My own bottom 10

Mary Jo Foley writes about Microsoft's 10 biggest mistakes. Man, does she miss some big ones! Here's my version:

1. Bob 2.0: The original Bob was actually worthy of respect insofar as it was totally different. When it flopped, though, why bother with 2.0? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result.
2. NetDocs: Oh my God, what a giant cluster this one was.
3. WinFS: Blech
4. Origami: Hey, here's a cool "stealth" launch. Isn't Microsoft cool like Apple? Oh, it isn't at all cool or useful? Well, uh, never mind.
5. Mira: A monitor that you carry around with you! How ... dumb.
6. Windows ME: Shame on us.
7. That MS Floppy Disk Picture thing: Believe it or not, years after the last time you ever remember even thinking about recalling a 3.5" floppy disk, MS comes out with a 3.5" floppy disk reader that hooks directly up to your TV so you can show pictures. As if your digital camera didn't come with a cable that would do this that you just threw away when you opened the box.
8. Cairo / Blackcomb / Longhorn / Vista: A sad, sad progression of really cool slide decks getting progressively more real and less interesting
9. Whatever version of MSN I worked on: I can't even remember what it was, but the installation CD (yes, an install CD, we just had to copy AOL), played a little song that featured the lyric, "It's just too stupid to stop." And indeed it would have been, but it did stop ... stopped selling.
10. Skull: Few people know about this attempt to make a Microsoft version of Doom ... in fact, this may be the only mention of it in history.

I'm finally interesting (your mileage may vary)

My photo "Space Needle, 10 o'clock" made it to Flickr's "Explore Interestingness" pages (meaning that it has been marked "interesting" because of the number of views and number of people who marked it as a favorite)!

Trailer Park Boys

One of the best shows ever is "Trailer Park Boys," but because it is Canadian, I figure few people have seen it (although sometimes it is on BBC America, but that's still a limited audience). So I was surprised to see the guitarist for Cheap Trick wearing a Trailer Park Boys T-shirt on his recent Howard Stern appearance!

Too bad for you, Mike!

Now here's a headline: Men with older brothers more likely to be gay ...

Dave gets Lost

Dave gets Lost
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I was just in a huge plane crash on a strange island, and I couldn't be happier!

This probably would have looked better if it was a Photoshop, but it isn't -- it was taken in front of a blue screen at the Vancouver Jazz Festival, where CTV would let you stand in front of a scene from any CTV show (You think Lost is an ABC show? Filthy American!)

Dunkin' Donuts

_DSC3429
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

We went to Canada -- see the action on our Flickr set.

This should have happened years ago

WinFS is dead. Finally. ... Dealing with WinFS was a big reason why I left Project M oh so long ago. The really nice thing about my last project at MS was that it had no dependencies whatsoever, so no dead weight like WinFS to drag it down.

Of course, my last project at MS is also dead now, too!!! Last week, the PAX team lost its funding and all the employees were scattered to the various winds inside of MS. Kind of sad ... they were a good bunch of folks, and were nice enough to invite me to the "PAX Wake" at Rock Bottom last week.

I'm linked in

Are you? As our friend Beth once said, "Social networking sites are like Pokemon for People! Collect 'em all."

You can collect me here.

I think I'm "pro" on this issue

Amazon sells "Anti Monkey Butt."

Been there, done that, bought the clock

Get your own Seattle 360 Wall Clock at the Dave's Stuff Store! Thanks for the idea, Mike!

Space Needle, 10 o'clock

Space Needle, 10 o'clock
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I just made this variation of the photo that serves as my blog's logo ... neat, eh?

I'm far from the only one thinking Steve's time is past

Robert X. Cringley pipes in on the subject of Bill leaving and how Steve should go, too. And I really have to agree with the quote from Jeff Angus in that article. And it's not just a PBS pundit saying this ... Business 2.0 agrees as well.

Even The Colbert Report pointed out that it isn't safe to put your money in Steve's pockets (see the Monday, 6/19/2006 show)!

Microserf and GenX no more

16-06-06_1206.jpg
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Laurel and I saw Douglas Coupland today at Amazon ... he was talking about his new book JPod.

Can you take Steve with you?

Gates is leaving MS (in two years) to work on his charity projects -- and I thought WinFS was his charity project! (ba-da-dum).

Of course, I definitely benefitted from Bill's charity for 10 years at Microsoft ;-), but he does far more good for far more people at his real foundation.

Drowning

For at least a few minutes today (not sure what will happen by the end of the day, as the market has a few more hours to go), every share of MSFT granted to employees since 1998 until 2002 (when grants ended) was "underwater." The decision to hold on to my last bit of stock grants, rather than sell them the day I gave notice, turned out to be a huge mistake (unless something big happens in the next month). Oh well.

After-market update: $21.46 is yet another 52-week-low. Wow!

MSFT @ $21.70

Yet another 52-week low for MSFT. What the heck is going on? I know that many people can't care that Scoble is leaving.

I second that!

I've had more than 1000 thoughts on my "A penny for your thoughts" project. But today I finally received one that I could have written myself:

Right now I'm watching the movie, Bring It On on the USA Network. I love this movie. It is a great feel good, fun movie starring Kirsten Dunst. I will recommend this movie to anyone, even if you don't like cheerleading. I give it a 4.5/5. Tune in now!

Well said! Except, 4.5? How about 5! Or 10!!!

MSFT @ $21.89

Another banner day for SteveB and crew! I wouldn't care, except that I have a bunch of MSFT stock I need to dump before August ... it better start getting hot in July ...

Get your piece of the pi

Want 1.57% off every purchase on Amazon.com? It's easy -- just use A9 instead of "that other search engine" and you get "a piece of pi" ... as in, 1.57 is half of the number pi.

1. Go to A9.com
2. If you are not already recognized by name, click on the "Sign On" link on the top right hand side of page.
3. Use your Amazon.com User Name and Password to sign in
4. Join the Instant Reward program on A9.com
5. Make sure you are signed in every time you use A9.com
6. Search!

MSFT @ $21.98

Thanks, Steve!

Amazon rocks -- well, UPS, I guess, actually

I ordered my iPod last night, and it came this morning (unfortunately after I had already left for work, otherwise I could have watched the Jay and Jack Lost Vidcast on the bus). I had picked 2-day shipping but it ended up showing up overnight! Cool!

I have to keep pretending to type because someone is washing my window right now and I don't want to look over at him or have him think I'm not working. Creepy.