Paul Mooney

Mobile and Embedded Podcast

TinyThings - #1 - Mike Hall Introduces Windows CE, XP Embedded, and Mobile

posted Monday, October 31, 2005 3:59 PM by Rory

The chatter

In this, the first (inaugural (primordial)) episode of TinyThings, I went up to Redmond, Washington to visit Mike Hall in his office and chat about everything.

Since this is the first episode, and since I'm assuming that there are some (quite a few (billions?)) of people in the world who don't know a whole heck of a lot about developing for devices using various flavors of Windows, I wanted to get the bird's eye, introductory view of the landscape from Mike, and he delivered.

What you can expect from this episode

• You'll finally know just exactly what Windows CE is
• You'll finally know just exactly what Windows XP Embedded is
• You'll finally know just exactly what Windows Mobile is
• You'll learn a bit about Windows Mobile 5.0, why it's nifty, and why you're lame for not using it

If you haven't developed for devices before, and if you'd like to get a head start, then this episode should make you happy.

In the middle of the interview, as will be standard procedure from here on out, we break to hear a gadget review from Rob Miles. In this episode, he gives us his impression of the Gizmondo.

Episode Links

Show downloads:

• The show - HiFi - 42MB MP3 - Get it
• The show - LoFi - 21MB MP3 - Get it

Blogs:

• Mike's blog
• Rob's blog
• Just for kicks, my blog

Places of interest:

• Windows Mobile site
• MSDN Mobile Developer Center
• The Gizmondo

When you're done listening

Check out the forums. Questions, comments, complaints, praise, and ads for private part enlargement procedures should all be placed here.

I think Tiny Things is going to be BIG!

Scary Smart

Google placed a full page ad in The New York Times yesterday and today along with a nice story;

Google Wants to Dominate Madison Avenue, Too.  

Are You Scary Smart?
Google is looking for the brightest
minds in advertising - Apply today!
google.com/scarysmart

Top of your class? An innovator in your field? Wicked good at what you do?

If so, maybe we should talk. Right now Google is looking for the brightest minds in sales management. One of our corporate goals is to create an almost spookily entrepreneurial environment, and if you'd like to be a part of that, we'd love to hear from you.

If you Google Scary Smart look who pops-up!

You can be too smart for your own good.... Genius is1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, so said some guy in New Jersey. If Google is so smart why haven't they hired me yet? I told Google last week the same thing I told Yusuf Mehdi of MSN, they should build a High-Tech office building in New York City and everyone will call it the Google Building.

MSN should be headquartered in New York City the Media capital of the World.

MSN thinks they can get a leg-up on Google and Yahoo by buying AOL, LOL! The numbers may look good on paper, but the only number you should read is the one that shows thousands of Users leaving AOL. MSN would be better off spending that money constructing the Next Generation Media office complex in the Media capital of the World, New York City.

Singularity OS

What in the world is the Singularity Project?

Singularity is a  project at Microsoft Research that started with the question: what would a software platform look like if it was designed from scratch with the primary goal of dependability? Singularity is working to answer this question by building on advances in programming languages and tools to develop a new system architecture and operating system (named Singularity), with the aim of producing a more robust and dependable software platform. Singularity demonstrates the practicality of new technologies and architectural decisions, which should lead to the construction of more robust and dependable systems.

"...it is impossible to predict how a singularity will affect objects in its causal future." - NCSA Cyberia Glossary

Singularity is a research project focused on the construction of dependable systems through innovation in the areas of systems, languages, and tools. We are building a research operating system prototype (called Singularity), extending programming languages, and developing new techniques and tools for specifying and verifying program behavior.

Documents: PDF                               Singularity : Microsoft Research Operating System

Singularity: A research OS written in C#, Channel 9    What in the world is the Singularity Project, Channel9

 Mike Hall's Embedded blog

We like to hear about new ideas, because they make us think about more new ideas.

Embedded DB

VistaDB 2.1 database for .NET has been released
This 2.1 update includes over 60 improvements, including new support for .NET 2.0 and Visual Studio .NET 2005. VistaDB is a small-footprint, embedded SQL database alternative to Jet/Access, MSDE and SQL Server Express 2005 that enables developers to build .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0 applications. Features SQL-92 support, small 500KB embedded footprint, free 2-User VistaDB Server for remote TCP/IP data access, royalty free distribution for both embedded and server, Copy 'n Go! deployment, managed ADO.NET Provider, data management and data migration tools. Free trial is available for download.
- Learn more about VistaDB
- Repost this to your blog and receive a FREE copy of VistaDB 2.1!

Click here to see the current list of participating blog sites!

Microsoft After Dark

Experence Microsoft After Dark a fun site, the Launch Show for Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006.

What happens in Redmond gets webcast around the World! Choose your bandwidth and DOWNLOAD NOW!

Microsoft’s Most Important Launch of the Year Welcomes Steve Ballmer as Keynote Speaker: Registration opens for SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006 launch event.

DevConnections Launch

The excitement is building after the RTM of Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005, DevConnections and the Launch is just a week away!

Microsoft MSDN Magazine, SQL Server Magazine and Tech Conferences have teamed up to bring the most exciting developer and DBA conference and exposition, celebrating the launch of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005, in Las Vegas! It will impact how you build solutions, gain productivity, and enhance your development skills.

Finally Booked My Flight to Vegas, check-out the DevConnections blog. 2,200 attendees registered with more registering every day. And with the conferences happening the week VS and SQL Server 2005 ship, it should be an amazing, amazing, can't miss show.

• Scott Guthrie
• Charles Petzold
• Kimberly Tripp
• The launch!
• Free real product (Visual Studio 2005 Professional and SQL Server 2005 Standard).
• Tons of other great speakers and sessions.
• A great assortment of workshops.

Forbes Fumbles

We’re two months short of 2006, The Medium is the Message and old media has dropped the ball.

When Forbes Magazine attacks the bloggers, you know their in trouble; note no RSS, no hyperlinks, no conversation and no one paying for a subscription.

I attended SatCon this week and learned that ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX still think that IT is about office communication. Google, Yahoo and MSN are run by IT , after years of talking about convergence you would have thought the major networks would have gotten the message.

Forbes was a sponsor of SatCom, their thick glossy magazine was there for the taking, but few were taken. I have attended Forbes conferences and listened to the same message, IT is about corporate communications, well guess what? We're all communicating now, Roll over Beethoven tell Tschaikowsky the News.....Roll over Beethoven and dig these Rhythm and Blues…

Visual Studio Beta Be Gone

It's highly recommended that you install the RTM version of Visual Studio 2005 on a clean machine.

But...but...we realize a lot of people have installed some pre-release version of Visual Studio 2005, and to that end, the setup team has created our "best effort" for uninstalling the product, which is the (also unsupported) Automatic uninstall tool.

A couple of notes on the uninstaller

• Do not use this tool if you have installed SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition or higher (SQL Server 2005 Express is okay). Why? Because we don't do ref counting on who is using the Framework and you can get into a situation where the uninstall tool will remove a pre-RTM version of the .NET Framework 2.0, but SQL Server 2005 Workgroup+ will still be installed on the machine. Because Workgroup edition uses managed code, you've now "hosed" your SQL 2005 Workgroup edition uninstall.  Check the product readme for step-by-step instructions
• Do not click "Cancel" when the Automatic uninstall tool is running. Depending on when you click Cancel, it can "hose" your machine uninstall    

Thank Dan Fernandez's Blog for saving us lots of time and trouble....

Visual Studio and SQL Server 2005 Go Live!

Now Available to MSDN Subscribers: Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005
The final versions of Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 are now at manufacturing; MSDN subscribers can download these products immediately. Redistributable packages, including the .NET Framework, are also now publicly available. 

After years of getting ready for Yukon and Whidbey they have SHIPPED, so DOWNLOAD NOW.

Google Recruitment

Hey, I'm at a Google recrutment event in NYC!

Guinness on tap at PJ Clarks on Third ave.

I'm listening to a talk on OOP in Python, but I think I'll have another Guinness.....

Hand-out says;

Google's elite squad of system and software professionals is seeking new talent.

.....I'd rather have another Guinness....

Drive Google - Be involved in all aspects of running Google's Services, from design to debug, from architecture to applications. Improve Google - Troubleshoot problems in distributed large-scale clustered environments, on both the microest of micro and macroest macro levels. Scale Google - Ware many hats: performance analyst, service architect, systems/expert, technical evangelist... Build Google - Contribute toward the continuous improvement of Google services - those which exist today, and those still forthcoming.... Be Google - Have fun doing all of the above! It was a very enjoyable evening, thanks Larry and Sergey for employing 400 people in NYC!