BOOT CAMP 09 @ Microsoft IDC Hyd

Boot Camp 09 was in Hyderabad.One of the coolest benefits of being an MSP(Microsoft Student Partner)
is that you get to meet a lot of people from all over India or i should say that you get to meet a lot of
people with a LOT OF BRAINS.
Boot Camp 09 was the largest ever MSP Boot Camp which saw over 150 MSP's .And did it go well???
HELL YA.
We were given the finest  of rooms in the finest of hotels(Ella Suites, Hyd) and interacted with people
who are responisble for taking technology to where it is today.When Microsoft comes into the picture
things HAVE TO ROCK.
The Boot Camp was held from 6th Mar - 8th Mar.Everyday we were taken to the MICROSOFT IDC
which even smells of technology.After entering the IDC campus we understood who we really are
we knew the meaning of being a MSP.So now lets see how things went on....

Day 1
Internship Test for 3rd yearites and a small competition for the rest.Also a small session by the MS recruitment team.I'll not say much about the first the day coz i missed a lot of it :-(. Don ask why?

Day 2
After sleeping at around 4:00 AM the previous day,we woke at 6:30 coz we had to catch the shuttels to MS IDC at 7:30(you know we hardly slept during the whole camp).After a refreshing breakfast,the day started.
After a enlightening speech & presentation on the MSP program(which really made us feel really GOOD ;-))
There was a session on SQL Server (waz good to ;-)).After that we were introduced to the world of MAD(Mobile Application Development) that rocked and was also a sort of eye opener(if you know what i mean ;-)).The MAD session was followed by a session on writing secure code which (if frankly said) was mind blowing.We were told how a unsafe site can be made a safe one and how stop a hacker(i hate them) from spoling all the fun.Then we were given an insight into the next generation of computing.We were introduce to the world of Cloud Computing and the next gen AZURE.The only thing which can be said about tha is WOW
In between we had lunch..and man that was really good.I mean personally speakin the food was really good(even thaz one of the Many benefits of an MSP ;-)).
During lunch we realised that we were really lucky coz we were given the chance to have are lunch we top class MS Employes in different MS Divisions(it sounds so cool...we had lunch with people working with MICROSOFT)
We had a chance to ask them all of sorts of questions and did we do it....i say VERY WELL
We squeazed out every bit of information they had(or we can).After that group photo of over 150 MSP's.
At the end we had are very own ( 3 Musketeers),Mohammed Reza,Siddharth prakash,Mark D'souza  giving us all the backside knowledge of IE8,Windows 7 and (very interesting) 9 lives of students.
The best part was the give away's which we got(yipee i have a VISITING CARD).
Then surprise which rocked us all ,after a tiring day,a pool side dinner and a DJ party was organised just for us(MSP's are pretty good dancers you know).
And the day ended at 5:00 AM when we decided to sleep(I did say we hardly slept)

Day 3(The Last Day :-()
After an AWESOME Day 2 we are at the Last day.The day saw a lot of technical sessions from people like us(MSPs) and we got to know that we are in a group of really realllllly brainy guys(does make you feel proud doesn't it).Sessions included ROBOTICS,MICROSOFT POPFLY,HOW TO EARN POINTS....
The Lunch again was really GOOD(m not too foody just a lil bit ;-)).
And then the worst part.....we had shuttels waiting for us to drop us back at stations so that we return to our normal lives(why does it happen ?????).

In all the 3 days rocked.We were amongst the group of people who have all the knowledge about almost evything ever made and still strive to know more.When you are an MSP you never tend to say ENOUGH you say THAZZ IT!!!!
The Boot Camp was truly Aw Aw AWESOME

Is that Realllyy the N97!!

Hey Guys and girls...when everyone wass thinking that Nokia
has played all its cards,
no one expected that it had a whole deck up its sleeve,Nokia N97...yes u heard it right another phone in the N-tree.
Just when we were to get over N96 we have this

Some call it Nokia's answer to iPhone or some say its just NOKIA

Whatever it may be called but as alwasys expected Nokia does have
some think tanks working again

Imagine Cup 2009

Hey Guys & Girls

Imagine cup 2009 is on and now all of who who have been waiting for a platform,now have it

Imagine cup 2009 is a Microsfts worldwide event which helps you to compete with students all around the globe and test your capabilites in different fields.

Imagine Cup is not meant only for those who have good software designing skills or have a knowledge in the it world but for all of you who have a creative mind ,and for all of u who think can take it to the next level

You never know if you are on the flight to Cairo,Egypt

You think you hve it in you.......then why not test it

For more informations visit http://www.imaginecup.com/

For any queries

You can mail me at vedant.arora@gmail.com

P.S. For those who want to take part in the Imagine cup 2009

In the registration page enter

Refferal Code: vedant.arora

Have a nice and eventful day

Vedant Arora

Microsoft Student Partner.

Amity School of Engineering & Technology,Noida

Light Up Your Dreams with a Spark

On 5^th November 2008, Microsoft unveiled DreamSpark - a software giveaway for an estimated 10 million eligible students in India. DreamSpark will provide students access to the latest Microsoft developer and designer tools at no charge.

Microsoft DreamSpark will be available to all students whose studies touch on technology, design, math, science and engineering. The software available to students will include:

Microsoft developer tools

• Visual Studio 2005 Express
• Visual Studio 2005 Professional
• Visual Studio 2008 Professional
• Visual Basic 2008 Express
• Visual C++ 2008 Express
• Visual C# 2008 Express
• Visual Web Developer 2008 Express
• XNA Game Studio 2.0
• 12-month free Academic membership in the XNA Creators Club

Microsoft designer tools

Expression Studio 2, including

o    Expression Web

o    Expression Blend

o    Expression Design

o    Expression Media

Microsoft platform resources

• SQL Server 2008 Developer
• SQL  Server 2008 Express
• Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition
• Virtual PC 2007

Training Resources

• IT Academy Student Pass

This broad range of professional-level software will be available both online via http://www.dreamsparkindia.com/; and in offline format via DVDs distributed by program partners NIIT, Aptech and Hughes Net Fusion Centers. A student merely needs to offer a proof of identity at a branch of these institutes to avail of a DreamSpark DVD. There are 125 NIIT, 175 Aptech, and 200 Hughes Net Fusion Centers participating across the country.

These program partners will also provide technology training on the DreamSpark software tools at a nominal cost; as well as have the option of soft skills training in languages like English and Hindi. Microsoft India is also working with academic institutions, government bodies and student organizations across the country to ensure that all students get a chance to benefit from DreamSpark.

The DreamSpark program in India is tailor-made to join the dots between software access and employability - which means making training and enablement complement simple access to technology.

DreamSpark will also facilitate student participation in Microsoft’s annual marquee contest, Imagine Cup, through various contest categories such as software design, short films, photography etc. Students from India that qualify for the Imagine Cup 2009 World Finals will get to travel to Egypt. Selected teams will also get the opportunity to get mentored by the Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM, Ahmedabad.

Addressing students and academicians at IIT Delhi – where the DreamSpark program was unveiled - Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp, said, “We want to do everything we can to equip a new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software to improve lives, solve problems and catalyze economic growth. Microsoft DreamSpark provides professional-level tools that we hope will inspire students like you to explore the power of software and encourage you to forge the next wave of software-driven breakthroughs.”

By selling ad space in the virtual environments featured in their video games, developers can earn back some of the money it costs to create the games in the first place. When those games are connected to online networks, central servers can even change up which ads are shown at what hours. But a balance must be struck to avoid disrupting the gaming experience -- or intruding on players' privacy.

Is That A Notebook??

Here comes another. Apple continues to have us all expecting . First it rocked us all with the extremely touchy and trendy Iphone and just when we thought Apple has shown all of its cards,comes yet another Ace, it gave us maybe the slimmest notebook the world has ever seen. The Macbook Air with a astounding thickness of just 0.4 - 1.94 cm (0.16 - 0.76 inch) is slimmer than your daily newspaper. By doing what Apple does best it has yet again redifined the beauty and recreated the brain. With its extremely trendy looks, the Macbook Air would make a lot of heads turn.
Apple continues to follow the latest trend of packing the most in the least space. Dont get decieved by the slim looks,the Macbook Air does not compromise on anything. With 1.6GHz Intel Core2Duo processor and a brilliant combination of a 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM with a 80GB 4200-rpm Parallel ATA hard disk drive ,the Air is surely not loosing the speed.
Alongwith a speedy configrations the company also claims a battery life of almost 5 hours which will please all who hardly get time to plug in the charger.
With a price tag 96,100 Rs the Macbook Air does look a tough catch but with its appealing looks and Apples track record its can be given a second thought.

Iphone Arrived

For all of us who were waiting for the much talked about iphone to enter the Indian market..the time has come.The Iphone has finally come to India(Legally).With the iphone apple steps in a industry which is growing exponentially.The launching of the Iphone was enough to wake up the giants like Nokia,Samsung,LG.The iphone made us all say "Here comes another apple"
However just when we were thinking that we have seen it all,the launch of phones like Viewty(LG),Omnia(Samsung) made us think that there is still a lot to come.The phones were termed as 'Iphone Killers' and were taken as a respone from all the other giants that we are not here to sit back and enjoy the show...we are the show stoppers.
Not only the mobile manufacturers,but also the service providers had there think tanks running.SP's like Airtel and Vodafone made the best use of it.Although the prices were nearly the same(31000 to 36000) but that didnt stop the indians to get there hands on the Apple wonder.
The Iphone is just a glimpse of the future.It had us all saying that there is a lot to come.