MikeSel.info was born in July 2006, designed and built by Mike Hudson, Staffed by a team of tech evangelists from all over the globe focused on spreading knowledge and expertise.

Originally a home for bespoke applications Lync (Skype for Business) Custom Status, Time2Epoch, Random File Generator and general blog posts, the site quickly morphed into the information portal it is today.

Covering a vast array of subjects: Android News, Apple News, Apple Reviews, Apple Rumours, Gaming NewsGaming Reviews, Gaming Rumours, General News, General Rumours, Microsoft News, Microsoft Reviews, Microsoft Rumours, Software Reviews, iOS How-Tos, Linux How Tos, OS X How Tos, AppleScript How-Tos, Automator How-Tos, PHP How-Tos, Powershell How-Tos, VBA How-Tos, vbscript How-Tos, .NET How-Tos, Windows How-Tos, WordPress How-Tos

If you'd be interested in getting involved or have tips, tricks, help or rumours to offer then get in touch using the contact us form.

Samsung may unveil 12inch Windows 10 Tablet

After the successful(?) launch of the 12 inch Apple iPad Pro, rumours are doing the round of a potential 12 inch Samsung Galaxy tablet running Windows 10. The Samsung SM-W700 will be Samsungs very first tablet to run the Windows operating system. (Perhaps this will pave the way for a Windows based Samsung mobile?)

The spec of the new W700 are thought to be:

  • Intel core processor
  • At least 4GB RAM
  • 2 or 4K resolution
  • Bluetooth 4.1

An interoperability certificate supporting the rumour was logged on the 18th of November

WifiCert

The W700 is expected to be unveiled in the early part of 2016, perhaps we will see it at this years CES?

The only other 12 inch Windows 10 tablet believed to currently be in development is the Toshiba tablet unveiled at last years IFA event in Berlin. If you want to read more about the Toshiba ‘featherlight’ tablet, the lucky guys over at the verve managed to get their hands on one back in September and published this review.

Read More

Query OpenWeatherMap for current weather info using PHP

openweatherAs part of a wider project (more updates posted shortly) I am working with OpenWeatherMap’s API to obtain current and forecast weather information. This is ultimately going to be displayed on a ‘digital photo frame’ type setup.

OpenWeatherMap API offers results in both XML and JSON format. For my project I have chosen the JSON route, so using the below PHP I am grabbing the weather and outputting strings and an image based on current conditions.

This is very much a work in progress piece of code, and is part of a much larger tutorial which I will be posting up once complete. However, I thought the snippet below may prove useful for visitors just wanting a straight output from OpenWeatherMap.

NB: To use the API’s you’ll need to register for a free API ID, the one in the snippet below is just for example purposes.

Read More

Use Set-Mailbox to add email alias based on Get-Mailbox Filter

logo-powershellThe company who I work for are currently in the process of migrating away from Exchange on premise and over to Office 365. Now, 95% of our ActiveDirectory records are set to inherit the mail recipient policy – the other 5% have been excluded for one reason or another.. As the technical lead on the project, I had to come up with a way to add the new/required email address to all mail accounts prior to migration. Which is there this little PowerShell script was born.. I must admit, I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with PowerShell, I understand its powerful, and that things have to change.. Its just taking me sometime to get used to it.. Anyway, this is what I have so far, it may well be that it could be tweaked somewhat, so if you have any suggestions please do let me know!

Steps involved

  1. Search Exchange for all mailboxes with the inherit flag unticked
  2. Build the new email address using Firstname.Lastname
  3. If the first name and last name fields are blank in AD, build the address using the display name.
  4. Strip any spaces out of the name, and replace with full stops
  5. Finally – add the new mail address to the Exchange Object

Read More

50% off PDFpen for iPad & iPhone

PDFpen-iPadSmile, the developer of productivity applications for Mac®, iPhone® and iPad® is offering a 50% discount on PDFpen for iPad & iPhone, the mobile PDF editor, from now through Sunday.
“Administrators, students, small business owners, everyone deals with PDFs,” stated Philip Goward, Smile Founder. “In the end of year bustle, we want to offer a little something to help these busy people. What better way than discounting a tool tailored to speed them through their digital paperwork.”

Use PDFpen to edit your PDFs right from your iPad and iPhone. Sign year-end agreements directly on your iPad, skip the faxing. Scribble notes and highlights as you proof your final draft. Correct typos right on your iPhone before sending out your invoices. PDFpen for iPad & iPhone gives you the flexibility to handle your PDFs from wherever you call your office, whether a coffee shop or an airport terminal.
PDFpen for iPad & iPhone is regularly £13.39 on the App Store. It is discounted to £7.99 from Thursday, December 17 through Sunday, December 20th.

(more…)

Read More

ELITE DANGEROUS: HORIZONS Release Day!

EliteDangerous_Logo

Elite Dangerous: Horizons is the new season of expansions for Elite Dangerous, with updates coming throughout 2016. When Elite Dangerous: Horizons goes live TODAY! (December 15) the first major expansion will be the highly anticipated ‘Planetary Landings,’ which allows players to discover and explore billions of full-size airless worlds throughout the galaxy, each simulated to exacting detail by the game’s Stellar Forge.

Following Planetary Landings, additional updates will come online in 2016, including:

  • Loot and Crafting, unlocking a world of customization options and adding new value and meaning to every action.
  • Multicrew, allowing teams of players to assume roles aboard the same ship.
  • Commander Creation, giving a unique appearance to players’ in-game avatars.
  • Ship-Launched Fighters, allowing larger spacecraft to carry their own short-range fighter ships for attack and defense.
  • New Missions and Ships, expanding the already massive amount of playable content.
  • New Close Quarter Combat (CQC) Arenas, providing additional challenges to prove multiplayer superiority

The trailer for Elite Dangerous: Horizons can be seen online here:

Frontier listens and reacts to player feedback after every Elite Dangerous release, and Elite Dangerous: Horizons will follow the same process. To highlight this to new players, the new Elite Dangerous: Horizons season will launch as an ‘Early Access’ release on FrontierStore.net.

Read More