NgeBlogDong!@INDC

Grab It While It's Hot!

2008-08-11T16:03:00Z

Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 is RTM.

Download online installer from Microsoft here.

Download ISO from Microsoft here, thanks Z!

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Upgrade Woes

2008-08-11T06:25:00Z

Dear readers, I would like to extend my sincere apologies to lost images on this blog. The hosters last weekend tirelessly upgraded our system to the latest and greatest (and of course, most expensive) infrastructure. I am currently working closely with them to either restore the images, or if they can't find it, I'll have to upload the stuff back.

Well, they never say anything about upgrade/migration woes in marketing materials, right? :D

Cheers!

P.S.: Visual Studio 2008 SP1 is coming today! Subscribers will be able to download tomorrow... This update is required for SQL Server 2008.

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SQL Server 2008 RTM Blocking Issue!

2008-08-09T02:47:56Z

Yes, SQL Server 2008 is released to manufacture (a.k.a. completed) yesterday, so eager people like me eagerly downloaded the whole 3Gb of DVD, and just now installed it.

Well, apparently, I hit a nasty show stopper bug, during installation!

Wah! VS 2008 is not even SP1 yet but this piece of server requires it. I am not going to the route of uninstalling VS 2008 or hacking the system in order to proceed installation.

Good news is, VS 2008 SP1 is coming out very very very soon! I can't tell you when since it's under NDA, but it's definitely soon!

P.S.: this is just a very stupid issue.

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Nikon ViewNX vs. Microsoft Expression Media

2008-08-03T04:11:12Z

In digital photography, there's a concept called raw images. These raw images is the digital analogy of a film. Any information the camera captured during photo shooting is written to this file, no changes are made, that's why it's called raw.

The problem is, different camera vendors uses their own proprietary format. Consumer-level image processing software usually does not provide raw format reading, since they will need to pay for license to each of the camera vendors. Thus, we depend on camera vendors' bundled software (which usually very user unfriendly).

For my shots yesterday, I tried using Nikon's bundled ViewNX software to convert raw files to JPEG, which is the de-facto image format for the web. The problem with it is that it is very slow. I have only 51 raw files, to convert all of them to JPEG allows me to do my nightly chore (taking a bath, brush teeth, recharge my gadgets, etc.) plus some half an hour more.

Just now I remember, Microsoft Expression Studio bundled a media management software called, intuitively, Media. I browsed the Catalog Importers and found out that it capable of doing imports of Nikon raw images! I just now tried importing all my raw images, and it's completed in... 3 minutes! Now, that's what I call performance.

While it's true that raw image processing is more than just JPEG export, I do feel that speed is the ultimate quality aspect for users.

Nikon ViewNX is not without good thing to say though, best of all is that it's free (bundled with the camera), while Expression Media is US$199.

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Old Hobby, New Tool

2008-08-02T16:50:02Z

I was a photographer. While not pro-level, at least I had fun capturing those precious moments on a sheet of paper. I am now restarting this hobby as finally, I've got a hand on Nikon D60. While the results probably won't look as good as Dondy shots, I do invite you to my photostream at flickr.

As a teaser, this is my first shutter count; my lunch.

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Lo and Behold, Zune 8 Black!

2008-07-30T15:39:00Z

Yay, my newest gadget addition is here. Thanks to Chewy who is kind enough to bring the device from far away land called America.

The box:

The contents of the box:

But before I can do anything with it, it must be recharged... argh!

Finally, up!

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Zune Pass Woes

2008-07-26T00:57:00Z

Well, Microsoft finally hit Zune Pass with a lot of track restriction (you can't download, you have to buy). We're not even owning the tracks, why the need to have restrictions?

I've put up a forum post complaining about this issue here. Vote if you think that Zune Pass should lift track restrictions.

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Rural Innovation Achievement Award: Indonesia

2008-07-08T16:09:00Z

Congratulations to the Antarmuka team for winning one of the achievement awards in Imagine Cup 2008.

Source: http://imaginecup.com/about/news.aspx.

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Microsoft SLPS Part 2

2008-07-04T16:02:54Z

Yesterday evening, I've delivered a talk on protecting your code. Frequent readers would recognize that the first half of the talk was actually written in depth in the first SLPS post. It's not perfect, but I had fun. But definitely the best I did in English, so far.

So for you who didn't quite caught up with what I was talking (I know, I mumble here and there trying to buy some time :D), I'll explain in depth through this post.

First of all, I'm going to reemphasize my point of view; open source does not work, for business. It might be good for education, community, or charity, but not for business. You're trying to sell something you share, that's just doesn't make sense. This is why, there's an inherent requirement to protect your code.

When we're thinking about protection, we'll think: "It's compiled! They won't/don't/can't have the source code." Wrong.

If you're still on this mind set, then you should visit (or revisit) the first part of this post. There I demonstrate how easy it is to convert any compiled .NET assembly back to it's original source code. This actually made up the first of three parts of the talk. Compiling a small application and decompiling it using Microsoft and third party tools.

The next part is about basic protection. Microsoft have bundled Visual Studio with Dotfuscator Community Edition. It doesn't do much (even though the UI provided so many different features -- disabled), only some simple renaming. I've demonstrated how to use Dotfuscator.

This is the original code, which is 100% reproducible:

And after obfuscation using Dotfuscator Community Edition, it will become, even though it's 100% reproducible, but it's harder to understand:

Several important points on obfuscation:

The external interface to an obfuscated code will never be modified. This is to ensure that any code that depends on the interface will not break. Of course, this is basic logic.
Dotfuscator stripped all namespace and rename everything to single letter alphabets (sometimes numbers if it runs out of z's).
The obfuscation process happens after your code is done. Which means, it doesn't affect development, at all.
Obfuscation, given enough time and effort, eventually will be broken. It's still reverse engineering, but with added hurdles to slow down progress.

You've seen Dotfuscator in action, now you'll want more. Unfortunately, more means money! You can easily search for obfuscation products using Google Live Search, so finding one is not on the scope of this post. I don't have any product ready, so I just try to open one of the users of obfuscator.

The company is Intersoft, the product is a UI control library. I "volunteered" to crack open their authorization code. Since good product requires good adversaries, therefore I embark upon the journey of the dark.

Here's one piece of the code which I have successfully decompiled:

This is only one part of the code which is the constructor. As you can see the obfuscator actually renamed parts of the code with unidentified characters. It's not easy to distinguish one with another, and in come parts of the code, Reflector crashes when trying to decompile it.

Long story short, I've been able to crack half of it (only the runtime component) in 8 hours. After that I lost interest, since buying it will be cheaper than hacking it.

Several important points on (expensive) obfuscation:

The external interface is not change. Again, this is basic logic.
Obfuscation, given enough time and effort, eventually will be broken. But since the hurdles are higher, the economics become: which one is cheaper; to hack or to buy?
You get what you pay for. Expensive obfuscation will make your code less interesting to hack (except for hardcore hackers out there).

The third part of the talk is actually about Microsoft's product, Software Licensing and Protection Services, or in short SLPS. They have a product web site at root level (which means it's quite important) at www.microsoft.com/slps and if you have MSDN Subscription, you can get a free basic subscription to play with.

The difference between Microsoft and partner offerings is in the way the code protection does. While partners sell obfuscators, Microsoft sells encryptors. So your code is 100% not modified, but encrypted. This encrypted code will then run in a Secure Virtual Machine, or in short SVM. SVM itself runs on top of CLR (so it's still managed code). Moreover, Microsoft also offer activation services for your protected code. So when you pay for protection from Microsoft, they give you the ability to sell your software. Money out, money in.

Details will be in part three.

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Why I'm Sticking with HP

2008-06-07T05:26:05Z

Disclaimer: I am NOT a Hewlett-Packard employee or affiliate. I am just another very satisfied customer of it's products.

Back then in early 2007, I was just graduated and just got bonus from my first real job. Well, that was the time when I was in the market for a laptop. Actually, I've been thinking of getting one for some time, but time and money was not right.

I was browsing for some new ones, my criteria was simple: light and powerful, design is additional score. I was in between Sony VAIO or Macbook. To keep it short, the former holds non-official warranty (it's parallel imported) and the latter was Apple.

So my father took me to his usual used laptop store to take a look at the used ones. I was particularly sensitive to buying used electronic devices. They will never have enough MTBF to justify buying second hand. But that day was different, there's a 2 weeks old laptop on display, and it looks damn cool.

That laptop was then and is still my current laptop.

The HP Compaq nc2400 is a premium business class laptop, even though it's not powerful, it made up in weight, design, and warranty. The warranty was 3 years, international, parts and labor. Which means, if anything happen during the 3 years period, I will just need to deliver it to HP, and they will bring it back to me, up and running, with zero cost.

And yes, they did that.

The first occasion was power adapter problem. It was Indonesia Imagine Cup 2007 Software Design final. I was there as a guest to look at some of the interesting stuff made by our students. At the end of the event, suddenly my laptop is not charging anymore. I'm still thinking that the adapter had short circuit or overload, since the electricity in Indonesia is not that reliable. Nevertheless, I was back in Jakarta the next day, and brought the laptop and the adapter to the service center (which is just around 2 block from my previous company). In 3 days, they have returned my laptop, working exactly like new. They even cleaned up the laptop! Zero fee.

The second occasion was just last week. This time, the optical drive was not working properly (cannot burn, cannot read DVDs, etc.) and the mouse button was not responsive (probably due to some leftover Pringles inside). Nevertheless, I brought the laptop to the service center in Singapore. Within 3 days, they have delivered my laptop, working exactly like new. They also cleaned up the laptop. And again, zero fee.

These two occasion, puts HP in a very good position for my future buy. The other laptop brands I have experience with are Acer (lots of problem when worked overtime) and Toshiba (top of the line quality, but suffers from abysmal after sales support).

But, there is always a room for improvement. On both occasion, the queue is quite slow and long. On both occasion, I've to wait for around 45 minutes until I get to the support officer. Plus, they haven't released similar product to the one I'm using right now. They have one though, but the specification is a little outdated.

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What is 933888?

2008-05-07T15:53:00Z

This magic number seems to hold so many in so short form.

933888 is Microsoft Knowledge Base article for Zune update to version 2.5. Yes, it's here, and it shows that Microsoft listens to customer.

Big improvements for this version are:

Auto playlist is back! (previously removed from v1 to v2)
Gapless play is available (I haven't tried this one).
Video store, now I can watch movie without having to pirate it.

Notable is the social features. Too bad I live in the region where Zune is not out yet (that practically means anywhere but US and Canada), and I can't even upload my play records (since it only accepts North America IP addresses).

Features still on queue:

games, said CTP will be out this month
full five stars rating (previously removed from v1 to v2)

Update: I thought Zune Marketplace is out for updates/repairs, instead it was blocked. Long Zheng have the info on that and how to remove it here.

Update again: Now Zune Card is working! Jamie Thomson have the info on that and how to make it work here.

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Microsoft SLPS (Part 1)

2008-04-16T04:17:00Z

Decompiling means converting a program back to the original source code. Previously, decompilation is difficult because you need to understand assembly (which is the least human readable language). Assembly code is translated into machine language (readable by CPU) by the operating system. In .NET, this is not the case. Decompiling is easy.

.NET Compilation

Before we jump into how to decompile, we need to undestand compilation first. In .NET, compilation means converting from .NET language (Visual Basic or C#) to MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language).

DLL and EXE file you distribute will contain MSIL. When run, the .NET runtime will do another set of compilation before execution (that's why it's called Just-In-Time Compilation) to the platform's assembly language. The assembly language then sent to the platform's operating system.

This means, one set of DLL and EXE file can be run on multiple platform without changes, since translation to the platform's instructions are done after distribution or just before execution. The .NET runtime is also called virtual machine, since it acts as an intermediate machine.

The bad thing is, since the compilation does not generate assembly language, instead a standardized intermediate language, someone can easily take this and translate it back to the original source code with little difficulty.

.NET Decompiler

In fact, the .NET Software Development Kit includes a tool to help you open up the DLL and EXE file to retrieve the MSIL code. This tool is called ildasm.exe (IL De-Assembler). For example, we will decompile a simple Hello World application.

Run ildasm tool. This tool is included with all Windows SDK distribution. You can run it from the Start Menu > Programs > Microsoft Windows SDK [version] > Tools > IL Disassembler.
Once the window is opened, drag and drop the file you want to disassemble. You can use the attached HelloWorld.exe file or any .NET assembly.
To see the IL code, just double click on any method. For this demo, you can double click on Main to see how the console application retrieves the current user name.
.method private hidebysig static void Main(string[] args) cil managed
{
.entrypoint
// Code size       29 (0x1d)
.maxstack 8
IL_0000: nop
IL_0001: ldstr      "Hello {0}!"
IL_0006: call       string [mscorlib]System.Environment::get_UserName()
IL_000b: call       string [mscorlib]System.String::Format(string,
                                                              object)
IL_0010: call       void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string)
IL_0015: nop
IL_0016: call       string [mscorlib]System.Console::ReadLine()
IL_001b: pop
IL_001c: ret
} // end of method Program::Main
I won't dig in to the details of the IL, but suffice to say, you can see that the application calls System.Environment.get_UserName() method to retrieve the current user name. Easy enough.
If you need a more developer-friendly code, you can download Reflector (at http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet/). This tool will convert the IL code back to the language of your choice.

Why Do I Need to Worry?

So people can easily get back my source code. So what? Well, there are several reasons why source code is important.

With source code, you can modify and recompile a modified code. This is easier than changing a compiled binary file. To overcome this, .NET have a feature called Code Access Security. With CAS, you can sign a compiled DLL or EXE with a private key. During execution, you can enforce that the DLL you create have the specific sign. Any tampered DLL will have a different sign.
With source code, your intellectual property; like algorithm, process, or even secret, can be exposed. Imagine you have a product key generation algorithm. Anyone with access to your source code will be able to reverse engineer and generate a valid key for your product, without even paying. This is the part where Microsoft SLPS comes in.

What is Microsoft SLPS Then?

In short, Microsoft SLPS enables you to encrypt parts of your source code. The encrypted parts will not be able to be decompiled. Second part, Microsoft SLPS also enables product feature management. You may want to create three version of your product with different features (and price). You can easily do this with Microsoft SLPS.

I saved the discussion about how to use Microsoft SLPS in the next topic. For those eager to know may visit Microsoft SLPS web site at http://www.microsoft.com/slps. MSDN Subscribers can request for a limited account to try the service.

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I am Hiring

2008-04-05T18:58:08Z

Yes, I am hiring...

I am looking for several freelancers for the following positions:

Web Designer
Application Developer
Technical Writer

General requirements for all position:

Reads, speaks, and writes English fluently. Do submit proof of English fluency (be it a TOEFL cert, IELTS cert, sample writings, or anything that shows off your English). I am very sensitive to bad English, if you can't read MSDN properly, you are not encouraged to apply.
Have good access to Internet, preferably during meeting sessions (usually Saturday mornings). Anywhere, anytime access is even better. Work is exclusively online, from anywhere, anytime you like.
Citizen of Indonesia. I want the work produced by an all-Indonesian team. Reason: http://wss-id.org/blogs/narenda/archive/2008/04/03/berbuat-sesuatu-demi-bangsa.aspx.

Specific requirements for Web Designer:

I will use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft Expression Design exclusively. Your Photoshop/Flash/Dreamweaver skills does not count.
Have the ability to create XHTML 1.0-compliant page. If you don’t know XHTML, you are not encouraged to apply.
Have the ability to use CSS 2.1 effectively. If you don’t know CSS, you are not encouraged to apply.
Be able to create a Web 2.0-style design. Do submit proof of your past designs / design concepts.

Specific requirements for Application Developer:

I will use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and C# exclusively. Express editions does not count (since we are going to use Team Explorer add in).
Have the ability to write unit test. If you don’t know what unit test is, you are not encouraged to apply.
Have the ability to write code that conform with a written coding guidelines. If you don’t know what coding guidelines are, you are not encouraged to apply.
Be able to write working code to satisfy application requirements. Do submit proof of your past code.

Specific requirements for Technical Writer:

I will use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft Word 2007 exclusively.
Have the ability to understand a code and write documentation for it. If you can’t do either or both, you are not encouraged to apply.
Be able to write technical document for public consumption (both techie guys and business users). Do submit proof of your past writings.

I will personally test all applicant which passes the written requirements (unlike some lazy HR guy who just skips through applicants who does not have a famous university degree, for example). Accepted applicants are expected to do 5 hour work week, with payment billable by hours worked. Do submit your expected hourly rate.

Accepted applicants will work on an open source product.

Send your application to me, e-mail address below.

Adrian Godong
adrian.godong@gmail.com
Microsoft MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/adrian

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Windows 7 Private Alpha

2008-04-01T02:30:00Z

I just got the latest bits of the next Windows this morning. I've been playing with it on a Virtual PC on my trusty 10-core laptop.

Here's a little bit of review of what I have found:

You now have access to truly everywhere computing. Microsoft has finally created a product that's true to my vision of future computing. No longer are you tied to a specific computer to do your entire computing task. With Windows 7, all computing is in the clouds (a.k.a. Internet)! Amazon have jump started this trend with Amazon S3 (storage in the clouds) and Amazon EC2 (computing in the clouds). Now Microsoft pushes these two together to build a truly virtual private desktop to users.

How do they achieve this? Well, the OS is built on top of proprietary communication protocol (I don't think this is part of WCF released earlier with .NET Framework 3.5). All processing and storage is done via the network to Microsoft centralized server farm. Local resources are shared via Hyper-V technology to the farm, so everyone gets maximum available performance, limited only by the network bandwidth.

Installation is a breeze, or should I say, installation is instant. Basically it will install every time you boot your computer. The boot up time itself is very fast, since the OS only needs to initialize audio, video, and network devices. Once all three drivers are up, you will see the now-familiar Windows Vista startup animation. They’re still using it to save resources. If you see this animation, you’ll know that audio and video drivers are loaded and running properly.

Next up is network log in. All the functionality is delivered via network. Processing, storage, even logging in is handled via network. You might think Windows 7 will work like Internet browser and Google applications. Well, Microsoft took one step further. By implementing their proprietary communication protocol, you don’t need a browser anymore. Your OS is your “browser”. In this preview version, the Vista taskbar is still there. But if you click the Start orb, what you will get is the list of application available on the cloud. Any computer you use will always have the same application/settings/layout, since all of them are stored in the Internet.

How about USB accessories? If you recall, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 with the latest Remote Desktop version have the ability to forward a USB device to terminal server. In other words, you can do Remote Desktop from your laptop at work to your home server, plug your Zune, and sync the Zune as if it is plugged to your home server. Windows 7 took this approach, so you can plug your USB device from any computer in the world, and it just works! No driver installation is required (after the first one, of course), since the USB port is forwarded. No one can beat this, even Macs!

For applications, Windows 7 preview have very simple applications available; Notepad, calculator, and FreeCell to show off the system’s capabilities to date.

Notepad is just your standard notepad. And since it is based on the existing code, the “bush hid the fact” Unicode trick is still there. Improvement to it is web-based dictionary, spell check, and grammar. These feature use to be available on Word, but since the Web 2.0 era, several web sites provide the service for free. So why not leverage them and put it to Notepad? Dictionary is from Wiktionary, spell check is from SpellCheck.net, and grammar is from proprietary Microsoft service (based on Word).

Calculator is also your standard calculator. Although now it does provide a Web 2.0 finish, there’s a new option of “post to community”, just like the one in Visual Studio. It’s not working yet right now, but I’m envisioning something like community-based home-work discussion portal that revolves around Calculator.exe. Cool.

FreeCell is now multiplayer-only. Since you will need to go online to access it, why not implement a transparent multiplayer lobby? You will have the same problem set, and compete with others to solve it. You now have three empty cells, and four empty shared cells between other three players.

OK, my laptop configuration is a 10-core processor with 10 GB of RAM. If everything runs on the network, then what would my top-of-the-line hardware will be used for? Well, Microsoft knows this, and they are surely tapping it up. While all the operations are being done on the server, what you don’t know is, they forced you to donate your computing powers for public use. So when you’re playing Starcraft 2, one of your units could’ve been rendered on your rival’s processor! This grid computation is derived from Hyper-V technology, again from Windows Server 2008. Microsoft promises to tweak this technology to improve load balancing with peer to peer communication. Since this is a preview version with very few users, my CPU never hit 10% on idle. Memory usage is even lower than Vista, clocking only 50Mb on idle.

I will also hear IT Administrators complain. If everything is stored on Microsoft servers, then how do they manage data security, policy, etc? Well fear not, Microsoft will launch the server part of Windows 7 to corporate enterprises. This server will enable you to act like Microsoft servers. In fact, during log in, you will be able to choose which server you want to connect. You can optionally sync these servers to achieve the same look and fell between accounts on different servers.

Unfortunately under NDA, no pictures/video/screen shot will be available for public consumption. Can’t wait for the public beta!

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NgeBlogDong!@INDC

Grab It While It's Hot!

Upgrade Woes

SQL Server 2008 RTM Blocking Issue!

Nikon ViewNX vs. Microsoft Expression Media

Old Hobby, New Tool

Lo and Behold, Zune 8 Black!

Zune Pass Woes

Rural Innovation Achievement Award: Indonesia

Microsoft SLPS Part 2

Why I'm Sticking with HP

What is 933888?

Microsoft SLPS (Part 1)

More and More Quality Readings!

I am Hiring

Windows 7 Private Alpha