Richard's Reveries and Rantings: Computers and Internet

Funny Bill Gates Keynote at CES:

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:25:38 GMT

People love to bash Bill G, but there's no denying the positive impact that this individual has had on the world, both through his work at Microsoft as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its will be a momentous day when he gives up his full time gig at Microsoft. Imagine what it would feel like to leave the company that you've built from scratch and led for over 30 years.

Here is a really funny parody of himself that he introduced at the 2008 CES Keynote today.

New Beginnings at Fraudwall Technologies

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:07:43 GMT

Last month, I decided to leave behind a great job as a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail group for a very small, stealthy start-up called Fraudwall Technologies. Working at Hotmail was an incredible experience. I got to work with some truly intelligent and passionate folks, launch a product that impacted more people than the population of the US, dogfood some of the coolest technologies before they ever hit the market, chat with Bill Gates at a BBQ in his backyard, and watch as an insider some of the most exciting launches in Microsoft's history (Halo 2, Xbox360, Zune, Vista, Office2007, and of course Windows Live Hotmail). So why leave this all behind?

I've always had an interest in being an entrepreneur. And while Microsoft offered some "entrepreneurial like" opportunities, nothing beats the real thing. When I was presented with the chance to join Fraudwall as the Director of Product Management and Marketing, I seized it with both hands. Fraudwall has a rockstar team, and is working on an incredibly audacious business plan to become the source of truth for online click fraud.

So what is click fraud? In simple terms, click fraud is when a person, organization, or machine clicks on "pay per click" ads with no interest in the product or service being advertised. Instead, they do so for personal monetary gain or to cause monetary loss.

Examples are as follows.

Imagine that I make money by placing advertisements on my blog (for example, the ads to the left of this blog post). Whenever a user clicks on one of those ads, I make a few cents. Every once in a while, I may click on some ads on my site and generate a couple of bucks per month. Now assume that I hire a bunch of low cost labor in Russia to spend a few hours every day clicking on the ads on my page... now I'm making hundreds of bucks. Finally, imagine that I hook up with a bot master who creates a virus that installs click bots onto innocent computers which click on thousands of my advertisements per month. Now my hundreds of bucks turn into thousands!
Or imagine a smaller scale example. Company A sells mortgages in San Francisco. Company B does a search for "mortgages in San Francisco" and realizes that Company A is spending lots of money to beat Company B in the sponsored search results. So Company B clicks on a bunch of Company A's ads, which in turn eat through Company B's marketing budget.

So how big of a problem is click fraud? No one really knows but its covered in the news more and more over the past year. Estimates range from as low as 0.02% (as reported by Google) to as high as 34% (as reported by the China IntelliConsulting Corp on China's largest search provider: Baidu). But everyone agrees that online advertising will continue its explosive growth rate (estimates show online ad spend in the US will reach $37B by 2011). And as that pie grows, so will click fraud's piece of that pie.

I'm confident that Fraudwall will truly be a game changer in online advertising. We have a brilliant team working on the problem, an investor and advisor board comprised of the movers and shakers in silicon valley, and some early traction with key beta partners. I'm psyched for what lies ahead!

Windows Live Hotmail Launches Worldwide

Sat, 12 May 2007 15:08:12 GMT

Wow, what a week. We finally launched the new version of Hotmail on Monday! Whooohoo!!! Check out my video debut on Channel 10.

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of coverage we've gotten. Here is a quick rundown of some good stuff (thanks to our PR agency WaggEd).

We had a signature story with Ina Fried in CNET and another great one in eWeek.
Associated Press picked us up and wrote a story which was picked up in 67 separate news outlets including the NYT, WSJ, USA Today, SF Chronicle, etc.
34 total TV stations ran stories about the Windows Live Hotmail launch. Here's one from Action News on WTAE Pittsburgh.

And a few favorite quotes:

“Hotmail, perhaps the first major success of Web 1.0, has evolved.” – Duncan Riley, TechCrunch
“In the end, when it comes to communicating with the people I care most about, I'm currently split between Microsoft and Google, but in my particular case, it's pretty clear that Microsoft ultimately wins out… And Windows Live Hotmail looks like it's ready for the next decade. Highly recommended.” – Paul Thurrott, Windows IT Pro
“Compared to the old Hotmail, the new version is a million times better--its storage quota is far higher, at 2 gigabytes; it's much easier to view and file messages; and your account no longer gets deactivated if you forget to check it for two months. Windows users will also soon be able to try out free software to synchronize their Hotmail accounts to their PCs for offline use...” – Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post

In addition to the great coverage, we've also released some hilarious promotional videos. You can find them at http://newlivehotmail.com/.

Here is my favorite... notice the "supsicious male" warning:

My Impersonal Blog

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:29:43 GMT

So I've decided to start another blog, more out of necessity than anything else. You can find it at www.simrichard.com

You may have noticed a few weeks ago that I restricted access to this blog (www.richardsim.com) to only those whom I knew and those who could log in to Spaces. I did that because I was getting lots of random visitors to my blog through the Mail Call blog, and I didn't feel comfortable with so many random people reading about the musiings of my family and friends. The draw back was that the #1 listing for "Richard Sim" on Google read, "Space Not Available: The space you are trying to view might not exist or access to it may be restricted"

That sucked since most people assumed that my personal blog was down. So now I've opened it up to the world, and created an "impersonal" blog as well, which contains my reveries and rantings about technology, my job, and other, more "impersonal" topics. Feel free to take a look at my latest posting, "Ouch, I wonder who got fired for this one" at www.simrichard.com.

Windows Live Mail is HOT!

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 00:49:53 GMT

Wow, its been ages since I've blogged so the next few posts will hopefully catch you up on whats been going on in my world. Consider this my bloggerhea.

Several weeks ago, Windows Live Mail was awarded an Editor's Choice Award by PC Mag. We beat Gmail and AOL Mail outright, and tied with Yahoo Mail Beta. This was awesome news, especially since we are still in beta, and working hard to make further improvements. One of the key reasons why we got the award was the similar design elements between Outlook and Windows Live Mail. From day one, we have designed mail with an emphasis on design and UI consistency with Outlook. The rationale being, we have about half a billion Outlook users in the world, why make these users learn a new UI for checking mail? It was great seeing this work recognized.

Also, another recent development was that we announced a name change for our upcoming global launch. Originally, we planned to drop the Hotmail name and launch as Windows Live Mail. We've built this thing from scratch so why not launch with a new name, right? Suprisingly, as we've been getting feedback from our users, we realized that the Hotmail name still had legs... and strong ones.

Without going into too many specifics, here are just some of the reasons why we decided to move forward with Windows Live Hotmail:

1. Many users are very loyal to Hotmail. Our most tenured (and most valuable users) love Hotmail... and hate change. We wanted to launch with a name that would not confuse the hundreds of millions of existing Hotmail users.

2. Though historically, the name Hotmail carried some baggage, we've found that customer satisfaction on Hotmail today has improved dramatically over the past year. Also, brand awareness and perception for Hotmail far surpasses those for our competitors among the general population.

3. On leading search engines, the term Hotmail is used about 50 times more than words like "email." Its claer that while some folks, who also tend to be more technically savvy, have negative feelings about the name Hotmail, the vast majority of the web population actually likes the name and uses it daily.

These are just a few of the reaons that I can publicly share... there was a ton of additional research and thought put into this decision.

Finally, here is a snippet from my original blog post on the Mail Call blog that sums up the rationale:

By adopting the name “Windows Live Hotmail”, we believe we’re bringing together the best of both worlds – new and old. We’re able to offer the great new technology that Windows Live has to offer while also bringing the emotional connection many existing and loyal users have with Hotmail.

Finally, for you long time web users out there, here are a few logos from our 10 year history... talk about a blast the past. Thanks to Reeves for posting these older versions of the Hotmail logo on his site.

Why I Love Working in Tech

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:40:26 GMT

This is why I love working in technology. For some of you, this video may appear completely foreign and remote. But for others who actually understand it, it will serve as an extremely thoughtful commentary on the Web, its evolution, and our role in shaping this organic phenomonon.

If you work in, follow, read about, or are simply curious about technology and what Web2.0 is, I encourage you to spend a few minutes watching... and smiling.

Long Overdue CES Blog

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 22:07:48 GMT

Its been a while since I've gotten back from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) but I wanted to make sure I shared some photos of folks from the Online Services Group working hard at our booths. Overall, it was a great show and vegas, as always, did not disappoint.

Since we just launched Vista and Office 2007, the Microsoft section of the show was teeming with energy. Also, the Zune got some really good attention, as did IPTV and of course the Xbox 360. As always, there was an Xbox arcade where folks got try out some of the most popular Xbox titles (I am completely amazed at the graphics and realness of Gears of War). We also had a chance to meet with some Windows Live Mail beta users and demo Mail to some new folks. We got great feedback on the work we've done to date, as well as a host of suggested improvements and features. My favorite question was, "Is this really free?"

Manning the booths at CES is also an interesting and disturbing anthropological study of human behavior. Its amazing what people will do when chotskis are available, but not closely guarded. I watched several instances in which a colleague of mine would turn her back to her box of "giveaways" and swarms of chotski buzzards would swoop in, grab handfuls of hats, t-shirts, usb storage keychains, etc. and run off to far corners of the convention center... only to return 10 minutes later to ambush the next unsuspecting booth attendent.

Here are a few photos that capture my time at CES (OSG geeks in Star Trek inspired t-shirts manning the MS booths, Car show, Vista/Zune demo stage).

Windows Live Mail Previews in the Netherlands

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 08:46:19 GMT

Just last week, Windows Live Mail launched in its first ever market: the Netherlands. For the first time ever, users were able to sign up for an @live.nl account and use Windows Live Mail out of the gates. Although we've taken the beta tag off for that market, we've still got some work to do before we launch globally. This pilot was a great milestone for the team after more than two years of hard work. And it should give us valuable learnings before we go BIG to the rest of the world.

Here is a link to an article featured in CNET that covers the launch: Hotmail's replacement is going Dutch. It includes some great screenshots of WLM and some commentary from yours truly.

Very Cool SMS Search Service

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:29:45 GMT

I've recently discovered a very cool search service to use with my mobile phone. Its called 4info (44636) and its basically an automated search engine that provides useful results to your mobile phone via SMS. Yes, you could also use your mobile browser to do a web search but 44636 is so fast that I no longer fiddle with my mobile browser for quick requests.

Here is a sample of results you'll get just by entering in a few key words and sending an SMS to 44636:

weather report for any location: type "w" and the zip or city
yellow pages results: type business name and location
sports scores: type team name
airline arrival/departures: type airline and flight number
stock quotes: type ticker
local movie times: type movie and location

The service eventually learns where you are based on your history of requests. Try it out!

2 more years with Bill Gates

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 08:21:44 GMT

Last Thursday, Bill Gates suprised the technology community by announcing that he would transition to a part time role at Microsoft starting in two years. Gates indicated that he planned to spend more time at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

While I'm somewhat disappointed that he's leaving so soon, I think the company is in good hands with Ballmer and Ozzie. Ozzie seems to brings the right balance of technical vision and inspiration that will hopefully help MSFT make the transition from an engineering driven, packaged software company to a market/customer driven, software services company.

Although the news came as a surprise to almost everyone in the company, I can't say that folks here feel worried or anxious about Gates' impending departure. In fact, in less than a week, its feels like its business as usual here at the Soft.

I'm just glad that I had the chance to meet him in person back in 2003 when he hosted the summer interns at a BBQ at his home in Bellevue. Ironically, I remember asking him what he would do if he had a few more hours in every day and his response was, "I'd spend more time at the Foundation." It looks like Bill's finally making that happen.

Here is one of my favorite shots of BillG, featured here with JayZ. The two look so enamored with eachother its hilarious!

Macs Blowing Up

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 02:19:51 GMT

I have to admit, Apple has come out with some really funny and witty ads that ridicule Microsoft. You've probably seen some of them on TV. Take a look here.

However, at least our stuff doesn't blow up! This would be the perfect come back by the Soft.

Halo 3 Trailer Rocks

Tue, 16 May 2006 05:59:04 GMT

Thanks Grace for showing me the Halo 3 Trailer. I've played Halo only a handful of times (and each time, I last about 3 minutes before someone snipes me). However, the Halo 3 Trailer looks ridiculous so I may have to bite the bullet and learn how to play!

Based on Bungie, it sounds like everything you see in the trailer is real!: But we will note that everything you're seeing here is being rendered in real-time on the Xbox 360, using the current version of our Halo 3 game engine.

Sounds like the H3 hype may help steal PS3's thunder when it finally launches.

Great Article on CNET: Hotmail's new address

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 19:49:31 GMT

Yesterday was a good day for me. Not only did I find out that I'm having a daughter (NICE!), but also, while E and I were waiting in the sonogram room for the radiologist, the CNET Feature Story on the Hotmail Team was finally posted on news.com as the leading article! Here is a link to the Mail Call Blog with my thoughts on the piece. I was suprised, and nervous, to see how often I was quoted in the article! Especially with my Ballmer quote. Luckily my badge still worked this morning.

Its very encouraging to see some positive press about the stuff we're builiding. I think Microsoft (and MSN) often gets beat up in the press. And to be honest, the company has deserved a lot of it in the past. However, I definitely feel the tides are turning and the culture at MSN, especially at Hotmail, is becoming one in which we really listen to our customers. That may sound fairly simple but in the past, MS has grown from roots in packaged software. The company was successful in building an empire by hiring great engineers and building really innovative (and sometimes buggy) software. As a result, engineers drove most of the product vision with little input from marketing (and the customer).

I think now, at Hotmail (and now WL Mail), we've taken a much more customer centric approach to building services and hopefully, this article is a sign that we're moving in the right direction.

Out of the Box Kittens Solution to Spam

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 09:05:19 GMT

One of the most annoying things about signing up for a Passport account on any Microsoft service is the Human Authentication challenge. Essentially, this is a word puzzle that requires you to enter the text string that you see on screen in order to confirm that you are in fact a human, as opposed to a computer. This way, we can avoid signing up new accounts to spammers who open thousands of accounts to use maliciously. You've probably seen these HIP challenges on other websites as well (e.g. when you buy concert tix online). What is most annoying is that many of these word puzzles are nearly impossible to decipher, and you often end up making a mistake b/c the letters are so blurred.

This guy Oli created a better approach to this problem by making KittenAuth, the "cutest Human auth program." Rather than presenting users with boring text strings, KittenAuth presents users with adorable kitten photos combined with photos of other animals. Simply pick out the Kittens and submit. DONE! As simple as that.

Microsoft Stock Undervalued

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 08:10:24 GMT

According to this article in Reuters, MSFT stock is undervalued. I've been hoping for some upward movement on my shares. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund estimates that Microsoft shares are as much as 25 percent undervalued due to the potential growth opportunities, Barron's said.

The business weekly noted in its report that Microsoft should report close to $14 billion in profit this year, nearly triple the $4.5 billion it earned in 1998, but has seen nearly no return on its shares in that time frame.

I must admit that given the company's growth in revenue and earnings in the past 5 years, as well as the robust pipeline of new software/services, I've been left scratching my head at the lack of movement in the stock price.

Given the recent news released in the WSJ which indicates that MSFT is the world's most trusted company, I'd say our stock is ripe for some lift. Its about time!

Note: currrent stock price: $27.56

Dotcom KaBoom

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:48:26 GMT

In 1999, I left a very secure job as a strategy consultant in Washiington D.C. to pursue my Silicon Valley Dreams. I read stories in books like Nudist on the Late Shift about folks like Sabeer Bhatia, founder of Hotmail.com, who sold the company to Microsoft for $400M in 1998 and knew that I wanted to be part of this crazy, exciting, entrepreneurial movement.

I joined a company called Vividence, (ironically, the only company to be funded by both Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia) in the Valley besides Google. These were the good ole days. E.g. a partner from Sequoia dropped by our office to court us so that they could lead our second round of funding; he found the doors locked with a sign, "Sorry, gone bowling for the day." The company was out celebrating a big code release the day before. And yes, Sequoia subsequently funded us.

These were also the days when people thought selling furniture online (with free shipping in some cases) made business sense and analysts were debating over which online pet store was best positioned to cash in on the lucrative pet supply market. As we all know, these fantasy market conditions came to a screeching halt in 2000 and made folks like Pud from F*CKed company famous.

Fast forward 6 years and its clear that some people have not learned from the past. The founders of Facebook.com (a cool social networking site) have announced that they're on the selling block for... get this... $2B! You can't blame the founders, they're only 21 years old and they basically created the website to mack on incoming freshmen. But curse you company X [fill in the blank] which will inevitably shell out the dollars to buy Facebook and inspire other outrageous valuations, fiscally irresponsible mergers/acquisitions, and mass market speculation. I only hope that others will not follow in your footsteps.

1 Million Users on Kahuna! (Windows Live Mail)

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:35:54 GMT

Yesterday, Windows Live Mail (the next generation of webmail) confirmed that we had reached the 1 million user mark on the Beta. Woohoo! This is a helluva milestone for us and our team has been working hard to build an awesome webmail service from scratch. I posted a small blurb on the Mail Call Blog yesterday describing some of the cool stuff we've been working on.

Also, check out this article in Business Week which outlines some of the stuff that Microsoft is working on as part of the Windows Live initiative.

Windows Live is the centerpiece of an effort by Microsoft to catch pioneers such as Google (GOOG) and Yahoo! (YHOO) in Internet-related technology and sales.... "Make no mistake, Windows Live is our strategic bet to change the game and win, while we grow and drive revenue with MSN.com," writes Cole, head of MSN and the Personal Services Group....

Windows Live Mail, the new version of Microsoft's flagship Hotmail e-mail, is hosting 750,000 users, and the company hopes it will host 20 million by June, according to the memo. Windows Live Mail "was rewritten from the ground up...to enable high performance, client-like functionality, plus a host of security features, including anti-phishing," Cole writes....

A slew of other features are on the way, the company says. "Over the next 3-6 months, we'll ship more innovative technology into the marketplace than during our entire 10-year history,"...

Web2.0... you may have heard of it

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:42:42 GMT

For those of you who have heard of "Web2.0" but may not be really familiar with what it really is, here is a great article on CNET that sums it up. Believe me, you will hear much more about it in the coming months. This article helps explain how GOOG is the biggest threat to Microsoft.

MSN Messenger is pretty smart

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 22:41:10 GMT

So during my 'research' for my last blog post, I IM'ed Tom to find out how to spelll pomegranate. He introduced me to the Encarta Answers bot in messenger and that thing rocks! Simply invite encarta@conversagent.com to your buddy list and ask away. Its quite fun. Sophie, you would love this!

Here is my conversation:

Richard Sim says:how are you

Encarta® Instant Answers says:I'm doing great, how are you?

Richard Sim says:how do you spell pomogranite

Encarta® Instant Answers says:Let me take you to the spell-corrector page =>

Richard Sim says:how many people live in san francisco

Encarta® Instant Answers says:There are 744,230 people in San Francisco.

Richard Sim says:what is a pomegranate

Encarta® Instant Answers says:

Here is the definition for pomegranate: round red fruit.

Bankrupt Google

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 22:32:39 GMT

I have an idea to bankrupt Google...

So I was in Microsoft's Redwest cafe today and since I had a pretty "festive" evening yesterday, I decided to get an Odwalla as opposed to a real lunch... makes for easier digestion. First of all, I discovered that odwallas have different prices, depending on the flavor... all of which are overpriced. Secondly, I learned that the pomogranite Odwalla costs $3.85!!! (and that is the subsidized price at the MS cafe).

So the Google campus is a stone's throw from the Microsoft campus in Silicon Valley (to where I moved in February). I've also had lunch at the Google campus and was shocked (and jealous) that they not only have free lunch but also free Odwallas.

I plan to drink as many Odwallas as I can whenever I visit my Google buddies. Take That! Mooohahahaha! Mooohahahaha!

Another interesting thing I discovered during my research for this thoughtful blog. Odwalla is owned by... Coca Cola! SHOCKING! I wonder if all the Odwalla drinking tree huggers in Seattle and Silicon Valley know this.

Forget the Crackberry... the Smartphone is where its at!

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 18:12:23 GMT

I just got my first smart phone after years of being green with envy over my Softie friends who had theirs years ago. E and I have been bound to a Sprint contract and I was waiting for it to expire so that I could switch carriers and get the Audiovox 5600 which doesn't run on Sprint... in fact, for some reason, Sprint does not sell any Smartphones in the US. However, the wait is over! Grace's husband had an extra Samsung i600 (unavailable for Sprint in the US) which he purchased from eBay, which I subsequently purchased from him.

This weekend was my first with the Smartphone and I must admit, I am totally hooked! Imagine having practically a mini-PC at your fingertips, anywhere you go. I must admit that I nearly got into an accident as I tried to IM a friend going 75mph on 101, but I've since learned appropriate usage behavior from my wife. Although the Audiovox is much more compact and includes a camera phone, there are very few complaints that I have about my Samsung.

If you have any cool downloads/apps to suggest, please let me know!

On a related note, sounds like the outcome of the Blackberry patent infringement case in the US is still an unknown. However, I find it interesting that Congress is trying to get exempt status in the event of a shutdown by claiming their Crackberrys are ncessary for maintaining national security.

Has technology made it harder to stay focused on critical work?

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 19:18:55 GMT

According to an article on CNET, people are claiming that technology has made work HARDER, not easier. Apparently, "We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing," Challenger said on Wednesday. "It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something."

These people are crazy. There is no question that technology has made society more productive and efficient. Think back to the days when you actually had to call someone on the phone to get a quick answer to something as opposed to emailing... and what if the line was busy? Or remember the days when you actually had to walk down the hall to talk to someone as opposed to IMing them? Think of how much time and energy you wasted gettting out from under your desk. And remember birthday cards? What a waste. Now you can simply send your sincerest best wishes by typing into a text box which automatically converts the message into rich html graphics and colors.

Oh crap, I"m late for my 11AM conf call...

Waiting List for Windows Live Mail Beta

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 04:29:01 GMT

I've gotten multiple comments from people asking me to add them to the waiting list for the Windows Live Mail Beta. I cannot add users to this list but for anyone who is interested, you can sign up here:

Make sure you have an active hotmail or msn email address and if you're in a market where the Beta is available, you should be upgraded in about 4-6 weeks. We are actively improving the service and you will see some awesome improvements in the coming months. Have fun!

Reading pane makes it easy and quick to view mails in your inbox.

South Korean Man Dies After 50 Hours of Video Gaming

Fri, 02 Sep 2005 22:40:45 GMT

Remember those stories from Japan many years ago about those kids who suffered from seizures as a result of playing video games for extended periods of time? Well, this man in Korea took it to a whole new level. After playing 50 straight hours of video games, he died of heart failure. A few weeks later, China instituted a formal system to limit online gaming time to 3 hours!

Shanghai. August 23. INTERFAX-CHINA - The Chinese Government unveiled a new system Tuesday to prevent individuals from playing online games for more than three consecutive hours, which must be installed for every online game in the country. "This timing mechanism can prevent young people from becoming addicted to online games," Kou Xiaowei, Deputy Director of the Audiovisual and Internet Publication Department of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), said during a press conference. The new system... stops individuals from playing online games for more than three hours by cutting the abilities of game characters.

I would love to be the kid who moves to China after honing my gaming skills in the U.S. Maybe then I could last more than 30 secs in Halo2.

The Next Generation of Webmail is LIVE!

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 09:21:54 GMT

For those of you who know me, it should come as no surprise that I'm really excited that Kahuna (Microsoft codename for the next generation webmail from MSN) is finally LIVE... well at least in beta. Over the past 18 months, the Hotmail team has been working feverishly to develop a new, world-class email service for our customers. At the end of last week, thousands of beta testers got their first glimpse of this product which is still in incubation, but has some awesome features and innovations coming out soon.

In order to put a human face to the service, the Hotmail product team has created a blog for the beta. Swing by for updates on the latest and leave your comments/suggestions. There are also links to team member's personal blogs if you want to know more about the crazy folks behind the product. Stay tuned for the Hotmale calendar in January. I'm Hotmale of the month for February.

Also, for a really cool story about how the Kahuna idea first started, check out Imran's blog. It really shows how HUGE this project has been from day 1.

GOOG: the price of playing with the big boys

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 09:39:59 GMT

Interesting article in CNet "Google balances privacy, reach," that echoes my blog from a few days ago. It basically calls attention to privacy concerns around GOOG's access to, and carte blanche control over, personal information. Now that GOOG technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous, the company has caught the attention of the privacy police and now has to deal with a level of scrutiny that comes with the territory of competing with the big boys.

I found it humorous that the Sullivan commented that GOOG "tends to get singled out, and unfairly, in my view."

_______________________________________

"Google is poised to trump Microsoft in its potential to invade privacy, and it's very hard for many consumers to get it because the Google brand name has so much trust," said Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "But if you step back and look at the suite of products and how they are used, you realize Google can have a lot of personal information about individuals' Internet habits--e-mail, saving search history, images, personal information from (social network site) Orkut--it represents a significant threat to privacy."

It's "data that's practically a printout of what's going on in your brain: What you are thinking of buying, who you talk to, what you talk about," Bankston said. "It is an unprecedented amount of personal information, and these third parties (such as Google) have carte blanche control over that information."

"I think the mantra of not being evil is not disingenuous, but it is a hard credo to stick to when you're a public corporation with stockholders to please and economic incentives driving you to collect as much information as possible," Bankston said. "I'm not saying it's evil to collect this information; I'm saying it's dangerous for them to collect this."

The largest outcry against Google so far has been in response to Gmail. Launched in April 2004, Gmail now offers a whopping two gigabytes of storage for free and scans the content of messages to serve up context-related ads.

"Before you Google for something, think about whether you want that on your permanent record," Bankston advised. "If not, don't Google, or take steps so the search can't be tied back to you."

"Overall, the issues with Google are not any different from the issues you have with Yahoo, Microsoft and others. They tend to get singled out, and unfairly, in my view," Sullivan said. "They're the biggest, and they make a big target for someone to take a swing at. It's not that the issues are not important. It's that they are applicable to the search industry" as a whole.

Trust is the key. As software industry analyst Stephen O'Grady wrote in his Tecosystems blog late last year: "Google is nearing a crossroads in determining its future path. They can take the Microsoft fork--and face the same scrutiny Microsoft does, or they can learn what the folks from Redmond have: Trust is hard to earn, easy to lose and nearly impossible to win back."

Printer problems and feature requests

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:36:07 GMT

How many times has the following happened to you:

I wanted to print out a few articles to read while I had some downtime at work, (use your imagination). I printed out a few articles and went to the copy room to pick them up, only to discover that there was a paper jam. I tried fixing it but to no avail so I went back to my computer to print out the same articles on another printer. I went to the second printer to pick them up, only to realize that there was also another paper jam. Luckily, I was able to fix this one but now, there were literally hundreds of pages that were backed up and were now printing (most of which, I'm sure, would make it straight to the shredder at the end of the day). I waited five minutes for my pages but the queue was nowhere near complete. Alas, not only was I also uncomfortably "backed-up" but I was forced to use my downtime unproductively.

Why can't MSFT design a feature that sends a message to users who try and print to a jammed printer saying "This printer is jammed, would you like to try another one?" Also, while I'm on the topic of feature requests, Outlook (and Hotmail) should have a feature that prompts the sender with the following message when the word "attach" is in the text of an email but an attachment has not been uploaded: "Did you mean to attach a file to this email?" How many follow up emails have you had to send, saying, "oops... I forgot the attachment?" The great thing about working here at MSFT is that now, all I have to do is email the appropriate PM or Planner for these products to communicate my request. Getting it actually implemented is an entirely different story.

Thanks for the props

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 17:15:50 GMT

Every once in a while, I run into a friend or colleague whom I haven't seen in a while and they'll comment on my blog. Its very cool to hear that people I whom I'd never expect read my blog and find my musings entertaining/interesting.

PLease feel free to drop a comment here or there to let me know you've passed time on my site. [The referring URL feature doesn't actually tell me whose been here.]

Just the other day, two of my co-workers told me they read my blog regularly and today, an old friend of mine IMed me about it. Here are snippets of a IM conversation that I had with Renee...

Renee says:hey! i don't mean to be a stalker but i'll follow your blog every now and then when i get an "update" on messenger - it sounds like you had a great wknd! erika is beautiful, congratulations on the wedding!

Richard says:hey there!

Richard says:hahaha... thast funny

Renee says:SO IT'S BEEN FOREVER SINCE I'VE SEEN YOU!!!

Richard says:i know... i thikn the last time was in nyc

Richard says:when ivisited withjohn...met upw ith bronx

Renee says:wow that was like... 6-7 yrs ago?

Richard says:yep yep

"Do no evil? Maybe just a little bit."

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 17:48:26 GMT

Very interesting blog on Microsoft, Google, and Trust. Its a bit outdated but I think it captures how MSFT's past blunders and misteps have led to a legacy of mistrust that has hampered this company's ability to innovate and enrich the lives of our consumers. It also includes several links to interesting articles about MSFT and GOOG's contraversial maneuvers of the past. Here is a quote from this article, which echoes my sentiments:

"Another way of looking at it: What if Microsoft were doing what Google is doing? Of course we wouldn't let them do it without a very serious and probably very shrill examination."

Imagine the privacy police's reactions if Microsoft announced that it would be scraping the email content of every Hotmail user to provide contextual advertising. As GOOG continues to index and aggregate more content, privacy and security may eventually become its achilles heel. Welcome to the big leagues, boys!

Freedom of speech versus business interest in China

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 09:50:51 GMT

In line with my previous entry, I found this cartoon to be very symbolic of the types of issues that will have to be resolved as blogging becomes more mainstream.

Background: Blogging has become one of the primary mediums through which pro-democracy advocates have organized and coordinated their campaigns in China. China is likely the most strategic potential world market with over 1.4B consumers. Businesses such as MS, google, and yahoo have to weigh the pros and cons of conforming to the government's mandates in order to have access to the market.

An unbelievable story about the power of blogging

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 09:43:38 GMT

Thanks Jenni for sharing this. This story is truly incredible; it sent chills down my spine when I first read about it. I was saddened as the story unfolded and I began to understand the details. My sympathy goes out to Simon's family who is left behind to cope with this tragedy.

Here's how I discovered this story:

1. Read Simon's latest blog entries here. Just an average 18 year old Chinese American living in NYC, dealing with the every day struggles that most kids his age encounter.

2. Read the article about him and his sister in the New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/310320p-265498c.html

3. Read the comments from friends, family, and strangers to his last blog entry here.

I think this story demonstrates how we have yet to truly understand the social impact that the blogging phenomenon will have on our lives and the lives of our children. While the internet has changed all the rules for commerce, trading, research, etc. by leveling the playing field and empowering anyone with a computer and internet connection to transact online, blogging has taken this level of empowerment to a new level. Blogging enables a level of connectedness that makes this vast and diverse world that we live in a bit smaller and more intimate. Never before has it been so easy to broadcast your life to your friends, family, and strangers around the world. The sheer volume of personal content that will be documented and stored for generations to come will change the way that history is captured and recorded. Imagine the diversity of perspectives, the accessibility of personal reflections, and the accuracy of reporting that will be associated with almost every major event in the future. Imagine if blogging was available during periods of history like the holocaust, slavery, Japanese internment. We would understand these events and sympathize with the those involved so much more.

In the future, there will an unprecedented amount of rich information available for consumption, and those who choose to access this information will be able to understand how major world events impact the lives of everyday folks like you and me.

To think that this my own blog, will persist as a destination on the web, long after I have passed puts a smile on my face (assuming there is no expiration policy... right HJP?).

Blocker!

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:42:36 GMT

So Judge Jackson is at it again. He claims that his original decision to break up MS into two separate companies was the right decision, even though he was overruled by the U.S. Court of Appeals. This is the same judge whom the D.C. circuit court removed from the trial and ruled unanimously that he "seriously tainted the proceedings."

...what alarmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit most was Jackson's habit of inviting favored reporters into his chambers for private conversations that involved trash-talking about the world's most famous antitrust defendant while court proceedings were under way. "The system would be a sham if all judges went around doing this," Chief Judge Harry Edwards warned at the time.

Jackson also once likened Microsoft executives to gangland killers and stubborn mules who should be walloped with a 2-by-4.

It irks me that some people can be so personally offended by MS that it taints their ability to act/think coherently. Why would a prestigious and accomplished judge make such outlandish comments, especially during a trial in which he is responsible for judiciating in an unbiased, rational manner. I'm glad Jackson has now resigned himself to a simple paper pusher at his original law firm.

Quote

Former judge defends his bid to break up Microsoft | CNET News.com

Get the hotmail user name you've always wanted

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 06:59:34 GMT

*Hot off the press* You can now sign up a hotmail account using "." in the username. E.g. Bill.gates@hotmail.com (taken... I tried already) This is not being publicized at all so you still have a very good chance of getting the username you've always wanted. Just go to www.hotmail.com and sign up... its as simple as that!

You're welcome.

Cool bus commuter tool

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 18:28:54 GMT

My friend Danny from Google emailed me a link to a very cool tool for Washington State commuters who ride public transit (not me).

A Maps-based site for Seattle buses, showing bus lines, bus stops with expected arrival times, and now including some web cams and traffic info. You need to enable loading of 3rd-party images for it to load the map. http://www.busmonster.com. Check out the route map for the 545 route btwn Seattle/Redmond. Perfect for you Smart Phone users (again, not me).

On an unrelated note, a very cool pic of the 520 bridge during a winter storm.

Useful toolbar

Thu, 02 Jun 2005 18:53:32 GMT

I generally refrain from promoting MS products simply b/c I work here but the new MSN toolbar is quite useful and offers some great features that make me more productive. My favorite features:

1. tabbed browsing with a "routine" you can create which simultaneously loads your favorite tabs. (now if I can just stop Alt Tabbing when I try to toggle back and forth between web pages).

2. form fill functionality is quite accurate.

3. desktop search is fast and effective.

I know there are competing toolbars with richer functionality but this one works for me. Way to go MSN!

Green with Envy

Tue, 31 May 2005 16:54:18 GMT

Here is an article in the NYT titled "The Microsoft millionaires come of age." It talks about MS millionaires who have gone on to do incredible things with the wealth they accumulated while working for MS in the late 80s/early 90s.

"From the 1986 to 1996, Microsoft's stock soared more than a hundredfold as the company's Windows operating system and Office applications dominated the PC industry. That explosive climb made millionaires of employees who had accepted options as a substantial part of their compensation for 60-hour workweeks fueled by a diet of Twinkies, Coca-Cola and marshmallow Peeps. The sudden riches led many to refer to themselves as "lottery winners."

Here is the MSFT stock performance over the past five years.

I think i'll stick to playing the lottery. :-(