Since I work at Microsoft, it should be fairly evident that I'm surrounded by gadget geeks...they're everywhere!  In fact, one of the worst (or best depending on your perspective) is in my group and has an office right across from mine.  He's one of my 'go-to' guys for any information I need on the latest technology luring my hard earned cashola. 

Lately, everyone is walking around the office with SmartPhones.  I've been jonesing for one since they released early this year, but held off buying one for a few reasons:

1. Crappy phone - First off, I'm currently with Verizon Wireless and from the reviews I read the smartphone they originally offered was a POS.  Sorry, I don't remember off the top of my head which phone they originally offerred.  AT&T was offering the Motorola MPX200 and it was highly recommended to me by several friends and co-workers.
2. Breaking the contract - AT&T (now Cingular) has better smartphones and (thankfully) I can now transfer my cell number from Verizon, but I have a contract with Verizon that would cost me $175/line to break!  My contract expires on 5/24/05 so I have to wait until then.
3. Price - I'm not exactly a cheap bastard, but I must see a decent value in a gadget before I plunk down my money.  My out-of-pocket cost on the original smartphones was going to be in excess of $200 and I just couldn't justify it at the time.  I don't really need to synch with my Outlook email remotely.  I don't really need to have my Outlook calendar with me 24x7.  I don't really need a camera phone.  I don't really need to surf the web from my cell phone.  You get the idea...I just couldn't justify the purchase (especially when I had a brand new baby at home!).
4. Waiting for Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 - The 2003 version has some functionality not present in the 2002 OS such as Bluetooth wireless connectivity and camera phones.

If I stay with Verizon, then my only real choice for a smartphone is the Samsung SCH-i600 Smartphone which as you can see from the PC Mag review is only considered "Fair."  I don't know anyone who even has this phone that I can even ask about it's quality.  Not too mention that Verizon wants $450 for the damn thing. 

My current biography can be found here.

~tod

I just added links to a few interesting blogs written by MSN employees that specifically work for the Spaces group.  I don't work directly with or even know many of these people, but while some of the blogs are purely personal several of them have some really good tidbits and insights to MSN Spaces.  Here's a quick list:

• Tom Harpel: A PM with MSN that was part of my interview loop a few years ago (thanks for the 'hire' vote!).  Somehow, someway I came across his blog site (probably via the 'Updated Spaces' list) which in turn led me to the other MSN Spaces peeps listed.  Check out his MSN Colleagues list.
• Mike Torres: A Lead PM with MSN Spaces.  He talks about updates and insights into what's going on in the world of Spaces.  Good stuff.
• Michael Connolly: The Group PM for MSN Spaces.  He's Mike's boss (at least that's what Mike says in his blog) and also provides several insights into MSN Spaces.
• Scott Isaacs: An architect with MSN Spaces. 
• Ryan Parsell: A software design engineer with MSN Spaces.
• Dare Obasanjo: Yet another Spaces guru!
• Jason Antonelli: Dev manager for MSN Spaces. Yet another good source for info on Spaces.
• Paul Elliotti: A PM with the MSN Web Platform group (according to MC's blog).  Some interesting and funny stuff about MSN in general.

Let me take a minute to introduce myself.  My name is Tod and I've been working in IT since 1999 (officially).  I was a part-time sys-admin for a small accounting firm in Mount Vernon, WA in the late 90's while I was also a full time public accountant at the same firm (my college degree is actually in Accounting from the University of Houston - Clear Lake). What can I say, but I followed the typical career path of an IT engineer...how many of you out there just happened to be the guy in the office who could 'fix it' when it came to computers?  That was me, so the partners in my firm asked me to run the network while also handling my responsibilities as a staff accountant.  As it turns out I hate public accounting and really liked learning technology.  :)  It was only ~15 hosts on a Cat 3 network running a Netware 3.12 server.  I did that for a few years before deciding to follow my little brother into the world of Microsoft and IT officially.

I have been in/with Microsoft since October 1999. Again, I followed a somewhat typical career path as far as Microsoft goes.  I was a vendor for a few years, moved to a contract position for a short period and finally became a full time employee.  All of my positions have been in Operations which means that basically my job has always been to 'get shit done' and 'keep it running.'

Over the years I've learned several handy things about Windows NT, W2K, SQL, T-SQL, Batch-scripting, WSH scripting, VBscript, IIS, Active Directory, ASP.Net and a few other areas I'm sure I just can't think of right now.    I consider myself a Jack-of-All-Trades-Master-of-None.  Obviously that's a double-edged sword since I can work on/with just about anything in our environment, but am often not considered the 'area specialist.'  As I said above, it often results in simply meaning that I'm the guy that just gets the shit done.  I don't spend a lot of time pontificating on all of the possibilities and theories regarding the most efficient method of resolving an issue, but typically balance efficiency with speed and necessity to reach a desired result. 

So there you have it, my job in a nutshell.  :) 

My intention here is to discuss some current issues I see in our environments and how I/we handle them so that others can hopefully glean something from the learning process I go through each and every day here at Microsoft.  As I said, I'm not an expert in any area, but I do know quite a few who are and am often able to point people in the right direction to get their questions answered.  I will be adding relevant technical links along with some fun sites to cruise on your down time.  Maybe I'll even throw up some funny pics when I get a chance.  

Peace!  :)