Steve Holden's Blog

IE 7 Beta 3 Doesn't Work With Vista Beta 2 Build 5384

I got an error trying to install IE 7 Beta 3 on Vista Beta 2 Build 5384.   The installer said - "Your operating system is not supported by this package."

Kinda funny ... [UPDATE: I'm a dork ... I tried to install the Windows XP version on Vista. Duh!]

BTW ... Vista Beta 2 Build 5384 and Office System Beta 2 Kit 2007 (both from MSDN) are installed on my Toshiba M4 Tablet PC.  So far I've enjoyed the new UI changes with Word and with Outlook. 

The UI changes in Visita are nice and flashy.  Tablet functions are even more impressive after about 1 hour of moving around and just doing standard stuff.  No OneNote testing yet.

Sign-Up for RSS Feeds from Firefox to Newsgator Inbox

I would love for a way to sign up to an RSS feed via Firefox directly into Newsgator Inbox (Microsoft Outlook plugin) on my Toshiba M400 Tablet PC.

Anyone know a way?  Am I just a bad Google searcher?!?

UPDATE: Thanks to Kevin Devin, I did some more searching directly in the Newsgator forums and found an answer.

MindManager for the Mac

I have been very excited about finally getting to blog about beta testing MindManager for the Mac.  Today is the day that Mindjet announced the product.

One of the best pieces of news, is that this was one of the best beta testing experiences that I've had.  I rarely had any issues, and from what I could tell all the issues that people had were addressed.  Feedback to me felt two-way vice one-way.

As a heavy Windows user of MindManager, having the tool on the Mac has been very helpful.  It has given me some great tools for managing my personal to do lists, and for brainstorming podcasting ideas, and I've also done some experiments using MindManager vice OmniOutliner for podcast show notes during recording.

Some other things that I quickly want to toss out:

• Moving files back and forth between Windows and the Macintosh is a great feature for people who use both platforms.
• The Mac version feels "simpler" and "easier" to get thoughts captured without a lot of the Windows and Office integration capabilities found in the Windows version of MindManager.

I still think that using MindManager like tools with a TabletPC is significantly more productive in brain storming sessions or in taking notes, but having just the keyboard and mouse with MindManager for the Mac has been very useful over the last couple of weeks during the beta period.

Lastly, Mindjet did a great thing in giving away to Beta Testers a free copy of MindManager for the Macintosh.  Thanks!

Tablet PC Update - Moving from Toshiba Tecra M4 to Portege M400

Over the last week I have been transitioning from a Toshiba Tecra M4 (aka The Beast) to the Toshiba Portege M400 (aka Not-The Beast).   Both Tablet PC based systems.

So far I am very happy with the performance (dual-core fast), form factor (compact), weight (less) and the screen resolution (same but smaller screen).

The other big news for this transition is that I did not take my GBs of items from C:/Data directory.  I moved over completely fresh and I have only been moving over data that I need.  This included Outlook .pst files which has made syncing with the Cingular 8125 significantly faster and more reliable.

Another big bonus is that I got all the "spyware" or "not need software" off of the M400 before I started using it full time.  I was not able to accomplish this with the M4 which still has some AOL stuff I can't remove for some odd reason.

Only down side so far is the biometric finger print reader is very unreliable.

More to come ...

Mini-Link Fest - New Media Focus?!?

I made a recent dent in reading through my RSS feeds, and I have the following items to check up on when I'm working through @Internet, and I thought I'd share them:

• Digg.com - "Al Pacino Podcast"
• Lockergnome - Picasa Easter Egg & Outlook Google Maps Plug-in
• Share OPML
• Bootable Movies
• Build Your Own Fortress Home
• Samsung's HL-S5679W LED-backlit 1080p DLP HDTV
• Eric Mack on how to embed a movie in a blog post
• TypePad supports Skypecast
• CBS Innertube
• UMPC devices are starting to hit the U.S. market
• Alan Cox (Red Hat) discusses computer security (IT Conversations podcast)
• Add a second monitor and get 30% better productivity?
• Open Street Maps in San Diego
• XML is a foundation for MindManager

Survived the DC Trip - Theodore Roosevelt Island, Beer Recommendation, & W.E.B. Griffin

I managed to survive and still have a good time on my recent business trip to Washington DC (the way back was DCA to Dallas to SAN). 

One of the main reasons I had a good time, was that I managed to sneak in three great runs in the Rossyln area of Virgina. One of the better ones included an exploration of Theodore Roosevelt Island which is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway that is operated by the Virgina Turkey Run Park.

I'm also going to have to recommend the following beers:

• Rogue's Kell Irish Style Lager
• Ridgeway Brewing's Very Bad Elf Special Reserve Ale (7.5% AlcVol which is based on a 1795 Thames Valley recipe)
• Weisse Hacker-Pschorr Traditional Wheat Ale

Lastly, I have to admit I'm becoming a fan of "reading fiction books" while in transit, vice pulling out the work Tablet PC or the personal iBook or a tech journal.  Right now, I am busy quickly turning pages of W.E.B. Griffen's By Order Of The President.  This is my first Griffen book (definitely not my last Griffen book). I had heard his name before, but never got introduced until I listened to his recent podcast at Pritzker Military Library.

I Think I've Found My Dream Thing

Geeks.com has a new "Thing" that is down right amazing.  It seems to integrate all the best of Microsoft Origami, Apple iPod, and the Motorola Razr.

End Of The Year Link Fest

Some miscellaneous links:

• PowerPoint blog by Brendan Busch via Scoble
• A very complete collection of Newton stuff is forsale on eBay via Boing Boing
• There appears to be away to get around Proxy-Firewalls using Google's Language tools via BoingBoing
• A USB HDTV tunner looks kinda interesting
• Gizmodo - "OQO 01+ Reviewed (Verdict: Awfully Small)"
• Apple has some updated "podcasting" how-to's: user & server
• RSS Labs has released a new version of OPMLWorkstation [I need to try it out!]

Some computer security related links:

• "Insider Threat" data and analysis
• RAR Archive password crcaker via GeekNewsCentral
• There appears to be away to get around Web-Proxy-Firewalls using Google's Language tools via BoingBoing
• Microsoft "IT Attack and Penetration Testing Team" and "Securing the IT Environment "

Predictions (wit some self-reflection):

• Scoble
• Jeremy Wright
• I did some predictions for In The Trenches podcast (you'll have to listen to get them right now)

Some "other" Microsoft stuff to look into early next year:

• Windows has been awarded EAL4+ from NIST
• Deploying SharePoint Products and Technologies for Enterprise Collaboration
• Enhancing Productivity with Tablet PC
• Achieving High Availability with Exchange Server at Microsoft
• Creating an Active Directory Site for Exchange Server

Siquid mantica non capit, domi relinquendum est.

This quote means "If it doesn't fit in your knapsack, leave it behind" and the source is Darcy @ www.tombihn.com.  They make backpacks,laptop bags, and other stuff.  This company seems to really get the Internet ... they have there own Forums for customer interactions. :-)

I am evaluating a customized suite of their products for an article on TechNewsRadio.com about solutions for carrying two laptops because of an email question from a reader.

In my case, I'm typically carrying just about everywhere my podcasting rig - Apple iBook, and my work TabletPC - Toshiba Tecra M4.  Plus about an equal amount in weight of "other stuff." 

I'll post some pictures soon.

Strange Mac Browser Behavior - Spyware?

As a TabletPC fan, I read the blog jkOnThe Run which was part of the Tablet PC podcast on TPN that is now being done directly form the site.

I was happy to see that the site picked up and linked to a "ruggedized" Tablet PC segment I did for Tech Tidbits Daily on 26th of Oct05.  So I went to the site to get a URL via my iBook so I could link back that they had linked to me! :-)

So, I typed in the URL: http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/ in Safari, and LittleSnitch (which I reviewed for Tech Tidbits Daily on 20th of Oct05) came up with a message (link to the picture):

Safari wants to connect to planetlab-5.cs.princeton.edu on TCP Port 8090

I said no, and I then quit Safari.  Launched it again, went to a couple of other sites, and then back to jkOnTheRun blog, and the message came up again.  So, I then sent James Kendrick an email saying "FYI ... this popped up when I went to your site, maybe there is something embedded in your site?" 

James wrote back with a pen email (only the very serious Tablet PC geek sends back written emails) saying "Strange ... not that he knew of ... does it only happen in Safari?" .... so I tried it in Firefox and I got the same kinda of warning from Little Snitch (link to the picture):

firefox-bin wants to connect to planetlab1.cres.utexas on TCP port 8090

So what is going on? Definitely a different server, but same TCP Port.  What is PlanetLab? Is it spyware?  Is it something normally installed on Mac OS X or on the blog server?

Any thoughts?  Curious minds would like to know!