave men decided to replace the barter system with gold and silver, then the gold and silver with coins and bills, did they predict we would use coins for coin tosses and Credit Cards for everything else?

But this blog is not for history buffs, nor is it for the Chicken or the Egg type questions.. It’s for technology.

If you find it hard to fathom why thousands of years ago they made coins double sided, then you should probably stop reading now; because it only gets mysteriouser and mysteriouser…

Now for the million dollar question:

Seeing as data cables support two-way communication between a device and a PC, why are there two different ends to a cable?

Before you answer, think about the following:

• It cannot be for making money off male-to-female converters (and vice-versa), because it would be cheaper to mass-produce cables with matching ends.
• Firewire is an example of a product that tried to set things right.. It had three different types of heads (!!!) and more types of cables than I can count (actually its 3! which equals six cables ;D) but of the six cables, three had matching ends (contact me for the math :P).. These found their biggest audience to be those searching to link identical devices to one another, for example, networking two PCs, transferring video between to Digital Video Cameras, etc. But now Firewire is dead..
• Using head/tail converters (aka extension cables) will significantly lower quality and speed, introduce static/interference, and decrease performance by some of the basic laws of physics.. You are adding resistance, you are adding a conductor that is in many times not 100% sealed, and you are rerouting the electric flow.
• If cheaper production costs, easier usage, and better performance aren’t enough to make you ask why, let me ask: why not?

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This is a special post dedicated to a very deserving soul. A big round of applause for Ines over at Ines’ Crib for helping me into the Windows Messenger Live Beta Program..
Well, you can be sure of one bit of beta testing, because we got in on a condition: that we test away, all day and all night long! Expect regular reports containing as much as I can let you guys know (with screenshots!) without breaking the NDAs or the Beta Agreement.. All I can say right now is: its awesome! :D

Too much talk, too many misconceptions; too much bragging, to much false info.

That just about sums up the rumors about the Vista December CTP. So here is to some clarification!

• The December CTP is not Code Complete.
• The December CTP is not Beta 2
• The December CTP is not a Public Beta
• The December CTP is an almost Code-Complete build. Microsoft has verified that it will be closely followed by an internal code-complete build, and only then will Beta 2 (in code-complete stage) be released.
• No one knows the Build Number of the December CTP. Yep, not even Paul.
• A CTP is simply an internal build that goes through a series of steps and preps to convert it to a code-complete build.
• Any build can (if MS so pleases) be made into a CTP. It probably does not take too long to convert a build to CTP, relatively speaking.

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First, no, I am not talking about Microsoft making money… Notice the ‘$’ sign is not in Microsoft’s name :D

After a landmark ruling by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) against Microsoft Wednesday, speculation is rising over whether the firm will go through with its threat of pulling the Windows operating system out of the local market.

I’m not going to bother going into the specifics, there is Google and CNN for that… But in short:

• South Korea wants Microsoft to either remove all Windows Media Services & Instant Messaging from Windows XP, sell them separately, or package (in their words) “competing products” with Windows!!
• $. Korea has fined MS $32 Million for violation.
• South Korea claims that “As a result, programs such as open-source Linux, which has been choked by the predominant status of proprietary Windows, will be able to carve out a niche” he added.
• In late October, Microsoft threatened it might stop servicing Windows here or delay the release of new versions should the FTC require it to remove code or redesign Windows uniquely for South Korea.
• Microsoft Spokesman Kwon Chang believed that the ruling does constitute a request to “remove code or redesign Windows uniquely for Korea.” But he said the firm will try to appeal it via litigation instead of pulling Windows out of South Korea.

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I’m incredibly impressed by the new Microsoft R2 releases.

For those of you that haven’t heard (a year long vacation?), R2 is a new concept being championed by Microsoft wherein a series of huge and important updates, new features, and practically new software ships in.

I fortunately had the oppurtunity to be in the R2 Beta for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Server, and here are my thoughts, more or less in the order they occurred:

• To me it seems like R2 is something that could have easily been shipped as Windows Server 2005.
• It looks like R2 is basically a new OS, minus the price tag..
• So why would Microsoft do this??

I mean, its true, Microsoft could have easily released this as a new OS, and every big corporation likes to keep up to date with server technology, after all, it is the core of the network. Microsoft is due to release Vista within a year (or so they say), and with it comes a new Server OS. So WHY???

I mean, everyone has been asking why Microsoft is releasing all of these supposed Vista-Only features to XP, but they are all coming individually as far as I can tell. R2 is packed to the brim (of the CD ;) with features that replace 2rd party softtware, save companies money, and make MS proud. Just now I am talking about the new backup system in R2.. I have used it, and it is absoloutely invaluable.

This all makes a man (or a robot, I guess) wonder, where is MS taking this? The obvious answer is what those happy-go-lucky liberals have been shouting all along “Microsoft is going Shareware!”

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