🔒 When Identity Security Becomes a Wall — Not a Shield

After a breach that forced a reset of my digital identity, I hit a roadblock I never anticipated: multi-factor authentication (2FA) locked me out of critical Microsoft services with no reliable way to prove who I was.

Despite years of interaction, billing history, and documented correspondence, access couldn’t be restored. Support channels were opaque. Recovery methods? Virtually nonexistent.

🧩 The Fallout

This isn’t just a tale of frustration — it’s a wake-up call for anyone who depends on digital platforms for professional continuity. Here's what made this situation particularly troubling:

• 2FA mechanisms ignored reset conditions and created a closed loop
• Microsoft’s support structure lacked escalation flexibility for identity restoration
• Existing billing relationships didn’t help validate re-entry
• Submission of supporting materials was not possible due to access barriers
• Communication was throttled by the very safeguards meant to protect users

📁 Appendix Overview (Bullet Format)

Though I’ve withheld raw screenshots for privacy, the underlying evidence includes:

• Email chains across multiple support tiers
• Billing confirmation across service subscriptions
• Failed attempts to upload documents for verification
• Timeline logs of authentication attempts
• Chat transcripts documenting escalation effort
• Account alerts post-identity reset
• Case numbers and references from support tools
• License access history and dashboard exclusions
• Anomalies in MFA re-enrollment
• Failed access attempts after password and device reset
• Time-based snapshot of support delays and breakdowns

🔄 What’s Next?

This blog isn’t about placing blame — it’s about demanding resilience. If identity protection policies don’t account for edge-case scenarios, platform continuity suffers.

Lesson learned: Security tools should protect users with them, not from them.

---

Let me know if you'd like this formatted for Blogspot publishing or split into header sections that can match your existing blog templates. I’m here to get this across the finish line for you.

Conversations with the AI charged Microsoft's Bing

 This is my first encounter with this feature in Microsoft Edge. I got in by sheer accident and decided to try it out. I just posted a few random questions to see the result of the search. It looks great and is a very easy tool to use. It gives results based on its search and nicely summarizes with references. For software developers, it should be very useful. In the present embodiment, it is a better tool than Google Search without any AI add-ins. However, Google has come out with its own AI-powered search tool, AI Chatbot called Bard. Bard is also based on chatGPT.  ChatGPT is owned by Sam Altman and Microsoft has invested $10 billion into chatGPT.

How do you start the chat?

If you notice the following at the top right of your Microsoft Edge (Microsoft EdgeVersion 111.0.1661.44 (Official Build) (64-bit), you will be able to start the chat.

Question 1. I wanted to find out what version of Microsoft Edge would I be able to chat with. Here is the exact question and answer.

Question 2: I taught courses on SQL Server at the Pacific Center of Advanced Technology Training in Honolulu for many years and I wanted to see how it can help my students.

Here is the exact question and answer:

Looks like it could be a good training and learning tool not only for SQL servers but also for all other kinds of software. At this point, I am not sure it can access an available server via the browser to answer specific questions.

Question 3: How many Vietnamese are in Poland?

The Vietnamese embassy and Vietnamese community leaders in Poland estimate that about **20,000 to 30,000 Vietnamese people** may reside in Poland, although the Polish government in 2002 put the upper possible range at about 50,000². The Vietnamese-Polish community is the fourth-largest Vietnamese community in the European Union, after France, Germany, and Czechia¹.

I learned something today.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/22/2023(1) Vietnamese people in Poland - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_people_in_Poland Accessed 3/22/2023.

(2) Vietnamese people in Poland - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_people_in_Poland Accessed 3/22/2023.

(3) How many Vietnamese live in Poland? - 2022. https://wisoky.jodymaroni.com/asia/how-many-vietnamese-live-in-poland/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

(4) Overseas Vietnamese - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Vietnamese Accessed 3/22/2023.

Question 4: A Windows question: I just wanted to see what it comes up with.

I have over 100 folders each of which has a single image file. What is the most effective way to retrieve all the images and save them to a single folder?

One way to do this is to make a batch file, which searches recursively for a specific file type, and copy all instances of it to a folder of your choice. This script should do the job for one partition at a time: 

```for /R "C:\" %%G in (*.png *.jpg *.jpeg *.gif) do copy "%%G" "E:allPictures" pause```

Another way is to use Windows (File) Explorer. You can search for a specific file type and copy all instances of it to a folder of your choice. Here's how to do it:

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the location you want to search.

2. In the search box, type `*.<file extension>` (e.g., `*.jpg`) and press Enter.

3. Once the files are visible, press Ctrl-A to select all of them.

4. Drag and drop them to the right location.

This should work admirably!

If you want to look in multiple adjacent folders, you can use Python. Here's an example script that reads multiple images from multiple folders:

```

root_folder = '[whatever]/data/train'

folders = [os.path.join(root_folder, x) for x in ('Type_1', 'Type_2', 'Type_3')]

all_images = [img for folder in folders for img in load_images_from_folder(folder)]

```

I hope this helps!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/22/2023(1) I want to copy all images on my computer to a single folder. https://superuser.com/questions/813865/i-want-to-copy-all-images-on-my-computer-to-a-single-folder Accessed 3/22/2023.

(2) Gather similar files from multiple folders and copy them in ... - PCWorld. https://www.pcworld.com/article/444210/gather-similar-files-from-multiple-folders-and-copy-them-in-one-simple-step.html Accessed 3/22/2023.

(3) I want to copy all images on my computer to a single folder. https://superuser.com/questions/813865/i-want-to-copy-all-images-on-my-computer-to-a-single-folder Accessed 3/22/2023.

(4) Easiest way to extract the contents of many folders at once?. https://superuser.com/questions/523816/easiest-way-to-extract-the-contents-of-many-folders-at-once Accessed 3/22/2023.

(5) Python Read multiple images from multiple folders. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44002577/python-read-multiple-images-from-multiple-folders Accessed 3/22/2023.

(6) How to Find All the Photos Stored on Your Windows 10 PC. https://www.howtogeek.com/393290/how-to-find-all-photos-stored-on-your-windows-10-pc/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

Question 5: How soon will hydrogen overtake gasoline in the industrial and transport sectors?

It is difficult to predict when hydrogen will overtake gasoline in the industrial and transport sectors. However, hydrogen has the potential to significantly reduce air pollution in the form of greenhouse gases from trucks, buses, planes, and ships⁵. The transport industry should prepare for a hydrogen-powered future². 

Hydrogen demand in the transportation and industry sectors is expected to grow, especially from 2025 onward, when more vehicles become available². By 2030, when projects are expected to be transitioning from the pilot stage to commercialization, the most attractive carriers are ammonia and LOHC with a transport cost (excluding hydrogen production) of $2.5-4.5/kg of hydrogen (for 10,000 km)³. 

Supplying hydrogen to industrial users is now a major business around the world. Demand for hydrogen, which has grown more than threefold since 1975, continues to rise – almost entirely supplied by fossil fuels, with 6% of global natural gas and 2% of global coal going to hydrogen production⁴. 

I hope this helps!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/22/2023(1) Hydrogen’s Role in Transportation | Department of Energy. https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/hydrogens-role-transportation Accessed 3/22/2023.

(2) Unlocking hydrogen’s power for long-haul freight transport. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/global-infrastructure-initiative/voices/unlocking-hydrogens-power-for-long-haul-freight-transport Accessed 3/22/2023.

(3) Hydrogen costs hang on solving transportation - Reuters Events. https://www.reutersevents.com/renewables/renewables/hydrogen-costs-hang-solving-transportation Accessed 3/22/2023.

(4) The Future of Hydrogen – Analysis - IEA. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-hydrogen Accessed 3/22/2023.

(5) Hydrogen Could Become A $130 Billion U.S. Industry By 2050 ... - Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2019/10/07/how-hydrogen-could-become-a-130-billion-us-industry-and-cut-emissions-by-2050/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

(6) Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Advances Cleaner Industrial .... https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/15/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-advances-cleaner-industrial-sector-to-reduce-emissions-and-reinvigorate-american-manufacturing/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

Next was a general question.

Question 6: Is India a success story?

India is a land of diversity, with people from different religions, states, and cultures. India has been an unprecedented story of success but challenges remain⁵. India is a story of democracy that has beaten all odds, yet it is also a story of unfulfilled potential⁵. There is no dearth of Indian success stories that are keeping up-and-coming entrepreneurs motivated⁴. 

I hope this helps!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/22/2023(1) India has an unprecedented story of success, but challenges remain. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-an-unprecedented-story-of-success-but-challenges-remain/story-yKSQrsgKd3ivixEJJjLMvM.html Accessed 3/22/2023.

(2) Indian Success Stories | Read The Inspiring Stories | Global Indian. https://www.globalindian.com/story/indian-success-stories/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

(3) Success Story News | Latest News on Success Story - Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/success-story/news Accessed 3/22/2023.

(4) Success Story News | Latest News on Success Story - Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/success-story/news Accessed 3/22/2023.

(5) Top 10 Success Stories of Inspiring Indian Entrepreneurs [2023]. https://digitalscholar.in/indian-entrepreneurs-success-stories/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

(6) Digital India is a global success story. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/thedanispost/digital-india-is-a-global-success-story/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

It repeats searches and finds the same reference again and again. Probably lead by multiple links on the web to the same source. 

Question 7: Is India a success story looking at world news and not just Indian news sources?

This question was asked to improve upon the previous question.

India has been a success story in many ways, and it has been recognized globally. For example, Digital India is a global success story². India's democratic project is a success, and no other post-colonial democracy, with India's level of economic backwardness and social diversity, has sustained an almost uninterrupted democratic run⁹. However, India has its share of challenges, and unless it fixes its institutions, it will not become a developed nation in 25 years¹. 

I hope this helps!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/22/2023(1) Digital India is a global success story. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/thedanispost/digital-india-is-a-global-success-story/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

(2) India has an unprecedented story of success, but challenges remain. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-an-unprecedented-story-of-success-but-challenges-remain/story-yKSQrsgKd3ivixEJJjLMvM.html Accessed 3/22/2023.

(3) Success Story News | Latest News on Success Story - Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/success-story/news Accessed 3/22/2023.

(4) India is an unprecedented story of success, but challenges remain. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-an-unprecedented-story-of-success-but-challenges-remain/story-yKSQrsgKd3ivixEJJjLMvM.html Accessed 3/22/2023.

(5) Under Modi, India’s Press Is Not So Free Anymore. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/world/asia/modi-india-press-media.html Accessed 3/22/2023.

(6) India’s global success should be celebrated and not criticized. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/rrr-the-elephants-whisperers-all-that-breathes-indias-global-success-should-be-celebrated-and-not-criticized/articleshow/98749022.cms Accessed 3/22/2023.

(7) PM Modi’s jibe at Rahul: Some can’t stomach India’s success, so attacking it. https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/pm-modi-s-jibe-at-rahul-some-can-t-stomach-india-s-success-so-attacking-it/ar-AA18NQ3g Accessed 3/22/2023.

(8) Tristar: A success story. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-network/tristar-a-success-story Accessed 3/22/2023.

(9) success stories - The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/success-stories Accessed 3/22/2023.

(10) Is India the new success story of the coronavirus pandemic?. https://www.wionews.com/india-news/is-india-the-new-success-story-of-coronavirus-pandemic-363890 Accessed 3/22/2023.

Question 8: What institutions need fixing for India to achieve guaranteed success?

This question was asked to dig further.

India needs to fix its institutions to become a developed nation in 25 years¹. The banking system is one of the institutions that need fixing². The union government has revealed a fiscal strategy for growth that seems to comprise three elements: protectionism through tariff hikes, production-linked incentives, and capital expenditure to create infrastructure¹. India has created several democratic institutions, like the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, NITI Aayog, NCLT, and GST council³. 

I hope this helps!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/22/2023(1) India’s Technological Knowhow and Growth Opportunities | Fixing Urban .... https://bing.com/search?q=What+institutions+needs+fixing+for+India+to+achieve+a+guaranteed+success%3f Accessed 3/22/2023.

(2) Here’s why fixing the banking system should be a top priority for India. https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/heres-why-fixing-the-banking-system-should-be-a-top-priority-for-india/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

(3) Success of India's democracy, institutions causing envy among some: PM .... https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/success-of-indias-democracy-institutions-causing-envy-among-some-pm-modi-2348550-2023-03-18 Accessed 3/22/2023.

Question 9: Why do you say the Indian banking system needs fixing since they suffered the least when two major banks failed in the USA and a major bank failed in Europe?

This question was asked based on the bot's previous answer.

I apologize for the confusion. I did not mean to imply that the Indian banking system is not doing well. However, the Indian banking system has had far higher non-performing loan ratios than other Asian banking systems since the mid-2010s and Indian banks have had far lower levels of capital³. This has weighed on banks' ability to extend credit because non-performing loans have reduced banks' profitability and risk depleting already low capital buffers³. 

I hope this helps!

Not bad, it even apologized!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/22/2023(1) The Indian Banking System | Bulletin – December 2021 | RBA. https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2021/dec/the-indian-banking-system.html Accessed 3/22/2023.

(2) History of Banking In India - Evolution of Indian Banking System - BYJUS. https://byjus.com/bank-exam/history-banking-india/ Accessed 3/22/2023.

(3) Silicon Valley Bank collapse: Indian Banks are ‘not at risk’ from SVB .... https://www.zeebiz.com/personal-finance/banking/news-silicon-valley-bank-collapse-indian-banks-are-not-at-risk-from-svb-contagion-say-experts-here-s-why-226273 Accessed 3/22/2023.

(4) Silicon Valley Bank collapse: No major impact on Indian banking system .... https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-no-major-impact-on-indian-banking-system-say-experts/articleshow/98584861.cms Accessed 3/22/2023.

Looks like a more satisfactory search tool than Google at this point. 

Will Microsoft be able to steal Google's lunch?

Microsoft wants TikTok and Oracle wants it too

Oracle is the latest onboard to buy TikTok.

https://tinyurl.com/y6bd67hk

They don't have all the money, but they will team up with General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, it appears. Sequoia already has a piece in ByteDance. Oracle is a supporter of President Trump. Will it help to buy it faster?

Read here:
https://tinyurl.com/y2m57wsg

Is the rush to buy TikTok, the same as the desire for the forbidden fruit?

How do you access financial data like stock portfolio using MS Excel?

I know a couple of ways. I describe two of them.

First Method:

Excel has a built-in data type called Stock that you can use.

StockDataType-0.png

This allows you to do most things with the stock portfolio.

Details here:
https://hodentek.blogspot.com/2020/05/three-easy-steps-to-work-on-your-stock.html

Although you can get most information of a stock, still some data such as 'dividned' is not available. Microsoft may change and add this as well.

Second Method:
It is easy to import financial data from a site such as Yahoo. The following steps show with step-by-step screen shots how you may get the data in the Yahoo's web page. The next screen shown uses the ribbon to get data from WEB.

In the URL type in the Yahoo URL for the Quote page filtering MSFT (Microsoft).

Click OK and you may need to wait it out.

Stick with anonymous. That's OK. I

In the above, click Connect.

 Well. have patience.

The Navigator shows up.

All that remains is for you to choose the data in the web page.

The following are the ones for Document, Table1, Table2 and Table 3.

Table 2 has the Dividend information.

Good News: Windows 10 developers get an AI Platform

Microsoft is parterning with others such as Intel, NVIDIA, QualComm, and AMD to bring in the full force of AI to several of Microsoft programs like Windows 10, Bing, Cortana and Office 365.

Adding an Open Neural Network Exchange format (ONNX)(http://onnx.ai/) file to a UWP project will automatically generate model interfaces in the Visual Studio Preview 15.7. For other versions one can use the MLGen Tool to generate code to add to projects. You may also look out for Visual Studio tools for AI here.

Apps will have AI. Whatever you did earlier without Ai, you will be able to do it more efficiently, more efforlessly like listening to playlist for your ears only, Communicating better, and more.

Here are comments from the partners regarding what they bring to the table:

Intel:
“Intel’s Movidius VPU technology will deliver increasingly sophisticated AI experiences for the hundreds of millions of Microsoft users worldwide,” said Intel’s Remi El-Ouazzane, Vice President and General Manager of Movidius.”

Nvidia:
“AI acceleration on Window 10 PCs is the latest evidence of how artificial intelligence is becoming ubiquitous in our everyday lives,” said Ian Buck, vice president and general manager, Accelerated Computing, at NVIDIA. “NVIDIA is delighted to be partnering with Microsoft to enhance the PC experience for users worldwide.”

Qualcomm:
“We’re excited to be collaborating with Microsoft on the Windows ML platform, and helping developers accelerate on-device AI performance on Windows laptops with the Snapdragon 835 AI Engine.” “We’re excited to be collaborating with Microsoft on the Windows ML platform, and helping developers accelerate on-device AI performance on Windows laptops with the Snapdragon 835 AI Engine.” Gary Brotman, Director of Product Management – AI and Machine Learning, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

AMD:
“We’re excited to work with Microsoft on Windows ML as a part of taking advantage of the high-performance capabilities of AMD CPUs and GPUs to bring AI acceleration to Windows 10 PCs.” – Andre Zdravkovic, CVP Software, AMD

Windows 10 version 'Red Stone 4'will include ML capabilities.

Edge computing is trending

Two key players have emerged in Edge Computing, taking computing from Global to Local levels. In the telecommuncation domain(telco) the communication Services Providers(CSPs) such as AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telecom have a strong interest espcially as they move into 5G. In the cloud domain Amazon, Facebook, and Google are pushing hard into this field so as to widen their World Wide  presence.IoT and 5G have been the principle drivers and of course, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have large cloud assets that they will put to good use.

I came across a nice diagram that places all of these in a good prespective. Here is a copy of the diagram from their PDF document.

Read more here:
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2018/02/amazon-aws-greengrass-and-iot.html

https://networks.nokia.com/solutions/multi-access-edge-computing

https://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/Saguna+to+Demonstrate+Mobile+Edge+Computing+Connected+Car+Proof+of+Concept+With+Vodafone+and+Amazon+Web+Services+at+MWC+2018/13834893.html

Case for learning to code for Universal Windows Platform projects

In my previous post I described about Universal Windows Platform Projects (UWP). UWP's are for all Windows device family and not just one specific device. This  means there is a lot to gain by learning UWP.

http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2017/11/windows-10-and-universal-windows-app.html

There are indications that Windows 10 Mobile may revive with another avatar and one OS for all devices may eventually result in a 'phone' with Windows OS.

There are in fact various Microsoft Windows based Mobile devices although their market share is nothing to brag about.

Source for the above: https://www.windowscentral.com/top-10-phones-windows-10-mobile-aficionados-use

This is what Satya Nadella said,

"…we have to be on the hunt for what's the next bend in the curve. That's what…anyone has to do to be relevant in the future…We're doing that with our innovation in Windows. We're doing that with features like Continuum. Even the phone, I just don't want to build another phone, a copycat phone operating system, even."

Quoted from: https://www.windowscentral.com/just-1-market-share-why-are-oems-choosing-windows-10-mobile

If you have started taking interest in UWP's here are some article on my blogs that you may like to read:

UWP project in Visual Studio 2017 Community:

http://hodentekmobile.blogspot.com/2017/12/workaround-uwp-project-with-visual.html

Coding Click-Event code for a UWP Project in C#
http://hodentekmobile.blogspot.com/2018/01/event-code-ui-design-with-xaml-in.html

http://hodentekmobile.blogspot.com/2018/01/click-event-to-change-background-color.html

Setting up Lumia 950 for deployment
http://hodentekmobile.blogspot.com/2018/01/deploying-to-windows-10-mobile-phone.html

Deploying UWP to Lumia 950:
http://hodentekmobile.blogspot.com/2018/01/deploying-universsal-windows-project-to.html

OWIN and the Web

.NET is Microsoft Specific which is also featuring in some Open source projects. Believe me it is true, read here:

https://opensource.com/business/14/11/microsoft-dot-net-empower-open-source-communities

'Microsoft is providing the full .NET server stack in open source, including ASP.NET, the compiler, the .NET Core Runtime, Framework and libraries, enbaling devvelopers to build with .NET across Windows, Mac or Linux'.

This is old story, since 2004 the 'mono project' was a open source implementation of .NET platform.

Now coming to OWIN, which is short for Open Web Interface for .NET OWIN) defines a standard interface between .NET web servers and web applications.

You can find everything you want to know about OWIN here at this master site.

http://owin.org/

These are some of OWIN compatible projects:

Servers and Hosts

    Katana

    Nowin

    Suave

Frameworks

    Jasper

    Nancy

    SignalR

    WebApi

    WebSharper

    DuoVia.Http

    Simplify.Web

    Wisej

Implementations

    Katana

    Freya

    ASP.NET vNext

Microsoft uses OWIN for building ASP.NET Single-Page applications and several of the assemblies used are OWIN based as shown here:

MicrosoftOwinAssmeblies.png

Linius Video Virtualization

Video content need not be a black-box containing the various stuff that go into video like, images, audio, etc. Video Virtualization takes your video file and converts it into another file where the individual pieces in the original video can be edited.

Microsoft, Amazon and IBM are investing in Video Virtualization. Microsoft with the help of Magenic is making Video Virtualization available on Microsoft Azure.

Here is a video that explains Video Virtualization of Linius.


Linius has perfected Video Virtualization protected by patents that all the three previously mentioned cloud companies are using (going to use?).

This is serious stuff as most user experience these days are driven by videos, be it entertainment, news or anything else. Being a single technical source, Linius will profit hugely.

I was driven by curiosity and wanted to see how far I can go in creating a Virtual Video file using Linius Video Virtualization Engine (VVE). I did get to the part of bringing in my video file here: 
---------------------------------
Video created to describe a visit to Amalfi in Italy.
https://youtu.be/xF1o0uJlk_I
-------------------------------
I was able to get this file into VVE at this site:
http://VVEplay.com/

When I tried to edit, the software broke my file (which was actually a slide-show) into attached individual frames for each slide. There were no controls in Step 2 where you can edit.

Anyway, I published it after the second step and it produced another file at the VVE site.
<!-- Paste this snippet into the DIV element on your web page -->    
      <iframe style='width: 100%;height: 100%;' src='http://vveplay.com/embed/186490283'/>

Now I am not sure how to go from here to edit this '186490283' file.

Some of my unanswered questions are:

Do I need to get to the file on VVE site to edit it?
How do I edit it? Graphic User Interface? If Programmatic, how?
How do I use its features, Search, modifying content, introduce ads, etc.?

Microsoft has done quite well, don't you think?

Cloud and Big Data has made a lot of changes...

Big Data exposure with Oracle and Microsoft

The above title and the below paragraph is from the following link:
http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/07/oracle-corporation-orcl-launches-big-data-sql/

"Moerdler rates Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) as Outperform, giving it a $49 price target (currently $41) based on a 12-month adjusted EPS estimate of $3.58, a 13x PE multiple, and adding back in net cash per share discounted by 30%"
Current: $50.14 (7/2/2017)

"He also argues that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a good Big Data play, rating it Outperform and giving it a $56 price target (currently $43.50), because he believes management is heavily focused on mobile and cloud products and that EPS growth is going to pick up as the company moves its focus away from the slowing PC market"

Current: $68.93 (7/2/2017)

After a 3 year period of many political and economic changes Microsoft seems to have outformed Oracle which may be attributed to its all out effort and emphasis on Cloud Services not withstanding its PC and Phone performance.

Deep learning AI with Caffe2GO

You create a video and you want it the way Picasso or Monet would have visualized it. Can it be done? The answers appears to be answered by Facebook's Caffe2Go. It was easy with stills as many programs do it, but with a video it is another thing.

Caffe2Go is supposed to be third iteration of AI, the deep learning. This was possible earlier with big machines and lots of computing power, since the program has to learn the myrid images that these great artists envisioned it could not have been done otherwise. But to do it on the phone in the palm of your hand, that is something that Facebook seems to have pulled off, with the Facebook app Caffe2Go.

It is a deep learning platform on the mobile phone. The app takes the style of the artist and transforms the input video, it is basically a style transformer.

Here is a demo of this deep learning app:
https://www.facebook.com/Engineering/videos/1015460775164720

Microsoft goes after automakers

Of course it is Microsoft Azure Cloud Services that offers the platform for global automakers.

Here is the list who have signed up with Microsoft:
Renault-Nissan
Toyota
Ford
Most recently Tata Motors of India has inked the collaboration. According to Microsoft's guy in Mumbai they envisage 90% of new cars will be connected in the 2 to 3 years.

Microsoft offers:
IoT
AI
ML (Machine learning)
Global Cloud Management

What's in the offing regarding Tata Motors?

First auto with enhancements vis-a-vis Microsoft will be showcased at the 87th Geneva International Motor show.

Read more details here:
http://www.bsmotoring.com/news/tata-motors-logs-into-microsoft-to-improve-in-car-connected-experience/15303

GE to push its PaaS platform Predix to Microsoft Azure

GE's Predix platform (also its OS) builds applications that connect to Industrial assets. Collecting and analyzing data from those assets and delivering realtime, actionable insights to optimize industrial operations will drive the company towards the digital age of IIOT. With GE having its finger in every conceivable business, it can only improve its bottom line. By divesting its financial operations and there by getting rid of the stigma of financial links makes it only better.

As to when this is Microsoft-GE partnership would takeplace was recently answered at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2016. According to Microsoft this is slated for second quarter of 2017 while a preview should be available by this year's end. Watch Microsoft's AppSource protal for its appearance.

This will be followed by integrating with other of Microsoft's arsenal, Azure IOT Suite; Cortana
s AI; Office 365, Dynamics 365 and many more. More information is expecte to emerge at the November 2016 Mind Plus Machines show in San Francisco.

Microsoft is only GE's recent partner and it has already partnered with Accenture; Amazon's AWS to create the foundation for its IOT dreams. Oracle is also a part of GE's IOT strategy.

Read more here.

Watch this year ago video relate to Predix at Mind+Machine 2015

Invest in GE and you may not regret.

Big Data needs, drive Toyota to Microsoft

Microsoft has found a party worthy to be partnered with, namely Toyota with a lot of cash.

Needing to organize and manage all the varied data used,  Toyota was driven to Microsoft which
has a serious cloud offering, the Microsoft Azure.

Toyota partnering with Microsoft has spawned a new company in Texas' Plano called the Toyota Connected.
This will drive up stocks of Microsoft and Toyota in the coming weeks.

Read more here:
http://www.techrepublic.com/topic/big-data/http://www.techrepublic.com/topic/big-data/

Microsoft's underwater datacenter is cool as cool can be

Microsoft pulls a fast one! Good showing Microsoft.

Project Natick is Microsoft's R&D feasibility project to explore manufacture and operate a underwater. 

• Hey, you don't look for cooling water, if you can take the salt out.
• How is latency improved? drop the datacenter at the nearest ocean or lake.
• Energy efficiency is no brainer considering the environment the datacenter is in.
• Bring in 3D manufacturing and you can have a datacenter manufactured and deployed in no time at all, no need for expensive land acquisition, licenses, certificates etc.

Microsoft estimates they can deploy a datacenter within 90 days of signing. That's quite a feat!

Go here and see what Microsoft has got to say about this.

The video shows the dropping of the datacenter into the ocean.


More details here and here.

Microsoft is leading the pack in Magic Quandrant for ODBMS

Operational Database Management System (ODBMS) which is a more appropriate name than OLTP there has many new entrants to the business. It is not just RDBMS anymore as you have Big Data, NoSQL, etc.

Microsoft is tops in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Operational Database Management Systems for 2015. Oracle is a little behind Microsoft and IBM is trailing.

Here is the picture of the Quadrant:

Alliance for Open Media launched

A very interesting group has formed the Alliance for Open Media launched today. Microsoft, Google, Mozilla, Cisco, Intel and Amazon have joined this group to develop the next-generation media formats including audio, video and still image formats. Of course the pressing item is video.

What they are looking for is for a common video format which gets them away from licensing hell.
H.265/HVEC may not be as cheap as the presently used H.264/AVC which requires less expensive licensing. Licensing expenses will curtail the growth and use of low cost and non-commercial streaming. It is the defined objective of the alliance group to produce a video codec that is an improvement over HEVC. It may be noted that many of them have their proprietary codecs. For example the adoption of Google's VP8 made it an issue for Microsoft to join the WebTRC.  Google has  more codecs VP9, VP10.  CISCO and Mozilla have their own codecs.

It remains to be seen how efective this alliance will be as it is still in its formative stage.

You may want to read about the H.264 and H.265 details here.

Hey! IFTTT now has Office 365 Channels

I posted recently regarding IFTTT. I did consider looking at Azure APP and IFTTT as a pair.  I created a few IFTTT items that worked well;  like as soon as I post to the blogger, a tweet is generated. That's good service, don't you think?

Did you see the big list of channels I posted?

You might have noticed the absence of Office 365 or Azure or anything of Microsoft. Now Microsoft's Office 365 has joined the IFTTT channels. Review this link here: It has a number of recipes and you can find anbout all of them here:
https://ifttt.com/p/microsoft/shared



Here are the Microsoft related channels on IFTTT.

 

 

I would like to see MSFT's Health and Fitness app in the Fitness and Wearables category of channels.

A few more hookups to Mass Commerce sites

Microsoft should go all the way and link up with IFTTT in more ways like offering the DO buttons from the Microsoft Store. I have schematically shown what I have in my mind:

 

I insist, I don't work for MSFT.

 

I think if they change their slogan from "Mobile First, Cloud First" to "Investor First, Cloud First and Mobile First", then only you will see Apple and Google will take notice.

 

Summing up: This is a good thing. I tried to include OneDrive channel in my recipe to day and it could not find OneDrive. Perhaps they are still working on it.

 

 

 

 

 



 

Qlik is in Gartner's BI Magic Quadrant

You can access the full report of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Business for free after registering here:

The report provides an in-depth review of the leaders and challengers in this expanding business and is a must read.

Here is a key graphic from the report.

Qlik seems to be in quite a good position even vis-a-vis the biggies like Microsoft, IBM, SAP and Oracle. Tableau is at the top and Microsoft is close by with Qlik in between in the Leader's quadrant.

Qlik has a number of products and has products for enterprise, cloud and desktop. Qlik data platform and Qlik Analytics platform with its Business Discovery has attracted over 35000 ()customers in over 100 countries.


For free downloads and free training visit Qlik site.

You may also want to review the following:

Report from SQL Anywhere 16 using Microsoft Power BI
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/02/powerbi-preview-reporting-from-sql.html

Report from an EXCEL application
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/02/powerbi-preview-reports-using-data-on.html

Rapid reporting with Microsoft Power BI
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/02/spin-out-cutting-edge-report-with-power.html

Microsoft Intelligent System Services
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/03/microsoft-azure-iot-services-update.html

Power BI Unchained
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2015/02/power-bi-unchained.html

Rapid fire Reporting using Tableau
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2014/12/tableau-software-for-rapid-fire-bi.html

Teradata is gearing up embracing Presto

Teradata has joined the open source Presto community. Presto is the distributed SQL query engine used by big data innovators/users like Facebook, Netflix and others. Presto is almost a universal SQL query engine that supports any Hadoop distribution.

Justin Borgman's post cites Facebook as the heavy user with impressive usage statistics. Presto is not only SQL for querying Hadoop but querying all kinds of data platforms (MySQL, Postgres, Kafka, and Cassandra) in data lake* including mash ups of data from diverse sources.

Teradata has a multiyear roadmap to make it enterprise ready and it should be ready in 2016, that's not so far away either. Of course Teradata will be looking forward to contributions from the open source community.

TeradataPresto01

 

You can download the version of the initial software from here.

TeradataPresto2
SQL Server 2016 with its Polybase can also query Hadoop with T-SQL and is very flexible. It can use the splendid BI capabilities built-in to SQL Server 2016 and is ready now. Besides Microsoft there are many others as well to take Big Data,  and slice and dice.

*data lake: A massive, easily accessible data repository built on (relatively) inexpensive computer hardware for storing "big data". Unlike data marts, which are optimized for data analysis by storing only some attributes and dropping data below the level aggregation, a data lake is designed to retain all attributes, especially so when you do not yet know what the scope of data or its use will be.