Custom Video: SharePoint in Plain English

While licensing our videos is still the focus of our business, we have taken on a few custom projects this summer. The first to be published is a video we were hired to produce called "SharePoint in Plain English," about Microsoft's enterprise collaboration tool. The focus of the video is to introduce Sharepoint and illustrate the old way (project info exists on multiple computers) vs. new way (project info lives in SharePoint).

Updated: Microsoft has made this video available for download so you can share it easily on Intranets, presentations, etc.

One of the things that attracted us to this project was the potential to expose our work to SharePoint users. We were so happy to work with the SharePoint team, who was flexible and very open to our interpretations.  It was one of the smoothest projects we've completed to date and we appreciate their focus and dedication. Plus, it's always nice to work with local organizations.

Client Video: Windows Live.com

Common Craft was hired by Microsoft to help explain the new Windows Live.com.  We were so excited to work with a local organization on a project that highlights a new direction for the company.

Custom Video: Microsoft Windows Live.com

Microsoft is Serious About Blogging

Over the last few weeks I’ve been working with the folks at Microsoft, like Bill Reid, Korby Parnell and Jonathan Grudin, to learn more about blogging at Microsoft for a related project at the company. Here are some of my broad observations:

Microsoft Blog Project

I’m just starting a new project that should be really interesting. I’m working with Bill Reid’s group at Microsoft, which does IT Solutions. Like so many other teams at the company, they are interested in using blogs as a way to support and connect more personally with customers.

Microsoft and Sun- Together at Last

Microsoft and Sun Microsystems Enter Broad Cooperation Agreement; Settle Outstanding Litigation

Am I in some kind of time warp? Is it April Fools day again? This is a pretty amazing announcement.

Via: Scoble

NetScan's Graphical Analysis of Newsgroups

A while back I wrote about Marc Smith, Sociologist at Microsoft Research who is studying Usenet Newsgroups. I met and saw a presentation by Marc recently and I've been keeping up with NetScan- the tool they use to analyze newsgroups. I've been impressed with some of the ways they are graphically representing the growth and activity of the newsgroups over time. The screenshot below came from this TreeMap.

Bill Gates Says Email Not Dead.

Informatics: Gates foretells death of spam

Ok, he didn't say those exact words, but he's a believer that technology will eventually beat spammers. He recently spoke at ITU Telecom World 2003 in Geneva.

He called on anonymity to be removed from internet protocols like SMTP, because it allows spammers to mimic other users, and suggested that passwords could be replaced by smart cards and biometric technologies.

"We have to know who is accessing the network. By being able to identify who the sender is we will be able to make the spam problem essentially go away," he said.

Let's hope he's right.

WebEx vs. Microsoft

Tech Biz: Microsoft's next target: WebEx - Sep. 17, 2003

It will be really interesting to watch the competition between Microsoft- who has just release "Live Event" and WebEx. Live Event is basically a repackaged version of Placeware, which was WebEx's biggest competition. Both of these are Web Conferencing platforms.

about Web Conferencing: