Categories
Uncategorized

Of interest: Live Labs’ Photosynth images from the latest Endeavour Space Shuttle mission

Of interest: Benjamin J. Romano posts on the Seattle Times blog that Microsoft Photosynth was used to process images from the latest Endeavour mission.



“A few days before the shuttle launched, Microsoft posted several sets of photographs of the shuttle in the Vehicle Assembly Building and on the launch pad. They were in the company’s new 3-D photo-viewing environment, Photosynth.


“The new collection includes images of the shuttle captured Aug. 10 before it docked at the International Space Station. “Endeavour did a complete somersault enabling astronauts to photograph the shuttle’s bottom-side. The photos were then sent back to NASA for analysis and later shared with Microsoft LiveLabs to compile a ‘synth,'” a Microsoft representative said in an e-mail. The new photo collection can be accessed here.”


Adam Sheppard, GPM in Live Labs, posted about the collaboration with NASA, as Space Shuttle astronauts photographed the shuttle (including the damage on the bottom).


Click here to install the Photosynth viewer and experience for yourself.

Categories
Uncategorized

Your questions: Is there a list of the time zones and daylight saving time changes in Windows?

A question came in via email, IM and phone today, so thought that it would be beneficial to post it here…



“Is there a list of the time zones [and daylight saving time/ summer time] changes in Windows?”


Why, yes, there is a list of all changes included in KB article 933360, “August 2007 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems,” that notes that the following changes have been made since the previous Windows cumulative time zone update in February (KB article 931836) :



  • Caucasus Standard Time:  Changes display name to Caucasus Standard Time as cities in the previous display name have separate time zones, and removes DST settings. 

  • Armenian Standard Time:  Creates a new time zone for Armenia to better align with different DST changes in the Caucasus region. 

  • New Zealand Standard Time:  Adjusts DST start dates and end dates according to changes signed in to law after the prior cumulative time zone update was created (February 2007).

  • GTB Standard Time:  Corrects the display name for GTB Standard Time on Windows Server 2003 SP2 to include Bucharest. 

  • Jordan Standard Time:  Adjusts DST start times, end times, and dates according to changes signed in to law after the prior cumulative time zone update was created (February 2007). 

A list of the display names and GMT offsets are noted here for your review…











































































































































































































































































































































































Registry subkey name Display name Daylight name Standard name DST start DST end
Alaska Standard Time (GMT-09:00) Alaska Alaskan Daylight Time Alaskan Standard Time Second Sunday in March at 02:00:00 First Sunday in November at 02:00:00
Armenian Standard Time (GMT +04:00) Yerevan Armenian Daylight Time Armenian Standard Time Last Sunday in March at 2:00:00 AM Last Sunday in October 3:00:00 AM
Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada) Atlantic Daylight Time Atlantic Standard Time Second Sunday in March at 02:00:00 First Sunday in November at 02:00:00
AUS Eastern Standard Time (GMT+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney AUS Eastern Daylight Time AUS Eastern Standard Time Unchanged Last Sunday in March at 03:00:00
Azerbaijan Standard Time (GMT+04:00) Baku Azerbaijan Daylight Time Azerbaijan Standard Time Last Sunday in March at 04:00:00 Last Sunday in October at 05:00:00
Caucasus Standard Time (GMT +04:00) Caucasus Standard Time Caucasus Daylight Time Caucasus Standard Time removed removed
Cen. Australia Standard Time (GMT+09:30) Adelaide Cen. Australia Daylight Time Cen. Australia Standard Time Unchanged Last Sunday in March at 03:00:00
Central Brazilian Standard Time (GMT-04:00) Manaus Central Brazilian Daylight Time Central Brazilian Standard Time First Sunday in November at 00:00:00 Last Sunday in February at 00:00:00
Central Standard Time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) Central Daylight Time Central Standard Time Second Sunday in March at 02:00:00 First Sunday in November at 02:00:00
Central Standard Time (Mexico) (GMT-06:00) Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey Central Daylight Time (Mexico) Central Standard Time (Mexico) First Sunday in April at 02:00:00 Last Sunday in October at 02:00:00
E. Europe Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Minsk E. Europe Daylight Time E. Europe Standard Time Last Sunday in March at 02:00:00 Last Sunday in October at 03:00:00
E. South America Standard Time (GMT-03:00) Brasilia E. South America Daylight Time E. South America Standard Time First Sunday in November at 00:00:00 Last Sunday in February at 00:00:00
Eastern Standard Time (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US and Canada) Eastern Daylight Time Eastern Standard Time Second Sunday in March at 02:00:00 First Sunday in November at 02:00:00
Egypt Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Cairo Egypt Daylight Time Egypt Standard Time Last Thursday in April at 23:59:59.999 Last Thursday in September at 23:59:59.999
Georgian Standard Time (GMT+03:00) Tbilisi Georgian Daylight Time Georgian Standard Time Removed Removed
Greenwich Standard Time (GMT) Casablanca, Monrovia, Reykjavik Greenwich Daylight Time Greenwich Standard Time Not applicable Not applicable
GTB Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Athens, Bucharest, Istanbul GTB Daylight Time GTB Standard Time Last Sunday of March at 3:00:00 Last Sunday in October at 04:00:00
Iran Standard Time (GMT+03:30) Tehran Iran Daylight Time Iran Standard Time Removed Removed
Israel Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Jerusalem Jerusalem Daylight Time Jerusalem Standard Time March 30, 2007 at 02:00:00 September 16, 2007 at 02:00:00
Jordan Standard Time (GMT+2:00) Amman Jordan Daylight Time Jordan Standard Time Last Thursday in March at 11:59:59 Last Friday in October at 01:00:00
Middle East Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Beirut Middle East Daylight Time Middle East Standard Time Last Sunday in March at 00:00 Last Saturday in October at 23:59:59.999
Montevideo Standard Time (GMT-03:00) Montevideo Montevideo Daylight Time Montevideo Standard Time First Sunday in October at 02:00:00 Second Sunday in March at 02:00:00
Mountain Standard Time (GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US and Canada) Mountain Daylight Time Mountain Standard Time Second Sunday in March at 02:00:00 First Sunday in November at 02:00:00
Mountain Standard Time (Mexico) (GMT-07:00) Chihuahua, La Paz, Mazatlan Mountain Daylight Time (Mexico) Mountain Standard Time (Mexico) First Sunday in April at 02:00:00 Last Sunday in October at 02:00:00
Myanmar Standard Time (GMT+06:30) Yangon (Rangoon) Myanmar Daylight Time Myanmar Standard Time Not applicable Not applicable
Namibia Standard Time (GMT+02:00) Windhoek Namibia Daylight Time Namibia Standard Time First Sunday in April at 02:00:00 First Sunday in September at 02:00:00
New Zealand Standard Time (GMT+12:00) Auckland, Wellington New Zealand Daylight Time New Zealand Standard Time Last Sunday in September at 02:00:00 First Sunday in April at 03:00:00
Newfoundland Standard Time (GMT-3:30) Newfoundland Newfoundland Daylight Time Newfoundland Standard Time Second Sunday of March at 00:01:00 First Sunday of November at 00:01:00
Pacific SA Standard Time (GMT-04:00) Santiago Pacific SA Daylight Time Pacific SA Standard Time Second Saturday in October at 23:59:59.999 Second Saturday in March at 23:59:59.999
Pacific Standard Time (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) Pacific Daylight Time Pacific Standard Time Second Sunday in March at 02:00:00 First Sunday in November at 02:00:00
Pacific Standard Time (Mexico) (GMT-08:00) Tijuana, Baja California Pacific Daylight Time (Mexico) Pacific Standard Time (Mexico) First Sunday in April at 02:00:00 Last Sunday in October at 02:00:00
SA Pacific Standard Time (GMT-05:00) Bogota, Lima, Quito, Rio Branco SA Pacific Daylight Time SA Pacific Standard Time Not applicable Not applicable
Sri Lanka Standard Time (GMT+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura Sri Lanka Daylight Time Sri Lanka Standard Time Not applicable Not applicable
Tasmania Standard Time (GMT+10:00) Hobart Tasmania Daylight Time Tasmania Standard Time Unchanged Last Sunday in March at 03:00:00
W. Australia Standard Time (GMT+08:00) Perth W. Australia Daylight Time W. Australia Standard Time Last Sunday in October at 02:00:00 Last Sunday in March at 03:00:00
 


Important notes from this KB…



  • This update supersedes and replaces update KB931836, released in January 2007. This update also includes additional time zone changes that were signed in to law after update KB931836 was created. Customers who have already deployed update KB931836 should evaluate whether any of the five specific time zone changes that are addressed in the update described by this Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article merit deploying this update immediately. If systems are not directly affected, you can schedule deployment at the next available opportunity. We recommend that all customers standardize on the most current Windows cumulative time zone update to guarantee the consistency of the time zone database on all systems. 

  • Before you apply the update that is described by this article, be aware of potential issues that may affect Microsoft Office Outlook. For more information about these issues, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 931667 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931667/) How to address the daylight saving time changes in 2007 by using the Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook

  • If you are running Microsoft Exchange Server in an Information Technology (IT) environment, you must take additional measures to guarantee the correct operation of Exchange Server.  For more informationabout the Exchange daylight saving time (DST) update, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 926666 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926666/) Update for daylight saving time changes in 2007 for Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2

(This will be cross posted to the DST blog on TechNet at http://blogs.technet.com/dst2007)


Tags: , , , . 629,244; 954,983; 1,750,000, Windows Vista.

Categories
Uncategorized

MTV loses its Urge, enthusiastic for Rhapsody

First off, if you’re in Washington State, check to see if it’s time to go and vote in your county primary elections.

Now, on to the news as I break early for lunch and out to vote.

MTV Networks will drop its Urge digital music offering, partnering now with Real Networks’ Rhapsody music service (and backed by Verizon Wireless).

ExtremeTech reports…

“the expected partnership [between MTV and Real] will result in a new company, dubbed Rhapsody America. It is intended to create a single, digital platform for PCs, portable music devices and mobile phones, executives said during a conference call.”

It will be interesting to see what comes of the discussions between the companies and how MTV’s Urge digital music service as music on Urge music should “be available on Windows Media until further notice,” according to Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks’ Music Group. Urge customers can now can use their accounts to log on to Rhapsody.

I like Rhapsody’s subscription service. And I am considering the move to the Zune Pass subscription, which also offers and ‘all you can eat’ song library via Zune Marketplace. I never got the Urge.

Online subscription packages like Rhapsody and Zune has certainly changed how I buy music… and I found that I purchase more CDs at a rate that parallels when I was more involved in the industry. As noted, subscription packages allow me to “try before I buy” legally thus exposing me to more musical talent than I get via radio today.  For many artists, I prefer to have higher-quality digital files available, ‘though the quality of subscription music is fine for working out or general travel via mass transit… but I do notice the difference sometimes listening in the car and particularly at home.  

BTW, my Rhapsody subscription music folder is now about on par with the folder of my ripped CDs that I own (‘though digitized at a high bit rate) as most subscription tracks are encoded at a lower rate (128 kbps) than I digitize my CDs.

Also see these related stories in the news…

Categories
Uncategorized

New Apple iMac cabling, PC cable messes and solutions, part two

A number of people have left some great comments on the blog re: my post on how Apple compares the simplicity of their iMac vs. the cable mess associated with a Windows PC.

And again, the standard disclaimer: I own PCs, Macs and other various computer systems, some off and some on the home network. 😉 

A quick note on a single cable PC: there are solutions available. My point was that there are better comparisons (certainly not in Apple’s interest) that offer a similar minimal cable configurations, such as the pricey Dell XPS M2010 (which Dell says is a notebook PC), more affordable HP’s TouchSmart IQ770 (lots of discounts in the Sunday sales circulars this weekend) and the range of Sony all-in-one PCs.

HPIQ770Of interest: HP has an interactive 360 view (in Flash) on their web site. I’m surprised that they (as does Dell and also Sony, with a 360 product tour here) haven’t taken the same approach as Apple in their single cord solution, and just highlight a single power cord connecting the PC.

And note on our new home PC set up: we have three cables coming out of the back of our HP Slimline PC: the power, the monitor and USB camera cable. (I have an HP monitor which doesn’t offer a set of USB ports on it as does my Dell monitor at the office, integrated into the bezel.)

Although initially reluctant, I disconnected the Ethernet cable and used the integrated wireless 802.11G to access our home network with little noticed hit to the network performance, as the laser printers are on our network. (Note that I do have a scanner on the desktop but that is disconnected as we clean up the home office this weekend.)

Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000The system is complete with a Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000. I’m thinking about upgrading to the new Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 as this Bluetooth mouse and backlit keyboard set has four USB Ports.

If anything, I’m reminded that it’s so much more satisfying to have a clean desk. And the fewer the cables the better.

That and thinking we should look at one of these new iMacs or PC all-in-ones for our home office, v-next. 😉

Tags: Apple, iMac, Microsoft, Vista, Windows.

Categories
Uncategorized

Xbox 360 repairs are complete: our first unit comes home

It’s returned home.


Our Xbox 360 that suffered from a severe case of the dreaded three red flashing lights arrived on Friday and is now up and running.


Well, not exactly the same Xbox 360: we were informed that the unit we received was a replacement unit, but it’s in fine shape. (Let’s hope that this one doesn’t scratch game discs.)  All told, we waited about five weeks from the first call to the Customer Service centre to this week when UPS showed up with a plain white box.


Not that anyone missed the gaming system today: it was a gorgeous day with baseball, bike rides and much more filling the schedule until late this evening. We had just one session of Dance Dance Revolution on Friday before the kids headed to bed.


What else was in the box: instructions included with the unit were helpful, and it was nice to receive a letter from the Xbox team (in English and Spanish, thank you) apologizing for the issue.  And the bonus of a free month of Xbox Live that many people called out in mail to me was included in the return shipment.


Which is a wash as the unit was out of service for just over a month.


Update on another unexpected bonus: as you may have seen in an earlier post, our older Xbox 360 just went south (a month after the standard one year warranty expired). Good news is that I purchased with a credit card that automatically extended the standard manufacturer’s warranty by one year. That means the $99 repair fee should be covered… a small victory and good reason to keep that plastic.  So check your card agreements and see if you’re covered (some exclusions always apply).


Case in point: I saw recently that Costco extends the manufacturer’s warranty on new computers and televisions to two years from date of purchase. But Costco does not, it seems, extend this offer to video game consoles.


Tags: Xbox 360, customer support.


http://tinyurl.com/62l3fv