Toluu

Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise

Obama and ZuneGateYesterday

[The Insider]

Does he or doesn’t he? A post titled Cardio with Obama set pulses racing today not because Neal Santos was racing on the treadmill with the president elect but because he apparently spotted him using a Zune. What? How could that be possible? He posted an update with some clarifications but maintains that Barack is indeed part of the Social.

After Apple getting mocked on The Simpsons, what can we expect next? Bill Clinton beta testing Windows 7?

Rock on.

Proporta SchwagYesterday

 

I posted about Proporta a while back – fine folks from the UK who ship lovely gadgety gear and send you a tea bag with each order :) Well they’ve noticed that the 2.5% VAT cut here in the UK isn’t exactly going to make us overnight millionaires so have stepped in and decided to pay all of the VAT for you on orders – basically a 15% saving. Not bad with all the good Christmas schwag they have. The offer is UK only I guess and ends midnight Sunday 7th December 2008. Get the details and the necessary code

I’ve recently taken delivery of a Ted Baker Six Pack from them which makes mobile charging very easy (and cool) along with a stylish Maya pouch for my HTC S620….which I was I’d had last week when I dropped it and damaged the screen. Thanks to JasonLan I have a shiny new one!

Mucho thanks to Hannah and the tea

London Blogger Gathering: Live Mesh, Cloud ComputingYesterday

A quick shout out to anyone interested in joining us for a beer or two in London next Thursday night to meet and talk about Live Mesh and cloud computing. As Steve Lamb says we have Jeff Hansen and Angus Logan in town so it should be a fun chat. Jeff reports to Ray Ozzie so can tell you even more than this months Wired article :)

I’ll be there with a few other softies and a few beers so if you’re free from 6-8pm next Thursday in London, come along to The Coach and Horses. It will not be a marketing pitch – just a chance to share a few cold ones and chat with some clued up boys from Redmond. I’ll be the one handing out the business card shown above and my even drag my pal Hugh MacLeod along

 

If you'd

Microsoft: Making Data Centers Like LegoYesterday

Video: Microsoft Generation 4.0 Data Center Vision

 

Lovin that video – I want to see those Windows Azure trucks rolling down my street!

Fun aside, the Generation 4 data centers that are depicted here and talked about at length on Mike Manos’s blog are a big deal. They take many of the conventional concepts regarding data centers and throw them out of the window. Raised floors are a thing of the past and even the new Microsoft data centers in Chicago is Generation 3 – being partly containerised.

“Gen 4” data centers from Microsoft take modularisation to a new level and though the analogy with the Model T Ford is a good one, I also like the notion of turning data centers in to Lego like building blocks. From server racks in containers to power supplies that are specified and manufactured consistently hence driving down cost, build time and the potential for faster global rollout. That last part really intrigues me and I’m looking forward to a call I have with Mike Manos this week to find out how this can help with even faster global expansion.

The flexibility enabled by this modularisation provides huge potential and is another signal of how serious Micro

Changing The Way I WorkYesterday

I’ve become a big user of Office Communicator over the last few months – I’m finally seeing the light that Mark and Julian promised me :) More seriously, the benefits of unified communications are even more obvious in the current economic climate. Let me explain….

My job sees me on the phone a lot – working as part of a virtual team and often in contact with colleagues around the world. I also find myself in Seattle quite frequently and like to call home regularly. Doing all of this in the past from my mobile phone wasn’t cost effective and also tested the battery life of my phone to the max. In addition I was getting concerned about the amount of time I spent using a cellular phone.

A few trips back whilst in Seattle I decided to switch to using a headset that worked with Microsoft’s Office Communicator. Thanks to Plantronics who kindly sent me 2 of their models to review, I rarely use my mobile phone now for anything but the briefest of calls. These UC headsets are comfortable to wear and provide easy VOIP calling that is integrated in to my contacts from Outlook and our g