I recently purchased a 64-bit windows server and have discovered some limitations with 32-bit applications trying to connect to a 64-bit data source.

They just won't!

So after lots of searching and very little documentation I discovered that there is actually a hidden 32-bit ODBC Administrator within Windows 2003 R2 64-bit.

\windows\syswow64\odbcad32.exe

I created a 32-bit ODBC and my 32-bit application Serv-U FTP now works fine :)

This little nugget of information was found at 64-bit Advantage

Have you seen www.theooze.com and www.dtour.com.au and would love to have a similar solution for your church community? I have spent the past year developing the theooze.com, allelon.org and created my own Australian site dtour.com.au and can now do the same for you. Unlike some other products advertised, Ecobuilder is a product that is fully customizable and best of all you own the source code. You can have it hosted on an ISP of your choice or I can host it for you to give you a reliable and trouble free site that is easy to manage and update.

Want to know more? Then email me for features and pricing.

I have just upgraded my home ADSL and wanted to check my speed. I found a great tool that will check the upload and download of your connection at speedtest.net

I mentioned Googles innovation is causing others to play catch up, BUT, if anyone thinks Google are providing all these tools out of the kindness of their own hearts... think again.

They want access to your information so it can be indexed and searchable. Now I'm no conspiracy theorist nor a doomsdayer but I don't trust ANY company with my information to be used for their own purposes.

First, search was monetised through advertising, then Gmail, spreadsheets, desktop search, storage.... there will be more and more freely available "Tools" but they all have a goal and that is to increase the profits for shareholders... through advertising.

Google have again pushed the boundaries and have developed an online spreadsheet in direct competition to Microsoft's Excel. The next target for Google will be an online word processor. Microsoft is getting nervous and are continually trying to bring out their own versions to compete but it is innovation that captures peoples attention.

Adobe, initiated by Macromedia, have been doing really well at bringing their beta programs to the public through Adobe Labs. Pre-release software that allows people to test out programs for free, before they are finally released.

Now Microsoft have released a beta of Windows Vista for public preview. Now this kind of innovation is great for us the end user, and maybe one day, we'll not have to pay for software but companies will give it away for free...

I might be time to start looking for a new job :)

I woke up recently to find that Microsoft had purchased another small niche company that has a great product. The company is called DeepMetrix and M$ wanted their web server LiveStats program to compete against google.

I have used LiveStats and it powers all the stats on my servers, so when I hear news that it was bought out, FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) automatically sets in. Especially when large companies like Microsoft have a track record of bastardising programs.

It made me wonder who is going to win, which company will end up being at the top of the food chain. It appear every day or so another company has been bought by a larger one.

While I don't ever think there will be one... it is intereting and sometimes disappointing to watch

I have created the RSS feed to tie it into iTunes and the most recent is a new series started with Todd Hunter and Dallas Willard on cultivating communities of the Kingdom.

Link

I purchased a new PDA for business use, an O2 XDA Atom and I have to say it has got every bell and whistle nedded, packed into a tight little unit. I really like it and it keeps me connected to phone, email, IM and it even has Skype :)

It runs on Microsoft Mobile 5.0 OS and it seems pretty stable, so far anyway :)

Link

I finally got to get the DSN Hosting site up.

Check it out and if you need to get a website up and running, give me a call.

http://www.dsnhosting.com/

Just got my ticket today to webDU (previously known as MXDU) the premier Asia Pacific Web Technology Conference, taking place 2 - 3 March 2006 at StarCity Conference Centre, Sydney Australia.

Last year was great and this year is shaping up to be even better :)

I Have just finished reading a book I really enjoyed. The Google Story by David A Vise.

It tells the story of the meteoric rise of Google from an idea to the huge corporation it is today leaving many big industry players in their wake. The book gives the human side to Google and the struggle getting the start-up off the ground. From 2 very bright guys Sergey Brin & Larry Page who hold the motto "Don't Be Evil" they took an idea and persisted with it until it succeded.

Evil is what Brin & Page determine it to be. I have to say after reading the book which was a very positive account of Google it just made me a little warey and I don't necessarily trust Google with my information. I know that was the BIG issue surrounding Gmail but I sense it may be, to some extent, true. Google is innovative, BUT, they aren't transparent, holding a great deal close to their chests and they do it to keep the competition on their toes, BUT it causes a sense of distrust.

I am not sure why I liked reading it (I consumed it in 2 days) But I like the excitment of big business and in reading it, I somehow entered their world for a short time.