All entries by this author

Why it is worth waiting for the Google Nexus One

Dec 27th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Mobile Devices, Smartphone

Time has come to replace my T-Mobile Shadow. I am no longer under contract, and the phone is no longer cutting-edge technology. My wife needs a new phone as well. The Verizon Droid has been creating some buzz for a while, so I started looking into what I’d be able to get for my money right [...]



Climate change and capital investments

Jul 1st, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Environment, Geek's Home

A comment posted in response to an article on Boston.com that predicted yet another day of rainfall:
Now you know why solar panels are not exactly a sure bet for an alternative energy source. My 6KW setup has barely generated enough to keep my computer running. I do not dare get up on the roof to connect the [...]



The Daily Drama’s Online Music Launch Pad

Jun 26th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Music, Web

Sonett77.com – Electronic music radio (Germany)
Play.fm – DJ sessions (Austria)
Hitradio.de (Germany) – Web radio with special interest streams
Rautemusik.fm – Web radio (Germany)
Quu.fm (Germany)
Byte.fm (Germany) – Online radio with a journalistic touch
Musicovery.com (France) - ”Interactive” web readio
One.fm (USA) – The music starts here
Di.fm (USA) – Digitally imported
Last.fm (USA) – Largest music catalog online
Sky.fm (USA) – Up to 96k free [...]



Open Letter: S/Mime Support on the Apple iPhone (or the lack thereof)

Jun 23rd, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Mobile Devices, Smartphone

Dear Mr. Jobs,
Over the past year, my colleages at work have been relentless about showing off their new iPhones, the cool features that it has, the slick user interface, and the awesome design of the device itself.
Initially, their attempts of making me feel inferior about owning a Windows Mobile device were unsuccessful. There were too [...]



Godaddy And The Politics Of Mailserver Blacklisting

May 29th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Security, Web

The effectiveness of black-listing mail servers is questionable. The overall spam volume does not appear to be impacted and keeps going up. The argument that the amount of spam would rise faster without blacklisting is nonsense. Blacklisting affects a very small percentage of emails that are in a gray zone between spam and ham, such as [...]



pod Business Intelligence Showcase

May 27th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Business Intelligence, SQL Server, Software Engineering, Web

The Business Intelligence Showcase demonstrates our expertise with Microsoft’s business intelligence application suite. These technologies include the SQL Server database, Analysis Services, and Reporting Services. Recently added to the stack was the .Net chart control, a very powerful component that greatly improves productivity for producing visually appealing charts and diagrams on web sites and Windows [...]



Windows Live Messenger popping up on Windows Mobile

Apr 25th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Mobile Devices, Smartphone

It is unclear when and how it started, but for about a week or two I had been annoyed by Windows Live Messenger popping up on my Windows Mobile 6 phone every time I unlocked it. While all I had to do is press the Cancel button to make it go away, such a small [...]



Setup projects with SQL Server Compact Edition (CE) databases

Apr 12th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: SQL Server, Security, Smartphone

This article is no longer relevant. In Visual Studio 2008 SP1, setup projects allow you to select the ‘User’s Application Data Folder’ as a deployment target. This is where any SDF files and other application data and content should go. The ‘Common Application Data Folder’ is no longer accessible for write operations in Windows 7 [...]



Free mileage tracker with desktop import for Windows Mobile 6 Smartphones

Apr 12th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Free Software, Mobile Devices, SQL Server, Smartphone

It is finally ready – the new and improved TripsNMiles, pod consulting’s free mileage tracker for the Windows Mobile platform.



Another virus infection, courtesy of Yahoo News

Apr 9th, 2009 | By Christian Donner | Category: Information Technology, Security, Web

Major web sites like Yahoo.com and Boston.com are infecting thousands, if not hundred thousands of computers with trojans, back doors, and other viruses, through some of their ad service providers. When will the people in charge of these web sites wake up and start screening the ads that they are serving?
 
For the 2nd time in [...]