Easy File Transfer Methods in Windows

Last year I was working on a project to analyze how humans make decisions under certain conditions. For this project, I had to develop a game that students in my University could play and they were paid up to $50 for their participation. I developed the game in Visual Basic. NET and initially wanted to run it in the computer laboratory in my Department. However, I decided that it would be easier to put the game up online and let people download it onto their computers and play it at their convenience. At this time, I had to come up with a technique to capture their responses. I did not want them to mail me their responses at the end of the game because it was going to be inconvenient to them and to me. Also because their payments was based on their responses, they could manipulate them to increase their payoffs.

To avoid such a situation, I decided to use Microsoft’s own File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service, which is very easy to configure. Visit this link to learn how – FTP: Setting Up Windows NT 4.0, 2000, or XP Workstations to Accept FTP Transfers .

The advantage in Microsoft’s FTP is that no special client software is required to view the files on the FTP. They can be viewed directly from the Explorer window. Also, the VB.NET code used to open the FTP connection and to read/write files is pretty simple. The code can be found here: VB. Net FTP Client.

A second level of protection I used was a Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/ IP) connection which prevented people from playing the game more than once. The advantage of this technique is that the connection stays on as long as the server machine is on and the internet is working. Because of this, people could play the game at any time of day.

The game was a success. Overall, 50-60 people played it and except for one response which was not captured due to a faulty internet connection, all other details were successfully captured.

The TCP/IP server is still on in Tucson, AZ and since I’m in California at the moment, I use it for accessing files etc. on the host server (in addition to using Remote Desktop Connection). Another technique (which was incidentally suggested to me by a Microsoft programmer) is to use Cygwin’s Secure Shell (SSH) service (Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows, in case anyone is wondering). Simple configuration instructions are given here. I used FileZilla Client on the client machine (which, in my opinion is the easiest to use SSH client) and it worked like a charm. I had to shut down and restart the SSH service occassionally, but other than that I never had any problems.

I’ve transferred over 8 GB of data from one computer to another (within the same network). By the way, I did try other solutions, including using the FileZilla server, but found the above two methods to be the easiest.

As an aside, in my opinion, this is the most relevant article I’ve written on this site, considering its focus on Web 2.0 and Linux. My previous articles had more to do with Microsoft desktop software and an mp3 player that no one is interested in. :-p

 

Launchy for Windows

 

From Launchy.net

Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!

More details are available here. It’s a very useful tool. Simply press the key combination: Alt + Space to bring up the launcher and in a few keystrokes, you can run your favorite program. Furthermore, you can also index your documents, music, etc.  Of course, if you’ve found a better alternative, please feel free to leave comments.

 

Microsoft Max

A year or so back, Microsoft decided to develop applications that made use of Microsoft’s Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and the new .Net Framework 3.0. So far, Microsoft seems to have developed only two such applications, the first being the New York Times Reader (see screenshots here) and the second, Microsoft Codename Max. A friend of mine told me about Max in October 2005. At that time it was simply a photo-sharing tool. I saw screenshots and description on the web and that was all. I didn’t think it would be useful since in order to share photos with someone, the other person would need to download the software too. In November or December 2005, Microsoft added a news reader to Max. I downloaded it this time, but uninstalled it after a couple of days. The software was way too heavy for my 700 MHz Pentium III Dell Laptop with 512MB Ram. Finally, this year, Microsoft added the ability to add RSS feeds to Max. Since most bloggers were raving about how gorgeous it was, I decided to download it and give it a try. This time I was downloading it on a faster 1.6 GHz AMD Turion Laptop with 512MB Ram.

As mentioned earlier, Max is a photo-sharing tool and an RSS reader. Now, I have no idea why one would need both these features in one piece of software. In this review, I’ll examine the features of Max.

Installation:

The software installation process is painfully slow. It takes 20 – 30 minutes (because the .NET framework has to be installed too) and the computer needs to be rebooted at the end of it. I guess things will improve with Vista. As of now, the software is not compatible with Vista, though.

The photo sharing features are decent.

One can make some cool looking albums in 2-D and 3-D view, but there is no provision to publish it to the web. As mentioned above, you can share photos only with people who have this software installed. On the whole, I don’t see this as a very useful feature.

The news/ RSS reader, on the other hand, though rudimentary, is gorgeous. Adding a feed is simple – simply click on “Add a feed” and enter the address. All feeds that you’ve added are visible on the left. Clicking on any of them brings up a nice view of the page, as shown below. Deleting feeds is also a simple two step process. However, several advanced options that are available in web-based feed readers, are not available in Max.

On the whole, Max makes great use of WPF but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to make this product useful.

 

Analyzing the Zune

<More pics here>

*Firstly, thanks to “phoenix” for inviting me to post on this site. This article is a slightly modified version of the one I posted on the sparks team blog.*

Microsoft until now followed a model where they provided a DRM scheme to hardware manufacturers such as Creative, iRiver and Samsung and didn’t get involved in the hardware part. That model has obviously not worked in its favor, since Apple controls over 75% of the mp3 market in the US. Some time late last year, Microsoft decided enough was enough and asked J. Allard of the XBox team to start working on an mp3 player. Last week, Microsoft finally (officially) launched their own mp3 player. Newspapers and blog sites (the ones I read) have been abuzz with articles about it. So, why not add one more to the list? Here’s my take on the features, the UI, and the looks in general of Zune. I’ll list things I like and dislike about it and features that I’d like to see when it’s released. All this is based on what I’ve seen and read on the Internet and I’m liable to change my opinion in future. Let me start with the things I dislike about it.

1. Firstly, it’s not as attractive as the iPod. It looks cool and everything, but I don’t like the middle wheel – it seems to be made of some cheap plastic.
2. Also, why are there no markings on the wheel. That’s pretty weird.
3. Is that an Ipod? Frankly, though, I’d rather that they copy the iPod than anything else. Also, MS holds the patent on iPod’s click wheel (although Zune doesn’t have one).
4. Too little, too late: Microsoft is joining the party five years too late so you’d expect the device to offer something new or revolutionary, right? WiFi can hardly be considered that.
5. It looks too big and unwieldy. Will it even fit into the pocket?

The things I like about it:

1. Brown color: I love the brown Zune. I’m probably the only one in this country who does. Who cares. I like it nevertheless. It seems like a throwback to the 70s culture that Gap, American Eagle, Express, etc. are trying to bring back. Nice!
2. WiFi: While WiFi will initially be limited to allowing people to share music, the possibilities, as MS has pointed out, are endless. I see a scenario where one can wirelessly transfer songs from the computer to the music player one day.
3. Video quality/ Screen size: They rock. Not only does the device have a big screen, the video and image quality are also great (see the pic).
4. FM radio: This seems to have been done well. You can see the name of the song that’s playing, which is pretty useful.
5. The “click wheel” is not a click wheel: In an iPod, you have to move your finger over the click wheel to increase the volume. Now, although it may appear so to iPod users, it’s not the easiest thing to do. Thankfully, Zune has buttons instead of a click wheel.
6. I’ve heard that the UI is more intuitive than the iPod’s.

Things that I’d like to see in the Zune:

1. Developer support: I’d like to see people being able to develop applications and games for the Zune. I’m sure this is in the pipeline, since it’s already been done with the XBox.
2. Games: Good ones, not the crappy $5 iPod ones. Free games created by Microsoft and third party developers (see point (1)). Frankly, this is where buttons are more useful than click wheels. I’ve played a couple of games on the iPod and the click wheel is a pain.
3. Ability to stream videos from YouTube directly. I don’t even know if this is possible. If it is, I’d love to see it.

Overall, I think it’s a pretty decent offering from Microsoft, considering that this is their first time, for a product like tis. And, although journalists and pseudo-journalists have tried to label it as Microsoft’s “iPod killer”, Microsoft is definitely aware of the fact that it’s practically impossible to dethrone iPods with just a single product. This product is more of getting a foot in the door for Microsoft. I like their marketing approach too. Instead of trying to get big names like Bono to tout the product, Microsoft has instead chosen to go with smaller bands and viral videos. It’s a good approach and only time will tell if it’ll succeed. They’ve also come up with a couple of viral videos at comingzune.com. For more information and pics, go to zunethoughts.com or zuneluv.com or better yet, go to the source – Ceser Menendez runs a blog site, zuneinsider.com, where you can get the inside scoop on the product. It also features a list of sites related to Zune. So, check it out when you have the time. The product will be launched in the US some time in November and will apparently cost $229.

iPod and iTunes

The integration of iPod with iTunes and the songs on the iTunes music store may be of interest to techies and journalists, but frankly, do high schoolers and college going kids really care about all that? Do they really buy an iPod because of iTunes (it actually works the other way around)? Most youngsters buy iPods because of peer pressure. They don’t compare iPods’ features to those of other mp3 players. They just don’t care. They buy an iPod to fit in and for that reason, the initial release of Zune needn’t have any killer features. They just need to market it well so that these people will want it. And of course, they need all the luck they can get. It’s not easy. In fact, if you ask me now if this product stands a chance, my answer will be an unequivocal ”no!” Like all other iPod wannabes, this product will probably soon be forgotten. Of course, there’s one thing that sets this product apart from the rest – it’s been made by the world’s largest software company and for that reason alone it’s been generating a lot of buzz. It remains to be seen if this initial buzz will translate into sales, but based on the initial feature-set, I wouldn’t bet on that. In fact, I think it’ll probably eat into its partners’ marketshare first.

Technorati Tags: Zune, music, technology, microsoft, mp3