Microspotting

Microspotting 2.0!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:59:41 GMT

Ooh, this is exciting: Microspotting has relaunched at its new home, MICROSPOTTING.COM! Please be sure to update your RSS feeds.

And for relaunch, I finally tracked down That Goth Girl that everyone always sees around campus. Her name is Jillian Venters, and you're gonna love her!

This one's for the code monkeys

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:42:56 GMT

To all the code monkeys, I salute you.

Dare Obasanjo on "Why I Love Working at Microsoft"

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:09:16 GMT

Dare Obasanjo just wrote a great post about his job:

Thousands of Microsoft employees share their ideas with their coworkers, competitors and customers via blogs on a daily basis. Lots of companies would clamp down on that sort of behavior and ensure that only sanctioned company positions go out in employee communications but not Microsoft.

Read Dare's whole post.

Loneserver.com

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:16:01 GMT

I love this video from Loneserver.com. "What ever happened to him?" "Windows ME? He's in the back, washin' dishes."

Technorati Tags: windows server, youtube, humor

Megan Wallent is back at work!

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:20:47 GMT

Megan Wallent (formerly known as Michael Wallent, General Manager with IE) is back on the job this week.

It's been absolutely fascinating to read about her transition on her blog ... and it sounds like things are going smoothly now that she's back in the office!

Live/Work balance

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:12:41 GMT

...like you've never seen it before. Hint: there are white baby grand pianos involved.

Once again, I love it when MSFT goes for WTF humor!

Technorati Tags: microsoft, wtf, microsoft humor, video, youtube

How an intern got $202 out of Anders Hejlsberg's pocket

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:19:43 GMT

This post has moved! You can now find it over here: http://www.microspotting.com/2007/12/anders-hejlsberg-intern

Optionator 3000!

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:59:19 GMT

Technorati Tags: microsoft, video, youtube

Ian Ellison-Taylor on job titles, 17 years of building software used by 1/6th of the planet, and ... plowing fields?!

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:14:50 GMT

This post has moved! You can find it at:
http://www.microspotting.com/2007/12/ian-ellison-taylor-microsoft

A Popfly PM talks about going from alpha to beta, working with smarties, and what's up with the duck

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:57:09 GMT

This post has moved! Now you can find it at:
http://www.microspotting.com/2007/11/program-manager-popfly

Nurture baby collaborations in their nest

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:15:48 GMT

God, I love it when Microsoft gets weird. WTF comedy is my favorite brand of ha-ha.
Video: A Cowboy meets a Microsoft Program Manager?

Technorati Tags: microsoft, video job description, program manager, pm, cowboy

The Golden Helmet

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:08:14 GMT

This post has moved! It's now at:
http://www.microspotting.com/2007/11/the-golden-helmet

Am I dev or not?

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:34:38 GMT

Think you can always tell the difference between designers and devs? THINK AGAIN!

Technorati Tags: microsoft, expression studio, designers, developers

Dana Badeen skips space travel, chooses Redmond instead

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 19:12:10 GMT

This post has moved: http://www.microspotting.com/2007/11/dana-badeen-skips-space-travel-chooses-redmond-instead

My favorite costume at work today

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 04:41:17 GMT

Yay for the lolcat costume!

So what DO software engineers eat in Israel?

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:53:49 GMT

I've always wondered. And now the truth comes out!

Video: Israeli food

I grabbed this from Declan's awesome blog all about International MSFT tech jobs:

So what do software engineers eat in Israel?

So for a bit of Friday fun check out Lisa, one of our SDEs in Israel, telling us a little about free food and in particular"diet" food that they all eat in the Haifa break room... :)

Microsoft + Facebook = Special Love

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:10:36 GMT

The web's all a-twitter about the MSFT/Facebook deal that was just announced. I'm mostly curious to see if this means more 'Softies will start using Facebook. The Microsoft Network has 18,000 members, which isn't that many, when you consider I have almost 80,000 coworkers...

Technorati Tags: microsoft, facebook

Fake Steve Jobs a tool of the borg?

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:48:36 GMT

There were not one but TWO exciting speakers on Microsoft's campus today. Hilary Clinton was here in the morning, and then the infamous Fake Steve Jobs (nee Forbes editor Daniel Lyons) this afternoon.

I had a meeting this morning, so I missed Hilary ... but Fake Steve/Daniel was hilarious and spoke candidly about print journalism ("You know it's bad when you're in your 40s and you're celebrating that sales are only down 2% this year."), starting his blog, and being outed.

He also addressed the (hilarious!) rumors that he was a borg (aka MSFT) shill -- I guess there are conspiracies that his book deal was part of a money laundering scheme so that Microsoft could pay him. "If that's the case," he said, "You guys really didn't pay me very well."

The whole talk was very funny, but one of the biggest laughs was when Daniel did his best imitation of the unbridled consumer excitement over the iPhone: "Look at me! I bought a product! I gave them my credit card and they sold it to me! WOW!"

Fake Steve/Daniel also mentioned that Microsoft was the first company to call and invite him to speak. "I'm still waiting for a call from Apple," he quipped, explaining that he thinks Microsoft has a great sense of humor about itself. We all proved him right when the room erupted in giggles over a jab at the Zune. Ouch! ...But HA!

Technorati Tags: microsoft, fake steve jobs, daniel lyons

Spotted on campus

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:40:45 GMT

I am on the hunt for this gold helmet-wearing Segway rider. He's been spotted all over campus (that's my building in the background of this photo!) and I must speak with him. I want to know more about tooling around Redmond on a Segway -- and why the gold helmet?

Technorati Tags: segway, gold helmet, microsoft, redmond

Swearing boosts team spirit, morale

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:35:54 GMT

This isn't MSFT-specific, but I couldn't help but link it.

Regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff, allowing them to express better their feelings as well as develop social relationships, according to a study by researchers.
[Read full article]

Technorati Tags: morale, team spirit, work culture, profanity, swearing

Photo Album: Microspotted: geeks I have known & loved

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 20:55:11 GMT

Microspotted: geeks I have known & loved

Justin ponders his job as a Test Lead on MSMQ. More info: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/msmq/default.mspx

The Outlook Mobile Hair Team -- they helped raise $30k for charity!

My coworker Genevieve rocks in Business Week! Check it out: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_37/b4049066.htm

My friends over in the Applied Game Theory team at MS Research. They won an MS-sponsored research contest and to celebrate, two of them dyed their hair, and they all got temporary tattoos.

This is what happens to your office when you go on vacation: http://blogs.msdn.com/heatherleigh/archive/2007/09/21/never-vacation-a-day-in-your-life.aspx

Dana Badeen, PM with Windows Server

Lolcat halloween costume!

Lolcat halloween

Olivier Destrebecq (UX designer, DDE User Experience) rock climbing in Vantage

Katya Sedova (SDET Lead for IE) and Scott Rowley (SDE II for Live Meeting) compete at the USA Dance: Seattle Chapter's "Quest for the Best" Competition on October 21, 2006 in Seattle. They placed 2nd in PreChamp and 5th in the Open Competition. Both dancers perform with several other Microsofties on the Ballroom Dance Performance Team.

More Photos...