Many thanks for Ian Dixon for putting together this podcast, and special kudos to Richard Cardran and Mike Petrusis of Zetools for coming along for the ride.  It was fun -- let's do it again sometime Ian.

Visit http://www.crossfader.com, register and you get a blog by default.  Cool.  This was one of the easiest registrations ever: give 'em my email address, get a password via email and Log In.  Cool.

I didn't get any kind of RSS announcement though from my previous subscription.  I finally found it buried on a page: http://www.crossfader.com/blogs/MainFeed.aspx?GroupID=16.

http://www.terrystorch.com/2005/03/channel9_gave_m.html

First, the Channel9 Guy visits Fellowship Church (with Robert Scoble tagging along).

Then, Fellowship Church decided to go with Flash Streaming video after doing some homework.

Now, Fellowship Church has decided to transition off of Microsoft .NET to PHP/Linux/Apache/PostgreSQL.

But they still like Fellowship One which appears to still be a .NET product -- but can this be far behind...?

Where is Microsoft missing the boat with Fellowship Church?

Anywho, I sure hope the Fellowship Church guys are playing around with the Avalon CTP.

Lot's of great positions here in Windows eHome, including this one working on my team engaging with partners worldwide (note: I'm not the hiring manager .

Program Manager on eHome Services Team

Check out this search of all Windows eHome opportunities -- wow -- that's 30 results today with 'ehome' in the title or description!

Thanks to Ian Dixon I was succesful in receiving my first ever Skype call tonight (from the UK no less, all the way across the big pond).  I used my Toshiba Portege M200 Tablet PC (which is another Get It, Use It, Love It item) with the built in speaker and microphone -- couldn't have been easier.  The fidelity was absolutely fantastic, with no 'digital lag' like I was expecting.

This tool is going to change how I stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues -- again.

Ian and Andrew are right.  Sean is right.  Folks at Skype: You need to have a Media Center interface for this puppy.

Visit http://www.skype.com to learn more and signup!

Cheers, Ian and thanks again!

Reading Thomas Hawk tonight and notice his post referring to The Green Button who currently has a thread with the title Media Center Convention!!!

We've had geek dinners mostly about Media Center (most recently Sean hosted one with Thomas in San Francisco and I've been to a couple here in the Seattle area, most recently with Michael Creasy).

Me and my colleagues here on the Windows XP Media Center Edition Services Partner Team will be doing a few things at the 2005 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) this coming Spetember 2005.  Why don't we do the mother of all Media Center Geek dinners there?  Heck, why don't we do a Media Center Geek Day either before, during or after PDC?

Thoughts?  Interest?  Should we (Microsoft + Others) begin to put this together...?

Post your comments and let's see if there is enough ground roots interest to make it happen.

Lots of great news today!

Today we announced that Windows XP Media Center Edition will be available in 20 new markets this year.  Check out the list...

Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and Turkey.

The official press release is located here.

We also launched the Australian version of Online Spotlight today featuring two partners: GameArena and KMS Software (screenshots below).  More are coming soon!