Team Individualism

pDC UPDate – Windows Azure for PHP, MySQL and a host of other popular open-source tools

drmcghee — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:15:53 GMT

Thanks to much tweeting I am beginning to be jealous of Greg Willis, Catherine Eibner, Richard Banks and others overseas at #PDC09. Particularly given the sheer amount of content and good news for Cloud Computing via Windows Azure.

I'm not sure if you would want wan on these Azure Containers in your back yard, but I guess the point of it all is – why run your own electricity.

Lots of press and tweets. I like this good summary from Forbes.

The big news here was support for more tools," says PC Magazine's Michael Miller. He notes that Azure will not just support .NET programming language, but also

PHP, MySQL and a host of other popular open-source tools

So what is Azure about? "At its core, Azure is Windows--Windows Server,"

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/17/azure-ray-ozzie-technology-cio-network-microsoft.html?feed=rss_news

Here’s an index of useful websites for your reference:

· PDC09 Website

· Engineering Website for the Azure platform

· Customer Website for the Windows Azure platform

· MSDN Windows Azure Developer Center

and social media:

· On Twitter follow PDC09 and watch the community’s #PDC09 tag updating ‘live’ using Bing!

· On Facebook become a fan of Microsoft PDC

· On Flickr follow Microsoft PDC and the community’s PDC09 tag

· Watch Channel9 videos tagged PDC09

· See the Virtual PressRoom

· Follow the PDC09 ‘Behind the Scenes’ Blog

Windows 7 Themes

drmcghee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:32:09 GMT

new Windows 7 Themes now available here

Weary from IT marketing

drmcghee — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:33:13 GMT

After a long day I'm trawling through my.live.com and reading tweets and a few comments on fixing pet hardware projects and I come across a guy called Daniel Eran Dilger. Seriously, the posts and rants I found really depressing. Yes they were anti Microsoft but on further reading anti anything not Apple. Worse still I'd rather hoped I'd find some balanced commentary on some of his posts (check this long and weary post as evidence). What I found more scary than the quotes below was the fact that the comments must have been doctored to include Dan Fans.

"Despite making the vast majority of its money from hardware sales, Apple is investing heavily in shaping the future of software" (I'm not sure I believe the future of software is solely HTML 5)

"nobody's talking about how terrible Gartner is at predicting things" (I quite like Gartner and they do a pretty good job of giving advice in my experience)

"cloud services take away users' control in managing their own data" (I think this is part of the motivation - users haven't got a good track record of data management)

In relation to information doctoring, I've been talking to some of our Financial Services customers this week about the importance of intrinsic and immediate feedback. By simply not hiding issues or biases, or even comments, you can engender brand resonance and loyalty. Take First Direct for example. Well known for good customer service, on the whole, they have recently opted to use social live commentary (even bad comments) linked on their front page. If you read the comments it gives some great appraisal of where they are good and where they need some improvement.

What it says to a prospective customer is - expect nothing less than transparency. Why is it then that IT marketing is so skewed and not transparent? Would it be refreshing if you read an ad that said 'We are really great at X, not so good at Y but we are trying"?

On the topic of transparency, I've long been concerned about Google and privacy, but recently I think they are starting to do the right thing - evidenced by publishing more of what they hold about you. I would like an opt out button - across the board - regardless of time or tool. On the contrary I've been a big fan of Apple and particularly their hardware - I think competition is good and the industry needs innovation. But recent adverts do nothing but rubbish the otherwise good banter from the Mac vs PC debate. I find it all a bit dumb because a Mac is a PC; I know I use three. However after my last install I will really reconsider. I'm finding its taking too much home engineering time (or options), when often I just want it to work. Sony, HP and others are really beginning to make the Apple hardware a marginal choice. Microsoft is not immune to marketing effects - The Windows 7 Was My Idea campaign, whilst baked in some truths and learning's from Vista, has had some legitimate criticism in my opinion. The listening to our customers video does a better job of explaining I think:

And then there the plug in wars, and commentary, resulting

from Chrome Frame. Don't get me wrong, it seems like a smart move from Google but I'm pretty sure as of October 2009, the HTML 5 specification is in the "Last Call" state at the WHATWG. In other words the claims of some parties of being HTML 5 compliant are a little early (see here for latest HTML 5 changes). That and the fact that plug-ins are notorious for doing things you might not like (i.e. crash your browser) or make your sessions insecure. It is all about the development platform for me - if you can bring your favourite development platform to the web (or anything else) then that's a good thing. Applications are built faster and software doesn't, necessarily have to be duplicated. I'm just not sure the browser has to be considered a development platform (as the Google blog posting claimed).

All this marketing, spin and put me downs - I'm sure its not the only one it makes weary. The IT industry is changing, perhaps flourishing, possibilities and change are greater than ever before. I propose we stick to the possibilities rather than the problems that stem from "not built here".

Infoglut - I'm making an email resolution

drmcghee — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:52:55 GMT

IEEE Spectrum magazine's article on infoglut has provided me some inspiration to:

Reapply PIFEM

Reduce the number of emails I send (I am part of the problem)

Reduce my number of words in email (I can be more structured and more succinct)

Refuse to reply all

Investigate tools such as Clear Context

Introduce to the team a concept of a group contract

Nothing comes for free?

drmcghee — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:06:05 GMT

There is something skill or magic about picking up a topic such as "Does IT matter" or penning a blog about "Everything for nothing". The latter thanks to James Gardner, is typically thought provoking style as he writes "the next decade or so, I can't see why you would build a private corporate network" since "The internet will be way cheaper and more reliable as well as ubiquitous". It not hard to see why James is predicting this, as companies like Microsoft and Amazon are participating in this "evolution of infrastructural technologies" (e.g. Microsoft Online Services).

With change comes a shift in costs

It struck me today, listening to the ABC radio on the way to work, that the recent Air France aircraft disaster could be better understood had it had more of its sensors sent over the internet. IT matters, in this case because the function of the IT department of Air France would have been able to ultimately save lives. Unfortunately, for now, the cost of sending messages back to base is far to expensive for it to be possible. Nothing comes for free? This small example might go some way to show that costs are often displaced. To use a technology example, the mythical virtual desktop, whilst a seemingly great idea, may be simply moving one function (or cost) from place to place.

Changes in technology and adoption will make existing jobs and practices redundant

What I am not saying is that companies will continue to function the same way the do at the moment. Its entirely likely that in the same way new roles that have emerged since I've been in IT (web designers, enterprise architect, sociability testers and business intelligence analyst) that roles I will not have foreseen will emerge. A change in the workforce, like a trade-wind, is heralded by ubiquitous titles such as "architect" being used liberally.

Change is about demand

James does write about a big trends - the consumerisation of IT. Which brings me on to my second thought for the day - developers are an indicator of future trend. Ask any developer what they are doing today, gadgets, work, lifestyle and I would argue that many of these traits many will use down the track. Developers have for a long time had free use of any equipment they can get their hands on, and indeed have a uncanny ability to work around any IT infrastructure constraints placed upon them. Your average developers don't want, and probably don't use, the standard desktop or want to use the corporate standard applications. Its not unreasonable for consumers to demand more from their work place, and for the workplace to respond to attract the right people. The demand for change varies along an axis of economic growth, demographics, consumer behaviour and technology.

Change will happen, over time

Over time, and with enough supporting demand, costs will come down, Keynesian theory 1-0-1, but will it come for free? Like James I'd argue, that perceptibly, most of what we use today, will at some point, probably sooner than we would care to imagine, become free.

As an example, nobody would want to pay for a software calculator these days; its functionality is to be expected. The key here, I think, is time - what companies invest in IT today is acceptable, but over time, if they don't change will become unacceptable.

HopeMongers

drmcghee — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:52:52 GMT

Over the last ten months, a volunteer team of 7 Microsoft MVPs, 30 community developers, 5 solution/ISV/hosting partners, and 4 non-governmental organizations have spent evenings and weekends working on a very unique philanthropic software business called HopeMongers.

HopeMongers’ software enables a whole new kind of philanthropy, microgiving, helping you give as little as $10 to the work and people you care about most and see the direct impact – the before AND the after – of the money you gave. Its believed this plan picks up where micro-finance and traditional models of philanthropy leave off. From digging wells in Ethiopia to building libraries in India, this website lets you give as little as $10 to specific people and projects in the developing world and keep track of the impact your gifts have had.

1. Mathematics Teacher ($2,140 remaining)

2. Mobile Medical Clinic ($1,600 remaining) Kamuda, Uganda

3. Water Well ($7890 remaining) Bayaha, Haiti

4. Community Playground ($16,000 remaining) Bukaya, Uganda

Links to “what to know” about Sharepoint 2010

drmcghee — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:49:14 GMT

The public beta will be available on November 2009. Register at following location to access the software:

http://sharepoint2010.microsoft.com/try-it/Pages/Trial.aspx

Watch the SharePoint Conference 2009 keynote video

http://www.mssharepointconference.com/pages/default.aspx

SharePoint 2010 overview @ product group blog

http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepoint/archive/2009/10/19/sharepoint-2010.aspx

SharePoint 2010 (Beta) Developer Center

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ee514561.aspx

TechNet information for ITPro (install, upgrade….)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sharepoint/ee263917.aspx

And note that the external SharePoint Product site has the latest content

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/Pages/Default.aspx

HP Envy

drmcghee — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:10:41 GMT

As many of my colleagues rib me about, I do like the Apple Hardware. Today we at Microsoft in Sydney had a bit of a look at many OEM Windows 7 devices pre-launch.

The first I came to was the HP Envy, notable not only for its strikingly Mac like features (I'm a big fan of the low profile keyboards), metal unibody casing and curved corners.

It might not be well priced in Australia (there's a surprise - not new to any machine) but when it is announced it certainly matches the Mac's for style and pulls a hefty punch in terms of specifications. Not to mention that it can (with extra battery) run for 18 (!!) hours.

More funky styles can be found here

Well done HP!

Microsoft Helps – The Official Twitter account for Microsoft Customer Service

drmcghee — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:54:19 GMT

Just launched http://twitter.com/MicrosoftHelps It’s the official Twitter account for Microsoft Customer Service.

Google: What if you don’t know any better?

drmcghee — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:38:37 GMT

Doing my regular rounds of tech news I came across this article which is a surprisingly candid review on a press conference with Google cofounder Eric Schmidt.

Schmidt rejected the idea that customers are locked in . “There is no closed loop,” he said, “there are competitors and we make it possible for you to get out.”

What one could extrapolate from this statement is that Google does indeed use data (from its non-search products amongst others) to “improve” search

Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land was quoted as saying “you seem to have data other people cannot get because you give away free tools”

So, if you don’t know any better then are you fair game?

I’d say it’s probably another good reason to move to Bing

Customize the Windows 7 Logon Screen and other quick tips

drmcghee — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:45:56 GMT

Customise the log-on screens in Windows 7 by using this 'how-to' guide.

Also I found out how to add your own channel logos to Media Center on Windows 7

Get up to speed with BitLocker To Go using this Microsoft TechNet Edge video - it shows you what to do, and explains how you can recover lost keys and what happens when you share with someone who doesn't have Windows 7

If you want to know more about Windows 7 then the UK DPE team have done a bunch of videos under the banner of YingYang such as YY: Introducing Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 . I also made note from a TechNet newsletter about Windows 7 Upgrade Paths - Check out this quick table reference. Its worth checking the Podcasts too:

Windows 7: Increase Productivity, Improve Security, and Streamline PC Management

Microsoft Online Service opens to all - Microsoft and Telstra unveil cloud software offerings

drmcghee — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:49:29 GMT

Sydney, Australia –September 1^st, 2009: Microsoft and Telstra today announced the availability of Microsoft Online Services on the Telstra T-Suite platform, giving Australian organisations of all sizes access to a range of business-oriented cloud computing services.

Microsoft Online Services includes the following services:

Exchange Online - a hosted enterprise messaging solution that gives your business added email security, with anywhere access, and operational efficiencies.

SharePoint Online - a highly secure, central location where employees can efficiently collaborate, find organisation resources and manage content and workflow.

Office Communications Online - a hosted instant messaging and presence solution that gives businesses a secure environment for sharing intellectual property and working within teams.

Office Live Meeting - a hosted Web conferencing solution that connects with your colleagues and customers through real-time meetings, training sessions, and events.

All four services are available for as little as $24.95 (RRP) per user per month for businesses with up to 100 staff.

Customers can visit the T-Suite website: www.telstra.com/t-suite to access a 30 day free trial

Direct partners to the following website for more information: https://partner.microsoft.com/Australia/productssolutions/productsonlineservices.

Social networking, UK winners and losers 2009

drmcghee — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:52:00 GMT

In the UK Daily Telegraph last week (Thursday 8th August) Stephen Adams and Rupert Neate wrote about social networking changes. Of this British research from Ofcom, the communications regulator, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are clear winners. Twitter grew 1679%, Facebook 73% and LinkedIn 69%. Losers were SecondLife (-67%) Bebo (-17%) and MySpace (5%).

The major headline was the number of 35 to 54 year olds using social networking grew by 25%. being in the earlier of those two brackets I can relate to the slow uptake and general computer behaviours of my peers and elders, but even my Mum is on FaceBook now. The article then went on highlight 40-46 percent growth for 25 to 34 year olds, whilst 15 to 24 year olds usage fell by 10 percent. What is suggested by one researcher is that as older folk (perhaps parents) log on to a social network it becomes less appealing for teenagers. I think its plausable, buy since Bebo, a teen oriented site with little adult membership, is shrinking its probably simply a sign of the times. Social networks have become passe. I think, short sharp messaging such as twitter and the emergance of a some more spatially aware user interfaces are more likely to dominate in the near future for the teenagers. Social data may later simply become a social timeline - a this a your life of your online foot notes. Social networking I propose will be common place as part of using an application or service people will use. Be the skateboarding network or the village book-club.

What I thought was quite intriguing about the article was some of the data about TV. In the UK a quarter of households are using the internet for catch-up television. This is astonishing as, if my family are anything to go by, most cannot explain the difference, between a browser, the internet, an operating system or a common application suite such as Office. I doubt if they could explain what a social network was, but they certainly can understand and articulate the many forms and access to television.

My new computer, Mac Air, pending Windows 7 installation

drmcghee — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:01:00 GMT

So, after purchasing my Mac Air in Bellevue,WA (would you believe they give Microsoft staff a discount?) I have been playing around with the operating system while I work out a way to borrow, or whether to buy, a dvd drive. I'm on holiday in the UK so can now indulge myself, whilst have a sneak peek at the financial crunch impact over here ($4bn loss in half a year with Lloyds TSB this past 6 months announced today - wow)

In terms of my Mac Air the whole the first time experience from packaging to startup was excellent. And thats where it *largely* ended - for me.

Does it, on face value, do much the same as you would expect from an operating system? Yes. Is it frictionless? No, not for me.

I love the little superbar at the bottom (can it be hidden) and the expandable menu (how do I remove items), but the simplest of operations and even finding applications is an issue (it appears to me that you need to self install to applications and drag to the superbar, or use "finder"). Disclaimer here, is that I am used to my Windows experience - I have used Mac's in the past though. What I have realised, without looking at enterprise features such as federated search, is that many of the features of the Mac OS are menu driven. This rather old inherited structure, the menu bar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menu_bar), is apparent in all operating systems, but I've found with the advent of fluent UI (aka the Ribbon) and even the use of drop down menus and icons, toolbox's and the like, menus are rather old school. In short, this means in order to do the simplest of functions you either need to know the option key combination or know how to use the menu bar. For example, unless opening a new window is coded into the app as a Dock function, like Safari, you can't do it at all.

Working with MacOs windows has also been a pain for me, I want to resize from anywhere, not just the bottom right corner and I want to auto dock windows and create new ones quickly. Its probably just me but I'm finding the whole process taxing.

So, I read this article for upgrading to 64 bit Windows 7:

http://yougottabekiddingyou.blogspot.com/2009/03/tutorial-apple-boot-camp-for-64-bit.html

So, any day know I'm getting that dvd drive and putting Windows 7 on. I'll find what I've been working on quicker, it will require fewer mouse clicks and its going to handle the way I work with multiple windows much better. Yes, I know I might be getting a bit old and set in my ways, but I know what I like....

** addendum (bit the bullet and purchased an mac air drive)

A more considered view and one I would endorse, please read here:

http://gizmodo.com/5131933/giz-explains-why-the-windows-7-taskbar-beats-mac-os-xs-dock

Designed for frustration – response to BankerVision

drmcghee — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:43:00 GMT

I feel compelled to respond to recent provocative article written by James Gardner. In it James explains how he has, in his own words, become an Apple Fan Boy. What's provocative is that he claims Microsoft designs for rudeness.

My caveat to my response is that I have 2 Apple devices at home and am planning on buying a third. On all of them I use Windows software. Most notably with Windows 7.

Today I went to the Apple Store for the first time to have a sneaky peak at the MacBook Air. I was side tracked by the 17” LED MacBook Pro. Funnily enough, and this is the honest truth, the first machine I came to was locked displaying only a spiral flower – the petal of death? That didn't stop the masses of people swarming for what I can only assume was the free internet (based on games and email being read). Though I did like the ad-hoc demonstrations. The staff were unexpectedly pleasant but a bit persistent, in the same way an eager sales person may try to sell you a fridge.

James makes a good point in his article– everyone gets used to what you use regularly. It becomes the norm and a standard by which you measure others. By checking out a new approach you can often have an appreciation for a different way of working. You may even find things appealing.

Here is the experiential thing with computers (as an example of technology in general):

1) a new machine always runs faster than one that has been running for a while

fresh it can be without bloat-ware, over-installation and configuration

** addendum: IEEE refers to this as software rot. and is not limited to any one OS

2) the application is king, user experience should be integral

the operating system should be transparent to the regular use of an application
additionally it should augment the application running, but providing common services and experiences

3) over time, what was once magic is now normal

generation Y’s don’t care how Facebook works. like the dancing bear, they don’t care how the bear dances, just that it dances at all. In fact in the majority of cases people are just amazed at seeing the bear!

So, as David Lane described in a recent poignant Microsoft email, if you have been around technology for a while you will appreciate how Microsoft has commoditised and taken the user experience, devices and network beyond the black screen, the mainframe and point to point. And at the same time software is now more accessible, cheaper and better than when it was a mass of small disconnected applications.

In short what was amazing and generalised, in say XP, is now normal to the point of frustrating in light of changes to the way we work and use technology at home.

Apple has moved on since 2001 and so has Microsoft (see Silverlight, Surface and Office as examples). To James Mobile point, I enjoy Windows Mobile, on my HTC Touch HD, but there is room for improvement.

My point is, no-one designs to be rude, but software, particularly old software, can be frustrating. I call this technology frustration “friction”. Friction, in this sense, is founded in some basic feelings… Is this application:

making me feel stupid
- this results in frustration. I end up experimenting and assuming
asking me something it should already know
- this results in frustration. The application is giving me the run-around
making me wait
- this result in frustration. There are other things I could be doing

I felt this when I tried to find the system properties of the Mac I was looking at. I found it with some help on the About this mac drop down menu from the top left menu bar. Similarly this information can be found in many places on Windows, but unless you can find it, its not obvious.

My suggestion for friction, and therefore frustration, limitation is to keep current.

** addendum: Friction may be a function of time or experience. e.g. Friction/Time = Features (assuming all things remain equal). In other words, over time friction should become less.

Inversely its entirely possible that what was we go past the "its a great toy" stage, does the new experience remain frictionless? Put another way, it may be logical that we are prepared to put up with some initial friction because we have forked out a significant sum of money, and/or because it has the cool factor. iPhone, as an example, I think is certainly a good consumer product and remains fairly frictionless for most users. However, as is floating around with some of the people I follow on twitter, it is not without its own frustrations. See this as a recent restore: