Google's Android - HTC Dream

2007, We saw google foraying into the handset market with the Open Handset Alliance which includes gaints like Qualcomm,T-mobile, HTC and many others including google itself. The intention was to develop open standards for mobile devices. Take a look at Android here and the SDK details here.

I remember watching the launch of iPhone SDK. It was impressive how they moved most of the stuff from mac into iPhone stack, for instance the cocoa library. It was really exciting to see the demos built in a week's time by developers on iPhone. I'm all excited to wait and watch android in function on mobile handsets, Probably on HTC Dream, which grapevine says will be released in October. So many exciting platforms out there for mobile devices now. Windows Mobile (Compact Framework), iPhone SDK (Objective C) , Java FX (Java), Android (Java-like managed environment) , Symbian (C++) and the list goes on..Wonder how much market share each of these will have in the next year..I'm sure windows mobile will still maintain a good market share.

Last week, There were security issues discovered on android..check them out here.

VS 08 SP1 and .Net FX 3.5 SP1

Woohoo!! Time to get excited..VS 08 SP1 seems to me like more of a bug fixing upgrade over features. However, .Net FX 3.5 SP1 is exciting with the following

1] ASP.Net Dynamic Data :

ASP.NET Dynamic Data, which provides a rich scaffolding framework that enables rapid data driven development without writing code, and a new addition to ASP.NET AJAX that provides support for managing browser history (back button support). For more information

2] Entity Framework

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/aa937723.aspx

3] ADO.NET Data Services Framework

The ADO.NET Data Services Framework consists of a combination of patterns and libraries, which enable data to be exposed as a flexible REST (Representational State Transfer)-based data service that can be consumed by Web clients in a corporate network or across the Internet. The ADO.NET Data Services Framework makes data service creation over any data source. A conceptual view model of the underlying storage schema can easily be exposed through rich integration with the ADO.NET Entity Framework. Services created by using the ADO.NET Data Services Framework, and also compatible Windows Live (dev.live.com) services, can be easily accessed from any platform. For client applications that are running on Microsoft platforms, a set of client libraries are provided to make interaction with data services simple. For example, .NET Framework-based clients can use LINQ to query data services and a simple .NET Framework object layer to update data in the service

Downloads

> .NET FX 3.5 SP1

> VS 08 SP1

CamSpace

Camspace!!!!

The coolest gaming app i've ever come across!!. You can play most of the games using any object as input. All you need is a game which runs on your computer hardware and a Web Cam. It uses realtime motion detection from predefined shapes like square,rectange,2 points etc( i made this up after seeing the video and reading their blog and commerical website) . It detects changes in pitch,yaw and roll in real time. Now, if you intend to play a game like counter strike with CamSpace, You can throw away your mouse,keyboard and joystick..Imagine fragging with shear fingers!!, Firing with the ak47 and m16's with fingers!!

Now, the best part is, the input device can be anything, a beer can for example!!! :D, believe me, it's POSSIBLE with CamSpace!!!. I'm wondering if this app has just opened up the door of possibilities for GUI interaction and game playing. Watch the video to get blown away!!!

Rob Miles's Very Silly Interview

Our Professor Rob Miles speaks to Microsoft's Dan Fernandez. The interview can be found on Channel 9 here. The jovial Rob is as usual articulate and yet funny at the same time..:) Also check out his blog www.robmiles.com and his silly games site www.verysillygames.com.

And if you're wondering why it's called 'Very Silly Interview', That what they call it on Channel 9. I've not given any names..To find out more watch the interview..

Verisign's Extended Validation SSL Certificate

What is Extended Validation SSL ?

Extended Validation SSL Certificates give high-security Web browsers information to clearly identify a Web site’s organizational identity. For example, if you use Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7 to go to a Web site secured with an SSL Certificate that meets the Extended Validation Standard, IE7 will cause the URL address bar to turn green. A display next to the green bar will toggle between the organization name listed in the certificate and the Certificate Authority (VeriSign, for example). Firefox 3 also supports Extended Validation SSL. Other browsers are expected to offer Extended Validation visibility in upcoming releases. Older browsers will display Extended Validation SSL Certificates with the same security symbols as existing SSL Certificates.

- Source of the above can be found here

This can be clearly noticed in IE 7 and 8 Beta when an SSL Encrypted transfer is going on. Eg. a user signing into hotmail, a user sending his credit card information to a website. etc..(transactions/sessions which use SSL)

Also, check out the Verisign EV SSL Demo

Programming the Thread Pool in .Net

I discovered this excellent article on Thread Pooling in .Net on MSDN, It can be found here. If you are interested in understanding why thread pooling made it to the .Net Platform, read this article here. Also, check out this article on CodeProject which discusses some behind the scenes issues with .Net ThreadPool Class.

Windows Developer Power Tools

Great software tools make developers more productive!!, Above all it makes life much simpler!!

If you have missed out on reading this book titled 'Windows Developer Power Tools', click on Link no. 1 to get a view of this book. If you want to quickly look at what kind of power tools are out there, which can make your life simpler, Click on Link no. 2.

Some Links.
1. Windows Developer Power Tools
2. Scott Hanslemen's ultimate developers and power users tool list

AVG 8: Home Users Friend,Webmasters envy

If you think, your website is getting more hits than usual, don't every jump into a conclusion that there are more users visiting..For all you know it will be a bot program scanning links on your site , checking if it's malware free, completely imitating a human searching for information on a website..

This is a new feature added into the AVG 8 Engine called the 'linkscanner'. It scans the links for malware before a user visits them. AVG acquired a company off-late called Exploit Prevention Labs, developer of link scanner safe surfing technology.

Now, Although Exploit Prevention Labs experience says that, in the world of web 2.0 attacks, dynamic link scanning would be the safest prevention from malware. For a minute consider the amount of traffic usage. Assume your favourite search engine gives you 10 results for a keyword. Now, if you have AVG 8 installed, it scans all the 10 links pre-hand to check if the content is malware free.

Good ?, Now, according to 'TheRegister', 20 million machines have upgraded to AVG 8. Think about the traffic increase, disk space wasted in logging link scans. IT IS HUMONGOUS..

Web Analytics will be severely impacted, Marketing team would get false data about the no.of hits to their website.. Now, the value of link scanner as an USP to AVG may be considered neat, may also be acceptable by the user, due to it's shear dynamic malware protection capabilities.

But the question which remains at large ,

Is link scanning really worth it at the cost of web traffic, web analytics, disk space etc..?, when the whole world is thinking about energy saving!! , Is there a smart way out ?

Talk to me ( ಹರಟೆ ಹೊದಿಯೋಣ ? )

Starting from today, You can talk to me directly from within my blog.. Scroll down to the 'About Me' section, which is on the bottom left of this page to find the 'Talk to me' widget. Start typing your message into the box to chat. However, you cannot type a message, if the status is set to busy..
Google's Chatback Badge Rocks!

Asynchrounous Programming Introduction

Coming soon..
Just reminding myself that i have a pending post on asynchronous programming in .net tonight..Just working on some samples at the moment. :D It's exciting!!

RuleML The Standard for Rule Representation

RuleML The Rule Markup Initiative..

The Mission Statement of RuleML

"The goal of the Rule Markup Initiative is to develop RuleML as the canonical Web language for rules using XML markup, formal semantics, and efficient implementations.

RuleML covers the entire rule spectrum, from derivation rules to transformation rules to reaction rules. RuleML can thus specify queries and inferences in Web ontologies, mappings between Web ontologies, and dynamic Web behaviors of workflows, services, and agents."

RuleML Mission Approach

"Rather than focusing on academic research prototypes, RuleML is about rule interoperation between industry standards (such as JSR 94, SQL'99, OCL, BPMI, WSFL, XLang, XQuery, RQL, OWL, DAML-S, and ISO Prolog) as well as established systems (CLIPS, Jess, ILOG JRules, Blaze Advisor, Versata, MQWorkFlow, BizTalk, Savvion, etc.)."

I feel that a standardization for representing knowledge through rules is very essential for the semantic web for applications ranging from distributed e-commerce to Engineering like AI agents etc. Simply because of the need for a widely acceptable industry standard rule engine..(JSR94 vs BizTalk). This will increase interoperability between systems and makes life much much simpler... This can be achieved with RULEML, the mark up initiative for Rules.. (way forward..) If you are an academician or a company interested in the idea of  standardization for Rules through Rule Markup, Join the RuleML initiative today.!!     :-)

Generating RSA Key Pair Programmatically using OpenSSL

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <conio.h>
#include <openssl/rsa.h>
#include <openssl/bio.h>
#include <openssl/x509.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
 

int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
    RSA *myrsa;
    unsigned long e = RSA_3;
    BIO* out = NULL
    FILE* fp;
    myrsa = RSA_generate_key(2048,e,NULL,NULL);

    out=BIO_new(BIO_s_file());
    

    if(myrsa==NULL){
        printf("error in generating keypair..");
        printf("press any key to exit..");
        _getch();
    }
    
    fp=fopen("rsakeypair.txt","wb");
    out = BIO_new_fp(fp,BIO_CLOSE);
    BIO_printf(out,"\n");
    RSA_print(out,myrsa,0);
    fclose(fp); _getch(); return(0);
}

The above example program generates a 2048 bit RSA Key pair. It also generates the p,q,n,e and d sections into the text file. In order to build this sample using Visual C++, you will need to build OpenSSL first. After you build OpenSSL, you can then include the generated headers to your VC/Include folder. You will also need to include the the lib files generated by OpenSSL onto VC/Lib. The above example program is written in VS05. OpenSSL simply rocks!

Code + Demo + ReadmeFile : Here

Best Practises for rule based application development

"Takes a high level view of knowledge and looks at different types of knowledge and their mappings to executable computer code to gain insights into when and why rule engines provide advantages over conventional software development tools." - Dennis MerrittAmzi! Inc. January 2004
Superb article, worth a read..

Microsoft Imagine Cup 08

I am participating in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 08. We have made it to the UK Semifinals at the moment and the grand UK finale is on the 5th of June at London. We have been officially invited to the Finals [ MS is bearing the travel fair, Hotel and Food bills!! :-) ]. I'm really looking forward to it.This is my first trip to London, haven't seen it before...So, I'm a bit nervous and excited at the moment..

My team comprises of myself and my only other teammate, David Wilson. We are hoping to win this based on a solid idea and extensively equipped skills to develop the app further.

The Microsoft UK Semifinalists listing can be found here. The University of HULL has been bagging the UK Finals from last 2 years. We are hoping to keep up the spirit alive and kicking from our university..

2 days to go, fingers crossed..

 

 

Neither prejudiced by the past nor in fear of the future,the moment, only the moment....

The Apple iPhone OS 2.0 Beta Drama..

Apple iphone OS 2.0 beta build for developers, which was just 11 days old was rolled back all of a sudden from apple yesterday, and developers were left in the lurch..
i actually did read the posts on the apple forums and couldnt stop laughing..
I've been developing software for smartphones on microsoft platforms using eVC++ (and .net off-late) and in my small world experience, i should say the development tools and the platform itself is very mature and completely robust/programmer friendly.,google 'PPC apps' and check out the kind of apps and support available out there for the windows mobile platform.

I was actually quite impressed with the apple iphone developer showcase with stuff like OpenGL and OpenAL support,MS exchange server integration,the amazing accelerometer , the even more amazing touch screen/gesture input emulation using mouse and keybord inputs while developing ..(http://portablevideogamer.com/category/iphone/) and i loved apple for their sheer software/hardware 'Design' and 'Usability' in all their products till date,but ,i lost the respect i had for apple today...
i was ROTFL when i read the developer nightmare stories, when they woke up one fine morning and see that their OS on the phone is expired!!!!Bwahhahahahhha, what an amazing sci-fi fantasy story...wait a minute, for real now..? bwahahahahahaha....

catch all fun live here..
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1476975&tstart=0
I'm beginning to think that this might be an 'expire_counter = 9'; instead of 'expire_counter = 90;' kinda issue with the iphone SDK team...still wondering..

xda blog

i am posting this blog from my pda,trying to see how well i can keep connected to the internet from various devices..

Universal Translation on the fly!

'Compadre suite', a universal translation software developed by a company called SpeechGear provides unbelievable translations from speech,voice and images on the fly supporting 200 languages bidirectionally!!. really impressive! , The compelling part of the software is, it lets you speak into it (obviously through a mic) and have your speech translated into 'text' of a foreign language on the fly and also reads it aloud. (i.e back to speech in a foreign language) Now, for enterprises to adapt to such a thing might still sound naive because of the reasons best known like translation errors due to lack of voice training , pronounciation differences etc.

However, what really caught my attention was the interpreter bit of the software suit which runs on Windows Mobile Pocket PC!!. The 'Interpreter' on your Pocket PC can come in handy if you are in a foreign country, travelling abroad, or simply wanted to converse with a foreigner. It's versatile in that it provides voice commanding over text input.

Compadre Suit at CES 2008 [Video]

Compadre Suit CES,SpeechGear

ಕಸ್ತೂರಿ ಕನ್ನಡ (Kasturi Kannada)

ಆ ಹಾ!!, ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರಹ ಎಷ್ತು ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿದೆ !
ಗೂಗಲ್ ತ್ರನ್ಸ್ ಲಿಟ ರೇಷನ್ (Transliteration) API ಗಳನ್ನು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿ ಮಾಡಿರುವ ಈ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ನ್ಯಾನ ಆತಿ ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿದೆ. ಬರೆಯಲು ಕಸ್ಥವಾದರೆ, ಸ್ಕ್ರೀನ್ ಇನ ಮೇಲೆ ತಕ್ಷಣ (Transliteration) keypad ಮೂಡಿ ಬರುತ್ಹದೆ
ತಂತ್ರಜ್ನ್ಯಾನ, ಒಂದು ನೆಲವಿಲ್ಲದ ಬಾವಿ !
ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾದ್ಯತೆಗಳು, ಸಂಭವಗಳು ಅಪರಿಮಿತ, ಅನಂತ !!