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Ok. So for years now I’ve been using TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio. I’ve always thought their software was great to dictate and record the screen. Now they’ve gone completely silly. Oh, and I mean in a good way. About two weeks ago I asked their Evangelist Activities Coordinator, Kristina, about their support for editing MP4 files. It was quite simple. I just picked up a new Flip MinoHD camcorder and wanted to edit the clips I recorded in Camtasia by inserting screencasts. At the time, she told me I couldn’t do it. So, I converted my video using Adobe Premiere Pro. … Continue reading Review: TechSmith Camtasia Studio 6.01

What fitting way to end 2008 than a list of my own version of technology-related highlights of 2008. Dell’s Acquisition of Equallogic – Ok. So technically this happened in November of 2007. But the acquisition wasn’t completed until early this year. After review of the devices, they are definitely a cost-effective NAS solution. What a great way to introduce storage solutions to small businesses. ASP.NET MVC – Again, this technically happened in 2007, but my first experiences really happened this year. What a great, clean way to build web applications. Flip MinoHD – When Pure Digital introduced the Flip Ultra, … Continue reading Technology Highlights of 2008

While we’re still around the holidays, I figured I’d continue my break from actual dev content and review one of the gifts I received this holiday season. My wife picked up a Keurig B70 (Platinum); a single cup coffee/tea brewing system made by Keurig, a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee. I wasn’t sure what to expect being that I’m a huge Starbucks fan. However, I was quite surprised. Here’s my quick wish list for Keurig: Additional Brands such as… hmmm… Starbucks? Or Seattle’s Best? Currently, I’m stuck with Green Mountain brands only (or tastes generated or packaged by them). The … Continue reading Review: Keurig Platinum B70 Home Brewing System

This is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s a busy time of the year, but it’s fun. If you’re not into the holidays, chances are you’re too busy and you need a vacation. Even the busiest individuals can enjoy the holidays. Since I was little, I was always fascinated with Christmas lights and decorations. (1980’s photograph will be inserted at a later date) There’s nothing like seeing the faces of the young and old when they see the glow of Christmas lights. Over the years, things have changed quite a bit. We’ve gone from C7/C9 bulbs to … Continue reading So What Happens When Technology and Holidays Come Together???

Have you ever needed to connect to a PC using Remote Desktop to either check something out or to install a better remote connectivity software like VNC? A couple years ago, IntelliAdmin created an application to install remote desktop from a remote PC. I’ve used it several times and it has come in quite handy. Download it at http://www.intelliadmin.com.

As a software developer, you know that best practices recommend testing and even staging environments. Evidently, DirecTV lacks that or is really missing something. Sometime today, they released a software update that sent nearly all of their HD receivers into some sort of lockdown. Their solution: hold down the reset button for 15 seconds, then hit the power button, then wait up to 15 minutes. Not quite. It simply doesn’t work. The best part is, they aren’t deploying this on 20 different browsers or several different OS’s on a variety of hardware. Rather, they are deploying this to 3 types … Continue reading DirecTV Needs Staging and Testing

I was just checking out the improvements the team has made in beta 2 of Internet Explorer 8. While I haven’t had time to mess with all of the improvements, I see lots of opportunities to create enhancements for my sites to allow visitors to get what they are looking for faster. Be sure to check out the full list of improvements at http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/08/28/part-i-better-everyday-browsing.aspx. You can download IE8 Beta 2 at http://www.microsoft.com/ie8.

Chris Love, posted a tweet today about Adobe Kuler. Kuler is a web/flash based application that allows developers and designers to upload and download color swatches for Adobe Photoshop. It’s a great way, as Chris put it, for developers to pick up color schemes/themes. Thanks for the post Chris!

Want to learn more about Microsoft Velocity and how this distributed caching system can improve your web applications? Then you’d better check out the new Velocity podcast at ASP.NET Podcast. You can download the MP3 at http://www.aspnetpodcast.com/PodcastFiles/ASPNETPodcast20080820-Velocity.mp3.

Sounds like Windows 7 might be previewed at the PDC. If not, significant details will surely be shared. No, I didn’t escape one of the Microsoft buildings with their business plan but rather came across the team’s new blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/. The first posts were yesterday (August 14th) and I’m sure more posts will be coming soon. Be sure to check it out!