March 2007 - Posts

Gamers Wanted

Gamers wanted to join and help run XNA Game Camps!
posted Saturday, March 31, 2007 3:16 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Conference Circuit

Over the past three weeks I traveled to San Francisco, Austin Texas, San Jose and Santa Clara for four conferences.
 
Anyone who has met me at a conference knows that I'm the first one there at 7:30 AM checking my messages and one of the last at the late evening beer opportunities. 
 
GDC was an amazing conference, overwhelming is the best description. There were five conferences happening concurrently and it was imposable to see everything, but I tried.  CES is the only other conference I've been to that was so jam packed with content and exhibitions that you go ga-ga by the end of the day.
 
SXSW Interactive was bigger then ever this year, much more sponsorship translated into more beer opportunities, but less chance of meeting the people you most wanted to see.
 
Podcasts form SXSW are now available, including Kathy Sierra's passive aggressive Keynote.
 
VON was a class act, Jeff Pulver created a great atmosphere and a fun and informative time was had by all. You can now view the videos from the Keynotes and sessions, great content for free everything but the beer opportunities.
 
SD West had some of the best speakers in the software development community, but the conference lacked any sense of community. I have videos from three of the Keynotes;

Team Foundation Server Experence

Growing With Amazon Web Services

Why Software Sucks
posted Friday, March 30, 2007 1:38 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Intel at 45nm

Intel Details Upcoming New Processor Generations

Intel Corporation will begin producing its next-generation Penryn family of processors in the second half of this year. These new processors benefit from enhancements to the Intel Core microarchitecture and also Intel's industry-leading 45nm Hi-k process technology with its hafnium-based high-K + metal gate transistor design, which results in higher performance and more energy-efficient processors.

Six Penryn family processors, including dual and quad-core desktop processors and a dual core mobile processor are all under the Intel Core processor brand name as well as new dual and quad-core server processors.

After Penryn and the 45nm Hi-k silicon technology introduction comes Intel's next-generation microarchitecture Nehalem slated for initial production in 2008. By continuing to innovate at this rapid cadence, Intel will deliver enormous performance and energy efficiency gains in years to come, adding more performance features and capabilities for new and improved applications.
posted Thursday, March 29, 2007 1:09 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Deepfish Browser

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: New mobile web browser – Deepfish!

Microsoft Live Labs has cooked up something exciting!

A cool new browser technology called Deepfish that gives you a better web experience on your phone or Pocket PC, it's a free download in CTP all you need is Windows Mobile 5 or 6. So sign-up today and start contributing feedback to Live Labs.
posted Thursday, March 29, 2007 7:32 AM by paul with 0 Comments

XBOX 360 Elite

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO! First look at the Xbox 360 Elite

I need an XBOX 360 Elite NOW!
 
I've had to suspend my XBOX Live account because the subscription card I have is for XBOX 360 only and I'm still using two original XBOXes.
 
I have a 37 inch LCD HD TV now, so I need a sleak new XBOX 360 Elite and hey my birthday is coming up in less then two weeks....
 
More and more the XBOX 360 will become the center of our home entertainment systems with more downloadable content to fill that huge 120-gigabyte hard drive.
posted Wednesday, March 28, 2007 9:43 AM by paul with 0 Comments

Microsoft Robotics Videos

Microsoft Robotics Studio - On-Demand Video Tutorials

Cool new resource for developers who would like to learn Robotics, watch the videos when you have the time and who knows where it might lead you!
posted Tuesday, March 27, 2007 4:53 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Windows Vista Sales

Windows Vista Debuts with Strong Global Sales

Initial sales figures from Microsoft show its new operating system Windows Vista made a splash in its debut. In the first month of Windows Vista’s general availability, sales exceeded 20 million licenses, more than doubling the initial pace of sales for its predecessor, Windows XP. These initial figures reflect the broad interest in the security and usability enhancements in Windows Vista.

We are encouraged to see such a positive consumer response to Windows Vista right out of the gate. - Bill Veghte, corporate VP of the Windows Business Group

In my tour around the USA in the past three weeks I saw three Windows Vista laptops, though I still use a dual boot of Windows Vista and XP because I create my videos on Movie Maker.

posted Monday, March 26, 2007 3:17 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Web Development Learning

Microsoft Web Development Learning Series

Skills come faster when you build on what you know.
Choose from more than 60 learning modules designed to leverage the Web development skills you’ve already mastered. The modules are organized by tracks and include Virtual Labs and webcasts for PHP, JSP and ColdFusion developers.

Complete just two Virtual Labs and/or webcasts-including webcasts featuring new design tools-and receive a free Microsoft Web Development Kit.
posted Sunday, March 25, 2007 7:18 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Developer Bowl

   At SD West last night Teams from Yahoo, Google, IBM and CodeGear competed in a Game Show software trivia contest and Google was triumphert.
posted Friday, March 23, 2007 11:04 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Why Software Sucks

Users think that today's software sucks. It's unsafe, it's unreliable, and it's hard to use. These problems are not technical. We've been able to solve them for many years, but instead we've gotten a paper clip with eyebrows. Why?

Software sucks because developers forget (or never knew) the bedrock principle of software development : KNOW THY USER, FOR HE IS NOT THEE.

In his Keynote at SD West , David S. Platt, President, Rolling Thunder Computing tell's us why our software sucks.

posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 7:49 PM by paul with 1 Comments

Yahoo Widgets 4

It's Here!

Yahoo Widgets 4 sounds like a movie title and I'm writing this post about a mile from Yahoo's HQ.

First and foremost is the shiny new Widget Dock. Finally there’s a way to manage your Widgets in a neatly organized fashion. This was always an area we knew we needed to work on, and in this release we were able to spend the time and get a really polished UI in place for it (and make it dock to any corner or edge of multiple monitors). Does it do everything we wanted it to? No, but it’s pretty darned close. It’ll be changed and enhanced as we move forward and get feedback from you, the home viewer. Use that ‘Provide Feedback…’ link - we really do listen.

Not only can you manage your Widgets with the Dock, but Widgets can now show you what we call ‘vitality’, i.e. live info. Basically, it’s a mini Widget. So the Weather Widget can show the temperature, etc. in a smaller, more organized form factor. As more Widgets get updated to work on Version 4, you’ll see more and more information in the Dock.

Widgets and Gadgets are everywhere now and the developers who build great Widgets or Gadgets will prosper.

posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 1:14 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Growing With Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services have announced several services that allow developers to build on Amazon's infrastructure: Amazon Simple Storage Service and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, API interfaces which enable storage and computing "in the cloud".

Amazon Web Services' Felipe Cabrera, VP of Software Development and Jeff Barr, Sr. Evangelist, will demonstrate innovative developer applications that build upon Amazon Web Services for reliable, scalable solutions. With simple API interfaces, these services are easy and flexible enough for almost any developer.

posted Wednesday, March 21, 2007 6:58 PM by paul with 1 Comments

We Are TV

Jeff Jarvis gave a great talk today at VON in San Jose, he was talking about our video on the Net and of how we have taken control.
 
He said it's 1954 again, TV shows of that era weren't good enough yet for anyone in my family to buy a TV.
 
It was an inspiring talk and it was the first time I've seen Jeff talk on his own, in the past he was ether on a panel or shouting from the audience.
posted Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:51 PM by paul with 0 Comments

Team Foundation Server Experence

Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Brian Harr gives you a behind the scenes tour of software development at Microsoft  from his Keynote at SD West. In particular, he'll provide insight into the development of Visual Studio 2005 and how his team built Team Foundation Server

posted Monday, March 19, 2007 9:41 PM by paul with 1 Comments

Three Years Blogging

Today is the third anniversary of my blog, so much has happened in the past three years and more is yet to come in the next three.
 
I've certainly attended many conferences as a blogger and this week I'm attempting to attend VON is San Jose and SD West is Santa Clara. I often attend two or three events a day in NYC, now we'll see if we can pull this off in the Valley....
posted Monday, March 19, 2007 3:08 PM by paul with 0 Comments

PenCommander for Windows Vista

Long a favorite with the PocketPC community PenCommander is now certified for Windows Vista as a powerful addition to the Tablet PC platform.

PenCommander 2.0 for Tablet & UMPC  Download a free 30 day trail.

posted Saturday, March 17, 2007 5:33 PM by paul with 2 Comments

XBOX Live Event

Castlevania: Symphony of Night on Xbox Live Arcade

Next Wednesday, your invited to play Castlevania: Symphony of Night on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 -

Wednesday, March 21 at 0900 GMT, 2 a.m. PDT

Events on-line, we can meet-up and play in real time no matter where in the world we are thanks to XBOX Live.....the largest VoIP Network in the world!

Castlevania: Symphony of Night will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points

  • Play the original  version of the game or experience it in enhanced mode with improved graphics and modernized audio and sound effects
  • New native widescreen and high-definition support
  • Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points
    • posted Friday, March 16, 2007 5:43 PM by paul with 0 Comments

    Sue Google

    Viacom Sues Google Over Video Clips on Its Sharing Web Site

    It's the end of the web as we know it. Viacom is correct, I went to YouTube to view the Daily Show as did many of you and now somebody is going to pay the cable bill.

    YouTube deliberately built up a library of infringing works to draw traffic to the YouTube site, enabling it to gain a commanding market share, earn significant revenues and increase its enterprise value.

    Viacom has been buying and selling Media properties for decades, they produce content that's very popular.

    posted Wednesday, March 14, 2007 9:39 AM by paul with 0 Comments

    SXSW Washout

    The Gods were not happy with Austin as they made it rain on the big SXSW Interactive party.

    This year there were more panels and people then ever before. Corporate sponsors and too many speakers with six million in VC funding set the tone.

    I had a good time as I always do here, but I miss the intimacy and genuine good vibrations.

    So many Europeans were here this year looking for that SXSW magic, I'm thankful to all the imaginative, innovating and generous people from New York and California who gather here to share what they know about what they do best.

    posted Tuesday, March 13, 2007 10:51 PM by paul with 0 Comments

    At SXSW

     
    posted Monday, March 12, 2007 6:45 PM by paul with 0 Comments