Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The Service Level Dashboard Management Pack 2.0 for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 was delivered late last week by the Microsoft Solution Accelerators team, and is available for you to download today from the System Center Catalog.

Assisting you in tracking, managing, and reporting on your line-of-business (LOB) application service levels, the Service Level Dashboard displays a list of applications and their performance and availability against service level goals.

Download the SLD 2.0 here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=1d9d709f-9628-46a8-952b-a78f5dd2bdd9

About the Service Level Dashboard Management Pack 2.0

Using the information collected by Operations Manager 2007 R2, and leveraging the service level objectives that you can set against IT services and their components, this graphical dashboard presents detailed information through Microsoft SharePoint that helps customers:

• Easily keep tabs on IT service health via the IT Service status header bar, which is customizable to show the IT services you wish to monitor.
• Quickly identify components that may be falling away from their expected levels of service, helping head off problems before they occur.
• View Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), and application service level trends for each monitored component.
• Leverage the familiar interface of SharePoint (either SharePoint Services 3.0 or Office SharePoint Server 2007) to share information with target audiences – all without having to grant access to, or train users on, the Operations Manager console.

To read more about this Solution Accelerator online at TechNet click here, or read more at our Operations Manager team blog.  Also watch our TechNet EDGE video blog that presents the dashboard as part of our overview on Operations Manager 2007 R2.

[taken from Network World]

iPhones in the enterprise leaving IT pros at wit’s end
iPhone Security, management concerns at top of the list

LAS VEGAS–Executives smitten with iPhones are forcing enterprise IT departments to come up with ways to support the mobile devices even though big security and management questions abound…

…One healthcare IT pro said supporting iPhones would be a nightmare given industry data protection regulations and the ability of end users to relatively easily "jailbreak" their iPhones. Another IT pro pointed out that supporting a bunch of native apps on iPhones would seem to run counter to other IT trends, such as the move toward desktop virtualization and centralized applications control…

[taken from Buzzstudy’s research]

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is wrapping up in Los Angeles. At their respective keynotes, both Microsoft and Sony made major announcements in a similar vain.  Microsoft presented their Project Natal, a camera-based device which can track full body motion without needing a controller. Shortly after, Sony demonstrated a prototype high-precision motion tracking controller for the Playstation 3.  Both exciting and impressive in different ways.

We decided to see the web’s reaction to these announcements, and threw the Wii Motion Plus accessory in for comparison.  MotionPlus is an add-on coming for the Nintendo Wii controllers which improves their motion tracking accuracy and capabilities.

…more…

Read the results at:

• Microsoft’s Project Natal versus Sony’s Motion Controller
  http://infegy.com/buzzstudy/microsofts-project-natal-versus-sonys-motion-controller/

Well, looks like the Interwebs have decided to talk about the annually asked question, “Who won the E3 Press war of 2009?  Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony?”

• G4TV:  E3 2009 Press Conference Report Card:  Rating the Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony Pressers
  http://e3.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/696148/E3-2009-Press-Conference-Report-Card-Rating-The-Microsoft-Nintendo-And-Sony-Pressers.html
• GOONLINEGAMES:  E3 2009: Who Really Won E3 2009?
  http://jonathancullen.goonlinegames.net/2009/06/03/e3-2009-who-really-won-e3-2009/
• VICTIMOFCULTURE:  E3 2009: Press conference review
  – http://www.victimofculture.com/2009/06/01/e3-2009-microsoft-press-conference-review
  – http://www.victimofculture.com/2009/06/02/e3-2009-nintendo-press-conference-review
  – http://www.victimofculture.com/2009/06/02/e3-2009-sony-press-conference-review
• GAMASUTRA:  E3 Analysis – Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony
  – http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23868
  – http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23897
  – http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23885
• 1Up:  E3 2009 Conference Grades (Podcast)
  http://n4g.com/events_e32009/News-339876.aspx (Summary & podcast)
• MODUSGAMERANDI:  Reactions from Nintendo E3 ‘09 Press Conference
  – http://modusgamerandi.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/reactions-from-microsoft-e3-09-press-conference/
  – http://modusgamerandi.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/reactions-from-nintendo-e3-%e2%80%9809-press-conference/

– http://modusgamerandi.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/reactions-from-sony-e3-%e2%80%9809-press-conference/

• MYCRESCENDO:  Who had the best showing? Let me break it down for ya’ll
  http://mycrescendo.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/e3-2009-who-had-the-best-showing-let-me-break-it-down-for-yall/
• CNET:  How Microsoft stole the show at E3
  http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10256539-17.html

Interesting articles about the Press Conference battles:

• E3 2009: Who won E3? The case for Microsoft
  http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=3824
• E3 2009: The Big Three, Who Won?
  http://nidzumi.com/e3-2009-the-big-three-who-won

Really interesting article:

LOS ANGELES–About halfway through a closed-door demo I was in this afternoon of Microsoft’s just-announced full-body motion-sensitive control system, Project Natal, another reporter told our host that he was skeptical of what he was seeing.

A minute later, after taking the virtual controls himself of the game "Burnout Paradise" and giving Natal a test, the reporter walked back over to where I was standing and when I asked him if he was still skeptical, he gave me a chastened look and said, "It’s interesting."

In other words, he was won over.

…

FULL ARTICLE:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10255403-235.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

<taken from Reuters>

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday its new Windows 7 operating system will be generally available on October 22, well ahead of its original schedule and in time for the holiday shopping season.

The new operating system, which will replace the unpopular Vista, was originally planned for roll-out at the beginning of next year, but Microsoft confirmed last month that it would hit the market in time for the year’s busiest buying period.

The arrival of the new system is a big event for the computing world, as more than 90 percent of the world’s PC’s run on Windows, and strategically important for Microsoft, which gets more than half of its profit from its operating system unit.

The latest release is crucial to win back public confidence after the disappointing launch of Vista in 2007. Vista was incompatible with some low-power machines and perceived by many to be too complicated.

The world’s largest software company also faces new threats to its dominance in operating systems, especially in the fast-growing "netbook" market for small, portable PCs ideal for surfing the Internet and sending e-mail.

Earlier on Tuesday, netbook pioneer Acer Inc said it plans to sell small PCs that run on Google Inc’s new Android operating system, making it the first manufacturer to do so.

Microsoft said it will send Windows 7 code to PC makers to load onto new machines — known in the industry as "release to manufacturing" — around the end of July.

By October 22, people will be able to buy new computers with Windows 7 installed, or pick up the software off the shelf to install on their old computers.

Microsoft confirmed that it will run a program whereby people who buy PCs with certain versions of Vista before October 22 can get a free upgrade to Windows 7, but it has not yet released details.

Microsoft shares were up 7 cents at $21.47 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Wow.  And to think I thought today was going to be “the other guys” day exclusively…

• Xbox 360 Exclusive:  Crackdown 2 will have 4-player coop with 16-players playing simultaneously online.
• Xbox Live Meetup @ E3! Gamers can chow down with the Major (Major Nelson a.k.a. Larry Hyrb) at the In-N-Out Burger on 7009 Sunset Blvd. on Wed, June 3rd at 7PM.
  http://majornelson.com/archive/2009/06/02/the-xbox-live-meetup-at-e3-2009.aspx

Wow.  The hits just keep coming… like aftershocks… from Microsoft’s E3 announcements:

1. Xbox Live users will be able to download full Xbox 360 games to their hard drive.  Games can be purchased via credit card or Microsoft Points.  Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed, and Civilization Revolution announced.
2. Avatar Marketplace will allow you to download new apparel/items for your avatar on the Xbox 360.  There will also be purchasable apparel to make your avatar really unique. 
   And there will also be awardable apparel and items that you can get as a result of completing certain quests during certain Xbox 360 games.
3. Halo: ODST announces 4 player co-op gaming in a special mode called “Firefight”.  Featuring vehicles and ability modifying skulls that one can carry, Halo: ODST will make a team-tacular good time.
4. 1 vs 100 beta goes live tonight in US at 7:30PM.  Yep.  That’s right – the Primetime BETA finally gets released to you scurvy dogs.  It’s YOU vs THE MOB.  Or you get to be one of the MOB… and win real prizes like free Xbox Live Arcade games and stuff.  And you get to use your Avatars as representation as you play the game. (My wife and I have been playing in the evenings… and it’s good family fun!  Especially when they ask questions like, “What is the name given to the Washington DC area in the game ‘Fallout 3’?”  <—Actual game question!)
5. The Project Natal Sensor is far from being “just an add-on camera”.  The sensor is the world’s first to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and custom processor running proprietary software.
   Unlike 2D cameras and controllers, Project Natal tracks your FULL BODY movement in 3D while responding to commands, directions, and even differences of emotion in your voice.  When Project Natal is ready, it will work with every Xbox 360 so people who have never picked up a controller can finally join the fun.

   …and finally…

6. OMFG.  It’s Halo: Reach.
   For those of you who don’t know what the implication of that is, here’s 4 words:

                     MASTER CHIEF IS BACK!
   
   …in the prequel that started it all.  I realize that many of you haven’t read “Halo: The Fall of Reach”, but it was probably the best book about the Halo franchise I can remember.  The Fall of Reach was where you first heard of Master Chief and his origins… where the Spartan program came from… why Reach, a planetary outpost, was so important… and who Captain Keyes was and what was the Pillar of Autumn doing jumping to the location of the original “Halo” from Halo: Combat Evolved.

In case you missed it, the Peter Molyneux demonstration from Lionhead Studios of a human interacting with a computer generated character using Project Natal’s technology was outstanding and defined the word ‘visionary’.

But I guess, that’s why he’s Peter Molyneux.

VIDEO:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgRCToXfef8