Microsoft Australia's Rog42

My New Blog

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1 Month in

This week was one of wrap up and preparation. The end of Q3 for our financial year, preparing for a strong Q4, and all the next financial year planning that’s about to come crashing down, and that’s not to mention TechEd09. Huge things planned there. My role this year is looking after “Community and Industry” and as always willing to learn, to try something new. So if you have any thoughts on:

• How we can include Community in the TechEd09 experience – or -
• How we can extend TechEd09 experience to the Community

Please do contact me using the usual channels – Twitter, Facebook, Email etc

Oh and I’ll be at CodeCampOz next week-end. Are you a developer? Going to CodeCampOz? You should, as ever Mitch and Greg have done a fantastic job in lining up some of the best .NET Developer Speakers in the industry right now.

It’s also the end of my first month of cycling to work. If you watched my first video, you’ll be pleased to hear that I can successfully cycle all the way up all the hills both to and from work now. As I found out on that fateful first trip, the first 750m from my front door is more gruelling than it seems. Of course it’s also the treat when I cycle home again :-)

So a month in, and totally committed. I almost feel like I’m cheating on the days that I drive. But I’m not ready to make this an everyday event just yet. For the last two weeks I’ve cycled to and fro 3 times, and this week added a session of the good ol’ “Hammertime” boxercise again. I truly felt it riding home tonight.

So another couple of weeks easing up to 4 times, and we’ll see how much of that spare tyre I managed to shift by the time I go to South Africa in May….

But before then – CodeCampOz – see you there

Introducing the Real Virtual Shave Team

Well we had “The Big Shave” yesterday, and whilst I’m still collating all of the photos and editing the video(s) for everyone, I did throw this quick video together to introduce (most of) the team…

As you can probably tell from the brief snippets, the whole event in the office canteen, was a lot of fun. So much so that we had 4 “ring ins”

So, people are still joining and sponsoring the team, and you can do so up until Sunday midnight, so don’t be shy.

Thanks so much

I do need to give a special shout out to a couple of organisations, and people:

• Leopard Systems – who sponsored $1000 for Rick’s hair (you can see from the video why)
• Motorola – who sponsored in excess of $250 for the same
• Andre Bergman – who sponsored me $250

But whether you joined and went bald, gave $1000 or $2 at the coffee shop, I want to call you out and say thank you so much. As a team we appreciate your support of us, and more importantly, for this great cause.

But wait there’s more...

This afternoon my daughters will both be colouring their hair. So there’s still time to sign up, and plenty of time to help us reach our (admittedly ambitious) target. So if you haven’t yet, please do give generously, head over to http://tinyurl.com/VirtualShave and this will redirect you to our World’s Greatest Shave Team page.

Smackdown Crew goes Bald

Rick “Mad-eye Murdoch” Anderson and I, “Colonel Hannibal” from the Aussie “Mobile Smackdown” crew, are about to become bald.

We’re participating in the Leukaemia Foundation’s annual “Shave for a Cure” at 12pm today in the office.

You can join the team and shave/colour any time this week-end, or sponsor us.

Check out some of the recruitment videos…

 

So, head on over to http://tiyurl.com/VirtualShave and sacrifice today’s coffee for a laugh. I’ll definitely post the videos of the shave later today.

 

Who knows, this could be the Theme for “Smackdown 2009”

MyPhone

This week I was migrated back to a QWERTY keyboard driven WinMo phone. Thanks to our friends at Palm. It is an awesome device, but more on that in another post. For now I want to talk about the much vaunted new service, MyPhone.

It’s in beta, so I did sit on a waiting list to get an activation code. But once I received that, I installed this on the Omnia, and it really is a “set and forget” service. So much so, that I even forgot I’d installed it.

My usual process for transitioning to a new phone is to:

• Transfer the SIM card
• Connect to our Exchange Server – which automatically syncs my work calendar, email, contacts, and tasks
• Sign in to my Windows Live account – which syncs my personal email and contacts
• Install whatever apps I deem mission critical at the moment.

It’s usually 20-30 mins and I’m back online. But that is sans whatever photos, videos, and documents are on the old phone. Not to mention, SMS messages.

This time I also just pointed the phone browser to https://myphone.microsoft.com/install Installed the MyPhone app, signed in with my LiveID, and clicked Sync.

Voila. The Palm Treo Pro was a functional clone of the Samsung Omnia. The best thing was that all of my threaded SMS conversations were just there.

Not only that, but you can get at these online as well. Sweet.

“So how does this differ from Live Mesh?” I hear you ask.

Mesh is a distributed platform for applications. Currently only one of the developed apps is folder share. So yes you can use it to back up files (including docs, photos, music, video). But on the phone this:

• Needs considered setting up. You don’t want to be getting 100MB videos downloading to your phone over the air.
• Only syncs when you run the app, but if Mesh is running, will sync data immediately.
• Doesn’t mesh messaging data like SMS/MMS.
• Allows you to share with whomever has joined your various Mesh folders

MyPhone is automatic, remote, backup & restore for your phone. It won’t sync automatically as you add a file, like Mesh, but backs up all your data at a scheduled frequency. The default is daily.

It doesn’t allow you to share with other people, but does allow you to add multiple phones.

But it is super easy to setup. Install, login, set the sync frequency, then forget about it.

If you have a Windows Mobile Phone – indispensible…

R42

Counting the cost…

The thing about cycling to work, no matter the justifications, is that you actually have to get home again. There were times today that I seriously considered just taking the bike on the train, but I’m glad I didn’t

So like any beginner at something, during that Unconscious Incompetent stage (you don’t know what you don’t know), bright eyed and eager, I decided to actually cycle home with Phil my “cycle buddy”

Then we headed off, and on this particular route, the way route home is easily twice the distance with a huge increase in up-hills. I can honestly say that without Phil, this would’ve been too daunting. I just would not have known where to go, how to handle different crossings, or what (hills, traffic, etc) to prepare for.

Unequivocally I’d recommend doing this. Get out, fix up that old bike, or better yet, get a new one. But do diligently consider the cost – your personal fitness level, the added time to work, need for shower facilities, navigation of the route, refresher of those old bike safety skills, yes the pain too – and ensure that you build in the support network you need.

At the end of the day – I made it. No heart attacks (although I worried for a while), and for tonight at least, I can still walk.

R42

All things to all people?

Recently I got my hands on a Samsung i900, aka the “Omnia” (which is Latin for “all” or “everything”) and I’ll be honest, I had been coveting this device since I first set eyes on it last August.

Looking Good

What’s not to desire? 5MPx camera with flash, Full GPS, replaceable battery (which gives a full day), proper HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, fantastic high-res screen, yada, yada, yada.

But is it truly the “everything” device?

Well, I do love the camera. The massive 5MPx still camera has great features, like auto-focus, ‘smile shot’, timers, and a blinding flash. It does allow you to take good photos, with very little shutter lag. More often than not has negated the necessity to bring along a compact camera. You’ll see people with other phones still pulling out their digital camera at the pub, but not with the Omnia.

I Love the “Smile Shot” – Aim, focus, and when the subject smiles, the shutter fires. Cute.

Don’t get me wrong, it won’t exactly replace a camera, but will do a decent job of those candid shots.

Whilst on this subject, the video camera is good too. It shoots at a full VGA (640X480), which is better than my previous Samsung i780 (QVGA only). This is fine for quick voxpop style interviews, and posting stuff to the web (see my previous post). Again, it doesn’t replace a camcorder for any serious shooting, but is great in a pinch if you just have to get that “embarrassing cameo.” I can see journo’s doing webcasts or even interview “rushes” with this device. I would say that it’s equal to the best phone cameras in the marketplace today, if not the best.

Interestingly the on-board Video editor only works with 3GP (QVGA) videos and not the MP4 ones the phone will shoot….(You can shoot in 3GP too – but why would you?)

Looking Around

Browsing is catered for natively with Opera, and although I don’t have anything against PocketIE, Opera does a great job. Multiple window tabs are a treat on a phone. Mostly I use this for Twitter, and as those who “Tweet” know, many people link to other content, so being able to render full pages in other tabs is a must on any serious Internet device nowadays.

At First Glance

I removed the native Samsung User Interface for the Today Screen . Personally I found it cluttered, without giving me the information I needed at a glance.

However, PointUI (the same company that has created the new Windows Mobile User Interface for Telstra) has created a great shell for the Omnia. If you’re thinking about getting this phone, or have one, take a look at the PointUI site. Of course you might just like the Samsung shell, but I haven’t found (m)any that do.

Listening In

The phone works as it should. i.e. as a phone. Standard Windows Mobile features, like filtered contacts (just start typing their name to filter the list) are included. Call clarity is good, and of course it just works with Bluetooth headsets and car kits.

As a touch device, there were a couple of niggles I found here:

As you need the screen for any sort of keypad, having this switch off about 20 seconds into a call is frustrating. That’s about the time one needs to enter the passcode for a Conference Call

Note: It’s a great idea to put conference call numbers in the location of a meeting request in the format Tel:+61255551234,,,,,12345# where the “12345” is the conference calling passcode. On WinMo phones this creates a link that people can click and the phone will dial automatically, pausing for the commas, then inserting the Conference Code.

Also, because you need the screen to enter anything into the device, it’s always about 3 clicks before you can start any search/filtering/activity. If you had a keyboard, well, just start typing.

In all though, no complaints from recipients about voice quality, and the phone handles call waiting and transfer with necessary aplomb.

Getting the Message

For me personally, using the Samsung felt like stepping back a decade. Don’t get me wrong, the onscreen keyboard is good. As with the rest of the device, arguably the best in the industry right now, and yes, I have asked my non-MS iPhone owning friends to compare. The haptic feedback genuinely makes it feel like you’re depressing a button. But after having a whole screen, and a whole keyboard with 100% accuracy, I struggled to sacrifice the bulk of the screen to accommodate a keyboard.

As I started with PDA’s back in 1996 with a USRobotics Palm Pilot, it was a simple step to flip back to letter recogniser. My text input accuracy on the Omnia went way up, frustration mostly down, and I got my screen back. But even with years of writing on PDA’s, I found that my accuracy simply doesn’t match that of having a QWERTY keyboard.

It’s a personal thing. If you don’t send emails/sms from your phone much, then you’ll probably love the Omnia. However, if like me, you’re a message junky (I have work Exchange, personal Live Mail, and Facebook message inboxes + Twitter a lot) you may want to consider how you’re going to cope with the change in input.

My overall summary is that all current touch based devices (ala iPhone, HTC HD, Touch etc) are great for receiving messages.

Finishing Touches

Like the other Samsung devices (and other vendors in the past) there is a distinct neglect of the “U” in “USB.” It stands for “Universal” and allows everyone to stick with peripherals they like rather than being forced to use a proprietary charger cable (this reduces the # of cables/adapters you need on a trip too), a proprietary headset cable, a proprietary sync cable. To add insult to injury, these proprietary cables aren’t even common across the Samsung WinMo stable either. Different devices use different connectors.

Besides Rog42’s “U in USB rant” there are a couple of design wishes I have for the Omnia:

• Little covers for connector points? Just asking to be broken off. MP3 players don’t have ‘em (not even Samsung ones), neither do other phones, remove ‘em. Oh and, irrespective of whether it’s proprietary or std USB, shift the connector to the bottom of the phone. Easier to build a sync cradle that way.
• Please bring the MicroSD slot to the side like on the i780, rather than in behind the battery. Of course with 8 or 16GB on board, you really don’t need further memory (without a serious music collection that is) so no big deal.
• As it is a touch/stylus based device, stick the stylus in the device, rather than leaving it dangling…
• Personally I’m not one for the ‘minimalist’ approach. I can handle having an extra button to go home, back, and fire up the start menu.
• My final wish for this device is to go back to a good old, analogue, D-Pad. The fancy scroll, cursor pad is cute, but just not as accurate or functional given the size.

There are many touches that make this a front runner phone though:

• The processor and memory are fantastic. Nice to be able to run many programs and not worry about running out of memory. Did I mention multi-tasking? Yes, and seamlessly too. Also, press and hold the menu button to get a “Running Tasks” list to close applications in one click.
• Full HSDPA – just works, quickly.
• Fast Bluetooth – enhances the wireless modem capabilities. Need to connect your laptop to the Net? Simple, wireless, liberating.
• On-board applications. ShoZu is fabulous. Take a photo, one click and it’s at Flickr + backed up to wherever else you want.
• Business Card scanner – really sweet. Snap the Business Card and add the details to your contacts, automatically, in seconds.
• TV out – I haven’t had the opportunity to play with this (proprietary cables?) but the promise is great
• Full GPS + Assist. i.e. you don’t need cellular access (as other GPS capable phones) to get a fix, but if you have cellular access you’ll get one quicker.
• GPS Photo-tagging – love this feature and it works on the video camera as well.

Lasting Impressions

There is no doubting the Samsung i900 Omnia is a thing of beauty. That + the memory, speed, and great photo/video features would make this a very difficult phone to swap. If you are after a touch based device, that has everything the competition has, at better quality + all the enterprise features you need to succeed in today’s corporate world, the Omnia may be “Everything” for you.

R42

3 Good Reasons

Over the last year or so, I’ve been considering cycling to work, and this morning made the first run. Whew.

There are 3 reasons which led to this momentous outcome:

1. Drop the spare tire. Yep, I’ve been up and down with weight, and of course consistent exercise (without feeling like having to sacrifice time etc) is key. So, my primary reason is health.
2. Save the planet. I’m hardly the “greenest” individual in the world, between the 4WD, the 3 (soon to be 4) car family, the computers, and regular international travel; I reckon my carbon footprint is the size of a small Pacific island. That said, a 10% drop for me would make a huge impact, right?
3. Pecuniary Strangulation. Ok, this is tenuous. After all the GFT (Global Financial Tsunami) hasn’t had too much personal impact. Yet! Also getting a bike required some significant investment in its own right. But the GFT will have an impact, and it’s good to be proactive about these things.

So justification over, I signed up, headed out on Saturday and purchased my new “trusty steed”

And this morning, I thought to capture the experience on the phone. Unfortunately the first chapter of my Vidblog corrupted somehow, and didn’t upload to the server. However, the next two – Getting to the top of my first hill (about 600m from home) and actually making it to the office, did. Here they are:

 

The way I feel right now? Unsure if I’m going to be up for cycling home – or trying out the new Chatswood to Epping Railway Line….

We’ll see

R42

SWMUG Nostalgia Night - Preamble

Tonight, (Tue Jan 13) at the Sydney Windows Mobile Usergroup, we host our annual “Nostalgia Night.” As this is our first meeting of the year, at a time when vendors are showing off the future of technology at Macworld and Consumer Electronics Show, but when many of our members, as well as potential presenters, are still on holiday. So we just go with a relaxed agenda.

The general aim is to spend time catching up with colleagues and friends, and meet new people in the Usergroup. All centred around your favourite mobile gadgets of all time.

Of course there is no restriction on make or model. Bring that old brick mobile phone which you can’t believe you ever carried around; that PDA which defied all logic of usability; the most exotic device of yesteryear and today. Marvel at how small, and fast, and functional, and, well, sexy, devices have become over the last decade or so, and laugh at just what we were prepared to put up with before.

As usual we’ll kick-off with a short segment on what’s happening in the Microsoft and Mobile worlds (aka The News) and then let people show off their devices. Feel free to swap, sell, or just drool at the technology on display.

There will be prizes for:

• The oldest device that is still fully functioning
• The person who brings an Apple Newton
• The oldest Windows based PDA

and maybe more.

See you tonight in the Time Warp.

R42

Roadtest: Acer Aspire One

I’ve now been using this great little laptop for just over a week. Where last week I was asked “Which one did you get?” this week I’ve constantly been asked variations on the same question:

“How does it perform?”

“Do you like it?”

“What would I do with it?”

Essentially “Do you think it’s worth it? [for me]” and my answer is a resounding “Yes!” But let’s unpack that quickly.

XP? Vista? Linux? Win7?

Literally the first thing I did was install Vista Ultimate on the PC. I will install Windows 7, once the beta is released, but didn’t want to risk a pre-beta version on the computer. Why the upgrade to Vista, rather than just running XP? A number of the usual reasons – security, usability, and all the other benefits you just get with Vista without heaps of plug-ins and power tools (like I just plug in a graphics pad and it natively becomes a tablet computer).

The next obvious question becomes: “How well does it run Vista?” Well, clearly I’m not running Aero, and I rather doubt I’ll be rendering video any time soon. But for the applications I run: Outlook, Live Photo Gallery, Live Writer, Communicator, Live Meeting, Excel, and Powerpoint it’s certainly snappy enough. Two other benefits of Vista over XP [and Linux] include:

• Ready Boost – I have an 8GB SDHC card, which gives me an extra 4GB of RAM besides extra storage space.
• Virtually Instant Wake from Sleep

With it’s promised smaller footprint, and optimised performance, however, I am really looking forward to installing Windows 7.

Roadtest or Featurefest?

I originally started this blog post as a run through all of the features. Then realised that the post just read like the usual subjective generalities, you know: Battery life lasted 2hr40, screen is sharp and bright etc.

If this is a roadtest, then how did the machine actually perform? On the road?

So how well does it Travel?

There’s no denying that this is a great PC for travel. Heading through security at the airport, jammed in Economy on a Qantas jet, sitting on a bus – all great. My Aspire One fits neatly in the small front pocket of my laptop bag, leaving the big pockets for other things (like clean clothes)

Running Vista means that once at the gate, or in the lounge, the Aspire One is up pretty much instantly. No matter how little time I have before boarding, I can get a mail/tweet off.

Whilst in Vanuatu I managed to catch up with my blogs (thanks to WLW), organise our photos, even collate our dive videos.

On the aeroplane I watched a couple of episodes of Dexter, and caught up on my blogging. That sharp 9” screen is awesome for watching movies of your own choice, rather than the airline controlled offering. But I did need to get a bigger battery. The 3-cell, 2200mAH only lasts a couple hours (maybe 3 max) on the flight. (I invested in a 6600mAH 9-cell which arrived yesterday, and I’ve given it the first full day of workout.)

No amount of the chair in front leaning backwards is any longer an issue. The 9” screen just rests on the table nonchalantly as you like.

En route, keeping up with email was another small pleasure whenever I was in a wireless zone. But I do feel the need to acquire a 3G modem. The idea of being online whenever I open the lid is appealing. Rather than negotiating whatever (home, work, hotspot) wireless network I happen to attach to. Here is arguably where the Dell, with it’s integrated 3G PCI Express card will have an advantage.

But I am sold. This is now my travel machine of choice. I haven’t yet had a work or personal travel scenario that the Aspire One doesn’t fulfill.

How about in the Office?

There are 4 tools I use most commonly when away from my desk, which is when I’ll be using this PC: Powerpoint, OneNote, Excel, and Communicator. Of course in meetings I shouldn’t use Outlook too much (not if I’m truly present in the meeting) but occasionally I’m caught triaging email.

OneNote is the most common tool, which I use for all of my 1:1 and meeting notes. For this, the Aspire One works seamlessly. Then I simply share the notebook file in a Live Mesh folder, which keeps this in sync with the rest of my work computers. I do miss the ability to [hand]write my notes, as I do with my tablet computer, but when it’s battery life & portability vs handwriting, the Acer wins hands down. With its small screen, I find it’s not too obtrusive a device to take notes.

Powerpoint is great on the Netbook, and the VGA out will drive a far larger screen resolution than any of the projectors I’ve come across to date.

Excel can be a bit tricky on the small screen, but my solution for that is to connect the PC to a projector.

Communicator is what IMHO sets this machine apart from even the much more expensive Toshiba R500. Where the R500, doesn’t have an integrated camera, and would simply freeze every time I tried to use communicator on a voice/video call, the Aspire One simply works.

Again, I haven’t yet found myself lacking functionality in the office with the Aspire One. To be fair though, I don’t have anything like the number of windows and applications open as I do with my main productivity PC.

Any use for the machine at Home?

Here’s another area where this is where the computer really shines. As it’s so small, light, and unobtrusive, I find the PC is never really far from hand. So checking the weather, updating Facebook/Twitter, catching up on blogging, have all become ambient tasks.

Rather than hiding away in my study, whether I’m in the kitchen, or in the front room, I simply open up the PC, complete my task, and close the lid again.

Don’t underestimate the power of the processor either. The shot below is a stitch of some 5 x 6MPx photos I took in Vanuatu, which I edited on the Acer.

Finally, this is a great media player. Whether listening to an audio book, podcast, or watching a movie, this machine is the perfect size. Not too big and heavy, and not unusably small. Did I mention how bright and sharp the screen is? :-)

What about for study?

I’ve not been a student for a long time, at least not formally signed up. But I can see just how useful this PC would be in school or at Uni.

With a decent sized battery, you’d be able to run for a day taking notes. And you wouldn’t be lugging around a lead weight, with reels of spaghetti and power supplies. At the price, it’s very affordable too.

The 120GB HDD provides ample space for the most demanding coursework or thesis, as well as references.

As a student, or for my kids, I would ensure to install:

• Vista (or Win7 once it’s out) – ReadyBoost and Tablet features score here
• Office OneNote (as a minimum) – Actually for students Office is only $75 so go the whole hog. But OneNote is invaluable for lectures, research, collating notes for coursework, even for planning.
• LiveMesh – which keeps all my notes, pictures, and other files in sync
• Windows Live Tools – for organising my digital life
• Witty or Twhirl for Twitter
• Audacity for podcasting/recording

It’s not perfect though, is it?

Not by any means. A colleague of mine, Pat, commented on a fan noise that so annoyed him he changed the machine. Until today, I can’t say I was bothered by the fan at all. At times (high processor utilisation) it did kick in, but compared to ambient noise, wasn’t an issue in the slightest.

Today, however, I used the 9-cell battery for the first time, and heard what must be irritating Pat so much. I guess the larger battery, which raises the back of the laptop from the desk, gives more clearance and allows more sound to leak out.

Again though, once the PC was up and running, and had settled after boot-up, the disturbing noise went away. I will keep an ear out for it thought, and work a solution if I need to.

The other slight frustration was the Synaptics Enhancement driver, which controls additional features on the touchpad. For the first week or so, my cursor would just freeze about 30 secs after boot, and it took a little while for me to diagnose the conflict. (nothing mentioned in the Event log).

An advantage of running Vista was easily disabling this as a startup routine, which just removed the problem entirely.

As the machine is so small, you will have to watch for excessive use. I could imagine RSI and shoulder tension becoming real problems with too much time hunched over this little beast.

Anything else pleasantly surprising?

Yeah – total surprise when I was travelling. I’d installed the SD card from my camera into the SDHC slot, later when I reached into the bag to get the SD card out, it was missing. I was dismayed and not a little disappointed to have lost the card, and for it to have fallen out of the PC.

Then I discovered I’d had the PC the other side down in my bag. The SD card was still in the SDHC slot, and what I’d discovered was another memory card slot. This one is a 5-in-1 reader for most of the common formats – xD, SD, MMC, MS Duo and MS Duo Pro. Wow – so you can expand storage, have ReadyBoost and still upload photos and files from other memory cards.

I was really concerned with only 1GB of RAM to run Vista, but have honestly been surprised at how well it runs. I will be upgrading to 1.5GB soon, but I’m not in any rush.

Overall

I mentioned in my last post about the netbook that the vendors have reached the Price/Performance/Portability/Usability sweet spot with this computer, and my personal roadtest confirms this assessment.

I’d rate the Acer Aspire One a solid 4 stars out of 5.

When you see me in the office, on a plane, or at home, chances are, this PC won’t be far away. But for now – I have some Dexter to catch up on….

R42

SWMUG 2008 Christmas Parte

Back in January 2002, 8 intrepid geeks had coffee in a Lindfield Cafe at the inaugural meeting of what was then the Sydney PocketPC Usergroup. Tuesday night saw almost 50 people celebrating the continued success of the group from those humble beginnings.

The evening began with a group Christmas Dinner at Ablaze in the Entertainment Quarter (Fox Studios). The food was great, and the company better. For me the insight was about the diversity of our membership. From Anaesthetists to Developers, Entrepreneurs to IT Managers, all with a common bond. A love of gadgets.

After dinner we had our annual prize draw. This was  facilitated by a great little Windows mobile app written by Chris Anderson of J3 fame some years ago, which randomly picks names out of the “hat.” Between the Usergroup funds and our fantastic sponsors, we had an amazing bunch of prizes this year. Our major prizes comprised no less than:

• 3 Samsung Omnias,
• An HTC Touch Diamond,
• 3 Jabra Dogtag Bluetooth Headsets,
• A pocket projector,
• A personal heads-up display.

Imagine my surprise and dismay when I was drawn for the Omnia. Surprise because I rarely win a prize and dismay because I handed it back into the prize pool. Then the random application pulled my name out for a second time, this time for the Touch Diamond, which again I let someone else win. Of course my heart was set on the pocket projector, or the heads-up personal display, both of which as a paid up member I felt there wasn’t a conflict of interest in winning. But alas, my name didn’t come up again.

After all the prize draws, everyone picked up the rest of our great giveaways: a Samsung Mobile cap, an HP Water clock, and  goodie bag with laser pointers, amongst other things. Where else do you get showbags for a Usergroup event? Then it was off to the Grand Finale of the evening.

It happens to be a Christmas Gala season at the Comedy Store currently. So for our ticket we got 2 hours worth of 6 comedians, finishing with Jacque Barrett. Who, by the way, is hilarious.

Every year our party grows, in numbers, in celebration, and in giveaways. I’d personally like to acknowledge a bunch of people; not only for organising one of the best party’s we’ve had, but for working tirelessly behind the scenes to facilitate a great and vibrant group:

From the SWMUG Exec, without whom we simply wouldn’t have this illicit fun every month:

• Jon Harsem – the current Fearless Leader of SWMUG
• Kean Maizels – founder and Treasurer
• Ron Rosenbaum – Liaison and the best procurer of gadgets for giveaways a group could ask for
• John Seymour – looks after our machines
• Nick Rayner – Mr Website (and reviewer)
• James McCutcheon – some say he can spit with his mouth closed, others think he’s spliced to the matrix. All we know is he’s our Tame MVP!!!

From our sponsors (In no particular order):

• Microsoft
• HP
• Palm
• Samsung
• HTC
• Brightpoint
• Press Digital
• Tech Pacific
• nSquared

We couldn’t run the group, and certainly not with as much fun as we do, without our valuable sponsors.

And finally of course, to every person who comes to our meetings, subscribes to the group, and helps out at every opportunity. The reason I still come along after 7 years is because of the friends I have made. A lot has changed over the years, Windows Mobile is no longer the clunky PDA based on WinCE 1.0 in a world dominated by Palm. Just like the technology, our group has changed in scope, and size. But at it’s core, the passion, and my friends, remain. And the gadgets make us drool with anticipation like they always will.

R42

My new toy: Acer Aspire One

I did it! I followed my new rule for gadget buying. i.e. Divide the price of the gadget you desire by $100. Then consider the purchase for the resultant number of days.

As it turns out, with the Aspire One, I considered for somewhat longer than the 5 – 6 days. Since the advent of the Asus EeePC last Christmas, I’ve considered getting one of these Ultra-Mobile/Netbook/Websurfer PC’s.

I even test drove the powerful little Ratheon Everun Note (7” device, with dual-core and touch screen) when I was at the PDC last month. But I found the keyboard and screen on the 7” device just too small for practical use.

In comparison, the Aspire One with it’s 9” (technically 8.9”) screen is at that sweet spot of practical useability, and significant portability. The 3/4 size keyboard is a pleasure to type on, and has great tactile feedback.

Over the last couple of months it seems that every manufacturer and their partners have discovered this sweet spot – where performance, portability, and price point meet – and there is no lack of choice on the market. This is why I considered the purchase for that little bit longer than the Gen X gene of “instant gratification” usually allows.

I knew once I received CFO approval, it would be a while until I get to replace/upgrade this device, so I wanted to ensure I got the right one.

Fortunately all of the available choices offer much the same spec:

• Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor (btw this is significantly more performant than the 1GHz processor in the Toshiba R500)
• 512MB – 1GB RAM on-board. The processor/mobo will support 2GB, but most devices have 512MB soldered on, so you’ll be limited to 1.5GB
• 4 – 16GB SSD or a 80 – 160GB HDD
• SDHC slot which is great for memory expansion
• 7” – 10” screen at 1024 x 600px
• 3 cell (2200 mA/Hr) – 6 cell (4400 mA/Hr) battery
• WiFi
• 1.3 MPx webcam
• USB ports
• Mic/Headphone Jack

However, not all of them are created equal. So you’ll have to prioritise criteria. For me it’s about: Usability, Portability, Battery Life, Price, then Performance; pretty much in that order.

The competitors to the Acer include the new Dell Inspiron 9. Great little machine, although I really didn’t like the keyboard and it is pricey compared to the rest of the class. The HP Mini-note was another “looks good at first glance” contender, but colleagues of mine have commented with dismay at the heat it generates and the lack of battery life for such a portable device. (<2 hrs). Although it does have the highest screen resolution of the competition.

The Asus 901 and 1000H both compete here, and to be perfectly honest I was really tempted to get one of them. There is something to say about being the first to market, and having a years worth of feedback on this new genre of machine. My rationale for the Acer was somewhat tenuous, it’s true I got the Aspire for a better price, but the other reason was not having to get only a black or white machine, the only choice with the Asus and Dell offerings.

When I was pulled into Dick Smith’s the other day to have another look at all of the machines, I noticed that Toshiba have one now too. Pretty much the same specs, but again their price was just over budget, and I found the keyboard hard to get used to. Inaccuracies all over the place.

By the time I publish this, Lenovo’s entrants to the class will be in market. They too look very good, but just weren’t available when I was looking.

The MSI Wind was the final PC I considered. Here the extra size (10” vs 9”) for the same resolution screen and price was the kicker. Having said that, all the reviews I’ve read, and colleague’s whom have one, consider the Wind a top device.

This is one of the first times, where your choice really is subjective. The components are almost identical, bar a little spruiking here and there. Unlike buying a “traditional” laptop today, where you really have to compare apples with oranges (ok, ok, I know. But English was invented before the Mac too)

If you are in the market for one, don’t do the purely online thing. Get to the stores and try them out. Fire up Notepad and type on the keyboard, take a USB with a movie or music and listen on (your own) earphones. Take a picture with the webcam. Really put it them through some paces at least, and see what feels good for you. Also, check out the prices not only online, but also through the traditional retailers. There are good prices to be had right now, and most of the major stores will match a published price.

Am I happy with the final outcome? Absolutely! I was allowed to open it on my wedding anniversary last Wednesday and took it with us to Vanuatu over the week-end. All of the photos, and blogs from that trip were composed on the Aspire One. More on the roadtest in another post.

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Shift Happens

By now you’ll have read/heard the news, that the team I work in, DPE (Developer and Platform Evangelism) has appointed a new Director for Australia. I.e. I have a new boss.

My previous boss, Norbert Haehnel, has returned to his homeland of Germany to head up the Education Sales Team there.

Gianpaolo Carrera, although new to Australia, will be familiar to many readers, due to his recent visits to our shores. Most recently he took the lead on demonstrating Windows Azure and our Online Services (the +S in S+S) at the Steve Ballmer led “Liberation Day” event for Developers.

As with any change, I feel a sense of anticipation and excitement. And if I’m honest, not a little disquiet as well.

Certainly GP has a great track record, and I’m looking forward to introduce him to our partners, universities, and developer community. You can find out more about the man at his own blog here.

So, as is the way in the industry, and definitely at Microsoft, shift happens, and the new year is panning out to be as exciting as ever.

Disclaimer: “Shift Happens” was the theme at the recent VITTA Annual Conference. I just really happen to like the headline.

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The Girl Effect

This week I’ve been given two great opportunities.

The first was to deliver the closing keynote at the annual VITTA (Victorian IT Teachers Association) conference. Here I spoke about how to prepare our students for roles that don’t yet exist on technologies which haven’t yet been invented. Essentially my message was: Teach them the principles of computing, give them access to the tools, and most importantly, inspire them. Inspire them to what’s possible, to what’s impossible, but most of all to what our world needs.

The second was to talk to a select group of students at the University of Western Sydney about the Imagine Cup. Here again my message was simple: What’s your personal vision? How can you change your community? How can we change the world? The theme of this year’s Imagine Cup is “Imagine a world where technology solves the world’s toughest problems” and is based on the United Nations 8 Millennium Development Goals.

This morning I saw this video on a colleague’s blog (thanks Steve) and it had it’s effect on me too. The Girl Effect.

My question is: “How can we change this girl?”

Is there a solution? As the video says, the solution isn’t the Internet, Science, Government, or money – but to affect this girl, it is probably a combination of all of these things. And the journey starts with each of us – today. What is the one thing, the one idea, the one step, that you can put in motion today and not defer until you “have time?”

Maybe it’s a phone call, maybe an email, maybe a tweet, maybe a blog post. Perhaps it’s calling your friends and putting together a team for Imagine Cup 2009. Maybe it’s just going to a micro-finance site right now and investing in a girl.

We can change the world. We must change the world. As my colleague at work, Nick Hodge, says “there is no Planet B…”

Enjoy - “The Girl Effect”

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Sydney Windows Mobile Usergroup Christmas PARTY

The Details:

When: Tuesday 9^th of December @ 6:15 pm

Where: We meet at the Ablaze Grill & Bar @ Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park (formerly Fox  Studios), and then around 7:45 pm we head to the Comedy Store.

Tickets are just $40 for members and $60 for non-members.  This includes the entry cost for the comedy store.

Remember a year's membership for SWMUG only costs you $60 and entitles you to the major prize draws!

Partners are welcome!  Member’s partners get in at the reduced member price.

The Loot:

We have been able to secure a heap of giveaways including a Palm Treo Pro, two Samsung Omnias, and much much more!!

Many thanks to generous sponsorship from Microsoft, PacLib, Press Digital, Palm, Samsung, and others, plus of course the support of our members.

RSVP and Payment:

Please reply to rsvp@swmug.org by 2nd December to book your place.  (preferably sooner ... like right now! ;-)

When replying please provide names and membership status of attendees.  Also tell us if you have any special dietary requirements.

Payment is required prior to the event by direct bank deposit.  Please contact me for bank details.

Parking is quite cheap at the EQ - only $6 after 6pm, but a few of us may car pool from Microsoft North Ryde.  Let us know when you rsvp if you'd like to join us.

Hope to see you there!

Kean, Jon, Ron, James, Roger, John, & Nick

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