Channel 10

5 Bing Map Apps for the Winter Olympics

Sarah Perez — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:14:00 GMT

The Microsoft Canada Development Centre recently ran a contest that challenged developers to create Bing Map applications for the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics, taking place in Vancouver, Canada. The resulting apps are designed for use by Vancouver citizens and visitors during the Olympics and use the open data from the City of Vancouver, the MS Open Government Data Initiative (OGDI) and Windows Azure. After the contest is over, the source code for all the apps will be uploaded to Codeplex.

Here’s what the developers created:

MapWay - a way to find City of Vancouver facilities and Olympic events.
Free Finders – helps you find free events and services in Vancouver and uses a Facebook connection.
MoBuddy – enables you to hookup with friends and visitors during Olympics to plan and share experiences through mobile social networking including Facebook
eVanTivitY – enables you to find city and social events and lets you add-in user-defined data-feeds
Vancouver Parking – helps you plan and find the best parking spots when visiting Vancouver

You can see screenshots of all these apps over on the Bing blog here. (Pictured is the parking app, #5)

Bing and the Winter Olympics

Sarah Perez — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:04:00 GMT

Microsoft is again partnering with NBC Universal to deliver live Olympics coverage. On the NBCOlympics.com website, over 400 hours of live competition will be made available for all 15 of the Winter Olympics sports. In addition, you’ll have access to 1000 hours of full-event replays, recaps, montages, commentator analysis, and athlete-specific clips.

As with the previous Olympics games, the video will be streamed in HD via Microsoft Silverlight technology and will feature DVR-like controls for pausing and rewinding the live coverage.

Other new features include Silverlight Enhanced HD photo galleries on NBCOlympics.com where you can zoom in and out of your favorite images and a social “Olympic Pulse” page that will feature athlete and expert tweets and blog posts.

This year, however, Bing is getting in on the action too. You can visually explore Vancouver through Bing’s interactive StreetSide Maps, the Bing homepage will feature Olympic-related images, Bing Visual Search will add an “Olympic Athletes” category, and new Instant Answers will be added daily on popular athletes, sporting events and medal counts. In addition, Bing has exclusive rights to index all the Winter Games videos.

Although the games haven’t started yet, you can visit NBCOlympics.com for related news, images, and videos.

Use Your Zune Remote to Control Windows Media Center

Sarah Perez — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:04:00 GMT

Did you know you can Zune wireless remote to control your Windows Media Center PC? Although not designed for this purpose, a simple registry hack is all the stands in the way of turning your Zune remote into one that controls Media Center, too.

Recently posted to LifeHacker, this tip is worth sharing:

Open the registry. Scroll down toComputer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\HidIr\Remotes\745a17a0-74d3-11d0-b6fe-00a0c90f57da
Find the REG_DWORD named CodeSetNum0 and change the value to Zero.
Reboot the PC and enjoy.

By default, Windows listens to channel 1 and the Zune remote is channel 8. This hack works by setting the ID to 0 which allows Windows to listen to all the IR ID’s. It’s been tested in Windows 7 and not in other versions, but there’s no reason to believe that it wouldn’t work in those, too. Let us know if you try it!

The History of Microsoft - 1981

Tina Wood — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:01:00 GMT

For Microsoft, 1981 means an entrance into the Operating Systems Business, we organize into a privately help organization and revenue jumps to over 17 million bucks.

Previous Episodes:
The History of Microsoft - 1975
The History of Microsoft - 1976
The History of Microsoft - 1977
The History of Microsoft - 1978
The History of Microsoft - 1979
The History of Microsoft - 1980

April 9, 1981

First semi-annual company meeting is held in the newly built Bellevue Athletic Club.

June 25, 1981

Microsoft reorganizes into a privately held corporation with Bill Gates as president and chairman of the board and Paul Allen as executive vice president. Microsoft becomes Microsoft, Inc., an incorporated business in the state of Washington.

August 12, 1981

IBM introduces its Personal Computer (PC), MS-DOS version 1.0, plus BASIC, COBOL, Pascal, and other Microsoft products. This is Microsoft’s entry into the operating systems business. Included in the IBM-compatible list of software is a game newly adapted to the PC, Microsoft Adventure.

October 1, 1981
The Microsoft Building (Northup Building) at 10700 Northup Way, (P.O. Box 97200) Bellevue, Washington, 98004, is leased.

December 8, 1981

Microsoft announces that is has signed a letter of intent to enter a second-source agreement with The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. for the XENIX operating system. The agreement will provide additional services to purchasers of XENIX, especially pre- and post-sale support, maintenance, and documentation.

1981 Revenue/Headcount

The 1981 year-end sales total $17,331,000. The 1980 Calendar Year employee headcount totals 129 people.

Notable employees hired:

Tandy Trower, Jeff Raikes, Chris Peters and 100^themployee Ellen Aycock. Chris Larson is hired as an FTE after several summer-long internships.

Other 1981:

· Osborne Computer introduces the Osborne 1, the first portable microcomputer.

· Ronald Reagan takes the oath as 40th President of the United States on January 20. On March 30, he is wounded by a gunman, along with two law-enforcement officers and his Press Secretary James Brady.

· US-Iran agreement frees 52 hostages held in Teheran since 1979.

· Pope John Paul II is wounded by a gunman on May 14.

· President Reagan nominates Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman on the Supreme Court.

· The US Centers for Disease Control publish a report which officially announces the start of the AIDS epidemic.

· Oakland defeats Philadelphia to win the Super Bowl (27-10). The LA Dodgers defeat the NY Yankees (4-2) to win the World Series.

· Bestselling novels in 1981 include: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, and Rabbit is Rich by John Updike. John Updike wins both a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for this novel in 1982.

· John Lennon and Yoko Ono win a Grammy Award for Best Album for Double Fantasy. Best Song is Bette Davis Eyes, by songwriters Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss. Best New Artist is Sheena Easton.

· The top-grossing films: Raiders of the Lost Ark ($115 million), Superman II ($65 million), On Golden Pond ($61 million), Arthur ($42 million), and Stripes ($40 million).

· The Academy votes the Best Picture of the year -- Chariots of Fire, and the public votes: the worst movie -- depending who you ask, of course -- Tarzan, the Ape Man, starring Bo Derek and Richard Harris.

· Henry Fonda receives the Best Actor Oscar for On Golden Pond; Best Actress goes to Katharine Hepburn also for On Golden Pond.

· Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated at the age of 63.

The History of Microsoft - 1980

Tina Wood — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:52:00 GMT

For Microsoft, 1980 means a new decade and new technology. Microsoft introduces the Z-80 SoftCard, Steve Ballmer joins the company and we announce XENIX OS, a portable, UNIX-based operating system for 16-bit microprocessors.

Microsoft Consumer Products announces its first consumer-oriented application software, Typing Tutor.

April 2, 1980

Microsoft introduces the Z-80 SoftCard, a circuit board that plugs into the Apple II computer and allows Apple II users to run CP/M applications with only minor modifications.

June 11, 1980

Steve Ballmer joins Microsoft with responsibility for Operations, including personnel, finance, and legal areas of the business.

August 25, 1980

Microsoft announces XENIX OS, a portable, UNIX-based operating system for 16-bit microprocessors.

1980 Revenue/Headcount

The 1980 year-end sales total $8,000,000. The 1980 Calendar Year employee headcount totals 40 people.

Other products released in 1980: Basic Compiler 5.3, TRS-DOS COBOL and Basic, muLISP and muMATH, TRS-80 Editor/Assember, XMacro-86 Cross Assembler, COBOL-80 Compiler 4.0, BASIC Interpreter for Z8000, Olympic Decathlon (game), M/SORT, FORTRAN & COBOL for Apple II, RAMcard (memory expander for the Apple II)

Other 1980:

Apple Computer goes public with 4.6 million shares, the largest offering since Ford Motor Co. went public in 1956.
Novell, Inc. is founded.
President Carter declares a U.S. boycott of the Olympic Games in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupts.
Ordinary People, with Mary Tyler Moore, wins the Best Picture Oscar.
Call Me, by Blondie, tops the Billboard charts.

Ultramon (beta) for Windows 7 Available

Larry Larsen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:47:00 GMT

There have been some problems in the past getting the incredibly useful utility Ultramon to run correctly on Windows 7, looks like that's now a thing of the past with a new beta version of Ultramon (3.0.9) available.

If you've never used it, Ultramon is a great way to extend the benefits of using multiple monitors in Windows 7 including adding a taskbar to the secondary displays and some extra controls to the top right corner of applications for things like moving an app to another display. Granted some of these functions are now built in to Windows 7 (you can flip applications to another monitor with Windows Key + Left/Right arrow). Download Ultramon here.

Sony Ericsson Aspen: First to Run Windows Mobile 6.5.3

Sarah Perez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:09:00 GMT

Sony Ericsson has just announced their brand new “Aspen” phone, the first Windows Mobile device running the new Windows Mobile 6.5.3 mobile operating system. The phone is the latest in the company’s eco-friendly “GreenHeart” line, which means it’s made from recycled materials, features energy-efficient chargers, offers a power-saving mode, and uses wateborne paint.

Designed for enterprise users and heavy texters, the phone has a full QWERTY keypad and includes Microsoft Office Mobile, Outlook Mobile, and a PDF reader.

As for what’s new with WiMo 6.5.3? The OS now offers improved support for capacitive-touch screens and multi-touch support, better navigation, horizontal scroll, and better touch controls so you can use the device without a stylus. You also drag and drop applications on the homescreen. There are other bug fixes and general improvements in the OS, too – ZDNet has a full feature list here.

FarmVille Comes to MSN

Sarah Perez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:08:00 GMT

One of the top games to ever appear on Facebook, FarmVille, is launching outside of the social network. Through a new partnership with Microsoft, Zynga (the creators of FarmVille) will bring their popular game to MSN Games, a destination site for casual gamers. This will be the first time the game launches outside of social networking sites in general, save for its own site at FarmVille.com.

Gamers who play the new MSN Games edition of FarmVille will be able to authenticate using Facebook Connect technology, which allows you to forgo creating a username and password. Instead, gamers will use their Facebook ID to login and play.

Since last June, FarmVille has grown to over 76 million users on Facebook alone and with its launch on MSN, the game is on track to bring in millions more. MSN Games currently has tens of millions of players on its site every month.

As to why someone would login on MSN Games instead of Facebook to play? Perhaps they’re just casual gamers unaware of the thousands of gaming apps on Facebook? Nah, it’s probably because Facebook is blocked at their workplace.

Merlion Lets You Run Desktop Apps on Mobile Phones

Sarah Perez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:07:00 GMT

I just came across an interesting Microsoft Research Project called Merlion which lets you run desktop applications on a mobile phone. The way the system works is that it allows a mobile phone user (on any mobile OS) access to a remote server running some sort of remote desktop software like VNC. Then, without any modifications to the desktop app itself, the user can interact with the original application from their mobile phone using a specially created mobile interface.

End users can create their own Merlion-enabled apps themselves, too, using the Merlion Designer. With this tool, you select the visual portion of the original app you want available on your mobile device and then create an alternative layout designed with your phone’s dimensions in mind. Once the new interface has been created, the Merlion runtime is used to access the desktop app on the server via the new mobile GUI.

In addition, Merlion can increase productivity by automating repetitive actions like logging in or tasks that require multiple interactions. It also can make applications available across different mobile form factors and can allow applications that work on different OS platforms to operate in concert.

Merlion’s ability to create alternative interfaces to applications works for web-based applications, too. Also, it’s not limited to smartphones alone. It could be used to create apps that run on platforms that weren’t originally intended to run apps. For example, Merlion works on basic “feature phones” and handheld gaming devices like the Nintendo DS which supports Wi-Fi.

Pictured is an example of a modified version of the Windows Calculator app, redesigned using Merlin for use on Windows Mobile phone. More screenshots and other details about this project are available in the whitepaper here.

An FTP App Designed with Windows 7 in Mind

Sarah Perez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:06:00 GMT

I’ve been using FileZilla for my FTP needs in the past, but the features built into this new FTP program have me interested in taking a deeper look. The (uncreatively named) “Windows 7 FTP Application” was recently featured on the Life Rocks 2.0 blog where a couple of its specialized Windows 7 features were mentioned. Intrigued, I went directly to the program’s page over on the CodeProject site, where it states that the goal of the new software is to create a fully functional FTP program that uses “the new functions found in Windows 7.”

Specifically, the software implemented the Windows 7 libraries feature within the program for easy access to your most common file stores. It also provides a login form, download form, and upload form created using Aero technology. And as you upload and download files to and from a remote site, the progress of those file transfers is shown using the thumbnail previews in the new Windows 7 taskbar. Instead of seeing a small thumbnail of the open window, for example, this FTP program actually displays a dialog box complete with informational text including file name, save path, and status as well as a progress bar.

The new FTP program is available for download along with its source code from here.

Huddle Wins Award at Microsoft's SocialFest

Sarah Perez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:06:00 GMT

Seven Microsoft BizSpark companies were invited to Microsoft’s campus recently to spend time with SharePoint team members in order to better learn how they could integrate their particular service with the Microsoft business software. SharePoint, which provides companies with intranet sites, hosted file stores, online collaboration tools, process management functions, intranet search, and more, is often incorrectly positioned against these “software-as-a-service” type companies in an either/or scenario, as if you would have to pick one model or the other when looking for business collaboration technologies. In reality, there are plenty of companies that allow their software to layer on top of SharePoint to provide more advanced features or specialized functionality.

Among the companies who visited Microsoft at this “SocialFest” event, as it was called, were Cortex Intelligence, a data mining and sentiment analysis company, Calinda Software, an email message mapping tool, Confer, a communications platform for microblogging, status updates, and chat, Leverage Software, an email organization technology, Liaise, an email data extraction tool, and Loqu8, a data lookup tool.

However, the winner of the top prize was Huddle, a collaboration platform for file sharing and online meetings. Their creative entry into the competition was a technology that allows separate SharePoints from different companies to integrate with each other and collaborate even though each SharePoint site was behind a separate firewall. The content between both sites are synchronized while maintaining auditing, compliance, and identity management functions. Genius!

Image Credit: Huddle

Kodu Tips Available

Larry Larsen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:53:00 GMT

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Kodu being available on the PC. If you'd like to find out more about using Kodu, or you know a young potential dev who needs help getting ramped up, the Microsoft Research Blog has posted some tutorials on using Kodu. Tutorial #1 covers Basic Navigation, tutorial #2 covers the Edit Mode Tools, #3 goes over the features on the Load Level menu, and tutorial #4 goes over the Main Menu Options.

The History of Microsoft - 1979

Tina Wood — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:49:00 GMT

For Microsoft, 1979 is all about Basic when the M6800 version of Microsoft Basic is released, The 8080 version of Microsoft® Basic is the first microprocessor software product to win the ICP Million Dollar Award and we announce the availability of Microsoft BASIC Compiler for 8080 and Z-80 CP/M systems.

Previous Episodes:
The History of Microsoft - 1975
The History of Microsoft - 1976
The History of Microsoft - 1977
The History of Microsoft - 1978

January 1, 1979

Microsoft moves its offices to Bellevue, Washington from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

March 12, 1979

A M6800 version of Microsoft Basic is released

April 4, 1979

The 8080 version of Microsoft® Basic is the first microprocessor software product to win the ICP Million Dollar Award.

June 18, 1979

Microsoft BASIC, currently in use in over 200,000 Z80 and 8080 installations has just been released in a new version for the 8086 16-bit microprocessor.

August 1, 1979

Microsoft announces the availability of Microsoft BASIC Compiler for 8080 and Z-80 CP/M systems.

November 29, 1979

Service to the European market is expanded with the addition of a new representative, Vector Microsoft, located in Haasrode, Belgium.

December 1, 1979

Level III BASIC, the most powerful BASIC written for the TRS-80, has been introduced by Microsoft Consumer Products, the new consumer software development and marketing division of Microsoft

December 3, 1979

Microsoft distributes the first CODASYL-compatible database management system for microcomputers.

1978 Revenue/Headcount

The 1979 year-end sales total $2,390,145. There are 28 employees.

Other 1979:

· VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet program, debuts at the West Coast Computer Faire.

· The first compact discs are created by Philips in the Netherlands and Sony in Japan, with joint licensing.

· Margaret Thatcher is the first woman to be elected prime minister of Great Britain.

· Sony introduces the first Walkman and teaches the world that technology can be sophisticated and portable.

New Sidewinder Keyboard Solves Ghosting Problem

Sarah Perez — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:41:00 GMT

“Ghosting” is a problem which refers to the inability of most keyboards to read more than two key presses at once. Because of the way keyboards are designed – with a stack of plastic sheets to create a grid of wires underneath – pressing more than a couple of keys the same time leads problems in the keyboard’s ability to know what other keys were pressed. Only the first two are reported and the others become “ghosts.” (See a more thorough explanation of this over on TechFlash).

For gamers, ghosting can be a major problem. Previous attempts at solving the issue have resulted in anti-ghosting keyboards from Razer and Logitech which have allowed between 5 and 10 simultaneous key presses. However, the new Microsoft SideWinder X4 gaming keyboard is the first to offer an all-over anti-ghosting solution.

With this new device, you can press up to 26 keys at the same time. That may be a bit of overkill, actually. I don’t know of any games that require you to push that many buttons at once, but gamers will certainly appreciate the possibility.

The new keyboard is due out in March of this year and will sell for $59.99.

State of the Union Gets Synthed

Sarah Perez — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:40:00 GMT

MSNBC is hosting a cool photosynth of President Obama’s State of the Union address over on their website. The 3D photo, created using Microsoft Photosynth technology, lets you zoom around the House of Representatives where speech took place on Wednesday January 27th. If you’ve never had the opportunity to visit the Capital building in person, this is a great way to explore the chambers up close. In fact, you can probably get closer viewing the synth than you could actually get in person, especially considering how deep you can zoom in on architectural elements like the clock above the presidential podium, for example.

You can also put this particular synth in “slideshow” mode to see time-lapsed photos of the speech in progress. Just click the play button at the top-right.

Foursquare Comes to Windows Mobile

Sarah Perez — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:29:00 GMT

The popular location-based mobile social networking game Foursquare is finally going to make its Windows Mobile debut. A new third-party application from Anand Iyer called WinMoSquare is now under development. Using Foursquare APIs, .NET, and a special GPS driver, the new app can automatically locate your position and check you in. You can also add locations and find your friends, but due to limitations in Foursquare’s API, you can’t yet see the leaderboard or add new friends on the fly.

The mobile app is currently in beta testing and works on touchscreen devices running Windows Mobile 6.1 or 6.5 only. If you want to try it out you can either email the developer (see the app annoucement here) or fill in the webform available at http://touchality.com/WinMoSquare.

Pretty Glass Gadgets for Windows 7

Sarah Perez — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:28:00 GMT

Thanks to Into Windows, I just discovered a pretty glass gadget collection for Windows 7. Gadgets, in case you don’t know, are desktop widgets that can connect to the internet to display updated information like weather or news or connect to your computer itself to deliver stats on your PC’s resources like CPU and memory usage.

But being a bit of a desktop purist myself, I’ll admit that I’ve limited my gadgets to only two so far – one for weather and one for RSS feeds. I also limit the number of desktop icons displayed too. (And thanks to Windows 7’s superbar, the taskbar turned application launcher at the bottom of the screen, this is easier than ever).

My main complaint with gadgets is the precious screen real estate they take up – I didn’t want to cover up my beautiful wallpaper! But with this new glass gadget collection, the desktop background shines through the gadgets themselves. Gorgeous! Now I can have my gadgets and my background too.

You can download the whole pack containing all 14 glass gadgets here via the Into Windows website. The gadgets are hosted on the DeviantART community site where you can also see a preview of the gadgets in action.

(Image credit: Into Windows)

Get Grammy Info via Bing

Sarah Perez — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:28:00 GMT

Did you miss the recent Grammy awards? Yeah, me too. Our TV was monopolized by the other big event going on that night – the American football spectacular known as the Pro Bowl. But both you and I can get caught up with what we missed thanks to new features in Bing.

Via Bing Video, you can get caught up on the highlights from the 52nd annual Grammy Awards in HD. Be sure to check the related videos below, too, for more from the big show. And for instant answers on burning questions (like who won Album of the Year – gasp! Taylor Swift!), a quick Bing search gives you the short and sweet answer. If you’re interested in more Grammy news, links from the Instant Answer take you over to MSN’s coverage of the event where you can catch more photos, highlights, and gossip.

The History of Microsoft - 1978

Tina Wood — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:50:00 GMT

For Microsoft, 1978 begins with the announcement of the Microsoft COBOL-80, which conforms to the 1974 ANSI standards for 8080, Z80, and 8085 microprocessor systems. We establish our first international sales office and fiscal year sales for the first time exceed one million dollars . Oh and of course, it was the year of Andy Gibb. :)

Previous Episodes:
The History of Microsoft - 1975
The History of Microsoft - 1976
The History of Microsoft - 1977

April 11, 1978

Microsoft COBOL-80, which conforms to the 1974 ANSI standards for 8080, Z80, and 8085 microprocessor systems, is announced.

November 1, 1978

Microsoft establishes its first international sales office in Japan, ASCII Microsoft.

November 6, 1978

Microsoft announces the availability of Microsoft EDIT-80, a random access, line oriented text editor for 8080 and Z-80 systems. EDIT-80 is the first microcomputer editor with random line access to floppy disk files.

December 1, 1978

Microsoft announces Microsoft Macro-80 for 8080; Z-80. The 14K assembler is the fastest macro assembler currently on the microcomputer market, assembling over 1000 lines per minute.

December 1, 1978

Microsoft announces the availability of Microsoft FORTRAN-80 Compiler for TRS-80.

December 31, 1978

Microsoft's year-end sales exceed $1 million at $1,355,655. There are 13 employees.

The Albuquerque office's Coca Cola bill for Calendar Year 1978 totals $566.50.

Other 1978

Intel introduces the 8086 chip, the start of the 16-bit microprocessor family.
Senator Al Gore of Tennessee coins the phrase “information highway” in a meeting with computer industry officials.
Louise Brown, the first baby to be conceived outside the human body, is born to British parents.
The United States bans chlorofluorocarbons as spray propellants because they damage the ozone layer.
Shadow Dancing, by Andy Gibb, tops the Billboard charts for the year.

ExoPC: A Beautiful and Functional Tablet Computer

Sarah Perez — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:08:00 GMT

The ExoPC is starting to get noticed around the web as an attractive blend of both tablet computers and netbooks. This 8.9” multi-touch slate offers the touchscreen goodness of tablet computing with the guts of Windows 7 underneath. According to site jkontherun.com, the ExoPC includes an Atom N270 at 1.6GHz, 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 32GB SSD, Wi-Fi, optional 3G, Bluetooth, three USB ports, and 1.3 megapixel webcam. But most importantly, the PC supports Flash – still a critical component for viewing most web-based videos including those found on social sharing sites like YouTube, news sites like CNN, and online TV portals like Hulu.

In addition, the version of Windows on the ExoPC is Windows 7 Professional which means it also offers support for native inking.

With its user-replaceable battery and $599 price point, this new tablet computer available in March will be an attractive choice for those who are looking for the convenience of a thin slate without having to give up on the features they expect to have on their portable computers.

Windows Azure Goes Live

Sarah Perez — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:07:00 GMT

Windows Azure, the cloud computing infrastructure that’s been in beta testing for over a year, has now gone live for all. The Azure platform moves Windows development efforts to the web, allowing programmers to utilize their existing skills to build cloud-based applications. In other words, if a developer knows Visual Studio for example, he or she is ready to build for the cloud. In addition, Azure’s open platform supports standards like SOAP, REST, and XML, which allows for non-Windows developers to utilize the Azure platform as well.

While a lot of focus is on how Azure’s “OS as service” compares to other cloud computing platforms put out by Microsoft competitors, another aspect to Azure computing is often left unmentioned: its ability to migrate business applications running behind the firewall to the web. With Azure’s AppFabric, I.T. can take the apps currently running on Windows 2008 Server and make them web-enabled. Additionally, Microsoft SQL Azure creates a fully relational database in the cloud.

Those interested in learning more about Azure can do so now via the Azure Platform website here: microsoft.com/windowsazure.

Grab Screenshots with Screenpresso

Sarah Perez — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:07:00 GMT

A recent post on Download Squad featured a nifty little .NET application for grabbing screenshots called Screenpresso. If you’re looking for a slightly more robust tool than the included Snipping Tool that comes with Windows 7, this program is worth a look. It reminds me a bit of Jing, the program I’ve been using for screen grabs as it also lets you configure where files are saved and offers a “history” feature where you can quickly retrieve past screenshots. However, this app lets you do a few more things than Jing does. For example, you can grab screenshots of the entire web page even if it doesn’t fit on the screen, resize multiple images at once, add effects like drop shadows and rounded corners, and more. It even works as a portable application. But my favorite feature? Integration with Twitpic for sharing photos on Twitter. Screenpresso is available now as a free download and will soon offer a paid version too.

The History of Microsoft - 1977

Tina Wood — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:07:00 GMT

For Microsoft, 1977 marks the beginning of an official partnership between Paul Allen and Bill Gates, we hire our first official employee and the FORTRAN-80, Microsoft's second language product finally becomes available.

Previous Episodes:
The History of Microsoft - 1975
The History of Microsoft - 1976

February 3, 1977

An official partnership agreement between Paul Allen and Bill Gates is executed.

http://www.bing.com/maps/explore, you'll see a panel on the left. At the bottom of that panel on the right edge you'll see a button called "Map Apps". If you click that you'll find 19 applications that run on top of Bing. Some of the apps include:

Twitter Maps updates from Twitter are applied to Bing maps around the world.
Photosynth 3D photo browsing through synths inside Bing.
Urban Graffiti Images of spray painted graffiti in cities.
Urban Murals These are murals across the world including things like the huge guitar mural on the side of Hard Rock Cafe Nashville.
TrafficLand An amazing array of live traffic video from across the U.S.
Local Events See what events are happening around you.
Newseum See newspaper front pages for cities across the world.

The History of Microsoft - 1976

Tina Wood — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 16:05:00 GMT

For Microsoft, 1976 was the first year with an official name, it was the first time Bill Gates raised the issue of piracy and we hired our first full-time employee Marc McDonald.

Previous The History of Microsoft Episodes:
1975

The History of Microsoft - 1976 Timeline.

February 3, 1976

Bill Gates is the first programmer to raise the issue of software piracy. In "An Open Letter to Hobbyists," first published in Computer Notes, Gates accuses hobbyists of stealing software and thus preventing good software from being written.

March 27, 1976

Bill Gates gives the opening address at the First Annual World Altair Computer Convention held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

April, 1976

Marc McDonald becomes Microsoft’s first official employee. (Other people did work on Microsoft products before that, but on a contract basis)

July, 1976

Microsoft’s first advertisement appears in Digital Design magazine.

November 1, 1976

Paul Allen resigns from MITS to join Microsoft full time.

November 26, 1976

The trade name, Microsoft, is registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.

September 1, 1976

Microsoft leases official office space in the Two Park Central Tower Building at 300 San Mateo Blvd, N.E., Suite 819, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1976 Headcount/Revenue

The 1976 Calendar Year employee headcount totals six people. Revenues are $22,496

Other 1976:

Shugart introduces a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive for $390, the first of this size for microcomputers.
Three new magazines hit the stands: Byte, Computer Graphics and Art, and Dr. Dobb’s Journal of Computer Calisthenics and Orthodontia.
The United States celebrates its bicentennial.
A Viking spacecraft lands on Mars and sends back detailed pictures of a rocky, desert terrain.