Hello, I'm   Jason

Google is holding their new hardware launch event today at 2pm EDT. Expected to be launched at the event are a new Google Pixel, new Google smart speaker, and a new Google Chromecast. In fact, some stores are already rumored to have the new Chromecast in stock. It will be interesting to see if there will be any other new devices such as a new Google Nest thermostat or updated Google Wi-Fi system.

Amazon Prime Day is coming and it’s coming in two weeks. Amazon has confirmed that their annual Prime Day will take place October 13-14, 2020. They are currently advertising a few early deals for this event in addition to their hardware announcements last week.

Last week at Microsoft Ignite, Paul Thurrott discovered a new feature in the latest Windows Insider build called Meet Now. Meet Now is a Skype feature. In this build, some folks are seeing Meet Now appear in their taskbar. To learn more about this, head over to his blog at jasong.us/3kY0Rzl.

With the kids back in school virtually and all using Chromebooks, they frequently run into issues with their Chromebooks simply due to the machines hardware configuration. Most of the Chromebooks that schools are handing out are entry-level devices that are not powerful enough to have a Google Meet live meeting and allow typing in Google Classroom at the same time. So, my daughter decided to start using her own device. Of course, I have certain types of apps blocked using Circle, a parental control and Internet filtering system that happens to have an integration with the Netgear Orbi wifi mesh system.

On Thursday, Amazon held their annual hardware event. They announced several new devices such as new Echo, Echo Show, Eero, and Luna. Several of the items can be pre-ordered. There were also several announcements by Ring, a security company owned by Amazon, including a new at-home drone camera and a new car camera that utilizes the Amazon Sidewalk network. Below you’ll find a list of new or updated devices with their release date, if it’s available:

During Microsoft Ignite this week, Microsoft released a new skills challenge aimed at improving skills for the cloud. There are six individual challenges within the contest. After you complete your first challenge, you will earn a free Microsoft Certification exam.

I had a need the other day to trigger an Azure Logic App from a GitHub pull request that was merged and completed. Unfortunately, Logic Apps continue to have only a handful of pre-defined connectors for GitHub:

The Surface Duo is now available through various retailers. The device is very interesting and continues to expand the category of foldable hardware such as the Samsung Z Fold 2 and the new Motorola Razr.

Did you know that you could hack GitHub and add more detail to your GitHub profile page? Well, it’s not that hard especially if you already know how to use GitHub. Simply visit github.com/new and enter a new repository name that matches your username like so:

In addition to the .NET Developer role I mentioned last week, I now have several openings for full stack developers. As a developer on our team, you will create cutting edge functionality and help to enable our team to be cloud-first.