Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Microsoft recently launched the Center of Out of Office Excellence.

What is the COOOE?  It’s a site designed to help you create your own OOO (out-of-office) memes just in time for the holidays. Upload an image, choose a design type and revel in the joy of OOO.

The “Center” is also a recognition that achieving more sometimes means doing less, with tools like Automatic Replies in Outlook to help you unplug, recharge, connect with loved ones and enjoy the holidays.

“I think most of us who live a lot of our lives online are learning that breaks from being constantly reachable, present and ‘on’ can help in every aspect of our lives,” says writer Emily Gould in an essay penned for Microsoft. “A break of any length makes it possible to come back refreshed – to appreciate what there is to appreciate about digital connectivity.”

Gould’s essay was a follow-up to her piece in The New York Times on the “art of the out-of-office reply,”  in which she examined OOOs funny to self-important in a look at the whole auto-reply phenomenon.

The site is located at:

• Center of Out of Office Excellence
  http://www.centerforoutofofficeexcellence.com/

Incidentally, Doug Thomas from the Office team created this video to help folks understand how to use their Out of Office message to “work for you” while you’re away.

For those of you looking for training on the Volume Licensing Service Center or Software Assurance benefits, here’s the site you should be going to.

Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center training and resources
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Licensing/existing-customer/vlsc-training-and-resources.aspx

Here’s an outline of what they provide:

Overview

• VLSC user guides:
• Getting started and administration
• License relation summary information
• Downloads, keys, and subscriptions
• Online service reservations Enterprise Agreements
• VLSC Software Assurance guide
  Get help managing your Software Assurance benefits.
• Online Services activation
  Find step-by-step guidance for activating and managing online services.
• Frequently asked questions
  Get answers to your questions about the VLSC.
• VLSC Software Assurance E-Learning benefit activation guide
  Learn how to activate your E-Learning benefits and locate your Online Learning access codes.
• MSDN subscription guides
• Understanding MSDN subscriptions
• Managing MSDN subscriptions

How-To Training Videos
Watch videos to help you get started with the VLSC

• How to use the VLSC – 2:55 minutes
• Software Assurance – 3:04 minutes
• Registering for the VLSC – 2:22 minutes
• Downloads and Keys – 3:13 minutes
• Managing Permissions – 2:57 minutes

Online Services Activation

• VLSC Frequently Asked Questions
• Find out how to activate online services in the VLSC
• Learn how to create an Organizational Account
• Find out how to activate online services without the VLSC

Additionally, here are some other resources you may want to tap:

• Volume Licensing Blog:
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/volume-licensing/
• Software Assurance Quickstart Guide:
  https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DA410C7F7E038D!340655&authkey=!AFS1U72ya5AoWQg&ithint=file%2cpdf

Looking for content on Windows-to-Go for Windows 10?  Here’s some references for you to dig into:

TECHNET DOCUMENTATION:  Plan for Windows 10 Deployment: Windows-to-Go Overview
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt185782(v=vs.85).aspx

• Best practice recommendations for Windows To Go
• Deployment considerations for Windows To Go
• Prepare your organization for Windows To Go
• Security and data protection considerations for Windows To Go
• Windows To Go: frequently asked questions

Step-By-Step: Creating a Windows 10 to Go Workspace
http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2015/01/27/step-by-step-creating-a-windows-10-to-go-workspace.aspx

CHANNEL 9: Windows To Go lifecycle: How to deploy, manage, recycle and kill your devices
https://channel9.msdn.com/events/Ignite/Australia-2015/WIN342A (to be posted)

Watch Video

[SESSION CHANGE] Windows To Go lifecycle: How to deploy, manage, recycle and kill your devices [WIN342]
Windows to Go is another way of deploying Windows 10. It allows end users to boot into a corporate configured and managed Windows 10 image on any Windows 7 or later certified hardware. This session will walk you through the life cycle of a Windows to Go device. Starting with the various deployment options for provisioning single or multiple devices. We will then look at the capabilities offered by Azure AD and Intune for OS level management, and also explore the hardware management features offered on IronKey’s hardware encrypted Windows to Go devices. Finally we will demonstrate the remediation techniques available to disable or wipe a device should it be lost, stolen, or not returned when the user leaves
https://msftignite.com.au/sessions/session-details/1601/session-change-windows-to-go-lifecycle-how-to-deploy-manage-recycle-and-kill-your-devices-win342

CHANNEL 9: Defrag: Windows 10 Upgrade Tips, Microsoft IoT Starter Kits, Windows To Go and more…
https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/The-Defrag-Show/Defrag-Windows-10-Upgrade-Tips-Microsoft-IoT-Starter-Kits-Windows-To-Go-and-more

The FindTime for Outlook 2013/2016 (on Office 365) team has released a series of hacks to use against FindTime to improve productivity with meeting scheduling.

See all 5 hacks here:

• INFO: 5 Tips & Hacks for FindTime for Outlook 2013/2016 (on Office 365)
  http://findtime.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/topics/109923-tips-and-hacks

Here’s the 1st of those hacks here:

FindTime Hack #1 out of 5: use the optional attendees feature.

If you need to keep someone in the loop but don’t want to wait for them to respond, include them as an optional attendee by moving them to the CC: line. As you choose your time slots, only required attendees’ names are underlined.

If all of your required attendees have voted and they have agreed upon a time, we will schedule the meeting. Optional attendees’ availabilities are taken into consideration only if there are multiple times that work for your required attendees.

FindTime is an Office app for Outlook that helps you come to consensus on a meeting time. Have you ever spent more time deciding when to meet than actually meeting?

FindTime offers intelligent suggestions on what days and times work the best for people within your organization. Propose your selected times to all attendees and allow everyone to vote.

Once you reach consensus, FindTime sends out the meeting invite on your behalf, eliminating the time consuming back-and-forth usually required to find the best meeting time.

Here’s a video of how it works:

Frequently asked questions:

• Do recipients also need to have FindTime installed?
  Nope! Your friends and colleagues only need an email address and Internet access in order to be a recipient. You are certainly welcome to spread the love and invite them to install FindTime, however, and become an organizer!
• Can I send invites to people who don’t use Office 365?
  Yes! You can send a FindTime invite to anyone with an email address. Only organizers are required to be on Office 365.
• Can I send a test invite?
  Definitely! Just add a second personal email address to the To: or Cc: line and you’re in business!
• Is my personal information or information about my emails stored on the FindTime server?
  For added security, FindTime encrypts personal information (such as your email address) in Azure. FindTime also encrypts information about the invites you create, such as the email subject, the attendees, and the email body. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
• What is FindTime?
  FindTime is an Outlook mail add-in that allows you to quickly find time to meet with others – something that can take weeks without FindTime! FindTime helps you pinpoint times to meet by looking at available free/busy data for your attendees as well as creating a poll where attendees can vote on the times you suggest, and even suggest new times themselves!
• How do I get started?
  Simply install FindTime! You can also check out our How It Works page to see a quick walkthrough. If you have any questions, shoot us an email at love@findtime.uservoice.com
• From what devices can I access FindTime?
  Recipients can receive invites on any email provider, and can access the FindTime voting website on any device. Organizers’ email accounts must be on Office 365 and can access the FindTime Outlook mail add-in in Outlook 2013, Outlook 2016, or Outlook Web Access (OWA).
• I’ve got some feedback! Where can I send it?
  Send it our way! Email us at love@findtime.uservoice.com.
• Who made this fantastic app?
  Aw shucks, thanks for the kind words! We are a small team within Microsoft, working hard to make scheduling pain a thing of the past! Feel free to contact us anytime at love@findtime.uservoice.com.

Grab FindTime here!

• DOWNLOAD: FindTime for Outlook
  https://findtime.microsoft.com/
• DOCS: FindTime for Outlook Knowledgebase/Frequently Asked Questions
  https://findtime.uservoice.com/knowledgebase
• DOCS: FindTime Licensing (Free for Office 365 business users!)
  https://findtime.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/842994-what-is-findtime-who-is-it-meant-for-and-what-ar

Furthering Microsoft’s commitment to Linux in its public cloud, Azure, we now have endorsed distributions of Debian GNU/Linux available in the Azure Marketplace.

This means that any Azure customer can immediately get a Debian 7 & 8 virtual machines up & running in Azure in just a few minutes & know the distribution is up to date & supported.

<taken from the Azure blog>

Today we are announcing the availability of Debian GNU/Linux as an endorsed distribution in the Azure Marketplace in collaboration with credativ.

Debian is a free operating system that comes with over 43,000 packages and runs in many architectures and even different kernels. The 64-bit version of Debian GNU/Linux for Intel architecture is one of the most popular Linux distributions in the market, used by developers, governments, enterprises, application architects and derivative developers alike.

With this announcement, customers are able to provision Debian-based virtual machines in Microsoft Azure by selecting the most up-to-date point versions of Debian 7 (codename “wheezy”) and Debian 8 (codename “jessie”) built by credativ.

…

Read more at the Microsoft Azure blog:

• Announcing availability of Debian GNU/Linux as an endorsed distribution in Azure Marketplace
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/debian-images-now-available-on-azure/

We hope you’ll take a second to pause, listen, and share the voices of Microsoft employees and a local NYC youth choir as they share the spirit of the season.

Spread Harmony,

<taken from Major Nelson’s blog>

The Game Awards 2015 is happening next week and the Xbox team (including a few notable luminaries) will be there to support a number of our titles nominated for awards.

“Join the biggest names in entertainment to celebrate the best video games of 2015, plus get a sneak preview of what’s next. The Game Awards 2015 Presented by Go90 highlights the cultural significance of video games with awards, world premieres, musical performances and other surprises.”

Xbox Fan Celebration

Xbox is hosting an exclusive Xbox Fan Celebration for 200 lucky fans, who will also receive a ticket to The Game Awards 2015, happening immediately following the social. Enjoy an afternoon of food and drinks and meet special guests from the Xbox team before they open the doors to The Game Awards.

When: Thursday, December 3, 2015 (Exact times TBD – I’ll update this post once the times are confirmed)

Where: JW Marriott Los Angeles at LA LIVE (900 West Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015)

What: Access to the Xbox Fan Celebration and a ticket to the Game Awards (one per person, first-come, first-serve, must be 21+ years old or over). Please note, this is for a ticket to the event only – you are responsible for all other travel, lodging or miscellaneous expenses.

The Game Awards 2015

When: Thursday, December 3, 2015 – 6:00p PT

Where: Microsoft Theater (formerly Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE), Los Angeles, CA (check ticket availability)

The Game Awards 2015 will be streamed on a number of platforms and apps including Xbox Live, Twitch and YouTube, so even if you’re not going to the event you can watch the show.

Basically the fan event is for the first 200 folks that show up.  All those admitted will also get tickets to the Game Awards 2015 event as well.

Read more here:

• The Game Awards 2015, Free Tickets And Xbox Fan Celebration
  http://majornelson.com/2015/11/26/the-game-awards-2015-free-tickets-and-xbox-fan-celebration/#comments

If Windows doesn’t start correctly when you turn on your Surface, here are solutions for some of the more common screens that might appear.

• “Surface turns on, but Windows won’t start”
  https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-ca/support/warranty-service-and-recovery/surface-wont-turn-on-windows-wont-start?os=windows-10

Organization charts show reporting relationships and how employees are grouped into departments. Organizational charts are used as part of those processes related to coordinating people and job responsibilities within and between departments.

In this session, participants will learn how to create an organizational chart from a data source and Active Directory. This session would be beneficial for anyone in Human Resources, Operations, Project Management, Facility Management, and Information Technology who uses or would like to learn how to use Visio 2016.

Participants will also learn how to take advantage of the new Visio 2016 features to maximize productivity and collaborative securely with information rights management, data loss prevention, and multi-factor authentication. Visio 2016 all allows users to share diagrams across the enterprise utilizing SharePoint and Visio Services.

• DATE:
  12/1/2015
• REGISTRATION:
  https://vts.inxpo.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&ShowKey=26805
• ADD TO CALENDAR:
  https://presentations.inxpo.com/Shows/Microsoft/GMO/
  Global_MSC/2016/VisioFY16/VisioFY16_12.1.icsAdd this session to your calendar