I am currently testing WordPress running on Windows Azure.  If you find any broken links, images or other issues please leave a comment below.

This blog is using a Windows Azure web role, SQL Azure, and SQL storage.  If the test completes successfully then I may decide to leave the blog on Windows Azure.  This should increase the availability and stability of the blog.

Let me know what you think!

This week at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, hundreds of law enforcement and public safety officials have gathered for the Worldwide Public Safety Symposium. These attendees had an opportunity to check out one of three Microsoft Global Security Operations Centers (GSOC) that coordinate the security and safety of the companies facilities and 180,000 employees and partners.

GeekWire attended one of the GSOC demos and posted an article and video that gives an inside look at the center in Redmond.

I had the opportunity to see this demonstration a couple months back and I am very impressed at how Microsoft handles security and safety across all of their facilities.  This article and video just scratches the surface of what the GSOC is capable of doing and their dedication to keeping employees and partners safe worldwide.

Great Place to Work®, a global research, consulting and training firm, today announced its first-ever Top 25 World”s Best Multinational Workplaces List at a gala awards ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange. Microsoft topped the list at no. 1, followed by SAS, NetApp, Google and FedEx Express, rounding out the top five. In addition, Cisco, Marriott, McDonald”s, Kimberly Clark, and SC Johnson took the honors in the top 10.

View the complete article here.

Microsoft”s Citizenship mission is to globally serve the needs of communities and fulfill our responsibilities to the public. Through our partnerships, our technology innovations, our people and our resources we are proud to help solve societal challenges and create economic opportunities on both a global and a local scale.

In FY2011:

• Microsoft donated more than $844 million in software to 46,886 nonprofits in 113 countries/regions.
• Microsoft supplied 417,030 copies of Windows and 184,080 copies of Microsoft Office to partners that offer refurbished computers to nonprofits, schools and technology access programs.
• Microsoft held more 100 NGO connection days, training more than 6,200 nonprofits in 62 countries/regions on how to use technology to build their capacity and serve more people.
• Microsoft employees in the United States alone volunteered more than 383,000 hours in their communities.  Microsoft pays nonprofits an hourly rate when an employee volunteers in the United States.
• With employee contributions and the corporate match, we contributed a record-breaking $93.5 million. In the United States, we match employee donations to nonprofits up to $12,000. We also run an annual employee giving campaign in support of U.S.-based nonprofits.
• Microsoft trained more than 360,000 students worldwide in technology and job skills through Microsoft Students to Business, which connects students with Microsoft partner companies.
• More than 380,000 students from more than 180 countries/regions participated in the 2011 Imagine Cup, the world’s largest student technology competition.
• we got closer to our goal of reaching 250 million students and teachers around the world through our Partners in Learning program by 2013. Partners in Learning aims to help teachers build their skills, share best practices with one another, and innovate in their classrooms.
• Microsoft activated company-wide responses to two major humanitarian emergencies: the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the flooding in Pakistan. The company also supported relief efforts for more than 40 other disasters around the world.
• Microsoft and its employees contributed approximately $3.4 million to help victims of the disaster in Japan.
• For information on Microsoft’s response to other recent disasters, visit the Microsoft Citizenship website.

This is just a small list of highlights for FY2011.  Download the citizenship report learn more or visit the Microsoft Corporate Citizenship Report website.

Download the Microsoft 2011 Citizenship Report

This past weekend I once again participated in the Ann Arbor Give Camp.  The Give Camp is an annual event where developers, designers, and writers come together for 2 days to help local non-profit organizations with basic IT needs such as an Internet presence and/or data management.

This year I was asked to be the team leader on a web redesign project for the Livingston Area Council Against Spousal Abuse (LACASA).  LACASA had a web site that was hand coded and difficult for them to update.  Each time they wished to make any modifications to their site they had to ask an external consultant to make the changes.   This meant that LACASA was unable to have frequent or prompt updates to their web site.  They were also being forced to spend their limited funds on web updates instead of being able to use that money for those in need.

The goal of the LACASA web site redesign team was to provide them with a new website that they could update themselves.  To accomplish this goal the team decided on using WordPress as the content management system that would power the new web site.

The LACASA team consisted of 7 individuals, including the LACASA marketing directory, Robin O’Grady.  Robin provided oversight and guidance to ensure that the site that was being created would meet their needs.

Maria Stuart, who sits on the LACASA board, wrote a great article about the event which was posted over on the LivingstonTalk website.   The LACASA team also received a bit of recognition Monday on the WHMI morning show where they ran an interview with the Give Camp organizer, Michael Eaton, along with myself and LACASA representative, Robin O’Grady.

You can take a look at the new LACASA web site here: http://www.lacasacenter.org

The Give Camp is always looking for volunteers to help with these great projects.  If you are interested, please visit the official Ann Arbor Give Camp website.