RobMensching.com /Blog
when setup isn't just xcopy

Quantity to improve quality.

I'm not big on New Year Resolutions. Not even when the year begins a new decade. However, the typical days off around the holidays do provide some time to stop and reflect. And the one thing that keeps coming to mind is that there are a lot of thoughts in my head that I would like to blog.

Unfortunately, a typical blog entry takes me a couple hours to put together. I just don't have those hours to spend like I used to. So, in the free time made available to me this holiday I've been thinking about why it takes me so long to write a blog entry and what to do about it.

After much thought, the issue comes down to quality. Quality is a tricky word. The depth of it is explored in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. There is a bit of irony there because Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one of the books that while reading, fuels my desire to write my own book.

But the desire to make each sentence "high quality" slows the whole writing process to a crawl and very little content comes of it. That leads to a frustrating back log of items to write. In turn, the frustration leads to a lack of desire to write. You can see how this gets us nowhere fast.

So, after much thought, I've decided to try a new tactic. I'm going to just write and post. That means that some ideas will end up here half baked. Other ideas might be missing the necessary back story for them to make much sense. Some yet might contain some serious grammar or sentence structure problems (comma splices are sure to be an issue).

However, my hope is that by relaxing a lot and simply getting the concepts written down, I will slowly improve my velocity at creating quality. Or maybe I'll find that quality isn't all that important. Either way, I hope to find more enjoyment in blogging.

I have not decided what velocity I should target. I'm thinking two blog posts in addition to the WiX Working Group video post on Thursday might round out the weeks well. I expect there will be quite a few more personal things posted but I hope to post more entries about setup and particularly the WiX toolset. Of course, responses to your questions or comments could easily turn into entries here as well. <smile/>

So here's to my pseudo-New Year Resolution for 2010. Happy New Year and I hope to see you around here a bit more.

 

Definitely the end of the beginning.

Almost exactly a year ago, on the anniversary where I declared November 4th a personal holiday, I said I felt like I was "at the end of the beginning". Today I decided that I have definitely completed the beginning. On Monday, I start the middle.

Just like always, all the change hit at the same time.  In August, I did the work to start RobMensching.com LLC. It took two years of talking about it to finally sit down and make the company really happen. Little did I know that a few days later in September that I would decide to leave the Live Mesh team.

No, I did not decide to leave Microsoft. No, I'm not saying where I'm going yet. Suffice it to say that today was my last day on Live Mesh and on Monday I will take on new yet familiar challenges.

Now don't take my decision to think there is anything wrong with Live Mesh. The team there was good. An opportunity just came up that looked like a fantastic opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Oh, and did I mention I got started and completed my first contract work under RobMensching.com LLC while all this was going? Yeah.

Anyway, so now you know why I went dark.exe for a while. All is well. I'm looking forward to November 4th where I'll spend the day walking around the neighborhood reflecting on the last year and the year to come.

In the meantime, keep coding. You know I am. <smile/>

 

How to install Zune software on Windows 2008 R2.

Music makes the coding go better and I’ve come to like the way the Zune software organizes and plays music. So when I was setting up the machine for RobMensching.com LLC (where I would undoubtedly be spending some hardcore coding time), I was disappointed to see that the Zune software refused to install on Windows 2008 R2.

In my experience, Microsoft products that target consumers often disable the ability to install on server operating systems to minimize their testing and support burden. Unfortunately, that means programmers who often use server operating systems as their “all in one” development machine are out of luck. Fortunately, programmers are usually good with software and can find other ways to make it work... even if that means the result isn't supported.

So, if you really want the Zune software and are prepared to go unsupported, follow these few steps:

1. Download Zune Software - note that there is a 32-bit and 64-bit option. If you're running Windows 2008 R2, you're probably running 64-bit. Pick the right one.
   
   Note: I download all my software to "C:\Users\robmen\Downloads" so the rest of these instructions will use that directory. In future steps, be sure to change that part of the example.
2. Start elevated command shell - to successfully install the Zune software, we will need full administrative privileges. The easiest way to do that is start cmd.exe elevated.
   
   Start Button -> Type "cmd" -> Right click on "cmd.exe" -> Choose "Run as administrator".
   
   Note: You will be prompted to allow cmd.exe to run, click "Yes".
3. Extract the files from the Zune software package - it turns out the Windows 2008 R2 condition check is in the bootstrapper not the installation package. So we to extract the Zune software's .msi file.
   
   Type "C:\Users\robmen\Downloads\zunesetuppkg-x64.exe /x" (without the quotes).
   
   Note: If you chose 32-bit option in step 1, change the "zunesetuppkg-x64.exe" to "zunesetuppkg-x86.exe".
4. Pick your extraction directory - the Zune software will prompt you for where you want the package extracted. I chose:
   
   Type "C:\Users\robmen\Downloads\ZuneSetup" (again, without the quotes).
5. Install Zune software elevated - elevated is the key word here. The Zune install expects to be elevated when running and will fail if not. Fortunately, in step 2 we made sure our command shell was elevated.
   
   Type: "C:\Users\robmen\Downloads\ZuneSetup\packages\Zune-x64.msi"
   
   Note: If you chose the 32-bit option in step 1, change the "Zune-x64.msi" to "Zune-x86.msi".

If all goes well, you should see a progress bar and when it disappears the Zune software should be installed. Remember this isn't a Microsoft supported configuration but I've been using it for a while now and everything works perfectly.

Sounders FC practice in our yard.

If you follow me on Twitter (@robmen), you know I've become a huge Seattle Sounders FC fan. I haven't played soccer since I was a kid but after K invited Jenny and I to a match early this season we became hooked. Now we're season ticket holders (jumped in when they opened more seats mid-season) and follow away games regularly.

Today (er, technically, yesterday) the Sounders came to practice on "the yard" at Microsoft.  Peter, K and I had unfettered viewing of the whole thing.

Here are some personal highlights:

• Watching something like 16 players split in two teams pass the ball around in such a tiny space before warming up.
• Watching Sigi stalk around calmly watching and directing. After being congratulated by the President.
• Watching Freddy Montero warm up with the ball. Amazingly effortless footwork.
• Hearing the voices and, more interestingly, the accents of the players. They are essentially silent from my perch the stands.
• Hearing Keller yell out short snippets of Spanish to direct Freddy. English for everyone else.
• Watching Freddie Ljungberg move the ball down the field. He really is brilliant at moving and placing the ball.
• Watching Keller get scored on then holler, "Awwww, shhhhhh--oot." He kept it family friendly in the last syllable. Heh.
• Having Nate Jaqua sign my Sounders FC scarf! I like the way Jaqua plays.

Anyway, it was a fantastic way to spend a couple hours this morning.