While I was in California last week I decided to visit the new Microsoft Store in
Mission Viejo. While there, the managers graciously allowed me to take pictures
of the store. Frankly, they probably thought it was a little creepy. But
nevertheless, they said go for it, and I did.
Now, Microsoft did one hell of a job making it known that the store existed while
I was at the mall. While I was grabbing coffee in the food court, these stickers
were on each table:
Following that, as you head towards the store you see two large LCD screens in the
centre of the walkway. On one side you have a Rock Band - Beatles installation
running XBox 360 over HD.
On the other side was a promotional video.
Microsoft designed their store quite well. Large floor to ceiling windows for
the storefront, with an inviting light wood flooring to create a very warm atmosphere.
While there were hundreds of people in the store, it was very welcoming.
Along the three walls (because the 4th is glass) is a breathtaking video panorama.
I’m not quite sure how to really describe it. It’s as if the entire wall was
a single display, running in full HD.
In the center of the store is a collection of laptops and assorted electronics like
the Zune’s. There’s probably a logical layout, perhaps by price, or performance.
I wasn’t paying too much attention to that unfortunately.
At the center-back of the store is Microsoft’s Answers desk. Much like the Apple
Genius Bar, except not so arrogant. Yes, I said it. Ironically, the display
for customer names looked very iPod-ish here, and in the Apple Store, the equivalent
display looked like XP Media Center. Go figure.
One of the things I couldn’t quite believe was the XBox 360 being displayed overlay
the video panorama video. The video engine for that must have been extremely
powerful. That had to be a 1080P display for the XBox. As a developer,
I was astonished (and wondered where I could get that app!) A few of the employee’s
mentioned that it was driven by Windows 7. Pretty freakin’ sweet.
Also in the store were a couple Surfaces! This was the first time I actually
had the opportunity to play with one. They are pretty cool.
And that in a few pictures was my trip to the Microsoft store. There was also
a couple pamphlets in store describing training sessions and schedules for quick how-to’s
in Windows 7 that I walked away with.
Microsoft did well.
The other day while I was sitting in the airport in Washington, D.C., I had a random
thought. When the ZuneHD first hit the shelves people were talking about how
Mobile 7 might borrow the look and feel. It’s sleek, easy to use/easy to understand,
and is very simple. So I started thinking about what such an interface might
look like. This is something I did quickly. Nothing was provided by Microsoft.
Nobody has said anything about Mobile 7 design (at least, not at that point, but
nobody cared anyway). This is simply something I thought the interface might
look like.
Some things to notice are the list-like menu’s, and the bing search
at the bottom. Blah-blah-blah anti-trust, the point is search is easily accessible,
not necessarily just to Microsoft’s own search engine. It could be Google’s
search too. Also, there is the location-specific information at the top showing
the current weather. Also mimicking the Windows 7 interface is the idea of pinning
things to the home screen such as the Internet Explorer application.
There are some things that should probably change. It feels a little cluttered
at the bottom showing current messages and the appointments color is iffy. There
may not be any need for the middle separation either.
Just a thought…
After getting my camera back from Mitch Garvis after Techdays and
FailCamp in Toronto, I decided to upload photos from the events, and to my surprise
there were some pretty good shots. Here is what I came back with:
I was listening to Kevin Turner give his keynote at the World
Partner Conference earlier and I overheard this:
And so we've been running these PC value ads. Just giving people saying, hey, what
are you looking to spend? “Oh, I'm looking to spend less than $1,000.” Well we'll
give you $1,000. Go in and look and see what you can buy. And they come out and they
just show them. Those are completely unscripted commercials.
And you know why I know they're working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from
the Apple legal department saying, hey -- this is a true story -- saying, "Hey,
you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices." They took like $100
off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever
taken in business. (Applause.)
Seriously?
I hope this is more than just executive hyperbole. Not because it’s so hard
to believe, but because it’s just damn funny.
As budgets get tighter, Tech·Days is the perfect way to get the Tech·Ed experience
without the travel expense, with two days of skill-strengthening education to help
you position yourself for success by:
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Learning the technology—with a customizable agenda from over forty
sessions across five technical tracks on both current technologies and new products,
like Windows® 7 and Microsoft® Exchange 2010;
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and the new Windows 7 Zone, you'll have lots of opportunities to share your ideas
with those who know the products best; and
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Apply what you learn—with a Learning Kit packed with products and
resources so you can continue to grow your skills long after the event has finished.
Technologies discussed: Windows 7 Operating System, Windows Server®
2008 R2 operating system, Visual Studio® 2008 development system, Silverlight™ browser
plug-in, Exchange 2010, Security/Management, and more.
If you want the VIP Discount use the promo code TD09Partner.
City |
Date |
Venue |
VANCOUVER
TD09Partner |
SEPTEMBER 14-15
|
Vancouver Convention Centre |
TORONTO
TD09Partner |
SEPTEMBER 29-30
|
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
|
HALIFAX
TD09Partner |
NOVEMBER 2-3
|
World Trade & Convention Centre
|
CALGARY
TD09Partner |
NOVEMBER 17-18
|
Calgary Stampede
|
MONTREAL
TD09Partner |
DECEMBER 2-3
|
Mont-Royal Centre |
OTTAWA
TD09Partner |
DECEMBER 9-10
|
Hampton Inn & Convention Centre
|
WINNIPEG
TD09Partner |
DECEMBER 15-16 |
Winnipeg Convention Centre
|
Early Bird: $299, Regular Price: $599
There is a good chance I will be presenting at one (or more) of these locations, so
keep an eye out. In the event that I don’t, I will definitely be enjoying the
Toronto stop of the tour. In either case, I will be there ready to learn, with
a pocket-full of business cards.
Oh, and I’ll be leaving with a box/bag/shopping cart* of swag.
*Metaphorical shopping cart. They are going to give away lots of
awesome stuff.
Here is the presentation. Click the screen shot to download a ZIP of the demo
and slide deck.
A couple days ago Daniel Shapiro offered 10
people Virtual Servers hosted by Rack Force.
I jumped on the offer, as I’ve been wanting to migrate this website to it’s own privately
hosted server. It really came down to never having the time to test out hosts,
so this was a perfect opportunity. Shortly thereafter I found out Exchange 2010
hit beta, and I wanted to run it through it’s paces.
After installing Active Directory, I installed the beta, which went really smooth.
Given that it went smooth, I decided to update the DNS MX records for syfuhs.net to
point to this server.
One thing I didn’t realize is you have to set up Receive Connectors and Send Connectors.
The wording is kinda misleading, so I ended up setting my first Send Connector to
only route mail going to syfuhs.net from syfuhs.net. Not so useful. The
Receive connector was the same way. However, this is all similar to Exchange
2007.
Now some pictures:
Outlook
Web Access
Exchange
Management Console
IIS Manager Hosting Outlook Web Access
A few weeks ago, six or so, I was offered a position as a Software Developer for the Woodbine
Entertainment Group. The position looked appealing so I accepted the job
offer. I am in a probationary period for the next four months and a bit.
Anything I say can be grounds for firing me. Never liked that part about non-contract
jobs. Ah well.
Woodbine is an interesting company. I knew very little about it until I got
word of the job. Seems I was the only one in Canada who didn’t know the company.
My grandmother, who moved to California 50 years ago, knew about the company.
Even used to bet there – well, the Woodbine Race Track, before it moved. It
has an interesting history.
It is migrating to be a Microsoft shop, from a more Novell focused infrastructure.
We are working towards standardizing on .NET for our custom applications.
The one thing that caught my eye with Woodbine is that the company is the technology
leader for Horse Racing. Not just in Canada, but throughout the world.
Our services can let you place a
bet live, on a track in Australia, and see results immediately. Can you
imagine the infrastructure required for such a feat? It’s sweet! The business-people
behind this are really keen on letting technology do it’s thing, so we can make money.
Lots of money. See our Annual
Reports on that. Check back for latest numbers.
Now, some of you may have noticed that our Corporate Portal is written in what looks
to be Classic ASP. For all intensive purposes, it is. Archive.org shows
the portal went live in 2001, and had a major rebuild in 2003. Since then incremental
changes have taken place, most of which have been built using ASP.NET. We are
working on the new portal. All I can say at the moment is: it’s going to be
awesome. So awesome that a new word will need to created to contain all of its
awesomeness. HorsePlayer Interactive is
pretty amazing, but I’d like to think this new site will be just that much more awesomer.
Yes, I said awesomer.
As for the nature of this site, it won’t change. I’ll still post my thoughts
and experiences. I might need to change stories a little to protect the innocent,
but it’s all in good fun. I may be forced to post details of how horse racing
actually works, because I’m still not sure I get all the facets of it. In time.
More to follow.
It's not every day you come across a band that is willing to stream all of it's
songs free of charge. Especially at a fairly high bit rate. Well it seems
the Tragically Hip have decided to do so.
It's a little game changing actually. The band has decided to let
everyone and their mother listen to the music free, with no advertisements.
Mind you, you can't take it with you. But there is nothing technical stopping
you from recording the stream. That was always the fear with online streaming
that the Record Labels and the RIAA had. I don't condone pirating, of anything,
but I do believe in free arts. So this is cool. Especially because I like
The Hip.
It's also pretty straightforward to use. On the main page select all the songs you
want in the playlist, and then click "Launch Music Player". Very intuitive.
Boredom is a bad thing! Especially when you are putting off work.
So what do I do to waste my time? Check out local user groups. The websites
at least. A few days ago I posted a few links to some promising groups.
To my disappointment there really aren't that many Microsoft oriented user groups
in Toronto. I wouldn't call it a bad thing. More of an opportunity.
I have determined that TorontoSql.com, TorontoSql.net, and TorontoSql.org
were not registered. So for $30 I registered all three of them. Now I
have to put them to good use. Currently they are pointed to
www.syfuhs.net,
until I find a proper home.
More to come on that front!