And well what can I say, it was great, I met lots of new people, had lots of really interesting discussions and got a whole load of freebies which will definitely come in useful as a MSP!

So let me give you a quick overview of what I did, I arrived at Reading Sunday afternoon at around 13:00 and once I had checked in and had a wash I met up with some fellow MSP’s, these MSP’s being Grant Downeh, Ian MacGillivray, Paul Shemmell, Philip Stears and Will Perry. Once we had all had a drink we headed down to Reading Town Centre in the hope of getting some food, we eventually came to end up in the Slug and Lettuce at the Oracle, not too long after that did two other MSP’s come and join us, these being Emma Guy and Matthew Bell.

Once we had all eaten our food we started to make our way back to the hotel so we would make it in time for the Social Event which Microsoft had planned for us.

At 6 o’clock Stuart Leddy and Matt Duffin both of who are interns at Microsoft, came to make sure we were already to head down town for dinner at Zizzi’s, once there we all started to sit down at the tables and then we suddenly found out that we were all going to be in on different teams anyway, I ended up being on Team Vista with Chris Weeks, Paul Shemmell, Richard Makepeace and Zacharias Joubert along with Dianne Terry the Marketing Team Lead for the UK Academic Alliance Team.

Anyway after some fun and having dinner we all headed back to either our hotel or homes (in the case of the people living in Reading already) as we knew we had an early coach trip the next day to the Microsoft Campus were Breakfast would be awaiting for us.

And well I’m going to stop here because I’m under a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)

Haha just kidding, well not about the NDA, but about stopping, however that dosent mean that I’m now going to tell you detail by detail of what I did at the Microsoft Campus, as that just would’nt make your time as a MSP (if you become one) as exciting as mine, plus anyway I’m getting quite sleepy now and don’t really feel like writing a ton out right now!

So here’s a a quick summary of the agenda

• 08:00 Depart from Accommodation
• 08:30-09:15 BREAKFAST
• 09:15-09:45 Welcome to Microsoft! (Andy Sithers)
• 10:30-10:45 BREAK
• 10:45-11:15 .NET and Visual Studio Flyby (Matt Duffin)
• 11:15-12:15 Windows Vista and .NET Framework V3.0 (Mike Taulty)
• 12:15-13:00 LUNCH (10/15 MINUTE TOUR OF THE MICROSOFT CAMPUS)
• 13:00-14:00 XNA Games Studio (Andy Sithers)
• 14:00-15:00 ASP.NET & Atlas (Mike Ormond)
• 15:00-15:15 BREAK
• 15:15-16:15 Introducing Office 2007 (Chris Rothwell)
• 16:15-16:45 Final Roundup
• 16:45 Leave the Microsoft Campus, Thames Valley Park

But hey, want to know more about a particular part? just ask!

Ohh and before I forget, thanks goes to the whole Microsoft UK Academic Alliance Team and everyone else including MSP’s for making this such an enjoyable event, this is surely going to be a Good year for MSP’s with the release of Windows Vista, Office and lots more!

Update: Just noticed that today is the 500th day since my blog was started so it’s kind of cool that it coincides with my first MSP Event at the Reading Campus, so hey here’s a pic of some stuff I got…

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Earlier today, it was reported that Google would be opening a new research and development facility in China while taking Dr Kai-Fu Lee with them. Before joining Google (and I mean directly before), Dr Lee was running Microsoft’s Chinese R&D facility. Essentially, Dr. Lee jumped ship from Microsoft to Google, something his previous employer is quite upset about.

According to BetaNews.com, Microsoft is so displeased with Dr. Lee’s decision that they are going to pursue legal avenues in order to prevent Google from hiring him. After Google’s announcement of their research facility and Dr. Lee’s hiring, Microsoft countered with a statement indicating Dr. Lee was breaking established confidentialities and non-compete agreements, which were signed when Lee took his position at Microsoft.

BetaNews features a quote from Microsoft’s statement, which says:

He has accepted a position focused on the same set of technologies and strategies for a direct competitor in egregious violation of his explicit contractual obligations

Google has not responded to Microsoft’s claim as of this time.

Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.

The new MSN Toolbar Suite includes an updated version of the popular MSN Toolbar for Microsoft Internet Explorer and new toolbars that are accessible through Windows and Microsoft Office Outlook. The new toolbars include the MSN Deskbar for the Windows desktop, MSN Toolbar for Microsoft Office Outlook and MSN Toolbar for Microsoft Windows Explorer.

“With MSN Toolbar Suite, consumers can now search their desktops from within the popular applications on their PCs,” said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president for the MSN Information Services and Merchant Platform division at Microsoft. “By delivering fast, precise answers with familiar technology, Microsoft is taking desktop information discovery to a new level.”

The MSN Toolbar Suite beta is available now in English in the United States, with global availability planned for next year.

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