From The Northern Edge Of Microsoft

Critical Out Of Band Hotfix Released

Typically hotfixes are released on the second Tuesday of each month as you are all well aware.  Occasionally, I can personally only remember four including this one and the one this past October, there are out of band hotfixes released.  While we don’t normally post hotfix release notifications considering this is an out of band release I wanted to let you all know about it.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-078 – Critical

Security Update for Internet Explorer (960714)

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS08-078.mspx

Executive Summary

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, and Internet Explorer 7. For information about Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, please see the section, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Related to This Security Update. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way Internet Explorer validates data binding parameters and handles the error resulting in the exploitable condition. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

This security update also addresses the vulnerability first described in Microsoft Security Advisory 961051.

Recommendation:

Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update immediately.

Known Issues:

None.  If you experience any issues please call 1-866-PCSAFETY.  There is no charge for this call.

Update Availability

The update has been pushed to all Windows Update servers and will appear on your WSUS server(s) as soon as you synchronize them.  You can also download the patch for your operating system at the link posted above.

For more information please tune into the following webcast!

Title: Information About Microsoft December Out-of-Band Security Bulletin
Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 1:00 P.M. Pacific Time (U.S. & Canada)
URL: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032399448&Culture=en-US 

Title: Information About Microsoft December Out-of-Band Security Bulletin #2
Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time (U.S. & Canada)
URL: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032399449&Culture=en-US

Happy Silverlight Holidays From Microsoft Canada

From everyone here at the Developer & Platform Team at Microsoft Canada we wish you and your family all the best this Holiday Season and a very Happy New Year!!  Below is our Silverlight powered holiday card, created by combining illustrations from kids from Boys & Girls Clubs across Canada.  Enjoy.

We Are Sponsoring HoHoTO

Check it out:  http://hohoto.ca/

#hohoto is the party of the year. It’s your chance to meet and greet and shake your booty with Toronto’s twitterati (that includes YOU). Find out once and for all if there’s more to Toronto’s busy Twitter scene than just one guy in sweat pants with lots of time to fill.

best of all – it supports the Daily Bread Food Bank!

See you all tonight!

‘Tis The Season To Think About Backups

Digital cameras and music players are likely still high on many people’s gift list despite the economic situation.  Even if Santa doesn’t have one of these heading for your stocking, I bet you already own one in your family.  As more of our world goes digital we all benefit from how easy it is to view, share and use our most precious memories.  There is a key downside that I see almost everyday – just as digital memories are easy to create, they are easy to destroy. 

When I think about my friends and family, most people simply are not backing up their personal digital memories in an effective way.  Anything can happen – failed hardware, accidental deletion, file corruption or even situations like theft and fire.  Just this week a close friend as well as a colleague here at Microsoft had their houses broken into and their PCs with all their photos and videos stolen.  Luckily they had done a proper backup.  I know too many people that have lost pictures of their kids, the wedding, their special occasions simply because of a failed drive or an accidental deletion.

So, here is my advice (no matter what platform you use) on  backups:

• Backup More Often – Daily If You Can.  Once a year isn’t enough.  I recommend once a WEEK at least, but there are ways to get to a daily schedule.  Home Server, for example, can do easy backups every day (this is what I use).  My PCs backup every night between 2-5am when they are not in use (and they wake from sleep, so you don’t need to leave them on all the time)
• Organize Your Files For Easier Backup.  In the Windows world, this means putting everything in My Documents – or in a few select locations.  If you spread files around it just increases the odds that you will forget something.  This is an easy habit to pick up and it will save you a lot of time when trying to back everything up.  Having everything in one place also allows you to use a simple script tool like Robocopy.exe to backup your files. 
• Focus On Data, Not Software.  The most important part of your PC is your data.  Software and the OS can always be reinstalled.  There are really 2 types of backup solutions – those that copy files and those that make an image of your machine at the disk level.  Both are valid ways to backup your data, but only the imaging solution lends itself to a “automatic full recovery” of a lost machine – i.e. your drive fails, you replace it, then restore everything including the software and your settings.  Most of the time, however, you might just need a simple copy of your data – i.e. your PC gets stolen, you buy a new one and you just want to put your data on it you don’t want to replace the software on the new machine.  You definitely need to be careful not to overlook any key setting files you might not want to be without – like your Outlook PST files, RSS feed lists, you contact database, etc.  These depend heavily on the software you have installed, so I focus on these key folders in Vista – most of which are in the \users directory:
• \users\desktop
• \users\documents
• \users\music
• \users\pictures
• \users\videos
• \users\downloads
• \users\favorites

Of course, if you use a imaging solution you don’t need to worry about picking out the parts of your system to backup – you just get everything.

• Attempt A Full Restore At Some Point.  No backup solution is effective if you can’t actually recover any data.  You should always test your backup solution – once when you begin using it and then periodically to ensure your system is still doing the job you think it is.  How can you test it?  Purposely delete a file and try to recover it.  Take an old PC and attempt to restore it completely if you are using an image based backup like Home Server.  The ultimate would be to pretend that your primary PC was stolen, destroyed or had a complete hardware failure.
• Move A Set Of Backups “Off Site”.  This might sound like something that a business would do, but everyone should think about it.  Purchase an inexpensive external drive, save a snapshot of your data to it and then get that data out of the house!  Take it to the office, your safety deposit box, a family members house, a friends house, whatever.  Here is what we do:  Home Server backs up our machines daily.  We have 2 external hard drives that we use to take a snapshot of all our data.  1 stays in the safety deposit box and the other is at home ready for the backup.  Once a quarter, we swap these drives – bringing the one from the bank home and taking the newer backup offsite – this gives us a permanent image in case the worst happens.  There are also online options that can upload your data to servers in the cloud, thus achieving the same results.  Trust me, this is the one tip that could really save your butt and it is really easy to do.  How terrible would you feel if you lost both your PC and your backups?

A well thought out backup strategy might just be the best New Years Resolution you can make for 2009.

MSFT Gen 4 Data Center Vision – Just cool.

http://loosebolts.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/our-vision-for-generation-4-modular-data-centers-one-way-of-getting-it-just-right/

 

“At Microsoft, we have focused a lot of thought and research around how to best operate and maintain our global infrastructure and we want to share those learnings. While obviously there are some aspects that we keep to ourselves, we have shared how we operate facilities daily, our technologies and methodologies, and, most importantly, how we monitor and manage our facilities. Whether it’s speaking at industry events, inviting customers to our “Microsoft data center conferences” held in our data centers, or through other media like blogging and white papers, we believe sharing best practices is paramount and will drive the industry forward.  So in that vein, we have some interesting news to share.”

Wired – Ozzie wants to push Microsoft back into Startup mode

I really enjoyed this article as it reflects a feeling I get internally everyday.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-12/ff_ozzie

The keynote speaker at this past summer's TechReady conference—a gathering of 6,000 or so Microsoft engineers from around the world—was the company's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie. This was not a routine appearance. Ozzie arrived at Microsoft in 2005, and the following year he inherited the title of CSA directly from Bill Gates. He was now the microprocessor of the Microsoft machine. But he had never addressed the semiannual conclave. His explanation? He wanted to wait until he had something big to show the troops………more

They reference a part of Ray’s internal speech to the employees that he uses Twistori as a metaphor for telling his story.  It’s a powerful way to make a point.  I had the chance to be in the audience for his talk and it really left an impression on me.  To quote Ray:

• I love software, because if you can imagine something, you can build it.
• I love Windows, because without it there would be no PC. There would be no PC developers. There might not even be a Web.
• I love the ubiquitous Web because of the connections that it opened up.
• I love competition. But when we're behind a competitor, I hate it when we find ourselves just chasing their taillights.

I think in a lot of ways our team embodies this spirit at Microsoft Canada.  We pride ourselves on being agile and willing to take risks.  Techdays is a great example of really trying to change the “legacy” Microsoft playbook.  We have a big vision (empower Canada’s technology professionals and drive cutting edge innovation) with limited budget – a common startup reality.  Then there is our people.  We’ve brought in some non-microsoftie talent into our team to compliment the amazing talent already here.  Many say that the people are always the source of a startup’s strength.  If I ran a startup today I’d try to poach my entire team since they are the best group of people I have every worked with.

So – if you want to see the startup spirit, look no farther than MSFT Canada’s DPE Team :-)

BizSpark In The News

Some news from our recent Bizspark launch……..

Microsoft BizSpark offers start ups "affordable access" to tech resources

Canadian start ups trying to weather the current credit crunch and make a go of a new business may find Microsoft BizSpark an invaluable resource.
11/26/2008 5:00:00 AM
by Nestor Arellano

Microsoft Corp. says its recently launched software and technology service program will support start-up tech firms that are trying to break ground in these tough economic times.

More here - http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=50924

My Boss – Phil – In The National Post Talking “Upsize Innovation”

http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=991037

Phil, who is my boss and President of Microsoft Canada, has a great article talking about the importance of innovation and technology in tough economic times.

“As instability continues to ripple through the global economy, it's clear that no one is immune to the effects of tighter credit and slower consumer and business spending.

But while it's impossible to predict how long the current uncertainty will last or what the final impact will be on jobs and growth, I am optimistic about long-term economic prospects, here and around the world.

There's no doubt that this is a time when thoughtful business leaders must carefully assess how best to utilize their resources to weather the uncertainty that lies ahead. I believe information technology can play an important role in helping companies respond to this difficult and rapidly changing economic environment.”

more here.

Speaking Today At The Toronto Computer Lawyers Group

I am participating in a discussion around “SaaS” during this lunchtime event today.  Really, SaaS is not the term I am going to focus on since it is really just a delivery mechanism from my perspective.  I am going to focus on the trends driving us to a Services world, about the key factors developers and customers are considering and how our Software+Services vision is playing out.

Slides here.

John and I chat post-keynote at PDC

http://blogs.msdn.com/cdndevs/archive/2008/10/30/canucks-at-pdc-thoughts-about-the-keynote-with-mark-relph-day-2.aspx

Hello Canada From PDC to Techdays!

For everyone attending TechDays in Toronto, John Bristowe and I recorded a quick “hello” video from the floor of the PDC2008 keynote.

On The Eve Of Techdays 2008

Techdays is here!  The team (as I type this post) is hard at work back in Toronto preparing the final details for the kickoff event.  We really are trying to raise the bar on the kinds of events and programs we bring to Canada’s Technical Professionals and we hope that the first ever Techdays will help make our vision come to life.

For those of you attending the event, you may be wondering why Techdays Toronto and PDC seem to conflict.  I will be making a video appearance at Techdays and will speak to this point, but I also wanted to discuss it here. 

Both events are amazing and offer great things for developers (and other IT professionals as well).  The events have very different focus areas, however.

TechDays is about you.  Your skills, your career, your networking, your learning and the technology you have available to you today.  We won’t be spending a lot of time on the PDC announcements at PDC quite on purpose.  Techdays is a new kind of event experience for us in Canada (and we are trying to bring some of the best elements of events like TechEd and PDC)

PDC is about the future of the Microsoft platform.  This is a worldwide event, focused on the future of the Microsoft platform.  It is very developer focused and involves a lot of content that is pre-beta.  This year we have seen announcements around Windows 7, Silverlight 2, WPF, Windows Azure and Office 14.

(Note: there is also MIX09 in Vegas in March – focused completely on the Web)

So how do we leverage both events?  We have a team at PDC that is gathering the best information from the show and we will be setting up ways to get it to you over the next few months.  We have a few cool ideas to ensure Canada is at the front of innovation on these new technologies.  Additionally, much of the content is recorded at www.microsoftpdc.com

Likewise, we are recording a lot of TechDays content for use in the future as well.

So – enjoy Techdays – use the time to build your skills and know that we will be bringing you the best of PDC in the very near future!

From PDC – Ray Ozzie Talks Azure On Channel9

Ray talks Azure from PDC.

PDC 2008 – More coverage from Ryan’s blog

Ryan has done a good job summing up some of the coverage from the last 2 days.

Wow. What a day! I’ve attempted to pull together a summary of materials and videos from Day 1. I’m now in the keynote for Day 2 so will have more later on that later.   Read More

PDC – David Crow responds to Flexibility & Choice

David gave it some thought and responded to my post from a few days ago.  Check it out here.