Ignite: Enlighten us, but make it quick

Ignite is a classic example of a series of elevator tests in practice. A bunch of innovators, enthusiasts or just plain geeks get together, mash together 20 slides for a 5-min presentation each and all of that over drinks. Have a look at this video to see what I mean.



Ignite was started in Dec 06 in Seattle, USA as a personal project of O'Reilly's Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. It has two parts, Ignite Contest and Ignite Talk. It is an event for people to share ideas and network in an informal environment over drinks @ a bar. This week happens to be the Global Ignite Week (GIW). Have a look at GIW's link for the locations.

According to New York Times, "This new type of party mashes together Silicon Alley 1.0’s camaraderie and optimism, meetup.com’s spontaneity and informality, Burning Man’s home-brewed creativity, and a technology conference’s devotion to unveiling ideas."

Malaysia soon?

NexusOne vs iPhone 3GS

Of course it’d be good if I can get my hands on both phones for some hands-on comparison.

For more info, refer to

1. Nexus One Official Specifications
2. Apple iPhone 3GS Official Specifications

Windows 7 - A Personal Encounter

A number of friends have asked me about Win7. My answer to them probably has not been ideal (sometimes my mind can run in parallel tracks). Well I thought why don't I organise some points here from my own personal encounter with Win7 - hopefully as layman as possible.

BACKGROUND
I have been running the Win7 Ultimate RC1 for about 8 months now @ work & home. Last month I installed the Enterprise version @ work after their launch. I have to say I am very happy with what I am working with.

FASTER
Bootup and shutdown times are very fast. Even if you install more startup programs, it is still comparatively faster. Judging from the OS installed size (30 Gb), I have to say I am impressed with the startup time.

Calling For Ideas

Hi there, there's a placeholder on the front page measuring 650 x 250 px.

Any ideas on what I should put there?

Please leave your ideas in the comments section below.
Appreciate it.

VSTS 2010 Beta 1 Installation Steps - A Personal Encounter

Update 2: Coming from some credible source, expect VSU 2010 RC in February 2010.

Update 1 : On 21 Oct 2009, VSU 2010 and TFS 2010 Beta 2 was publicly downloadable. The setup for Beta 2 is much smoother so this article may not be applicable to Beta 2. My environment (x86):

Server: Windows Server 2008 (Enterprise) running on VPC2007, IIS 7, SQL Server 2008, TFS2010, Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 SP2

Client: Windows 7, IE8, VSTS2010, Windows Media Encoder 9 Series

TFS 2010 Beta 1 Installation Steps - A Personal Encounter

Update 2: Coming from some credible source, expect VSU 2010 RC in February 2010.

Update 1 : On 21 Oct 2009, VSU 2010 and TFS 2010 Beta 2 was publicly downloadable. The setup for Beta 2 is much smoother so this article may not be applicable to Beta 2. Following are the steps that I took to get my TFS2010 Beta 1 running. If you decide to read further, please have the following expectations:

1. Guide is an overview only - Steps are brief and concise (no menu path given)
2. Beta 2 is coming out soon (Oct 2009) so I did not take any screenshots in this installation – supposedly with better installation wizards.
3. My platform is 32-bit (x86) as reflected in the links & installers.

Server: Windows Server 2008 (Enterprise) running on VPC2007, IIS 7, SQL Server 2008, TFS2010, Windows SharePoint Service 3.0 SP2

Client: Windows 7, IE8, VSTS2010, Windows Media Encoder 9 Series

1. Install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
   
   
   • If you are using virtual machines, use VPC2007 instead of VMWare.
   • Install Integration Features in VPC2007
   • Share the Network Adapter (Bridged Mode)
   
   
2. Install Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
   [mine = SP1 but patched through Windows Update]
   [Microsoft recommends WS08 R2 RC but do note the system requirements before you download]
   
   
   • Configure Server Time Zone
   • Disable Windows Firewall
   • Ensure Network settings is correct & can connect to Internet
   • Run Windows Update
   
   
3. Install IIS 7
   Add Server Role (WWW Service) with the following features
   (Select HTTP Redirection, Windows Authentication, IIS 6 Compatibility, ASP.Net)
4. Install .Net Framework 3.5
   so that SQL Server 2008 installation can proceed (or at least my version)
5. Install SQL Server 2008 [mine = standard edition]
   
   
   • Setup for Single Server installation
   • Enable Mixed Mode Authentication (Assign a password for MSSQLSA)
   • Use Network Service for all service accounts
   • Configure all services to Run Automatically
   
   
6. Install TFS2010 Beta 1
   
   
   • Use the Single Server Install option
   • After the installation, the TFS configuration tool will be run (leave it on but don’t do anything – go to Step 7 first)
   
   
7. Replace SharePoint.exe with the patched version (WSS 3.0 SP2)
   Go to the Windows SharePoint Service installation folder and replace SharePoint.exe with this.
8. Configure TFS2010 Beta 1
   
   
   • Continue with the TFS 2010 Configuration Wizard (opened in Step 6).
   • Use the Default Configuration & go through the installation steps.
   • Put in the right service account for TFS services.
   
   
9. Configure IIS7 to support TFS
   Configure the TFS Application Pools to use the right Identity [mine = Administrator]