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*Heavy Breathing* Ken, I am your father, err, Sorry about that.. but welcome back the BUS, Euro-style!

That’s right! For those of you who missed it the first time, this time it’s back, and more euro than ever!   But what does this mean?

Oh, I have no idea! But my thoughts are, a rocking cross-multi-country bus tour across Europe which if you knew about the first tour at all… should ROCK!   More details will come as I find out about them!

Watch this page for updates, and find out how you can join us on the bus for a free trip to TechEd Europe! Oh, and watch my blog for my take on things too!

Booyah! Did you hear that? Booyah!

And my good friend Rick Scherer has said:

Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 have been RTM

The Windows Blog has said this:

Windows 7 Has Been Released to Manufacturing

While the Windows Server blog has said:

WINDOWS SERVER 2008 R2 REACHES THE RTM MILESTONE!

So what does this mean? Well, here is a little caption borrowed from the Windows Blogs

The RTM code will be delivered to our partners within the next few days who will then start preparing to deliver some amazing new products timed to hit at General Availability (GA) of Windows 7 on October 22nd. And going forward, I expect to be showcasing MANY of these new products here on The Windows Blog.

What does this mean for me? As soon as it hits TechNet (hopefully in the next 7 days) I’ll be reloading my production machine I use 99% of the time with Win7, using my SSD drive.  Oh, did I mention Booyah? yea!

*Update!* Word on the street is, TechNet subscribers get it on August 7th.. so there we go!

Press Release: Microsoft Releases Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Who can relate to this experience? You’re out using your iPhone for whatever reason, perhaps you’re jamming away to tunes, sitting on calls all day long, or simply just ‘using’ it and you find your battery life has severely diminished.   I know what you efficiency zealots will say “You know, you can turn off this feature and that feature, and this and that and that! and it’ll extend your battery life!” Yea, kthxbye! Seriously. If I’m using my location feature and it’s draining my device, turning it off defeats the entire purpose!

Well, inspired by my good friend Louis Gray in his post: How I Stopped Worrying About Powering Up My iPhone 3G I’m writing this because I wanted to make sure those who missed this absolutely amazing-ness, don’t miss it!

This is something I’ve been looking for from Apple for some time, but I never got around to actually trying to search or solve my problem – and now.. now I have, especially as I tend to charge my phone 3-4 times a day from use (Can you say omfg power user? ;))

Our good friends at Mophie bring us the Juice Pack and the Juice Pack Air!  Not only do they double as power enhancing batteries but they also provide a case for you to use! Considering the scratches on my iPhone and my eventual need to get a case (not to mention how my phone partly cuts into me in its sharp bits… Well, there you go, killing two birds, one apple!)

To add to it, they even have a special twitter promotion available, whereby tweeting something about them, following them – will enter you into a chance to win their Juice Pack Air! a $79.99 value.. I’ll take free!

Incase also happens to offer something they call a “Power Slider” but frankly if you look at their website you may have a pain of a time trying to find it as it’s not really elevated to the surface in its ease of finding (Had to search to find it, and even then it wasn’t so intuitive) Which is likely why Louis and others have to resort to looking for it on Amazon like here Incase Power Slider for iPhone 3G – Black (EC20003).

Now while I personally like the look of the back of this particular device with the little lights as you can see in this image above – I frankly am liking more and more the Mophie Juice pack units already mentioned.   But feel pride in knowing when you have a constantly dying iPhone, don’t worry about changing your habits as much when you can rely upon an additional power source to aide in whatever you do!  So get out there and get yourself some Apple Juice!

Alright, I’ll be frank with you.. I’ve known about this offer for a very long time! I shared it with my User Groups and the like, but because it was still a bit ‘under wraps’ I never shared it with the general public! But that is no more! Here it is! (and yes this was also released in the Microsoft Press newsletter, which is why I’m releasing it now :))

Act Now! 25 Percent Discount on Microsoft Press E-Reference Libraries
The Microsoft Press E-Reference Libraries are a premium online collection of Microsoft Press books, along with a powerful search tool to quickly find the answer, code snippet, or troubleshooting tip that you need. Customize your library with your own bookmarks and notes, and download selected chapters for offline reading. All libraries are a 12-month subscription service.
There are four E-Reference Libraries:

• Complete Library Content from Microsoft Press books across Microsoft products and technologies, as well as a wide variety of audiences and levels. More than 600 books are included. Promotional price: $187.50.

Discount code: EREFCOMPLETEC

• IT Professional Library Focused on network and system administration topics with over 100 books included. Leading series such as Resource Kit, Administrator’s Companion, Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, and more. Promotional price: $112.50.

Discount code:EREFPROC

• Developer Library Content from over 100 books on programming/software development, architecture, testing, security, and other topics. Also includes highly acclaimed expert authors such as Steve McConnell, Charles Petzold, Michael Howard, Dino Esposito, and others. Promotional price: $112.50.

Discount code: EREFDEVC

• Desktop Library Focused on topics for business and home users: Office applications, the Windows client operating system, and general business skills. Includes content from over 80 titles, and includes top series such as Step by Step, Inside Out, and Plain and Simple. Promotional price: $37.50.

Discount code: EREFDESKC

Use the promotional codes above to receive your 25 percent discount when purchasing the library(ies) of your choice. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/books/ereference to take advantage of this offer. To learn more about what the E-Reference Library can do for you, check out the demo.
Offer ends on Thursday, July 23, 2009—so act now!

Yea that’s right! Project Natal is hiring! (Sadly, when I first planned on publishing this to when I am doing it now, the number of positions has dwindled, meaning they were filled ;))

But I know what a lot of you are saying.. Who is Project Natal?!

Why, it’s only the coolest thing to hit interactive gaming… since, interactive gaming?!

But seriously! It takes all the effort things like the Wii and dance pads have done, and stepped it up a serious level.  Check out this Video for further insight into why you want to go rock it out with Project Natal!

Project Natal takes gaming to a new level, leaving the remote on the table and your experience in your hands!