The Windows Live Contacts gadget is a client-side browser JavaScript object that enables visitors to use their Windows Live contacts with your Web site.  Instead of typing a shipping address into a shopping cart form, for example, the user could simply select one of their Windows Live contacts from the contact gadget.  The user saves time and effort in completing the order, and you gain the benefits of an address book for your Web site without having to implement, maintain, and provision data storage and management UI on your servers.  The user maintains control of their personal contacts data, while you focus on providing services with data the user gives you. (Read the privacy notice for the Windows Live Contacts gadget.)

See the Windows Live Contacts gadget working in our live samples:

• Start a Party
• Map Your Contacts

A key aspect of this gadget is maintaining secure data isolation between multiple domains.  The gadget obtains the user’s contacts data from Windows Live servers via a secure HTTPS connection and releases to your Web page only the data for the contacts that the user selects and approves for sharing with your Web page.  In this way, users stay in control of their data, which offers them a level of confidence in dealing with third-party Web sites.  

Your Web site needs to make a clear statement to the user about how you will be using the data they share with you.  The Windows Live Contacts gadget requires that you supply a URL to a privacy statement and that you display that URL to the end user when they are prompted to approve transfer of the selected contact data to your site.  If you use the shared data only for the current activity and then discard it, you should say so in your privacy statement.  If you store the shared data on your servers for any purpose, you should say so in your privacy statement and provide means for the user to review or delete such stored data.

WOOOOAW! check this out. Joy (one of my friend...a Maya expert) created this. Its awesome!

Microsoft has released the ADO.NET vNext August CTP.

• The ADO.NET Entity Framework, which includes:
  • The Entity Data Model (EDM), which allows developers to model data at a higher level of abstraction
  • A powerful client-views/mapping engine to map to and from store schemas
  • Full query support over EDM schemas using Entity SQL and LINQ
  • An object services layer that allows you to choose to present query results as rows and columns or as objects. When using .NET objects, the system will transparently do identity resolution, change tracking and update processing for you.
  • An open provider model that allows other stores to plug into the ADO.NET Entity Framework
• Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) integration in ADO.NET for this CTP includes:
  • LINQ to Entities: formulate queries using LINQ against your EDM schemas
  • LINQ to DataSet: the DataSet finally gets full query capabilities! You can formulate LINQ queries that go against one or more DataTable objects. The LINQ to DataSet implementation will even optimize certain query patterns for better execution performance.
• Tools
  • We're working hard to include a rich set of tools that integrate naturally with the runtime components to provide a great end-to-end experience. Some early tools are included in this CTP, and more will come soon!

In the CTP package you'll find:

• The actual ADO.NET CTP assemblies that will be installed in your system
• A few new project templates to create new ADO.NET Entity Framework-based applications and entity model libraries
• Various examples that illustrate how to use the ADO.NET Entity Framework and the LINQ integration in many different scenarios
• A couple of documents that describe the Entity Framework & LINQ integration.

Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!

Download now

Jeff Han is a research scientist for New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Here, he demonstrates—for the first time publicly—his intuitive, "interface-free," touch-driven computer screen, which can be manipulated intuitively with the fingertips, and responds to varying levels of pressure.

I'm really impressed with this tool. Writer is a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts using Windows Live Spaces or your current blog service.

Few things that I really loved about this tool. Firstly WYSIWYG authoring you can now author your post and know exactly what it will look like before you publish it.

Secondly Photo publishing writer makes inserting, customizing and uploading photos to blog. Once you've inserted the picture writer provides an editing tool to modify picture size, text wrapping, borders and apply effects.

Thirdly Map publishing writer inserts Windows Live Local map into your post and Lastly Drafts you can close your window anytime it autosaves, you can keep unlimited number of items in the draft.

Writer SDK is available it allows developers to extend writer's capabilities.

Download now

"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity."

- Jawaharlal Nehru (Speech On the Granting of Indian Independence,  August 15, 1947)

Wishing everyone a very Happy Independence Day - JAI HIND

It looks Microsoft is listening to it's customers.

I had mentioned a while back that we planned to call the version of IE7 in Windows Vista “Internet Explorer 7+”. Well, the feedback we got on the blog was overwhelming – many of you didn’t like it. So, as we’ve said on our website, we heard you. I’m pleased to announce that we’re switching the name back to “Internet Explorer 7”. No plus. No dot x. Just “Internet Explorer 7”.

Specifically, here are the official full names:

• For Windows XP: “Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP”
• For Windows Vista: “Windows Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista”