Kit Ong's News Pick Of The Day

Quick Analysis of Popular Canon and Nikon DSLR Cameras

2012-05-13T00:31:37-12:00:00

Photo quality aside, it seems that Canon DSLRs are more popular than Nikon DSLRs right now based on Flickr stats.

Below is a ranking of popularity based on daily users (taken from Flickr.com)

Canon Camera (Average daily users)
EOS 5D Mark II (4350) $2500
EOS REBEL T2i / 550D (3908) $500-$600
EOS 7D (3577) $1500-$1800
EOS REBEL T1i / 500D (2507) $400-$500
EOS 60D (2219) $800-$1300

Nikon Camera (Average daily users)
D90 (3985) $1000-$1200
D7000 (2664) $1200-$1500
D3100 (2173) $500-$700
D700 (1912) $2200-$3000
D5000 (1521) $600-$1000 (superseded by D5100)

Key to below stats:

# of items - This is the total number of photos uploaded per model.
Avg. daily users - This is the number of Flickr members who uploaded 1 or more photos yesterday.
Activity Factor The "Activity Factor" is a number derived from photos, members and a model's rank to indicate cameras that are used "a lot".
Type Point & Shoot / DSLR / Cameraphone / Camcorder
Rank A model's rank (within its brand) is based on how many people used it yesterday.

Canon Popularity

Nikon Popularity

Canon DSLR

Nikon DSLR

Links for more info.
http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/
http://www.flickr.com/cameras/nikon/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Canon_DSLR_cameras
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Nikon_DSLR_cameras

Windows 8 Consumer Preview and HP Printer drivers

2012-05-03T06:04:24-12:00:00

Granted Windows 8 Consumer Preview is only 2 months old but you would expect most common Printers to work with it. This wasn't the case when I tested a HP Deskjet Printer with it. Although HP has released a tool to help find Windows 8 Printer drivers (http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Windows-8-Consumer-Preview/How-to-Get-Your-Inkjet-Printer-Working-with-Windows-8-Consumer/td-p/1334287). However, it seems that not all HP Printers are supported.

A solution that worked for me was to manually install a HP PCL driver via the Windows Add Device, hopefully this will help others who have a similar issue.

Stuxnet - how it infects

2012-04-12T19:27:54-12:00:00

Except from the CNET article.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-57413329-52/stuxnet-delivered-to-iranian-nuclear-plant-on-thumb-drive/?part=propeller&subj=news&tag=linkv

The Stuxnet worm propagates by exploiting a hole in all versions of Windows in the code that processes shortcut files, ending in ".lnk," according to...[the] Microsoft Malware Protection Center....Merely browsing to the removable media drive using an application that displays shortcut icons, such as Windows Explorer, will run the malware without the user clicking on the icons. The worm infects USB drives or other removable storage devices that are subsequently connected to the infected machine. Those USB drives then infect other machines much like the common cold is spread by infected people sneezing into their hands and then touching door knobs that others are handling.

The malware includes a rootkit, which is software designed to hide the fact that a computer has been compromised, and other software that sneaks onto computers by using a digital certificates signed two Taiwanese chip manufacturers that are based in the same industrial complex in Taiwan--RealTek and JMicron, according to Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos.... It is unclear how the digital signatures were acquired by the attacker, but experts believe they were stolen and that the companies were not involved.

Once the machine is infected, a Trojan looks to see if the computer it lands on is running Siemens' Simatic WinCC software. The malware then automatically uses a default password that is hard-coded into the software to access the control system's Microsoft SQL database. The Stuxnet worm propagates by exploiting a hole in all versions of Windows in the code that processes shortcut files, ending in ".lnk," according to...[the] Microsoft Malware Protection Center....Merely browsing to the removable media drive using an application that displays shortcut icons, such as Windows Explorer, will run the malware without the user clicking on the icons. The worm infects USB drives or other removable storage devices that are subsequently connected to the infected machine. Those USB drives then infect other machines much like the common cold is spread by infected people sneezing into their hands and then touching door knobs that others are handling.

Development Best Practices for SharePoint 2010

2012-03-14T07:20:21-12:00:00

Useful advice for SP2010 development

Master List of SharePoint 2010 Custom Development Best Practices
http://nikspatel.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/sharepoint-2010-development-best-practices/

Why no flash on Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod?

2012-02-22T20:38:16-12:00:00

A good article by the man himself as to why Flash is not supported on iPhones, iPads and iPods, at http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash

But there is also a long history between Apple and Adobe as mentioned in the book by Walter Isaacson. This could explain the resistance by Steve Jobs to Adobe Flash.

Excerpt from Steve Job's Biography by Walter Isaacson's

To make this work, the iMac needed to have great video editing software. So Jobs went to his old friends at Adobe, the digital graphics company, and asked them to make a new Mac version of Adobe Premiere, which was popular on Windows computers. Adobe’s executives stunned Jobs by flatly turning him down. The Macintosh, they said, had too few users to make it worthwhile. Jobs was furious and felt betrayed. “I put Adobe on the map, and they screwed me,” he later claimed. Adobe made matters even worse when it also didn’t write its other popular programs, such as Photoshop, for the Mac OSX, even though the Macintosh was popular among designers and other creative people who used those applications.
Jobs never forgave Adobe, and a decade later he got into a public war with the company by not permitting Adobe Flash to run on the iPad. He took away a valuable lesson that reinforced his desire for end-to-end control of all key elements of a system: “My primary insight when we were screwed by Adobe in 1999 was that we shouldn’t get into any business where we didn’t control both the hardware and the software, otherwise we’d get our head handed to us.”

Microsoft to launch Windows 8 'Consumer Preview' on February 29th 2012

2012-02-09T19:39:40-12:00:00

Now I just need to find a tablet to install Win8...

http://www.theverge.com/microsoft/2012/2/8/2784724/windows-8-consumer-preview-february-29th

Former Apple iPhone engineer Bob Borchers

2012-02-03T22:14:25-12:00:00

Bob Borchers revealed that the reason a lot of iPhone adverts show the time as 9:42 am on the iPhone was because the iPhone was originally launched at that time.

For one of the commercial for the original iPhone, Borchers said the phone number used to demo the Google Map function was genuine and is the actual number number of the Pacific Catch Restaurant in San Franscisco and the last time he was there they still had the iPhone special, which is calamari.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/12/02/02/talk.to.students.emphasizes.innovation/

Error occurred in deployment step 'Activate Features': Unable to locate the workflow's association data

2012-01-28T00:29:31-12:00:00

Workflow deployment can be a real pain, here's an error I came across the other day.

Error occurred in deployment step 'Activate Features': Unable to locate the workflow's association data. To restore the association data to the workflow, restart the workflow settings wizard by selecting the workflow node in Solution Explorer and then clicking the ellipsis button (…) on one of the properties in the Properties window that has an ellipsis button.

Even though Visual Studio suggests to reassociate the workflow with task and history lists, I found that the best way to fix this issue is to set Auto Associate to False.

The operation did not proceed far enough to allow RESTART. Reissue the statement without the RESTART qualifier.

2011-12-20T22:18:51-12:00:00

This is a strangest error I have come across whilst working with SharePoint 2010, the full error is this.

[12/20/2011 5:29:10 PM] Warning: [WSS_Content] The operation did not proceed far enough to allow RESTART. Reissue the statement without the RESTART qualifier.

RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

The error message was written to the file restore.log found in the SharePoint backup folder, it seems that the following keyword in TSQL caused the error.

IF EXISTS ( SELECT * FROM master..sysdatabases WHERE has_dbaccess(name)=1 AND name=@db_name )
BEGIN
SELECT 1 as ErrorCode
END
ELSE
BEGIN RESTORE DATABASE [WSS_Content] FROM DISK=@db_location WITH STATS=5, FILE=1, MOVE @db_OldName TO @db_NewFile, MOVE @db_OldLogName TO @db_NewLogFile, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD, RESTART, RECOVERY
END

The combination of software I had installed was SharePoint 2010 Service Pack 1 with SQL Server 2008 R2

Resolution

To fix this error I took the drastic action of downgrading SQL Server to 2008 R1, the keyword RESTART no longer appears when I restore the SharePoint Farm. This problem could also be down to SP1 issues.

Microsoft Lync 2010 for iPhone

2011-12-20T22:10:12-12:00:00

Previously I blogged about Lync for mobile for the Windows Phone, this software is now available for the iPhone as well.

Microsoft Lync 2010 for iPhone

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-lync-2010-for-iphone/id484293461?mt=8

Lync 2010 for mobiles

2011-12-11T17:34:08-12:00:00

Lync mobile client is now available for Windows Phone

Microsoft Lync lands in the Windows Phone Marketplace
http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-lync-lands-in-the-windows-marketplace

Lync Mobile Feature Comparison
http://unifiedcollaboration.nl/2011/12/09/lync-mobile-feature-comparison-2/

More detailed Mobile Client Comparison
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh691004.aspx

Useful iPhone/iPad tip: take a screenshot screengrab

2011-10-14T16:33:04-12:00:00

To take a screenshot of what you currently see on your iPad or iPhone, press the power button on the top of the iPhone/iPad + the main circle button (the only hard key that takes you to the home screen) at the same time.. you will hear a click like a camera shutter sound..and without any notice it will have sent the image to your photo album.

Best Live Stream for Apple Iphone5 Event

2011-10-04T05:32:23-12:00:00

Nearly instant update from Apple event...

http://live.thisismynext.com/Event/Apple_iPhone_5_event_live_blog

Windows 8 a fitting competitor for the Apple iPad iOS

2011-09-10T20:59:45-12:00:00

Although Android tablets have been gaining increasing market share, they are still not as popular as the iPad, could Microsoft challenge the tablet market with their new OS Windows 8? It certainly looks very likely, Microsoft have always had success with successive operating systems after a major revamp, take Windows Vista and Windows 7 as an example, the latter builds on the success or rather the failure of the previous OS.

Windows 8 looks to establish itself as the OS of choice for tablets by building on the success and refined touch interface that was first introduced in Windows Phone, a successor to the Windows Mobile.

Just like the iPod and iPhone when they were first introduced, there were many that were skeptical about the user interface but nowadays it is not uncommon to see a Windows user with an iPad.

The Metro user interface seen in Windows Phone is now getting more coverage and establishing itself as an alternative touch interface to the likes of iOS used in iPhones and iPads.

Microsoft have partnered with Samsung to build their Windows tablet, this is a wise move as Samsung have shown to be capable of producing lightweight ultra portable laptops devices for the Windows OS in the past.

Let's look forward to the release of the Windows 8 tablet...

X factor fever

2011-09-08T21:19:02-12:00:00

Just goes to show it doesn't matter where you are born...