You probably have been reading the many thank you's from Clubhouse Awardees since last week, talking about their awards in seven special categories. Today is my chance to step up to the virtual podium and give a big thank you to the folks who made this possible. First of all, I must say thanks to the folks at Microsoft such as @marcusatmsft and fellow members of his team for creating such a great platform that allows real world users to share their experiences and feedback. Microsoft Clubhouse is not just a place to talk about Microsoft products and services, its a place where we can also learn and share our knowledge. I have seen first hand how discussing a product has helped to improve its functionality.

Microsoft Clubhouse Choice Awards - Best Technical Direction - August 2009 

Clubhouse has allowed me to know so many interesting people who have enlightened me with their vast knowledge of various Windows Live services and Microsoft products such as the new Windows 7. To be honored among a group of exceptionally talented folks is really special and I just would like to express my deep thanks and gratitude to everyone who voted for me. Just the nomination alone was truly a surprise. As fellow Clubhouse member Jamie Thomas noted, I too want to wish the community continued success and growth. There are so many of you out there I know who are ready to share your experiences too. So don't let it slip by, sign up and start talking about how you are using Windows Live and Windows. By the way, thanks for making this a great birthday. ;)

I look forward to sharing more of my experiences with you!

- Andre

Related:

Sandra (aka Technogran) - My Clubhouse Choice Awards Trophy.
Michael - Isn't she pretty...
Jamie - A massive thank you
Ali - Clubhouse Rising Star Award
Early Adopter:  Richard H.
Best Tip or Trick:  Vasudev

Resources:
Becoming A Clubhouse Member
Introducing the Microsoft Clubhouse Choice Awards

Received an email this evening from the Windows Live Hotmail team notifying me about changes coming this September to various products and services. Here is what they had to say:

Dear Windows Live Hotmail Customer,

You are receiving this note because you have used Microsoft Office Outlook, Outlook Express, or Entourage to view your Windows Live Hotmail®. Microsoft is changing the way these programs access Hotmail e-mail which will require you to take action.

To continue to receive e-mail from your Hotmail account, please select one of the alternative solutions below before September 1, 2009. After this day, new e-mail can only be delivered to your mail programs through the following alternative solutions.

If you use Microsoft Office Outlook to view Hotmail, you can download free Office Outlook Connector to continue accessing your Windows Live Hotmail within Outlook 2003 or 2007. If you're using Outlook 2002, you will need to change the settings on your program to access your Hotmail. Click here to learn more.

If you use Outlook Express to view Hotmail, you can choose to download free Windows Live Mail (recommended) or change the settings on your program to access your Hotmail within Outlook Express. Click here to learn more about your options.

If you use Entourage to view Hotmail, you can change the settings in your program to view your e-mail. Click here to learn more.

Don't know what you're using to view Hotmail? Have more questions? View the FAQ page or visit the Community Forum.

Why is this happening? Outlook, Outlook Express, and Entourage use a legacy communications method (known as the DAV protocol) to access Hotmail. Because the DAV protocol is not optimally suited for programs to access large inboxes such as Hotmail which now provides users ever-growing storage*, new alternatives have been built. Last year, customers asked us to postpone plans to retire the DAV protocol until more options were available. Now that these options (including the POP3 protocol) are available, we are ready to retire the DAV protocol.

Thank you for using Windows Live Hotmail.

Sincerely,
Your Windows Live Hotmail Team

If you fall into any of these categories of users who use the available resources to continue using Hotmail normally.

The MSN Soapbox Team confirmed today that they will be discontinuing its user generated video content service, here is what they had to say:

Attention Soapbox Users,

MSN will no longer offer Soapbox, the user generated video service within MSN Video, as of August 31, 2009. Beginning on July 29, you will no longer be able to upload videos to Soapbox. People who have uploaded videos to Soapbox will have until August 31, 2009 to download them. Please make sure you download your videos by this date if you would like to keep them. We will have a notice running in the Soapbox service to remind you to download your videos. It is our goal that you download and keep all of the videos you uploaded that are important to you. Online video is a key part of the MSN experience and we will continue to offer a rich experience on MSN Video. We will also continue to invest in delivering great customer experiences, while keeping a keen eye on our business objectives during this tough economic climate. Thank you for your support of MSN Video. More details and download instructions are available at: http://video.msn.com/shutdown.html

Thank you for using Soapbox.

The MSN Video Team

Microsoft launched MSN Soapbox in 2006. From my point of view, MSN Soapbox never caught on primarily because of the wildfire that was already set by rival YouTube, which really started the phenomenon itself and later ended being bought by Google. Other factors I believe included a more open platform that was not specifically tied to being invitation only or some form of upcoming technology (Flash vs Silverlight), it was all about the content for YouTube.

Back in February the Windows Live Team informed us about the move from MSN Calendar to its new home, Windows Live Calendar. Here is a new update about what's happening:

It's almost moving time! As you've already heard, we've been busy getting Windows Live Calendar ready for when we move all MSN Calendar customers over to the new and improved service.

Over the coming months, we'll be moving all existing MSN Calendar customers over to Windows Live Calendar. The move will be gradual, so not everyone will see their calendars change on the same day.

If you're just trying Windows Live Calendar for the first time, you may notice that while MSN Calendar already gave you easy scheduling of appointments, reminders, and calendar sharing, Windows Live Calendar gives you even more:

• Multiple calendars that can be individually colored and shared
• An easy way to subscribe to public (iCal) online calendars
• Drag-and-drop rescheduling of events
• Holiday calendars based on your location
• A birthday calendar that pulls dates from your Windows Live contact list
• A to-do list to help keep you organized (we'll move all of your MSN Calendar's tasks and notes into your new Windows Live to-do list)

Here's what you need to know for the move:

• If you only access your MSN Calendar through the web, we'll move all your stuff for you. You won't have to do anything.
• If you use Microsoft Office Outlook to view your calendar, make sure you're using the newest version of Outlook Connector. This will allow Outlook to connect directly to your Windows Live Calendar. To find out which version of Outlook Connector you're using, open Outlook, click Outlook Connector and then select About Outlook Connector. If the version number is 12.0.6414.1000 or greater, you're good to go. If not, you'll need to download and install the latest version.
• If you've published or shared any of your MSN Calendars, you'll need to update the "Share" settings to make your calendar public or send invites to share them again in Windows Live Calendar.

That's it - we'll do the rest.

See you on Windows Live Calendar!
Windows Live Calendar Team

Related:

Reminder: Windows Live Calendar is coming soon!
Introducing Calendar Badge for your Blog and Website

This is what I am seeing everyday when I log into Windows Live Messenger

I am imploring the Windows Live Team to do something about this obnoxious problem. Blocking and ignoring is counter productive. I cannot do this every time I log into Windows Live Messenger. Its frustrating sifting through good and spam. I am not denying that other Social Networks such as Facebook and My Space also face this issue, but not to this extent.

Previously

Windows Live Invitations – The Domain’s I block but keep getting invites from
To the Hotmail Team – your Junk Filter is not working
Windows Live: The Spam Issue – Its putting a damper on the Service
The Issue of Windows Live, Privacy and Spam
The Amount of Windows Live Invitation Spam is Unacceptable
CNET: Microsoft ranked fifth worst spam service ISP

The spam invites keep pouring in! I have put together a list of some of the Top Level Domains I keep getting Windows Live invites from, regardless I have blocked these Domain’s using Hotmail’s Blocked Senders setting, but its just not working. Here are some of the notorious domains I have blocked but still keep on getting spam from: @163.com, @example.com, @wang.com, @yahoo.cn, @msn.cn, @live.com.cn, @sina.com. Thats just the tip of the ice berg.

Some of the well known senders of Windows Live Invitation spam

The spam issue issue getting very frustrating. I can’t be going to my inbox every morning just to be spending most of my time trying to clear out spam and trying to tell who is not a spammer. The Blocked senders is obviously not working. If you have any tips about how to control this increasing problem with Windows Live, please feel free to share.

Previously

To the Hotmail Team – your Junk Filter is not working
Windows Live: The Spam Issue – Its putting a damper on the Service
The Issue of Windows Live, Privacy and Spam
The Amount of Windows Live Invitation Spam is Unacceptable
CNET: Microsoft ranked fifth worst spam service ISP