Archive for May, 2008

Don’t You Think Plaxo Has Backups of Their Databases?

Posted on May 16, 2008, under Email, Tools and Services.

It’s all over the new "evil" Comcast acquired Plaxo, and everyone, including myself, is all upset. I immediately switched to Schedule World, which was a change coming anyway due to my frustration with the continued lack of support for Google Apps from Plaxo. Polls are popping up on the web asking if people are still going to use their accounts or delete them. Leo Laporte was on Buzz Out Loud and said he immediately deleted his Plaxo account, and I have heard the same from others.

But honestly, don’t you think Plaxo has backups of their database? Now yes, it would be "illegal" for Comcast to use information from accounts deleted, but their policy says Plaxo has the right to change their policy at any time. And lets be honest folks, this is exactly the kind of bonehead move Comcast would pull.

No Comments



NetGrid Studio 5 Released! Savings Inside…

Posted on May 11, 2008, under Uncategorized.

The long awaited NetGrid Studio v5.0 has been released. We are extremely proud of the new version as it bring a lot of new features and fixes to the product. Some of these features include:

  • Ability to create multiple monitoring network grids.
  • Requires minimal system resources and requirements.
  • Gathers network totals data in the background not requiring you to be logged in.
  • Provides clear graphical and text representation of your network connection.
  • In depth totals application to run various reports, including graphs.
  • Stop watch feature to give you the ability to monitor specific time periods.
  • Complies with common and IEC standards.
  • Ability to setup alarms and be notified via email. GMail with SSL support.
  • An advanced network calculator to help with network conversions.

With the release of NetGrid Studio v5.0 we are celebrating it by passing a 50% savings on to you for a month with the coupon code “NETGRID5“. Just use the coupon code on the order page, and you savings will be calculated in. We hope you enjoy the release of this product as much as we do. Look forward to our next product release soon.

No Comments



Microsoft, You Have Made Vista Hard to Develop For!

Posted on May 5, 2008, under Development, Operating Systems, Software.

I have learned to like, even love some things about Vista. That is not to say I think it’s perfect. It’s far from perfect. It’s unfortunate that it took Microsoft this long to implement some of the great features, and they still did not have enough time to implement things well; which is what makes Vista suck in it’s own right. It’s incomplete, it’s buggy, things were not thought through or over thought.

The one thing Microsoft had going for it, was it gave developers tools to make applications for its operating systems. Microsoft did not alienate past versions, something Apple is not afraid of. All this, and more, contributes to why it is largely adopted by businesses, and why you can find an application for just about anything you need on Windows. I am afraid that Microsoft has lost sight of this with Vista.

Vista is not easy to develop for. We are extremely behind with the release of NetGrid Studio, and the outstanding issues are Vista related. User Access Control is not only a nightmare for users, but for developers as well. You have to use specific API’s to "elevate" an application whenever you need to do something that could cause harm, like accessing certain parts of the registry. Which means you have to make a specific build for Vista, and make it seamless to the end user so they do not have to download a "made for Vista" version.

Apple got it right, granted they are built off of Linux and arguably do not have as much of a security problem because they are not as widely adopted; but non-the-less they got it right. Something as monumental and important as security with an Operating System should have been priority #1 for Microsoft making it easy for users and developers. I have not enjoyed making sure our applications are compatible with Vista. And do not even get me started on the ridiculous process you need to take in order to get your application certified "Vista Ready". The whole thing just was not thought out an implemented correctly.

I am a Windows user, and as much as I praise the things Microsoft has done I am hard on them as well. They should have split the Windows division from their online, Office, and IE teams like they did when making the XBox 360. Cut out the noise, and make a better product.

2 Comments