Eileen Brown's WebLog

Photosynth

I like the idea of virtual roaming.  To be able to go on tour without leaving my house is a bizarre way of passing the time - but gives me the opportunity to travel without having to book too much holiday.  Photosynth builds on this idea.  According to this article, Live Labs are responsible for this innovation which I think is going to be huge.  If you want to have a look at how things work you can take the video tour and have a look at what Alfred has to say too..  

Hijacking BlackBerrys

Ooh this is a bit scary.  Paul talks about this potential security issue with BlackBerry devices.  Getting confidential information from a game of noughts and crosses.  BBproxy seems like something you don't want on your corporate network

One step up from holding up a bank with a banana - stealing information from Blackberries.  I wonder how the other fruit will react to this?

hee hee..

Waiting for Vista

Steve has been busy creating another piece of Machinima to follow on from his Staying patched clip.  It's over on Youtube.

So what is machinima?

The word itself is a portmanteau (mashup) of Machine and Cinema, and we’ve been using concepts like this to create film clips since the original King Kong movie. With the advent of animation software (the Sims, The Movies and Second Life) we are able to use software generated characters to get our point across effectively. Look at the popularity of films like Shrek, and Toy Story to see how well Machinima has captured the public imagination

An interesting alternative to structure Machinima creation, and something that’s becoming increasingly popular is the “gaming machinima” culture. This allows a game (such as World of Warcraft, Quake or Halo) to be played, and recorded, with a dialogue added later.

So why do I think that this type of movie clip is going to be big?  Steve originally recorded his Machinima clips using Poser and the Movies (which gives a high quality, high definition video clip), and he’s been watching how much buzz and dialogue goes on within this community (if you look at how many subscribers log in to Red v’s Blue, you’ll get the idea of how much buzz this generates.). 

If you‘re interested in Machinima, and want to do some more research on the topic, then there is no better start than the entry in Wikipedia. ...And look out for more CaptainMicrosoft Machinima pieces on Youtube soon...

The Exchange wiki

KC blogged about a fantastic new tool that they're playing with in the Exchange team.  The Wiki.  (Which means quick in Hawaian apparently).  I've reproduced her post in full...

We threw up a wiki for beta 2 to experiment with the format (hooray for slaveintern labor!):

http://www.exchangeninjas.com

(it's named after the e12 icon, which we call "the ninja star")

Or if you insist on being boring, http://www.theexchangewiki.com

If it ends up being a useful resource for the community, we'll see if we can keep it going after RTM. That will only happen if the community gets into it, however, so please go check it out, register, and edit a page to add your favorite tip, link to a blog entry with a useful tip in it, or ask a question.

I use Sharepoint 2007 wikis internally all the time.  When I'm planning an event, we all get together with titles, abstracts, speakers, and put them on the Wiki and amend them as timings or speaker availability changes.  it's a brilliant little collaborative notepad without the versioning and check out overhead of Sharepoint.  The version on the Wiki is the most up to date version, which suits us just fine.  We also put titles and abstracts for the TechNet presentations up there.  So when an event goes live on the web, it's deleted from the Wiki.

So the upshot of all of this is... Go and put something on the Wiki and share it with the world.

Windows Live contacts: website integration

Wow.  I must be psychic!  No sooner than I blog about how cool Meebo is, that we announce an add on which allows third party websites to access Messenger contact lists.  I'm spooked.  The article explains how the gadget (which works client side) works with your contact address and provides a service.  You don't need to type in the contact address again, as its pulled from your Live contacts information.  Have a play at mapping your US and Canada contacts.  That's a really good demo of a mashup by the way...

And you keep control of the information.  That's neat..

Creating a line in a document in Word

This is a nice tip and one I didn't know...

Create a line across the page of your Microsoft Office Word 2007 or Outlook 2007 document with just a few keystrokes. At the beginning of a new text line, type three consecutive hyphens and press Enter. A solid line will instantly divide your page. Type three underscores and Enter to create a bold line or three equal signs and Enter for a double line.

---

===

Hmmm.  It doesn't work in Live Writer - something to put in a future build then?  When Live writer replaces Word completely... :-)

Instant messaging - anywhere

A lot of us are trying to get our heads around Web 2.0 and how it will affect the way we work on the web.  People are driving the web - not the other way around.  Think about commenting on blogs, subscribing to something on a Wiki - this is changing how the web works.  Mike goes on about Web 2.0 a lot, and delivering software as a service wherever you happen to be.  We've done some work towards this - especially in the Instant Messaging area with Public Internet connectivity (allowing your Office communicator client to talk to Yahoo, MSN or AOL).

Well I've found something that takes the idea of Instant communication that little bit further.  it's called Meebo and it delivers your IM to you wherever you want to be, on whatever device.  It's run by some talented people over in Palo Alto and allows your presence information to be embedded on a web page.  And that opens up the social software bit of Web 2.0 to anyone.  We have a web client too - both for Messenger, and Office Communicator, but we don't have the bit of code that allows you to embed the client in your web page or wherever you want to put it.  And that's what's so cool.  And that's what is going to be so powerful in Web 2.0 speak 

I think I need to have a play with this ... 

Setting up direct push for Windows mobile 5.0

Emily contacted me as she was having trouble setting up direct push on her Exchange 2003 Server. 

Could you point me in the direction of some instructions on how to set up exchange 2003, ISA 2004 and mobile 5.0 to enable direct push email?  I can’t seem to get through the ISA onto our network to sync the email.  We are using qtecs and k-jams over the Vodafone GPRS or 3G network.

I seem to get a lot of these type of questions so thought it was worth a blog entry. 

1. Install Exchange 2003 SP2.  Read all about the new mobility features in SP2 here...
2. Follow the step by step guide to configuring ISA and connecting mobile devices - or just read step 6 if you're short of time.
3. That's it.  Read your mail. On your phone...

Mind you - although I wonder how I ever managed without my smartphone, it does take over my life.  Jason was right about how addictive these things are...  I need to be more disciplined and not sync my mail at weekends.  I've tried it though, and spend my whole life looking at the phone wistfully waiting for that mail from someone special to come in, and trying not to force a sync...! 

Voice spam: How to stop it

I really love this idea.  We've been working on a tool to stop voice spam.  You know, those annoying calls offering to give you a better deal on your cell phone, a free kitchen, a credit card that pays you just for using the card.  I have my own ways of dealing with them.

Them: "we can save you money off your bill"

Me: "how much is my bill then?"

Them: "Well we can save you money"

Me: "You can only save me money if you know how much my bill is, and as my bill is paid for by my company, then you can't really save me anything"

(Or I make up some sort of totally outrageous lie like this one)

Them: "How would you like to have a lovely family photo portrait done?"

Me: "I have no family"

Them: "Well what about your partner"

Me: "My partner left me.  I live alone"

Them: "Pets?"

Me: I have no pets.  Only chickens and I don't really think they would enjoy having their photo taken" (I'll swear he put the phone down laughing at this one...)

So anyway - back to the point. Microsoft research have developed a way to automatically screen voice calls according to this bit of news I read today.  It (V-Priorities) works on three levels.  One to examine the rhythm, rate of syllables, pitch, and length of pauses -- of a caller's voice. The second level, recognises words and phrases to indicate the nature of a call. The third level analyses the length of the call.

Microsoft Research do a heck of amazing things don't they?  But if this is implemented I won't have half as much fun when i answer the phone...

Easy blogging with Windows Live Writer

Mike has been bugging me to blog about this, and because I didn't do it immediately, he's blogged about the beta version of Live writer is now available for you to download.  I've been using Live writer to do these posts for a while now.  So why do I like it so much?

My day job which involves drinking a heck of a lot of coffee with various people around the business, means that I leave a lot of posts unfinished as I rush around campus on my way to another  "coffee and catch up" meeting.  So Live Writer works for me due to draft mode.  I just click on the "Save Draft" button, and the various bits of blog posts that I start and never finish, get saved as a list of Drafts on the right hand side of the interface reminding me that when ever I get some inspiration, or am fired up from yet another caffeine fueled meeting, then I can finish off the post and zip it straight off to my blog.   It supports categories too, recognised my style sheets, the font style and size I like to use all the time and saved me a lot of work stripping HTML formatting out of posts before publishing.

Mike Torres has got some nice screenshots over on his blog, and there are lots and lots of reviews over on the Live Writer blog too.

So Mike - stop being so impatient!.   It's in my Drafts folder.  Guess I'd better hit the publish button now...

Office webcasts for September

Microsoft Office System Webcast: A First Look at Office Project 2007 (Level 100)
Wednesday, September 06, 2006 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Keith Wilson, Senior Consultant, Project Management Practice Inc.
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305752&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: Top 10 Tips to Save Time in Office Outlook 2003 (Level 200)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Total Project Management
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305685&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: A First Look at Office Visio 2007 (Level 100)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Brett Newman, Managing Director, Visimation Inc.
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305754&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: Top 10 Tips to Save Time in Excel 2003 (Level 100)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Total Project Management
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305687&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: Tips and Tricks for the 2007 Office System: Great Document Formatting Made Simple with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (Level 200)
Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Stephanie Krieger, Author and Document Production Expert, Arouet.net
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032306024&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: A First Look at Office Outlook 2007 (Level 100)
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Total Project Management
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305689&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: Advanced Tips and Tricks for the 2007 Office System: Customize Your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Documents in No Time (Level 300)
Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Stephanie Krieger, Author and Document Production Expert, Arouet.net
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032306026&Culture=en-US

Momentum Webcast: Improving Productivity with the 2007 Office System, Exchange Server 2007, and Windows Vista (Level 100)
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Jeff Lowe, Solution Specialist, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032303529&Culture=en-US

Momentum Webcast: Growing Your Business Using Microsoft Office as a Development Platform (Level 100)
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Mike Hernandez, Product Manager, Visual Studio Tools for Office, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305508&Culture=en-US

Sharepoint webcasts for September

MOM & SMS Webcasts for September

Microsoft Webcast: Reduce Costs and Optimize Server Management Operations Using Proactive Monitoring with Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 (Level 200)
Wednesday, September 06, 2006 - 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
Mackal Smith, Senior Architect - Operations Center of Excellence, Microsoft Corporation
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305671&Culture=en-US

Messaging Webcasts for September

TechNet Webcast: Regulatory Compliance, Archiving, and Electronic Discovery with Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
David Sengupta, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software
Martin Tuip, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032304394&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Best Practices for Managing Exchange Server 2007 and SharePoint Environments (Level 200)
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
David Sengupta, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software
Kathleen Lundgren, Product Manager, Quest Software
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032302737&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Defends Against Spam, Viruses, and E-Mail Attacks (Level 300)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
Omesh S Desai, Microsoft IT Systems Engineer, Microsoft Corporation
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=71192

TechNet Webcast: Managing and Migrating to Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
David Sengupta, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software
Ron Robbins, Product Manager, Quest Software
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032304392&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: Top 10 Tips to Save Time in Office Outlook 2003 (Level 200)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Total Project Management
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305685&Culture=en-US

Microsoft Office System Webcast: A First Look at Office Outlook 2007 (Level 100)
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Total Project Management
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305689&Culture=en-US

Momentum Webcast: Best Practices for Exchange Server 2003 Consolidation (Level 100)
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Hollis Beall, Solutions Development Manager, HP
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032305396&Culture=en-US

Talking Microsoft

James has been talking to people at Microsoft in the UK and has started with one of the newest hires to join the UK team - the General Manager, Gordon Frazer.  We hosted this video, and have created a new blog - a "Talking Microsoft" blog. 

We're just trying to bring the real people who work here in front of the camera, and get them to chat for about 15 minutes about general stuff on camera.  We don't have the program managers, or the product teams or the really senior guys in the UK, so we dont have the luxury of access that we have at Channel 9.  But we have real people here too, with real lives and a real part to play.  So we're going to chat to them and find out what part they play in supporting the business of the largest subsidiary outside Redmoond...

Have a look at the video here... Well done James.  A great start to your second career :-)