Not content to just relax over the holidays, I've decided to upgrade my blog.  We're now running on a new host and with a new blogging package (Grafitti CMS by Telligent). 

Graffiti imported all of my old content from DasBlog (my previous blogging engine), so all of the old links should stil work. If for any reason you notice any issues, please send me an email.

I've been traveling for most of the last month - first the PDC in Los Angeles, then on to TechEd EMEA in Barcelona, and now in San Francisco for the Strategic Architect Forum.

I've been looking forward to SAF, as it's a great chance to meet, chat and learn for all attendees, be they Microsoft or our customers. Whether you want to chat, rant, or talk about areas where we might be able to collaborate, my schedule is very flexible for the first couple of days of the event. If you're in town for the event and would like to talk, let's definately schedule some time over the next couple of days. 

You can contact me either via email (mmercuri@microsoft.com) or come up to me at the event. For those who've not met me before, I'm easy to pick out in a crowd based on my height (I'm 6foot9). 

Today is the first day of PDC, and the first of several blog posts from the event.  If you've friended me on Facebook, you'll have seen a note my status the other week that said "I was working on something out of this world, literally."  If you've been to the PDC blog, you'll have seen this post that gave some more details last Friday. If not, I'll fill you in now.

Through my work this year, I've had the opportunity to work with some great organizations - both privately held and the public sector.  One of this organizations happens to be NASA and the folks at the Jet Propulsion Labs in Pasadena.  They are some of the smartest and coolest people you'll ever have a chance to meet.

Don't take my word for it, have a chat with them and find out for yourself. That's right - NASA is going to be at the PDC this year.

As you walk into the big room, be sure to check out the robotics area on the right side of the aisle and you'll notice there's a replica of a Mars Exploration Rover and staff from NASA / JPL will be there as well to talk about the Mars Mission.

And once you've chatted with them, swing on by and say hello in the Coding4Fun area where I'll be most of the week. Lots of cool stuff going on there - but I'll blog about that in a later post.

Today, Microsoft officially launched the Urban Challenge, sponsored by KIA Motors.  KIA's sponsorship has taken RoboChamps to a brand new level - both in realism and in terms of prizes.

KIA has been very generous with models of their cars and buildings. This enables us to provide additional realism in the environment, as you will have the opportunity to choose one of 5 robot cars based on real KIA models.You'll program these cars to navigate a course through a large city, that comes complete with other moving cars, video billboards and working traffic lights. You car is loaded up with a number of sensors to help you achieve your goal, including multiple cameras, a laser rangefinder, bumpers, and a GPS unit.

We're also announcing that KIA's sponsorship is providing the largest prizes in the history of RoboChamps. Participants will be competing to win prizes including $5000, $10,000, and even a real car!

This video provides an overview of the new competition, with video of what you can expect in the simulation environment.

For additional details, check out the RoboChamps website (www.robochamps.com)

I had a chance to sit down with Tina from on10.net recently, and the interview - focused on the new Sumo Bot challenge - has now been published.

Check it out here - http://www.on10.net/blogs/tina/RoboChamps-Sumo-Challenge/

Microsoft revealed today the winners of the first challenge of its simulated robotics competition, RoboChamps. Dave Sprague, a robotics enthusiast from the U.S., and Jackson Matsuura, a college professor from Brazil, won the first and second prizes of the “Amazed” Challenge. First place winner Sprague will take home a real robot, the CoroWare CoroBot. The second-place prize is a Boe-Bot Kit for Microsoft Robotics Studio, which Matsuura won. Sprague and Matsuura were among more than 6,500 people who downloaded the Amazed Challenge Kit.

Sprague, whose RoboChamps avatar is named “Shakey,” has been interested in robotics since he was a child. He has worked for Intel and helped coach a middle school FIRST Lego robotics team in Belfast, Maine. Matsuura, also known as “Kirk” in the competition, teaches in one of the most high-profile engineering schools in Brazil and enjoys participating in robotics competitions to introduce his students to the exciting world of robotics.

RoboChamps has attracted thousands of professionals, academics and enthusiasts from around the world, and participants in the Amazed Challenge hail from 77 different countries. RoboChamps.com, the competition’s official Web site, averages one million page views per month, and videos describing the competition have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on Channels 8, 9 and 10 since the competition started.

The Amazed Challenge was the first of several RoboChamps contests. Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of the “Sumo” Challenge, where participants will program their robots to out-navigate opponents, pushing them out of the ring in a sumo competition. The Sumo Challenge uses the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 2008 July CTP (Community Technical Preview), released July 18.

At the end of the season, top finalists in the RoboChamps contest will travel to Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC), where they will take the code they’ve used in the simulator and apply it to real robots in a live finals competition.

This is a reminder that today is the last day to submit abstracts for proposed articles. These would be featured in the next issue of the Architecture Journal which will be focused on Distributed Computing.

If you missed the original invitation, I've included an email from Diego Dagum (editor of the Journal), below:

The next issue of the Architecture Journal will focus on Distributed Computing. We are approaching an inflection point with today’s hardware and technologies where a vision from only a few years ago is becoming reality –from deploying applications on microscopic devices in our environment through to football-sized datacenters offering applications in the cloud. Whether small or large, distribution and concurrency of multiple services can introduce a number of challenges – the focus of this issue is to understand what these challenges are, and how they can be overcome.

If you have opinions that you would like to share with the architect community on distributed computing, here is your chance! Follow the instructions below to send an abstract before the cut-off date and you could see your thoughts and ideas shared with over 60,000 readers, translated in 5 languages, and distributed at multiple conferences around the world!

The cut-off date for abstracts for the next issue is July 28th 2008.  If you are interested in making a submission, here are the details:

How do I make a submission?

To submit an idea for a paper, please send the following:

• A 2 – 4 paragraph abstract explaining how your paper fits the "Distributed Computing" theme of the magazine
• A 1 – 2 paragraph bio
• A list of previously published articles

Submissions should be made via Email to editors@architecturejournal.net

We receive many submissions for each issue, so we encourage you to put time and thought into the submission.

When will I know whether my submission is accepted?

After the call for papers has ended, you will be notified via Email as to whether your submission was successful or not.

What happens if my submission is accepted?

If accepted, you’ll have between 6 weeks to submit two drafts and a final version of your paper. These dates will be clearly communicated. Your first draft will be reviewed by an editorial board to ensure it is on message for the magazine. Your second draft and final version will be subject to both technical and copy editing.

The magazine is generally available in print and online 4 weeks after final drafts are submitted.

What are the guidelines for papers printed in the Architecture Journal?

We recommend that papers are between 3,500 and 4,500 words in length – although we have accepted shorter and longer papers in the past. The article should be submitted using Microsoft Word. Diagrams should be submitted in either Microsoft Visio or Microsoft PowerPoint, and will be reformatted for the magazine.

Do I still own the work?

Yes. We ask you to sign a release form that gives Microsoft permission to reprint the article, but ownership of the paper remains with you, the author.

Will I get paid for writing?

We do not currently reimburse authors for contributing to the Architecture Journal.

Will I get copies of the magazine as an author?

After printing you’ll be sent 10 copies of the Journal for your own use.  Additional copies can be requested.

Where can I get more information?

Check out this link

If you're going to TechEd this week, we want your feedback.

Specifically, my colleague Michael Lehman will be hosting focus groups on Software Factories and S+S Blueprints projects. I know most of you would do this out of the goodness of your heart, but I should point out that Michael has told me there's schwag for participants that won't be available anywhere else at the event.

Here's the description and details for each group:

S+S Blueprints Focus Group (max 20 attendees)

Orange County Convention Center N329
Thursday June 5, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Building Software-plus-Services applications involves combining multiple platforms and technologies. As new technologies and architectures evolve Microsoft is building more Software-plus-Services Blueprints to help bridge the gap between vision and technologies, reduce friction and show you how to build great S+S applications.  We will also be sharing our expanded plans for Software Factories and how they relate to S+S Blueprints.

Software Factories Focus Group (max 20 attendees)

Orange County Convention Center N329
Friday June 6, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Software Factories help reduce the cost, time and risk in building complex applications.  Designed to help harvest and reapply development knowledge, provide patterns and apply best practices they deliver guidance, code and tools.

Microsoft is expanding its Software Factories Initiative to cover more of the application life cycle, to include more guidance and tools to help in building factories as well as developing more factories to help build Software-plus-Services applications.  We will also be sharing our plans for new Software-plus-Services Blueprints and discussing how they relate to Software Factories

Check out Michael's blog for more details  -

http://blogs.msdn.com/mglehman/archive/2008/05/29/you-are-invited-to-the-s-s-blueprints-and-software-factories-focus-groups-at-teched-2008.aspx

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=399952

http://www.on10.net/blogs/tina/Robo-Champs-My-robot-is-bigger-then-your-robot/

A pre-interview I did with Tina Wood just launched over at on10.net.  This has some footage of some of the 3d environments we'll be delivering.