Let Microsoft run Exchange for you

microsoft exchange Live Mesh and other consumer facing initiatives tend to garner the majority of the headlines related to Microsoft’s cloud computing initiatives, but it’s the simple, more boring things like hosted Exchange services that will probably have a bigger direct impact on the bottom line. I’ve run my own servers for a long time now, and while it isn’t incredibly difficult it is time consuming. I’d definitely welcome a switch to having Microsoft run them for me. They seem think it’s going to happen very quickly:

In an interview ahead of the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit, Chris Capossela, who manages Microsoft’s Office products, said the company will see more and more companies abandon their own in-house computer systems and shift to “cloud computing,” a less expensive alternative.

“In five years, 50 percent of our Exchange mailboxes will be Exchange Online,” said Capossela, who expects a portion of Exchange Online customers to come from customers switching from International Business Machines’ (IBM.N) Lotus Domino system.

When you run your own Exchange server, there’s a lot of things you need to worry about. You need to ensure it is patched with the latest updates, that the junk mail filters are configured correctly, that data is being backed up properly, etc. It would be much better if Microsoft just did all of that for me.

I know there are already companies that do this sort of thing, but there’s something about having Microsoft behind the service that appeals to me. They should be the experts on their own software, after all. And I’m sure they’ll eventually offer a suite of these services that’ll just be a no-brainer for small businesses.

Why buy, install, and support an increasingly expensive Small Business Server, when you can just pay Microsoft a monthly fee to do it all for you? That’s where cloud computing will have the biggest impact on businesses.

Read: Yahoo! News

Notes for 5/18/2008

I can’t believe that tomorrow is the final day of the long weekend. Where has it gone?! Here are my weekly notes:

  • Today was the first of many blog upgrades that I’m doing for friends and family. I finally convinced Sharon to move from Blogger to WordPress, and with her own domain too! Starting today, she’ll be blogging at Only Here for the Food. Go check it out.
  • I also upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.5.1. and my Dad’s blogs (which run WordPress MU) to 1.5.1. Looks like everything worked okay, but let me know if you notice any problems.
  • This is a funny video: When Facebook Meets Real Life.
  • It’s quite remarkable what you can learn in an airport. Check out this voicemail that Rick Klau overheard at Dulles (text, not audio).
  • Unsurprisingly, officials in Canada’s north are not happy about the recent U.S. decision to put polar bears on the threatened species list.
  • I started using Pidgin as my IM client for Google Talk this week. Pidgin a muli-protocol instant messaging client, which means you can login to GTalk, AIM, ICQ, and a whole bunch others all at the same time. I’m really happy with it so far! If you use it with Twitter over GTalk, you should definitely get this plugin.
  • It seems that the earthquake in China has prompted the government to ease up on Internet filtering and restrictions. I hope it’s a sign of things to come (less government filtering, not more disasters).
  • Want to buy yourself a gift, but not sure what to buy? Check out SomethingStore.com. For $10, they’ll ship you something chosen at random from their inventory.

Cinnamon-Pancetta Carbonara & WineUrban Fresh SobeysApocalypse GamingSharon @ The City MarketMini DonutsWaiting for Becks

Apocalypse Gaming Lounge in Edmonton

While walking to the City Market downtown today, Sharon and I happened upon Apocalypse Gaming Lounge, located on 107th street at 102nd avenue. The mirrored windows make it impossible to miss. Apocalypse opened on April 8th, after some construction and setup delays (according to their website). We decided to check it out.

Gaming machines

Apocalypse has thirty kick-ass looking computers for gaming, as well as a dedicated Xbox 360 Rock Band stage with two overhead flat screen televisions. They’ve also got a couple retro coin-op arcade machines. The decor is reminiscent of a restaurant like Moxie’s, with hardwood floors, black leather couches and exposed brick walls. You can see the full list of available games on their website.

They are open Sunday through Thursday from 10am to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 2am. Rates are $6.50 per hour ($30 per day) for non-members, and $4.50 per hour if you decide to pay the $40 per year membership fee. There were no gamers in the lounge early this afternoon, but I suspect their clientele are more night owls than early risers. Here are some photos I took of Apocalypse.

Internet cafes are nothing new of course (a great one in Edmonton is 3rd on Whyte), but I haven’t seen many gaming lounges. I wonder if this is part of a growing trend? Are gaming lounges sprouting up in other cities? I think the concept is great, especially with games like Rock Band, but I wonder how feasible the business is. Apocalypse has 108 members in their Facebook Group though, so maybe there’s more demand than I thought.

Smallville Season 7 ends…one more to go

smallville season 7 On Thursday night, the 20th and final episode of Smallville’s seventh season aired on the CW. As far as Smallville season finale’s go, it was neither the worst nor the best. If you need more proof of that, check out all the messages on Twitter. Some loved it, some hated, some were indifferent. The one thing I can say for certain is that I’m glad next season will be the show’s last (the 8th season was confirmed recently).

The biggest challenge facing the show is the exodus of cast members. Lionel Luthor was killed off earlier this season, which means that John Glover won’t be back. Michael Rosenbaum announced earlier this month that he won’t be back as Lex Luthor. And Kristin Kreuk is only scheduled to appear in a handful of episodes as Lana Lang. Fortunately, Allison Mack will be returning as Chloe Sullivan, despite some difficult contract negotiations.

Two new characters are apparently joining the regular cast next season. The first is a woman known as “Tess” who is supposed to fill the gap left by Rosenbaum. That is, she’ll be looking after Lex’s interests. No word on how his disappearance will be explained. The second is the villain Doomsday, best known in the comic world for being the only character to have killed Superman (Doomsday died too).

The finale on Thursday could have been so much better. Series producers/creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar won’t be back next season, and I think they were forced to leave the door open in order for the show to continue. I am glad the writers and producers tried to close some story arcs this year, but I am left wanting more. I really don’t like the way Lex’s storyline in Smallville was concluded (assuming Rosenbaum doesn’t return for a guest spot or two next season). The final scene with Clark and Lex deserved so much more screen time than it received. It could have been epic, but instead felt rushed. I wonder how the story will progress next season, and I fear that it won’t at all.

I’m hopeful that season eight will be enjoyable, but I also think that the time has come for Clark Kent to leave the farm in Smallville behind.

David Beckham in Edmonton!

Tonight I went to Commonwealth Stadium with Megan to watch an exhibition Major League Soccer game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Los Angeles Galaxy. I hadn’t really been paying attention I guess, so didn’t realize the event was happening until Megan asked me last week if I wanted to go. I said yes, curious about how soccer would go over in Edmonton and of course, about David Beckham.

David Beckham

He didn’t score a goal, but he was awarded an assist. The Galaxy ended up losing 2-1, but it could have been far worse if not for their keeper. Vancouver was clearly the stronger team tonight. For more on the game, check out CBC.

Every time Beckham touched the ball, the crowd would cheer! It was kind of funny and kind of annoying all at the same time. At one point everyone started doing the wave. Megan and I couldn’t help but think, “this isn’t a hockey game!” For the most part though everyone seemed to be having a good time (despite the intermittent rain), and very few left after Beckham was replaced in the 75th minute.

While walking to the LRT station after the game, we ran into the crowd of people waiting to catch a glimpse of Beckham getting on the bus to leave the stadium. We hung around for a while and eventually saw him emerge, but the photos didn’t turn out so well. He signed a few autographs, but disappeared rather quickly.

In the end, I’d say that soccer is more enjoyable on television (keeping in mind that I’ve never been to a game in say, Europe). I eagerly await the World Cup, for instance! Bringing the exhibition game to Edmonton probably had the desired effect though – to capitalize on Beckham’s popularity as a way to introduce more people to MLS.

Here are my pictures from the game.

comingzune in Edmonton on May 16th

The iPod still has a lock on the market for portable media players, but at least Microsoft is doing some interesting marketing. Over the weekend I was notified about the comingzune parties happening in seven Canadian cities (it seems Montreal was a late addition).

comingzune

The Edmonton event takes place on Friday night at 9pm at The Artery, which Sharon tells me is an up and coming venue in our city. Here’s the map of the location.

I love the band name – The Wicked Awesomes! Never heard of them before though. They are five local guys, apparently influenced by devo. Take from that, what you will.

Notes for 5-11-2008

Here are my weekly notes:

  • Went to see Iron Man last night and quite enjoyed it! The critics pretty much unanimously agreed that Robert Downey Jr. made the film and was an excellent choice for Tony Stark. Couldn’t agree more! I look forward to the sequels.
  • I’ll admit it – I often scan things online rather then reading them closely. Research suggests the practice is common.
  • Here are some statistics about GTA IV sales thus far. Pretty amazing how well the game is selling.
  • Tonight marks the final episode of Sue Johanson’s “Talk Sex” call-in show. She’s calling it quits after 32 years of being on TV. I think it’s amazing she’s been doing it for so long…I mean, she’s 77 years old!
  • Sharon and I went to check out the new Urban Fresh Sobey’s on Jasper Avenue and 104th street yesterday after the Tweetup. The store is really nice inside, but it was extremely busy and there’s not a lot of room to move around. I’m not sure you’d want to buy all your groceries there, but the prepackaged meals and ready-to-eat food make it perfect for downtowners.
  • Can’t remember where I found this, but here’s 50 ways to help the planet.
  • I’m slowly but surely getting settled in the new apartment. Still missing a few things, but for the most part, we’re good to go.

EdmontonTweetup1 was a success!

edmontontweetup Today we held the first ever tweetup in Edmonton (a meetup for Twitter users) and I think it’s safe to say that it was a success! We met downtown at three bananas cafe in Churchill Square at around noon. I wasn’t sure how many people would come, and was a little worried when I received a bunch of “sorry, can’t make it” messages this morning. In the end though, the attendance was much better than I could have expected, considering Twitter is still fairly niche. We had 17 people, including myself. You can see the full list of attendees on our wiki page.

Some of us took photos, Greg took some video, and Ian even did a podcast! You can find links to everything on the wiki (please add to the list).

EdmontonTweetup

We didn’t have a formal agenda, but that didn’t matter much. As I suspected, everyone found things to chat about. Connections were made and everyone seemed to be having a good time! There was some Twitter-related talk, mainly around apps and how people use Twitter. I talked about the “track” feature and also hashtags. It seems that most people have really gotten into Twitter in just the last few months.

Three Bananas was a great venue, very bright with reliable wifi. Today was a lovely day too, which made it even better.

I think we’ll probably have another tweetup, I’m just not sure when. You can help us plan it by contributing to the wiki page for EdmontonTweetup2.

Thanks to everyone who came – it was great to meet you! And to everyone who wanted to come but couldn’t, we’ll see you at the next one!

Volunteer for one of Edmonton's great festivals

volunteer edmonton Despite another setback for our neighbors to the south this week, summer is definitely on the way and that means lots and lots of festivals here in Edmonton. With over 30 established festivals each year, it’s no surprise that we’re Canada’s Festival City. It should also be no surprise that running 30 festivals requires a lot of time and effort, largely from volunteers:

The estimated number of volunteers required by Edmonton’s festivals is about 5,000 people! Our festivals are a source of community pride and an important element in the quality of life for Edmontonians in the summer – and beyond!

To help attract new volunteers, Volunteer Edmonton is co-hosting a Festival Volunteer Fair next week:

This recruitment event will showcase multiple festivals and will provide members of the community with a “one stop festival volunteer shopping experience”.  We have confirmed that 15 diverse and exciting festivals will be on site, highlighting the volunteer opportunities they have to offer.

I think there are actually over 20 festivals now participating, including the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, A Taste of Edmonton, The Works Art & Design Festival, and the International Street Performers Festival.

The recruitment event takes place on Wednesday, May 14th from 3pm to 7pm at the TransAlta Arts Barns. Here’s a map of the location, and for more information you can call 211 or visit the Volunteer Edmonton site.

Check it out and pass it on!

Brightkite is cool so far

brightkite The latest shiny-new-toy that people seem to be playing with is Brightkite, a location-based social network. You can think of it as a sort of Twitter for location information. I’ve been using it for the last few days and so far I like what I see.

Brightkite started as a TechStars startup, and they recently closed a round of funding. CNET posted a decent writeup on the company today which includes some good background information, so check that out if you want to learn more about them.

To get started with Brightkite, you need to “check in” at a location. You can do this by specifying an address, business, or a “placemark”. Placemarks are like saved locations, so you could create a placemark called “Home” with your home address. In my testing thus far, searching for addresses is excellent but searching for businesses never returns anything.

Once you’ve checked in, Brightkite will show you people who are near you, and you can look at people who have visited that location in the past. You can also post notes (like a status update) and photos at your location. In case you’re wondering, Brightkite actually has really excellent privacy control options, so you can choose who can see your location and to what level of detail.

Like Twitter, I think Brightkite is something you need to use to truly grok. Here are my favorite things about the service thus far:

  • I think they’ve nailed the basic concepts. Placemarks make sense, and checking in at a location isn’t as cumbersome as you might think.
  • They use Twitter and Satisfaction for customer service. They’re also bloggers.
  • Just yesterday they launched a wicked iPhone interface. I love it!
  • I find the main web interface friendly and easy-to-use.

Of course, Brightkite is far from perfect. Some things I’d love to see improved:

  • The SMS interface doesn’t work in Canada. Brightkite would be a million times more useful if I could update via text message.
  • You can update via email, but it’s really picky about not having signatures and other content in the body.
  • Brightkite will show you the places you’ve visited and how many times you’ve visited them, but I think what would be really useful is the ability to see your routes on a map.

Another huge item for me is an API, and the only reason I left it out of the list above is that I know they’re actively working on it. I think Brightkite usage could explode if they do the API right, a la Twitter.

Of course, a social network is really only useful if there are people on it and that’s definitely one thing that is keeping me from truly experiencing Brighkite. There are a few Edmonton people on the service, but not enough that I’ve been close to anyone yet! I have four invites left if you’d like to join 🙂

I am eager to see how Brightkite improves and grows. With a few more features and some tweaking, it could become extremely useful for me. There are a bunch of location-based services out there, but so far Brightkite is the first one I’ve really liked.