My experience at the Imagine Cup US finals included the opportunity to talk with some of the Microsoft executives about the future of the software industry and the effects the imagine cup might have on that future. When we start to think about what software might do in the future it really is a matter of imagination. The students that competed in the Imagine cup this year were a great group of individuals with some real imaginative ideas. Scott Davidson is one of Microsoft's Senior Marketing directors. He really is passionate about Technology and about the students who compete in the imagine cup. I sat down with Scott to discuss software, students, the environment, and some of his opinions about Imagine cup. Its really a great interview.
Watch the Scott Davidson Interview
I also spent some time with Chris Weber. Chris is a VP from the west region of the United States. Chris has an enthusiasm for Microsoft that is just contagious. He truly believes in what we are doing as a company and loves to see our technologies in action. He is a great advocate for the IT Professionals of the world. Enjoy this informative and entertaining interview with Chris Weber.
Watch the Chris Weber Interview
I spent some time in Los Angeles California this last week working with college and university students from around the United States. They were competing in the Imagine cup finals in the categories of photography, software design, and game design. I was so impressed with the work that they had done. I took some video footage while at the event and wanted to share some of it with you so you could get an idea of what the competition is like.
Watch some of the competition.
This years imagine cup has an environmental sustainability theme. The projects all focused on the environment and our impact on it. Busloads of High School kids for around the greater LA area came in to look at the projects. It was so nice and refreshing to see their take on the future of software and our technologies.
Microsoft is focused on environmental sustainability and I was able to corner Mark Aggar (one of Microsoft's Environmental technologists) for a short interview about his participation at Imagine Cup and some of his thoughts around how software might impact the environment.
Watch the interview with Mark Aggar.
I really enjoyed my experience at imagine cup and got to meet some great innovators and make some new friends.
Tying a hard drive to a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) through the use of PKI and encryption keys is an incredibly effective methodology for protecting the operating system drive. Microsoft introduced support for Bitlocker with Windows Vista and both continues and expands that support in Windows Server 2008. I have been getting lots of questions about bitlocker and how to set it up etc. I decided I would make a short video about the process both with and without a TPM.
Watch the Video Here
The TechNet Bitlocker FAQ's also address many of the common questions I am hearing.
Last but not least it would be pertinent to know that Bitlocker is not the ultimate security solution in the universe. (Princeton University claims it can be breached with a recovery of the key if it is resident in DRAM) It does represent a great tool in your security toolbox. The principles of Defense in depth still apply; use Bitlocker to add a little more depth to your security.
I remember sitting in a classroom in 1994 thinking about the evolution of what was then a relatively new graphical experience called the World Wide Web. Browsers with a GUI were the rage. A world of pictures was opening to view. Internet portals were booming with the promise of unlimited knowledge and unfettered access. As I sat in the classroom (I was in theory listening to a statistics lecture) reality hit home for me. The world wide web was not about information access it was about business. Big business. Advertising, sales, banking, financial services, healthcare, government all had a future in this environment. That realization has driven my career for almost 15 years. So where are we in comparison to where I thought we would be? Not even close.
We have moved ahead, making progress, but at a snails pace. I know, I know. We have done some really cool things, some amazing things. I am not discounting the success of the World Wide Web. Instead I am saying that we are standing on the precipice of significant change. It is time to take the leap.
We cannot be satisfied with mediocrity.
So here's what I expect to see.
1. The Internet will move to a world that is more dynamically interesting than TV.
2. Business will partner with Internet dynamics to build very deep customer relationships.
3. Advertising will reach near nirvana like targeting through customer choice advertising.
4. Content online will be driven by the consumer in a free choice interactive world.
5. Online financial markets will emerge that are measurable, scalable, and most importantly predictable.
Those were the 5 realities for me in 1994.
There have been some notable improvements to the dynamics of media delivery systems in the past few months.
The addition of Silverlight components and an upgrade to web platform components has allowed all of the major networks to take the next step into media delivery. HD is on its way to the web.
http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=bones
http://www.nbc.com/Vintage_Shows/A_Team/video/episodes.shtml
http://www.cbs.com/innertube/player.php?cat=138673&vid=&format=&auto=0
http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing
We are seeing some interesting navigational interfaces come about.
http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/ is a great example of using the technology to change he way we think about navigating the web.
Matt Hester has an interesting posting on his Blog with a infrared gloves based interface that utilizes the Wii controler, ala surface computing without an actual surface. http://Blogs.technet.com/matthewms
These are the first steps into the world of a truly dynamic Internet. I can't wait to watch it evolve and to be a part of the evolution.
We are really just scratching the surface.
So in a world where there is uncertainty, and doubt about the future I would suggest that when it comes to technology the future is gleaming and ripe with opportunity. Just like it has been for the last 15 years.
I have been traveling a lot lately delivering content for the launch of Windows Server 2008. Many of you have asked where you could acquire copies of the slide presentations I used in the live events. They can be downloaded from the TechNet events website. Heres the link...
www.technetevents.com/2008-launch-resources.aspx
Enjoy them! Use them to share just how cool Windows Server 2008 really is.
You can use Network Access Protection with DHCP to enforce health policies, which can help protect a network against the spread of viruses, worms, and malicious software (malware).
NAP enforces health policies for the following network access technologies: DHCP address configuration, network connections based on VPN, and communication based on Internet Protocol security (IPsec). NAP also provides a suite of APIs that allow companies other than Microsoft to integrate their software into the NAP platform. By using the NAP APIs, software vendors can provide end-to-end solutions that validate health and remediate unhealthy clients.
DHCP Enforcement comprises a DHCP NAP ES component and a DHCP NAP EC component. Using DHCP Enforcement, DHCP servers can enforce health policy requirements any time a computer attempts to lease or renew an IP address configuration on the network. DHCP Enforcement is the easiest enforcement to deploy because all DHCP client computers must lease IP addresses. Because DHCP Enforcement relies on entries in the IP routing table, it is the weakest form of limited network access in Network Access Protection. The DHCP Server service on a computer running Windows Server 2008 provides automatic IP address configuration to intranet clients.
Between a NAP client and a DHCP server, the NAP client acting as a DHCP client uses DHCP messages to obtain a valid IPv4 address configuration and to indicate its current system health state. The NAP server uses DHCP messages to allocate either an IPv4 address configuration for the restricted network and indicate remediation instructions (if the DHCP client is noncompliant), or an IPv4 address configuration for unlimited access (if the DHCP client is compliant).
One of the most time-consuming challenges for administrators is ensuring that computers that connect to private networks are up to date and meet the preset health policy requirements. Enforcing requirements is even more difficult when the computers, such as home computers or traveling laptops, are not under the administrator’s direct control. Yet failure to keep computers that connect to the network up to date is one of the most common ways to jeopardize the integrity of a network. The Network Policy Server acts as a health policy server for managing these connected computers. We’re going to start today’s session with an overview of Network Policy Server architecture and examine its functionality.
Network Access Protection, or which I’ll refer to for the rest of the session as NAP, provides components that help administrators enforce compliance with health policies for network access or communication. We’ll see how to deploy and configure NAP.
Network Policy Servers are linchpins in an enterprise computer access system. It is important to monitor these servers, and maintain them for high availability. Here’s a brief overview of knowledge that will get you started with Network Access Protection.
In many customer scenarios, it is necessary to pass a set of table structured values (rows) to a stored procedure/function on the server. These values may be used for populating/updating a table directly or for more complex manipulation of data for business logic purposes. Table valued parameters provide an easier way to define a table type and allow applications to create, populate and pass table structured parameters to stored procedures and functions.
With the introduction of the MERGE SQL statement, developers can more effectively handle common data warehousing scenarios like checking whether a row exists and then executing an insert or update.
Watch A Demonstration Here!
SQL Server 2008 introduces new date and time data types:
· DATE – a date only type
· TIME – a time only type
· DATETIMEOFFSET – a time zone aware datetime type
· DATETIME2 – a datetime type w/ larger fractional seconds and year range than the existing DATETIME type
The new data types enable applications to have separate data and time types while providing large data ranges or user defined precision for time values.
See a Demonstration of these New Data Types!
SQL Server 2008 enables database applications to model tree structures in a more efficient way than currently possible. HierarchyId is a new system type that can store values that represent nodes in a hierarchy tree. This new type features a flexible programming model. It is implemented as a CLR UDT that exposes several efficient and useful built-in methods for creating and operating on hierarchy nodes.
Watch a Demonstration here!
Ok, so I Love multimedia.
I am especially fond of new online media channels and the effect they may have on popular culture as well as day to day life. You Tube is of particular interest to me. I think it is the direct result of the desire we all have to connect at some level with people of other cultures, belief systems, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc. Humor seems to be universal. With more than 5 million views this piece of animation ties the key world wide icons of LEGO, Darth Vader, John Williams Music, and a good bit of humor. Enjoy!
Building Occasionally Connected Systems
With mobile devices and workers on-the-go, occasionally connected has become a way of life. SQL Server 2008 delivers a unified synchronization platform that enables consistent synchronization across applications, data stores, and data types. In a joint effort with Visual Studio, SQL Server 2008 enables the rapid creation of occasionally connected applications by way of new synchronization services in ADO.NET and offline designers in Visual Studio. SQL Server 2008 provides support for change tracking, enabling customers to develop caching-based, synchronization-based, and notification-based applications using a robust implementation with minimal performance overhead. You would think the setup on this would be pretty challenging. Think again. I recorded a demo of how the process works and it is not really that hard to do.
Watch the Video Here
As you are all well aware Windows Server 2008 has some really cool new features centered around Virtualization, Terminal Services, and Server Core. I recorded a short segment of video showcasing some of the additions made to group policy settings. This is by no means a comprehensive treatment of possible additions but rather a showcase of some of the changes that I personally found interesting and useful.
mms://wm.microsoft.com/ms/inetpub/chenley/windows server 2008 casts/new gpo settings.wmv
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Tafiti sounds like a new kind of super sugary candy for kids but trust me it's not. Instead it is a search engine wrapped in Silverlight, and you really need to check it out. www.tafiti.com My good friend and mentor Matt Hestor has posted a recorded video segment to his blog working with some of the new features of Silverlight and Tafiti. This is incredibly cool stuff! You really have to take the time to watch this segment.
See the Video Here!