May ’09 20
One of the best things to happen at TechEd had absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft. Someone twittered on the first day of the conference that they were trying out a Twitter client for Windows Mobile called Twikini. I had just been complaining about some of the shortcomings in the client I was using at the time, so I quickly downloaded and installed the new app. Needless to say, it was love at first sight, and the old app was uninstalled and gone for good.
Twikini actually feels like it was designed by someone who uses Twitter on a Windows Mobile phone. Selecting a post takes you to a well-laid out display and even contains actual clickable URLs. Nor more having to hit the number 1 on the keypad like the old software. You can follow and unfollow people. You can pull up timelines from anyone you want. You can even integrate with the GPS built into the phone (although the beta version I’m using now does require that I start Google Maps first to turn on the GPS). Here’s a quick look at a tweet:
If you’re using Twitter on a Windows Mobile device, give Twikini a try. You can download it from the Trinket Software web site
In the interest of disclosure, the makers of Twikini are offering free licenses to people who blog about the software, positive or negative. I’d gladly pay for it, but if someone wants to give it to me for free, I’m not going to turn it down.
May ’09 14
Day 4… Vendors are throwing swag at people left and right. No one wants to drag anything back with them. Unfortunately the list for today should have one more item on it. I was informed that my name was called at a drawing for an Xbox 360. Probably one that required you to be present. Sigh… Wait… Just received email that I won a BlackJack II!
- Angry Fun Ball – Microsoft IIS
- Can Cozy – Bomgar
- Earbuds – PreEmptive Solutions
- Failove Clustering with Windows Server 2008 for Dummies book – Microsoft
- Flash Drive, 1 GB – Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
- Flashing Guitar pin – INETA
- Foam Sumo Wrestler – Hitachi
- Luggage Tag – Microsoft Business Intelligence
- Stress Ball – Clarit Connect
- T-shirt – Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
- Plastic Mug – Microsoft Windows 7
May ’09 13
Day 3 was mostly about things that bounce or light up.
- Flash Drive, 1 GB – Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
- Flashlight – Scriptlogic
- Frisbee – Diskeeper
- Happy Fun Ball – Compellent
- Leather Passport Portfolio – Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
- Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 book – Red Gate Software
- Mouse Pad – HP
- Foam Square Earth – Syntergy
- Stress Ball – F5
- Stress Ball – Microsoft SQL Server
- T-shirt – VMware vSphere 4
May ’09 12
Some quick thoughts about Day 1 at TechEd yesterday.
Breakfast
Not bad. Pretty typical for convention center food.
Keynote
- Kudos for leaving out the audience participation Lion King performance from last year.
- Too much time spent on marketing videos. Would prefer to use that time for demos and product announcements.
- Take back kudos for going over schedule by half an hour. If you schedule a keynote to run for 90 minutes, then make sure people stay on time and rehearse to make sure you stay on time.
Lunch
Fair to poor. Chicken was really dry. Really dry. Dessert was excellent however. Almost went back for seconds, but resisted the temptation.
MGT312 – Native Mode in Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
We’re still on SMS, but really want to migrate over to SCCM this summer. I know long term we want to be on native mode since so many of our clients are off-site and our only communication with them is over the Internet. Requirement for PKI to be in place to go to native mode has been a big impediment to getting started.
Presentation was pretty dry, but not sure how anyone can make PKI sound exciting. Was a good overview of what is needed and some good tips to avoid. At least now I feel like we can move forward in mixed mode and bring up native mode as we’re ready to do so.
UNC316 – Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Architecture
Felt like I fell down the rabbit hole after this session. Exchange 2010 is obviously going to be a major step forward for Exchange and one of those releases that change everything.
Trying to wrap my head around throwing out years of best practices and doing things like using JBOD with SATA (no RAID!), mixing data and log files, not using clusters. Amazing to think what we will be able to do with Exchange on cheaper and simpler hardware. Now I understand how Microsoft can offer Outlook Live to Universities with 10 GB mailboxes at no cost.
MGT302 – Application Virtualization with Microsoft System Center
A little disappointing. Good content, but would have liked to see more demos. Too much time talking about how the product came to where it is now. Still, very excited to move forward with App-V in our environment. Another summer priority.
Partner Expo Reception
The usual. Decent food. Big fail on soft drinks though. They apparently ran out of Diet Coke fairly early in the evening.
Springboard Party at the Standard
Awesome venue. Screamed L.A. from every angle. Crowd probably wasn’t as hip and beautiful as is usually there, but probably smarter. Great place to hang out. Appetizers were tasty too. The fried macaroni cheese balls were wonderful. Unfortunately only saw them come around once.
May ’09 12
Day 2 was pretty quiet as usual. I wasn’t in the Expo area much, and what time I was there was spent in the TLC area talking to Microsoft folks.
- Baseball Cap – Microsoft Windows Mobile
- Baseball Cap – Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
- Baseball Cap – Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
- Chinese Puzzle – Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
- Desktop Sculpture/Toy – Microsoft .Net Services
- Flash Drive, 1 GB – Mirosoft Windows Server 2008 R2
- Happy Fun Ball – Windows Embedded
- Pen – Microsoft Exchange Server
- Planning Poker – Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
- Plush Giraffe – Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop
