Ahoy-hoy.  The first album has been uploaded to the new Photo Gallery.

As much as it appeals to run my entire photo collection from my Windows Home Server, the add-in I’m using doesn’t present the nicest or most intuitive interface.  See the old collection here…

The other downside was that I couldn’t easily link to any particular album or photo.

Yes – I know there are services like Flickr out there – hey, I was using it years ago before I abandoned it, as evidenced here.

However, as a self-appointed Grand Poobah of [mostly Microsoft] Technology Evangelism, I try and stick to the Microsoft-powered alternatives if at all possible/practical.

Windows Live has reached the stage where I am now able to do that.  My blogging is done through Windows Live Writer and my photo editing and tagging is through Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Although Photo Gallery supports Flickr and the like, I do very much appreciate the tight integration between Microsoft’s desktop software and their online services.

So, I can pick any folder:

Tag and caption it:

And then publish the whole album:

Hey presto – one on-line album.

OK – so there are many tools out there, but I like having everything from my Messenger profile to my blog and photos to even my Xbox profile all linked to one place.  :)

Anyway – my very first album (taken wayyy back in mid-2000) has been published.  As I get around to tagging and cleaning my other photos, they too will be uploaded.  So watch this space…

About two weeks ago, I blogged about the Live Mesh Tech Preview.

As you can’t have failed to have noticed, Microsoft recently had their annual PDC conference and announced a plethora of new products and technologies (Windows 7, Windows Azure, Live Services, etc).

The new version of Live Mesh was one of the big items.  If you’re a developer – you’ll get a lot more excited by the info here.

If you’re a general IT user or IT pro, then you’ll be pleased to see what Mesh now offers.

Expanding from my original blog posting, the new Live Mesh Beta offers:

Support for Mac OS X (10.5.1 or higher): Mesh is becoming truly multi-platform, allowing you to group and access all of your information together, irrespective of platform.

Support for Windows Mobile (6.0 or higher): Even on the move, Mesh is supported on your phone.  I have it installed on my main phone and “emergency” phone – see the screenshot above of the devices now in my Mesh.  Right now – any photos I take on my phones automatically enter my Mesh and get synchronised onto the cloud and onto my main Tablet PC.  I can also dump “CD of the week” into my Mesh folder on my notebook, which gets synchronised back onto the two phones.

Support for WAP access: browse to http://m.mesh.com to access your Mesh files from your WAP-enabled phone.  Although not as rich as Windows Mobile (as there’s probably no support for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc), you can probably still view pictures and listen to music from your phone.

Three Member Roles: Readers are members who can only, well, read folder contents.  Contributors can view, add and change but not invite new people to a Mesh folder.  Owners can do, well, anything.

P2P Sync: Yes – now you can set machines to sync directly to another machine through Live Mesh, but without the files ending up on your Live Desktop (and hence, eat into your current 5GB quota).  So – I can now set my Windows Media Center box at home to sync all of my TV recordings directly onto my Tablet PC.  Even better – I can sync these recordings through Mesh to my sister in Edinburgh, instead of periodically sending her DVDs of TV recordings.  I can even P2P sync to multiple devices, should I require!

Drag and Drop: Your Live Desktop will allow you to drag and drop files from your own PC onto the folders that run within your Internet browser.  Treat your web browser as any other computer folder!

There are many more features in Live Mesh, but I’ve described the core new ones (that I haven’t already covered in my earlier blog).

Live Mesh has certainly changed the way that I work.  A few good examples of how my life is made easier:

• As I mentioned previously, I keep all my OneNote notebooks and Internet Explorer Favorites synchronised between all of my computers.  It doesn’t matter whether I log onto my home PC, my Tablet PC or my Windows Media Center PC – all my OneNote data and IE Favorites are consistently synchronised.  I can choose to sync any number of folders between any number of machines, if I so choose (with no limitations).
• I keep important “current-work” files synchronised onto my Live Desktop within Mesh.  This is my 5GB storage “on the cloud”, so to speak.  The files are backed up here, but are also accessible anywhere.  Should I need to log onto a client PC to access a particular file, I can do so.
• I can share folders to anyone I choose.  I’ve already cited an example of how I can share my TV recordings with my sister, who lives 120 miles away.  I also have files relating to another business I help out in my spare time – the Live Mesh folders mean we don’t need to keep e-mailing files across, and I’m always guaranteed the latest version of any file/folder that has been tagged as a Mesh folder.

Mesh will continue to grow in functionality but, even in its current beta state, it’s a fantastically solid, reliable and extremely useful technology.  Synchronising save games across many PCs, or photos with family, is all seamless, easy and accessible.

… Is a phrase I might not need to shout for much longer!

Microsoft fan-boy that I am, I’m bound to have one of these new-fangled Microsoft Surface units that I blogged about earlier.  It’s more than likely to be next to my bed, so that I can stream my collection of donkey porn from my Windows Home Server straight to my bedside, allowing me to get my rocks off all over an easy-wipe Surface.

All that, er, exercise sure gets tiring though.  So I’d probably have a glass of hot milk on a corner of the Surface.  Knock a bit of donkey action, have a glug of hot milk, knock a bit more donkey action, then another sip of hot milk – you know how it goes.  Before you realise it – you’re out of hot milk, and your flow is interrupted (so to speak).

No longer!  For, with SurfaceWare’s research, my Surface unit could easily notify mother-dearest to bring around another glass of hot milk just as it’s required!  Donkey appreciation continues uninterrupted!  Huzzah for technology, for (this) man’s life is truly enhanced!

Unimaginatively, one may posit (as the video above does) that this is excellent technology to be used in a pub or restaurant.  This might work in the US (the land of the fawning staff - even if it is somewhat fake courtesy), as at least they attempt to be polite and continually see if they can pawn more food and drink in your general direction.

However, in the “I don’t give a shit” culture of the UK, it’s bad enough trying to get served while you’re actively queuing at the bar, and almost impossible to attract a waiter’s attention when you’re sitting in a restaurant.  The fantasy of having UK waiting staff come and refill your drinks when a computer indicates is, well, a fantasy – our indifference to customer service will ensure that something like SurfaceWare Refill will never gain traction here, outside of the bedroom.

I often hear the question “Stan – you’re stunningly brilliant in every way.  I aspire to be you.  What tiny steps can I take to become a fraction of what you are?!?”  (OK – I may only hear this in my head, but that’s just semantic details.)

Well – firstly, I would encourage you to emulate, or better, my (mainly) Microsoft-powered Home Cinema setup.

Mostly upgraded at the beginning of the year, it’s taken me this long to give all the various components a mention (and also to encourage you to spend money with Microsoft by purchasing pointless, materialistic tangibles you don’t actually need).

(You may wish to click the image for a full-blown, high-res description).  Going through the essential stuff you need:

HD TV: Get yourself an HD TV capable of the full 1080p – none of this horsing around with wannabe HD (i.e. 720i, 720p, 1080i).  You’re a loser if you get anything less, and I will mock you (more so than usual).  The fine example you see before you is the Sony BRAVIA KDL-46X3500.  If you’re going for a Sony – get nothing less than an X-series.

Windows Media Center: Sure, you can access your media on much inferior machines, but what’s the point of having eyes, eh?  Demand to access your photos, music and videos on nothing less than a box capable of running Windows Media Center (part of Windows Vista).  This particular example is a Sony VAIO VGX-TP2.  It has a built-in digital Freeview tuner and Blu-Ray Disc player.  This diminutively squat cylinder can record a fair chunk of my TV shows, and sync them to either my Zune or Tablet PC for viewing.  Blu-ray is also cool – anything but HD makes my eyes weep blood these days…

XBOX 360: Any model is fine, but the sexy-looking black Elite model is best.  The XBOX 360 is pretty much like magic/voodoo/witchcraft – it creates fantasy-worlds for you where you can run about shooting annoying people, saving you the hassle of having to do it in real life (which is wayyy more tiring).

Network Switch: Although you could do everything over wireless, it’s far to slow.  Get a gigabit switch.  The example here is an HP ProCurve 1800-8G Switch.  Why gigabit?  It allows you to transfer music and video in super-speedy time, and also allows far faster backups of my two “fun” PCs.  More about that in a sec…

Windows Home Server: What goes in the workplace, should go in the home too.  You have running water in the office, right?  Then you’ll need running water at home.  Work has electricity, yeah?  Then your home needs one too.  Finally – your office has a server, right?  Then you’ll need a Windows Home Server too, unless you’re a hobo and don’t actually have a home.  This model is an HP MediaSmart Server, with 1 terabyte of storage.  What’s the space for you ask?  Well, I’ve spent the last five years on the Internet collecting donkey-porn, and need to make sure that it’s all safe and backed up.  Nothing worse than having a hard disk failure on my Tablet PC and losing all that hot equidae action.  So – amongst publishing all the RandomStan photos online, the Windows Home Server also backs up everything from my Windows Media Center and my Tablet PC, just in case a hard drive decides to play silly bugger.

Sky HD: Sky.  In HD.  Simple, really.  Alas, it is broadcast in inferior, wannabe HD (720p or 1080i).  Still semi-HD, then, so it does tend to make the eyes water (but not bleed).

DVD & HDD Recorder: Like myself, you probably have a lot of old-hat DVDs kicking around.  You obviously don’t want to sully your Blu-Ray Disc player with eternal shame by stuffing a DVD into its slot, so you elect to keep a separate DVD player instead.  You also think that recording is clever, and you may want an HDD to do that.  My particular model is like.no.other. (Actually – that’s a clever Sony marketing slogan lie.  It’s actually like all the other hundreds of thousands that run off Sony’s production line.)

Nintendo 64: If you haven’t got one, then you’re not a real gamer.  It is host to Super Mario 64.  Enough said.

Nintendo Wii: If you haven’t got one, then you’re not a real gamer.  It is host to Super Mario Galaxy.  Enough said.

VCR: Strictly, you don’t need one.  I certainly don’t.  But – it helpfully fills an otherwise empty space.

Nintendo GameCube: If you haven’t got one, then you’re not a real gamer.  It was host to Super Mario Sunshine.  Actually, when compared to Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy, it was a bit pants (but still a good game in its own right).  OK – I concede on that one – despite not owning a GameCube, you may still be eligible as a real gamer.

AV Amp: I have an old example, so you should have no problems bettering me!  Hah – I specified and bought this model while I was still in secondary school!  If I stopped driving for a week and saved the petrol money, I would buy a proper AV amp capable of decoding Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.

That’s about it, really.  Oh – don’t skimp on the furniture either – the example in the photo is a Quadraspire QAV stand (custom-specified and assembled).  Quadraspire make great units – even Jesus (before his days as “Son of God”, when he was still but a humble carpenter) couldn’t fashion better units.

Well?  Toddle off, and strive to become more like me.  Send me photos and details of your handiwork!

If you haven’t already heard, then the next version of Windows (the seventh major generation) will be called…

Windows 7

Yes.  That is all.  If you’re excited about stuff like the EULA, it will shortly appear here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/eula.aspx

If you’re looking for the official announcement, details are here: http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/13/introducing-windows-7.aspx

Personally, I like it.  I never really agreed with using years to name products (as the year-names were based on which part of Microsoft’s financial year a product was released) and thus you had scenarios where products were “from the future” (as an example, Office 2007 was actually released to businesses back in calendar year 2006) or other scenarios where products seemed years out of date (again, using Office, we were at the 2003 version until late 2006!).

“Fluffy” names were not much better – I still get asked now what XP stands for (technically it didn’t stand for anything, but was used to emphasise the eXPerience of the new OS), and people still don’t quite know how to pronounce Vista (is it Vee-sta or V-is-ta? – the Microsoft teams that I worked with prior to the launch of the product generally called it by the latter).

So anyway – here’s to Windows 7.  If you really need the year as a hint to when it will be released, I will give you the official line.

“To this end, our plan is to deliver Windows 7 approximately 3 years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista.”

This has been the official line for some time now, and speculation that it may be (generally) released in early-to-mid 2009 is just that – speculation.

Cool!

What is Live Mesh?  Well, my flippant answer would be to tell you to go to the Live Mesh web site to find out for yourself.

Thankfully, I am (just like the rarely-seen-but-much-spoken-about God) quite a bit more magnanimous than that, and thought I’d take a moment to hark on about the virtues of Live Mesh.

In simple terms (so simple, in fact, that I’m probably doing Live Mesh a disservice – but more on that later), Live Mesh is an area in The Cloud where you upload files for storage and synchronisation.

Following on from that thought, the concept of The Mesh is that it is a combination of your storage on The Cloud (called in Live Mesh terms your “Live Desktop”) and all the computers and mobile devices (i.e. phones) that you have access to.

Live Mesh serves a few purposes:

1. To synchronise content from any one PC you use to your Live Desktop.  Content on your Live Desktop can be accessed from any computer or mobile device – all you need is a web browser (OS semantics later).
2. To synchronise content from your Live Desktop to any other device that you may have in your Mesh.
3. To access any of your Mesh devices remotely (in terms of starting a remote console to that device)

Live Mesh deals with synchronising your files automatically.  All you need to do is install the Live Mesh client on your device.  Currently, only Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows Mobile devices are supported but, as you see in the screenshot below, Macs and other devices will soon be supported.  Check out my personal Mesh below:

Now – with the Live Mesh client installed, I can view what files have been updated/synchronised, which PCs are available, and what folders are currently active (and who is working on them).

The Live Mesh client automatically deals with all the data sync – and this happens in the background (and pretty much immediately).

Let me illustrate this by example…  I am an avid user of Microsoft OneNote (that’s a blog in itself for another day) and rely on it day-in, day-out to perform my work.  I work on OneNote over multiple PCs – each in different domains (WellDataTech.com, Burbank.co.uk and RandomStan.com) – so sharing the same set of notes is not the easiest thing.  However, marking the OneNote folder on my main Tablet PC as a Live Mesh folder causes the content to be synchronised to my Live Desktop.

As you mark folders for Live Mesh, they turn a distinct blue:

And when you open that folder (on your local machine), it opens up a Live Mesh sub-pane which shows the status of that folder (how many people can access it, which files have been updated recently, etc):

The contents of this folder is sent up to my Live Desktop on The Cloud, which I can then access from anywhere through a web browser:

One of the cool things is that any folder that sits on your Live Desktop can be synchronised to any other device that you own.  You simply tell it where that folder should sit on your nominated device:

Live Mesh will then create a folder in this location, and will sync files from your Live Desktop down to the new device.  Another cool thing is that Live Mesh will now keep the contents between your Mesh devices and the Live Desktop synchronised.

So – if I make a change to my OneNote notes on my main Tablet PC, then Live Mesh will automatically update my Live Desktop and any other devices that I have nominated.  Likewise, if I make a change in OneNote on, say, my Media Center PC at home (WMC), then Live Mesh will handle the update and ensure my main Tablet PC contains the latest working copy of my notes.

The other cool thing is that you can invite people to any of your Live Mesh folders:

These invitees will also be able to access your shared data, and will also be able to receive/contribute updates.  So, for instance, if I am working on a set of files that I need shared to someone out-with my company (i.e. someone not on the WellDataTech.com domain), then the easiest thing to do would be to create a Live Mesh folder to share.  They would receive an invite to my folder, and also the option to replicate the folder anywhere on their local PC.  As I update any file in this folder, the changes will trickle through to their copy, and vice-versa.  Thus, Live Mesh becomes a very powerful tool for sharing files in near real-time (there is a small delay in synchronisation – dependent on bandwidth available for both the uploads and downloads).

That’s pretty much a quick overview of Live Mesh.  Microsoft have some more information here.

I also said, earlier, that this was going to be a very simple overview, and that I’d probably be doing Live Mesh a disservice.  The reason for that is because Live Mesh is very much a platform for developers, and not a mere “clever-sync” service.  Live Mesh has an SDK that allows you to create some fairly clever applications that really demonstrate the Software+Services model that Microsoft are pushing at the moment.

If you’re a developer, and you want to see what Live Mesh can do as a platform, then register your interest here…

OK, so not exactly Pidgin Latin.  It took 5 years of my secondary school life to work out that “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” wasn’t real Latin, but words of make-believe.

What’s the point, you ask?  Well – the Lorem ipsum words are actually very handy to those who create brochures, marketing, and other such duties which requires a typographical understanding.  You see, the “language” approximates the structure and spacing of good old Queen’s English, which is a handy thing when laying out the text on your screen/paper.

Anyway… I mention all of this not to give you instruction on typography and layout (Wikipedia has an article on this very subject).

Instead, I mention this because if you ever find yourself in need of such fake text, then simply fire up Microsoft Office Word and type =lorem(x) then hit Return (where x is a number representing the number of paragraphs you need generated).  Thus, =lorem(10) will generate 10 paragraphs worth of fake text for you to cut/paste and bend to your will.

Handy, no?  Pictures of =lorem(100) before and after hitting Return…

Months after everyone else has installed it, I’m here to preach the virtues of the forthcoming version of Internet Explorer.

There are many new features to get your head around (and these features are far more eloquently and accurately described by the IE team here).

Having said that, my two personal fave features (so far) are the colour-coded tabbing:

And the new Find feature, which highlights all instances of a search term on the page so that it can be easily viewed:

Despite it being a beta, I’ve yet to find any reliability or stability issues for IE8.  Even web pages that seem broken (for shame, this is a Microsoft web page too!)…

…can be fixed with a mere click of the Compatibility View button on the right of the address bar.  Hey presto – one working site!

Go pick up your copy of IE8 Beta 2 here…

As a blatant Microsoft fan-boy, and for someone who gushed when he bought a new Zune, you'd have thought that I'd be perfectly happy in my cosy MP3 world.

Alas - I have a dirty confession to make...  See the new toy that arrived yesterday...

Yes - I can confirm that this is Apple's new iPod Classic 120GB, which was launched a few days ago.

So - why have I seemingly betrayed my poor Zune?  Well, it's thanks to Apple's ubiquity.  You see, my shiny new car has a media interface that allows MP3 players to be hooked up to the rather nice Bose surround sound system.  Any ordinary MP3 player (Zune included) can be plugged in via a 3.5mm mini-jack.  However, there is also an iPod interface, which then allows the iPod to be powered and controlled by the car.

Alas - the appeal of being able to access my entire music collection through the Audi MMI is too much to resist...  It is fairly convenient, after all, to be able to skip tracks and navigate music through the MMI controls, or the steering wheel controls.  Oh - and not have to worry about plugging it in and out all the time, or having to remember to charge the bugger...

And thus, I have bought an iPod for the car.  Let me make this very clear - it will stay in the car, hidden away in a small tray inside the glove compartment.  It will never see the light of day (unlike the Zune, which will still be my constant travel and gym companion).

I rue Apple's ubiquity, but I concede to it when necessary.  Ack - if only people were so accepting of Microsoft in the space where it is dominant...!  In short, I'm advocating less fan-boy-ism, and more pragmatism.  If a die-hard Microsoft proponent can make the leap to another (competitive) vendor when his needs dictate, then surely the anti-Microsoft brigade can be pragmatic enough to do likewise...?

(PS - If you want to see more photos of the iPod, plus more side-by-side comparisons with the 80GB Zune, then head here...)

As a quick FYI to all you budding SharePoint developers out there...

A lesser-known resource (or maybe I'm just the last to know!) is the SharePoint Developer Introduction for .NET Developers resource.

If you're interested, toddle along to http://www.microsoft.com/click/SharePointDeveloper/

No - I'm not describing what doctors have to do with their magnifying glasses when they grope around my nether-regions to check for testicular cancer (although it's possibly just as apt)...  Instead, I'm describing a new technique for you to see my most handsome face.

"Stop babbling obtuse nonsense and talk technology, you sexy man-God", you may be thinking...

Alright then...  First of all, have a look at this page, and this page.  (You'll need the latest version of Microsoft Silverlight, available here.  Mac users - for once, you're also invited to this party!)

Cool, huh?  Notice how you can zoom in and out of the whole photo montage by using your mouse-wheel, and can pan around by clicking and dragging the photos?  See how easy it is zoom into my fantastically handsome visage?

Each of the photos are the full-size thing - taken at a resolution of 3072 x 2304, and around 3MB in size.  You can zoom quite deep into each photo and the details will slowly sharpen (it's slow as the hosting site is still in beta - for a fast rendering example, see the Hard Rock Memorabilia).

How's it done, you may be asking...?  Well, I'm sure I have, in the past, talked about some of the exciting technologies that comes of of Microsoft's Live Labs.  In particular, Photosynth and Seadragon were two technologies I got very wet about.

Thanks to some cross-breeding between these technologies, we now have a combination of Deep Zoom Composer and the PhotoZoom cloud service.  Combine the two, and you can create fairly funky photo albums!

I use Deep Zoom Composer to import a photo album, then I create the montage by dragging, dropping, arranging and resizing the photos.  Once I'm finished, I can export the entire collection up to the PhotoZoom service.

Simple and easy, huh?  So - go on and create your own account on PhotoZoom (it's free), and download the latest version of Deep Zoom Composer (also free).  Have fun!

"So Stan...  What did you get up to at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, other than getting embarrassingly drunk and trying to scupper any shred of professional credibility you had left?"

That's the sort of question I would no doubt have heard over the last fortnight, if I had any friends or people who cared...

Well - I'll doubtless blog many times over the next wee while about some exciting stuff (you know, whole weeks after everyone and their blog have talked about it to death on the InterWeb).

But in summary, I really had to get my head around all of the products that had launched in Microsoft's last financial year (Jul07-Jun08):

And I also had to get up to speed with a lot of what will be launching over this financial year (Jul08-Jun09):

OK - so there are maybe a handful of products that I professionally need to know about, but as a Grand Poobah of Technology Evangelism, I would be remiss if I didn't try to understand everything on that second picture...

It's gonna be an interesting (and busy) year ahead...!

(If you hadn't realised, you can click on those pics for a big-res version - just thought I'd patronise...!)

Yep - I have finally been able to buy the Microsoft Zune 80 - two of them, to be precise...

Well - why not?  They come in two different colours, after all... ;)

It has been so frustrating for the longest time, as these were supposed to have been launched in the UK some time ago (the "battle plan" has changed, and the Zune will launch in the UK in 2009 with the release of the 3rd Generation models).  So - bugger global strategic plans - I've flown to America to buy the current models here... :)

Well - I was one of the first (definitely within the first group of 20 out of 10,000 people) to register for this year's Worldwide Partner Conference.

It is the calm before the storm, as the conference doesn't officially start until tomorrow...

Just to give you some semblance of scale here - I've taken photos of the dining area at the main convention centre and stitched a panoramic view here...  It's impressive how the dining tables just stretch out into (almost) infinity...!

A bunch of Microsoft Scotland people and Scottish Partners got together today to tour the Houston Space Center, and to have a beer or seven at the beach in Galveston.

It was great to catch up with so many of the Microsoft guys and, even though this was officially a Scottish party, it was good to see so many of the Reading folk crash it!  So, I spent the day harassing the likes of James Akrigg, Chris Parkes, Steve Clayton, as well as the usual Scottish culprits (what with Raymond, Stevie, James, Peter and Yvonne here, is there anyone left in the Microsoft Scotland office...?)

OK - so the whole Cloud thing is becoming very big within Microsoft, and the number of online offerings has mushroomed - just check my post on the Microsoft Live offerings, for instance.

It therefore irks more than a little bit when I find out that some of the services don't play well with each other.  C'mon Microsoft - if you want people to adopt your online services, then make sure they work with each other!

My pet peeve at the moment?  The fact that Microsoft adCenter Analytics doesn't work with Microsoft Windows Live Spaces.

adCenter Analytics is supposed to track web site statistics - traffic and history, campaign and keyword comparisons, search engine performance, etc - all the kind of data you need to make sure your web-site is relevant to the online world.

So - after spending some moments trying to get adCenter to track my blog, I give up and e-mail Microsoft support.  The reply...?

---
Hello,
Thank you for contacting the Microsoft Analytics Support Team.
Unfortunately, at this time, Live Spaces is not compatible with the Microsoft Analytics tracking script.  We are working with them to allow the javascript widget to be implemented.  There is no timeline for when this might occur.
We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.
We hope to add this feature in the near future.
We appreciate your patience in this matter.
Thank you for your inquiry.
Kind regards,
[snip]
Microsoft Analytics Support Team
---

Pah.  Get your respective acts together - Microsoft prides itself on interoperability between its products (that's why it gets sued so often!).  We need this level of interoperability between the newer generation of Cloud services...

(In Microsoft's defence, adCenter Analytics is still a beta product, and is still currently an invitation-only program.  So - small excuse...  But I'd expect this to be fixed when it comes out of beta, or I'll be somewhat disappointed...)

Yes - it's a very sad day when one gets all wet about a new Bluetooth headset...

As you may recall, I bought a Jawbone headset last year, and what a fantastic headset it was too...  OK - perhaps it didn't look particularly sexy (what with it being as fat and out-of-proportion as its owner), but the noise cancellation technology was fantastic - people were generally not able to hear any background noise when I made calls in the car, for example.

Well, the Jawbone 2 (although don't call it that in front of manufacturers AliphCom - they maintain that it must be called "Jawbone" - identical to the original) has recently launched.  A smaller, sleeker device - it also has the next iteration of AliphCom's fantastic noise-cancellation technology (funkily called NoiseAssassin).

As I've broken my original Jawbone (the earloop keeps snapping due to my bad care - I've gone through about 4 earloops now), I thought I was well justified in buying the new device.

So behold, my sexy new Jawbone 2 (modelled by equally sexy owner).  I'll let you know what sound quality is like when I get a chance to use the thing...

If you're excited about such things (and yes, I'm one of those types) - here's a box shot, and also a shot of the old Jawbone (left) with the new one (right)...  More photos can be found here.

Yes - it appears that the Japanese use technology for anything and everything - as long as it makes life simpler.

I mentioned how user-friendly the transit system was yesterday.  Here's examples of screens showing you the layout of the station ahead (so you can make an efficient dash for the station exit), and also which side the doors open on...

Another cool thing I saw on the public transport system here are the (over-ground) trains.  All the seats are set up airline style - all facing the direction of travel.  When the train reaches the end of the line, however, and heads back the opposite direction - all the seats swivel around automatically, as shown on this video!

You can also manually swivel seats around yourself, should you need to face your fellow travelling companions...

(Oi - stop staring at my sister's boobs...)

OK - so I took this photo at my bro's flat.  Apparently, this is the norm for homes in Japan!

I can tell you that:

1. I very much appreciate the fact that the toilet seat is warmed for you.  Strange at first, but very, very comfortable.
2. Being hosed up the anus is, er, disturbing.  Kinda like having someone piss into your bum - very warm and sprinkly...  (Not that I have practical experience in this area, I hasten to add...)  I think I may need to use it a few more times before I'm comfortable with this...  Ladies have their own custom nozzle, apparently...
3. Having the arse blown-dry, though, is a very nice sensation.
4. Despite it looking silly, having the sink at the top auto-activate as soon as you flush the toilet is very convenient.  It auto-stops as well, so just wash your hands, dry them, then walk out the room (and leave the built-in deodoriser to remove the unpleasant odour).

Gah - too many choices!  Following my earlier phone dilemma, the situation has only worsened.

I heard about the new iPhone launches (which the entire world predicted was going to be announced at the WWDC today anyway) whilst on the rail transit system here in Hong Kong - the MTR Light Rail trains are armed with six plasma screens per carriage, and the audio is piped through the PA system when the train is on the move.  Anyway - I heard Jobs himself announce the phones, which I was always going to consider, as Apple have licensed Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync - allowing me to sync with my corporate mailbox.

So - I now have four phones to consider:

The HTC Touch Diamond:

The HTC Touch Pro:

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1:

Or the Apple iPhone 3G:

I "only" carry two phones with me...  So - do I make it a full three, or which two should I choose...?  To be honest, I may end up getting one Windows Mobile phone (likely to be the HTC Touch Pro out of the three mentioned above) and the iPhone.  Yes - people may accuse me of slowly defecting to Apple, but as long as they licence technology from Microsoft, I feel OK... ;)

<UPDATE: 10 JUN 08>

I forgot to mention - I have actually been playing with the HTC Touch Diamond today.  It appears to have just launched in Hong Kong, and quite a few mobile shops had the unit on display.  Interface was as I expected it (having seen the web videos).  However, a little concerned that the GUI seemed to be a bit slow - but that's perhaps due to the amount of heavy customisation on these phones (they had software installed which allowed the input and output of childish squiggly lines - called flatteringly by some as "Chinese writing").

(Beware - this is a very long post about Microsoft's Live offerings, and I don't swear in it either!  Usual ranting will resume after this post.)

OK - so maybe the whole branding of Microsoft's various Live products/technologies could be better.  In fact, it could be a lot better - at the moment, there seems to be a slapdash attitude of sticking "Live" on anything that is vaguely web-based.  However, that doesn't negate the fact that a lot of these Live offerings are quite cool!  I'm not sure if people realise exactly how vast Live, in all its guises, has become.  So at the risk of spouting more old news, here's a quick rundown of everything Live (at least - a rundown of everything that I'm aware of - but there may be even more out there)...  I've stuck all the cool (in my opinion) stuff at the top, in case you get bored...

Live Labs: Photosynth - takes a large collection of photos of a place or object, analyses them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed 3D space.

Live Search: (Video) - Video search is nothing new.  But hover over each result, and watch/hear the video play inside the thumbnail.  Cool...!  (Click here for an example.)

Windows Live: Translator - Free online translation service.  Also provides cool side-by-side translation (click screen-shot to see this)!

Windows Live: Personalized Experience - Your own personalised home page

Windows Live: Photo Gallery - Easily manage and share your photos and videos

Windows Live: SkyDrive - Password-protected online file storage - always available where you need it

Windows Live: Writer - Easily publish pictures, videos, and other rich content to your blog.  The very tool I'm using to create this blog!

Live Search - Get into my good books by making this your default search engine!

Live Search: (Images) - Hover over the image thumbnails to see image properties and location (click the image to see in detail)

Live Search: Maps - Get maps, directions, aerial views, and people and business listings

Live Search: QnA - Show the world what you know - and find out what you don't.  Get answers to your most burning questions...

Windows Live: Account - Manage your Windows Live ID account

Windows Live: Administration Center - Free e-mail for your Internet domain

Windows Live: Alerts - Keeping you updated

Windows Live: Calendar (beta) - Make plans, invite people, and get reminders any way you want them

Windows Live: Community Builder - Build and strengthen your online community - quickly and easily

Windows Live: Events - Plan your event today, share your memories tomorrow

Windows Live: Family Safety from OneCare - Help keep your kids safer online

Windows Live: Favorites - Access, organise, and discover favo(u)rites anywhere

Windows Live: Gallery - Personalise your PC with free add-ins and extensions

Windows Live: Hotmail - Really - does Hotmail need an introduction?!?

Windows Live: Mail - Outlook Express on steroids

Windows Live: Messenger - Come on... you must know what Messenger is?

Windows Live: OneCare - All-in-one PC care: comprehensive, automatic, and easy-to-use

Windows Live: Spaces - Share your world...  Also, the service that powers this very blog!

Windows Live: Toolbar -  Search from any web page with powerful protection

Windows Live Hotmail for mobile - Mobile Hotmail.  Duh!

Windows Live Messenger for mobile - Chat with your friends and family with Messenger on your mobile

Windows Live Spaces for mobile - Start a blog in minutes; update it from almost anywhere

Office Live: Workspace - An online extension to Microsoft Office.  Store and share documents online.

Office Live: Small Business - Everything you need to take your small business online

Office Live: Small Business adManager (beta) - All the tools you need to take - and promote - your business online

Live Labs: Deepfish - a new type of mobile browser, which provides a full 'as designed' view of web pages on mobile devices.

Live Labs: Entity Extraction - is the glue which will connect document authors with application functionality.

Live Labs: Listas - a tool for the creation, management and sharing of lists, notes, favorites, and more.

Live Labs: Seadragon - allows visual information to be smoothly browsed regardless of the amount of data involved or the bandwidth of the network.  (Now part of Silverlight 2.)

Live Labs: Volta - a developer toolset which enables you to build multi-tier web applications using existing tools, languages and patterns.

Live Search for mobile - Search from your phone

Local Search for mobile - Get maps and directions on your phone

Windows Live SMS Services for mobile - Never miss an instant message again

MSN Mobile - A great mobile home page for your phone

Xbox LIVE - No explanation needed.  If you have an Xbox 360, you know what this is.  If you don't have an Xbox 360, you don't need to know what this is.

Finally - if you're interested in building on top of Live, visit the Windows Live Partner portal.

Phew...  That's it, I think.  Have I missed anything?  If so - drop me an e-mail, a message, or a comment!

<UPDATE: 05 JUN 08>

Oops - I originally missed one item out, as I was unsure whether to lump it in as a Live offering or not.  Having said that, it does have Live in its name, and it very much is an online, hosted resource.  So - yet other to add to the list - Microsoft Office Live Meeting.