Welcome to Australia’s REMIX 08!

Unfortunately, Arturo Toledo is no longer able to join us at Remix in Australia.

Fortunately, Tim Aidlen from Microsoft in Redmond has made himself available, and will be giving Arturo's two scheduled presentations: "Introducing Microsoft Expression Studio 2" and "How to become a XAML-ready designer with Expression Blend". Thanks Tim for coming out at such short notice!

Shanemo

Watch Fin and I spruike REMIX08 on PartnerTV.

Watch it here.

Thanks Christian for having us on.

-dg

Phil fills us in on his (almost sold out) Silverlight 2 session @ REMIX08

-dg

Every quokka loves a new laptop. Even when the laptop is twice your weight, height and width.

If you're planning on attending REMIX 08 in Sydney, get in fast - some of the sessions are starting to fill up, particularly in the creative track! (Go Creative Track!)

I also ran in to Tatham Oddie at Code Camp. He filled me in on his MVC talk for REMIX08.

CameronDamian fills us in on his IE8 talk at Remix.

DG gets into the Live Mesh craze.

Why pay for a Remix 08 ticket when you can win one? And a Silverlight skateboard while you’re at it!

Creating Silverlight™ animations with Expression Blend is quick and easy and to prove it we want you to have a go in the lead-up to Remix 08!

So, we are running a Oz Remix Silverlight Video Clip Contest.

What do I have to do?

All you have to do is use Silverlight to create a “video music clip” for the song we supply (“Step Back” by Sydney/NY musician Matt Broadfoot). The entries judged to be the best win prizes!

More Detail

We provide a song clip from the Matt Broadfoot song, “Step Back”. You create a Silverlight application that plays the song and uses Silverlight animation to create a “video music clip” to go with the song clip. You load your video music clip application up onto Silverlight Streaming then sit back and wait for the accolades!

Here’s a (very) simple example: http://blogs.msdn.com/shanemo/pages/remix-silverlight-video-clip-competition-sample.aspx

Yes we have fabulous prizes!

First prize:

• A Silverlight skateboard!!!

• A ticket to Remix 08 Australia Event in either Melbourne or Sydney

Second prize:

• A generation 1 Microsoft Zune® Scotty had lying around – which will be lovely once upgraded to the latest software :-) (*Note: Some of the online features may not operate in Australia.)

• A ticket to Remix 08 Australia Event in either Melbourne or Sydney

Third prize:

• A Microsoft Wireless Presenter Mouse

• A ticket to Remix 08 Australia Event in either Melbourne or Sydney

More Details

For more information, how to enter, terms and conditions, and a starter project check out: Oz Remix Silverlight Video Clip Contest

DG hires a wizened LOLCODE contractor to complete the low-level code for a new web site.

Hmm, need to think of some way to offload this. A Remix competition methinks...

Credit: Darren Sharp

This year's keynote speaker at Australia’s second ReMIX is Mark Pesce. Like LOLCODE, Mark has his own, well deserved Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Pesce

Australians in the internet community would recognise Mark from his copious writings on freedom, email, free/meshed wireless. He is a thought leader amongst thought leaders in this web-centric world.

I've seen Mark present at various conferences through 2007, and have also enjoyed his writings. At ReMIX, Mark will be elevating our imaginations to a higher plane: what may this highly connected future look like?

Microsoft know Mark is going to provide some thought provoking insights.

DG is getting his Developer track ready for the second Australian ReMIX. Fueled by lamingtons and Quokka-Cola, there is a storm of XAML building.

Seats are going fast! Book today!

Ok, Finula's off to have a little lie down because, the Remix Australia 2008 site is open for Registration!

The sessions are up (except for the secret one), as well as the speakers and all the good stuff.

Those dates again:

• Sydney May 20, 2008
• Melbourne May 22, 2008

So please form an orderly line at: http://www.microsoft.com/australia/remix08/index.aspx

This arrived in my Inbox this morning...

(photo by JJ)

As presented at BarcampSydney3: 

• Imagine the best presenter/presentation you have seen
  • This person has practised more than once.
  • plan for the worst case scenario (no projector, laptop nor audience)
• know audience, topic, environment
  • If you are not comfortable wit the topic, don't present it
• Theatre
  • projecting your voice: always stand
  • volume levels: for any audience above 4 people, you need to turn it up a little bit
  • breaking the fourth wall (that is, walk and talk into the audience)
  • Use props.
  • hot vs cold liquids: careful with water as it tightens the vocal chords
• emotional connection
  • Emotional projection: like voice volume, you need to turn it up a few notches to make an impact 
  • tell stories: humans have brains wired to remember stories and retell them
  • audience involvement: get someone on stage and break the fourth wall
• referential comedy
  • appropriate humor (think of your audience) is always a good thing to incorporate
  • to help: keep referencing one humourous comment/moment
• Dealing with the hecklers
  • attention seekers (so give them some attention)
  • or are pained by some experience (divert to post-presentation one on one)
• always leave your audience wanting more

Thanks, Sridhar, for the positive blog comments.

Who does DG look up to in the world?

Do you have cool Web/UX stuff that should be shown off at Remix?

At Remix last year we promised that in 2008 we would turn the stage over to you guys and highlight the great work Aussies are doing with all the new gear.

True to our word, we're planning to showcase some great Australian work at Remix, some of which you don't even know about yet :-).

We're also stacking the speaking spots with Aussies - Remix is a chance for us to build the profile of our local thought leaders too!

So, if you are in Australia and have been working on some cool web/UX stuff in:

• ASP.NET extensions (AJAX, MVC etc)
• Silverlight
• WPF
• Windows Live
• Vista Media Center
• Gadgets
• Expression

Get in touch! Speaking spots are pretty much finalised, but we want to make sure as much cool Aussie work as possible gets some Remix lovin'.

From the able fingers of Stephen Price:

(Quokka Maurice on left, and dg on the right)

Remembering the fun of 2007:

Saving the dates for 2008:

Ok, Finula has aligned all the necessary ducks, and we are go for Remix 08 in Australia! This year we are sharing the love around and taking Remix to:

• Sydney - Tuesday May 20th, and
• Melbourne- Thursday May 22nd

For those that weren't at Remix last year, it's where we take all the best bits of MIX 08 and distill it down into an intense, practical event focusing on all the newest and coolest Microsoft stuff around the Web and User Experience.

Needless to say we'll be focussing on stuff like:

• Silverlight 2 (now in Beta)
• Expression Studio 2 (now in Beta)
• Windows Presentation Foundation
• ASP.NET AJAX
• Internet Explorer 8 (now in Beta!)
• Etc etc...

So mark your diaries now, and start nagging your manager for the $199 registration, which includes a free copy of the entire Expression Studio (worth >$1,000). Registration opens on April 7.