TomCworld Blog

Microsoft Research Asia Innovation Forum conducts the most cutting-edge fundamental research in computer science. It is Microsoft’s premier research lab in Asia Pacific and it aims to drive the usage of computers and the Internet to foster more healthy knowledge economies in the Asia Pacific region.

The heavily sought after tickets for the “Microsoft Research Asia 10th Anniversary Innovation Forum” celebrated the lab’s efforts on “turning ideas into reality” for the past decade. More importantly, it brought together some of the best visionaries in our time to explore new avenues for us to make a contribution to the world.

I was on hand last night at the HK Convention & Exhibition Center for Bill Gates keynote speech. He spoke very little about what Microsoft Research Asia Labs was doing, instead he gave a motivational speech encouraging the students within Hong Kong to embrace innovation, think outside the box, and challenge traditional procedures to create more green, efficent, and effective lifestyle centered around technology.

In addition to Bill Gates keynote, there was panel discussion that consisted of Bill Gates and three of Hong Kong’s top University Presidents, Professor Paul Ching-Wu Chu, President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Professor Lawrence J. Lau, Vice-Chancellor and President, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor and President, The University of Hong Kong. Dr. Hsiao-Wuen Hon, Managing Director, Microsoft Research Asia served as the moderator to their discussion.

The discussion amongst the panelist was very much centered around education and was fueled by very generic questions, nothing that you may not have heard answered by Mr.Gates already; however, I still felt  the forum was a success. The presence of Mr. Gates and our fellow University Presidents has inspired me (and possibly my fellow classmates) to innovate and not give up on what we want to achieve.

For more pictures from the event click here

View a clip from the event as well as my comments click here

Microsoft has gone ahead and create a central location were it’s users can buy goods and services that is sure to work on a Windows Operating System. If you are looking to buy a camera, a printer or just need a driver for your Windows machine then Windows Marketplace is the place for you, where you can find a world of products that work with Windows. Research and buy everything from games to business software, from digital cameras to notebook PCs. If your a windows user Check it out today!

[tags]Microsoft, Microsoft Marketplace[tags]

Windows Vista Beta 2 is now available via BitTorent thanks to Chris Pirillo and Jake Ludington, who has created VistaTorrent with instructions on downloading the file through Bittorent and pointing users to the Microsoft site which will generate a key for the software. But, don’t expect the download to be a breeze unless you have fiber, Vista is a whopping 3.2 gb (Product Guide is 72 mb). The other option to obtain Vista B2 would be in a form of a DVD. Miscrosft is shipping these as we speak.

Tags: Windows, Windows Vista, Vista, Vista Beta 2

I got Apple OSX running on my Dell 600m the other day and it’s Awesome! Well actually it wasn’t so awesome due to the lack of Drivers available but, the hint left on Dell’s website (OSX Drivers now available for the Latitude X1) might mean we’ll see Dells being shipped with OSX sooner then later.

Tags: Dell, Apple, Apple OSX on a Dell, OSX, X86

Microsoft has a marketing site up called See Windows Vista, where Tom Skerrit invites you click on links to view videos describing the value Vista can bring.

Although the site is nicely published I am still not impressed by what Microsoft brings to the table with Vista. That can be due to the fact that I’m an Apple user and all the features that is “so Hip” in Vista are already available to use on OSX 10.4 Tiger. Anyhow for all you people that want to see what Vista can do or what is already available to you on an Apple Computer check out See Windows Vista.

Tags: Windows Vista, See Windows Vista

Microsoft Expression Web Designer is a new designer-focused product that provides powerful tools you need to produce high-quality, standards-based Web sites the way you want them.”

Expression replaces the problematic FrontPage that really was a editor on its own, not following any standards but quite easy to use.

It provides users with a more standard-based WYSIWYG editor that adheres to web standards but, yet allows you to be creative at the same time. It houses surface tools that allows users to create very modern CSS page layouts. There’s ASP.Net 2.0 server support so your pages can be as dynamic as you want them to be. Built in functionality allows you to read and edit XML on a WYSIWYG editor. It’s also packed with numerous optimization tools such as cross browser compatibility.

Microsoft is offering a free trial now so go ahead and try it out for yourself. I for one am not that impressed with Expression. Looks and feels like a bad copy of Dreamweaver to me. But give it your own test drive and let me know what you think.

Tags: Microsoft Expressions, Microsoft FrontPage

Want to create more secure applications but, don’t have the time to track down all the resources you need to make it happen.

Well, Microsoft is offering a Developer Security Resource Kit. This DVD , available FREE for a limited time (plus shipping and handling), brings together a host of valuable resources you can use right away to develop more secure applications. In it you’ll find:

• How to protect your code from the most common security vulnerabilities.
• Sample code you can use with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System to see security features in action.
• Access to online communities so you can connect with other security-minded developers.
• Tools to analyze your code for security flaws, detect errors, and test for compatibility issues.
• Technical articles for an in-depth look at important security issues. Combined with the power of Visual Studio 2005, the Developer Security Resource Kit gives you an integrated resource that lets you move seamlessly from information to implementation, so you can put what you learn to use quickly and easily.

Get your copy of the DVD today

Tags: Microsoft, MSDN, VisualStudio 2005

Windows Live Messenger is a beta version of the next generation of MSN Messenger. It’s currently not available on a Mac yet so I only get to use it when I’m on a PC. It houses all the standard features from MSN Messenger plus a bunch of new add-ons.

New Futures:

• Share Folders - eliminates the need to “direct transfer,” it creates share folder directly linking you and the people on your contact list making transferring files easy and painless
• Phone-to Phone Calls - In addition to PC-to-PC calls, you can call line phones as well. Very much similar to Skype-Out, Rates Vary
• Communicating while appearing offline - set status to offline, but still be able to communicate with the people on your contact list
• Color Schemes - Set am entire color scheme to match your preference
• Customized Nicknames - Give people on your contact list nicknames that is meaningful to you

Although the new live version of Microsoft’s messenger is freshly being rework in beta there are no stand-out features that I am “WoWed” by and that goes back to my whole notion of Microsoft not being Innovative enough. Sure I favor using the Windows (MSN) Messenger over the popular AOL Instant Messenger but that’s mostly because it supports more of a global user-based and by no means due to the feature sets.

Anyhow if you’re a MSN or Windows Messenger users on a PC platform I would suggest that you try the beta live version. You can do so if you’re a Microsoft Beta Tester. If Not I would be more then happy to drop you an invite, just shot me an email.

Tags: Mircorsoft Live, Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger

Not much to say about this, but it’s Microsoft’s new Photo Management Application. It’s comparable to iPhoto and Google’s Picasa. However, it lacks edit and photo enhancement tools. The pros in using Microsoft Max is the ease you’ll find in sharing your photos with family and friends, plus the slideshows are visually more appealing then iPhoto and Picasa. For more info on MAX visit: http://www.microsoft.com/max/

Tags: microsoft max

With all the security threats floating around these days, your better off backing up your valuable files. It could be those papers that you spent endless nights writing or contracts that are waiting to be proposed, but whatever it is you can save yourself a lot of trouble by performing a couple of quick painless tasks.In my experience, you can simple backup by dragging the necessary files you would like to backup to a secondary source such as a CD, external hard drive, disk, USB key, etc. But, if you keep version of the document on your pc and your drive, you’re eventually going to run into trouble when they get out of sync and you overwrite something new with something old.

The best way to backup and work efficiently is through synchronization. There are in fact many ways you can do this. The two best, I found from experience, is using either the built in tool on your windows operating system or a software extension called SnycToy by Microsoft.

For all you early Windows adopters, you are probably familiar with something called Windows Briefcase. Well it’s still available in XP. You can simply accesses it by opening a windows explorer, selecting the drive you wish to back up on and clicking File * New * Briefcase. Then copy the files from your hard drive that you wish to back up into the briefcase folder. To keep the files synchronized with the source file on the PC, simply select the briefcase and chose Briefcase * Update All. A dialog box will appear informing you what needs to be updated and offers you the option move forward with the update.

A second way to synchronize is via a software extension by Microsoft called SyncToy. It offers more options then the simple briefcase method and is recommended for advance users. SyncToy allows the user to specify whether updates go both ways or only one way, and it handles renamed files. For more info on SyncToy click Here

Tags: synctoy, microsoft