1. Go to WebsiteSpark.com.au:

2. Login with your Live ID account, which will then show the control panel:

3.Select "Update your deployed sites" - then enter the website addesses - and add.

4. Complete! - For the purposes of any competition, please simply copy-paste that list of sites and email to wssau@microsoft.com

2.            The promoter is Microsoft Pty Limited, ACN 002 589 460 of 1 Epping Road, North Ryde, New South Wales, 2113.

3.            Entry is open to Australian residents 18 years and older, who are, or their employer is, a participant in the Microsoft WebsiteSpark program (WebsiteSpark Member).  Employees of the promoter not eligible to enter.

4.            The promoter reserves the right to verify the validity of entries and to disqualify any entrant who the promoter believes either has tampered with the entry process or has submitted an entry that is not in accordance with these conditions of entry.

5.            The competition commences at 9am (Sydney time) on April 27 2010 and closes at 9am (Sydney time) on June 21 2010.

6.            To be eligible to enter this promotion,  the WebsiteSpark Member must develop, and cause to be hosted on the Windows platform , a new website.

7.            To qualify as “a new website” for the purposes of Clause 6, the the WebsiteSpark Member must have created, and caused to be hosted on the Windows platform a URL that has not been previously signed up to be hosted by the WebsiteSpark Member or his/her employer prior to the commencement of of the participation in the WebsiteSpark program, nor reported to the promoter prior to the Promotion Period. (New URL).

8.            To enter the promotion the following details must be reported to wssau@microsoft.com for verification by the end of the Promotion Period:

a.    The name of the WebsiteSpark Member, with their employer details, telephone number and email address; and

b.    A list of the New URLs.

9.            All valid entries received by the closing date of the Promotion Period will be considered by the judging panel.  This is a game of skill and chance plays no part in determining the winners. 

10.          The 50 WebsiteSpark Members who have created the most New URLs during the Promotion Period and as reported to the promoter in accordance with these terms and conditions will win a $200 prepaid visa gift card. Total number prizes = 50.  Total prize value = $10000 Prizes are not exchangeable, transferable or redeemable for cash. If the promoter is unable to supply the nominated prize, the promoter reserves the right to supply another prize of greater or equal value.

11.          All entries become the property of the promoter.  The promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.    No responsibility is accepted for entries not received by the promoter. Entries will be deemed void if stolen, forged, mutilated or tampered with in any way.

12.          All entries are deemed to be received at the time of receipt into the promotion database and not at the time of transmission by the entrants. Any form of automated entry using other devices or software is invalid.

13.          The stated prize value is the recommended retail value (including GST) in Australia as provided by the supplier and is correct at the time of printing. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any variation in the value of the prize. The Promoter and its associated agencies and companies accept no responsibility for prizes damaged or lost in transit.

14.          Winners of all prizes will be notified via email or telephone.  

15.          In the event that a prize is not claimed by 5pm September 30 2010 the promoter will contact the next entrant who has created the most New URLs during the Promotion Period as reported to the promoter in accordance with these terms and conditions during the Promotion Period and award them the prize.

16.          Subject to any applicable law which cannot be excluded, the promoter and its related bodies corporate shall not be liable for any loss, damage or injury suffered or sustained (including but not limited to direct or consequential loss or loss arising from negligence) arising directly or indirectly out of or in connection with the promotion or any prize.

17.          The prize is subject to the conditions of entry of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) and the promoter and its related bodies corporate are not responsible or liable for any direct or indirect loss suffered by any entrant as a direct or indirect result of the conduct of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ).

18.          Any costs associated with entering the competition and accessing the website are the responsibility of the entrant.

19.          By entering this competition, the entrant agrees that Microsoft can publish their name, employer, and the amount of the New URLs that they create during the promotion period.

20.          The promoter assumes no responsibility for, and the entrant releases the promoter from responsibility for, any failure to receive an entry or for inaccurate information or for any loss, claim, damage or injury to person or property (including computer systems and servers) as a result of the entrant’s participation in this promotion or the conduct of the promotion generally or as a direct or indirect result of an entrant’s error, any technical problem of any kind including communications or network failure, unauthorised access to, transferring or theft of data, whether caused by the entrant or associated with the equipment or programming used in the conduct of this promotion.  If, because of any such problem, this promotion is not able to be conducted as planned and/or the promotion’s administration, security, fairness or integrity are compromised or affected, the promoter may cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the promotion and/or disqualify any entrant involved in interfering or tampering with the conduct of this promotion in any way.

21.          Details from all entries will be collected and used for the purposes of conducting this promotion (which may include disclosure to third parties for the purpose of processing and conducting the promotion) and for publicity purposes surrounding this promotion.  By entering this promotion entrants consent to the use of their information as described.  Entrants may access and/or change their data by following the procedures in the promoter’s privacy policy which is available at www.microsoft.com/australia/privacy.  The promoter will only use your personal details for marketing purposes outside those described above if you “opt in” to join the mailing list when prompted.

This includes PHP, SQL Express and Visual Web Developer Express. Its never been easier to get the Microsoft Web Platform installed – just a few simple clicks.

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/web/ and click on the download the web platform link, and this will download the 80K file that kicks off the installer and from there you can pick and choose what you want to install:

But the by far coolest part of this is the ability to install popular Open Source applications such as Silverstripe and the WebPI takes care of ANY dependancies such as installing PHP and other web server requirements.

If you have an application you’d like to include in the Windows Web Application Gallery just follow these simple Windows Web Application Gallery Principles.

There are also a bunch of extensions also made available including:

o    Advanced Logging 1.0 Beta
o    Application Request Routing 2.0 RC
o    Database Manager 1.0 RTW
o    Dynamic IP Restriction 1.0 Beta
o    Media Services 3.0 RTW (with Smooth Streaming)
o    URL Rewrite 2.0 RC1
o    FastCGI for PHP support on IIS6
o    IIS7 Administration Pack
o    FTP Publishing Service 7.5
o    WebDav 7.5
o    Web Deployment Tool 1.0 RTW
o    IIS SEO Toolkit Beta 2

Sure you can install all these yourself, but the WebPI just makes it easier!

- jorke

WebSiteSpark is aimed specifically at those who are developing in the web platform and we’re giving them a jumpstart to get started on the Microsoft Platform.

The Australian launch of WebSiteSpark will be on the 8th of October at Web Directions South – Hope to see you there!

So very simply, here are the Gets and Gives:

What to we give you?

Software licenses that you can use for three years AT NO COST.  Once enrolled, you can download and immediately use the following software from Microsoft:

•3 licenses of Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
•1 license of Expression Studio 3 (which includes Expression Blend, Sketchflow, and Web)
•2 licenses of Expression Web 3
•4 processor licenses of Windows Web Server 2008 R2
•4 processor licenses of SQL Server 2008 Web Edition
•DotNetPanel control panel (enabling easy remote/hosted management of your servers)

The Windows Server and SQL Server licenses can be used for both development and production deployment.  You can either self-host the servers on your own, or use the licenses with a hoster.  WebsiteSpark makes it easy to find hosters who are also enrolled in the program, and who can use your licenses to provide you with either dedicated or virtual dedicated servers to host your sites on.

In addition to software, WebsiteSpark provides partner opportunities to grow and build your business  through referrals and product support training.

Who can get WebSiteSpark?

This is really simple:

1.Your company builds web sites and web application on behalf of others.
2.Your company currently has less than 10 employees.

If you meet these requirements you can sign up today. As part of the enrollment process you can pick a network referral partner such as a hoster or enter a code that you have received at an event or from a Microsoftie. Once you have that code you can enrol and start downloading the software – If you’re in Australia you can send an email to me: jorkeo@microsoft.com and i’ll hook you up – otherwise webspark@microsoft.com .

After 3 years?

You have no obligation to continue using the software just a $100 fee for the use of the program. By this time we hope you would have made a decision on whether you’re happy to continue to work with Microsoft and be part of the Microsoft Partner Network.

What’s happening in Australia?

The official launch of WebSiteSpark in Australia will be at Web Directions South on the 8th of October and from the start we’ve partnered with two of Australia’s best hosting companies to provide the network services, Melbourne IT (under WebCentral) and Westnet – you’ll see more information around these guys as they give WebSiteSpark participants special offers.

So as you can see this is an AWESOME initiative – and I’m very excited to be a part of this. If you have any questions / comments – please email me: jorkeo@microsoft.com – follow me on twitter: @jorke and follow the @websitespark twitter account.

you’ll see some press releases going out today all about this :)

- jorke

Welcome to the start of tech•ed Backstage. This blog is designed to give the world the view of what goes on in the background of running the tech•ed Australia 2009 conference from all the people the work in the Technology team and those that we interact with in developing the production.

We’re going to give the warts and all view of what’s involved in doing this focusing around the pragmatic approach of logistic and planning for this event and those related such as:

• Products and technology used for the event
• How the logistical planning is done
• How to you build a network for such and event and all the prep work.
• Tons of other information in mind numbing detail!

Plus of course lots of statistics and prediction that all go into delivering this kind of technology for the event.

So first of all some introductions for the core delivery team;

Jorke Odolphi – Microsoft – Infrastructure Architecture Evangelist /  tech•ed Technology Guy – responsible for the delivery of the infrastructure technology and ensuring and enabling that Microsoft has the best technology on show.

Other duties include attending long meetings and staying awake, breaking down barriers in delivery, helping the business understand the logistics and food/wine tasting.

(source: flickr.com/photos/heroeshappen)

Codify – International Men of Mystery – These guys actually DO the delivery of all the core infrastructure to tech•ed such as network connectivity, Wireless Networks, building machines for speaker rooms and connecting everyone to the internet. Simply put if you’re going to be putting anything on the network at  tech•ed  these guys are involved in some form. As a result they’re slaves to the network for the event!

To protect their identity (and they’re camera shy) the picture on the right is an artists rendition.. (source wikipedia.org)

Jomablue – International Men of Mystery – again another group of camera shy individuals. These guys are the core of the logistics for the event. When any piece of technology is placed in a location in the event these are the guys bumping it in, plugging it in and making sure the the power is right and in fact everything is right.

To protect their identity (and they’re camera shy) the picture on the left is an artists rendition.. (source wikipedia.org)

Of course we’re only scraping the surface of what we all do, and we can’t forget all the other people we interact with such as the tech•ed core team, Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre staff and if course all the awesome staging staff. We’ll be hearing from all those people leading up to the event, so sit back take it in and tell us what you’d love to hear from the bluelit parts of tech•ed.

So check it out at http://techedbackstage.net/

- jorke

All documented here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/nickhodge/archive/2009/06/30/big-things-in-mini-packages.aspx

http://www.nickhodge.com/blog/archives/3143

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090630/teched-australia-attendees-free-hp-mini-windows-7/

So a BIG shout out to the hard work Nick Hodge has been working so hard on this for the past few months. Now we go into the fun part of getting them on the network and doing some awesome things. We’ve already started planning this, with a wireless survey of the Gold Coast Convention Centre  - as you can see, there’s a lot of air to cover!

-jorke

Microsoft and Open source? Isn’t that like cats and dogs living together? Discuss and learn what (where and why) Microsoft is embracing Open source. See which Microsoft technology can positively affect your Open source based projects, and how you can contribute. We would also like to hear your unfiltered feedback on how we should contribute, too. Come along, bring your colleagues, have some light refreshments and enjoy a relaxed conversation.

At Webdu in sydney we sat down and opened ourselves up for feedback from a community that I believe we’ve neglected for sometime. Listening to hard reality can hurt at times but I believe its a necessary pain.

So come see us in person for a relaxed evening if spirited presentations and discussions. 

SYDNEY: 23 Jun 2009 - 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM AEST

City Tattersalls Club Room
The Celebrity Lounge
194 - 204 Pitt Street
Sydney
New South Wales 2000

MELBOURNE: 24 Jun 2009, 5:30 PM to 2009, 8:30 PM AEST

CQ Functions Room
Events Room 3
Level 1, 113 Queen St
Melbourne
Victoria 3000

BRISBANE: 25 Jun 2009, 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM AEST

Central Eagle Street Conference Venue Room
The Icon Theatre
175 Eagle Street
Brisbane
Queensland 4000
Australia

REGISTER HERE!

If you don’t want to go through the rego page, just drop us a line here or on @jorke / @nickhodge on twitter so we can cater for you.

- jorke

To get it, of course the easy way is to grab the Web Platform Installer and tick the option, it’ll become part of your IIS Manager. At this stage the Toolkit will only analyse the website you have on your server.

I didn’t have any sites locally to play with, so I yanked one that is constantly seeking publicity – Michael Korhdahi’s thetweetshirt.com – I sucked down the site content using Expression Web 2 and hosted it locally on my IIS Server.

Then selected “Site Analysis” and analysed the site, which was pretty fast, since there wasn’t much content there.. and gave me a few things to look at:

Drilling down into the first option gives you a query-able interface to find rules which is kinda neat, PLUS an insane amount of detail on the actual warning itself:

I could drill down on each detail forever, but by FAR coolest feature is under the Performance Tab, where you can analyse the speed, of the content loading. Even better is that you can export this query as a CSV – which you can then import into something like Excel and graph:

So from this we can see that the delivery of the JavaScript and Jpeg’s are the least efficient part of the site…

With a few tweaks I reckon I can fix that easy enough.. just add some output caching…

<system.webServer>
        <caching>
            <profiles>
                <add extension=".htm" policy="DontCache" kernelCachePolicy="DontCache" />
                <add extension=".gif" policy="CacheUntilChange" kernelCachePolicy="CacheUntilChange" />
                <add extension=".png" policy="CacheUntilChange" kernelCachePolicy="CacheUntilChange" />
                <add extension=".js" policy="DontCache" kernelCachePolicy="DontCache" />
                <add extension=".jpg" policy="CacheUntilChange" kernelCachePolicy="CacheUntilChange" />
            </profiles>
        </caching>
    </system.webServer>

And we do seem to get  better results.

So that’s a very fast look that analytics part of the package but there’s also the ability to create a sitemap for the spiders or bots to follow:

And then the Robots Exclusion Module that allows you to create the robots.txt file and set sitemap locations:

So all in all, a very neat little module that helps the developer setup their site to be ideal for search engines to index.

-jorke

- jorke

Don’t for get to grab Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate

- jorke