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What Can You Do With Podcasting Kit for SharePoint (PKS)?:

• Listen and watch audio/video podcasts, anywhere on your PC or mobile device (Zune, SmartPhone, or any podcasting device)
• Share content by producing your own audio/video podcasts and publish them on PKS on your own.
• Connect and engage with podcasters via your integrated instant messaging program
• Find the most relevant content using the five star rating system, tag cloud, search engine and provide your feedback via comments.
• Get automatic podcast updates by subscribing to RSS feeds fully compatible with Zune and other podcasting devices
  • Simple RSS feed based on a defined podcast series
  • Simple RSS feed based on a person
  • Dynamic RSS feed based on search results
• Play podcasts in real-time using Microsoft® Silverlight™ and progressive playback
• Retrieve instant ROI and metrics with the ability to track the number of podcasts downloaded and/or viewed, instant feedback via rating system and comments, and subscribers via the RSS feed
• Access the richness of SharePoint to extend the solution: workflows, community sub-sites, access rights, editorial and more
• Customize your own PKS User Experience

Now that you know what it does, why would you use it?

If you or your organizations are interested in podcasting, have SharePoint Server 2007 deployed and about to develop your own podcasting solution then look no further. PKS will save you time, reduce your risk of developing a solution ground-up, and of course will save you money. Moreover, you will find on codeplex a vibrant community of people, organizations and partners who are available to help you, and share with you their own experiences. We strongly recommend that you work with an integration partner for the deployment and maintenance of your own PKS environment. We have listed several partners that we know, but you could just ask your local partner or IT departement to help you out.
PKS is not a traditional Microsoft Product in a sense that it is distributed with its source code, using the Public License license and free of charge (if you already own SharePoint Server 2007). It is not supported by Microsoft, and we recommend that you ask your integration partner for such a support. Since the PKS’s code is distributed any partner who understands development for SharePoint 2007 will be able to deliver this support for you.
PKS Detailed Overview Slide Deck
Silverlight 2.0 Playback Demonstration (1 minute podcast)
Silverlight 2.0 Reliable Upload Demonstration (2 minutes podcast)
Filtering in PKS (39 second podcast)
Change Values in Taxonomy (2 minute podcast)
Add Your Own Categories (3:25 minute podcast)

So you saw my list of updates I wanted to make to this little application I assume, if not, my want list is:

• The ability to separate RAW and JPG files into separated folders if you shoot in RAW+JPG modes.
• The ability to save your previous source and destination folders
• pre-populate the new folder name with the date/time formatted how you want
• Removing the status text and using a progress bar with a label to indicate the current action
• add a preview box so you can view the photos being transferred
• add a cancel button to stop the process

I got some of my updates in so I am posting a new version for your downloading pleasure, unfortunately I didn’t get everything in so there is still no separating RAW and JPGs into different folders and I haven’t added the prepopulate date/time to the new folder dialog but the updates are:

• Different UI Look to support images and progress
• Ability to cancel an operation in progress
• Ability to save and clear your source, work and archive locations
• JPGs being transferred are previewed during transfer
• Progress is tracked on a folder per folder basis
• Status displays current folder being copied and destination
• Fixed Recursive Delete Functionality

Here is a little screen shot of how it looks now, slightly different than the previous version.

As before the source and executables are available for download:

• Visual Studio 2008 Project
• Zipped Executable

I decided I needed a little app to make me more diligent about backing up my photographs and being sure I don’t destroy them while I am making web previews, edits, etc.

I started today with a little user scenario that goes something like this:

I insert a CF card into my computer. Autoplay launches and asks me if I would like to open the photos. I say yes with Photo Transfer and the application is launched.

My source folder is pre-filled in from AutoPlay and I browse a working folder location of my desktop, and a archive folder of my external hard drive’s “Photo Archive” folder.

I enter “06-03-2008 Walkabout Photos” as my new folder.

I check a box to delete the files from the card after I move them.

I click start and blam, my photos are copied to two folders, and the source files are deleted.

Well, I am almost there. Version one is fully functional minus one feature and has one bug (so far!)

So far I haven’t figured out the AutoPlay functionality quite yet. I will ask some of the .net Gurus at work…sometimes it’s handy to work @ Microsoft!

The bug is that so far if you have chosen a folder with folders beneath it, and selected the box to delete the source files, any files in folders aren’t deleted.

It’s a start though! I am uploading the project and a zipped copy of the executable if you want to use it or play with it. By all means let me know of any hiccups that you notice.

• Visual Studio 2008 Project
• Zipped Executable

I have been playing with this for quite a while now and nearly begging Joe Cheng and the Live Writer Team to let me blog about it.

I have raved about Windows Live Writer before but now you really have something special for your blog writing needs. Special enough that I even use it (via a virtual machine) on Mac because nothing for OS X comes close.

So what is new in this new version of Live Writer you ask? Well, let me show you…

Fun with Images

The most obvious change you will find on blog posts is the addition of new ways to view your images. The new image styles show reflections, pixel borders, rounded images and even allow you to tilt the image in question for dramatic effect…

In addition to these effects, you can also use the filter effects from before and even crop a photo from the original right in live writer!

In addition to these display features, you can also seamlessly integrate with your favorite modal popup type like Lightbox, Slimbox, etc. One other oft-requested feature is the ability to center images as well.

The beginnings of video integration are there as well with Soapbox support. Of course there are a myriad of plugins to work with your other favorite video sites.

Editing

One thing I am super excited about in this release is auto-linking. Not only can you create a database of words and phrases you use a lot and set them to link automatically, you can also do it as you create a link through the interface:

This is really useful to get your database going as you write instead of trying to think of things when you first set it up or forgetting to add them later when you think of them.

User Interface

Also big to those that really tweak their posts is the new tabbed interface for Edit, Preview and Source. Now you can quickly flip back and forth between these three modes with no effort.

The toolbar has been cleaned up a bit and for those of you like me with tons of categories, you can now search and filter for those quickly instead of browsing a monster list. This makes it really easy to get your posts in the right place.

SDK Updates

From what I understand this is where the real meat to this new version is. I don’t develop against it, so I can’t say for sure but for more details about the SDK, please see the blog post on Windows Live Dev.

Final Thoughts

Collectively these may not sound like a huge major release and I agree, if I was paying for it I would have to really need these features to pony up an upgrade, but this software is F R E E folks. It costs you nada, it’s not ad supported and has no nag ware. Windows Live Writer was already the best blogging software on the planet, and now it’s gotten even better. For those of you who are not already familiar with Live Writer as it stands now, I cannot recommend it enough.

The team that works on this product at Microsoft is passionate, brilliant and don’t ever stop thinking of cool things to make your blogging life easier. It would be interesting to try and take some sort of straw poll to see how many professional bloggers are already using this tool, there really is nothing like it.

So now you want it right? Get your butt over to the Live Writer Team blog and download it now.

I would venture to say that given this site’s general topic of OS Agnostic computing, I know more than most the arguments for and against these two titan operating systems. The arguments against Vista are legendary. I have made no secret of the fact that I started carrying a Macbook Pro in September of last year. With the exception of using VmWare Fusion sometimes at work, it has truly lived as a Mac. It shipped with Tiger and was upgraded to Leopard as soon as it was available. Still, I have never strayed from my Windows roots. I used a Windows XP desktop machine regularly at home and these days I have two Vista powerhouses side by side at home. My laptop still runs Leopard and I have added an iMac into the mix that runs Leopard also, but I still remain divided right down the middle in my personal computing world, two Macs and two PCs. I might just give someone a headache to think about how this works, but for me, it’s computing Nirvana.

I think it’s important to dissect each computer’s purpose and see how it lends itself to a particular operating system. I think this first exercise might just lend some light to this dubious setup:

1. Macbook Pro Laptop: (2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4GB Ram, 120GB HD, nVidia GeForce 8600m) This laptop is hands down my favorite laptop I have ever owned. To quantify that, this is laptop number 10. I have been a card carrying, or laptop carrying, geek since I was in the 10th grade. I am not kidding, we are talking monochrome plasma screen, DOS and a 5 1/4" floppy drive. It probably weighed 10lbs. These days, it’s a svelte Macbook Pro, 15.4" display, thin and light, fast as hell and it runs OS X Leopard. I use it for mobile photo work, email, chatting, browsing the web and the like. It’s just a keep me connected while I am away machine. I have a PC laptop Microsoft provides that does the work duty while I am mobile, and I keep my laptop free to play and have fun. Steve Jobs can cringe, but I would hardly consider an Apple laptop if it was my primary business laptop, that is unless my primary business was graphics, audio or video. Not that one couldn’t survive on one (or boot Vista on it for that matter, but this is about OS X) I just don’t think it would be a practical machine. That being said, I have never loved a laptop more.
2. Home Built Vista Ultimate 32-bit Desktop: (2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo, 3GB Ram, 400GB & 120GB HD’s, nVidia GeForce 8400 GS) This machine is a week new. I say a week new because I replaced all of the guts in this machine last week. This has nothing to do with the OS, but I hardly think I could have revived a waning iMac for $340 and literally replaced every component but the case, power supply and DVD drive. In a way it does have everything to do with the OS though. Windows Vista is flexible. It doesn’t require Steve Jobs approved hardware. It will run on nearly anything. I bought a box of parts, put them together, turned it on and installed Vista without incident. I am writing this blog on it and so far this machine is fast, stabile and a dream to use. This is the machine I use for development work, including maintaining this site. I also sometimes do some light graphics work on it, manage all of my email, and browse the web and communicate with friends. This box has been my general purpose computer for five years. I think it cost me about $2,000 to build in 2003, and now another $340 and it’s better than any machine I could have bought at the local PC retailers for three times as much. I know, I looked.
3. HP Vista Ultimate 64-bit Desktop: (2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4GB Ram, 350GB HD, nVidia GeForce 8800 GT) This machine is arguably the most under utilized machine in this house. It’s fast, has gobs of ram and a big ass 24" monitor. I use it for photo work from time to time, watch TV and movies on it, and most of the time I just plink around on it when my other box is busy. They side side by side in my office and it gets maybe 20% of the overall use. It screams through Photoshop and given some of the upgrades I gave it, it plays games fantastically well. It has 4GB of Ram, a Core 2 Duo processor and a nVidia GeForce 8800 GT video card. It’s a true screamer and to me it’s just a fun machine to play with. I am sure someday I will come up with something useful to use it for regularly, but for now it’s kind of the Tim Allen machine, you know, the one that makes you grunt when you use it.
4. 24" iMac Desktop: (2.13Ghz Core 2 Duo, 3GB Ram, 250GB HD, nVidia 7300 GT) I bought this computer for the sole purpose of doing music work with it. It excels at that task well and has now also picked up some video work. This computer gets the least use of any in the arsenal, but when it does, it never gets in my way, it’s rock solid and Logic Express is a dream to use. It’s connected to a variety of audio hardware and it never gives me a minute’s trouble. I would possibly use this machine for more if I didn’t already have several others. I have intentionally left certain applications off of it so I am not tempted to garbage it up full of stuff I could too easily use on other computers that already have that software.

Now one might ask why the hell have all these computers, couldn’t I have gotten one big ass computer and done all of this stuff on it? Yea, possibly I could have. But that’s just not how I work. Without having a business to pay the ridiculous cost of a Mac Pro or a high end Workstation computer, I buy these on my budget. I also like the ability to dedicate a machine to a particular task, like compressing video or playing a game, and still be able to browse the web about the game or work on something else while one is crunching away.

The entire point to this article is simple. With all that information I just threw out there, I use Windows and OS X simultaneously. Never am I on one when I am saying to myself "Man, I wish this had x on it." I think they both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but neither are so strong or so weak as to make a clear winner. And one last note to leave on, don’t let anyone tell you that Vista is crazy buggy, slow or hard to use. I gave up Windows XP for Vista officially last week, and not once have I wished otherwise. This machine runs it exceptionally well, it’s rock solid and I have no complaints.