Recent News – Page 152

Posted on August 15, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Azure Ultra Disk Storage: Microsoft’s service for the most I/O demanding workloads

Today, Tad Brockway, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Azure, announced the general availability of Azure Ultra Disk Storage, an Azure Managed Disks offering that provides massive throughput with sub-millisecond latency for your most I/O demanding workloads. With the introduction of Ultra Disk Storage, Azure includes four types of persistent disk—Ultra Disk Storage, Premium SSD, Standard SSD, and Standard HDD. This portfolio gives you price and performance options tailored to meet the requirements of every workload. Ultra Disk Storage delivers consistent performance and low latency for I/O intensive workloads like SAP Hana, OLTP databases, NoSQL, and other transaction-heavy workloads. Further, you can reach maximum virtual machine (VM) I/O limits with a single Ultra disk, without having to stripe multiple disks.

Durability of data is essential to business-critical enterprise workloads. To ensure we keep our durability promise, we built Ultra Disk Storage on our existing locally redundant storage (LRS) technology, which stores three copies of data within the same availability zone. Any application that writes to storage will receive an acknowledgement only after it has been durably replicated to our LRS system.

Below is a clip from a presentation I delivered at Microsoft Ignite demonstrating the leading performance of Ultra Disk Storage:

Microsoft Ignite 2018: Azure Ultra Disk Storage demo

Below are some quotes from customers in our preview program:

“With Ultra Disk Storage, we achieved consistent sub-millisecond latency at high IOPS and throughput levels on a wide range of disk sizes. Ultra Disk Storage also allows us to fine tune performance characteristics based on the workload.”

– Amit Patolia, Storage Engineer, DEVON ENERGY

“Ultra Disk Storage provides powerful configuration options that can leverage the full throughput of a VM SKU. The ability to control IOPS and MBps is remarkable.”

– Edward Pantaleone, IT Administrator, Tricore HCM

Inside Ultra Disk Storage

Ultra Disk Storage is our next generation distributed block storage service that provides disk semantics for Azure IaaS VMs and containers. We designed Ultra Disk Storage with the goal of providing consistent performance at high IOPS without compromising our durability promise. Hence, every write operation replicates to the storage in three different racks (fault domains) before being acknowledged to the client. Compared to Azure Premium Storage, Ultra Disk Storage provides its extreme performance without relying on Azure Blob storage cache, our on-server SSD-based cache, and hence it only supports un-cached reads and writes. We also introduced a new simplified client on the compute host that we call virtual disk client (VDC). VDC has full knowledge of virtual disk metadata mappings to disks in the Ultra Disk Storage cluster backing them. That enables the client to talk directly to storage servers, bypassing load balancers and front-end servers used for initial disk connections. This simplified approach minimizes the layers that a read or write operation traverses, reducing latency and delivering performance comparable to enterprise flash disk arrays.

Below is a figure comparing the different layers an operation traverses when issued on an Ultra disk compared to a Premium SSD disk. The operation flows from the client to Hyper-V to the corresponding driver. For an operation done on a Premium SSD disk, the operation will flow from the Azure Blob storage cache driver to the load balancers, front end servers, partition servers then down to the stream layer servers as documented in this paper. For an operation done on an Ultra disk, the operation will flow directly from the virtual disk client to the corresponding storage servers.

Comparison between the IO flow for Ultra Disk Storage versus Premium SSD Storage

One key benefit of Ultra Disk Storage is that you can dynamically tune disk performance without detaching your disk or restarting your virtual machines. Thus, you can scale performance along with your workload. When you adjust either IOPS or throughput, the new performance settings take effect in less than an hour.

Azure implements two levels of throttles that can cap disk performance, a “leaky bucket” VM level throttle that is specific to each VM size, described in documentation. A key benefit of Ultra Disk Storage is a new time-based disk level throttle that is applied at the disk level. This new throttle system provides more realistic behavior of a disk for a given IOPS and throughput. Hitting a leaky bucket throttle can cause erratic performance, while the new time-based throttle provides consistent performance even at the throttle limit. To take advantage of this smoother performance, set your disk throttles slightly less than your VM throttle. We will publish another blog post in the future describing more details about our new throttle system.

Available regions

Currently, Ultra Disk Storage is available in the following regions:

East US 2
North Europe
Southeast Asia

We will expand the service to more regions soon. Please refer to the FAQ for the latest on supported regions.

Virtual machine sizes

Ultra Disk Storage is supported on DSv3 and ESv3 virtual machine types. Additional virtual machine types will be supported soon. Refer to the FAQ for the latest on supported VM sizes.

Get started today

You can request onboarding to Azure Ultra Disk Storage by submitting an online request or by reaching out to your Microsoft representative. For general availability limitations refer to the documentation.

Posted on August 15, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Eureka chatbot helps California stay open for business

For California businesses, there’s an “always open” sign at the Secretary of State’s Office. It comes in the form of a new online search assistant called Eureka, which answers commonly asked questions, around the clock.

“Eureka is our chatbot,” said Betsy Bogart, chief of the Business Programs Division. “Using artificial intelligence, it is an easy way for our customers to get information about business entities and trademarks.”

With more than 500,000 customers asking questions on those topics in 2018, the smart search assistant is helping users navigate the Secretary of State’s website to quickly and easily obtain the information they need. It’s also part of Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s Digital Initiative to modernize and digitize the agency and make it easier to do business in California.

“The goal is to have multiple avenues where customers—business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals—can get information related to business entities and trademarks online, 24/7,” Bogart added.

Powered by Microsoft Azure, artificial intelligence and Cognitive Services Bot Framework, Eureka was launched in a matter of days, said CIO Rita Gass and has been honored with:

The innovative chatbot enables customers to ask questions, such as “How do I get a copy of a filed document?” and access the most relevant, useful information. Since launch, Eureka has answered more than 77,000 inquiries.

“As Eureka is asked questions, Eureka gets smarter each time,” Bogart explained. “The Microsoft tool makes it very easy for our staff to help Eureka get smarter as we go.”

Gass noted that Eureka is part of the Secretary of State’s Office commitment to modernize and create efficiencies when providing citizen services, adding the organization is the first state-level department or agency to use AI and the Bot Framework. The chatbot’s automated responses to routine queries about business registration help:

Shorten time-to-information for the public seeking answers.
Increase staff productivity by allowing them to focus on more complex queries instead of manually answering routine questions.
Reduce time to develop and roll out new digital tools and services to fulfill its responsibilities to citizens.

With Eureka fully deployed, handling many routine requests and fulfilling the Secretary of State’s Office biggest challenge of quickly and securely supporting customer information requirements, the staff is now looking into expanding the chatbot to accommodate more languages and offer archival and elections information.

“Instead of customers having to go the old-school route, they actually can just use the resources available to them at home and get the information faster,” said Shannon Delgado, manager, Business Programs Division. “Developing Eureka was a very positive experience, knowing that Eureka would help make it easier to do business in California.

“Without having an IT background, I found the Microsoft QnA Maker very easy to use, with minimal training,” Delgado continued. She explained that Eureka was selected as the name because it’s part of California’s state motto and was used during the historic gold rush to mean, “I have found it.” “So, our hope is that customers will use Eureka and find the answer they are seeking.”

You can find out more about Eureka in this short video and gain insights into the future of AI technology in government here.

Posted on August 14, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Students: 7 reasons why you should register for the 2020 Imagine Cup

For nearly two decades, students from around the world have competed in the Imagine Cup, Microsoft’s global technology competition just for students, for the chance to win travel, mentoring, cash, and prizes, not to mention the coveted trophy. But the Imagine Cup is more than just a tech competition. It’s a chance to work with friends, network with professionals, gain new skills, showcases your work on a global stage, and meet other students who want to make a difference.

The Imagine Cup is looking for innovative and passion-driven tech solutions from students who want to share their purpose to improve the world around us. If you’ve been dreaming about a solution that shapes how we live, work, and play, this competition is for you. Here are 7 reasons why you should sign up for the 18^th year of Imagine Cup:

1. Shape our world

Driven by inspiration and a growing sense of purpose, students have created applications tackling some of the world’s biggest social, environmental, and health challenges ––one user at a time. From a machine learning algorithm that detects wildfires to a HoloLens app that helps children with dyslexia to improve their reading skills, anything is possible when you blend passion and purpose.

2. Get help from mentors and network with industry pros

With the goal to empower everyone to achieve more, we have the tools, resources, learning materials, and mentors to help you bring your project to life. Whether you’re hoping to accelerate with artificial intelligence, create with cognitive services, invent with intelligent systems, or master machine learning, Imagine Cup is the place to start for beginning coders and developer pros alike. All you need is an idea (and a few smart friends).

“The experience, the learning, is priceless. You can’t get…the mentorship that Microsoft provides anywhere else in the world.” – Team Ekko, 2019 regional finalists

3. Win travel opportunities and other prizes

Teams selected to advance in the competition will travel across the globe to regional finals in Singapore, Amsterdam, and Mexico City to pitch their projects live, courtesy of Microsoft! Plus, the Imagine Cup Regional Finals are co-located with Microsoft Ignite | The Tour, where Microsoft shares the latest in cloud technologies and developer tools – providing additional opportunity for finalists to showcase their passion and network with industry professionals.

4. Enhance your technology portfolio

Get hands-on with the latest and greatest in developer tools and resources while creating a project you can showcase in your personal portfolio. With advanced Microsoft Azure technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual machines, big data processing, computer vision, and more, almost anything is possible.

5. Meet new friends

From Sydney to Sao Paolo and everywhere in between, the Imagine Cup brings together students just like you who want to learn and innovate for the future. Get started with a team and meet likeminded peers along the competition journey. You could find future business partners, meet friends for life, and get inspired by others’ solutions.

“It’s a game-changing experience to know and interact with diverse people and their ideas.” – Team Odd Pack, 2019 regional finalists

6. Develop a business framework to advance your career

Develop a project pitch, build entrepreneurship skills, and get feedback on your business model from industry experts to help propel you forward.

“This is an amazing opportunity…as students, we don’t really get the opportunity hack together a project and then show it off to a bunch of people, especially industry professionals.” – Team SpeakEasy, 2019 regional finalists

7. Dream it. Build it. Live it.

For some students, the chance to travel and pitch to industry leaders will create standout moments. For others, pursuing an idea that could change the world (even a little) will stretch their skills and boost their confidence. Whatever your motivation, we want to encourage you to take the next step–and join a like-minded community of passionate, purpose-driven tech enthusiasts who are ready to grow together.

Make your dreams a reality through creativity, collaboration, and competition. Register for Imagine Cup today.

Posted on August 14, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

What’s New in EDU – ISTE Edition: Technology to empower inclusive, student-centered learning

In today’s classrooms, diversity is the new norm. By creating student-centered, inclusive learning environments, educators have the flexibility and opportunity to meet the needs of the diverse group of learners in every classroom. Technology has the power to help teachers not only navigate, but also benefit from, their students’ unique learning styles.

In this month’s What’s New in EDU, we’re excited to announce tools and resources to help teachers empower all students to find their voice, grow their confidence and build 21st century skills. Also, join us from ISTE next week on our Microsoft Education Facebook Channel for more live updates from Philadelphia on Monday, Wednesday and Hack the Classroom on Tuesday.

Reach every student with new accessibility features from Windows and Office 365

We are excited to share new features that enable educators to tailor learning to ensure every student has a voice in today’s classrooms, 72% of which have students with special requirements. Whether a permanent or temporary disability, personal preference, or a unique learning style, the robust set of built-in and third-party accessibility features in Windows 10 and Office 365 let students choose how to use technology and express their ideas. Today, we’re unveiling new resources to help every student unlock his or her potential.

Improve reading comprehension with Immersive Reader, now available in Minecraft: Education Edition and other popular education apps. Today, we’re thrilled to announce that Immersive Reader, a proven resource to improve reading and writing for students regardless of their age or ability, will now be integrated into Minecraft: Education Edition to read in-game text, character dialogue, chalkboards and more. Immersive Reader will also be available as an Azure Cognitive Service, allowing third-party apps and partners to add the tool into their products to help both students and parents read text within the apps. In our pilot program, Skooler integrated Immersive Reader into its parent portal, enabling better communication with parents and guardians who are non-native English speakers. These partners will be the first to integrate Immersive Reader:
- Buncee, Follett, JogNog, Kortext, Mindsets Learning, MyDay, Nearpod, OhBot, Oxford University Press, PowerSchool, SiLAS, Skooler, Squigl, ThingLink, Wakelet

Immersive Reader Cognitive Services gf

Help students speak with confidence using Presenter Coach in PowerPoint. To give teachers and students an easy way to practice their presentations and improve their public-speaking abilities, we’re launching Presenter Coach in PowerPoint online this summer, which uses best practices and academic research to provide tips and tricks for more effective presentations. Presenter Coach allows teachers and students to enter rehearsal mode and receive on-screen guidance about pacing, inclusive language, conciseness of language, profanity, filler words like “um” or “uh,” culturally inclusive words, and originality as they speak into a microphone. At the end of each rehearsal session, the presenter receives a detailed report with metrics for additional practice. Check out this post and video for more details.

Motivate students to share their voice with Flipgrid and Teams

This month, we’re also rolling out some big updates coming to Teams for Education that will make it simpler and more comprehensive than ever before, saving teachers time when creating new Teams, communicating with parents and students, and grading assignments. These updates include:

Big, easy-to-find visual icons for each of your teams and classes
A new way to create and track all of your assignments
A new gradebook so teachers can view and grade all of their assignments for a class directly from the channel’s Grades tab and view a single student’s progress across assignments
A new “Share To Teams” button that allows teachers to share resources with their classes directly from a learning source like Brittanica, Kahoot, Buncee, ThingLink, and Wakelet
The ability to import existing OneNote content into your Class or Staff Teams, allowing you to access all your information from a single location

On Monday during FlipgridLIVE at ISTE, we shared some exciting new Flipgrid tools that empower students to share their voice, practice their storytelling skills and engage in meaningful discussions inside and outside of the classroom. Details below or watch the livestream archive here.

Redesigned with a focus on inclusion, accessibility and performance. Now, every Flipgrid response video is automatically transcribed by Microsoft Azure and delivered through an updated closed-captioning experience. The updated Flipgrid video player leverages Microsoft’s Immersive Reader to make full transcripts available in all response videos.

Enhanced storytelling capabilities with the Shorts Camera. Students can now:
- Stitch together and rearrange unlimited segments into one simple video.
- Pause and flip the camera, add live inking over videos, select from thousands of text and emoji stickers, and apply unique video styles to add creative flare to videos.
- Turn on whiteboard mode in videos to add context to stories.
- Easily record and embed Shorts videos in platforms including Teams, OneNote, Remind and Wakelet with even more partners coming soon.

Unlock a new world of possibilities with FlipgridAR. Teachers and students can now:
- Easily create and print new FlipgridAR stickers for any response to place Flipgrid videos in augmented reality on everything.
- Transform homework, family nights and school events by “sticking” student voice everywhere with FlipgridAR stickers.
- Take advantage of the hundreds of millions of existing Flipgrid QR codes that currently decorate classrooms and schools around the world as they now work automatically with FlipgridAR.

Ignite engagement with Topics from Code.org, HackingSTEM, Find Your Grind, Wonderopolis and more.
- Find launch-ready discussion prompts (“Topics”) inside your Flipgrid Educator Admin in the Disco Library.
- Search thousands of educator-created Topics by audience, subject and goal.
- Explore enriching, activity-packed Topics from Code.org, Microsoft Education and NASA, Find Your Grind, and Wonderoplis with additional partner content in the works.

Tools & Resources for Student-Centered Learning

Here are some useful resources to help you plan for the upcoming school year and connect with other educators who are also working to build a student-centered approach:

More Microsoft Education news from ISTE

Learn about additional updates from Microsoft Education in the blogs below, or if you are attending ISTE next week, stop by and see them for yourself in the Microsoft booth.

Posted on August 14, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Microsoft is a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management, 2019

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management Tools, Chris Silva, Manjunath Bhat, Rich Doheny, Rob Smith—August 6, 2019.

Earlier this month, Gartner published their 2019 Magic Quadrant (MQ) for Unified Endpoint Management.

Just like last year, Gartner has positioned Microsoft in the Leaders Quadrant in the “2019 Magic Quadrant for Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Tools, Worldwide,” based on its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the UEM market.” Microsoft is also highest in the “Ability to Execute” axis.

That’s good news, but, like any subjective measurement, the most important part of any UEM product is how it impacts the organizations who use it. When I meet with customers, nearly all of them seem to embrace three of the strengths called out by Gartner in the report:

Extensive integration across products exposes capabilities that are difficult to replicate piecemeal.
Exclusive integration with System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr), and incremental migration capabilities for PCs to Microsoft Intune and ConfigMgr co-management can reduce the complexity of the transition to UEM.
Full integration with Office 365 mobile apps.

Whenever you study the placements within an MQ, it’s always interesting to consider what trends and market forces were driving the ultimate conclusions made by Gartner. For example, there’s no longer any doubt that complete endpoint management has to be inclusive of on-premises tools and processes to manage PCs. This is a point of view we’ve championed for years, and it’s the reason why we’ve pursued a unified solution that seamlessly attaches cloud capabilities to existing PC management infrastructure. It’s really exciting to see so many others in the community responding to this customer need.

Perhaps the most helpful way to look at all of this is to determine for yourself what a “modern workplace” looks like and what it means for your organization to modernize. In my opinion, the thing that makes a management tool “modern” is whether its insights and intelligence have cloud scale and cloud connection. This type of connection not only offers more control and insight to the IT teams using the tool, but it also allows the tool to be improved and refined in ways that were not possible in the past. This perspective guides every decision my team makes when we’re investing in and engineering Intune and ConfigMgr. This type of endpoint management benefits every person using it—even organizations that aren’t yet ready for a complete shift to cloud-based management.

I have written a lot about how seriously Microsoft emphasizes “customer-obsession” at every stage of our engineering process, but now the positive effects of this emphasis have moved beyond our company. Over the past year, multiple UEM vendors have announced integrations with Intune and ConfigMgr so their customers can also benefit from Microsoft 365. The Gartner report goes so far as to note that the integration work done by these other vendors is a “key benefit” in their positive ranking within the MQ. I think it’s awesome that Intune is not only a ubiquitous standalone solution but is also now used as a platform.

I am very proud of the work we’ve done with these vendors. Right now, we have a great partnership with the Android Enterprise team at Google, where we are one of the first partners to build on top of their advanced cloud management architecture, and the breadth and depth of our support for Apple’s macOS and iOS continues to grow.

Since most organizations already use ConfigMgr for their PC management, Intune (and, more importantly, Microsoft 365) is the ideal solution for most organizations. I recently announced that ConfigMgr and Intune are managing more than 175 million Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices—making it, by far, the most widely used endpoint management solution. And that number grows by one million each week!

The reason why this growth is so important to you is that those 175 million endpoints bring back the most complete and authoritative data set on enterprise devices—and the things we learn from that much signal gives us the insight necessary to build the tools and features you need. That’s the beauty of modern management: Learning at cloud-scale and then personalizing and applying what we learn to every organization—no matter how small or how big. This is uniquely a Microsoft 365 capability, and it’s awesome.

As you continue to plan for the needs of your organization and the demands on your infrastructure, please let us know how we can support the work you’re doing with Microsoft 365 by reaching out to your account team.

You can read the full report.

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Microsoft.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Posted on August 14, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Gamescom 2019 kicks off Aug. 19 with all-new Inside Xbox

Live from the world’s largest gaming convention in Cologne, Germany, Inside Xbox returns on Monday, August 19, at 5 p.m. CEST / 11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT.

With the release of Gears 5 less than a month away, Inside Xbox will unveil the game’s Horde Mode! We’ll also premiere nearly a dozen never-before-seen trailers and have big news and reveals on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Wasteland 3, Empire of Sin, Greedfall, The Surge 2, Vigor, Metro Exodus, Blair Witch, Xbox Game Pass, X019, new accessories, and much, much more.

Watch live next Monday on Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, or check out highlights and the full show on-demand after it airs.

Inside Xbox Attendance & Xbox Open Doors

Fans have the chance to see Inside Xbox live on Monday at the Gloria Theater in Cologne. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis and you need to be at least 18 years and older to attend (ID will be checked at the entrance). Additional details on how to attend will be posted on Xbox Dach’s Twitter and Facebook accounts later this week. The Gloria will also host Xbox Open Doors from Wednesday August 21 through Friday August 23 from 5-10PM local time each night, with games, gear, tournaments and more. Additional Xbox Open Doors details will also be available on Xbox Dach’s social channels.

Posted on August 14, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Dr. David Rhew named chief medical officer and vice president of Healthcare

The healthcare industry is in the middle of an exciting transformation as the cloud, AI, and technology innovations unlock new efficiencies in healthcare delivery and discover new breakthroughs in scientific exploration. For Microsoft to enable our customers and partners during this transformation, it’s important that we continue to recruit experts in this field who truly understand the challenges of healthcare delivery and operations across the spectrum of the industry’s physical and digital realms.

I’m pleased to share that David Rhew, M.D., has joined our Worldwide Commercial Business (WCB) Healthcare leadership team as the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Healthcare.

David joins us from Samsung, where he spent six years leading the company’s healthcare efforts as Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for Enterprise Healthcare. He was recently named one of Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Clinical Executive Leaders, and also serves as an adjunct professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

In addition, David is a computer scientist who holds six U.S. patents related to clinical decision support systems and the interoperability and integration of data in electronic health records (EHRs). An internationally recognized digital health thought leader, David has been a driving force behind the development, validation, and deployment of digital health solutions recognized by global organizations such as the Consumer Technology Association and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture as being some of the most innovative and impactful in the industry.

David will provide executive-level support, engaging in business opportunities with our customers and partners. In addition, David will represent the company within the marketplace through industry events and engagements. With his cross-discipline expertise and his keen ability to engage, listen, and collaborate, David’s work with our customer and partners will ensure our commercial healthcare business delivers the right technologies and capabilities to reimagine the industry.

“Data are quickly becoming the new currency in healthcare. Organizations that create value through secure storage, clinical interpretation, and the seamless exchange of data between patients and providers are emerging as the new leaders. Microsoft is positioned to lead in this capacity. I am honored to be a part of the team that builds and grows this business.” – David Rhew, Chief Medical Officer, Microsoft Worldwide Commercial Business

At Microsoft, we’re continuing to learn and grow every day from the extensive set of partnerships that we have had in healthcare: more than 168,000 healthcare organizations in 140 countries. I am excited to have David join our Microsoft family to help our customers and partners realize their vision!

Read more about Microsoft’s work with Healthcare organizations from our e-book “Personalizing Healthcare: Engaging Patients in a Digital Age.”

Posted on August 13, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Minding your Ps and Qs in the digital age

“Not sure if you saw my last email.”

“Any update on this?”

“Per my last email.”

Chances are at least some of those phrases are familiar. They top the list of the most irritating phrases people use in work emails, according to a study by Adobe.

The average worker spends more than three hours a day in his or her inbox – and that time is increasing. By the end of this year, we’ll be sending 293 billion emails a day globally, according to market research from the Radicati Group. By 2023, projections put that figure at 347 billion.

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In a world of growing online communications, our digital manners are ever more important.

In 2017, Microsoft established its Digital Civility Index, measuring people’s exposure to online risks in different types of online interactions, such as trolling, mean behavior or harassment. The index measures teen and adult perceptions about the extent to which they are at risk of damaging online interactions. It ranks 22 countries by order of online civility.

In the Digital Civility Index, the United Kingdom and the United States have emerged as strong performers, with several countries improving their standing over the past three years. However, adverse behavior is still pervasive, with people at risk from emotional and psychological damage due to their online interactions.

So how do we translate this to our own lives? Here are four practical ways to practice safer, healthier online interactions in your everyday life.

Show empathy

Think about the spirit in which a message will be read and understood, rather than seeing it from your perspective as the writer. The golden rule is to act with empathy, compassion and kindness in every interaction, treating everyone with dignity and respect.

Pause before replying

Receiving an unhelpful email at the wrong moment can easily elicit an angry, terse or sarcastic response. Never reply in anger, on the spur of the moment or with a quip that seemed funny at the time but could be misconstrued later.

Respect differences

Disagreeing with another person’s perspective is fine. It’s a matter of how that disagreement is expressed. Diverse perspectives should always be appreciated and acknowledged, and any disagreement should be about the substance of the work rather than a personal attack. Making room for differences helps to break down echo chambers and can be constructive, sparking inspiration.

Stand up for yourself and others

It’s easy to simply fire off negative feedback or delegate a whole series of tasks via email. It’s far less easy to receive such emails and find an appropriate way to respond. Lead by example by celebrating positives and make sure that you don’t perpetuate the issue by forwarding or further circulating problem emails.

For more on our Digital Civility Index and to see how you score, visit our Digital Civility Challenge site. And follow @MSFTIssues on Twitter.

Posted on August 13, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Sixth annual ID@Xbox Open House on Aug. 29 brings over 50 gems from indie game developers

We’re calibrating our TVs and charging our controllers as we get ready to host you at our home in Redmond, Washington for an afternoon of games (lots), fun (also lots) and much, much more for our sixth annual ID@Xbox Open House on August 29 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. PT. Over 50 hand-picked gaming gems from a global roster of independent developers will be joining us, including 13 new announcements, and every-single-one will be playable.

We’re bringing you a whole host of diverse, game-centric content and activities – not to mention some of the extended Xbox family will join the festivities too! Here’s what to expect:

Talk to the independent developers bringing their games to Xbox One (which you can play!)
Meet some of the Microsoft teams behind your favorite gaming franchises
Mingle with the Xbox Ambassadors and learn what it takes to be a positive force in gaming
Join us for panels and let us tell you a tale (or two) in an auditorium-style setting
Streamed content, including interviews and more
Meet the ID@Xbox team!
A whole lot of free pizza and a few fun surprises

Games? Yeah, we’ve got a few of those.
No ID@Xbox Open House would be complete without games! Making a debut appearance and announcing for the first time that they’ll be coming to Xbox One through the ID@Xbox program are:

Demon’s Tilt (Flarb LLC / Wiznwar)
Exhausted Man (E-Home Entertainment / Candleman Games)
Freshly Frosted (The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild)
Genesis Noir (Fellow Traveller / Feral Cat Den)
Hypnospace Outlaw (No More Robots / Tendershoot, Michael Lasch, ThatWhichIs Media)
Kine (Chump Squad / Gwen Frey)
Levelhead (Butterscotch Shenanigans)
Moving Out (SMG Studios)
She Dreams Elsewhere (Studio Zevere)
Skater XL (Easy Day Studios)
Spectrum Break (Jason Hein)
Superliminal (Pillow Castle)
Touhou Luna Nights (Vaka Game Magazine, Agm Playism / Vaka Game Magazine, Team Ladybug)

On top of that, here’s a whopping list of even more games that you’ll be able to play on the day:

A Knight’s Quest (Curve Digital / Sky 9 Games)
Backbone (Eggnut)
Beyond Blue (E-Line Media)
Blair Witch (Bloober team) – Coming to Xbox Game Pass
Blasphemous (Team17 Digital Ltd / The Game Kitchen)
CastleStorm 2 (Zen Studios)
Children of Morta (11 bit studios / Dead Mage)
Citadel: Forged with Fire (Blue Isle Studios Inc.)
Conan Chop Chop (Funcom / Mighty Kingdom)
Creature in the Well (Flight School Studio) – Coming to Xbox Game Pass
Cyber Shadow (Yacht Club Games / Mechanical Head)
Decay of Logos (Thunderful Publishing / Amplify Creations)
Deliver Us the Moon (Wired Productions / Keoken Interactive)
Fuga: Melodies of Steel (CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd. / Hiroto Niizato)
Hot Shot Burn (Artifex Mundi)
HyperDot (Glitch / Charles McGregor)
Infliction (Blowfish Studios / Caustic Reality)
KeyWe (Stonewheat & Sons)
Lonely Mountains: Downhill (Thunderful Publishing / Megagon Industries)
Lumote (Luminawesome Games)
Olija (Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. / Skeleton Crew Studio)
Once Upon a Time in Roswell (Quarter Circle)
Overland (Finji)
Paradise Lost (All in! Games / PolyAmorous)
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire (Versus Evil / Obsidian Entertainment)
Praey for the Gods (No Matter Studios)
Raji: An Ancient Epic (Super.com / Nodding Heads Games)
RPG Time: The Legend of Wright (Deskworks)
Sparklite (Merge Games Ltd / RedBlue Games)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus) – Coming to Xbox Game Pass
Star Renegade (Raw Fury Games / Massive Damage Inc.) – Coming to Xbox Game Pass
StarCrossed (Whitethorn Digital / Contigo Games)
Stela (SkyBox Labs)
The Jackbox Part Pack 6 (Jackbox Games, Inc.)
The Riftbraker (Exor Studios)
Tracks (Excalibur Games / Whoop Group)
UnderMine (Thorium) – Coming to Xbox Game Pass
Yaga (Versus Evil / Breadcrumbs Interactive)

But wait, there’s more! Remember how we mentioned that some of the extended Xbox family was coming along? Xbox Game Studios family member, The Coalition, will be bringing Gears 5 to our Open House for your enjoyment.

There will also be a few surprises in store that we’ll get to talk about a little closer to the event and on the day – so keep an eye out!

Open House Means Open to Everyone
Everyone is welcome to join us for an afternoon of celebrating games and the people who make them as a little weekend warm-up. The event is free, so feel free to bring a friend or two – all we ask is:

If you’re under 18, bring a parent or guardian
Please RSVP if you can, to give us an idea of attendance numbers
Be prepared for some queueing, but please let event staff know if you are unable do so for health, wellbeing or medical reasons

Details & Directions
The event will be hosted at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, WA – this venue is fully accessible and ADA compliant.

If you’re driving in, there’s free parking available. There will also be buses available to transport attendees directly to and from the event, picking up from the Washington State Convention Center. These buses will be located at the motor coach and shuttle bus loading area of the WSCC, beginning at 4:30 p.m. PT, running every 15-30 minutes. Return buses will depart on the same schedule, with the last bus leaving the Microsoft Convention Center for WSCC at 9:00 p.m. PT.

Address:
Microsoft Conference Center
16070 NE 36th Way, Building 33
Redmond, WA 98052

We hope that you’ll have the opportunity to join us, say hello and play some games before the wonderful and hectic PAX West weekend begins – and don’t forget to RSVP!

Not able to make it in person? You can always reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Discord – we love talking about games.

Posted on August 12, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Back to School #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet and live event coming Aug. 20

Announcing the August 20 TweetMeet and a new Live Event

On August 20, right after the Back to School Facebook Live event, we’re bringing you two more opportunities for inspiration ahead of the new school year: an #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet and a Teams Live Event.

Keep reading for detailed information about this new, dual TweetMeet event.

TweetMeet on Back to School starting at 10 a.m. PDT

Back-to-school season is starting soon in many parts of the world. Our global TweetMeet invites you to share your best ideas, tips and resources to design activities for your learners that will keep them engaged and excited as they transition back into the classroom. We’ll also discuss how you can support and empower your colleagues and other topics. With all this in mind, we’re hosting a 75-minute TweetMeet on August 20 at 10 a.m. PDT.

Microsoft Teams Live Event with Adam ShortShorts (aka Adam Parker Goldberg) at 11:15 a.m. PDT

The exciting Live Event that Mike Tholfsen led after the July TweetMeet was very well received (play it back on demand).

On August 1, Flipgrid announced their biggest feature update to date, from FlipgridAR and the new Flipgrid camera to the powerful Shorts feature and Disco Library Playlists. In our Live Event this month, which takes place immediately after the TweetMeet, Adam ShortShorts (aka Adam Parker Goldberg) from the Flipgrid engagement team will demonstrate the highlights from these major announcements.

Don’t forget to mark the Live Event in your calendar, join the Teams Live Event and make sure to check out the recent Flipgrid launch post detailing these significant updates.

Language tracks and SuperSway

We’re offering nine simultaneous language tracks this month: English, Arabic, Dutch, Hindi, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish. The new SuperSway offers a TweetMeet Invitation in each of these languages.

For each language track, we have one or more hosts to post the translated questions and respond to educators. As always, we’re super grateful to all current and former hosts who are collaborating closely to provide this service.

The #TweetMeetXX hashtags for non-English languages are to be used together with #MSFTEduChat so that everyone can find the conversations in their own language. For example: Hindi-speaking people should use both #TweetMeetHI and #MSFTEduChat. English-speaking educators may use #MSFTEduChat on its own.

TweetMeet Fan? Show it off on your Twitter profile!

Every month, more and more people discover the unique flow and characteristics of the TweetMeet events and become excited to participate.

Show your passion for the TweetMeets right from your own Twitter page by uploading this month’s #MSFTEduChat Twitter Header Photo as a banner on your own Twitter profile.

In the same file folder, the Twitter Header Photo is available in many other languages and time zones.

Create your own TweetMeet Friend Card

Another way to share your enthusiasm for going back to school and the TweetMeets in general is to create a TweetMeet Friend Card. Share your own version of this image anytime, anywhere. It will come in handy when introducing yourself at the start of a TweetMeet. Just follow the steps in the TweetMeet Friend Cards PowerPoint.

Here’s an example:

Looking back on the July TweetMeet on Microsoft Teams

With our very active host team, the July #MSFTEduChat TweetMeet was our busiest ever. The hosts inspired educators around the world to share their ideas, insights and resources. We captured highlights from the July TweetMeet in this @MicrosoftEDU Twitter Moment. There’s even a comprehensive collection of 2,000+ tweets in this Wakelet Collection.

Why join the #MSFTEduChat TweetMeets?

TweetMeets are monthly recurring Twitter conversations about themes relevant to educators, facilitated by Microsoft Education. The purpose of these events is to help professionals in education to learn from each other and inspire their students while they are preparing for their future. The TweetMeets also nurture personal learning networks among educators from across the globe.

We’re grateful to have a support group made up exclusively of former TweetMeet hosts, who volunteer to translate communication and check the quality of our questions and promotional materials. They also help identify the best candidates for future events, provide relevant resources, promote the events among their networks and, in general, cheer everybody on.

When and how can I join?

Join us Tuesday, August 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. PDT on Twitter using the hashtags #BackToSchool, #MSFTEduChat and#MicrosoftEDU (which you can always use to stay in touch with us). Be sure to double-check your own local event time. You can find the event time for 215 countries with this time zone announcer.

Our next recommendation for you is to set up a Twitter dashboard TweetDeck and add a column for the hashtag #MSFTEduChat. If you are new to TweetDeck, then check out this brief TweetDeck tutorial by Marjolein Hoekstra.

When a tweet appears that you want to respond to, press the retweet button and type your comments. Great news is that Twitter now supports adding images, animated GIFs and videos to your comment retweets.

Additional tips are offered in this animated GIF that you’re most welcome to share with newcomers:

Too busy to join at event time? No problem!

From our monthly surveys we know that you may be in class at event time, busy doing other things or may even be asleep–well, no problem! All educators are welcome to join any time after the event. Simply look at the questions below and respond to these at a day and time that suit you best.

You can also schedule your tweets in advance. In such cases, be sure to include the entire question in your tweet and include the hashtag #MSFTEduChat so that everyone knows to which question in which conversation you are responding.

To better allow everyone to prepare for the event, from now on we’re providing the question timings in a text table:

PDT	#	August 16–TweetMeet question timings
10:00am	Welcome	Please introduce yourself. Use hashtag #MSFTEduChat.
10:04	1	What works well for you in planning for the new school year?
10:18	2	What does it take to create a positive school atmosphere?
10:32	3	How do you inspire and empower your colleagues and learners?
10:46	4	What’s your favorite activity to engage learners? Share tips, tools and resources.
11:00	5	What ideas from this chat will you try this school year?
11:15	Live Event	The party continues now! Join our Teams Live Event with Adam Parker Goldberg from the Flipgrid team.

Resources to help prepare for the TweetMeet

Microsoft offers multiple resources to help you get up to speed with your Back to School preparations:

Video for Back to School—#MSFTEduChat TweetMeet and Live Event on August 20

Toney is a former TweetMeet host. Find him on Twitter at @HeRhymesWithMe.

SuperWakelet: resources curated by this month’s hosts

Wakelet is a useful web service to bookmark, curate and annotate resources, images, tweets and other content. Through our new SuperWakelet, each of our hosts shares their personal favorite resources on Back to School:

Back to School SuperWakelet, live-embedded:

Hosts

Meet the 16 hosts for this month’s TweetMeet! After going through weeks of preparation for this TweetMeet, they are thrilled to engage with you on their favorite topic: Back to School.

Check out all the hosts, see what they are tweeting about and consider following them: https://twitter.com/TweetMeet/lists/msfteduchat-2019-08/members

List of hosts and their profiles

Álvaro San Segundo @asansegundo67 (Primary Teacher. MIE Expert, MIE Trainer and eTwinning Ambassador. Microsoft Teams and OneNote enthusiast – Ávila, Spain)
Damien Lonergan @languagesdude (French Teacher, MIE Expert, eTwinning Ambassador, and PhD student. I’m researching the areas of reflective practice and curriculum reform – Waterford, Ireland)
Daniela Shapkaroska @DaniBoSh (English language teacher in primary school, MIE, Mystery Skype enthusiast, OneNote user, SDG goals supporter, e-twinner – Ohrid, Macedonia)
Felisa Ford @APSITFelisa (Digital Learning Specialist for Atlanta Public Schools. MIE Expert, MIE Master Trainer. Teams and OneNote Lover, creator of Minecraft Student Ambassador Program, passionate about accessibility tools – Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
Jessica Liivlaid @liivlaid (English teacher, lead teacher and ICT educator. Creative MIE in love with OneNote, Surface and equal opportunity. Language nerd – Bräcke, Sweden)
Kornélia Lohyňová @lohynova (Teacher in Showcase School Hotel Academy, teacher trainer focused on PBL and Entrepreneurial Learning with ICT, MIE Expert – Bratislava, Slovakia)
Lars Knol @Lars__Knol (Geography and Technology teacher. MIE Expert, MIE Trainer and Student Voice Ambassador for Flipgrid – Vroomshoop, The Netherlands)
Lisa Bray @BrayLisaM (Digital Integration Specialist – West Ada School District. NCEE Professional Learning Specialist, MIE Expert, Trainer, inspiring and empowering learners with Microsoft – Meridian, ID, USA)
Michael Sinclair @fillthegaplearn (Director of Fill the Gap Learning Ltd, course developer and curriculum analyst, co-founder and co-organiser of Connected Educator Appreciation Day – Edinburgh, Scotland)
Milijana Petrović @milijanapet (Computing and Programming teacher in high school, MIE Expert, MIE Master Trainer. Developing creativity and digital literacy among students – Lajkovac, Serbia)
Monica Alicea @Teach_Serve (Technology Training and Integration Specialist with Cobb County Schools, MIE Expert, MIE Master Trainer, Minecraft Global Mentor, Passionate about Skype, sharing the Global Goals, and service learning – Marietta, GA, USA)
Nancy Nelson @NNelsonLearn (Tech Coach, MIE Expert, NBCT, Common Sense Ambassador. Excited about how technology provides access and voice for all – Puyallup, WA, USA)
Noel Donnelly @bradenroad24 (English Teacher and Vice Principal at Christian Brothers’ Grammar School (Showcase School). MIE Master Trainer, Surface Master Trainer and OneNote enthusiast – Omagh, Northern Ireland)
Ranjit Disale @ranjitdisale (Teacher in ZP Primary school, Maharashtra MIE Fellow, Skype Master Teacher who believes the world is his classroom – Solapur, India)
Rizwan Arif @rizraphael (IT Manager at The Lyceum, MIE Master Trainer, National Geographic Educator, passionate about social and academic development – Lahore, Pakistan)
Sameerah Alzahrani @lifeishope_2010 (English Teacher. MIE Expert and MIE Fellow. Interested in integrating technology in education and translation – Makkah, Saudi Arabia)

Flipgrid

Our hosts are thrilled for the upcoming TweetMeet. Each of them wants to invite you to the event in their own way.

Next month’s event: Teaching and Learning with Minecraft

The theme of the TweetMeet on September 17 will be Teaching and Learning with Minecraft. We’re looking forward to this event and hope you’ll spread the word!

What are #MSFTEduChat TweetMeets?

Every month Microsoft Education organizes social events on Twitter targeted at educators globally. The hashtag we use is #MSFTEduChat. A team of topic specialists and international MIE Expert teachers prepare and host these TweetMeets together. Our team of educator hosts first crafts several questions around a certain topic. Then, before the event, they share these questions on social media. Combined with a range of resources, a blog post and background information about the events, this allows all participants to prepare themselves to the full. Afterwards we make an archive available of the most notable tweets and resources shared during the event.

If you’re new to Twitter, consider the free Twitter for Education course in eBook form by David Truss @datruss.

Still wondering why and how to join Twitter chats? Former host James Kieft has got you covered with his post Twitter chats explained.

For even more in-depth discussion of Twitter chats, TweetChat expert Madalyn Sklar recently published this helpful introductory guide:
Your Complete Guide to Twitter Chats: Why You Should Join & How to Make the Most of It

Please connect with TweetMeet organizer Marjolein Hoekstra @TweetMeet on Twitter if you have any questions about the TweetMeets or how to become a host at a future event.