Category Microsoft

Yea, you heard it right! Microsoft unveils program after program to help get people jobs, keep you in jobs and ofcourse increase education and awareness, which certainly helps in the whole job scenario!

So, let me show you just what DreamSpeak has in store for you!

Well, free training and education, vouchers! books and videos!

The MCTS Free Voucher program is tied to education and being within the schooling system, so do account for that in the account you login with in order to be able to access and obtain your free voucher!  If you choose any of the various schools, it will show you what the expected address type is to look like (looks like a security risk/flaw to me.. but what’s a free voucher amongst friends! ;))

Don’t miss the bus! You have to enter by 9:00 am Pacific time on April 6th!

Get on the Bus is an 11-day learning odyssey across the United States aboard the Career Express bus. The Career Express will travel from Tampa to Los Angeles, ending at Tech·Ed 2009!

What exactly is this Bus?   It’s a contest of sorts, and yet it’s also an adventure all rolled up into one!    The Bus will be taking a tour of various locations, stopping to meet with individuals, organizations, user groups, authors and various meet-ups along the way before ending at TechEd 2009 (North America)

Get on the Bus winners join the Career Express in their city and accompany the Microsoft Learning crew as we stop to visit with the Microsoft Learning community along the way. We will blog, Twitter, video blog, and have a great time!

How to enter the contest

Step 1: Play the “Are You Certifiable?” online game and get a screen name. You’ll include this screen name in your entry. After you submit your entry, you can keep playing to try to get the highest score possible. You can play as many times as you’d like before 9 a.m. Pacific Time on April 6.

Play the online game: Are You Certifiable?

Step 2: Get creative and write an essay that strongly justifies why you should be selected to compete in Get on the Bus. Have a camera? In addition to your essay, you can submit a video to tell your story.

Step 3: Complete the entry form

Be sure to include your “Are You Certifiable?” screen name and the URL where we can review your essay (and video, if you have one). Remember, creativity counts! The deadline for entering is 9 a.m. Pacific Time, April 6, 2009.

Step 4: Get ready to pack your bags because you might Get On The Bus!

Enter today!

Learn more about Get on the Bus: Read the contest official rules

Here are the links you need to know in order to get everything you need from this!

In each Challenge, a panel of judges will review all eligible entries received and select up to five (5) finalists—based upon the following criteria:

35% Technical and certification knowledge as attested to by your “Are You Certifiable?” high score;

65% Passion and creativity as demonstrated in your essay

The judges, in their sole discretion, may award each entrant who submits an optional video up to ten (10) additional bonus points toward his or her overall score.

The decisions of these judges are final and binding. If we do not receive a sufficient number of entries meeting the entry requirements, we may, at our discretion, select fewer than five (5) finalists in each Challenge. In the event of a tie between any eligible entries, we will have an additional judge review each entrant’s Round 1 video, and break the tie based on the judging criteria set forth above.

Get On The Bus learning offer

THE MICROSOFT “GET ON THE BUS” CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES

How to Get on the Bus!

Get on the Bus!

Get on the Bus – YOU really can win!

Welcome to the Future! Strangely the future hasn’t ever felt so much like “Now” than ever before.    If you haven’t been following all of the chatter leading up to these major announcements we’re on the threshhold of these major breaking points like never before.

The Data center has spoken and it’s answer is True unification.

Cisco has had this same story with their Switch line and with the purely unified solution with the Nexus line and the future of FCoE.   This is not just another story of “Let’s produce another server” which is akin to the type of “battles” you tend to see occur between Dell, HP and IBM.  No this is something much more and much bigger.   So, while this definitely is an introduction of Blade Servers, this is more than just “another blade”.   This is an entirely new way to think about, to manage and to interoperate within your datacenter.

If you haven’t seen some of the snippets of the new blades coming, here are a few pictures.

This is more than just pretty pictures.  Never before have we had such a consolidated solution to a Network Fabric akin to the consolidated SAN solutions which NetApp has Pioneered and still stands unopposed in delivering.   Add to that the pure play with VMware and other virtualization and what we have here is a marriage of Servers with the Networks and the Storage; what you end up with an end-to-end virtualization and delivery solution which will comprehensively change the way the datacenter operates.

So, what does this mean for the future?   The landscape has gotten a bit wider and narrower at the same time.    Everyone will have their toe dipped in this pool, or wanting to be a part of it, but those who will stand strong are the ones who speak to this same story of Unity.   Doing more with less (Less Operating Systems, Less Platforms, Less Management required)

Even with the Cloud looming over our heads, the Datacenter isn’t getting any smaller, it is simply getting better at doing what it’s supposed to do.  Either you become better with it, or start working on that resume.

If a cloud falls from the sky and it is in pre-release tech preview, will anyone notice?

Apparently, the answer is a resounding Yes.

(Repost from Microsoft Cloud has an Azureism)

This past weekend, the Microsoft Cloud Computing Platform “Windows Azure” appeared to have gotten caught up in the currents of a storm.  And like many storms, it’s not understood what happened, why it was down and after 22 hours was able to be recovered from.    Not exactly the feeling that many within the Cloud community are feeling as a great success, though in Microsoft’s defense – they are in Pre-Tech Preview, and while there is no worse time for something like this to happen; it is equally no better time as it’s not a fully released “product” yet.

Fortunately during this situation there was complete transparency of what was going on communicated by Steve Marx.

This is a very sore point for Microsofties with the MIX conference this week, but nonetheless this is indicative of past Microsoft Performance, so it is not as if it brings any shock or feelings of strangeness.   For anyone with a history of solid Microsoft Performance, it tends to involve pretty severe hiccups before settling into a hearty solid nesting period where it’s hard to penetrate or get an upper hand on it.

For those not familiar with the Microsoft Azure Services Platform, here is a breakdown:

Other links on this subject:

Azure Services Outage 3/13/2009 – A Brief History

22-Hour Outage for Windows Azure

Microsoft Azure Goes Dark For 22 Hours

Thanks to our friends at Windows 7 Center for this post

I’ll break it down for you!

Windows 7 RC2 scheduled for May 2009 release.

Windows 7 “scheduled” RTM/Release looks like November of 2009 (Whoa!?!)

Office 14 RTM is looking like March 2010 (Which means Exchange should be in alignment with that)