Tech Amalgam

2009-11-16T12:21:00.001-08:00

The Content of this blog has been moved to my other blog.

If not automatically redirected, please click the link below to access the blog:

http://softwarekishorekoney.blogspot.com/

Have a great day
thanks , krishna kishore koney

64-bit Applications and .Net Platform

2009-10-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

All applications built with the 1.0 and 1.1 releases of the .NET Framework are treated as 32-bit applicationsand are always executed under WOW64 on the 32-bit common language runtime (CLR) on a 64-bit operating system. In addition, 32-bit specific applications built with version 2.0 of the .NET Framework would run under WOW64 on 64-bit platforms.

With the introduction of Win64 (64-bit versions of Windows), PE files (EXEs and DLLs) can be marked either as 32-bit OR 64-bit. When a 32-bit EXE is launched on Win64, it runs in "the WOW" (Windows-32 on Windows-64) to present an illusion of a 32-bit operating system to the process. Generally only 32-bit DLLs can be loaded into a 32-bit process, and only 64-bit DLLs can be loaded into a 64-bit process. CLR added 64-bit support in version 2.0. Since people want to write .NET libraries that they could re-use from both 32-bit and 64-bit processes, OS loader was extended to support to enable architecture-neutral ("AnyCPU") PE files.

Managed architecture-neutral DLLs are fairly straight-forward - they can be loaded into either 32-bit or 64-bit processes, and the (32-bit or 64-bit) CLR in the process will do the right thing with them. AnyCPU EXEs are a little more complicated since the OS loader needs to decide how to initialze the process. On 64-bit OSes they are run as 64-bit processes (unless the 'ldr64' master OS switch says otherwise), and on 32-bit OSes they are run as 32-bit processes. In Visual Studio 2008, AnyCPU is the default platform for C# and VB projects. This means that by default("AnyCPU"), applications you compile will run in 64-bit processes on 64-bit OSes and 32-bit processes on 32-bit OSes.

If you have 100% type safe managed code then you really can just copy it to the 64-bit platform and run it successfully under the 64-bit CLR.

But more than likely the managed application will be involved with any or all of the following:

Invoking platform APIs via p/invoke

Invoking COM objects

Making use of unsafe code

Using marshaling as a mechanism for sharing information

Using serialization as a way of persisting state

Regardless of which of these things your application is doing it is going to be important to do your homework and investigate what your code is doing and what dependencies you have. Once you do this homework you will have to look at your choices to do any or all of the following:

Migrate the code with no changes.

Make changes to your code to handle 64-bit pointers correctly.

Work with other vendors, etc., to provide 64-bit versions of their products.

Make changes to your logic to handle marshaling and/or serialization.

Migration considerations

When migrating managed applications that use p/invoke, consider the following items:

Availability of a 64-bit version of the DLL

Use of data types

The following is a discussion of the different considerations that must be given to making use of COM interoperability where managed code makes COM calls in a 64-bit environment:

Availability of a 64-bit version of the DLL

Use of data types

Type libraries

Find your Application Bitness at runtime

There area also managed library functions to assist you at runtime to determine what environment you are running in.

System.IntPtr.Size - to determine if you are running in 32-bit or 64-bit mode

System.Reflection.Module.GetPEKind - to programmatically query an .exe or .dll to see if it is meant to run only on a specific platform or under WOW64

Determining the status of an .exe or .dll

Use corflags.exe at the command line to see if it an .exe or .dll is meant to run only on a specific platform or under WOW64. You can also use corflags.exe to change the platform status of an .exe or .dll. See CorFlags Conversion Tool (CorFlags.exe) for more information. A Visual Studio 2005 assembly's CLR header (or COM+ Runtime header) has the Major Run-time Version Number set to 2 and the Minor Run-time Version Number set to 5. In Visual Studio 2003 assemblies, they are 2 and 0, respectively. All applications that have the minor runtime version set to 0 are treated as legacy applications and are always executed under WOW64 on 64-bit machines.

Use the GetPEKind to programmatically query an .exe or .dll to see if it is meant to run only on a specific platform or under WOW64.

ref:

64bit .Net -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms241064(VS.80).aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/joshwil/archive/2005/05/06/415191.aspx

Migrating 32-bit Managed Code to 64-bit -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms973190.aspx

AnyCPU Exes are usually more trouble than they're worth -

http://blogs.msdn.com/rmbyers/archive/2009/06/08/anycpu-exes-are-usually-more-trouble-then-they-re-worth.aspx

Windows Services and Windows 7

2009-10-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

What are Windows Services?
A service is an integral mechanism built into Microsoft Windows operating systems. You can think of services as “special applications” that run with no regard to the current user context. Services are different from “regular” user applications because you can configure a service to run from the time a system starts up (boots) until it shuts down, without requiring an active user to be present – that is, services can run without having any users logged on.

We like to think about services as running “tasks” for us in the background without interfering with user operations. Services on Windows are responsible for all kinds of background activity that do not involve the user, ranging from the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service, through Printer Spoolers, to the Network Location Awareness service.

What’s the problem?
Some services may attempt to display user interface dialogs or communicate with user applications. Such functionality is “typical” of Windows XP services, mainly because it is easy to do so. If you happen to own a service that attempts to display some user interface objects, like a dialog box, or tries to communicate with applications you might run into trouble running on Windows 7.

To be more specific, when running on Windows 7, your service may experiences one or more of the following symptoms. The service:

1. Is running, but cannot do what it is supposed to do, and just eats CPU cycles and memory

2.Is running, but other processes can't communicate with it and it cannot communicate with the user, or other applications / services

3. Is trying to communicate with user applications through window messages, but the window messages are not reaching their destination

4.Displays a flashing icon on the taskbar indicating the service wants to interact with the desktop

All the above symptoms point to the conclusion that your service is experiencing Session 0 Isolation of Windows 7 Services, that is, the “physical” separation between services and user applications, but more about that in just a bit. However, the main reason for isolating services from user application is making it harder for malicious software to run with elevated privileges, which enables them to do far more harm than running as standard user as explained in the following section, thus making Windows much more secure operating system.

First, let’s define the two “buckets of issues” your services may experience when running on Windows 7 -

1. The service fails to display a UI or it displays a mitigation UI (or annoying flashing dialog box)

2. Objects shared by services and applications become invisible or inaccessible

Starting with Windows Vista, only services are hosted in Session 0. User applications are isolated from services, and run in subsequent sessions created when users log onto the system: Session 1 for the first logged on user, Session 2 for the second, and so on ...

Entities (applications or services) running in different sessions cannot send each other messages, share UI elements, or share kernel objects without explicitly qualifying them to the global namespace and providing the appropriate access control settings.You can find additional valuable information about this in Impact of Session 0 Isolation on Services and Drivers in Windows Vista(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/vista/services.mspx), an article that is equally applicable to Windows 7.

Here are some ideas on how to solve the above mentioned problems:

1. If a service needs to interact with the user by sending a message, use the WTSSendMessage function. It is almost identical in functionality to a MessageBox. This will provide an adequate and simple solution to services that do not require an elaborate UI, and is secure because the displayed message box cannot be used to take control of the underlying service.

2. If your service requires a more elaborate UI, use the CreateProcessAsUser function to create a process in the requesting user’s desktop Note that you will still need to communicate between the newly created process and the original services, which is where the next bullet point kicks in.

3. If two-way interaction is required, use Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), .NET remoting, named pipes, or any other interprocess communication (IPC) mechanism (excluding window messages) to communicate across sessions. WCF and Remoting have a better security enforcement that will prompt the user (assuming UAC not shut-off) to elevate if needed.

4. Ensure that kernel objects meant to be shared across sessions have names prefixed with the Global\ string, indicating that they belong in a session-global namespace.

ref:
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/developers/default.aspx

Windows 7 new APIs and Libraries

2009-10-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 new APIs and Libraries :

1. Multi-Touch
2. Ribbon
3. Location
4. Shell Integration

1. Multi-Touch
Touch-based interfaces allow users to interact with applications in a more intuitive way. Windows 7 introduces multi-touch input and manipulation processing through Windows Touch.

For native C++ developers, MFC now supports using a touch-enabled interface. MFC will do much of the heavy lifting: it listens for touch-related messages from Windows and calls out to a number of virtual functions to handle them. Developers merely need to register for touch input, set the gesture configuration, and override these virtual methods as required to touch-enable their application.
WPF 4 includes object model additions for touch interfaces so managed code developers can easily add touch support to their applications as well. Multiple finger input will be exposed through existing and new input events, while new manipulation and inertia events will be exposed for developers to consume.

2. Ribbon
Adding a Ribbon to your application can help organize your commands, tasks, and menus in a friendly way that makes it easier for your customers to find what they’re looking for. Whether your application is written in Win32, MFC, or WPF, new controls and APIs will help you add a Ribbon to your application.

If you write Win32 applications, the Ribbon framework provides a set of APIs for creating a Ribbon for your application. You can find out more about the Windows Ribbon Framework for Win32 here.

The new WPF Ribbon Control will be released out of band around the same time as WPF 4 through the Office UI Licensing site. You can find instructions on downloading the WPF Ribbon (currently in Preview) here. The WPF Ribbon will feature skins for Windows 7 and Office and all the standard Ribbon features that users are familiar with, including tabs and groups, dynamic resizing, quick access toolbar, application menu, contextual tabs, key tips, and more! The Ribbon will remain available as a separate, standalone assembly.

3. Location
Windows 7 features the Location platform, which makes it easy to write applications that can make use of the user’s location. The Location platform opens the doors to some interesting application scenarios – especially on mobile computers. For example, a location-aware application might use the current location to show the user nearby restaurants or shops, or an instant messaging or email application might tag messages with the sender’s location.

The Location platform provides a way for location devices, such as GPS and WWAN radios, to integrate with Windows and includes an API that applications can use to determine the current location of the computer. Because the Location API exposes its functionality through COM interfaces, C++ programmers and scripting language programmers alike can take advantage of it. The Windows 7 SDK includes samples and documentation to help you build location-aware applications. Find out more about the COM Location API on MSDN.

In addition to the COM Location API, .NET Framework 4 will include built-in managed APIs for location, making it easy for .NET applications to take advantage of Windows 7’s location capabilities.

4. Shell Integration
Windows 7’s Shell enhancements empower application authors to provide a richer integrated user experience. Jump Lists provide access to contextual startup tasks and files available to the applications. For instance, right-clicking on the Outlook icon will show the mail messages you’ve recently opened in the Jump List:

Windows® API Code Pack - API to access Windows 7 features

Windows® API Code Pack for Microsoft® .NET Framework provides a source code library that can be used to access some new Windows 7 features (and some existing features of older versions of Windows operating system) from managed code. These Windows features are not available to developers today in the .NET Framework. The individual features supported in this version (v1.0) of the library are:

Windows 7 Taskbar Jump Lists, Icon Overlay, Progress Bar, Tabbed Thumbnails, and Thumbnail Toolbars.

Windows 7 Libraries, Known Folders, non-file system containers.

Windows Shell Search API support, a hierarchy of Shell Namespace entities, and Drag and Drop functionality for Shell Objects.

Explorer Browser Control.

Shell property system.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Common File Dialogs, including custom controls.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Task Dialogs.

Direct3D 11.0, Direct3D 10.1/10.0, DXGI 1.0/1.1, Direct2D 1.0, DirectWrite, Windows Imaging Component (WIC) APIs. (DirectWrite and WIC have partial support)

Sensor Platform APIs

Extended Linguistic Services APIs

Power Management APIs

Application Restart and Recovery APIs

Network List Manager APIs

Command Link control and System defined Shell icons.What’s New in this update (v1.0):

The new features added in this update of code pack are:

Shell Search API support.

Drag and Drop functionality for Shell objects.

Support for Direct3D and Direct2D interoperability.

Support for Typography and Font enumeration DirectWrite APIs.

ref:
Somasegar’s blog - http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2009/10/02/making-your-application-sparkle-with-windows-7.aspx

Windows 7 Taskbar and Libraries .NET Interop Sample Library - http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Windows7Taskbar/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=2246

Tim Sneath's Windows 7 Blog - http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/05/06/a-developer-s-guide-to-preparing-for-windows-7.aspx

Windows Team Blog - http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/developers/default.aspx

Windows Developer's site - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/default.aspx

Windows 7 Developer Guide - http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ProjectName=Win7DeveloperGuide&ReleaseId=1702

Windows® API Code Pack for Microsoft® .NET Framework -
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

Arun Kishan MSDN Channel 9's Windows' low level architecture - http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Going+Deep/Arun-Kishan-Process-Management-in-Windows-Vista/

Mark Russinovich's MSDN Channel 9's discussion of Windows 7 kernel-level stuff -http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/Going+Deep/Mark-Russinovich-Inside-Windows-7/

WPF vs Windows Forms vs MFC

2009-10-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

WPF vs Windows Forms

WPF is not just for applications which simply require “eye candy.” That is the most common and frustrating misperception about WPF which I’ve encountered. Sure, WPF has a lot of support for flashy visuals and animations. But that’s not all it’s good for. If you’ve worked with WPF for any substantial period of time you are probably well aware of this fact, so I won’t keep harping on the issue.

The true power of WPF resides in the data binding mechanism and the way it shares resources across the application. On extra benefit that comes from the learning curve is that who learn how to decouple logic from UI. It’s not because of a pattern, but because of the data binding mechanism. Truly an application will last longer, when the UI can be changed without producing problems to the logic. Use the templates right and you can change a piece of UI code that reflects to the entire application. And don’t get me started about the usage of Control Templates.
WPF is an especially great platform to use if your applications involve various media types.

For example,

1. If you need to incorporate video, or documents, or 3D content, or animated transitions between a sequence of images, or a combination of any of the above.

2. WPF is also great if you need to create a skinned user interface

3. If you need to bind to XML data

4. Dynamically load portions of a user interface from a Web service

5. Want to create a desktop application with a Web-like navigation style.

WinForms definitely still has a role to play, despite the fact that WPF has hit the scene. If you are building applications with no need for the extensive modern functionality in WPF, then there is no compelling reason to leave behind a time-tested developer-approved platform. WinForms certainly has more 3rd party controls available, online resources, developer communities, etc. than WPF currently does. It’s much easier to find WinForms developers than WPF developers. Also, WinForms currently has a much better design-time experience in Visual Studio than WPF. That fact alone is a very compelling reason to stick with WinForms for a while.

Lastly, don’t forget that it is possible to use WPF controls in a WinForms app, and WinForms controls in a WPF app. If you have a substantial investment in a WinForms code-base, but want to use some aspect(s) of WPF, you can leverage the interop support to make that possible. Just be sure to read up on the limitations involved with WinForms-WPF interop before getting too far down that path.

WPF Positives & Nagatives

+ Powerfull styling and skinning structure
+ Easy to create an own Look and Feel
+ Does support Windows Forms
+ The future technology for developing Vista Applications
+ The ability to reuse existing code
+ Highly advanced databinding possible
+ Declarative vs procedural code

+ Vector Graphics simplifes painting Operations

+ 3D

+ Animations

+ WPF Everywhere Idea (Silverlight and Microframework)

- Requires .NET Framework 3.0
- Compared to Windows Forms, still in development fase
- Requires Dx9 compatible vidcard for advanced graphics

Windows Forms Positives & Nagatives
+ Extensive documentation to be found on the internet
+ Plenty of examples
+ Does support WPF
- How long will this be supported? (I've read somewhere that Microsoft is only developing WPF now, only maintanance for Winforms)
- Design your own look and feel in a application is a lot of work.

ref:

http://joshsmithonwpf.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/wpf-vs-windows-forms/

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/wpf/thread/42636e55-a1e0-4b29-bbd1-cd8073585584

http://www.devzest.com/blog/post/WPF-vs-Windows-Forms-From-Control-Authoring-Perspective.aspx

http://sarafianalex.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/wpf-vs-windows-forms/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms788719%28VS.85%29.aspx

http://tozon.info/blogs/andrej/post/2007/10/09/WPF-vs-Windows-Forms-%28data%29-binding.aspx

Windows Forms vs MFC

If you are accustomed to MFC, you might be used to creating certain types of applications that are not yet explicitly supported in Windows Forms. Windows Forms applications are equivalent to MFC dialog applications. However, they do not provide the infrastructure to directly support other MFC application types like OLE document server/container, ActiveX documents, the Document/View support for single-document interface (SDI), multiple-document interface (MDI), and multiple top-level interface (MTI). You can write your own logic to create these applications.

ref:

Windows Forms/MFC Programming Differences - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0xb61xs7.aspx

MFC and WinForms Integration -

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=987021bc-e575-4fe3-baa9-15aa50b0f599&displaylang=en

Using a Windows Form User Control in MFC - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ahdd1h97.aspx

Microsoft Architecture Journal online

2009-10-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

Learn Architecture from Microsoft Architecture Journals -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/cc511514.aspx

Role of an Architect -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/cc505966.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/d/7/3d718c6c-e5f3-41e3-b346-6e9f114e2531/journal15_english.pdf.zip (pdf version)

Strategies for Design -
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb245653.aspx
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/d/a/4da0ddee-77e0-47d1-aaa7-a5dd619b8bca/journal6_english.pdf.zip (pdf version)
Web Architecture -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb735857.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/5/2/f520c83a-d2ed-4be8-9bc6-b39a1f9a4562/AJ12_EN.zip (pdf version)
Mobile Architecture -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb985491.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/9/0/290aa77c-8fb0-4fa1-97e2-61d9d83d2bdb/journal14_english.pdf.zip (pdf version)

Data by Design -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb245655.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/d/a/4da0ddee-77e0-47d1-aaa7-a5dd619b8bca/journal8_english.pdf.zip (pdf version)

Distributed Computing -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/dd129905.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/2/b/c2b3f5f0-4ff5-4bbd-aba9-c33090cd5476/AJ17_EN.zip (pdf version)

Software plus Services -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb906058.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/1/c/11cbcb6e-9215-4b06-b367-c97141a86cc9/Journal-13-ENG.pdf.zip (pdf version)

SOA Today & Tomorrow -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/aa699437.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/0/6/906F57FF-3C6F-4412-A802-0AB0E4B58C71/AJ21_EN.zip (pdf version)

Architecture in Turbulent Times -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/aa894359.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/9/0/290AA77C-8FB0-4FA1-97E2-61D9D83D2BDB/AJ20_EN.zip (pdf version)

Identity and Access Management -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/cc836389.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/7/6/a76e5770-19b1-415b-8b6c-6ff5c7b71574/J16_EN.zip (pdf version)

“10/10” Technique - A way of gathering 'feedback and ideas for improvement'

2009-10-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

“10/10” technique is a simple, yet effective way of gathering 'feedback and ideas for improvement'

Although it can be used for self-improvement in a lot of ways, we use it for leadership development as follow-up to a 360 degree assessment.

First, the manager identifies something they want to improve – say leading a meeting, delegating, listening, or conducting a one on one. Although not as effective, it could even be as general as “leadership”.

Then, at the end of a one on one, or whenever the opportunity presents itself (it only takes about 10 minutes), the manager asks the question: “On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate my delegation skills?” Usually the answer is not a perfect 10, because the manager has already had it pointed out on their 360 assessment. So if it’s anything less than 10, the managers ask the follow-up question: “What would I need to do for you to rate me a 10?”

It works so well because it gives the manager very specific ideas for improvement, in terms of what’s important to the other person. It opens up dialog in a non-threatening way, builds trust, and creates a win-win developmental partnership.

The 10/10 technique is very versatile – it can also be used with your peers, manager, partners, customers, suppliers. “So tell me buddy, on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate my mentoring skills?”

ref:

Dan McCarthy blog - http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2009/09/1010-technique.html

The traits of global leader of the future

2009-10-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

The traits of global leader of the future:

· Ethics

· Honesty

· Transparency

· Integrity

· Humility

· Respect

· Flexibility

· Collaboration

So what does it mean to show RESPECT as a leader?

R = Relationships. Have you taken the time to cultivate a relationship, based on mutual respect and support?

E = Everyone counts, no matter who they are, at any level in the organization.

S = Support your employees.

P = Please and thank-you.

E = Encourage every employee to grow and develop, in order to reach their full potential.

C = Care. That’s right, care about your employees (some would say love them, although that sounds a bit extreme for me).

T = Treat people how they want to be treated (the platinum rule), not how you want to be treated (the golden rule).

Ref:

John Spence Post in Dan McCarthy Blog

http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2009/09/global-leader-of-future.html

Dan McCarthy's Blog -

http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2009/09/how-do-you-spell-r-e-s-p-e-c-t-as.html

Visualize Success - The Key to Success

2009-09-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

A goal envisioned is a goal half completed. Creating a vision before starting out on your journey creates a real destination in your mind, which is infinitely preferable to just wandering off in the general direction of whatever it is you want and hoping you end up somewhere acceptable. The stronger and more realistically detailed you make your visualizations, the better chance you have of succeeding.

Play a movie in your head of you achieving your big goal. Sounds easy, Here are the steps you have to take -

1. Know exactly what you want. A defined, very specific goal. Not "start a company" but "open a dog-grooming business in Portland."

2. Know exactly what reaching the goal will look like the steps leading up to the achievement. If your goal is to win a Nobel Prize, you need to imagine yourself making the great discovery.

3. Organize your life around your goal so that you can play your movie in your head before you go to bed and immediately when you get up. This means you need to get to some sort of meditative point where you can sit still, for maybe ten minutes, while you play your movie in your head.

4. Find optimism. Lots of it. Because you have to believe in yourself enough that you will actually do this exercise every day until you reach your dream.

A Scenario:

Health, success, money, promotion and possessions can be gained through creative visualization. It does not mean that everything will change overnight. Mental work is necessary. A change of attitude towards life is a necessity. You need an open mind, concentration, the ability to visualize, and a lot of enthusiasm and persistence.

Suppose you need five thousand dollars. Build in your imagination a mental image of a check for this amount, made out in your name. See it clearly as if it is really there, but do not visualize the name of the bank, or who signed it.

Imagine yourself holding the check. Pass your fingers over it to feel its texture. A clear cut mental image, involving all the five senses, and soaked with desire and faith is a power that influences your actions and imprints itself on the creative power of the universe.

Arouse in yourself feelings of happiness and satisfaction that you have received this check. Do not think who gave it to you, or why it was drawn in your name.

Imagining that you have already received the check is very important. This way the subconscious mind accepts it as a fact and does not arouse hindrances. It is also important to feel convinced that it came in a harmonious way, and that all people involved were and are benefited by it.

The next step is to see yourself depositing the check in your account at the bank. You may also visualize the entry for five thousand dollars in your bank's statement.

What will happen? The money will appear in your life. It may come through various channels. It may come as a present, winning at the lottery, a promotion at work, a new job, a good investment in shares or stocks, or through other channels. Results may be immediate or delayed.

Ref:

Penelope Trunk's Blog(http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2006/06/06/visualize-success-like-a-major-league-all-star/)

http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000034.htm

Career Advices

2009-09-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

1. Job/work isn't just about getting a paycheck; Job is a a way to connect with the world.

2. The best way to ensure you'll always be in demand is to become a specialist. Specializing is a way to differentiate yourself in a crowd. Generalizing often looks weak, lacking direction or commitment. "Generalizing could be useful as a hedging strategy if you are in a volatile industry." But if you see yourself going to the top, you need to sell yourself as a specialist, not someone hedging for a darker day.

3. You need to be an adult, and realize that adults make big decisions. Things don't just happen to you. You have power to decide what your life will be like.

4. Career decisions are not decisions about "what do I love most?" Career decisions are about what kind of life do I want to set up for myself?

5. Relationships make your life great, not jobs. But a job can ruin your life – make you feel out of control in terms of your time or your ability to accomplish goals – but no job will make your life complete. It's a myth mostly propagated by people who tell you to do what you love. Doing what you love will make you feel fulfilled. But you don't need to get paid for it.

6. The big factors in determining happiness levels are satisfaction with your job and social relationships. And in case you found yourself slipping back to thoughts of salary, according to a study, "How much pleasure people get from their job is independent of how much it pays".

7. Manage your image by telling good stories. The way you talk about yourself is very powerful. Whether or not you are conscious of it, the way you tell stories of your life frames how people see you, and how you see yourself. Acting and leading are both about establishing a relationship with an audience and making them believe in you.

ref:

Penelope Trunk's Blogs(http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/)

The Brand Called You !

2009-09-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Every day, in almost every interaction, we contribute to our personal brand. Whether we are making a positive contribution or a negative one is up to you. Whether we recognize it or not, we all have a personal brand. The decisions we make, how we present ourselves, what we say, do and even how we dress creates an impression that others use to judge how they will respond to us. If you don't take control of your brand, you'll be forever stuck with how the world judges you.

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. You're CEO of Me Inc., reinventing yourself every few years while balancing a series of provocative, fascinating projects. Don't think you can escape it. In the age of Google, blogging and Twitter, everyone is a brand. Marketers brand you. Your colleagues brand you, and so does your boss. So where were you when all of this happened? "You have to take control of your brand," and be a agent of change. "Many of us are taught to do our best and then let the world decide how to judge us. In this ever changing world, it's better to do your best and decide how you want to be judged. And act that way."The good news is that everyone has a chance to stand out and create a self brand. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills.

The brand is a promise of the value you'll receive. It holds true for the killer app of the Internet called "email". When everybody has email and anybody can send you email, how do you decide whose messages you're going to read and respond to first -- and whose you're going to send to the trash unread? The answer: personal branding. The name of the email sender is every bit as important a brand - is a brand - as the name of the Web site you visit. It's a promise of the value you'll receive for the time you spend reading the message.

You're hired, you report to work, you join a team and you immediately start figuring out how to deliver value to the customer. Along the way, you learn stuff, develop your skills, hone your abilities and move from project to project. Along the way, if you're really smart, you figure out what it takes to create a distinctive role for yourself - you create a message and a strategy to promote the brand called You !

Ref:

Brand Creation - http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

The brand called you: the ultimate brand-building and business development ... By Peter Montoya, Tim Vandehey -

http://books.google.com/books?id=o1h0qgpdJRcC&dq=brand+called+you&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=ziy9SviSD46CswOeyYwc&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Brand Management: Theory and Practice By Tilde Heding, Charlotte F. Knudtzen, Mogens Bjerre -

http://books.google.com/books?id=mu5KsLyPrDgC&pg=PA140&lpg=PA140&dq=how+to+create+brand+one+self&source=bl&ots=05zgNr8fEI&sig=4VvFHiLGbNY_iJAR6gHafZrq4m4&hl=en&ei=RzC9St2XGo3QsQOamKlL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#v=onepage&q=how%20to%20create%20brand%20one%20self&f=false

http://transformingmlm.com/resources/Brandcalledyou.pdf

http://blog.seattlepi.com/dennisdaugs/archives/169293.asp

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_34/b4047419.htm

Tai Chi - Chinese martial art often practiced for HEALTH reasons

2009-09-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Tai chi chuan is an internal Chinese martial art often practiced for health reasons. Tai chi is typically practiced for a variety of other personal reasons: its hard and soft martial art technique, demonstration competitions, health and longevity. Consequently, a multitude of training forms exist, both traditional and modern, which correspond to those aims. Some of tai chi chuan's training forms are well known to Westerners as the slow motion routines that groups of people practice together every morning in parks around the world, particularly in China.

Tai chi, which originated in China as a martial art, is a mind-body practice in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Tai chi is sometimes referred to as "moving meditation" - practitioners move their bodies slowly, gently, and with awareness, while breathing deeply. This Backgrounder provides a general overview of tai chi and suggests sources for additional information.

The study of tai chi chuan primarily involves three aspects

Health: An unhealthy or otherwise uncomfortable person may find it difficult to meditate to a state of calmness or to use tai chi as a martial art. Tai chi's health training therefore concentrates on relieving the physical effects of stress on the body and mind. For those focused on tai chi's martial application, good physical fitness is an important step towards effective self-defense.
Meditation: The focus and calmness cultivated by the meditative aspect of tai chi is seen as necessary in maintaining optimum health (in the sense of relieving stress and maintaining homeostasis) and in application of the form as a soft style martial art.
Martial art: The ability to use tai chi as a form of self-defense in combat is the test of a student's understanding of the art. Tai chi chuan martially is the study of appropriate change in response to outside forces; the study of yielding and "sticking" to an incoming attack rather than attempting to meet it with opposing force^.

Tai Chi and Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own healthy tissues. The attack happens mostly in the joints of the feet and hands and causes redness, pain, swelling and heat around the joint. Tai Chi, also called 'Tai Chi Chuan' combines deep breathing and relaxation with slow and gentle movements. In older people, Tai Chi has been shown to decrease stress, increase muscle strength in the lower body, and improve balance, posture and the ability to move. There is "silver" level evidence that Tai Chi improves the range of motion of the ankle, hip and knee in people with rheumatoid arthritis. It did not improve people's ability to do chores, joint tenderness, grip strength or their number of swollen joints nor did it increase their symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi_chuan

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/taichi/

http://www.tai-chi.com/

http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/44/5/685

http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004849.html

http://www.rheumatoid.org.uk/article.php?article_id=53

How to handle Workplace Bullies !

2009-09-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Workplace bullies generally use words and actions to intimidate their victims.A workplace bully may be your boss or your co-worker. No one should ever make you feel uncomfortable at work. If you are a victim of bullying in your workplace consider speaking to someone in the human resources department for help in dealing with it.

If you would like to try to deal with this situation before you report it, here are some tips. If you are being physically threatened don't waste a minute before you report it to both your employer and the police.

If you are dealing with a workplace bully:

Seek the advice of a trusted mentor who may have dealt with this situation before.

If you can, confront the bully in a professional manner, but only if your physical safety isn't threatened. Don't sink to his or her level. Stay as calm as possible. Don't yell or threaten. Often bullies are looking for this type of confrontation and it will encourage them to come back for more. Don't cry or show weakness either. That's usually what the bully is after in the first place.

Don't try to win over other people to your side. The way in which you handle the situation will allow them to make their own judgements.

Don't allow the bully to intimidate you or make you feel bad about yourself. You know your true worth. Don't forget what that is.

Do your job and do it well. The workplace bully wants you to fail and when you don't he or she will be defeated.

Make sure your superiors are aware of your work. Workplace bullies often try to spread the word that your are not doing your job well and will even go as far as to report the smallest infractions to your boss. Your actions will carry more weight than his or her words.

Don't allow the bully to isolate you from your colleagues. Keep up your workplace friendships.

ref: http://careerplanning.about.com/od/bosscoworkers/a/bullies_at_work.htm

How to handle difficult people You Meet at Work!

2009-09-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

The workplace, like anyplace you bring a bunch of people together, is a jumble of many different personalities. In addition to coworkers who are easy to work with, you will also find difficult people at work. What sets the workplace apart from many other places is that everyone, even the difficult people must cooperate in order to be productive.

Here are five types of difficult people you may meet at work and advice for getting along with each one.

The Chatterbox

This person’s incessant talking is just keeping you from concentrating on your work. Rather than risk insulting your colleague, put the blame on yourself. Tell your coworker you have trouble concentrating while you are listening to her very engaging stories. You'd love to hear them at some other time, just not while you're working.

The Gossip

The gossip seems to know everything about everyone and he wants to share it. Listen to your gossipy coworker quietly. Don't become a gossip too. However, if the gossip being shared is of a very personal nature, for example he shares with you news of another coworker's marital problems, change the subject or say that you don't feel right discussing someone behind his back.

The Complainer

There's always one person in a group who can never find anything about which to be happy. Of course, some of her complaints may be legitimate, but the incessant whining is getting on your nerves. Change the subject whenever the bellyaching begins. Your colleague should get the hint after you do this repeatedly.

The Delagator

We're not talking about those who have a legitimate reason to delegate work to others, for example managers or team leaders. if managers are the only ones who have the authority to delegate and you already have your hands full, then you have to turn down the request. Tell your coworker you have your own work with which to deal.

The Credit Grabber

The credit grabber does not acknowledge any help she receives from others. She accepts all the praise for a project without mentioning that she didn't do it alone. The first time this happens, consider it a mistake. Mention it to your colleague and ask her to let others know about your participation. If she doesn't, or if this happens again, make sure you let others know about the role you played in getting a project done. Then, unless you are mandated to work with this person, refuse to help out again.

Ref: http://careerplanning.about.com/od/bosscoworkers/a/difficultpeople.htm

Inversion of Control(IOC) / Dependency Injection(DI) pattern

2009-09-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today there is a greater focus than ever on reusing existing components and wiring together disparate components to form a cohesive architecture. But this wiring can quickly become a daunting task because as application size and complexity increase, so do dependencies. One way to mitigate the proliferation of dependencies is by using Dependency Injection (DI), which allows you to inject objects into a class, rather than relying on the class to create the object itself.

Inversion of Control(IoC) is a key part of what makes a framework different to a library. IoC follows Hollywood Principle("Don't call us, we'll call you").A library is essentially a set of functions that you can call, these days usually organized into classes. Each call does some work and returns control to the client.A framework embodies some abstract design, with more behavior built in. In order to use it you need to insert your behavior into various places in the framework either by subclassing or by plugging in your own classes. The framework's code then calls your code at these points.

Dependency Injection in a Software Context

Software components (Clients), are often a part of a set of collaborating components which depend upon other components (Services) to successfully complete their intended purpose. In many scenarios, they need to know “which” components to communicate with, “where” to locate them, and “how” to communicate with them. When the way such services can be accessed is changed, such changes can potentially require the source of lot of clients to be changed.

One way of structuring the code is to let the clients embed the logic of locating and/or instantiating the services as a part of their usual logic. Another way to structure the code is to have the clients declare their dependency on services, and have some "external" piece of code assume the responsibility of locating and/or instantiating the services and simply supplying the relevant service references to the clients when needed. In the latter method, client code typically is not required to be changed when the way to locate an external dependency changes. This type of implementation is considered to be an implementation of Dependency Injection and the "external" piece of code referred to earlier is likely to be either hand coded or implemented using one of a variety of DI frameworks.

Usage of Dependency Injection requires that the software we write to declare the dependencies, and lets the framework or the container work out the complexities of service instantiation, initialization, sequencing and supplies the service references to the clients as required.

Links:

Dependency Injection Demystified -

http://jamesshore.com/Blog/Dependency-Injection-Demystified.html

A beginner's guide to Dependency Injection by Dhananjay Nene - http://www.theserverside.com/tt/articles/article.tss?l=IOCBeginners

Inversion of Control Containers and the Dependency Injection pattern (Martin Flower) -
http://www.martinfowler.com/articles/injection.html

Dependency Injection by Griffin Caprio(with .Net sample code) -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163739.aspx

Inversion of Control and Dependency Injection: Working with Windsor Container - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa973811(printer).aspx

Design Better Software with the Inversion of Control Pattern - http://www.devx.com/Java/Article/27583

Is IOC and Dependency Injection the Same Thing? by Dr.Chuck -
http://www.dr-chuck.com/csev-blog/000122.html

Inversion of control and Dependency injection -

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/IOCDI.aspx

Dependency Injection for Loose Coupling - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/architecture/DependencyInjection.aspx

A beginner’s guide to Dependency Injection -
http://www.theserverside.com/tt/articles/article.tss?l=IOCBeginners

Inversion of Control and Dependency Injection -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa973811.aspx

Inversion of Control(IoC) from Microsoft Blog -

http://blogs.msdn.com/nickmalik/archive/2008/02/15/what-is-the-tradeoff-with-inversion-of-control-ioc.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/nickmalik/archive/2008/02/20/inversion-of-control-part-two.aspx

Microsoft(msdn) Architecture Journal -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/bb410935.aspx

Enterprise Architecture, Patterns and Practices(msdn) -

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa286494.aspx

Design pattern – Inversion of control and Dependency injection By Shivprasad koirala - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/IOCDI.aspx

What Alienates Top Performers

2009-09-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Top performers genuinely accept the idea that success is a journey, not a destination.

Success is not an accident, and is not restricted to only those who possess exceptional intelligence. Success is the result of deciding exactly what your goals are, and then focusing your actions so that you consistently move in the direction of those goals. That seems simple enough, and it is.The problem arises in the obstacles one encounters as they pursue their goals. What Top performers mastered is the ability to act in a paradoxical manner; that is, they possess seemingly contradictory psychological and behavioral traits. However, the good news for anyone aspiring “to something better” is that top performers are made, not born.

Top performers will, as Stephan Covey advises, “begin with the end in mind”. That is, create a picture of your desired future, then build and pursue your goals around that image. This is the key to the persistence and endurance of goal pursuit seen in top performers.

Top performers will, Take personal responsibility for making things happen; know the payoffs of each of their activities; build relationships in advance of needing them; have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge of their industry and sector; Focuses on “Explain” Strategy than “Attack” strategy for Conflict resolution and most important like to smile.

Top performers are able to recognize when they have gathered all the relevant information possible, and they avoid “analysis paralysis.” That is, they recognize that there are always going to be some unknowns in confronting a challenge and making decisions. The person who waits for the perfect solution with no risk and no unknown factors will wait a lifetime. Top performers are able to recognize when the information gathering process is producing diminishing returns for the effort expended. It is then that he or she must make a decision

10 psychological and behavioral traits of a Top Performer:

Top performers have developed the habit of positive thinking, while at the same time retaining the capability of recognizing the limitations and reality of every challenge and opportunity

To be a top performer, you must be persistent in your efforts to achieve your goals, yet flexible in your thinking as you pursue these goals.

Top performers take the time to get the facts, but at the same time they are action oriented.

Top performers must take risks, but they are not gamblers.

Top performers have high levels of self-confidence, but seek the assistance of experts whenever available.

Top performers do not follow the crowd, but they recognize the advantages of utilizing existing successful systems whenever possible

Top performers let emotions and intuition guide them, but avoid making strictly emotional decisions.

Top performers constantly challenge themselves and push the limits of their experience and skills, but use their current interests and skills as a starting point for setting their goals.

Top Performers are ethical and operate from a solid personal foundation, yet are aggressive and proactive in the pursuit of their goals.

Top performers pursue their business goals consistently and with zeal yet they recognize the long-term value of being able to live balanced lives that will ultimately prevent stagnation and burnout.

Ref:

The Psychology of Top Performers -

http://www.catsg.com/pdf/WP%20Psychology%20of%20Top%20Performers%20.pdf

Managing your top Performers -

http://www.brunercox.com/ASSETS/ASSETS_FILES/managing%20your%20top%20performers.pdf

Treat other people the way they would like to be treated !

2009-09-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

The new rule in the game - Treat other people the way they would like to be treated.

Think of every interaction as an experiment that explains a little bit more about the individual you're dealing with. Then, when someone defies your expectations, don't get mad. Just change your expectations to more accurately align with reality. Once you understand your colleagues' operating instructions, you might decide to approach them differently. Use different words. Be more or less aggressive.

It's not that some people behave well or badly. It's that we expect them to behave differently than they do. Even when they have proven our expectation wrong time and time again. In this case, the answer to frustration is acceptance. It's amazing how changing your expectations can change your experience. So instead of getting frustrated with other people, learn their rules of engagement. If you pretend each person is from a foreign country you don't fully understand, you'll be more open to accepting him or her.

Ref:

Peter Bregman’s Blog –

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/09/a-new-rule-for-the-workplace.html

Energize your team through Salesmanship

2009-09-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

Energizing a Team begins with selling the dream or initiative, and leaders need to employ some good old-fashioned salesmanship to accomplish it.

Link to aspiration - If you need to generate enthusiasm for a new initiative, focus on how much better the team will be when the transformation occurs or the new initiative drops. Also make sure that you address the “Why should I” & "Why Only Me" questions.

Address the negatives - People prefer the status quo because even if things are uncomfortable, they are known. You can't ignore the negatives, deal with them head on. Acknowledge them and defuse them with an effective argument. Also, never over-promise. Sometimes it's possible to turn negatives into positives, it's worth a try.

Sell from the top - When employees see their leader selling the dream, or pushing an initiative, it sends a message that no one is too big or too important to engage in salesmanship. Nobody is bigger than the team.

ref:

John Baldoni’s Blog - http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/09/how_salesmanship_can_energize.html

Tech News - September 2009

2009-09-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

1. Awesomium(WPF WebBrowser)
(Its a mix of the Google Chromium project, (a wrapper called Awesomium) and a WPF) )

What Is Awesomium?
Awesomium is a library that makes it easy for developers to embed the web in their applications. For example, it can be used for:
· Powering an in-game GUI using HTML/JS/CSS
· Rendering a live web-page to a 3D object and interacting with it
· A framework for an advanced, 3D web-browser
· An offscreen renderer for snapshots or recordings of web-pages
· The implementation of in-game advertisting.
· and more!

Links:

http://chriscavanagh.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/a-real-wpf-webbrowser/

Source Code - http://wpfchromium.codeplex.com/

2. Google Books Downloader

http://www.codeplex.com/GoogleBookDownloader

3. .Net3.5 Namespace Poster

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/a/3/4a3c7c55-84ab-4588-84a4-f96424a7d82d/NET35_Namespaces_Poster_LORES.pdf

4. Debugging in WPF – WPF Disciples tips and tricks

http://wpfdisciples.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/debugging-in-wpf-wpf-disciples-tips-and-tricks/

5. Guidance on Differences Between WPF and Silverlight

http://wpfslguidance.codeplex.com/

6. WPF Localization Guidance Whitepaper

http://wpflocalization.codeplex.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=29389

7. Printing Contents of WPF RichTextBox

http://blogs.msdn.com/prajakta/archive/2007/01/03/printing-contents-of-wpf-richtextbox.aspx

8. WPF Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) Toolkit 0.1

The WPF team has just released an MVVM Toolkit which contains an overview and walkthrough of the MVVM pattern, a full Messenger sample app using MVVM, as well as a Visual Studio template for MVVM. The template creates a WPF application with folders for Views, ViewModels, Models, and Commands.

Source Code - http://www.codeplex.com/wpf/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=14962

9. TestApi

TestApi is a library of test and utility APIs that enables developers and testers to create automated tests for .NET and Win32 applications. TestApi provides a set of common test building blocks -- data-structures and algorithms -- in a simple, layered, componentized and documented stack.

http://www.codeplex.com/TestApi

10. From zero to a complete web application in minutes

The Windows Web App Gallery is designed to help you get up and running with a customizable web application quickly so you can focus on building the code only you can write.

http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2009/07/31/from-zero-to-a-complete-web-application-in-minutes.aspx

11. WPF Futures Downloads

http://www.codeplex.com/wpf/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=14962

12. Progressive .NET Wrap-up by Udi Dahan

http://www.udidahan.com/2009/09/07/progressive-net-wrap-up/

Wanna a Effective Leader - Hone your Leadership Storytelling Skills !

2009-09-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

Storytelling is a great tool for persuasion!

Leadership is, above all, about getting people to change. Storytelling is an increasingly accepted way to achieve management goals. Storytelling was more than one tool; it was atleast a whole array of tools – tools that could help achieve multiple purposes such as sparking people into action, communicating who you are or who your company is, transmitting values, sharing knowledge, taming the grapevine, and leading into the future.

In one sense, telling a story is simply giving an example. It is ‘glaringly obvious, and is something we all know instinctively. A good example may make something easier to understand, and easier to remember”.

An example of good story
One of the workers in a firm asked his manager - “Why do you earn so much than me?” His simple reply - “If you screw badly, you lose your job. If I screw up badly, three thousand people lose their jobs?” The worker got the message, simple but very effective story!

Effective Leadership storytelling is a fine and beautiful art. A well-developed and presented story can cut across age barriers and will hold the interest and reach its listeners. Stories will be remembered long after other orations. Knowing and applying the basics of storytelling will strengthen your stories.

Seven crucial elements of a good leadership story

1. Articulates what the story is all about ... Articulates what the story is not about !

2. Draws on your real past and lessons you've learned from it.

3. Resonates emotionally with your audience because it's relevant to them.

4. Inspires your audience because it's fueled by your passion.

5. Shows the struggle between your goal and the obstacles you faced in pursuing it.

6. Illustrates with a vivid example.

7. Teaches an important lesson.

7 Ways to Improve Your Storytelling

1. Everybody has a story to tell - If you don't have a great story, turn to your volunteers, turn to your coworkers or turn to the people you help.

2. Avoid the "kitchen sink." - Avoid information overload. Instead, Create a snapshot that people will remember.

3.Nice is not enough - You need to find a good story that is unique and something that can create emotion and interest.

4. Don't be too close and don't be too far

5. Share your senses - All five of them. The more you can make the reader feel like he or she is there, the better.

6. Audience, audience, audience - Always keep your audience in mind.

7.Fit into a larger trend or story - You don't have to try to match up with the biggest headline of the week, but try to find some sort of trend.

ref:

"The leader's guide to storytelling" By Stephen Denning

Stew Friedman’s Blog -
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/friedman/2009/08/how-a-2minute-story-can-help-y.html

7 Ways to Improve Your Storytelling -
http://www.fundraising123.org/article/7-ways-improve-your-storytelling

Improve Communication Skills

2009-09-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

Communication is the Key to Success!

Letting others take the lead in discussions when you're the boss is not a sign of insecurity; it can be a sign that you are in control. You are not seeking to impose your will on discussion; you are facilitating alternative points of view. This is essential to establishing the trust necessary to broker agreements between parties who don't agree.

Toward that end, here are some lessons you can follow to keep dialogue flowing.

Open up - If you want to keep discussion going, you should keep talking. If the topic is critical to the future of the company, throw out your calendar. Meet with your colleagues, even those who don't agree with you, until you come to consensus, even if it's only an agreement to keep talking. (Mediators employ this technique to help resolve disputes between adversaries.)

Give (a little) up - The secret to good conversation is give and take. Those who feel the need to impose their will gain little by talking. Those who want to reach consensus learn how to make concessions over small things to gain agreement over major issues. Dialogue is essential to facilitating that process.

Follow up. Important matters are seldom resolved with a single conversation or a single meeting. You will need to meet multiple times. Keep the dialogue going by following up with participants between meetings. The act of simple conversation can lead to greater understanding of issues and people.

With that in mind, don't be afraid to chit chat. Listening to someone you don't know (or may not like) talk about his family or other personal matters can spade the ground for more substantive discussions about serious issues. Following up after a meeting to clarify issues or check for understanding further cements the development of trust.

ref:

John Baldoni’s Blog - http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/09/how_to_communicate_like_ben_be.html

Take the Ownership of your career … Face mid-life crisis with Confidence

2009-09-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

A person’s job is the expression of his/her worth to the society. If he loses his job, he lost his worth. A man without a job is a man without Self-Identity. People start making him feel like “Mr.Zero”. It’s difficult to meet new people as most of the talk centers around “What you do” as an identification of “Who you are”.

Stop acting like a victim RIGHT NOW! Take charge of your fate.

Steps to take to ensure your career future:

1. Do not tie your career to any single job or company. “Develop a portfolio of skills and experience that will add value to the core business of your company or any interesting job”.

2. Fight the stereotype. Show your employer at every opportunity how valuable you are for the organization.

3. Keep networking with more and more people. It’s not the machines that run this world, it’s the people!

A man is as old as he thinks he is. Some men are very old at thirty-five because they lost their reason for living. They feel that they have nothing more to contribute to life. Other men are extremely productive at sixty-five because they believe they have a contribution to make. The key is the need to feel important.

We just need to shift gears as we move. We need to learn to shift the roles as we continue our odyssey of life. With tears in his eyes a father said to me “My children do not need me anymore”. His children were married, and they did need him. He thought because they did not need his food and shelter anymore that they did not need him. But they needed him to the point the way, to give counsel and wisdom, to help them navigate emotional and spiritual stresses throughout their lives. But all that he needed to do is to shift the roles from being a director of their lives to being the counseling friend and coach. He did ! And he found a continuing place of strategic importance to his children’s lives as they moved from being adolescents to young adults.

ref:
“Men in Midlife Crisis” By Jim Conway

It’s all about our Attitude ... The Choices we make !

2009-09-08T12:58:00.001-07:00

In situations in which we may have no positional authority - we're not the leader, we don't have all the information, we can't make the decisions, we aren't in control - we still have power: the power to influence our own experience and, sometimes, the experiences of others. It might even help solve the problem. What's important is to remember that it's always a choice.

Someone on your team is consistently unprepared at meetings. You're not the leader so you can't declare it unacceptable. What do you do? You could complain to others or roll your eyes or try to ignore it. Or you could hold him/her: partner with him on a project, offer to prepare with him, or share ideas before the next meeting.

One of your colleagues is overworked, stressed, seemingly unproductive, and making your team look bad. On top of that, he's constantly complaining about how much harder her job is than yours. Annoying right? You'd be justified in gossiping about her or simply letting her fail. But what if you offered to help? Maybe even stayed late one night working with him?

Your company comes out with a new technology initiative that seems to make everyone's lives more complicated. Yet they say it's necessary. It's so easy to complain about it. Or to nod along with others when they complain about it. But what if you learned enough about it to help the people who were struggling with it?

Remember, the choices we make today shape our future tomorrow … We are only as good as the choices we make.

ref:
Peter Bregman's Blog -
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/08/ladies-and-gentleman-this-is.html

Inspirational Quotes

2009-09-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

Success Quotes

1. The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

2. Luck is What Happens when Preparation Meets Opportunity.

3. It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.

4. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

5. The longest journey starts with a single step.

6. The beginning is the most important part of the work.

7. The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret of outward success.

8. Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

9. Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.

10. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.

11. It's never too late to fulfil your wish.

12. Never Leave Till Tomorrow Which You Can Do Today.

13. A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in on the experience.

14. Failure is not falling down, it is not getting up again.

15. I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure--which is: Try to please everybody.

16. Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.

17. Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

18. Hope lies in dreams in one's imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.

19. There aren't any rules around here. We're trying to accomplish something.

20. Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.

21. It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final.

22. You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.

Attitude Quotes

1. Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

2. The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude towards them.

3. How we think shows through in how we act. Attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking.

4. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.

5. Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

6. For success, attitude is equally as important as ability.

7. My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.

8. It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult undertaking which, more than anything else, will determine its successful outcome.

9. Attitude is the way you mentally look at the world around you. It is how you view your environment and your future. It is the focus you develop toward life itself.

10. People only see what they are prepared to see.

Dale Carnegie Quotes

Link : http://thinkexist.com/quotes/dale_carnegie/

1. Remember happiness doesn't depend on who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think.

2. It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.

3. Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.

4. First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.

5. Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it ... that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.

6. Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

7. The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.

8. Criticism of others is futile and if you indulge in it often you should be warned that it can be fatal to your career.

Miscellaneous

1. Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right.

2. You see things; and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'

3. Whoever waits for time to pass loses time.

4. Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

5. If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

6. Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

7. Criticism of others is futile and if you indulge in it often you should be warned that it can be fatal to your career.

8. Analyzing what you haven't got as well as what you have is a necessary ingredient of a career.

9. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

10. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

11. Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.

12. Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

13. Communication--the human connection is the key to personal and career success.

14. Everything comes too late for those who only wait.

15. The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something.

16. Imagination is more important than knowledge.

17. The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and we miss it, but we aim too low and reach it.

18. A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.

19. What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.

20. Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.

21. Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonishthe rest.

22. Great thinkers have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds.

23. Happiness isn’t having what you want, it’s wanting what you have.

24. I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.

25. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

26. Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

27. Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.

28. The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.

29. The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

30. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

31. A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

32. Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.

33. History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree on.

34. By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right,he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong

35. The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward

36. Silence will save me from being wrong (and foolish), but it will also deprive me of the possibility of being right

37. There are two ways of being happy: We must either diminish our wants or augment our means - either may do - the result is the same and it is for each man to decide for himself and to do that which happens to be easier

38. I am not a has-been. I am a will be

39. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric

40. One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered

41. Three things that never come back: the spent arrow; the spoken word; the lost opportunity

42. Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away

43. What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are

44. Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches." (when asked what is the secret of a long and happy life !!!)

45. Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power

46. Luck is when opportunity meets preparation

47. Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.

48. Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiseling and scraping and polishing

49. Start where you are with what you have and that the secret of a big success is starting with a small success and dreaming bigger and bigger dreams

50. Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile

51. You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile

Budha Quotes

1. Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

2. Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

3. He is able who thinks he is able.

4.I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

5. To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

6. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

Charles de Gaulle Quotes

1. Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life.

2. Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.

3. Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.

4. I respect only those who resist me, but I cannot tolerate them.

5. Never relinquish the initiative.

6. Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.

7. The leader must aim high, see big, judge widely, thus setting himself apart form the ordinary people who debate in narrow confines.

8. Every country has the government it deserves.

Napoleon Bonaparte Quotes

1. A leader is a dealer in hope.

2. A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.

3. Ability is nothing without opportunity.

4. He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

5. I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.

6. If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

7. Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.

8. In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.

9. Men take only their needs into consideration - never their abilities.

10.Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

11. The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.

12. There are only two forces that unite men - fear and interest.

13. Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night.

14.Victory belongs to the most persevering.

Chinese proverbs

1. A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every passerby leaves a mark.

2. Do not anxiously hope for what is not yet to come; do not vainly regret what is already past.

3. One who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; one who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.

4. Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.

5. A single conversation across a table with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.

6. Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.

7. Never answer a letter while you are angry.

8. Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.

9. Consider the past and you shall know the future.

10. Behind an able man there are always other able men.

11. Happiness is something to do, something to love, something to hope for.

12. It is the beautiful bird that gets caged.

Mao Tse-Tung Quotes

1. In time of difficulties, we must not lose sight of our achievements.

2. We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.

3. Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed
When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires, strike; when he retreats, pursue.

4. Learn from the masses, and then teach them.

5. Despise the enemy strategically, but take him seriously tactically.

6. Our attitude towards ourselves should be ''to be satiable in learning'' and towards others ''to be tireless in teaching.

7. Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend.

8. Passivity is fatal to us. Our goal is to make the enemy passive.

9. The cardinal responsibility of leadership is to identify the dominant contradiction at each point of the historical process and to work out a central line to resolve it.

Links

http://www.motivatingquotes.com/

http://thinkexist.com/

http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/career/

World rewards Productivity not Perfection

2009-09-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

World doesn't reward perfection. It rewards productivity and productivity can only be achieved through imperfection. Make a decision. Follow through. Learn from the outcome. Repeat over and over and over again. It's the scientific method of trial and error. Only by wading through the imperfect can we begin to achieve glimpses of the perfect.

Following ideas may help in shaping one's career :

1. Don't try to get it right in one big step. Just get it going.

Don't write a book, write a page. Don't create the entire presentation, just create a slide. Don't expect to be a great manager in your first six months, just try to set expectations well. Pick a small, manageable goal and follow through. Then pursue the next.

2. Do what feels right to you, not to others.

We become what we think. It's not important what other's think of you But 'what you think of yourself'. If we think we can succeed, we will ... All in our state of mind.

3. Choose your friends, coworkers, and bosses wisely.

Critical feedback is helpful as long as it's offered with care and support. But the feedback that comes from jealousy or insecurity or arrogance or without any real knowledge of you? Ignore it.

ref:

Peter Bregman's Blog - http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/09/how-to-escape-perfectionism.html

User Interface(UI) Design Patterns

2009-08-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

UI Design Guidance Overview - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd458938(printer).aspx

Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd458809.aspx

XAML Guidelines for Creating a Composite UI - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd458877.aspx

WPF Model-View-ViewModel(MVVM) Design Pattern - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd419663.aspx

Model View Presenter (MVP) Pattern - http://msdn.microsoft.com/ru-ru/magazine/cc188690(en-us).aspx

Martin Fowler’s Presentation Model(PM) Pattern - http://martinfowler.com/eaaDev/PresentationModel.html

Patterns For Building Composite Applications With WPF - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc785479.aspx

WPF and Command Design Pattern - http://www.microsoft.com/belux/msdn/nl/community/columns/jdruyts/wpf_commandpattern.mspx http://www.dsmyth.net/wiki/StudyNotes_CommandPattern.ashx

10 Ways to be a Great Follower !

2009-08-31T12:31:00.001-07:00

1. Keep your manager informed.
Leaders throughout history have made bad decisions based on a lack of information or bad information. Great employees keep their managers abreast of key projects, even if they don’t ask. A manager can’t recognize and reward if they don’t know what their employees are doing. Managers also hate finding out about bad news from someone else. If something happens, like a dissatisfied client, give your manager a heads-up there may be trouble coming their way.

2. Always support your manager behind their backs.

That also means don’t criticize your manager behind their backs. For one thing, it’s unprofessional. It’s also a safe assumption that whatever you say, good or bad, will get back to them.

3. Be good. Damn good.

When an employee consistently delivers extraordinary results, most managers end up giving them more trust and latitude. And when a manager doesn’t have to waste their time cleaning up after mistakes or following up, they have more time to spend on vision, strategy, recognition, resource allocation, and other good things that benefit the entire team. Do what you say you’re going to do and do it well.

4. Admit your mistakes.

When you make a mistake, admit it. Be accountable; don’t make excuses, don’t point fingers, and don’t act like a victim. Tell your manager what happened, what you’re doing to fix it, and what you’ve learned so that it won’t happen again.

5. Be a great peer.

See post, “Would Your Peers Vote for You”. Be a team player; be an advocate for them behind their backs. Managers can’t stand back-stabbers, and they can sniff it out no matter how subtle you think you’re being.

6. Don’t bring problems to your manager, bring solutions.

OK, it’s a tired cliché, but it’s true. Don’t delegate upwards.

7. Prioritize your own work.

Great followers never have to ask their managers to help prioritize their work for them. New employees might need to do this – or average employees – but not the great ones. They always seem to know what’s important and urgent, and what can wait.

8. Be an optimist.

Everyone loves being around optimists – the positive attitude and energy is contagious. When you’re the person who always sees the glass as half-empty, you end up being a real buzz-kill for everyone around you.

9. Embrace change.

Everybody says the love change – as long as the change is their idea. A great follower can see the possibilities in someone else’s idea. Be the early adopter; don’t be the laggard.

10. Love what you do – or do something else.

If you don’t like what you do, it’ll show up in your work and attitude. You’re not doing yourself, your manager, or your co-workers any favors by hanging on to what you consider to be a lousy job. Life’s too short – find something that you can be passionate about.

Ref:

Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership Blog - http://www.greatleadershipbydan.com/2009/08/10-ways-to-be-great-follower.html

Learnings of a Manager

2009-08-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

1. The best managers spend time with front line employees listening to their stories.

2. The best managers talk regularly to customers.

3. Gaining a management qualification does not necessarily mean you become a better manager.

4. Stretching the rules as far as you can – and even breaking them occasionally - gets things done.

5. Returning to the front line and doing real work is good for any manager.

6. Never believe what other people tell you about the folks you are managing – judge people yourself.

7. Trust employees – only a few people will stitch you up – most people want you to do a good job.

8. Make decisions – people respect you for doing something rather than doing nothing.

9. Ask for help – people will always offer help but they have to know you need it.

10. Never be afraid to say ’I don’t know’ – you are not expected to know the answer to everything.

Ref:

Trevor Gay's Blog - http://simplicityitk.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-have-you-learned-as-manager.html

.Net Internals and .Net Tools

2009-08-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

.Net Internals

Rewrite MSIL Code on the Fly with the .NET Framework Profiling API By Aleksandr Mikunov - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc188743.aspx

.NET Internals and Code Injection By Daniel Pistelli - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/DotnetInternals_Injection.aspx

.NET Internals and Native Compiling By Daniel Pistelli - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/internals_native.aspx

The Implementation of Model Constraints in .NET By Alex Mikunov - http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/model_constraints_in_net.aspx

.Net Tools

.Net Framework Tools - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb400851.aspx

.NET Framework Technologies Development Tools (UISpy …) - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb400849.aspx

.NET Framework Tools(SqlMetal, CorDbg, Gacutil, Mage, Ngen …) - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/d9kh6s92.aspx

Windows Presentation Foundation Tools(Perforator, Event Trace …) - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa969767.aspx

Practical Career Quotes for a Software Engineer

2009-08-20T17:22:00.001-07:00

1. When dealing with people, remember that you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but of emotion - DALE CARNEGIE

2. Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors - ENGLISH PROVERB

3. If you have a job without aggravation, you don’t have a job - MALCOLM FORBES

4. Identify and address the 20 percent of the causes that result in 80 percent of the effects: revenue, bugs, downtime, business processes, and so on - PARETO PRINCIPLE

5. I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone - COSBY’S LAW

6. Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones - RALPH WALDO EMERSON

7. The aim of science is always to reduce complexity to simplicity - WILLIAM JAMES

8. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic - ARTHUR C. CLARKE

9. The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows - ARISTOTLE ONASSIS

10. If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will - ANONYMOUS

11. Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs - HENRY FORD

12. You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you - DALE CARNEGIE

13. Beware of little expenses: A small leak will sink a ship - BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

14. It is no use saying, “We are doing our best.” You have to succeed in doing what is necessary - WINSTON CHURCHILL

15. None of us is as smart as all of us - KEN BLANCHARD

16. It’s easy to get good players. Getting them to play together, that’s the hard part. - CASEY STENGEL

17. You may delay, but time will not - BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

ref :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/aa902620.aspx

Windows 7 for Developers

2009-08-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

If an application runs on Windows Vista today, there’s a very strong likelihood that the application will run unchanged on Windows 7.There are 3 key steps that every application author has to take care to still further diminish the risk of any application issues:

Download (and read!) the Windows 7 Application Quality Cookbook. This is the ultimate guide to changes in Windows 7, offering 80+ pages of detailed guidance on the various different edge cases that might cause an issue with your application. (A quick perusal of the document will allay any fears of widespread change – unless the likes of ‘removal of Microsoft Agent’ is of major concern to you.) Using this document as a checklist, you’ll be able to very rapidly identify anything that you should take care of.

Download(and read!) the Windows 7 Developer Guide. This guide helps in building applications on a solid foundation; enable richer application experiences.
Install and use the Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.5 and Application Verifier 4.0. These tools are valuable both for compatibility and quality, and are particularly helpful to renovate an older application that you never moved up to Windows Vista. The former provides automated tools for developers to check for issues like UAC incompatibility and setup problems, as well as administrative tools that can be used to apply and view other shims that may be in place. The latter tool is a runtime verification tool for applications that can be used to identify issues in the way native code calls into the Win32 API – in some ways, it’s the closest equivalent to FxCop for C++ code.
Get your application certified for Windows 7. Applying for a logo for your application has historically been a somewhat painstaking process – it’s involved spending money on submitting the application for manual testing. Now it’s much simpler: we’ve provided an automated toolkit that tests the application for known compatibility issues, targeting application issues that we’ve seen in the wild and providing clear guidance on how to fix your application. And there’s no cost either, beyond signing up for a certificate for WinQual registration. Whether or not you actually care about using the Windows 7 logo for marketing purposes, this is a worthwhile step to validate that your application runs smoothly on Windows 7 and that your customers will get a good experience.

ref:

Tim Sneath's Windows 7 Blog - http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2009/05/06/a-developer-s-guide-to-preparing-for-windows-7.aspx

Making your application sparkle with Windows 7 -
http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2009/10/02/making-your-application-sparkle-with-windows-7.aspx

Windows Developer's site - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/default.aspx

Windows 7 Developer Guide - http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ProjectName=Win7DeveloperGuide&ReleaseId=1702

Windows 7 Training Kit For Developers (The Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos designed to help you learn how to build applications that are compatible with and shine on Windows 7) - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1c333f06-fadb-4d93-9c80-402621c600e7&displaylang=en

The Windows Application Quality Cookbook familiarizes developers and test engineers with how to verify the compatibility of their applications with Windows 7 - http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Windows7AppQuality/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=1734

The Windows® API Code Pack for Microsoft® .NET Framework provides a source code library that can be used to access some new Windows 7 features (and some existing features of older versions of Windows operating system) from managed code. These Windows features are not available to developers today in the .NET Framework - http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/WindowsAPICodePack

Sample .Net managed Code that exploits Windows7 features to work on XP, Vista & 7 - http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/XP2Win7/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=2977

Windows 7 for developers - http://searchwindevelopment.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid8_gci1364162,00.html?track=NL-150&ad=721495&Offer=mn_eh081909WDEVUNSC_win7H&asrc=EM_USC_8999108&uid=8777731

Visual Studio News - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/default.aspx

Learn Windows from msdn Channel9 Presentations - http://channel9.msdn.com/

Microsoft Windows Opensource Software downloads - http://www.codeplex.com/

Codeplex WPF Projects - http://www.codeplex.com/site/search?projectSearchText=Windows%207&sortBy=Relevance&tagName=,WPF,&licenses=&refinedSearch=true

Microsoft Architecture Journal - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/architecture/bb410935.aspx

Blogs:

Windows 7 Developer Blog - http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/developers/default.aspx

Windows 7 Team Blog - http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/default.aspx

Windows Vista Team Blog - http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsvista/default.aspx

10 tips for Windows 7 Developers from Scott Hanselman's Blog - http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Top10TipsWorkingDevelopersShouldKnowAboutWindows7.aspx

Manage Yourself in Tough Times

2009-08-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

When Things Get Tough; Tough Gets Going ... When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Relax !

1. Game called Self-Confidence
Be confident of yourself & Be Yourself . If you do not know something; do not sit on it, do it immediately.

Rule for building Self-Confidence : Do not get ever scared of anything, just do it. It's much easier than you ever think !!!

2. Determine what you really want
When faced with obstacles or frustration, it's common to focus so much on them that we forget what we really want. Then, when the person in charge asks us, we hesitate and stutter because we haven't thought things through. Be as specific as you can, in terms of dates and quantities.

3. Think through your acceptable alternatives
You might not get what you want. That's how life works. So you need to think about what alternatives you could live with. In particular, think about the different "levers" you can pull. Can you change the location where something happens? What about sequence?

If the person you want to see is unavailable, could someone else in that department help? If you can't get all of what you want, can you live with some now and some later? If the other side doesn't suggest alternatives, you can suggest them yourself.

4. Be clear on your escalation process
If you have trouble with another organization, say within your own company, be clear on how you will escalate an issue. Will you go to your own boss first? Will you approach the other department's boss yourself? In any case, be clear with your boss on this process. If and when you do escalate, think through as much as you can about the issues, why you're escalating, and what you want done.

5.Respond positively to the "roadblock comments"
Those "We can't do that" or "I don't have the authority" comments drive you crazy, don't they? Here's a way to handle them: Turn them around to a positive question and then ask the other person that question.

For instance, a response to "We can't do that" would be "What can you do?" A response to "I don't have the authority" would be "Who does have the authority?" A former co-worker of mine varied the latter question by asking, "Who has the ability to fire you?" While that question follows the principle outlined, never recommend it for general use.

6. Build up your political capital
You often must call in favors when you need to get things done. Therefore, take time to build up good will and hence political capital with others. Be helpful when you can (while of course keeping your own job as your top priority). Build relationships with others (what the Chinese call guanxi). Remember that Relationships/Networking is the most vital part if we want to have a succefful career.

7. Be gracious when you get your way
No matter how frustrating the situation, be gracious if and when you get your way. A "thank you" takes little time and effort, but is a nice touch and can make things easier for you the next time.

References:
10+ ways to overcome bureaucratic obstacles -
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=482&tag=nl.e124

Four golden Rules for Effective Negotiations

2009-08-17T17:03:00.001-07:00

1. The background homework: Before any negotiation begins, understand the interests and positions of the other side relative to your own interests and positions. Put these points down and spend time in advance seeing things from the other side.

2. During the process: Don't negotiate against yourself. This is especially true if you don't fully know the position of the other side. Much is learned about what the other side really wants during the actual negotiation process. Stay firm on your initial set of positions and explain your rationale but don't give in too early on the points. Wait to better understand which points are more important to the other side.

3. The stalemate: There will often come a point in a negotiation where it feels like there is zero room for either side to budge. Two sides are stuck on their positions and may have lost sight of the overall goals of the negotiation. Emotion may have overtaken logic at this point. If you recognize that you've reached this point, see if you can give in to the other side on their issue in exchange for an unrelated point that is relatively more important to you. An example helps clarify: during a friend's recent car purchase he negotiated the price to a level that the dealer did not want to move any more. My friend was going to leave when he asked if they would do the deal if he took the car price the dealer wanted, but give him a substantial discount on a brake job he needed on his second car. They said yes - likely since the discount on the brake job was an easier give (less profit on a job, but on a job they would not have gotten). Yet there was higher relative value of that discount for my friend who would have had to pay higher on the brake repair elsewhere. Bottom line - there is usually negotiation currency outside of the last area you are focused on negotiating. Use different "currencies" and you might get there.

4. To close or not to close: My partner John Hamel always reminds me that the uber golden rule of negotiation is to always let someone else walk away. Whether you drive too hard a bargain, cannot reconcile on key terms, or feel that the deal is just too rich for your blood, make the offer you want and let the other side walk if they don't want it. This is not to say to be offensive or to low ball, but rather to be honest, straightforward on what you are willing to do and explain that you understand if it does not work for them and that it is the best you can do. A great example to end on is how John Hamel recently purchased his new home. He had found a unit in a townhouse complex that he liked and was ready to close on it at price x per square foot. That said, he thought he'd take a shot on a larger and more recently renovated unit by advising that owner (who he knew was interested in selling) that he was going to be accepting a price on the other unit in 24 hours, but would take their unit at an even more aggressive price per square foot if they were interested with an immediate close. Remarkable thing, he ended up with the larger unit and one of the best units in the complex.

ref:
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/tjan/2009/07/four-rules-for-effective-negot.html

Promote Yourself : 5 ways to be better at self-promotion

2009-08-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Killer combination : Find something you are great at doing and be nice to people.

5 ways to self-promotion:

1. Specialize, which means saying what you don't do

2. Stay the most focused when things look the most difficult

3. Be the tortoise, not the hare

4. Mitigate the fear of starvation

5. Know yourself, really, so you know when to shut up

ref:

5 ways to be better at self-promotion by Penelope Trunk -http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/07/25/5-ways-to-be-better-at-self-promotion/

Four aspects for a leader to consider when communicating

2009-08-17T17:01:00.001-07:00

1. Direction: Top down or bottom up? Fair? Bilateral for some but not others? The direction of your communications signals whether you are broadcasting or conversing.

2. Frequency: Important things get repeated more often than non-important items. If you're not repeating yourself, you're not signaling the importance of the message.

3. Content: The content of the message starts before the actual message. It starts with the context. Two people can deliver the exact same message to greatly different effects. Why? Because their messages are pregnant with different things. A good communicator understands how his/her message is being interpreted and massages the content according to the filter being applied to it. This isn't manipulation — it's more like adjusting the tint on a TV.

4. Channel: You can say, "I want this to be a dialogue" all you want, but if you're disseminating the message through a recorded video on your company's intranet, then no one will believe you. Similarly, you may tell someone that you have some quick feedback for them on a project, but if instead of a quick e-mail, you put your notes into a formal memo and copy the VP, rest assured they will interpret your "feedback" as a formal reprimand and will feel sandbagged. The channel needs to match the intention.

ref:
The four things every leader should know about good communication - http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=548&tag=nl.e124

Manage Yourself in Tough Times

2009-08-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

1. Game called Self-Confidence
Be confident of yourself & Be Yourself . If you do not know something; do not sit on it, do it immediately.

Rule for building Self-Confidence : Do not get ever scared of anything, just do it. It's much easier than you ever think !!!

2. Determine what you really want
When faced with obstacles or frustration, it's common to focus so much on them that we forget what we really want. Then, when the person in charge asks us, we hesitate and stutter because we haven't thought things through. Be as specific as you can, in terms of dates and quantities.

3. Think through your acceptable alternatives
You might not get what you want. That's how life works. So you need to think about what alternatives you could live with. In particular, think about the different "levers" you can pull. Can you change the location where something happens? What about sequence?

If the person you want to see is unavailable, could someone else in that department help? If you can't get all of what you want, can you live with some now and some later? If the other side doesn't suggest alternatives, you can suggest them yourself.

4. Be clear on your escalation process
If you have trouble with another organization, say within your own company, be clear on how you will escalate an issue. Will you go to your own boss first? Will you approach the other department's boss yourself? In any case, be clear with your boss on this process. If and when you do escalate, think through as much as you can about the issues, why you're escalating, and what you want done.

5.Respond positively to the "roadblock comments"
Those "We can't do that" or "I don't have the authority" comments drive you crazy, don't they? Here's a way to handle them: Turn them around to a positive question and then ask the other person that question.

For instance, a response to "We can't do that" would be "What canyou do?" A response to "I don't have the authority" would be "Who doeshave the authority?" A former co-worker of mine varied the latter question by asking, "Who has the ability to fire you?" While that question follows the principle outlined, never recommend it for general use.

6. Build up your political capital
You often must call in favors when you need to get things done. Therefore, take time to build up good will and hence political capital with others. Be helpful when you can (while of course keeping your own job as your top priority). Build relationships with others (what the Chinese call guanxi). Remember that Relationships/Networking is the most vital part if we want to have a succefful career.

7. Be gracious when you get your way
No matter how frustrating the situation, be gracious if and when you get your way. A "thank you" takes little time and effort, but is a nice touch and can make things easier for you the next time.

References:
10+ ways to overcome bureaucratic obstacles -
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=482&tag=nl.e124

Career Advice Quotes

2009-08-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Quotes from some of my Colleagues which are very inspiring:

1. If you get comfortable in your job, change jobs. Do things you have never done before. Risk to the point that you make a few mistakes; just don't make the same one twice.

2. If Madonna can do it, so can you ; Constantly reinvent yourself, have fun, stay fresh, and keep learning.

3. Once you know "what you love to do and what gets you excited about going to work," "it is your responsibility to build it into any role that fits you".

4. Networking with others to better understand their jobs or roles which will help you to understand the Big Picture better. Networks are critical. We make decisions in the corridors, and helping others in different parts of the company comes back to help you tenfold over time.

5 Make it a point early on to interact and meet as many people as You can across teams, groups, and divisions. It is important to also try to learn and understand their business, work, and challenges.

6. Enjoying your day-to-day job, and being flexible to environmental changes is a recipe for success.

How to Make People Passionate About Their Work

2009-08-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

Generating enthusiasm, or passion, for what you do is essential. It is doubly so in perilous times. When everything around us seems to be coming apart, a leader who has a passion for what he does is essential. Such a spirit fuels the engine of enth/usiasm needed to spark the enterprise. More importantly, such passion is vital to convincing others that the work matters. It is easy to get discouraged by today's market news and so it is vital that someone, be it the CEO or another senior leader, serves as the organization's designated cheerleader.

Ultimately instilling passion for the work is not an exercise in rah-rah; it is a search for meaning and significance. So how can you cultivate passion for work in others and do it in ways that have significance? Here are some suggestions.

Focus on the positive - Passion in leaders can be palpable; you know in an instant that the executive cares about the company. In my experience, those senior leaders who stroll through the halls with a nod or good word to say to all are those executives who get things done. And it is because they are out and about, not cloistered in their offices on mahogany row. Rather, they are meeting with employees and customers, vendors and investors, getting to know issues and concerns. They also use these times to talk up the good things.

Address the negatives - Passionate leaders are not Pollyannas; they know the score, precisely because they spend so much time out of their offices. They see firsthand what is working and what is not, and because they have a relationship with people in all levels of the company, they can more readily mobilize employees to solve problems.

Set high expectations - Those who care about the work and set a high standard challenge others to do the same, but they should remember to balance their approach — knowing to sometimes ease up on workloads but never on expectations.

As much as generating passion for the work matters, it is no guarantee of success, or even survival. Radiating passion is no excuse for ignoring attention to the fundamentals.

ref:http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/07/passion_for_what_you_do_knows.html

Three ways to become an effective explainer

2009-08-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

Great Communicators Are Great Explainers. Explanation is a key attribute of leadership communications. Leaders know to inject their communications with verve and enthusiasm as a means of persuasion, but they also need to include an explanation for the excitement.

What does it mean and why are we doing it are critical questions that every leader must answer with straightforward explanations. Here are three ways to become an effective explainer.

Define what it is - The purpose of an explanation is to describe the issue, the initiative, or the problem. For example, if you are pushing for cost reductions, explain why they are necessary and what they will entail. Put the cost reductions into the context of business operations. Be certain to explicate the benefits.

Define what it isn't - Here is where the leader moves into the "never assume mode." Be clear to define the exclusions. For example, returning to our cost reduction issue, if you are asking for reductions in costs, not people, be explicit. Otherwise employees will assume they are being axed. Leave no room for assumptions. This is not simply true for potential layoffs but for any business issue.

Define what you want people to do - This becomes an opportunity to issue the call for action. Establishing expectations is critical. Cost reductions mean employees will have to do more with less; explain what that will entail in clear and precise terms. Leaders can also use the expectations step as a challenge for people to think and do differently. Your explanation then takes on broader significance.

Good explainers need to be careful, however, not to overdo the details. In a town hall meeting format, the leader sketches the facts and supports them with data points. Dwelling too long on a single point, or points, risks not simply boring the audience but confusing them. Save detailed explanations, which are necessary, for written documentation or team meetings. The latter presents an opportunity for the next level of leaders to translate the communications into action steps.

As such, detailed explanations work well in face-to-face situations, or in team meetings. They become opportunities to elaborate on possibilities. More important, they also allow individuals to offer their feedback, something that typically cannot occur in large-scale town hall events. The explanation becomes an invitation for discussion, and skillful leaders use it to communicate not simply facts, but also to engage support for their ideas.One final point. Explanations may include aspirations.

ref:

john Baldoni's Blog - http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/06/great_communicators_are_great.html

Recession proof career Planning

2009-08-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

Recession proof career Planning involves 5 major things -

Do work you love.
Network, Network, Network (Build strong relationships based on who you are, not what you achieve)
Learn, Learn, Learn (Continuous learning is the key)

Be proactive.
Build your personal Brand.

ref:

Peter Bregman's Blog - http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/08/set-yourself-up-for-the-next-d.html

.Net CodePlex Projects to know !

2009-08-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

1. Microsoft Application Architecture Guide 2.0 eBook - http://www.codeplex.com/AppArchGuide/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=20586

2. WPF (Windows Presentation Framework) Updates Roadmap - http://wpf.codeplex.com/

3. Layered Architecture Sample for .NET - http://www.codeplex.com/LayerSample

This project makes use of .Net3.0 & .Net3.5 features ... Good way to learn latest .Net features !

4. Cosmos (C# Open Source Managed Operating System) is a complete operating system built from the ground up in C#) - http://cosmos.codeplex.com/

5. WPF Property Grid : WPF Property Grid is a WPF version of the well known Visual Studio Property Grid control -

http://wpg.codeplex.com/

6. Managed Code and Interop Information - http://www.codeplex.com/clrinterop

7. Microsoft Managed WiFi API - http://www.codeplex.com/managedwifi

8. The OpenNetCF Desktop.Communication Library contains classes used for communicating with a CE device from a PC such as Microsoft's Remote API (RAPI) - http://rapi.codeplex.com/

9. .Net Wrapper over Microsoft Bluetooth native API - http://www.codeplex.com/32feet/

10. TLBIMP is a .NET SDK tool that creates an Interop assembly from a COM type library. This project is a managed code implementation of TLBIMP -
http://www.codeplex.com/clrinterop/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=17579

.Net Programming Tips

2009-08-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

1. XAML Compilation: BAML

The creators of WPF knew that XAML needed to not just solve the problem of design collaboration - it also needed to be fast. And though XML-based formats such as XAML are flexible and easily portable to other tools and platforms, they aren’t always the most efficient option. XML was designed to be logical, readable, and straightforward - not compact.

WPF addresses this shortcoming with BAML (Binary Application Markup Language). BAML is really nothing more than a binary representation of XAML. When you compile a WPF application in Visual Studio, all your XAML files are converted into BAML and that BAML is then embedded as a resource into the final DLL or EXE assembly. BAML is tokenized, which means lengthier bits of XAML are replaced with shorter tokens. Not only is BAML significantly smaller, it’s also optimized in a way that makes it faster to parse at runtime.

ref : http://en.csharp-online.net/XAML—XAML_Compilation

2. WPF and XAML

XAML and WPF are separate, albeit complementary, technologies. As a result, it’s quite possible to create a WPF application that doesn’t use the faintest bit of XAML.

Altogether, there are three distinct coding styles that you can use to create a WPF application:

Code-only - This is the traditional approach used in Visual Studio for Windows Forms applications. It generates a user interface through code statements.

Code and uncompiled markup (XAML) - This is a specialized approach that makes sense in certain scenarios where you need highly dynamic user interfaces. You load part of the user interface from a XAML file at runtime using the XamlReader class from the System.Windows.Markup namespace.

Code and compiled markup (BAML) - This is the preferred approach for WPF, and the one that Visual Studio supports. You create a XAML template for each window and this XAML is compiled into BAML and embedded in the final assembly. At runtime the compiled BAML is extracted and used to regenerate the user interface.

ref: http://en.csharp-online.net/XAML—Loading_and_Compiling_XAML

Windows OS Tips

2009-08-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

1. Digital Signatures for Kernel Modules on Systems Running Windows Vista and later

Microsoft Windows Vista and later versions of the Windows family of operating systems, kernel-mode software must have a digital signature to load on x64-based computer systems.

Enabling Test Signing

Use the Bcdedit command-line tool to enable test signing. To use BCDedit, the user must be a member of the Administrators group on the system and run the command from an elevated command prompt. An elevated command prompt can be launched by creating a desktop shortcut to cmd.exe, and then using right-click and "Run as administrator."

The following shows an example of running BDCedit at the command prompt:

// Accept test signed kernel mode signatures

Bcdedit.exe –set TESTSIGNING ON

// Do not accept test signed kernel mode signatures

Bcdedit.exe –set TESTSIGNING OFF

The TESTSIGNING boot configuration option determines whether Windows Vista accepts test signed kernel mode binaries. The option is not defined by default which means digital signatures on test signed kernel mode drivers will not verify and will not load. When Windows Vista accepts test signed kernel mode binaries, some premium content that is protected may not be accessible on the system.

ref :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb530195.aspx