Maria's blog in Bangladesh

Windows Mobile prototype stolen

In case you haven’t heard this story already, a prototype phone with Windows Mobile 6.5 was stolen last week at the Mobile World Congress, Information Week reports about it here. The device was used by a customer to do a demo and it got stolen. Except for his personal data on the phone there was of course also a risk of someone getting access to the bits. But what Microsoft did was just wiping the device remotely so both OS and data was erased.

Pretty good example on how important it is to have secure mobile phones! More about Windows Mobile here

Are you Certifiable?

Check out this cool game that answers the question: “Are you Certifiable”. You decide if you’re a Developer or IT Pro and then you start answering questions :-) Some of the questions appear to be taken straight from the pages of Microsoft Certification, so it looks like a good primer for someone preparing to take a MS Certification exam. Also, stay on the look out for fun questions, like who invented the mouse? Choose a character, select your field of expertise, and pit yourself against the entire online tech community in a quest for Tech IQ supremacy, a top spot on the leaderboard!!

I have also gathered some links from MS Learning that explains why and how to get certified and also some learning material.

Microsoft Certification Overview

Second Shot Offer

Microsoft Learning Events

Born To Learn Blog

Learning Snacks

Interested in Security? Then you must read this blog!

If you’re interested in security, here’s a blog tips for you! Steve Riley works at Microsoft in the US and he is a very appreciated blogger and speaker around security. You find his blog here

Learn how to save cost and develop yourself

I just came across a really good site that we have built to try to help out in today’s tough economic environment. It’s called Thrive you find useful links, videos and other material. It starts with a welcome message from Tony Scott, CIO at Microsoft, and then focuses on 3 things:

• Advance Your Career: You find recommendations on how to write a resume, how and why to get certified, free online trainings available, how to use body language during an interview etc.
  
• Enhance Your Technical Skills: You find interviews, web casts, radio shows etc focusing on Virtualization and Desktop Optimization
  
• Align IT with Business: You find web casts, white papers, analytics reports around how to save cost, how to calculate Return On Investment (ROI), case studies etc.

I really think you should take a look at this. Especially the career and alignment parts is something we so often forget about. Even if you’re an expert in your job with a competence that is needed in your company we all need to understand how we can show that technology helps the business against competitors and that you are betting on the right thing!

TechNet Flash Bangladesh

Every month we send a newsletter to IT Pros in Bangladesh, TechNet Flash, where we tell you about new trainings, content, web casts, eLearning, Betas and other downloads. You can subscribe to it by signing up here

I’m a PC contest

I guess you have seen the I’m a PC video that Microsoft did in the US, if not you can see it here.

Now you can record your own video and win some cool prizes like a Windows Vista and a web cam. More information about the contest in the Community Programs forum.

Good luck :-)

Free Virtualization E-Book

MS Press is right now offering a free E-Book on Virtualization Solutions like Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Application Virtualization and much more. Download it here.

How to upload a video on Soapbox

To upload a video on Soapbox you can follow these simple steps:

1. Go to http://video.msn.com

2. In the upper right corner you click “Upload Video”

3. Sign in with your LiveID or create a new if you don’t have one already.

4. Set a nickname

5. Browse for you video, give it a title, a description and tags. You also need to chose a category (technology, comedy etc) and make sure the permission is set to Public. The you agree to the terms and click Upload

6. When you’re done you get a link that you can share with your friends, embed in your blog etc.

Good luck!

Security Guides for Microsoft Operating Systems

Have you heard of Solution Accelerators? It’s free tools and guidance from Microsoft that you can use of you need help with current or future deployments. As part of the Solution Accelerators library we have Security Guides for our operating systems with step-by-step information on how to make your server or client as secure as you want! Check them out for your version of Windows:

Windows Server 2008
Windows Vista
Windows Server 2003
Windows XP
Windows Server 2000

Windows 7 Beta availability ends at February 10

We announced the general availability of Windows 7 Beta in the beginning of January and the interest has been massive. Millions of people worldwide have downloaded the bits so now the Beta program will close on February 10th. If you have a MSDN or TechNet Subscription you will still be able to download even after this date. More information about the shut down process can be found on the Windows Blog and if you want to download the beta you can go to the Springboard Series for Windows 7

Welcome

This is my first blog post in TechNet Bangladesh, Microsoft’s new online community for IT Professionals. I will share news about products, industry trends, links that I found useful and other stuff that every IT Pro should know!