"So, a booth babe and a geek walk in to a bar..."

And then something bad happened.

You might recall that I've been excited to attend our partner summit in Zhu Hai, China, to hang out with my team and our partners. 

I got back online in Hong Kong yesterday after my mini-break to learn that my manager missed her China flights, so I'd be doing her presentation at the summit. She's really organized and reliable and I know she felt awful about it; I sent her some 'don't worry, it happens, buck up' messages and headed to catch the ferry from Hong Kong to the mainland, for the meeting.

And then something bad happened. 

In the cab, one of my colleagues pointed out that my China visa had a conspicuous black marker line through the middle of it; that, in fact:

• My visa was a single entry visa
• I'd used that single entry for my mini-break
• And I couldn't go to China again for the meeting.

Even though Hong Kong is now (as of late 90s, right?) back to China, it's still pretty separate for all practical purposes in the travel department. Apparently. You go through immigration, get stamped, etc. when going between the two, and you have to a multiple entry visa to go back and forth. I think I knew this but just didn't put it all together when jumping through all the visa application hoops in getting ready for this trip.

So I'm back at my hotel in Hong Kong, feeling like a total dumbass and reading a 'don't worry, it happens, buck up' message from my manager, while someone else has to do our presentations. I've applied for a new, express visa and if it shows up in a few hours, I'll make it to Zhu Hai tonight in time for some late night karaoke and some stuff tomorrow. I feel just sick about it, havnig come all this way. It's so dumb. And no amount of dim sum or tea served in pots is making me feel any better.   

Ye Olde Smart Pill

I never told you who won the SPARK contest I was on about earlier. 'Twas Doug Conn, creator of the 'Smart Pill' medication dispenser, who took home the honors and the $15,000 grand prize. I think that's great. Here's a story about the announcement and Doug and Jason, the runner up. I think they'll both be in LA for TechEd, as Windows Embedded guests, so maybe we can meet them. And maybe we can ask Doug to give us some money. 

Or pills. 

Those both seem like good things to have in LA.

New Favorite Device

Get on the Bus

I'm sure you've all seen this '3 butts, 1 seat' scenario to decide who gets to go on the Get on the Bus Microsoft Learning trip to TechEd? I think it's very cute. And J's is my favorite. That guy.

Mini-Poll: Hilarity v. Nausea

If you were to see a profile photo like this

(in someone's TechEd Connect profile, for example) what would you think is happening? Would you think they were:

  A. Covering their mouth in a fit of hilarity
  B. Being suffocated from behind by a mysterious attacker
  C. Fighting to control nausea

Please let me know what you think.

Eating Cup-o-Noodle in LA

I’ll be in Los Angeles, California for TechEd 2009, doing Embedded things instead of certification things this year. I'm glad it worked out that I still get to go. I know travel budget is a killer for most people this year, but I hope to see you anyway, even if you're sleeping on the show-floor, eating cup-o-noodle, and carrying your swag around in a kerchief tied to a stick.

We (Windows Embedded) are doing two full-day, deep-dive seminars for experienced embedded developers as part of the TechEd precons. If that's you, you can learn more here. Our presenters are people like Doug Boling and my friend Dion (see Figure 1), who is funny. Everyone who attends the precon takes home a development board and a package of our software, which is cool.

 Figure 1.

If you are not an embedded developer but want to learn about it, you can come visit our booth or go to one of the 12+ sessions in our track and meet my nice team.

Go to the TechEd Schedule Builder and click on the Windows Embedded track to find all of our stuff, including a three-parter in which my colleague Olivier teaches you how to build a digital picture frame all by your lonesome. Something you might like to know is that Olivier's voicemail message is in French. So, if you call him and he is not there, it is a fun little French surprise and you don't know what he is saying! It's possible that he's saying, "this is Olivier, please leave a message," but you really can't be sure; it's all very mysterious.*

In any case, if you're headed to LA, you should plan to attend WEM305: Building a Picture Frame, Part 1: Build the OS Using Windows Embedded CE, Olivier Bloch.

Windows Embedded CE is a 32-bit, real-time componentized OS designed to build small footprint, power conscious devices. During this session, learn the fundamentals of Windows Embedded CE and see how to use the tools to build a picture frame. From the Operating System designing up to the deployment on a real target, you will see demonstrated all the steps of a Windows CE device development. After this session you will not resist trying the tools to build your own customized picture frame!

See you soon, hopefully.
Trika

*Unless, say, you speak French.

The Home Brain System, among other things

A lot of Windows Embedded people will be at Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) next week, in San Jose, California. Have you heard of this ESC? It is one of the main conferences for people what work on embedded things. I’m not going, because I’ll be on vacation.

Don’t mind me, vacationing my head off.

But back to business. I went to the last ESC event, it was held in Boston, Mass. right when I started this job. My contribution was to stand at the booth and look anxious. It was fun, though, hearing what the attendees were working on—not all Windows Embedded projects, just any kind of embedded anything. One guy was making a little spy ball you can throw somewhere (like around a corner or in a window) and when it lands it immediately takes 360-degree photos and sends the scene to a little machine I’m holding hundreds of yards away, looking furtive in a trench coat and white sneakers, trying to figure out what the H you're up to.

But seriously, back to business. The most fun thing of all the things Windows Embedded is doing at ESC is letting attendees vote for the winner of a hobbyist contest we’ve been running. The winner takes home $15,000, which, in the current economic climate, is nothing to sneeze at. In the contest, people from all over the place submitted ideas about what home-automation-y device they could make with Windows Embedded, and then we sent the likely contenders a kit with all the stuff they needed, for free, and then they made things. Finalists to report include:

• The Smart Pill: An intelligent medication dispenser that combines disparate technologies into a machine that recognizes a patient’s medications, understands the pharmaceutical information, and helps the user take the correct medication at the right time.
• Home Brain System (HBS): A central nervous system that manages network-enabled devices in the home, allowing them to function together based on the occupants’ wants and needs.
• Computing at a Glance: Extends ambient computing into a natural, two-way interface through eye motion and a few simple, natural gestures.

We're flying those finalists to San Jose to demo their devices on stage... and the winner will be sent to TechEd, too. Fancy. You can check out the other submissions on the contest site. I like this little training buddy submission the most, where the computer tells you how great you are all the time.

If I won $15,000, I would just pay people to tell me how great I am all the time.

Everybody makes mistakes

Yesterday, right before my mid-year performance review with my manager, I spilled hot coffee ON my manager.

<Update, March 27> Manager unharmed/I still have a job. Appreciate your concern!

keep up, lady.

This morning I parked in the 117 garage and rode the elevator to the 3rd floor.

Soon after, I made my way to the first floor of building 119, which is, as you might recall, where I work. 

Settled in to the Ivory Tower

And by ivory tower, I mean first-floor, putty-walled offices on 148^th in Redmond, Washington. The movers did their usual slick job getting all the things plugged in to the right outlet in the right office and I’m all settled in to 119. It’s office 1274, should you wish to call on me.

The move is good, I think. Our engineering and marketing teams are all in the same building now (this might annoy the engineers but YT thinks its good for business). Another reason for the move was to get more space for our team, so I’m back with my own office again. And, an unexpected treat, I ended up with a lovely slice of window again. Another unexpected treat, my window faces a construction site for one of the new buildings going up, so the view is all hard-hats and tool-belts, if you know what I mean.

But really. It does not escape my notice that I have a job, smart co-workers, and interesting work—not to mention a warm office, compostable flatware, and a selection of teas—in a time when not everyone is in the same boat... I'm not too worried about where my chair is. So move us all you want, Microsoft!

In fact, I’ll just leave all my stuff in my crates, so I’m ready to move again at a moment’s notice. Just to be clear, I’m not leaving my stuff in my crates because I’m lazy. It is for readiness purposes only.

Stop Clicking Your Pen

I'm in a coffee shop trying to get some work done, and the woman next to me is clicking her pen maniacally. I'm losing my reason. What do you do with this? Microsoft public relations training--where they teach you to respond to even the most offensive question or trying situation with a smile and a cookie--did not address the freakish-pen-clicker scenario. I need to work! I have half of my coffee left! There are no other seats!

What would Robbie Bach do?

Robbie Bach probably got the deluxe PR training, where they DID cover this.

I'm losing my reason, people.

Saints preserve us.

Windows Embedded is a part of Microsoft

I’d like to blog about my new gig, but I don’t really know very much. But maybe you know less than I do? So I’ve decided to share tiny, semi-accurate nuggets of Windows Embedded-related information with you.

Nugget 1. Windows Embedded is a part of Microsoft.

It is the part that makes operating systems for devices.

It is not the same part that makes mobile O/S. Some people think that it is the same part, but it is not. We used to be Mobile and Embedded Devices. But now, there’s Windows Embedded (that’s what I do) and Mobile (I do not do this).

Nugget 2. Embedded operating systems are in devices that need little operating systems!

Devices like:

• Check-out systems at the grocery store or a department store
• Manufacturing things like remote controllers or monitoring devices
• Robots*
• Bits that control your fridge, or other stuff in your house
• Fancy printers
• Thin clients
• ATM machines or any other kind of kiosk (like at a tradeshow booth or remote village payment processing station or anything else)
• Music players—from little ones to digital juke boxes
• GPS or nav devices
• Medical things like a portable sonogram machine or medical implants (this is different than breast implants, which, as far as I know, do not need operating systems)
• Digital picture frames
• Digital pants (good point, Tim!)

Nugget 3. My cousin is an embedded engineer.

He lives in California and he’s real, real smart.

Talk to you soon. Your friend,
Trika

*Last weekend I went to a bridge tournament and a 14 year old, who is likely a better player than YT, was telling me about his robotics challenge thing he’s in where they’re building robot carts or something as part of some state contest. Because of my new job I knew to ask, “What platform are you building on?” and he said, “Windows” and I nodded and asked a few intelligent follow-up questions (this was a “win,” since it is really important to me to look good in front of adolescents I’ve never met before nor will ever meet again). After the robots exchange, I took off quickly lest he start talking about bridge and endanger my feeling of superiority.

What makes you an MCP influencer?

I just got an e-mail from my friend Ian in Microsoft Learning; he wanted me to let you know that there's a new Second Shot-and-career-assistance offer on now. Check it.

In related news, here is an old MSL photo I just came across; I think the banner in the background is funny.

Q&A

Q. What makes you an MCP Influencer?
A. Um, my 'maneater' t-shirt?

Keep your grubby mitts off of my crates

Everyone is running around scrounging for packing crates because we have to be moved out of our offices by 3pm today. My team, the Windows Embedded team, is moving from building 117 to building 119, so I'm packing up. Building 119, I'll have you know, is exactly like building 117, but 30 yards north.

No one has enough crates!

If you were the proprietor of a crate-rental service in building 117 today, you would be making bank.

Steady chasing paper

I’m still here working at Microsoft Corp. Do you guys still have jobs? We lost a friend from the Tick. I’m no economist, but I'll tell you that it probably sucks if you lose your job. I hope you, especially those of you in countries who are getting the worst side of this thing, are doing OK.

Is this a stupid post? Who cares what i hope for Team World Economy, I just work in marketing and drink a lot of tea. But I do care, actually. So I stand by it.

Hello, customers and partners and co-workers. I hope you still have jobs.

Your friend,
Trika