John at myITforum.com

I've been a little remiss with blog posts.  Several reasons why, namely it's been a crazy few days.  First, I forgot my cardinal rule for PDA's.  Vibrate drains the battery way beyond normal rates, so I should turn the volume off rather than vibrate.  I'm carrying two phones to blog and post photos, but then I notice there is no battery left.  Not a good thing.  Second, it's been an absolutely crazy couple of days. 

• I had to perform a little crowd control at the myITforum booth Monday night.  Once again, the line was long at the booth rushing to get the party pin, and folks just couldn't figure out why there were so many people, so they tried to cut to the front to see, and get the "prize".  They gave us all very strange looks when we said there was a line.  They tried everything (i.e. I just want to enter the raffle...hopefully you won't notice that I'll slip in right here and get a pin).  After the opening night, we all ended up over at Tao for dinner.  At least 20 people (I think 23 was final tally), but people just kept showing up.  Very late night.
• Tuesday morning started early and ended very, very late.  From the opening keynote to the last session, focus groups, and event hopping until the wee hours of the morning, just no time to blog. 
• Wednesday morning started early again, and I'm a little tired and it isn't even lunch time.  I've got notes from several sessions, just have had not time.  From my perspective, nothing really earth shattering in any of the announcements.  Brad alluded to several forth coming announcements in the keynote this morning, so sounds like it will be a busy next couple of months for System Center.
• Is it me or is the comedian a little um, well, as entertaining as he has been in the past?  I've been a little disappointed with the video's before the opening keynotes, particularly the "top seven" signs of a bad casino.  Not terrible, but they've been much better.  Maybe I'm tired.

Session summaries will be posted later today (I hope).  I see several are blogging the event and some of the sessions.  Pictures will go up later too.

Is the 3G Blackberry having issues?  Fortune is reporting it is:

Research in Motion (RIMM) is facing a delay with the introduction of its new hotly anticipated 3G BlackBerry phone for AT&T (ATT).

The release of the phone, apparently named Meteor, has been pushed to as late as August, from the planned June launch, say people close to the companies. The reason for the delay isn’t clear, but people close to the companies say AT&T had concerns about call quality.

Some of these people speculate however that AT&T may be using a tech glitch as an excuse to avoid having two competing 3G smartphones launch at the same time. Apple’s (AAPL) new iPhone is expected to debut in June, and analysts have speculated that the release will likely coincide with the one-year anniversary of the original iPhone, which is June 27.

AT&T declined to comment. A RIM spokeswoman said in an e-mail that the company does not discuss unannounced products or comment on “rumors and speculation.”

The delay of the new BlackBerry comes at a particularly sensitive time for RIM. As product cycles and phone fashions go, the current crop of BlackBerries - the Curve, the Pearl, etc. - are due for a refresh as demand slows. Among the big things expected from RIM was the first 3G version of BlackBerry, being called Meteor or the 8900. It is a black phone with a silver metal edge, curved corners and a flatter Qwerty keyboard than the namesake bumpy berry-skin keypad.

A new product delay from June to August would mean fewer phone shipments and lower subscriber growth than some may be expecting in the company’s fiscal second quarter ending Aug. 30.

I stopped down at Grand Lux cafe to see da king (you know who that is right???), and have already ran in to Paul G, Ron C, Brian T, Josh S, and Sherry K.  Sure doesn't take long for myITforumer's to find each other...particularly around da king...what a great thing...

Well, I'm here.  Is this Day 0, or is it really Day -1?  Labs are tomorrow, opening keynote is Tuesday.  So I guess depending on how you look at it, it can be either Day 0 or Day -1.  Flight was uneventful and I've already played a quick round of "Can You See Me".  Got here about an hour ago.  Look for as many blog posts as I can cram in for one week, as well as pictures (and of course, video's).  Yes, I plan on live blogging all the action and activities.  I've got my PDA's (as many as I could cram in my bag) fully charged and ready to go.  You saw the post...La Scena....heading over there in the next few...

Once again the Microsoft-Yahoo fandango dominates the quiz this week, but we also find time to dwell on the Webby Awards, smelly cell phones, and things Wal-Mart would rather you did not know. Correct answers are worth 10 points, and remember, there's no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid quiz masters. Ready? Then get crackin'.

http://www.infoworld.com/tools/quiz/news/2008/04-11/news-quiz-1.php

So you think you're a good photographer?  Now's your chance to snap some photo's and take a shot at winning $10,000 and appear in National Geographic.  if you're one of the weekly winners, you'll win an LG phone.

http://www.viewtyfulworld.com/uk/

SanDisk has warned that IT managers are unaware of the extent to which unsecured flash drives are being brought into their organizations, backing this with a new study of corporate end-users and IT executives.

The study found that 77 percent corporate end-users surveyed have admitted to using personal flash drives for work-related purposes. However, when asked to estimate what percentage of the workforce uses personal flash drives, corporate IT respondents said only 35 percent.

Users meanwhile admitted that data files most likely to be copied to a personal flash drives includes customer records (25 percent), financial information (17 percent), business plans (15 percent), employee records (13 percent), marketing plans (13 percent), intellectual property (6 percent), and source code (6 percent).

The survey highlights that due to the highly portable nature of USB flash drives, they represent a significant risk of data loss for enterprises. Approximately one in ten (12 percent) of corporate end users reported finding a flash drive in a public place. Additionally, when asked to pick the three most likely actions they would take if they found a flash drive in a public place, 55 percent indicated they would view the data.

SanDisk meanwhile hopes to give IT managers a fighting chance of controlling the usage of flash drives in organizations, and earlier this week unveiled a new version of its CMC (Central Management & Control) software used to manage its Cruzer Enterprise USB flash drives.

Source

Microsoft on Thursday plans to introduce a Web-based service for driving directions that incorporates complex software models to help users avoid traffic jams.

The new service’s software technology, called Clearflow, was developed over the last five years by a group of artificial-intelligence researchers at the company’s Microsoft Research laboratories. It is an ambitious attempt to apply machine-learning techniques to the problem of traffic congestion. The system is intended to reflect the complex traffic interactions that occur as traffic backs up on freeways and spills over onto city streets.

The Clearflow system will be freely available as part of the company’s Live.com site (maps.live.com) for 72 cities in the United States. Microsoft says it will give drivers alternative route information that is more accurate and attuned to current traffic patterns on both freeways and side streets.

A system for driving directions that Microsoft introduced last fall was limited, because without Clearflow there was no information available about traffic conditions on city streets adjacent to the highways. Because the system assumed that those routes would be clear, drivers were on occasion sent into areas that were more congested than the freeways.

The new service will on occasion plan routes that might not be intuitive to a driver. For example, in some cases Clearflow will compute that a trip will be faster if a driver stays on a crowded highway, rather than taking a detour, because side streets are even more backed up by cars that have fled the original traffic jam.

Source

AT&T plans to invest $200 million in Texas during 2008 to boost its wireless network there. This will bring AT&T's three-year investment in the state to more than $700 million.

AT&T plans to add 102 new cell sites as part of the 2008 wireless network investment. Besides this it will roll out its higher-speed wireless network in additional communities throughout the state. Many of the improvements will benefit Texans who live and work in rural areas.

"Our goal is to ensure that AT&T customers have the very best wireless experience possible, and that includes providing unmatched coverage, quality of service, competitive calling plans and innovative wireless devices," said Adam Vital, vice president and general manager of AT&T's wireless unit in North Texas, in a statement.

Vital continued: "This year's investment will increase coverage in the places our customers live and work, and the planned expansion of our 3G network will allow more customers to enjoy increased data and video speeds while they are on the go."

Windows Mobile 6.1 was just announced at CTIA. A bunch of us got together to record a video demoing most of the new features in Windows Mobile 6.1. Check out this 40-minute video that shows:

• Cool devices, including the T-Mobile Shadow, HTC Tilt, Pantech Duo, Moto Q9
• The new Sliding Panel home screen (aka "Bronze")
• All new home screen plugins
• Threaded SMS
• Copy & Paste support for non-touch devices
• New Task Manager
• Clock & Alarms
• Windows Live and Live Search Mobile
• and more...

This is a long video but it shows several features in great detail that you may not see elsewhere. Also note, there are other improvements in Windows Mobile 6.1 that we don't cover in this video, including IEMobile's new Zoom feature and integration with SCMDM 2008.

-Mel Sampat

Video

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

Paint.NET v3.30 Released: April 10th, 2008

This release adds an Italian translation, a new "Fragment Blur" effect, and the ability to save PNG images at 8- and 24-bit color depths. For developers, the IndirectUI system has some new controls, some new constraint rules, and can now be used for file type plugins.

• New: Italian translation.
• New: Ability to save PNG's at 8- and 24-bit color depths.
• New: Ability to save BMP's at 8-bit color depth.
• New: "Auto-detect" bit-depth option for PNG, BMP, and TGA file types. It will analyze the image and determine the lowest bit-depth that can still save the image without quality loss.
• New: "Fragment" blur effect, by Ed Harvey

Download

Sprint PCS has released Sprint SmartView for most of their aircards and devices that can be used as modems:

Devices Supported - Mobile Broadband Devices and Phone-as-Modem Handsets

• Sierra: AC580, AC595, 595U, 597E, 875U
• Novatel: S620, S720, EX720, U720, U727
• Pantech: PC-5740, PX-500
• BlackBerry: 7130, 7250, 8130, 8703, 8830
• LG: LX160, LX400, LX550, LX570
• Motorola: KRZR, RZAR, SLVR, V9m
• Samsung: A900M, m500, m510, m520, m600, SPH-900, SPH-920
• Sanyo: Katana DLX, Pro 200, Pro 700, SCP-3200, SCP-6650, SCP-7050, S1

• Single software solution for Sprint EVDO Rev 0 and Rev A Mobile Broadband devices and numerous Phone-as-Modem capable handsets
• One touch activation for supported devices
• For GPS-capable devices, GPS features and services available at the touch of a button
• GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA capable Sierra Wireless 875U now integrated
• GPRS capable BlackBerry 8830 now integrated (requires Phone-as-Modem add on)
• Access to Sprint WiFi with global footprint available on a pay-as-you-go basis
• Access to quick links for Sprint support services and tools via the Application section
• Enterprise custom configurability available - business customers, please contact your Sprint Acount Manager for details

http://www4.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/support/downloads/details.jsp

Novatel has issued a new firmware update for the U727.  It's available by running Check for Application Updates.  You can find the latest connection manager software here.

Following the January reports of unidentified flying objects hovering in the sky above Erath County, the world has been wondering what it was that so many locals saw in those early weeks of 2008. Now, there might finally be some answers. The History Channel will present “UFO Hunters: Invasion of Texas 2008,” at 9 p.m. Wednesday. The show follows a group of experts as they study some of history’s most intriguing UFO accounts and the evidence surrounding the cases. This week’s episode will investigate local reports through scientific means in an attempt to uncover the facts surrounding the sightings.

Don't forget...mark your calendars:

TechNet Webcast: Windows Mobile Series: Top 10 Features for Businesses (Level 200)

Monday, April 14, 2008

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

IT Manager Webcast: Windows Mobile Series: Why Windows Mobile for Your Business (Level 100)

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Windows Mobile Series: Get the Facts on Comparing Windows Mobile and Blackberry (Level 300)

Friday, April 18, 2008

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Windows Mobile Series: Real-Time Messaging and Collaboration (Level 200)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time

TechNet Webcast: Windows Mobile Series: Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobility and Windows Mobile (Level 300)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators have approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones.

Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years, particularly among young people. The wireless industry's trade association, CTIA, estimates more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.

The plan stems from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, a 2006 federal law that requires upgrades to the nation's emergency alert system.

Source

Scientists take performance enhancing drugs?

Twenty percent of scientists admit to using performance-enhancing prescription drugs for non-medical reasons, according to a survey released Wednesday by Nature, Britain's top science journal.

The overwhelming majority of these med-taking brainiacs said they indulged in order to "improve concentration," and 60 percent said they did so on a daily or weekly basis.

The 1,427 respondents -- most of them in the United States -- completed an informal, online survey posted on the "Nature Network" Web forum, a discussion site for scientists operated by the Nature Publishing Group.

More than a third said that they would feel pressure to give their children such drugs if they knew other kids at school were also taking them.

"These are academics working in scientific institutions," Ruth Francis, who handles press relations for the group, told AFP.

The survey focused on three drugs widely available by prescription or via the Internet.

Ritalin, a trade name for methylphenidate, is a stimulant normally used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, especially in children. Modafinil -- marketed at Provigil -- is prescribed to treat sleep disorders, but is also effective against general fatigue and jet lag.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080409184651.n3je90gm&show_article=1

Wouldn't this be interesting...

Researchers at the National Museum of Natural History, Paris were thrilled to finally confirm that a slab of Lebanese limestone depicts the body of a snake with two legs.  Researchers at the European Light Source (ESRF) in Grenoble, France used a high-powered super camera to validate their suspicions about the fossilized reptile.  Alexandra Houssaye, from the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, said that the X-ray technique is useful because it allows researchers to get an in-depth glimpse of the inner structure of the creature without damaging the specimen.  "We were sure he had two legs but it was great to see it, and we hope to find other characteristics that we couldn't see on the other limb," said Houssaye.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1335315/fossilized_snake_with_two_legs_found/index.html

Hmm...interesting chat and video.

The seventh question in the chat (at time mark 5:27) was “Do you believe in Extra-terrestrial life?” Shatner replied in the affirmative saying “of course, it is beyond a certainty that there is life out there.” Shat then went on to say (in complete seriousness) that he had insider info on Martians:

I will let you in on a little secret, that I have been told not to reveal. So I wont reveal who told me, but there is going to be new information about Mars. It wont be too long away.

http://trekmovie.com/2008/04/09/shatner-claims-to-know-about-life-on-mars/

Full interview and video

Motorola has agreed to support the nomination of two of activist investor Carl Icahn's nominees to its board. One of the nominees, Keith Meister, who is a manager of Mr. Icahn's investment funds, will join the Motorola board immediately. In exchange, Mr. Icahn has agreed to drop his proxy fight and dismiss all litigation.

In addition, Motorola has agreed to seek input from Mr. Icahn in connection with significant matters regarding the planned separation of the handset business, including the search for a new CEO for that unit.

NewScientestTech is reporting real-life Matrix may be only years away...

Are supercomputers on the verge of creating Matrix-style simulated realities? Michael McGuigan at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, thinks so. He says that virtual worlds realistic enough to be mistaken for the real thing are just a few years away.

In 1950, Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, proposed the ultimate test of artificial intelligence – a human judge engaging in a three-way conversation with a machine and another human should be unable to reliably distinguish man from machine.

A variant on this "Turing Test" is the "Graphics Turing Test", the twist being that a human judge viewing and interacting with an artificially generated world should be unable to reliably distinguish it from reality.

"By interaction we mean you could control an object – rotate it, for example – and it would render in real-time," McGuigan says.

Although existing computers can produce artificial scenes and textures detailed enough to fool the human eye, such scenes typically take several hours to render. The key to passing the Graphics Turing Test, says McGuigan, is to marry that photorealism with software that can render images in real-time – defined as a refresh rate of 30 frames per second.

McGuigan decided to test the ability of one of the world's most powerful supercomputers – Blue Gene/L at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York – to generate such an artificial world.

Blue Gene/L possesses 18 racks, each with 2000 standard PC processors that work in parallel to provide a huge amount of processing power – it has a speed of 103 teraflops, or 103 trillion "floating point operations" per second. By way of comparison, a calculator uses about 10 floating operations per second.

In particular, McGuigan studied the supercomputer's ability to mimic the interplay of light with objects – an important component of any virtual world with ambitions to mimic reality.

He found that conventional ray-tracing software could run 822 times faster on the Blue Gene/L than on a standard computer, even though the software was not optimised for the parallel processors of a supercomputer. This allowed it to convincingly mimic natural lighting in real time.

"The nice thing about this ray tracing is that the human eye can see it as natural," McGuigan says. "There are actually several types of ray-tracing software out there – I chose one that was relatively easy to port to a large number of processors. But others might be faster and even more realistic if they are used in parallel computing."

Although Blue Gene/L can model the path of light in a virtual world both rapidly and realistically, the speed with which it renders high-resolution images still falls short of that required to pass the Graphics Turing Test.

But supercomputers capable of passing the test may be just years away, thinks McGuigan. "You never know for sure until you can actually do it," he says. "But a back-of-the-envelope calculation would suggest it should be possible in the next few years, once supercomputers enter the petaflop range – that's 1000 teraflops."

But others think that passing the Graphics Turing Test requires more than photorealistic graphics moving in real-time. Reality is not 'skin deep' says Paul Richmond at the University of Sheffield, UK. An artificial object can appear real, but unless it moves in a realistic way the eye won't be fooled. "The real challenge is providing a real-time simulation that includes realistic simulated behaviour," he says.

Looks like the Washington Times and Fox News have both picked up the cyborg insects story.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,345192,00.html

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20080404/TECHNOLOGY02/96634980/1020/TECHNOLOG

How bizarre is this...

Biological weapons delivered by cyborg insects. It sounds like a nightmare scenario straight out of the wilder realms of science fiction, but it could be a reality if a current Pentagon project comes to fruition.

Right now, researchers are already growing insects with electronics inside them. They're creating cyborg moths and flying beetles that can be remotely controlled. One day, the US military may field squadrons of winged insect/machine hybrids with on-board audio, video or chemical sensors. These cyborg insects could conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions on distant battlefields, in far-off caves, or maybe even in cities closer to home, and transmit detailed data back to their handlers at US military bases.

Today, many people fear US government surveillance of email and cell phone communications. With this program, the Pentagon aims to exponentially increase the paranoia. Imagine a world in which any insect fluttering past your window may be a remote-controlled spy, packed with surveillance equipment. Even more frightening is the prospect that such creatures could be weaponized, and the possibility, according to one scientist intimately familiar with the project, that these cyborg insects might be armed with "bio weapons".

For the past 50 years, work by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) - the Pentagon's blue skies research outfit - has led to some of the most lethal weaponry in the US arsenal: from Hellfire-missile-equipped Predator drones and stealth fighters and bombers to Tomahawk cruise missiles and Javelin portable "fire and forget" guided missiles.

For the past several years, DARPA has funneled significant sums of money into a very different kind of guided missile project, its Hybrid Insect MEMS (HI-MEMS) program. This project is, according to DARPA, "aimed at developing tightly coupled machine-insect interfaces by placing micro-mechanical systems [MEMS] inside the insects during the early stages of metamorphosis". Put simply, the creation of cyborg insects: part bug, part bot.

 

From Asia Times Online

More at the link...

Uncover the mystery and help discover the truth at The Amazing Roswell UFO Festival. The City of Roswell invites UFO enthusiasts and skeptics alike to join in the celebration of one of the most debated incidents in history this July 3-6, 2008. The four-day event will feature guest speakers, authors, live entertainment, and family-friendly activities.

This year, the City of Roswell will be coordinating the annual festival, Roswell Mayor Sam LaGrone and the UFO Festival Committee are working to organize an event everyone can participate in: "This year, we want the festival to be all-inclusive. We invite everyone with an interest in UFOs, aliens and outer space to be a part of the festival as a presenter, a guest, or both," Mayor LaGrone said. The City is expecting thousands of visitors during the festival and guests are encouraged to make travel arrangements early. Links to accommodations, an event schedule and more in-depth information about the festival can be found at the new festival website http://www.UFOfestivalRoswell.com.

LAS VEGAS (CTIA, Booth # 2515, Hall C3) - April 1, 2008 - Novatel Wireless, Inc., (Nasdaq: NVTL), a leading provider of wireless broadband solutions, today announced the Ovation™ MC990D and MC992D HSPA modems. These high-speed, USB data modems are capable of providing global Internet connectivity virtually anywhere in the world, with multiple frequency band operation on HSPA, WCDMA, EDGE and GPRS networks.
The MC990D is a global modem, with receiver diversity optimized for HSPA networks in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa (900 & 2100 MHz bands)
The MC992D is a global modem, with receiver diversity optimized for HSPA networks in the North America (850 & 1900 MHz bands)
The Ovation MC990D and MC992D are global modems designed to provide peak download speeds of 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds up to 5.76 Mbps uplink speeds. Featuring an extremely streamlined form factor (89 x 25 x 13.5 mm), the modems fit comfortably in any pocket, enabling the user to securely check email, download rich multimedia content and remain connected to their family and coworkers.

Looks like AT&T is moving further in the the satellite TV business.

AT&T Advanced TV has arrived and, with it, more choice when it comes to video services. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) today announced AT&T | DISH Network^® service will now be offered to customers throughout the Southeast.

The service, part of AT&T's video portfolio known as AT&T Advanced TV, will provide consumers throughout the company's nine Southeastern states with even more options when it comes to great programming, top-rated DVR and receivers and outstanding customer service.

"We're excited to be able to offer a new video option to our Southeastern customers," said Rob Bentley, Southeast vice president and general manager, AT&T. "Through the AT&T Advanced TV portfolio and AT&T | DISH Network service, we'll be able to deliver better control, better content and more HD channels."

"DISH Network is proud to offer the best video bundle in the country to additional AT&T customers throughout the Southeast," said Thomas Stingley, executive vice president of Sales and Distribution for DISH Network. "With our service, customers have access to unparalleled satellite technology and programming, including top-rated DVRs and the best sports and movies in HD."

AT&T | DISH Network service features more than 250 popular, 100 percent all-digital television channels including movies, sports, news, international and family programming, plus commercial-free, CD-quality music channels.