‘IT Pros Unplugged’ is a running feature we’ve kicked off this month which highlights personal IT Pro stories be it day to day insight, or personal progression articles much like Matthew Reynolds recent article.
For this article we thought it would be interesting to tell the story of an IT Apprentice at one of our partner companies, someone who is just starting off in a career in IT.

Meet Reece Gillespie, IT Desktop Support Technician and Firebrand Apprentice.

So Reece, your job title is IT Desktop Support Technician – but what do you actually do?
My main responsibility is responding to the needs of internal staff when it comes to issues involving Desktop and networking technology. This can also include helping out with phone support as we utilise VOIP technology.
I am also currently shadowing my manger to learn more about server maintenance. One thing I definitely don’t do is make the coffee…

How did you get this job?
I found it through the National Apprenticeships website via their job search database. After reading the job description I submitted an online application before being called by Firebrands apprentice recruiter.
After a brief telephone interview, I attended a face to face interview with my current Line Manager. I made it through to a second interview with Firebrand’s Director, Stefano Capaldo, before being offered the role.

Did you go to college or university? If so, what did you study?
I went to college, to study a level 3 diploma in networking. But I didn’t like the teaching methods; I prefer learning through hands on practical work, which was why I found the idea of an IT apprenticeship with Firebrand so appealing. As well as learning, I actually get experience in the job I want to be doing, best of all, I get paid to do it!

Tell us a little more about your apprenticeship programme and any other ‘on the job’ training you might have?
I am currently partaking in one of the 12 month IT apprenticeship programs with Firebrand, with the aim of being employed at the end. As part of the program, I get on the job training as an IT technician, alongside studying for my Level 3 Diploma in ICT Professional Competence and a Level 3 Certificate in ICT Systems and Principles.

The best thing about the program is that I can work towards achieving 6 industry specific certifications from Microsoft and CompTIA. Because Firebrand’s training is accelerated, every 9 weeks I can do 1 week of intense training, get a new certification or two and be back at work the following week putting my new skills in to practice.

Do you have any certifications and if so could you tell us what they are and why you took them?
I have the following certifications:
· CompTIA Strata in PC Fundamentals – this taught me the basics of the internal workings of a PC.
· MTA in Operating Systems Fundamentals – like the name implies this certification proves I have a basic understanding of Microsoft operating systems and how they work.

I am currently working towards:
· CompTIA A+ and N+ certifications – upon completion I can prove I have advanced knowledge of hardware and the basics of how a network functions.
· MTA in Networking Fundamentals – similar to the N+, I will learn about networks, the hardware used, how they are set up and all the associated protocols.
· MCSA: Windows 7 – I am working towards exam 70-680 in configuring Windows 7, completing this exam is one part of the way to getting me MCSA certified.

Who is your biggest inspiration – who do you admire in your field of expertise and why?
I’d have to say my Manager, Bevan. He’s doing the job that I want to be in, and every day he’s helping me learn to become who I want to be, so that one day I can get that job that I want.

What’s your specialty?
I’m best with Microsoft operating systems and software programs, I’ve been working with them for years.

What frameworks and tools do you work with?
We use Spiceworks as our main helpdesk system. Staff enter tickets about the problems, and then I go and fix them. We also use the Cisco Meraki system, which allows us to manage our network from the cloud. I also work with SharePoint, where all our big tools and projects are kept.

What’s the most useful tool you use, what do you use it for and why is it the best?
It’s got to be Spiceworks, the system keeps track of mine and my teams performance, whilst helping me keep up to date and organized with all of my tasks.

How many people are on the same team as you and what do they do?
I work in a team of 4 where we actively work to support Firebrands global IT systems.
We have first, second and third line support. I have a similar role to the rest of the team, but they work on higher level projects and more advanced issues related to the network and our servers.

How do you collaborate with other teams like admin and marketing?
I collaborate with our Web Developer, helping out with the website. I have also attended a couple of events, such as the Skills Show where we ran a stall with Microsoft Learning.

We know there’s no such thing as an average working day, but could you run through an example day from the past couple of weeks?
When I come into the office the first thing I do are my morning checks. These include checking the office display screens which show our sales information, ensuring they are all up to date and functioning.
Next I will do routine checks of cables round the office to spot any potential hazards. Following this, I will go to the server room and make sure all our core servers are online and functional for the day ahead.
Then it’s time for Spiceworks, where I check any recent or high priority issues and ensure that all new and unassigned tickets are responded to and assigned to the correct team member.
In an average day I probably get through about 15-20 support tickets, this can range from ‘have you tried turning it off and on again’ to a complete PC re-build following a system failure.
Although, one thing I’ve learnt in my time with Firebrand is that every day brings something new to learn.

Which websites, publications, forums and events do you go to for resources like industry news and technical support?
The Spiceworks forum is pretty good for technical support and news on new technology. I also use the TechNet platform, they have loads of resources on all the operating systems and technology I work with on a daily basis.

What do you do in your spare time (if you have any!)?
When I’m not working, you can find me on my Xbox One dominating the FIFA world. I’m a big Arsenal fan as well, so I’m regularly off to the Emirates to watch my team.

What project are you most proud of and why?
I recently implemented a PDF editing solution across the business. This was the first time I was given full responsibility for a large project. I had the task of finding the new PDF editing software, deploy the program across the company and then make sure all staff members were trained up and familiar with using the new program.

What’s the most ridiculous situation you’ve been in at work?
Our core switch went down, and the failover switch went a few minutes later. All the systems and regions went offline. As I was on-call, our Dubai office rang me at 5:30am to let me know all the systems were down. I had to remotely log in before notifying my line manager, giving him detailed information of the issue.
I met my Manager in the office and the systems were back online before all other Regions started their business day.

What are your career goals/Where do you want to be in 5 years time?
I still want to be working in IT, preferably in third line support. Ideally at some point   I want to be an IT manager, but I haven’t planned much beyond that.

More information on Firebrand’s IT Apprenticeship program
Whether you’re looking to become an IT Apprentice, or you’re interested in hiring one, you can find out more on Firebrand’s Apprenticeship website.
Firebrand currently offer 4 specialist programmes which prepare apprentices for the following job roles –

• IT Desktop Support
• IT Support Technician
• Systems Engineer
• IT User Support
• IT and Network Administrator
• System Administrator
• Server Support
• Help Desk Support Technician
• Web Developer
• Programmer
• Mobile Application Developer
• Each programme includes 3 to 4 Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) certifications.

Do you have any useful advice for Reece, who is starting off in a Career in IT? Why not comment below, or tweet us at @TechNetUK

Are you interested in furthering your career in IT? The Microsoft TechNet team are running free Career Evenings in London, with presentations from industry experts, Microsoft HR and some of our apprentices.  For a full round up and for information on how to register, see here. 

Olá Comunidade Microsoft,

Meu nome é Luciano Lima e o destaque de Terça-Feira - Artigo Spotlight vai para o Thiago Guirotto, o qual escreveu vários artigos sobre Windows Server 2012 R2.

Blog: http://thiagoguirotto.com.br/blog/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/guirotto

Segue abaixo a lista dos artigos escritos por ele:

• Assinando uma zona DNS com o DNSSEC - Windows Server 2012 r2

• Instalando um Controlador de Domínio Windows Server 2012 r2

• Parte#1 Work Folders - Windows Server 2012 R2

• Parte#2 Work Folders - Windows Server 2012 R2

• Parte#3 Work Folders - Windows Server 2012 R2

• Desktop Experience - Windows Server 2012 R2

• Windows PowerShell 3.0 – Windows Server 2012 (Comandos).

• Corrigindo Unknow - Nslookup - Windows Server 2012

• Início. System Center Advisor.

• Instalando System Center Advisor Gateway

• 2 Geração de máquinas Virtuais - Hyper V 3.0

• Nslookup - Default Server Unknown

• Como Funciona – System Center Advisor

• Utilizando Snapshots em Máquinas Virtuais Hyper-V - Arquitetura.

• Conheça - System Center Advisor 2012

• Comparação e benefícios em usar discos .vhdx e .vhd.

• Grupo de Segurança – System Center Advisor

• Solucionando Problemas: Erros comuns da conversão P2V utilizando o System Center Virtual Machine

• Mensagem de erro ao definir IP para uma placa de Rede - Placas de redes ocultas

• Entendendo o Hyper-V. - Arquitetura.

• Entendendo Redes Virtuais do Hyper-V - Arquitetura

• Soluções e dicas: Erro para acessar o perfil do usuário em Sessão de Terminal Services - Windows Server 2008 R2

• Como Funciona – System Center Advisor 2012 .PT

Excelente trabalho!

Um grande abraço da comunidade do TechNet Wiki Brasil.

Não esqueçam de seguir o site Oficial do TechNet Wiki no Facebook e o Twiiter.

@WikiNinjas_BR

www.facebook.com/TechNetWiki

Issue: Application contents are duplicated in the client cache folder for every Install Application step that is used in a task sequence in Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr 2012 R2). This affects only clients that are deployed by using stand-alone media. For example, a task sequence is created that has two Install Application steps, and each has a separate .msi file:

- Install Application: Application1.msi
- Install Application: Application2.msi

On the client that is installed by using this stand-alone media, the client cache folder (by default, this is Windows\CCMCache) contains two copies of each .msi file:

- \Windows\CCMCache\1\Application1.msi
- \Windows\CCMCache\2\Application2.msi
- \Windows\CCMCache\3\Application1.msi
- \Windows\CCMCache\4\Application2.msi

For additional details and a link to a ConfigMgr hotfix that resolves this issue please see the following:

KB2928122 - Application contents are duplicated in stand-alone media in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2928122)

J.C. Hornbeck| Solution Asset PM | Microsoft GBS Management and Security Division

Get the latest System Center news onFacebookandTwitter:

System Center All Up: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/
System Center – Configuration Manager Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
System Center – Data Protection Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
System Center – Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
System Center – Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
System Center – Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center – Virtual Machine Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm

Windows Intune: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/
The AD RMS blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv

The Forefront Endpoint Protection blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Revisiting this topic that I covered very briefly back in October last year, about the need or otherwise to keep Project Professional and Project Server (2010 and 2013) patched to the same level with Cumulative Updates and Service Packs.  Also covering a few other scenarios you might want to consider – and including how the control of the connecting client versions can affect editing schedules on the server.  This was a topic that came up during the Project Conference – so I'll be addressing some of the points raised in the IT Professional chalk talk session (available online - http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Project/2014/PC325– the question at 3:40 is about patching – and a question from the audience at 15:44).

First point – you need to be running supported versions of both client and the server – see the Support Lifecycle page for more information – and you also can only run Project Professional 2010 against Project Server 2010 and Project Professional 2013 (or Project Pro for Office 365) against Project Server 2013) – no mix and match!

Beyond this you can run any patch level of the client Project Professional, Cumulative Update or Service Pack, against any patch level of the server and be in a supported configuration. 

However, there may be times when a bug that is causing you problems gets fixed and you want to ensure that no client that doesn’t have this fix connects to your server.  This is where the option to control the connecting version of Project Professional comes in to play.  In Server Settings, Additional Server Settings (2010) or Central Administration, General Application Settings,  PWA Settings, Manage Additional Server Settings (2013) you can put a value of the version of the client that can connect (usually I post the version numbers in the Cumulative update posts on this blog) and then only clients at or above his level can connect to the server.  This doesn’t however, stop you running a mix of client versions above this level – and certainly I have heard of ‘badness’ happening when different patch levels are being used to work on the same schedules.  In theory this shouldn’t cause any issues – but I can certainly imagine that some other bugs may exist in the older clients – or even some regressions introduced in the newer ones – so that the behavior of the schedule may look different to the differently patched users.  I certainly wouldn’t argue against keeping all clients at the exact same patch level – certainly a good practice to adopt.  I have also heard anecdotal evidence that matching the client and server Cumulative Update or Service Pack levels will avoid the occurrence of the ‘check-in pending’ issue – where a Project Professional client will still think the plan is checked out even when it appears to be safely checked in on the server.  No evidence or even a theory as to why this might be the case – but always wary of discounting something when partners and consultants have seen this make a difference.

One consideration for Project Server 2013 when controlling the connecting client version is that this also controls the server scheduling engine – which is the same component as the client scheduling engine.  This can mean that updating your clients before the server and then setting the value to the new client can mean that editing in the server schedule web part will not work – and in some case even being at the same CU level the server engine may report a slightly different version and then be blocked for editing.  See http://blogs.technet.com/b/projectsupport/archive/2013/09/16/project-server-2013-controlling-the-version-of-connecting-clients-and-pwa-edits.aspx for more details.

Finally, there may be some occasions when a fix affects both the client and server, and to get the full affect of the fix you need to patch both.  Generally nothing will break if you don’t have both client and server patched to the same point – you just won’t see the full effect of the fix.  We will normally note this in the Knowledgebase (KB) articles for the fix.  In some rare situations there is a much tighter dependency for a fix and we require both client and server to be at or above a certain level – but the last time I can remember such a fix was the early days of 2007 and the Infrastructure Update.  Again, we would note any such dependency in the KB article – as well as making a note of this in my release blog posts.

And really finally - the above all applies to Project Server – for Project Online you cannot control the version of the connecting client but best to use Project Pro for Office 365 and then you will always be up to date and all your clients matched.

A Microsoft investe pesado no desenvolvimento da sua plataforma de dados SQL Server, o que culminou nos grandes avanços que tivemos a cada nova versão do produto, da 7.0 à 2012.

Agora, “IIIIIIIIIIIIT´S TIME !”

Não perca o evento oficial Microsoft de lançamento do SQL Server 2014, que acontecerá dia 25/04/2014 (sexta-feira) das 9:00h – 18:00h no nosso escritório (Av. das Nações Unidas 12901).

Contaremos com profissionais de altíssimo nível liderando as palestras e ainda laboratórios, onde você poderá brincar um pouco com as novidades e se apaixonar de vez pela nosso banco de dados !

Veja a agenda do evento :

Não perca tempo e faça já sua inscrição, vagas limitadas!

Every month, the Next Big Thing collection shines a spotlight on apps and games created by independent developers. The latest group for Windows Phone gives us more than 30 choices that run the gamut in gameplay, from being one of the undead, to escaping from dinosaurs to battling bad robots.

“Zombie Tsunami” twists the usual undead thriller on its head, as you’re part of the staggering hordes that descend upon survivors. Rampage away! And, because we can’t get enough of the walking dead, look out for “Zombie Ragdoll,” and turn the apocalypse into shoot-em-up fun. In “Skelly Rider,” you’re a dapper skeleton on the run from a monstrous Tyrannosaurus Rex. “Galactic Rush” is another endless runner, but in this one you represent humans or other alien races in the biggest race in the galaxy.

“Machinarium” gives you an adventure as a tiny robot that battles villainous robots to rescue a damsel in distress. “Numolition” combines math, building and explosives in a puzzle game that spans more than 50 levels and 120 bonus challenges. Build a card deck of warriors in the Manga card game, “Dengen Chronicles.” For something less complicated, check out “Unroll It.” Move the blocks up, down and sideways to create a continuous path for a little white ball to follow to reach its goal.

Find all these games and more in the Next Big Thing collection in the Windows Phone Store and read more about them on the Windows Phone Blog.

You might also be interested in:

• Staff App Pick: Pradux gives you fabulous fashion at your fingertips
• Kill zombies, save the world in “Last Heroes – The Final Stand” on Windows Phone, PCs and tablets
• Find love through eHarmony, now on Windows Phone

Athima Chansanchai
Microsoft News Center Staff

Hola

Como algunos de ustedes saben ahora estoy involucrado con Office 365; entre otros temas; hace unos días unos amigos de Argentina me preguntaron cómo funciona Office365 en dispositivos móviles. Lo cual es una pregunta muy buena ya que existen varios mal entendidos sobre el tema. Aquí les dejo el detalle:

Para hablar de Office 365 en dispositivos móviles tenemos que hablar de Apps y de sistemas operativos como Android, iOS, Windows Phone y por supuesto Windows RT. Pero antes de entrar en ese detalle, es súper importante aclarar que Office 365 tiene varios servicios de valor agregado que pueden ser explotados desde diversos medios, formas y dispositivos; entre los servicios están el correo electrónico con Exchange Online, Servicios de colaboración con SharePoint Online, comunicaciones con Lync, Office Online, Office para desktop entre muchas más.

Una de los valores agregados más importantes es la posibilidad de usar y obtener todo el poder de Office 365 desde prácticamente cualquier lugar y momento, ya sea desde una PC, MAC, tableta o teléfono inteligente. Empezaremos por hablar de Office 2013 RT, Office Mobile y Lync.

Office 2013 RT

Office 2013 RT viene incluido de forma gratuita en todas las tabletas que tienen Windows RT 8.1, incluye Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote y Outlook.

Office Mobile

Office Mobile te permite ver y editar documentos de Word, Excel y PowerPoint desde cualquier lugar; el contenido y el formato permanecerá intacto en tu dispositivo móvil y cuando lo veas desde una PC o una MAC estará como tú lo dejaste.

Con Office Mobile, pues ver y editar documentos de tengas en: e-mail, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint y en tu teléfono.

Lync 2013

Lync 2013 extiende el poder de Lync al dispositivo móvil, incluye voz y video en conexiones wifi, mensajería instantánea, conferencia y capacidad de llamadas desde una interfaz sencilla de usar.

Reglas para poder usar Office Mobile

Ahora que ya saben un poco de Lync y de Office Mobile, toca el turno de explicarles las reglas del juego con Office Mobile:

1. Solo se puede hacer uso de Office Mobile en iOS y Android si tienen una cuenta usuario de Office 365.
2. En el caso de Windows Phone, y Windows RT no es necesario tener cuenta de Office 365 para usar Office Mobile y Office 2013 RT
3. Office Mobile solo está disponible para teléfonos inteligentes con Android, iOS y Windows Phone
4. Las tabletas tienen que usar Office Online (Office Online es la versión web de office)
5. Solo se puede hacer uso de hasta 5 dispositivos móviles a la vez.

Las Apps

Ya que explicamos un poco del uso y de las reglas, es hora de compartirles las apps con su respectivo link para descargarla dependiendo del dispositivo móvil que tengan

Aplicaciones para Windows Phone

Aplicaciones para iPhone y iPad

Aplicaciones para Android

Espero que les sea de utilidad.

Saludos.

@Ferglo

It’s a good day when you can get your favorite games and add-ons on sale in the Xbox Games Store. Many good days ahead! The latest batch of discounts – which range from 20 to 75 percent – last through March 30.

“Call of Duty: Ghosts,” “Thief” and “Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition” – in both Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions – are all on sale.

Head over to Major Nelson’s blog to check out the details behind these discounts and many others.

You might also be interested in:

• Staff App Pick: Pradux gives you fabulous fashion at your fingertips
• New apps bring more gaming, sports and movies to Xbox One and Xbox 360
• “Super Time Force” gets a demo at Game Developer Conference

Athima Chansanchai
Microsoft News Center Staff

Businesses like FireLogic, as shown in the video above, are increasingly adopting Surface 2 as their go-to device. Updates made as part of the Windows 8.1 RT release are making Surface 2 even more useful for businesses of all missions and sizes.

Topping the new feature list: remote desktop application access, data access using work folders and cloud-based mobile device management, writes the Surface Team.

Check out the Surface Blog to find out why these updates can help you, every day. And see how Surface 2 keeps both the IT department happy while allowing you to get work done in a way that’s convenient and comfortable no matter where you roam.

You might also be interested in:

· Personal trainer has Surface by his side for outside classes
· Bridgestone Asia Pacific to use Windows mobile cloud to improve customer service, productivity
· Jamming at the corner of cloud and mobile

Aimee Riordan
Microsoft News Center Staff

I just realized that there is not a great means of tracking the changes to the Java APM agent for Visual Studio Online.  And so without further ado, a blog post to rectify the situation.  This post will discuss how to determine the version of the Java APM Agent as well as a changelog of features and fixes.

How Can I Know What Version I Have

Due to some technical requirements, the name of the zip file needs to remain constant between versions.  Hence, when you download the zip file the file does not contain the version string in the file name.  The good news is that in the ZIP file there is a XML file version.xml that contains.... (what for it)... the version!  This human-readable file is intended for information use:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- /////////////////////////////////////////////////// -->
<!--         Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation         -->
<!-- /////////////////////////////////////////////////// -->
<!-- Human-readable file with version/build information. -->
<!-- This is an auto-generated file (i.e. modifying this -->
<!-- file will not change the version information        -->
<!-- displayed in the running program.                   -->
<VersionInformation>
  <Version>1.13.100.1</Version>
  <LabelName>NotFromLabel</LabelName>
  <BuildDate>20140325</BuildDate>
</VersionInformation>

Additionally, each jar file contains an XML file with the version number in it.  To access it, rename the jar file to a zip file (you may need to update your Windows Explorer settings to show know file extensions).  And if you are curious, no you may not unzip the file, update the version number, and re-zip the jar file.   If you do, chaos will ensue!  :)

If there is no version file, that means you are using a very old agent, in which case download a newer one in order to take advantage of the features listed below.

The Changelog

Here is a non-exhaustive list of changes to the Java Agent as far back as I was willing to look in version control.  Moving forward, I will (try to) update this blog post as new Agents roll-out.

1.12.100.4 (March 2014)

• Finalized support for gathering Custom Performance Counters from JMX
• Improved Configuration Plan format
• Added feature to send counters without waiting for entrypoints to enable support for elasticSearch, Kafka, etc…
• Bug fixes

1.12.100.1 (January 2014)

• Preliminary support for gathering Custom Performance Counters from JMX
• Bug Fixes
  

1.11.100.1 (November 2013)

• Run-time Dependency Discovery (RDD) support for HTTP methods
• Performance and bug fixes 

1.10.100.15 (November 2013)

• Version released for SCOM 2012 R2 on-premise solution
• Send events directly to the VSO Endpoint
• Java Policy Support
• Event parameter regular expression filtering
• Security Fixes

Posted by Fred Humphries
Vice President, U.S. Government Affairs, Microsoft

Continuing the momentum we’ve seen across the country on computer science education, Idaho recently joined a growing number of states that allow computer science courses to count toward high school graduation requirements. We applaud Idaho for taking this important step, which will help prepare students for the jobs of today and tomorrow while supporting American innovation. Under the leadership of Gov. Butch Otter, the Idaho State Board of Education, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, Senate Education Chairman John Goedde and House Education Chairman Reed DeMordaunt, Idaho has taken a critical step in closing the skills gap and strengthening the STEM pipeline.

[Read more...]

When we think of our 'dream job', then it’s all about finding something we're good at, we get paid to do and of course we love doing. I was lucky enough to spend some time with Matthew Reynolds, Head of IT at Southampton Football Club, I asked him a few questions on what he does, as well as how he got there. As you’ll see from this interview, it’s not the only cool job Matthew has held.

So Matthew, what does Head of IT at Southampton Football Club mean?

Operationally, I am responsible for providing the availability & capacity of all IT services at the club, which accounts for about 30% of my role. I look at IT risk across the business as well as project manage the larger IT transformation projects. As a member of the Senior Management Team I spend the rest of my time focused on strategy, direction of the business and the IT roadmap.

Can you talk a little about you career progression to this role?

I’ve always had a love for computers and my first PC was an IBM PS/2.  I studied Computer Aided Engineering at university and when I graduated I joined an engineering company in Portsmouth.  As a CAE Systems Engineer, I was responsible of managing their CAD workstation estate.   This gave me the first real insight into how computing can be at the heart of an organisation.

I then found a role at a Formula 1 team called Arrows Grand Prix International. Arrows had a very small IT department and my main responsibility was CAD support. As there were only two of us, we ended up doing a bit of everything and I was regularly sent to Grand Prix and Test as IT support. Being thrown in the deep end, I had to learn about NT Servers, routing and networking very quickly.

Two years later on I joined Williams Grand Prix Engineering as an IT Support Specialist. My first major project was to move the company from NT4 to Windows Server 2000 with a new feature called Active Directory. The migration was very manual as there where limited tools to help you in those days.

During my time at Williams we were partnering very closely with HP. One of the technologies we worked on was wireless networking and how we could use it as a competitive advantage against the other teams. Working with HP I managed to develop a solution that sent all of the car data back to the garage from the grid, prior to the race. Traditionally if engineers wanted the data from the ‘install’ lap/s they would have to plug their laptops into the cars on the grid and view it locally. This new solution shared the data and allowed for more eyes back in the garage to view this information.  The partnership with HP had many other rewards including a technology refresh, giving us the latest innovations in compute power to work with and thus gave the team a performance advantage.

The next move was to an established manufacturer doing very well on the grid, they were called Renault F1 Team.  A young driver called Fernando Alonso was also showing a lot of promise.  Renault's mission was to win the world championship and there was a large focus on performance projects.  Budgets weren't so much of a concern providing your project remained feasible and I took the role of IT Trackside Project Leader, responsible for the mobile IT infrastructure that was sent worldwide.  

There was a huge modernisation programme to support the team with their vision. The data that a car generated had increased as well.  In the early 90's a full weekend's race data used to fit on a 1.44MB floppy disk and now in the late 00's we were generating 1GB to 2GB of data.  Interestingly the exponential growth of data continues and in 10's it peaked at 20GB of data per car.

My first project was to improve the trackside operations by updating their aged infrastructure.  This equated to the replacement of 30 servers, provisioning over 20TB of storage and configuring a new network as well as provisioning faster communication. This allowed for data to be transferred from Grand Prix to headquarters in real-time.

After nearly 7 years at Renault F1 Team and two world championships later, I had the opportunity to join Southampton Football Club. They were at the beginning of their journey, having just been promoted to the Championship.  In a similar way to the Renault F1 Team they had a vision for success and I could see that there was more to come.

I was tasked to rebuild the IT capability to support the business strategy for international growth. The business was seeing major disruptions due an unreliable IT infrastructure, there were regular email outages and a large percentage of time was spent being reactive. In the first 90 days I put together a 5 year plan to transform and modernise the 10 year old capability.

Year 1 was spent rebuilding the foundations. Email was moved to the cloud and a new network, storage and compute capability was born utilising the latest Microsoft Hyper V technology and HP converged infrastructure. Our desktop fleet was replaced, high speed links installed and Wi-Fi went live across all sites.

I am proud to say that the Saints now have a stable infrastructure to now build solutions upon. This year IPTV went live. Giving the club a central TV solution, providing real-time advertising and providing the fans a great experience across all of the stadium. IPTV will be extended to our new Stapolewood training facility to support player development.  We are also about to see a Unified Communication and Collaboration solution launched.  This will give the coaches and training staff instant communication tools such as the ability to carry out live scouting and video conferencing.  It will also provide access to medical records in a secure environment. 

What do you see as the biggest technology game changers over the last 10 years?

It has to be the rapid evolution of compute power and connectivity.  In the past we wanted to maximise the performance out of our systems and we spent a disproportionate time tuning for optimal capacity.  Now it is about how we apply the technology to provide a strategic advantage to the business.  It’s no longer about keeping the lights on but the strategic benefits IT can bring to the business.  Someone once said to me “IT is the business and the business is IT”, this sentiment reinforces the importance of information technology and the value it brings to any organisation.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever been given

Think big, be passionate and aim to be better in everything you do.  Life is a learning curve and sometimes things don't go as planned, but along your journey there will be chances.  You must take these opportunities when they arise and your hard work will be rewarded.

We’d like to thank Matthew for taking the time out to speak to us this month and for providing fantastic insight into his career journey.

Are you interested in furthering you’re career in IT? The TechNet team are running upcoming IT Career Evenings in London. Network with peers over some beer and pizza and get a better understanding of what a Career with Microsoft Technology looks like.

Designing apps with assistive technology features can lead to a better experience for every user of your Windows Store app. Accessibility features include clearly visible text and navigable controls with various input and output methods.

There are tools available to test apps for accessibility. To help you get started, the Windows App Builder Blog provides tips and convenient tools. Developers will find out how to use standard controls and Visual Studio templates, as well as the user interfaceaccessibility checker (AccChecker).

You can test keyboard accessibility by navigating with the Tab key and verify your app both by turning on Narrator and making everything bigger. You can also activate and verify high-contrast assets.

Head over to the Windows App Builder Blog to get all the details on these handy testing tools to make your app more accessible to all.

You might also be interested in:

• Staff App Pick: Pradux gives you fabulous fashion at your fingertips
• New apps bring more gaming, sports and movies to Xbox One and Xbox 360
• Indie developers infuse latest Next Big Thing collection with zombies, evil robots and endless running

Athima Chansanchai
Microsoft News Center Staff

Microsoft hat in den Monaten seit den Enthüllungen, die auf den von Edward Snowden veröffentlichten Dokumenten basieren, einige Erklärungen gemacht. Mit diesem Beitrag wollen wir ein Update bereitstellen zu unseren Aussagen rund um Themen wie Überwachung durch Regierungen, Anordnungen auf Basis von FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Gesetz zum Abhören in der Auslandsaufklärung), Sicherheit und Datenschutz von Kundendaten in der Microsoft-Cloud.

Im Verlauf der letzten Monate haben die Medienberichte über die von Edward Snowden veröffentlichten Dokumente berechtigte Fragen aufgeworfen hinsichtlich der Gesetze, auf deren Basis Regierungen die Herausgabe von Kundendaten verlangen oder Daten außerhalb des rechtlichen Rahmens mitschneiden. Diskutiert wurde auch über das Wissen beziehungsweise die Zusammenarbeit mit Unternehmen wie Microsoft, wenn es um den Zugriff von Regierungen auf Kundendaten ging.

In dieser Zeit verstanden die Medien, Kunden und auch Internet-Unternehmen mehr und mehr, was die Snowden-Dokumente eigentlich beschreiben. Darüber hinaus versteht die Öffentlichkeit inzwischen auch, dass nur ein kleiner Teil der Bevölkerung von der rechtmäßigen Herausgabe von Kundendaten betroffen ist. Die jüngsten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich der Transparenz von FISA-Anordnungen lässt Microsoft und andere Internet-Unternehmen zumindest die Anzahl der Anordnungen sowie der National Security Letter (Nationaler Sicherheitsbrief) veröffentlichen. Wenngleich wir hierbei gerne weiter ins Detail gehen würden.

Die Öffentlichkeit hat zudem die reale Bedrohung erfasst, die von Regierungen ausgeht, die außerhalb des rechtlichen Rahmens mit technischem Aufwand auf Kundendaten zugreift. Microsoft geht gegen diese Art des Zugriffs durch Regierungen auf rechtlichem und technischem Weg vor.

Microsoft hat in der öffentlichen Debatte eine Führungsrolle inne und fordert gemeinsam mit anderen Unternehmen fünf einzelne Reformen. Diese sollen die Balance wahren zwischen dem Schutz persönlicher Daten und der persönlichen Sicherheit. Als Reaktion hierauf hat die US-Regierung Änderungen angekündigt und der Kongress wurde damit beauftragt, weitere Reformen zu entwerfen und umzusetzen.

Microsoft hat seine Standpunkte zu Compliance sowie technischen und rechtlichen Schutzmaßnahmen für Kundendaten und die Notwendigkeit von Reformen durch verschiedene Blog-Postings untermauert:

• Microsoft’s U.S. law enforcement and national security requests for last half of 2012 (14. Juni 2013)
• Responding to government legal demands for customer data (16. Juli 2013)
• Standing together for greater transparency (30. August 2013)
• Protecting customer data from government snooping (04. Dezember 2013)
• Reforming government surveillance (08. Dezember 2013)
• An international convention on government access to data (20. Januar 2014)
• Providing additional transparency on US government requests for customer data,(03. Februar 2014)

Einige allgemeine Aussagen von Microsoft über die NSA und die Snowden-Enthüllungen:

• Die Menge an Daten, die wir aufgrund rechtlicher Vorgaben mit Regierungen teilen, wurde übertrieben dargestellt. Wir haben Daten veröffentlicht die belegen, dass nur ein winziger kleiner Teil eines Prozents unsere Kunden im Mittelpunkt von Forderungen durch Regierungen standen.
• Genau wie viele andere sind auch wir alarmiert aufgrund der weitreichenden und konzertierten Maßnahmen, mit denen einige Regierungen Online-Sicherheitsmechanismen aushebeln, um im großen Stil private Daten während der Übertragung abzufangen.
• Wir greifen zu umfangreichen Maßnahmen, um unsere Kunden noch besser vor Zugriffen durch Regierungen zu schützen, die außerhalb das rechtlichen Rahmens liegen. Wir haben zwar keinerlei Hinweise darauf, dass es zum Abfluss von Kundendaten kam. Aber wir nehmen uns dieser Bedrohung dennoch an durch das Ausweiten von technischen und juristischen Maßnahmen.
• Menschen nutzen keine Technik, der sie nicht vertrauen. Regierungen gefährden dieses Vertrauen und sie müssen daher mithelfen, es wieder her zu stellen.

Die häufigsten Fragen an Microsoft und unsere Antworten:

Frage: Gewährt Microsoft der Regierung Zugriff auf Kundendaten?

Antwort: Wir übergeben Kundendaten, wenn wir eine rechtlich bindende Anordnung oder eine Vorladung erhalten – aber niemals auf freiwilliger Basis. Darüber hinaus befolgen wir nur Anordnungen spezifische Konten betreffend. Wir erlauben keiner Regierung direkten und ungefilterten Zugriff auf die Daten unserer Kunden. (Stand: 16. Juli 2013)

Frage: Einige Menschen haben aus den Snowden-Dokumenten herausgelesen, dass Microsoft der Regierung geholfen habe, Verschlüsselungsmechanismen in einzelnen Produkten auszuhebeln. Was sagt Microsoft hierzu?

Antwort: Um es deutlich zu machen: Microsoft versetzt keine Regierung in die Lage, Verschlüsselungen zu brechen und liefert auch keine Schlüssel zum Entschlüsseln an Regierungen. Informationen darüber, welchen Zugriff wir der Regierung auf Dienste wie Outlook.com, SkyDrive (jetzt OneDrive), Skype-Telefonate oder E-Mail- und Dokumentenspeicher von Unternehnen gewährten, liefert ein Blogbeitrag.

Frage: Im Oktober 2013 legten Enthüllungen über ein NSA-Programm (MUSCULAR) nahe, dass die Regierung die Zugriff hatte auf die ausländischen Kommunikationsverbindungen von Google und Yahoo. Wurde auch auf die Verbindungen von Microsoft zugegriffen und wie schützt Microsoft seine Kunden vor solchen Aktionen?

Antwort: Microsoft-Vertretern liegen keine unabhängigen Belege vor, dass die NSA auf unsere weltweiten Kommunikationsverbindungen zugegriffen hat. Die Washington Post berichtete zudem, dass es keinen Beweis dafür gebe, dass die NSA in gleicher Art und Weise auf Microsoft-Kommunikationsverbindungen zugegriffen hat, wie es bei Google und Yahoo der Fall war.

Als Reaktion auf diese sehr beunruhigenden Nachrichten hat Microsoft sofortige und koordinierte Aktionen angekündigt, um die Verschlüsselung auf den gesamten Lebenszyklus der von Kunden erzeugten Inhalte auszuweiten, Kundendaten rechtlich noch besser abzusichern und die Transparenz unseres Programmcodes zu erhöhen, so dass Kunden versichert sein können, dass unsere Produkte keine Hintertüren enthalten. Weitere Details im entsprechenden Blogbeitrag.

Frage: Was unternimmt Microsoft, um das Vertrauen in die Cloud wieder herzustellen? Welche Vorschläge macht Microsoft zur Reform der Überwachung?

Antwort: „Menschen nutzen keine Technik, der sie nicht vertrauen. Regierungen gefährden dieses Vertrauen und sie müssen daher mithelfen, es wieder her zu stellen.“ – Brad Smith, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft.  Daher hat Microsoft sich mit AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter und Yahoo zusammen geschlossen, um Reformen zu unterstützen. Zu den einzelen Punkte gehören:

• Das Einschränken der Möglichkeiten für Regierungen, Anwender-Daten zu sammeln
• Kontrolle und Verantwortlichkeit
• Transparenz hinsichtlich der Forderungen der Regierung
• Respekt vor dem unkontrollierten Fluss von Informationen
• Vermeiden von Konflikten zwischen Regierungen

Frage: Hat Microsoft nicht kürzlich Daten veröffentlicht, aus denen hervorgeht, dass die US-Regierung auf Basis nationaler Sicherheitsgesetze Kundendaten verlangte?

Antwort: Es stimmt, Microsoft hat vor Kurzem neue Informationen veröffentlicht, um für mehr Transparenz im Zusammenhang mit den Anfragen der US-Regierung zu sorgen. Die Informationen belegten Art und Umfang der Anfragen, die auf nationale US-Sicherheitsgesetze und Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) basieren. Wir gaben die Zahl der Kundenkonten bekannt, die von diesen Anordnungen betroffen waren und ob die Anfrage sich auf von Kunden erzeugte Inhalte oder andere Daten bezog. Wir verklagten die US-Regierung, um diese Informationen veröffentlichen zu dürfen.

Obwohl diese Angaben ein Schritt zu mehr Transparenz sind, dürfen zwei Punkte nicht außer acht gelassen werden: Zum einen bedeutet der Empfang einer Anordnung nicht, dass die verlangten Daten auch herausgegeben wurden. Zum anderen steht die Zahl der betroffenen Konten nicht unbedingt in Zusammenhang mit der Zahl der betroffenen Einzelpersonen, da einzelne Anwender mehrere Konten haben können. Weitere Details hierzu im entsprechenden Blogbeitrag.

Gastbeitrag von Michael Kranawetter, Chief Security Advisor (CSA) bei Microsoft in Deutschland. In seinem eigenen Blog veröffentlicht Michael alles Wissenswerte rund um Schwachstellen in Microsoft-Produkten und die veröffentlichten Softwareupdates.

We wanted to gauge our OpsMgr Customers interest in doing an informal round table discussion with OpsMgr product team to influence the future of this product.

If you are planning to attend TechEd 2014 in Houston could you please take this quick survey to let us know. If there is enough interest we will setup a meeting and details on this event will be posted to this blog site.

Note we do not collect any information about you(name, company) in the survey.

Link to the survey:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P5X289J

I dag ble det annonsert at Windows Azure bytter navn til Microsoft Azure, gjeldende fra 3.april.

Dere kan lese mer om navnebyttet på Azure bloggen.

This post will highlight a quickstart guide to getting-up and running with the Visual Studio Online Application Insights for Java.  If this looks extremely similar to the content posted on MSDN, that would because it is.

1) Login to Application Insights for Visual Studio Online. 

If necessary, sign-up here first.

2) Download the Java APM Agent

Again, I will defer to the official documentation for describing how to navigate the UI pages as this contains several pretty pictures.  The short version is that after logging-in to the site, choose the settings icon and navigate to the Keys and Downloads tab.

3) Unzip the Agent locally

For the purposes of this quickstart guide, let's assume that after downloading you have decided to place the zip files to the root folder.  For your own sanity, a folder without spaces tends to make life easier.  The rest of the guide will assume that the Java agent exists in a folder \JavaAgent.

4) Update the Account ID and Account Key in SEAgent.config.xml

In the unzipped folder, locate the SEAgent.config.xml file

   <dataWriter>
      <ApmProcessingAddress>https://eus-amt-wt1.tofino.windowsazure.com</ApmProcessingAddress>
      <!--<accountId>Put the account id obtained from app-analytics portal here</accountId>-->
      <!--<accountKey>Put the instrumentation key obtained from app-analytics portal here</accountKey>-->
      <batchSize>100</batchSize>
    </dataWriter>

change to (for some reason, the blog is fubar'ing the XML below - just make sure to uncomment these accountId and accountKey elements and replace them with the values from the Application Insights web page)

   <dataWriter>
      <ApmProcessingAddress>https://eus-amt-wt1.tofino.windowsazure.com</ApmProcessingAddress>
      <accountId>00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000</accountId>
      <accountKey>00/00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000==</accountKey>
      <batchSize>100</batchSize>
    </dataWriter>

5a) Modify Start-up Script (Windows)

Locate the catalina.bat script and the following line:

:noJuliManager 
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% %LOGGING_MANAGER%

set APM_DIR=\JavaAgent
set APM_OPTS=-Djava.library.path="%APM_DIR%" 
-javaagent:"%APM_DIR%\apm_facade.jar" 
-Xbootclasspath/p:"%APM_DIR%\apm_facade.jar" 
-Xbootclasspath/p:"%APM_DIR%\apm_producers.jar"
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% %APM_OPTS%
rem ----- Execute The Requested Command ---------------------------------------

The above code should be on a single line; however, for formatting reasons this has been broken into several lines to improve readability. For more details, see here.

5b) [Alternate] Modify Start-up Script (Windows as a Service)

The exact syntax will change slightly depending on the version of Tomcat, but the general invocation should look like:

.\bin\Tomcat7 //US//Tomcat7 ++JvmOptions=-javaagent:"\JavaAgent\apm_facade.jar"
#-Xbootclasspath/p:"\JavaAgent\apm_facade.jar"
#-Xbootclasspath/p:"\JavaAgent\apm_producers.jar"
#-Djava.library.path="\JavaAgent"

The above code should be on a single line; however, for formatting reasons this has been broken into several lines to improve readability.  For more details, see this blog post.

5c) [Alternate] Modify Start-up Script (Linux)

Locate the catalina.sh script and the following line:

if [ -z "$LOGGING_MANAGER" ]; then
 JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Djava.util.logging.manager=org.apache.juli.ClassLoaderLogManager"
else
 JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS $LOGGING_MANAGER"
fi
APM_DIR=/path/to/apm/agent/zip/contents 
APM_OPTS="-javaagent:$APM_DIR/apm_facade.jar 
-Xbootclasspath/p:$APM_DIR/apm_producers.jar 
-Xbootclasspath/p:$APM_DIR/apm_facade.jar"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS $APM_OPTS"

# ----- Execute The Requested Command -----------------------------------------

The above code should be on a single line; however, for formatting reasons this has been broken into several lines to improve readability. For more details, see here.

6) (Re-)Start Apache Tomcat

En los últimos años las tecnologías de información se han vuelto una pieza fundamental para el éxito de los negocios, de igual forma desde hace unos 4 años las empresas también han volteado a ver el tema ambiental como un tema importante. Es por ello que en esta ocasión les quiero platicar sobre las tecnologías verdes que no solo ayudarán a habilitar el negocio sino también a disminuir el impacto de la empresa en el medio ambiente

Pero que es tecnología verde? en Wikipedia (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_IT) nos comentan que el término tecnología verde se refiere al uso eficiente de los recursos computacionales minimizando el impacto ambiental, maximizando su viabilidad económica y asegurando deberes sociales.  

Es importante mencionar que para contar con tecnologías verdes no es necesario hacer nuevas inversiones, quizá ya tengamos dichas tecnologías en la empresa pero no las hemos configurado para minimizar su impacto en el medio ambiente, por lo cual y para hacer más fácil el tema permítanme platicares de las tecnologías verdes dividiéndolas en 3 partes: Reducción, administración e innovación.

La primera de ellas tiene que ver con el consumo de energía el cual nos presenta grandes desafíos como lo son la reducción de dicho consumo y el aprovechamiento de las capacidades del hardware (Optimizar los recursos).

Se preguntarán entonces que puedo hacer para reducir el consumo de energía dentro de mi empresa? Bien esto no es más que la configuración correcta de nuestros equipos a través de las políticas de administración de nuestro sistema operativo. Para ello déjenme poner un ejemplo: generalmente cuando nos vamos a una reunión o a comer dejamos nuestros equipos encendidos en nuestro escritorio sin usarlos y así pueden quedarse quizá por 2 o más horas consumiendo energía sin ser necesario. Los sistemas operativos de escritorio como Windows 7 o Windows 8 tienen dentro de su configuración políticas especiales para el ahorro de energía, por ejemplo puedes indicarle de forma sencilla y a través de un ambiente gráfico que la computadora apague el monitor si detecta 5 minutos sin movimiento y mande a hibernar el equipo si llegan a pasar 15 minutos sin uso, la hibernación hará que el equipo se vaya a un estado de inactividad sin que pierdas tu trabajo pero ahorrándote varios pesos. Una computadora bien configurada puede salvar un árbol al año y ahorrarte 600 pesos, quizá esta cantidad no sea mucha pero cuando la multiplicas por el número de computadoras en tu empresa ya hace un número bastante interesante para la gente de finanzas.

Al hablar de optimización de los recursos nos enfocaremos en la parte de servidores y es que según estudios los servidores actualmente se utilizan tan solo en un 7 y 10% de sus capacidades sin embargo los tenemos encendidos todo el tiempo. Las mejores prácticas nos indican que los servidores puedes usarse hasta en un 80% de su capacidad. Entonces como los llevamos de un 10 hasta un 80%? A través de la virtualización lo cual en lugar de tener 10 servidores físicos consumiendo energía nos permitirá consolidarlos en uno solo apagando los otros 9 servidores lo cual te permitirá eliminar hasta el 90% del consumo de energía de tu centro de datos, reduciendo así tus costos y ayudando a salvar hasta 2.5 hectáreas de árboles al año. En Windows Server 2012 podrás encontrar una solución de servidores que entre otras características te permite virtualizar tu centro de datos.

El segundo punto tiene que ver con la administración y monitoreo del consumo de energía. Muy pocos saben que la suite de System Center (http://Technet.mictosoft.com/systemcenter) no solo está diseñada para administrar los sistemas y aplicaciones sino que también nos permite monitorear el consumo de energía de nuestros equipos para generar alguna alerta que nos permita tomar acciones si es que dicho consuno sobrepasa los límites que nosotros hayamos fijado. Con soluciones de administración puedes construir tableros o scorecards que te permitan identificar de forma gráfica que dispositivo (PC, Laptop, Servidor, etc..) de tu infraestructura esta consumiendo mayor energía o bien cual podría aprovecharse de mejor manera (virtualizar).

El tercer punto (innovación) tiene que ver con la implementación de nuevas soluciones que permitan replantear la forma de hacer negocio mientras reducimos nuestra huella en el planeta. Por ejemplo: el uso de videoconferencia como una herramienta que nos permitirá seguir siendo productivos y colaborando con nuestros compañeros de trabajo aun cuando no estemos en la misma ubicación, esto en el ambiente repercute de forma positiva ya que no tenemos que usar nuestro carro para trasladarnos e incluso eso también ayudará a mejorar nuestra calidad de vida disminuyendo el estrés. Soluciones como Office 365 (http://technet.microsoft.com/Office365) te permitirán tener videoconferencia para todos tus usuarios así como otras herramientas de productividad sin tener que hacer inversiones en hardware, obteniendo grandes beneficios para tu empresa y ayudando al medio ambiente.

Si quieres conocer más sobre tecnologías Microsoft que te permitan habilitar al negocio mientras que ayudas al medio ambiente te invito a que visites el sitio http://www.microsoft.com/environment

Many people have spent hours, if not days, playing block-breaker games—but building them would be a whole new ball game.

For two days at nonprofit Dream Together’s centre in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, 40 children busied themselves with wrapping their heads around coding and creating their very own games at the SmallBasic camp, jointly organised by Microsoft Korea.


“At ‘Dream IT Spark IT’, another activity of ours, the children specified that they wanted to do more than just play games. They wanted to be the ones designing the games that others would play. It was gratifying to see them picking up the basics of programming and coding so quickly, at such a young age,” said Seo Jin Jeong, Student of Soongsil University, Microsoft Korea Student Partner.

Helming this programme were 19 Microsoft Student Partners (MSPs), who had themselves picked up those coding skills from Microsoft Korea employees, and now wanted to ‘pay it forward’ by coaching the children who come from underprivileged backgrounds.

How to create blocks and balls in a game? How are scores tallied? Before they could answer these questions, they had to translate programming into a simple and engaging language. After going through basic coding topics such as Text Window, Graphic Window and other Microsoft Small Basic API references, the children were tasked to create an English dictionary and finally, a block-breaker game—complete with colours, music and sound effects of their own choice.

Excited to create their own games, the children were determined to keep up with the lessons. As the classes were conducted in pairs or groups of three, offering close and differentiated guidance, the children were able to learn at their own speed. It wasn’t surprising that Turtle Graphics, a very powerful yet simple programming language that was wildly popular in the 1980s, was a hit with the children who enjoyed using the animated turtle icon to draw shapes on the screen.

After trying to create the dictionary, the children went on to build their games that came complete with animation, pop-up notices, customised wallpaper and sound effects.

“Maybe there’s a Bill Gates amongst them! In this age, coding, like reading and cooking, is a basic skill that anyone can master. We hope that through this camp, the children can pursue more options in life and careers in the future,” declared Eun Bee Song, Audience Marketing Manager, Microsoft Korea.