Get IE8 Activities In Firefox
One of the new features in Internet Explorer 8 is Activities, which lets you contextually use the information on a page with other services, and because it uses some generally open formats, someone’s already adapted it for other browsers. This Firefox extension lets you practically seamlessly use Activities in Firefox, so check it out.
Microsoft’s Extreme Server Makeover Check out this video, spoofing Extreme Home Makeover for the IT world. It’s weird in places, but just watch it, k?
How To Tell If Your PC Supports Hibernation Milo explains how to use POWERCFG.exe to tell if your Windows Vista PC supports hibernation mode, as well as what other power modes your PC supports. It’s an extremely useful tip if you’re running into some power troubleshooting issues.
Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack Now Free
If you’re getting bored of playing Halo online, you’ll be pleased to know that one of its map packs is now free. The price has been dropped 100% on the “Heroic” map pack, giving you three new multiplayer maps for the sweet price of nothing. Enjoy.
Microsoft Releases Popfly Game Creator
Microsoft released a game creator that lets you use Popfly, their free mashup creation tool, to create Silverlight-based games that can run on webpages, Facebook, the Vista Sidebar, pretty much anywhere.
GTA IV Breaks UK Sales Record
Grand Theft Auto 4 sold 631,000 copies on launch day in the UK alone, beating San Andreas’ record from four years ago by over 100 thousand units. The Xbox 360 version beat the PS3 version by 101,000 copies sold, and 360 console sales were up 125%.
Ribbon Joining Windows 7 User Interface
The Office Ribbon, one of Microsoft biggest software design innovations of recent years, is getting promoted to Windows. The Office UI element will be built into the Windows 7 platform, available for all software developers to access and use in their applications. Quite the vote of confidence, but when you’ve got something good, you should spread it around. Read more about it at Long’s blog.
Xbox Does April Fools Joke Microsoft’s Xbox division sent out an email to all users, informing them of new products from Xbox. They included a wireless helmet, Xbox: The Board Game, a wood-paneled Xbox, and a weather-proof portable Xbox. Also for April Fools Day, Long Zheng “revealed” the lost Windows Vista sounds, uploaded as a collection of Windows 98 sound packs.
Windows Mobile 6.1 Official Launched
At CTIA, Microsoft officially showed off the long talked about Windows Mobile 6.1 update. It includes a new version of the mobile Internet Explorer browser, complete with support for Adobe Flash, Silverlight, H.264. There’s also a new Getting Started Center, the ability to handle more things from the home screen, better touch screen and small screen UI features and other updates.
Microsoft Videos Launching Microsoft has launched a beta preview of Microsoft Videos, a new Silverlight-powered video site that collects the many videos Microsoft creates. Whether you’re an IT pro or developers looking for technical videos, or a gamer looking for video game videos, or a consumer looking for videos about the latest software and Media Center stuff, it’s all there are running in glorious Silverlight.
40% Of Vista Crashes By Major Graphics Chips Proof is out that it is the graphics processor industry that is ruining computing. Data from Microsoft shows that 40% of crashes in Windows Vista were caused by graphics drivers from ATI and NVidia, with 75% of those NVidia’s fault. Since Vista was released, those two companies have been the most negligient in serving their customers with decent drivers, and everyone is suffering as a result. I wish Intel got serious about graphics, because ATI and NVidia have lost any goodwill they had with me an many other users.
Free Portal Song “Still Alive” for Rock Band
Tomorrow, Harmonix will begin giving away “Still Alive”, the end credits song from Valve’s hit game Portal. While tomorrow is April Fools’ day, the song isn’t worth buying for most gamers, and we already know it’s been formatted for the game, so the announcement should likely be legit. Xboxers, download your free song tomorrow (PS3 gamers have to wait a few weeks due to system upgrades) and thank the Rock Gaming Gods.
Here’s a video of the guy who wrote “Still Alive” playing the song in the game last month:
Clippy On The Simpsons
Clippy, the Microsoft Office paperclip, isn’t dead! He was on this recent episode of the Simpsons:
Microsoft May Counter Justin Long With Johnny Knoxville Rumors are that Microsoft is preparing an advertising campaign designed to combat Apple’s smarmy Get A Mac ads starring Justin Long and John Hodgman. In the ads, Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame would dos something incredibly stupid with his computer, like dropping and destroying his PC while performing a stunt, but is saved by Windows and automatic backups. If done smartly, the ads could work, especially by not being as condescending as Apple’s ads.
(via)
Live Contacts Sharing With Facebook, Bebo, Others
One scary part about signing up for a new social networking site is when it asks for your Hotmail/Gmail/AIM password in order to import your contacts. You can never be sure if you can trust that site with such valuable info, which is why it’s great that Microsoft is working to take the scary out.
They’ve signed partnerships with Facebook, Bebo, Hi5, Tagged and LinkedIn, letting you securely invite Live contacts to be your friends, and invite your friends on those services to chat with you on Live Messenger. The only place you enter your Live ID password is a Live.com website, keeping your valuable info out of everyone else’s grubby hands.
Make Your Own PhotoZoom Collections with Silverlight Microsoft has launched a website that lets you take advantage of their hosting and technology, creating big photo collections that users can zoom in and out of as easily as a Google Map. Called PhotoZoom, it utilizes technology based on SeaDragon/Deep Zoom and PhotoSynth, runs in Silverlight and is hosted on Microsoft’s servers. You can try out a sample album here, or enjoy it embedded below:
Reports are out lately that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is failing at a rate of 16%; that is, more than one out of every seven consoles dies and never returns. Microsoft denies the 16% rate (and the authenticity of the entire report), though almost anyone whose ever owned a console has had one or more die on them (I’ve seen three die in two homes). Either way, it’s important to understand, as this video shows, that the defects are not Microsoft’s fault:
I had the feeling it was Krusty’s fault. Nothing fails more consistently than a Krappy Krusty product. Great episode, too, a classic early Simpsons (”Kamp Krusty”).
“Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House?“, the funny fake children’s book about Windows Home Server, is now available for sale on Amazon.com. For just $5.95, and eligible for free shipping in large enough orders, this book (which I talked about in December) is a pretty funny addition to any Microsoft fanboy’s bookshelf. I just wonder if it is at all useful as an actual children’s book.
The reviews on Amazon are pretty funny, with reviewers coming up with funny other books in the series, like:
The Little Server that Occasionally Couldn’t
Grim Server Tales
Blue Screen and Spam
1000100111001010100101 and Other Favorites
Oh, The Porn Sites You’ll Visit!
Sydney Sims Likes to Run Bob Desktop
When FlightSim Does Not Work
Rover the dog says “SYN/ACK!
How to be the Best at Firewall Configuration (The Boy’s Book)
Big, Bad Bill And The Blue Screen of Death
Turns out Microsoft was giving this away at their CES booth, so it’s a real shame I missed it. I might just have to pay the six bucks for the giveaway book, just for the good laugh.
(via the Home Server blog)
Watch this video that tries to understand what the hell a Microsoft tech support person is saying in a voice mail. You can try listening without watching the video to see if you understand a single word, or watch the video and laugh at the hilarious interpretations of the awful misuse of the English language.
I know tech support is cheaper if outsourced, but what is the use of phone representatives that no one can understand? If my call is “being recorded for quality purposes”, then why isn’t a guy like that fired as soon as the first mangled sentence leaves his mouth?
(via MicroMiel)
Yes, ESPN fans will recognize that as the news ticker at the bottom of the screen on the sports channel. What does Microsoft Yahoo have to do with sports? Nothing! It’s just such big news, everybody’s talking about it.
Office Online tackled the Super Bowl this week, running this comic on Friday:
Obviously, all expectations where a little off, so this comic ran Monday:
What an amazing game. Even if you were rooting for New England, you have to admit we saw some great football and great drama. That was one for the ages, and every time someone attempts a perfect season, we’ll be talking about Super Bowl 42, every bit as much as we talk about the ‘72 Dolphins.
Anyway, here in New York, we’ve got a parade starting in 40 minutes. Gotta go!
UPDATE: David posted another followup Super Bowl comic, explaining why the Giants were able to pull off the upset victory.
At Microsoft, employees are used to spending a lot of time in conference calls. Often, an employee will “show up” to the call early and have to wait around, listening to some smooth jazz, and these two ‘Softies decided to have some fun with it:
Check out this link: WindowsServer2008.com. You’d expect it to take you to Microsoft’s website for Windows Server 2008, but instead it forwards to apple.com’s page showing off the Macbook Air. Looks like some Apple fan, possibly working for Symmetry Technical Consultants Inc. in Florida, bought the domain in October 2006 and is now using it to embaress Microsoft. Wonder how they beat Microsoft to registering it?
I was turned onto this website by a Microsoftie, who remarked that (and I’m paraphrasing), “No Microsoft person does this when it comes to Apple products, and that says a lot about Apple users, if you ask me”. The word “immature” might have been in there, too.
Microsoft’s David Salaguinto has, over just the last few months, been producing one of my favorite webcomics on the Office Online blog. What makes his comic unique is that none of it is drawn by hand; instead, it is assembled entirely from the shapes and tools in Office Visio 2007. Microsoft.com has an article by David where he explains how he does it and what he thinks when he does.
Here’s a favorite strip:
If you’d like to create a comic in this style (and David publishes reader comics, too, so send it to him), you can download his template and get started.
This video is just funny. That’s David Lynch, creator of Twin Peaks, director of Mullholland Dr. and other films. The clip is from the DVD extras on Inland Empire, his 2006 film, obviously remixed in the style of an iPhone ad. While it possible he was just trying to be funny, it seems like this is just Lynch being Lynch.
It’s such a sadness, that you think you’ve seen a film on your fucking telephone. Get real.
Microsoft has decided to call it quits, selling the entire company to whoever is interested in winning the eBay auction. The starting bid for the company is going to be one million dollars when the auction begins later today. That price seems a bit low, unless you consider that the company for sale is Microsoft Lda., a Portugese company that owns the rights to the name Microsoft in Portugal, rights that have been denied Microsoft for the last 17 years (Microsoft goes by MSFT in that country).
Should Microsoft buy it? Microsoft has wanted its own name in Portugal for almost two decades, and lost that right under the law. This is a chance to rectify that and get their name back. Microsoft should buy it unless the price is too high, or unless it thinks the eventual buyer will lose the legal right to use the name purely for squatting purposes. If they don’t buy it now, they’ll probably want to buy it for even more from the winner of the auction some time down the road.
(via Digg)
Geek Culture has snow globe kits you might be interested in, if you like putting together your own snow globes. They cost $19.49, but the truly adventurous might want to try out the Bill Gates Playing In Money globe, pictured above, which costs an additional $9.50 for the included gold coin glitter and tiny green dollar bills (plus $8.45 shipping, for a total of $37.44). If you absolutely have to have Gates frolicking in cash, go for it.
(via Gizmodo)
I’m surprised at the high quality of printing on the cookie, or on any bakery product these days. We had a 50th wedding anniversary party for my grandparents Saturday night, and they printed the 1957 wedding photo on the cake. It looked very nice, really high quality. I think the cake printer is better than the computer printer I had in the late 90s.
are pretty funny, with reviewers coming up with funny other books in the series, like:
