Derek Hatchard

Tuning into the Right Wireless Networking Channel

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:45:17 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...The hard core geeks know that to optimize your wireless networking experience you want to select a channel that is unused by other nearby wireless devices. If you run Windows 7 (or Vista), use the following command at the Command Prompt to see the channels and signal strength of nearby networks:...Find a hole, ideally at least five channels away from.."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Run Multiple Desktop Shortcuts At Once

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:13:32 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...Here’s a simple way to create a master shortcut to launch everything:..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

RDs and MVPs Featured in Free Developer Ebook

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:49:30 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...Many of the contributors are Microsoft MVPs and/ Microsoft Regional Directors...It’s a free download and released under a Creative Commons license, which is a very cool thing to come out of Microsoft..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Making Sense of Internet Hype Cycles

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:39:41 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...I’m doing some thinking about Internet hype cycles and the impact of Internet on culture. As a prelude to that, listen to Nora Young’s interview with Bill Wasik on Viral Culture. One thing that piqued my interest was a comment about spending time working on things that don’t have to be published ASAP..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

4 Rules When Writing for the Internet

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:02:48 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "... usability guru Jakob Nielson published his analysis of web usage data borrowed from a research study. I recommend you read it after this article. Here’s the big stunning quote...[Four] conclusions about writing for the web: Keep It Succinct...Keep It Scan-Friendly..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

In Software Development Quality Matters

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:26:04 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...You should consider having one or more champions of quality. In the world of software development, testers and product managers are often the champions of quality. Without champions of quality, little things can be overlooked until they add up to something customers notice. If you want "high quality" to be part of a customer’s mental picture of your organization, you must..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Unwieldly URLs No Match For Navigational Searches

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:24:37 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...Have you heard the expression "URLs are dead"? Web users don’t remember URLs anymore. We search for what we need...Unfortunately the state of search on individual sites isn’t quite as evolved as the highly tuned general-purpose search engines. Consider the following search result page from a major electronics retailer..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

The Netbook Resolution Conundrum

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:33:22 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...it makes sense for web and RIA developers to be intentional in making their apps look good on those little screens...I have decided to stick with 1024 pixels as a minimum resolution for the Silverlight prototype. Users on a netbook running below 1024px wide can always use the mobile version...Is it a fair strategy for consumer-oriented web / RIA sites to treat low resolution netbooks as mobile devices?"

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Calling all Bloggers and Podcasters

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:03:33 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "Calling all bloggers and podcasters in (or near) Atlantic Canada...Casual get-together for bloggers and podcasters...Anyone who produces content for a blog or podcast (audio or video)..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Windows 7 Triggered Services Feature

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:51:25 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...triggered services or the option to have Windows services start in response to an event such as an application starting. And conversely, services can be stopped in response to events...A simple example just off the top of my head: the SQL Server service on my dev machine..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

Finally Windows Live ID Becomes OpenID Provider

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:32:05 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "That means you will be able to authenticate against OpenID-enabled sites using your Windows Live ID account..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

I'm a PC Just Like B.G.

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:53:22 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "While Apple ads mock PC users in order to goad them into switching to Macs, these commercials encourage PC users to take pride in what they do. I like the feel-good vibe. I like the international mix of faces and places. But I don’t think people will talk about these ads..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates at the Shoe Circus

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:19:37 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "It’s quirky and funny. It doesn’t take potshots at Apple. It doesn’t try to convince you that Vista is more awesome than OS X...contains is a promise that the future will be delicious."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Budding Potential Prototype From Mozilla

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:41:36 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...You have a bunch of restaurant reviews up and you want to see where the restaurants are on a map. What do you do...Mozilla has released an initial prototype of a project / experiment called Ubiquity that promises exactly that type of functionality and much, much more. Check out..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

How to Improve Outlook 2007 IMAP Performance

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:34:58 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "Something I did worked. Outlook now starts faster... I have access to my inbox much sooner. And most importantly, Outlook is responsive while retrieving mail...If you are dissatisfied with the performance of Outlook 2007 with IMAP accounts, please try this out and let me know how it works for you..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Installing Vista on a MacBook without BootCamp

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:38:08 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "...The following method worked for me using a Windows Vista DVD with Service Pack 1. I did a fresh install of OS X 10.4 Tiger before doing this...Once Windows is installed and loaded, insert an OS X 10.5 Leopard disc and install the Windows drivers from Apple. If you do not have access to an OS X 10.5 Leopard disc, your mileage may vary in getting all the hardware to work."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

Will Xobni help save e-mail?

Thu, 22 May 2008 16:31:28 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "It lets me do things with my email data that I just could not do otherwise. A simple example: last week I was trying to find someone whom I only knew two things about: first name and involvement in a certain community. With Xobni I was able to find the person...."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
Bloggers : Rockford Lhotka

Pro and Con Experiences on XPS M1530 Laptop

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:46:52 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "I must say it is a good-looking piece of equipment....This thing looks and feels like a quality machine....Here are a few initial impressions after a day of use..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Have You Tried Xobni?

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:52:16 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "....it’s inbox backwards. It’s some kind of email management add-on for Outlook. It seems to have some compelling features like showing a profile of your email interactions with people and automatically extracting phone numbers from emails...."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

Most Used Commands in Word 2003

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:21:07 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "....Paste is also far-and-away the number one command in Excel and PowerPoint, accounting for 15% and 12% of total command use, respectively. Beyond the top 10 commands or so, however, the curve flattens out considerably."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Office System

Ensure Our Generation's Digital Legacy

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:24:36 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "....also a lot of really good content being created by the newly empowered masses and read by more people than many library books ever have been. And yet so much of that content that can easily disappear when someone screws up a database move or a hard drive fails or a service provider goes out of business...."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

A look at Ruby on Rails

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 19:41:24 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "In this episode...about the Ruby programming language, the Ruby on Rails web framework, some of the differences between static and dynamic typing, Rails scalability, how to get started with Ruby on Rails, and"

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : NET Framework

Google Changes the Game

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:22:33 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "Google has dealt a sharp blow to the walled garden of Facebook, the current darling of social networking. The new OpenSocial API is a common API that can be used to access data from all social networks that support the OpenSocial standard. A bunch of popular social networkings are jumping onboard:"

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Extend your Laptop Battery with Vista Battery Saver

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:23:41 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "If you run Vista on a laptop....go get the Vista Battery Saver to improve laptop battery life on Vista. It automatically switches your power plan when you plug in to or unplug from AC power....This handy little utility runs in the background with basically no CPU overhead"

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : Windows Client

Function Key Tips: Windows to OS X

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:37:19 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "....if you use Windows in a virtual machine on a MacBook....you might get frustrated that the function keys aren’t really function keys by default. So if you press Alt+F4 in the virtual machine, you turn down the sound instead of closing a window..."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Pairing Microsoft Presenter Mouse 8000 on Mac OS X

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:04:33 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "Why did I repave my MacBook? I’ve been hearing great things about VMware Fusion. VMware Fusion lets you run Windows in a virtual machine on Mac OS X. It is the VMware equivalent of Parallels....It is supposed to boot a BootCamp partition but I kept getting a “Raw Disk Creation Failed” error message so I decided to start from scratch. It’s working great with a virtual hard disk."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

Blogging and it's Cultural Impact

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:04:23 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "....He says today’s Internet is killing our culture. He is wrong. Today’s Internet is disrupting our culture. The Internet has empowered those who care to find ways to satisfy their information and entertainment desires beyond the McDrivel that has been pushed at us by the mass media....But the genie is out of the bottle. There is no going back to the old media paradigm."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

What's wrong here: "Raw Disk Creation Failed"

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:53:05 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "Anyone know why VMware Fusion is saying “Raw Disk Creation Failed” when I try to run my Bootcamp Partition as a virtual machine?"

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

How to Change an Outlook Startup Folder

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:19:07 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "If you use IMAP with Outlook or use multiple accounts, you might not like the default Inbox that Outlook shows you on startup. Here’s how you can choose a different startup folder"

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

Why there is an Xbox 360 Warranty Extension

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:36:27 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "Microsoft is extending the warranty on Xbox 360 consoles to three years. I know a couple of people, including my brother, who have been plagued by hardware failures and the Red Ring of Death. Three years is a long time for a consumer electronics product. It feels like Microsoft is doing the right thing here. Certainly part of the strategy.... "

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Are you reading Ypulse?

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:08:15 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "If you have a product or service that targets teen/youth, you should be reading Ypulse. Ypulse is an independent blog for teen/youth media and marketing professionals. "

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Wasting Time on Your Web Site?

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 20:08:40 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "If you find that nobody is talking about your web site, you may need to revisit your web strategy. Maybe you need to start blogging instead of using a static “brochure site”...Some key data you need to be looking at is number of unique visitors and number of page view... "

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Live Messenger 8.5 - if you blog

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:55:44 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "If you’re the early adopter type, there’s a new beta of Windows Live Messenger...Live Writer is by far my favourite blogging tool. At MIX07 it actually got a round of applause when a presenter mentioned it. If you blog, you must try it. "

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

Tips on using PDAs with Vista

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:10:01 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "If you have a Windows Mobile PDA and are upgrading to Vista, a few tips I just came across in an email thread: Run Windows Update in Vista before trying to sync with a WM device...."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : Windows Mobile

It's Coming: PDC 07, October 2 - 5

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:09:20 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes ".... the next Microsoft Professional Developers Conference will be October 2 - 5, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. The Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is the definitive developer event focused on the future of the Microsoft platform. Registration is NOT open at this point. The dates have simply been announced."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Events

Developer Podcast #3 Posted - Now Called Devcasting

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:39:50 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "Finally got podcast episode #3 and show notes posted....The show has a name now: Devcasting. And we're in iTunes. Just search the iTunes store for devcasting or browse through the Technology category of the iTunes podcast directory."

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : NET Framework

New Developer Podcast/Netcast

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 22:03:54 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "I'm pleased to announce that Mike Mullen and I have launched a new developer-oriented podcast / netcast. The first show just went up a few hours ago:"

Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
InDepthTalk.net : Events

For your own sake, stop using SourceSafe - please!

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 05:08:15 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "I believe strongly that you need great tools to support a great development process. There are a few core tools every team should have: work item / defect tracking system, automated build system, developer testing tools (including unit testing tools), and source code control. A lot of places I go it seems that source code control is the only tool that most teams have in place. And I find it baffling that in 2006 most people are reporting that Visual SourceSafe is their SCC tool. Look at these stats: "

Look at this website for more information on Regional Directors.
Bloggers : Derek Hatchard

Was It Good This Time?

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 02:06:22 GMT

Derek Hatchard writes "I'm glad to see Microsoft actively going after that user experience (UX) model. It's exciting. This time around they showed off Microsoft Max, a photo sharing tool built on top of Avalon and Indigo - presumably as a dogfooding exercise..."

View the session list for the Presentation track.
Bloggers : Derek Hatchard
PDCBloggers.net : Tracks : Presentation