Microsoft China is coming to Australia!
Microsoft is a global enterprise with different subsidiaries specialising in various aspects of the business. China holds the second largest Research and Development Centre for Microsoft after the U.S.
Enwei Xie, the General Manager for Microsoft China, will be coming to Australia to discuss the exciting opportunities available in their R&D division.
During his visit, he has specifically asked to be given the opportunity to connect with University students to talk about the subsidiary and the Server and Tools business. The objective of this presentation is to attract, grow and retain talent for its centres of excellence.
This presentation will provide information on what the opportunities are in China, present and future development projects as well as information on how students can apply and the steps they can expect as part of the recruitment and selection process.
Whilst the event is open to all University students with technical interests, we would like to highlight this opportunity to international students interested in careers in China.
Date: 3rd October, 2008.
Time: 1pm-4pm
Place: Microsoft office Sydney
1 Epping Road
North Ryde.
Note: Pre-registration is a must for entry.
Strict RSVP Deadline: 5:00pm – Thursday 2nd October, 2008
Email: gr8hire@microsoft.com
-Karo
What's DevSta? The Devsta {Challenge 2008} is a coding comp for Australian developers. Whether you’re a professional or amateur coder, you are invited to compete for the glorious title of DevSta! The competition has a very exciting surprise element to it.
How does the competition work? No one knows what they will be ask to code until the briefing which will be presented to all registrants on 0808 EST Monday 29 September 2009. Once briefed, everyone will have the same amount of time to code away- 200 hours, 8 minutes!
What is the reward? Your submission will be judged by a panel of experts and the winner will receive an awesome DevSta prize pack worth over $18,000* RRP – including a trip to Las Vegas to attend the MIX09 Developer Conference, a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with a one year MSDN Premium Subscription, and an Xbox 360® Elite console package! With a total prize pool valued at over $33,000 RRP there are also some fantastic runner-up prizes to be won
How do I enter? Go to http://devsta.microsoft.com.au/and register now. All registrants can download Microsoft Visual Studio for free.
The DevSta website is very cool. Check it out
-Karo
Check out the new “I’m a PC” Commercials from MS. Pretty good commercial, has a few celebrities too, how many you can spot?
-Karo
What a fantastic event, Student Day (SD) attracted over 1200 students both from Universities and High Schools around NSW and some interstate. Student Day was the platform for the official launch of Microsoft Dreamspark and StudentstoBusiness (S2B) in Australia. If you haven't heard already, Dreamspark is a Microsoft student program designed to offer all tertiary students access to Microsoft’s designer and developer tools for FREE! Dreamspark will also be rolled out to High Schools early next year. Check out the website for more info www.dreamspark.com. S2B is a Microsoft Community initiative designed to connect Microsoft partners and customers with qualified students for entry level and internship positions. A great opportunity to gain work experience or a post-graduate position. Register at StudentstoBusiness.
For High School students, SD offered an opportunity for students to gain an insight into the wonderful world of ICT (Information, Communication, Technology). Industry professionals presented on a range of topics, including, Game Development, latest trends in technology, career panel and more…
-Main Theatre- High School session
-Game Development session with Luke Drumm from Readify
The University session as well as the High School session was keynoted by Joe Wilson, Microsoft Senior Director for Academic Initiatives. Joe's presentation was very insightful and inspiring, he discussed the importance of ICT and the significant impact each student can have by contributing their imagination and creativity to the industry.
- (Above) Joe Wilson Presenting (very cool guy!)
Student Day would not have been the same without the awesome effort of the Microsoft Student Partners who helped organise the event- big thanks to the MSPs!!
-(Above) MSPs (in red and white shirts) with the Tech Ed “Smack Down Team”
- (Above) Students going crazy at the “Its Not Cheating” Booth
Student Day will be transformed into a Microsoft Academic Road Show which will travel to 6 major states early next year (Feb-March 2009. Stay tuned for more info.
-Karo
The second commercial in the Seinfeld/Gates series was recently released. This commercial still leaves a lot for the imagination. They are slowly starting to give some hints as to what the messaging behind the campaign really is. Check it out for yourself below.
-Karo
Check out the new Microsoft Windows commercial starring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. The commercial is funny but strange at the same time. I can't seem to clearly understand the messages coming out of it. From what I gather, this is the first commercial from a series of mini-commercials to come. Hopefully the next one will be slightly more informative. What are your thoughts?
-Karo
If you haven't seen Photosynth yet, you have to try it out! Photosynth takes a large collection of photos of a place or object, analyses them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed 3-Dimensional space. With Photosynth you can walk or fly through a scene to see photos from any angle. Seamlessly zoom in or out of a photograph whether it’s megapixels or gigapixels in size. See where pictures were taken in relation to one another, even find similar photos to the one you’re currently viewing and let the magic of Photosynth put it all together.
Until now, Photosynth was only available to view as a demo, now you can download the program and create your own Photosynth. Cool features include:
- Embed your Photosynth creation in your Virtual Earth Applications
- Cloud service for Photosynths created
- 20gb hosted storage for your synth creations
I plan to take photos of the office and create my own Photosynth soon, very exciting!!! For more information check out:
Install Photosynth now
-Karo
With less than 2 weeks to go before the annual Tech Ed Student Day event in Sydney, High School registrations have reached capacity, with over 1000 students registered for the morning High School session, its looks like Student Day will be a sell out event! University registrations are still open, you can register for the free Student Day event by clicking here. The Afternoon University session will see the launch or Dreamspark, all students attending Student Day will receive a complimentary copy of Dreamspark software on two DVD discs, this includes, Visual Studio, Expression Studio, Windows Server and XNA game studio.
Prizes for Student Day University Session have been finalised, here is what’s on offer, 2 XBOX CONSOLES, 3 HTC SMART PHONES, 5 WEBCAMS, 10 DIFFERNET TITLES OF SOFTWARE, GAMES, AND MORE...
For more information, check out the Tech Ed Student Day website and register now!
Got his in my inbox the other day, its called 'Popfly Olympics', designed for all the people who weren't able to compete or attend the Beijing Olympics :) A range of cool games created using Popfly & Silverlight. Competitions include, torch lighting, soccer, tack & field, archery, long-jump, weightlifting, boxing, gymnastics, diving, synchronised swimming. Try each of the games below, just click on the link. Create a mini-Olympics between your friends and compete for glory (Gold)....
Try to light all 14 torches by clicking on them! Watch out, they’re fast!
To Play:
http://popfly.com/users/team/light%20the%20torches
GOOAAAL!!!
Pick countries to go head-to-head in this game of Foosball Soccer!
To Play:
http://popfly.com/users/team/soccer
Ready… Set… Go! It’s the 100-meter dash, pick your country and hurdle across the Finish Line to Victory!
To Play:
http://popfly.com/users/team/track%20and%20field
Pick your targets carefully, aim, and fire your arrows in this addicting game of Archery!
To Play:
http://popfly.com/users/team/archery
Help Rocket Chicken score his longest Long Jump and win a Gold Medal!
To Play:
http://popfly.com/users/team/long%20jump
Test your ‘Strength’ by keeping the barbell off the floor and trying not to turn red in the face!
To Play:
http://popfly.com/users/team/weightlifting
Forget Tyson vs. Holyfield, this is the real Boxing match of the century: my Xbox versus your Playstation. It’s Battle of the Game Consoles!
To Play:
http://popfly.com/users/team/boxing
Spin, jump and twirl through the air without ever leaving your chair!
To Play:
http://www.popfly.com/users/Team/Gymnastics
Dive through the water and hit the target – harder than it looks!
To Play:
http://www.popfly.com/users/Team/Diving
Mirror your teammates movements with this synchronized swimming game!
To Play:
http://www.popfly.com/users/Team/Synchronized%20Swimming
-Karo
Tech Ed's annual Student Day event will be held on Tuesday the 2nd of September at the Sydney Convention Centre, Darling Harbour. Two half-day sessions have been specifically designed for High School students in the morning (9:30-1pm) and University students in the afternoon (1-5pm). Student Day will offer the next generation of technologists the opportunity to be a part of Australia's premier IT education event. The best thing about Student Day is that its FREE for all students.
University Students are invited to attend the afternoon session where industry and Microsoft experts present on a range of interesting and relevant topics including, Robotics, XNA game studio, Expression and Visual studio, Imagine Cup, Career development and more, check out the agenda for further details.
Student Day will also see the official launch of Dreamspark in Australia. Dreamspark offers all University students access to Microsoft's developer, designer and platform tools including, Visual Studio, Expression Studio, Windows server, SQL server, 12 month Trial subscription to XNA creators club and more. All tertiary students who register for student day and attend the event will receive a complimentary copy of Dreamspark on two DVD discs, saving you the hassle of downloading all the software!
High School students will witness presentations on some of the latest & coolest trends taking place in ICT including, XBOX and Windows games development, "How an Olympian stays connected" using various online collaborative tools, an engaging panel discussion on 'where can a career in ICT take you" and more.
For more info on Student Day, please check out the Student Day Website, High Schools interested in registering for Student Day, please contact stu08@microsoft.com
The Imagine Cup competition is getting bigger and better. Over 250 000 students entered the 2008 Imagine Cup competition, making it one of the biggest student competitions in the world. Imagine Cup 2009 will offer students more categories to compete in, a bigger prize pool and the chance to travel to Egypt for an all expenses paid finals!
Robotics enthusiasts get excited as the 2009 Imagine Cup competition includes Robotics into its invitational line-up. Mashup is another new category being introduced in Imagine Cup 09,"This competition challenges students to mash together elements - music, data, visuals, services and anything else they can think of - and rearrange them into something that dramatically changes how people look at a tough issue."
The theme for Imagine cup 09 is aligned with the UN's Millennium goals, which aim to address global issues including poverty, education, health, the environment and more. The theme will be used in the Imagine Cup competition for the next 3 years. This is a long term vision by the Imagine Cup organisers, allowing students to improve on their projects/development each year and advance further in their competition.
For more information, including registrations, go to www.imaginecup.com
Team SOAK (Smart Operational Agriculture Kit) from Australia have been announced as the winners of the 2008 Imagine Cup!!! This is simply an amazing achievement, SOAK members Long Zheng, David Burela, Ed Hooper and Dimaz Pramudya have all come together from different Universities across Australia to create and complete their fantastic project, SOAK .
Over 220 000 students from around world entered this years Imagine Cup competition, 110 000 Students entered the Software Design invitational, from that 500 students were chosen to represent their country in the world finals here in Paris and Australia's team SOAK continued their amazing success and have been crowned the winners of the 2008 Imagine Cup.
Team SOAK have also been announced as the winners of the BT Innovation Accelerator award. SOAK will have the opportunity to work closely with BT and various business consultancies groups to commercialise their invention. Once their business proposal for SOAK is complete, they will have the opportunity to present their proposal in America to a group of potential investors.
Registrations are now open for the 2009 Imagine Cup Competition, register now and be a part of the journey to Egypt.
WOW, watch team SOAK's reaction as they are named the winners of the Imagine Cup 2008. If the video is not working, please click here to watch video!
Check out Team SOAK's winning presentation at the world finals. This is the presentation that won the competition. Must see! approximately 18 minutes. If the video below is not working, please click here to watch video!
Stay tuned to MSOZACADEMIC for a full interview with team SOAK straight after their finals win! Team SOAK explains their winning solution.
After making it to the top 6 in Software Design, SOAK presented their amazing project at world the finals last night. Their presentation went for 20 minutes followed by 5 minutes of Q&A which the team handled superbly. Overall their presentation was flawless, the boys really stepped it up a notch and gave the audience an amazing show.
Check out their presentation for yourself. The video below runs for 90 seconds. The full presentation video (18min) will be posted here in 24 hours along with the results of the finals. Can Australia take home the Imagine Cup? Stay tuned....
Team SOAK have advanced to the top 6 in the Software Design category at the world finals, this is an amazing result! After presenting 3 times in the last two days, team SOAK has been chosen out of 70+ Software Design finalists teams from around the world. Team SOAK along with Slovakia, Brazil, China, Hungry and Portugal will compete in the Software Design finals tomorrow evening. The finals will be held at the famous Louvre Museum in Paris, each team will present their projects in front of a packed house, with over 1500 attendees, the atmosphere will be intense.
The video below was recorded today when Joe Wilson announced the Software Design Finalists. It was in no particular order and Australia was the 6th and last team to be announced. Check out Team SOAK's reaction when they hear their name called.
-Opening Ceremony @ Paris town Hall
-Round 1 presentations, Team SOAK presenting to 4 Judges
-Software and Embedded Design finalists
Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) Steven George recently submitted his entry into the Demo's Happen Here competition. Steven Chose a simple but interesting topic (Vodka O.J), combined with a clear and insightful demo on Visual Studio, and a very cool Facebook application as his entry into the Demo's Happen Here competition. Steve is now in the running for an all expenses paid trip to Tech Ed 2009 in L.A. Click here to check out Steven's Demo!
