All Backed Up

What do the Fantastic Four, Harry Potter and DPM 2007 have in common ?

Answer - I wrote about all of them today.  But since I am publishing in different places, I am posting a set of links for those that are interested.

The topics are varied, so please read or ignore as you see fit.  :-)

	XBOX DAD Recommendation for the Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer In my family, we have a surprisingly well-aligned Fantastic Four team: My seven-year-old is a bruiser of a gamer, always in the thick of the action—The Thing—he just runs in and pounds on stuff. My nine-year-old is learning the finer points of special powers and abilities within gaming and is often just outside of the center of the fray—Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards. I am a Human Torch … and I play him in the game, too. :-) And the Invisible Woman is played by either the Xbox 360® or my wife (with daughter "helping").  Get it? Our fourth player isn't always visible?
	Jason's Personal Space I used to be prejudiced ... against sorcerers and witchcraft Yes, I admit it. I had pre-judged something, based on hearsay and fragments of information – specifically, the unsuitability of Harry Potter for children. Not that many years ago, when the Harry Potter series was reaching fervor, I had conjectured and decided that it would never be suitable for my kids to be exposed to that. As I write the words, I know how boneheaded they must appear – and I agree. Most pre-judging and assuming, when looked at in hindsight, is boneheaded. And then I read the book ...
	Data Protection Manager 2007 eWeek Channel Insider awards silver in Product of the Year 2008 Today, DPM 2007 was awarded silver in the Storage Management category for this year's awards. The winners were chosen by a select group of solution providers, and their picks reveal what the channel values most. Value. Support. Profit potential. The winner's list-- broken into five categories: Business Software, Security, Utility Software and Systems, Clients and Peripherals, Networking and Storage--serves as a roadmap for products that should be on every VAR’s roster.   I love this product -- and our sincere thanks for all of the Microsoft Partners who voted for DPM.

 As always ... thanks for reading ...

I am an Xbox Dad !

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that the only thing I enjoy more than Data Protection and storage technologies is gaming -- and specifically family gaming is an area that I think is less covered than it should be.

Well, the kind folks over at XBOX.com, specifically Trixie and Duncan (the real Xbox Dad columnist), have been kind enough to let me contribute to the Xbox Dad column on family-friendly gaming.

My first article posted yesterday:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/personality/xboxdad/2008/0430-sceneit.htm

(not my picture -- obviously)

I have a few more articles already queued up, some based on game titles that I have previously blogged here (but expanded for the Xbox.com articles)... and my new Xbox360 gaming recommendations will appear there, as often as they let me -- currently every other Wednesday for the next few editions.

If you have suggestions on family games that need some love from Xbox Dad, please comment to this blog -- give me ideas to keep this going !!!

Huge thanks to Duncan Mackenzie for sharing his column - and Trixie the editor for the opportunity.  If you find my gaming info useful, please let me or Trixie know...

PS> I guess that means I'll have to start blogging about backup more often again.  :-)

thanks for reading

Webcast -- what is coming next for DPM 2007 ?

Its been about 6 months since DPM 2007 became generally available in the market, so we starting to hear the question "What’s next for Data Protection Manager 2007?"

Please join us on Wednesday, April 23rd for a TechNet webcast to answer that question, as we talk about new workloads being protected, new capabilities within the product and when you can start taking advantage of them.

Webcast: Upcoming Changes to Data Protection Manager 2007 (Level 200);

Wednesday, April 23, 2008; 8:00AM Pacific Time

We will also have members of the product group addressing Q&A throughout the webcast, to answer your deep-dive questions about the existing DPM 2007, as well as our upcoming enhancements.

Why is Windows Server 2008 called SP1 ?

If you go to the 'about' for Windows Server 2008, you'll see the box to the right, showing Windows Server 2008 as 'Version 6.0 Service Pack 1".  I'll admit to never having noticed this before ...

But, Iain McDonald (in Windows Server engineering) did an amazing blog on the history of the client OS's and the server OS's -- written by the man who knows it and is definitely worth reading.

Again, this is not my area of expertise -- but as an MCSE since Windows NT 3.51, and having watched Windows NT4 and 95/98, 2000 server and workstation, XP and Windows Server 2003, and now the latest Vista and 2008 generation.  It really provided some enjoyable and understandable history.

Thanks Iain !

Please vote for DPM 2007 as product of the year

We were recently informed that DPM 2007 has been named a finalist for 'Product of the Year' for eWeek Channel Insider ... in the Storage Management category.

There are some other cool finalists, but DPM is the only backup player in consideration this year. We think that DPM really changes the way that folks do backup, not only from a truly unified disk/tape perspective, but also because:

DPM comes from the original manufacturer of the workloads being protected (SQL, Exchange, SharePoint, Windows) instead of relying on  third-party backup and/or replication products. 

From an ease-of-use & cost-effectiveness perspective, we believe that DPM has brought advanced data protection to mainstream Windows users.

And we hope that we have empowered application owners to protect themselves within large enterprises, instead of relying on backup & storage experts who may not understand the intricacies of the applications.

If you agree, we'd appreciate your vote for DPM as Storage Management product of the year.

And thanks in advance for your vote and support of DPM.

Family Game Recommendation -- Cooking Mama

For those of you who follow my gaming recommendations, you've heard lots about my two sons, ages 7 and 9 -- and the games that we play together.  But there are two other gamers in my family, whose ages are 3 and 29-and-holding -- and their favorite pastime right now is Cooking Mama -- for the Nintendo Wii. 

While I am almost exclusively an Xbox360 (high-def/next-gen/action) player, my wife and daughter continue to find great titles on the Nintendo Wii.  They love cooking together in real life, so this was a natural to try -- and they love it. 

Why this game is great

But what is really amazing to me is how much of the game my 3-year-old daughter can do on her own.  Using the intuitive Wii controller, one can stir a pot, flip a skillet, or cut tomatoes into slices.  To be fair, there are a few activities that are difficult for her -- and while reading is not a true requirement, some word recognition or just a better memory would help.  So, the game is most suitable for ages 5 and up -- as well as anyone who enjoys cooking.

It's also great for two-players, playing split-screen -- so that my wife and daughter don't have to wrestle for who does the cooking on our Wii.

Comments on GamePlay

For full disclosure -- the graphics on a Wii are 'last generation' -- meaning that they are bright and clear, but cartoonish ... unlike the latest generation (Xbox360/PS3) which can be beyond gorgeous.  But in this type of game, photo-realistic graphics aren't necessary and might have even distracted from game play or made it less accessible to younger players.  The game really uses the innovative Wii controller in numerous ways which are both intuitive and keep things varied.  There is a Cooking Mama for Nintendo DS, but reportedly, it is not near as satisfying -- likely due to the great use of the Wii controller as the kitchen utensil in the Wii version.

For my personal tastes, I don't play this -- but I don't really cook either.  When I find time for gaming, there are many Xbox360 titles which demand my attention.  But my younger son will happily play this with his Mom or sister, when Dad is unavailable to play Star Wars.  And besides, anything that puts such a smile on the ladies in my life must be good.

If you have a cooking fan in your family, ages 4 and above -- or just want another diversion for your Nintendo Wii -- get Cookin' !!!

The best kids' game that I know of -- LEGO Star Wars

These have been out for a while, so this recommendation is a little late -- but as I have been telling folks about it for a while, I wanted to get this in print.

The first release, LEGO Star Wars, was actually for the last generation of gaming consoles -- and covered the first three movies - Episodes I, II and III -- chronicling the rise of Anakin Skywalker and his fall to become Darth Vader.  My sons (now 7 and 9) still haven't seen the movies, but they know good parts of the story from the games. 

The second release was LEGO Star Wars II : the Original Trilogy - covering movies IV, V and VI.  The graphics and gameplay were slightly improved, and a new range of achievement points.  This one also gave players the chance to create their own lego heroes, by mixing and matching pieces just like you might do with real LEGO's.  We originally played it on the original Xbox, not long after it came out, and later repurchased it for Xbox 360 so that we could earn the achievement points (see early gaming blog post on achievements).

The latest installment, if you don't already have it is LEGO Star Wars : the Complete Saga - and includes all six movies.   There are nice new touches for each of the movies and the levels, and yet another range of achievement points.

What you need to know

For each movie that is represented in the games, the top 5 or 6 scenes are recreated with beautifully rendered lego pieces.   You can be Luke climbing through Dagobah while learning from Yoda, or a young Obi Wan battling droids. 

The games do get an ESRB rating of T (Teen) because of 'Fantasy Violence' - which basically means that they shoot each other with laser guns or missiles.  There is no blood and if a character is shot enough, they fall into LEGO pieces.  Your player will reappear, put back together, a few seconds later.

Throughout the level, players seek out hidden lego canisters that are used to build all of the cool ships that one might purchase in stores, from X-wing's to TIE-fighters to Anakin's starfighter.  They also collect 'money' (lego disc's in silver and gold) that can be used to purchase your favorite characters and other extra abilities throughout the game.

Why this is THE best kids' game available today

The latest edition is available for almost every gaming platform - from handheld (Nintendo DS) and all three curremt generation consoles (Wii, PS3 and Xbox360).  The original game was available for original Xbox, PS2, GameCube (which are all upward compatible with the next gen platforms), as well as DS and GameBoy.  This is great because I have heard my sons talking to their friends about tricks on getting around and such -- where we have an Xbox360, but the other kids only have a Playstation 2/3.  They can still talk about the game.  For adult games, I don't mind platform-exclusive titles (although there aren't as many these days) -- but for kids' games, ubiquity is a plus.

It is true to the movies, but the movies are not a prerequisite -- and suitable for ages 5 through 95.  It is easy to pick up and novice gamers will enjoy simply playing through the stories.  More advanced gamers will go after the canisters and other extra activities to get the most out of the game.  And of course, the achievement junkies like me and my sons will appreciate the achievement points that gives each release its own additional depth (and humor).  And a second player can join/exit whenever they want - whether its one of my son's friends who is over for the afternoon -- or me, joining to help them find a secret location.

Its also easy to pick up and put down.  My kids have lots of interests -- games and otherwise.  So, it can be days or weeks between when we sit down to play.  Since the movies are broken into scenes that you can bounce around between, one can play through a scene in 30-45 minutes for a fun diversion, play a complete movie (5-6 scenes) back to back for a fun afternoon -- or if you are a hardcore gamer like my 7-year-old, we'll play each scene 3 times:

• First, in Story Mode - with the original characters from the movie
• Next, in Free Play - with our favorite characters to seek out the hidden canisters, bricks and other secrets
• Finally, in Challenge Mode - with a timer, to see if we can complete the level (and find the canisters) within a fixed time frame.

It gives kids (and adults) a great way to play an 'action/shooter' style game without the graphical violence -- in a fun way with the extra friendliness of the movies as a backdrop.

The last but not least reason why this is such a great kids' game is that the story does not exist in a vacuum.  There is obviously a whole range of movies, toys, books and other materials about the Star Wars universe.  And since my kids can watch the movies/books, play with the toys (Lego and otherwise), and then play the video game -- its huge amounts of depth to their experience.  I've watched them build their lego's to match what they saw in the game -- and when we first watched the original series movies together, they knew some of the key points, but were surprised by others.

If you have played some of these titles, consider going back and playing the others.  My kids don't mind the similar levels, and more advanced gamers will appreciate the varied achievement points between game releases.

And since so many folks agree with me that these games are amazing (based on reviews, as well as sales) -- Traveller's Tales, the development company, are in active production for LEGO game versions of Batman (new trailer here) and supposedly the Indiana Jones franchise, as well   And I can assure you that my family will buy each -- the day that they come out.

Check out the new LEGO Batman video game trailer to see what is coming next for LEGO video gaming.

Video interview -- where does DPM 2007 see itself in the backup market

This interview is actually a few months old - recorded at IT Forum in November 2007, but I recently found it online and wanted to share it with you.

Its about 10 minutes long and talks about what are core features and unique deliverables with DPM 2007.

Hope you enjoy it.

Click here to watch - IT Forum interview on DPM 2007

Co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons has died -- Gary Gygax 1938-2008

source : http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9885383-7.html?tag=nefd.only

Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, died on Tuesday at the age of 69, due to heart problems.

I never met Gary nor have I been to a D&D convention - and I think the last time that I rolled a 20-sided dice was in junior high school.

However, some of my favorite Xbox360 & Xbox games are:

• Dungeons & Dragons : Heroes
• Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II
• Oblivion

The first ones are genuine D&D ruleset titles, with Oblivion being very much of the same flavor.

Moreover, almost every turn-based game, "dungeon crawler" format and especially every Role-Playing Game (RPG) -- where you start with a "starter" character and their abilities are intentionally and individually enhanced as their experience increases during gameplay -- can trace forming elements back to D&D.  Those concepts weren't entirely new to gameplay, but D&D brought that genre to mainstream and affected the subsequent generations of games and game players since.

Consider these terms:

• Strength
• Intelligence
• Wisdom
• Constitution
• Dexterity
• Charisma
• Hit Points
• Experience Points

If the previous list resonates with you, then consider giving a moment of silence for Gary and prayers for the Gygax family.

This blog is not normally for obituaries -- but as some of you read this for my views on gaming, I thought it was appropriate to let you know that one of gaming's influencing fathers has passed away.

Family Game Recommendation -- Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer

My sons are 7 and 9 -- and we are routinely looking for 3-player games. 

• We've done party games like Viva Pinata : Party Animals, as well as Fuzion Frenzy2.
• We have games on our Nintendo GameCube and Wii.
• And we currently do a lot of tag-teaming on 2-player games, where I play with one boy for a few levels and then play with the other.  The Lego Star Wars titles are phenomenal for this.

But there aren't a lot of family-friendly, next-generation-console, 4-player titles out yet.  It's hard to let 7 and 9 year old boys play a rated "T" game, but you can only race candy-stuffed piñata's for so long.  It turns out that if any character whacks any other character even with a cartoon club, it counts as "Violence" to the ESRB and out goes the E-rating.  I totally applaud the ESRB system, as it makes M's easy "no's" and helps me filter "T's".

So, I picked up F4:ROTSS last week and my wife and I tried a level to understand the content and format.  And then, with mamma convinced, she and I played with our sons.  Later, she stepped out and it is now our newest game for us 3 boys (me included).

To be clear, on its own, F4:ROTSS is a good game - not a great game.  If you are a teenager or adult and want to suit up as a super hero, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a better game all around - a wider range of heroes (including the Fantastic Four), sharper graphics, better gameplay and layout.  Although I do like the slightly larger heroes, detail and cutscenes in F4:ROTSS.

In fact, if you don't care about the achievement points, Justice League : Heroes for the original Xbox is also a good game in the superhero crawler-style genre.  My sons and I still watch the Justice League show together. 

I am sooooo glad that I was blessed to be the father of sons.  My daughter is great too, but she doesn't game yet and is still learning the superheroes' names.  :-)

As a way to introduce your pre-teen gamer to dungeon-crawling styled adventures with "family-friendly" violence - F4:ROTSS is a good place to start. 

"Dungeon-Crawling" means that your team wanders through room after room, beating up bad guys, occasionally teaming up on a big bad guy, finding special items and developing a storyline.  Its more than just "races" or "contests" like party-style games. 

By "family-friendly violence", I mean that bad guys zap with ray guns and the good guys punch them or use their special powers, with far less graphical detail than the Saturday morning cartoons that these games are based on - with no blood, language or other objectionable materials.

In our family, we have a surprisingly well-aligned Fantastic Four team:

My 7-year old is a bruiser of a gamer, always in the thick of the action -- the Thing -- he just runs in and starts pounding on stuff.

My 9-year old is learning the finer points of special powers and abilities within gaming and is often just outside of the center of the fray -- Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards.

I am the Human Torch ... and I play him in the game, too.  :-)

And either the Xbox360 or my wife (with daughter "helping") plays the Invisible Woman.  Get it?  the fourth player isn't always visible?

The team-based style, including some special moves that involve two-characters simultaneously, is also a great way to teach teamwork.  The boys are learning that each character has its own unique abilities.  There are puzzles where only one character is suitable to address the issue and enable the team to move forward.  They are learning that for our team to win - each of them has to participate, has to leverage their special abilities and is appreciated for their contribution - but recognizing that they are not individually winning the game, the team is.  It's a good life lesson.

Beyond that, the gameplay is intuitive, if not somewhat repetitive for an adult gamer - but great for the family -- even if the kids have not been introduced to the Fantastic Four heroes before.

Speaking of which, I don't believe that the cartoon series is in production these days, so one can pick up the DVD's fairly cheap (especially the older series).  And soon, my wife and I will preview the F4 movies to see if they boys can watch them, too.  We've seen them for our own entertainment, but we'll watch them again through the eyes of "parents" before the boys and I have a movie night.  The more ways that we can expose them to the same characters and stories, the more they get out of each of them.  (Kind of like the Viva Piñata TV show and games - but we've covered that already).

If your pre-teen gamers are looking for the next step in their gaming development, but they aren't ready for Halo3 or more advanced crawler-style gaming like Dungeons and Dragons, check out Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer.

New video - DPM LICENSING details

DPM 2007 has a really simple licensing model:

• DPM Server - for the back-end platform(s)
• Standard DPML - for file protection
• Enterprise DPML - for file and application platform

There aren't any Open File managers, library agents, etc.

You don't have to buy # Exchange Agents, # SharePoint agents, # SQL Server agents, etc. - and then, when you re-commission a server, or add SharePoint content databases to a SQL Server -- have to buy new agents.

The enterprise DPML provides a single agent for all of our supported workloads, or use the standard agent for "just" files.

Yes, it really is that simple.

In fact, because of the common binaries and the inexpensive price for both agents, many customers, particularly volume license types, may just choose to deploy the Enterprise DPML for all servers that need protection.

For the best information on DPM licensing - refer the DPM licensing page on microsoft.com/DPM.

There are some common comments that I hear around DPM 2007, including:

"WOW - Microsoft should charge more"

"Cool - does it really do all of that?"

"So, I could pay for my entire data protection solution, by eliminating courier services - and letting DPM replicate off-site?"

The answer to all three is 'YES" and for the last one, check out last month's streaming video on setting up DPM for disaster recovery.

There are also some DPM licensing details that are worth exploring, so I've recorded this short streaming video to explain things like:

- Upgrading SKU's and SA from DPM 2006 to DPM 2007

- Licensing for the System Recovery Tool (SRT) for bare metal restores

- Agent licensing within a virtualized environment

- Cool news on the System Center Management Suite licenses

Click here to watch the streaming video on DPM Licensing

And as always, please feel free to offer feedback or make suggestions for future videos on Data Protection Manager or other Windows storage technologies.

Game Recommendation - Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action

My wife and I recently unwrapped one of my Christmas presents to ourselves - the Scene It?  Lights, Camera, Action game for Xbox 360.  And the only complaint we had was that we wished we had opened it sooner.

The kit comes with four controllers, each featuring a big button for fast "buzz-in", as well as traditional A, B, X and Y buttons for choosing your answers - and Back/Start and the Xbox circle.  They are infrared instead of radio-based, so the kit also includes an infra-red receiver and a long USB cable.  In my setup, I connected the USB to one of my back ports and have left it plugged in.

So, plug in the cable/IR header, bring up the game -- and you are ready to go!  

Scene It? LCA really is a great game for parties where you and your spouse have invited a few couples over -- and saying "Hey, let's all play Halo" might not be appropriate.  Very accessible to most skill levels, as long as you occasionally have visited a movie theatre every few months, or watch DVDs periodically.

The game plays similar to the DVD editions that have made the Scene It! franchise so popular - with one very cool exception that is worth noting.  Unlike a DVD which has no memory, the Xbox360 edition remembers what questions have been asked to whom -- so that you don't get repeats for an unfair advantage. 

I presume that if you really wanted to cheat on your friends and family, you could delete the saved games files and get the opportunity for repeats - but geez, if you have to win that badly, just play with yourself - don't invite friends.

And with the big buttons, it's hands down more fun and more fair than everyone yelling out the answer during a DVD edition. 

I am a movie nut, have been my whole life - so in about 8-10 complete games (approximately an hour each), I've earned about 700 Achievement Points.  The rest start getting harder, although there are achievements for answering enough questions in different genre's (e.g. Comedy, Sci-Fi) and generations (e.g. 60's, 70's, 80's).  So persistence will happily keep awarding minor achievements as you simply continue to play.

My wife is famous for having started as many movies as I have since we've been married, but has finished less than half of them - since she often falls asleep.  But she is faster on the buzzer and some of the game types - and has chalked up an impressive 500 or so achievements.

So, please -- go try it out, if for no other reason than so that it will be a landslide success and the Scene It folks will produce their other titles on the Xbox 360 style as well.  (mostly kidding).

But seriously, it really is accessible to all movie knowledge levels -- and ought to be fun for even the non-gamer, but could be point rewarding for the avid gamer.  And on your next evening get together, it may just be the excuse you need for an Xbox360 in your living room. 

For more excuses on getting an Xbox360 in your living room, check out my blog posts on Windows Home Server, which has truly made my Living Room Xbox a media center for our family.

I am going to miss HD DVD

Farewell friend -- we hardly knew ye. Yes, with the news that Toshiba is pulling out and Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue the HD-DVD player add-on for Xbox360, the format war is over. And that is a good thing. While we early adopters may have had to bet on two horses, mainstream consumers can now start adopting the next generation of entertainment, high-definition, in the masses. This means that Wal-Mart and Best Buy (and every other consumer venue) get some shelf-space back, and that studios are now more free to proliferate the newer format.

As for me, I already had both (see earlier blog):

• An Xbox360 HD DVD add-on, which I really had hoped would win the battle
• A Sony Blu-Ray player – originally purchased for the hi-def Disney and Sony Pictures movies that were already Blu-Ray exclusive.

And with the format war decided, we can now all jump on the high-definition band wagon …

• Blu-Ray movies will continue to increase in production
• Blu-Ray players will hopefully continue to drop in cost for broader adoption

--------------------

But I will admit that there are some HD DVD features that I will miss:

Combo Format

Yes, you had to pay $5 more for the Combo-format when available over the HD-DVD only releases.  But, while I am sure that Sony would love to see the whole world throw away their low-def DVD players and purchase Blu-Ray instead, that isn’t likely for a few years or more. So, I am now stuck whenever I purchase a family movie.

• Will the kids want to take this to grandma’s house?
• Will we want to play it on our next family road-trip?

Forget the kids, what about the movies that I want but my wife doesn't want to watch?

• Will I want to take it on my next business trip and play it on my laptop?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of these, then I have to debate whether to buy standard-definition (portable) or Blu-Ray (at home only).

Frankly, if Blu-Ray offered combo-format media, I might have been on their early bandwagon, too.

Internet Extensibility

The HD DVD player and movies supported Internet extensions for the movie extras. While not all of them tapped into it, this showed some great potential for adding a much richer and dynamically update-able experience.

As studios adopted it, we could have seen some really cool add-on’s and extra materials available from the Internet to supplement what was on the media. I have been told that “Blu-Ray could offer that, if customers wanted it”.

But I am not optimistic. If the players are coming with an Ethernet jack and the original year or two of media don’t have it, I am not expecting it until the next generation beyond blu-ray. Oh well…

The last one is smaller… 

Xbox 360 Add-On for Blu-Ray

I have a great high-definition setup on my Xbox360. And it was soooooo easy to add the HD DVD player to the setup, so I would rather not purchase another Blu-Ray player for my room.  The setup in the family room is fine, but in the interest of foot-print (space), I am truly hoping that Microsoft releases a Blu-Ray add-on.

Official disclaimer, I work in the Microsoft Server & Tools group, not Xbox or Games. I have no knowledge, official or otherwise, regarding Xbox360 product direction.

I am just like you in this area -- a consumer who has read the same rumors as everyone else around a Blu-Ray external drive add-on for Xbox360”.

Taking off my Microsoft employee hat and speaking as a consumer, this makes total sense. While the PlayStation3 is a game console that happens to play also Blu-ray movies, the Xbox360 really is a family-room -style hub for entertainment.

My wife plays all of our music from the Xbox360, tapping our collection that is stored on our Windows Home Server.

When other family comes over, we show our latest family pictures from the TV, through the Xbox360, again hosted on our Windows Home Server.

Yes, we play lots of games on it too…

And there are rumors that some of my international friends are seeing advertisements from being able to receive their television programming from their Xbox360 console.

Xbox Live Marketplace continues to broaden its offerings in TV and Movie content.

So, sure, it would be nice to also play high-definition (Blu-Ray) movies from there.

So, I (like you) hope that with the format war over, we will take all of those HD-DVD add-on chassis', with their easy power and usb cables, and start retrofitting for Blu-ray players.

Putting my Microsoft employee hat back on, this still makes sense. We listen to the customer, we want to continue the Xbox360’s strong adoption as the next-generation, high-definition entertainment platform of choice, so I hope we do it – and sooner than later.

Alas, I don’t get to vote on that one. I can affect storage technologies, data protection, etc. – not Xbox peripherals.  So, I will wait eagerly, just like you…

--------------------

So, a few last notes:

To any Microsoft Xbox360 team members reading this:

Please take those HD DVD add-on casings and put in something Blu.  Its a great add-on for the Xbox360 platform.  Oh, and if you are looking for an evangelist and blogger, I am definitely available.

To any Sony product team members reading this:

Please consider adding combo-format to the specification. Yes, we want the higher definition and will eventually purchase players everywhere, but to make the adoption of this format even faster, please eliminate any reason why we would not purchase the newer media.

The other HD format is now gone, but we still have to decide between low-def versus high-def, based on where the media will be played. Deliver combo-format and we won’t have too. An Internet capability would also be appreciated.

A new storage blog ... THE Storage Blog at Microsoft

Hi folks,

Sorry to have been unplugged - but my posts will restart this week.

In the meantime, check out the new "Storage Blog at Microsoft" - where some of our storage-saavy exec's, as well as other storage experts will weigh in.

The blog kicked off earlier this week with a post from our General Manager for the Storage Solutions Division, Gabriel Broner - discussing some of the cool storage technologies that are included in Windows Server 2008.

-- jason

Heroes Happen Here -- Comics !!!

You know its a good day when two of your favorite universes collide.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Steak and Red Wine

Star Wars and Video Games (usually)

Dungeons & Dragons and Video Games

And now ... Comic Books and IT Professionals

Yes - as part of the Windows Server 2008 / SQL Server 2008 launch wave, Heroes Happen Here is capturing IT Pro stories from those of us in the trenches. 

Check out my earlier blog on how you can register yourself as a hero

But now, the HHH crew has teamed with some real DC Comics editors and artists to deliver daily comics that are about us - the IT Pro.  Particularly for those of us that leave our day jobs, to go be the LAN administrator, security specialist and network infrastructure genius for our spouses and kids.

Here is Day One:

If this rings true of your world, subscribe to the daily RSS feed to see more of your world captured in colorful animated boxes.

And don't forget to register yourself and tell your story.  You may just find it in one of next week's comics.

Have a great weekend, IT Pro Heroes !!!