OneNote

Micrsoft's OneNote is another great tool from Office product group. It is very useful for taking notes, tracking notes and in different formats such as text, audio & video. I'm a big fan of this after using couple of months.

You can search your notes across different notebooks or sections. Also you can organize and share them in web as well.

For more info, Go through following links
Wiki about Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft OneNote official Site
Microsoft OneNote object Model for extensions

Email founder roots to Muhavur(India)

I was so excited and proud to share this post. Mr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, who is Email founder, has roots to Muhavur, Rajaplayam (India), which is my native place. His father has given many donations to our schools.

V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai WWW Home
SiliconIndia News
Tamil News

I came to know about this yesterday. How did I miss, even though I'm in this industry more than 10 years? How do the media and country promote the inventions and achievements? How the corporate companies/business involving in today's inventions & hype?

Still I'm wondering, what happened to Mr.Ramar Pillai. Not sure about his invention, but he brought few thoughs about so called 'Bio-Fuel' or 'Herbal Fuel'. I am not sure, how the government agencies are serious about alternative fuel? Also difficult to find honest reporing in media like Newspapers, TV Channels, etc...

Vishing - Security Attack?

I got a mail from my bank in last month about 'Vishing'.It looks like old trick for new technologies.

Definition
"Vishing" is an activity where fraudsters trick unsuspecting customers into providing their personal and financial details over the phone.

Usual Methods
Usually fraudsters pose as representatives of large companies, banks or public authorities like Reserve Bank of India.
The details may be used to carry out fraudulent transactions in the customer's account.

Note:
Do not reveal your confidential banking details like account/card number, PIN, validity date of your debit/credit cards, CVV, or other passwords to anyone.

Microsoft Products

Microsost has many products in variety of domains and divisions. Just listed down the various business units.

Microsoft Business Solutions
Microsoft Office Division
Online Services Division
Server and Tools Business
Windows & Windows Live Division
Windows Phone Division
Skype

For more information, visit Fast Facts about Microsoft!!!

Windows 8 Launch to external world

Finally, Windows 8 is launched across world to consumers. Windows 8 comes with a new smooth and intuitive start screen and tiles that are brimming with content, and update in real time. Same look and feel across Tablets, Hybrids, Ultrabooks, Desktops.

Links

Windows Home Page

Official Windows Blogs

Windows YouTuBe Channel

Windows 8 on Wikipedia

XBOX 360 and Kinect

I'm not much interested on Games side. I bought XBOX 360 with Kinect for my kid. It is used for games as well as virtual sports. Had amazing experience!!!

I was going through couple of wikipedia pages and Microsoft is a strong contender on this space. Microsoft also gives SDK for Kinect device and many out-of-box projects may come up in near future.

Testing these kind of applications, will bring next level of testing challenges and concepts.

Few links:
XBOX 360 on Wiki

Kinect on Wiki

Accessories on Wiki

XBOX live on Wiki

XBOX Marketplace

XBOX Support

Kinect SDK

Windows Startup error code 0x00000074:BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO

Two weeks back, My laptop was unable to start. I got blue screen and error message as BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO and error code as 0x00000074

I thought it might be due to Hard disk crash or some other internal issues. But actually these issues were due to some software updates either Windows or Anti-Virus. I used System Restore option to correct this issue. Microsoft has given few more options to recover on Windows 7. You can go through the following links.

What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?
Choosing an advanced recovery method
Startup Repair: frequently asked questions


Hope it may help to few others too!!!

New Microsoft Logo

After 25 years, Microsoft company logo was evolved. For more info, read this post ==> Jeff Hansen’s Microsoft blog - Microsoft Unveils a New Look

Windows 8 Release

Microsoft has released Windows 8 OS. It has many features and new UI style. Check following links for more details..
Windows Team blog
Windows 8 on Wikipedia

Team Foundation Server

Recently I had a chance to use Team Foundation Server (TFS). It is a great ALM tool and having many workflows, templates and reports. Microsoft has integrated with many tools and developed many utilities around for various purposes. Attempted to list down the major workflows and integrated tools.

Major flows / features

• Requirements Tracking
• Project Status Reporting
• Burn down chart/Effort tracking
• Source control
• Defect Tracking
• Test case Management
• Test Execution reporting
• Traceability Matrix
• Various Reporting through MS SQL BI features

Integrated tools

• Visual Studio
• Microsoft Project Professional
• Office Tools (Excel, Outlook & Word)
• Microsoft Test Manager
• SharePoint
• MS SQL Server BI features
• CodedUI Integration

Few Links related to TFS
Manage Team Project Collections
Setup automated UI Tests
Process Template modification