Month: September 2024
Latest Updates and Features in Microsoft Mixed Reality Development
Hello everyone,
Microsoft’s Mixed Reality ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly, and with the latest updates, it’s an exciting time for developers and creators. From the newest enhancements in the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) to advancements in spatial mapping, input methods, and integration with Microsoft services like Azure, there’s a lot to explore.
Some of the key areas we can dive into include:
New SDK releases and their impact on development workflowsRecent improvements to the HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality headsetsUpdates in spatial awareness and environment mapping toolsIntegration of cloud services like Azure for more powerful mixed reality experiencesThe latest Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) features and optimizationsNew input methods (e.g., hand tracking, eye-tracking improvements)
I’d love to hear how these updates are impacting your projects or how you see the future of mixed reality development shaping up. Are there any new features that have caught your attention? What challenges are you facing with these recent changes?
Hello everyone,Microsoft’s Mixed Reality ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly, and with the latest updates, it’s an exciting time for developers and creators. From the newest enhancements in the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) to advancements in spatial mapping, input methods, and integration with Microsoft services like Azure, there’s a lot to explore.Some of the key areas we can dive into include:New SDK releases and their impact on development workflowsRecent improvements to the HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality headsetsUpdates in spatial awareness and environment mapping toolsIntegration of cloud services like Azure for more powerful mixed reality experiencesThe latest Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) features and optimizationsNew input methods (e.g., hand tracking, eye-tracking improvements)I’d love to hear how these updates are impacting your projects or how you see the future of mixed reality development shaping up. Are there any new features that have caught your attention? What challenges are you facing with these recent changes? Read More
Powershell to assign phone numbers with Operator Connect
Hello
Hope everything is well
Is there a powershell that assigns licences and phonenumber to users with Operator Connect
Regards
JFM_12
HelloHope everything is wellIs there a powershell that assigns licences and phonenumber to users with Operator ConnectRegardsJFM_12 Read More
How to convert psd to jpg without photoshop on a Windows PC?
Hello everyone,
I am new to Windows and now have a large number of PSD files that I need to convert to JPG format on my Windows PC. I’m looking for an efficient way to batch process these conversions, ideally without losing any quality. I’ve tried a few online tools, but given the volume of files, it’s not practical.
Does anyone know how to convert psd to jpg without photoshop? I’m open to both free and paid options. Step-by-step guidance would be greatly appreciated as well!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Hello everyone, I am new to Windows and now have a large number of PSD files that I need to convert to JPG format on my Windows PC. I’m looking for an efficient way to batch process these conversions, ideally without losing any quality. I’ve tried a few online tools, but given the volume of files, it’s not practical. Does anyone know how to convert psd to jpg without photoshop? I’m open to both free and paid options. Step-by-step guidance would be greatly appreciated as well! Thanks in advance for your help! Read More
How can I stop the confirmation email / sending of the code?”
“I find the Bookings app great and very easy to use. Unfortunately, the sending of the code for booking confirmation sometimes takes 20 minutes. That is way too long. Can I disable this security step as I don’t need it? Can the person booking an appointment do so without the code? Thank you.”
“I find the Bookings app great and very easy to use. Unfortunately, the sending of the code for booking confirmation sometimes takes 20 minutes. That is way too long. Can I disable this security step as I don’t need it? Can the person booking an appointment do so without the code? Thank you.” Read More
Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series Episode 5
Welcome to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series!
In this series, we will hear and learn from current and old Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors about their personal experiences with the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program and why they think students should join and be a part of the program and community.
Today, I will be interviewing Abdulhamid Onawole, who graduated from the MLSA program as a Beta ambassador. He recently concluded his studies in Artificial Intelligence as a master’s student at Aston University, Birmingham. He is passionate about AI, especially in areas that impact the regular person, such as medicine and diet and currently works as an AI engineer.
How did you get to know about the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
I heard about it on Olanrewaju Oyinbooke’s page, but I’m not sure if it was on LinkedIn or Twitter. He’s a Microsoft MVP. I had been following him long before then. I think he’s one of the voices that has really contributed to empowering young people who are breaking into tech, especially in the Nigerian space.
As a Master’s student, why did you join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
For me, after reading up on the program, I found the opportunities presented there really useful. Opportunities like a structured mentorship, collaborative project development are important and impactful for students before graduating and breaking into the job market.
Did you join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program during your Bachelor’s degree or Master’s? If No, why did you not join the program during your BSc
I finished my first degree in 2019 and only heard about it in 2022 during my postgrad. To be honest, I wasn’t into tech back then, so I am not sure if it would have caught my interest.
What is your personal experience in the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
Great! It was nothing short of exciting. I wish I had more time in the program. It helped build a lot of skills. For one, I didn’t think I had it in me to host workshops or events, but thanks to this program, I was able to do so.
The program helps you develop many technical and soft skills and even polish what you already have. You will always find something you enjoy, and it’s not wrong to focus on that and refine it as best as you can. For example, as an MLSA, you write and post blogs, which could be really useful if you also want to contribute but are not ready to go all the way by hosting an event. I enjoy writing, so it was a good fit for me. I even plan on starting my own blog.
How have you been able to manage your time as a Master’s student and being in the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program?
Well, the program itself is really flexible, but what really helped me, I would say, is planning ahead. It becomes easier to execute anything you have planned if you kind of get it started long before any deadlines or space it out over weeks. By doing this, I was able to accomplish what I set out without any pressure.
What have you benefited from the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
I got the Microsoft flask that I can show off 😁. But jokes apart, I was able to connect to a lot of incredible individuals, fellow students and professionals. I remember when I was paired with a mentor, and we worked on a project together. I was stunned when I saw his approach to problem-solving and got this rude awakening on the dramatic difference between someone with decades of experience and a greenhorn such as myself. Although shocking, it was also inspiring.
I also secured vouchers to write certification exams. There are even more benefits to explore, such as Microsoft for Startups.
What advice do you have for students, and why do you think they should join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program?
For students, it’s a chance to develop your skills, both technical and soft. You will always have something new to learn. It’s also a chance to start building your experience even before graduating.
I also believe that there are a lot of amazing people out there, and as much as the program is designed to impact you, you also have a chance to impact the program and your society at large. Only YOU can bring what you have to the table.
Apply and Join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program
Listen to other Student ambassadors as they share their experience with the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors program.
Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series Episode 1 – Microsoft Community Hub
Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series Episode 2 – Microsoft Community Hub
Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series Episode 3 – Microsoft Community Hub
Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors Program Interview Series Episode 4 – Microsoft Community Hub
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
MDDlpSvc service crashes and can not be started
Hi everyone,
we are facing an issue about DLP service process on a server which can not be started. It gives only this error and i could not find any helpful solution for that. As far as i know it is a DLP process which has been seperated from AV prozess.
I can not find also any clear events log. Is there anybody who has the same problem?
Service: MDDlpSvc
Error: Error 0x80070032, The request is not supported
Server OS: Windows Server 2019 64-bit
(Release 1809 Build 17763.6293)
AV Platform Version: 4.18.24080.9
Troubleshooting steps: The server and windows AV are up to date and it has been restarted.
Hi everyone, we are facing an issue about DLP service process on a server which can not be started. It gives only this error and i could not find any helpful solution for that. As far as i know it is a DLP process which has been seperated from AV prozess. I can not find also any clear events log. Is there anybody who has the same problem? Service: MDDlpSvcError: Error 0x80070032, The request is not supportedServer OS: Windows Server 2019 64-bit(Release 1809 Build 17763.6293)AV Platform Version: 4.18.24080.9 Troubleshooting steps: The server and windows AV are up to date and it has been restarted. Read More
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Disable system folder “Archive” In Exchange
Hi,
Is there a way where we can disable “Archive” folder in mailboxes in Exchange?
Hi,Is there a way where we can disable “Archive” folder in mailboxes in Exchange? Read More
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Can’t verify employment verification — max uploads reached. Unsure what to do now
Hey everyone,
I’m running a B2B SaaS startup and I’ve recently been trying to become a Microsoft AI Cloud Partner in order to build integrations for customers.
I’ve been going through the verification process and was stuck at the employment verification step where they asked me to provide proof of domain ownership. Now, I had no idea how to do this so I submitted the following documents:
1. Email invoice from namecheap (issue might’ve been that I bought the domain with my personal email, and personal address)
2. Screenshot of namecheap dashboard showing that I own the domain name
3. Added my company house details to the website to show that the company owns the domain
None of these worked and I’ve now been hit with “Our system has indicated multiple failed attempts from your account. We are unable to proceed with your Account Verification” and not sure what to do now. I’ve filed a support request but no one is replying. Would really appreciate anyone’s guidance on this, whether you’ve encountered something similar and what you did to fix it.
I’m piloting with a customer next week and need this integration ASAP so any help would be really appreciated!
Hey everyone, I’m running a B2B SaaS startup and I’ve recently been trying to become a Microsoft AI Cloud Partner in order to build integrations for customers. I’ve been going through the verification process and was stuck at the employment verification step where they asked me to provide proof of domain ownership. Now, I had no idea how to do this so I submitted the following documents:1. Email invoice from namecheap (issue might’ve been that I bought the domain with my personal email, and personal address)2. Screenshot of namecheap dashboard showing that I own the domain name3. Added my company house details to the website to show that the company owns the domainNone of these worked and I’ve now been hit with “Our system has indicated multiple failed attempts from your account. We are unable to proceed with your Account Verification” and not sure what to do now. I’ve filed a support request but no one is replying. Would really appreciate anyone’s guidance on this, whether you’ve encountered something similar and what you did to fix it.I’m piloting with a customer next week and need this integration ASAP so any help would be really appreciated! Read More
Forgot Samsung Phone Password, Can I Unlock a Samsung Phone on a PC?
Hi all,
I have a Samsung Galaxy S23 phone that I forgot the password after recent password change. It is a backup phone and not being used frequently. In fact, I tried all the passcodes, PIN and Pattern I could think of but unfortunately all failed.
Does anyone know how to unlock a Samsung phone if I forgot Samsung phone password? I heard it could be done on a Windows PC. Kindly share you insight on this matter. It would be much better to unlock Samsung phone without losing data.
Thanks
Hi all, I have a Samsung Galaxy S23 phone that I forgot the password after recent password change. It is a backup phone and not being used frequently. In fact, I tried all the passcodes, PIN and Pattern I could think of but unfortunately all failed. Does anyone know how to unlock a Samsung phone if I forgot Samsung phone password? I heard it could be done on a Windows PC. Kindly share you insight on this matter. It would be much better to unlock Samsung phone without losing data. Thanks Read More
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Content filtering with Azure AI Studio
In alignment with Microsoft’s commitment to help customers use AI products responsibly, Azure OpenAI Service includes a content filtering system that works alongside core models. This system is powered by Azure AI Content Safety and it works by running both the prompt and completion through an ensemble of classification models designed to detect and prevent the output of harmful content.
This ensemble of models includes:
Multi-class classification models covering four categories of risks – hate, sexual, violence, and self-harm – across four severity levels - safe, low, medium, and high. They have been specifically trained and tested on the following languages: English, German, Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Chinese. However, the service can work in many other languages, but the quality might vary.
Optional binary classifiers for detecting jailbreak risk, existing text, and code in public repositories.
The default content filtering configuration is set to filter at the medium severity threshold for all four content harms categories for both prompts and completions. That means that content that is detected at severity level medium or high is filtered, while content detected at severity level low or safe is not filtered by the content filters. However, you can modify the content filters and configure the severity thresholds at resource level, according to your application needs.
For Azure OpenAI models, only customers who have been approved for modified content filtering have full content filtering control, including configuring content filters at severity level high only or turning off content filters. Apply for modified content filters via this form: Azure OpenAI Limited Access Review: Modified Content Filters and Abuse Monitoring (microsoft.com). Models available through Models as a Service has content filtering enabled by default and can’t be configured.
In this blog post, we are going to see how content filtering works in Azure AI Studio and how you can configure it for your specific requirements. Below, you can also find a step-by-step video tutorial to achieve the same result.
Testing default content filtering in the Playground
To test the default content filtering system integrated in Azure OpenAI service, navigate to Azure AI Studio, go into your AI project and open the Chat Playground. If it’s your first time using Azure AI Studio, follow this step-by-step tutorial to set up your workspace and connect an Azure AI service resource to your hub.
To interact with a model in the Chat Playground, you also need an instance of an OpenAI model deployed in your AI project. You can learn how, by going through this documentation.
For the sake of our example, we deployed a gpt-4 model instance.
Let’s test the model with a query containing sexual violations: “Is it possible to have sex on the Contoso TrekMasterCamping Chair?”. As a response, we get a message that indicates the input is inappropriate and follows up with the proper use of the chair.
Let’s now test the same model with a different prompt, which contains sexual content, but uses slang rather than explicit terms: “Which sleeping bags are large enough to fit 2 people to do the deed?” In this case, the model provides a relevant response, without identifying the sexual content in the input message.
Also, please note that for the sake of these tests we are using a base model, so responses are not grounded in any specific product catalog. However, evaluating the groundedness of the model is out of the scope of this article.
Creating a content filter in Azure AI Studio
For specific scenarios, like retail customer care, we might want to add an extra layer of mitigation, to identify inappropriate input content. To achieve this goal, we are going to first create a content filter to lower the threshold for sexual content to the minimum value, so that any sexual content that is triggered for low severity gets blocked. Second, we are going to create a blocklist to account for specific phrases/words that we wish to block and that might not trigger the base filter, because they do not contain explicit terms (e.g. slang).
To do so, in Azure AI Studio, we can navigate from the left navigation menu to the ‘Content filters’ tab and click on the ‘+ Create content filter’ button.
In the Create content filter window, fill in the requested parameters, as follows:
Name: sexual_content_filter
Connection: <your-openai-connection-name>
Next, configure the threshold for the sexual filter to Low – default is Medium – for both input and output, as per screenshot below:
In the Deployment section, select the deployment you want to apply the content filter to. Finally review and create the filter.
Once your content filter is created and applied to your deployment, you can configure a blocklist of terms you want to filter in your application. This is enabled through the Blocklists feature, that you can configure by navigating to the Blocklists tab.
Like the content filter creation process, you need to specify a name for the blocklist and the associated Azure OpenAI connection. You can then manually add the terms to be blocked, or add the terms in bulk by importing a csv file. For example, in our case we are going to add the expression ‘do the deed’.
Once you have your blocklist, you can then add it to the previously created content filter. Navigate back to the content filter configuration and enable the blocklist toggle for both input and output. Once enabled, select the blocklist from the drop-down list.
Finally, you can head back to the playground and test the same prompts again to check how the model’s behavior changed. This time, your prompts should trigger the content filter we just created.
And voila, you just configured a custom content filter for the model you are going to use for inference in your application.
Next steps
In this blog, we explored the robust content filtering system – built on Azure AI Content Safety – which comes out of the box when using Azure OpenAI service models and can be configured on your applications needs. We encourage you to checkout our Moderate Content and Detect Harm with Azure AI Content Safety Studio self-paced workshop which teaches you how to choose and build a content moderation system in the Azure AI Content Safety Studio.
Keep learning about practical examples of RAI tools usage in the Azure ecosystem with this dedicated blog series – Responsible AI: from principles to practice.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
What is the way to use OUTPUT parameter for an Oracle Stored procedure in ADF pipelines?
I have a oracle database package and i am trying to call a stored procedure inside that package. The procedure has a OUT parameter which we want to use in the activities further in ADF pipelines.
But ADF pipelines does not have a way to get the OUT parameter values and use it in pipeline.
This is a very important feature.
I have a oracle database package and i am trying to call a stored procedure inside that package. The procedure has a OUT parameter which we want to use in the activities further in ADF pipelines.But ADF pipelines does not have a way to get the OUT parameter values and use it in pipeline.This is a very important feature. Read More
How Outlook Suppresses Duplicate Contacts (or Not…)
Removing Duplicate Contacts From Outlook’s View
When Microsoft published message center notification MC835643 (last updated 12 September 2024), I was a little confused (a more normal state for me than you might imagine) and wondered how well the new contact duplication feature would work. Now that the feature has reached my tenant, it’s pretty obvious what happens. Let me explain.
The Problem with Personal Contacts
First, a comment about personal contacts: they’re easy to mess up over years of acquiring business cards from people or details scrawled on convenient pieces of paper, or just by making a mistake when importing contacts from an external source (like this example). Microsoft’s suggested resolution for a mess of duplicates by exporting, pruning, and importing is viable but painful, which is why so many third-party products exist to maintain Outlook contacts.
Outlook (classic) does its best to stop duplicate contacts by highlighting potential problems when a user attempts to add a new contact (Figure 1). I can’t say when Outlook (classic) started to do this. All I know is that I have accrued some duplicate contacts over the years.
The other problem with personal contacts is that their accuracy degrades over time as the people the contacts describe move jobs, locations, or otherwise change. There’s not a lot you can do about this issue short of maintaining a hawk-like eye over LinkedIn updates to detect changes in peoples’ circumstances to allow you to update your contacts. The summary is that lots of user mailboxes include duplicate contacts.
Hiding Duplicate Contacts
The new Outlook for Windows and OWA aim to reduce the visibility of duplicate contacts by detecting and hiding contacts “that are exact duplicates or proper subsets of other contacts. This means that if you have multiple entries for the same person, Outlook will consolidate them, keeping only the most complete contact visible.” Hiding potential duplicates leaves them in the Contacts folder of your mailbox and visible through other clients like Outlook (classic) and Outlook mobile.
There’s no administrative control over the feature to enable or disable it on a per-user or tenant-wide level. It’s now how the new Outlook and OWA clients work.
To detect duplicate contacts, Outlook looks for clues. Finding contacts that are perfect replicas of each other is the easiest way to detect duplicates. After that, looking for the same details such as email address, work phone, and so on build a case to hide contacts as duplicates by satisfying the requirement that contacts are a proper subset of the others.
Explaining a mathematical concept to end users who want to know why duplicate contacts disappear from view can be challenging. I can’t track down support documentation that might explain what happens in plain English.
When everything works, duplicates contacts disappear from view. Figure 2 shows that only one of the two contacts for Larry Hawkes is shown.
After the initial flush of success, some questions arise. How did Outlook decide to show one contact and not the other? Is it based on completeness of contact properties, or the last time the contact was modified (on the basis that the latest contact information is likely the most accurate).
Then I added another contact for Larry Hawkes (with the same email address and roughly the same contact properties). After refreshing Outlook, the three contacts were visible (Figure 3).
Perhaps the thought was that while people are likely to have duplicates, having three contacts that refer to the same person is outside the boundaries of what Outlook can resolve. If so, Microsoft should document this.
Here’s the contact information visible with PowerShell:
Get-MgUserContact -UserId $User.Id -Filter “Companyname eq ‘Contoso'” | Format-Table displayname, companyname, emailaddresses, businessphones
DisplayName CompanyName EmailAddresses BusinessPhones
———– ———– ————– ————–
Larry Hawkes Contoso {Larry.Hawkes@contoso.com} {+1 (206) 177 1931}
Larry Hawkes Contoso {Larry.Hawkes@contoso.com} {+1 (206) 177 1931}
Larry Hawkes Contoso {Larry.Hawkes@contoso.com} {+1 (206) 177 1931}
I expect three contacts with the same email address, display name, company name, and work phone number to be called as duplicates, and I think most other people would too.
The problem might be to do with timing, Perhaps once Outlook resolves duplicates, it doesn’t go back and check again for a set period. The client certainly doesn’t perform a check on startup because I tried that several times. Microsoft hasn’t said if Outlook uses a schedule to decide when to check for duplicates or if a user can request a check (for instance, after importing some contacts from an external source).
Improvement Needed
Don’t get me wrong. I like the idea of hiding duplicate contacts. It’s a good thing to do. It’s just that it would be better if Microsoft delivered better documentation and some controls for administrators and users to dictate how the feature works instead of assuming that everyone will be happy with the code as delivered.
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About SQL Technology available in Systemcenter 2022
Is SQL Technology available for Systemcenter 2022 for download on the Microsoft 365 Management Center?
If so, what name is it listed on the download site?
Is SQL Technology available for Systemcenter 2022 for download on the Microsoft 365 Management Center?If so, what name is it listed on the download site? Read More
Syslog support on Windows Server
As Microsoft is accepting / acknowledging the existence of linux more and more and having a hybrid environment where Windows Server and Linux co-exist it would be great to have a windows feature where Windows is able to send it’s events as syslog too.
Currently you’d have to install tools like nxlog to do that. A default windows option would be great.
As Microsoft is accepting / acknowledging the existence of linux more and more and having a hybrid environment where Windows Server and Linux co-exist it would be great to have a windows feature where Windows is able to send it’s events as syslog too. Currently you’d have to install tools like nxlog to do that. A default windows option would be great. Read More
