Kurt Shintaku's Blog

I managed to get this semi-updated, color map of Microsoft’s Redmond Campus.

If you plan on visiting our headquarters, this is probably going to be useful.

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft Redmond Campus Map
  https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DA410C7F7E038D!454468&authkey=!ACUCCv1mjNpdbe0&ithint=file%2cpdf

In case you missed it, Bing Images did a partnership with Variety to create a site called http://CelebsLike.me that identifies your Doppelganger in the Oscar candidates as well as Hollywood in general.

Here’s mine:

I guess Ang Lee, for me, is about right… but I never saw the similarity between myself and Masi Oka, Sung Kang, or Bobby Lee until I ran my image through the web site. I’m actually stoked to be at least partially visually comparable to these amazing celebrity talents!

Read more about this collaboration here:
http://news.microsoft.com/features/bings-new-academy-awards-guide-is-one-stop-for-awards-info-including-finding-your-celebrity-doppelganger/

Tuesday, in San Francisco, Brad Smith will keynote at the RSA Conference 2016.

In a presentation entitled, “Trust in the Cloud in Tumultuous Times”, Brad will discuss our continued approach to security and privacy and our commitment to investing in security, privacy and control, compliance, and transparency. The address will be streamed live and publicly available.  (See link to the stream below)

For a preview of Brad’s keynote, as well as the 16 other sessions that we are delivering, visit Microsoft’s CyberTrust blog:

• BLOG: Headed to RSA? Here’s your event guide for trust in cloud services
  http://blogs.microsoft.com/cybertrust/2016/02/16/headed-to-rsa-heres-your-event-guide-for-trust-in-cloud-services/.

In preparation for the keynote, our Corporate VP & CISO, Bret Arsenault released information about the progress we have made on the security front, specifically for a mobile-first, cloud-first world.  Read Bret’s post here:

• Progress Report: Enterprise security for our mobile-first, cloud-first world
  http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/25/enterprise-security-for-our-mobile-first-cloud-first-world-2/

Date/Time:
March 1, 2016 – 8:50 AM

Location:
South, Live at Esplanade Ballroom

Broadcast:
To view Brad’s keynote go to:

• WEBCAST: Microsoft President & Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith’s Keynote at RSA Conference 2016
  http://www.rsaconference.com/us16/microsoft
• SESSION: Agenda for Brad Smith’s Keynote (Attendees of RSA 2016 can add his keynote to their schedule here)
  https://www.rsaconference.com/events/us16/agenda/sessions/2750/trust-in-the-cloud-in-tumultuous-times

On Brad Smith:

Brad Smith
President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft
Brad Smith is responsible for Microsoft’s corporate, external and legal affairs. Smith plays a key role in leading the company’s work on privacy and security. He is also Microsoft’s Chief Compliance Officer. He has played a leading role within Microsoft and in the IT sector on government surveillance, privacy, intellectual property, immigration and computer science education policy issues. As the senior executive responsible for ensuring Microsoft fulfills its corporate responsibilities, he has helped the company achieve its consistent ranking in the top 2 percent of the S&P 500 for corporate governance scores.

In the video below from Feb 25th, 2016, Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, responds to a question regarding a legal case between Apple and the U.S. government as part of testimony before a U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing titled International Conflicts of Law Concerning Cross Border Data Flow and Law Enforcement Requests.

Back in November 2015, Microsoft Azure announced the availability of Blockchain-as-a-Service via Ethereum, in partnership with the leading Enterprise provider of Ethereum Blockchain solutions, Consensys.

Since then, our Financial Services CTO, Marley Gray, has been posting nearly every other week nearly every other week about the new partners Microsoft has in this space.  We currently have 20 Blockchain providers waiting to join the Microsoft BaaS program.

And it’s gained steam, as reported in Nasdaq.com.

• NASDAQ: Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain As a Service Program Gains Momentum
  http://www.nasdaq.com/article/microsofts-azure-blockchain-as-a-service-program-gains-momentum-cm562389

Recently, Microsoft has a glut of Blockchain providers interested in being part of the Azzure BaaS program as an offering along side Ethereum:

• NEW YORK BUSINESS JOURNAL: Why Microsoft’s blockchain service has 20 companies waiting to be accepted
  http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2016/01/21/why-microsofts-blockchain-service-has-20-companies.html

Marley did a demonstration of a transaction over Ethereum on YouTube:

• Blockchain CryptoSwap – A Total Return Swap Demo using Ethereum on Azure Blockchain as a Service
  [LORES] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHCAU5dJ3Mk&feature=youtu.be
  [HIRES] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl_R9ZndeNs

For a list of updates on Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain-as-a-Service, visit:

• Microsoft Azure BaaS Posts
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/tag/blockchain/

For an explanation of how Blockchain technology works, visit the following sites:

• https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-block-chain-work
• http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/41868/how-does-the-blockchain-work-explained-in-layman-terms
• http://gizmodo.com/whats-the-blockchain-and-why-does-bitcoin-depend-on-it-1698025216

Lync has joined the Skype family and is now Skype for Business!

Skype for Business brings together the familiar experience that users love about Skype, with the enterprise security, compliance and control from Lync. Skype for Business builds on Microsoft’s world class productivity platform Office 365 resulting in a truly modern collaboration platform. Join Microsoft to experience how Skype for Business simplifies and unifies the different tools people use to collaborate for work. It’s all about connecting business and people, and it starts here!

We have prepared an exciting event featuring the Skype for Business Product Group, local Microsoft experts and certified partners where we will discuss these important items through a combination of demos, use cases and partners solutions:

• New Era of Collaboration: Introducing Skype for Business
• Skype for Business product, service and platform futures
• Productivity through devices
• Lync Room System (LRS) Futures and Surface Hub
• Enabling Mobile collaboration
• Simplify ‘Click to Call’ with Call via Work
• Empowering LOB apps with WebRTC & ORTC
• Skype enabled Contact Center

Agenda

This is your opportunity to get your questions answered by Skype for Business experts and Microsoft Partners, and see how Skype for Business will meet your business needs.

*There is no fee to attend.*

Skype for Business Summit Sponsors:

Win prizes and giveaways courtesy of our sponsors!

• Date:
  March 4th, 2016
• Location:
  Microsoft Playa Vista
  13031 W. Jefferson Blvd Suite 200
  Playa Vista , CA 90094
  See map and/or driving directions
• Registration:
  https://www.microsoftevents.com/profile/
  form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x92455e301

Furthering Microsoft’s commitment to cross-platform development & a mobile future, we announced yesterday that we’ll be acquiring Xamarin:

In conjunction with Visual Studio, Xamarin provides a rich mobile development offering that enables developers to build mobile apps using C# and deliver fully native mobile app experiences to all major devices – including iOS, Android, and Windows. Xamarin’s approach enables developers to take advantage of the productivity and power of .NET to build mobile apps, and to use C# to write to the full set of native APIs and mobile capabilities provided by each device platform. This enables developers to easily share common app code across their iOS, Android and Windows apps while still delivering fully native experiences for each of the platforms. Xamarin’s unique solution has fueled amazing growth for more than four years.

Microsoft’s Announcement:
http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/24/microsoft-to-acquire-xamarin-and-empower-more-developers-to-build-apps-on-any-device/

We founded Xamarin more than 4 years ago with the mission to make native mobile development fast, easy, and fun and to help C# developers build beautiful mobile apps and reach billions of devices. We love the native iOS, Android, and Mac APIs and we love C#, and this acquisition is an ideal next step for us and for our customers.

Xamarin’s Announcement:
https://blog.xamarin.com/a-xamarin-microsoft-future/

WHAT IS XAMARIN?
For 3rd party commentary on the pending acquisition and an explanation of what the acquisition means, here’s an excerpt from Windows Weekly 454 about the subject:

Oh boy. Microsoft Distinguished Engineer, James Whittaker, just got added to the docket of the upcoming TechNet Virtual Conference.

JAMES WHO?
For those of you who don’t know who James Whittaker is, he’s gotten a Ph.D in Computer Science from UT & is former Professor at the Florida Institute of Technology.  He worked for Microsoft for 3 years, left for Google for 3 years, then came back to Microsoft.  And he’s one of the most dynamic speakers we have.

He doesn’t pull punches and he usually has no filter.  And he LOVES BEER.  In fact, he’s known to drink on stage & that’s when folks in the audience lean in, wondering, “Damn, what’s James gonna say next?”  There’s never been a James Whittaker presentation where I haven’t walked away with some mind-bending insight.  (I’m curious however if he’s gonna rail it in a little given that this is a video broadcast.)

In short however, if you’re invested in Microsoft technology, you’ll definitely want to check out DocJamesW’s presentations at the TechNet Virtual Conference.

• Date/Time:
  March 1st, 2016
  11:00AM PST
• Registration:
  https://www.technetvc.com/

Protecting Your Organization in a Mobile-First, Cloud-First World

It seems nearly every week a new cyberattack is announced, against a corporation, a government agency, or a nonprofit organization. This has made cybersecurity a top issue for IT and security professionals, as well as their peers in line of business and the boardroom.

What are the facts?

• Cybercriminals have evolved. They have become better organized and are using more sophisticated techniques.
• Enterprise security has failed to keep up. Traditional security measures are proving largely ineffective and attackers are exploiting gaps between disconnected point solutions.
• The cost is high. Cyberattacks cost organizations $400 billion a year. This makes cybersecurity a boardroom problem.

The threats are wide-ranging and plentiful, but there are best practices and solutions you can adopt to keep your organization safe.

By attending the Virtual Security Summit, you will:

• Learn about the modern cybercriminal and their evolving tactics
• Hear how cyberwar and cyberterrorism affect you and your organization
• Learn from leading security experts about how they keep their organization safe
• Discover tools you can use to keep your people, platforms and devices secure

Join us for a packed three hours of content specifically geared toward better understanding today’s Enterprise Security industry.

• Date/Time:
  Tuesday, March 29, 2016
  9:00am -12:00pm PT
• Registration:
  http://aka.ms/virtualsecuritysummit

It was announced today that the Department of Defense will be broadly standardizing on Windows 10 and migrating 4 million PCs by January 2017.

This will be the largest Windows 10 deployment to dates & follows a public memo issued by DoD CIO Terry Halvorsen and a verbal directive from the US Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, this month.

Windows 10 & Surface, additionally, have been certified as meeting the specific government criteria, strict security standards, and interoperability requirements set by the Department of Defense.

You can read more about the Department of Defense’s announcement here:

• US Department of Defense Commits to Upgrade 4 Million Seats to Windows 10
  https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2016/02/17/us-department-of-defense-commits-to-upgrade-4-million-seats-to-windows-10/
• Department of Defense directs DoD agencies to standardize on Windows 10
  http://enterprise.microsoft.com/en-us/industries/government/?post_type=articles#fbid=2iff4wM8PCv
• Surface now approved for U.S. Department of Defense
  https://blogs.windows.com/devices/?p=250683

The prior memo from DoD CIO Terry Halvorsen is located below:

• CIO Memo – Migration to Microsoft Windows 10 Secure Host Baseline
  The Office of the Chief Information Officer of the DoD released a memo on 20 November as notification that in order to improve our Cybersecurity posture, lower the cost of IT, and streamline the IT operating environment, the Department will transition to Microsoft Windows 10. The DoD will direct Combatant Commands, Services, Agencies and Field Activities (CC/S/As) to rapidly deploy the Windows IO operating system throughout their respective organizations starting in January 2016, and the Department’s objective is to complete the deployment by January 2017. You can read the entire memo below.
  http://www.esi.mil/download.aspx?id=5448 (.PDF)