Although I don't play near as often as I used to [having small children will do that] I still love my original Xbox. In fact, I just finished Splinter Cell: Double Agent this past weekend. I've mentioned before that I haven't been ready to make the leap to the Xbox 360 for a few reasons:

• Time. This is my number one reason. I just don't make the time for gaming that I used to. At 15-25 hours/week you might say I was a bit obsessed a few years ago.
• I don't have an HDTV [yet] hence no real visual benefit.
• Price point is still a bit high [imho].
• Price point on the games [$60 each] is also tough to swallow.
• After putting myself on a budget, my allocated gaming funds aren't near as high as they used to be so I tend to be a bit of a penny-pincher. Original Xbox games are quite reasonably priced now.

Yesterday they announced the Xbox 360 Elite. A new version of the Xbox 360 that adds a larger hard drive [primarily for Xbox Live Marketplace downloads], a HDMI port/cable for high definition video and comes in black. Check out this 5 minute video at On10 for some good pictures and explanations.

This happens to come at an opportune time. I was already planning on [finally] upgrading to a high definition LCD this summer/fall. I think it might also be time for me to upgrade to the Xbox 360...Elite.

~tod

ps: especially since there's this little-known game slated to come out sometime in 2007.

tags: xbox360

I just read an article in this April's Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Do you talk too much? by Marty Nemko. In fact, here's a slightly altered version of the article on Marty's site [probably due to copyright/publishing issues with Kiplinger's].

There is some good advice in the article, but the main thing that caught my attention was the traffic-light rule of thumb.

During the first 30 seconds, the light is green and your listener probably isn't bored. During the next 30 seconds, the light is yellow - your risk of annoying the listener increases. Look for a place to stop. After 60 seconds, the light is red. There may be rare times when you should run a red light - for example, when you're sharing a fascinating anecdote - but, usually, you'd better stop.

Marty also gives an interesting Fran Lebowitz quote: "There is no listening. There's just waiting for the other person to stop talking."

This is why I like writing/blogging. If you don't like what I'm saying [writing] you can click on that little X up in the top right corner to make me shut up...and my feelings won't be hurt. 

~tod

BlogCoward - Word of the Day [by no means will this become a series...just part of a post title]

Scott Bellware gives his definition for a word most-likely straight from his own imagination, not too mention experience:

A member of the blogosphere who hides his identity when posting comments to a blog post.  One of the vilest examples of recent genetic variations of blogger subspecies, this aberrant mutation sheds his cajones during gestation and subsequently develops an inability to stand behind his words.  This carrion-munching bottom feeder can be identified by its yellow abdomen and its distinctive call which often makes the BlogCoward sound as if he is vocalizing while running away.

Too funny. I might have gone more for something like NoCajonesCommentor or NeuteredJoe. 

~tod

note: I corrected Scott's spelling mistakes...because I'm just that way.

I don't get to the movies much [preferring my home theater setup], but tonight I caught Frank Miller's 300. Damn good flick. Of course, lots of blood and gore...not something I'd recommend for a date movie.

~tod

tags: 300

I watched Batman Begins this weekend. A good flick, probably the best of the series since the first Batman with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Although, Michelle Pfeiffer is a worthy reason to see Batman Returns.

This morning I read WaiterRant's latest post, Failed. He describes a scenario where an 8 year old says that waiter failed when he made a mistake on which side order came with the father's meal. The father is an obvious perfectionist and waiter goes on to describe having previously worked in adolescent psych [I'm not sure in what capacity] with children of well-to-do, perfectionist parents having such high expectations. The kids were often under so much parental pressure yet without the necessary support that they fell "prey to self destructive behaviors." Using the word failed seems so much larger and more powerful than mistake, hence the increased pressure this boy was probably experiencing from his parents. Just a guess, but it makes sense. Waiter goes on to say that "anxiety and failure comes for us all eventually. Why rush things?" I agree and how we handle those anxieties and failures can be taught early in life.

Which brings me back to Batman Begins. As I was watching it, there was a line early in the film where Thomas [the father] said to young Bruce and later Alfred repeated to him as a man. The line was supposed to grab your attention and it certainly worked on me...

And why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Similarly, we make mistakes so we can learn from them. Remember that, not only with your children, but with everyone else in your life.

~tod

note to self: remember this quote for my daughter in a few years.

Today is my last day working in Windows Live Operations, excuse me...Global Foundation Services [fancy new name announced a few months ago]. Speaking of why do we always have to add words/syllables when we rename things here at Microsoft? Does bigger mean better? If it takes me 1.75 seconds longer to say it, does it make a bigger impact? Anyway, I won't be saying "I work in Ops, um, Global Foundation Services" any longer.

It's been a long run for me in the world of Ops. I started in October of 1999 as a system administrator monitoring the servers in our data centers. I dabbled with DBA work for a little while. Then system engineering for several years supporting the MSN Live Security team. Finally, I spent the last two years as a software developer for the Live Security team working on several internal applications. Some designed from scratch and some dealing with inherited legacy code [fun stuff there].

It's been a good run for me. I know a few people in Operations that have been here longer than me, but not many. Operations is a stressful place to work because you're responsible for running the internet services that all of Microsoft and our partners rely on 24x7x365. There are no days off. You might not be in the office, but you still have your cell phone and your laptop with you 'just in case' something goes to shit. People who haven't worked in Ops typically just don't get it [what we have to do to keep things online], but those who have can make a huge impact in other areas of the business.

That's where I'm headed...another area. I have accepted an offer to be a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDE/T) with the Excel Services team in Office.

Just in case you're asking yourself, "what is an SDE/T?" [often shortened to SDET, without the slash]:

• It's a bit short, but here's a good summary from the College Careers site (link).
• Zoe [who used to be a recruiter for Microsoft] gives a very detailed description from the recruiter's perspective (link).
• Sara Ford [who used to be an SDET with Visual Studio and has written more than 100 tips for using VS!] has an interesting reply to Zoe's post where she describes 3 Days in the Life of an SDET.

This is a great career move for me. Being a developer in Operations is not easy. Being a relatively new, self-taught developer in Operations [like me] is damn near impossible [in my opinion].  I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ops is all about getting shit fixed when it's broken [check out Dare's thoughts on getting rid of operations]. That mentality makes it really difficult for our development teams to maintain and follow a standard Software Development Lifecycle (SDL). Even following AGILE processes with short cycles [4-8 weeks] is extremely challenging without getting derailed by the latest fire-fight. I believe that moving to an established organization like Office will give me the structure and continuity I need to really flourish and take my skills to the next level.

Not only that, but I'm excited to be joining the Excel Services team. They just shipped version 1 with Office 2007 and are vetting/designing the v2 features as we speak. The product has tons of potential and it's a really exciting time to be working on it!

There you have it...my new chapter @ Microsoft.

update: I removed some of my personal opinions from this post. I do not want to confuse anyone who might take them as prophecy.

~tod

As I logged into my Live Hotmail account this morning, the MSN Today page highlighted this article: Credit card companies' evil tricks. That caught my attention.

It's a pretty quick read and talks about mysterious interest rate changes, late fees, credit reports and a few other good things to know. I suggest you take the 5 minutes to read it...even if it's just a refresher. What caught my attention specifically though was the suggestion to set up automatic payments to avoid late fees and interest.

I have been banking online for years and am quite used to the processes, but had never setup automatic payments because I like to know when & where my money is going. For years I have also used a single credit card that was racking up Alaska Airline miles. Easy enough...I would get my bill in the mail [I like to keep paper records] and pay it in full by the due date. I get to float my money for 30 days interest free and rack up 1,000-2,000 miles per month.

Well, I recently changed to a Chase Amazon.com VISA [1% cash back used at Amazon.com] and in setting up the account I accidentally selected paperless statements [nothing comes in the mail]. Oops. I missed my first payment in January and got slapped with a $39 late fee and roughly $20 in interest. I found this out when checking my card activity online and immediately submitted an electronic payment for the balance in full. Their customer service was extremely nice when I called and said I never received my statement which is why I missed the payment due date. They refunded all of the fees and interest. Thumbs up on customer sat.

It was then I realized why I might not have received my statement. Sure enough, when I checked online I was setup with the paperless option. There went my monthly payment reminder! Ok, fixed that.

Anyway, this article brought up a great option for me. Set up automatic payments for the minimum amount due! In theory, I'll never need this to happen because I pay off the balance in full every month. But...and we all know that butts happen, in case I don't make the payment in time this option will at least prevent me from being slapped with a $39 late fee!

~tod

tags: money, credit+cards

Yet another reason why I like working at Microsoft. This morning Steve Berkowitz sent out a company wide email announcing the i'm making a difference campaign. From the site:

i’m is a new initiative from Windows Live™ Messenger. Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. We've set no cap on the amount we'll donate to each organization. The sky's the limit.

All you have to do is be using the latest version of Live Messenger, change your display name to include a special code that specifies your charity [see pic below] and keep talking.

The organizations participating are:  American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, National AIDS Fund, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Ninemillion.org, Sierra Club, StopGlobalWarming.org, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and U. S. Fund for UNICEF.

My step-mother has MS, so that's my charity of choice. Any one of them is worthy though...so pick one and go for it!

~tod

tags: messenger, i'm+making+a+difference, charity