When our county was younger and still expanding westward there was a saying, "Go west, go west young man and grow up with the country." Typically attributed to Horace Greeley, I think this quote works well in describing the great work Marques has done in creating and and building the workshops known as Consumer Camp. It is with this thought of cross-country expansion that I am happy to say Consumer Camp is coming east to Cambridge, Massachusetts on Saturday, May 12th from 3-5 pm. Since Consumer Camp: Cambridge is happening on the Saturday before Mother's Day, it will have a theme of focusing around Technology and Mom. If you want to attend be sure to RSVP through the link on the event page below.

For those who do not know Consumer Camp is an event that seeks to better educate individuals on the great consumer products made by Microsoft. Typically events last 2-3 hours in length. Within the events are 10-15 minute demonstrations that offer tips, tricks, and how-tos on a range of Microsoft products. In between the demonstrations and at the end of the event there are opportunities for event attendees to provide feedback and interact with the various products demonstrated. It is a great way to learn and ask questions about your PC, Xbox, and Windows Phone.

Consumer Camp Cambridge will be hosted at Microsoft's New England Research and Development center, affectionately known as N.E.R.D. The Microsoft New England Research & Development Center (NERD) is a research and software innovation campus located in the heart of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The NERD vertical campus spans two buildings with its primary presence and conference center located at One Memorial Drive and a recently renovated and expanded space located at One Cambridge Center. NERD is home to some of Microsoft’s most strategic teams including Microsoft Research New England, Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V), SharePoint Workspace, Microsoft Technical Computing, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft Lync, Microsoft Office 365 and more. NERD has become a hub of activity for the local tech community and has hosted more than 500 events and welcomed more than 40,000 visitors during the past two years.

As we get closer to May 12th, stay tuned for more information for now here's the important information about the event:

What: Consumer Camp: Cambridge

When: Saturday, May12th 2012

Where: One Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

More Information: Event Page or @ConsumerCamp

“Just look over your shoulder
Let me see who just showed up
It's the southern takeover
You betta’ tell ‘em I got dreams to stand on top, try and stop (pop pop pop)”

-Chamillionaire

It’s the Twitter takeover… In case you did not notice yesterday, music artist and professional lacrosse player Connor Martin, of the band Con Bro Chill, took the reigns of Zune’s Twitter account yesterday. With little warning (ok, one tweet 3 hours prior), the takeover happened and wrapped up just a quickly as it started, lasting about forty five minutes overall. Rightly so, a few were confused (myself included) while others wondered why Zune is still doing anything since Microsoft stopped making the Zune HD,

Someone who wants to party with you. This will help explain: zune.cc/zzLIjI #powerhappy RT @liljoepr: @ZUNE who are you?

— Zune(@ZUNE) February 21, 2012

I'm confused, is this a hack of the Twitter account of @ZUNE, or has @Microsoft done some weird branding effort?

— Chris Lindhartsen (@clindhartsen) February 21, 2012

@Con_Bro_Chill Sorry bro, but they don't even make @Zune's anymore

— Alex Cervasio (@cvas) February 21, 2012

@Con_Bro_Chill handled the criticism (twiticisim?) well. But I think the larger question focuses around the latter two tweets. Why?

For quite some time Zune has had a messaging problem. Not that it was saying something wrong just Zune was saying nothing at all. Remember how hard it was to admit the Zune HD was discontinued? As a result, having Zune do any type of publicity at this point seems pointless to many. I would agree. When was the last time Zune advertised in traditional media? One question that has yet to be satisfactorily answered is whether the brand known as Zune will continue to exist.

The last tweet above, by @cvas brings the point home. Right now Zune is like a gambling fiend that does not bet. I could see an argument claiming Zune has made a IBM-like transformation moving from hardware to services. Fine. Even with that transformation, where is the resulting messaging saying so? Without a heads up (Zune Insider or Zune on YouTube would have been nice places) the Twitter takeover seems random. Not the good random like pop-up retail stores. Instead, it is the type of random that leaves you scratching your head like the Nicki Minaj Grammy performance. Where does this takeover fit in to Zune’s current strategy?

 

@ZUNE @con_bro_chill love this Twitter takeover!!!! Cracking up at the questions...

— Lauren Israel (@laurenIZrael) February 21, 2012

 

Still those who participated in the event asked some good questions. On the positive side we now know Connor Martin uses TRESemmé and he prefers crunchy peanut butter – what ‘lax bro’ wouldn’t? He even had some advice for those who wanted to follow in his foot steps and play professional lacrosse. I would hate to think the confusion discussed above deters future artists from considering doing the same. I just wish Zune would be more consistent about getting the word out. Your turn, what did you think?

[Image Source: Windows Team Blog]

Recently the Windows Team introduced a new logo for Windows 8. I posted the logo above. As noted on the Windows Team blog, the new logo harkens back to Windows 1.0 more than the flag-like Windows logos seen for the past twenty years. See, the thing to the left of the phrase ‘Windows 8’ is a window and not a flag. Some believe the new Windows logo is missing something. Others see the logo as out of perspective. Still other's feel the new logo misses out on potential branding opportunities. This probably leads many to ask, "that is it? What about the other Microsoft products?" In short, no; there is more to come.

 

"If Microsoft keep on insisting to tie in Windows & Windows Phone, why are the logos so different?"

— Mackenzie Price (@mackenziepricee) February 18, 2012

Among other topics, an introductory post from Pentagram Design, designer of the new Windows 8 logo, gives some insight into the future of the new Windows logo,

 

"[Pentagram Design's Paula] Scher and her team created a complete system based on the idea of perspective. The designers completed motion studies to demonstrate the transformation of the flag shape into a window shape, to show that they weren’t that far apart and would be an easy and elegant transition for the brand. (Marks that fit into this perspective have been created for other Microsoft brands and programs, but have not yet been implemented*.)"

*emphasis added

[Image Sources (top to bottom): Microsoft Pressroom, Microsoft Pressroom, Wikipedia]

Define: Brand Mark. Seems like Windows 8 is just the beginning. While the Windows 8 window may look out of place against the flat red square of Windows Phone, the lighted grey three dimensional sphere of Xbox, and the yellow-orange gradient squares of Microsoft Office it is entirely possible that these and other logos (Zune maybe?) have been reworked to fit the motion and perspective of the new Windows 8 logo. With that in mind, perhaps we should look to the future of these Microsoft products with the anticipation of fresh icons (and interfaces?) coming soon.

It took a few weeks to compile but Microsoft MVPs came through in fine style. I present the 2012 MVP Summit playlist. What I like most about this list is that it's very diverse, much like the world regions and areas of expertise that MVPs cover. You'll find music ranging from hip-hop to electronic to folk to pop and more.

If you have a Zune Music Pass then you'll be able to hear all of the music, in their entirety. If you don't then you should be able to hear 30 second snippets of each song and purchase the ones that you'd like to keep.

Since I know that not everyone uses Zune, but would probably want to take advantage of this playlist in whatever music service that they desire, here's the complete track listing:

2012 MVP Summit Playlist:

1. "Heroes Are Human" (Thomas Nicholas Band)
2. "Rope and Summit" (Junip)
3. "Surfacing" (Chapel Club)
4. "Superbad [11:34]" (Travie McCoy)
5. "Burn It To The Ground" (Nickelback)
6. "Brass Monkey" (The Beastie Boys)
7. "The Bay" (Metronomy)
8. "Don't Stop Me Now" (Queen)
9. "Pass At Me" (Timbaland)
10. "If Not Now When" (Color Theory)
11. "Down Under" (Men At Work)
12. "Rise Up 2.0" (Six60)
13. "Luggage" (Viper Creek Club)
14. "Celebrate" (Hikaru Utada)
15. "The Imperial March - Empire Strikes Back" (John Williams)
16. "Ruffneck (Full Flex)" (Skrillex)
17. "Rise and Shine" (Big Gigantic)
18. "I Like That" (Richard Vission)
19. "Mama Said Knock You Out" (LL Cool J)
20. "Hypnotize" (The Notorious BIG)
21. "Coming Up for Air" (Dan Reed)
22. "Cradle (Fang Island Remix)" (The Joy Formidable)
23. "It's the End of the World As We Know It" (REM)
24. "Ring of Fire" (Johnny Cash)
25. "That's Not My Name (Tom Neville's Vocal Dub)" (The Ting Tings)
26. "M4 Part 2 - Mass Effect" (Faunts)
27. "Throne Room & Finale from Star Wars" (John Williams)
28. "Major Tom (Coming Home)" (William Shatner)
29. "Time Of Our Lives" (Paul Van Dyk)

Oh, and one more thing...

I'm proud to announce that the 30th track on this MVP playlist is composed by none other than Everett Gresham, under his performance name Edg3. The track, "Tenacity", was composed specifically for this playlist.


You can hear more of Everett's work on Facebook. You can gush at Everett on Twitter. :)

Ladies and Gentlemen, these are your 30 songs for the 2012 MVP Summit. Sync them to your Zune HD or Windows Phone and enjoy the musical ride as you head to Bellevue, WA, later this month.

Many thanks to everyone who participated and a special thanks to Everett for composing the bonus track.

Enjoy, all.

Yes, I know this will most likely be an unpopular opinion. Even I can't believe I'm writing this article. (Me! The gadget and gaming geek!)  But it needs to be said, in light of rumors swirling around about these next-gen devices.

We don't need an Xbox 720.

At least, not yet.

Look, I love my Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. Even the PS3, which I spent most of 2011 with after straying from (then reconciling) with an Xbox 360 S, is an extremely capable gaming system.  There is still plenty of life left in these systems, if games like Rage are any kind of proof. The current generation of gaming consoles are priced right (in the $199 to $249 range), offer online connectivity and gaming capabilities, and have large fanbases. Judging by the reactions to Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3, games can receive blockbuster movie-type attention and critical success, even this "late" into their lifecycles.  Over this past holiday season, millions of gaming systems were sold- this, despite a weak economy.

Speaking of which, the economy being what it is (not great for most people), I don't see how it would make sense for Microsoft or Sony to release new consoles now. This is particularly true for the PS3.  A new console debuting from Microsoft or Sony could be priced in the $399 or higher range (unless they are willing to take serious losses), and that does not include games or peripherals. To fully invest in a new system, consumers may need to invest at least $500 or more.  A lot of gamers may not be willing to make that kind of investment right now. Take a look at Nintendo's 3DS and Sony's new PS Vita. The 3DS debuted (as will the Vita) at $249. For Nintendo, they were forced to drop the price $70 several months later due to weak demand. The Vita, already released in Japan, has been outsold by the older PSP model. Sony is particularly egregious in this area; not only are they releasing the new (and admittedly powerful) Vita at $249, they are also releasing a new proprietary memory card format for it, which will cost more than the MicroSD equivalents.  On top of that, this card will be required for certain games. This speaks of a certain hubris that can frustrate loyal gamers.

Will Microsoft succumb to this type of hubris? There are talks of the next Xbox featuring digital downloads only. Some reports put broadband availability in the US to 68%, making a digital-only Xbox could be a dealbreaker for a decent-to-large number of gamers. The skeptic in me says that this is to cut-out used game sales and force the consumer to pay full price for a new game every time (weren't we just talking about the economy?). This would also prevent people from sharing games with others. And the reality is it comes down to increasing their profits at the expense of flexibility for the consumer.

In the end, we'll have to wait and see what Microsoft has in store for the next Xbox. I'm sure it'll sell millions. I'm sure that it will be a huge success (barring some sort of huge misstep in design and / or marketing).

But I'm not in any rush.

When not filling up Inside the Circle with his own brand of crazy talk, Julio maintains a blog over at http://www.julioinprogress.com. You can also Like him on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jaowriter.

So I logged onto the Twitter website to check trending topics to see what was happening. Much to my surprise, "RIP Adele" was trending. I checked my news outlet sources on my Tweetdeck to see if there was any report on this. Nothing. Twitter had decided to kill someone and this time it was Adele.

If anybody would be surprised at the RIP Adele news, it would be Adele who probably logged onto the internet to find out that she died.

The internet is moving at an extremely fast past. If your name gets to Twitter trending topics, you're automatically news. That goes for the same for "false news".

News outlets use Twitter to send out news which is great for someone like me who "lives" on the internet. I follow a lot of news people/outlets on Twitter and I find it great to get news instantly. The problem is some news outlets sometimes rush to break news and get the facts wrong.

Joe Paterno, the infamous Penn St coach, was on his death bed and would eventually pass away. Unfortunately, some people couldn't wait to break the story and hit the "Post" button too early. Joe Paterno was declared dead on Twitter before he died. CBS news got the story from a small news outlet and tweeted it out to the world. The reps from Joe Paterno's family rushed and denied the report.

It wasn't good for that small news outlet and CBS as CBS fired a member of their staff and the editor of the small news outlet stepped down.

Even on television, the quality of journalism is deteriorating. The phrase "Breaking News" has become nothing more than an attention grabber rather actual Breaking News. Real journalism has been pushed out of the way for ratings. Instead of great story pieces, we instead get talking heads in boxes giving their thoughts on what they liked about a politician's speech or a celebrities' dress. It's all largely devoid of "news" and it's rather all for entertainment.

Its hard to get real news and facts. Television News is obsolete to me. The internet does a better job for me. It's not always accurate and sometimes it's damn wrong. But at the least the information is available to the user and they can instantly check the facts and find it if they are real or not.

Believe me, the internet doesn't get a pass for giving out useless information sometimes (Katy Perry unfollowing Russel Brand on Twitter is not news) but the best thing about it is that I have options and can choose to ignore it.

Journalism is dead. Newspaper are gone and buried. The internet is the place to be. Long live the internet.