my dev+it world

Subscribe to the improved NZ MSDN or TECHNET Flash Bi-Weekly Online Newsletters today and get the chance to win a HP TouchSmart PC!

paullo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:23:00 GMT

We know that your time is short so the NZ MSDN & TECHNET Flash Newsletters aims to provide you with relevant, topical developer and IT Professional related updates from your local community and around the world. Each edition features an editorial piece produced by the NZ MSDN & TECHNET Team where you will learn about free local Microsoft led training events including the UNPLUGGED series.

You have told us that it is a challenge keeping up with our technology so we have included a regular feature within the NZ MSDN & TECHNET Flash which highlights interactive and free learning resources such as virtual labs, webcasts and e-learning material on existing and new technologies from Microsoft. Also, you will be able to learn about your local developer & IT Professional community and organisations to ensure you stay in the know about what's new!

As part of our re-launch, subscribe to either the NZ MSDN or TECHNET Flash newsletter before the 25 June 2009 and get the chance to win a HP TouchSmart PC. In addition, one lucky subscriber will win a subscription of their choice (MSDN, TechNet or Expression) every month until the end of June. So subscribe today and be into win!

Terms & Conditions Apply.

Vote win 1 of 2 XBOX360s!

paullo — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Technology can be the force that transforms great ideas into real world solutions. And that's the point of the Imagine Cup every year - to use technology to make a difference. These teams from around NZ have come up with solutions to the world's toughest problems. Check out their idea and see if it is up to scratch! Then vote for your favourite team to get a chance to win 1 of 2 XBOX360 consoles or 1 of 10 copies of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional. It's that easy!

Win a copy of Dawn of War II - by responding to mydevworld this month!

paullo — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:50:00 GMT

Win a copy of Dawn of War II PC game by filling in a quick survey with your Windows Live ID. The developer survey will only require 5-10 minutes of your time. Our dev and his cubicle buddies will share some of their real life stories from the office. The winner will be notified on the 1st of April 2009. Note, this prize draw is open only to NZ residents. Good Luck!

Tech.Days - a 24 hour virtual event for developers

paullo — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:38:00 GMT

On April 1 2009, join developers from all around the world for the first ever 24 hour day of technology training. Tech.Days will feature 95 live sessions across 5 tracks on current and emerging technologies in developer tools, mobility, windows, office/sharepoint and web development. All sessions will be recorded so if you can't make the live sessions, you can watch the on demand sessions later on. For more information and to register, click here!

Announcing New Zealand's Strategic Partners for the 2009 Imagine Cup Competition!

paullo — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:50:00 GMT

I am really excited to annouce the partnerships established with Imagine Cup NZ for 2009. The core objective of Imagine Cup encourages innovation via technology and also encourages closer collaboration between academia and industry. Our partnerships with Fronde, Intergen, NextSpace, Provoke, The NZ Computer Society and TechNZ will further strengthen the collaboration between academia and industry.

Keep up to date with Imagine Cup competition annoucements and more!

paullo — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:45:00 GMT

Imagine Cup 2009 is now progressing full steam ahead with teams around the country getting stuck into their projects. Keep up to date with competition annoucements, progress and news by joining the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2009 NZ Facebook group! See you online!

Check out Tech.Ed 2008 NZ online!

paullo — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:15:00 GMT

Annually we run the Tech.Ed conference for IT professionals in the industry to showcase Microsoft's latest technologies and innovation. This year, we have also chosen to deliver the experience online for those who couldn't make the event. Check out www.techedlive.co.nz to see the keynote, popular technical breakout sessions plus download slide decks from the event!

Microsoft Corp Recruiting for Technical Graduates now!

paullo — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:09:00 GMT

Microsoft is looking for final year students, recent graduates and industry candidates who are interested in development opportunities in North America. We're looking for Software Design Engineers and Software Design Engineer in Test. If you are interested please check out here for more information. Application this year closes on Oct 3rd 2008!

Support the next generation of ICT professionals with Imagine Cup 2009!

paullo — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:16:00 GMT

The New Zealand team performed well at the world wide finals in Paris this year - however it was our neighbour Team Australia who took out the title of Software Design Winner Title for 2008. The theme and location for Imagine Cup 2009 has been annouced. Registration is now open for industry and academic mentors who wish to be involved for the 2009 competition. This is your opportunity to get involved with the next generation of developers and IT professionals and help them realise their ideas and dreams. Register and stay tuned for more information.

Brightest Spot in the World for the first week of July!

paullo — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:08:00 GMT

This week, our winning NZ Imagine Cup team will be joining 400 students from all around the world in Paris for the World Wide Finals of Imagine Cup! Stay tuned online and track our progress as our NZ teams competes for the title for Software Design winner for Imagine Cup 2008! Also, the theme and location of the 2009 competition will also be annouced. Good luck to Team Phoneix from University of Canterbury!

Innovating to improve the planet!

paullo — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:07:00 GMT

With all the talk about Imagine Cup and this year’s theme on how to utilise technology to enable a more sustainable environment - I thought it would be timely to mention about what we are doing as an organisation in this area. As an organisation, we are also committed to innovating as a software company to improve the planet and help people/businesses around the world foster environmental sustainability. Check out how we are using innovative technologies and responsible business practices to address environmental challenges worldwide here!

Stay tuned for the annoucement of theme/location of Imagine Cup 2009!

paullo — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:27:00 GMT

The theme and location for Imagine Cup 2009 has not yet been officially annouced but after July 9th, all will be revealed. Stay tuned! www.imaginecup.com

New Curriculum Available for XNA Game Development - An Introduction

paullo — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:11:00 GMT

A new set of XNA curriculum is now available under the Aademic Resource Centre. It is titled - Overall Basic XNA Game Development Curriculum. It's a 15 hour course and can be found here.

DreamBuildPlay Challenge 2008 Opens!

paullo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:41:00 GMT

Work as an individual or in a team and build the ultimate game using XNA Game Studios 2.0 for the XBOX360 platform. $75K cash prize at stake plus by simply registering you will get a free 12 months XNA Creators Club Trial Membership. Find out more here!

Check out the WorldWide Telescope

paullo — Thu, 29 May 2008 06:30:00 GMT

The World Wide Telescope is a Web 2.0 visualisation software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope - bringing together imagery from the best ground and space based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe. It's free and very cool! Check it out here!

If you have academic related questions - email nzedu@microsoft.com

paullo — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:13:00 GMT

If you have questions regarding Microsoft's involvement in the tertiary academic space, please email nzedu@microsoft.com with your question, name and contact details. We can assist with questions regarding curriculum and course resources based on Microsoft technologies, MSDN Academic Alliance subscription program, Imagine Cup and the Student Partner Program.

Imagine Cup NZ 2008 - Software Design Invitational Winner Announced

paullo — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:46:00 GMT

Last Friday saw the 2nd Imagine Cup Software Design Invitational Finals held in Auckland. This year, the 4 finalist teams competed to take out the title of software design winner to represent NZ at the up coming World Wide finals in France. With teams coming from Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland, it is an intense competition as contestants demonstrated their ideas and concepts to our panel of celebrity judges. The panel of judges was made up of:

Rob O'Neill - Editor of Computerworld
Mark Thomas - Founder, President of Right Hemisphere
Peter Macaulay - President, Internet NZ
Andy Hamilton - CEO, Icehouse

The 4 finalist teams demonstrated their ideas to a crowd of academic and industry guests before the annoucement of the ultimate winner. Team Phoenix with their idea of Taxibus from the University of Canterbury took out the title of Software Design Winner for NZ. Louis, Janina, Yugan and Stephen with their academic mentor Warwick will be travelling in style with Singapore Airlines to Paris in July this year. Final rankings as follows:

Team Phoenix, Taxi Bus, University of Canterbury
Team Sustainable Systems, Office of the Future, AUT University
Team Waikato Rev A, Gary's Footprint, University of Waikato
Team Web Stuff Done, Who Wants to Save the World, Victoria University of Wellington

Imagine Cup 2008 NZ Preliminary Finals - Results Announced

paullo — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:27:00 GMT

Last Thursday, we conducted the preliminary round of the NZ Software Design Invitational. We had a number of teams present to our panel of judges:

Mauricio Freitas - Blogger, Geekzone
David White - Lecturer, University of Auckland
Alex Broughton - Customer & Partner Experience, Director, MSNZ
Nigel Parker, UX Evangelist, MSNZ

It was an intense day with each team putting up their best presentation and demonstrations to impress the judges. The odd demo breakdown hit almost every single team. After 10 hours of judging, the day concluded and the judges were left to make the decision - which teams represent the top 3 of the competition? After much debate as due to the very high calibre of the teams present, the judges came with the top 4 teams of the preliminary finals. The top 4 teams making it into the NZ finals on May 2nd are listed below in no particular order:

University of Canterbury - Team Phoenix - TaxiBus
University of Waikato - Waikato Rev A - Gary's Footprint
Victoria University of Wellington - Team WebStuffDone - Whowantstosavetheworld
AUT University - Sustainable Systems - Office of the Future

Check out their idea online at www.microsoft.co.nz/imaginecup and show your support!

Microsoft New Zealand Graduate Program Launches - Application closes Friday 4th April 2008!

paullo — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:23:00 GMT

For the first time in NZ, the Microsoft Graduate program is open to NZ students. There are altogether 2 positions on available. For more information, please go to www.seek.com and search for the following positions for more information:

Associate Technical Account Manager
Associate Licensing Specialist

When applying for these positions, there are 3 questions which candidates will need to complete. These positions are available to graduates with up to 3 years of experience.

Thank you for participating in the Faculty Connection Breakfast 2008

paullo — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:07:00 GMT

Thank you once again for those of you who have attended the Faculty Connection Breakfast and the 2008 Launch Wave event during March. I hope it has been valuable and as always if you do have any feedback please let us know by emailing us at nzedu@microsoft.com. Here are some of the links and topics covered at the breakfast session:

Faculty Connection - Free technical curriculum and academic resource portal for NZ academics. If you would like access, please request your login registration by emailing nzedu@microsoft.com.
MSDN Academic Alliance & ELMS - If you are not already using the free eletronic software distribution system which reduces all the administrative work from distributing both software/license keys, please email nzedu@microsoft.com and request for a demo of how it can help you save time and resources.
Imagine Cup 2008/2009 - Support your tertiary institute and students by voting for your favourite Imagine Cup team in NZ. Help them get one step closer to the world wide finals in Paris in July 2008.

DEV JAM On Campus - Technical Demos for 1st Year Students

paullo — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:46:00 GMT

The Microsoft team is coming on campus this semester to conduct technical demos to your first year students. The demo will include the following scenarios:

Learn how to convert your media files into Silverlight and stream it for next to nothing!
Create games for WIndows and XBOX360 using the new XNA Studio.
Mash up the web without a single line of code with Popfly.

Encourage your students to attend the demo and win some cool prizes too! Visit www.microsoft.co.nz/students to see when we're on campus!

Week starting Monday 3rd March

University of Waikato, 4th March, 3PM, L4
WINTEC, 4th March, 10AM, C.16
Massey University (Albany Campus), 5th March, 12NOON, NW100
University of Auckland (City Campus), 5th March, 6PM, 260-098 (Business School)
UNITEC, 6th March, 10AM, 183-1005
MIT, 6th March, 2PM, NR106
AUT (Wellesley Campus), 7th March, 12NOON, WE230

Week starting Monday 10th March

University of Canterbury, 10th March, 3PM, S4
CPIT, 12th March, 12NOON, N104
University of Otago, 13th March, 12NOON, 2.07 Commerce Building
Otago Polytechnic, 14th March, 12NOON, G201/203

Week starting Monday 17th March

Victoria University of Wellington - TUE 18 March, 5PM, MCLT102
Victoria University of Wellington - WED 19 March, 12NOON, HULT220
Massey University (Palmerston North) - TTHU 20 March, 2PM, AH1
WELTEC - MON 17 March, 9AM, Rm E204
Whitireia Community Polytechnic - MON 17 March, 12NOON, Rm C116
UCOL - THU 20 March, 10AM, Rm 6-1-14

Thanks to Singapore Airlines, NZ Software Design Finalists will be travelling to Paris for the Imagine Cup 2008 World Finals

paullo — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 06:46:00 GMT

We welcome Singapore Airlines to the NZ Imagine Cup competition. With the support of Singapore Airlines, New Zealand can be represent in the worldwide finals in Paris, France this year in July.

Singapore Airlines aids the Imagine Cup through providing international travel to competitors. The airline’s commitment to the environment can be seen in its dedication to maintaining a young and modern fleet. Singapore Airline’s newest aircraft set new standards for fuel efficiency and low noise levels and will continue to improve these levels in the future.

Serving over 65 destinations in 35 countries, Singapore Airlines has evolved into one of the most respected travel brands around the world. It has one of the world's youngest fleets in the air, a network spanning five continents, and the Singapore Girl as its symbol of quality customer care and service. Customers, investors, partners, and staff — everyone expects excellence from Singapore Airlines. And so, in its lounges, its conferences, working relationships, and in the smallest details of each flight, it rises to each occasion and delivers the Singapore Airlines experience.

Vote for your favourite NZ team for Imagine Cup 2008! - Your opinion counts!

paullo — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 06:33:00 GMT

Voting has now started! Support your team now!

They’ve got to imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment. You’ve just got to vote for your favourite team and you could win an XBOX 360. Or one of 10 x Windows Vista Ultimate or 10 x Microsoft Office Professional 2007. Terms and conditions apply, visit www.microsoft.co.nz/imaginecup!

How to vote & win?

1. Go to www.microsoft.co.nz/imaginecup and browse through the selection of teams and see their ‘90 second’ team clips on how they can utilise technology to enable a more sustainable environment!

2. Once you have viewed the team clips and made your decision on your favourite team, vote for them by clicking on the voting button.

3. Then you will have the chance to win a XBOX360 or one of 10 copies of Microsoft Windows Vista or one of 10 copies of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional by signing up using Live Passport.

4. Once you have signed up then you are in the draw for the competition. Good Luck!

5. Winners will be notified before Friday 2^nd May 2008 and published on the NZ Imagine Cup website (www.microsoft.co.nz/imaginecup)

Support your students and your tertiary institute by voting your favourite team today!

MSDN Academic Alliance Marketing Material Available in NZ

paullo — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 06:27:00 GMT

We're happy to annouce that a series of 3 posters has been produced to help promote and introduce MSDN Academic Alliance to new and existing IT & Design students in NZ. We will be distributing these posters to you in March so watch out for these soon. If you have not received these posters by mid March, please email nzedu@microsoft.com and we will courier these out to you!

Microsoft Dreamspark Annouced - Free developer and software for all higher education students!

paullo — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:20:00 GMT

Dreamspark is providing university students around the world access to the latest developer and designer tools at no charge. The first phase of Dreamspark is now live in 10 countries including Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US. Dreamspark is expected to be available in New Zealand later this year! Check out http://channel8.msdn.com/ for more information.