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.
Saturday, Jul 24, 2004, 8:18 AM in Fun
What Kinds of Cars Do Microsofties Drive?
Brad Smith writes:
"I just found your site. I love it!!! It is now a regular read for me.
"I read 'The Human Side of Microsoft' post on your site and had an idea... What about getting a bunch of people to list what car they drive (or what they used for transport if it is not a car). Aussies tend to be a bit car crazy and you can tell a lot about a person by how they get around!! :-)
"Just an idea.... Take it easy mate.
"Brad Smith
"Canberra, Australia"
Brad, I drive a 1998 Volkswagen Cabrio covertible. It's kinda funny looking and it's a semi-girly color (white), but I fit in it with the top up (I have a long torso, so that's a problem in most convertibles), it's got a good service record, it gets good gas mileage and the Sells brothers still fit in the back (although not for much longer).
Can the other 55,999 Microsoft employees post what kind of car they drive from Brad? Thanks.
Thursday, Jul 22, 2004, 9:27 PM in Fun
Microsoft runs out of things to buy
Microsoft stunned investors yesterday with the announcement that they were distributing 75 billion in cash because they had run out of things to buy. According to Microsoft CFO John Connors "With the acquisition of Lookout, we've crossed every single item off our shopping list. Frankly, there's just nothing left to buy."
(more)
Thursday, Jul 22, 2004, 12:58 AM in Fun
DM Karma
"Maybe you have heard some of the stories about the [DevelopMentor] Brains? Brian Randell delivered a VSLive conference talk in a bath robe. Don Box delivered a conference talk in Amsterdam naked from the waist down. Chris Sells, not to be outdone, agreed to pose completely nude for an advertisement in a technical magazine whose readership is 95% male."
It wasn't an ad, actually. It was an official photo shoot for an article. Most of the pictures were normal, but they had to pick the naked one (although they did airbrush out the nipples and go another way for the cover : ).
Barry Kouda, Barracuda.NET's most recent hire, lists some of the other DevelopMentor alumni in a loving "where are they now" kind of way.
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004, 4:40 PM in Fun
Microsoft Interview Questions for Testers
A friend of mine sent along a whole set of questions he was asked for an SDE/T (Software Design Engineer in Test) position at Microsoft. I love the one where you implement MAKE.
Monday, Jul 19, 2004, 10:03 AM in Fun
Channel9 Tours MSR H/W and Social S/W Labs
I got a sneak preview of this last week and absolutely loved the Channel9 tour of the Microsoft Research hardware and social software labs. The bit with the inventor of the laser printer, who works for MS now, is especially fun. Enjoy.
Friday, Jul 9, 2004, 9:45 AM in Fun
Matt Pietrek, My Hero, Starts A Blog
When I was but a wee Windows lad, my heroes were Charles Petzold and Matt Pietrek. I learned Windows 3.1 programming from Petzold (along with everyone else) and learned to love what was going on underneath from Matt. Plus, not only did Matt write Windows Internals (the title and style of which would inspire my own Internals book), but he also wrote a monthly column for the Microsoft Systems Journal, which I would lovingly read cover-to-cover every month.
So, when I went to speak at my first conference and Matt wanted to talk to me about something, I was on cloud 9 (not to be confused with Channel9). I wondered what obscure technology that I'd most recently written about on the DCOM mailing list that had caught Matt's eye. What deep COM or ATL issue did he want to take up with me? I had arrived!
The topic of Matt's conversation? The x86 Prayer that he had posted on his site had moved and he wanted to know why all of the 404s were originating from my site (I was linking to it on my Fun page). I had not arrived... : )
We've become closer since then and now Matt's got a blog. Wahoo!
Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004, 5:10 PM in Fun
"If I Could Thunk Once A Day, I'd Be Happy"
Carl Franklin posts a fun segment from Michael Feldman's Whad'ya Know? radio program where 32-bit to 16-bit thunking is discussed.
Sunday, Jun 27, 2004, 11:16 AM in Fun
Feature Leaked From VS05 Beta 1
Apparently someone has an early copy of Visual Studio 2005 and has stumbled onto the big feature we've been saving for an important keynote.
Saturday, Jun 26, 2004, 2:06 AM in Fun
A Man, A Plan, A Canal, A Librarian!
Here.
The one where I write two computer programs, neither of which do as well as the two librarians they're up against (damn librarians...).
Saturday, Jun 26, 2004, 1:21 AM in Fun
The Right Level Of Community Involvement
Earlier this week, BradA asked the community for feedback on the guys that work for him (it's review season again at Microsoft). Adam had this to say in response:
"I'm waiting for the first blogger to suggest that we should let the development community choose when we go to the bathroom. Is there no internal process that doesn't benefit from 'community involvement'?"
When folks complain about too much community involvement, I judge we're at just the right level. : )
Thursday, Jun 24, 2004, 7:37 AM in Fun
Swag for the June 29 Portland Nerd Dinner
I was doing my periodic t-shirt down-sizing and have gathered a couple dozen t-shirts that I thought I'd donate to my local geeks instead of to my local Good Will (who just don't seem to appreciate them). The pile includes a bunch of DevelopMentor t-shirts, including some of the vintage COM Is Love t-shirts (although I'm keeping Essential Marketing and I'm With CAFEBABE). I'll bring the t-shirts to the June 29th Portland Nerd Dinner.
And if you're attending the PND, don't forget to ask me for the letter I wrote to the CEOs of AOL and CompUSA. It made Rory repeatedly gasp in amazement.
Thursday, Jun 17, 2004, 4:41 PM in Fun
Whoa. I'm A Banner Ad.
If you hit the Microsoft-Watch web site often enough (it's been on 3 of my last 4 visits), you'll see my smiling face as a giant banner ad. Hell, I don't even put my picture up on my own site (well, except this one...)! Maybe they've got too many hits on their web site and instead of taking it down without warning, they're using my picture to scare folks away. ; )
Tuesday, Jun 15, 2004, 10:56 PM in Fun
"he isn't null terminated!" Bwa ha ha ha!
I'm still laughing about this one...
Monday, Jun 14, 2004, 8:20 PM in Fun
Geek Milkshake
Here. I can't get the video possibilities out of my head...
Monday, Jun 14, 2004, 3:15 PM in Fun
Geek Milkshake
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
I know you want it;
the thing that makes me,
what the geeks go crazy for.
They lose their minds..
the way I whine.
I think it's time:
la la, la, la, lah
Post it up.
la la, la, la, lah
The geeks are waiting.
la la, la, la, lah
Post it up.
la la, la, la, lah
The geeks are waiting.
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
I can see you're on it.
You want me to teach thee,
techniques that freaks these boys.
It can't be bought;
it's just my marketing wrought.
(Track-back if you're smart)
la la, la, la, lah
Post it up.
la la, la, la, lah
The geeks are waiting.
la la, la, la, lah
Post it up.
la la, la, la, lah
The geeks are waiting.
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
Oh once you get involved,
everyone will look this way, so,
you must maintain your charm;
same time maintain your click-through,
just get the perfect link.
Feed what you have within;
RSS is cheaper than ink.
The geeks pick up your scent.
la la, la, la, lah
Post it up.
la la, la, la, lah
The geeks are waiting.
la la, la, la, lah
Post it up.
la la, la, la, lah
The geeks are waiting.
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
My web log brings all the nerds to the yard,
and I'm like: "mine's better than yours".
Damn right, it's better than yours!
I can link you, but I have to charge!
John
Elliot
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2004 3:15 PM
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