Moving to Spaces

I finally made the choice and decided to move to Windows Live Spaces. I don't want to migrate all my blog posts to Spaces, but just write the new one on Spaces. Do check out my Space at http://prathiraj.spaces.live.com

Kaye effect

Interesting stuff I came across today

From Wikipedia...

The Kaye Effect is a strange property of complex liquids which was first described by the British engineer Arthur Kaye in 1963.

The effect usually goes unnoticed, however, because it seldom lasts more than about 300 milliseconds

From YouTube...

later...

Live Messenger on Xbox 360

By now everybody's (in the gaming world) talking about the next spring update for Xbox 360 and especially the new feature, integration of Live Messenger to Xbox 360 LIVE service. More details here. This is cool and a good move to bring the existing huge social networking infrastructure to the best gaming network out there. The features I like...

• Messenger contacts can see what you're playing in Xbox
• Instant messaging with Live Messenger users
• Achievement information in the Achievement Unlocked bubble
• VGA reference levels (when using VGA connectivity)
• Disc information on the tray strip in the dashboard

I'm hardly waiting to get my hands on these features :-)

Oh and the new TID (Text Input Device) totally rocks, it blends in with the Xbox 360 environment perfectly. Too bad, no information on its availability yet.

later...

Live Writer: New paragraph & new line

Windows Live Writer is an excellent tool for writing blog post, especially the long ones like my last post, Writer saves a draft intermittently so that you don't lose your work in case of computer catastrophe.

Some of my friends who use Live Writer as their main blog composing tool, noticed as an issue that when hitting the <Enter> key in the compose window, Writer introduces double line space instead of a single line space. I found out today the reason and a workaround (actually a feature).

Whenever, you hit the <Enter> key, Writer introduces a new <p> (paragraph) tag to your blog HTML. This depending on your blog style shows as double line space. For a single line space, you actually need a <br> (break) tag in HTML and not the <p> tag. To insert a new line you can use <Shift>+<Enter>, when Writer encounters this key combination, it introduces a <br> tag. Some examples...

This line and the next line are separated with a <Enter> key

--This is the next line--

This and the next line are separated with a <Shift>+<Enter> key combination
--This is the next line--

In conclusion...

<Enter> for introducing a new paragraph
<Shift>+<Enter> for introducing a new line

Enjoy writing with Writer
later...

Journey to Krispy Kreme

I'm sharing here my experience with Windows Live Search for Mobile application and how I used it to find my way to the mouth watering Krispy Kreme doughnuts

This is going to be a long entry with lot of screen shots of Windows Live Search for Mobile in action...

Last Sunday we were shopping in Lincoln Square (Bellevue, WA) and the thought of doughnuts flashed triggered by the Cheese Cake factory across the road. For me, doughnuts should be from Krispy Kreme, otherwise they're not doughnuts :-) I know there is a Krispy Kreme outlet we frequent in Issaquah (WA) but not the route to it. I pulled out my Windows Mobile 6 phone and launched Windows Live Search for Mobile, rest are the screen shots explaining how I got the route to Krispy Kreme.

I don't have a GPS hooked to my phone, so the first objective is to get my current location on the map, I did it by choosing the location as Bellevue, Washington and the query as Lincoln Square...

Bingo, got the location in the first hit and on clicking the result...

Look, there is a phone number too, this is very easy to call and find out about the business. I'm already there, and I need to find nearby Krispy Kreme, so I hit Search Nearby at the bottom of the screen and this time my query is Krispy Kreme!

Ooh, there is a Krispy Kreme in Seattle nearby, but this is not my favorite location, let's see what else we got...

The Issaquah branch is a bit farther away, but I'd like to go there instead of Seattle, so I clicked on it. Now the phone number is useful to call them and find out their business hours, but I know they're open for another couple of hours, so I clicked Directions To Here...

Neat, my start location is automatically set as Lincoln Square and the destination is Krispy Kreme, Issaquah. I hit Route...

Awesome, turn by turn directions and now for the Map...

Notice the traffic information overlay, uber-coolness :-) Now, if I'd hooked up a GPS unit, I would've got real-time turn by turn instructions (there's something for my next gadget shopping). There is no audible turn by turn directions in Windows Live Search for Mobile currently, a feature I hope will be there in future!

The whole process took only 2 minutes, I did the whole thing while walking to the parking garage to my car. And I took 15 minutes to blog about it because this is a very useful and cool application to have and I ought share it :-)

later...