Booting a Centos Xen Dom0 under VMWare
Just a few quick notes on how I got a CentOS v4.4 Xen dom0 to boot inside a VMWare Server VM...
yum install bridge-utils SDL
rpm -ivh xen-3.0.4.1-1.i386.rpm kernel-xen-2.6.16.33-3.0.4.1.i386.rpm
vi /etc/yum.conf
Add:
exclude=xen xen-kernel xen-devel kernel
mv /lib/tls /lib/tls.disabled
mkinitrd -f -v --preload=scsi_mod --preload=sd_mod --preload=mptbase --preload=mptscsih --preload=mptfc --preload=mptspi /boot/initrd-2.6.16.33-xen_3.0.4.1.img 2.6.16.33-xen_3.0.4.1
vi /boot/grub/grub.conf
Add:
 title Xen v3.0
 root (hd0,0)
 kernel /xen-3.0.gz noreboot dom0_mem=128000
 module /vmlinuz-2.6-xen root=/dev/VolGroup00/root
 module /initrd-2.6-xen.img
Reboot!
Minor annoyance with Outlook/Office 2007
I've just upgraded to Outlook 2007 and while I mostly like the new interface, I've come across something that bugs me...
In previous Outlook versions, I've always modified the toolbar to add a button for "Next Item in Conversation Topic". This option allows you to easily follow threads on mailing lists or private email conversations.
This option still exists in Outlook 2007, but you can no longer customise the new "Ribbon" interface - You can only modify the "Quick Access Toolbar".
On to my annoyance... If you add a command to the QAT that doesnt have a default icon associated with it you get a green disc icon instead - An icon that as far as I can see, you cant change! (If someone knows different - Let me know!)
If you happen to want to add more buttons to the toolbar, you'd better hope they've all got icons associated or you'll just have a toolbar full of green blobs!
A partial Xbox360 WMV Transcoding Solution…
Looks like Happy Beggar might have a half-decent solution to the Xbox 360/WMV Transcoding problem: Encode360
I'll probably give this a go at some point, but I doubt its going to replace Xbox Media Centre sat on my old Xbox...
There’s a link missing in the chain
The Clicker: Dear Microsoft, "help me help you." - Engadget
Earlier this week Microsoft rolled out their highly-anticipated Xbox 360 update. The update was chock full of bug fixes and new features. However, to me, one of the most exciting new features was their long-overdue update to the 360's UPnP client. That's right; they finally added the ability to stream video from your computer to the 360. While it's technically always been possible to stream (using the 360's Media Center Extender technology), the new update gives the masses who aren't yet using a Media Center box a quick and easy way to stream video to the television. Or does it?
On the surface it's quite an exciting turn of events. However, as many now know all too well, there's just one problem: it only supports WMV. There's no DivX support. There's no H.264 support. There's just WMV. Now, I'm sure that there are many purists out there reading this right now who are flat-out appalled by this decision. The anti-Microsoft crowd (you know the type -- they're the ones who think it's still clever to say Micro$oft) are quick to malign anything not open source and/or anything Microsoft. Frankly, I'm not one of those people. I respect Microsoft's decision to not pay licensing fees to each of the different codec companies. In the end, the decision keeps the price of the unit down. However, there is one HUGE caveat:
Microsoft, you have got to make it easier to transcode into WMV.
Windows Vista Sounds…
James Senior has updated his Microsoft TechNet blog with captures of the Windows Vista sounds we can expect to here...