You've reached the internet home of Chris Sells, who has a long history as a contributing member of the Windows developer community. He enjoys long walks on the beach and various computer technologies.
Friday, Aug 20, 2004, 3:49 PM in Conference
Wow. DevCon Already More Than Half Full
Here. This is the 5th DevCon that I've thrown and I've never seen it fill up this quickly. We're already half-way full after only a week of registrations. If you want a seat, you should get one quickly.
Friday, Aug 20, 2004, 12:10 PM in Fun
Some of the MS Interview Process Filmed
Channel9 did what I was unable to ever get done: filmed some of the interview process. It's not an actual interview, but Gretchen Ledgard and Zoe Goldring, both Central Sourcing Consultants at HR for MS, lead you through what to expect at a Microsoft interview, providing a wealth of wonderful MS interviewing tips.
Friday, Aug 20, 2004, 11:49 AM in Fun
Wife Objects To Midget Above The Fridge
Here.
This is what happens when night shifts happen to good nurses.
Friday, Aug 20, 2004, 8:27 AM in Fun
Wife Objects To Midget Above The Fridge
I've spent the last 8 months driving me wife to get rid of a ton of her stuff so that we could use more than the front 2 inches of every drawer, cupboard and closet in the house (of course, it's her stuff that I find to be extraneous : ). Yesterday, while she was on her 2nd night of working 3 12-hour night shifts in a row, I sent her the following email (yes, that's just the kind of nerd that I am):
From: Chris Sells [mailto:csells@sellsbrothers.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 10:51 AM
To: 'Melissa Sells'
Subject: Moving the shiny stuff above the frig?Melissa, can I move the stuff above the frig that we never use into the attic?
The "shiny" stuff above the fridge is all kinds of silver and pewter that we never, ever use but must keep because someone in one of our families looked at it once a long time ago. Plus, who knows, the Pope could visit to try to convert us back. This was her complete reply after 25 hours of work, 6 hours of commute and 6 hours of sleep over 2 days:
From: Melissa Sells [mailto:msells@sellsbrothers.com]
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 8:27 AM
To: 'Chris Sells'
Subject: RE: Moving the shiny stuff above the frig?Is there something that you feel you need to put above the fridge? Are you planning on letting a midget live up there? Because I think that if you are going to let a midget live in the house, they have a right to have a room with a window or something. In that case, you should have them move into the cupboard under the counter in the laundry room and we can knock out a space for a window. It would also be a lot easier for them to get to without having to rig up some sort of ladder, as that would just take up more of your precious space. On the other hand, living above the fridge would give them easy access to the food, and we could have a string with a roll up ladder rigging. Although having easier access to the fridge may make them over eat and they may get wedged up in the space over the fridge, be unable to escape and then we will have to explain why we have that strange odor in the kitchen.
Is there any doubt why I love her? : )
Friday, Aug 20, 2004, 3:22 AM in Interview
Some of the MS Interview Process Filmed (Finally!)
Channel9 did what I was unable to ever get done: filmed some of the interview process (part 1, part 2 and part 3). It's not an actual interview, but Gretchen Ledgard and Zoe Goldring, both Central Sourcing Consultants at HR for MS, lead you through what to expect at a Microsoft interview, providing a wealth of wonderful tips, e.g.
- MS is casual, so it doesn't matter so much what you where (i.e. don't feel you have to wear a suit, but don't show up in flip-flops and headphones around your neck [still playing!]). Regardless of what you where, it's what's in your head that's important.
- Interact a lot of with the interviewer. Ask questions, think out loud, etc. The questions are meant to be vague and again, it's about what's going on in your head, so verbalize it.
- Bring water if you're thirsty, not coffee, as spilling coffee is going to leave a much more lasting stain/impression.
- MS rarely asks logic/riddle questions anymore. They're not a good indicator of a good employee.
- Expect coding questions if you're a dev, testing questions if you're a tester and passion questions no matter what.
- If an MS recruiter calls, don't expect them to have a specific job in mind. Instead, expect to be asked what you'd like to do at MS.
- If the first interview doesn't take, it may well be that you're right for MS but not right for that job. It can literally take years to find the right job for you at MS.
BTW, I have to say that I never got a ride on an HR shuttle. I guess they save that for the "good" hires... : )
Thursday, Aug 19, 2004, 1:54 PM in Fun
Hog Pile on Rory
Rory has posted his MSDN speaking schedule. I'm already signed up for the Portland, OR talk on August 26. I can't wait to hear Rory regale us with "a demo-packed afternoon" where I will "gain valuable insight into .NET development." Plus, we get "a sneak peek at what's coming in ASP.NET 2.0!" What could be better? Come one, come all!
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004, 10:57 PM in .NET
Longhorn on Mars
Arun Bhatnagar found Longhorn on Mars today:
"I am a software developer who is currently working on C#/.net in Canada. Like so many other developers I am really excited about the features in Longhorn. I am waiting for it and so it is really good to know that Longhorn already exists on Mars. Yes, that's what USA Today reported today. Read the caption beside the image in this story."
Apparently NASA's in the early adopter program... : )
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004, 9:27 AM in .NET
Don Tours the Indigo Building (aka 42)
It's easy to forget the real people behind any given project, especially one the size of Indigo with Don as the pretty figure head. In this video, Don (via Robert and Channel9) shows you a fraction of the people that work on the team and they reveal their deepest past implementation shames and triumphs. Put a face on CoInitializeSecurity and enjoy.
Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004, 5:36 PM in .NET
Nice Concise Overview of MSBuild
While not nearly as extensive as Christophe Nasarre's 3-part look at MSBuild (part 1, part 2 and part 3), Klaus Aschenbrenner has provided a nice 3-page overview of MSBuild, including the major elements, a "hello world" .proj file and even a quick look at building custom tasks.
Monday, Aug 16, 2004, 4:46 PM in The Spout
Where Are You In The Software Practitioner Triad
In his piece Software Practitioner Triad (I know it's old, but I just got pointed to it by Phil Weber), Alan Cooper points out three different folks needed to design and build software:
- Architect: responsible for determining who the user is, what he or she is trying to accomplish, and what behavior the software must exhibit to satisfy these human goals.
- Engineer: technical problem solving via experimentation, not fettered with the demands of producing release code.
- Programmer: producing a shippable product, consisting mostly of protective code that rarely—if ever—executes, but is dedicated to supporting obscure edge cases, platform idiosyncrasies, and error conditions.
I've done all three, but am happiest with architect and engineer. Where are you in your current job? Where do you want to be?
Monday, Aug 16, 2004, 2:54 PM in Tools
Dealing with Programmer's Block
A friend of mine IM'd me just a few moments ago and asked, "When you're sitting in front of a code editor and you have no motivation, what do you do?"
I hereby dub this "programmer's block" and since I've never had it (which I'm just now realizing is pretty weird), I wondering if you can offer my friend some advice. Thanks!
Monday, Aug 16, 2004, 11:38 AM in Tools
Good Idea: Builders in Visual Studio Code View
I really love Mitch's idea for a "Builder" in the Visual Studio Code View:
There are tons of hidden strings in code that would benefit from such a thing, e.g. data provider-specific connection and query strings, and I'd gladly rebuild my FormatDesigner as a Builder. I wonder if the VSIP SDK is powerful enough to implement it...
Monday, Aug 16, 2004, 10:50 AM in Tools
MSDN TOC Right From The IA's Mouth
Have you got opinions about how information is arranged on MSDN? Do you have issues with the Table of Contents? Are you just looking for some way to fight back against the machine? If so, check out Paula Land's blog.
Paula is MSDN's Chief Information Architect and she's provided a sneak peak at MSDN's new TOC. If you've got comments, now's the time.
Monday, Aug 16, 2004, 10:46 AM in Conference
After Weekend, XML Dev.Conf. 1/3rd Full
Here. Whoa. I guess there was some pent up demand for the Applied XML Dev.Conf., because after a weekend of registrations, we're already 1/3rd full. Don't wait to register.
Monday, Aug 16, 2004, 10:43 AM
My Mom Reads My Web Site!
Here.
Remember that feeling you got when you first learned that your Mom read your web site? Yikes!