Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Microsoft announced plans to acquire Charles Simonyi’s company, “Intentional Software” – a company chartered with building software for “productivity scenarios” leveraging Charles’ innovations in intentional programming.

EXAMPLE: HEALTHCARE
What this means in English is, (I think) the company picks a problem field – say the healthcare industry – then creates an actual programming environment from the ground up that is specific to that industry by working with experts in that field – maybe in this case, doctors or surgeons.  Then they describe the solution to a problem using that programming environment, as presented within an 4th Gen Programming interface. This interface is basically a abstracted graphical representation that’s designed to be easy to understand & “code free”.  A compiler creates the resulting program by using this description.

A WORD ON CHARLES SIMONYI
Charles Simonyi, for those of you who aren’t aware of who he is, is a fascinating man – I met him once while I was in Redmond. 

For the old school IT set, he was one of the researchers “back in the day” at the famed Xerox PARC (the creators of Ethernet, WYSIWYG interfaces, the laser printer, and many other modern inventions.  Famously, this is the place where Steve Jobs “liberated” the Macintosh’s user interface from) who was a founding innovator in Object Oriented Programming.  He left Xerox to join Microsoft in it’s early years and is most famously cited as the creator of Hungarian Notation, a developer programming convention that is used to this day.

“This acquisition will build on the work we’re already doing to deliver the tools necessary to be productive in an information-rich world. Intentional Software’s technology and talent will enhance our existing capabilities and strengthen our ability to add new tools and services to Microsoft’s robust productivity offering. We’re excited about the company’s work on productivity applications, especially given our focus of putting people at the center of experiences and our continued effort to reimagine collaboration.”

Read Microsoft Exec VP Rajesh Jha’s announcement on the Microsoft blog here:

• Microsoft to acquire Intentional Software to expand future productivity capabilities
  https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2017/04/18/microsoft-acquire-intentional-software-expand-future-productivity-capabilities/#gJZdd1b5bezERvmz.99

Read Intentional Software CEO Charles Simonyi’s announcement here:

• Charles Simonyi, Founder, Chairman, and CTO
  http://www.intentional.com/charles-simonyi/

[taken from the Cortana Intelligence & Machine Learning blog]

We are excited to announce that registration for the Microsoft AI Immersion Workshop is now open to all developers. The Workshop is being held on Tuesday, May 9^th, at the W Hotel in Seattle. This is a free in-person event, but capacity is limited – so register now to reserve your spot.

This is a unique opportunity for developers interested in creating the next generation of intelligent apps, including enterprise-grade solutions, using the very latest AI and Machine Learning techniques. You’ll learn how to build solutions from scratch. Seasoned software engineers and data scientists from Microsoft – people who are building some of the world’s most advanced AI and ML technologies – will run these hands-on tutorials. Several presenters are also active contributors to this blog, as you’ll see from the presenter names next to the session abstracts below.

The Workshop will kick off with a keynote talk that will cover the breadth and depth of Microsoft’s AI investments and offerings. That will be followed by your choice of five deep technical tutorial sessions, which will run for much of the day, from 11:00 AM through 5:00 PM. These tutorials will focus on hands-on activities and projects, so attendees are expected to bring their own laptops, and also check our event website for any pre-requisite software or subscriptions they might need, to make the most of the day.

…

To see the full agenda, visit:

• BLOG: Free AI Immersion Workshop on May 9th in Seattle – Register Now!
  https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/machinelearning/2017/04/03/free-ai-immersion-workshop-on-may-9th-in-seattle-register-now/

To register for this event:

• REGISTRATION: AI Immersion Workshop – W Seattle Hotel, Seattle, WA, May 9th, 2017
  https://aiimmersion.eventcore.com/

Windows 10, version 1703 introduces a new tool, MBR2GPT, that enables you to convert a disk from Master Boot Record (MBR) to GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition style, without modifying or deleting data on the disk, as part of a migration from BIOS to UEFI.

Watch this demo to see the MBR2GPT tool in action:

Windows Program Manager, Desmond Lee, demonstrates the new MBR2GPT disk conversion tool that’s part of Windows 10 Creators Update. This is a comprehensive yet concise overview that explains how you can safely and non-destructively convert a Windows 10 machine from legacy BIOS to UEFI disk partitioning; and how you can automate the conversion as part of your in-place upgrade process from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Importantly, unlike wipe and load methods, all of this can be achieved without having to move your data off the disk. To learn more please also check out: http://aka.ms/mbr2gpt

QUESTIONS:
Have a question about Windows 10? Ask the experts on the Microsoft Tech Community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-10/ct-p/Windows10

Yesterday, we made two really cool announcements for users & enthusiasts of Microsoft Flow, our orchestration & productivity workflow solution:

• The announcement of an official Microsoft Flow Subreddit discussion forum
• The availability of Computer Vision API to Flow, from Microsoft Cognitive Services

FLOW SUBREDDIT
Flow now has its own SubReddit page, supported by the Flow product group… and there’s already a LOT of activity.

We (The Product group) would love for you to come join the official subreddit and community, to better learn to use the tool and ultimately save yourself a shitload of time in your workday by automating repetitive tasks in a no-code/low-code environment!

Wondering what is Microsoft Flow? Here’s our overview video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWU6xmq3T8M

Come join us in the subreddit today! http://reddit.com/r/MicrosoftFlow

FLOW SUPPORT FOR “COMPUTER VISION API’
They just announced a series of Product Updates for Flow as well, including support for our *Computer Vision API*, part of Microsoft’s Cognitive Services.

The Computer Vision API will enable Flow writers to initiate flows based on what a camera can see & recognize. Mount cameras in building & create Microsoft Flows such as: Whenever Kurt Shintaku appears to be coming into the building, send a Skype for Business notification to Corporate Security, warning them of an intruder.

Join us May 2 for a livestream to learn what’s next from Microsoft.

• DATE/TIME:
  May 2, 2017
  6:00AM PT

  Add to Calendar:
  http://event.microsoft.com/
  MayEvent/ICS/eventcalendar.ics

• EVENT PAGE:
  http://event.microsoft.com/MayEvent

[taken from the FireHose blog]
Azure users: It’s time to upgrade your system to Azure AD Connect.

As announced a year ago, support will end April 13 for Windows Azure Active Directory Sync (DirSync) and Azure Active Directory Sync (Azure AD Sync). About 35,000 customers have made the switch to Azure AD Connect so far – and all users will need to do so in the next few days to avoid service disruptions.

(Azure AD will stop accepting connections from DirSync and Azure AD Sync after December 31, 2017.)

To learn more about the upgrade, visit the Enterprise Mobility and Security Blog.

• BLOG: End of support for DirSync and Azure AD Sync is rapidly approaching. Time to upgrade to AAD Connect!
  https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/enterprisemobility/2017/04/10/end-of-support-for-dirsync-and-azure-ad-sync-is-rapidly-approaching-time-to-upgrade-to-aad-connect/

[As presented on March 29, 2017]

On May 2018, Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR comes to effect. Now is the time to start planning and the primer above will tell you how.

OVERVIEW
For a summary of Microsoft’s commitment & customer offerings for GDPR compliance, visit:

• BLOG: Get GDPR compliant with the Microsoft Cloud
  https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2017/02/15/get-gdpr-compliant-with-the-microsoft-cloud/

GDPR TRUST CENTER
For more information, visit Microsoft’s dedicated site for GDPR below where we go over:

• Supporting your journey to compliance with the GDPR
• Where do I start?
• Microsoft’s commitment to the GDPR
• Microsoft enterprise products
  and services and the GDPR
• General FAQ

Read more here:

• SITE: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trustcenter/Privacy/GDPR

Microsoft Flow Windows Phone App Beta is now available for download!  You are now invited to participate in our Beta program.

This easy-to-use business app helps you create, monitor, and manage automated workflows between your web services, files, and cloud-based data. Create a flow to automatically capture, track, and follow up with new sales leads, or automate notifications telling your team when a work item is updated – create the flows that work for you!

Features

• Create new flows when you need them – from anywhere!
• Trigger flows to run at the tap of a button
• Manage your flows from anywhere
• Monitor flow success
• Review detailed run history reports
• View and filter runs by notification type

Coming soon:

• Team flows: View your team flows straight from your Flow mobile app.
• Button sharing: Share your buttons with others to run.

Read more here:

• BLOG ANNOUNCEMENT:
  https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/windows-phone-app-beta-is-now-available/
• DOWNLOAD:
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/microsoft-flow/9nkn0p5l9n84

Hear leading experts and analysts discuss the state of manufacturing today—and a path to the future

Today’s manufacturers are operating in a world of uncertainty

Successful manufacturers are combating market volatility by focusing on productivity gains via new technology. The Internet of Things (IoT) and predictive analytics are likely to determine who wins and who loses in this age of uncertainty.

Join this virtual event to hear from leading experts and analysts about technologies manufacturers need to adopt to stay competitive:

• Industry analyst, Ray Wang will outline the macroeconomics trends affecting the industry and lay a path forward
• Experts from Hitachi will discuss the promise of IoT and the cloud for discovering new opportunities and achieving operational efficiencies
• Microsoft’s IoT lead will share upcoming trends to watch

Check the complete agenda below for a list of all sessions and descriptions, and save your spot for this event by registering below.

Agenda

• 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM PT / 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM ET
  Opening Keynote: The Digital Age and its Impact on Manufacturing
  Speaker: Ray Wang, Principal Analyst and Founder, Constellation Research
  Learn how the digital age is impacting the manufacturing industry; what challenges and opportunities the new digital world offers manufacturers; why it’s necessary for manufacturers to stay ahead of the competition, and how innovation helps this objective.
• 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM PT / 12:30 PM – 12:45 PM ET
  Changing the Game: How IoT and Predictive Analytics Help Manufacturers Drive New Business Models and Uncover New Opportunities
  Speaker: David Bishop, Senior VP, Hitachi Solutions
  Learn what IoT and predictive analytics are, and why this technology is important for manufacturers to learn and understand, along with a discussion of its advantages (business efficiency, streamlined processes, etc.).
• 9:45 AM PT – 10:00 AM PT / 12:30 PM – 12:45 PM ET
  Leveraging the Power of the Cloud for Operational Efficiency
  Speaker: Martin Boggess, Industry VP, Hitachi Solutions
  Learn how Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides the business management base for the manufacturer of the future, and how it supports IoT and predictive analytics solutions.
• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET – 1:15 PM ET
  IoT and Hitachi Predictive Service in Action
  Speaker: David Bishop, Senior VP, Hitachi Solutions
  Culminate the day by learning how Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Hitachi IoT Predictive Service Hub work together to deliver an innovative, end-to-end manufacturing solution.
• 10:15 AM – 10:30 AM PT / 1:15 PM – 1:30 PM ET
  Closing Keynote
  Speaker: Rahul Garg, Microsoft Corporation
  Learn about forward-looking trends in manufacturing.

DATE/TIME:

• Tuesday May 2, 2017 | 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM PT

REGISTRATION:

• https://info.microsoft.com/en-us-wbnr-TheManufactureroftheFutureHowIoTandPredictiveAnalyticsTransformOperationsfortheDigitalAge-register.html?wt.mc_id=AID611554_QSG_SCL_149803