This is a test trying out the Windows Live Writer for updating my blog.

This photo was taken at Yum Cha at the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou, China during Christmas last yaer.

• Lobster Linguini
• Waterfront Seafood Platter
• Crispy Chicken Rice

mmmm... Love good food....

In addition to the great food we also enjoyed the 4 seasons at Melbourne - not the Hotel, but the actual 4 seasons. Arrival temperature at 17 degrees, the next day, 37 degrees, the next day, 42 degress and the last day 20 degrees. More than 20 degrees in variation within a couple of days - this defintely made the trip more interesting. Thanks Melbourne...

As you’re probably aware in these past few days at Microsoft there has been quite a few significant product launches including the RTM version of Windows Vista and Microsoft 2007 office system. But what I wanted to share with you are some of the really cool innovations we’re making in the space of virtual mapping with Virtual Earth 3D and Microsoft Live Labs Photosynth.

Virtual Earth 3D – It’s been a while, but finally we have our response to Google Earth with our 3D mapping system with actual 3D building models as you visit the major US cities. The representations of the 3D models are very real and I have spent the past couple of days just looking around fully rendered cities – I’m very impressed by the attention to detail to the buildings. It’s like SimCity but real. Just to add to the fun, they have added traffic information on the major motorways with colour coding to represent the average travelling speed. How cool is that.

Even though this is not fully available in NZ, there are lots being done with rendering of cities outside of the USA. In NZ, I’m proud to say they have rendered one of the most recognised icons in Auckland. I’m sure you can tell what it is.

The other really cool innovation is the Microsoft Live Labs – Photosynth project. We were shown this new technology at our global briefing in Orlando earlier this year and now everyone can see this. It’s essentially a collection of photographs of a particular place and this tool brings it all together and creates a 3D representation of the particular place. As a user you can see this place brought to life in this virtual world as you move from one photograph to the next. It is best seeing this yourself by going to http://labs.live.com/photosynth. You must check this out, this is by far the coolest thing I have seen this year!

From now, all Microsoft and Academic related announcements will be posted on my ‘new” MSDN blog. It isn’t really new, but ‘I’ just figured out how to use it. ‘I’ meaning someone else showed me how to do it. Anyways, so if you want to keep up to date with MSNZ academics events, recruitment, training etc, please go to – http://blogs.msdn.com/paullo.

This blog will remain in the meantime.

Do you love technology and convincing others that technology can change the way they solve problems? If so this one of a kind role could be perfect for you. Each year Microsoft New Zealand selects 1 Intern to join the Developer and Platform Strategy team. This team’s goal is to work with customers to help them build systems on top of Microsoft’s most cutting edge technology.

A core member of this team is the Academic Developer Evangelist Intern, who is Microsoft’s representative to students on campus. The objective is to win the hearts and minds of student developers, we want to improve the perception of Microsoft in the student landscape and increase usage of Microsoft’s development and platform technologies within tertiary institutions.

The ideal candidate will be a computer science/software engineering/information system graduate with a strong passion for technology and the ability to present and communicate clearly to a group of individuals. The successful candidate will need to work with multiple members of the Developer and Platform Strategy team and also within the broader Microsoft business.

The successful applicant will not be developing products for Microsoft but instead will be focused on helping students understanding the use of our most developer tools (i.e. Visual Studio 2005) and the associated developer platform. They will need to have a hunger to learn about new Microsoft developer technologies and how they can be applied to scenarios and be able to confidently present and demo the developer tools and related scenarios in front of student audiences.

This Internship provides the successful candidate with the opportunity to build a significant set of skills in relation to Microsoft technology, establish themselves as a confident and accomplished presenter of technology and gain an understanding of how and organisation like Microsoft operates. After one year of working you will have:

• Observed many best practices from one of the world’s leading corporations
• Developed skills in relation to technology, marketing, event management and presentation
• Have an insight into the roadmap and future direction of Microsoft and technology organisations in general
• Have driven specific projects to completion and have measures of success
• Be certified in Microsoft development technology

Responsibilities of this role will include, but are not limited to:

Skills & Competencies:

           Passion for technology and Microsoft tools: Use your outgoing personality and enthusiasm to excite students on campus and drive adoption of our tools and technology.

           Adaptive to New technology: Must be ready to quickly adopt new developer tools and gain good understanding of new products so that they can be presented to others to increase the general awareness of them.

           Work to deadline: Ability to work to stakeholder deadlines and inform stakeholders of progress against those deadlines.

           Excellent communication skills: The role will involve communicating with a broad range of stakeholders in 1:2:1 scenarios and in group scenarios. This includes a requirement to posses excellent communication skills.

           Be proactive: Ability to suggest new ideas and approaches and identify opportunities to maximise Microsoft’s presence on campus.

Likely Background:

A suitable candidate would come from either of the following disciplines:

         Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, Computer & Electrical Engineering

Requirements for Application:

The successful candidate must have NZ Citizenship or NZ Permanent Residency and must be able to start on Monday 8^th January 2007. Please note that this role will be based in the Microsoft Auckland office and is a fixed 12 month internship with Microsoft.

Remuneration:

This role has very competitive remuneration.

Application Process:

To apply for this role, email your CV to the group administrator: Kris MacPherson - i-krism@microsoft.com.

Interviews will start in November and the successful application will be informed by the end of December 2006.

This month, we will be visiting cities across New Zealand to conduct a brief demonstration on Visual Web Developer as well as a quick demo on Windows Vista. Plus we will also tell you how you can get to work at Microsoft headquarters in US. Be there to see the latest Microsoft technology:

Palmerston North – Massey University (THU, 5/10) @ AG2, 2-3pm

Dunedin – University of Otago (MON, 9/10) @ School of Business Room 207, 12-1PM

Dunedin – University of Otago (MON, 9/10) @ School of Business Room 207, 1-2PM

Dunedin – Otago Polytechnic (MON, 9/10) TIME TBA

Nelson – NMIT (MON, 16/10) 12-1pm

New Plymouth – WITT (WED, 18/10) @ E1, 12-2pm

Napier, EIT (THU, 19/10) @ C117, 12-1pm

Hamilton – University of Waikato (TBA)

Hamilton – WINTEC (TBA)  

Last Friday in Wellington saw the third and final Student Day event for 2006. In the period of a month, we presented to more than 1000 tertiary students across the country, with the involvement of more than 20 speakers from 10 organisations from the IT industry which included Trademe, Farmers, Provoke, Navman, Bank of New Zealand, Kognition, Unisys, EDS, Intergen and Microsoft. This event has been a success so thank you for attending. Please feel free to forward your comments about this event to us at nzedu@microsoft.com.

Huge thanks also goes to our sponsors for the event including Lift Plus, Bank of New Zealand, Navman and Philips. The event would not have been possible without them.

In the coming few weeks, I will be posting photos and top session results from your feedback at the event.

Huge thanks for attending Student Day this year. We hope that you have enjoyed the experience as we brought you a total of 15 speakers covering a range of topics from Vista to Office. Thank you for all your feedback and we will use those in the planning of our future events. The best way to overview student day is to check out the photos. Our exclusive Student Day video will be coming soon also!

Coming up on Friday, 8^th September is the first ever Microsoft Student Day in Wellington. Make sure that you register on the website @ www.microsoft.co.nz/studentday to secure your spot. We have a great line up of speakers and topics including Windows Vista and Visual Web Developer, plus industry recruitment sessions from Intergen and Provoke. So register today and see you at the Museum Building at Massey University in Wellington.

Starting this month Microsoft is offering a professional tool to develop games and share with others online via XBOX Live. It is called XNA Game Studio Express which will run on Vista (XP also) and costs around USD$99.00 for an annual subscription. How cool!

Check out more at - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4789809.stm

Microsoft Student Day 2006

www.microsoft.co.nz/studentday

For the first time at Student Day, we are not only demonstrating the technology, but showcasing organisations who are harnessing this technology to deliver world class operations and businesses!

Introducing the 4 themes of Student Day:

1. Discover the Microsoft UX – Find out the 10 coolest features of the new Windows Vista.
2. Build on .NET 3.0 – See how the largest department store has transformed your shopping experience using .NET 3.0
3. Live the Web – Hear the inside story of NZ’s biggest website – Trade Me.
4. Meet the Movers & Shakers – Ask the industry and find out what it takes to lead the way!

Plus lots more on the day. Make sure you register today and get to Sky City Theatre on Friday, 18 August from 9.30am for the annual Microsoft Student Day. There are still limited spaces available, do not miss it! Go to www.microsoft.co.nz/studentday to register and find our more information about what is happening on the day!

The past couple of weeks has just gone so quick! As we have reached the end of our financial year, we’re in the process of organising our plans for the rest of 2006 and first half of 2007. Obviously, there has been a lot of work done, but my team and I have also spent a lot of time working on our performance for our company meeting at Queenstown – Millbrook Resort. Nigel, Dean, Xiang and I practised hard for this act. I’m not going to go into the details but let’s just say that it involved some cross dressing. Totally crazy idea, I know!

After arriving in Queenstown earlier this Tuesday in the freezing cold, the entire company came together and bonded as a team. And on the very last night (WED), our team took to the stage and performed our act for the entire company to see. Embarrassment would have been an understatement for our performance, but we made it through alive. I will keep you posted as soon as the photos are through.

Immediately after Queenstown, Xiang and I went directly for Wellington for the NACCQ 2006 Conference at the Brentwood Hotel in Kilbirnie. I’m now looking forward to the coming 3 weeks as I prepare for a full tour of US with Microsoft. My travel itinerary starts with Auckland – San Francisco – Seattle – Salt Lake City – New York – Orlando – Los Angeles – Auckland. Sounds pretty hectic!? I will do my best to upload photos and blogs as I visit the US of A.

I’m especially looking forward to visiting Redmond in Seattle – our Microsoft headquarters. And also visiting the Microsoft shops! I’m certain that I will purchase things that will have absolutely no value

If you’re a students studying in a university or polytechnic, you are finally able to purchase Microsoft Office and a whole lot of other Microsoft software for a really affordable price. For around NZD $130.00 you can get your hands on Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Edition, normally retailing at a much higher price. Go and visit www.lapshop.co.nz and you will be able to purchase Office and other Microsoft software at these new student pricing.

But remember, these great prices will only be available at www.lapshop.co.nz. You will NOT be able to get these prices from any retail stores.

Just discovered one of the new features in Office 2007. You can actually upload blog posts directly from Word in the new Microsoft 2007 Office. This will certainly make my life easier. Does this mean that I will update my blog more often? We shall see…

If you’re want to upload your blog directly via Word, simply write your content, then click the Office button, go to publish and then upload your blog! Easy.