The Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) is a tool created by Microsoft Research which can be used to create panoramic images. It’s essentially the same technology that Windows Live Photo Gallery uses “under the hood” when you create panoramic photos in the software (just like Alexa does in the latest commercial – and lest you think these kids are far more tech savvy than you – I can assure you that the process is dead simple).

But unlike the panoramic technology that runs in WLPG, the ICE software provides a few extra features, too. The most important one is the orientation tool. With this, you can change the orientation of a photo to give the impression that a tilt/shift lens was used. For example:

You could also use a perspective projection instead of a cylindrical one with the tool. Example:

Or you could set the mid-point of a 360-degree panorama:

ICE also adds a variety of export options including Deep Zoom and HD View. Use ICE to export to either of these two options and it will generate a web page that handles viewing these images in a much more efficient manner (they tend to be very large images by default).  For Deep Zoom photos, the web page will use Silverlight to allow for interactivity with the image. HD View is like Deep Zoom but also adds some extra affects – it can rewarp the panorama on the fly using a fish-eye lens, auto-exposure adjust for looking into those deep shadows of the panorama, and it will support wide-color-gamut monitors. HD View is still more experimental technology and will require a special plugin. You can get it here.

Add to Photo Gallery!

Now you can take this advanced ICE photo manipulation technology and integrate it into Windows Live Photo Gallery. Just download it and install it. You’ll then see a new menu item in the WLPG “Extras” menu:

To use ICE, simply select a group of images and then launch it using the new menu item.

(via Windows Live Photo & Video Blog)

It seems that there is a error with the current build of windows live writer when posting images to the blog. Every time i posted it would seems that it would just overwrite the image instead of making  a new folder. The crew at windows live team gave me a fix I thought i would share it. They say it will be fixed “soon”.

Open regedit

2. Open HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\Writer\Weblogs\{blog-id}\UserOptionOverrides\, where {blog-id} is a GUID. You will have several of these, but should be able to tell the right one by looking at the contents of the key.

3. Add a new String value with name “fileUploadNameFormat” (case matters!!) and the value
{WindowsLiveWriter}/{PostTitle}/{Randomizer}/{AsciiFileName}

LiveUpload for Facebook  is a plugin for the new Windows Live Photo Gallery software that uploads photos from your PC directly into Facebook. It was already one of our favorite plugins before, but now, thanks to the new version called LiveUpload for Facebook 2.0, the plugin is better than ever. That’s because the updated software takes your Photo Gallery “people tags” (where you’ve tagged the people in your photo by name) and translates them to Facebook tags.

When you go to upload photos with LiveUpload version 2.0, you’re given the option to link a particular Photo Gallery tag with a Facebook user. The links you make are saved, so you only have to configure each tag one time. Future uploads will automatically link the correct tags to the correct people.

Facebook users – this one is a must.

After much hype Steve Ballmer made it official last night at the CES keynote. The windows 7 Public Beta will made available on Friday, January 9th.

If you've been leery of downloading the version that's been all over the torrent trackers since last week, get your download manager ready and keep your browser tuned to Microsoft's Windows 7 page.

TechNet, MSDN, and TechBeta members have already been given access, and you can download from there if your are a subscriber.

Microsoft also announced the global availability of Windows Live, a free suite of communications and sharing applications. Windows Live makes it easy for people to communicate, share and keep their online lives in sync and in one place with one login. The new and enhanced Windows Live services — including PCMag.com 2008 Editors’ Choice winner Windows Live Messenger — along with Windows Live Writer my personal favorite and Windows Live Photo Gallery with face recognition, as well as being designed to work seamlessly with more than 50 popular Internet services. Ballmer also announced new alliances with the following companies:

• Dell Inc. In February, to offer a comprehensive experience for consumers to connect, share and personalize their content, Dell will offer preloaded Windows Live Essentials (a free suite of applications for instant messaging, e-mail and photos that complement Windows Live on the Web) and Live Search on a majority of its new consumer and small-business PCs globally.

• Facebook. In the coming months, Facebook users can choose to share content they post on Facebook, including photos, directly into Windows Live.

• Verizon Wireless. Under a new five-year relationship that covers mobile search and advertising, Verizon subscribers in the U.S. will be able to use Live Search to search for local business and shopping information; access maps and directions; perform general Internet searches; and find ring tones, games, wallpaper and other online mobile products and services.

According to Microsoft press release

Microsoft demonstrated new features and key improvement in Windows 7 based on listening to the needs of customers. Windows 7 is designed to do the following:

Work the way consumers want. With Windows 7, Microsoft paid special attention to performance, reliability, security, compatibility and battery life. The company is on track to deliver a great experience that will allow customers to spend more time doing the things they want to do, without the operating system getting in the way.

Make everyday tasks faster and easier. The more streamlined and intuitive design of Windows 7 is intended to simplify the things people do every day on their PCs. Desktop improvements make using the PC easier and provide immediate access to the applications and files people use most often through features such as Jumplists, Previews and the new Taskbar. The new Home Group feature makes it easier for consumers to connect multiple home PCs together to share printers and access files, music, photos and videos. Device Stage makes connecting and working with devices easier than ever with a single interface to manage devices and run common tasks. New multitouch technology in Windows 7 will enable people with touch-screen monitors to use multiple fingers to interact with their PC screens in a more intuitive way.

Offer a better entertainment experience. Consumers today have access to more digital media and are increasingly using the PC as the hub of their electronic experiences. The “Play-to” feature in Windows 7 allows easier streaming of music, video and photos to devices in a home network. Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center in Windows 7 have built-in support for more media formats so people can use their PC to play more media content and sync it to a broader range of devices. As an alternative to monthly digital video recording (DVR) fees, Windows Media Center, available in some editions of Windows 7, with a TV tuner and improved user interface, makes recording TV free and easy.

These all sound great. I want what i what and i want it to be faster and better then in i thought i wanted…LOL

Windows 7 home page:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/

Download info from the team:
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/01/07/information-on-downloading-and-installing-windows-7-beta.aspx

Steve Ballmer's keynote:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/jan09/01-07CES09PR.mspx

Keynote videos and Windows 7 demo video:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/ces/keynote.aspx?initialVideo=Windows7Democast

If you don’t know by my blog I am obsessed with windows live writer. It has some things that it doesn’t do well but has a bunch of stuff that it does great! So with that said. One of my favorite browsers is firefox and they just released a version of blog this for firefox.. One of things i am really looking forward to IE8 once it come out of bug mode. One of my favorite things is that MS is making plug-ins for fire fox… Yeah go with your bad self…

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9968

Live It, Love it, Blog it….

I just reading on Angus Logan's Blog that you can sign up for some free windows live training on DEC 1 and 2 2008

Sign Up Here

It will be held in the Downtown LA offices. There is so much stuff packed in Live now that if you haven't started to look at it you really need to. I can't wait till next week when we hear about the cloud computing that is coming out for Microsoft.

Here is a taste of the agenda

Agenda

DAY 1

8.30 – 9.00 AM
Introduction
Meet and Greet

9.00 – 10.45 AM
Live Services – An All-Up Technical Overview
In this session, we’ll give you the foundation for everything you need to know with regard to Live Services. You could almost only attend this session… but you won’t.

10.45 AM – 11.00AM
Break

11.00 AM – 12.00 PM
Microsoft online identity – Part I [Live ID 101]
Almost everything in the Live Platform pivots around a person, and people are identities too. We’ll take a quick detour and look at Microsoft’s online identity, specifically Live ID 101, and then we’ll look at delegated authentication which is required for the next session.

12.00 – 1.00 PM
Lunch

1.00 – 2.30 PM
Communications – Messenger
I’ll “MSN” you! Windows Live Messenger is the world’s largest IM network; tens of millions of people are online concurrently. Presence should be pervasive, apps should be immersive – you’ll learn how to build on top of this powerful network.

2.30 – 2.45PM
Break / labs / discussion

2.45 – 4.00 PM
Infrastructure services
We’ll talk about Search, Virtual Earth and Silverlight Streaming by Windows Live. These services run at Internet scale and can be used to complement your existing site.

4.00 – 4.30PM
Re-cap

4.30 – 6.30 PM
Hands-on labs, informal Q&A

DAY 2

8.30 – 9.00 AM
Hands-on labs, warm-up

9.00 – 9.30 AM
Recap of Day 1

9.30 – 10:00 AM
Future Direction of Live Services
The world of Live Services is continually changing. We’ll share the roadmap for the evolution of the Live Services platform.

10.00 – 10.30 AM
Resource Model Session
A deep dive into the types of resources that can be stored and synchronized. After you understand the structure, you can start thinking “Sync”.

10.30 – 10.45 AM
Break

10.45 – 11.45 AM
Cloud APIs
Learn to store and synchronize resources across diverse platforms with the intuitive, REST-based cloud APIs. Whatever programming language you use, there’s a protocol that fits your needs.

11.45 AM – 12.45 PM
Lunch

12.45 – 1.45 PM
.NET Libraries
There’s more than one way to sync. We’ll show you how to target the platform from rich client applications, Silverlight, JavaScript and more.

1.45 – 2.45 PM
Mesh Applications
Learn the true meaning of “write once, run anywhere”. Mesh applications let users access their data wherever they are – online, offline, on the client and in the cloud.

2.45 – 3.00 PM
Break / labs / discussion

3.00 – 4.00 PM
Microsoft Online Identity – Part II
Identity is a huge topic! In Part II you’ll get the details on federation, client authentication, and how to connect your infrastructure to the Identity backbone.

4.00 – 4.30 PM
Re-cap

4.30 – 6.30 PM
Hands-on labs, informal Q&A