Brandon Live!

Go here to help some brave UW students who are in Uganda working with Save the AIDS Orphans Uganda and trying to raise money to complete construction of a new building that will house 50 orphans.

Right now they need $2500 more to complete the project which I’m told is largely to pay for the roofing of the building.

Also I just found out that Kate and her friends are blogging their experiences in Uganda.

On a seperate but related note, you can learn more about the atrocities occuring in northern Uganda where children are abducted from their homes and turned into soldiers, click the Invisible Children banner on the right-side column. If you haven’t seen the video (which we showed at MindCamp back in April) I highly suggest ordering their DVD. You’ll support the cause AND learn more about the horrible things happening over there.

That’s right, WDS 3.0 Beta 2 is here.

What’s new?

-The first true beta of WDS 3.0 with the new service-based indexing engine and fully-functional UI.
-The first version of WDS available for x64 machines! 64-bit engine and UI!
-Truly a countless number of fixes from the WDS 3.0 Engine Preview released a few months ago.

Windows Desktop Search 3.0 Beta 2 download links:

For Windows XP

For Windows Server 2003

For Windows x64 Editions

KB Article

Updated 10/4 - UNC / FAT indexing add-in (for indexing network shares, removeable FAT media, etc)

Let us know what you think!

After a couple weeks of sickness and sunburn (which still refuses to fade, but is liveable now), and much exhaustion… I’m feeling just about back to normal.  Except for the whole two-tone red-on-white look I’m sporting.

Just in time, too.  This weekend I’m going to be making my first visit to Vancouver.  We’re staying 3 nights at the Listel hotel which seems to have been constructed at the center of just about everything fun up there.

Unfortunately this means I won’t be attending PAX as planned.  I didn’t really think I’d miss it that much, but as it draws nearer it’s like some otherworldly force stirs in downtown Bellevue, creating a sort of gravitational well which I can only imagine is felt by gamers hundreds of miles from its center.  I hear if you’re not careful it can rip that Xbox 360 controller right from your hand.  Should you lose contact with a gamer friend from the Pacific NorthWest this weekend, you can ease your mind knowing that he or she has merely heeded the siren’s call.

It’s only 11 days until it’s DMB weekend over at the Gorge.  You might say the days are being counted.  Not so much for fear of misplacing any, mind you.  More likely it’s to ensure that no extra ones sneak in… whistling and acting all non-chalant, like they belong between me and 3 days of Gorge goodness.

How would you like to write your own Xbox 360 games?

Well it looks like soon enough you’ll be able to…

Microsoft announced a full-on embrace of the “Homebrew” gaming community.

XNA Game Studio Express will be available for free to anyone with a Windows^® XP-based PC and will provide them with Microsoft’s next-generation platform for game development. By joining a “creators club” for an annual subscription fee of $99 (U.S.), users will be able to build, test and share their games on Xbox 360™ and access a wealth of materials to help speed the game development progress. This represents the first significant opportunity for novice developers to make a console game without a significant investment in resources.

 

Full press release here.

Also, here’s an FAQ about the program.  It sounds like there aren’t yet plans to make it easy to distribute games you’ve written - and that only other “Creator’s Club” members will be able to see your work However, I think and hope that is only the beginning.  I could see a vast community and ecosystem of “indie” developers, hobbyists, or open source collaborations becoming a huge part of the Xbox 360’s long-term success.

Unfortunately over the last few days I gradually developed a bit of a head cold.  On Saturday it wasn’t too bad - and one of my concert companions was in worse shape so I was able to feel better by comparison.

But today (Sunday) it got considerably worse and the timing was especially bad.  The cold combined with the sunburn-of-all-sunburns that I got on Tuesday culminated in one heck of a sneezy, stuffy, itching, coughing, head-aching, skin-peeling Sunday experience.  Suffice to say, I wasn’t a pretty sight.

At the moment I find myself with the itching subsided and my ability to breathe normally has returned (without the aid of any decongestants or the like).  Here’s hoping it lasts.

Saturday brought a last-minute addition to my long list of summer (and soon autumn) concert schedule in the form of “Endfest 15.”

Very sadly, two of the acts I would have been most interested in seeing were cancelled.  First, I’d heard that Modest Mouse backed out weeks ago.  And second, Snow Patrol cancelled their act at the last minute.

That left several bands I’d never heard of (and of about 4 that we heard none had me rushing to grab a CD / download) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers who I’d seen several years before.

When I last saw the Chili Peppers (with Foo Fighters) in Albany, I believe they had just released the Californication album.  This weekend’s show included a setlist with a heavy bias toward their newer material - which I’m less familiar with, largely by choice.  When “By The Way” came out I didn’t think the songs I’d heard from it sounded particularly bad.  It was just that they all sounded pretty much the same.  I got that feeling again a few times during Saturday’s show when I started singing the lyrics to the wrong song once, and another time asking “Didn’t they already play this?”

That gripe aside, they put on a very entertaining show.

Writer is a new blogging tool from Windows Live.  It lets you publish posts, pictures, maps, and more on all kinds of blogging services.

I just downloaded their beta and I’m posting this entry from it now.  Pretty sweet app!

Screenshots, info, and download at their blog.

Check it out!

Last night I took a JetBlue flight from SeaTac to JFK in NY.  After a long car ride I made it to my mom’s house in Jersey. 

I’m here largely for this weekend’s large concert events at Randall’s Island.  The line-up is as follows:

Main Stage:
Dave Matthews Band (headlining both nights)
Gov’t Mule (Saturday only)
David Gray (Sunday only)
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (both days)

Second Stage:
Slightly Stoopid
Yonder Mountain String Band
Tea Leaf Green

I currently have a spare ticket for each night (”preferred lawn” tonight, and section 101 tomorrow night).  If anyone wants to buy one or just chill at one of the shows, give my cell a call:  425-591-4982

I’ll be back in Seattle on Tuesday night.