VixML

Now you can create iPhone and iPod content without being a Objective C developer by using VixML engine.
With this you will be able to create world class iPhone content which use iPhone features with minimal coding.
The best thing is you don't need a MAC, since there is a version which works in Windows.

Read more at,
http://vixml.com/
http://vixml.viximo.com/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=What is VixML?

Airbus A380 - Singapore to Melbourne

Following are some nice views I captured of the Airbus A380 I flew from Singapore Changi airport to Melbourne Tullamarine airport.

Amazing Planes

If you are interested in planes like me you may enjoy the video series at YouTube on mega structures.
Following will be on Airbus A380 which is the worlds biggest aircraft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wr7moZuGOw&feature=related

This one is on the Boeing 747 which was an engineering marvel on 1970.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKb5ZghQSK0

Improving SharePoint Look and Feel

If you are thinking whether we can improve the look and feel of the SharePoint site a perfect example is the Glu Mobile site. If you visit them at http://www.glu.com you will hardly believe that it is done by SharePoint. But the truth is it is SharePoint.
If you would like to know how they did it read the following 3 articles discussing on its design and development.
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/06/14/moss-has-got-game-glu-mobile-s-website-www-glu-com-how-we-did-it-part-1-of-3.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/06/14/moss-has-got-game-glu-mobile-s-website-www-glu-com-how-we-did-it-part-2-of-3.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2007/06/14/moss-has-got-game-glu-mobile-s-website-www-glu-com-how-we-did-it-part-3-of-3.aspx

SharePoint Mobile Development

If you need to create a mobile view for a SharePoint site you will soon realise that the default mobile site created by SharePoint will not take you anywhere.
With its plain look and limited features you will not be able to do anything with the default view, so to give some thing valuable to your customer you need to do some development on the default mobile site.
To get more information on getting this done visit Microsoft.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms464268.aspx

Enabling Mobile View in a SharePoint Site

Microsoft SharePoint Server has a facility to render the site content into mobile devices as well.
In default this feature will be turned off. To enable mobile access execute the following command.

STSADM.EXE -o activatefeature -name mobilityredirect -url http://ms-sharepoint-site01/m

This will create a site under the given URL without any fancy items. It will be a plain site with only basic HTML. Whenever a mobile browser tries to access the site it will be redirected to the new mobile site.
You will be able to access the mobile sites using the URL.
http://ms-sharepoint-site01/_layouts/mobile/default.aspx
or
http://ms-sharepoint-site01/m

iPhone / iPod Worm

There is a worm spreading on iPhones/iPods which are using the default password "alpine" for SSH.
SSH is a software which allows you to connect to your device and make changes to the file system. SSH is required by some software.
This worm is created by an Australian hacker and it will search for iPhones or iPod touches in reach of the affected iPhone or touch (It will search on available networks such as mobile, wireless, etc). If it finds a device which has the default password of SSH, set to alpine it will get installed into the device, change the home screen background image and will do the same again using that device.

• Good thing is it will not cause any harm to your device but will just change the background of the home page.
• Bad thing is the source code of the worm is out and many other varieties of worms might appear soon. Some might be dangerous.

As a security measure change your SSH password today. You will be able to change your password using the Mobile Terminal package. Mobile Terminal can be found in Cydia under Sections. If you need help follow the link.
http://cydia.saurik.com/password.html

Backup a SharePoint Site

There are two methods to take a backup of a SharePoint site.

1.) Using SharePoint Central Administration

To take a site backup follow the steps below.

a. Go to the SharePoint Central Administration site by clicking,

Start -> All Programs -> Administrative Tools -> SharePoint Central Administration

b. Click on Operations.

c. Click on Perform a backup under Backup and Restore.

d. Select the site or the farm to backup the entire SharePoint farm.

e. Click on the Continue to Backup Options button on the top of the list.

f. Select the type and the location of the backup and click Ok.

2.) Using the STSADM tool.

Even though Microsoft had provided a UI method to backup a SharePoint site the best way to get it done is by the STSADM tool. If you are unfamiliar with STSADM refer the following post http://arjunachith.blogspot.com/2009/11/stsadm.html.

You will be able to use the following command to get a backup of a site using STSADM.

STSADM.EXE -o backup -url http://MySharePoint:10000/ -filename E:\Folder_Name\SiteBackup.bkp -overwrite

o - Mentions that the backup is an operation.

url - URL for the site collection that you need to backup.

filename - Path to the backup file, even a network path such as \\Machine_Name\Folder_Name\File_Name.ext can be provided.

overwrite - Will overwrite an existing back file if found in the backup location.

Instead of giving the path in the filename you can use the directory parameter to mention the location as well it is shown below.

STSADM.EXE -o backup -url http://MySharePoint:10000/ -directory E:\Folder_Name -filename SiteBackup.bkp -overwrite

directory - Location for the backup, even a network path such as \\Machine_Name\Folder_Name can be provided.

filename -The name of the backup file.

The status will be shown in the command prompt.

If you would like to know the full set of available parameters for the backup operation visit the Microsoft at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263441.aspx.

Google prOgramming language - GO

Google had released a new programming language named GO.
Their one goal behind this is to increase the developer productivity and efficiency by giving them a faster compiler.
As Google says this is even capable to be used in developing system software and it is powerful than C but not than C++.
Read more on this at http://mashable.com/2009/11/10/go-google-language/.
Get Going at http://golang.org/.

STSADM

STSADM is a command line tool which we can use to perform administrative tasks on SharePoint Server, this is very powerful since it provides features that are not available in the Central Administration site.
You will be able to find this executable at,
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\microsoft shared\web server extensions\12\
For example - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN

To learn more visit the following TechNet link.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261956.aspx
Following link will have the list of operations and properties.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263384.aspx

STSADM Error

Recently I faced a curios error while using the STSADM.exe command line tool.
If anyone of you are not knowing wht STSADM is please refer my earlier post with links to get more information.
However powerful STSADM is, while using it suddenly Windows might tell you that STSADM is not a valid Win32 application.
If you check the file you will also notice that the Windows icon of that exe is disappeared and also the file size is 0.
The good thing is that you will be able to get the file from another SharePoint installation and replace, then everything will start working normally.

Flight Simulation

After some pause I again started my flight simulation activities.

To celebrate I thought to put some nice screen captures I made on one of my flights.