Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Go on the road with Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 this fall and learn how to harness the energy of your data and put it to use in your organization. At the SQL Server 2008 Roadshow, the focus is on database management, security, and business intelligence.

Learn more about how the new and improved features in SQL Server 2008 can help your business:

• Policy-based management. Reduce your total cost of ownership by simplifying administrative tasks.
• Transparent data encryption. Save time and help ensure database security by encrypting an entire database, without the need for application changes.
• Advanced data compression. Save on storage costs and improve performance.
• Improved reporting services. Deliver data via Tablix and data visualization.
• Analysis services. Increase the performance and scale of your business intelligence.

Location:
Costa Mesa, CA
11/11/2008
Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Attendees will receive a free copy of SQL Server® 2008 Enterprise Edition.*

Register:
Register today for the SQL Server 2008 Roadshow near you:
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032390028&Culture=en-US

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*Offer good only for attendees of a SQL Server 2008 Roadshow event. These events are targeted toward database administrators. Limit: one SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition with a one-year End-User Software License Terms disc per person. All software must be claimed in person at the event. This offer is nontransferable and expires on November 30, 2008, while supplies last. Offer is not redeemable for cash. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient.

Saturday – Sunday, October 25-26, 2008     1:00PM-4:00PM Los Angeles, CA

Description: Code Camp is a place for developers to come and learn from their peers. This community driven event has become an international trend where peer groups of all platforms, programming languages and disciplines band together to bring content to the community.

Who is speaking at Code Camp? YOU are, YOUR PEERS are, and YOUR LOCAL EXPERTS are…all are welcome! This is a community event and one of the main purposes of the event is to have local community members step up and offer some cool presentations!

SESSION LIST/REGISTER:
http://www.socalcodecamp.com/News_View.aspx?Articleid=45

Please join Microsoft and UMT Consulting for an executive breakfast to discuss how organizations have successfully aligned the IT portfolio to key business objectives.

Corporate Governance –Lisa O’Brian, Microsoft Customer Service & Support: Strategic Portfolio Management, Senior Manager

Ms. O’Brian will describe how her group reengineered their Corporate Governance solution and as a result was able to achieve key business objectives: improving customer experience, streamlining operations and retaining the best talent.

Improving IT Alignment to Business Objectives – Dr. Beth Britt, UMT Consulting

Dr. Beth Britt will present information on how adopting an IT Governance approach and solution can provide improved prioritization and alignment of the IT Portfolio to business objectives, and how an enterprise solution can be integrated with Corporate Governance.

AGENDA
8:00 – 8:30 | Check-In & Welcome
8:30 – 9:30 | IT Governance Case Study – Lisa O’Brian, Senior Manager, Microsoft
9:30 – 10:30 | Improving IT Alignment to Business Objectives – Dr. Beth Britt, Ph.D, Senior Vice President, UMT
10:30 – 11:00 | Q&A and Peer Networking

DATE/TIME
November 6, 2008
8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

LOCATION
The Balboa Bay Club
1221 West Coast Highway
Newport Beach, CA 92663
(949) 645-5000
www.balboabayclub.com

Complementary seminar
Breakfast and parking included

About UMT Consulting

With nearly 20 years of experience, UMT Consulting Group contributes to clients’ success by linking business, product and IT strategies to day-to-day activities leading to improved performance and tangible results. As developers of the portfolio management software suite acquired by Microsoft in 2006, their expertise in process and governance design as well as in tool setup and configuration is top of the industry.

REGISTRATION
If you’re a customer of mine that’s interested in attending, please contact me for registration details.

Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager “2”
Seminar and Hands-on-Lab

Gemalto and Oxford Computer Group invite you to a free 2-day training seminar and hands-on-lab on Microsoft’s Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) “2”.

Come and learn how ILM “2” can help you by delivering simplicity, agility and efficiency while increasing security and compliance within your enterprise identity infrastructure. The curriculum for this training is modular, which will allow users with different technical levels to attend. 

Day 1 Agenda:

• ILM “2” Overview Presentation and Demo
• ILM “2” Managing Users and Groups Hands-on Lab
• ILM “2” and ILM 2007 Comparison
• Certificate Basics Presentation
• Certificate Demo and Basic Use Cases
• CLM Hands-on Lab

Day 2 Agenda:

• ILM “2” Codeless Synchronization Presentation and Demo
• ILM “2” Hands-on Lab
• ILM “2” Policy Management Presentation and Demo
• ILM “2” Hands-on Lab
• Making It All Work Together – Demo: ILM, CLM, ADFS, MOSS, RMS, and IAG

Space is limited. Register today to reserve your seat.

Location:
Los Angeles, CA
November 19 – 20

Registration:
If you’re a customer of mine that’s interested in registering for this event, please contact me and I’ll pass on the registration details.

For more information on ILM “2”, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/ilm2/default.mspx

Bring predictability to your compliance audits using an end-to-end integrated solution that will reduce risk and lower costs by getting the most out of your existing investment in Microsoft infrastructure!

Microsoft is developing a risk and compliance management solution accelerator —code name ‘Uno’—that will provide a common platform through which organizations can integrate compliance efforts to address business objectives and risks using frameworks, controls, and control assessments. The solution will also create a marketplace for Microsoft partners to develop knowledge extensions and continuous controls monitoring solutions that integrate with ‘Uno’.

For more information visit: 
http://blogs.technet.com/regcomp 

REGISTER:
If you would like to discuss the Uno project with the development team, please join us Thursday, October 23th from 08:00AM – 09:00AM Pacific Time.

To Join:

1. Click here to join the meeting.
   Or copy this address and paste it into your Web browser: www.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join
2. Copy and paste the following required information for the meeting:
   Meeting ID: 53PGM4
   Entry Code: Hs’Mxj&6
3. Use the following information to dial into the meeting:
   Toll-free: +1 (866) 500-6738
   Toll: +1 (203) 480-8000
   Participant code: 6930956

Ever wonder how you might go about changing the background of your:

• Login screen
• Locked Desktop screen

From Stardock, the makers:

“LogonStudio Vista is a free program that enables users to change the user logon screen to Windows Vista. Many logons are included with the program and hundreds of additional logons are available on WinCustomize.com for free.”

DOWNLOAD:
http://www.download.com/LogonStudio-Vista/3000-2347_4-10696252.html?tag=Stardock

Rare must be losin’ it.  They’ve published some new Pinata Cards for you to use that… well… integrate their famed combat title, Killer Instinct, into Viva Pinata.

They either must be DYING to create Killer Instinct for Microsoft and someone’s holding them back or they’ve already go the thing in the pipe and we just don’t know it.  I can tell you this much:  This is the first time I’ve seen Rare mention Killer Instinct on their web site since we acquired them.

PIÑATA VISION CARDS

To use these cards you’ll need an Xbox 360 with a copy of Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and an Xbox LIVE Vision camera.

While in your VP: TIP garden, either hold up a printed Piñata Vision card to your LIVE Vision camera, or point the camera at the card on the screen. Make sure the card fits within the in-game scanning window and the edges aren’t obscured by anything, fingers included.

The pictured Piñata (or a suitable Piñata approximation of whatever is pictured) should then leap across to your garden through the twin powers of technology and witchcraft. Enjoy!

http://www.rare.co.uk/games/vivapinata-trouble/cards.html

For 25 years, Microsoft Press books have focused on helping you take your skills and knowledge to the next level. Help celebrate our 25th Anniversary with a "Free E-Book Offer of the Month"! Read your Microsoft Press Book Connection Newsletter for notification of offers, register, and download the selection of the month. Offers expire on October 22, so download the e-books today.

This month:

• Windows Server(r) 2008 TCP/IP Protocols and Services by Joseph Davies: This in-depth technical reference delivers must-know information for any IT professional working with TCP/IP in the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista operating systems.
  Download this e-book today!
• Programming Microsoft Robotics Studio by Sara Morgan: Visualize, build, and deploy the next innovation in robotic applications with this practical guide to Microsoft Robotics Studio.
  Download this e-book today!

Derek Melber, author, IT Consultant and Microsoft MVP for Group Policy, discusses how to effectively use the new group policy objects in Windows Vista to improve manageability and strengthen security.

Download the podcast in the file format of your choice: WMA or MP3. In order to listen to the WMA podcast, you will need to install Windows Media Player (Windows Media Player 11 is included in Windows Vista). To listen to the MP3 podcast, you will need Windows Media Player or another MP3 media player.

Springboard Series Podcast: Advanced Group Policy
http://co1piltwb.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/mcoeredir/mcoeredirect.aspx?linkId=10685121&s1=64f91b0f-009e-5a38-3cf5-2d4cb973e070

The Windows Speech Recognition Macros tool – or WSR Macros for short – extends the usefulness of the speech recognition capabilities in Windows Vista. Users can create powerful macros that are triggered by spoken commands which can perform a series of tasks from as simple as inserting your mailing address to as complex as providing a completely different speech interaction with applications.

While we have tried to make it easy to use, this release of WSR Macros is a technical preview of technology we are planning to release in the future. Not all the features we have planned are included, and some are incomplete. Users are cautioned to treat this release as “pre-beta.” While creating simple macros is very straightforward, the creation and editing of more complex macro files is best suited for advanced users. We welcome your feedback on how we can improve WSR Macros to best suit your needs.

System Requirements:

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista
• A computer running a genuine copy of Windows Vista (x86 or x64)
• Currently, only English-language editions of Windows are supported.
• A working microphone
• Optionally, speakers or headset for sound and voice output

We recommend the following in addition:

• A minimum of 1GB of memory is recommended when using speech alongside of other applications.
• Speech recognition works best when the computer can hear you clearly. We recommend high-quality microphones for best results. Microphones that are placed near the speaker’s mouth are optimal, such as a headset microphone.
• We recommend that you complete the Microphone Wizard and additionally the Windows Speech Recognition tutorial before using WSR Macros. This will ensure that your microphone is setup properly and help the speech engine become adapted to your voice.
• Please note that most Bluetooth microphones do not function well with Windows Speech Recognition due to limited audio bandwidth.

DOWNLOAD:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fad62198-220c-4717-b044-829ae4f7c125&displaylang=en&Hash=KovmybJQwjsNw7ttjiIFqUz%2flbTGhKwPbWiG8gRviYVIDjD4YJLQueFB%2fIMjTCwVCv7EaPyz6FFSYMq%2f4AZQnQ%3d%3d

Windows Speech Recognition Macros Code Library:
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/wsrmacros