Posted by: kurtsh | September 15, 2005

VIDEO: Bill Gates & Napoleon Dynamite

Annually, we produce some of the videos and sketches that Bill and Steve are known for being in.  I get access to some of these but most of the time they involve external talent, like in one sketch we had Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric, and when this happens, they’re very protective of the content since these folks get paid based on "viewership".
 
But we showed one of these videos and a couple short clips were actually video recorded by Paul Thurott.  I’m quite surprised that he got these out of the convention center as there’s typically no videos allowed.  I’m sure he was provided some "special access" but these videos are usually only for the people attending so, again, I’m very surprised.
 
Nonetheless, if you want to check them out here’s the links – they’re only 30 seconds or so a piece:
VIDEO1:  http://winsupersite.com/files/pdc2005-nap01.wmv
VIDEO2: http://winsupersite.com/files/pdc2005-nap02.wmv

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Posted in Multimedia

Posted by: kurtsh | September 15, 2005

BETA: SQL Server 2005 Sept 2005 Community Technology Preview

I am pleased to announce the launch of the SQL Server 2005 September Community Technology Preview (CTP) Web presence.

Cross-site Links

These sites are live on Microsoft.com:

Microsoft Download Center

·         Enterprise Edition

·         Standard Edition

·         Workgroup Edition

·         Developer Edition

·         Express Edition

·         Books Online standalone

·         Express Edition Documentation and Samples

Microsoft TechNet

·         TechNet home page

·         SQL Server TechCenter home page

·         SQL Server 2005 page on TechCenter

·         Books Online page on TechCenter

MSDN

·         SQL Server Developer Center

·         SQL Server 2005 section on DevCenter

·         SQL Server Express on MSDN

Microsoft.com/sql

·         SQL Server product home page

·         SQL Server Downloads page

·         SQL Server 2005 page

·         SQL Server CTP page

·         SQL Server Express on MSDN

Microsoft BetaPlace

·         BetaPlace login page (must be BetaPlace member to access)

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Posted in Beta

Posted by: kurtsh | September 15, 2005

BETA: Microsoft Expressions Suite

We announced the Microsoft Expressions Suite of 3 tools at the PDC.
 
  • Expression Graphic Designer: 
    This was codenamed Acrylic that enables creative designers to create rich graphics and visual objects to be used by Web Designers or Programmers in their applications.  Think of a tool similar to Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator with all the power, but the friendliness of Office tools.
  • Expression Interactive Designer:
    This is a tool for integrating visuals or the "presentation layer" of an application with a backend program.  Remember that with Microsoft’s programming paradigm, this can either be a native Windows application or a Web-based application served through the web.  We don’t care.  It’s all done however using the Visual Studio 2005 suite of programming tools.
  • Express Web Designer:
    This is sort of FrontPage’s next evolution… kinda.  It enables people to design and layout presentation environments leveraging the graphic objects created in Graphic Designer, and provides a UI/Presentation layer for Interactive Designer.
Here’s a demo of the Microsoft Expression Family:

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Posted in Beta

Posted by: kurtsh | September 15, 2005

RELEASE: Programming MSN Services

This is way cool.  Anyone will be able to program and extend any of MSN’s services for their own use.  You just KNOW that this site’s gonna be upgraded over the weekend once I can get some time to work on it. <grin>
 
This new developer center showcases the tools and technologies you can use to develop applications that interact with services and data available only on MSN.
  • MSN Search
  • MSN Messenger
  • MSN Virtual Earth
  • MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search
  • Extend Start.com with Gadgets
 

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Posted in Release

Posted by: kurtsh | September 15, 2005

HOWTO: Set up MSN Alerts

<taken from the Spacecraft blog – the official blog of MSN Spaces>
 
Alerts aren’t available broadly yet, but you’ll notice some people already have them on their Space. The instructions below show how you can hack something together yourself.  
 
Quote

MSN Alerts on your own Space is a great way to enable people to get instant updates whenever you update your Blog!
 
While it definitely requires a little more work, it’s actually pretty easy to set up.

  1. Install the PowerToys "HTML Container Part" – click here to learn how to do this:  (http://spaces.msn.com/members/thespacecraft/Blog/cns!1pBU8QRvZvOfXG4QTjpv_GFg!127.entry)
  2. Sign up for Alerts at http://signup.alerts.msn.com/brochure/index.html.  
  3. Receive Welcome Email – Accept Terms of Use
  4. You’ll receive another instruction email with HTML code for your Alerts signup button.  Copy and paste that HTML code provided in the into the HTML Container Window.  Here’s an example of mine:
    <a href="http://signup.alerts.msn.com/alerts/login.do?PINID=xxyourPINxx&returnURL=http://spaces.msn.com/members/yourname/">
    <img src="http://images.alerts.msn.com/mcwebsite/graphics/blog/alert_signup_eng.gif" alt="MSN Alerts" border=0></a> 
  5. Click Save
  6. You’re all set!  Users can get alerted whenever you or a friend updates your space!

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Posted in Beta

Posted by: kurtsh | September 15, 2005

BETA: MSN Screensaver Update 1.0.0831 (Aug 31st, 2005)

MSN just made a minor update of MSN Screensaver Beta, which among other things, no longer requires you to hit "ESC" to make the screen saver disappear.  Thanks to the Spacecraft guys (MSN Space’s dev team blog) for this tip.

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Posted in Beta

Posted by: kurtsh | September 14, 2005

BETA: Microsoft Max & Windows Presentation Services

We just announced Microsoft Max at the Professional Developers Conference.
 
Microsoft Max (no jokes about a relationship to Bob, please) is essentially a sample application that turned photos into 3D slideshows that are very attractive.  The key is that it takes advantage of Windows Presentation Services, formerly known at "Avalon", which is an inherent component of Windows Vista.  The main idea of the tool is to highlight what is possible with Windows Vista & Windows Presentation Services… not to build a new tool.
 
WHAT IS WINDOWS PRESENTATION SERVICES?
What Windows Presentation Services does is provide a highly optimized, close-to-the-OS set of interfaces for presenting both vector & raster based graphics on the screen with very little effort.  A developer can write a small amount of code and create impressively beautiful, vector-scalable, & fast graphics into their applications without having to distribute graphics libaries with their application.
 
To put this into perspective:
  • ACROBAT:  Think of having all the vector presentation power of a Adobe Acrobat built in at a low level into Windows.  Now imagine that Acrobat’s rendering capabilities are in every application and having all these applications natively interactable – just like a normal Windows application.  For example:  A version of Microsoft Word with the same fidelity and presentation viewing capability as Acrobat (without the load times of Acrobat of course) and all the ‘security protectiveness’ of documents. (since it’s based on WPS libraries already loaded into memory)  This is sort of related to a project we have called "Metro" that some people have been touting as an Acrobat killer.
  • SHOCKWARE/FLASH:  Now think about having Macromedia Shockware/Flash animation and scale built into the OS, such that these creations run at top speed due to their closeness with the OS, by using WPS.  There’s a tool code named Sparkle that provides people with the ability to create these interactive animations for example, and it’s all using Visual Studio-based tools.  In other words, any MSDN developer can now do the equivalent work of a Flash programmer on Windows without knowing Flash.  Now you know why Adobe acquired Macromedia.
  • MAC ‘TIGER’:  Think of MacOS "Tiger’s" beautiful interface… now imagine having all of that standard and scalable to the capabilitiees of the hardware on your current PCs AND having the APIs completely exposed to any MSDN developer so they can change the UI or intergrate their own ‘plugins’ (aka Microsoft Gadgets) into the interface or the Windows Vista "Sidebar".
WHY IS MICROSOFT MAX SO FREAKIN’ BIG?
"Isn’t the developer supposed to be able to create ‘very little code’?  Why is the Max download so massive?"  Good question.  It’s because: 
1) This is Beta code which is rife with debug statements  and
2) This is a download of Windows Presentation Services for Windows XP.
 
The unique part of Windows Presentation Services however is that it’s been backported to Windows XP to enable developers to write programs that are usable by both Windows XP users today, and Windows Vista users in the future.  It’s just that Windows Vista users will find that the install will go MUCH FASTER being that the Windows Presentation Services will already be in the OS and not need to be installed.

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Posted in Beta

Posted by: kurtsh | September 14, 2005

HOWTO: Troubleshooting Outlook

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Posted in Training

Posted by: kurtsh | September 14, 2005

WEB: Notes on Presenting with Powerpoint

A friend of mine blogged recently about Jesper Johansson’s recent article about how to use Powerpoint:
 
I read through it and while I agreed with the general humorous gist of the article, I thought that there were some larger macro-level points about presenting that are more important to focus on rather than the nuances of building Powerpoint decks themselves.  I’ve read through numerous books that tell you such old advice like: Don’t use small fonts, Don’t pack too much in a slide, Use pictures,…blah blah blah.  This is stuff you can get out of any Dummies or Complete Idiot’s guide to presenting with Powerpoint.
 
I’ve been in sales for more than 10 years at Microsoft and I’ve consistently see the same presentation mistakes, and they frankly, usually have nothing to do with Powerpoint.  I’m not going to go off on a rant here but here’s just 3 examples of things that are pet peeves of mine of new technical sales employees at Microsoft that present.
  • GET TO THE DAMNED POINT:
    Answer the question that in your customer’s minds as soon as humanly possible, then go back an explain why your answer is correct.  Your audience has an itch to scratch, otherwise they wouldn’t be in front of you so don’t make them wait 15 minutes before you scratch that itch with background sides, history slides, marketing slides, or stuff that will just annoy them – no matter how important you think it is.  People that do this are usually slackers using some pre-fabbed presentation deck loaded up with marketing slides about "their company’s history" or "the ‘problem’ that they’re solving".  And make no mistake – it’s obvious.
  • POWERPOINT IS NOT A CRUTCH:
    Guide your pitch on what the audience responds to, and barring that, base your commentary on the slide title – not the actual content of the slide.  When you can give your presentation without looking at a slide deck at all, you’re ready to present.  People that don’t know their presentation flow are obvious because they read bullet items and are completely dependent on their slides to give their pitch.  This is the mark of a bad salesperson.
  • REMEMBER THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE:
    Measure and balance the following:  You, your pitch, the audience. 
    Make sure you’re jazzed about your pitch… if you’re not, reschedule.  And if your jazzed, the audience will be to.  If they aren’t you’re not scratching their itch and you need to adjust your pitch.  If your pitch isn’t on target with what you’re trying to communicate, reschedule, because if it’s not, it’s awfully hard for you to get jazzed/excited about.
On Powerpoint:  2 quick rules.
  • The main rule of Powerpoint is the "4×5" rule:  No more than 4 bullets, no more than 5 words per bullet on a slide.
  • The main rule of presenting is the "Tell them" rule:  Tell them what you’re going to say, tell them, then tell them again what you just told them.
 
 

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Posted in Web

Posted by: kurtsh | September 14, 2005

BETA: Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition

The product group has reached a major milestone and Beta1 of Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition is now available.  It was launched at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles yesteray.

My customers can now nominate themselves for Microsoft Compute Cluster Solution Beta1.  The external web-site has been updated. 

WEB:  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/hpc/default.mspx

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Posted in Beta

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