re: EOS 10D, yup, love it! Opens up a whole ‘nuther concept being able to preview things instantly and not really worry too much about wasting money on shots. I only print things I want to these days, and I’ve even started selling some prints. Harvard U bought a BIG print a few months ago. Fun! I’ve been thinking about lighting, but then I’d have to move into portraits and that’s a whole different game. But I’m still thinking.

I’m sure Babbage and Shannon would have a right ole scuffle. Babbage doesn’t hate cats, but he’s way too enthusiastic about playing with people or animals. He wants to be everyone’s friend and really doesn’t understand that not everyone feels that way.

We should do a get-together sometime — Yeah, it’s hard to schedule the bi-coastal thing, but it could be done. We’d have to promise the SO’s that it wouldn’t turn into a geek-fest however.

Chris

Yeah, you can ‘fight the good fight’ in the early years of a company, but eventually it becomes a steamroller. I’ve never been good at judging when that transition happens, though. Gets me in a bit of trouble every time…

In re: the wedding, thanks very much! I sometimes didn’t really think I’d see the day, either, but it’s rapidly approaching…and I can’t wait.

And yep, she’s definitely going to make me shave. She’s also resigned to the fact that my ‘puters are a huge part of my life (that I was programming before she was born reinforces that a little), but I’d give it all up to spend the rest of my life with her. Happily I don’t have to.

Nice photos, btw! Doesn’t the EOS10D rock? I’m still amazed, it’s a far better camera than I am photographer. My shots definitely aren’t as nice as the galleries you’ve got up, but I suppose I should start Flickring them…

For a piece of silliness, by the way, as I noticed that your Beagle is named Babbage…my cat is named Shannon, after…Claude, of course.

– Morgan Schweers, CyberFOX!

-Chris C
Boston, MA

But it’s true, it becomes a holy war in your mind. It certainly did for me. It’s why I both laugh at and can yet somewhat understand Steve Ballmer’s purported antics. He’s still a True Believer, and to him it’s still a holy war.

To me there’s a ‘perfect storm’ of factors, when work absorbs me and eats my life… When dedication to work becomes overwhelming, and the hours stretch without even thinking about it.

1. The company is on the line, so you MUST succeed.
2. The coworkers are brilliant, so you MUST keep up with them to succeed.
3. The work is technically challenging, so you MUST engage your brain fully to keep up.
4. A desperate need to win against a dominant player, so you MUST band together to do the work.
5. The employees feel the company treats them well, because otherwise nobody cares about #1.

Microsoft clearly has #2, #3 in most groups, and sometimes has #4 (MSN search vs. Google), probably #5 from what I’ve heard, but #1 is just not there anymore. I don’t think there’s any project in Microsoft where someone will say, ‘If we don’t get this right, and brilliant, and execute incredibly well, Microsoft is going to go out of business.’

It’s another reason that I think that a split Microsoft would be an even more incredibly powerful force, as it would add back the ‘MUST succeed’ factor.

That’s not to say that #2-#5 don’t create a powerful force themselves, but without the drive of ‘We must succeed or this wonderful environment goes away!’ it’s not the same.

Replacing #1 with internal pressure is actually counter-productive here, i.e. swapping #1 with ‘Lose your job’ doesn’t work, because it creates artificial stress. You KNOW the work isn’t critical to the company, so why is it critical to your income? It replaces dedication to the cause with fear for your job, which is immeasurably less motivating, and runs counter to #5.

What has Microsoft replaced the first factor with? Perhaps a desire to spread the word of how good Microsoft’s technologies are? The promise to be part of the company that brings computing to the world? Ignoring the relative truth of any of those guesses, none are AS effective as not wanting the company to go away, but they can still close the circle and motivate employees, and obviously something does.

So what IS the basic thing that makes Microsoft employees care about succeeding for Microsoft?

– Morgan Schweers, CyberFOX!

p.s. Wow, my comment page looks like crud. I’ll fix that tonight.