Cloud, again
October 30, 2009
If you want to see the future (and the present) of cloud computing, take a look at this Forbes article which unveils the cool Datacenter outside Chicago…
here are a just a few paragraphs from the story…
Microsoft’s New Cloud Computing
Quentin Hardy, 10.29.09, 10:20 AM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated November 16, 2009
Out of the blue: Microsoft’s new operating system will run through all computers in its giant data network.
“In a suburb outside Chicago, Microsoft has been showing off its latest data center. The 707,000-square-foot building will hold, at top strength, 162 sealed cargo containers of up to 2,500 computer servers each, plus thousands more servers in conventional racks. The cost: $500 million. But though Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system is capturing all the attention these days, this bland building might be a place to see the company’s future.”
“All the computers will run on a single operating system called Azure that, eventually, will let big companies run applications like e-mail and house data at this and other Microsoft ( MSFT – news - people ) centers. Azure is the company’s main play in the biggest contest in technology, called cloud computing, wherein data storage and computation take place many miles from customers’ desks. The idea is to cut the cost of the labor, the hardware and the energy that go into data processing, and to make files accessible to workers who move around a lot. Proponents promise cost reductions between 30% to 90%. At the Chicago center only three Microsoft employees and a few contractors can run over 400,000 servers catering to more than 670 million e-mail and instant messaging accounts and drawing 60 megawatts of electricity.”
“Microsoft will initially use this center to run 250 of its businesses, including the Bing search service and the Xbox Live gaming platform. Those now run on servers all over the world. But the real goal is to persuade big companies like Coca-Cola Enterprises ( CCE – news - people ), Fujitsu and Pitney Bowes ( PBI – news - people ) (which have taken a peek) to trust their data to the megacomputers and then trust Azure to manage it.”
If we’ve seen anything this week — enter Los Angeles - it’s that the battle over the cloud is going to be a long, hard-fought one.
Windows 7 Takes Off!
October 27, 2009
From Seattle to West Hempfield township, Lancaster County, Windows 7 Parties are taking place all over…honestly, I should have launched it here at the House of Klause — not only because I am loving it (I work for Microsoft, what do you expect), but because my Mac husband has been using it longer than me (on one of his 7 machines) and loves it… Here are some direct quotes…from me and from him… guess which one is from whom..
“It’s fun to shake the screens have all but one disappear”
“It’s 64-bit goodness rocks”
“The Sticky Notes function (start, all programs, accessories, stickynotes)”
“It starts up wicked quick”
“Stability, reliability, security”
“The new tool bar allows me to manage about 50 windows at once!”
Yes, some of these are from the very guy who made my life difficult this week by re-launching White House.gov in Drupal/Open Source. (big sigh…) But I digress. Just for fun, here are some glowing stories on Windows 7…
— First is my colleague Kristin’s summary blog post on some of the cool stuff happening around the launch…she highlights a very cool campaign that our citizenship team launched called “7 ways to change the world’ — looking specifically at how Windows 7 features can benefit the work of non profits and governmental efforts to address the world’s challenges.
— eSchool News: Schools give Windows 7 favorable reviews
— Wall Street Journal – A Windows to Help You Forget….“After using pre-release versions of Windows 7 for nine months, and intensively testing the final version for the past month on many different machines, I believe it is the best version of Windows Microsoft has produced. It’s a boost to productivity and a pleasure to use. Despite a few drawbacks, I can heartily recommend Windows 7 to mainstream consumers.”
– Wired — Seven good reasons to switch to Windows 7…..“Because no matter how comfortable you are with XP, you do deserve an OS that’s both newer and better, and Windows 7 will deliver.”
— CNET – Microsoft Windows 7 (Professional)…CNET editor’s rating: Outstanding
Giving Back to Military Families
October 22, 2009
Feeling pretty lucky lately, that my job affords me the opportunities it does — flexibility, work from home when necessary, an office right down the street from the kids’ school, constant challenge and working with some incredible people who believe in the power of technology to contribute to a changed and better world.
In addition to all of that, however, one of the very coolest aspects of the job is how we get to give back, to serve. Here in Microsoft public sector, we live and work in the Washington DC region. Those who serve our nation are also our customers, our neighbors. Giving back to this community should be part of our corporate culture, our citizenship charter. And it is. In very small ways, we are able to support some incredible organizations…
For the 3rd year in a row, we’re working with the USO of Metro DC to bring entertainment and fun to the troops and their families..In September, Santa came early — with some Radio City Music Hall Rockettes — to share the news that the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is coming to DC in December…and Microsoft and the USO will be hosting a full show for 8200+ troops and their families…
After traveling across the city via metro and pedicab, Santa found the Radio City Rockettes and posed for some quintessential DC shots
Santa also made a stop at Fort Myers to say hey to some troops and families…
Recently, I’ve also been introduced to the incredible work of the American Red Cross of the National Capital Area.. Serving on the organization’s Fire and Ice Gala communications committee has opened my eyes to the work this group does day in and day out to support our military families in the region — with everything from basic supplies to airport welcomes to sitting by a wounded soldier’s bed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The Gala was an amazing evening of honoring our military and their families. General Peter Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, and his wife Beth, helped to honor our wounded from every branch of the service. CBS Correspondent Kimberly Dozier spoke eloquently of the service members commitment to duty, honor, country. Dozier herself was injured and near death, due to a roadside bomb in Iraq, while she was covering the war.
It was an honor to be part of this evening… and to raise funds and awareness for one of the most essential causes in our area.
Here are a few pictures from the night!
Microsoft's Teresa Carlson (center) flanked a friend and Goldi Kamali of FedScoop (r).
Rob and me, enjoying the evening..
A vast array of silent auction items....
Speed of Sound
October 20, 2009
It came and went so quickly….
I could be talking about our 20th High School class reunion, and in part, I am. It was an evening of laid back, unpretentious goodness.
But I’m also talking about the last 20 years of life. wow. It actually hit me that weekend. There is only one chance at life. No do-overs (for the most part). And it goes by fast. The decisions we make in our late teens and 20s will impact us in one way or another for years to come. In schooling. Love life. Career choices. I am stating the obvious. Yet, it’s not until you get to your mid 30s that you can really look back and see the collective impact of a number of choices along the way of life. Starting with..where to go off to school? And then…What job to take? Can I move away from the only thing I know as home? How long to stay at each job? If the second date could be worth it? With whom to stay in touch?
We attempt to reflect and simultaneously tell our selves there is no time to look back. Yet, we are where we are and who we are because of the big and small decisions along the road – and a big dose of Sovereignty that we (at least I) can’t quite explain. I’ve realized since that reunion weekend how fortunate I have been to have certain people in my life over the first half of it. How I am, in part, who I am because of role they have played in my life. Despite some of my choices, they have truly been God’s gracious gifts to me.
The coming years will speed by as my daughter grows into her own woman. How I wish to help her avoid some of the pain and angst it may take along her way, as she blossoms into who she is in Christ and figures out her own path. In typical Mia fashion, she’ll likely have some surprises for us — maybe rejecting the safe, the staid, the predictable…
She’s got “her whole life ahead of her” we so easily say.. Yet it will move lightening fast. I just know it. God, give her meaning. And help her mom continue to find it afresh in her own second half of life.
Cloudy Skies
October 19, 2009
“What’s the old movie line from ‘Annie Hall’? Relationships are like sharks; they move forward, or they die,” says Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive. “Well, technology companies either move forward, too, or they die. They become less relevant.”
This quote, taken from this past Sunday’s New York Times story on Microsoft’s big bets on Win7 and the Cloud — pretty much summarizes the reality of our industry, the speed at which change is coming, and the ability of Microsoft to remain relevant, particularly among the seemingly nimble competitors Amazon and Google. The next 12 months are going to be a wild ride. We will launch not only Windows 7, but Azure and Office 2010. We will move government cusotmers to the cloud at record speed, battling it out for business every step of the way. I’m hoping for less of these stories along the way and working for more of these.
“We can never become complacent, because just when the services transformation has gotten to this point, the next transformation comes,” Mr. Ozzie says. “That’s the way our company works.”
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Tonya is a Community Content Producer for
WUSA9.com, DC's CBS affiliate.