Last Sunday the PTUB (Perth Twitter Underground Brigade) crew headed to the North Fremantle Centre for BowlingTUB, where we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of barefoot bowls, live music, BBQ and beer. It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thanks goes out to John Cooke, for organizing the event and cooking up the BBQ in the sweltering heat, and to all the PTUBians who attended.

I’ve had never actually tried lawn bowling before. I watched everyone have a go and took some photos during the afternoon heat, then played a few games with Keg as the sun faded. Everyone kept advising me not to bounce my balls, but I found bouncing to actually help, not hinder, my bowling. Except that time I smashed the white ball into another universe.

Note: I wish this post was brought to you by Bawls, the perfect drink to keep you bouncing through your day or night, because it would tie-in nicely. I’m not that cool. Yet.

Bien, hace un par de dias me preguntaron que charla daria el proximo 8 de abril en el Cell on camp que estamos organizando para la ciudad de Salta, y me dije a mi misma que debia dar algo de lo nuevo de multitouch, el problema es que… mi portatil es ONE TOUCH, asi que como podria trabajar en algo con multitouch si no tengo el equipo necesario?

Bien, gracias a un amigo Szymon Kobalczyk he descubierto que se puede emultar el multitouch con diferentes dispositivos, o sea explico mejor, existe un driver que emula diferentes mouse en la pantalla, acorde a los dispositivos de entrada que tengas conectados por usb, en mi caso, tengo el mouse incorporado de la portatil, el mouse independiente por usb y el pen de mi touchscreen, instalando este emulador, tengo 3 mouse a disposicion en mi pantalla… ahora, quise ir mas alla por que la idea del multitouch la tengo desde el surface verdad? y que si creamos un surface, tambien gracias a Szymon encontre la forma de crear un surface simplemente con una webcam, una caja, un papel blanco y un poco de vidrio, e aqui el material y lo necesario.

Paso uno, conseguir una caja.

Paso dos, conseguir una web cam y pegarla al fondo de la caja.

Paso tres colocar el papel pegado al vidrio.

Paso cuatro conectar la camara via USB a la portatil.

vuala!

Una vez con esto, es necesario instalar el programa que me tomará las señales de mi webcam. Este soft se llama T-BETA y pueden descargarlo aqui. El soft debe tomar las señales de la siguiente forma, si ven el video que hizo miguel saez sobre como funciona surface pueden notar que de la misma forma aqui esta tomando los datos de los ingresos de los dedos. VER vIDEO

Una vez esto ahora hay que instalar el emulador de multitouch, para ello descarguen el mismo desde codeplex en este link. 

Para instalarlo simplemente ejecuten cmd y dirijanse a la carpeta de instalacion de driver, si tenes procesador x64 anda a esa carpeta, de ahi ejecuta en cmd lo siguienet “install driver.cmd”

y listo, se termino la instalación, para verificar la misma segui este video.

Una vez instalado disfruta de multitouch!!! Ahora, estoy averiguando como funciona el sdk de surface y su emulador, para la proxima les comento sobre esto!

In my opinion, it is not necessary to encrypt workstation hard drives, so long as your organization is not subject to any regulations requiring such encryption, no data is deliberately stored on the workstation hard drives and the organization has adequate physical security. Brian Posey, Workstation hard drive encryption: Overdue or overkill?

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is full disk encryption.

I have a couple of interesting gigs coming up in April.

First is a Wikipedia editing workshop at the Australian Computers in Education Conference. I gave a talk called ‘Safe wiki’ at the last such conference, in Canberra in 2008. Now it is rolling around to Melbourne and I am doing something a bit more hands-on.

Registrations for ACEC are now open. You can also buy a ticket just for Thursday (to catch the open source stream!) or even just a half-day if you like.

Second is something quite exciting, the National Library of Australia’s Innovative Ideas Forum. It is a national event they hold, one day long, free, but only about 300 attendees. This year they are encouraging the use of Twitter throughout, and will probably podcast it, if last year is any indication. One of the other speakers is Nicholas Gruen, who was head of the Government 2.0 Taskforce. Esteemed company indeed! My talk is called “Is Wikipedia a one-off?: Is mass collaboration all it’s cracked up to be?“

The NLA is a great host for such an event; it doesn’t surprise me that they are encouraging big-thinking and innovation in technology. Their Australian Newspapers site is not only a fine example of making dead-wood products machine readable and comfortably at home amongst the electrons, but it also integrates ‘crowdsourcing’ (OCR correction) in a very natural and, from what I understand, successful manner.

I hear places are filling up quickly so if you are in Canberra, register soon!

I think the New York Times stole my idea.  On Motherlode, there are two posts that are an interesting contrast.  In one post, the writer abandons a friendship with a childless friend and seeks out the moms with whom she feels more comfortable and can relate to.  In the other, the writer realizes that just because you both have kids doesn’t mean you should be friends.  I fall into the latter category.  When Mr. Geeky took his first job, the wife of one of his colleagues invited me to join a “mommy” group.  I enjoyed the group, but only established a friendship with one or two of the 30 or so women who were members.  I, too, got tired of talking about what my kids were doing developmentally all the time.  I wanted to talk about my work, my passions, my interests.  And the women I got along with best in that group were the ones who’s children were oldest.  One woman told me at some point that even though I didn’t look it, I seemed much older and wiser than I was.  I took it as a complement.  My closest local friends include both parents and non-parents. I also have quite a few male friends, and interestingly, when I look back at high school and college, I was closer to more men than women as just friends. Among my parent friends, though we do often discuss our children, we spend plenty of time talking politics and current events and about other interests.  That’s what maintains a friendship, not having kids the same age.

Related posts:

1. Mommy blogging
2. Why we get defensive
3. The Rise of Online Social Networks

Llewellyn and I have continued to work on the Teaching Kids Programming Resources, we’d like to share progress here:

1) We registered the domain names www.TeachingKidsProgramming.org and www.TeachingKidsProgramming.com and will be migrating resources there over the next few months.

2) We created a calendar of live events for us to deliver for 2010.  We plan to visit a good number of US States, Africa and Canada this year.  When we visit a city, we plan to conduct a live event with kids and another one to train teachers locally.  We’ll publish this calendar on our website soon!

3) We will begin remote training of interested teachers.  We plan to record all remote trainings.  We will start a regular schedule of remote trainings later this month.  If you are interested, ping me via this blog.

4) We have new recipes, variations and quizzes to add to our library!  We’ll publish them after we test them with kids.

5) We are getting ready to host 3 Microsoft DigiGirlz events in April.  These events are as follows: Friday, April 3 in San Diego; Friday, April 16 in Los Angeles; Friday, April 23 in Irvine.  Free, but you must register.  To register, follow the instructions below.

Q. How do girls register to attend a DigiGirlz Day?

A. Microsoft accepts high school girls on a first-come, first-served basis.

• High schools can request to register girls for a DigiGirlz Day in their city by using the contact or registration information provided next to the city name in the list on this page. For general questions, contact msgirlz@microsoft.com.
• An individual girl who is currently in high school is welcome to register for a DigiGirlz Day in her area by using the contact information provided in the list on this page or by sending an e-mail message with her name, her city and state, and the name of her high school to msgirlz@microsoft.com.
• Release Forms. All students and parent/legal guardian (if under 18) must complete and sign a media release form in order to attend the DigiGirlz event. The form can be obtained by e-mailing the appropriate event location found above.

6) We are preparing to work as ‘guest teachers’ at the Girls’ Middle School in Mountain View, CA.  Michele Hutton, president of the Computer Science Teachers of America, teaches there.  She has invited us to teach.  While in Mountain View, we’ll also be training teachers for a DigiGirlz event in SFO, as well as meeting with more CSTA teachers.

Speaking of teachers, we received a lovely quote from a teacher who participated in one of our event’s last month.

“I recently completed a three hour version of this course.  It was remarkable what I was able to accomplish within minutes.  Your students will be thrilled afterward.”

When we were starting, we were lucky to find a small office thru an ad in Buy & Sell! Office spaces are usually 100 square meters and up, which is just (whew!) way out there, when you’re bootstrapping.

Incubators

Ayala TBI and DOST both have incubators. Recently opened are Open TBI is along C.P. Garcia Ave. near UP and Ateneo and UP Visayas Cebu College TBI. Both have spaces about roughly 15-30 square meters, which is just enough for a small team of 3-5 developers. It’s enough to get you started working on a prototype and you’ll have access to mentors and neighboring startups.

Virtual Offices and Coworking spaces

Another option if you just want a place to telecommute from time to time and can’t face being at the coffee shop all day is to rent a desk at Proud Cloud’s Hackspace in Eastwood. That’s definitely a “hacker house”, if that’s what you’re looking for. No long-term lease, you can just use the desk for a day or a month, and pay as you go.

With a more traditional business feel are the proliferating virtual offices in the metro. In Makati alone, there are: Worldnet Biz Center (830-0205 – 07 loc 11) and My Office along Salcedo Street and Makati Corporate (893-8909) near Don Bosco, and of course prestigious Regus at Enterprise. You can rent a desk or two for at usually at least 3-6 months for less than P5,000. Get a plan that allows you a few hours of the meeting rooms and conference facilities of the shared office space, so you can have private time for product presentations or customer interviews or skype calls.

Are you ready to step it up? Did I miss any other virtual office or small office options for startups and telecommuters? Feel free to share which ones you’ve tried or would like to try.

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7-8pm – LIZ REVISION: DJ set & presentation on Marketing, Branding & PR for DJs
8-9pm – ORVILLE KLINE from MIW: Intro to Digital DJing 101 9-10pm – JOSH from MIW: Advanced Traktor
10pm-2am – Live Performance by Legendary DJ — Loco Dice w/Martin Buttrich, Livo & Roby

Friday, March 12, 7-10pm
Spy Bar, 646 North Franklin Street

Sponsored by
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
MUSIC INDUSTRY WORKSHOP
GUITAR CENTER

HOSTED SKY VODKA BAR FROM 7-8PM

DJ’s, producers, and music lovers join us for a FREE Digital DJ Workshop sponsored by Native Instruments, Music Industry Workshop, and Guitar Center. Witness the new age of digital DJ technology: Friday March 12th 7pm-10pm @ Spybar Chicago. Activities include a FREE Digital DJ Workshop, Networking Reception, and Live DJ Showcases.

Native Instruments product specialist Josh ‘Doc’ Helton will showcase all the top features of the groundbreaking new Traktor Scratch Pro and Kontrol X1. Guests will be amazed at how this technology seamlessly integrates with existing DJ systems. Thomas Faulds and Music Industry Workshop instructors will host a Digital DJ 101 clinic that showcases the immense power and versatility of computer-based DJ technology.

There will be plenty of networking, refreshments, drink specials, free raffles, prizes, and giveaways including gift certificates, t-shirts, gear, and a hosted Sky Vodka Bar from 7-8pm. Professional DJ’s, instructors, and product specialists will be on hand to share tips and tricks with the audience.

Spy Bar invites everyone to stick around after the event for a special live DJ performance by Native Instruments sponsored legendary Loco Dice (www.locodice.com), and Martin Buttrich, with Livo and Roby.

“Chicago has one of the most vibrant DJ cultures in the world. But if we’re going to be competitive we have to stay current with all the new technology. Events like these are extremely important to Chicago DJs. Anyone who wants to get in the game or stay in the game needs to show up”
- Thomas Faulds, Chicago-based Artist, Producer, Electronic Music Guru.

ABOUT SPYBAR
(http://www.spybarchic…) Spybar Chicago is Chicago’s premier DJ venue. This 4,000 Sq Feet night club boasts one of the best sound systems in the country. Spybar showcases world renowned celebrity guest DJ’s and residents.

ABOUT NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
(http://www.native-ins…) Native Instruments is a leading manufacturer of software and hardware for computer-based music production and performance. Native Instruments is spearheading the digital DJ revolution.

ABOUT MUSIC INDUSTRY WORKSHOP
(http://www.miworkshop…) Celebrating 13 years, Music Industry Workshop is the area’s leading training and resource center for DJ technology, recording, mixing, digital music production, music business, live sound, and music video.

ABOUT GUITAR CENTER
(http://www.guitarcent…) Guitar Center is the leading United States retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards, pro-audio, recording, and DJ equipment.

Chicago Music Promotions
(http://www.chicagomus…) The Professional Social Networking Website for Music Fans, Artists & Djs.
CONTACT
Thomas Faulds
Music Industry Workshop
dj@miworkshop.com
http://www.miworkshop…

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Minister Jodi McKay MP keynoted a recent Females in Telecommunications & Technology luncheon to celebrate International Women’s Day. During the event, she highlighted one of the biggest challenges facing Women in Technology: One in five Australians studying to work in ICT was female, and the number is currently in decline.

On the 24^th of March, Microsoft Sydney office will be starting the first in a series of events to combat this issue, hosting Girls from Years 9-11 from High Schools all over Sydney for the first Australian DigiGirlz day.

Microsoft is proud to offer technology programs that target youth, with DigiGirlz events held at multiple Microsoft locations worldwide. These events are designed specifically to provide high school girls with a better understanding of what a career in technology is all about.

During the event, students interact with Microsoft employees and managers as well as staff from universities that invest in technological areas of study to gain exposure to careers in business and technology and to get an inside look at what it's like to work at Microsoft. This exciting event provides girls with career planning assistance, information about technology and business roles, thought-provoking exercises, and interesting Microsoft product demonstrations. By participating in the Microsoft DigiGirlz Day, young women can find out about the variety of opportunities available in the high-tech industry and can explore future career paths.

This will be supplemented by round table areas that give students the chance to talk with local University representatives to discuss study options and university criteria to help them best plan their final years subjects to best prepare them for an exciting career in IT.

The day will run from 11:30 – 3:30 and will comprise of several sessions covering topics such as having a passion for Technology and what you can do with it, and a brief look at Introductory Programming languages, presented by leading Microsoft speakers. The action will then move to the 4 rotating rooms of interactive content:

Hands on Lab: Interact with the latest Microsoft Technology to build your own rich media creations using technologies like DeepZoom and PhotoSynth.

Technology Sneak Peak: See Ashley Jenkins demonstrate the awesome new Project Natal technology which is revolutionising the Gaming Industry & the growing number of careers in this Dynamic space.

University Round Tables: Speak with students & Faculty representatives from Key Australian Universities about the best paths to studying IT at University. Also represented will be some of Australia’s Leading IT Industries, to talk about the Government & Not for Profit programs that support growing this industry.

Female Role Model Round Tables: Take the opportunity to speak with Female Role Models from Microsoft & our Partners about the reasons they chose to work in the IT Industry and hear about the various & rewarding careers they have.

So if you are a female student that is currently in Years 9 – 11 at school & thinking about a career in IT, let us know if you would like to come along by sending an e-mail message with your name, city and state, and the name of your high school to dgau@microsoft.com.

You know how to sort an Excel list alphabetically, and with Excel 2007 you can even sort an Excel list by colour. Did you know that you can also create a custom list in Excel and use that to sort your data, instead of sorting in alphabetical or numerical order?

Instead of sorting the products in this table alphabetically, we’ll create a custom list of products, and use it when sorting the list.

Create a Custom List in Excel

You can create a custom list in Excel by importing a list from a worksheet, or by typing a new list. In this example, there is a worksheet named Lists, and it contains a product list. We’ll import that list, to create the custom list.

To create the custom list:

1. Select the cells that contain the list items
2. On the Ribbon, click the Office Button, then click Excel Options.
3. In the Popular category, click Edit Custom Lists

   

4. In the Custom Lists dialog box, the list address — $A$2:$A$5 — should appear in the Import range box. If not, you can click in the Import range box, and type a range, or select a range on the worksheet.

   

5. To add the selected range as a custom list, click the Import button.
6. The list items will appear in the List entries section of the Custom List dialog box, and at the end of the list of existing Custom Lists.

   

7. Click OK to close the Custom Lists dialog box, and click OK to close the Excel Options window.

Use the Custom List

You can use the custom lists when sorting, and you can also use them with the AutoFill feature. Type any item from a custom list in a cell, then use the Fill handle to complete the list.

Sort the Excel List in Custom Order

To sort your list based on your custom list, follow these steps:

1. Select a cell in the table that you want to sort.
2. On the Ribbon’s Data tab, click Sort
3. In the Sort dialog box, select a Column from the first drop down, and select Values from the Sort On drop down.
4. In the Order drop down, click Custom List
5. In the Custom List dialog box, select your custom list, and click OK

   

6. Click OK to close the Sort dialog box

The list is sorted in the order of the items in your custom list.

Watch the Excel Sort Video

To see the steps for adding an Excel Custom List, then sorting by that Custom List, watch this short Excel video tutorial.

More Sort Options

After I wrote about sorting by colour, Jim Cone offered me a copy of this Special Sort Excel add-in. I finally had a chance to test it, and although I’m still not a fan of sorting by colour, the add-in has several sort options that would be useful. Instead of spending time on workarounds and formulas in helper columns, you can use the add-in. For example, you can:

• sort a list by the length of the text in the cells
• ignore leading articles (A, An, The)
• sort based on the reverse order of the cell contents
• sort by numbers at the end of the cell text

To buy the Special Sort add-in ($19 US), or request a trial version, contact Jim:  james.cone @  comcast.net

____________

….made up of scraps I had lying around that you might enjoy…eclecticism ahead…

1. Public libraries and the future

• Role of public libraries in supporting and promoting digital participation – from the British Museums, Libraries and Archives council , examining the role of the public library in the “Digital Britain” Strategy.
• The bookends scenarios: Alternative futures for the New South Wales Public Network in NSW in 2030 . Four possible scenarios are discussed – Silent Spring, Buildings Learn, Neuromancers and Fahrenheit 451 – based on matrix of the degree to which libraries and their content are valued and how orderly or chaotic society is.  The longer post I had about this is just not going to be finished, but Jo Ransom has written two great responses to it that are worth reading – Thinking about the bookends report , and Bookends scenario .

2. Digital preservation guides for small libraries

• Preservation guidelines – from the Digital New Zealand site, updated 8 March 2010. Has some great tips about backup formats and procedures.
• Creating and keeping your digital treasures – from the State Library of Western Australia, update 10 January 2010.  Written for a non-technical audience, it outlines the minimum file format and quality standards for material archived by the library .

3. ebooks

• Books in the age of the iPad .  by Craig Mod. March 2010. Beautitfully illustrated and laid out, this article distinguishes between “formless content” which can go digital without any loss and “definite content” that relies on its container for complete enjoyment of the work.  It discusses the future potential and advantage for both.
• Web standards for e-books by Joe Clark  at A List Apart . 9 March 2010 . Explains why ebooks have so many typos in their layout – partly due to publishers scanning in print versions rather than working from the original digital files, partly due to digital layouts that work fine when the item is printed but not so well when it is interpreted by ebook readers. It outlines a way that authoring using standardised HTML would make it all so.much.better. Check out the epub Zen Garden that shows how you should make your e-book reader do the work to change the layout, not the original text.

4.New Australian library Friendfeed room

• Ozlib – chitterchatter for Australian Library folk. A couple of my twitter friends were starting with Friendfeed, so I have created a Friendfeed room for Australian Libraries. Friendfeed allows a longer, threaded conversation that is different from Twitter – and also lets you feed your content from other sources into your account. If you are on Friendfeed, or thinking of joining then feel free,  pop into the Ozlib room and join in.

5. Bypass ahead – why DRM could be driving users away from our library materials

• You’ve probably seen this cartoon, based on screenshots made by Brad Colbow, when he tried to download an audiobook using the Cleveland Public Library’s Overdrive service, Why DRM doesn’t work or how to download an audiobook from the Cleveland Public Library .  I was pointed toward it by folks in my Twitter stream after I tweeted that I was in a session about e-books and public libraries where the speaker had suggested that bittorrenting wasn’t a viable alternative for many ebooks because the quality wasn’t any good…ummm..no.  I suggest that librarians who want to understand this issue learn how to use something like Vuze to download (legal!!!) content, then compare it to the products vendors are trying to sell us.

Originally posted by Jane Lewis on http://blogs.technet.com/janelewis

I have been working with a customer recently who has a print server that has had its spooler crashing after a 3rd Party service running on it was locking up and freezing and falling over.

One of the signs it was about to fall over was running the following command against the server and seeing lots and lots of Close_waits. This was observed by running the

Netstat –an command. Example output below.

So what do the “State” actually mean. And what is the significance of Close_Wait.

Understanding the TCP sequence of steps for socket closing

As the TCP conversation is a ports and sockets sequence, to understand how to troubleshoot it and carry out root cause analysis. This was an excellent blog that explains this tcp socket conversation very well

http://j2eedebug.blogspot.com/2008/12/difference-between-closewait-and.html

Also see below for the explanation of the different states sockets can enter into as part of that conversation.

State Description

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137984

CLOSED
Indicates that the server has received an ACK signal from the client and the connection is closed

CLOSE_WAIT
Indicates that the server has received the first FIN signal from the client and the connection is in the process of being closed

So this essentially means that his is a state where socket is waiting for the application to execute close()

A socket can be in CLOSE_WAIT state indefinitely until the application closes it.
Faulty scenarios would be like filedescriptor leak, server not being execute close() on socket leading to pile up of close_wait sockets

ESTABLISHED
Indicates that the server received the SYN signal from the client and the session is established

FIN_WAIT_1
Indicates that the connection is still active but not currently being used

FIN_WAIT_2
Indicates that the client just received acknowledgment of the first FIN signal from the server

LAST_ACK
Indicates that the server is in the process of sending its own FIN signal

LISTENING
Indicates that the server is ready to accept a connection

SYN_RECEIVED
Indicates that the server just received a SYN signal from the client

SYN_SEND
Indicates that this particular connection is open and active

TIME_WAIT
Indicates that the client recognizes the connection as still active but not currently being used

So the explanation for a close_wait situation is as below;

CLOSE is an operation meaning "I have no more data to send." that is the

client/server has chosen to treat CLOSE in a simplex fashion. The user who CLOSEs

may continue to RECEIVE Until he is told that the other side has CLOSED also. Thus,

a program/application could initiate several SENDs followed by a CLOSE, and then

continue to RECEIVE until signalled that a RECEIVE failed because the other side has

CLOSED. We assume that the TCP will signal a user, even if no RECEIVEs are

outstanding, that the other side has closed, so the user can terminate his side

gracefully. A TCP will reliably deliver all buffers SENT before the connection was

CLOSED so a user who expects no data in return need only wait to hear the

connection was CLOSED successfully to know that all his data was received at the

destination TCP. Users must keep reading connections they close for sending until

the TCP says no more data.

 Adjusting Registry Settings

Registry keys to look at which can sometimes help to configure and adjust this conversation.

MaxUserPort

TcpTimedWaitDelay

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137984

TCP Connection States and Netstat Output

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328476

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938196.aspx

HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

• MaxUserPort

This entry makes more ports available. 

• TcpTimedWaitDelay

Reducing this value from its default setting of 240 seconds will make ports expire sooner. This parameter determines the length of time that a connection stays in the TIME_WAIT state when it is being closed. While a connection is in the TIME_WAIT state, the socket pair cannot be reused. This is also known as the 2MSL state because the value should be double the maximum segment lifetime on the network. See RFC 793 for more details. 

I have been working with a customer recently who has a print server that has had its spooler crashing after a 3rd Party service running on it was locking up and freezing and falling over.

One of the signs it was about to fall over was running the following command against the server and seeing lots and lots of Close_waits. This was observed by running the

Netstat –an command. Example output below.

So what do the “State” actually mean. And what is the significance of Close_Wait.

Understanding the TCP sequence of steps for socket closing

As the TCP conversation is a ports and sockets sequence, to understand how to troubleshoot it and carry out root cause analysis. This was an excellent blog that explains this tcp socket conversation very well

http://j2eedebug.blogspot.com/2008/12/difference-between-closewait-and.html

Also see below for the explanation of the different states sockets can enter into as part of that conversation.

State Description

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137984

CLOSED
Indicates that the server has received an ACK signal from the client and the connection is closed

CLOSE_WAIT
Indicates that the server has received the first FIN signal from the client and the connection is in the process of being closed

So this essentially means that his is a state where socket is waiting for the application to execute close()

A socket can be in CLOSE_WAIT state indefinitely until the application closes it.
Faulty scenarios would be like filedescriptor leak, server not being execute close() on socket leading to pile up of close_wait sockets

ESTABLISHED
Indicates that the server received the SYN signal from the client and the session is established

FIN_WAIT_1
Indicates that the connection is still active but not currently being used

FIN_WAIT_2
Indicates that the client just received acknowledgment of the first FIN signal from the server

LAST_ACK
Indicates that the server is in the process of sending its own FIN signal

LISTENING
Indicates that the server is ready to accept a connection

SYN_RECEIVED
Indicates that the server just received a SYN signal from the client

SYN_SEND
Indicates that this particular connection is open and active

TIME_WAIT
Indicates that the client recognizes the connection as still active but not currently being used

So the explanation for a close_wait situation is as below;

CLOSE is an operation meaning "I have no more data to send." that is the

client/server has chosen to treat CLOSE in a simplex fashion. The user who CLOSEs

may continue to RECEIVE Until he is told that the other side has CLOSED also. Thus,

a program/application could initiate several SENDs followed by a CLOSE, and then

continue to RECEIVE until signalled that a RECEIVE failed because the other side has

CLOSED. We assume that the TCP will signal a user, even if no RECEIVEs are

outstanding, that the other side has closed, so the user can terminate his side

gracefully. A TCP will reliably deliver all buffers SENT before the connection was

CLOSED so a user who expects no data in return need only wait to hear the

connection was CLOSED successfully to know that all his data was received at the

destination TCP. Users must keep reading connections they close for sending until

the TCP says no more data.

 Adjusting Registry Settings

Registry keys to look at which can sometimes help to configure and adjust this conversation.

MaxUserPort

TcpTimedWaitDelay

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137984

TCP Connection States and Netstat Output

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328476

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938196.aspx

HKEY_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

• MaxUserPort

This entry makes more ports available. 

• TcpTimedWaitDelay

Reducing this value from its default setting of 240 seconds will make ports expire sooner. This parameter determines the length of time that a connection stays in the TIME_WAIT state when it is being closed. While a connection is in the TIME_WAIT state, the socket pair cannot be reused. This is also known as the 2MSL state because the value should be double the maximum segment lifetime on the network. See RFC 793 for more details. 

Right before I left CodePlex, I filmed my last Iteration Planning Meeting with the team to give you a bird’s eye view into the day in the life of an Agile Program Manager. I did this because last year at the MVP 09 Summit, I invited MVPs to sit in on our IPM. They said they greatly enjoyed watching how we did agile, so I’ve always wanted to video on of our IPMs and put it on the web. Fortunately, I was able to film my last IPM. Better late than never!

The IPM is where we review the weekly work with the team and make any necessary adjustments. For this specific IPM, we were starting an I3 week, which means we reviewed the completed feature work of I2 and would only do bug fixes and other tweaks in I3. (See above link for explanation of I2 and I3 weeks).

I separated our IPM into two parts (videos below):

1. Review of the work for the week – mostly bug fixes
2. Review of work that was finished in the previous week – demos

This IPM occurred after the Mercurial deployment in preparation for the Sync’ing Source Code tab with Releases Tab deployment.

I had been wanting to do this sync’ing of change sets and releases tabs for literally years, so it was only fitting that i did it as my final deployment on the team. The idea behind this feature is that you will never again see “No Source Code” in the Source Code tab if the project owner checked his/her sources into the Releases tab. Instead, we carry over the source code from the Releases tab into the Source Code tab. (IMO, the Source Code tab should have always been Source Control *or* we force people to upload source code there, but I digress since this is a moot point now).

Part 1 – Review of work for I3 – In the video below, note we’re just doing bug fixes and tweaks. And note that we’re using the CodePlex software internally to keep track of our work items.

Part 2 – Review of completed work in I2 – Below we’re demo’ing to one another all the new work that would go out in this release, including the Sync’ing Release tab and Source Code tab and the new help page.

Enjoy! And Geaux Agile!

When I mention  the location-based FourSquare service to people, some flatly reject the notion of sharing their whereabouts with anyone.

Today there's a new service launched that will let those folks in on the secrets of FourSquare without the sign up.

If you're one of those scared away from signing up for FourSquare because you don't want everyone to know where you are, consider taking a look at FourWhere - a service that combines Google Maps with FourSquare commentary. You don't have to sign in but it lets you check out any location to see what people are saying about it.

I've been spending a lot of time in Whistler because of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and I tried plugging that location in. It gave an instant rundown on venues with advice on everything from where to get the best burrito in the village to the Bare Naked Ladies concert during the Olympic celebrations and a tip for finding free beer.

FourWhere, created by Sysomos, has launched in time for the social media event of the year, the upcoming SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Good timing. It's sure to be a hit.

Cisco launched what it is calling the next-generation Internet - a new core router that could enable the deliver the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress in one second or every movie ever made in four minutes.

The Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System (CRS), announced today, has a capacity of of 322 terabits per second, triple the capacity of its predecessor, the CRS-1. Its capacity is such that every person in China - some 1.3 billion -- could make a video call simultaneously, according to Cisco, a global leader in Internet backbone equipment. It has been the subject of a successful trial by AT&T and it would enable Internet service providers to boost speeds for their customers' Internet delivery.
The price of the Cisco CRS-3, which is currently in field trials, starts at $90,000 US with availability in the third quarter. The new routing system would address a growing appetite for video delivery, mobile and other online services that are driving up the demand for Internet capacity.

Yahoo! Canada will start livestreaming CBC’s Hockey Night this Saturday and continue delivering hockey online through the Stanley Cup championship.

Available at yahoo.cbc.ca, the service will include broadcasts live and on demand.

“It’s no secret Canadians love hockey, and as part of the company’s focus on delivering ‘wow’ consumer experiences, Yahoo! Canada wanted to make the experience of watching games even better,” Gina Cothey, director, audience, Yahoo! Canada said in a release announcing the new service.  “Hockey fans can watch their favourite teams in action and catch up on all the news and analysis from the hockey world just by visiting Yahoo! Canada.“