31 Microsoft Technologies demos in 40 minutes

Check out this cool compilation of 31 Microsoft Technologies in 40 minutes by Nigel Parker where he demonstrates these Technologies explaining them in simple words. Its presented in an interactive interface where you can jump from one demo to other.

Also there's a download link to download the video, if you want to (can also download it from here. ) (227 MB)

These are the technologies covered in the demo, put here with their links and timeline:

1. Microsoft Research Group Shot (00:20)
2. Sea Dragon (TED Video) (01:31)
3. Photosynth (02:45)
4. Microsoft Research HD View (Auckland, Wellington) (04:04)
5. Virtual Earth (Live Labs on the Map) (05:35)
6. Bill Buxton's Presentation from Expression around the Clock (07:27)
7. Microsoft Surface (09:40)
8. Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Surface Demonstration (Video Support) (10:17)
9. French Silverlight 1.0 Application (Script#) (10:48)
10. Tablet Features in WPF - Inking Over Video Sample, Ink Support Silverlight 1.0, Silverlight Ink SDK Sample (11:17)
11. Silverlight 1.0 Inking Search Sample (11:45)
12. Live Image Search (filters) (12:20)
13. Tafiti Search Visualization (13:05)
14. GPS location based interactive community (Where is Frank?) (14:09)
15. Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Invaders - Code (14:48)
16. Contoso Bicycle Club - Windows Live Quick Applications (16:03)
17. Live Messenger Integration Demo - Details (17:07)
18. http://backgroundmotion.com - Code/ Source Code (20:00)
19. Microsoft Popfly (22:21)
20. Windows Live Photo Gallery (26:16)
21. Windows Home Server (26:55)
22. LCI Intégrale (28:30)
23. Livestation (29:28)
24. WebGuide (30:03)
25. hsn.tv (31:25)
26. thirteen23 :: denounce (32:04)
27. How About It? (32:47)
28. the-hub.tv (33:53)
29. Glenn Conner Interview - Amazon Demo Silverlight 1.1 Alpha (34:30)
30. Building a 3D WPF Gesture Application - Code (35:24)
31. Building a Video Player in 8 mins with Silverlight 1.0 (36:42)

Sit back and enjoy the video.

UPDATE: As I found out and Nigel has also posted about it now, that when you go to the Microsoft Research Group Shot site and tries to download it, you'll get 'specified file not found ' message. This is because as Nigel points out "The Group Shot Beta period has expired. We are currently considering several options to bring Group Shot back. Please stay tuned to this site for information on future releases." (link).

Windows Live Messenger IM Control Beta2 Improvements

Some days back I had posted about Using Windows Live Messenger IM Control on Blog/site , and I had already put that on my Blog and I was also using it as signature in Forums which had made discussing Forum topics very convenient. It was also being used as signatures in Feeds of my various articles.

At that time I had noted that size of the box (now rightly called as IM Window) had to be adjusted manually according to ones needs. Now with the release of Windows Live Messenger IM Control Beta2, many improvements have been done.

Now as you login to Messenger Web settings page, http://settings.messenger.live.com/applications/websettings.aspx

and click on 'Create HTML', you can see a new option of Button is also provided and the Messenger is now rightly called IM Window.

Further you can modify the size of this IM Window with the option provided. And also change the color according to your liking and requirement.

But as I needed a smaller width to fit into my blog, it did not accept a size smaller than default size, One could only increase the size. So I had to manually adjust the size and now I changed the color also.

This IM control is really very useful, if you haven't tried it, you should now !

Using Windows Live Messenger IM Control on Blog/site

This afternoon, I was just browsing through my MVP Lead, Abhishek's Blog, when i saw the Windows Live Messenger kind of Box embedded inside his blog, I said, Wow! How to add that on my blog? Then I came to know about it from his post. And next moment, it was on my blog too.

That's possible because of Windows Live Messenger IM Control & Presence API.
Now how to put this control on your site or Blog, check out the steps:
-Go to Messenger Web settings page, http://settings.messenger.live.com/applications/websettings.aspx and sign in with your Windows Live ID, to get the setup page as shown. Select "Allow anyone on the Internet to see my online status and send me messages" checkbox and save.


-Next click on 'Create HTML' to get this. You can choose the control you wish to put on your blog. Here we want to put the Messenger Box, so we will choose Messenger.


Actually its displaying the status realtime, if you are signed into Windows Live Messenger, it'll show its status as online.
- It''l l generate the code according to the control chosen.


So this is the code which you will copy and paste into your Blog or Site. That's all. The only change I made to the code is reduced the 'width' to accommodate in my blog.
Note: When you use HTML to show your Messenger status, people can copy the HTML and show your status elsewhere on the Web.

So when a visitor comes to your Blog, he can click on 'Begin Conversation' to send IM to you.

Now, we can test it too.
The IM Control lets anybody on the Web IM you. You cannot IM yourself from the Web, but can test IM as a Visitor.














If somebody you don’t know sends you a message, you"ll see a warning in Messenger.

Now something more about this control,

"The Windows Live™ Messenger IM Control lets people on the Web reach you in Messenger by showing your Messenger status on your web site, blog, or social networking profile. The IM Control runs in the browser and lets site visitors message you without installing Messenger first. It is supported in IE6, IE7, and FireFox 2.0 on Windows and FireFox 2.0 on Mac OS and supports 32 languages.The Windows Live™ Messenger Presence API is a JSON API which returns a users status & display name, this can be queried programmatically."(Angus Logan Blog)

"The IM Control is a HTML widget that allows a user to publish their Windows Live Messenger presence and provides two way conversation from a web page to a Messenger client. The control allows anonymous users to see presence and send messages."(viawindoslive)

In my view , it'll be a very useful in cases where some visitor on my blog expects a reply by mail to a particular post or in the comments box and waits for it. While using this control, if online, one can have direct discussion.

Also check the Angus Logan Blog where this announcement was made.
Now I can see already being put in many blogs as Via Windows Live

UPDATE: I just now tried the displaying the 'Status icon' instead of the 'Messenger'. I used it in signature in a Forum. So if one clicks on the Status icon, the Web messenger opens up in new page in the browser and one can have conversation. So for those who don't want to display the Messenger box can make use of 'Status icon' which when clicked will open up the Web Messenger box.