A lot can happen in seven years . Nice to receive a cake, as it were... I received several notes and a couple of IMs today congratulating me on my anniversary, as today is my 7-year anniversary at Microsoft, a little less than a third of my career. So...

I get the question a lot on sleep vs. hibernate (and as noted in a recent post ), and it came up today in a discussion. "I'm confused by the different selections I have in the Start menu... when should I use Sleep and Hibernate to turn off my computer...

The news is buzzing with Dell's announcement to close their retail kiosks ... "As Dell's Global Consumer business continues to evolve, the company today announced that it will close its 140 kiosks in the United States. "The Dell Direct Store model, which...

This isn't hot news, but it is news, finding its way to my mailbox today. Alex Serpo at CNET reports here on MSN Tech & Gadgets that Stanford assistant professor Yi Cui found a tenfold Improvement in battery life... "Stanford University researchers...

Carol Sarler of the Times in the UK asks that after she "had six questionnaires to fill in last week... does anyone care what my opinion is?" "It was only a coffee and a glass of indifferent wine, shared with a friend on last Thursday's soggy afternoon...

Today in the Journal , Robert Guth reports that Bill Gates called for a revision of capitalism at the World Economic Forum 2008 in Davos, Switzerland, what Bill referred to as "creative capitalism" in his speech today ... "In a speech at the World Economic...

You may be used to seeing the Windows Vista user experience in a shade of blue. (Well, it looks blue.) Now it comes in red. Nick on the Windows Vista blog has a post on an announcement with Dell and (RED), to be made this at Davos. You can see for yourself...

Had lunch with my friend, Angela, from the MOSS team last week, and she remembered the Halo-ween costume we designed and built for Max. I explained that we're always embarking on some new crafty project with the boys, whether its costumes or custom code...

BusinessWeek has a short photo overview of their top product picks from CES ... PC-to-TV is starting to grow up, and Microsoft turns a marketing gaffe into a clever pitch. Plus, Alienware's astonishing surround-screen visuals BW also selected Windows...

Off to a quick lunch, but first a posting of some of the articles in my reading pile, courtesy of del.icio.us . Keep in mind that many of the descriptions are taken directly from the articles. Macworld 2008 coverage (CNET News) - By CNET staff, 1/15/2008...

This weekend will mark another interesting milestone in Time and Date, oone that actually doesn't occur for thirty more years, in 2038. Also known as the 'Friday the 13th' bug, the 2038 issue is due to the way 32-bit systems note time in seconds rather...

A quick public service announcement: if you haven't backed up your Windows Vista PC recently , now's a good time... Now, just before lunch and after navigating icy streets to work (this is Redmond, not Fargo...) I have a quick update from NPR on the latest...

(Note: info on the release version of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is available here. This article discusses whether or not you should install a service pack directly from the Microsoft Download Center or wait for installation via Microsoft Windows Update...

(Note: info on the release version of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is available here. This article discusses whether or not you should install a service pack directly from the Microsoft Download Center or wait for installation via Microsoft Windows Update...

Turns out I'm not the only one concerned about the digital TV transition in the States. Ina notes that Best Buy's CEO, Brad Anderson, said that the digital TV transition "posed the biggest threat to his industry, warning of the dangers if consumers...

In case you've been off mail for the last half hour, Reuters just reported that Jeff Raikes , the leader of the business division (including Office, Sharepoint, Exchange software) "and one of [Microsoft's] longest-serving executives" will retire from...

Lunch time post: check out PCMag.com's CES 2008 Photo Blog , PC Magazine's "slideshow of the sights and technology on display at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. It would be nigh-on impossible to explain the vastness of this year's Consumer Electronics...

Quick post between meetings. Here's a link to the gizmodo interview with Bill Gates ... In our third interview segment, we asked Bill what's on his mind when he wakes up in the morning, and what he's still worried about when he goes to bed at night. At...

Missed one of the last five episodes (or all five) of your favourite TV show? Perhaps you're hanging out at CES looking at the differences between Blu-Ray and HD DVD, and you didn't get back to your hotel on the strip to catch a live broadcast. Well,...

CNET's CES 2008 coverage in Las Vegas has an article covering today's keynote. In it, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that in the future, the Internet will provide more than you get today, providing "the information you want, when you want it, how you want...

A quick note: Thanks to Toby for sending over a link to this video clip from BillG’s keynote last night, with a look to the future: his last day at the office. (Friends on my concall right now should enjoy this one. ;) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...

Bill Gates shows off 15 new 'fashion computers' with everything to custom cases and colours to one from Medion with enough bling worthy of any A-lister in tinsel town. Of interest is the uniquely designed (totally tubular) Moneual Lab I*magine Ultimate...

Bloggers and the press are out in force at CES in Las Vegas, tonite covering Bill Gates' keynote at CES 2008 . You can find several entries listed here . Check out video coverage at Microsoft's CES site and on Microsoft PressPass . [More on the keynote...

I enjoy Angus Logan's blog , in particular, a recent post on what to do when you're drowning in email . But his new post calls out a great function on how to use Live Search to tell the time in <random city you have no idea where> . "I always find...

As much as I prefer to shop at the lowest price, reputable e-tailer for many things, Amazon is one of the places I trust to always have a great customer experience. I still wander around local bookstores and buy books in person (you never know what you...