PDC 2009 Day 2 & 3: Silverlight 4 and IE 9
Greetings Readers!
For those of you who missed my PDC 2009 adventures for Day 1, you can check those out here because now it is time to talk about the rest of PDC.
Day two started off identical to the first except I didn't have to register. I immediately headed toward the keynote hall and waited in line with everybody else for the keynote, a keynote which I found to be more interesting than the first keynote.
The day 2 keynote consisted of announcements such as Internet Explorer 9 being in the works for just a couple of weeks and already is making considerable progress on the Acid 3 test. While that is good to hear, I was most impressed with the fact that according to their very early benchmarks, it has nearly caught up to all of the other major browsers in terms of speed. They are also bring GPU acceleration to IE 9 to help take some of the computational burden away from the CPU which is something I have been asking of basically every internet associated software for a long time now. For only 3 weeks worth of work, they are making some amazing strides in the new version of the browser. As impressive as that may be, until I get to play with it and test it out, I will still refer to it as Internet Exploder and point people to Firefox or Opera.
The announcement that I was really excited about was Silverlight 4. As many of you know, I have a hatred for Flash and pretty much anything created by Adobe so it is easy to see why I am so excited about Silverlight 4 and the new features it brings. What are those features? Silverlight 4 is twice as fast as Silverlight 3 and has a 30% faster start time. Silverlight 4 can now access your webcam and mic so now streaming sites like Ustream or Justin.TV have the option of moving to a platform that I believe is faster, more efficient (especially with the GPU acceleration) and more secure than Flash. They showed off some of the awesome things that Silverlight 4 can do including basic DVR functionality on live streams which I can't way to get my hands on. I was also impressed to hear that Silverlight is now available on 45% of all internet connected devices. I can't help but wonder how high that would be if Apple would allow Silverlight on the iPhone/iPod Touch but since it won't even let Flash on there, I don't see it happening anytime soon. While that is a great number, I think it can be greatly improved with some strategic partnerships.
The rest of day 2 and 3 were filled up with sessions although I didn't go to very many on day 3 just because there wasn't much that was in my fiend of interest. I did go to several sessions related to Windows 7 which were quite interesting. A couple of the sessions had to do with DirectX 11 in Windows 7 and how programmers could use it for parallel computing and how it worked to improve graphics in games and stuff. Probably the most interesting Windows 7 related session was about changes to the kernel. Although I was interested in most all of the changes whether they were for security or performance or whatever, I was most interested by the changes made to help battery life. It was interesting to find out how unused cores would be put into a sleep state when they aren't being used as a way of conserving power. I was also fascinated by the fact that since most processes don't need the precision being checked every so many milliseconds, that processes would be group to fire around the same time so that there can be a period of rest in between the process check-ins which also saves battery life. There are truly some great changes with Windows 7 and since I am told video of the session(s) have been uploaded to the PDC site, I will likely link to them at a later time since I can't now because the PDC site seems to be offline.
I was going to talk about the GeekFest that took place on the night of day 2 in this post, but since I have video to go with it, I will make it a separate post that I will post later this week. I might also write another post on a couple of other topics but for now, this will be my last PDC related post that doesn't have pictures or video which will likely be in posts of their own once I get around to editing the video. It was am amazing experience and I look forward to sharing more of it with you in the videos to come.
PDC 2009 Day 1: Three Screens and a Cloud
Greetings readers! This is the first of a several posts and a number of videos from my experience at Microsoft's PDC for 2009. Disclosure: I am a Microsoft Student Insider (Find out a little bit more about this in one of my previous posts). Day 1 of PDC started off great despite the fact that a few minutes after arriving that I had forgot my camera back at the hotel (so no pictures from day one). Registration was as simple as handing them my ID and they gave me my badge. I found out the hard way that being there for Microsoft, I don't get any of the goodies like the Acer bag and whatever came in it. The big disappointment as far as free goodies came on Day 2 which I will talk about in the next post. Anyway, shortly after getting my badge, I followed the signs through the huge maze that is the Los Angeles Convention Center. For those that haven't been here, this is quite the huge, impressive structure and when you are going from hall to hall, you will be doing a fair bit of walking. I managed to find they hall for the keynote and jumped into the line that was weaving its way down the long halls. Despite the long line, once the doors were open everybody flooded in and took a seat rather quickly. After a short wait, Ray Ozzy, the top architect at Microsoft since the stepping down of Bill Gates, came on stage and presented us with the idea of "Three Screens and a Cloud." The keynote focused on having the same experience on a computer, mobile device and tv and using Microsoft's cloud OS, Azure, to do that. Since last year's Azure announcement was in fairly cloudy terms, I never really got excited about it but after seeing what it can do and how it can scale, I think if all goes as planned, it is going to be amazing. The major announcement in terms of Azure is that it goes into service at the first of the year and billing begins in February and that you only pay for what you use. If you have a company with a large web presence, this is definitely something to look into, especially if you have traffic spikes and want to be able to scale up to those spikes but not have all of the server overhead when you don't need all of the power.
After the keynote, I spent the rest of they day going to sessions, eating, and having fun with the vendors that were there. Although this was the case all three days, some of the sessions were interesting while others were so far above my head that I thought they were speaking in another language. Although there were some sessions throughout the event focused on aspects of Windows 7, compared to other topics like Azure, there was very little talk about Windows 7 which I found kind of disappointing since it just came out a few weeks ago. I also was disappointed but little to no mention of the next version of Windows. Apparently Microsoft sees the future as everybody having their head in the clouds.
For the sake of keeping these posts short and to the point, I will talk more about some of the sessions I attended and what I learned in a separate post from my daily summaries. I will post the happenings from day 2 at PDC in the next post to likely come out tonight or tomorrow and day 3 shortly after that. I also have a number of photos and videos to upload when I get home too. It might take a few days to get everything up as my school quarter started yesterday and now that this trip is coming to an end (I am sitting in LAX as I write this), I need to focus on making sure i don't fall behind in that. I also have a number of other things to talk about as well as soon as I get a chance including the new Chrome OS. Stay tuned!
Microsoft’s PDC 2009 Coverage
Greetings Readers!
In the last post, I alluded to the fact that Microsoft has sent me to PDC 2009 (Professional Developers Conference) in LA since I am now a Student Insider and as part of that, I am going to be writing numerous blog posts throughout the week about the stuff that is being announced and talked about here. I have also been equipped with a Flip Ultra HD camcorder to take video of what I see. Since I got the Flip this afternoon, I will have to wait until tonight to charge it up and try it out but I should be able to shoot some video the next two days and I will likely have to wait until I return home on Friday to begin uploading them as internet speeds around here seem to vary somewhere between dial-up speeds during the keynote and around 1.5mbps at other times.
I am mainly focusing on Windows 7 stuff and various developer technologies that interest me and alter how I do my pet programming projects. If there is anything specifically that you would like me to report on, let me know in the comments. Feel free to check out the schedule at the PDC 2009 site and point me towards the sessions you would be most interested in me reporting on. Also, once I get the video working, I will be doing interviews as well, so expect some cool stuff from that. There are also a number of the Microsoft Surface tables here so I will get some videos of those too.
I am getting ready to go into another session so I will blog more tonight about what I saw today and just what I think about everything that is being shown off. Stay tuned!
I am now a Microsoft Student Insider, changes are coming
Greetings Readers!
I have some absolutely amazing news to share with all of you. As of today, I am officially a Microsoft Student Insider. What is that you ask? Essentially, it is an unpaid job to blog about various topics that they would like me to blog about. There is one student insider to talk about a specific topic. In my case, I am the chosen one to speak about all things Windows 7. Normally, I wouldn't take an unpaid position, but the perks of the job are good enough that I don't mind it.
While I will be writing a minimum of 15 blog posts for Microsoft over the next year, I am also being sent, all expenses paid, to whatever conferences they want to send me to cover. While I don't yet know a schedule of everywhere I am going to be sent, I do know that I am being sent to cover PDC in LA all of next week. It seems a bit fast considering I just got the job today, but I don't think I can complain too much about a free trip to LA and entrance into an expensive conference and I am getting some awesome stuff too. As part of being a Student Insider, to help me cover the event and others like it, I am being given a Flip HD camcorder, an ASUS eee pc netbook, a Microsoft shirt and some various other things to help with cab fair and such. I am also told that I will have access to talk to higher up people within Microsoft like various product managers and stuff, possibly even some board members either next week or at other times.
I will tell the story of how I got the position in either another post or on the next episode of the podcast which is at a time to be determined since I will be en route to LA at our normal recording time, but I do want to address what this means for the blog.
Although I have wanted a sponsor for some time for the show or the blog or whatever, mainly to help pay for my hosting fees, domain fees and such, at the same time, I have always dreaded the idea. I have build the podcast and this blog on a goal of being 100% honest, 100% of the time with no BS. I have always dreaded the idea of the sponsor because I don't like the feeling that I can't say what I want to say about a topic because I don't want to worry about offending them. The last thing I want to do is open up my mouth and scare way people who want to throw money at me. When I found out more about this position, I hesitated for a bit because of this, but I have decided that despite what I am being given or where I am being sent, I will do everything I can not to allow it to influence my opinions so that I appear to be nothing but a mouthpiece for a company. I will gladly blog about the topics that they request I blog about, but in the end, I will express how I really feel. I will do my absolute best not to censor myself. I will allow Microsoft or anybody else to present their case to me and I will forward it on to my audience, but in the end, my opinion is my own.
If all goes the way I hope, the type of content on here and the podcast will not change, there will just be more Windows 7 related stuff and when it is something that Microsoft wants me to talk about, I will make that very clear so that you can factor that into your judgment of my writing when you read my posts.
I primarily see this as an opening door that I have been trying to work my way into for the past 2 years. As many know, I have been trying to get a job at Microsoft for nearly 2 years and I see this as my way in and I will do whatever I can to achieve my dream while keeping my integrity in regards to Global Geek News but I suppose we will see how it plays out. Anyway, there may or may not be a podcast next week. Since I will likely be in flight when the show is recorded, it will definitely not be released on Tuesday like normal. There is a small chance of recording on Wednesday but at this point, I am not holding my breath. It is most likely the case that we will end up skipping a weeks show but I don't yet know. I will keep you all informed.
More to come!
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Top 10 Geek Gifts for the 2009 Holiday Season
Greetings everybody!
It is that time of year again, with a little over a month left before Christmas, it is time to start figuring out what you are going to buy! The big question is what are you going to get that geek in your life? I have compiled another list again this year of great geek gifts to get that geek in your life assuming they don't already have them. Here we go!
#10. Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt
Are you so good at Rock Band and Guitar Hero that you want to take your act on the road? You can do something like that with this awesome electronic rock guitar shirt. With this shirt, you can let everybody enjoy your awesome guitar skills! The shirt comes with a mini-amp that you can clip on your belt that will allow you to tweak your sound and crank up the music so that you make sure that everybody can hear you. ThinkGeek is selling this awesome shirt for $29.99.
Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt
#9. Kill-A-Watt Graphic Timer
Are you or your loved one concerned about the safety of your electronic devices and just how much energy you are using? If so, than this Kill-A-Watt Graphic Timer is for you. Not only will it protect you from voltage spikes, but it will also protect your precious appliances and gadgets from over current, over voltage and even under voltage. This device will not only let you measure your power usage down to the minute, but you can program it to function at different times for up to 7 days. There are a number of other features, but if you are looking to track your energy usage to help cut down on your electric bill or just want to protect your appliances and gadgets, you should definitely check out the Kill-A-Watt Graphic Timer from ThinkGeek at the reasonable price of $69.99. If you can use it to save on electricity or protect your appliances, this wonderful meter could easily pay for itself over time.
Kill-A-Watt Graphic Timer
#8. The Laptopper Portable Shelf
Have you ever been sitting in your car outside of a coffee shop using their wifi? Kind of uncomfortable isn't it? Well now you have a place to comfortably set your laptop while you are surfing the net. This portable shelf will slip on your steering wheel or even over a headrest to give you a place to set any laptop 17" and smaller as well as whatever other gadgets you may be using. Whether you just want to watch a movie or participating in a wardriving competition, at $14.99, the Laptopper Portable Shelf from ThinkGeek is great for anybody!
The Laptopper Portable Shelf
#7. Rovio - WiFi Roaming Bot
O Rovio, Rovio, where for art thou Rovio? Are you looking to keep an eye on your home while you are away on vacation or just want to check up on that new babysitter? If so, the wifi connected Rovio is just for you! This cool little robot is equipped with a webcam, microphone and speakers. You can control Rovio manually or set up way-points to monitor your house. Rovio can be controlled from any internet connection around the world. What is really impressive is that you can control it with a PC, Mac, an iPhone and even your PS3! The Rovio also has built in LEDs to light its way in poorly lit areas. At $229.99 from ThinkGeek, Rovio seems reasonably priced, especially considering the fact that it has a base station it returns to for charging similar to the Roomba.
Rovio - WiFi Roaming Bot
#6. Grab-It Pack Gadget Holster
I don't know about you, but I am always looking for ways to carry more gadgets with me. I have been made fun of on numerous occasions for having my pockets so stuffed full of stuff that you would suspect I just robbed an electronics store. Now you can carry more items and get more strange looks than ever before with the Grab-It Pack Gadget Holster! Strap this around your waist and legs and you will turn a lot of heads when people see just how many gadgets you can carry! ThinkGeek sells the Grab-It Pack Gadget Holster for $24.99.
Grab-It Gadget Holster
#5. Scottevest Quantum Jacket
Maybe the Grab-It Gadget Holder isn't quite your style or maybe it doesn't have enough pockets to put stuff in, so why not try Scottevest's Quantum Jacket! Not only does this jacket look far less goofy, but it is also breathable and water resistant! Did we mention this jacket has an amazing 28 pockets?! Just think how many gadgets you can carry with you from phones to mp3 players to portable gaming devices when you have 28 pockets to store them in? Just think how much fun you could have have going through airport security when you have to empty out 28 pockets! Don't forget, this jacket has their patented Personal Area Network (PAN) to manage your earbud wires! If you head over to Scottevest, you can get this jacket for $250, but can you really put a price on carrying 28 pockets worth of gadgets while staying warm and looking good all at the same time?
Scottevest's Quantum Jacket
#4. Mini 300Mbps Wireless N Travel Router
Have you ever wanted to say that you are the proud owner of the world's smallest wireless N router? Now you can! This tiny wireless N router from TRENDnet will make sure you can transfer data across your wireless enabled devices quickly and easily. A product like this is great if you are stuck in a hotel with crappy wifi that you can only get if you are standing on the toilet with your arm stretched out like a fountain. Just fire this up where you can get the signal and you instantly have a good enough signal that you can get anywhere in the hotel room. For $79.99 from ThinkGeek, the TRENDnet Mini 300Mbps Wireless N Travel Router might just be the best router for the road warrior in your life.
TRENDnet Mini 300Mbps Wireless N Travel Router
#3. Ironkey Military Strength Flash Drives
How important is the security of the files you move around? Do you carry your financial documents on a thumb drive so you can have access to them anywhere? What about confidential plans from work? Now you can rest easy because with an Ironkey USB drive because you won't have to worry about your data falling into the wrong hands again! With hardware encryption, the tough looking Ironkey can stand strong against both virtual and physical attacks. These drives have so much encryption and security on them thanks to a built-in encryption chip, even the military is using them in Afghanistan! The only way to access the information on the drive is with the password and if somebody tries to hack into it and enters the wrong password 10 times, the encryption chip self destructs and makes the drive useless and nobody will ever be able to get your data. If security is what really matters to you, you can't go wrong with an Ironkey Military Strength Flash Drive. ThinkGeek sells a 1GB model for $69.99 and a 4GB model for $139.99. Although they aren't cheap, you should ask yourself just how much your data is worth.
Ironkey USB drive
#2. Motorola Droid
My, how far we have come in a year. Last year's list included T-Mobile's G1 Android phone and this year, we have a vastly improved Motorola phone by the name of Droid for Verizon customers. With a 5-megapixel camera, turn by turn directions, a physical and virtual keyboard as well as turn by turn directions just to name a few of the features, many are calling this an iPhone killer or at least as good as the iPhone. With over 10,000 applications available on the Android Marketplace, now is a great time to be looking into getting the Droid on what many consider to be the best wireless network in the US. If you are in the market for a new phone and don't want to suffer the hell of the AT&T network just to have something as nice as an iPhone, check out the Motorola Droid which you can get from LetsTalk.com for $150.
Motorola Droid
#1. Mimo Mini USB Monitor
Not a day goes by that I think to myself, "Gee, I could be much more productive if I had room for a second monitor." Now I can and I won't need a new desk and power strip to get it! Any of the Mimo mini USB monitors might give you just the extra amount of screen you need to be extra productive without taking up as much room on your desk as a full sized monitor. These monitors are powered by a USB cable so you don't have to worry about trying to get a bigger power strip to plug a second monitor into or a new graphics card that can support a second monitor. Now you can keep email or whatever you want open on a smaller, secondary monitor while you work on your main screen so you can see when you get that important email you have been waiting for. Did I mention there is a touchscreen model? If you are into the touchscreen movement and want a monitor you can physically interact with, for a little higher price, you can have just that! You might have a hard time putting a price on productivity, but ThinkGeek managed put put a price on it, and depending on which of the three models you get, the Mimo Mini USB Monitor will cost you between $129.99-229.99.
Mimo Mini USB Monitor
Did we miss something? What geek items are on your Christmas list?
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