Coinciding with its launch will be the release of the long-awaited "Meet the Medic" video. The previous videos have been hilarious and did a fine job of introducing players to the personality of each of the game's character classes. (And the sandvich.) Included in the update itself is at least one class pack. The first of the bunch, Mobster Monday, was outlined today, but not before ample research was done. "To make sure everything was as accurate as possible, we went deep undercover at the most Italian place we could find, The Olive Garden," the announcement reads. "We asked the Mafia about a million questions, none of which they understood, because our mouths were full of all the free breadsticks the Mafia gives you when you visit them (they're not such bad guys)." Amber Arbucci Christina Aguilera Kate Hudson Adriana Lima Brittany Daniel
After a fairly quiet period for Team Fortress 2 updates, Valve today announced the Uber Update, which it's calling the "the biggest, most ambitious update in the history of Team Fortress 2."
Monday, June 20, 2011
Team Fortress 2 Getting its "Biggest, Most Ambitious" Update on Thursday
Clarence Clemons: the Big Man
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Blog Post: Office 2010 Tips and Tricks Screensaver
If you are an organisation thinking about options and ways to get training and daily tips to your users, you could consider applying the Office 2010 Getting Started Screensaver.
It?s a new type of Help, and a new way to deliver it. The screensaver shows short 60-90 second videos provide tips, tricks, and timesavers for Office 2010.
The Getting Started with Office 2010 Screensaver downloads a new tip every day and displays it when you?re not using your PC. And if a particular tip piques your curiosity, simply click to learn more.
Easy to ignore, yet hard to overlook
The quest to help you get started with new software isn?t new. Remember those ?tip of the day? dialogs that popped up whenever you started a program? Weren?t they annoying? Didn?t you close them almost instantly? The problem was that they interrupted you when you were trying to get work done. But what if there was something that wasn?t intrusive?something that was easy to ignore and yet easy to stay glued to. The cool thing about screensavers is that they?re easy to dismiss when you have something to do, but they?re there waiting for you when you don?t.
Download the Screensaver today from: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d9966a8-ef43-4fe0-80a4-29fa209a7d62
(NOTE: You?ll need Windows 7 for this screensaver)
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Feature: ArtRage: quality digital painting on the cheap
If Wacom's ever-increasing array of consumer-oriented tablets is any indicator, it's not just professionals who are looking to get their fingers wet with some pixel paint—and not everyone can afford Painter, Corel's undisputed champion of natural media painting.
Ambient Design's ArtRage has built up a reputation as an inexpensive Painter alternative, and it has a loyal following of artists who are producing some very good work. As someone who has used ArtRage for a few projects, I wanted to write this review to help people cut through the "Better than Painter!" Internet chatter, understand this app's strengths and weaknesses, and determine if it's right for your project. I'll also compare ArtRage Studio Pro to other applications that cover similar ground.
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Blog Post: Office 365 Power Start Workshop - Compete Overview Live Meeting on July 7, 2011 at 1:00 pm EST
Agenda:
The purpose of this workshop is to provide Partners an overview of Office 365 and the business opportunities this service provides to them. The seminar content attempts to demystify some of the market myths with regards to our main competitors. This workshop focuses on providing partners with data, messaging, and content to compete to WIN.
Presenter: Ajinkya Pinto - Partner Technical Consultant
Click here to register for this training
For additional training resources visit The Learning Plan Tool
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Blog Post: Active Setup Registry Key : What it is and how to create in the package using Admin Studio Install Shield.
Few days back, I was re-packaging an application for windows-7. And I observed the following behavior:
While launching from Admin account or doing “Run as Admin” it was launching properly but when launched from the standard-user account, though it was launching but GUI was not coming properly and before launching, it throws the error that some particular Skin file is missing. I checked in installation folder and skin file was there but still while launching I was getting the error, but when launched from Admin account or using “Run as admin” it was launching properly with proper GUI and no skin file missing error.
On exploring further I found that application was installed by admin account and it created some entries in HKCU, and these entries contain the path and name of skin file to be used. So when we launched the application from Standard user account then these entries were empty in HKCU for Standard user. So to solve this problem while re-packaging I used Active Setup.
Active Setup provides a great solution for installing current user data when the package is not installed in the user context.
This is how it all works:
When user logs on the system then following registry entries are checked :
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\<UID>
And
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\<UID>
N.B. <UID> has to unique; it is good practice to use a GUID. As I was repackaging I used the Product Code of installer. (Product Code is GUID)
If the HKCU key is not found in the registry then the contents of the string value StubPath is executed. The HKLM key is then copied to HKCU.
The executable in StubPath can be anything. It can be a VBS script, a regsvr32.exe call, msiexec.exe call etc.
But here my aim is to repair the already installed application so that it may have the entries in HKCU for current user context.
To do this I need to force the package to repair so Msiexec.exe will be used:
Msiexec.exe /fu <ProductCode> /qn
/f - Repair
/u - all required user-specific registry entries
/qn – Silent mode with no UI.
[For other repair options type “msiexec” in run, it will open the help for msiexec]
So I would need to create Active Setup entry in HKLM Registry for my package.
For this example I have used Admin Studio InstallShield to re-package the application.
On opening the application by Admin Studio InstallShiled I found out that there was no Active Setup entry in HKLM under Registry, so I created the one by myself.
Please see the below screenshots to see how to create Active Setup registry entry for a Package: (Admin Studio Installshield is used here):
Step 1: Open the .msi or create a .mst transform file and navigate to Registry section.
Step 2: In Registry section navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Step 3: Right click on Microsoft folder and select New -> Key, a new folder will be created under Microsoft.
Step 4: Change the name of newly created folder to “Active Setup”.
Note: If you do not find any folder named SOFTWARE or Microsoft under HKLM then these folders can be created in the same way as “Active Setup” folder has been created.
Step 5: As explained earlier, now create a one more folder under the “Active Setup” and name it as “Installed Components”.
Step 6: Create a new folder under the “Installed Components” and name it as “[ProductCode]”.
Note: [ProductCode] is an .msi variable which is replaced by Product Code value when package is installed on computer. Product Code is nothing but the GUID assigned to package. You can check the Product Code value from “General Information” section. You can also use the Product Code GUID instead of “[ProductCode]” variable; but using "[ProductCode]" is cleaner and better.
Step 7: After creating the “[ProductCode]” folder select it and right click on the extreme right lower pane. From the right click menu select “New String Value” option.
Step 8: Name the newly created string value as “StubPath”.
Step 9: Double Click the “StubPath” string key and that would open an Edit Data popup. Enter following under "Value Data:" Textbox
msiexec /fu [ProductCode] /qnThen click OK.
Step 10: In the end, your .msi/.mst should look like the following:
After creating the Active Setup registry, save your package and Install it.
Now after installation there will be an entry under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\<UID> for the currently installed application.
And if application is installed in a different user context than the current user, so when current user logs on the system, Windows would find that HKCU entry is missing. Then it would run msiexec.exe with
repair options from StubPath and copy the HKLM key to HKCU. (Note that we wrote msiexec.exe in StubPath, windows would run whatever command is written in StubPath)
Next time when this user logs in the repair won't run as the key already exists in HKCU.
N.B. : Here I only choose to repair the Registry entry, if you want you can choose the entire Installation to repair by using :
msiexec.exe /fauvs <ProdcutCode> /qnHope this article is helpful to you all.
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Blog Post: Office 365 Jump Start Serie for Partners (Online Trainings)
- Office 365 Jump Start (01): Microsoft Office 365 Overview for IT Pros
- Office 365 Jump Start (02): Deploying Clients For Office 365
- Office 365 Jump Start (03): Microsoft Office 365 Administration & Automation Using Windows PowerShell™
- Office 365 Jump Start (04): Microsoft Office 365 Identity and Access Solutions
- Office 365 Jump Start (05): Microsoft Office 365 Directory Synchronization
- Office 365 Jump Start (06): Exchange Online Overview for IT Pros
- Office 365 Jump Start (07): Microsoft Exchange Online Administration
- Office 365 Jump Start (08): Microsoft Staged Exchange Online Migration
- Office 365 Jump Start (09): Hybrid Options with Exchange Server & Exchange Online
- Office 365 Jump Start (10): Exchange Online Archiving & Compliance
- Office 365 Jump Start (11): Lync Online Overview & Configuration for IT Pros
- Office 365 Jump Start (12): SharePoint Online Overview
- Office 365 Jump Start (13): SharePoint Online Administration
- Office 365 Jump Start (14): SharePoint Online Extensibility & Customization
- Office 365 Jump Start (15): Office 365 Deployment Overview
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Blog Post: TechEd 2011 Office 365 Greatest Hits
TechEd 2011 Office 365 Greatest Hits
- Overview
- Microsoft Office 365: The Future of Productivity – Eron Kelly
- Microsoft SharePoint Online Overview, Mark Kashman
- Microsoft Lync 2010: In the Cloud, Ziv Fass
- Developer
- Collaboration in the Cloud with SharePoint: A New World of Productivity – Eron Kelly
- Note: We’ll be making the School of Fine Art demo available for field use in the GA time frame!
- Developing Collaboration Solutions in the Cloud with Microsoft SharePoint Online, Chris Mayo
- Developing Powerful Workflows in the Cloud with Microsoft SharePoint Online, Chris Mayo
- Exploring the Office Developer Story in Microsoft Office 365, Tanuj Bansal
- Four Ways to Leverage the Microsoft Lync 2010 Client APIs in Your Applications, Marcello Farjalla
- Top 10 Insights on Development of Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Lync Server 2010 against Microsoft Office 365, Albert Kooima
- IT Pro
- Microsoft Office 365: Deployment Overview, Zach Beers
- What Do Existing BPOS Customers Need to Do to Prepare for Microsoft Office 365?, Michael O'Neill
- Microsoft Office 365: Identity and Access Solutions, Ross Adams
- Microsoft Office 365: Directory Synchronization, Jono Luk
- Deploying Microsoft Office Professional Plus Subscription, Brian Shiers
- Microsoft Exchange Online in Microsoft Office 365: Simple Migration Live!, Ram Poomalinga
Office 365 Training Course on MSDN: We released this training course along with the public Beta. The course includes 7 sessions, over 10 hours of video, and 16 labs as both an offline training kit as well as an online training course on MSDN. We’ll be including the School of Fine Art demo with the GA version of the kit. Stay tuned for more details!
Getting Your Own Office 365 Beta Account: Sign up at http://office365.com to get access to the Beta. Shortly after GA I’ll provide details on field account access.
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Rising VIX May Trump Bullish Volume
The good news is, the weekly losing streak has ended. The bad news is, it only barely ended. The S&P 500 did make a gain last week, but of only 0.52 points. Is this an omen, or just a blip in a bigger downtrend. The truth is, the jury's still out ? this week will tell the tale. The odds, however, still seem to favor the bears.
We'll poke and prod the charts below, but first, let's start with an economic macro-view.
Economic Calendar
Busy week last week, so let's just stick with the highlights.
* Retail sales were up modestly without cars, and down modestly counting cars into the number. Total spending (by dollars) as at all-time highs, though per-capita spending is just back to mediocre levels.
* Producer inflation (core and non-core) were up a little (+0.2%), and consumer inflation was up by the same 0.2%. The 'inflation
Complete Story »
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This Week in the 1UP Community 6/14/11
It's been a crazy week of E3 2011 postmortems and Duke Nukem Forever debates, but let's step away from those topics and see what else has been going on in the community. I'm glad to report that this week has been full of original content in terms of art and musical pieces. Also, 1UP members have written telling blogs analyzing the progression of technology in society and fighting games, including a strategic tell-all about choice Pokemon to use in White/Black. There's much more interesting content to catch up on, so check it out for yourself and read on. Missy Peregrym Sarah Gellman Eliza Dushku Bonnie Jill Laflin Joanna Krupa
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Portal 2 Sixense DLC -- and actual Hydra controllers -- available from Steam
Of course, you need the Razer Hydra motion controller device itself to be able to play this content. And you can get that through Steam, as well. No, really. You can order a controller through Steam. Who knew? The controller comes with the DLC and a free copy of Portal 2. Which you'll likely be giving away, if you're the Portal-crazed person we mentioned at the top of the post.
[Thanks, Jason G.!]
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Weird Science tunes in to the water bugs' penile chorus
Inching closer to smell-o-vision: Are you ready for random access aromas? Because an international team of researchers, backed by Samsung, has created "An X-Y Addressable Matrix Odor-Releasing System Using an On-Off Switchable Device." The device itself is pretty clever, with a set of addressable heating wires running through a polymer that encapsulates various aromas. Heat the right combination, and the scent of pizza gently wafts away from the device. But the accompanying press release makes it clear that Samsung was interested in the device so that it could match the olfactory environment to whatever is appearing on a screen, be it large (TV) or small (cell phone—seriously?).
Traumatic brain injuries in (fictitious) ancient Gaul: American readers may not be familiar with the Asterix comic books, which are set in Roman-occupied Gaul, but the Neurosurgery department of the Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf now knows all 34 of them well. That's because they scanned them for indications of traumatic brain injury, and came up with a whopping 704 instances, about 20 per book. Almost all of them resulted from assaults, primarily assaults by Gauls who targeted Romans. Most of the victims (70 percent) had been taking reasonable precautions (wearing a military helmet), but ended up losing their protective gear prior to the assault. The Gauls, notably, were engaged in doping prior to the assault, availing themselves of a banned substance called a "magic potion."
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Sony Movies Pulled From Netflix Streams; Because Customers Just Love That Kind Of Thing
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Microsoft gets approval to purchase Skype
The FTC has approved Microsoft's $8.5 billion bid for VoIP giant Skype, just weeks after its proposal. Microsoft plans to integrate the popular service into its Windows Phone 7, Windows 8, Microsoft Office and Xbox Live platforms.
The deal is Microsoft's largest ever and is one of the biggest deals the industry has seen in the last decade.
Skype has almost 200 million users that use the service to make phone and video calls around the world. Skype is free for Skype-to-Skype communications and costs minimal fees to call land lines and mobile devices.
Google is said to have bid $4 billion for the service, so Microsoft completely overpaid (by most accounts) but if executed correctly, the move could pay off in the long run.
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