From the mailbag;
Someone wanted to know how the Guest wireless bandwidth is on the Microsoft campus today. Answer:
Not bad.
Hello Dalai
I’m in Seattle this week for the MVP Summit, and I happen to be rooming in the Grand Hyatt, which (by coincidence) is where the Dalai Lama is staying. To steal a joke from Jeff Middleton, “It took Microsoft this long to make him an MVP?” 😉
Security in the hotel is unbelievably tight, and the guards with guns have -20 sense of humor points, so we have to be on our best behavior. Eriq scored some video of Big DL, and I nabbed a picture:
Since we can’t joke around downstairs (other than to snicker while saying “Gunga galunga”) I turn to the master, Bill Murray:
Windows Mobile – Handy Apocalypse Tool
It was a dark and stormy night… literally!
Last night I woke up to a bright light in my face. At first I thought the cat had bumped the touch lamp or something. After a few seconds of trying to get my bearings, I realized that it was a white flashing light, and it was coming from outside. It had been raining for hours, and I’m a pretty sound sleeper, so it takes a WHOLE LOTTA storm to wake up my lazy butt. Especially this early / late.
Listening to the commotion outside, the storm sounded like an ’11’ on the “Holy-Crap-O-Meter”. I went to the window and looked outside and was shocked to not be greeted by an Ark and animals lining up two by two. George Clooney would have been proud of this storm.
Rather than play Marco-Polo at 2AM with the cablebox remote (hoping that the cable TV wasn’t out) I grabbed my trusty Windows Mobile device:
Start / Internet Explorer / Favorites / WAVE 3 Doppler Radar… boo-yah!
After that, more lightning ensued.
Now that the storm has passed, my inner-geek calls out for me to do the math:
- 5115 lightning strikes
- divided by 30 minutes
- divided by 60 seconds
- equals 2.84 lightning strikes per second
Yep, that’s a storm.
At the time, I didn’t really have math on my mind – I just wanted to know if we’re in the middle of the tempest, or if it was almost over? How long can my dog tread water? Would a house land on a witch? But in hind sight, being prepared is a good thing. Having a device that can provide this kind of information wherever you may be (movie theater / basement / stuck in traffic) is invaluable. Thanks Windows Mobile Team!
Windows Mobile 6.1 Announced
Today Microsoft announced the release of Windows Mobile 6.1 – coming soon to a mobile operator and device near you. Engadget’s got the scoop on it with some screen shots.
The cool news (in my opinion) is in regards to the web browser:
“The new version of Internet Explorer Mobile adds the ability to easily view full-screen Web pages and multimedia on the Web with a smartphone. By taking advantage of Internet Explorer 6 technologies and supporting established and upcoming industry standards such as H.264, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight, the updated Internet Explorer Mobile gives people a rich mobile Internet experience. The update will be available to mobile phone partners in the third quarter of 2008, with the first Windows Mobile phones using the new version expected to be available by the end of 2008.”
Here’s the poop from the Microsoft Press Release on those ops and devices:
Mobile operators:
- Alltel Wireless: HTC PPC6800, HTC Touch
- AT&T: Samsung BlackJack II, MOTO Q 9h global, Pantech duo, AT&T Tilt by HTC
- Sprint: A new Palm Treo and updates for the Mogul by HTC, Touch by HTC, MOTO Q 9c, Samsung ACE
- T-Mobile International: T-Mobile MDA Ameo 16 GB, T-Mobile MDA compact IV
Device-makers:
- ASUS: New phones including the P320, ZX1, P560, M536 and updates for the P527, P750, M930
- HTC: A new Touch Dual for the U.S. and updates for the AT&T Tilt, Touch by HTC, Mogul by HTC from Sprint, TyTN II
- i-mate: 8502, 9502, 8150, 6150
- Intermec: CN3
- Motorola: MOTO Q 9c, MOTO Q 9h global, MC70, MC9000
- Pantech: Pantech duo
- Samsung: BlackJack II
- Toshiba: Portégé G810,Portégé G910
No details showing up on the Windows Mobile page yet, but check back:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/default.mspx
Also, congrats today on the SBS-MVPs who got the April 1 re-up for 2008, including mobility guru Chris Rue!
Downloads – Free Windows Server 2008 eBook
Title: Introducing Windows Server 2008
Author: Mitch Tulloch and the
Microsoft Windows Server Team
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Published: May 30, 2007
ISBN: 9780735624214
Pages: 456
Hard copy available: $19.79 at Amazon
Register for FREE download: click here (6.5 MB)
Description:
Take a first look at the next generation of Windows Server—with insights direct from the popular author and Microsoft MVP Mitch Tulloch and the Microsoft Windows Server team. With this insider’s introduction, you will get to preview and evaluate Windows Server 2008. You will learn how to use new features that help you improve security, performance, reliability, and operational efficiency, as well as how to automate deployment and administration. Examine Windows Hypervisor virtualization, Windows Deployment Services, Internet Information Services 7.0, Windows PowerShell, Network Access Protection, and other security features. Take a guided preview from the experts and get ready to plan for deployment and perform your first upgrades and migrations to Windows Server 2008.
Source: Blog post by Ronald Grattopp (Microsoft TS2)
Update: 03/30/2008 – there’s no CD in the eBook, but you can download a 60-day trial ISO of Windows Server 2008 (that can be extended to 240 days) here. Then spin it up and install it into a Virtual PC or burn it to a DVD and install it on real hardware. -Tim
Worst Woot Ever
Shout out to Seth for rubbing the worst Woot EVER in my face. H8 u!
Wow, that’s a Woot-Off killer if I’ve ever seen one. Of the 2 people in the universe that have a hole in their existence that will comfortably fit a $1.99 Screaming Monkey with Pink or Blue Woot Cape – I’m not one of them. K?!
Yikes! No Banjo of Consternation either. 🙁
Video – SBS 2008 (Cougar)
Nice video interview from EDGE with Sean Daniel, Program Manager for Windows Small Business Server 2008. If you haven’t seen the Cougar interface yet, this video is a treat. Plus, Sean gives a tour of the new backup as well.
SBS 2008 PM Interview and Demo
Source: http://edge.technet.com/Media/SBS-2008-PM-Interview-and-Demo/
Why People Don’t Get Twitter
Bo says I’m the official Vista Apologist. I guess I’m going to be the Twitter Apologist now too.
Vlad gets Twitter. And Susan doesn’t. Fine. Tomato / tomahto. There’s nothing wrong with that not ‘getting’ Twitter. But typically speaking, people who don’t ‘get’ Twitter dismiss it as shallow or a website for the bored. So I’m going to help folks look at Twitter in a different light.
First, Twittervision (a mashup of Twitter and Google Earth) actually *IS* a tool for the bored. In 3 minutes tonight, I saw one person suffering from a headache, one who was trying to decide what to have for dinner, a complaint about someone parking in a handicapped spot and sprinting into the store, traffic problems in Canada, wifi connection crumminess reported in Mexico, and a guy in Portugal was watching Gray’s Anatomy. Zzzzzzzzzzzz…
They’re not exactly building a case for effective use of time, are they?
Are these people my friends? No. Do I care what they’re doing? No.
Is it interesting? Maybe compared to watching Reba.
So if the tweets of strangers are of no use to me, are the people who actually come to my website and read my blog my friends?
Let’s see… here are the traffic stats from a couple of posts on my blog:
Do I know these people? No. Obviously, there aren’t 458 friends of mine who want to ditch the Dell Wallpaper in RDP sessions, right? Many (I’d say most) of these website visitors are just folks finding hits on search engines, they get what they need, life moves on, the planet continues to spin. Yada yada. Not Twitterers.
Side note: I have more RSS subscribers than website visitors, and the RSS readers tend to be the folks I know / friends. So if you don’t subscribe to the RSS feed and only read the blog on the website, I’m not player hatin’ on ya, OK? 🙂
What about IM? Are those people my friends / family / customers / vendors? Definitely. So why don’t I just IM everybody? Well, we’ll get to that in a minute.
The people you follow on Twitter are either:
- a) your actual friends or acquaintances (community)
- b) someone you would like to know more about (celeb, pundit, mover)
- c) someone who interests you (entertaining)
- d) someone you’re stalking (restraining order)
- e) some type of bot like news (CNet) / service (ioubeer) / site (woot)
- f) or you’re bored (go back to Twittervision)
So, if you use IM, do you ever put anything in the tagline? You’re in Room YXZ at Silver Cloud in Seattle? Headed NOLA for the conference? Installing Vista Service Pack 1 on your production laptop? Just got your MCSA? Looking for another job? Landed a big deal? In Chicago for the CPA meeting?
I hate to tell you, but that’s a Tweet.
…tweet
…tweet
…tweet
…tweet
…tweet
…tweet
And do you read other people’s tag lines in IM as well when you login? Yep, sure you do.
Folks, you’re already Twittering and you don’t even know it! You’re just using the wrong tool do to it. Pick the red pill. 🙂
UPDATE 03/28/2008 – This video explains Twitter better than I can:
http://www.commoncraft.com/Twitter
Remote Desktop Client for Mac 2.0 Expiring
If you have Mac users who are using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2.0 (Beta 2), here’s a heads-up that it’s set to expire on March 31, 2008.
This came as a bit of a shock to me since I don’t see any news about a replacement final version or Beta 3. I checked with Eriq and he confirmed the absence of info. So Mac users may have an interesting April 1st this year. 🙂
UPDATE: For an alternate to Microsoft RDC for Mac, check out CoRD
http://cord.sourceforge.net/
Free Microsoft SB Summit 2008 Next Week
If you’re involved in small business, you need to attend the
Third Annual Microsoft Small Business Summit, March 24 – 27, 2008.
This FREE online event provides hours
of valuable small business programming each day. You’ll get tips, advice, and secrets from experts, all designed to make the hats you wear each day fit more comfortably.
This 4-day event is broken into themes for each day (details and speaker list below). I attended the first two small business summits, and they had top notch speakers like Guy Kawasaki, and the content was fantastic. This year looks to be a great event as well, and I HIGHLY recommend you attend.
You won’t be sorry (unless you miss it!) 🙂
Registration is free: https://www.sbsummit.com
REGISTER TODAY!
And you can watch it LIVE on NoGeekLeftBehind:
http://www.nogeekleftbehind.com/sbsummit.htm
- Day 1 – Monday March 24 – Sales & Marketing (12 – 4PM)*
- Day 2 – Tuesday March 25 – Productivity, Mobility & Security (12 – 4PM)*
- Day 3 – Wednesday March 26 – Financial Management (12 – 4PM)*
- Day 4 – Thursday March 27 – Startup Day (12 – 4PM)*
*All times Eastern Daylight Time
Presentation schedule: https://www.sbsummit.com/program-guide.aspx?day=1
BEST PRACTICE – be sure to catch the presentations from the following
SBS Group Leaders:Kevin Royalty [SBS-MVP] as he presents
“Run Your Business From Anywhere”
Tuesday March 25, 2008 from 2PM – 3PM EasternAnd Scott Cayouette as he presents
“Top Security Tips“
Tuesday March 25, 2008 from 3PM – 4PM Eastern