Wanna be a MSP, the process is out (again)

The new selection process for this academic year(2010-2011) has been announced. Please visit the application information page for more details

If you are passionate about technology and looking for a unique opportunity to share that talent, we are looking for you! Motivated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree students specializing in Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths or Design who will graduate after May 2011 are invited to apply for the Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) Program.

In exchange for sharing your knowledge and participating in fun activities on your campus, you will get a whole host of benefits, the chance to connect with like-minded people and gain real-world experience to add to your résumé.

Collaborate ... Innovate ... Celebrate!

Overview of the Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) Program

The new selection process for this year (2010-2011) has been launched and comprises various rounds to be undertaken by all candidates

Round 1:

All students who wish to participate in the MSP Selection 2010 have to register, as a first step, on www.surveymonkey.com/s/mspselection2010. If you have already registered, you don’t need to re-register

Round 2 and other details:-

All candidates will have to download the document located at http://cid-8c56e61304a3b41f.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/MSP^_Selection^_2010^_Handbook^_Final.pdf. Next steps and details on subsequent rounds have been listed in the document. Please go through the details very carefully and submit the requirements well within the deadlines to avoid rejection due to late submission. Deadline for submission for Round 2 is 15^th August, 2010. All relevant details are in the document that you have to download from the above mentioned location.

Eligibility

To consider applying for the MSP Program, you must be:

• Over 17 years of age.


• Studying a full-time course at an officially recognized University/College in India.


• Bachelor's/Master's Degree student who will complete the course during or after May 2011.

Competencies

A good MSP is one who has the following basic qualities:

· Technical competencies

o Passionate about software

o Quick learner

o Respected by peers

· Community-building competencies

o Enthusiastic about technology

o High level of social activity, both online & offline

o Can organize college and city-level events

· Fundamental competencies

o Passionate about Microsoft

o Confident & outgoing

o Good rapport with faculty

o Willing to share knowledge & eager to uplift self and peers

Responsibilities

Your short term goals will include:

· Conduct at least 1 technical session per month in a Student Tech Club.

· Participate and drive entries for Imagine Cup

· Maintain a technology-related blog

Your long term goals will include:

· Promote and build your city-level Microsoft Student User Group

· Organize city-level events like Academic Developers’ Conference (DevCon)

· Deploy &/or maintain Live@Edu for your college

· Encourage students to leverage ELMS downloads if your college subscribes to MSDN AA

· Mentor other MSPs

Benefits

As an MSP, a host of benefits are available:

• Welcome letter


• Exclusive MSP events conducted by Microsoft


• MSDN subscription


• Rewards & Recognition for top performers


• Networking opportunities


• Technical training & resources


• Microsoft events


• Interactions with MVPs & Microsoft Employees


• Internship & Recruitment announcements for top-performers

For more details

Contact:

Vedant Arora

Microsoft Student Partner
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

Ph No : 9999893681

Email : vedant.arora@student-partners.com

Is that the Chain we want to Grab?

Google, Microsoft and Apple appear to be playing a game of musical chairs, with Google taking the "dark side" throne away from Microsoft and Microsoft stealing the innovation perch from Apple. Where does that leave Apple? Perhaps it's the one still looking for its place when the music stops.

This past week, two rather interesting events got me thinking about how Apple , Google  and Microsoft  seem to be changing places. Microsoft announced Windows Phone Series 7, and Google announced Buzz (also known as "Buzz Kill") into the market.

Microsoft kind of pulled an Apple with this, in that it stepped away from the field and created something distinctly different, potentially more capable, and much more interesting than the products it has been competing with. (Oh, and it looks like it is a complete offering this time).
With Buzz, Google tossed out a turd of a product that was unfinished -- and privacy concerns forced it to stop forcing it on its customers. The label "arrogant" has now officially passed from Microsoft to Google.
These things are my main focus this week. I'll close with my product of the week: an electric bed warmer/cooler that is based on the same technology used to keep race car drivers cool.

Google's Buzz Kill

Through most of the last decade, Microsoft became known for products that were poorly thought out and failed. Among the duds: Mira, a tablet that required a business version of Windows on a networked PC to work in the home; Origami, an unfinished tablet operating system that was prematurely released; and Vista, which was a train wreck of biblical proportions.
Well, this is a new decade, and coming into it we had Google Wave a product that was both unfinished and so weird folks are still trying to figure out what it is for, and Buzz, also unfinished, which apparently has pissed off more people in less time than anything I've seen in recent memory.
It's safe to say that the Bozo (no offense to the deceased clown) award is moving from Microsoft to Google, as Google starts to recreate the same kinds of mistakes. There are a couple of reasons behind this. The first I've seen several times, starting with IBM (NYSE: IBM). What happens is folks who aren't working out at a big declining company find critical jobs in a new up-and-coming company and proceed to repeat the mistakes they made at the older firm in the new one.
I watched the IBM and Digital folks royally screw up Microsoft. Then Microsoft folks left to help royally screw up Netscape, and then they wandered over to Google, and now we have a trifecta.
Number two is Google's hiring practices, which favor men and engineers. They're so bad that Google (and others) are actively trying to conceal their employee mix. I think they know if folks were to realize a company that was trying to do social networking stuff had only engineers and no core of creative types, then confidence in those efforts would fall sharply. However, given how bad Buzz was at its launch, it is hard to imagine how it could have fallen farther any faster.
Number three is Google's apparent belief that anything that is free doesn't need to be very high quality. Looking at Google's offerings -- other than search -- don't they generally feel kind of unfinished and rough?
The new Nexus One, Google's branded phone, came out as a second-generation device, but it felt like a beta, given how rough it was around the edges. Granted, that phone isn't free, but Google gives away its Android OS to OEMs who then apparently have to finish it. Without the OEM, it's not much good.
The idea that if it's free, then it doesn't have to be good is both common and wrong. Whether it is Wave, Buzz, Google Apps, Gears, or Android, people expect finished products and adequate quality. Free or not, folks just don't want crap.
In effect, Google is repeating many of the mistakes

Windows Phone Series 2: Is Microsoft becoming Apple?

Not exactly -- but it seems that the only problem most folks are having with this new platform is the name, which in acronym form would be "WPS," or "Whoops." I'm not sure I'd want my product to be called "the Whoops phone," but then I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't want my product named after a feminine hygiene product like the "iPad." Every time I hear that name I think of the Mad TV iPad sketch.
What Apple did with the iPhone and iPod was to not emulate anyone else (well maybe the LG Prada a little with the iPhone) and step around them with something new, innovative and different. It also established a higher level of control over the entire user experience with both offerings, which now assure Apple's revenue, profit and market valuation.
With the WPS 2 platform, Microsoft isn't copying Apple or anyone else, but it is using a blend of good ideas from inside and outside the company. For instance, it is being very aggressive on the hardware specification to assure consistency of the experience and reliability of the result.
This should result in a better user experience than either Google or the old Microsoft Mobile platform enjoyed, as well as more phone variety than either RIM or Apple currently offers. There are clear tradeoffs, but this is clearly a differentiated approach.
In terms of UI, Microsoft rethought moving even farther away from the Windows interface than either Google or Apple has done so far (though I'll bet those two vendors now rethink their own approach) and combined animation with large icons to create clickable interfaces that are informative and not static.
Rather than turning multitasking off like Apple does (except for phone features) -- or all the way on, like Google -- Microsoft is allowing it only where it makes sense for the application. This allows for a potentially more useful device than the iPhone and a potentially higher-performing one than the Android phones, which can get bogged down by too many running applications.
In short, this is a product that feels more like something Apple would launch then Microsoft, and I hope it is a sign of things to come from that company.

By Rob Enderle
TechNewsWorld 

Google Buzz : We've had a lot buzzes lately

Google's new Gmail-based social network, Buzz, is raising hackles among security experts who see it as fertile new ground for propagators of malware and spam. "In the industry's haste to create the next 'Big Thing' for users," said Authenware President Tom Helou, "what results is a one-stop-shop for even amateur hackers to create an imitation identity and get access to sensitive information."

In general, Internet security experts become alarmed whenever a new social networking app looks like it is going to become the next big craze. "People already have so much information coming at them online and through their email boxes," said Gerry Egan, vice president of product development at Symantec .The last thing we need is another vehicle to bombard us with spam or malware, he told the E-Commerce Times.
Buzz -- Google's newly introduced social networking application -- is already drawing some boos from security experts, particularly for its default setting.
One of the ways Google hopes to facilitate adoption is by pre-establishing users' social networks with Gmail address books. Buzz seeds the network with email addresses of contacts with whom the user appears to communicate the most.

If the user accepts the default setting, that list becomes available to other Buzz users.

The default setting automatically provides a list of followers comprised of those you chat or email with, Michael Sutton, VP of security research at Zscaler, told the E-Commerce Times.

Cranky Spouses

The privacy risk is obvious.
"Everyone on your network can see who you communicate with," Sutton said. "Google says it takes addresses with whom you've recently had contact with, but we don't know exactly how the algorithm works."
It could be a contact from several months ago, for instance, which could make seeding that person in the network awkward. "I can see a scenario is which someone's network includes an ex-girlfriend -- someone your wife might not appreciate having there."
The potential for spam is also a problem. Spam has become endemic on social networks, Sutton noted -- and Google Buzz, if and when it reaches the same mass as Twitter or Facebook, will likely be similarly inundated.
"The model we have been seeing is that 'someone' posts a Twitter message that contains a link to malware. Certainly the same thing can and likely will develop with Buzz. What I am saying, though, is that Google hasn't created a new security issue with this site because email addresses are so easy for spammers to get anyway. What it has done is roll it out in a way that creates more privacy issues than someone might realize at first."

Still a Danger

While Buzz is unlikely to attract generic bots or spammers, it is possible a spammer would be interested in using it to validate an email address, Mike Geide, senior security researcher at Zscaler, suggested in a blog post.
"As a spammer, one could create a network of Gmail accounts connected to Buzz and follow a large number of users, follow their followers, etc," he wrote. The spammer would then harvest user names for those being followed, and do its best to guess at their email address and start sending test messages. "Once a successful guess has occurred, the email address will then be exposed in the Buzz interface validating that the email address exists and is tied to that user."
Buzz will likely be yet another vulnerable spot on the Internet, said Tom Helou, president and COO of Authenware.
"In the industry's haste to create the next 'Big Thing' for users, our analysis shows that securing the information passed through these sites suffers," he told the E-Commerce Times. "What results is a one-stop-shop for even amateur hackers to create an imitation identity and get access to sensitive information."

Present a Little : The Power Point Competition

Amity Microsoft Tech Club

Brings to You

"Present a Little : The Power Point Competition"

Key Points

• Participation is to be done in teams of 2
• Would consist of 3 rounds
• Round 1 : Submission
• Round 2 : Selected Teams would go to the Question Answer Round, where they will be asked questions based on their presentations.( teams would not be allowed to look at the presentations during the Q & A Session)
• Round 3 : Selected teams would move on to the Final Round, in which they have to present their presentation in front of a jury.
• All teams, reaching round 3 would be given certificates.

The Presentations have to be mailed at the below mentioned Email Addresses by 13/2/10 , 8 PM

For Details Regarding Competition,
Contact
Rahul Jain
rahulindelhi@gmail.com
9873343013

OR

Nipun Jolly
nipunjolly@gmail.com
9868081426

Google With NSA: The Search just got bigger..reallyy!!

Google  has allegedly requested help from the National Security Agency in tracking down hackers who attacked its infrastructure. The development has raised concerns among privacy advocates.

The Washington Post broke the story that Google had turned to the NSA on Thursday, citing anonymous sources.

Security experts and privacy advocates have questioned Google's motives. Some have warned that this could constitute another attack on American citizens' civil liberties. Others say the move is part of a scheme by Google to curry favor with the government as it seeks to get more government contracts.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a Freedom of Information Act request and asked for expedited processing with the NSA Thursday. It seeks information on the agency's arrangements with Google on cybersecurity. It is also looking for records regarding the NSA's role in setting security standards for Gmail and other Web-based applications.
Google declined to discuss the issue. "We're not going to comment beyond what we said in our original blog post," spokesperson Jay Nancarrow told TechNewsWorld. "At the time, we said we are working with the relevant U.S. authorities."

What Is Truth?

There is another possible explanation for Google's alleged cozying up to the NSA: that it is looking to get more government contracts. The Internet search giant plans to create a dedicated cloud for government customers in the U.S. It has also launched Google Public Sector, a site with tools and tips for government officials.
Further, Google is penetrating local and state governments. The city of Los Angeles has put all of its 30,000 city workers on Gmail and Google's productivity suite. Other cities in California are also interested, according to reports.
"It's in Google's best interest to get the NSA to investigate the hack, and it's in NSA's best interest to investigate this issue because some of the companies hacked may well be suppliers to NSA," Randy Abrams, director of technical education at ESET, pointed out.
"When the company that makes your computers gets hacked, that raises security concerns, and in terms of global business, when another country gets an unfair advantage, that could be a bit of a national security concern," Abrams told TechNewsWorld.

The Ongoing Threat

Whether the attack came from China, Taiwan or elsewhere is less of an issue than what it points to -- that cyberattackers are constantly targeting American institutions and corporations.
"Sensitive information is stolen daily from both government and private sector networks, undermining confidence in our information systems and in the very information these systems were intended to convey," Dennis Blair, U.S. Director of National Intelligence, told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence earlier this week.
Cyberterrorists and cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and we're fighting a losing battle against them, Blair pointed out.
That terrifies Baker. "Some very sophisticated companies haven't been able to prevent attacks by adversaries," he said. "We're living in a world where we can't be sure we can build adequate security to keep people out of our networks, and that's deeply troubling."

Source : ECT News Network

The War has moved to Europe , The 2 Juggernauts Colliding head 2 head

Google has never had to endure much hard, formal EU antitrust scrutiny -- its purchase of DoubleClick two years ago received a relatively painless waive-through. That may soon change, according to Microsoft's top lawyer. Brad Smith said Google's dominant position in the online ad sector will inevitably lead to some hard questions soon, adding that Microsoft has some experience in the EU antitrust game.

Microsoft's top lawyer said Monday that Google will inevitably have to answer questions about its huge market share in selling advertisements linked to results from its search engine.

Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith said the search advertising market has become "the fundamental economic engine for content online" and "the gateway to content on the Internet.

"Whenever you have a company that has more than a 90 percent market share in a key market, it is inevitable that people will have questions to ask. We say that with some experience,"

Butting Heads

Unlike Microsoft, Google has never been formally investigated by the European Union executive and the only EU scrutiny of its advertising business came when it asked regulators to approve its US$3.1 billion purchase of online ad tracker DoubleClick. The EU waved through the deal in March 2008.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier this month that French antitrust regulators should look at Google's dominant position in the online ad sector.
However, the European Commission, which would deal with any Europe-wide competition problem, has said it sees no issue with Google's dominant position in advertising unless there is "any implication or suspicion" that it is abusing its near-monopoly to hike prices or squeeze rivals and suppliers.
Smith confirmed that Microsoft sees Google as a direct rival, saying they were both active in some of the same product markets.
Microsoft trails Google in search, with a European market share of 2 percent.

Microsoft also advocates a federal privacy law in the United States, he said, and is concerned about different laws emerging at state level.

The Power to Bust Hackers

Smith said security concerns may require giving the right to cloud service providers -- such as Microsoft -- to take legal action to sue hackers or others who try to hack into data hosted in "the cloud."
He said Microsoft's vision of cloud computing saw its own proprietary software in use alongside open source programs -- with both using "open formats" to allow different software to work smoothly together.
EU regulators fined Microsoft in 2004 for not providing technical information to rivals that wanted to make software compatible with Microsoft's servers. The company last year promised changes to share some data on its products with others.he most-used Web browser, Internet Explorer, which competes with Google's Chrome and others.


Source : ECT New Network

Managing Disaster like everything else, The MS Way

REDMOND, Wash.--The ground-level conference room in Building 25 doesn't look much different than many others in buildings across Microsoft's sprawling campus.

It has a window, though most of the view is obscured by a large bush. It has the usual array of outlets and Ethernet jacks, screens, and projectors. During earthquakes and floods, hurricanes and tsunamis, though, this room is ground zero for Microsoft's emergency response effort.
Even then though, it can be hard to tell that somewhere halfway around the world, disaster has struck. That's because Microsoft's disaster team is a virtual one, with much of the action taking place online. Even those working together in Redmond are often glued to their laptops, rather than communicating with nearby colleagues.

"It will look like a bunch of people just sending e-mail," said Claire Bonilla, the senior director of disaster response for Microsoft.

There are about 65 lead members of Microsoft's emergency response effort--and perhaps 160 dedicated people overall--but even at its busiest there might only be fewer than two dozen people in the main disaster response room.
When disaster hits, Bonilla and team activate, reaching out to the nearest Microsoft subsidiary. The company tries to simultaneously make sure its own workers are accounted for, check in with partners and customers, and offer immediate assistance to international aid workers.
The company works with those aid groups to quickly establish a portal called OneResponse, which relief workers can use to coordinate their efforts. That, too is understated, looking like a Web site from a decade ago with little more than a bunch of text links on the main page.
Although it is built on modern SharePoint technology, the design of OneResponse is deliberately spartan, aiming to work on even the poorest of Internet connections--the only kind often available in the wake of natural disaster.
In the case of Haiti, Microsoft's disaster effort was up and running by 6 p.m. on the day of the quake. In addition to conference calls with aid groups, Microsoft had the added insight of Gisli Olafsson, who works in Microsoft's disaster efforts but was quickly on the ground in Haiti as part of his volunteer gig as a member of Iceland's search and rescue team. Olafsson's firsthand knowledge helped give Microsoft an early sense of what the situation was like on the ground.
Microsoft, of course, is far from alone in pitching in during times of disaster. Many companies have offered their cash, services, products, and know-how in the wake of the Haiti quake.
A number of tech companies, including Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, and Google are supporters of NetHope, an organization that helps establish emergency, temporary, and permanent communications following a disaster. That has been an especially acute need in Haiti, said NetHope CEO Bill Brindley.

"The communications infrastructure in Haiti has been virtually demolished," said Brindley, whose group has worked to bring in portable satellite units that aid groups can use to provide voice communication and Internet access.

Among those pitching in is San Francisco-based Inveneo, which has specialized in setting up off-the-grid networks in rural Africa. That know-how has come in handy in setting up Wi-Fi in Haiti, which is still without widespread power.
Inveneo CIO Mark Summer, who has been helping set-up portable Wi-Fi units for NetHope, said that the devastation is intense.
"In the hills the damage is significantly less then down in the center of Port-Au-Prince where in it seems that in many areas more then 50 percent of the buildings are gone or beyond repair," he said in an e-mail statement. "We've seen buildings that have had two or three stories and now no higher then 5 feet of the ground--it seems as if walls just turned into sand..."
Each disaster brings its own set of needs and challenges. The fact Haiti was so impoverished even before the quake, plus the fact it struck the capital, has posed a big challenge for aid groups. In the early days, it was a challenge getting supplies into the country, Bonilla said.
"Planes circled for three hours and sometimes had to go back to the Dominican Republic because they couldn't land," Bonilla said.

Keeping aid workers safe is also an issue.

"People are desperate for anything they can do to provide food and water to their families and that can breed security issues," Bonilla said.

By last Thursday afternoon, only Bonilla and one colleague were in the disaster room. One person did wander into the room, though he was looking for one of the many Microsoft partners that occupy the bulk of Building 25's ground floor.
MSNBC streamed in the background, though coverage had switched from Haiti to live footage of a car chase here in the U.S.
"I don't think that classifies as even a minor disaster," Bonilla jokes, going back to her work. As with many responses, Bonilla has been working for 18 to 20 hours a day. Bonilla said her job makes her glad she works in the Seattle area, known for its good coffee. Even that, she said, only carries her so far. "After awhile, caffeine loses its impact," she said. "Then it's just adrenaline."

Source : CNET News

As Social as ever, Just Googling Through

Web users with Google profiles will now be able to use a beta version of Social Search, a Google application that recently graduated out of "Labs" status. The utility opens new categories of content when users conduct a search, displaying information and images from users' public pages to those users' contacts. As always, users should be aware of what they're posting and who can access it.

Google promoted its Social Search experiment to beta status on Wednesday.

Social Search adds information and images from users' public pages to the results of online searches conducted by members of their social network.
Users need a Google profile to get results from Social Search.

Circles of Friends and Content

Social has been added to other Google applications like Google Images, so when people with a Google profile conduct a search on images, they may get pictures their friends and other online contacts have published publicly on photo-sharing sites like Picasa Web Albums and Flickr.
Online searches for answers to questions will also pull in public content from friends and contacts on the Web such as blog pages.
Links labeled "My social circle" and "My social content" will appear together with results of online searches. The first lets users check out their social circles; the second lets users see the connections and content behind social search results.
Social Search provides transparency about connections by showing users the other individuals with whom they are connected -- and through which services -- every time query results show information from people in their social circle, Google spokesperson Jake Hubert told TechNewsWorld.
Google is labeling its social search feature a beta version because it expects to expand those capabilities. "We're leaving a 'beta' label on social results because there's a lot more we can do," Social Search project staffers Maureen Heymans and Terran Melconian wrote in the Google blog post announcing the feature's beta release Wednesday.

Getting to Know You

Could this new social dimension impact users' privacy? People tend to have friends with different degrees of closeness, from those with whom we are merely civil to those with whom we share much of our lives. Could social search blur those lines and create unlooked-for intimacy with people we only consider acquaintances or business contacts?
Google's party line boils down to what boxers hear from referees in the ring: Keep your guard up and protect yourself at all times.
"All the content that shows up as part of Social Search is already publicly available through Google.com and other search engines today," Google's Hubert pointed out. "Social Search simply makes it easier to find relevant information from your social circle.
"If you don't want this content to be surfaced as part of Social Search, you can remove it from your Google profile, your other online social services, or from the Internet entirely," Hubert said. "You can always add or remove links on your Google profile, and can also block their Gmail chat contacts or remove contacts from their friends, family and coworker groups in Gmail."



 Source : ECT News Network

The Window is Shrinking, while linux opening all the doors

Linux inched ahead in the operating-system arena during the final month of 2009, even as Windows and Mac gave up some ground.
That's according to research firm Net Applications, which recently released its Market Share report covering operating systems in December.
Linux accounted for 1.02 percent of the market in December, up from an even 1 percent the month before, Net Applications reported.

A Peak in May

Windows, meanwhile, fell from 92.52 percent in November to 92.21 percent in December, while Mac fell from 5.12 percent to 5.11 percent during the same time, the company found.
Linux's market share was 0.98 percent in February 2009, peaking for the year at 1.17 percent in May, according to Net Applications' data.
Windows was at 94.74 percent in February, while Mac was at 4.55 percent.
Also tracked by Net Applications are Java ME, iPhone, Symbian, iPod touch, Windows Mobile, Android and a variety of other systems.

Rival Data

Of course, estimates for Linux's market share are notoriously variable and controversial, given that -- unlike other operating systems -- there is very little sales data.
Rival tracking site W3Counter, in fact, puts Linux's market share at a significantly higher 2.14 percent for the month of December, up from 1.8 percent the month before.
Windows -- including XP, Vista, 7, 2003, 2000 and 98 versions -- went from 85.69 percent in November to 86.43 percent in December, while Mac fell from 7.46 percent to 7.44 percent, according to W3Counter.
Advocates of free and open source software, meanwhile, estimate that Linux's share may even be in the double digits.

'A Very Quiet Creep'

Finally, "the idea of a computer OS is no longer limited to desktop and notebook PCs, so as convergence continues to blur the line between the PC and the smartphone, Linux is well-positioned to grow because of its flexibility, cost and other advantages," Lyman noted.
Whether or not these "more indirect and discreet gains will be measurable or noticed," of course, is another question, he added.
Still, "I expect a very quiet creep for Linux in the OS market," Lyman concluded, "particularly in desktop and consumer devices."

Amity Microsoft Tech Club Registration Procedure

Amity Microsoft Tech Club (AMTC)

AmityMicrosoft Tech Club is a step taken by the Microsoft Student Partners present at Amity School of Engineering and Technology (A.S.E.T) to make students aware of the different Academic Programs started by Microsoft India.AMTC would make its members aware of the different technologies made available to them by Microsoft, directly as well as indirectly. The AMTC members would be provided with resources which would help them get more familiar with the upcoming technology.

The Microsoft Student Partner Programme is an initiative taken by Microsoft to recognize all of them who have a passion for the technological developments taking place all around the globe.

Objectives of AMTC would include:

• Clearing Some Myths about Microsoft: One of the prime goals of the AMTC would be to tell its members that not only Microsoft has revolutionalized the IT industry by windows but has also given aspiring developers a lot of tools to test their skills and showcase their talent in this exponentially growing industry

• Providing Resources To its Members: A lot of resources would be provided by the Microsoft Student Partners to the members of AMTC as per the interest shown by them. A lot of reading material would be provided to the members to help them learn various Microsoft Technologies like Visual Studio, Expression Studio etc.

• Organizing Various Sessions: A number of sessions about various Microsoft Products would be conducted by the Student Partners which would help the members of the club to choose from a number of fields available to them. The Microsoft Student Partners would share the information (provided to them by Microsoft itself) with the club members as to keep them up to date.

• Spreading Awareness About Microsoft India Academic Programs: Microsoft has a number of Academic programs running all over the world. Club members would be given information related to different Microsoft India Academic Programs like Microsoft Student Partner Programme ,Microsoft Dreamspark , Imagine Cup .Members would be encouraged to become Microsoft Student Partner and would be told the benefits of the programme and also AMTC would keep track of the MSP selection procedure and would keep its Members informed about the same

• Organizing Various Technical Events: AMTC would also be organizing various technical events at the college annual fest and also Members of the AMTC would regularly be informed about any Microsoft Event Organized in the City and would also encourage them to attend these events.

• Going Online with The Club: An online Blog would also be maintained so as to make the members aware of various events organized by the club. Discussions & queries on various technical topics would also be entertained regularly. Videos of the all sessions conducted as an AMTC activity would be posted on the blog so as to help the members who were not able to attend the sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ’s)

Q.1. Would only Microsoft Technologies be discussed?

A.1. Not Necessarily, discussions on any technology would be welcomed.

Q.2. What would the sessions consist of?

A.2 The primary goal of the sessions would be to make members aware of the different development tools created and made available by Microsoft so as to help the members understand the application of these tools. Demos of the tools would be given so as help the members start of.

Q.3. Will you teach different computer launguages?

A.3. We are going to provide basic knowledge of the different technologies or languages. We’ll also be providing reading materials related to these technologies.If any member gets interested in any of the technologies then he/she is free to ask for any material required by him/her.

Q.4.Would AMTC provide us with the Microsoft Tools?

A.4. The tools made available to the Microsoft Student Partners would be provided to all the AMTC members who are interested.

Q.5. What if any club member has any information which he wants to share with the club?

A.5. Such information would be welcomed.Any club member is free to share any information he has but has to do it in an organized manner.After every sessions the club members would be free to tell us whatever they have or feel.

Application Procedure

1. A Registration fees of Rs 300/- has to be paid to any of the below mentioned personnel
   
2. The application form can be downloaded from http://www.mediafire.com/?2nzgeoeminj
3. The Form can be mailed to any of the undersigned
4. The Registration fees is mandatory
   

For Further Queries Contact:

Vedant Arora(CS III Year) ,MSP,President AMTC
9999893681, vedant.arora@gmail.com

Vibhav Garg(CS III Year) , MSP, Secretary AMTC
9899555330 , garg.vibhav@gmail.com

Vivek Kr Bajpai(CS III Year) , Treasurer
9873415724, vivek_bajpai52@yahoo.com

Design Your world, Design Your Space

The world is yours, or at least that's the promise e-commerce offers. Get your products, services or information online, and you can gain customers anywhere. It can be challenging, though, to build an active worldwide customer base that buys and comes back for more.

It's a competitive world, and studies have shown over and over that people prefer to buy in the ways they are accustomed to, especially with information in their native language.
The first obvious customization is to provide translation of your e-commerce site, but this doesn't happen with the wave of a magic wand. There are steps that must be followed, from business planning to technical adaptation to facilitating the localization process and streamlining updates. This article provides an overview of these considerations, and suggests logical steps to help you move forward.

Business Case

While this article primarily addresses issues regarding site creation and adaptation, it's important to discuss the business drivers as well, as they strongly impact cost and time considerations.
Whether you work at a large or small company, your business case leads your budget and resource allocation in creating sites for global audiences. In most cases, this globalization strategy involves high-level management visibility and strategic commitment. There are revenue expectations and distribution issues to sort out, possibly local in-country representation to support, and a host of other logistics.
All that adds up to plenty of expectations for a return on investment. Getting a good plan in place -- including a strong understanding of the scope of implementation efforts, a technical and process road map, and some kind of measurement metrics -- helps you get the right funding and resources to be successful.
The costs of poorly globalizing your e-commerce site certainly include building expensive systems that don't have the needed functionality for an international customer base. Even worse are the delays in deployment that have rather painful and visible effects on your company's revenue stream, global aspiration objectives and, ultimately, the bottom line.


Internationalization: One Site, Many Adaptations

To the outside observer, internationalization (i18n) remains a hidden and often unknown attribute, but it is critical to leveraging your success from market to market.
When you internationalize your site, you adapt its technology to be capable not only of supporting any language, but also of supporting local formats and ways of doing business. Translators and regional stakeholders can alter content and more, but the site itself -- what presents and processes information -- remains consistent and leveraged for each market.
We often counsel our clients to think in terms of locales, and not languages. That's because you can't assign local purchasing behaviors to a language. It's more the other way around; a locale includes the language of the region as well as numerous other issues, such as character set support, date/time formatting, forms of payment, data/product sorting, phone/address formatting and more.
If you are using another company's e-commerce platform technology for your site, then you must find out exactly how it supports internationalization. If you are building a new site, be aware that some technologies adapt to internationalization and localization demands better than others. The technologies you choose should tread the balance of your current organization requirements and your business objectives.

If you are adapting your current site to support internationalization, consider these areas in your migration:


•Architecture -- The structure of your e-commerce system, including the software itself, the externally visible properties of the user interface, and the relationships between them. Consider your new requirements for international markets, finding the balance of what is not in your e-commerce site that needs to be added. Likewise, examine what is in your site's code that needs to be changed to support the markets.

•Code refactoring -- Unless you are developing a new e-commerce site with support for international markets planned from the beginning, it is likely that the internal structure of your e-commerce site will require modification to improve or change the code to better support international functionality. Typical code refactoring on internationalization projects includes the following:


◦Extract embedded strings from the code so that they can be easily accessed for translation;

◦Change locale-limiting functions, methods and classes;

◦Mark relevant business logic object-based, so it can be affected by locale requirements;

◦Enable character set support (Unicode) so that extended characters display properly;

◦Ensure that character encoding changes to pages, database and individual coding elements are implemented; and

◦Abstract transaction workflow on the site that may need to be dynamically customized to support locale requirements.


Content Management Systems

Another thing to take into account during the internationalization phase is the type of tools you are using for developing your content. For Web sites, there are plenty of good content management systems (CMS) that are available; however, there are differences among them that affect the support for international markets.
If you use one, you want make sure it is localization-friendly. It must have a way to export the translatable content in some kind of file format that translation tools can use. XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format) or other variations of XML-based formats are good choices. The tool must also be able to merge back the translated exported data into the right places in the localized content.
Generating "delta" files -- which contain only the content "chunks" that need to go through the localization process for translation -- is a very efficient way to reduce the costs for localizing updates as your site is modified. It is often helpful to the linguists, though, to provide reference materials or to include the already-translated content around the new translatable chunks, so the translation can be done within a meaningful context.
Some content management systems also allow you to control the granularity of the chunks you create, and to re-use them across the whole published Web site. This allows for even more cost savings in localization.

Content Creation

Whether you are using a content management system or not, how you write the content and design your icons and graphics affects the ultimate localizability of the site. Taking into consideration the way the content is developed saves money during the localization process and results in better international sites.
Ultimately, it is much cheaper to create content correctly in the source language before translating the content into many languages for the target markets and having to address content issues for each market:


•Write in simplified English. In creating the source content, write in the active voice, avoiding complex sentence structures. Avoid the use of slang, colloquial expressions, and cultural references. This is even more important if you anticipate having some users from markets that are not covered by your globalization plan. They may end up using machine translation engines to get a gist of the content of your Web site.

•Reuse text. If you say the same thing at different places, then say it the same way, so the translation of the first occurrence can be used for the second one. This leveraging of text can significantly reduce the linguistic fees through the reuse of previously translated content. By all means, avoid minor wording changes as that just means more costs. Content management systems can help you to parse your content into "chunks" that are easily translated while facilitating the reuse of content throughout the site.

•Icons. Make sure all icons are understandable by your target markets. It is cheaper to have icons that "work everywhere" than to customize icons for each market. Identifying culturally acceptable icons can require a bit of up-front cost in assessing them for your target markets, but it avoids confusing (or worse, offending) your customers. Alternatively, you can design your Web site to easily substitute icons according to the market (e.g. by using style-sheets instead of hard-coding style changes in your pages).

•Graphics. While it is tempting to have complex graphics with layered text, remember that all text has to be translated. Translating text that is embedded into graphics is more expensive. If you have to use call outs on your graphics, then use numbers or letters that are then referenced in the text of the page rather than on the graphic itself. Whatever you do, make sure that you keep the graphic source files for your localization team (not just the collapsed JPG or GIF files).

•Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In creating the source e-commerce site, great care must be taken to optimize search terms so that the site appears readily in search engine matches. Extend your efforts to include SEO for each of your target markets, using appropriate search terms in the metadata as well as the content itself.

Ensuring Internationalization Success

A good internationalization effort should be validated with a careful review of the source site:

•Consider using pseudo-translation (where the content is passed through a small program to convert the text into extended characters so that display can be verified) of the content to verify that all modifiable elements of the site are indeed accessible and can be changed for the various translated versions.

•Verify that locale-sensitive data can be processed accordingly (date/time/numbers format, currency issues, measurement units, etc.) and that when needed, locale-specific content can be provided as well (end-user license agreements, privacy and confidentiality statements, 800-type numbers, part numbers, etc.)

To recap, the success of your site on the international scene comes from a combination of

•good development practices,

•well-adapted tools used during the development and the maintenance of the site, and

•content that is ready for localization, taking into account cultural differences as appropriate.

You can learn more by collaborating with industry colleagues (from your industry and the language services industry) through an impartial trade association, such as the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA).
Following these high-level guidelines will better prepare you for the localization and translation of your e-commerce site for each of your target markets

Palm Pixi : Quite a Palmfull

Palm is expanding its line of WebOS smartphones -- and ratcheting up competition with Apple -- with the introduction of a new mobile device called the "Pixi."
The phone, meant to supplement the more serious Pre smartphone, will be available during the holiday seaon through its exclusive carrier, Sprint .
A lighter weight and thinner phone with a visible full keyboard, the Pixi is a natural mobile conduit for social networking sites and activities, according to Palm.
Palm Synergy lets users arrange information from Google , Facebook , Yahoo , LinkedIn and Exchange ActiveSync in a single view. There are also new integration capabilities for Facebook's contacts, phone, calendar and photo apps.
Pixi users can download applications from the Palm Beta App Catalog and use Palm media sync to customize the device with music, photos and videos from iTunes or the Amazon MP3 store.

Pricing Confusion
The Pixi's price hasn't been announced yet, but it's expected to come in around US$99. Here's why: Palm also announced that it is cutting the price of the Pre to $149, after rebates, with a two-year Sprint contract. That's essentially a $50 price cut.
Prior to the Pixi's unveiling, Sprint advertised a special offer for the Pre: For a just few hours, new customers were able to get a $100 service credit. However, Sprint yanked the promotion before the ink was dry.
It is unclear how the credit was to be applied to the Pre's final price for a consumer -- which after $350 in instant and mail-in rebates settled at approximately $200. It was widely assumed that the special offer was for a $99 Pre. Sprint reportedly said it would honor the deal for customers who signed new contracts during the promotion's brief window of opportunity.

Bhuvan - Google Earth the Indian Way.

Considering the fact that Indian talent is spreading around the globe like wildfire, it came no more a surprise when Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently launched ‘Bhuvan’, which is India’s answer to Google Earth. (Bhuvan in Sanskrit means ‘Earth’)

Bhuvan is web-based tool much similar to Google Earth which promises to give much better 3-D imagery of India compared to what is being offered by Google Earth. It will also include a number of other services like weather forecast and have administrative boundaries of all the states and districts in the country.
Users will be able to browse the content like any other website. It will also allow users to zoom in from space to street, grab, spin and narrow down to anyplace they want. However for safety purposes it will block the sensitive locations such as military and nuclear plants. Bhuvan currently has the best resolution over the entire subcontinent of India and is also very user-friendly and will run even on low bandwiths.

Bhuvan will be able to produce very local information which will be very much specific to India. Also it will enable us to address problems like floods, famines, education, Research and Development and Infrastructure.

Now owing to the recent goof-up Google Earth made by showing some parts of Arunachal Pradesh as Chinese Territory, the launch of Bhuvan will definitely get Google Earth on guard.

Wanna be a MSP!!! Check This out.

Selection Process

The Selection process for Microsoft Student Partners, India is now open. You are suggested to register and complete the formalities right away to avoid last minute rush and miss on very important announcements, which shall be made to registered candidates from time to time.

Here are the steps required to register successfully for the MSP Program.


· Register for Imagine Cup 2010 in any of the categories ( www.imaginecup.com). Please enter “MSP Selection” as referral code.

· Record a 120 second Video on any technical topic and upload it at www.youtube.com/indiamsp (This is not mandatory as of now. However, candidates who post their video will have an advantage). Suggested topics are:-

o Introduction to the .Net Framework

o Introduction to Microsoft Silverlight

o Microsoft Windows 7

o Microsoft Windows Vista

o Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server

o Any other Microsoft technology.


· Register at the link provided and provide all relevant details.Please copy paste the below URL in your Browser Window.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5IBYVECYqVCrTEKuhPRPcQ_3d_3d


Important- This year, we shall be carrying out on the spot MSP Interviews in a few cities as well. This will be in conjunction to any Microsoft events happening in your city. Announcements will be made on this page from time to time with event details like time, venue etc. All candidates who fall in that region and can attend the event are requested to do so. This will ensure speedy processing of your application. However, only pre-registered candidates will be given a chance.

In case you are not able to attend these in-person events, you can still become a Microsoft Student Partner. Just submit your video and fill the registration form and you shall get an interview call if we find you a suitable candidate!



Please note- Microsoft will not bear any travel expenses that you may incur in order to attend any such events. Only those events will have MSP selection in parallel which are announced on this website. Please check this space from time to time.



Vedant Arora
Microsoft Student Partner
Amity School of Engineering & Technology ;)

Nokia Office : The Office just got bigger

Microsoft, proprietor of its own Windows Mobile smartphone operating system, is partnering up with Nokia to offer mobile Office applications on the Finnish company's Symbian-loaded handsets. The move could come as a blow to third-party app providers who sell solutions to achieve document sharing between platforms, but how will it affect Microsoft's commitment to its own OS?

Nokia  and Microsoft  on Wednesday announced they are teaming up to create and offer mobile enterprise applications in a bid to tap the fast-growing mobile apps market.

Apps could constitute the next gold rush for the mobile industry, and carriers and smartphone vendors are both battling for a share of what could be a very lucrative market.
However, the Microsoft-Nokia deal could be stymied by a court ruling on Tuesday that bars Redmond from selling its Word application in the United States.

Slipping on the Mobile Dance Floor?


Unless and until an appeals court hands down a new ruling, however, the ban could stymie the agreement between Microsoft and Nokia.
This deal will see the two jointly design, develop and market apps that bring Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia smartphones running its Symbian operating system.
Nokia's business-optimized E-series smartphones will get these apps first.
Next year, Nokia will begin shipping Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones.
Other apps to follow will include those that let users view, edit, create and share Office documents, as well as Microsoft Communicator Mobile apps for enterprise instant messaging, enterprise presence, conferencing and collaboration.
Users will also get mobile access to Microsoft SharePoint Server and enterprise device management capabilities through Microsoft System Center.
Microsoft and Nokia will also market the apps to businesses, carriers and individuals.

What About Windows Mobile?


The Microsoft-Nokia deal will not change Redmond's commitment to its own Windows Mobile platform, according to Microsoft.
"Mobility is one of Microsoft's top investment areas, and we are 100 percent committed to Windows phones now and in the future," Scott Rockfield, director of Windows Mobile communications business
"Microsoft is fighting a rearguard action until its Windows app store and [the next version of] Windows Mobile come out," Carl Howe, director of anywhere consumer research at the Yankee Group
Buyers may want to hold off buying either Nokia or Windows Mobile smartphones for a while, he advised. "Don't even bother with the Nokia and Windows Mobile platforms until the next releases, because those are the ones they're betting on," Howe said.

myTouch 3G : The Kid Next Door

The nights for Android competitors were never the same after the Google OS was announced. The brand name and the publicity gave android the much needed hype and did set the stage for myTouch G1(the first in the Android Series) .Coupled with the smart marketing strategies of HTC and the name Google of course the Smartphone made record breaking sales. The G1 cashed on the crowd’s curiosity and love for Google and gave hints of something better in the pipeline.

Less than a year after the release of G1, the news of the myTouch 3G was confirmed. The myTouch 3G strikes as a hammer on hot metal and without the release started molding the public in their favor. Although it comes with a price tag of around 200$ (a little more than its predecessor) , it has made the world wanting for more. The release of videos of myTouch 3G intensified the craving for the 2nd android phone and gave its competitors a warning to prepare themselves, for an era which is all set to begin.
The myTouch 3G does not consist of a Keyboard (as its predecessor) and comes with an impressively interactive touch interface. The quality and the response of the next gen touch interface have already affected the markets for the sleek and trendy iPhone, especially when the myTouch 3G has much more to offer.
myTouch 3G comes equipped with an eye-widening 3.2 MP camera with an impeccable picture quality. A 3.2 mm touch screen makes it hard for the user to get his fingers off screen. myTouch 3G also takes cares of users with huge fingers. To make it easy for them, the concept of trackball has been reintroduced just to explore those heavily crowded web pages till the extent.
It’s quite obvious that it comes bundled with our favorite Google Maps for navigation, also comes along an interesting application Sherpa which remembers your favorite restaurants, and coffee houses and other eatable joints and helps you find them the next time you search for them.

What makes myTouch 3G stands out is the range of accessories its comes along with, which gives the phone owner a handful of chances to make his phone unique and different from others

With features like Navigation Pane, Search by Voice, One Touch Share and many more indeed makes the competitor really work hard to stay in the league and make the my Touch 3G stand out