Microsoft Student Partners

Fallen behind on your Windows 7 news? Or wondering where to go to hear the latest from key Windows Engineers and IT Professionals on their opinions and insights into the next version of Windows? Perhaps you have something to say to the guys building Windows 7?

Either way, take some time to check out http://talkingaboutwindows.com/ – here you’ll find videos portraying all aspects of the Windows 7 development and the Industry’s response to it. Not only this, but below each video is a comment section where, unlike watching the same video on YouTube, you are likely to get a response from Microsoft.

(As a side note, its also a pretty cool demonstration of the power of Silverlight)

- Daniel
Curtin MSP

Following on from Luke’s previous post here’s another update that will get your inbox up and running super fast, even before Office 2007 SP2 is released.

Got a large inbox? Lots of emails clogging up the system? Grab the February Cumulative Update which includes massive speed improvements for people with large PSTs. You can either grab it today via the link below or wait for Office 2007 SP2  (which should be coming next week, April 28th):

The Update
FAQ About the Update from the Outlook Team

Something I found useful during my time at Microsoft was the Microsoft Outlook Thread Compressor which is basically like conversation view for Outlook. It was only internal when I was there, but has now been released to the web!

Channel10 is reporting:

An internally used tool at Microsoft called the Microsoft Outlook Thread Compressor has by finally made available to the general public by its creator, Ewan Dalton. The Thread Compressor (or “TC” for short) is an add-in for Outlook 2000/XP/2003/2007 which removes unnecessary emails from your inbox. The tool basically looks at the body of your email and removes those that have redundant data. This is most useful when you’re dealing with a long chain of emails and replies – such as those found in discussion lists. You see, in those cases, the person replying often leaves the body of the email to which they’re replying intact. Since each new email on the thread includes the entire conversation history, there’s no need to have every individual email saved. And by deleting the ones you don’t need, you can save a ton of space in your inbox and archives.

Since the tool was originally built back in 1999, it may look a little…uhhh…retro by modern standards, but don’t let the appearance fool you – this may easily be the most useful Outlook plugin you’ve installed in a long time.

Of course, anyone choosing to use the tool must do so at their own risk because – be warned! – it does delete email. That’s its purpose. For that reason alone, the legal department at Microsoft was hesitant about it being released to the public.

Note that Microsoft does not support the tool nor can they be held responsible for what it does.

That said, you can get the Microsoft Outlook Thread Compressor for free from here: http://threadcompressor.co.uk/default.aspx. You’ll find installation instructions and more information on that site, too.

Luke
Aussie MSP Lead
The University of Western Australia

If you are interested in a career in IT, then make sure you check out this free Live Meeting.

[ Are you graduating soon? And don’t know what to expect from your IT career? ]

We can help! 

The Microsoft Students to Business program together with Excom Education

Bring you the opportunity to clarify this and many questions you might have

Just join our Live Meeting session, this Thursday 23th of April at

12 pm Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines

11 am Indonesia

2 pm (EST) Australia

4 pm (NZST) New Zealand

To join just click on the link bellow

Join the meeting

AUDIO INFORMATION

Computer Audio

To use computer audio, you need speakers and a microphone, or a headset.

Telephone Conferencing

Choose one of the following:

· Start the Office Live Meeting client, and then in the Voice & Video pane, click Join Conference.  The conferencing service will call you at the number you specify. (Recommended)

· Dial the conferencing service directly, and enter the participant code shown below:
Australia: 1800202713

Malaysia: +12034808000

New Zealand: 0800448997

Philippines: +6328608611

Singapore +6568888008

Indonesia: +8134574
Participant Code:                        2758513

FIRST-TIME USERS

To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready to use Office Live Meeting.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Unable to join the meeting?  Follow these steps:

            1.         Copy this address and paste into your web browser:

https://www112.livemeeting.com/cc/_XML/microsoft/join

            2.         Copy and paste the required information:

                        Meeting ID: 29JJ8P

                        Entry Code: S~[x38<&F

                        Location: https://www112.livemeeting.com/cc/_XML/microsoft

If you still cannot enter the meeting, contact support.

NOTICE

Office Live Meeting can be used to record meetings. By participating in this meeting, you agree that your communications may be monitored or recorded at any time during the meeting.

By attending to this conference you will qualify for a chance to receive a complimentary copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007. (1 participant will be randomly selected*)

Want to know more about S2B? register today!

Any questions please contact s2bapac@microsoft.com

One of the benefits of being a Microsoft Student Partner is that we get access to free Microsoft Certification Exam Vouchers for ourselves and to give away. Additionally Microsoft announced recently free technical exam vouchers for students through the DreamSpark program.

I thought I might as well work on my MCPD as .NET is one of my primary tools I use to write software.

I got myself a copy of Microsoft .NET Framework – Application Developer Foundation which is part of the self-paced training kit for the MCTS Exam 70-536.

At 794 pages this book is pretty huge. I was kind of overwhelmed at first. However when I started self-studying I found each chapter is broken down into bite-sized lessons. Each lesson is generally specified for about 40 mins, but I found I could read the lesson, and do the included exercise in about half that time. This was great for me, where often I’d only have 20-30 mins here and there to spend on this, and I could easily start a lesson knowing I could finish it off in the time I had free between other stuff I was doing.

The book itself has 16 chapters (listed below) on the fundamentals of the Microsoft .NET Framework. Although it says it expects the reader to have some experience, I found it explained well enough for even newer developers to understand.

Every lesson is followed by both a summary and a small multi-choice lesson review, which is great as we know the key to learning is repetition. Additionally each chapter also gives a summary and a review, along with case scenarios and suggested practices.

Like most Microsoft Press books, this book also comes with a companion CD. This includes practice tests and exam questions from each chapter. One thing I found on the CD was an included PDF of the entire book! This was great for downloading to my phone and notebook and being able to read a lesson when I had a spare 10 mins.

A couple of things I found useful were:

• The small lesson sizes
• “Real World” examples and best practices
• The integration of lessons and exam objectives
• Mini labs

Microsoft also provides resources for universities to teach Microsoft Certification through the IT Academy program. This would allow you to learn through some structured program at your university.

For the rest of us, the self-study training kits are a more cost-effective approach than a third party institution, which for me as a student is not really a feasible choice. But the book provided everything I need to pass the exam.

You can get a copy of this book at www.mspress.com.au.

I also have a copy of Microsoft .NET Framework – Application Developer Foundation to give away to a UWA Student, along with a second-shot exam voucher. To enter, please leave any comment below, and I will randomly draw a winner within the next week. Please use your @student.uwa.edu.au E-mail address in the comment.

Luke
Aussie MSP Lead
The University of Western Australia

Back with a blast, the MSPs swung into action today with their latest event at UWA, “The Ultimate Steal”.  Talks were given, people were wowed, Xboxes were played.

We started off by speaking about the various discounts and freebies available to all Australian uni students (see below for links to these resources), and then spoke about our role at UWA, and our upcoming GameFest event (keep your eyes peeled for details this week).  everyone headed down to the courtyard to the CSSC barbeque.  After that, we ran Halo 3 on 3 xboxes, whiche made for some massively multiplayer mayhem, and had Halo Wars running on another screen for people to try out.

All in all, it was a pretty fun event, and was a good lead up to our major event for the semester: Perth GameFest 2009.

Now, those links:

It’s Not Cheating ($75 Office):

Dreamspark (Free developer tools, like Visual Studio and XNA):

MSDN-AA (Vista, XP, Windows Server, Project and much, much more):

Imagine Cup

Windows Live

Enjoy!  Thanks for attending, and thanks to CSSC for hosting the BBQ and helping to set up.

<Photos will be arriving shortly>

Hey! Who like free stuff?  And games?  And more free stuff?

Next Tuesday, we’re running an awesome event down at the CSSE building at UWA.  Come up to Lab 2.03 between 1pm to 3pm to try out the latest Xbox 360 games, play some 4v4 Halo 3, and best of all, to learn just how much software you can get free, just for being a student.

I don’t want to “steal” too much thunder from the event itself, so I won’t reveal any more just yet.  Be in Lab 2.03 from 1-3pm to get your hands on freebies and have some fun (we have upwards of 8 Xboxes, so you’ll get plenty of play time).

UWA MSPs are proud supporters of the UWA IEEE Student Branch.

THIS COMING TUESDAY 7th APRIL, UWA IEEE Student Branch presents:

THE IEEE ICE CREAM SOCIAL

Tuesday 7th April, 12:30pm, EE Courtyard

Calling all CSSE students, bring your friends and come by the EE (Electrical Engineering) Courtyard this Tuesday during common lunch (between 12:30pm and 1:45pm) for a refreshing, ice-cold snack on a hot day – and find out about the benefits of IEEE membership.

There is a selection of *FREE* ice-creams for those who show their

2009 IEEE membership card and with great ice-creams starting at only $1, even non-members can get in on the action!

There has never been a better time to join IEEE – The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – be a part of the world’s largest professional technical society and find out what the Branch can offer you. With the tough economic climate, cool-off and relax with an ice-cream and drink and learn how IEEE membership can give you the edge.

Looking for Grad or Vac work? Put yourself ahead of the rest with IEEE.

Take the opportunity to come down and sign-up or renew your existing membership while enjoying a selection of ice-creams and drinks.

IEEE memberships are now HALF PRICE (just $12.50 USD, and you get membership until 31st Dec 2009), so it is a great time to be a part of

*your* organisation. Get involved in your degree, join the IEEE.

See you there!

Cheers,

Yang-Lit Phay

–

2009 Vice-Chairperson

University of Western Australia IEEE Student Branch http://www.uwaieee.org/ enquiries@uwaieee.org

Winner of the 2007 and 2008 IEEE Australia Council Most Outstanding Student Branch Award Winner of the 2008 IEEE Asia Pacific Most Outstanding Student Branch Award

Want to be a part of the award winning UWA IEEE Student Branch Committee? See us today!