Subservient programmers
Ahh, you too can act like a program manager and have your own subservient programmer. Tell him to write on the whiteboard. Drink a coke. Or spin in his chair. Someone has too much time on their hands.
On the other hand, Josh Bancroft has attracted a troll from possibly inside his own company (Intel) who says that Josh should be forced to stop blogging for Intel and use his time for more "productive" purposes. Sigh. I guess some people would get rid of any human contact inside companies. No more speaking at conferences. No more answering the mail or the phones. No more going on sales calls. After all, there's more productive things to do, right? Heh!
Ever want to get RSS Feeds into Outlook Express (like how I read feeds in NewsGator in Outlook)? Inclue lets you do just that. Update: today's version works in Outlook, they are readying a version for Outlook Express. Sorry for the confusion.
If the subservient programmer makes you ill, then maybe you'd like something a little more sophisticated? How about a WineCamp in California's Calaveras County. It's taking place May 26-28 (wish I could be there, but alas, got other plans already). It'll be a bunch of geeks, do-gooders, and lots of wine.
Me? We're having XboxCamp at our house this summer. How do you get in? Gotta make friends with Patrick. Heheh. Speaking of Xbox, there's a lengthy article on the engineering in the Xbox over on Electronic Business Online. Even better, give your Xbox a voice with 360voice.com (it compiles information from your gamerfeed and delivers it as a blog).
Off to go play on my new screen.
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May 2nd, 2006 at 7:02 pm
[...] Timewaster of the day? Subservient Programmer. A beautiful little timewaster and stress reliever. Quite helpfully it also automatically shows you which words the poor coder responds to. Link via Scobleizer. [...]
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:09 pm
This is sweet - the tutorial is very cool http://www.subservientprogrammer.com/howTo.aspx I don’t think I have time to actually create one myself - but it would be fun.
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:28 pm
[...] Subservient Programmer - mummy I want a real one for work! (via Scobes) [...]
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Thanks for the link, and bringing attention to the issue on blogging at Intel. For the record, this troll (whoever he/she is - he’s done some things that I would hate to believe a senior manager at Intel would do) is pretty much alone in his views, from what I’ve been hearing.
Of course blogging is like an echo chamber, and the people that have been reading and leaving comments on my blog already are sort of “on my side”. But my manager, coworkers, and everyone I’ve talked to at Intel about blogging have been very supportive, if a little timid about dipping their own toes in the water. :-)
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:10 pm
subservient programmer
Robert, Burger King did this a long time ago. And they did it better, too.
http://subservientchicken.com/
Best of all, it runs on all web browsers, not like those cheap dirty tricks I’ve come to expect and love from Microsoft (IE only? Windows Media Player? Oh come on!!!).
Is there but a single creative bone in Microsoft’s organizational structure? (not a rhetorical question)
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:45 pm
I’m not sure blogging is the equavalent of going on a sales call. How many enteprise agreements have been closed via your blog?
May 2nd, 2006 at 10:31 pm
[...] По утверждению Скобла, вот этот продукт под названием Inclue может заставить Outlook Express читать фиды. Правда, на сайте я подтверждений этому тезису не увидел, а ставить и проверять лень. Но вдруг кому интересно. [...]
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:19 am
“Sorry, this demonstration only targets Internet Explorer 6 - due to the use of Windows Media Player, and it’s use as an ActiveX Control.”
Nevermind then :)
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:20 am
ps. this is your name in Russian: Скобла
“Skoeble” hehehe
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:23 am
Outlook, not Outlook Express.
Idiot.
(I just tried it with Outlook Express, no luck, in case you ask).
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:52 am
vote 1 point for your post
My Signature {Blog@More}
please visit my blog http://fun-download.blogspot.com
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:59 am
hi!
this is my first time here…my blog is my personal diary.. i dont know what id do without it!!!
plus its so great to have people come by and read it and comment and still have that sense of privacy and anonimity.
this is a great blog!im part geek myself.. so.. i relate to this!
thanks!
May 3rd, 2006 at 9:22 am
Doesn’t work in Firefox… seems to be some sort of ActiveX-like control.
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:36 am
Hmmm. If I come bearing Firefly disks, will that help make friends with Patrick? :-) I’ve only met him for about 5 minutes tops before…
May 3rd, 2006 at 11:53 am
Nice to see he’s a Homestar Runner fan. ^_^
(Try typing email and see what happens.)
May 3rd, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Mike: sorry for the mistake. They showed me a pre-release version for Outlook Express and I was confused. I fixed the post.
May 3rd, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Get these Xbox behind the scenes stories on Xbox Live too. Thats where the majority of the Xbox fans hangout. :)
May 3rd, 2006 at 12:59 pm
re: subservient programmer - I’d rather the Virtual Bartender on Beer.com. Warning, maybe Not entirely Safe For Work…but closer to FHM than Playboy. :)
May 6th, 2006 at 9:28 am
[...] The comment that the anonymous Grade 11 Concerned Corporate manager made in my post about my take on Intel’s restructuring, and my subsequent post on “what value does my blogging bring to Intel” have generated quite a lot of attention. Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome talked about it (”Intel Hates Bloggers?“). Robert Scoble of Microsoft talked about it. It was picked up by the EETimes (which generated a huge spike in traffic). At this point, I’d say the number of people who have at least read about this numbers in the millions. No way to tell for sure. A great example of how blogs can amplify a conversation, though. [...]
May 8th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
I’m a subservient programmer. I answer the phones, take out the trash, do the dishes, and take the dog for a walk at work in addition to my programming tasks. And no, I don’t work for myself or a family member.
June 7th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
[...] По утверждению Скобла, вот этот продукт под названием Inclue может заставить Outlook Express читать фиды. Правда, на сайте я подтверждений этому тезису не увидел, а ставить и проверять лень. Но вдруг кому интересно. [...]
July 30th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Well, I think you should always have up to date email backups. I used to do it manually by saving the .dbx files, until I found http://www.amicutilities.com/outlook-express-backup/ - Outlook Express Backup Genie that does it automatically at regular times.
I choused it over other because it can work with both MS Outlook and Outlook Express
Alicia