theSpoke.net

Happy New Year
Saturday, December 31, 2005 2:08 PM

I know that it is already 2006 for many of you. This whole time zone thing gets so confusing. I am a New Yorker though so some things are easy. Even though I haven't lived in New York for over 25 years that is still a part of my identity. Part of that

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Weed them out or teach better
Thursday, December 29, 2005 3:38 PM

I just wrote a blog at my Computer Science Teacher blog in reply to a blog by Joel Spolsky. Joel wants to see more weed out courses to weed out the people who can't be great computer scientists or programmers. What I want is for us to find new and better

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Sexy Geeks of 2005
Tuesday, December 27, 2005 11:48 AM

I'm not sure how much of a fan of lists like this I really am, but Wired Magazine has published their list of the 10 Most Sexy Geeks of 2005. Why Howard didn't make the list is probably because the list is to US centric. Someone should tell them.

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Christmas at the Thompson's
Sunday, December 25, 2005 1:48 PM

Last night we had the traditional (for us) Christmas Eve seafood feast. Salmon, haddock, lobster, clams, squid, shrimp plus the fixings. Afterwards my wife, son and I each opened one present. My son gave my wife a Harry Potter Scene It game and we played

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Merry Christmas
Saturday, December 24, 2005 9:00 AM

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva i s Novim Godom Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année! Froehliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr! Kellemes

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Complain
Thursday, December 22, 2005 6:24 AM

I can relate at some levels with this tech support person. People all too often ask their company tech support for new equipment but then find something to complain about with the new computer. People who spend their own money for computers often are

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Windows Live Messenger
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 10:41 AM

According to this article invitations to the beta of Windows Live Messenger are being sold for upwards of US$40. And it is not even a Google product. :-) Who would have thought that invitations to a Microsoft IM beta tool would go for actual real money

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Women in Computer Science
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 3:34 PM

Interesting questions left as a comment at my computer science teacher blog: Do you agree that the fact that women DO NOT WANT TO WORK IN IT means that their work (statistically) due to some psuchological/physiological/other reasons is worse? Do we

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Games 4 Girls
Monday, December 19, 2005 5:21 PM

Just found a contest called Games 4 Girls. It is only open to women at US 2 and 4 year colleges but if you are one or know of one this may be of interest. The idea is to create a computer game that will interest high school girls. The sign up deadline

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Lights, Materials and Terrain
Sunday, December 18, 2005 10:11 PM

The latest in a series of articles on beginning game programming is up at Coding 4 Fun. The latest article (Part VI) is called Lights, Materials and Terrain.

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Teaching Teachers is Fun
Saturday, December 17, 2005 8:33 PM

I taught a workshop for about 16 teachers today in Canby Oregon. What a great group of people. I think that I am fast becoming a fan of teaching to a classroom full of teachers. They understand when things go wrong. They've been there. Plus the ask questions.

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Must have gadgets
Thursday, December 15, 2005 12:37 PM

The other day it was -2 F when my wife left for work. That is -19 C. That is a mite chilly even here in New England. So being the good husband that I am I put on a pair of shoes and went out to start the car for her while she finished her breakfast.

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Christmas Tree
Tuesday, December 13, 2005 11:32 AM

So here is a picture of our Christmas tree. It is about 8.5 feet tall and I decided to take a picture before it was decorated so you'll get to see a before and after picture. As you can see my wife has started wrapping presents/ Come Christmas morning

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posted by AlfredTwo with

The Poll Poll is up
Monday, December 12, 2005 11:52 AM

I have a poll about theSpoke poll feature at my hub. Feel free to add additional comments here as well. As for myself I am wondering what happens to the first poll when you add a second one. Adding does not imply replacing to me but that is what seems

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posted by AlfredTwo with

History and Bill Gates
Monday, December 12, 2005 9:54 AM

I wonder how history will remember Bill Gates. Of course he has a long life yet to life (probably) and lots can change but if I had to guess I would guess that Microsoft is not the main thing he wants to be remembered for. I read an article today about

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Real or Fake?
Saturday, December 10, 2005 11:20 AM

My wife grew up in a home that used artificial Christmas trees. I grew up in a home where we always had real Christmas trees. So when we married we naturally went with artificial trees some years and real trees other years. But for most of the 28 Christmases

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posted by AlfredTwo with

New Poll
Saturday, December 10, 2005 8:23 AM

I'm not running the poll but I see that Bernard is running a poll at his hub asking for people's opinion of theSpoke 2.0. You may want to stop by an answer it. It only takes a few seconds. Speaking of polls I think I may set up a poll about polls. Later

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Snow
Friday, December 09, 2005 8:17 PM

Normally I like snow. I like it a lot. But normally I use a snowblower to clear my walkway and drive way. Also I don't normally have to drive very far on snow covered roads. Alas today was not normal. Last night I went out to start my snowblower to check

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Steve Ballmer's Speechwriter Speaks
Thursday, December 08, 2005 5:51 PM

The latest in a series of interviews with interesting women with interesting jobs at Microsoft. Katy Hunter is Steve Ballmer's speechwriter. Not your typical day at the office.

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Be Prepared
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 6:58 PM

I let my house to run an errand tonight. When I came home the power was out. Not a common thing but it happens a couple of times a year I guess. So obviously the lights are all out. How do you find your way around to find and light some candles? Well

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Leadership
Monday, December 05, 2005 5:38 PM

I ran across this article by Tom Peters today where he ranks some of the top schools for training leaders. his top schools? The US and UK Army training schools, the US Naval Academy and the US Marine Corps. I have not doubt that there are other military

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posted by AlfredTwo with

A Movie about Software Development?
Monday, December 05, 2005 2:56 PM

I found this interesting article at CNET News. Joel Spolsky funded, in part at least, a documentary film about his company's summer interns taking a project and working on it from start to shipment. You can see a trailer and find ordering information

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Holiday Gift Guide
Sunday, December 04, 2005 11:45 PM

I thought I wanted to blog every day this month. But I just didn't feel like blogging for the sake of blogging. One of the things I am trying to do is to develop the habit of not saying anything when I have nothing of value to add to the conversation.

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posted by AlfredTwo with

Women at Microsoft
Friday, December 02, 2005 5:50 PM

Jeff Sandquist announces in his blog that Channel 9 is now using the concept of shows to group the vidios they have at their site.Women at Microsoft is one of the "shows" they are setting up. Right now there are only a couple of interviews in that show

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posted by AlfredTwo with

SNARF
Thursday, December 01, 2005 8:00 AM

I see that SNARF the Social Network and Relationship Finder, developed by Microsoft Research is now available for download. SNARF is a tool that helps triage your email. In other words it helps you find the things that are important and that you need

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posted by AlfredTwo with

December 2005 - Posts

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