See you on the flip side…

The kiosks should NEVER be instructed to navigate to an external website or URL because this would break the automated content cycle.

As we progressed through several development phases, what initially seemed easy – keeping the kiosk cycle running 24/7 – soon became a difficult task. We also had the problem of getting people to actually use the kiosks. Who wants to be sucked into an advertising loop anyhow? So we started adding more features in order to bring awareness and attention to the usefulness of the kiosks.

By now we had live traffic reports from Google Maps, movie trailers and funny videos provided by YouTube, up-to-the-minute news from Yahoo, etc. Super nifty stuff…but we had one underlying problem. The SWF movies that were being embedded from Google/YouTube contained links, logos and popup ads that someone could actually click and force the kiosk to navigate to an external website or URL. This was very bad news for the kiosks; it meant we would have to block these internal SWF links entirely or stop using our new features.

I needed a way to disable ALL outbound links in these embedded SWF movies. And my intuitiveness continues to scream there’s a way even though I wasn’t finding one. At first I tried setting an attribute on the SWF movie object “allowScriptAccess” to “never”. This effectively prevents external website/URL navigation for any SWF movie that didn’t need to be controlled via Javascript methods. However for the YouTube Chromeless Player, the kiosk needed to control the playback and status of the video automatically via Javascript, so I needed something else.

What I found was pretty elegant. With modern CSS we can overlay an invisible div element directly on top of the SWF object using “position:absolute” and “z-index”. Now whenever a user touched/clicked on the SWF, they weren’t actually interacting with the SWF movie at all, rather they were poking at an invisible overlay div!

Something like this:

<div id="container_div">
<object width="800" height="530" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="my_swf" style="position:absolute;"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object>
<div id="internal_div" style="z-index: 3; position: absolute; width: 800px; height: 530px;" onclick="return false;"></div>
</div>

Note the following:

• Both the swf object and internal div are wrapped in a container div.
• Both the swf object and internal div are set to absolute position.
• Both the swf object and internal div are sized to 800×530 pixels.
• The internal div has a higher z-index than the swf object so it gets placed “on top” of the swf object.
• The swf object has the wmode parameter set to “transparent” which allows other html elements to sit “on top” of the swf movie. Otherwise an swf is by nature “on top” of every other html element.

You might also be able to accomplish this technique similarly by using a transparent swf movie instead of the internal div.

Optionally, you might also be able to prevent external navigation by handling the browser’s “onbeforeunload” event with Javascript, which fires just before the browser navigates to the new URL. By intercepting and cancelling this event, you should be able to prevent external navigation. Example here.

“Three of the main complaints we hear from mobile device users are (1) dropped calls, (2) poor customer service, and (3) having to constantly recharge the device. Our software allows Operators to figure out why problems are occurring, why calls are dropped, and how to extend the life of the battery. When a user calls to complain about a problem, our software helps Operators’ customer service more quickly identify the specific issue with the phone.”

If it sounds useful to you, that’s because it is! Every device should have self check and correction mechanisms in place. We have these in software programming, they’re called error handlers. In other applications, we may just have to log some data to visualize trends over time for an accurate diagnosis of existing problems or potential points of optimization.

My problem is not whether Carrier IQ may be “snooping” on people. As with any communications/telephony issue, these are the real security implications that I can see:

1. Data could possibly be intercepted at Point A while it is being gathered and prepared for transmission.
2. Data could possibly be Intercepted during the entire transmission of data from Point A to Point B, including all hops in-between.
3. Data could possibly be Intercepted at Point B after it has arrived, unless the data is discarded immediately.

So then we could argue that all data being transmitted is encrypted. Fine, it’s encrypted.

Now tell me what’s to keep a disgruntled employee from selling the encryption keys, creating a back door for unsupervised access, or divulging details about the inner workings of the software whereby someone else with malicious intent might pinpoint a flaw and exploit the system?

These reasons alone are why it’s not OK to gather this information from people without their knowledge or consent.

Ask 10 people: “If you discovered software on your phone that was secretly tracking your keystrokes and geographical location, and you noticed an easy way to turn it off, would you?”

Imagine our scenario with one disgruntled employee. This person has the ability to slip under the radar for years until someone else with more authority scrutinizes the system in place.

That authority is us, the millions of people who pay their salaries by using these products daily. It’s all over the news and tech blogs, so I’m pretty sure they already know how most people feel.

References & Related News

• Federal authorities open Carrier IQ investigation into phone tracking
• Carrier IQ: The Real Story
• Carrier IQ Admits Holding ‘Treasure Trove’ of Consumer Data, But No Keystrokes [Wired]
• Cell Phone Spying by Carrier IQ? Define Spying [Discovery]
• Carrier IQ: What it is, what it isn’t, and what you need to know [Engadget]

RIM has posted an official response which is being updated regularly, summing up the problem to an oversight with their email backup system.

Businesses who host their own Blackberry services using Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) usually get by unscathed, since global outages like this rarely affect the synchronization infrastructure between a Blackberry employee and the company’s BES server.

However, today I can confirm that our BES system is being affected by this outage.

ComputerWorldUK also reports that BES users are being hit by the outage.

UPDATE: Service has been restored!!! Some time in the afternoon yesterday (~3:00 PM PST), all of the emails which had been held up on our BES system finally synced up with our handhelds.

Kelly was brutally murdered while terrified and crying for help.

On July 5, 2011 six police were caught on tape beating Kelly Thomas, a “peaceful homeless man” into a coma while he was screaming “Dad! Dad! Dad!” for help.

I’d like to know what procedure it was that instructed Police Officers to bash Kelly’s head in and tazer him repeatedly while more cops show up to participate, NOT ONCE PUTTING CUFFS ON HIM, until the still, lifeless body of a brain damaged man lay there on the concrete?

Turns out Kelly’s dad is an ex-police officer of the Fullerton Police Department and teaches police procedures. When he was interviewed about the killing he stated that police procedures were certainly not followed. Apparently, the Fullerton Police Department and the Orange County District Attorney are close friends. The city of Fullerton already tried to pay off Kelly’s family with $900,000. Because of this, the FBI is now involved.

Eye-witness report:

A “police insider” called the John and Ken show to confess some new facts:

• One officer supposedly beat Kelly Thomas with the butt of his Taser until blood started coming up all over the officer’s arms and hands.
• Another officer supposedly drop knees Kelly Thomas’ nose and throat with the full force of his body weight multiple times, crushing the victim’s throat.
• This happened while Kelly Thomas was not moving or resisting.
• 5 of 6 cops are still on the streets. UPDATE: All 6 officers are now on administrative leave.
• The majority of Fullerton police officers don’t condone what happened.

Most of the initial coverage can be found in this DailyMail.co.uk article (WARNING: disturbing image).

Some more updates as they flow in from the web:

• An Independent Review Up For Discussion Friday Would Broaden The Scope Beyond the DA and FBI Investigations
  • “…the department  allowed police officers involved in the encounter to watch a video that captures the incident before writing their reports about it. It’s a practice that conflicts with methods used by many other police departments.”
• Photos from the Fullerton Protest on the Kelly Thomas Beating [imgur]
• Frequent Blog Coverage on the Kelly Thomas Beating [FullertonsFuture.org]

I am excited to begin offering Web Design Services!

As a promo deal, I’m giving 20% off my regular price until the end of July 2011.

Hop over to my Web Design Services page for more information.

And I can attest to his production skills as I have seen them first hand; he is highly talented! If you’re a fan of electronic music in any way, you definitely don’t want to miss this one…head on over to his official website and and snatch up your free album before it goes retail. Or become a follower and stay up to date on news and releases at one of the many DAL Music fan pages.

Official DAL website – stream the entire album for free.
DAL on Soundcloud – stream the entire album for free.
DAL on Facebook – become a follower; stay up to date on news and releases.
DAL on Twitter – become a follower; stay up to date on news and releases.

For his debut, I posted a small press release on Reddit.com where his album has received excellent feedback and thousands of listens so far. It even got re-posted by someone else on Reddit.com to the dubstep channel, where it gained more momentum. Join the discussion on Reddit!

Update July 19, 2011 – the free album download promo has ended and DAL is now offering his album on many of the internet music retailers for a low low price. He’s still offering the high quality full album stream for free. Check the official DAL music website for details.

Access your files from anywhere.

If you’re like most people who have accumulated a large collection of personal photos, music, and videos on your computer at home, but wish you had access to everything whenever and wherever you are, then Nest might be for you!

Or maybe you’re a business owner who’s frequently out of the office. Install Nest on your workstation. Leave town. Open Nest on your smartphone. Start browsing your files!

Your computer + Nest = Your computer on the internet

Or to put it another way, Nest turns your computer into a “Personal Cloud“ where you can access your files remotely via a web browser from almost any device, much like the new cloud music players, only you host all of your own files.

In a nutshell, Nest is…

• A remote file browser
• A remote music streamer with playlist support
• A remote image viewer with slideshow support
• A remote document viewer

Don’t allow big corporations to store and own your intellectual property!

Nest conquers new territory

The competition is rather hot for remote/cloud apps these days, but Nest sets itself apart. Nest offers universal access your computer’s files and documents while on the go, or simply any time you find your computer (and your data) physically out of reach!

Screenshot showing Nest on an iPhone 3GS, with real associated file icons and file info.

• iTunes and App Store: Synchronization is a nuisance for many people with an iPhone who simply wish they could drag and drop music to the phone like a normal MP3 player. With Nest’s music streaming ability, you don’t need to synchronize music to your iPhone anymore; just keep your music organized on your computer and Nest will always be up to date with your collection.
• Remote Desktop and VNC: Nothing compares to the power of these programs in a remote assistance situation, but they can sometimes be too sluggish for a mobile phone. When you just need a snappy, light-weight file browser or document viewer, Nest has that.
• DropBox and SugarSync: the free services they offer are great, especially as a backup solution, but those who put all their eggs in one basket will soon find that they have exhausted their free space, so it’s time to start deleting some files or paying for additional space. Or is it? If you just want to share some files with yourself or the rest of the world, Nest lets you do just that, without the storage space limitations. If you have a one terabyte hard drive, then you can potentially share one terabyte of data (1000GB) with Nest!
• GrooveShark, Andromeda and Subsonic: while these services offer some excellent music streaming and internet radio capabilities, they can’t compare to Nest’s streamlined interface and integration with cloud-based music services.
• Last.fm and Pandora: these services make for excellent iPhone Apps, but you’ll have to pay for a monthly subscription if you find yourself using them frequently. Nest brings your entire listening experience to you wherever you are, which is why Nest lets you scrobble your playback history to Last.fm. In the future, Nest will include a music recommendation system that can generate playlists and radio stations with more of the music you like, and some you never knew existed.

The Power of HTML5

HTML5 is changing the way we think about modern day computing, and it’s freeing the Internet from the proprietary clutches of Microsoft ActiveX and Adobe Flash add-ons. It paves the way for a complete computing environment inside of your web browser, with services/components delivered remotely from various providers, and redundant offline data storage/access.

Even Google is betting big on HTML5 with Chromium and other services such as their HTML5 voice input for Google Voice and speech recognition for Chrome. Microsoft’s Windows 8 will natively support HTML5 driven applications. As the major web browsers continue to support more of HTML5′s feature set, Nest follows suit by utilizing some of those cutting edge features. Take a look at the HTML5 infographic, courtesy of focus.com, which gives us a glimpse into the very near future of web browsing and computing.

News

• July 20, 2011 – it has been a busy month so I wanted to post an update. In my development I’ve hit a major bug with Nest where the HTML5 audio element stops playing on an iPhone after the element is hidden with CSS. This doesn’t happen on IE9, FireFox, Chrome or Safari, which is making it really difficult to track down. I’ve even created several test projects in an attempt to mimic this bug – all to no avail. I am considering a rewrite of Nest’s javascript code to see exactly what code or logic introduces this bug. Stay tuned!
• June 22, 2011 – CNN reports that in a recent programming blunder affecting DropBox’s authentication mechanism, ALL DropBox accounts (that’s over 25 million) became fully accessible through the use of any password. Once again this demonstrates the problem we are facing with cloud services; one company owns the key to millions of people’s data, makes a simple mistake, and *poof* everyone’s data is exposed to the world.
• June 17, 2011 – Just checked out a reddit.com discussion and noticed a pdf.js library is being actively developed, which gives me high hopes that Nest will support viewing pdf files in the Document Viewer using purely HTML5.
• June 17, 2011 – Nest might not pick up your Default Web Site in Windows Vista/7. If you have this problem, please try installing the IIS6 compatibility components for IIS7. You can find out how to do that in this eHow article.
• June 16, 2011 – Finally got these Javascript closures working! I can now finish up the framework for Nest Apps and convert the rest of the components into Apps. Special thanks to this closure article from Jibbering.com.
• June 14, 2011 – I’ve been liking jQuery more lately, as I’ve discovered that all of the extra helper functions I had been writing for Nest were already hammered out and bug proofed in jQuery. So what I’m working on now is overhauling the Javascript entirely to allow for much cleaner code using jQuery and also taking the opportunity to develop a lightweight Javascript framework for creating and sharing “Nest Apps”. The beta components – File Browser, Media Player, Image Viewer, Remote Control – will be converted into these Nest Apps, and I’m hoping to enable Nest users to build their own Nest Apps. I don’t plan to get carried away with Apps just yet, rather, It’s a necessary evolution for the codebase..
• June 11, 2011 – Beta version 0.2 has been released. Fixes some big ones.
• May 27, 2011 – The Washington Times reports how the government currently has the right to gain access to any data which you have stored online for more than 180 days on sites including Yahoo, Google Docs, and some backup services. Nest eliminates this legal loophole by putting control of your intellectual property back into your own hands. Nest doesn’t store files on the web, you just store them on your personal computer like always, and Nest simply makes them available on the web.
• May 3, 2011 – Published this landing page for Nest.

Features

• Uses ASP.NET/IIS/AJAX/CSS3/HTML5 technology.
• The Nest front-end is accessible from most web-capable computers and devices (iPhone, iPad, PC, Android) and is compatible with most major web browsers (FireFox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari.)
• Nest reads embedded meta-info from MP3 files to show the Artist name, Album name, Album artwork, Track title, Track number, Genre, Comments, etc.
• Fully integrated AJAX playlist with easy playlist management (touch gestures for iPhone supported).
• Integrates with Last.fm for scrobbling streamed songs to your profile.
• Works on the iPhone without an App Store purchase; it’s a web app baby!
• Multitasking: stream music while you browse photos. Quickly switch between apps by tapping the title bar in any app.
• Remote control your keyboard and mouse.
• Open/view common document formats such as text and Microsoft Word files.
• Open/view common image formats such as bmp, jpg, tif, gif, png, etc.

Possible-upcoming mind-blowing universe-shattering features:

• File upload/download/rename/delete/cut/copy/paste.
• Save and load playlists.
• Save user sessions after log-off.
• Music recommendation system.
• Edit and save documents.
• Join Nests together.
• Build Nest Apps that incorporate new functions or support third party applications running on the host system.
• Implementation for Apache, Cassini, and other web servers.
• Linux implementation.
• PHP implementation.
• Automatic/UPnP port mapping.
• Media Center Remote Control with macros.

Screenshots

System Requirements

• Windows XP or better with Internet Information Services.
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.

Downloads

• Nest Setup 0.2 (Beta)
  Fixed in this version: Media Player: Last.fm now playing submission and scrobbling (at song end if played longer than half the song duration), Winamp button on media player (Downloads playlist as m3u file to play in Winamp/iTunes/Window Media Player), fixed Play button on first play, fixed Repeat button functionality, fixed on/off state for Repeat/Shuffle buttons, if album artwork can’t be loaded no longer load last successful artwork. Configuration: Nest will now set the NTFS folder security on the content folder automatically on Windows XP (ASPNET account) or Windows Vista/7 (DefaultAppPool account).
  NOT working in this version: video streaming, Microsoft Word files, Image Viewer slideshow, Remote Control, some ID3 tags, some buttons in the various apps still do nothing…
• Nest Setup 0.1 (Beta)
  Working in this version: streaming music and repeating/shuffling playlist, view text files, view image files.
  NOT working in this version: video streaming, Last.fm scrobbling, Microsoft Word files, Image Viewer slideshow, Remote Control, some ID3 tags, some buttons in the front-end do nothing.
  

Instructions

Host setup

1. Download and run the setup package.
2. When the installation wizard appears, choose Next until complete.
3. In your Start menu, locate the Nest program group, then open the Nest Configuration Utility.
4. Using the Nest Configuration Utility, create the Nest Virtual Directory, and add any number of shared folders that you wish to make available through Nest.
5. Click the Local Address link or Public Address link to open Nest in your web browser.
6. You should see the Nest frontend and be able to browse through your shared folders using Nest’s File Browser.
7. In the Nest Configuration Utility, make sure to click OK when you’re done to save your changes.

Try it out

1. Open the Nest Configuration Utility and click the Local Address or Public Address link to open Nest in your web browser.
2. When the Nest front-end appears, click the File Browser, browse to an MP3 and click on it. The song will be queued into the Media Player. Click the black title-bar that says “File Browser” at the top to return to the main app screen, then click the Media Player. When the Media Player appears, click the Next button to start playing the first song that you just queued.

Public access setup

Here’s where things get a bit advanced.

1. Visit www.No-IP.org and register for a dynamic domain name.
2. Configure your firewall NAT to forward HTTP traffic to your host computer, or designate a specific port, forward it to your host computer, and configure Nest to use this port using the Nest Configuration Utility.

Make it secure!

Security options will be implemented in the Nest Configuration Utility in a future beta!

You’ll definitely want to think about securing your Nest so that only you have access to it via a username and password. I should warn you though, make sure all of your accounts have strong passwords before you do this, because it is possible for someone to hit your login page and try to guess your username/password until they guess it correctly, giving them access to an account on your computer Although if you implement an Account Lockout Policy, you shouldn’t have this problem!

1. Open the Nest Configuration Utility, click the Advanced tab, and choose Open IIS.
2. Once IIS is open, drill down the tree on the left until you find your Nest Virtual Directory.
3. Right click your Nest Virtual Directory, choose Properties, then choose the Directory Security tab.
4. Click the Edit… button, then unselect Anonymous access and select Integrated Windows authentication. This will make it so that a visitor must type a username and password of a user account that has been setup on your computer (typically the account you use to logon to Windows).
5. Click OK twice. You may now close IIS. The next time you visit your Nest from a web browser, you will be prompted for a username and password.

You may also use IP Address and Domain Name Restrictions in IIS for more security. An example can be found here.

Disclaimer

All of my software comes with the same disclaimer. I do test and use my own software programs, and while I’m pretty confident there are no dire consequences to using them, I can’t be held liable for any damage caused by the use of my software, whether due to bugs, unforseen functionality or any other reason. I always recommend that you test my software on a sample before attempting the real thing. This will give you an idea of how it works and what to expect. Thank you for your interest in my software!

My software of choice

The very passionate development team at Image-Line continually expanded upon FruityLoops until it became the fully fledged digital audio workstation behemoth that it is today, far more capable than FruityLoops ever was. It rivals even the best DAW software around (ProTools, Logic, I’m lookin’ at you!) and it does so at a very cut-throat price. If you’re looking for the most affordable DAW that will do practically everything, FL Studio is choice.

FL Studio has played a key role in my own music productions throughout the years, and I personally can’t wait to try out the exciting new features. Auto-tune (Newtone), here I come!

The ID3TagLibrary is pretty simple to use:

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
  ' create an mp3 object from a file on the hard drive
  Dim mp3 As New ID3TagLibrary.MP3File("C:\song.mp3")
  ' put the mp3's title into a label control
  Label1.Text = mp3.Title
  ' put the mp3's artwork (if any!) into a picturebox control
  PictureBox1.Picture = mp3.Tag2.Artwork
End Sub

News

• July 20, 2011 – version 0.3 released.
• April 19, 2011 – version 0.2 released.
• March 28, 2011 – version 0.1 released.

Features

• Parse ID3v1 and ID3v2 (ID3 2.2, ID3 2.3, ID3 2.4) tag data, including most/all frames outlined in the official ID3 spec.
• Embedded picture frames (APIC) are converted to native System.Drawing.Image objects for ease of access.

System Requirements

• Visual Studio, VBScript or VBA

Screenshots

Coming soon!

Downloads

• Perry’s ID3 Tag Library v0.3 – Binaries (.dll, .tlb) | Source code (.sln, .vbproj)
  • Fixed tag/frame size parsing code for improved file support, added support for USLT frames, automatically detects malformed tags and safely aborts parsing.
• Perry’s ID3 Tag Library v0.2 - Binaries (.dll, .tlb) | Source code (.sln, .vbproj)

Instructions

Visual Studio Usage Example

This example will show you how to use the ID3TagLibrary natively in an existing project.

1. Extract the Visual Studio project from the SOURCE download to your computer.
2. Open Visual Studio and create a new host project that will utilize the ID3TagLibrary. Choose the VB.NET Windows Forms Application project template. By default this will be named  WindowsApplication1.
3. Add an existing project (File > Add > Existing Project). Browse to the ID3TagLibrary.vbproj file and open it. Since you now have two projects, Visual Studio creates a top level Solution file in the Solution Explorer, and the two projects appear beneath this.
4. In the Solution Explorer, select the host project (WindowsApplication1) and add a reference to the ID3TagLibrary (Project > Add Reference).
5. When the Add Reference dialog appears, click the Projects tab, select the ID3TagLibrary then click OK.
6. Open the code window for Form1 in the host project (WindowsApplication1). In the Form_Load event, write the following code:

   Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
   Dim myMP3 As New ID3TagLibrary.MP3File(“C:\test.mp3”)
   MessageBox.Show(myMP3.Artist)
   End Sub

7. Run the WindowsApplication1 project (F5 or Debug > Start Debugging). When the blank Form1 appears, it should show a MessageBox with the Artist name from the MP3’s ID3 tag.

VBScript Usage Example

This example will show you how to use the ID3TagLibrary through VBScript.

1. Save the dynamic link library ID3TagLibrary.dll file to your computer.
2. Register the ID3TagLibrary.dll file on your computer using REGASM:
   1. Open a command prompt (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt) and navigate to the directory where you saved the ID3TagLibrary.dll file. For example, if you saved it to the desktop you would type:

      cd %userprofile%\desktop

   2. Then execute the following REGASM command:

      %windir%\microsoft.net\framework\v2.0.50727\regasm ID3TagLibrary.dll /codebase

3. Create a new text file and rename it to VBScript.vbs.
4. Open VBScript.vbs in NotePad and code a reference to the ID3TagLibrary’s ComParser interface and access some MP3 file info:

   Set myParser = CreateObject(“ID3TagLibrary.ComParser”)
   MsgBox myParser.ParseMP3(“C:\test.mp3”).Artist

5. Save and close the VBScript file, then double click the file to execute it. It should show a MessageBox with the Artist name from the MP3’s ID3 tag.

Microsoft Access 2002 Usage Example

This example will show you how to use the ID3TagLibrary in a Microsoft Access file.

1. Save the type library ID3TagLibrary.tlb file to the client computer.
2. In Access, open the Visual Basic Editor (Tools > Macros > Visual Basic Editor). In the Visual Basic Editor, open the References dialog (Tools > References).
3. Click Browse and locate the ID3TagLibrary.tlb file. Click Open; the ID3TagLibrary is added to the list of Available References, with a checkmark. Click OK to close the References dialog.
4. In the Visual Basic Editor, insert a new module (Insert > Module).
5. In the Module1 (Code) window, code a Sub for testing our COM interop and access some MP3 file info:

   Sub TestComInterop()
   Set myParser = New ID3TagLibrary.ComParser
   MsgBox myParser.ParseMP3(“C:\test.mp3”).Artist
   End Sub

6. Place your cursor in the TestComInterop Sub and execute it (F5 or Run > Run Sub/Userform). It should show a MessageBox with the Artist name from the MP3’s ID3 tag.

Want to see a full list of properties and methods? Just open the Object Browser in Visual Studio and navigate the ID3Library:

More documentation coming soon…

Disclaimer

All of my software comes with the same disclaimer. I do test and use my own software programs, and while I’m pretty confident there are no dire consequences to using them, I can’t be held liable for any damage caused by the use of my software, whether due to bugs, unforseen functionality or any other reason. I always recommend that you test my software on a sample before attempting the real thing. This will give you an idea of how it works and what to expect. Thank you for your interest in my software!

The article where I found this only had a series of pictures and I’m by no means a skilled guitar crafter, so I’ve added descriptions where I could.

Before slicing & dicing, you’ll want to purchase the guitar hardware or at least get the specs of the hardware and note down a few measurements/drill bit sizes so you don’t drill holes that are too big for your bolts, or cut too much of the wood off, two mistakes that will most likely cost you another shovel. The crafter uses some pretty decent tools, but any DIY or woodworker will know how to improvise!

Rough list of tools and hardware:

• Hack saw, drill, hand file, soldering iron & solder
• Optional: Lathe, rotary tool, table clamps, varnish
• Guitar bridge piece (x1), guitar bridge nuts & bolts
• Guitar pickups piece (x1), guitar pickups nuts & bolts
• Guitar tuner pieces (x6), guitar strings (x6)
• Guitar knob (x1), guitar frets (x??)
• Some wires

You should be able to find the guitar parts from an online guitar parts reseller, and the other stuff from a hardware store.

Step 1: Your average shovel.

Step 2: Start lathing the handle of the shovel down to create a flat surface for the neck of the guitar. Later, we’ll be able to align our strings across this flat surface.

Step 3: Rough edges are filed down, and the top of the handle (left side in the photo) is filed deeper to create the head of the guitar. Notice at this point how the shovel has been clamped down to the work bench for easy filing.

Step 4: Using a drill press, the crafter drills holes through the guitar head where he plans to bolt on each tuner. I’m not sure if there’s a standard length that you want these from the bridge, but it looks like the crafter eye-balled the measurements, possibly just referencing the look of another guitar he had on hand or in a book.

Step 5: Using a rotary tool, the crafter is seen carving out parts on the underside of the shovel where the holes were drilled earlier for the tuners. This is most likely so the tuners can settle into the wood for a flush/clean look.

Step 6: With a vice saw aligned perpendicular, the crafter cuts several grooves into the neck to create the fret locations. Small inserts will be glued into these grooves to create slightly raised frets. I’m thinking this needs to be somewhat accurate, and while I don’t see any indication of measurements being taken, I would suggest referencing some standard measurements.

Step 7: Gluing the frets into the grooves that were just cut. The tops of these frets can be filed down to reduce buzzing on one or more strings, but usually this is done by a professional who knows how to produce the most accuracy with the adjustment.

Step 8: Bolting the tuners onto the neck where the holes were drilled earlier…

Step 9: Some varnish is added to the wood to give it a polished, store-bought look.

Step 10: Dots are painted in the proper locations to create the position markers.

Step 11: The shovel is clamped down to the work bench and a hole is cut/filed in the location pictured below. This will be where the pickups are bolted onto the body.

Step 12: Somewhat confusing angle, here we are actually looking at the two holes being drilled for the pickup volume knobs. See the top hole, closest to the blue ring on the drill press? That’s the very tip of the spade.

Step 13: The pickup volume knobs are inserted into their holes.

Step 14: On the underside of the shovel, the wires for the knobs are welded into their correct spots. We also see for the first time here the V-shaped holes that our guitar strings will be inserted through. Though not shown here, these holes should be horizontally spaced apart to match the the bridge/pickups spacing.

Step 15: Tighten the knobs…

Step 16: Attach the bridge to the shovel using bolts where the holes were drilled earlier.

Step 17: Attach the pickups to the shovel using bolts where the holes were drilled earlier.

Step 18: From the underside of the shovel, insert the strings through the V-shaped holes and lay them across the bridge/pickups. The strings should have nubs at the end that will prevent them from being pulled all the way through the V-shaped holes.

Step 19: Wind the strings around their proper tuners. It’s interesting to note that while the white nut helps separate the strings out before they hit the tuners, the crafter still had to use an anchor just to the right of the second tuner pictured below. This bends the remaining three strings around the first two so they do not touch. If the head was fatter, the tuners could have been aligned like a staircase to eliminate this problem.

Step 20: Raise or lower the bridge to put just the right amount of tension on the strings so they hover above the frets instead of resting on them.

Final result:

Check out the XXXTREME Youtube video of this masterpiece being crafted:

What the heck was that!? Anyone else feel rubbed in-the-wrong-way?

References

• EnglishRussia.com (source)
• Shovellica – The Symphony of the Shovel

Please sign the petition to actively stop AT&T from becoming a huge monopoly and saving our right to choose

Short history debrief: First AT&T was Ma Bell, then the Federal government broke that up into several companies which created fierce competition in the market. Many of those companies grouped together again under the same umbrella, in one legal way or another. Several years later and the Ma Bell antics are in full swing once again; in 2005 it was announced that Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between AT&T and BellSouth, would be sold under the AT&T name. And now AT&T is after T-Mobile.

If history taught us anything, wasn’t it that we can’t allow corporations to monopolize an entire industry?

This news comes just days after it was announced that AT&T would be placing bandwidth caps on consumer broadband subscribers! Starting to see an evil pattern here?

What about the recent news that AT&T customers’ Facebook data got temporarily routed through networks in China and South Korea? Yeah, that means during this period of time when AT&T wasn’t routing network traffic properly, everything you did on Facebook went through the networks of some of the most malicious people on the planet.

So can we stop AT&T from acquiring T-Mobile? Probably not, but signing the petition couldn’t hurt anyone, if anything it brings awareness to a younger generation who some day might have the chance to impose some real change.

Follow Up and Relevant News pertaining to this article

U.S. Government Files to Block Proposed AT&T/T-Mobile Merger – Engadget.com (August 31, 2011)

“It’s Time to Break Up AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, and the rest of the Telecoms” – Alternet (April 26, 2011)

Want to know what other people think? Check out the heated discussion on reddit.

Board Warriors Tell Us How Great It Is To Be Rich

Usually when someone asks for advice about a particular product on a tech forum, people will chime in with their preferences, experiences and opinions, in a somewhat professional manner. Some board warriors (geek term for douche bags) showed up to play grammar police and boast about their wealth, so I followed suit.

Note: I did not partake in the initial discussion.  I made a single reply to the thread with comments on the best quotes.  For flames directed at me, see the follow-up at the end of the page. The original forum thread can be found here (this article no longer exists on TomsHardware.com).

If someone smart was to write that sentence, it might look something like this:

Wealthy people are smart enough to know how to save and invest their money.

I guess that means you’re not smart.  Nor are you rich.

btw, money can only be wasted by those who have it… and it’s all relative. To bill gates a 20,000,000 jet is pocket change, to you it’s 10 times more than you’ll make in your entire life.

Source: waylander

A twenty million jet?  I picked up a three toothbrush from the store the other day.  Want to see my eight phallus?

Are you not familiar with credit cards, student loans, finances and mortgages? What about the national debt, you stupid prick? Brillig.com states: “The estimated population of the United States is 299,303,317 so each citizen’s share of this debt is $28,284.94.”  Furthermore, from Wikipedia: “As the government represents the people, government debt can be seen as an indirect debt of the tax payers.”

In addition, you vocabulary is limited to terms 5th graders knows
and the work “f-u-c-k”, really, nice job.

Source: Pengwin

You must mean:

In addition, your vocabulary is limited to terms a 5th grader would know, and the word “f-u-c-k”.  Nice job, really!

Nice job, really!

Beyond that. You have yet to deny that you are a poor, jealous and full of you self. In addition you have yet to deny you have an education higher than that of a high school drop out, it may even be lower.

Oh, 1 more thing. I want to say, you’re getting owned, get better flames, cursing makes you look stupid.

Source: Pengwin

Since you’re pointing out someone’s obvious shortcomings in English writing, I’ll do the same for you, one sentence at a time:

You used a period instead of a comma.

Poor is an adjective here, but you used a preceding “a” to indicate that it’s a noun. “You self” should be “yourself”.  You also forgot a comma after “jealous”, dumbass.

What a gem.  You already used the connector “in addition” in a previous sentence, but you forgot the comma this time.  In addition, you used the phrase “you have yet to deny” twice in a row (improperly the second time).  You used a comma instead of a period or semicolon to separate two independent clauses.  So tell us, if his education is no higher than that of a high school drop out, then what’s yours?

You’re getting owned?

Again, you separated independent clauses with commas instead of periods or
semicolons.  Cursing doesn’t make you look stupid, but your grammar sure does.

My pleasure, asshole!

Follow-up

A number of replies to my initial post on TomsHardware.com have been made in an attempt to debunk my infinite wisdom. My follow-up to their petty replies was then added to my article; I did not reply directly on TomsHardware.com a second time, for that would be feeding the trolls.

People frequently spend money they don’t have.  You said only those who have money can waste it.

Since you’re probably still scratching your head about the national debt, use that brain power to read the Dictionary.com definition of the word “poor”.

Your little conspiracy about who I am is nice and all, but you’re wrong again shitbag.

Go trap yourself in a freezer.

© 2001-2006 Verbal Reckoning

Riyad Mammadov

Any programmer worth his intellect would be cautious of statements such as this one. I’m surprised to see this advice come from an Enterprise Architect with 16 years of experience. Come on man, put away that skunk! Commenting source code is a tool like any other, including unit tests. Some people prefer different tools or a combination of them all. Design practices such as unit testing and commenting source code should yield positive results when used correctly. Why else would these tools exist?

To make an outrageous claim that one should not use a fundamental tool such as commenting source code would be akin to me saying unit tests are a waste of time because they introduce an extra layer of design and complexity that is probably not necessary or useful at all, causing more dependency and a longer development period, not to mention costing the client more money in the end. While my statement is correct in some context or another, there are aspects of unit testing which I cannot deny the plausibility of, such as NASA using their own method of unit testing during the development of Project Mercury in the 1960′s. And I bet my butt that they also had documentation in the form of written English, which is precisely why commenting source code is a solid practice!

Classic sensational headline with a follow up clarification to keep oneself in good standing? In response to his original article, which received a flurry of negative feedback from Reddit.com users, he goes on to clarify that “one often-repeated mistake was that I am advocating against ALL source code comments. This is simply not true, and if you read the blog post through the end, you will see a pretty funny example of a very legitimate comment one programmer left in his code.”

Mr. Mammadov seems to be a strong advocate of unit testing over commenting source code, so allow me to share my opinion and experience on the contrary:

Unit tests are worthless!

Don’t choke on that olive just yet, there’s professional advice from both sides of the fence. What about Joel Spolsky?

Debug something properly and document it’s functionality. Write a design document for larger software projects. Flesh out ideas in more than one way. Talk to your developers. You won’t need all of these useless tests.

I can think of several reasons why everyone should comment source code:

• Other people may need to work with your program, library or API, and they may need to know how certain things function in relation to each other without having to mentally digest every code block.
• To indicate the context in which a method or parameter can work, such as when a method assumes a delimited string parameter contains values which are sorted alphabetically, or if each value was appended in a specific order such as when parsing a settings text file sequentially.
• Return values that are restricted to integers are not immediately decipherable at first sight, but a comment can clarify what a return value of 0, 1, or 2 means.
• Sometimes code has to be integrated into complex systems and networks which require simple plain English design decisions.
• Some comments such as the summary comments in Visual Studio (Examples: three triple quotes in VB.NET, Doxygen, Javadoc) provide automatic documentation and intellisense for your classes, which is paramount for building good API’s where reusable code is king. A good developer will maintain all aspects of his code properly.

I have to quote something from one of Mr. Mammadov’s other articles:

Let’s be practical then. Plumbers provide people with basic life necessities. Taking a sip from the tap and being able to flush the toilet are just two examples. Without safe drinking water and drainage of waste, people would begin to suffer instantly and cities would become slums.

Know what I think? Anyone who has enough experience programming and maintaining software that people actually use would be a more viable candidate for a software team, whether formally trained or not. Hobbyists like myself earned their positions as developers doing something they took interest in and pledged as one of their life-long passions, becoming autodidacts in the process and indulging themselves in pure knowledge. When and if a project requires unit testing or some other heinous form of extreme programming, adapting to that situation and mastering it is something hobbyists are already familiar with, and it does not restrict their direction or ability to try new things.

Good developers naturally come about design patterns and techniques on their own, using them as a solution or an optimization rather than training wheels:

Formal education doesn’t exactly grant someone the authoritative word on how to program, powerful thinking and experience does. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Mammadov, and I appreciate his contribution and insight into making the programming world a better place.

Read More

• Cucumber – behavior driven development for Ruby/Java/.NET/Flex using unit tests.
• Comment Costs and Benefits

Enter Google Cloud Print.

“By connecting your printer with the Google Cloud you will be able to print to your printer from any computer or smart phone, regardless of where you are. Just activate the Google Cloud Print connector in Google Chrome and your printer will automatically be available to you from Google Cloud Print enabled web and mobile apps.”

The Google Cloud? The Cloud? Cloud Computing? In the Cloud? Google Computing? In the Google!? AAAGGGHHH SHORT CIRCUIT….

Utterly confusing. This is simply the American way, re-branding old $hit for profit. So Google has their own Cloud in the sky. I guess the way they see it, different Cloud-based providers will have their own “Clouds” (read: data centers) where they host and provision internet based services and resources.

But how is Google Cloud Print any different than setting up Internet Printing Protocol on your HP Color LaserJet 4650 or Canon iR5000 printer? I’ll tell you the glaring differences:

• Requires Google Chrome on the computer that will be sharing the printer.
• Requires Google Cloud Print-enabled apps to print from, such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Chrome OS. There aren’t many alternatives at this point.
• Works with just about any printer attached to your computer.
• You now rely on Google as a middle man between your internet device and your printer at home.

To emphasize that last bold statement:

OK, Google Cloud Print does offer some nice features, like being able to work with just about any printer rather than being restricted to only printers with an internet printing feature or IPP support. But the price you pay is a commitment to use more of their software and a trust relationship with Google that says I rely on Google to treat my documents with confidentiality and prevent them from ever reaching the eyes of someone I did not intend. This trust relationship is a win for Google, but a lose for you. It is an attempt to monopolize the internet market.

I’m all for open standards, and Internet Printing Protocol wins hands down over this one. Only problem is, where is the widespread adoption from printer manufacturers?

Couldn’t this be even easier? What if your printer had it’s own email address that you could simply send your photos/documents to, and it would print them out immediately? It’s already possible with HP’s internet printing feature, available for HP printers priced $99 and up. It was designed to meet the demands of customers who wish to print from any internet-connected device, such as smartphones, netbooks, tablets, etc. From the original news post where I got this info, there isn’t a single mention of the word “Cloud”.

To me, Google Cloud Printing is just a web-based service, NOT a true Cloud service. And that begs the question, what is the difference between internet services and cloud services, and where do we draw the line?

Google isn’t the only one blowing clouds out their asses, and certainly isn’t the worst culprit. Check out this stupid Windows 7 commercial which depicts someone copying a file from a Remote Desktop session to their local desktop:

This commercial just raises more questions about what the Cloud really is.

Cloud Washing

Origin of the Cloud

So where does this idea come from that the Internet is now a Cloud instead of a series of tubes? Perhaps it comes from network topology diagrams that engineers have been scribbling together for the past hundred years? See for yourself:

It would be naive of me to say that the Cloud is merely the Internet in disguise. It isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to downplay the importance of the Cloud or Cloud Computing in today’s industry.

Problems With Cloud Computing

For one thing, all it takes is for someone to guess your password and your dirty little secrets in the Cloud are now at the whim of someone else’s every desire. This malicious person now has the potential to steal your identity, alter your information and damage your reputation.

So this has always been possible…who cares? The point I’m trying to make is that even more of your information – and perhaps all of it in the future – will be stored in the Cloud. The recent push for a unified login such as Login with Facebook or Google’s OpenID attempt exacerbates this issue further. What was once only possible if a person had physical access to your computer is now possible over the internet from anywhere in the world: the skeleton key into someone’s private life. One way Google tries to prevent this is by tracking which IP address logs into the account and if the IP address is not the usual recognized one, it asks for verification via text message or email.

Google D.C. will save the Cloud from destruction! Art by Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair.

Google D.C. in a publicized conference expressed some very real concerns regarding the security of Cloud Computing throughout the industry.

The most obvious problem at least to me suggests that the courts have interpreted cloud computing in such a way where you lose your constitutional rights to your personal property when it is stored in the cloud.

If I’ve interpreted this properly, it means that a court can seize your Google Documents from Google without your knowledge, but if you had stored these documents as Word/Excel files on your personal computer at home, the court would need a written warrant to seize your computer which contains that personal property. One member of the conference optimistically stated “we hope that will change over time.”

Some research presented during the Google D.C. conference highlights real-world user concerns:

Offline Access

If you need access to your information in the Cloud while your internet is down or the service provider is offline, good luck! There are solutions designed to mitigate this problem, such as Google Gears, but they are mostly catered towards specific cloud services, although this problem is universal and affects all of Cloud Computing.

I can think of something better right off the top of my head: a Cloud Sync program for PC/Mac/Linux/Smartphones that accesses all of your Cloud-based services and downloads your information so it is available offline for your viewing pleasure. This data can be automatically encrypted for further protection. Or digging even deeper, imagine if Cloud-based services could include their own virtual hosts that kick on whenever the user or device enters an offline state, allowing the user to queue up changes while offline, and then sync those changes back to the Cloud when the connection to the service is restored.

One of the main aspects of Cloud Computing is how Cloud-based services are designed with intercommunication in mind, and API’s are what really enable the developers to make that happen. With an API, we can implement parts of Cloud-based services into other applications, allowing them to communicate and support each other with their own subsets of information.

Unfortunately, not all Cloud-based services are equal, and not all of them implement these important aspects of Cloud Computing, so a Cloud Sync program while possible, is possibly just a pipe dream at this point. The more I think about it, the more I’m leaning towards making a Cloud Sync program and forcing Cloud-based service providers to comply or die!

Marketing and Concerns Aside…

Cloud computing brings about exciting changes to the way systems operate and how devices communicate with each other. By leveraging the power of the internet, instant communication and data transfers, web based services, software as a service, data centers, and hosted/virtual servers, we have come about an evolution of technologies, or an assimilation if you will, where each piece of technology plays a supporting role. It’s not like we didn’t already have all of the technologies to cloud compute our butts off 10 or 15 years ago…we did.

Unfortunately, the big players (Microsoft, Google, etc) can’t seem to move enough vapors into the public eye to get their cloud boats sailing, and in turn, bring enough people on board to raise awareness of the pitfalls associated with cloud computing and eliminate them altogether through new laws and digital security measures.

Only a few things remain which may be stunting the growth of Cloud Computing, and when experts can overcome those problems, Cloud Computing will end up being more important and useful to an increasingly mobile society than the world wide web could ever dream of.

Updates In This Article

• 2011-07-27 – Added a link to an excellent whitepaper from IBM in the Further Reading section.

Related Stories & I Told You So…

A company’s e-mail data in the cloud vanishes when their provider goes out of business. (3/22/2011)

One of the companies that I provide IT services for recently had to switch their Cloud-based e-mail provider when their old provider evaporated, and since their e-mails were stored exclusively in the Cloud, they evaporated along with the provider. Their new provider told them to use Outlook with POP3 this time (which I 100% agree with), because Outlook downloads the e-mails locally, so even if the Cloud-based e-mail service went offline or out of business, they would still have their e-mails.

I posted this article on reddit.com where some readers have shared their own opinions. (3/30/2011)

Major cloud storage providers like Amazon create a viable market for cloud music systems. (3/31/2011)

Cloud music systems seem to be cropping up in the news lately. Today on the front page of Amazon.com is the Amazon Cloud Player, with 5 GB of free storage for Amazon Cloud Drive.

Real-world interpretation, coming soon to a news story near you:

Seriously though, CNN published an article on the challenges and solutions just around the corner, where some people have started a debate similar to the one I have been proposing.

Although the recording industry seems bothered by this idea of Cloud Music, I see it as the end-all solution to their troubles with digital rights management and music piracy. By restricting access to music with a username and password, record companies and publishers can control who has access to the music and also build a full audit trail of every subscriber. They can charge a-la-carte per song or force you into buying an entire album. They can even charge you monthly subscription fees, so when you’re not buying music, you’re still buying music!

RIAA to sue LimeWire for $75,000,000,000,000. (3/31/2011)

Yep, that’s 75 trillion, a figure larger than the entire recording industry has grossed to date. The Hacker News reports that an anonymous group of internet users in protest launched a denial-of-service attack on the RIAA website which brought it offline for 5 hours.

The Amazon Cloud Collapse (4/22/2011)

In a recent Mashable article, Ben Parr blasts Amazon with a critical headline The Amazon Cloud Collapse, where it was explained to me why my favorite website Reddit.com was offline for several hours. Apparently, the Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) data center where Reddit.com is hosted experienced an extended outage due to a single point of failure in Amazon’s software design. Other popular services hosted by the EC2 data center, such as Foursquare and HootSuite, were also affected. Mashable follows up to explain what we can learn from Amazon’s cloud collapse.

The Amazon Cloud Collapse: Customers’ Data Permanently Destroyed! (4/28/2011)

BusinessInsider.com follows up on the catastrophic Amazon Cloud collapse, where they report that many customers’ data has been permanently destroyed. Some of Amazon’s larger clients may find some depressing news in their Inbox:

Amazon Cloud Collapse: All Companies Affected Will Receive 10 Days of Credit (4/29/2011)

Amazon’s report of the incident can be read in full detail here. Amazon stated in their report that all companies affected by the collapse will receive a 10 day credit:

Dropbox Lied to Users About Data Security (5/13/2011)

Once again, we see the glaring problem with Cloud storage and privacy.

Further Reading

• The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Definition of Cloud Computing (pdf)
• NIST Working Definition of Cloud Computing (CCIF) (pdf)
• Cloud Hooks: Security and Privacy in Cloud Computing (NIST) (pdf)
• Cloud Computing Insights From 110 Implementation Projects (IBM Academy of Technology Survey) (pdf)

Computations are based on a method originally posted by Storyville titled Reverb: Tips and Techniques. Matthew Weiss wrote a decent article titled The Importance of Space in a Mix: Part 2, which also hints on the importance of rhythm for reverb. These ideas are not far off from the Wall of Sound technique developed by Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios.

Features

• Convert from BPM to milliseconds.
• Compute reverb pre-delay and time values in milliseconds.
• Millisecond offset allows for fine tuning to taste.

System Requirements

• .NET Framework
• Tested in Windows XP and Windows 7

Screenshots

Downloads

• Reverb Rhythm Calculator v0.2

Instructions

Coming soon!

Disclaimer

All of my software comes with the same disclaimer. I do test and use my own software programs, and while I’m pretty confident there are no dire consequences to using them, I can’t be held liable for any damage caused by the use of my software, whether due to bugs, unforseen functionality or any other reason. I always recommend that you test my software on a sample before attempting the real thing. This will give you an idea of how it works and what to expect. Thank you for your interest in my software!

To celebrate this news, I will be personally releasing a never before seen episode pack for Duke Nukem 3D that I developed many many years ago titled Deth. Stay tuned…

Check out the new official trailer, which speaks for itself…

Read the official GameInformer article here.

Duke Nukem Forever Has Gone Gold!

Rock, Paper, Shotgun reports the news.

I would love to schedule the migration during off-hours when nobody is working, but we have a “unique scenario” where some remote laptop users like to do their work at home at night (who wouldn’t?).

Honestly, there should be some definite off-hours reserved for the IT department to perform routine maintenance, but that’s not the case. We schedule and treat most IT operations as if they are occurring during regular business hours.

Don’t move, incremental copy instead!

Rather than bring these shared network files offline for several hours to perform the migration, we will copy the files over to the new destination instead of moving them. That way, users retain access to the original files and can continue working with them while the copy takes place.

Now you might be thinking, what if a user changes an original file after it has already been copied to the destination? That’s where an incremental copy solves our problem.

We will be using a command line utility called ROBOCOPY whose job is too simple, to mirror a source directory to a destination directory.

…What does that mean, and how does it all tie in?

You’ll end up running the command twice. The first time will copy everything from the source to the destination, since nothing exists in the destination yet. The second time will copy only the files from the source which are newer than those in the destination, as well as delete any files and folders in the destination which no longer exist in the source.

Here’s exactly how the process works for us:

1. Run the command to start copying. We don’t notify users yet.
2. When the command is finished copying, we give our users a chance to save their document/complete their transfers/finish their work, so we give them a time window of about 30 minutes. We email them to let them know that access to their files will be temporarily unavailable in approximately 30 minutes. Keep in mind some users might not even read the email within 30 minutes, in which case we know who those users are and we call to notify them.
3. Wait 30 minutes for the users to save up their work, then disable the old share. Users will lose access to the files temporarily, but they should expect that by now.
4. Run the command a second time to copy over any changes since the last full copy. Hopefully this doesn’t take too long, but it depends on the amount of files that have been modified/added/deleted since the initial full copy. For us it was about 2 minutes.
5. Set up the new share at the destination using the same share name. Users are now able to access the shared files again. Even though the files and share were moved physically to a different location, the share name stayed the same, which means the users don’t need a reconfiguration.
6. Notify the users that they may access the shared files again.
7. Delete the old files once we have determined everything is good, after we have a full backup of the new share.

OK, how do I use this mighty ROBOCOPY?

The command is relatively simple, you just call it from a command prompt (MS-DOS):

ROBOCOPY SRC DST /MIR

You’ll need to replace SRC with your source folder path, and DST with your destination path (making sure to include double quotes around any path containing one or more spaces).

The /MIR switch tells ROBOCOPY to mirror the source folder (and all contents) to the destination folder, deleting any files or folders in the destination folder which no longer exist in the source folder.

If the ROBOCOPY command doesn’t work, your computer doesn’t have the utility, so you may download the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools from Microsoft, which includes ROBOCOPY.

ROBOCOPY is a file copy utility that replaces XCOPY and assists with performing incremental backups and other types of copies. The parameters can be changed to suit your needs. If you want to learn more about ROBOCOPY, open up a Command Prompt (Start --> Accessories --> Command Prompt) and then type in ROBOCOPY /? and press Enter. You'll get a list of commands and what they actually do.

Of course, all of this is simply not true, and the setup is smooth as long as you know what to do. RIM won’t provide technical support for this configuration, but we don’t really care, now do we?

Small businesses can get away with this, because in the event of a total disaster, deploying a new Blackberry server in place of the old one is trivial. Just setup the new box, activate your handful of users again, and away you go. However, for larger corporations I cannot recommend this configuration. A Windows XP computer hosting BES typically cannot meet the demands of a corporation that requires 24/7 uptime, usually lacking ECC RAM, an Uninterruptible Power Supply, and RAID for data redundancy.

Installation Pre-Requisites

Before installing Blackberry Enterprise Server on your Windows XP Professional computer, the following pre-requisites must be met or you will have some serious problems:

• Windows XP Professional, fully patched via Windows Update.
• Computer is joined to the domain that hosts Exchange.
• Microsoft Messaging API and Collaboration Data Objects 1.2.1
  • Download and install this from Microsoft.
• Internet Information Services.
  • Install this through Control Panel –> Add/Remove Programs –> Add/Remove Windows Components. You will be required to insert your Windows XP CD.
• Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack
  • Download and install this from Microsoft.
• Exchange System Manager
  • Install the Exchange System Manager using SBS 2003 CD2. During the Exchange setup, you will be prompted for a CD Key, and you must use the CD Key that came with SBS 2003. If you don’t have your CD Key, you can run the Magical Jellybean Keyfinder utility on your SBS 2003 server to locate it.

Installing Blackberry Enterprise Server

Before continuing on to install Blackberry Enterprise Server, it’s a good idea to reboot the computer. Now you’re ready to install BES!

Follow the official instructions in order to install Blackberry Enterprise Server. It’s important that you don’t skip any steps. The instructions involve a very in-depth security configuration for the Besadmin account, and if you don’t get this correct you will have issues.

The installation went smoothly for me, but I did have one problem. When I was prompted for the MAPI configuration during installation, for some reason BES could not locate the Besadmin mailbox, even though it had no problem locating the Exchange server. I thoroughly tested the mailbox (by using it with Outlook) and everything appeared to be normal. Although it couldn’t locate the Besadmin mailbox, I told it to continue with the installation anyway, until it was finished. To troubleshoot this issue, I deleted the Exchange mailbox using Active Directory Users and Computers, then created it again. I also rebooted the Windows XP computer. Finally, I loaded up the Blackberry Server Configuration where I was able to verify that the MAPI configuration was indeed correct, and it could now find the Besadmin mailbox.

To date, I’ve had no problems using this configuration. Blackberry Enterprise Server Express on a separate Windows XP Pro computer in a Small Business Server 2003 domain environment.

MaxView settings are stored in the registry for the current user, and these registry keys can be exported/imported between users.

Here’s how you can configure MaxView under one user and then migrate those settings to another user or computer:

1. Configure MaxView the way you want it.
2. Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MaxView.
3. Right click the MaxView registry key and choose Export. Give the file a name and save it somewhere.
4. You can now copy this exported registry file to another user or computer and double click it to import the previous user’s MaxView settings into the current user’s registry!