You probably already know that Daylight Saving Time has been extended by 4 weeks. This is a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It will begin 3 weeks earlier in the spring, and end 1 week later in the fall.

If you have a Windows Mobile device you should know that your devices are probably not ready for this decision. Just in time, Microsoft has released a series of updates that should correct for this.

Windows Mobile Updates for Daylight Saving Time (PocketPC)

Windows Mobile Updates for Daylight Saving Time (Desktop Tool)

Windows Mobile Updates for Daylight Saving Time (Smartphone)

Windows Mobile Updates for Daylight Saving Time (Windows CE)

So now the question is does it support cold-boot recovery or does the device forget about DST everytime the battery dies etc? Hmm... ;) [Windows Mobile & DST: It's like nailing jelly to a wall.]

The Making of the Windows Mobile Updates for Daylight Saving Time

In the begining Microsoft had a knowledgebase article that simply listed the registry changes that needed to be made and left it up to the poor reader to implement the modifications.

I couldn't help but thinking isn't that like Microsoft saying you need to chop down this tree and here's an axehead. Huh? I hate to think it is really all that difficult to create an Windows Mobile cab file. ;)

Fortunately, edgeblog took the requirements and released the results as a cab file.

It's even worse for Windows CE device users. (BTW did you notice any update links missing up above!) Here's an article that gives their options:

Method 1 (for end users): Manually adjust the clock for daylight saving time
You can manually adjust the clock for daylight saving time. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, open Date/Time.
2. In the Date/Time Properties dialog box, make sure that the time zone is set to the correct time zone for your area.
3. Click to clear the Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving check box.
4. Click OK.
5. Manually adjust the clock at the start of daylight saving time and at the end of daylight saving time.

Ha, I love it! That's funny! There's a method 2, and it basically says contact the OEM. Ha! Stop! Your killing me! No seriously, I really laughed out loud when I read that.

Can't you see the new advertising campaign: Windows CE now with Manual Clock 2.0!

So I've been using Windows DreamScenes for a little bit now and decided to give DeskScapes a try.

Here's a good background information site: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070108/windows-dreamscene/

Here are the key differences:

Windows DreamScene at a glance:

Windows DreamScene is an animated wallpaper technology that plays high-definition video content as your wallpaper. The key ability of it is that it can do so without using significant amounts of CPU (basically the decoding of the video is the only real CPU use involved).  The animation itself is run through the hardware accelerated DWM.

• A Windows Vista Ultimate Extra
• Run High-Definition Video as a Wallppaer
• Uses .MPEG/.WMV as content

Windows DreamScene Potential Content:

NASA - Multimedia - High Definition Video Gallery

Stardock DeskScapes at a glance:

The first enhancement is a new program called DeskScapes.  DeskScapes extends DreamScenes to support dynamic content (i.e. videos are pre-rendered).  With dynamic content, you could have your wallpaper change based on weather, time of day, or news.  Or you could just have some cool Direct3D "stuff" that runs (like one of those fish aquariums running as your wallpaper). 

• Extends Windows DreamScene to support Dynamic/Live content
• Adds support for the .Dream format
• Displays author info/URL in the desktop background dialog
• Supports triggers (change videos based on time, weather, etc.)
• Is only available for Windows Vista Ultimate Users
• Is free

Stardock DeskScapes Content:

http://dream.wincustomize.com/index.aspx

http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?libid=50

The Windows DreamScene Preview for Windows Vista Ultimate is now available.

Windows DreamScene Preview

Update type: Optional

When you install this Windows Ultimate Extra, you can select a video for your desktop background in the same way that you select a stationary picture, and you can choose new positioning options for static and moving backgrounds. Windows DreamScene video support requires a graphics card that supports Windows Aero. After you install this item, you may have to restart your computer.

More information:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=80872

More information:
http://support.microsoft.com/

DreamScene Videos:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=windows+vista+dreamscene

Look Ma! No CPU! [Yes, it is running in the background :p]

Well, gee isn't that spiffy? There are two things I don't like about this picture. One, what is "Windows Mobile 2003-based device connectivity" exactly? Two, why can't I just end pid 2812 directly from this screen? Are Exit, Ignore, Retry really the only options a person has?

Once more I'm thrust upon the hours of dilemma, should I just use the Windows Task Manager to find out about this process or should I bring out the big guns from the get go and use Sysinternals' PsKill?

"PsKill is a kill utility that not only does what the Resource Kit's version does, but can also kill processes on remote systems."

Ah, makes you nervous doesn't it? I bet someone is checking their firewall status right now. ;)

Let's see how Windows Task Manager fairs. Well I browse through my running processes and I don't see anything that could be 2812. Hmm, I'm running on Windows Vista and I do have a services tab on my Windows Task Manager. Let's check here next...

There it is! A quick internet search and we find out what WcesComm and RapiMgr is.

wcescomm.exe is not a Windows system file. The process listens for or sends data on open ports to LAN or Internet. The process starts when Windows starts (see Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run). The program is not visible. Therefore the technical security rating is 44% dangerous.

The program is not visible. File rapimgr.exe is not a Windows system file. The application listens for or sends data on open ports to LAN or Internet. The program can be removed using the control panel Add\Remove programs applet. Therefore the technical security rating is 43% dangerous.

ActiveSync reincarnated! Vista! Say it ain't so! See combined ActiveSync is at least 87% dangerous. I bet when it is all said and done, ActiveSync is 17437% dangerous.

Oh well, we stop the services and try again.

Success!

Microsoft releases Windows Mobile 6 Software Development Kit

Windows Mobile 6.0 SDK - Professional

Windows Mobile 6.0 Software Development Kit

The Windows Mobile 6 SDK adds documentation, sample code, header and library files, emulator images and tools to Visual Studio that let you build applications for Windows Mobile 6.

Windows Mobile 6.0 SDK - Standard

Windows Mobile 6.0 Software Development Kit

The Windows Mobile 6 SDK adds documentation, sample code, header and library files, emulator images and tools to Visual Studio that let you build applications for Windows Mobile 6.

My new favorite expression is "It's like nailing jelly to a wall". I find it to be a very useful expression in software development and IT, especially in the write anything, for anyone, at anytime, for any price world of mobile enterprise application development.

I've found a valuable scientific resource which probes this very important topic:

"We've all heard the old saying "it's like nailing jelly to a wall" to describe a task that is very difficult or impossible. But is our view of the difficulty of this task justified? Has anybody actually tried nailing jelly to a wall? In this experiment I attempt to establish, one way or the other, the validity of the old proverb."

http://graeme.woaf.net/otherbits/jelly.html

If you're like me and have a Tablet PC with Vista then you need to grab the free Microsoft Experience Pack for Windows Vista.

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