So, the finalists are in for the contest I mentioned recently OMG! @Veeam backup supports restoring you to @VMWorld2009 to determine who will be voted on their way to attend VMWorld in San Francisco!

I know I said I’d record a video, and yes I did actually record a video but because I wanted Gabe to win, I opted to not compete (Let’s just say.. I’m a pain in the ass competitor and had a strong chance of taking it from him and everyone else ;)) I may post my video later not for credit to win… but that’s not what we’re here to discuss!

The contestants are in! And you have the opportunity to vote for the best! (Gabe) and comment to win a Flip Camera! (Hey, are you telling me, register, vote, comment = win?!)

Then yes, that is exactly what I’m telling you!  Oh, and check out some really cool software which will help resolve a number of challenges in your infrastructure and virtual environment, that too.  Being that a Flip Camera is not the only free possibility, since they have the Free Veeam Monitor Free Veeam FastSCP and more!

So be sure to go out there, vote for the best of the best! (That’d be Gabrie Van Zanten ;)), comment, and win a Flip Camera! (Check out the goods, make your life and job easier, win!)

It’s all so very straight forward! And be sure to check out Gabe’s blog, it’ll be an investment you’re glad you made!

So, just click the “I love Veeam” above, Vote, Comment and you could win a Flip!

Disclaimer: I am not a shill, I have no affiliation with Gabe other than the best of respect for his contributions back into the community   Were I to compete with Gabe or anyone else on the team, I likely would have obliterated them as I tend to take things considerably too far, and have at my beck and call a series of video editors and production people. ;)  Just so you don’t think this is biased, he deserves to win :)

That’s right! If I ran into you (Hey Developers!) at TechEd I likely harassed you about this contest running from new CloudApp() !

While I am in no way affiliated with newCloudApp() I for one like to see people use their talents to win cold hard cash! Oh, and have some fun in the process!    So what is the plan?

What Is It?

new CloudApp() is a US-based developer challenge for .NET & PHP developers creating cloud applications or services (hereafter “application”) on the Azure™ Services Platform. Have your application judged by industry leadersOm Malik and Michael Cote and share your cloud coding skills with other developers. Grand Prize Winners will be announced at Structure 09 and featured on azure.com.

Register and submit your application now!

When?

• April 30:  Contest Open
• June 18:Submission deadline
• June 19:Community voting starts
• June 25:.NET & PHP category winners announced @ Structure 09
• June 29:Community voting ends
• June 30:Community winner announced

What Could I Win?*

Winning submissions will:

• Be featured on www.azure.com as well as at major Microsoft events
• Be featured in a video interview on Channel 9
• Be announced at Structure 09
• Receive cash ($):
  • NET App Category winner: $5,000 VISA gift card
  • PHP App Category winner: $5,000 VISA gift card
  • Community winner: $2,500 VISA gift card

So, seriously, step up! If you’ve never written an app for the Cloud before, now is the time when there is money on the table! MONEY ON THE TABLE? WHERE, SIGNZ ME UPS! err… Damn lolcatz!    But seriously.. if this is your bag, as it were, no better time than the present for peer acceptance and pocketbook love!   Check it out, and doooo it! :)

Hey everyone who participated in this contest, I want to thank you and I appreciate your interest in getting some of the many things I have so you can use any benefit from them!

After tallying the responses when I closed the contest this Friday, and running it through my random ‘winner’ picker, we have a winner! Brian J. Greenberg is indeed our official winner!

Brian’s Blog found here will be the bearer of this, and special thanks to his tweet on twitter from @bjgreenberg.

So, the next contest will be announced on Monday, either for a Zune, a copy of Vista (32bit) or who knows… but that is my plan for kicking it off on Monday (hopefully, if life doesn’t happen!;))

Thanks, and the determination of how long to keep the contest open is derived based upon the number of entries divided by the number of hits/interest, so I look forward to the next one!

Thanks everyone!

Christopher – @cxi