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October 2007 - Posts

Terminals 1.6c has been released

 

I decided to push out another release of Terminals.  This 1.6c release includes many bug fix's since the last release, plus a whole bunch of common networking tools:

  1. Ping
  2. Trace Route
  3. WMI Explorer
  4. TCP Connections
  5. Network Interfaces
  6. Whois
  7. DNS Lookups
  8. CPU History Graph
  9. Shares List
  10. Time Syncronization
  11. Servers List

The two most significant bugs that I can recall off the top of my head include hitting the Cancel button when the tool asks for the Master allows the application to launch, but all passwords are not useable, and the Telnet and SSH connections did not work.  Both of these have been fixed.

Download here

 

Terminals v1.6b - Release

 

I wanted to post up more details of an open source application I have been contributing to lately.  Terminals is a multi-protocol tabbed interface for remote connections.  Right now it supports all of these connection types:

1.       RDP – Microsoft’s Remote Desktop aka Terminal Services

2.       VNC – Virtual Network Computing

3.       VMRC – Virtual Machine Remote Control

4.       RAS – Remote Access Service (VPN, Dialup)

5.       Telnet – Telecommunication Network

6.       SSH – Secure Shell

7.       ICA Citrix – Independent Computing Architecture

Other features include:

1.       Ability to import files such as MuRD and RDP files.

2.       Tagging connections (grouping)

3.       Shortcuts (to external tools) and Favorites

4.       Some toolbar customization

5.       Full Screen mode, multiple screen sizes and color depths supported

6.       Minimize to tray

7.       Single application instance

8.       Execute before connect

9.       Completely secure password storage

10.   Screen capture of entire terminal window

 

Screen Shots:

Figure 1.0 – Master Password

 

Figure 1.1 – The Main Form

The Shortcuts are listed across the tom starting with the command line.  On the bottom we see the Connect To Dropdown, which is populated with all of your favorites.  To the right of that you see the ability to tag and mark a terminal as a favorite, and of course to perform a screen capture of the current terminal content.  Lastly the bar on the bottom right is the list of favorites which I have added to my toolbar.

 

Figure 1.2 – Adding a new favorite connection

Allows you to specify all the standard parameters (host, port, name, etc..), and then specific parameters for each connection type.

 

Figure 1.3 – Organizing Favorites

Allows you to manage your complete list of favorites, as well as Importing from other formats.

 

Figure 1.4 – Application Options

Allows you to set application wide settings.

 

Figure 1.5 – The Main form, with tags/favorites

The area on the left presents an alternative way to view your favorite connections and to launch each from there.

 

Figure 1.6 – Tabbed connections in action

We are connected to two RDP sessions at once, notice the tabbed interface?  Very cool.

 

Figure 1.7 – Telnet session

A sample telnet/ssh connection in the tabbed UI of terminals.

 

Feel free to download the latest bits from the links below, and let us know what you think.

 

Links:

Flickr PhotoSet of screenshots

Terminals 1.6 Release Page **DOWNLOAD HERE**

Terminals Project Home

Terminals Project Issue Tracker - Report bugs here!

 

Missed posts....

I've managed to have a whole list of items that I have been meaning to post, which I will try to summarize here, now..

When Smart Homes actually become Smart

I have been playing around with X10 stuff for quite a long time now.  In my house I have about 90% of the lighting controlled by X10, many of which are motion lights.  Walk into a room or hallway and the lights just work themselves.  Quite handy, but annoying in the wrong room or with the wrong setup.

I also recently purchased a product which will monitor all X10 commands.  I personally added the ability to log all events to a database.  I then wrote up a script which will summarize all data captured and, when turned on, it will reply the average events every hour.  I call this "Holiday Mode".  Sometimes the wife and I will go on holidays for a few weeks at a time.  I wanted a way to be able to emulate our beahviours (visually) to the community of theifs (call me paranoid).  So when in holiday mode the lights will turn on and off based on the history of logged events.  This not only includes the lighting, but also DVD's, music, etc.. which we typically do during the course of the week.  Kind of creepy when you are home and you turn on the Vacation mode.  Things just happen randomly on you...

I had put much thought into the term "smart home".  Since the lighting in my house simply responds to my movements is it really smart?  I dont really think so.  Adding this Vacation mode allows for a perception of slightly more intelligence at the very least.  The cool factor is quite high though.

 

My N800

I recently purchased a Nokia N800 Device.  It is what you call a Ultra Mobile PC, or UMPC.  These things are great.  It runs a flavor of Linux (Maemo, with Hildon as the UI).  It really demonstrates how to do UI on a small form factor device.  It has a full email client, and all the standard PIM tools you would normally expect.  RDP, VNC, and internal Radio tuner, MP3, and a bunch of ther audio and video codec's, streaming radio, support for word and excel documents, Opera with the Flash plugin is on the device as well (more here).  If your looking for a really handy UMPC to carry in your pocket this thing will do the trick.

Ubuntu

I have recently switched my primary laptop over to Ubuntu.  IMHO, this is the first non-Microsoft (and non-Apple) OS which the general population can actually use.  The UI is very friendly and layed out nicely.  You dont need to be a shell nerd just to manage the device.  You will need to know a bit more of the OS at a core level once you get out of the more common functionality.  And if you are impressed with the Vista UI feature, take a look at Beryl and Compiz.  I probably have the lowest-end video card in my laptop and this stuff just works.  Quite impressive.

I'm currently using Feisty Fawn (7.04).  Gutsy Gibbon is coming soon (7.1) which I would recommend most waiting for - they are promising a better UI to manage the Compiz feature set.  Heck, get the Live CD if your just wanting to check it out without destroying anything on your machine.  Live CD's are a great way to get a good quick look and feel of the OS.

The OS, comes pre-loaded with Gaim (multi-protocol chat- MSN, Yahoo, etc..), Open Office (you have to do some special steps for it to support DOCX formats) and plethora of other goodies.  Performance really kicks ass as well.

 

 

[MVP] Congratulations! You have received the Microsoft MVP Award

 

Nice little addition to my morning...

 

Dear Rob Chartier,

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2008 Microsoft® MVP Award! The MVP Award is our way of saying thank you for promoting the spirit of community and enhancing people’s lives and the industry’s success every day. Your extraordinary efforts in Visual Developer - ASP/ASP.NET technical communities during the past year are greatly appreciated.

Posted: Oct 02 2007, 09:23 AM by Rob Chartier | with 6 comment(s)
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