Technically Speaking

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan, today called on Opposition health spokeswoman Nicola Roxon to get behind the Howard Government’s world-leading NetAlert initiative.

For years, hospitals and healthcare systems have suffered from ‘siloed’ information residing in separate and isolated systems. And for years Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group (HSG) has been active in promoting standards in this area to help bring those silos together, while carefully studying the market for innovative technologies that could help healthcare providers address this issue at the business solutions level.

Now is the time and the time is now:  let's talk about Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1).  Much has been made of what will or will not be included in SP1 and when it will be released (some accurate, some otherwise).  I'm here to set the story straight:  we're in the process of developing and deploying a Beta version of SP1.  This post will describe for you what to expect from that effort and how you can be involved in the process.

Working from a control centre in Rockhampton, Jason Bell is the leader
of quality assurance for the burgeoning network of access grid
facilities throughout the world.

In the weeks and months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast, Microsoft was among the many companies that rallied to help victims and provide dedicated support to the rebuilding of New Orleans and other flood-ravaged areas along the Gulf Coast. Among those impacted by the travesty were more than 125,000 small- and mid-sized businesses.

Melissa Davis of Torquay-based creative firm Big Ideas today released what she considers to be the 6 deadly advertising sins. She clearly knows her stuff. I'm not just talking about theoretical knowledge here, because the writer of this article located her and her website after clicking on a Google Ad that Big Ideas had placed on another fine website - The Daily Slurp.

Microsoft, HP and OnForce have formed a unique collaboration to create a learning and certification solution for OnForce’s community of more than 10,000 IT service providers. The learning solution, which launches this month, is a one-stop resource for OnForce service providers to obtain training and validation on the latest Microsoft technologies. This will help them to meet the demands of Value Added Resellers (VARs) and solution providers who use OnForce to find IT professionals.

According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, the percentage of female Computer Science undergraduates at major research universities in the United States has declined from 37 percent in 1985 to 14 percent in 2006.

Microsoft Corp. has completed its acquisition of aQuantive Inc. The acquisition will help Microsoft deliver on its previously outlined goal to provide the advertising industry with a world-class advertising platform across devices and media that will create the best experiences for users, advertisers and publishers.

At Gamefest 2007, the annual Microsoft^® Game Technology Conference, Microsoft Corp. today announced the highly anticipated winners of its Dream-Build-Play game development contest, which encouraged experienced game developers and enthusiasts to create innovative and fun-to-play video games for Windows^® or Xbox 360™ platforms using XNA^® Game Studio. In a surprise announcement during the keynote address, an astounding four winners were invited to publish their games on Xbox LIVE^® Arcade. Tied for first place were David Flook of Ontario, Canada, and James Silva of New York with their respective games: “Blazing Birds,” an action-packed, robotic sports game modeled after the game of badminton, and “The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai,” a highly stylized game of mayhem and revenge. For their accomplishments, Flook and Silva were offered publishing contracts with Xbox LIVE Arcade, $10,000 (U.S.) each and several other prizes. Steve Olofsson of Sweden and Daniel McGuire of the United Kingdom received honors as runners-up for their games: “Gravitron Ultra” and “Yo Ho Kablammo!” respectively. Because of the amazing creativity demonstrated by these top four winners, the Xbox LIVE Arcade team also extended invitations to publish on Xbox LIVE Arcade to Olofsson and McGuire, along with $5,000 (U.S.) and other prizes.