Marquee de Sells: Chris's insight outlet for category 'fun' via ATOM 1.0 csells on twitter

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.




Free copies of "Programming WPF" for YOU!

I just got a box full of free copies of Programming WPF from ORA.

If you want one, post a comment on this post with a) a reason why you deserve one and b) contact info so I can follow up for snail mail addresses.

That's it! I'll pick the top n folks based on how many books I've got when I unpack the boxes. : )

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Yahtzee Croshaw -- You're My Hero!

First it was the Halo 3 review (which I can't agree or disagree with yet because I'm still stuck on level one) which a Wii zealot forwarded to me because he likes to send me links to negative portrayals of anything MS-related (like that's a challenge to find : ), then it was the BioShock review (a game I never figured out the cool part of), then his POV on the console wars (I'm proudly a member of the frat-boy demographic!) and finally it was the Tomb Raider Anniversary review (a game I haven't played since v1 and preferred the Apple ][+ equivalent) which had me laughing out loud.

Agree with him or not, you gotta appreciate Yahtzee's style.

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I'm an "Uber Cool High Nerd"

NerdTests.com says I'm an Uber Cool High Nerd.  What are you?  Click here!

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What's your programmer personality type?

Your programmer personality type is:

DHSB

You're a Doer.
You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.

You like coding at a High level.
The world is made up of objects and components, you should create your programs in the same way.

You work best in a Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.

You are a liBeral programmer.
Programming is a complex task and you should use white space and comments as freely as possible to help simplify the task. We're not writing on paper anymore so we can take up as much room as we need.

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A really bad optimization

I always knew that the scientists would optimize away sending the matter when all they need is to send the state:

"A team of physicists has teleported data over a distance of 89 miles from the Canary Island of La Palma to the neighbouring island of Tenerife, which is 10 times further than the previous attempt at teleportation through free space. The scientists did it by exploiting the "spooky" and virtually unfathomable field of quantum entanglement - when the state of matter rather than matter itself is sent from one place to another." [ed: emphasis mine]

Sure. And what do they do with the matter at the original end? Do they leave it alive work another job, but only pay one set of taxes? I don't think so...

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Microsoft Surface

I sent the boys to the Microsoft Surface web site last night while I was in another room. I don't believe I've ever heard that many "wows" and "cools" and "I want its!" out of the two of them. And after getting my butt out of my chair, I have to agree -- I want one.

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Shooting the Sh*t with Scott (part 1 of 2)

Scott came over to my house and we made up a topic ("Software: The Last Fifteen Years and the Next Fifteen Years" in two parts), but it's really just an excuse to talk to each other and have a good ol' time. Have a listen.

P.S. Sorry about coughing they weren't able to edit out. Alergies...

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Name Sara Williams's Baby Girl

Today, Sara Williams, ex-Developer Relations Group (the folks at MS that were allowed to speak to developers before we had blogs), ex-MSDN head and ex-Microsoftie has given birth this morning to a 5 lb. 4 oz baby girl. Both mother and daughter are doing well (and father is resting fitfully, having lost a month of sleep with the arrival of his daughter a bit earlier than planned).

However, their daughter does not yet have a name and, on the suggestion of Mr. Box, I am soliciting suggestions. If your suggestion is picked, you will be awarded a signed book of your choice (regardless of whether I wrote it or not). Have at it!

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Slide your vote in for ScottH's Podcast

I only listen to one podcast, so casting my vote for Hanselminutes on podcast alley's list of top podcasts was a no-brainer.

Plus, when I voted, they had a free sample for K-Y Brand Intrigue, which is apparently the longest lasting premium personal lubricant. The opportunity for jokes here is boundless, so let's start w/ some obvious ones and I'll send a free copy of Programming WPF to the best one in the comments:

Enjoy. : )

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Stange But Real Facts

I don't know how many of these are actually real (my left-handed son was very disappointed to hear that he'd be dying 9 years before his right-handed brother), but they were very fun to read with the kids.

P.S. Can you lick your elbow? Tom claims to have a friend that can lick his. He's going to be very popular when he grows up...

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On good days, I'm Iron Man...

My superhero results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man
80%
Spider-Man
70%
Catwoman
55%
Hulk
50%
Green Lantern
50%
The Flash
45%
Robin
42%
Superman
40%
Batman
30%
Supergirl
30%
Wonder Woman
20%
Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

My super villian results:
You are Dr. Doom
Dr. Doom
58%
Mr. Freeze
55%
Lex Luthor
53%
Juggernaut
48%
The Joker
45%
Kingpin
45%
Apocalypse
42%
Poison Ivy
38%
Riddler
37%
Venom
36%
Green Goblin
36%
Dark Phoenix
33%
Magneto
27%
Catwoman
25%
Mystique
20%
Two-Face
20%
Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

P.S. Happy New Year!

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Special Holiday Episode IV: DBox and ChrisAn

"?Keeping up with their tradition, Don and Chris sing an inspired song for the holidays."

Merry & Happy!

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Somebody Diggs Me...

I don't know why the MS interview page is suddenly digg-worthy after all these years, but it's nice to be dugg:

I'd like to thank the academy...

P.S. I'm not looking forward to giving up the tax cuts when the Democrats tax the presidency (the 2008 elections are theirs to lose). How about we cut our military in half so that it's just the most powerful on earth instead of more powerful than the sum of all the rest of the armies on earth?

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Rory, Distilled

Lord knows, I love Rory, but easily my favorite thing are his comics. However, he doesn't do enough of them, so if you're looking for a Rory-alternative between comics, check out xkcd. This is the one that made me realize just how Rory xkcd is:

I wonder how often this happens to Rory? : )

P.S. I look forward to the day when it's just as easy to get int'l news in the US as corporate-spun news. The world will be a better place when we realize that we're not the only ones on the planet.

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Pies & Marketing Guys

It all started with a bet that my new marketing guy could meet his promised numbers by a certain date. Figure 1 shows me reading his results report at VSLive 2003. Figure 2 shows the audience deciding if that was good enough. Figure 3 shows him taking a pie in the face as revenge by engineers for the missed promises of marketing guys everywhere.

Figure 1: Reading the marketing results report to the audience

Figure 2: The audience deciding whether the marketing guy had lived up to his promises

Figure 3: The marketing guy and his just desserts

VSLive 2003
Feb 13th, 4:30pm

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