Programming

I like contests - even when I don’t have the skills to enter them. Residents of Canada and the U.S. are eligible.
The challenge:
Create cool software and/or hardware add-ins for Windows Home Server to simplify the digital lifestyles of families everywhere—or just to geek out.
We are looking for creative use of a server as a [...]

Here’s an article from MSDN Magazine on building Windows Vista sidebar gadgets - you may find it useful for the contest. They include code samples.
Contents
What Is a Sidebar Gadget?
XML Definition File
The Main HTML File
JavaScript
Docked and Floating
Flyouts
Options Dialog
Reading and Writing Settings
Localization
What Happened to Alert and Confirm?
Debugging
Packaging Your Gadget
The MSDN Magazine Ticker

Only in Canada you say? Pity!
Be one of three winners in the ultimate competition to find the latest, greatest Canadian Windows Vista gadget. Can your gadget withstand the competition?
Prove your mettle and steely resolve by building the next coolest gadget. Show your fellow developers what you’ve got. Score serious bragging rights—not to mention wicked prizes [...]

I got this question from Zmon: “Is there any way to create a “run” shortcut in a hyperlink in an email? Example: you receive an email containing “Click here to open your doc file” then there’s a link with “run winword file_path password”?”
How about it folks? Is there a way to do this?

You don’t need to be visionary or adventurous to try scripting, you just need to be the type of person who wants to save some time. (It’s still only the fanatics who think it’s fun though.) Scripts can not only make your work go faster, they can make your job easier. And once you learn [...]

“Which original ENIAC programmer helped develop COBOL and Fortran?“
For all those computer geeks out there who will spend yet another Valentine’s Day in the presence of a computer rather than a significant other, it’s time to change the game. Toss off the shackles of this Hallmark-addled so-called holiday, and celebrate a far more important and [...]