OAB Software has just released a promising new add-on for Media Center, "MCE SIP Phone":

With MCE SIP Phone you can have real video conversations, while making use of the standard SIP (session initiation) protocol to connect to your family and friends.

It's a version 1, so it might be a bit "rough on the edges". The developer asks that you post your comments here in the forums on The Green Button.

What I'd really like is a webcam + array mic product that sounds as good as my Tablet PC does (great with Skype via WiFi), and can track my son as he's zooming around the family room. If Media Center sales keep trending up, this could be a weekend-warrior style project for the Fry's crowd (getting more crowded every day). Hello Logitech?  How about some MCE support for your webcams we hear are so good to use! :)

Welcome to the brand-new look for Addicted to Digital Media. As many of you have noticed, the site has been up and down over the past few months.  Unfortunately a combination of an overloaded server and a few issues in the previous release of DasBlog combined to create a bad situation.  Then my hosting provider was taking the site offline without notification. <sigh>  But that's the past. We're moving to new hosting off an OC-48.

A Personal Note.
So where have I been?  A lot has changed since May. I took a blogging vacation, then a business trip to the OEM Partner Summit in Greece where I had an opportunity to demo IE7 and Windows Vista for a number of EMEA (European/Middle East/Asian) OEMs. (It was a big hit with spontaneous applause which is rare among this group.) When I returned, I took stock of the past eight years of my career.  What a wild ride. My roles have been increasingly challenging but more of a traditional marketing and business-management-focused role. I was looking for something with more of a technical slant to it. My career has taken me from Web development to DevTools marketing at Microsoft, to Streaming Media, to Windows XP, to Windows XP MCE, to Longhorn. I've had the opportunity to demo with or present with every Windows VP up to Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. Our team got the consumer side of marketing ramped up for Longhorn Beta 1 and beyond - did I want to stay on into the next phase?

Moving to a new position.
People who know me, know I thrive on challenging projects in new and emerging technologies. So when I learned about a new emerging technologies project that was being spun up inside Microsoft, I decided it was time to engage my other passion, and the other half of my MIS degree. That's one of the great things about working at Microsoft- you can work on many different connected or disparate technologies or disciplines provided you demonstrate in an interview process that you have the qualifications for the job. Yes, the interview process is rigorous but respectful even for internal hires- we owe it to our shareholders to make smart decisions when hiring even internally.  For me, this is the first jump of this scale in nearly 6 years- it's exhiliarating and scary- just as any new job should be.

What is it already?
Ahh yes, more cloak and dagger. ;) I'm still in the Windows org, but I'm not in Windows Vista marketing.  I'm working more directly with the development teams in an area I cannot talk about yet.  It's a challenging opportunity and a talented group I feel honored to be a part of it and look forward to contributing to it.

So what about Addicted to Digital Media?
Redoubling efforts - this site has never been an official part of my job- it's been a passion of mine even after moving on and will continue to be so.  In the coming weeks, what you will see is a small shift to a slightly more breadth-based coverage of cool tech, tips and tricks, and gadgets.  With Windows Vista around the corner, I'll be talking more about that and providing all sorts of little items.  I'm also working on a new blog that will be related to my new job, which will launch some time... in the future ;) Sorry but to say more would be a "Career Limiting Maneuver" (CLM).

Keep the news tips, feedback, and conversations coming.  Let me know what you think about the site (graphics designers wanted).  We're back :)

Every once in a while, you have an experience where you really wish you had a way to do a 7-second skip back in your life, just like Media Center. Seeing this ad for Power Compress on The Green Button was the culmination of that moment for me.

This is just so wrong on so many levels- share in the misery and try and beat the caption. :)

Good news: The site is back up- hobbling along on another server until I can get add'l resources to move it over to a faster link. Needless to say my ISP once again didn't tell me the site was down and it's time to move on.

More good news: Windows Vista Beta 1 shipped!  I'm upgrading my office machines overnight- half on Beta 1 "tree", the other half on the Beta 2 "tree". Why?  Because there's even more cool stuff coming. 

I'll give my thoughts on Beta 1 in a future update- for right now, it appears the main answer for folks looking to get Windows Vista Beta 1 is via MSDN Subscription at http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/.  Sorry, I can't give those out for free.

And so... a new category emerges- Windows Vista.  I'll migrate the others soon.

The Secret is Out.

Watch the video.

This just came around internally from one of the Beta coordinators for Longhorn:

Dear [VP name removed],

This is the first time in 10+ years involvement with customer beta programs that I’ve received an unsolicited bribe to get on the program– two pounds of inscribed chocolate showed up at my office via Fedex today.

People want Longhorn!

You've got to give the sender kudos for this one. I cannot comment on whether he got in, but bribery is not required- just a good business case and dedication to helping us ship quality product. I'm checking into how you can nominate yourself - will post more here later.

And to the guy who sent this out, the "Longhorn Shiproom" wants to say thank you very much ;)

James Doohan, the actor who played, "Scotty" on the original Star Trek, has passed away at the age of 85.  He was battling Parkinsons and Alzheimers. 
Doohan lived in Redmond, WA where Microsoft is based. From time to time you'd hear about sightings up until a few years ago.

From CNN: The Canadian-born Doohan fought in World War II and was wounded during the D-Day invasion, according to the StarTrek.com Web site. He was enjoying a busy career as a character actor when he auditioned for a role as an engineer in a new space adventure on NBC in 1966. A master of dialects from his early years in radio, he tried seven different accents.

"The producers asked me which one I preferred," Doohan recalled 30 years later. "I believed the Scot voice was the most commanding. So I told them, 'If this character is going to be an engineer, you'd better make him a Scotsman.' "

My favorite note- Doohan's last child was sired at the age of 80.  More power to ya Scotty :)

Chatting with Chris Pirillo who is currently at 30,000 feet aboard a Boeing jetliner outfitted with broadband.  Not just chatting, on Skype.  I can't even hear the din of the engines and breakup of audio is minimal.  I can hear conversations behind him.  Wow.   Time to head back to work.

I think Boeing has a winner on their hands from what Chris expressed.

Once again proving that Microsoft does actually license it's technology to competing platforms, Normsoft just released Pocket Tunes 3.1 Deluxe, a media player app for Palm-based devices that gives you full WMDRM 10 support including Janus supbscription support like Napster to Go.

From Engadget

Here's another one for Snopes.com. News.com Blog notes:

Using the term "podcast" is a big faux-pas in Redmond, according to a recent Seattle Post-Intelligencer story.

Podcasting is all the rage among the Internet-savvy. It involves downloading audio programs from the Web and listening to them on a computer or portable digital music player like Apple's iPod, whose popularity helped give rise to the trend.

But the folks at Microsoft, which developed a digital music format that competes with Apple's, apparently bristle at the term. Employees for the company have taken to using the word "blogcast," instead.

Let's separate hype from reality. What's Microsoft's position on the term podcasting?  Well, I'm not an official spokesperson but let's dig deeper using a novel feature called Microsoft.com search:

• www.wmplugins.com.  Microsoft-run site.  Look at the top toolbar- what does it say?  Podcasting!  Yes, that's a Microsoft site saying it.  Guess what, I helped make that happen.  I still work here and use the term... but let's dig deeper.
• WMPlugins Editor's Corner. Whoah.  A whole Guest Editorial on listening to Podcasts by Jake Ludington, author of the Podcasting Starter Kit and a Microsoft Digital Media MVP.  WAIT!  He's the producer of The Chris Pirillo Show too! The same Chris Pirillo referred to in the Seattle P-I article!
• TechEd Official MS.com site.  Wow.  "Getting Started with Podcasts" is the title. 
• Windows Mobile Official Site. Now who would want to listen to a Podcast on your Windows Mobile device? Maybe we should call them MobileCasts?  No...
• Xbox 360 Press Release. "To listen to a podcast or watch video of the keynote, go to http://www.xbox.com".  Rats, not again...
• On my blog!  Where I even have a category for Podcasting and have been using the term for better part of a year.

 The Seattle P-I raises the issue that others (in particular, Chris Pirillo) don't like the term. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 

I spent six years in digital media at Microsoft and even wrote the foreword to Paul Thurrott's book on the topic in XP back in the day.

Big faux pas? C'est non, merci! in my interactions.  I have another one - I wonder if Jake Ludington will be fired by Chris Pirillo for writing a book and not calling it Podcasting?  (Both really good guys and you should listen to their show.)

Slashdot has a short post on the 10th anniversary of the MP3 audio file format.

"The Data Compression News Blog reports that on July 14th 2005, the name "MP3" celebrates its tenth anniversary. On this day back in 1995, the researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS decided to use ".mp3" as the file name extension for their new audio coding technology. Development on this technology started in 1987, in 1992 it was considered far ahead of its times, then MP3 became the generally accepted acronym for the ISO standard IS 11172-3 "MPEG Audio Layer 3" and no other coding method so far (2005) could uncrown MP3 as the popular standard for digital music on the computer and on the Internet."

The more things change, the more they stay the same. ;)

As reported by C|Net:

Microsoft will offer a wireless keyboard designed for computers running the home entertainment version of the Windows operating system, the world's largest software maker said Tuesday.

and Engadget:

Yup, it’s even got backlit buttons and an integrated touchpoint mouse, and should go for about $100; in other words, we’d totally hit it.

I had the opportunity to play around with a prototype (codenamed, "Kirk") a few months ago.  Here are my thoughts:

• It feels good in your hands or on your lap
• The backlit buttons are GREAT
• It works up to 30 ft away
• The eraserhead-style mouse works great on the rare occasion you want to use it
• A master lock so that my kid won't reprogram my PC banging on it!  My washer/dryer/refrigerator/microwave/oven have this.  All major devices designed for home living spaces should do the same.

Feedback I'm sending to the team:

• IR is good, but BlueTooth would be even better IMO.  I understand why IR, it helps keep costs lower (for PC Mfrs and consumers)
• I would have put the green button further up on the r-hand side.
• A small, LED-based battery meter on the underside would be ideal.

Available in September, more details here.

Chris Lanier did a nice writeup of Podcasting Plug-ins for Windows Media Player the other day.  I wonder if he saw the Podcasting category of plug-ins that was added to www.wmplugins.com, the community site for WM Player about a month ago?  Maybe he saw Jake Ludington's Guest Editorial on the same site. 

Well, technically Dave Winer started a few hours after they launched, but Jake McKee, who runs the "Community Guy" blog, has an incisive run-down on his experience trying to get his podcast listed in Apple's directory:

"Community work is simple - just treat your community like you'd want to be treated. I can't imagine a developer or project manager inside of Apple who worked on iTunes 4.9 who would want to be treated the way they're treating the community."

I'm actually going to defend Apple here.  I suspect they've just been inundated with requests and it takes time to hire on new staff to review and approve items into the system. We can all learn for experiences like this- a status blog and community developer forums could be a simple way to help address.

While Hurricane Dennis was a very dangerous storm, Chris Pirillo has an interesting and humorous take on US news coverage of the Hurricane.  Then he topped himself with his own audio "News Report".  

Does anyone even care that large news organizations are run together as "News and Entertainment" orgs? I find myself watching BBC News more and more.  Not that they're not without their own faults, but US Nightly News has become so ridiculous...

This is pretty darn funny... 

http://www.nytimes.com/video/html/2005/06/29/technology/highbandwidth/windowsmedia/20050629_GUEST_VIDEO.html

Via ThomasHawk.com:

The Windows Media Center Show - The Windows Media Center Show #16 The Windows Media Center Show #16 is out. This week Ian interviews Stuart McMillan from Gigtek and with Garry Whittaker talks about Media Center hardware, displays, fans and getting the most out of your Media Center hardware.

If you like Ian's show vote for it on Podcast Alley.