A new Version 3.0 of  mceWeather is available for FREE at http://www.cbuenger.com.

A few folks have commented here and on the Microsoft Gadgets site that I should take a moment to acknowledge other players in the mini-app space who were "there first". Heated conversations have been seen between extreme fans of different platforms claiming they were there first or accusations of copying.  I'm not going to get into revisionist history.  But what I will say is this:

Stardock, Konfabulator, and Apple all have their own takes on mini-applications, as do many others. Each has it's strengths. Whether they're called "Widgets", "Gadgets", "Tiles", "Parts", or "Sprockets" doesn't matter.  Did anyone notice that the term "Dashboard" was first coined in MSN's interpretation of Sidebar back in 2001? It doesn't matter. Each has its own interpretation of the concept. No one platform will appeal to all, and every platform can be improved.

At the end of the day, we want to make great software that's useful and "sticky".  If you want to be a part of that, to have your feedback heard, to criticize or question design decisions- that's great!  Our model will involve working directly with the community in a more transparent way.  We won't be making decisions by committee, but we will be actively engaging you in the conversation if you want to be a part of it.  And that's my last comment on the topic. :)

(This post is dedicated to Thomas Hawk)

Tim M Moore, an enthusiast over at The Green Button posts a kit for adding HDTV/SDTV recording w/ closed-captioning off a whole slew of set-top boxes and serial control for DirecTV boxes.  For many, including the Motorola 6412, this appears to also support channel changing and recording via Firewire. Dual-tuner/dual-STB support also appears to be in there.

Note: This is an unofficial release and may void blah blah blah. Use at your own risk.  Requires an analog tuner be installed.

http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=26&MessageID=104152&TopicPage=1

In the words of a friend, "This changes everything."  I agree.  This is great to see.

Matt Goyer posts details on how to get your Media Center application posted into Windows Marketplace and seen by millions of Windows users. As a bonus, it will also show up on C|Net's Download.com.

In order to help promote your great Media Center development work to consumers, the Media Center group at Microsoft is excited to announce that, starting today, you can upload your finished Media Center application to Windows Marketplace, a comprehensive, easy-to-use shopping and download site that helps Windows customers discover, experience, and purchase partner products and software.

After Microsoft has processed your application, your approved Media Center product will be available for download from CNET’s Download.com and Windows Marketplace - www.windowsmarketplace.com.

First, a sincere welcome to the Pro-Mac community.  I'll agree every OS has it's strengths and weaknesses.  Many a good idea has been interpreted by different groups and if you search through my posts, I think you'll come to find I'm not going to participate in "Which came first" discussions.  I'll read your posts- the good and the bad though- they're all appreciated as a part of the conversation provided they're constructive (criticism or kudos).  I also won't censor you here unless you're profane.  In the end, all of your comments will help us build a better product- pros and cons.

One important note about Windows Sidebar.  It's come to my attention that someone got a very early build of Windows Sidebar, stripped it out of Windows Vista, and may or may not be distributing it.  Windows Sidebar has not been officially released by Microsoft and I will not comment on it other than to say developers and end-users are strongly encouraged NOT to download and install any software that says it's from Microsoft and not from Microsoft servers.  It could be malware, a virus, or something else- you just don't know. 

As for why Windows Sidebar wasn't made available to developers as a part of the PDC build, sometimes development schedules don't line up exactly.  Windows Sidebar will be available around Windows Vista Beta 2 to testers/developers.  Trust me that you want to wait and start building for the platform at that time.

I hope that helps, I'm on vacation for a few days- in the meantime, I encourage you to submit your questions about Windows Sidebar here for inclusion in our FAQ and an upcoming interview with the team for Channel 9. 

For those who know me, I have a varied number of interests- having started at Microsoft in developer tools before transitioning to digital media platforms, and then consumer technologies in Windows.  About six months ago, I heard about a team that was working on adding "cool" new features into Windows Vista.  The team was hiring so I started kicking tires and today, I'm a Senior Program Manager on the team.

Things are crazy here at PDC but Bill Gates just demo'd what I've been working on most recently: Windows Sidebar.  It's back, but it never really went away, just out of the public view.  What's more is that it's just one of the things our team is working on -others to be announced later.  Given how busy we are here- I'm going to lift Steve "Furrygoat" Makofsky's most recent post.

Now that it's been revealed in the PDC Keynote, I can finally start to talk about one of the projects that our team has been working on. Yes, it's the Windows Sidebar.

So, what exactly are Gadgets? Offically, "Gadgets are a new category of mini-application for the Windows Desktop and the Web. Windows Sidebar is the container for Gadgets on the Windows desktop in Windows Vista. Web Gadgets can also be built for rich, dynamic sites like Start.com."

Unoffically? Well, I'll be posting a lot more on that in the coming weeks. :)

It's really a great feeling to finally see all of the blood, sweat and tears finally make the light of day. The team behind Windows Sidebar is really small, and I can easily say that it's been pretty inspiring to work with such a passionate group of people. Windows Sidebar will be available for developers 'around Beta 2', but in the mean time check out http://www.microsoftgadgets.com (it should be up today).

I've also set up a new "gadgets" category to talk about building Gadgets for the Windows Sidebar, so please feel free to send over any questions, thoughts, comments, etc and I'll see what I can do to either answer them here, or get them into the FAQ.

Finally, did you notice at the beginning of the post, I mentioned that Windows Sidebar was only one of the projects we're working on....... (more coming soon)....

Update: Shawn has posted on Windows Sidebar as well.

But Windows Sidebar is just a part of the story.  Gadgets are available for Web, Windows Desktop, and Devices.  No one else is doing that. Check out www.microsoftgadgets.com for the skinny on Gadgets- more details to come soon.

Update: Comments aren't working yet on www.MicrosoftGadgets.com

Joe Wilcox notes:

My wife's not much of a technobabe. She can use the Web and e-mail, but pretty much stops there. Oh, yeah, she listens to music on an iPod mini. So, she doesn't much tune into tech talk; those conversations she tunes out.

...I took her to see iPod nano last night, at Apple's mini store in downtown Bethesda, Md. My wife and daughter both gawked, while I showed just a ting more restraint. To say the device is small really doesn't describe the size. Best is to say that everything else is huge by comparison.

I think Joe's wife must be in the same circle as my wife.  My wife LOVES the Razr she asked for for her birthday.  My wife NEVER asks for any gadgetry for any event, nor does she generally use it.  Though she did love the Rio Carbon (RIP), she recently decided the Razr was her new technocraving. 

She has the Razr. The other day, I found my old Motorola StarTac from 1998 and put it alongside.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Which brings me to the iPod Nano.  I know this is going to be on her Christmas list (though she'll hate the lack of Yahoo Music support).  I'm looking forward to comparing the Nano to the Razr.

At that size, could an iPod Phone built and designed by Apple really be that far out of reach?

Creative- it's time to do something bold.

Geek Dinner for Media Center (and what I'm talking about tomorrow AM when my feature is announced) at:

Wilshire Grand Hotel (Bus Route 2 I believe)
Point Moorea Restaurant & Bar (reservation under "Alexander")
6:30PM Tuesday 9/13/2005

I have space booked for 10-15 people.  First round of drinks are on us. 
Please RSVP here if you're in so we know if we need more space.

Special prize for the geek with the loudest hawaiian shirt. ;) Come on, you know you have one- I'll be wearing mine!

About a year ago, I was prepping to do 50 minutes on-stage with Bill Gates at the Windows XP Media Center 2005 Launch.  I didn't think it was possible but I'm as excited, or possibly more for the Microsoft Professional Developer's Conference and what's going to be shown.  I started in the developer org and with my new job, I'm a bit closer to my roots.

I can't go into details yet, but the hard work of my new team is going to be shown in keynotes. It's going to have a session that hasn't been made public yet. I'm going to be there to help see this all come together.  It's like watching your kid climb up the playground ladder the first time on their own. :)

I have nearly a dozen meetings set up and will be hanging out in the Track Lounge once everything becomes public.  But what the hell, Tuesday night- if you're up for joining us at the Media Center Geek Dinner (see last posting), I'm gonna chip in and first round of drinks are on my new team.  We'll be talking about what we're working on and answering questions.  But darn it, I can't tell you what it is yet! 

Any LA'ers out there have a recommendation on where to do our Tuesday Geek Dinner? Near the convention center, cheap food, lots of room, plenty of beer is my priority.ii

Charlie Owen and I are talking about doing a geek dinner on Tuesday night (Sept 13) in LA in honor of the PDC.  Who's in? Any suggestions from locals on a reasonably accomodating location nearby the convention center?

"Sales of Media Center PCs have skyrocketed since July 9, according to a recent study by Current Analysis. For the week ending August 20, 2005, Media Center PCs accounted for 43% of all desktop personal computers sold in the U.S. retail market, based on data from a sampling of U.S. retailers."

71% of the Media Centers sold in the week ending August 20 did not have a TV tuner. Maybe they're all with Thomas Hawk waiting for Digital Cable support ;) 

Charlie Owen will demonstrating XBox360 + Media Center Extender at his PDC presentation on September 15.  The Meet Me At Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2005 and Win A Media Center Keyboard has more details on place and time. 

Donate to Katrina via American Red Cross and win Media Center 2005

Media Center Show #25 is up. To me, Ian is the "Most Valuable Podcaster".  This is a guy who deserves MVP status- they're working on it Ian! :)

Embedded Automation made a bunch of Media Center app-announcments at CEDIA (that's the big pro AV/home installer show):

The products being showcased are part of tihe mHome product line and include a home automation software application, mControl; a media center PC solution, mTheater; a home automation controller, mServer; and a secondary display for media center PC's, mDisplay. For mControl, Embedded Automation will be demonstrating their upcoming release, v1.2, which offers new functionality. More here.

By now most people have probably seen this.  Just just in case, here's a good round up from Robert Scoble on coverage of the AppleMoto iPhone and Nano:

But not everyone was wowwed by Steve Jobs. TechDirt's Carlo Longino writes "iTunes Phone as iLame As iExpected." Ouch.

John Markoff in the New York Times has the details, although I doubt anyone missed these announcements yesterday since they were all over the blogs.

I like the ID of the new nano.  Pretty soon people are going to start complaining of papercuts from their iPods.  It's clear however that caged, unfed primates with soft drafting implements designed the moto phone.  I mean come on- stereo speakers?  On a mobile phone?  Will it kick like my 80's-style boom box?

iTunes 5 as a sync engine for Outlook.  Hrmph.  Someone please tell me what makes this iTunes worthy of a full point release?

[Ed. Fixed the quote- darn copy/paste!]

I've taken recently to replacing my MSN Messenger personal message with Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey, sometimes abridged for space.  This is my way of responding to people who put interesting quips in their personal message trying to appear smarter or more serious. For this week, my quote is:

Note: For visitors of your site, this entry is only displayed for users with the preselected language English/English (en)

Scoble talks about the bugs in in-car navigation systems in his latest blog entry.  I have to agree. We own a Honda Pilot and a Toyota Prius, both with navigation systems that are widely disparate in their guidance, user model and their capabilities.  The voice navigation on the Prius is a gimmick IMO but certain features like "3 routes" helps you along by giving you control of which route you want to take based on distance and more.

When I have more time, I'll write an in-depth compare/contrast of the two. In the meantime, here's a thought for discussion:  Why don't DVD navigation systems support real-time traffic information?  It's about time.  Use a mobile data network where free data isn't available.  Now here is a good use for that SPOT technology :)

And yes, I traded in my Honda S2000  for a Toyota Prius.  I'm paying my dues with a kid-friendly/commute friendly car now that my son is over 2 and it's impractical to drive our gas-guzzling SUV all over. Call the $2000 tax rebate and savings on gas a downpayment on my next road rocket. 

I'll post more about the Prius later including hacks I've found. Time to get Phil Torrone at Make Magazine to hack a Prius to add Media Center ;)

You know the old adage- Microsoft doesn't create anything cool, it's design is uninspired blah blah.  Did you know some of the coolest industrial and interaction designers in the world work at Microsoft?  CA does.  Media Center recently won Communication Arts Interactive Annual Awards- for more see Interactive Annual 11: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.

Charlie talks more about the relevance of CA here

Communication Arts is the leading trade journal for visual communications. It's the largest design magazine in the world and showcases the top work in graphic design, advertising, illustration, photography and interactive design.    

Congrats to my friends over in Media Center land.

Next week I'll be at the Microsoft PDC (Professional Developer's Conference).  I'm very lucky I was able to get a hotel room- it seems every hotel room in LA is booked for the dates I'm trying to attend... in any event, I'll be there talking about my new gig, meeting with partners and customers. I'm excited that I will also finally able to talk about what I'm working on.

Care to get together? Know of a happening after-PDC party? Drop me a line- email link below on the left.

A few really cool keyboards, higher DPI mice, and more details on the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows.  I've held one of the new controllers and all I can say is it's a significant improvement over the first and second generation controllers. 

Pretty darn cool- Start.com is my new homepage- pulling in blogs, news sites, weather and more. Ad-free. More on this later.

Forget political affiliations, HurricaneHousing.org has the right idea- offer to provide a temporary home to hurricane refugees.  My wife wants to sign us up to host a family. The cynic in me says no way, the American in me said ok - to put it out there. 

30,555 beds offered so far. Over 120 homes opened up in the Seattle area alone. 

Words can't even begin to describe. Just give what you can please to the American Red Cross.  It's hard to imagine - 1,000,000 people displaced.  The term "American Refugees" sounds so foreign.  Our beloved city of New Orleans is gone... for now. 

Watching the NBC Nightly News last night, my wife and I were shocked at the "Lord of the Flies" lawlessness that's gripping the city now, the death and desparation; the lack of (or lack of coverage of) what seems like simple things our Government could be doing:

• Air-dropping Emergency Ration Kits into hardest hit areas in New Orleans. 24 hours was the turnaround for the Tsunami- why not here?
• Using loudspeakers on helicopters to reassure people- turn psyops around and help the people
• Direct refugees using a blimp w/ text banners There's a novel idea for communicating when normal modes of communication are out.

NBC is sending in their own security details to protect their reporters in New Orleans- is this Baghdad? I'm not there. I try not to judge but the lack of coordination, the desparate S.O.S. pleas of mayor of New Orleans the emotion reflected by the most war-weathered journalists (not just at NBC) warns the cynic in me that this is not being sensationalized.

We don't need the president in the city for a photo op unless he's offloading water and food.  Then it hits me- is it possible our military is really stretched so thin that the national guard can't mount a swift response?

I've been watching the mobilization of help internally at Microsoft and other companies. From servers and sites, hundreds of employees are working on everything from infrastructure to help bolster the American Red Cross' bandwidth and servers (see Red Cross servers under extreme load), to the Katrina Relief Auction on Flickr that my friend Thomas Hawk and others are doing.