Alfred Thompson posts a set of links each week that are a great source of information. A few of these that are particularly relevant, find the full article here or follow Alfred on Twitter.
Got girls? Live in Texas? UT Austin has a girls tech camp called FirstBytes that is a summer outreach program for girls. This program is designed to dispel myths and interest young women about computer science. There is a great video on the program at this first bytes video link. I’ve been invited to participate in this each year, but have had conflicts (This year I’m expecting my second baby). I’d love to hear from you if you’ve participated.
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Steve Clayton had an interesting post about presenting while people are Twittering. It is a follow up on a great post form about How to Present While People are Twittering by Pistachio recently. Industry is being forced to learn to accept and adapt to Twitter, IM, IRC and other forms of “back channel” discussion during presentations and meetings. There is good and bad to back channels and I think educators need to learn about this.
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HilaryP or my blog posts: www.twitter.com/SpringboardBlog
Microsoft Students 2 Business is a Microsoft community that helps students connect with Microsoft partners and professionals to gain experience, mentoring and jobs. This month, Microsoft Students 2 Business sent Janis Lee at UIUC to attend the MIX Conference in Las Vegas, NV. MIX is Microsoft’s annual conference on web design and development. Join Students 2 Business for great opportunities like this from Microsoft. Janis came upon this opportunity in close collaboration with a professional society called HKN.
“Not only were we able to meet executives of Microsoft, but we also networked with executives and technology experts from other companies, including stackoverflow.com, Netflix, NBC, and consultants of Rolling Stone. They shared their experience with Microsoft products and the technique behind their design and audience analysis. Ideas they encapsulated into feasible features distinguished their company and values from other companies, enabling these companies to thrive in their niche markets. “ Janis Lee
Read the full report from Janis below …
Vegas, Vegas, Vegas! Four days, three nights in a city skyline full of signs – what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Staying at an extraordinary hotel gleaming with class and beauty, the MIX 09 Conference was an educational and impactful conference. It brought in participants from all over the country and of diverse backgrounds. Not knowing what to expect from the conference, MIX exposed students and company representatives to the diverse range of web development programs. Even if you are not an expert with any particular program, MIX offered great insight to developing tools, designing methodologies, and anything in between.
Throughout the conference, we were able to meet people and learn from their experiences – designing problems, entrepreneurial quests, and the latest development in the opening talks and keynote speakers. After breakfast in the great hall, about 2,000 people of all ages gathered in the conference room for the opening speech. Bill Buxton, the Principle Researcher at Microsoft, gave a phenomenal speech about the magic behind design and the key aspects about innovation.
One always hears about the importance of engineering and business in the world of industry, but not many emphasize the element of design. Design is the interface with the user that takes into consideration things users are supposed to do and not supposed to do. With timing and the nature of the transition, one is able design the perfect product by considering pros and cons of the features. The combination of the three components of engineering, business, and design make up the pillars of success for a product.
Not only were we able to meet executives of Microsoft, but we also networked with executives and technology experts from other companies, including stackoverflow.com, Netflix, NBC, and consultants of Rolling Stone. They shared their experience with Microsoft products and the technique behind their design and audience analysis. Ideas they encapsulated into feasible features distinguished their company and values from other companies, enabling these companies to thrive in their niche markets.
The second day of the conference, we were introduced to Deborah Alder – the revolutionary designer that changed the appearance of medicine bottles for the first time in 40 years. It was inspirational to learn about her experience and the process she had to go through to get her design accepted by the real world. After many alterations and compromises to her original design, she was able to change the impact of the bottle with support from a major company like Target to prevent deaths from prescription mess-ups. The attention to the consumers’ needs enabled Alder to make changes and fulfill the needs of the people.
The most memorable part of the conference was networking with executives and representatives from various companies. The first night, Microsoft rented out a night club at the Venetian to build a casual atmosphere for the businessmen and students to mingle. While eating gourmet food, we chatted with executives and technology experts from companies of all sizes, including Blockbuster. They shared their experiences with programming, their lives, and general advice they had to give. It was exciting sharing similar backgrounds with each individual and networking with such a diverse crowd.
Attending the MIX 09 Conference was a great opportunity meet new people and learn new perspectives. Not only did we learn about new, experience-altering technology, but we were able to network with a broad range of companies and corporate representatives. Most of all, the flexible schedule enabled each individual to maximize their experience and networking opportunities. For those interested in learning about design, developing, or networking, I highly recommend attending the annual MIX Conference.
Get Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2009 at no additional cost when you license the 2007 Microsoft Office suite, or any component thereof, before June 30, 2009*!
Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2009 is the ultimate homework assistant for students. It includes Microsoft Encarta Premium 2009 multimedia encyclopedia, Microsoft Math, Microsoft Learning Essentials, and foreign language tools—all to help students succeed in a variety of subjects.
For a limited time, Microsoft Academic customers who license the Microsoft Office 2007 suite, or any component thereof (for example, Office Word 2007 or PowerPoint 2007) are eligible to receive a copy of Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2009 at no additional cost for each copy of Office licensed.
Instructions to receive your licenses of Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2009
If you obtain a new copy of the 2007 Microsoft Office suite, or any component thereof, via Student Select, Student Select Plus for Academic, Campus Agreement, or School Agreement—on or after March 1, 2009, and on or before June 30, 2009—send your proof of purchase (the dated receipt or purchase order [P.O.] from your reseller) in an e-mail message to edumktgp@microsoft.com (use the subject line: "StudentPromo"). We will send you a letter that will need to be signed by your institutions ethics officer or equivalent to ensure this promotional software does not violate any ethics rules at your institution. The signed letter sent back to us via e-mail serves as your proof of license.
* Terms and conditions.
1.
For Education institutions: For each copy of Microsoft Office licensed (or any individual component of Microsoft Office) to an eligible education institution, the institution will receive one copy of Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2009.*
* Offer good only to education institutions located in the United States that are eligible to purchase through Microsoft Student Select, Student Select Plus for Academic, Campus Agreement, or School Agreement. Offer valid only on new purchases of any Microsoft Office SKU, or any component of Microsoft Office, from qualified agreements. Limit one license of Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2009 per copy of Microsoft Office licensed. This offer is not valid for renewal purchases or purchases under Microsoft Open License for Academic agreement, and it does not include media. In order to qualify, you must submit to Microsoft a gift letter signed by an authorized representative of your education institution along with proof of purchase. This offer is non-transferable. This offer is valid March 1, 2009, through June 30, 2009, and is not redeemable for cash. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. This offer is only available in the United States.
My team at Microsoft won a diversity award and part of the prize was a new Asus EeePC. I’m installing Win7 on it today, thanks to some instructions Clint Rutkas laid out. I’ll post them here in case you’re in the same boat. Please note, the first link covers how to install Win7 from a USB drive and the directions are for Vista. XP doesn’t recognize USB drives in the diskpart tool. Dave Glover provides a comprehensive look at running the Win7 Beta on EeePC including like/dis-likes and where to find extra drivers and more.
1. Get a 4gig+ USB drive to install off of, prep so it can be bootable. http://edge.technet.com/Media/Installing-Win7-using-a-USB-Stick/
2. Prep the BIOS to boot off USB drive, Hit Escape to make these Boot changes
a. Turn off quickboot
b. Make CDrom 1st option to boot off of
3. Plug in the thumb drive with the Win7 ISO extracted on it.
a. I used an x86 build.
4. Hit escape to get the computer to boot off the USB drive
a. Do this when you see the splash screen
5. Get the lan drivers from eeepc.asus.com
a. http://dlsvr.asus.com/pub/ASUS/EeePC/1000HA/LAN.zip
6. Hit Fn-F2 if your blue WiFi light isn’t on
7. Run Windows update
The Microsoft Student Partners website got a much needed makeover. Now you can see the profiles of students in your country. Please note, only a subset of countries have been included in this first release. Here is one of the MSPs from the US at University of Texas San Anotonio.
MSP - What a great opportunity :D
Hello everyone! As you can tell, my name is Kevin Messenhimer, and I'm the Microsoft Student Partner for the University of Texas at San Antonio. I'm currently a sophomore majoring in Electrical Engineering. Computers are my passion. I like to fix, build, program, listen to music, play video games, virtually anything on a computer. I'm a HUGE PC gamer, and a couple of my favorite pc games are Crysis, Fallout 3, and Team Fortress 2. I am very ambitious and love to learn in my free time. Currently, I have five certifications in which include A+, Net+, Security+, Server+ and Linux+. One day I hope I can work for any computer related company that promotes the growth of technology as well as research(Microsoft, HP, IBM, Cisco, etc).
My favorite thing about being a Microsoft Student Partner will have to be the experience. I mean seriously, aside from the free items to give out to people and the ability to setup cool events, experiencing the interaction and networking within the program tops all of the cool things I have done for the Microsoft Student Partner Program. I am very fortunate to be apart of such a program.