If you must use a dropdown menu, make sure it’s keyboard friendly

 

Dropdown menus (a.k.a. flyout or DHTML menus) are fine as long as such menus are implemented in an accessible way, which to a large extent means making them keyboard friendly.

Unfortunately, most dropdown menus which we come across in the wild are not keyboard friendly. A couple of common examples:

* No real links: Sub-level links cannot be revealed without using a mouse, and top-level items are not linked to sub-pages. Not revealing the sub-menus for non-mouse users may be ok if the top-level items are actual links to pages that contain the sub-level links in a normal, visible sub-menu. That way the dropdown menus do not prevent people from navigating the site and can be seen as an enhancement for users who like them.
* Tabbing black hole: Sub-level links are not displayed on focus but exist in the tab order, which makes them technically accessible but also creates a “tabbing black hole” for non-mouse users. Since there is no visual feedback unless you use a mouse they are extremely difficult to use.

Next time you implement a dropdown menu, please make sure to avoid these problems.

Tags: .NET, C & C++, coding tips, CSS, dhtml, dropdowns, HTML, Java, Menu

Registration Now Open for Citrix Synergy 2010

 

Citrix Systems, Inc., today announced registration for Citrix Synergy™ 2010 is now open. Citrix Synergy – where virtualization, networking and cloud computing meet – has evolved into a global event offered in two key geographic locations: Synergy San Francisco will take place May 12 to 14, 2010, at the Moscone West Convention Center, and Synergy Berlin will be held Oct. 6 to 7, 2010, at the Estrel Hotel and Convention Center.

Synergy offers an open, expansive array of technical and business breakout sessions, as well as hands-on learning labs, presented by leading technical experts. Presenters will examine key issues impacting IT, such as breaking away from the costs and complexities of the distributed computing status quo; building a simpler, more cost-effective computing environment to position organizations at the forefront of the on-demand IT services era and utilizing available technologies to achieve and exceed business goals.

Synergy will feature timely virtualization, networking and cloud computing content, including sessions such as:

• Need a simpler, low-risk path to Windows 7? Desktop virtualization makes it a snap!
• Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) is ready for prime time: How Citrix did it and what we learned.
• Dear CFO, I know how we can save big bucks with desktop virtualization…
• Virtualization and application networking. Learn how one plus one equals three.
• HDX, the user experience “champ,” takes on the contenders.

Synergy is the industry’s premier conference focused on the growing convergence between virtualization, networking and cloud computing. Session content will address how these technologies can solve real IT business problems in an open and dynamic atmosphere and will be divided into the following three tracks:

Desktop Virtualization

This track provides a comprehensive examination of desktop virtualization, covering the full breadth of desktop virtualization technologies, including client virtualization (local virtual desktops), desktop streaming, VDI (hosted virtual desktops), self-service on-demand applications, application virtualization and user profile management. You’ll get case studies of successful implementations, best practices, technical sessions and a roadmap to help you reduce costs, simplify desktop management and deliver high-definition desktops to all users now.

Datacenter-Cloud

Server virtualization, networking and cloud technologies are converging to enable dramatic improvements in datacenter efficiency, flexibility and reliability at an affordable cost. You’ll learn about the latest innovations in server virtualization, datacenter infrastructure management, and networking and application delivery controllers. This fast-paced technical track will examine all three areas with special attention to options and merits of private and public cloud solutions.

IT Business and Strategy

Senior IT management face unprecedented challenges, needing to reduce costs, while simultaneously delivering innovation to drive efficiencies for their users and effectiveness for their business. This track is designed for senior IT leaders, providing new sources of IT-led innovation and competitive advantage to position their business for success today and in the future. Insightful, interactive sessions will feature prominent industry executives who have produced impressive bottom-line improvements for their businesses.

Synergy will also feature hands-on training. The instructor-led, hands-on learning labs provide the in-depth experience required to master new Citrix technologies. These high-value, unique labs are designed for administrators and architects responsible for managing or designing an environment that consists of Citrix technologies including XenDesktop, XenApp, XenServer and NetScaler.

Citrix Summit 2010, the premier training conference designed for members of the Citrix Partner Network, will be combined with Synergy – both in San Francisco and Berlin. Summit, which begins two days prior to Synergy, is the main event where the company’s partners can learn about the latest trends in virtualization, network optimization and cloud computing solutions. Summit provides intense educational sessions and offers valuable technical knowledge, selling skills and competitive strategies for attendees.

Registration for Synergy and Summit San Francisco, as well as Synergy and Summit Berlin is now available at www.citrixsynergy.com. A discounted, early bird registration is available for Synergy San Francisco through Feb. 2, which provides a $400 savings off of the normal conference fee.

About Citrix Synergy 2010

Born as a user conference more than 10 years ago, Citrix Synergy™ is the only event where virtualization, networking and cloud computing meet. Interoperability and openness are central to the event. Its sessions will focus on the coming convergence of these critical technologies and how they can be used today to address real world IT business challenges. Synergy addresses topics that have simply become too critical and widespread for one event on one continent. IT professionals now have two opportunities each year to attend this important industry conference. Citrix Synergy San Francisco will take place May 12 to 14, 2010, at Moscone West Convention Center. Citrix Synergy Berlin will be held at the Estrel Hotel and Convention Center, Oct. 6 to 7, 2010. More information is available on the Citrix Synergy web site at http://www.citrixsynergy.com.

Tags: Citrix, Citrix Synergy, Desktop Virtualization, events

Top Sites – The top 20 sites on the web.

 

Tags: google searches, Technology News, top searches, top sites

Top 10 Google, Yahoo, Bing Searches of 2009

 

This has been a complicated year — with the economy still sputtering, a new president and troops in dangerous places.

But what did people search for on the Web? Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson and Michael Jackson.

The singer burst into the headlines when he died in June and was 2009’s top search term on Google, Yahoo and Bing, the three leading search engines.

The year is not over yet, but they and several smaller competitors have now released their lists of the top searches of the year, and they reflect the times. People looked up dead celebrities, comfort food, and — more than ever — each other.

Google reports that social-networking sites — Twitter, Facebook, Tuenti (Facebook’s Spanish equivalent) and others — were all near the top of the list.

Here’s Google’s list of “fastest-rising” searches globally:

Michael Jackson

Facebook

Tuenti

Twitter

Sanalika (a Turkish social-networking site)

“New Moon” (the movie exploded onto the scene in November)

Lady Gaga — people searched as much for pictures and videos of the singer as they did for facts or song lyrics

Windows 7

Dantri.com.vn (a Vietnamese portal).

Torpedo Gratis (a Brazilian text-messaging site).

Google puts out this list (and several variations) annually — partly, it admits, in a spirit of self-promotion, but also to offer us an interesting picture of what was on our collective minds.

“It gives us a really good sense of what is the world thinking about because what they’re thinking about is what they search for,” said Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search products.

Tags: facebook, google, Michael Jackson, Search Engines, top searches, Twitter

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0 Beta 2

 

The second beta version of Visual Studio 2010 and Microsoft .NET Framework v4.0 are now available. VS 2010 and .NET 4.0 deliver significant new capabilities and improvements. The Beta 2 release was focused on performance, stability, and the integration of the overall feature set. The development team is awaiting our feedback on the product and preparing for the final release candidate (RC). Beta 2 includes a “go-live” license, which means you can start using these tools for your production projects.

VS 2010 and .NET 4.0 are slated to be released on March 22, 2010.

VS 2010 and .NET Improvements

VS 2010 and .NET 4 bring a huge number of improvements and additions. They include big advances for ASP.NET web development, WPF and WinForms client development, SharePoint development, Silverlight development, data development, parallel computing development, and cloud computing development. VS 2010 also delivers a ton of improvements in the core IDE, code editors, programming languages, and enterprise design, architect, and testing tools.

TFS 2010 is now easy to install (only 20 minutes to setup source control, bug and work item tracking, build automation, and continuous integration), can be installed on both servers as well as client OS and domain controller machines, and is now included with all MSDN subscriptions of Visual Studio.

I’ve started a series of blog posts that will cover some of the improvements and feature additions in VS 2010 and .NET 4. Stay tuned to my blog as I post many, many more posts over the coming months.
VS 2010 Product Line SKU Simplifications

With VS 2010 we are simplifying the product lineup and pricing options of Visual Studio, as well as adding new benefits for MSDN subscribers. With VS 2010 we will now ship a simpler set of SKU options:

* Visual Studio Express: Free Express SKUs for Web, VB, C#, and C++
* Visual Studio 2010 Professional with MSDN: Professional   development tools as you are used to today with the addition of source control integration, bug tracking, build automation, and more. It also includes 50 hours/month of Azure cloud computing.
* Visual Studio 2010 Premium with MSDN: Premium has everything in Professional plus advanced development tools (including richer profiling and debugging, code coverage, code analysis and testing prioritization), advanced database support, UI testing, and more. Rather than buying multiple “Team” SKUs like you would with VS 2008, you can now get this combination of features in one box with VS 2010. It also includes 100 hours/month of Azure cloud computing.
* Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN: Ultimate has everything in Premium plus additional advanced features for developers, testers, and architects including features like Intellitrace (formerly Historical Debugging), the new architecture tools (UML, discovery), test lab management, etc. It also includes 250 hours/month of Azure cloud computing.

Side by Side Support with VS 2008

VS 2010 and .NET 4.0 can be installed side-by-side on the same machine as VS 2008 and .NET 3.5. You can install the Beta 2 version on a machine and it will not impact your existing VS 2008 / .NET 3.5 development.
Go-Live License Available

.NET 4 and VS 2010 Beta 2 include a “go-live” license which means you can start using the products for production projects.
Summary

VS 2010 and .NET 4.0 deliver some significant new capabilities and improvements. The goal with today’s Beta 2 release was to work hard on performance, stability, and the integration of the overall feature set. The team’s focus is now transitioning to getting your feedback on the product and preparing for the final release candidate (RC) milestone. Please send us any feedback you have on the Beta 2 release.

Hope this hepls,

Scott

P.S. In addition to blogging, I have recently been using Twitter to-do quick posts and share links. You can follow me on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/scottgu (@scottgu is my twitter name)

Tags: .NET Framework, ASP.Net, General, Technology News, Visual Studio

Facebook App Devs Can See Your Private Parts

 

You may have taken time out from playing “Mafia Wars,” “FarmVille” or answering that “Which Muppet Are You?” quiz to update your privacy settings on Facebook this week. However, when you were clicking on your choices for who could see your updates and personal data, did you happen to notice any mention of those third-party applications Take the worry out of managing your enterprise applications. Click to learn how. involving games, quizzes and other outside software linking up to the world’s largest social media network? How much access to your personal info do the developers of these apps have?

“This is the big, looming privacy issue that most users still don’t know about,” Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told TechNewsWorld. “Most folks are good about making decisions about information they disclose on their Wall. They have some reasonable understanding about who’s going to have access to it. But that whole approach breaks down with third-party apps.”

Indeed, while the way Facebook allows those outside developers to have users’ data got the company in trouble this summer with the Canadian Privacy Commission, there’s very little mention in this current privacy push of third-party apps. A Wednesday post on the Facebook Blog addresses applications, but only in regard to Wall posts. “There’s been some confusion about whether you can still limit access to Wall posts from friends and applications. The answer is yes,” the post reads. “You can also control whether applications you use can post stories to your Wall on the Applications Settings page. Just click ‘Edit Settings’ next to an application’s name and choose the settings that are right for you.”
Application Anxiety

Those settings, however, still rely on the same categories as other privacy settings: Everyone, Friends of Friends, etc. There has been no direct discussion on the Facebook blog or in the three-step process that users have faced this week with regard to their settings.

This apparent lack of detail is a point addressed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Kevin Bankston in a Dec. 9 post on the EFF’s site titled “Facebook’s New Privacy Changes: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” The network’s third-party app strategy Download Free eBook – The Edge of Success: 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales falls under the “ugly” part of the post.

“Facebook previously offered a solution to users who didn’t want their info being shared with app developers over the Facebook Platform every time one of their friends added an app: Users could select a privacy option telling Facebook to ‘not share any information about me through the Facebook API,’” Bankston’s post reads.

“That option has disappeared, and now apps can get all of your ‘publicly available information’ whenever a friend of yours adds an app,” it continues.

“Most people don’t know that their entire profile — and all this stuff that their friends have posted, and their friendships — gets pushed off to the app developers,” Rotenberg said. “And all Facebook does is give you a little screen that says this is necessary. They make it sound like if you don’t let them do it, you’re not going to get to use that program.”

Facebook did not respond for a request for comment by press time.
Possible Security Solutions

Facebook should be much more open about what info is given to third-party developers, according to both Bankston and Rotenberg. Instead of removing the “do not share” option for apps, Facebook should have made it bigger and publicized it better, Bankston argued.

“Instead, the company has sent a clear message: If you don’t want to share your personal data with hundreds or even thousands of nameless, faceless Facebook app developers — some of whom are obviously far from honest — then you shouldn’t use Facebook,” he wrote.

“We’ve made several specific recommendations. They need to be more open about what’s really going on with third-party apps,” Rotenberg said. “They need to show users specifically the information that flows when users choose an app. Ironically, there’s a Facebook app that does that. You can install an app to see the problems with apps.”

Facebook also should take responsibility for limiting that data, making less access the default option for its relationship with developers, Rotenberg said. He’s not referring to some of the raw demographic data available to advertisers; most of that is faceless, nameless age and gender information.

“We’re a little less critical about that,” he said. “Advertisers want to be able to target demographics. We’re talking about when Facebook says, ‘This user wants to use your program, here’s everything that they have.’”

Tags: facebook, General, Social Networking

IIS Smooth Streaming with the Apple iPhone

 

At PDC09 two weeks ago, Scott Guthrie announced that the next release of IIS Media Services will deliver adaptive streaming video to the Apple iPhone. If you haven’t seen the demo, you can check the preview out by going to www.iis.net/iphone on your iPhone. What this preview shows is how IIS Media Services will allow you to repurpose Smooth Streaming content in real-time for different devices - in this instance, for Silverlight clients and an iPhone, without needing to encode the content twice. It is important to realize that the preview does not show “Silverlight on the iPhone.” Instead, the iPhone is using its native playback capabilities to display the special iPhone stream that is delivered by IIS Media Services.

Tags: Announcement

How cloud computing works

 

Let’s say you’re an executive at a large corporation. Your particular responsibilities include making sure that all of your employees have the right hardware and software they need to do their jobs. Buying computers for everyone isn’t enough — you also have to purchase software or software licenses to give employees the tools they require. Whenever you have a new hire, you have to buy more software or make sure your current software license allows another user. It’s so stressful that you find it difficult to go to sleep on your huge pile of money every night.

Soon, there may be an alternative for executives like you. Instead of installing a suite of software for each computer, you’d only have to load one application. That application would allow workers to log into a Web-based service which hosts all the programs the user would need for his or her job. Remote machines owned by another company would run everything from e-mail to word processing to complex data analysis programs. It’s called cloud computing, and it could change the entire computer industry.

I Computed Lonely As A Cloud Although cloud computing is an emerging field of computer science, the idea has been around for a few years. It’s called cloud computing because the data and applications exist on a “cloud” of Web servers.

In a cloud computing system, there’s a significant workload shift. Local computers no longer have to do all the heavy lifting when it comes to running applications. The network of computers that make up the cloud handles them instead. Hardware and software demands on the user’s side decrease. The only thing the user’s computer needs to be able to run is the cloud computing system’s interface software, which can be as simple as a Web browser, and the cloud’s network takes care of the rest.

There’s a good chance you’ve already used some form of cloud computing. If you have an e-mail account with a Web-based e-mail service like Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, then you’ve had some experience with cloud computing. Instead of running an e-mail program on your computer, you log in to a Web e-mail account remotely. The software and storage for your account doesn’t exist on your computer — it’s on the service’s computer cloud.

What makes up a cloud computing system?

Cloud Computing Architecture

When talking about a cloud computing system, it’s helpful to divide it into two sections: the front end and the back end. They connect to each other through a network, usually the Internet. The front end is the side the computer user, or client, sees. The back end is the “cloud” section of the system.

The front end includes the client’s computer (or computer network) and the application required to access the cloud computing system. Not all cloud computing systems have the same user interface. Services like Web-based e-mail programs leverage existing Web browsers like Internet Explorer or Firefox. Other systems have unique applications that provide network access to clients.

You’ve Been Virtually Served Most of the time, servers don’t run at full capacity. That means there’s unused processing power going to waste. It’s possible to fool a physical server into thinking it’s actually multiple servers, each running with its own independent operating system. The technique is called server virtualization. By maximizing the output of individual servers, server virtualization reduces the need for more physical machines.

On the back end of the system are the various computers, servers and data storage systems that create the “cloud” of computing services. In theory, a cloud computing system could include practically any computer program you can imagine, from data processing to video games. Usually, each application will have its own dedicated server.

A central server administers the system, monitoring traffic and client demands to ensure everything runs smoothly. It follows a set of rules called protocols and uses a special kind of software called middleware. Middleware allows networked computers to communicate with each other.

If a cloud computing company has a lot of clients, there’s likely to be a high demand for a lot of storage space. Some companies require hundreds of digital storage devices. Cloud computing systems need at least twice the number of storage devices it requires to keep all its clients’ information stored. That’s because these devices, like all computers, occasionally break down. A cloud computing system must make a copy of all its clients’ information and store it on other devices. The copies enable the central server to access backup machines to retrieve data that otherwise would be unreachable. Making copies of data as a backup is called redundancy.

Grids, Clouds and Utilities, Oh My!
Cloud computing is closely related to grid computing and utility computing. In a grid computing system, networked computers are able to access and use the resources of every other computer on the network. In cloud computing systems, that usually only applies to the back end. Utility computing is a business model where one company pays another company for access to computer applications or data storage.

Tags: CLoud Computing, Emerging Technologies

Pete Brown on Silverlight and WPF Convergence

 Great post from Pete over here about Silverlight/WPF convergence; “The Future of Client App Dev: WPF and Silverlight Convergence” It’s funny as someone asked me just yesterday what my view was about Silverlight/WPF post-PDC and in the light of Silverlight 4 and I expressed pretty much the same view as Pete does here although less eloquently and in a lot fewer words in that I said something like; “I don’t think the position of the two technologies has changed too much” Hey, I’m a man of few words :-) Sure, Silverlight 4 has a bunch more functionality but fundamentally it still all hangs around the magic three words of; “Rich”, “Web” and “.NET” with attributes like; Quick, easy platform deployment Quick, easy app deployment Designed for cross platform Sandboxed by default with limited ( but significant ) options for breaking beyond that sandbox Network stack that’s optimised with functionality for the web rather than the LAN etc. etc. etc. etc. whereas WPF for me all hangs around the words of; “Rich”, “Windows”...(read more)

Tags: .NET, .NET Framework 4.0, Silverlight, WPF

WPF 4 Beta 2 Feature Walkthroughs ( Text and LayoutRounding )

 I’ve been really enjoying Lester’s feature walkthrough posts over here about various features of WPF V4 Beta 2; Concluding “New WPF Features” Series There’s some really good stuff in there. It made me author a couple of XAML files. Text display is arguably more important than ever as more and more reading moves to screens and in the past WPF has taken some flak over not always putting enough options into the hands of developers around tuning options around text such as where/when ClearType is used. You can read more about the details over here on the WPF Text Blog . This caused me to put together a little XAML file of my own to try and play with these options as below; <Page xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:ctl="clr-namespace:System.Windows.Media;assembly=PresentationCore" xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"> <Page.Resources> <ObjectDataProvider x:Key...(read more)

Tags: .NET, .NET Framework 4.0, WPF