Today Apple had their big iPhone SDK press release. They opened up the phone and added a bunch of Enterprise features that many small to large corporate customers have been asking for. But they still haven’t implemented the features I am looking for in a smart phone, and until they do, they will not see my money.

1. Microsoft Exchange Direct Push
2. Tethering
3. 3G Network (I currently use Verizon)

I know #2 will be coming, if not through Apple somebody else will do it, since Apple has unlocked the iPhone to developers.  However #3 is the one that I may have to wait for Verizon to switch to GSM in the distant future.  Other than my last 2 requirements I am sold on the iPhone.

Tags: Apple, iPhone, News, Verizon, Windows Mobile

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Just saw on OSNews that Microsoft Research has just released the Singularity Source Code on CodePlex.

Microsoft has released source code from the Singularity research project onto Codeplex under an academic, non-commercial license. “The Singularity Research Development Kit is based on the Microsoft Research Singularity project. It includes source code, build tools, test suites, design notes, and other background materials. The Singularity RDK is for academic non-commercial use only and is governed by this license.”

If you are unfamiliar with the Singularity Project, its goal is to create an Operation System based off of the C# programming language and the .NET 1.1 Framework. (I can only image they use the .NET 1.1 Framework, because that is about the time they started the project and haven’t got around to updating it.

Singularity is a research project focused on the construction of dependable systems through innovation in the areas of systems, languages, and tools. We are building a research operating system prototype (called Singularity), extending programming languages, and developing new techniques and tools for specifying and verifying program behavior.

Some interesting things that I found while browsing the source code:

1. Singularity: Rethinking Dependable System Design
2. Building and Running Singularity RDK 1.1.pdf
3. Kernel Project
4. X86 Processor Command Codes in C#
5. Some Application Built to Run on Singularity

For anybody interested in Operating Systems this is very interesting stuff.  Especially for a guy like me that has never touched assembly or low level C programming in any kind of professional level.  Hopefully this weekend I will have some time to load it up in Virtual PC and play with it.

Tags: C#, CodePlex, News, Operating System, Programming, Singularity

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I would like to congratulate the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON™), it is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, and this past weekend they raised $6,615,318.04 for children with cancer. And a special congratulations to my fraternity Alpha Phi Delta, Chi Chapter, for participating and helping to raise money for this great cause.

Tags: Alpha, Alpha Phi Delta, Chi, Delta, Fraternity, News, Penn State, Personal, Phi, THON

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As many of you may know I love Google Talk. I love it because of its light foot print both on my hard drive and when running in memory. I love the integration with all my Google services. And I love the flexibility that it provides. If you would like a copy of it, you can download it as part of the Google Pack. Or by it self from http://www.google.com/talk.

However the Google Talk team just gave me another reason to love Google Talk. It now allows me to have direct conversations with my visitors with a simple click of the mouse on the chat bubble you see to your left.

This new feature is called chatback and allows you to integrate Google Talk in to any website you have access to add HTML. Chatback uses the web-based Google Talk Gadget so your visitors don’t need to download anything. It opens in a new window so they can keep chatting with you even if they browse to other pages.

Of course, chatback isn’t just for blogs. You can use it on any web page that you can add HTML content to. To get started, visit the chatback start page. (This is also linked from the Google Talk homepage.) Then just copy the provided HTML snippet to your web site. Visitors will then see a badge on your site indicating your availability, and can click to start a chat with you. If there’s a time when you don’t want to be distracted, just set your online status to “busy” and visitors won’t be able to chat with you until you change your status back to “available.”

So now if you want to chat with me about anything and you see a Green dot. You have the go ahead to say hi or ask me any question you want. I may not always respond, because I sometimes forget to turn of GTalk when I am in a meeting or giving a presentation.

Tags: Blog, chatback, Google, GTalk, Instant Message, News

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