Technology 'n Me (Sukesh) : Cool Stuff

IIS7 Mobile Admin now on codeplex !!!

sukeshak — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:30:23 GMT

IIS7 Mobile Admin is a simple web application to administer IIS7 remotely using a mobile phone browser. I provided few screenshots of IIS7 Mobile Admin in my previous blog post here http://www.awesomeideas.net/post/2008/03/04/IIS7-Mobile-Admin.aspx

And I promised to get it on codeplex for your download pleasure and finally it's ready and available

Project Home (Screenshots,FAQ) - http://www.awesomeideas.net/page/IIS7-Mobile-Admin.aspx
Download & Discussion - http://www.codeplex.com/iis7mobileadmin/

What are the features available in this release (called R1)?
Search Application Pools & Web Sites

Application Pool
- Show Requests (Top 10 requests sort in descending order of 'Time Elapsed'
- Show Applications
- Recycle Application Pool
- TODO:Your wishes...
Web Sites
- Show Configuration (Show all bindings for the website)
- Start Website
- Stop Website
- TODO:Your wishes

Get more screenshots on Project Home http://www.awesomeideas.net/page/IIS7-Mobile-Admin.aspx

IIS7 Mobile Admin

sukeshak — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:37:00 GMT

I wanted to introduce something I’ve been working during last couple of weekends. Yes you guessed it “IIS7 Mobile Admin” to show some love to our web server administrators who keeps our Web 2.0 world up and running!

Ingredients

IIS7 Hosted Web core Service (which I wrote in C++, just like WMSVC IIS Management Service)
http://www.awesomeideas.net/page/IIS7-Hostable-WebCore.aspx
ASP.NET website specifically designed for use on browser of a cell phone using LINQ + IIS7 managed API (Microsoft.Web.Administration)

I would like to know what are some of the “must have” features you expect from this application.
(Keep in mind this is not developed to replace or even be on par with desktop IIS7 manager)

Please add your suggestions/comments/ideas under the following blog post and check out more screenshots.
http://www.awesomeideas.net/post/2008/03/04/IIS7-Mobile-Admin.aspx

Plan is to get this complete package (both binary & source) on http://www.codeplex.com by next weekend!
Picture is worth a “how many words do they say?” so a picture below showing how it looks when it runs inside Pocket IE in full-screen.

How to Check certificate expiry for webserver (IIS) certificates using script

sukeshak — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 08:40:00 GMT

Although the title says webserver certificates the script is not limited to webserver certificates only.

This script is useful for admins to check expiry dates of server certificates and be prepared to renew or change them. In case if you have ideas of using this in your server environment and you need help in tweaking this script do let me know.

Please copy & paste script below into a file called "CertExpiryCheck.vbs" and run the script from command line like

C:\> cscript certexpirycheck.vbs [SubjectName]

C:\> cscript certexpirycheck.vbs sukak

* here "sukak" is subject name which usually would be your domain name (FQDN)
* Issued by also shows "sukak" in my case since the test was done using self issued certificate created using selfSSL.exe

'**************************************************
'* CertExpiryCheck.vbs
'* Enumerate certificates with day left for expiry 
'**************************************************

Option Explicit
Dim SubjectName
If WScript.Arguments.Count > 0 Then
    SubjectName = LCase(WScript.Arguments(0))
Else
    CommandUsage
End If

Dim Store, Certificates, Certificate
Const CAPICOM_LOCAL_MACHINE_STORE = 1
Const CAPICOM_CERTIFICATE_FIND_SUBJECT_NAME = 1        
Const CAPICOM_STORE_OPEN_READ_ONLY = 0

Set Store = CreateObject("CAPICOM.Store")
Store.Open CAPICOM_LOCAL_MACHINE_STORE, "MY" ,CAPICOM_STORE_OPEN_READ_ONLY
Set Certificates = Store.Certificates.Find(CAPICOM_CERTIFICATE_FIND_SUBJECT_NAME, SubjectName, 0)

If Certificates.Count >0 Then
   For Each Certificate in Certificates
    'Certificate.display()    'If you want to see the Cert in UI
    WScript.Echo "*** Subject " & Certificate.SubjectName & " ***"
    WScript.Echo "Issued by " & Certificate.IssuerName 
    WScript.Echo "Valid from " & Certificate.ValidFromDate & " to " & Certificate.ValidToDate 
    WScript.Echo "Days to expiry " & DateDiff("d",now(),Certificate.ValidToDate)
    WScript.Echo 
   Next
 Else
  WScript.Echo "No certificates with SubjectName => '" & SubjectName & "'"
End If

Set Certificates = Nothing
Set Store = Nothing

Sub CommandUsage
  MsgBox "Usage: CertExpiryCheck.vbs  [SubjectName] ", vbInformation,"CertExpiryCheck"
  WScript.Quit(1)
End Sub

Just keep in mind you need capicom.dll to use this script. This comes default on Windows 2003 (I guess) but might need to be downloaded and registered on other platforms like Vista. Use regsvr32 capicom.dll to register it first before using the script.

MSN Cartoon Beta (cool way to create smiley's from photos)

sukeshak — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:55:23 GMT

Recently I stumbled upon a discussion on facial recognition and creating models from them. Came to know that MSN China had lunched a service called "MSN Cartoon Beta".

Chinese is like French to me; I know neither :)

But I thought it would be an awesome feature to have for all Windows Live Services so tried my predict & clicking skills to get it working!

The following video demonstrates how to use the web based page to create MSN Cartoon without learning Chinese :)

Before beginning with the application there is a small web based install which pops-up but you know which buttons to click if you have used Windows for long enough!

The last button click on the page gives you a zip file containing the newly created smiley's for all your cool expressions... Now stop reading and check the video and the site ;)

URL => http://cartoon.msn.com.cn/

If there is enough demand for audio commentary I will add voice to explain the different buttons and it's options.

How to reuse contacts from Live Messenger in Vista?

sukeshak — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:35:32 GMT

Assume that you have a lot of contacts on Live Messenger which you would like to use in different applications provided in Vista. By default you won't have direct access to contact due to security settings (encryption) to protect that information.

There is an easy tweak/option to enable this information.

In Windows Live Messenger go to
Tools -> Options -> Security (Uncheck the box shown below)

Now check your "C:\users\<login Name>\Contacts" folder, you will find a folder with your Live ID name and all your Messenger contacts inside that folder...

Understanding Vector Graphics

sukeshak — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:22:42 GMT

During multimedia era (Windows 3.1 to Windows 95) I had conducted several talks on different elements of multimedia and vector graphics was one of them. Explanation provided below is tweaked to make sure everyone can understand easily.

What does this sample do?
Draw a circle with 100 pixel radius with a mid-point of (200,200)

Non-vector graphics scenario
So in the case of bitmap graphics (bmp/jpg etc) you draw the circle and then save the entire square area pixel-by-pixel (I'm leaving out compression related differences to not make this sample complicated) inside the file. When you zoom the image since it's increasing pixel resolution, so you see the clarity going from good => bad => worse.

Vector Graphics scenario
In the case of Vector graphics, you save (usually) formula and values required for implementing the formula. In our sample

Formula
x1 = x + r * Sin (angle)
y1 = y + r * Cos (angle)

   1: //Sample code snippet

   2: int centerX = 200;

   3: int centerY = 200;

   4: int radius = 100;

5:

   6: for (int i=0; i< 360;i++)  //move point from 0 to 360 degree

   7: {

   8: int x1 = centerX + radius * sin(i);

   9: int y1 = centerY + radius * cos(i);

10:

  11: DrawPixel(x1,y1); //drawing pixel on the screen

  12: }

So going to XAML and lets see how we can implement this simple sample
This sample rotates a red circle around a circular path defined by "p_rot"

   1: <Canvas xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/client/2007"

   2:         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml">

   3:   <Canvas.Triggers>

   4:     <EventTrigger RoutedEvent="Canvas.Loaded">

   5:       <EventTrigger.Actions>

   6:         <BeginStoryboard>

   7:           <Storyboard BeginTime="0" Duration="Forever">

   8:             <DoubleAnimation Storyboard.TargetName="p_rot" Storyboard.TargetProperty="Angle" From="0" To="360"

   9:                                                             BeginTime="0:0:0" Duration="0:0:5" RepeatBehavior="Forever"/>

  10:           </Storyboard>

  11:         </BeginStoryboard>

  12:       </EventTrigger.Actions>

  13:     </EventTrigger>

  14:   </Canvas.Triggers>

  15:   <Canvas>

  16:     <UIElement.RenderTransform>

  17:       <TransformGroup>

  18:         <TransformGroup.Children>

  19:           <RotateTransform x:Name="p_rot" CenterX="200" CenterY="200" Angle="0"/>

  20:         </TransformGroup.Children>

  21:       </TransformGroup>

  22:     </UIElement.RenderTransform>

  23:     <Ellipse Canvas.Top="50" Canvas.Left="100" Fill="Red" Width="50" Height="50"/>

  24:   </Canvas>

  25: </Canvas>

You can download the sample in Flash and WPF/E from the following URL

http://www.awesomeideas.net/community/Download/tabid/54/Default.aspx

Creating video of your cool application

sukeshak — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:09:00 GMT

I have seen people using a number of tools to create screen captures of thier cool application for demos, blogs posting on video sites etc...

I have been using this tool for a long time, but it's existense is unknown to many. So here are the details

Windows Media Encoder

Home Page : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx

Download Page : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5691ba02-e496-465a-bba9-b2f1182cdf24&DisplayLang=en

How much does it cost?

It's FREE !!!

Glimpse of the options in the wizard 1st page (loads of options more...)

Is this tool only for screen capturing?

No way, go ahead and explore yourself

The output file is either WMA or WMV, and you can also select target profile like desktop, pocket pc etc...

Go ahead and showcase your applications & mashups live on those video sites :)

What is Windows Vista Sideshow?

sukeshak — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 10:33:00 GMT

I read a lot of news and comments about Windows Vista Sideshow. Several comments are in the lines of saying... hmmm what is the big deal about this new feature? Why would I need a small display on my laptop to see my meeting room or tasks, I already have them on my mobile... So I thought I'll just add some of my dreams and some reality about Windows Vista Sideshow since the above thoughts are from people who are not ready to dream about the usage scenarios.

First of all Windows Vista Sideshow is not a feature but a technology powered by Windows Vista.

For more proof of another use of this technology you can see the new Windows Vista MCE remotes launched during CES.

http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=vista+side+show+remotes

Now is this only for laptops and Media Center Remotes? I don't think so!

Lets dream a little and see what else can be done or how this technology can be taken to the next level...

Lets say in next couple of years we get to buy these mini devices powered by Wifi/Bluetooth and have support for Windows Vista Sideshow. Assume that by year 2009, these mini devices become dirt cheap like 5 devices for $100 or so. So people (like me) would go and buy 5 or 10 or more of these devices and would fix it everywhere in the house

On the refrigerator
On the main door
In the bed room
In the car
obviously in my MCE remote also and anywhere else you prefer...

and all these devices are being connected to the same computer running Windows Vista so that all the information required would be at your finger-tip anytime.

One of the differences with Microsoft Technologies is that you get a platform to develop and enhance it further. Which means that there are no bounds to how these mini devices can be used... for example these mini devices can be used in these scenarios (and many more which is limited by your ideas)

Home automation, to an extend of replacing all the switches in the house
Outlook calendar/tasks
Windows Live Email/Calendar/Messenger Buddies
Controlling music from your home theatre system (maybe Windows Vista MCE)
Stock Quotes

After reading the above do you really think Windows Vista Sideshow is just a small little display attached to one of those expensive laptops?

Don't forget to check my blog website http://blogs.awesomeideas.net

IE7 & Search provider for Microsoft Support Knowledge Base

sukeshak — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 14:06:00 GMT

love cool stuff and this IE7 feature belongs to that category. IE7 has a search feature and you can add Search providers to enhance your usage. Initially when I saw the feature I used to wonder how is this tiny little box going to change the world of search. But now I know it's a killer feature.

What is so exciting about it? Huh! you can add your favourite search engine there?

Not just that but more! From my experience working in support I found search to be part of my life (I know it's become part of everyone's life). I'm sharing the feeling of my peers in IT world who uses search (any search engine) to find solutions to thier technical issues. Microsoft Knowledge base has tons of articles but I guess we didn't do a good job on indexing in the past to make it easily discoverable. But now that has changed by integrating Windows Live Search and now let us leverage it using IE7 built-in search.

So let us focus on "Topic Search" and steps for creating your own search provider for Microsoft Support Knowledge Base.

Here are simple instructions you need to follow, yea it's really simple.

Goto the following link (you can get this link from "Get more search providers" option from IE7 search box
Add Search Providers to Internet Explorer 7
Goto "Create Your own" section
Provide name as "MS KB Search" in the box for 4th point
This is main portion of the trick
1. Goto http://support.microsoft.com
2. Enter "TEST" (without quotes) in the box below "Search Support(KB)" and hit ENTER
3. Once the results come up, copy & paste the url into 3rd point on "Create Your own" section in the provider page
Now click "Install" and bingo it prompts you to add the provider you just created to IE7 search bar.

Next time you wanna search something on Microsoft Knowledge Base you can do it right inside IE7 search and select the new search provider you just created called "MS KB Search"

The idea of Search Providers are not restricted to web search... I have found Domain name search provider on godaddy.com website!