Windows 7 has finally launched! At last, everyone will get to see what I’ve been raving about in past blogs here.

I’ve opted in to a Microsoft promotion for a house party this evening, and am looking forward to that! Here are some of the highlights for that, below :

The full gallery of photos of the party pack contents are above. I will try to get some pix of the party itself here shortly.

I can highly recommend Windows 7, based on my experience as well as many of my colleagues who’ve also been running the MSDN / Technet release code for several months now.

To order a copy shipped to you, as appropriate, please click here. For a comparison of the various version, please see this article. (note : Enterprise is only available via agreement with Microsoft, and Starter and Home Basic are generally not available within the U.S. – the common retail versions for the U.S.A. are Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate).

Thanks for reading!

	Windows® 7 is full of ideas from Windows Live users like you—ideas that help make everyday tasks a little bit easier. Like simplifying the way you use your PC and making it easier to connect to the people, places, and things in your life. Find out more about all the ways Windows 7 helps simplify your PC. Take a look »
	Get the most out of Windows 7 with e-mail, IM, photos, and movies. Windows Live Mail Windows Live Messenger Windows Live Photo Gallery Windows Live Movie Maker

	Microsoft respects your privacy. Please read our online Privacy Statement. If you would prefer to no longer receive promotional offers or research emails from MSN, Windows Live or Bing, please click here, or reply to this mail with “UNSUBSCRIBE” in the subject line. If you prefer to set your communication preferences for messages regarding Windows, please log on to the Microsoft.com Profile Center and edit your preferences. To set your contact preferences for other Microsoft communications, see the communications preferences section of the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052

Twitter-Microsoft Bing Deal Confirmed, but so Is Facebook-Bing (Guess Who Else Is Coming to Dinner?)

(via http://kara.allthingsd.com/20091021/exclusive-guess-who-else-is-coming-to-dinner-twitter-microsoft-bing-deal-confirmed-but-so-is-facebook-bing/ )

by Kara Swisher – Posted on October 21, 2009 at 8:41 AM PT

---

In a stunning one-two punch, Microsoft will announce separate nonexclusive deals today with both Facebook and Twitter to integrate their real-time feeds of status updates into the Bing search service.

According to sources, Microsoft (MSFT) digital head Qi Lu will announce the deal onstage in a few hours at the Web 2.0 Summit.

BoomTown reported earlier today that the Microsoft data-mining deal with Twitter was poised to be announced.

But the addition of Facebook raises the stakes considerably because it has the largest pool of status updates, despite all the hype around Twitter. Facebook has previously stated that it has 40 million updates a day, on average, from its 300 million-plus audience.

Twitter has been talking to Google (GOOG) about a similar arrangement, and, according to sources, so has Facebook.

But the deal is a definite blow to the dominant search engine, since–for the first time–data will be available on Bing that are not available on Google.

Neither of the services is expected to be up and running for weeks, if not months. But there is the possibility of a demo today by Qi Lu of what it will look like.

What’s interesting about the deals, which have been in the works for several weeks, is that they will be very different.

Much of what is posted on Twitter is public by design, while Facebook users prefer the closed nature of the service to disperse a wide variety of personal information only to their friends, and they want to control it.

Thus, sources said, not all Facebook updates will be included in the real-time feed to be searched by Bing, but only those its users choose to make available to the wider public. Facebook will apparently provide users with a number of new tools to do so.

BoomTown first reported several weeks ago that Twitter was in advanced talks with both the search rivals about such a real-time search arrangement.

When asked about the talks onstage at Web 2.0 yesterday, Twitter CEO Evan Williams turned coy, according to numerous reports, joking “Whose deals?”

---

(for the rest of the article, head to http://kara.allthingsd.com/20091021/exclusive-guess-who-else-is-coming-to-dinner-twitter-microsoft-bing-deal-confirmed-but-so-is-facebook-bing/ )

Pretty handy timing, the day before Windows 7 launches to the general public!

I’ve alluded to TrueCrypt before, but have yet to do a real “feature” on it.

(below changelog via http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=version-history )

---

TrueCrypt 6.3

October 21, 2009

New features:

• Full support for Windows 7.

• Full support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

• The ability to configure selected volumes as ’system favorite volumes’. This is useful, for example, when you have volumes that need to be mounted before system and application services start and before users start logging on. It is also useful when there are network-shared folders located on a TrueCrypt volume and you need to ensure that the network shares will be restored by the system each time it is restarted. For more information, see the chapter ‘Main Program Window‘, section ‘Program Menu‘, subsection ‘Volumes -> Save Currently Mounted Volumes as Favorite‘ in the documentation. (Windows)

Improvements and bug fixes:

• ‘Favorite’ volumes residing within partitions or dynamic volumes will no longer be affected by changes in disk device numbers, which may occur, e.g., when a drive is removed or added.  (Windows)

• Many other minor improvements and bug fixes.  (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux)

The latest version of TrueCrypt can always be downloaded from http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads

Besides working with PHP_FCGI_MAX_REQUESTS today, there was something else fun – free HD

Despite the installer requesting for the popular Ask.Com toolbar (which I never install; BHO’s slow down my daily work, etc.) it is a great program; the toolbar from their sponsor is completely optional.

---

Miro is a free HD video player. It can play almost any video file and offers over 6,000 free internet TV shows and video podcasts. Miro has a simple, gorgeous interface designed for fullscreen HD video.

Since Miro downloads most videos, you can take your shows with you, even on an airplane (Ed: also good to preserve items that may be removed by others . . .) Quite simply, Miro is a better way to watch all the video you care about.

Best of all, Miro is 100% free and open source, developed by a non-profit organization and volunteers around the world.

Unlike your browser, Miro’s built for HD. The built-in Miro Guide connects you to thousands of free High Definition video shows. Miro downloads video fast and stores it on your local computer for a level of quality that is often impossible on streaming video websites (even the ones that call themselves ‘HD’).

Fullscreen, HD video on Miro is like nothing you’ve ever seen online. Can’t open a video? Now you can, with Miro. Miro can play virtually any type of video file – Quicktime, WMV, MPEG, AVI, XVID, and more. (Ed: Yes! No more installing crap-tastic programs for some specific video codec . . .)

When it comes to video podcasts, Miro goes far beyond iTunes by letting you subscribe to BitTorrent RSS feeds, with one of the fastest torrent downloaders in the world (it’s called ‘libtorrent’).

Search, download, and save videos… from YouTube, Google Video, Blip, and more. You can even save a search term and automatically get new videos as they are posted. With YouTube’s new HD support, the video quality can be incredible; Miro will save the highest quality YouTube version automatically, when you choose save.

Don’t miss Miro’s unique blog, as well, which like their Publisher section has some great bits for modern movie creators (hint, Joel!)

You can learn more about Miro, and download it from their site. Happy video-ing!

Below article lifted from http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome

The concept is quite keen. Amazingly, I had never heard of this before, but it makes perfect sense.

We are coming much closer to the future depicted in Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer (quite a read, in and of itself)

---

What is RepRap?

RepRap from Adrian Bowyer on Vimeo.

Look at your computer setup and imagine that you hooked up a 3D printer. Instead of printing on bits of paper this 3D printer makes real, robust, mechanical parts. To give you an idea of how robust, think Lego bricks and you’re in the right area. You could make lots of useful stuff, but interestingly you could also make most of the parts to make another 3D printer. That would be a machine that could copy itself.

RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. It is the practical self-copying 3D printer introduced in the video on the right – a self-replicating machine. This 3D printer builds the parts up in layers of plastic. This technology already exists, but the cheapest commercial machine would cost you about €30,000. And it isn’t even designed so that it can make itself. So what the RepRap team are doing is to develop and to give away the designs for a much cheaper machine with the novel capability of being able to self-copy (material costs are about €500). That way it’s accessible to small communities in the developing world as well as individuals in the developed world. Following the principles of the Free Software Movement we are distributing the RepRap machine at no cost to everyone under the GNU General Public Licence. So, if you have a RepRap machine, you can use it to make another and give that one to a friend…

The RepRap project became widely known after a large press coverage in March 2005, though the idea goes back to a paper on the web written by Adrian Bowyer on 2 February 2004.

RepRap Version I “Darwin” can be built by anyone now – see the Make your own RepRap link there or on the left, and for ways to get the bits and pieces you need, see the Obtaining Partslink. RepRap Version II “Mendel” will be released in a matter of days.

(view more at the official site : http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome )

And you wonder why I tend to back FedEx ? (Yes, I like the message at http://www.brownbailout.com/ )

UPS’s new policy at http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/value_added/daily.html is completely insane.

Considering my local terminal is open for two whole hours per day, they make banker’s hours look pretty good. The queue is like something out of the third world, to boot. I suppose I should be “happy”; in other nearby cities, they only get at most 90 minutes. All locations are only open for service on weekdays.

UPS has been very poor in service generally ever since their strike in 1997; requests for next day air for important shipments routinely arrive days late (today, case in point : still not here . . .) so I will not be able to establish proper wi-fi service for an ailing family member.

Not to mention, wrangling with them and / or the shipper to get their delivery charges refunded in full is always fun, when they are a day (or more) late on their deliveries. Just say No to UPS.

The data below is from just after 1:45 PM local time, Saturday Oct. 10, 2009 :

Tracking Detail

Billing information has been sent to UPS. Check site later for updated shipment status or contact shipper for more details. Tracking Number: 1Z81E74W135470xxxx Status: Billing Information Received Shipped To: COLUMBIA, MO, US Shipped/Billed On: 10/08/2009 Type: Package Service: NEXT DAY AIR SAVER Weight: 3.00 Lbs Need to send e-mail notifications? Use UPS Quantum View Notify® to send delivery or exception notifications. E-mail Notifications To view additional tracking information, please log in to My UPS.

NOTICE: UPS authorizes you to use UPS tracking systems solely to track shipments tendered by or for you to UPS for delivery and for no other purpose. Any other use of UPS tracking systems and information is strictly prohibited.

You bet, I’m ticked.

---

Update : Still no package as of 10/21/2009 : Not only was it late, forcing an inferior substitution from what was available locally, it appears that it is still in the same “delivery status”. Ahem, not rescheduled, not . . .

Luckily, Amazon.Com verified this on their end (non-delivery) and has processed a full refund (including shipping charges; grrr) to my card.

Just sent another package out today, two day from me to a business. You know it went via FedEx!

http://www.google.com/landing/searchtips/#packagetracking

Yes, Google may rule the Earth someday, but they’re pretty handy in the meantime

Howdy folks, sorry I’ve been away for a bit, but you know how life can be unpredictable!

Today I’d like to focus a bit on the upcoming public launch of Microsoft Windows 7, which is certainly their best workstation / desktop / laptop, etc. offering in a good while.

They’ve partnered with House Party to introduce this to folks; c.f. http://www.houseparty.com/windows7usa/

My own party is at http://www.houseparty.com/party/214810 though it’s going to be too tough already to craw that many folks into 750′ of space come the 22nd, hah!

You can download some of the goodies yourself from the public site at http://www.houseparty.com/windows7usa/favors as well.