Terry's been around for a while but I still crack myself up whenever I these ...

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I came across Miel Van Opstal's blog, while doing some research on Windows 7. Miel is an "Enthusiast Evangelist" with Microsoft. What ever that means, it sounds cool. He has a rather interesting view on marketing but his comments on the past year and the year to come are hilarious. The best one being this:

IF YOU DO NOT COPY-PASTE THIS BLOGPOST WITH YOUR LEFT HAND IN AN E-MAIL IN THE NEXT 10 SECONDS AND SEND IT TO AT LEAST 8500 PEOPLE, A GIANT DINOSAUR FROM SPACE IS GOING TO EAT YOUR FAMILY TOMORROW AT 5.30 PM SHARP, NO MATTER WHAT TIMEZONE YOU ARE IN.

Check out the entire post here ... funny stuff!

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Long Zheng has dug up another great find. It turns out that one of the folks working on Windows Seven (Codename Blackcomb or later Vienna) needed an outlet to generally vent and talk about things on their mind and started a blog called "Shipping Seven".

Maybe he/she can't take the utter silence coming out of Redmond any more than we can. Not a whole lot of detail about anything in particular other than some process type stuff currently. Below is by far my favorite line:

I’m not going to blog about unannounced features yet, but rest assured, Windows 7 will be filled with awesomeness. And there’s no bullshit new feature like Windows Flip 3D in there at all.

They had me at, "yet". I for one, will be following this blog!

Now the only question is how long this blog will stay active, given that this publicity will certainly kick off a hunt for the author both internally and externally of Microsoft. Or even better: all the speculations about if this blog is fake, real or just very clever marketing ...

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I really wanted to share some of the things I've seen about the Consumer Electronics Show 2008 and comment on some of them. Ever since I've gotten into computers, software and Microsoft in particular I've been interested in the CES and especially the stuff Microsoft always shows there ...

However, this year Microsoft had no big announcements and the stand was very similar to last year with the exception of having the much anticipated 'surface computer' to play with. The multi touch side of the surface seemed a little laggy but the you just can't fault the interface; it was futuristic, fun and yet simple for anyone to use. The guys from Neowin managed to play around with the photo application and the friendly Microsoft employee had a camera to take a picture of Josh from WindowsConnected.com. As you can see from the videos it was blisteringly fast and very simple to get the picture onto the device. Anyone without computing knowledge could have achieved this. Microsoft believes we will see these units in retail stores and restaurants in the course of 2008 and these are the perfect devices to put into bars in casinos!

Check out the videos: Water Demo | Picture Demo | Paint Application.

Of course, another much anticipated event was Bill Gates last keynote at the CES make sure you check out Mr. Gates look in to the future at 53:00 and the cool bonus at the end, where Robbie Bach (Head of the Microsoft Entertainment & Devices division) challenges Mr. Gates to a game of Guitar Hero III. Mr. Bach brings out Guitar Hero Champion Kelly Law-Yone. Mr. Gates is not impressed as he brings Slash to the stage ...

If you don't have an hour you can also watch the highlights.

In addition to the above paragraph about Microsoft's Surface technology, Mr. Gates predicts that the keyboard and mouse will soon become relics. His message is basically: "Say goodbye to your mouse." If you think about it, it actually makes sense. First we had touch screens, then came the Tablet PC (which, unfortunately, is not mainstream yet) and now we are seeing things like Microsoft Surface. Check out his demo of this really cool technology at 27:00 into his keynote. Intriguing technology ...

The founder of Microsoft Corporation used his swansong to the technology industry on Sunday to spell out a vision of another “digital decade” of telephones, televisions and cars that respond to voice and touch.

“This is the area that people underestimate the most,” he said. Mr Gates, who plans to retire from day-to-day operations at Microsoft in July to oversee the $37 billion Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation, gave a keynote address to a packed Las Vegas ballroom at the world’s largest consumer electronics show.

He predicted that high definition video “will be everywhere” from TV to wall projections to screens built into desks (see above). Users will be able to roam in 3-D through virtual worlds when they shop or interact online with friends. Devices will connect seamlessly so that data is transferred automatically from computer to mobile phone, for instance. “When you take a photo, it will show up where you want it to show up,” he said.

Mr Gates’s presentation was met by some scepticism because of Microsoft’s failure to unveil any big new innovations at the show. Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research: “Part of this has to do with Microsoft being tired of announcing new stuff that doesn’t ever materialize or shows up in a form very different than what was shown.”

But honestly ... you should definitely see Bill's Last Day at Microsoft!

The coolest line in this video must be from Bono as he tell's Bill: "We're full up in the band. All positions are filled. I can't just replace The Edge because you got a high score on Guitar Hero."

Talking about Guitar Hero: the coolest addon for that must be the Soundtech Ediface. You do know that I'm a guitarist right? This device will allow you to play Guitar Hero (amongst others) on your XBOX with a real guitar. Apparently the company is developing special adapters for the device for all major hardware platforms which, once configured, will allow a player to synch their digital output from the box to their rhythm game of choice. Rock on!

If you don't play guitar do not worry! There's always Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker!!

Some of the other (interesting) stuff:

• Still no Ultimate Extras in sight ... However.

• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 ... new Features coming to a Home Server near you.

• Another Windows Vista SP1 RC build went to testers, so now we're really getting close.

• Jeff Raikes out, Juniper guy in ... Jeff Raikes will be leaving Microsoft per September 2008 and Microsoft hired Stephen Elop from Juniper Networks to fill his spot. Surprisingly they are bringing in an outside guy ... Microsoft surely wants new blood.

• Apart form the TV-B-Gone prank Gizmodo got a classic clip out of Bill Gates ... check this out and read into it what you will about Windows Vista.

More cool stuff:

Digital photo frames from Samsung, which connect wirelessly to a computer.

SanDisk's 8GB MicroSD card. Unfortunately it is too big ... I need something smaller!

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As we've just kicked off into 2008 I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and loving New Year. But most of all I hope it will be a successful one for you and the ones close to you, in whatever you are planning to do. I also hope that you've had a successful 2007. At the beginning of the new year I always like to look back on the one that just ended. Looking back on the past year I realized that I've learned quite a few things and would like to share these with you ...

1. Loosing my job taught me a lot. Not only do I know now what I want in a job but even more important I now know what I don't want in a job. I've learned what I should and shouldn't do, which type of company fits my potential best and what kinds of people I'd need to collaborate with to be successful. So ... loosing my job sucked big time but taught me some very valuable and necessary (?) lessons.

2. Being unemployed makes me lazy. I really need the everyday action of work ... I really do. To me, it is like coffee. Ironically I decided to cut back on coffee (I'm even drinking plain water while typing this), but I don't get my energy while being at home. I need people around me, goals and targets to work with and although I have our son Arthur around me all the time and go out with him I just need the action of work.

3. Honesty doesn't always work. I want to be honest and do the 'right' thing. But being just that isn't always the smartest thing to do. I am a pretty straight forward type of guy and like to 'tell it like it is'. That isn't always the smartest thing to do. Although I definitely want other people to 'give it to me straight' what's on their mind - especially if they have a problem with me - I've learned that more than a few people have an issue with my direct way of communicating to them ... even with friends or family. I guess silence really is golden ...

The above also applies to job interviews. Like I said before I know what I want in a job and what not but your future employer does not always want to hear that. They want you to fit the picture. Still, I can't and won't lie about what I want ...

But a new year also makes you want to do things differently and maybe even apply the things you've learned last year. I know I do ... but what am I going to do different in the coming year? Or what are my good intentions? Why am I even writing this down?

Don't you just hate it when you make good intentions and at the end of the year you discover that just didn't kept up to the promise you've made to yourself? Or you did start the year with some really good intentions but after a couple of months you just couldn't be bothered any more. I've had quite a few of those. One of the goals of this blog is that I would like to keep track of things so also my good intentions. I'd like to share mine and keep track off my progress throughout the year. I would like to invite you to send me an e-mail in December 2008 asking me how I did. So ... here goes:

1. Quit smoking. No really. Quit smoking. There's nothing much to say about it. Just do it. Day 1 is looking good so far ...

2. Get a GREAT job again! Applying for a job is not an issue. I think my application letter is really good and I do get invited for interviews. I now just have to get that one job I really like.

3. Spend less time behind the computer. Paradoxically I've just started this blog and want to build a good and useful version of my website this year. But I think it is important as spending less time behind the computer automatically frees up time for a lot of other things.

3. Do more and different things together with Arthur. Sure ... I take Arthur out walking everyday and go to the supermarket every now and then, but I decided that I - while still being unemployed - am going to take him to the swimming pool, into the woods, the (mini) zoo, go to more playgrounds etc.

5. Get the house finished. Although someone once said 'your own house is never finished', I really want to get things done. We moved into our new house in November 2006 but I still need to fit the infamous plinths on the first floor, clear the attic from all boxes and finally fit that one socket to the wall ... the proper way.

6. Do more sports. Well actually ... do sports. I really haven't done anything lately. I used to go out running when I was younger and will do that again this year. I will also get on my mountain bike more often. Even if that means on my own. I'm still undecided on returning to Karate ...

7. I would really like to study again. I haven't made up my mind on which course but (if possible) it will most probably  involve a mix commercial, managerial and technical subjects. On a personal level I really want to broaden my knowledge of HTML and CSS and learn how to write proper JavaScript instead of borrowing scripts from various websites. I'm also interested in learning ASP and refresh my knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server. I know this collides with point 4 but I really want to understand how these things work; I use these on my website and some others I'm planning.

8. Experience and learn what the fuss about reading books is all about. Ellen reads books ... I never actually liked reading but a lot of people are really excited about it. Ironically, when I talk to someone about a film I saw they often comment: "I liked the book better". Also, Ellen joined a book reading club last year and she's really enthusiastic about it, so I'm giving reading a shot in 2008.

9. Get my motorcycle driving license. I've wanted to do that for a long time but I've definitely  made the decision last year that I will do it in 2008. However, for obvious reasons, I only want to take lessons when I have a job.

10. Stay in touch - more and better - with friends and family. Although this one is on the bottom of the list I've realized that - to me - this is probably the most important thing I want to do this year. I feel that I've neglected this over the last year and really need to 'make up' for lost times. I'd like to have people over for dinner, invite them to a party different from my birthday, go out mountain-biking or play guitar with my 'old' friend again. Sorry guys ... I am definitely going to make that up to you!

There are a dozen other things that I thought of last year that I wanted to do but these are my Top Ten. I'm not saying that I will do all the above in the first week of January but I already started doing a few and on April 1st I want to be able to look myself in the eye with at least half the list checked.

Thank you for reading, hope you liked and please share your feedback.

Harold