IE 7 tries to use anonymous identity first. That works if Anonymous Authentication mode is set. If both Anonymous and Windows Authentication modes are set, anonymous configuration wins unless resource access is restricted to Anonymous user.

For example, anonymous user account does not have permission to access static file qualifies as resource access restriction.

In ASP.NET case Web.config file may deny access for anonymous user to a resource. For example, UserA has explicit access and no other users have access:

<authorization>
	<allow users="domainName\UserA"/>
	<deny users="*"/>
	<deny users="?"/>
</authorization>

Consider access to the following two URLs. Anonymous user does not have access to both URLs.

/First.htm 
/Second.aspx 

First time IE 7 tries accessing website with no identity passed. Web server reports 401.3 error. IE 7 tries to negotiate user identity and eventually prompts user for credentials. Fourth call to the server succeeds with identity supplied by the user.

Second URL repeats the same process except for the password prompt. IE 7 remembers identity supplied by the user and tries using it. This time IIS server gets only two requests instead of four.

The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し, Neko no ongaeshi^?, lit. The Cat's Repayment of Favors) is a Japanese animated film directed by Hiroyuki Morita, produced by Studio Ghibli and released to Japanese cinemas in 2002.

It received an Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival.

Good points of the movie:

• It is an original fantasy story.
• It is easy to watch. It does not belong to horror or heavy action category.
• Promotes character development.
• It does not rely on heavy cliché themes and phrases.
• Kids friendly.

My only complaint is that some character changes at the end of the story are a bit of a logical stretch, but are still acceptable.

It is 4.5 out of 5 stars.

OpenOffice database is based on HSQLDB. HSQLDB is Java based database and JDBC is its native driver. There is no .NET driver for HSQLDB, but there is a way to access JDBC driver from .NET. It is covered on Using JDBC from .NET webpage.

I was pleased to learn from PowerShell Team Blog today that Windows PowerShell 2.0 will add Integrated Scripting Environment. The IDE will be independent of Visual Studio.

I need ability to search within a blog of a specific Windows Live space. Here are instructions from Rob’s post:

1. Go to Live Search (http://search.live.com)
2. Enter “Ms Dewey site:spaceName.spaces.live.com meta:search.pt(blogs)”

Tag site: specifies live space and meta: tag instructs to search only within blog entries.

Kate Gregory's blog entry has some very interesting information on how a startup company can obtain access to Visual Studio Team Suite, Windows, SQL Server, SharePoint and other software.

I really like what IBM has done with user interface. However, I cannot not stand the following product issues on Windows Vista 32-bit:

• Slow startup time
• I could not figure out how to clear formatting of the paragraph
• IBM Lotus Symphony kept updating registry startup location with the same data. That triggered Windows Defender advanced mode to prompt for confirmation. That is annoying.
• Repaint issues while I am working with the text
  • table lines jump sometimes and triggering of repaint is necessary
  • currently edited line looks strange until repainted
  • repaint may take a while sometimes

These quality oriented issues made me stop using IBM Lotus Symphony at least for the moment. I have installed OpenOffice 3.0 and observed none of the problems mentioned above. Startup time was great and no Windows Defender complains. It was pleasant to learn that ODF icons look like a small version of the actual document content.

I have decided to try IBM Lotus Symphony on my home computer for the following reasons:

1. It is a free software.
2. This software uses open document format.
3. Word processor usability.

Here is why OpenOffice 3.0 has not been my choice:

1. Usability of open office is not as good compared to Symphony and that is a very important factor for me.
2. The difference in feature list is not important to me at the moment.

If you need to

1. Synchronize Favorites and other folders on more than one computer.
2. Access your computer remotely. For example you want to do something on your home computer from work.
3. Share files with friends.
4. Work with virtual desktop on a web that represents all of your shared content without installation of any software.

then Microsoft Live Mesh Beta may be a perfect solution. Live Mesh basically combines Microsoft FolderShare Beta and SkyDrive functionality.