Kurt Shintaku's Blog

We are very excited to highlight our ISV partners listed below, all of whom are leading providers of enterprise social software, and they have placed significant bets on SharePoint Server 2007 as the Enterprise Social Computing Platform of choice. See them at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference this week and expect to hear much more from them about their SharePoint integration and value added features in the coming weeks!

Atlassian, the maker of Confluence, a leading enterprise wiki, announced the beta of their SharePoint Connector for Confluence about six months ago, and it’s now available for production usage. With the SharePoint Connector, Confluence and SharePoint Server are integrated to provide single sign-on, cross-product search, and bidirectional content embedding and linking.

Awareness is announcing integration with SharePoint Server, which enables SharePoint users to seamlessly engage with Internet facing communities powered by Awareness’s SaaS-based application without having to leave the SharePoint environment.

blueKiwi Software is announcing SharePoint Connector and OfficeAssistant, which integrates blueKiwi’s enterprise social software suite with SharePoint Server and Microsoft Office. blueWiki provides dynamic expertise identification, social network visualization, and an aggregated view of all conversations happening across the entire enterprise.

Connectbeam is announcing Spotlight Connect for SharePoint, a social bookmarking and tagging add-on module for SharePoint Server that integrates with Connectbeam’s enterprise social search and discovery application.

Leverage Software is announcing integration with SharePoint Server, which enables SharePoint users to seamlessly interact with Internet facing communities of customers, partners, and corporate alumni that are powered by Leverage Software’s SaaS-based application.

NewsGator is announcing Social Sites 2.0, which provides seamlessly integrated community, expertise discovery, social network visualization, social tagging, and feed reading capabilities on top of SharePoint Server.

Telligent is announcing Community Server Evolution, which through its REST API, mail gateway, and shared authentication capabilities, provides deep integration and interoperability with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, Active Directory and Telligent Community Server, an industry leading social computing and online community platform.

Tomoye is announcing a SharePoint Server-ready offering, which enables organizations to successfully deploy communities of practice using Tomoye’s industry proven process and technology.

WorkLight is announcing WorkLight for SharePoint, which enables SharePoint users to securely view and update information in SharePoint through Web 2.0 tools such as Windows Vista gadgets and Facebook applications.

In order to have System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SP1) continuously update the Asset Intelligence reports (from Asset Metrix acquisition) it will require Software Assurance (SA) on the SCCM 2007 Server or CAL SKU.   A certificate is required to enable this server role within the SCCM console, and that certificate has to come from Microsoft with verification of your company’s enrollment in SA.

Again, to be eligible for receiving the certificate, you need to have an active SA contract with Microsoft for SCCM 2007.  It doesn’t matter whether it covers client or server. The fact that you have SA for SCCM qualifies you for this benefit. If you do not have SA, you will not be able to deploy the new AI sync point and will need to continue getting bulk updates.

If you qualify, in order to get the certificate, you will need to ping a member of your Account team (e.g. TAM or ATS) and they will be able to get the certificate and send it to you in mail.  (They’ll need to send a mail to a Microsoft Internal distribution list called “Get AI System Center Online Cert” to begin your enrollment.)

Taken from: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?siteid=17&PostID=3411685

Microsoft today announced the release of the Podcasting Kit for SharePoint (PKS), a free, shared source initiative for social computing, which provides organizations with a centralized easy-to-manage solution to create manage and distribute podcasts to deliver the next generation eLearning and knowledge management solution. 

Built on top of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, PKS delivers an integrated experience on a wide variety of devices such as Zunes, PCs and Windows Mobile phones. Customers can customize the UI design of PKS, and use SharePoint Server 2007 features to extend the solution.

PKS offers a wide variety of features to enrich customers’ experience with Podcasting:

• Users can access audio and video podcasts on-demand from any location with a Zune, Windows Mobile Device, or other podcasting device.
• Users can share content by producing their own podcasts and publishing them using SharePoint Server 2007 technology.
• Subscriptions to RSS feeds allow users to receive automatic podcast updates.
• Users can play podcasts in real-time using Silverlight and progressive playback.
• SharePoint Server 2007 technologies allows users to customize access rights, post podcasts to My Sites, and take advantage of many other features of SharePoint Server 2007.

(For a full feature list and a run down of the scenarios in which it can be used visit the PKS web site – see below)

Availability:
In the immediate timeframe, SharePoint partners will receive access to the PKS source code, and work closely with customers to deliver a podcasting solution to fit customer needs. Customers who are interested in learning more about PKS can visit: http://www.codeplex.com/pks. Also we are building a partner ecosystem on codeplex via the “Child Project” concept.

It’s important to note that the PKS is a community driven shared source initiative that is maintained by a group of volunteers, a few of whom happen to work at Microsoft.

• For more information, please visit http://www.codeplex.com/pks
• Visit the official SharePoint blog for updates: http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/

PKS Partner Support:
For customers that have no experience with Podcasting and would like to set up an Enterprise implementation, they should consider contacting one of our PKS partners:

• Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Accenture participated in the PKS pilot program, along with several of their clients. Accenture is leveraging and extending SharePoint and the PKS to offer Web 2.0 based learning and collaboration solutions to clients. In addition to technology implementation, we help clients drive measurable business value by addressing the strategy, people and process components that are necessary to achieve high performance.
• 3Sharp: As the primary developers of the Podcasting Kit for SharePoint, 3Sharp has very deep insight into how to get to value quickly, both from the kit’s extensive out-of-the-box capabilities and from customizations and additions. 3Sharp company’s objective is to build and implement solutions that help customers get more out of the tools they already know and use, including SharePoint and the Office client applications. Visit them at www.3Sharp.com
• Nintex is a leading innovator of exciting software products that extend Microsoft technology. Nintex is focusing on building software which bridges the gap between what can be delivered by Microsoft today and common functionality requested by customers. This PKS partnership has enabled Nintex to leverage a platform that will add increasing value to customers and partners. Visit them at www.nintex.com

I have been searching for ages for some benchmarks on flash memory to see which cards perform the best under specific configurations.  Ultimately, all I want is someone to tell me:

• The precise configuration of their PC hardware
• The exact type/speed/brand of flash memory they used
• The method by which they connected the memory to their PC
• The software used to benchmark the memory’s performance

It would seem that no one – not even the digital photography industry – appears to have done any recent tests on flash card performance for an assortment of flash cards and I just don’t understand that.  I would think digital photographers would be all over flash memory performance to maximize their ability to take photos very rapidly. 

NOTE:  Speed is very important to me.  Why?  Because flash to me as a laptop user is the ultimate backup store.  You can keep it in your computer and always have high speed backup storage without attaching another hard drive.  Or better yet, you can use the card as an overflow drive for digital content like movies and stuff that you don’t access very often.  Or even better yet, you can use it as a ReadyBoost drive under Windows Vista.  Or maybe all 3.

The only article that I’ve been able to find on the topic is from Digital Photography NOW.com:
http://dpnow.com/4445.html

It’s a phenomenal article (if you ignore the inanities of a jerk named StuartB in the comments) that explains the nuances of top performing flash cards and all the factors that go into “judging” the performance of a flash storage medium including:

• What does ‘100x’ really mean?
  This is the data transfer performance of the memory relative to a CD music player which is .15MB/sec.  So a 100x card should be able to transfer 15MB/sec.
• Impact of the data path on accessing Flash storage
  Everything from the flash adapter to the connectivity (USB, Firewire) to the bus (PCI Express) impacts performance.  Just because a card is rated 133x doesn’t mean you’ll get 133x speed.  For example, USB 2.0 erodes access performance of flash due to the introduction of protocol latency.  A 133x card performs at 17MB/second on a high-end PC, which equates to only 113x.
• Dimensions in testing: read/write, file size, etc.
  Rarely is write performance the same speed as read performance.  And additionally, most flash memory is accessed faster initially compared to later in the read due to the fact that flash doesn’t have a “seek” time relative to disk drives.  So a 1K read might be extremely fast compared to a 100k read which might be just moderately fast.

In any case, I’m going to go purchasing some of the fastest memory I can find and see how they perform as extra storage mediums in my laptop.  I’ll post the results.

This is so cool.  It’s a gallery for plug-ins to Windows Live Writer.  Check out some of the plug-ins available for the world’s best blogging tool:

POLAROID PICTURE
Add cool Polaroid-style pictures to your blog. This plugin allows you to tilt your polaroid in either direction and even add a text-caption to the photo. NEW VERSION 1.6: Options dialog to configure defaults, Can select transparent background and NEW border styles. See http://www.brettonstuff.com/polaroids/ for examples.
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=6a125986-6550-4ce9-9c71-9a0fbbc3443f&bt=9&pl=8

INSERT SPACES EMOTICON
This plugin allows you to select one of the many Live Spaces emoticons and put them onto your blog. The best thing about this plugin is it’s not limited to just Live Spaces. You can use this plugin for any type of blog and still have the Spaces’ emoticons on it.
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=2ff4054c-45d1-42ba-8c86-cee1728d2460&bt=9&pl=8

SKYDRIVE EMBED PLUGIN
Lets you put the embed code into a blog entry for a file or folder from your public SkyDrive account.*Update* You can now browse your SkyDrive public files from within the plugin and choose what file you want to embed.Feedback to wlm@scottisafool.co.uk or leave a comment on http://scottisafooldev.spaces.live.com
http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.aspx?li=27545581-4b54-4f6d-9007-ed3b168dab43&bt=9&pl=8

Heres’s the entire library of Windows Live Writer plugins – there’s over 5 pages of them.  And what’s scary is that the new Writer 14 Beta has some pretty advanced hooks in there that provides pre and post publishing actions to make even more powerful plug ins based on your blog posts.  Crazy.

LINK:  http://gallery.live.com/results.aspx?c=0&bt=9&pl=8&st=5

There is going to be a live Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable/Webcast that you can participate on Wednesday, June 18th, 9:00AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Microsoft Technical Fellow Mark Russinovich, the second Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable promises to be an AMAZING event.  Besides having Mark – genius he is – the last Virtual Roundtable had the following Industry Luminaries:

• Mark Minasi – Highly proclaimed speaker, author, directory services MVP, & columnist on Windows Client & Server technologies (On a personal note, I actually learned Windows NT 3.1 under Mark Minasi’s professorship back in 1993 while attending some of the early training Microsoft classes and I owned every book that Mark published.  Ah – memories.  Things were so much fun back then.)
• Jerry Honeycutt – Prolific author of over 30 books, trusted Microsoft MVP, and head of the Microsoft Deployment forum.  He’s spoken at virtually every major Microsoft & non-Microsoft run conference that I can think of.
• Lars Sondergaard – Globeteam Consultant (Acclaimed European Consultancy for Systems Deployment)  He provides 3rd party, external “reality checks” from Europe’s perspective
• Tony Bradley – Microsoft MVP Security, BT/INS Consultant (Acclaimed US Consultancy for Systems Security) He provides 3rd party, external “reality checks” from US’s perspective
• …and a half dozen others.

(BTW:  If you want to see the very first Virtual Roundtable as it was recorded, go to the Technet Spotlight page at http://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/sessionh.aspx?videoid=815 – Mark Minasi even goes so far as to hint toward one of the common “problem” applications that’s out there when working with UAC and it’s kinda funny.)

Anyway, from the SDL to ASLR, BitLocker, firewalls, and PMIE; Mark will engage the panel of customer IT professionals and MVPs in a discussion about Windows Vista security in real life including secure deployment recommendations challenges, solutions, and tips and tricks.

• Register for the upcoming June 18th Virtual Roundtable by visiting https://ms.istreamplanet.com/springboard. Ask their toughest Windows Vista security questions live during the event, or in advance by e-mailing vrtable@microsoft.com.

The folks at “Windows Vista Springboard”, the launching pad for all things “Windows Vista Deployment” just released a ton of new content.  They have also been migrated over to the Windows Vista Techcenter to consolidate Windows Vista related information (instead of having two locations for such info) and will feature guidance, tools, expert advice, and resources for every phase of the Windows desktop deployment and management lifecycle; from Windows XP to Windows Vista and beyond. Check out www.microsoft.com/springboard.

• Windows Feature Comparison – Windows XP with SP3: Windows Vista with SP1 comparison with regard to security, management, deployment, mobility, and productivity
• Five Misunderstood Features in Windows Vista – Five features of Windows Vista that are often misunderstood, the rationale behind them, and tips on how to deal with them
• How to Gain Control of Your Desktop Environment with the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack – Basic technical overview of the MDOP tools, including how each tool helps organizations move through the Infrastructure Optimization Model
• Windows Vista Enterprise Deployment Case Study: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark – Customer evidence from the IT Pro perspective
• Video IT Pro Testimonials – Three available and more coming soon!
• Coming soon! How to Gain Control of Your Desktop Infrastructure Using Windows Vista – Discussion of one of the key reasons why organizations are deploying Windows Vista: Configuration management

<parts taken from the Windows Powershell Blog>
Windows PowerShell is a modern object-based command shell and scripting language designed for Microsoft Windows. Along with the normal shell features for working with files and programs, it also provides for direct access to all of Windows though the Windows Object Models: .NET, COM and WMI.

This refcard covers starting and using Windows PowerShell, including the syntax for all statements, operators and other elements of the language. Also included are examples of how to use .NET, COM, ADSI and WMI objects from PowerShell. Finally, it includes tips and tricks—short examples showing how to perform common tasks from PowerShell.

This is an 8-page card that covers the PowerShell language, common commands and  examples. The card was written primarily for developers (it is Developer Zone after all) and for people with existing scripting experience. Even so, if you’re using PowerShell, it should be a handy reference to the environment.

MORE:  http://refcardz.dzone.com

I don’t know who at Microsoft made this thing but it’s actually quite funny, if not at least relevant.

It’s an Microsoft sponsored/created online game located at http://www.server-quest.com, that kinda looks like the 2D adventure game style of the old Ken & Roberta Williams/Sierra Online games with the “-Quest” names. 

If you’re old enough, you’ll remember such classics as:

• King’s Quest 1-7
• Police Quest 1-4
• Space Quest
• EcoQuest
• Quest for Glory
• …and of course the Leisure Suit Larry series that endures to this day.
  (Not necessarily as a “Quest” game but certainly in the same style)

ABOVE:  ServerQuest by Microsoft
LEFT:  King’s Quest by Sierra Online
(Oh Roberta, where have you gone?)

The game is actually quite funny.  They ask all kinds of geek questions and play games that only an IT person would understand.

All in all, I like the campaign:  I just kinda wonder who really is going to spend the time to play it.

Then again… I myself took the time so chalk up one victory for them.

<taken from the Biztalk blog>
We are close to releasing the initial CTP of the new BizTalk adapter pack which contains the all new SQL and Oracle E-Business suite adapters. We are looking for your help in securing customers to provide validation of these adapters prior to release. Please either direct customers to the connect site or directly to the nomination form below.

BizTalk Adapter Pack V2 TAP is looking for Partners and Customers!
The BizTalk Adapter Pack V2 Technology Adoption Program (TAP) is an “early adopter” program intended to validate the quality and obtain feedback on the new features in the BizTalk Adapter Pack V2. Customers interested in joining the Adapter Pack TAP should submit a TAP Nomination Form.

BizTalk Adapter Pack V2 – Themes

New Adapters:

Oracle EBS Adapter

• Browse and search metadata for each Oracle application
• Support Interface tables, Interface views
• PL/SQL APIs
• Concurrent Programs
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Integration
• Oracle EBS versions supported – 11.5.10.2 and 12
• Oracle DB versions – 9.2, 10.1 and 10.2

SQL Server Adapter

• ExecuteReader and ExecuteQuery support
• Configurable polling with per message post poll statement
• Support for x86,x64 platforms and  IA64 SQL server
• Multiple result set in receive side
• Basic DML operations on tables and views
• Stored procedures
• Polling
• New data types (notably XML, binary and FILESTREAM)
• Table valued parameters
• Support for UDTs
• Execution of (SQL and CLR) scalar and table valued functions
• SQL 2005, SQL 2008 support

Enhancements to the existing V1 Adapter Pack

• Support for new releases of Line of Business Systems
• Address customer feedback
• Include hot fixes built since the V1 Adapter Pack released
• Support new Microsoft Platform releases