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Competitions:

• World Citizenship: Make an app that could change someone’s life. Pick your cause: the environment, education, health, you name it. Use technology as an agent of change.
• Games: Put a smile on the face of the world. Make the next great game and see people playing it all around you on console, PC, phone, slate – wherever people play games.
• Innovation: Reinvent social networks. Transform online shopping. Experience music in a new way. Do something amazing with GPS. It’s time to take that crazy idea of yours and ship it!

Challenges:

• The Windows 8 App Challenge will test a team’s ability to design and build a Windows Store app that takes advantage of Windows 8 features and design principles to deliver an exceptional experience on the platform.
• The Windows Phone Challenge is seeking the best apps that feature startling functionality and device-focused utility, combined with a delightful Windows Phone user experience.
• The Windows Azure Challenge is about getting your team started on the “next big thing” by leveraging Azure platform features to build a great web application.

For each competition, we'll award:

• First Place: $50,000 (USD)
• Second Place: $10,000 (USD)
• Third Place: $5,000 (USD)

And each challenge:

• First Place: $10,000 (USD)
• Second Place: $5,000 (USD)
• Third Place: $3,000 (USD)

Plus every finalist team and their mentor will also get a free trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, to compete in the Worldwide Finals!

Looking for resources to get started? Take a look at:

• How to Develop a Windows 8 App in 30 Days
• How to Develop a Windows Phone App in 30 Days
• Azure 90-day Free Trial

Andrew Duthie and Chris Bowen share with us their Top 10 Windows 8 secrets for App success. Tune in as they discuss the incredible money making opportunities available for developers who jump in and develop applications for Windows 8 as well as what free tools and services are available to help you along the way.

How to Develop a Windows Phone App in 30 Days Now that you have taken on the 30-day challenge to build a Windows Phone app, let's get down to the brass tacks. How to start? What happens next? Where to get a device to test your app? How to make money on your app? Help is at hand at each step of the way. The schedule below highlights themes and how you can make the most of each week with training, resources and support. Your journey begins here.

See also How to Develop a Windows 8 App in 30 Days

If you teach computer science in K-12 you really should  belong to the CSTA. Check out the Benefits from Computer Science Teachers Association membership as the CSTA blog.

Randy Guthrie doesn’t blog often but when he does it is worth reading. He posted a couple of posts recently that I feel I have to share because they are just really useful.

• Windows to Go takes your organizationally-managed computer to the Bleeding Edge You’re really going to want this if your computers at school are locked down. 
• Preparing a Computer to use Windows to Go: 
•  Mounting .ISO files Directly is Awesome Feature in Windows 8 for DreamSpark and MSDN Subscribers

Increase Problem Solving, Reduce Coding Syntax is a  great post by Garth Flint that talks about the difficulty of teaching problem solving and how it is more important than just teaching syntax.

A bunch of years ago I wrote a textbook for learning Visual Basic 6.0. When talking with my publisher I joked that I would like the words “Don’t Panic” in large letters on the cover. The more geeky in the audience will remember that being on the cover of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” One of the big goals of that first book was to be a friendly, gentle  introduction to programming. Scaring people was the last thing on my mind. I don’t want to scare people away from programming and computer science. I want to attract them TO programming and computer science.

So what is scary about programming? For many it is the syntax of programming languages. The semi colons, the curly braces, the simple words in strange configurations, and the fussy way that programming languages what instructions to be specified. Recent years have seen the development of several languages, or environments perhaps, that have tried to avoid as much of the syntax problems as possible. Environments like Scratch, Alice and Kodu have gained a lot of usage particularly among teachers teaching younger students but even among teachers of older students. These tools allow the introduction of programming without the “scary” syntax of most major programming languages. Students using these environments learn that they can program and that it need not be something to be afraid of.

These tools are great and I love them but they have some limitations. One of these limitations is that they are essentially “walled gardens” and the programmer can only operate within these environments. At some point one has to move on to more traditional programming languages. One hopes that most students have more confidence about the idea of programming when they make this jump and that the syntax will no longer seems as frightening because the concepts will be familiar.

One of the other things that seems to scare some people is the literalness and the pickiness of “computers.” One really has to be pretty particular about how one gives instruction to a computer. It seems like the slightest little error – a typo, a missing semi colon, a letter in the wrong case – can make everything fall apart. For someone who is not used to being a detail oriented person or someone who just wants the computer to “do what I mean” programming can be frustrating. And yet bugs are not a time for panic but a time for patience.

I think some people are also fearful that they will not be able to combine the problem solving with the syntax and fussiness of programming to get something that does what they want the computer to do. When taking a course the fear is that this will lead to poor grades. I’ve seen more than a few students avoid taking a computer science course because of the fear of getting a poor grade. It is unfortunate that the focus on grades gets so high that it overshadows the value of actually learning. That does happen though.

What ever the source of fear I think that often that is the biggest barrier to entering computer science for many people who have the opportunity. Far too many people don’t have the opportunity for formal education in computer science and programming in K-12 of course. And that is a large problem. But in schools that do offer computer science and/or programming I think fear keeps many from even trying. And that is unfortunate.

How do we get the word out that there is no need to panic? Friendly tools like Scratch, Alice and Kodu can help a little. I think that themes that really gather students interest (gaming, phone development, etc.) can help motivate students to move past their fear. I think that introducing computer science (which is more than programming) at an earlier age can help prevent fear from developing. I think we can create more early courses in middle school (or earlier) that introduce the concepts more gently can be helpful. I know that a lot of people are concerned about reducing the rigor of CS education. This make sense of course. We all want an AP CS course that is really a college/university set of rigor. But we don’t teach AP Calculus to students who haven’t learned arithmetic first. In fact we usually expect students to have many years of math courses before they get to AP Calculus. And still no one says “you’re not giving enough rigor in math” because we realize that you have to work up to some things. We need that sort of attitude about computer science as well

Here we run into the old problem of no time in the curriculum. This is a tough one. The answer is probably something involving incorporating computer science into other parts of the curriculum. We’re a bit short of properly trained teachers for that which is an issue. Like so many problems though panic is not the solution. Neither is just giving up. We need to sit back, analyze the problem, develop a plan and execute it. Sounds a lot like programming doesn’t it?

I came across two lists of “controversial programming opinions” with one post named “20 controversial programming opinions”. It has some 76 comments as I write this post. A second post called “Hopefully More Controversial Programming Opinions” adds to the mix. Personally I didn’t find a lot to disagree with in the first post. The second one I found several things to disagree with. The big thing I disagree with in the second is:

Computer science should only be offered as a minor. You can major in biology, minor in computer science. Major in art, minor in computer science. But you can't get a degree in CS.

I think that is too narrow a few. I can see requiring a minor in an “unrelated area.” I can even see, in some cases, requiring a second major. Although admittedly fitting a second major in with a CS major is just about impossible in four years of university.

Besides the controversies listed in these posts there are some that a particular to computer science education. The ever popular What Programming Language to Teach First? comes to mind. And the objects first, object late, or object never discussion (see Objects When? If Ever?) never seems to get old.

Assembly language is an additional source of controversy. Does anyone really need it anymore? Should it be reserved to people with special careers or paths of study in mind or should one have some experience in order the call themselves a serious programmer or computer scientist? personally I believe that understanding Assembly language gives one important insights into how computers work and how to more deeply understand software concepts. Some disagree completely while still others suggest Assembly language should be the first programming language people learn! Great topic for discussion.

Do you discuss controversial issues on your classroom or work space? Does full agreement ever come out of these discussions? Love to hear about it.

And if you want to dig into cloud computing there is the option to take advantage of a Azure 90-day Free Trial Azure is Microsoft’s big cloud offering. This site lets you sign up for a 90 day free trial so that you can try Azure out and learn more about cloud computing. Visit the Azure 90-day Free Trial website for the details and fine print.

And now to make things easier I present an index to the Trustworthy Computing Cloud Fundamentals Video Series

• Introducing the Cloud Fundamentals Video Series
• Cloud Computing & Business Agility with John Howie, Senior Director in Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services
• Cloud Computing Requires Transparency with Mark Estberg, Senior Director in Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services
• Cloud Transparency as an Element of Trust with Mark Estberg, Senior Director in Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services
• The Benefits of Industry Collaboration  to Cloud Computing Security with Jim Reavis, the Founder and Executive Director of the Cloud Security Alliance
• Benchmarks and Evaluation Standards for  Cloud Computing Security with Laura Posey, a Senior Security Strategist in Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft
• Evaluating Different Cloud Service  Offerings by Comparing Security Controls with Kellie Ann Chainier, a Cloud Business Manager from Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector team
• e-discovery in the Cloud with Kevin Allison, a General Manager of Office 365 at Microsoft
• Compliance in the Cloud with Jeffrey Miller, Information Security and Privacy Manager for Microsoft Health Solutions Group
• Cloud Computing Privacy at Microsoft  Part 1 with Brendon Lynch, Microsoft’s Chief Privacy Officer
• Cloud Computing Privacy at Microsoft,  Part 2 with Brendon Lynch, Microsoft’s Chief Privacy Officer
• The Importance of Secure Development   Practices for Cloud Services with Steve Lipner, Partner Director of Program Management in Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft
• Bring Your Own Device and the Cloud with Jim Reavis, the Founder and Executive Director of the Cloud Security Alliance
• Windows Azure & the CSA STAR with Kellie Ann Chainier, a Cloud Business Manager from Microsoft’s Worldwide Public Sector team
• Philippe Courtot and Tim Rains Discuss  Cloud Security with Philippe Courtot, the Chairman and CEO of Qualys
• Cloud Security Standards - Are There  Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen? with Tim Mather, Advisory Director at KPMG
• Interdependencies Among Cloud Services and Compliance with Mark Estberg, Senior Director in Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services
• Operational Security versus Secure  Development Practices for the Cloud with Dennis Hurst, Enterprise Security Products District Manager at HP and Cloud Security Alliance member
• Evolving Identity Requirements with Norm Barber, Principle Program Manager in Microsoft’s Active Directory Engineering Division
• Data Center Security with Mark  Estberg, Senior Director in Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services
• Reliability in the Cloud with David Bills, Microsoft’s Chief Reliability Strategist
• An Update on Cloud Security Standards with Laura Posey, a Senior Security Strategist in Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft
• Recoverability in the Cloud with David Bills, Microsoft’s Chief Reliability Strategist
• An  Inflection Point with Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President, Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft
• All Data  Is Not Created Equal with Lori Woehler, Senior Director in the Microsoft World Wide Public Sector team
• Cloud Fundamentals Video Series: Series Finale with Frank Simorjay, Senior Product Marketing Manager in Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft

• Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Harm Other People.

• Thou Shalt Not Interfere With Other People’s Computer Work.

• Thou Shalt Not Snoop Around In Other People’s Computer Files.

• Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Steal.

• Thou Shalt Not Use A Computer To Bear False Witness.

• Thou Shalt Not Copy Or Use Proprietary Software For Which You have Not Paid.

• Thou Shalt Not Use Other People’s Computer Resources Without Authorization Or Proper Compensation.

• Thou Shalt Not Appropriate Other People’s Intellectual Output.

• Thou Shalt Think About The Social Consequences Of The Program You Are Writing Or The System You Are Designing.

• Thou Shalt Always Use A Computer In Ways That Insure Consideration And Respect For Your Fellow Humans.

The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics were first presented in Dr. Ramon C. Barquin's paper, "In Pursuit of a 'Ten Commandments' for Computer Ethics."

To some extent the commandments are a bit simplistic but that argument can be made about most lists of ethical practices. The proof is in the implementation and how the spirit of the commandment is interpreted and not just in the literal words of it.

I have known any number of students who would ignore commandments 3 (snooping) and 7 (unauthorized use) as they see the world as their playground and believe they have rights to go anywhere and use anything that they are not physically restrained from doing.

I’d love to hear other comments on these “commandments.” I’d also like to hear about the results of classroom discussions on them with students. If you talk about these or other sets of ethics rules in your classroom (or business) I’d love to hear about it.

Commandment 6 (dealing with proprietary software) is anathema to people who believe that proprietary software is itself unethical. Is there middle ground on this issue? Worth some discussion for sure.

VS Express 2012 RC for Windows 8 Download on VS Site Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 provides the core tools that are required to build compelling, innovative Windows Store apps. And its free.

VS Express 2012 RC for Windows 8 & Windows 8 Release Preview Downloads on Dev Center This link brings you to the Windows 8 Development Center with a large collections of links for tools, software development kits and a link to the Windows 8 Development Center where you can get a limited time evaluation copy of Windows 8.

How to Develop a Windows 8 App in 30 Days

• Insider tips and tricks on Windows 8 application development.
• Personal on-the-phone access to a Windows 8 architect*.
• An exclusive one-on-one Windows Store design consultation*.
• An opportunity to get expert help from a Microsoft Services Engineer at an App Excellence Lab.

Phone SDK Download 

The Windows Phone Software Development Kit (SDK) 7.1 and 7.1.1 Update provides you with all of the tools that you need to develop apps and games for both Windows Phone 7.0 and Windows Phone 7.5 devices.

The Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update provides additional functionality to the existing Windows Phone SDK 7.1. Using this update, you can more easily develop apps and games that are optimized to run on 256-MB devices.

How to Develop a Windows Phone App in 30 Days

Now that you have taken on the 30-day challenge to build a Windows Phone app, let's get down to the brass tacks. How to start? What happens next? Where to get a device to test your app? How to make money on your app? Help is at hand at each step of the way. The schedule below highlights themes and how you can make the most of each week with training, resources and support. Your journey begins here.

Generation App – Where Ideas Meet Code

If you have an app idea that's ready to build, you can find the expertise you need to make your app a reality at Elance.com. The world's leading platform for online employment, Elance connects entrepreneurs with qualified online professionals and provides the tools needed to hire, view in-progress work, and pay for the end results on an hourly or by-project basis.

Azure 90-day Free Trial Azure is Microsoft’s big cloud offering. This site lets you sign up for a 90 day free trial so that you can try Azure out and learn more about cloud computing. Visit the Azure 90-day Free Trial website for the details and fine print.

Your free Azure trial contains

• compute -750 small compute hours per month
• web sites - 10 Shared Web Sites***
• relational database - 1 Database Unit of Web Edition and Business Edition SQL Database****
• storage - 35GB with 50,000,000 storage transactions
• bandwidth - Unlimited inbound / 20GB Outbound

Politics are also in high gear and Dr. Mark Drapeau‏ aka @cheeky_geeky posted this picture of the Microsoft manned help desk set up for the Republican Party convention this week. And Microsoft also introduced an Xbox LIVE politics hub.

Microsoft Corp. today announced “Election 2012 on Xbox LIVE,” a unique opportunity for Xbox 360 owners to watch and interact with live election coverage of the presidential debates, learn the facts about the candidates and issues from Face the Facts USA, register to vote through Rock the Vote, and participate in live daily polling from YouGov. NBCNews.com will deliver daily election programming to keep users up-to-date on the latest news and analysis about the election and the candidates. All these experiences will be featured on a brand new Election 2012 Hub on Xbox LIVE. Members will be able to fully access the first wave of content, which will focus on convention-related news, beginning Monday, Aug. 27.

Congratulations to Jennifer Chayes, director of MS Research NYC & New England for being named one of most powerful women in tech.

Trevor Packer @AP_Trevor, College Board’s head of AP, announced on twitter that there were 18 perfect AP Computer Science scores, in CA (3), NY (3), TX (3), IL (2), China (2), MA, NJ, OH, TN, & VA. No other AP exam had any perfect scores. Mind boggling isn’t it. Especially since other exam have far more test takers.

Microsoft Research ‏@MSFTResearch picked as their Video of the Week: hear Andy van Dam, CS prof @Brown University talk about opportunities for the future of computer science. It’s about a minute long with a message that students should hear.

 Doug Peterson (@dougpete) tweeted a reminder about some  Microsoft teaching guides that are well worth knowing about for any number of teachers who cover any number of topics

.I’m posting this link to In Google’s Inner Circle, a Falling Number of Women not as a knock to Google by any means. Clearly they are working hard to address the issue of retaining women in the field. Rather I post it so that people can learn about the issues and perhaps think about more ways to deal with this problem.

The C# Yellow Book 2012 is now available from @robmiles  If you are looking for a well written and totally up to date and FREE C# textbook this is what you want.

Another look at Khan Academy and learning programming from a HS CS teacher. Most of the work on the street about the new Khan Academy computer science program has been positive. This post takes a different sort of look at it from a teacher in the trenches. Food for thought for sue.

October 11th 2012 is the first international day of the girl. This article Day of the "Tech" Girl  on the CSTA Blog talks about the need for more girls in tech.

Innovative Teachers-Share Your Genius This guest post by Eric Williams, Superintendent of the York County School Division in Virginia on VIcki Davis’ CoolCatTeacher blog is a plea for teachers to share their innovative ideas with others. This is a theme I have pushed for years but Eric says it so well.

WiredMagazine has nice review of Kodu with a nice collection of links to curriculum as well.

Under the cool tools category @TeachTec tweeted a link to 10 Fun Tools To Easily Make Your Own Infographics

One of the ways that one can help young women with an interest in computing and related fields is to provide recognition for the world they have already been doing. One of the great programs in this regard is the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. Along with the NCWIT awards listed below, a number of universities offer scholarships to winners and runners up of the Award for Aspirations in Computing. Applications open officially next month but you will want to look into the awards and application process now so you can encourage young women to apply.

The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing honors young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. Awardees are selected for their computing and IT aptitude, leadership ability, academic history, and plans for post-secondary education. The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing offers both a national and local "affiliate" competitions to generate support and visibility for women's participation in communities nationwide.

Applications are accepted from September 15-October 31.  Award recipients are notified in early December and award events take place around the country December through May. To apply, girls must register online.  Click here to begin registration. You can register anytime and will be notified when applications open.

The Award for Aspirations in Computing is open to all high school girls residing in the US and you may re-apply each year.  You may only receive the National award once.

National Award-winners receive:

• $500 in cash
• a laptop computer, provided by Bank of America
• a trip to attend the Bank of America Technology Showcase and Awards Ceremony in Charlotte, North Carolina
• an engraved crystal award for both the student and the student's school

I sure don't think that women and minorities are less capable than white males. There are other issues involved and some of them may be cultural and some of them may relate to how we teach and it may even relate to quality of teaching if I dare suggest  such a thing. In another great article Mark Guzdial talks about Experience drives learning: Implications for CS Ed which highlights some factors that I think may come into play. White males tend to get more and earlier experience with computer applications and general computer usage in general. This suggests to me that we need more widespread and better introduction to computer applications and computer science ideas at younger ages. OK I thought that for a while anyway. But this adds justification for those who need some.

We have a well recognized shortage of good CS teachers as well. A lot of outreach efforts to under represented minorities involve training teachers to teach CS who are new to the field. It takes a while to get good at teaching APCS. It takes a while to get good at teaching anything really but when you are  starting from a limited knowledge base it takes even longer. Will the teachers in heavily minority districts get better over time? If they get support, on going training, and are willing – sure! The question is how many and how quickly. But at least people are trying.

The other thing that concerns me in the numbers is the gender gap. If we assume that boy are doing better than girls in the same class (not a sure thing but perhaps a way to bet) that suggests we have a different set of problems. Is the difference because of different previous experiences or is it something that happens (or doesn’t) in the classroom? Back some years ago Carnegie Mellon had a summer program (offered three different summers) to try to help teachers learn to recruit, retain and properly teach girls. I sure learned a lot from that program and I like to think it helped. I never had enough girls to make up a good statistical sample though to judge the results with any reliability. I had some really smart and hard working girls in my classes when I did have girls though.

The lesson I take from this is that while we need to work hard on getting more women and minorities into CS courses we can’t stop there. We have to make sure that they have success – that they learn! Taking an AP course and passing the AP exam are not the same thing. The prize comes not from starting the race but finishing it.