Category Archives: work

Lunch at the Safe

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Today the firm had its company meeting. If you haven’t heard, it’s sort of a big deal. I asked my friend Jessica to let me photo her lunch. She got the roast beef. I got the turkey. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the chaos that ensues as 20,000 people clamor to get their box lunch. It’s like they were giving out free Zunes or something. OK, a little less hectic than a free Zune, but you get the picture.

Speaking of pics, sure, I could have tried to get a pic of the stage, or the speakers, or anything related to the meeting. But to follow the food theme I seem to have attached myself to, here are some scintillating pics:

 

A close-up of the cookie (apropos, as we were sitting in Safeco Field):

Sorry the photo is not sharper. This goes along with my pattern of taking crappy photos of cookies. Got tips? Send them on.

And, FYI, the cookie? Looked a lot better than it tasted. A bit blah compared to the rich and flavorful treats I’ve enjoyed the past couple of weeks.

But, I still ate it.

Oh, and I guess the meeting was all right, too.

Who is this Master Chief?

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Halo 3. Image credit: Microsoft
I don’t have an Xbox 360. But working on a site like T&G makes me want to get one (one of many things I’d like but don’t need nor can afford right now). It makes me want to be good at games like Halo 3.

I love that Nathan Fillion loves his Xbox. I can’t actually confirm that he owns one, but it’s my guess based on this fantastic blog post, in addition to this awesome interview clip with sci-fi writer PJ Haarsma. Read the full interview.

In general, I love buzz. I love that the “I Love Bees” thing actually worked (If you don’t know what ILB is, refer to Wikipedia). When buzz works, it can bring out that crazy impulse in you to care about something you normally wouldn’t care about. Or, in my case, to want something I really have no use for (seriously, when am I going to find time to play and get really good at Halo?) Buzz can’t be duplicated, no matter how hard PR folks try.

All this talk about Halo 3 makes me want to buy the Xbox 360 but I know it’ll be a big mistake. Just like the last time, when I bought the Xbox and never played it. I complained because I missed my old N64. Then sold the Xbox to my good friend, only to later find out the game console at times almost led to the decline of her marriage (how would you like THAT hanging on your friendship until the end of time?).

There is too much pressure behind another Xbox purchase. Instead I will try to enjoy the buzz that the Halo 3 kids are trying to conjure (it’s ok, just slightly crazy impulsive). I’ll try to make sense of Master Chief and the Covenant, whatever that is. I’ll enjoy the buzz, but that’s it. 

Related note: Overheard in the vanpool … BioShock is another game to lookout for.

Behind the Scenes

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The “Blogging Best Practices” document from work tells me I’m not supposed to hide the fact that I work there, so I shall announce today that I work at Microsoft. So there.

Now that the unimportant announcement is out of the way, I want to share with you an article from the site I work on, MSN Tech & Gadgets.

We commissioned this super-fun story about throwing the ultimate party in your dorm, for our “Back to College” special. The guy who triggered the idea was a Microsoft intern, Mark, who will graduate from Carnegie Mellon this coming semester. Apparently the geeky schools, they really know how to party.

So, at first I wanted Mark to actually write the story. Loved the idea of having someone in college write about the parties in college, but he couldn’t manage it due to his workload of ‘real work’. Bummer.

I then turned to a great writer I use, especially on stuff related to audio/visual. Doug found another college kid, Zack, from MIT, who turned out to be the hook for the story. Watch the video he provided for us:

Video: MIDAS Party Mode

Funny thing is, we later found out that Zack is an intern at Google. Who’d a thunk it. It’s the interns at the geeky schools who know how to party.

So there it is for you, a little behind-the-scenes note from work. If this were a DVD I’d include this in the feature commentary (I wonder if movie directors these days think to themselves, “Oh, I have to remember this for the DVD commentary” or “This is sooo going into the bonus features”. Weirdos).