Tech Blog

3 online-based free alternatives to Photoshop are available now.

Each has it's own special features, but they are all available anywhere with an internet connection.  So please try them out and tell me which ones you like best, and why.

1.  Aviary - "Online Image Editing Suite" of design applications, including photo and vector apps.

2.  Pixlr - Quick photo editing at your fingertips.   It has more of a Photoshop feel to it.

3.  Picnik - Designed to work directly with Flickr, Facebook, and Myspace galleries, but also works fine directly from their site.

Of course we should all know about Paint.net and GIMP as portable USB alternatives too.

Here are some winter interface options for you.

First are a set of winter wallpapers compiled by Lifehacker.

These are just a couple examples:

I also have a link to a Winter Fun Theme for Windows 7.

This is a nice new Windows 7 theme for winter, with new sounds and high quality wallpapers.

Install vSphere Client from the frontend default website of the ESX server as normal.

When you launch the client and try to login, you will receive an error like this:

If you have Windows 7, you will not be able to run VIC.

This issue is related to .NET version installed on Windows 7 (.NET 3.5 SP1)

Following steps will help you to run vSphere VIC on Windows 7:

1. Obtain a copy of %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll from a non Windows 7 machine that has .NET 3.5 SP1 installed.
2. Create a folder in the Windows 7 machine where the vSphere client is installed and copy the file from step 1 into this folder. For example, create the folder under the vSphere client launcher installation directory (+%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib+).
3. In the vSphere client launcher directory, open the VpxClient.exe.config file in a text editor and add a <runtime> element and a <developmentMode> element as shown below. Save the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
...
<runtime>
<developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
</runtime>
</configuration> 

4. Create a batch file (e.g. *VpxClient.cmd*) in a suitable location. In this file add a command to set the DEVPATH environment variable to the folder where you copied the System.dll assembly in step 2 and a second command to launch the vSphere client. Save the file. For example,

SET DEVPATH=%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib 
"%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe" 

5. (Optional) Replace the shortcut on the start menu to point to the batch file created in the previous step. Change the shortcut properties to run minimized so that the command window is not shown.

the VpxClient.cmd (or the shortcut) to launch the vSphere client in Windows 7.

Note that this workaround bypasses the normal .NET Framework loading mechanism so that assembly versions in the DEVPATH folder are no longer checked. Handle with care