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September 27, 2009

Microsoft dons leather, lights Marlboro, drinks whiskey with web in-crowd

What just happened?  Did Microsoft do something right for a change?  Something, dare I say, cool?

According to Fast Company, Microsoft just released a new dashboard codenamed "LookingGlass" that tracks a company's social media cred.  It's still in beta and will only be available to paying customers -- at least initially.  FC pegs it as a better PR tool than Seth Godin's latest contraption which has a few eyes rolling in my line of biz, but that's another post altogether...

LookingGlass isn't entirely unexpected but nonetheless a nice surprise.  It comes from Redmond's own labcoats and helps to bridge a gap between self-proclaimed web gurus (like me) and PR flacks trying to make a buck in a Web 2.0 world (like me).  That, and Microsoft can't let the upstarts and whippersnappers have all the fun.

Also last week, TechCrunch reported the launch of WebSiteSpark, a free software suite for web developers that includes a web server, database engine and other goodies.  Not the first time they've offered trials like Visual Studio gratis, but for good for three years?  Not bad, not bad.  And if that doesn't pique a penguin's interest, then a stripped-down 2-meg download of Microsoft's Web Platform Installer will.  Even the apps are worth a glance: you'd be surprised what a Windows web server can run.

For many years, web pros shunned Microsoft like bad sushi.  Unless your hapless corporate IT department demanded otherwise, you opted for  alternatives ranging from Java to Dreamweaver to Mozilla to MySQL.  Internet Explorer was the reigning heavyweight everybody loved to hate (and hack), and Microsoft was no fan of open source.  Fast forward to now: the market changed and Microsoft had no choice but to follow.  Now the company doles out virtual machines like an open bar, dangling free drinks to web developers that eschewed expensive licensing in the past but are willing to tinker with new toys anytime.  The Developer Toolbar and IE8 Readiness Toolkit were big hits, as was the IE team's shocking revelation that it gives a damn about the web's future after all the incessant bitching... well, you get the idea.

So will a few freebies sway enough indie web designers to matter?  More Silverlight sites than Flash?  Less Google, more Bing?  LookingGlass and a dish of downloads may not be enough to wrestle the web world away from established analytics, frameworks and IDEs but it does prove one thing: Microsoft can still innovate and, in the process, compete.

Filed under  //   analytics   competition   innovation   linux   microsoft   roi   social media   web design   web development  

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September 18, 2009

Microsoft issues critical alert: Jennifer Aniston on the prowl

CNET News reports that the Seattle night scene is dried up and migrating northeast to Redmond:

For the second day, Global Security has received an unconfirmed report of a possible cougar sighting, this time near building 32.

Microsoft Security will conduct frequent patrols of all wooded areas of the campus, and will work with the State Department of Fish & Wildlife and other experts to assess the situation and provide further updates, as appropriate.  In the meantime, we ask that all employees exercise appropriate caution, particularly in remote or wooded areas of campus. If you meet a cougar:

  • Never approach a cougar. Although cougars will normally avoid a confrontation, all cougars are unpredictable. Cougars feeding on a kill may be dangerous.
  • Always give a cougar an avenue of escape.
  • Stay calm. Talk to the cougar in a confident voice.
  • Pick all children up off the ground immediately. Children frighten easily and their rapid movements may provoke an attack.
  • Do not run. Try to back away from the cougar slowly. Sudden movement or flight may trigger an instinctive attack. Do not turn your back on the cougar. Face the cougar and remain upright.
  • Do all you can to enlarge your image. Don't crouch down or try to hide. Pick up sticks or branches and wave them about.

Hat tip to TechFlash for leaking the memo.  Calls to Halle Berry's agent went unanswered.

Filed under  //   cougars   crisis   leslie mann in knocked up   microsoft   security  

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