What is the Windows Live Era? It is your online world, a set of online tools that are being released under the Windows Live name which are integrated together in some shape or form which results in you having a better user experience.

All your information when you need it, from shopping to searching, emailing and blogging, all under one roof, and making it possible to be one step closer by getting everything you want in one place, the way you want it.

What does this mean? Means it is time to see what the Windows Live Era can do for you, by looking through some of the sites / products already available.

• Live Search - You can still go to MSN and search, however MSN is now powered by Live's search engine. However Live is so much more than just a search portal. It allows you to setup a page with all the information you want from anywhere on the internet with a RSS feed. So sign in to the Live page and start getting it setup. You can add news, weather, entertainment information, find out what new movies have been reviewed, see what is going on in the world, access your email, check your horoscope and now search all from one page. Try it.
• Live Maps - Live Maps, is just one amazing tool. Use it when you are going on that trip and need to know how to get there. Some interesting features are the Birds Eye View (actual pictures shot from a plane as it flies over a city, and currently only available for a few cities, and to get an idea, check out Boston, MA). Other interesting features are when you search for a business you can call them directly from the site and talk through a microphone to the business or you can provide the site with your cell phone number and the site will connect you to the business. Now with traffic information available in some locations and the ability to see a 3D version of the map right there in the browser, this service is growing so try it out next time you head on out.
• Live Spaces - This is your blog. Talk to the world, tell them your thoughts, upload your own pictures, let friends and family members know how you are doing all from one page. This is where this post is located.
• Live Hotmail - Email. We all need email and you can get a free one from Windows Live Hotmail. Access to a couple gigabytes of space for email, as well as ability to store your contacts online and have it integrated with Live Messenger, as well as access to an online calendar, makes Windows Live Hotmail your choice for all your email needs.
• Live Messenger - Instant Messaging has become part of our daily lives. So why not get Live Messenger, which now allows you to not only message other Live Messenger contacts, but also allows you to get in touch with Yahoo Messenger contacts. Other features are sharing folders, where you and a friend can share files with each other as well as make phone calls from Messenger. Also now if you have a video camera, you can now video chat.
• Live Favorites - Ever gone to your friends house and said I have the link back home on my computer bookmarked and I will send it to you later. Well if that is the case then give Live Favorites a shot. It allows you to bookmark sites on the internet and it stores all the information under your account. So when you go over to your friends, get on the internet, go to the site and get access to your bookmarks.
• Live Expo - Free Online Classifieds. Buy and Sell, all from one site.
• Live QnA - Live Question and Answers. Want to ask something and not sure who to ask, post it here for free and have people answer them, or search through all the questions and answers already available on the site.

These are just some of the things that make up part of the Windows Live family. And yes, it is one large family and is just going to get bigger and bigger. As Microsoft introduces newer technologies which will be part of the Windows Live family, you can look forward to more integration with existing tools / pages, as well as a chance to get everything you want in one place. Go ahead and try it out and start with a Live Search and then see where Microsoft can take you next .

Last week me and the crew got a chance to fly out to Seattle, WA again so that we could take part in the MACH Capstone Project. The project was 3 days long and allowed us MACH's to get together and imagine that we were closing a multi million dollar deal and what all we would do and how we would win the deal.

It was a lot of fun and we learnt a lot in those few days. Plus it was a chance to meet new friends and hang out with all my friends that I had met at other MACH events.

Anyways we all stayed at the Marriot Seattle Waterfront which was a beautiful place. We spent time traveling and enjoying the sights and sounds, and ended the trip with going out on a cruise around the city, and we had access to a casino on board, which made it interesting (we gambled fake money, so I didn't loose anything).

Otherwise it was a great time, and I definitely enjoyed it. Just waiting till I see everyone again, which would be amazing.

So, I figured I would blog about a cool new technology coming down the pipelines here at Microsoft and it is called Photosynth (http://labs.live.com/photosynth/). What is this technology? In simple terms it allows you to take a bunch of related pictures and allow you to explore them in a 3D World.

What if your photo collection was an entry point into the world, like a wormhole that you could jump through and explore...

Photosynth allows us to take a large collection of photos of a place or even an object, and a program analyzes it and then once it finds the similarities it displays them in a reconstructed three-dimensional space. With Photosynth, you can do the following:

• Walk or fly through a scene to see photos from any angle.
• Seamlessly zoom in or out of a photo whether it's megapixels or gigapixels in size.
• See where pictures were taken in relation to one another.
• Find similar photos to the one you're currently viewing.
• Send a collection - or a particular view of one - to a friend.

Although this is still being worked out and still an idea that is being developed, it is something cool coming down the pipeline. Definitely visit the site and check it out and try the Tech Demo for yourself, or check out the video below.

It is amazing, and I think this is really cool. 3D Pictures, it's just amazing. It all started with an idea...

I saw this commercial on TV, and although I have seen Adidas's commercials before and their slogan "Impossible is Nothing" this one sort of got to me.

All of their commercials are based around the fact that dream the impossible because you never know what will happen. But this commercial just hit me, because listening to Gilbert Arenas's story is interesting as it is a fact of life. There are always those people who may tell you that you will never be anything or just may not believe in you and part of life is not only about doing what you do best, but sometimes it is also about proving them wrong.

It is sad but I do that sometimes and I think back to all the times I was told that it will never happen or things will never work out, and I know that I set myself up in life to look at those as challenges, and althought I don't need to tell those people that I did it, more so I need to tell and remind myself that I did. Just believe in yourself, and dream big, and don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't do it, because "Impossible is Nothing".

Well it has been just a bit more than 2 months since the launch of Vista, and well I was surfing the internet and thought I should share some videos regarding its launch from around the world. I thought it was pretty interesting and amazing to see what happened and how the product was launched.

Vista is definitely an important product and to get people interested a game was created called Vanishing Point where the first public event was a video projected on the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Well then there was the launch of Vista and that led to some spectacular launch events throughout the world. Below is a quick video from the start of the launch and goes over some of the launch events around the world briefly.

All in all there were some awesome events. It is quite spectacular. Below are some events that happened around the world, which I thought were interesting, starting with New York where they had a Human Billboard

(I thought that was really cool and if anybody wants to see a longer version of the video check out this video).

And then to Canada where an Ice House was made (I just thought it looked neat)

And now to Mexico where everyone got together and made the logos of both Office and Vista, and you just have to see it.

And then finally to India, where they had a huge event, not only at the Taj Mahal but also a function with a lot of singing and dancing and here is one of the clips with a Vista Anthem

All in all it looks like we had some pretty awesome events around the world which is just impressive. There are a lot of videos to watch but it is pretty cool and neat to see what was done and how marketing was done around the world. Hope you said at least "WOW" once while watching anyone of the videos.