The Unauthorised Autobiography of Marc Holmes

 
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November 5, 2009

Silverlight Toolkit on Web Platform Installer

Just noticed that the WebPI now has the Silverlight Toolkit as an install option (it's the October 2009 version). You can still get it from CodePlex too, but this is a handy option for removing that extra bit of friction.

Filed under  //   Silverlight   Web  

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October 28, 2009

I'm hiring evangelists... do you want to know more?

Yes indeed - would you like to join the smartest place to work at Microsoft? Do you know the number for Saul's Fishmarket? Of course you do.

I'm looking for 2 - primarily - web-focused evangelists to complement the existing team with a blend of skills. You can apply from the links below, or you can email Sarah directly. Or, if you'd like to talk a little more about the detail of the role then drop me a line too.

You can find the full job descriptions in the following places:
  • "Producer": a creative story-teller and citizen journalist. Clips from the ad:
Can you make sense of the complexity of technology in contexts including: industry, competitive landscape, Microsoft and for the individual? Can you translate that into compelling scenarios and solutions for all of those people? Does connecting with friendly and competitive industry experts and engaging in debate and excitement around technology appeal to you?

Individually, you'll be expected to contribute to the delivery of a "Know & Do" editorial tone by being:
An Editor: can you take complex messages about Microsoft or competitive technologies and land them for audiences in a way that equips the audience with what they want and need to know, and that Microsoft wants and needs them to hear?
An Enabler: can you understand the desires and pain points of individuals, of partners, of customers and of industries and act as an enabler for those desires and solutions?
A Connector: can you build and maintain a wide network consisting of representation across the technology industry, audiences and sectors? Do you care about the people involved in creating the future?
Can you make sense of the complexity of technology in contexts including: industry, competitive landscape, Microsoft and for the individual? Can you translate that into compelling scenarios and solutions for all of those people? Does the thought of running alpha software in the middle of a presentation to 2000 people fill you with adrenalin?

Individually, you'll be expected to contribute to the delivery of a "Know & Do" editorial tone by being:
A Creator: can you put a creative twist on technologies and bring them to life for core audiences and beyond? Are you remarkable?
An Enabler: can you understand the desires and pain points of individuals, of partners, of customers and of industries and act as an enabler for those desires and solutions?
A Pathfinder: can you solve problems that others can't?

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October 27, 2009

Microsoft's Many Multitouch Mice

A useful mouse-wheel still impresses me, but it's great to know that there's a whole bunch of research going on to think about the next generation of our favoured input devices.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid42529855001?bctid=46078094001

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October 27, 2009

Andrew Sampson, Stephen Fry and Social Media

Over on the MS Advertising site, my friend Mel Carson has a great interview with Andrew Sampson - who discusses social media and his part in the Stephen Fry phenomenon.  Interesting interview which covers:
  • How Andrew was inspired to set Stephen up.
  • How they identified a social media need.
  • How to balance content with different audiences.
  • When to start monetizing and how to approach it.
  • Being responsible with Social Media.
  • Building your personal brand online.
  • The scoop on the Untied Artists Network!
  • How advertisers should think about targeting social media sites.
  • Answers to a few of 300 (!) questions we were asked on Twitter.
  • What it's like working with a national treasure!

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October 27, 2009

Free eBook - Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2

Matt McSpirit has a nice pointer to a free eBook on "Introducing Windows Server 2008"

TOC for this is:

Chapter 1    What's New in Windows Server R2    1
Chapter 2    Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World    9
Chapter 3    Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines    25
Chapter 4    Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management    47
Chapter 5    Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and Access    65
Chapter 6    The File Services Role    91
Chapter 7    IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform    109
Chapter 8    DirectAccess and Network Policy Server    129
Chapter 9    Other Features and Enhancements    147
 
Full details over on Matt's blog.

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October 26, 2009

Possible End of the World

It can surely be no coincidence that on the day that the BBC reports that the Large Hadron Collider has had beams of particles injected into it that I came across this worrying statement from Prof. Brian Cox (the Madchester Britpop icon of Particle Physics):

I'm sure it'll all be fine.

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October 26, 2009

Do The Green Thing: Simplifying Green Stuff So Even I Can Understand It

I've spent a bit of time recently with James and the gang from DoTheGreenThing which has been a lot of fun.

Apart from the generally very positive message around, well, doing the green thing, I think they've done a great job of simplifying the - sometimes obscure, or abstract, or contrary - messages into 7 simple steps:
And then the story telling. Much as I loved the latest Glove Love stuff, I'm a sucker for the terrible puns of Ninjin - The Way Of The Vegetable Assassin:

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October 26, 2009

Whitepaper: PHP on Windows

Just saw this today - over at iBuildings, they've published a whitepaper on the options for installing and managing PHP on Windows.

The paper can be found here and the TOC looks like:
  • Executive Summary
  • Introduction
  • Where we came from
  • Why Windows?
  • Why PHP over .NET
  • Web Server Choices
  • Deploying and Managing PHP
  • Microsoft Web Platform Installer
  • Beyond the Install
  • Conclusion
Some interesting options if you're running PHP but would prefer a Windows infrastructure. Not sure I agree with some of the reasoning for choosing PHP over Windows (Sourceforge is not the only place to find community projects) but the main thrust of the paper is not about that.

Filed under  //   web  

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October 22, 2009

My Reflections on Windows 7

In what is going to be a busy day, I thought I'd reflect on 'the story so far' for my personal use of Windows 7. Bear in mind that I've moved from Vista -> Win7. It's a looonnnnggg time since I used XP. Regardless of your thoughts on Vista, there were many things in that OS that represented huge developments from XP, and it's easy to forget that. There are general improvements in things like control panel, personalisation, network connectivity and so on that I see all of the time but forget that people haven't.

The OS is a strange thing as it means so many different things to so many people, but here are the things that have mattered to me:
  • Boot/hibernate times: Huge improvement over Vista in terms of time, particularly when wandering around with a laptop (and thus closing lid).
  • Taskbar: Simple and friendly, stays out of the way. Handy additions like media player controls have been useful.
  • Aero Snap: Docking windows left and right on my widescreen monitors has been an excellent experience, and is the most useful new shell feature for me. In fact, it meant I moved back to one monitor from three at home.
  • Aero Peek: Also useful on a busy desktop.
  • Desktop Search: Can't live without it - liked it in Vista, love it in Win7.
  • Libraries: I only just got to grips with these recently. They've been handy for managing significant amount of documents, videos and so on I typically have floating about without needing to worry too hard about how to find them.
  • Magic Windows Keys: Win + P, Win + X, Win + +, we're BFFs.
  • Windows Media Center: Now in use across the the Holmes network at home.
  • Windows Media Player: great experience and all that 'remote media streaming' goodness (though I confess I'm a Spotify addict).
  • Bitlocker: just works. As it should be.
  • Netbook Performance: again, just a great experience.
Stuff that I haven't looked at so much includes: XP Mode (not needed it), Device Stage (not needed it), Homegroup (have started to look at it, just trying to figure out if I need it given my use of Windows Home Server and Mesh). Stuff that I forget about but is also handy includes the Jumplists (quick access to tasks and files which, now that I think about it harder, I use quite a lot), the taskbar customisation (getting rid of dead notifications), and also I _think_ UAC seems a lot less bothersome (at least, I haven't been annoyed by it like I have been in Vista).

Anyway, that's just me as a general user. If you're developing on Windows then there are a bunch of new things you can do - there are a whole load of labs on Channel 9 here.

Finally, there's other stuff that goes hand-in-hand with Win7: particularly IE8 and Live Essentials. This tends to be the first download I do when (re)building a machine.

Overall: great experience. Hope it works out for you too.

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October 16, 2009

Sky News streaming with Silverlight

If you're a Sky subscriber, then you may already have been using the Sky Player service which is built using Silverlight and has been deployed for some time now.

Well, you might be pleased to learn that Sky have been building on the success of that platform and have now begun using the Sky Player to deliver Sky News so everyone can watch it on the main Sky News site. 

You can get the official blurb from the Sky press office.

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