Rich Crusco's Tech Blog

Microsoft's recent changes to MVP Program

2009-09-22T11:20:00.003-04:00

Microsoft made these non-NDA changes to the MVP Program last week

"Dear MVPs, Today, to align with the evolution and expansion of the global technical community, and based on MVP feedback and program participation levels, we are announcing some changes to the MVP Award Program. The technical community continues to expand into new technologies such as mobile and cloud computing, new venues such as social Web sites, and more countries. Microsoft understands the importance of community, and we continue to invest in community development. For example, to reflect the expanding community, we plan to develop new ways to recognize community influencers beyond the MVP Award Program. Meanwhile we are creating Microsoft Forums in 10 languages; building systems to help us to better listen to our customers worldwide; and expanding our investment in the MVP Award Program. We remain very excited about community and the opportunities it gives people.

The spirit of the MVP Award Program, including its core tenets and principles, is not changing. We continue to recognize leaders in the community, and say ‘thank you’ for the most outstanding community contributions and leadership through the MVP Award.

We remain committed to delivering a great MVP Award experience, including more focused, more relevant, and more targeted opportunities to enable you to offer us feedback, help people get the most out of their technology, and share your expertise and experience with others.

We want to offer benefits that are most relevant and beneficial to you and your technical communities. In order to invest in the most impactful MVP benefits, we need to remove some of the less significant benefits. Through our research, and MVP feedback, we discovered that less than 10% of MVPs use our e-Academy, e-Reference Library and MS Press book reviews. We also know that worldwide, MVPs’ experience of their MVP Bucks (eCompany Store benefit) can be impacted by local laws, taxation and customs.

From October 1, we will retire these benefits: Company Store (MVP Bucks), E-Academy, E-Reference Library, MS Press Book Reviews

Technical Experts Connection (TEC) - coming early 2010 As some of you will know from last year’s MVP Global Summit, we are investing in an exciting new online MVP portal site to enhance your program experience. The new site – Technical Experts Connection (TEC) - will enable you to see your benefits, easily access events and opportunities, and connect with your fellow MVPs and with Microsoft, all in one place. We anticipate that this new tool will save you time, dramatically reduce the volume of program emails in your inbox, and bring you closer to your program opportunities, engagements with Microsoft contacts and other MVPs. We will share more information on the new platform closer to launch in early 2010. Moving the program year from October to January, starting January 2010 In the past, the program year began in October to align with Microsoft’s business calendar. This caused some confusion, so we are moving the start of the program year to a calendar year. We will also adjust the dates of our twice-yearly MVP survey, in order to give you enough time to evaluate your award experience before offering us your feedback.

Our worldwide team is very excited about the developments in the community, and the investments we are making in the future of community engagement. The MVP Award Program continues to recognize the very best contributors in the community, and to say ‘Thank you’ to those outstanding people who share their knowledge and help people maximize the benefits of technology. Microsoft MVP Award Program"

Source: Activewin

Something about iTunes 9 is possibly breaking/fixing my mp4’s

2009-09-18T16:40:00.022-04:00

I recently updated to the latest version of iTunes, iTunes 9. My first reaction to the install of it is well let’s just say, it wasn’t one of those feelings of joy. I’m not going to go into my thoughts about iTunes either, but what I am going to focus on is the something that has changed due to installing it, and the impact it has had on my media.

The problem I am seeing is that all of a sudden ALL of my mp4/m4v videos are showing up with durations that insanely way off the mark. As an example, if I go to the file properties of one of my m4v files, it shows a play time of 2:05:10, but when I open the video in quicktime or through iTunes,
It thinks the video is 65:23:14! The video actually plays fine, but the timer bar is really scaled out, and clicking anywhere on it just goes to dead space once you get past the actual length of the video’s real time scale.

Here is the timescale ticked at 00:00:00
(Things appear to be normal at first glance)

Here is the timescale ticked at the end of the scale, 43:28:15?
(The movie is only 01:48:40 and should not be 43:28:15)

Here is the timescale ticked at 00:32:40
(This point in time is in reference to the above scale also being wrong)

Here is what the tack properties look like from QuickTime
(Notice that somehow only the video track is what is wrong, hmmm)

At first, I thought it was iTunes and or Quicktime that was the culprit, and it is, but not entirely in the way I first thought, as I was also seeing the problem appear in other media players, but then again that could be just a side effect of the root problem. The thing of it is, what is it that has changed to cause this, as this problem was not there before I installed iTunes 9. I think I may have found the culprits, I say culprits, as I think this is a two part problem.

First, iTunes has definitely done something to the mp4 decoder, and second, one of the tools I use for encoding is doing something the others aren’t.

To better understand how I think I found where the problems are, you need to know what tools I am using to create my mp4's.
I do a lot video encoding, my tools of choice for mp4 encoding are:
HandBrake - http://handbrake.fr/
Mencoder - http://oss.netfarm.it/mplayer-win32.php

HandBrake has an option to add chapters to an mp4,
but If I am not using HandBrake, I usually use add the chapters after the fact.
The tool that I use to add chapters after the fact has been:
mp4creator (http://mp4creator.sourceforge.net/) or
mp4chaps (http://kurtnoise.free.fr/index.php?dir=mp4tools),
you might say that mp4box (http://gpac.sourceforge.net/doc_mp4box.php)
has the option to also add chapters, which it does,
but it does not have the ability to add quicktime style chapters,
it just does the nero version of chapters.

So for giggles, I went ahead and created some new video encodes and checked the state of the mp4 at each step of the encode process, I also went as far as using previous and upcoming beta’s of the tools I use, and some others, just to be sure.

The first program I tried was HandBrake, I did not see the issue appear, and I also did not see the problem appear if I created it with or without chapters.

The second program I tried was Mencoder, which cannot add chapters, and also I did not see the issue appear .

The third program I tried, which I needed to for adding chapters was mp4creator,
I don’t use mp4creator for muxing, I just use it for adding chapters with the following syntax:

mp4creator.exe -c "mychapters.chap" "mymovie.m4v"

Bam! The file now showed the issue, so after that ah ha moment, I went ahead and tried mp4chaps for adding the chapters, and well sure enough, since it is from the same branch, it too showed the problem.

It also worth noting that even after using any of my tools to remove the chapters track, it did not revert the mp4 back to showing a correct duration.

So what is it that is causing the problem?

I think that either Apple updated the way in which they interpret the contents of mp4/m4v files, or mp4creator and mp4v2 tools are incorrectly modifying the files in some way, in reality it’s probably a little of both.
The reason I say that is because none of this was a problem prior to installing iTunes 9.

So what can you do to fix the problem if you have it?

You can use mp4box to demux the file, and then to remux back.
Doing this will recreate the mp4 container correclty, but sadly without the chapters, as this tool does not have the ability to import quicktime style chapters.
But I can live with that for now, chapters were really only usfull and usable on the pc or apple devices anyway.

You can use the following example to get information about the tracks:

mp4box.exe -info "filename"

You can use the following example to demux and remux the file correctly
(note: you'll want to know the fps of the video, or mp4box defaults to 25fps)

mp4box.exe -raw 1 "filename" -out "filename.h264"

mp4box.exe -raw 2 "filename" -out "filename.aac"

mp4box.exe -add "filename.h264":fps=23.976 -add "filename.aac" "newfilename.mp4"

Here is an example of the newly remuxed video
(Notice that the timescale appears as it should)

Here is an example of the newly remuxed video
(Notice that the end is the actual real intended end length)

Here is an example of the newly remuxed video
(Notice that the properties also show things correctly)

If you happen to run into this problem, I hope this information helps you get your media files back to the way they should be.
In my stumbleing around looking for answers, I ran into this post on sourceforge where the mp4creator program is hosted, it was nice to see that I wasnt the only one who happened to notice this problem.

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=2855734&group_id=232803&atid=1087686

If you run into any other ways of dealing with this let me know, I would be interested to find alternatives ways of fixing the problem. As I had to write a script that scoured through my Windows Home Server and had it demux and remux the plethora of videos I have on it, and I am glad to say they are all now working again as they should, without the chapter markers of though, which I will tackle another day.

If your looking to revert back to iTunes 8 here are the download links:

http://support.apple.com/downloads/iTunes_8_2_1_for_Windows
http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iTunes8/061-6717.20090715.XsE4R/iTunesSetup.exe

http://support.apple.com/downloads/iTunes_8_2_1_for_Windows__64_bit_
http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iTunes8/061-6718.20090715.MJwE3/iTunes64Setup.exe

10 Years of Messenger

2009-07-29T12:31:00.003-04:00

Ten years ago, Microsoft launched one of its most innovative communication services: Windows Live Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger). Throughout its many stages of evolution over the years, Windows Live Messenger (which is claimed to have 330 million users!) has become the most widely used free instant messaging service in the world.

Click below to continue to source:
http://windowslive.com/Connect/Post/a5447c6b-7031-4ed7-b6fe-f4360fef0582

Messenger 10th Anniversary

2009-07-28T00:15:00.007-04:00

Its hard to believe that its been 10 years already that messenger has been with us. I think back to the days of doing netsend commands, and then stepping it up with windows chat, messenging sure has come a long way.

Click here to receive a Free Gift Pack

Introducing Hyper-V 2008 R2 presented by Aidan Finn

2009-07-11T22:46:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Introducing Hyper-V 2008 R2 presented by Aidan Finn

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Introducing_hyper-v_2008_r2.wmv

Multimonitor Emulation on Local And Remote presented by Alex Danilychev

2009-07-11T22:45:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Multimonitor Emulation on Local And Remote presented by Alex Danilychev

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Multimonitor_emulation_on_local_and_remote_env.wmv

AppSense Management Suite v8 Personalize Regardless Of Delivery presented by Bas Bremer and Dan O'Connor

2009-07-11T22:44:00.003-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on AppSense Management Suite v8 Personalize Regardless Of Delivery presented by Bas Bremer and Dan O'Connor

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/AppSense_Management_Suite_v8_Personalize_regardless_of_delivery.wmv

Remote Desktop Services and XenApp Internals presented by Bernhard Tritsch

2009-07-11T22:44:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Remote Desktop Services and XenApp Internals presented by Bernhard Tritsch

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Remote%20Desktop%20Services%20and%20XenApp%20internals.wmv

Delivering IT Services Using RES Orchestra presented by Bob Janssen

2009-07-11T22:43:00.000-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Delivering IT Services Using RES Orchestra presented by Bob Janssen

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Delivering_IT_Services_using_RES_Orchestra.wmv

Introducing Terminal Services Log presented by Frane Borozan

2009-07-11T22:42:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Introducing Terminal Services Log presented by Frane Borozan

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Terminal_Services_Log.wmv

Introduction To Citrix Engineering presented by Gary Barton and Kenneth Bell

2009-07-11T22:41:00.004-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Introduction To Citrix Engineering presented by Gary Barton and Kenneth Bell

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Introduction%20to%20Citrix%20Eng.wmv

Whats Next For XenApp XenDesktop presented by Gary Barton

2009-07-11T22:41:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Whats Next For XenApp XenDesktop presented by Gary Barton

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/whats_next_for_xenapp_xendesktop.wmv

Printing Virtualization for XenApp XenDesktop presented by Gary Barton and Ramzy Mansour

2009-07-11T22:40:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Printing Virtualization for XenApp XenDesktop presented by Gary Barton and Ramzy Mansour

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Printing_Virtualization_4_xenapp_xendesktop.wmv

Top 10 XenApp Issues 2009 presented by Gerard Carragher

2009-07-11T22:39:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Top 10 XenApp Issues 2009 presented by Gerard Carragher

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Top_10_XenApp_Issues_2009.wmv

XenApp For Unix presented by Helmut Hauser

2009-07-11T22:38:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on XenApp For Unix presented by Helmut Hauser

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/XenApp%20for%20Unix.wmv

Power Saving Beyond Virtualization presented by Itamar Cohen

2009-07-11T22:37:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Power Saving Beyond Virtualization presented by Itamar Cohen

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Power_saving_beyond_virtualization.wmv

App Integration On XeApp And MUI Real World presented by Jorge Luis

2009-07-11T22:36:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on App Integration On XeApp And MUI Real World presented by Jorge Luis

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/App_integration_on_XeApp_and_MUI_real_world.wmv

XenDesktop Under The Covers presented by Kenneth Bell

2009-07-11T22:35:00.004-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on XenDesktop Under The Covers presented by Kenneth Bell

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/XenDesktop_under_the_covers.wmv

Desktops In The Cloud presented by Kenneth Bell

2009-07-11T22:35:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Desktops In The Cloud presented by Kenneth Bell

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Desktops_in_the_cloud.wmv

Citrix Licensing Elucidated presented by Lalit Kaushal

2009-07-11T22:34:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Citrix Licensing Elucidated presented by Lalit Kaushal

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Citrix%20Licensing%20Elucidated.wmv

Smart Cards And XenApp presented by Lalit Kaushal

2009-07-11T22:33:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Smart Cards And XenApp presented by Lalit Kaushal

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Smart%20Cards%20and%20XenApp.wmv

Identifying Cases Of Connect and Disconnection Issues presented by Marc Kilduff

2009-07-11T22:32:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Identifying Cases Of Connect and Disconnection Issues presented by Marc Kilduff

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Identifying_cases_of_conn_and_disconnection_issues.wmv

XenApp 5 FR1 Update presented by Oliver Lomberg and Markus Hagenkotter

2009-07-11T22:31:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on XenApp 5 FR1 Update presented by Oliver Lomberg and Markus Hagenkotter

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/XenApp_FR1_Update.wmv

Rapid App Migration AppDna presented by Paul Schnell and Sheldon Lachambre

2009-07-11T22:29:00.004-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Rapid App Migration AppDna presented by Paul Schnell and Sheldon Lachambre

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/Rapid_app_migration_appdna.wmv

XenServer What Is It and Why You Still Dont Use It presented by Radoslaw Smigielski

2009-07-11T22:29:00.002-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on XenServer What Is It and Why You Still Dont Use It presented by Radoslaw Smigielski

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/extvideo/content/RadoslawSmigielski.wmv

Citrix Essentials For Virtualization presented by Rene Vester

2009-07-11T22:28:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on Citrix Essentials For Virtualization presented by Rene Vester

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/extvideo/content/ReneVester.wmv

What's New In Provisioning Server presented by Rich Crusco

2009-07-11T22:26:00.001-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on What's New In Provisioning Server presented by Rich Crusco

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/extvideo/content/RichCrusco.wmv

XenDesktop 3 One Year Later presented by Shawn Bass

2009-07-11T22:25:00.000-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on XenDesktop 3 One Year Later presented by Shawn Bass

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/XenDesktop_3_one_year_later.wmv

SMS Passcode Case Studies presented by Rene Vester and David Hald and Lars Nielsen

2009-07-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin on SMS Passcode Case Studies presented by Rene Vester and David Hald and Lars Nielsen

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/videos/DUB09/SMS_Passcode_Case_Studies.wmv

The Discussion Club presented at Geek Speak

2009-07-11T22:20:00.003-04:00

Here is a presentation from PubForum 2009 Dublin at The Discussion Club presented at Geek Speak

Click below to download the video presentation:
http://www.pubforum.org/extvideo/content/PubForumGeekSpeak.wmv

Building a custom RemoteApp Portal for Windows 2008 Terminal Services - Part 2

2009-06-30T14:31:00.002-04:00

Part 2 of how to use RemoteApp user or group filtering with Windows 2008 Terminal Services has been posted on the http://www.terminalserviceslog.com blog site.
This one is about building a custom RemoteApp Portal for Windows 2008 Terminal Services.

Continue to the artcile:
http://www.terminalserviceslog.com/blog/index.php/2009/06/30/building-a-custom-remoteapp-portal-for-windows-2008-part-2/

RemoteApp user or group filtering with Windows 2008 Terminal Services - Part 1

2009-06-30T14:24:00.002-04:00

Part 1 of how to use RemoteApp user or group filtering with Windows 2008 Terminal Services has been posted on the http://www.terminalserviceslog.com blog site

The most wanted feature for Windows 2008 Terminal Services is RemoteApp user filtering. You don’t want all users to see all applications on the web portal. This feature will probably be released in Windows Server 2008 R2 but till then, you are out of luck.

Citrix Web Access and Grouping allows Citrix users to do the same, but this article I am going to focus on Window 2008 Terminal Services. I am going to describe how you could publish certain application to specific users or groups via RDP files.

Continue to the artcile:
http://www.terminalserviceslog.com/blog/index.php/2009/06/30/windows-2008-terminal-services-remoteapp-user-or-group-filtering-part-1/

MVPs Love Bing! Do you love Bing?

2009-06-29T14:22:00.005-04:00

Have you tried Bing? Well some of members of the Microsoft MVP community have, and they appear to be giving some good feedback.

Microsoft’s new web “Decision Engine” named Bing went Live on June 3rd. A number of our MVPs took the opportunity to test the new search technology. So far, feedback from our MVPs has been fantastic!

Click below to continue to the full article:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=86222344939&ref=mf

Windows 7 Beta Bi-hourly Shutdowns begin July 1st, 2009

2009-06-28T00:10:00.005-04:00

According to the official Microsoft Windows 7 website March 1, 2010 is the date that Bi-hourly Shutdowns will begin for the Windows 7 RC, so if your running the release candidate, this coming wednesday you'll have nothing to worry about.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will
begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before
the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a
non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You'll also need to install
the programs and data that you want to use.

But if you are running the Windows 7 Beta then get ready for bi-hourly shutdowns to begin on July 1, 2009, and then the eventual expiration of the Windows 7 Beta on August 1st, 2009

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/05/25/clarification-on-the-date-for-bi-hourly-shutdowns-for-the-windows-7-beta.aspx

$100 discount until July 3rd, 2009 on Microsoft TechNet

2009-06-27T14:34:00.006-04:00

Microsoft is offering a $100 discount on subscriptions to TechNet
This offer is only good until July 3rd, which is next week.

The promo code in the source post below for the U.S. is "TEYFY09"
and for the U.K. is "TNCARE09"

I am not sure if they are truly location based or not,
and that there are only two regions listed does beg the question
on whether or not there are codes for other regions?

Click Below to continue to Microsoft TechNet
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/renew.aspx

Source:
http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/06/26/microsoft-offering-100-technet-discount-till-july-3

PubForum 2009 Dublin - The Discussion Club at Geek Speak

2009-06-27T12:01:00.003-04:00

Here is a presentation of the discussion club during Geek Speak at PubForum 2009 in Dublin, Ireland

PubForum 2009 Dublin - Rene Vester at Geek Speak

2009-06-27T11:58:00.003-04:00

Here is a presentation given by Rene Vester during Geek Speak at PubForum 2009 in Dublin, Ireland

PubForum 2009 Dublin - Radoslaw Smigielski at Geek Speak

2009-06-27T11:55:00.005-04:00

Here is a presentation given by Radoslaw Smigielski during Geek Speak at PubForum 2009 in Dublin, Ireland

Introducing Frane Borozan from TSL a first time attendee and presenter at PubForum

2009-06-27T11:54:00.000-04:00

I'd like to introduce you to one of the many people that attended this year's PuBForum 2009 Dublin conference, he's a first time attendee who also gave a presentation at the conference.

I'd like to introduce you to Frane Borozan, who is an active community member for Microsoft Terminal Services and Citrix Application Delivery and Virtualization. He is also founder of Terminal Services Log (TSL) which was founded in 2008. TSL Inc. is a software development company based in Europe, and they specialize in developing high-quality enterprise applications and providing consulting for Microsoft Terminal Services and Citrix Technologies

Frane gave a great presentation on one of the products his company created to help solve real world problems with monitoring, alerting, and reporting on Microsoft and Citrix servers. The name of the product is also the name of the company, Terminal Services Log. He did a great job of giving a technical presentation on a product without making it a sales or marketing pitch, which is what we want right! I look forward to seeing what Frane will be presenting on in the future.

You can learn more about Frane Borozan and Terminal Services Log from the below link:
http://www.terminalserviceslog.com

Pictures from PubForum 2009 Dublin, Ireland

2009-06-27T11:48:00.005-04:00

I have posted a bunch of pictures into a photo album from this years PubForum 2009 in Dublin, Ireland.
My two previous posts about the event were on my thoughts about PubForum and Geek Speak
This time I will let the pictures do the talking =)

An Overview of PubForum 2009 Dublin, Ireland
An Overview of Geek Speak at PubForum 2009 Dublin

Please click the below link to view the photo album from PubForum 2009 Dublin
http://cid-7cee7fc8f528290a.skydrive.live.com/play.aspx/PubForum%202009%20Dublin?ref=1

An Overview of PubForum 2009 Dublin, Ireland

2009-06-27T11:42:00.006-04:00

This year's first bi-annual PubForum 2009 event in Dublin, Ireland was yet another sold out event, which is a testament to the ever growing popularity of its return attendees and this year's first time attendees. This is a truly international event in which people from many different countries come to take part in Europe's finest premier and truly independent community focused event and industry conference.

Attendees from the following countries traveled to Dublin, Ireland to attend PubForum:

Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
France
Germany
Ireland
Netherlands
Norway
Scotland
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States of America

In a previous post about the event I mostly focused on an overview of the Geek Speak part of the event, But this post is meant to be more of an overview about the PubForum conference.

An Overview of Geek Speak at PubForum 2009 Dublin

This was the 12th PubForum since it started back in 2003. The first PubForum was held in Amsterdam and was born from some very ambitious members of user groups and forums who were looking to create a non-commercial event where people from around the world could come and attend a conference that was focused on community, knowledge, professionalism, and expertise in the application delivery and virtualization industry. Most you reading this have been to conferences yourself, and while there is nothing wrong with going to a corporate event, as I think they are very much needed, But I also believe we need the independent conferences also, as they add an element of community or a dynamic of conversation that is just not possible ( with exception of course, wink wink, think Geek Speak ) at many corporate events. With that said, it's kind of an interesting dilemma when one thinks about trying to grow an event but yet keep it personable. I think this why the PubForum event, which could grow by leaps and bounds if it wanted to, keeps the event on a smaller scale, and usually has it twice a year to compensate, with the added benefit of delivering content on topics relevant to current timeframes. Another side benefit of an event like this, is that because it is not as large or as commercial as other events, it is able to keep cost to a minimum, which in today's economic climate is a huge plus. I have a suspicion that there may be another PubForum this year, but it's just a guess/wish, but in any case I hope you can find the time to attend a future PubForum event, as it is one of the highest caliber community events you could attend.

For more information about PubForum past, present, and future click below:
http://www.pubforum.info/welcome/

Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 comments from MVP's

2009-03-11T12:23:00.005-04:00

Here are some additional blog entries from fellow Terminal Server MVP's on their thoughts and experiences from this years Microsoft MVP Global Summit 2009.

Benny Tritschs thoughts on the RDS sessions at the MVP Summit
Greg Shields experience at the MVP Summit and what he learnt about VDI
Joe Shonks experience at the MVP Summit and RDS sessions

Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 video of "I'm a PC"

2009-03-10T12:11:00.005-04:00

Here is a video Microsoft put together from the 2009 Microsoft MVP Summit, where we did our part in the "I'm a PC" campaign.

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/6d53ed7b-f784-4c00-b145-3c1123debc40

Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 wrapup by Brian Madden

2009-03-10T11:46:00.006-04:00

This is a video that Brian Madden, a fellow Microsoft Terminal Server MVP, put together from this years Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 event, enjoy!

Source: http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/tv/archive/2009/03/05/brian-madden-tv-episode-4-microsoft-mvp-summit-amp-rdp-7-preview.aspx

Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 video by Steve Greenburg

2009-03-10T11:10:00.007-04:00

This is a video that Steve Greenburg, a fellow Microsoft Terminal Server MVP, put together from this years Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 event, enjoy!

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NveMpT1Xmcs&fmt=18

2009 Microsoft MVP Global Summit overview

2009-03-09T20:51:00.007-04:00

Compared to last year’s Microsoft MVP Global Summit, I think this year’s event went a little better. It’s not to say that last year’s event was bad or anything, but last year was more about what was cooking, and this year was more about taste testing. For example last year our feedback was more about what should be done to Terminal Services, and this year it was about giving feedback to what they have been able to accomplish over the past year.

We attended sessions on the following products:

· Windows Server 2008 R2
· RDP and Calista
· Remote Desktop Services
· Remote Desktop Virtualization
· Capacity Planning
· Application Compatibility
· Live Mesh

The sessions went very well, and we received a wealth of information, as well as being able to give feedback on what was presented. Due to non-disclosure agreements I can’t really talk about what was presented in those sessions, but as the release dates for those products comes closer, Microsoft will of course make information about what features are or are not going to be included available to the public. I don’t have a crystal ball, but if what was shown with a little tweaking is to be the final products, you will be pleasantly surprised.

And then there is this:

· “Terminal Services” is now “Remote Desktop Services”
· “VDI” is now “Remote Desktop Virtualization”

But wait there’s more

· The “Terminal Services Group” is now the “Remote Desktop Virtualization Group”

Product name changes are nothing new, but it appears product groups are also not immune; it did make for some interesting tongue twisters during some of the presentations.

If you want to know more about the Microsoft MVP program or the MVP Global Summit event, here are some links to discover more about Microsoft and MVP's in the community.

http://www.microsoft.com/mvp

http://www.mvpsummit2009.com/

http://blogs.msdn.com/mvpglobalsummit/