Is Windows Mobile in Danger of Becoming Software Plumbing?

Here is a very interesting article, with some relevant questions about Windows Mobile future:

Pocket PC Thoughts: Is Windows Mobile in Danger of Becoming Software Plumbing?

My first photosynth

Here is my first photosynth. The pictures were taken in August 2008, but only now I managed to get them online.
It turned out very cool, 100% synthy!

Optimizing a web application

Here is a very nice article about how you can improve the performance of your web application, using Firefox, Firebug and YSlow plugin:

Squashing the asp.net MVC response - part 1 - BradVin's .Net Blog

OpenStreetMap

Do you have a GPS device? If so, keep it connected all the time, tracking your moves. And then upload the tracks to www.openstreetmap.org and contribute to build a great mapping database.

"OpenStreetMap creates and provides free geographic data such as street maps to anyone who wants them. The project was started because most maps you think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected ways."

If you have a Garmin PNA, you can convert the data to Garmin's format and use it in you device.

Please contribute!

Life and Death

Recently I saw a very interesting presentation about Geneva, Microsoft's implementation of claims based authentication, using WS-Trust and WS-Federation. I like very much this paradigm, if it catches on will simplify a lot the way we manage identity in our applications and networks. I for sure will start implementing applications with this framework.
A claims-based approach removes from you the hassle of seaching for user capabilities in the AD or other system. You trust a third party to authenticate the user and create a token with just the info you need, nothing more, nothing less.
This connects directly to your online persona, a living thing outside of your control. As the death of a friend showed it to me...

Alex died some months ago. He was one of the most briliant minds I ever met. And a troubled one, unfortunatly.
His death touched me a lot. Since I've been working near Portela, I've passed near his house almost everyday, and always thinking I had to arrange a lunch or something with him. Now it's too late.
But his online persona is still alive.
Everytime I open GTalk, his address is the first in the offline contacts.
His phone number is on the top of my contact list.
His blog is still in my blogroll.
My PDA alerted me this weekend for is 34th birthday.

This is a very strange thing... how do you manages the contacts, the links for someone that died?


Me, i'll keep them.


PS: Happy birthday Alex. This one is for you.