My very favorite artist has died. I'm not sad, as he obviously lived a very long and productive life. I was an art student in college when I was first introduced to his work. At one point I think I had an opportunity to purchase an original print for about $600, but of course I didn't have that kind of cash. I think it would have made a good investment, but I probably would have never sold it anyway. :) 

I recently took a picture of his plaque at the Florida State Capitol.

There's a nice write-up at the Boston Globe:

Robert Rauschenberg, art's eclectic master, dies at 82 - The Boston Globe

The art critic Robert Hughes once described Mr. Rauschenberg as "a protean genius who showed America that all of life could be open to art." Hughes added that Mr. Rauschenberg's "taste was always facile, omnivorous, and hit-or-miss, yet he had a bigness of soul and a richness of temperament that re called Walt Whitman."

In his art, Mr. Rauschenberg scorned both pretense and category. "I work in the gap between art and life," he liked to say, and many of his best-known works might seem as suited to thrift shop as art museum.

Among Mr. Rauschenberg's most celebrated creations were his "combines," three-dimensional assemblages that incorporate painting, sculpture, and found objects: a frozen choreography of the mundane and the inspired. "Monogram" (1959), perhaps his most famous work, includes a stuffed goat, a tire, a police barrier, a shoe heel, a tennis ball, and paint.

New podcast up on Channel 10.  It's a toight show... very toight. And there was much rejoicing.

JD, Nic, and Brian Podcast - Episode 7 | Brian Johnson | Channel 10

This week, G. Andrew Duthie joins us to talk about Maker Faire, the Zune 2.5 update, and much, much more...

Really, I promise that this is one of the coolest things you'll ever play with on a computer.

Check it out at http://www.worldwidetelescope.org.

Press release below...

Microsoft Research’s WorldWide Telescope (WWT) brings together imagery from the best ground and space telescopes in the world for a seamless, guided exploration of the universe.

• Microsoft PressPass – The Journalist’s Resource for Microsoft News
• Press Release: WorldWide Telescope Brings Space Exploration to Earth, May 12, 2008
• WorldWide Telescope Virtual Pressroom

Engadget posted a photo tour of the Zune offices. Check it out:

Zune headquarters mini-tour - Engadget

Ever wonder where Zunes are designed? Well, right now it's all done in a fairly non-descript and temporary office building on Microsoft's sprawling campus in Redmond.

NYT coverage of a new contest from Microsoft. 

Your Chance to Finish a Movie Microsoft Started - New York Times

The contest, which is to begin on Thursday, is called the Ultimate Video Relay and has its own Web site (ultimatevideorelay.com), a spinoff of the Windows Vista Ultimate Web site (ultimatepc.com). The relay reference comes from the invitation to computer users to complete a story titled “The Cube” in several stages. The tale, a humorous cross between “The Matrix” and “The Office” (or “Office Space”) begins with a six-minute clip that can be watched on the relay Web site. The clip is directed by Kyle Newman, the director of “Fanboys,” a coming movie about “Star Wars” aficionados.

Photosynth was on CSI last week and I'm so mad that I forgot to record it in HD. Check it out.  Photosynth is one of my favorite Microsoft projects and I can't wait to see where this goes.

 Last week we were at the State History Fair in Tallahassee. Will made it to state with his paper on the causes of World War II. The photos I took are here.

I love this photo. If he does become a lawyer, I can say I knew it all along. :)

Future lawyer?

For those interested in such nonsense, we posted a new podcast yesterday on Channel 10. Check it out here and leave a comment on the podcast page.

JD, Nic, and Brian Podcast - Episode 6 | Brian Johnson | Channel 10

In another exciting episode of the podcast named for JD Lewin, JD, Nic, and Brian talk about Windows Vista, Live Mesh, stuff we saw on the Web, JD's sleeping habits, and the popular Asus EEE PC.

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm going to this afternoon. Check it out here:

speech @ microsoft : Windows Speech Recognition Macros is now available!!

The Windows Speech Recognition Macros tool (aka WSRMacros) extends the usefulness of the speech recognition capabilities already included in Windows Vista. Users can now create powerful macros that are triggered by spoken commands. These macros can perform a single task, or a series of tasks. Macros can be as simple as inserting your mailing address to as complex as providing a completely different speech interaction utilizing a number of built in capabilities or utilizing custom JScript/VBScript actions.

I thought this was sort of cool...

Microsoft picked for Democratic convention

Software giant Microsoft Corp. will be the official software and HD web content provider for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) made the announcement Monday. The convention will be held Aug. 25-28 in Denver.

"Microsoft's standing as an industry leader in software development makes them an ideal partner for the DNCC," said Leah Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC.

If you're in the New Jersey area this weekend, check out the Trenton Computer Festival. I'm going to be giving two talks there on Saturday, one on Microsoft Robotics and one on Windows Media Center. Should be a lot of fun.

Trenton Computer Festival

EWING, NJ ... The world's oldest and largest personal computer show will once again take place this spring at The College of New Jersey.

The oldest and largest personal computer show and sale in the world is again scheduled at The College of New Jersey on Saturday, April 26th and Sunday, April 27th with an IT (Information Technology) Professional Conference on Friday, April 25th and continuing on April 26th.

This year's festival will focus on "Hands-on Experiences". Many of the speakers and special presentations on the main exhibition floor will involve visitors in hands-on activities. Visitors will experience the latest in computers and consumer electronics technology - digital cameras, video, HD TV, VoIP, MP3 and much more... National exhibitors will demonstrate their most recent products. Attend at no extra cost numerous talks, workshops, tutorials, hands-on robot contests, computer merit badge sessions, applications sessions and poster sessions. Personal computing/electronics fans can find plenty of bargains on new and used hardware and software.

One of the interesting things I saw at the MS Research TechFest last month was SearchTogether. SearchTogether is an Internet Explorer plug-in that lets groups of people collaborate on web searches.

There's a forum here:

http://community.research.microsoft.com/forums/88.aspx

Check it out via the link below:

SearchTogether

I love learning system internals and my recent trip back to Redmond to talk to MVP's and members of different teams gave me a desire to share my favorite internals resources for Windows. This list is just a start (in no particular order), but if you dig deep into the stuff that's in it, you'll come away with a great understanding of what's going on with the operating system.  I'll keep the Listas list updated here.

Listas - Brianjo's List: Become a Windows Expert

Windows Vista Resource Kit

Windows Internals

Windows SysInternals - Tools for Windows by Mark Russinovich

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

Windows Vista Community

Windows Vista TechCenter

Windows Vista Technical Library

Cool article on the Windows Live Photo and Video Blog about how to create a geotag photo collection without a GPS. Check it out.

Geotagging Photos with Windows Live (without using a GPS device)

Geotagging, for many people, implies going on trips with a camera and a GPS receiver, and then using some custom software to tag all the photos with the GPS data after the trip. Being one who loves geotagging, I have a confession, though: I have never owned a GPS device.

So, how can I geotag photos and share them with family and friends? I can explore the world virtually through many different mapping applications that combine both maps and photos. Some of these allow geotagging (a la Flickr, et al), but that records only individual photo’s locations, not a full tour. What I’ve found out is a way to play around with the Live Maps Collections feature to create a photo tour. So, for those who want to create simple photo tours to share with friends and the world (and don’t want to deal with GPS), here’s how.

Seth Godin's list for writing like a blogger. I'll let you go to his site for the full list, but I especially like number 7.

Seth's Blog: Write like a blogger

7. Don't be afraid of lists. People like lists.

New podcast is up on my 10 blog. If you wan to subscribe to these things for some reason the RSS feed is here. :) 

JD and Brian Podcast - Episode 5 | Brian Johnson | Channel 10

This week on the podcast, JD and I welcome guests Nic Fillingham and Andrew Duthie for a lively discussion of Windows Vista Service Pack 1, cool stuff we saw on Channel 10, and we ask the question, "How do you handle all the different social networks?"

Links:

• Notable Changes in Windows Vista Service Pack 1
• Backstage at Hard Rock Cafe
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• MySpace

DOTHETEST

Via one of my twitter buds. Can't remember who right now. Sorry. 

In case you didn't feel creeped out enough today. This is really something. 

YouTube - Boston Dynamics Big Dog (new video March 2008)  

Via Slashdot.

Want to keep up with what's on Channel 10 from moment to moment? Check out the new Channel 10 Gadget you can install in your Vista Sidebar. 

Windows Live Gallery

Are you passionate about technology? Channel 10 covers the latest news in new PC hardware and software, mobile gadgetry, photography, videography, and gaming. Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from the Channel 10 team and watch videos right on your desktop. Visit Channel 10 at http://on10.net to join the conversation!