Here is a step by step process on how to fix your Windows Phone 7 device from its brick state.
1. Unplug USB form computer. Charge phone or put in charger.
2. Turn off phone.
3. Turn on phone using 3 buttons – power, camera and volume up/down rocker. Keep all 3 held for 10-15 seconds. Do not release when it asks if you want to format the SD card.
4. Keep holding until it says “download mode”. This will reinstall the OS.
5. If phone does not reboot in 15 mins just power it off and back on.
6. Re-setup phone, update firmware through Zune software and then re-sync your documents, music, pictures, videos, etc.
If you get any workaround to fix your bricked Wp7 phone do share with us via comments. We would love to add it in above steps.
Dell has announced the full range of their Windows 7 tablets that will be launching in 2011. There werent exactly too many details, but here is the list.
“The upcoming tablet is designed for end-users who need greater mobility, as well as IT organizations that demand control, security, manageability and integration with existing infrastructure investments,” quips Dell. “Dell’s tablet will empower a more mobile workforce in a way that offers customers the business applications and corporate data they need, while meeting regulatory mandates and IT requirements.”
CleanCharts is a great free addon for Microsoft Excel. CleanCharts fixes Excel charts to make them a lot more visually appealing.
The “Clean Charts” tool turns hard-to-read Excel default charts into Tufte-compliant wonderwerks in a single click. Here’s what it does:
Removes “chart-junk” (the contrast-reducing light grey background on most Excel charts, extraneous lines
Formats the axes with easy to read numeric formats (22000 becomes “22k”)
Changes series colors to an optimally chosen set that are designed for maximum contrast and readability
Removes 3D from the chart. 3D charts introduce distortions that make it hard for people to understand your numbers.
Fixes axis scaling problems.
Fixes font and marker sizes to make them readable if you have resized your chart
To try Clean Charts and install it, download both these files into the same directory. Then open the Clean Charts Installer.xls file with macros turned on. Follow the instructions inside the installer.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users do not need to enable or configure their operating system for IPv6 usage as it is enabled by default. The situation is different for Windows XP users who need to install the IPv6 protocol to add support for it to the operating system.
How to test if IPv6 is available on the operating system:
An easy option to find out is the ipconfig command which displays network information in a command line window. To run the command press Windows-R, type cmd and hit enter. This opens the Windows command prompt. Now use the command ipconfig to find out if IPv6 is available on the computer. Please note that the following screenshot is showing ipconfig on Windows 7.
If you do not see an entry IPv6 Address in the listing it is not enabled and needs to be installed. The easiest way to install the IPv6 protocol under Windows XP is from the command prompt. Enter the following commands separately and press return after each of them:
netsh
interface
ipv6
install
This installs IPv6 under Windows XP. It is also possible to install the protocol under the network settings options of the Control Panel. Right-click on the appropriate network adapter and select Preferences from the selection. Now select Install on the screen and then Protocol from the available options. Locate Microsoft TCP/IP Version 6, a click on OK installs the selected protocol.
1. Open Network Connections
2. Right-click any local area connection, and then click Properties.
3. Click Install.
4. In the Select Network Component Type dialog box, click Protocol, and then click Add.
5. In the Select Network Protocol dialog box, click Microsoft TCP/IP version 6, and then click OK.
6. Click Close to save changes to your network connection.
You can check again with the ipconfig command to make sure that the IPv6 protocol was installed successfully on the operating system.
Microsoft will be hosting a press even in the US on February 10th to announce the launch of Internet Explorer 9.
Internet Explorer 9 is being seen as an extremely strong product, even more so for users with Windows 7 where it allows individual websites to be pinned to the Start Menu and Windows TaskBar. Any website pinned to the TaskBar can have custom jumplists with only a small amount of added code.
IE9 is not a browser for people who like plug-ins and browser add-ons. In fact the beta version will nag you to remove them in order to have the software working at its fastest. It is definitely a very fast browser and stands up well against its main rival, Google Chrome.
Do you think Internet Explorer can really compete with Chrome and Firefox or is it just a waste of time?
Microsoft released recently a Harry Potter theme for Windows 7 and is completely free for download; take a look in this link.
The end of the incredibly popular Harry Potter saga is coming to the end with the first part of the final movies: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. And Microsoft is offering for all those fans the complete theme pack of the movie with wallpapers, sounds, icons, pointers, etc.
Google made earlier an initial offer of $2.5 billion to acquire Twitter, but not only the micro-blogging service refused this offer, but also said that the amount suggested was “insulting”. That’s why Google is apparently analyzing to increase the bid up to $4 billion dollars.
According to the report, an important source related to Twitter said that 3 months ago they’ve received a similar offer of $4 billion dollars from an unknown buyer (Microsoft?) but it was rejected.
What do you think? Can any of these big companies actually buy Twitter?
Twitter could resist these kinds of bids, in the same way Facebook did?
There are no official statements just yet but apparently, people will be able to download the Windows 7 SP1 RC (release candidate) in the following week, October 23 maybe.
Take note that this build is not the final RC, represents the pre-RC (build string 7601.17104.100921-1630). Here are some of the screenshots that appeared recently:
We would highly recommend for you to wait the final version of the RC before installing it.
Maybe you are thinking we are coming back with another Microsoft Surface or Microsoft Kinect demo, but no, we are taking these two one step higher: The possibility to use normal computer files, like videos or pictures, as a tangible object and placing those in the palm of your hand.
This experimental creation is a new one from Microsoft Research and takes full use of the latest 3D technology including several depth cameras and other interaction devices for detecting hand movements.
Instead of getting technical, let’s take a look to this awesome video:
The NY Times published recently a surprising event that took place in Adobe’s offices. A secret CEO’s meeting, Steve Ballmer from Microsoft and Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen, where they discussed the possibility about a possible merge and Microsoft taking over Adobe’s company.
Both of these technology monsters share a common enemy: Apple. Microsoft never had the chance to enter the mobile world and Adobe’s is struggling for not be forgotten since Apple decided they were not going to support Flash in their iOS (iPhones and iPads operating systems). And these are two big reasons for unifying and beat the same dragon.
NY Times also gives some details about this meeting, even though there’s nothing official, here are some of the topics of the meeting that took a little more than an hour: Adobe’s possible acquisition by Microsoft and possibilities for Microsoft’s Silverlight and Adobe’s Flash can co exist in the same operating system.
Specialists said that this acquisition could cost Microsoft 15 billion dollars.
What do you think? Can you see these two fighting against Apple?
Google made earlier an initial offer of $2.5 billion to acquire Twitter, but not only the micro-blogging service refused this offer, but also said that the amount suggested was “insulting”. That’s why Google is apparently 
