We are bringing our world class Windows Azure data centres here to Australia. Microsoft has a long history of bringing industry leading technologies to the world. Windows Azure is no different. Today we announced that we will be adding more data centres...

Welcome to my first email regarding TechEd Australia 2013!   This year I’m looking after content again and today I like to announce that call for topics is now open for submissions.  This is the first of many milestones on the journey to this...

This thing has some really cool improvements around publishing and especially diagnostics. Here’s a snip from Scott Guthrie’s blog post: This morning we released the v2.0 update of the Windows Azure SDK for .NET. This is a major refresh of the Windows...

You’re Invited Please join us for a special Windows Azure Developer Camp event. Windows Azure DevCamps are free and fun events for developers, by developers. This special DevCamp will be presented by Microsoft technical experts. You do not want to miss...

This month MS Open Tech ( http://msopentech.com/ ) enjoyed it’s one year anniversary. At MS Open Tech they build open source code, create interoperability bridges, contribute open standards specs. They also work with a variety of standards organizations...

New features available in preview for Windows Azure Active Directory Support for OAuth2 for delegated directory access An updated Windows Azure Authentication Library (AAL) designed to work with Windows Store applications. New Authentication Options:...

Furthering Windows Azure commitment to open source development, today, Microsoft announced here that developers can begin using Windows Azure Mobile Services to develop native Android applications. Mobile Services makes it easy for developers to add a...

In preparation for DRUPALCON Sydney 2013 , I decided to start contributing to the Drupal.org site and become more familiar with the community. I wanted to contribute something before asking my myriad of questions about configuring and extending Drupal...

Editor's Note: The original post was written by Nick Harris , Windows Azure Technical Evangelist. Here . I just thought it was too good not to pass on unchanged.   It’s been less than five months since we introduced the first public preview for Windows...

I have seen a lot of journalists out there say things like “Windows RT is Surface” and “Windows RT does Blah which means Surface does Blah” For the record, there are 2 versions of the Windows family. Windows RT , and Windows 8 . There are also 2 versions...

Hello again, Well now that the dust has settled it’s time to seriously blog again. In any event, as some of you may know I have changed roles and I’m now a Technical Evangelist for Windows Azure and SQL Server / SQL Database .  What I’ve learned...

There are two primary concerns for governments and organisations in Australia when considering taking advantage of Cloud Computing. #1: Security, #2: Data Sovereignty.  While these are legitimate concerns, they are largely misunderstood and surrounded...

If you are in Canberra on Thursday June 9, and are interested in the Architecture space, we have an event coming up in our office to show you how to get from hearing about Cloud, to actually deploying applications that take advantage of Cloud Computing...

These three titles have been released on MSDN for free, or you can purchase a hard copy or eBook as well. Great references for Windows Azure development A Guide to Claims–based Identity and Access Control http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff423674...

I’ve often been a proponent of thinking of Cloud based computing as a security layer between you and the bad guys. It seems the US Department of Defense agrees with me. http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2011/03/cyber_command_shifting_to_the_cloud.php Now...

My good friend and Windows Phone Evangelist Dave Glover gave a presentation to some of our partners about what makes great phone apps.  He listed the 10 criteria we use for deciding where on the scale from Average, to Good, to Great an app would...

Recently there has been a video doing the rounds from YouTube on how smartphone pictures can be a privacy risk . It’s no joke. Most smart phones, have GeoTagging turned on by default for photos that you take with the phone’s camera. What this does is...

In response to the Australian National Audit Office report ' The Protection and Security of Electronic Information Held by Australian Government Agencies ' many government agencies are talking about blocking access to web based email.  Here’s the...

One of the key aspects to secure cloud hybrid applications is a secure connection from the cloud based services to the on premise base ones. With Windows Azure this is quite easy. You can use Windows Azure Connect to establish a secure IPV6/IPSec based...

The idea of Open Government and Gov 2.0 is not a new one. However it seems that while governments are making great strides toward a more open system through efforts such as Data.gov and Data.gov.au , there appears to be a bit of a disconnect between publication...

As I mentioned in a post a bit earlier, Digital Society is more than Facebook . To enable a truly digital society there are 4 major areas that industry and government need to enable. These four key areas, from my view, are naturally focused on people...

A successful event, announcement, product launch, or campaign depends on real connections with people. When you can’t be everywhere, use Microsoft TownHall to engage with your target audience online: Scale your communication, aggregate feedback, and gain...

Gove 2.0 to Gov 2.1 (Gov 3.0) It’s interesting to note how governments are rallying around the idea of Gov 2.0 where social networking becomes part of how governments interact with their citizens.  And now, when the ink is just drying on some of...

Yesterday the Windows Azure Platform evangelism team completed another release of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit.   The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit includes hands-on labs, presentations, and samples to help you understand how...

Today, we are announcing the launch of Dev Unplugged , a contest that challenges web developers to push the limits of a modern browser without the use of plug-ins. We believe that HTML5 and related technologies, in conjunction with faster and faster browsers...