Kategorie: Technology

Welcome to the tech section of my blog, where I share my thoughts and insights on the latest developments in the world of digital, data, and AI. As someone who is passionate about the transformative power of technology, I believe that staying up to date with the latest trends and innovations is crucial to success in this field.

In this section, you’ll find a wide range of articles and posts on topics such as digital transformation, data privacy, artificial intelligence, and more. I’ll share my perspectives on current events, emerging trends, and the future of technology, with a focus on how these developments will impact businesses, society, and individuals.

Whether you’re a technology professional, business leader, or just someone interested in the world of tech, you’ll find plenty of valuable insights and knowledge in these posts. My goal is to make complex topics accessible and easy to understand so that everyone can benefit from the incredible advances happening in the tech world today.

You can also find a lot of technical product reviews on my Amazon reviews page. These are mostly in German.

So, join me on this journey as we explore the cutting-edge world of digital, data, and AI together, and discover new ways to harness the power of technology for a better tomorrow.

Mastering Power BI: A Step-by-step Guide to Enabling Power BI’s Preview Features Including Azure Maps

Power of Power BI's Preview Features: Power BI Desktop running on Windows 11
Power of Power BI’s Preview Features: Power BI Desktop running on Windows 11

Explore the Power of Power BI’s Preview Features

Microsoft’s Power BI is known for its data visualization capabilities, but many exciting features are not enabled by default. These under-the-radar features are known as Power BI Preview Features, and they often have the potential to significantly enhance your data analysis efforts. Some of these exciting features include Azure Maps, which is essential for creating impactful Skyscraper Maps with Power BI.

Follow this Step-by-step Guide

To leverage the power of these Preview Features, you need to enable them in your Power BI interface. Here is a quick guide to help you activate Azure Maps and other Preview Features:

Step 1: Navigate to the File tab on Power BI’s menu bar. Note: There is no need to have a data connection, the opening modal can be closed.

File tab on Power BI's menu bar.
File tab on Power BI’s menu bar.

Step 2: Choose Options and Settings from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: From the subsequent options, click on Options.

Power BI's Options and Settings menu.
Power BI’s Options and Settings menu.

Step 4: In the new dialogue box, select Preview Features from the list on the left-hand side.

Power BI's Options dialogue box.
Power BI’s Options dialogue box.

Step 5: Check the box next to Azure Map Visual to enable it.

Step 6: Confirm your changes by clicking the OK button.

Power BI's Preview Features section.
Power BI’s Preview Features section.

If you change the Preview feature settings, Power BI may require you to restart the application to implement the changes. Once done, you are ready to start creating your Skyscraper Map using the Azure Maps feature!

Current Power BI Preview Features

Power BI’s Preview Features evolve over time, with new features continuously being tested and added. As of now, the current preview features you can enable in Power BI include:

  • Shape Map Visual
  • Spanish Language Support for Q&A
  • Q&A for Live Connected Analysis Services Databases
  • Azure Map Visual
  • DirectQuery for PBI Datasets and AS
  • Modern Visual Tooltips
  • Power BI Desktop Infrastructure Update
  • Web Page Connector Infrastructure
  • Modify Visuals Settings for Mobile Layout
  • Sparklines
  • Scorecard Visual
  • Field Parameters
Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI book cover

For more such enlightening tutorials, check out my latest book, Teach Yourself VISUALLY Power BI (Amazon)!

The world of Power BI is a treasure trove of powerful capabilities waiting to be explored. Share your experiences, creative applications, and insights as you navigate this exciting realm:

„Mastering Power BI: A Step-by-step Guide to Enabling Power BI’s Preview Features Including Azure Maps“ weiterlesen

Visual Tracert: How to use GeoTraceroute to analyze, visualize and embed internet traffic routes

Visual traceroute from Frankfurt to Ukraine shows redirection via Russia
Visual traceroute (aka. tracert) from Frankfurt to Ukraine shows redirection via Russia

Earlier today I read the news from NetBlocks (via Reuters) that since the weekend parts of the Ukrainian internet traffic are rerouted via Russia. To be precise, it’s about Ukrainian Kherson Oblast, which is occupied by Russia since March.

Now I wanted to trace the internet route myself and ideally visualize it. Here I came across the service of GeoTraceroute, which does a great job in visualizing traceroutes (aka. tracert). For the trace, I chose Frankfurt as starting point, and skynet.ua, the local internet provider in Kherson, as the endpoint.

Of course, you can also include the URL of GeoTraceroute as a web element in your Power BI report or Tableau dashboard and parameterize it for dynamic interactions. You can see the format as in my example:

https://geotraceroute.com/?node=2021&host=skynet.ua

Our Research featured in Der Spiegel: An Overview of Russia’s Cyberattack Activity in Ukraine

Der Spiegel features Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab Ukraine report
Der Spiegel features Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab Ukraine report

Our research was picked up by German news magazine Der Spiegel, one of the largest investigative journals in Europe. We analyzed incredibly large amounts of data to gain insights into Russia’s cyberattacks in Ukraine.

Read the Spiegel article, which in turn has a link to our report: Microsoft zählt bisher 237 Hackerangriffe auf die Ukraine

And here’s a direct link to the underlying report, which was produced by Microsoft’s Digital Security Unit and is based on insights from the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center and data analysis from our Microsoft AI for Good Research Lab: Special Report: Ukraine – An overview of Russia’s cyberattack activity in Ukraine

Thank you fellow Microsofties, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022

Alexander Loth's Microsoft Achievements: the book Decisively Digital with a personal note from Satya Nadella
Alexander Loth’s Microsoft Achievements: the book Decisively Digital with a personal note from Satya Nadella

As we approach the end of 2021, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the incredible achievements we’ve made at Microsoft and to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my fellow Microsofties.

❤ My dear fellow Microsofties, I have learned a lot from you and would like to thank you for the great teamwork, it was a lot of fun! This year I was able to achieve an incredible amount thanks to your support and the omnipresent growth mindset at Microsoft.

Key Milestones and Microsoft Achievements

🔬 Mixed Reality for Life Sciences: This year, we elevated mixed reality for our life sciences customers like Ottobock, making the world more inclusive and healthier.

📚 Literary Accomplishments: As you may know, I love to write. I was able to finish two book projects: for the book Decisively Digital, I interviewed 24 thought leaders on Digital Transformation. We also finished the German-language book Datenvisualisierung mit Power BI.

🎓 Technical Leadership Development Program (TLDP): Graduating from TLDP, a sort of tech MBA, was a fantastic experience, enhancing my next-gen tech focus.

👾 Microsoft Global Hackathon Award: Together with over 40 colleagues, we won an award at Microsoft Global Hackathon, the world’s largest privately-organized hackathon. Patent pending!

🐦 15,000 Followers on Twitter: Reaching this significant milestone reflects not only my journey in data and digital strategy but also the power of community engagement. Catch up on my journey to 15k Twitter followers here.

Stay Connected: Follow Me for More Insights

Keep up with my insights and adventures in the tech world by following me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

🎄 Now it’s really time for some reflective days. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you! I’m sure 2022 will be a blast…

Microsoft Global Hackathon 2021 Award Winner

Microsoft Global Hackathon 2021 Award Winner Ceremony

The Microsoft Global Hackathon is the world’s largest private hackathon. This year’s hackathon witnessed participation from 67,633 hackers from 92 countries working on 6,394 projects.

I am very pleased to announce that the project I led during the Microsoft Global Hackathon 2021 was awarded for the Hack for Hybrid Work Executive Challenge. The focus of this challenge was on using data and technology to help make #hybridwork more inclusive, effective, and fun!

Now I’m very excited to see what our hack will look like in the final product and how it will influence a healthy lifestyle. A patent for the project has already been filed. (That would be my very first patent! 🙂 )

In total, 46 hackers across many time zones worked on this project. Congratulations to the great team – I will always value the opportunity to work with you on such a meaningful project: