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TwC’s site on Product Reliability… and “WSYP”

We have a section on Microsoft site that provides an overview on our reliability efforts through our Trustworthy computing effort (aka TwC). We work closely with the group on several efforts (most recently this summer on the Engineering Excellence/Trustworthy Computing Forum that many blog about) and overall improve product security and provacy, quality and reliability…

“Reliability means more to Microsoft than just making dependable software and providing support. It also means continued investments in processes and technology to improve reliability, active partnership with a wide variety of software and hardware companies, and a continuing focus on every customer’s experience.”

You’ll also find a list of resources, which includes links to such sites as…

  • Overview of Windows Vista Reliability: Performance Features and Improvements. Windows Vista was designed to be more reliable and faster than Microsoft Windows XP, to help increase user productivity and decrease support costs.
  • Enterprise Engineering Center. This Microsoft-hosted center enables organizations to test complex business computing scenarios on systems that match their own IT environment.
  • IT Showcase. Get an insider view of how Microsoft develops, deploys, and manages its own enterprise solutions. This Web site offers technical case studies, white papers, presentations and more, direct from Microsoft IT.

The last site — IT Showcase — also includes videos from the UK’s IT’s Showtime site. This reminded me that it’s back to the chairs for those with buggy code, as documented in the video on the “We Share Your Pain” system (or “WSYP” – also available here on YouTube) from Mauro Meanti, GM for STB EMEA. Steve blogged about this clip today (on YouTube now), the video shows how we “leverage customer feedback for software quality” and one that I often show to new employees… many of whom know still recall what it’s like to be a customer who would like to “share their pain” with developers. 😉

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Pluto’s out: will Rhode Island be designated a “dwarf state”? (Friday humour)

As was widely reported, the International Astronomical Union voted to remove Pluto’s designation as a planet in the solar system. Now, it’s considered a “Dwarf planet.”


Note that the IAU has not updated their official page page on the topic of Pluto’s status on the org’s web site, but have published this post on the last general assembly meeting. NASA has already updated their page on the new scientific definition of a “planet” which does not include Pluto. (NASA: “Pluto has now been classified scientifically as a “dwarf planet”. For more details, see the IAU resolution.“)



Download Fullsize TIFF   Download Fullsize JPEG  Credit: The International Astronomical Union/Martin Kornmesser


I take offense to this casual rewriting of history, with Pluto occupying volumes in history books since it was first discovered in 1930 (on February 18th by Clyde Tombaugh, named after Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld). Want to make your opinion known? Contact the IAU’s Secretariat or the Division III president for Planetary Systems Sciences, Iwan Williams.


For traditional (print) textbook companies, this will mean a bonanza of new book sales as they rush the findings of the IAU revision into print. Up to 2 million pages, according to msn Search, will need to be updated. Countless observatories and museums will be spending millions on renovating their exhibits of the solar system: the National Air and Space Museum’s exhibit will no doubt have to build a new broom closet for the dwarf planets, or at least crowd Pluto’s area to include Ceres and 2003UB-313 along side Pluto.


Not likely.


What’s next… will someone decide that Rhode Island is too small to be a full-sized state and designated it as a”dwarf state”? No one in Canada calls Prince Edward Island — the smallest province in Canada — a dwarf province. Perhaps the mini will be classified as a new type of automobile.


This will no doubt carry over to the tech industry, with mini SD storage cards casually referred to as “dwarf storage,” Ultra-Mobile PCs would be Dwarf PCs, and WindowsXP Embedded known as a “dwarf OS.”


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Friday Humour: Star Trek Inspirational Posters

You’ve heard their renditions of “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Gentle on My Mind” on The Best of Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner.


Spaced Out - The Best of Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner


Now you can be inspired every day by these Star Trek Inspirational Posters. 



“BASED ON THOSE DELIGHTFUL INSPIRATIONAL POSTERS WHICH HAVE BECOME A FIXTURE OF DENTIST’S OFFICES EVERYWHERE.”


Some of these are very funny. As the creator of this site said that they’re running up to bandwidth limitations, maybe they could benefit by setting up a free OfficeLive Web site.


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Please, it’s not “Googled” but “run a Google search”

Frank Ahrens of The Washington Post writes today (registration required, also picked up in the Seattle Times) that “Google goes the extra mile and provides a helpful list of appropriate and inappropriate uses of its name.”



“In July, The Washington Post and other media outlets noted that “google” had entered Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. It was a landmark for the search engine, going from nonentity to common usage in only eight years.


“One would think a company that existed only in the minds of two college dudes a few years ago would be happy that The Post and other media outlets prominently marked the occasion.


“One would, until one got a letter from Google’s trademark lawyer.


“Google, evidently, took offense to a passage in The Post article: “Google, the word, now takes its place alongside the handful of proper nouns that have moved beyond a particular product to become descriptors of an entire sector — generic trademarks.”


It’s difficult to imagine Google employees on the Mountain View campus saying “I ran a Google search to check out that guy from the party.” (This is an excerpt from the letter from Google’s trademark lawyer, sent to The Washington Post.)


I wonder if Google was as diligent when David Sheff of Playboy met with the founders in 2004 or Lesley Stahl’s interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes in 2005? Perhaps Google should also send a letter to their finance group, as the term is also used without rebuke (as included in the above Sheff article) in their own S-1 Registration Statement. 


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Friday link: Slate on the coolest coolers

A blast from the past (ok, July 4th), as the heat wave is keeping it hotter than ever in many cities across the States and Canada this week… the heat wave continues but I heard that it should start to cool down by Sunday in some parts.


So for a hot weekend, here is Tom Bartlett’s take on the best coolers to keep your stuff cold while you’re out. Tom is a writer for Slate and his personal blog is Minor Tweaks. Slate also offers a brief article today on how heat can kill you, for those who were wondering about the perils of heatstroke.



“So which cooler is the coolest? To find out, I performed three tests:



  • The Beer Test
  • The Ice Cream Experiment
  • The Beach Trial

“Along the way, I gained some general cooler wisdom, which I’ll share for your benefit. For starters, pack your cooler in layers: Toss in some ice, your soda, and then some more ice. Put soft food near the top (otherwise, that turkey sandwich will get crushed) or pack it in Tupperware. And, perhaps most important, fill your cooler entirely: Ice in a half-filled cooler melts much more quickly.”


If the link doesn’t work, here’s the URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2144849


Have a safe weekend.


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