::: bisonium.com :::

Holy smokes people, where the hell did the past 4 months go?  So much for my promises to blog more often.  What can I say?  There's no point in even recapping what the tech world has unleashed in 4 months, you already know.  What I can tell you is that I am now 9+ months into my new gig at Microsoft and I am just as enthusiastic as when I first started.  My job rocks!  It's tough, it's challenging in every way, and I am learning heaps of stuff from my very talented peers.  All that being said..it isn't perfect.  :-)  It's Microsoft, and with a company of 80,000 people comes a lot of red tape and baggage. 

I hear people complaining all the time about how we do some stupid things, heck - I'm the first one to bitch about it.  What most people DON'T realize is that for everything that seems like a stupid oversight or decision, the reality is that it was probably done willfully and knowingly.  I'm learning that creating software this complex has a lot of dependencies and relies on a lot of things that quite simply are just sometimes beyond your control.  It's a game of negotiating and prioritizing.  There are TONS of things that we wish we could do and features that would be way cool to have, but for one reason or another, aren't possible in a specific release.  It's just the way it is and I'm learning to have to deal with it.

The positive side of things is that times are changing.  Slowly, but surely.  The culture at Microsoft is VERY Dev driven, but recently there has been a push for more emphasis on design and user experience.  We can thank companies like Apple and others which are leading the way in User Experience and educating customers on the value of "User Experience."  Microsoft isn't going to change overnight, but it's happening.  One thing I can say is that we hear you loud and clear, even when you don't think we are listening. 

So all that being said, I am going to attempt to AGAIN start blogging more often. I keep saying it but let me tell ya folks, it's getting hard to do that!  :-)  My day typically starts off at 8am and I'm rolling back into the house at 7pm.  There's just so much stuff to do every day that I can't imagine how anyone with a job like this can actually blog every day and balance work and family life.  If someone has the secret, please let me know!  It's looking more an more like what little TV I watch is going to have to go by the wayside.  Meh - who needs TV anyways? :-)  I'm planning to get a new Canon EOS 40D in the next month and finally get out and start shooting around Seattle!  As soon as I get those pics rolling in, I'll post a link.  For now...back to catching up on my blog reading...

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Technorati Tags: General, Microsoft

Posted by Frank Bisono at 3:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Holy smokes, has it really been that long since my last post?  I just can't believe how insane the past 4 months have been.  In my last post I mentioned that it was like someone had opened up the fire hose and shoved my face in it.  I'm here to tell you, things haven't changed.  Although I am feeling much more comfortable learning the domain space for the product I am working on, it's an awful lot of information to absorb.  But all that aside, I am having a blast and absolutely love my job.

The world has been zooming along with all sorts of new stuff happening and I barely have time to take it all in.  All sorts of craziness coming out of Apple (octacore Mac Pro - WOW!), new Xbox announcements (the new 360 Elite rocks!), Windows Mobile (v6 is out), just loads of stuff.  One of the cool things I have been able to do since working at Microsoft has been alpha & beta testing a bunch of software (a.k.a. Dogfooding), and getting to play with some way cool technology.  Since the word is out, I can talk about testing the new maps that were just released for Halo 2.  I had a great time playing the maps and met some way cool people in the process.  You might want to go check out the infamous Kari, a.k.a "TheDonWan" at http://kari.loadingreality.com. Bungie test queen by day, Halo goddess by night.  This chick can kick some serious ass on Halo lemme tell you.

There so much going on that it's hard to recap after a few months, so I'm not even going to try.  What I'll do is try to start blogging a little more frequently from here on out.  Have a great Easter everyone! 

Posted by Frank Bisono at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We aren't living in FL anymore...that's for sure! Being from FL, we aren't exactly familiar with "winter" so it was a bit of a shock to wake up the other day to what you see above.  Needless to say, we have had "snow days" and been telecommuting for the last two days.  Some people have been nutty enough to drive to the office, but they are far and few between.  Most of us are iced in.  The freeways are in great shape, but we can't get to them!  Not so bad though...I spent my day working at home, sitting on my couch with this for a view...

Working at home isn't my favorite thing to do since I can get a lot more done at the office, but with a view like this, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. So we are finally getting settled into Seattle.  Moving is definitely no easy thing, but it has been soooooo worth it.  Aside from the drag of having to unpack everything now, it's been the best move I have ever done.  We had over 15,000 pounds of stuff hauled 4,000 miles and only ONE thing broke that we have noticed so far, and that was a little ceramic top to a sugar jar - not exactly tragic.  I have to hand it to Graebel Van Lines, they are damn good.  My driver was Don Jordan, what a nut of a road dog, but that old salt can drive.  I wouldn't want to move ever again if that guy isn't hauling my stuff.  I have heard of MANY nightmare stories, but this one is definitely not one of them.  So far every single item has been accounted for and made it in the same condition it left Miami. Rockin I tell you.  Thank you Graebel, thank you Donny!

So now it's just a matter of getting used to this insane weather Seattle has been getting this year.  From what I am told, this is NOT the norm.  I actually think it's pretty nice.  I wouldn't want to deal with the snow for an extended period of time, or deal with the amount of snow a place like Denver gets, but I can deal with this just fine for now.  It's been clear and sunny the past two days, but it's cold...damn cold!  We are looking at something like 20 degrees tonight, add the wind chill to that and you definitely don't want to be putzing around outside if you don't have to.  We lit up our fireplace upstairs for the first time last night, and tonight we are trying out the wood burning stove downstairs.  I am hoping it will help keep the house warm without the furnace having to work so hard.  It's actually pretty cool, never had one of these before.  Check it out:

So that's the latest update peeps.  I know it isn't anything earth shattering or interesting, but until I can get back into my groove and start getting all techie again, this is the most I can put together.  I have a TON of feeds to read and catch up on with all this CES and Macworld stuff this past week.  That iPhone is just AWESOME!  Wish I could get one, but I have to have Exchange support and be able to get my stuff from work.  So far my new Cingular 8525 has been doing the trick just nicely.  I hope to blog some more about this soon so standby.  Until next time...

Technorati Tags: General, Seattle, Snow, Winter

Posted by Frank Bisono at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Let's celebrate the arrival of 2007!!!
Flickr Photo by James.Chen.

I know it's a few days late posting this, but it's just been a rockin start to the new year.  We have finally arrived in Seattle.  After SEVEN long days driving from Florida to Seattle, we arrived on New Years Eve just in time to have dinner, watch the fireworks and go to bed.  We are still in corporate housing waiting on our moving truck to arrive, hopefully this weekend.  Work has been a bit of a slow start, just trying to catch up on emails and getting my mind wrapped around all the stuff I have to deliver in a short amount of time.  There's definitely no better way to learn the job than to be thrown right into it, and that they have done! :-)  I hope to post a little more often as I finally settle in and get into my groove in my new environment.  Let's hope 2007 is better than last year...so far we are off to a great start.

* Photo Credit to James Chen on FlickR - Thanks!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a nutty past few days it's been. We left south FL on Christmas morning (afternoon actually) and have been driving since. We stopped in Tallahassee, FL for the first night, and stopped again in Houston, TX last night. So far the plan is to do the long-haul across TX today and try to make El Paso. Let me tell ya, I-10 is one BORING road. So far the most interesting thing we have seen was the devastation in New Orleans from hurricane Katrina. Man, that place is still a ghost-town. It's amazing that our President, our government, our elected officials have literally forgotten about and written off an entire US city and nobody seems to give a crap. When you see a Walmart pull out of town and things like amusement parks completely abandoned and left to rot, you have to know things are bad. I have been through a lot of the states in our country and I can whole-heartedly say the the last place in North America I would ever want to live is in the state of Louisiana. I sure hope those people in New Orleans found new homes and made a new life, that town is gone. Hopefully things will start getting a little more scenic once we get out of Texas. Time to get back on the road...hope everyone is having a great holiday....

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Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PHOTO CREDIT: MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Wow, so today is Tuesday, December 19, 2006 and I am back in south FL to finish packing the house and get my family.  What a crazy past few days it has been.  Just as I was wrapping up my third week at Microsoft, we got hit with an insane storm that has devastated the Puget Sound region.  We're talking about winds over 90mph and devastation the likes of a hurricane in south FL.  People at work are poking fun at me that I brought the shitty FL weather with me.  In the three weeks that I have been living in Seattle, there has been flooding due to higher than average rainfall, snow - and lots of it, as well as the nutty wind storm which have led to massive power outages throughout the region.

Last Thursday I lost power at about 9pm.  By morning, I was still without power.  I decided that if anyone has power, it had to be Microsoft.  Nope.  Got there and power was out everywhere.  Card readers didn't work and access to buildings was impossible unless someone let you in.  I managed to get a cell phone signal (most towers everywhere were out, but we have like 22 just on the Microsoft campus alone).  I got into my email via my Cingular 8525 (more on that one to come) and saw that facilities had sent everyone an email saying we were down.  Everyone that could get on email was canceling meetings for the day.  Since I had nothing better to do and my flight home wasn't until 10:30pm, I figured I would just hang out and power would be on soon.  Not a chance, three hours later, power was still out.  After getting tired of that routine, I headed out to Woodinville to check on my new house.  What a mess.  Trees, power lines, you name it, it came down in Woodinville.  The picture above was taken right down the street from my new home.  Hell of a day to take care of business out there.

I did what I needed to do and headed back to Bellevue to my corporate apartment.  The entire drive there I had cell coverage and was trying to get my wife to book an airport shuttle for me, but I didn't have my corporate apartment address on me.  I figured I would call her back when I got to the apartment.  Only one problem.  It seems the power, phone service AND cell towers were all down at the apartment.  Talk about being blasted back to the stone ages.  It was pure madness.  I decided to go down the mountain and see if I could get better cell coverage and get a call out to my wife.  Nothing.  By now I was starting to panic since I really didn't want to leave my car at the airport for two weeks.  I already had permission to leave my car in the Microsoft garage at my building, so I figured I would head out to the campus and catch a bus or cab to the airport from there.  So back to the apartment I went to get my gear.  Just as I pull into my parking space, my new neighbor starts up a conversation with me about my Mustang.  One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, he was giving me a ride to the airport!  Try THAT here in Miami.  Someone was definitely watching over me.  I got to the airport with time to spare and made a new friend in the process.  Pete didn't even accept my money for gas, what a guy I tell you.  If you ever read this - thanks a million Pete!  A full blown BBQ at my new house is in order, and Pete is my guest of honor.

One thing I have to mention, in the face if this madness, the people in Seattle generally maintained their composure and remained civil.  It wasn't like here in Miami where the looters come out to rob you blind.  The grocery stores were open with basic power to run registers, and people still maintained law and order while they shopped for what they needed.  They didn't abuse the system and were thoughtful of the others around them that were also in need.  Here in Miami, some idiot would wipe out the entire water aisle or ice machine, just because he could.  That's the kind of people in Miami and exactly the reason I am getting the hell out of this place.

So now I am getting ready to have the packers arrive tomorrow and Thursday, and loading the truck on Friday.  On Xmas morning we are heading out on our 3,300+ mile adventure and driving to Seattle with my wife, daughter and dog.  THAT's gonna be interesting.  ;-)  I'll try to take pics and blog periodically on our journey.  Unfortunately we can't take the scenic route for fear of ending up like James Kim (poor guy).  The shortest and most scenic route would take us through some pretty heavy snow areas, so we are taking the boring route along I-10 through the desert to I-5 in Los Angeles and heading north to Seattle from there.

Our best wishes to you and your families, have a great holiday and I'll be back once we are on the road!

Technorati Tags: General, Microsoft, Seattle

Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow.  That is the only way to summarize the past two weeks.  First, we finally got our house! That's our new home up above. It is in a little town called Woodinville. It's just a few miles north of Redmond, where I will be working at Microsoft. A little known fact about this tiny town: There are no less than 30 - count 'em - THIRTY wineries and numerous brew houses in Woodinville. Check out the full list at: http://www.winesnw.com/woodinville.html

I suspect my wife and I are going to have some fun weekends up here. ;-) Aside from turning into winos, we are less than 30 minutes drive (east) to several ski resorts for you snow bunnies, approx. 20 minutes to downtown Seattle, and only a couple hours drive from Portland, OR to the south or Vancouver, B.C. to the north. I can't wait to get out and explore more.

If you haven't read about Week 1, just roll back to the post before this one for that story.  Week two was pretty interesting.  Things at Microsoft can get pretty overwhelming VERY quickly.  For most people, just trying to get the hang of how to find anything on this massive campus can be a daunting task.  The building I am in was designed like a maze for rats.  Add to that that there are really three or four buildings connected and throw in an underground parking garage that is several levels deep and covers all the buildings...lets just say you can lose your car (and your mind) pretty easily if you don't take a mental note of where the hell you parked.  But on the flip side, this place just simply rocks.  In my building I have TWO kitchens on every floor.  Each fully stocked with tons of drinks and a Starbucks machine that grinds and brews fresh coffee on demand.  It just doesn't get any better.  I have been warned about the "Microsoft 20" though.  That is apparently the term used for the 20 pounds you will gain when you first come to Microsoft!  I can certainly understand how.  There is a common cafeteria (1 of 23+ that I know of) that serves the 3 or 4 buildings in my little area and the food is not too bad.  And last, there are things like foos-ball, billiard tables and ping-pong tables all over the place for those impromptu sessions while you exercise your brains.

So back to the job.  My team wasted no time and threw me right into the mix.  It's like someone opened up a fire hose and I am sitting right in front of it with my mouth wide open.  I have been in meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting.  Hell, I have been in meetings about meetings.  There is one thing you can bet on around Microsoft, they get damn good use of their conference rooms!  My head is still spinning.  With all that information being thrown at you, you better be good at taking notes.  Everyone is really good about summarizing things though.  Usually a Program Manager will send out a re-cap of the important stuff and we have just massive amounts of resources internally.  Anything critical is posted on our internal team sites.  So finding things isn't too bad as long as you have somewhere to start from.  Another thing that Microsoft knows how to do well is usability studies.  Man, we have got some wicked nice labs. I have been in a bunch of usability studies this week working on a prototype for a very cool application.  There's just no better way to get this kind of feedback before going too far down the development process, and having a lab this well equipped is a dream. To the left you see my Usability Engineer conducting one of our sessions (our subject is behind the mirror and up on the plasma in the small window to the right.

I have to admit, I had no clue how complicated of a process it is to actually ship a piece of software at this level.  There are a million meetings because there is just literally an insane amount of work and coordination across teams that has to happen for all of this to work.  This makes web development pale in comparison.  The good thing is that you are given EVERYTHING you need to succeed.  And believe me, you get EVERYTHING.  I have been working off of my desktop for most of the week and I just got my new laptop yesterday (yes, most of us have 2 or more systems on our desks) and I have to admit, it's taking a bit of getting used to.  After so many years of schlepping around a Powerbook, it just feels weird to carry a PC.  But on the other hand, I actually forgot some of the nicer things about a PC.  First, let me start off by saying that I drank the Kool-Aid pretty damn hard this week.  My Apple peeps may need to sit down for this.  I can't believe I am going to say it....but...wait for it....wait...shhhhh: <whisper> Windows Vista is actually pretty COOL! </whisper>.  Wow.  There.  I said it.  Yes folks.  It's true.  Microsoft did a damn good job on Vista and I sincerely believe that it will sell well once people see it.  Office 2007 is nothing short of AMAZING.  I have been searching for a complete suite of tools that does everything I want for quite some time on the Mac, and there just really hasn't been a solution that met my needs.  I finally found it - Office 2007 Enterprise ROCKS.  Not only does it look good, but it works like a dream.  I can't believe how much I missed Outlook!

There is soooo much cool technology at this company that you just seriously have to sit back and just shake your head sometimes. Perfect example is my first all-hands meeting this week.  We have this HUGE conference center that has a multitude of...well, conference rooms!  But I am talking the BIG kind with full A/V capabilities like streaming the session across the entire campus.  And this isn't just any little meeting, it was fully catered with tasty eats and again, insane selection of beverages, some which left me saying "wow - we can drink that at work, and for free?!?!?!"  Just take a look at the conference room (to the right) where we had our groups quarterly update meeting.  Not only do you have pristine wireless access everywhere, the conference room has killer chairs and a desk with power outlet so you can actually be productive.  This is the way everything is done around this company.  I can't tell you how great it feels to work someplace that just "gets it."  I know some of you may be saying they DON'T get it, and that may be true in certain aspects, but they get how business should be done and how to treat their employees.

The amount of information just internally on our intranet sites is mind blowing.  And the sickest part is that you can install and play with just about anything.  UNLIKE Apple, exploration and "dogfooding" is encouraged at this company.  You are privy to internal confidential software and information that you would NEVER have access to at Apple.  You are trusted to use good judgement and treated as a professional, not like a 2 year old that will spill the beans if told a secret.  The culture is so awesome that it has literally made me stop and think to myself "WTF were you thinking Frank?"  I have no idea why I was so hung up on Apple as if it were the only place to work in the universe.  I got news for you people, there is life outside of and after Apple and it's pretty damn good!  That being said, Apple is still a great company to work for.  It's just a different culture, and they definitely "Think Different", but in a good way.  I just happen to like this new-found culture better.  Like anything else, a lot has to do with the team you work with, so your milage can vary at either company. I am VERY fortunate to be on what I believe (and have been told by many) is one of the best groups and teams within all of Microsoft.  I have great leadership and my peers are a hell of a bunch.  I would be completely and utterly lost if it weren't for my peer mentor.  Microsoft really makes it a point to make sure your "onboarding" process is a good one and you are brought up to speed and not just left to figure things out on your own.

So going back to the technology...here's one thing that Apple hasn't figured out...mobile devices.  I am tired of waiting for Apple to release what we have been asking for, the Apple Smartphone.  So tell ya what...my happy ass is going down to Cingular tomorrow and picking up what I think is one of the coolest phones on the market right now, the Cingular 8525 (HTC TyTN).  Yes, it runs Windows Mobile 5, and yes - it is WAY cool, and thanks to the Missing Sync, I can even sync it with my Mac's at home.  Internally we have access to not only a wealth of information on these mobile devices, we have tons of cool applications not available to the outside world.  My Palm Treo 650 is a bonafide P.O.S. compared to these Windows based phones.  And the added bonus for me will be having the ability to check email and calendar info at work without opening my laptop or PC.  I get real-time push email from Exchange Server to my phone and since the entire campus is WiFi enabled, I can even jump on internal websites and pull down anything I need access to.  The uber geek factor is high folks.

I'll end with today's Town Hall meeting.  This is very similar to what Apple does and is meant to give the troops a state-of-the-union of how the company is doing.  I finally got to see Steve Ballmer up close and in person for the first time.  The best way I can describe him is "animated."  Boy, he sure gets fired up and truly excited about this company.  :-)  I guess that's a good thing.  After sitting through the presentation and hearing about all the different things we are doing as a company, I can't help but feel that I really made the right decision.  Not that I have questioned it, but it is just simply reassuring to know that this company is doing well and heading in a good direction.  We have so many cool new things coming out that people will have no option but to take notice.  It's a great time to be a Microsoftie and apparently I am not the only one who feels that way.  Todays headline in the tech world is about well known Infoworld author John Udell.  He apparently drank the same Kool-Aid that I did and has now been assimilated by the borg as well.  This is a huge huge huge win for Microsoft and I can't wait to see what he does when he comes onboard.  His new boss, Jeff Sandquist (Rober Scoble's old boss), has a blurb about it here.  To hear the story straight from John's mouth, click here. For those of you who think I am nuts or sold out, I encourage you to re-evaluate your idea of what's important in today's world of technology. There is more than enough room for both Apple and Microsoft, and the other players in the world, to co-exist peacefully and work quite well together. There are tons of job openings here and if you think you can make a difference and want to give it a shot, drop me a line and I will see what I can do. I am loving my new gig, I'm sure you would too!

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, General, Seattle

Posted by Frank Bisono at 12:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well helloooooooo out there Bisonium readers!  I'm sorry it's been a while since my last update, but as you can imagine, things are beyond hectic and I have been trying to get things ready for the past few weeks in anticipation of my final move to Seattle.  I can't begin to tell you how crazy it is knowing that you are about to pick up your whole life and and move it clear across the continental United States, 3300 miles, and leave everything you know and love behind.  To say this is a stressful event is putting it mildly.  I have been spending the past few weeks getting things done which I have been putting off, doing maintenance on vehicles, finalizing pending paperwork, closing out client projects and more.  I am moving out to Seattle ahead of my family and getting things in order with our rental home (more on that later) and getting settled into my corporate apartment which will be home for the next 45 days.  I have to hand it to Microsoft, they just simply know how to take care of their people.  I arrived to a gorgeous 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment with a fireplace, overlooking Lake Sammamish.  This is one swanky little pad, all fully furnished as you would expect a corporate apartment to be.  I seriously have no complaints...well...almost none.  There was one little detail that nobody could have expected (or done anything about).

This November has been one for the history books in Seattle.  A couple weeks ago I flew out to Seattle with my wife and daughter on our house hunting trip.  I couldn't have picked a worse time to bring my family...there were torrential rains and flooding everywhere.  The Snoqualmie Valley was completely flooded out and people in the surrounding areas were not even able to drive into work due to the conditions.  One of the areas we were looking for homes was in Snoqualmie Ridge. What a beautiful area.  But let me tell you...when the weather comes in, it COMES IN.  The winds were insane and the rain made it just miserable.  Needless to say, this was not exactly the impression I wanted to give my wife and daughter of our new home.  I kept telling them that this just wasn't normal.  All I saw were rolling eyes and raised eyebrows like "yeah, suuuure..."  So fast forward a couple weeks.  I fly in Saturday and get my rental car...errr - truck actually.  I wanted an SUV, but they were all out of Ford Escapes.  I'm not sure why, but I asked if they had any F-150's.  They guy at the counter almost jumped with a loud "YEAH!  You want one of those?"  Me being the Ford guy I am, I was all over it, and the bad boy was a brand new 4x4 with 100 miles to boot.  Didn't get any better.  Little did I know how much of a blessing it was to have this vehicle.

So I get all settled in, go do a grocery run and get my essentials.  I settled in for the night and got comfy with my new pad.  So the day has finally come and gone.  I officially started as a Microsoft employee yesterday.  All in all a good day and a major highlight in the life of Bisonium.  ;-)  Then I woke up and the nightmare began.  No - I wasn't having second thoughts about being assimilated by the Borg, quite far from it actually.  Take a look at what I woke up to:

So for a guy from Miami, this isn't exactly a normal driving situation.  I have been trained to drive cars in some pretty radical situations (I was prior law enforcement), so I figured it couldn't be too bad.  I got up extra early figuring it would be a mess on the roads.  As I left the apartment, things were looking alright.  I made it down the mountain with no problems thanks to that 4x4 F-150.  Once I got on the main roads, things were pretty decent.  I actually made it to work an HOUR early.  Better safe than sorry, so no complaints.  My first day was spent in NEO (New Employee Orientation) and was quite informative.  I thought Apple was the best organized company on the planet when it came to HR stuff through the online resources they had.  Then I saw Microsoft's internal system.  Microsoft just simply has their stuff together in this respect and the amount of resources available to employees is mind boggling.  More on that later.  The day went about as well as could be expected.  We broke out of the employee store at about 4:30 - 5pm.  Since I didn't have internet access at the apartment yet, I figured I would drop by a Starbucks on the way home.  Spent an hour there goofin off and then started to head home.  The weather had held up most of the afternoon, but by now, snow had started falling again.  No big deal, I have 4x4 I thought.  I proceeded to go grab some Chinese food and pick up a few things I forgot at the market next door.  In the few minutes it took to get the food, the snow started coming down hard....REAL HARD.  I was only a couple miles from home, no big deal I thought.  Well...the problem wasn't with me...however, not everyone in Seattle has a 4x4.  This becomes a real problem in these conditions.  By the time I got off I-90 on my exit, I got about 100 yards and saw police lights.  They had blocked off Lakemont Blvd.  Owwww boy.  This isn't good I thought.  Check out the pic from my Treo:

.

I had no other choice but to pull over to the side of the road and wait.  Seems like everyone else had the same idea.  We all sat there watching as one car after another struggled just to make it up the small slope from the I-90 exit to Lakemont.  Cars were losing it everywhere.  After a couple hours of that, I asked the cop at the intersection if there was another way for me to get home and thankfully, he guided me to an alternate road that wasn't iced over.  Sure enough, I made it to the base of my complex.  Then the fun began.  There was a good 3 inches of powder on a very steep incline that I had to traverse in order to get to my apartment.  I was already in 4-wheel drive and said "what the hell."  Up I went and I'll be damned if that F-150 didn't hunker down, dig in and haul-ass up that mountain.  I made it to the top without incident and I am here to tell you - there is a 2006 Ford Mustang for sale now!  My ass is dropping the vroom and gettin down with a 4x4 ASAP.  My 'stang would have just cried lookin at that mountain.

So I finally got in, heated up my food and called it a night.  The news reports were saying it was going to be worse tomorrow and I was just hoping for a miracle and that the weather would let up.  So fast forward to this morning...here's this morning's photo:

Yep.  That's looking out my balcony.  This was not good.  I kept thinking "How the hell am I going to make it down this mountain in this?"  No sooner was I thinking that, the phone rang and it was my recruiter.  She told me that our HR Vice President, Lisa Brummel, had sent out an email to everyone advising them to stay home and not attempt to drive to work in these conditions.  Apparently the de-icing trucks in Redmond had run out of sand and were not able to de-ice many of the roads leading to the campus.  For all intents and purposes, Microsoft has been closed down due to weather today.  Just after I got off the phone with my recruiter, my new boss called me and pretty much said the same things.  I have gotten many reassurances that this is simply NOT normal for Seattle at this time of year, or ever really.  Usually if it snows, it burns off pretty quick and people aren't usually left in these conditions for long.  So lucky for me, I get to start my new career at Microsoft in one of the worse months of weather the Puget Sound area has ever seen.  The bright side is that after seeing this, the "normal" conditions will seem pretty damn good from here on out.  Hopefully by the time I bring my family back here at the end of December, the conditions will be a little more tolerable and make the transition easier for everyone.  For now...I'll be hangin out at Starbucks all-day and trying to catch up on some reading of many blogs.  Hopefully I can find my way home without my GPS!  I wish I could have gone to the NEO Day 2, but I am pretty sure it was cancelled.  They have one every week, so I suspect I will be attending day 2 next week.  Unfortunately I don't have my company laptop yet either, so I can't RAS in remotely to get on the network.  The anxiety is killing me.  I don't think I can remember ever wanting to go to work so bad.  Boy - that's a switch huh?  :-)  I can truly say that for the first time in a very long time, I am enjoying and looking forward to my new job.  Can't put a price tag on that.  If you want to see more pics of what it's like around here today, head on over to my FlickR page at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bisonium/.  I also posted some pics from my Treo on the Bisonium Moblog on Text America: http://bisonium.textamerica.com/.  More updates soon...tanks for dropping by!

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Seattle, Snow

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ok...I know what you are saying...WTF is that logo doing on your site Frank?  Ummm hmmmm.  Boy, that's a great question.  One for which my fellow Apple peeps need to make sure they are sitting down for the answer.  Before I continue, please make sure you are not holding any hot objects or consuming liquids of any sort while you read the following few paragraphs.  You have been warned.

As you can probably guess by now, there is a disturbance in the force.  The dark side has been calling for about the last six months or so now and I have been making the rounds at the mother-ship.  Not THAT mother-ship in Cupertino.....oh noooo.  Yes, the OTHER mother-ship also known as the Redmond Giant.  Yes people, it has happened.  I have been officially assimilated by the Borg!  For those of you less-than-geek types, I am talking about Microsoft.

I have been sitting on this for a week now, but I can officially release the news that I have accepted an offer at Microsoft as a User Experience Designer with the Windows Server Management Experience (WSMX) Group.  Before you all have a heart attack and start throwing daggers and the pigmy's come running to hunt me down with axes, hear me out. 

This is a GOOD thing.  It was the best move for my family, and to be quite honest, one HELL of a career opportunity that anyone would be brain-dead not to accept.  And if you are wondering if I have to move to Seattle, the answer is a resounding YES!  Rather than re-hash what I have already gone into great detail about elsewhere, follow the link and read the first post on my other "new" blog on Windows Live Spaces (and I don't wanna hear any wise cracks about using Spaces, remember where I work now) ::: UX Design by Frank: http://uxdesign.spaces.live.com

I know this is a shocker to some of you, but you'll understand that things aren't always what they seem from the outside.  You have to dig deep and peel back all the layers to reveal the truth about anything.  I did my homework, I liked what I saw, I took the gig.  It's really that simple.  Now get on over to my other blog and get the full scoop...

Technorati Tags: Design, Microsoft

Posted by Frank Bisono at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

You gotta love it when a company goes to this extent to provide something for nothing to their customers.  All you Starbucks fans are in for a treat.  Check out the email I just got from Navtones:

Because you're on the Navtones A-List we're hooking you up early with FREE Starbucks POIs for your TomTom and FREE Navtones alerts. Starbucks is not a restaurant, okay? So why should you have to plow through the TomTom restaurant database when all you need is a quick caffeine fix? Now, just install your city's locations and Starbucks is only a click away in your POI menu. We have the top 100 US cities in our database and we're giving you exclusive access until October 30th when we link to the world:
http://navtones.com/poi-starbucks.php.

Along with a few choice words from our pal, Burt, expect to hear one of these happy alerts the next time you roll by the “Bux:

“Pay attention, FOOL!”
“Pump me up, baby!”
“Wake up!”
“I'm feelin' tired.”
“Pull out the ‘Bux, buddy.”

Go to the Navtones site and ger yer "Bux" on...

Technorati Tags: GPS, Navtones, Starbucks, TomTom

Posted by Frank Bisono at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sure many of you have heard about creating an entry in your cell phone address book with the initials I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) where a law-enforcement official can contact someone in the event you have an accident and cannot come to the phone.  The state of FL has taken that a step further and created an online tool where you can enter up to two emergency contacts with all vital information which only law-enforcement officers can have access to in the event of an emergency.  Now that's pretty smart thinking.  If you live in FL or have family who does, make sure they fill out the information...it could save their lives!

https://www6.hsmv.state.fl.us/dlcheck/findcustomer

Technorati Tags: Cool Sites

Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boy does time fly.  Over 2275 posts in 3 years.  Here's to many more!

Technorati Tags: Blogging, General

Posted by Frank Bisono at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the 5th anniversary of 9 | 11 comes to a close, here's a final post of some images I have taken over the years from the WTC or the surrounding areas in NYC. For the complete set, visit my flickR site.

Technorati Tags: 9-11, WTC

Posted by Frank Bisono at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In memory of those who lost their lives on 9-11

Technorati Tags: 9-11

Posted by Frank Bisono at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To all Americans everywhere, Happy Independence Day!  Today is a special day in our nations history and this day, we had an extra special treat.  The space shuttle Discovery has successfully launched into space on it's way to replenish the International Space Station.

"And liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery returning to the space station, paving the way for future missions and beyond," said NASA launch commentator Bruce Buckingham.

This is the first time the shuttle has ever launched on Independence Day.  After 2 scrubbed attempts due to bad weather, and lots of crossed fingers, we are back in space for only the second time since the Columbia accident.  It sure feels good, lets hope that after further analysis of the images, there weren't any complications or damage to the shuttle.  The missions launch was in question earlier this week when it was discovered that there was a 4- to 5-inch crack in the external fuel tank's foam insulation.  After further analysis, the NASA engineers determined that the mission was still good to go.

To my fellow veterans, and those friends and other service men and women who continue to serve our country - THANK YOU.  We are thinking of you and hope we can see you all back home soon.  Have a fun and SAFE holiday everyone...to our heros in space - Good Luck and Godspeed.

Technorati Tags: General, Space Shuttle

Posted by Frank Bisono at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, has it been 10 days since my last post?  Insanity I tell you.  Things around here are moving at lightning speeds lately.  I have my head buried into some pretty big stuff, and eventually I may post about it here.  Last I looked, my RSS reader has about 8,000 unread posts.  < sigh >  I really need to trim back those subscriptions I tell you.  For now, back to the madness...stay tuned for more (hopefully in the not too distant future).

Technorati Tags: General

Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Having lived in Florida most of my life, hurricanes are just a part of life I have learned to deal with.  Last year was the roughest year yet though.  I wasn't even affected by Andrew when it devastated Homestead (given I was away in the military), but my parents home was fine after Andrew. So for me, last year was definitely the worst.  We got a pretty good scare and all things considering, it could have obviously been a lot worse.  A LOT worse.  Today the Miami Herald is running a story that gives us a good idea of just exactly how much worse it can get.  I have to tell ya...I don't like it one bit.  Last year having lived for a measly 3 days without power nearly drove me mad, I can't imagine what would happen in these given scenarios.  What really makes you stop and think is that this isn't something that might happen, it is a CERTAINTY that it will happen.  The only variable here is when.

Well folks, like any good IT guy would do, I think that a little proactive relocation planning is in order.  Being the digital nerd that I am, the thought of no power for months on end is enough to get me out of here.  But add in the mad chaos, idiots that can't drive and generally FUBAR state we were in last year (after a fairly benign hurricane compared to what's being forecasted), I am not waiting around for the day the "big one" hits south FL.  I can only imagine what the mass exodus would look like.  Add to that the fact that the housing market is just ridiculously STUPID expensive at the moment, the decision is pretty easy.  This calls for a complete relocation and getting the hell out of south FL.  When will I leave?  Well - that's a matter of what options present themselves, if any.  Might be a month, might be a few years.  One thing's for certain, the search has officially begun.  Areas of particular interest would be: WA (Seattle and surrounding areas), OR (Portland / Bend and surrounding areas), TX (Austin / Dallas), AZ (Phoenix, Sedona), NM (Santa Fe, Albuquerque),  CO (Denver), TN (Nashville, Knoxville), NC (inland areas), SC (inland areas).  Although those would be my ideal locations, I would be open to places like San Diego, San Francisco and the Washington DC Metro Areas.  My main beef with those areas is the cost of living (but then again, Santa Fe and Sedona aren't exactly cheap either).  With a little one in tow, good schools and affordable housing are key concerns.  An area with a solid base of IT jobs is also a consideration, should an unforeseeable event occur with any given employer.  Being an IT guy in a small town with one main employer probably isn't the smartest thing for career longevity.

I am leaning heavily towards the Pacific Northwest.  I have traveled the US extensively, and although I haven't had the chance to visit the Pacific Northwest as of yet, I just feel that something out there is calling my name. My wife tends to agree and likes the idea.  I am a big fan of the outdoors, camping and photographic scenery. Living out there would be the excuse I needed for justifying an RV.  After taking a short survey on findyourspot.com, I was given a list of places that would be suitable based on my preferences. It was pretty close to what I was targeting - actually, it was almost dead on!  I listed the places after the jump (to minimize the length on the front page).

So that brings me to the discovery phase of my plan of action.  I have a pretty extensive background in everything from sales / marketing to new media design and IT engineering and support.  Although I am a Mac guy at heart, I can hang with Windows and *nix.  For a good overview of my background, head over to LinkedIn and check it out.  If you have a LinkedIn account and want to network with me, go ahead and send me an invite to join your network!  I can fit right in at a start-up or a well-established F-500 enterprise.  The ideal gig would challenge me to create something that is revolutionary in the industry and allow me to work with some incredibly talented people that are tops in their field. A creative, fun and exciting atmosphere, great benefits and career advancement opportunities round out the perfect gig.  I know - I don't ask for a lot now do I?  ;-)  Does such a gig even exist?  If any of you loyal readers out there in the blogsphere have an inside line on a great gig outside of Florida, drop me a line: frank [at] bisonium [dot] com.

Technorati Tags: Real Estate, General

Continue reading "Sketches of a catastrophe: Proactive Relo" »

Posted by Frank Bisono at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well all I can say is ABOUT DAMN TIME!  I have been waiting since I was about knee-high to a grasshopper to get the originals on DVD.  My wish has been granted.  Looks like Lucas finally caved in to the masses of Star Wars fans wanting to relive their childhood in the comfort of their homes with their big-screen TV's.

"In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.

This release will only be available for a limited time: from September 12th to December 31st. International release will follow on or about the same day. Each original theatrical version will feature Dolby 2.0 Surround sound, close-captioning, and subtitles in English, French and Spanish for their U.S. release. International sound and subtitling vary by territory."

Get the full story at StarWars.com...

Technorati Tags: DVD, Movies

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow - has it really been almost a month since my last post?  Whew.  Been a hectic and nutty month.  All is well in bisonium-land and normal posting shall resume immediately.  Been doing quite a few things lately and haven't had a whole lot of spare time for blogging.  The Gearlive thing didn't work out so that is one less thing on my plate.  I feel better posting things for MY readers so it will remain that way for the time being.  I have 2 new additions to the family - both with 4 wheels. :-)  Although I was hell-bent on acquiring a new BMW, somehow I couldn't turn my back on my Fords and decided to continue buying American, despite my long standing desire for that Bimmer.  Therefore, welcome my 2 new babies:

1) 2006 Ford Mustang - and this aint 'yo moma's average 'stang.  Welcome back the pure American muscle cars of the 60's and 70's.  I absolutely fell in LOVE with this car when I saw it.  After driving it, I was sold.  Looks aside, this thing SOUNDS as good as it looks.  Over time, I'll be adding all sorts of new hidden features, namely under the hood.  Ultimately this will turn into a full-blown race car, but for now, it's my daily ride.  Don't wanna void the warranty just yet with that Shelby Supercharger being bolted on to the motor. :-)

2) 2007 Explorer Sport Trac - this is primarily the wife's ride.  This thing wasn't on the lot but 3 days, and it wasn't even really supposed to be out yet.  It makes for a killer baby-mobile without the suburban hell of a soccer-mom mini-van.  That just wasn't happening so this was the next best thing while retaining some respectability on the streets.  It also happens to make a killer rig for those weekend camping trips around Florida.

Needless to say, I am a happy camper (pun intended).  Full pics of both rides are on my Flickr site.  Sorry for being absent over the last month, but hopefully I am all caught up and ready to keep blogging my life away.  :-)

Technorati Tags: General, Automobiles, Photos

Posted by Frank Bisono at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So you aren't quite satisfied with your job and the pay sucks.  Well, you aren't alone - welcome to the American way.  That is unless you work for Goldman Sachs.  It seems that a close inspection of the companies latest regulatory filings revealed that they just closed a record bonus season and wages are averaging $521,000, and THAT includes secretaries my friends.

Last year, Goldman Sachs paid out $11.7bn (£6.7bn) to its 22,425 employees - around 3,000 of whom are in London. This is a 12 per cent increase on the $466,000 average disclosed for 2004. It is twice the level of average pay at rivals Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.

So if you happen to have a degree in something, ANYTHING, that can get you in the door at Goldman Sachs, and you are working as a used car salesman or something, I suggest you dust off that old resume and camp out at your local Goldman Sachs office until you get a job.  Get the full scoop and details at The Independent.

Technorati Tags: General, Goldman Sachs, Salary

Posted by Frank Bisono at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posting has been slow around these parts hasn't it?  It's been over 2 weeks and Bellsouth STILL doesn't have a clue how to fix the problem with my DSL line.  Surprising isn't it?  Every time I call I get someone in India who is clearly having to call back to the states to actually get a real Bellsouth employee to tell them what to do.  I have had it, I am sooo over Bellsouth.

There is light over the horizon though.  By the time I get home tonight, I should have a brand spankin new 6Mbps connection through Adelphia.  I originally thought Comcast serviced my area, errr - technically I guess they do since they bought Adelphia, but for now everything is branded Adelphia.

I had the cable tv installed this weekend and got 2 Motorola HD / PVR receivers to boot.  I can't begin to express how absolutely AMAZING the HD picture is from regular cable or Satellite.  Watching Discovery HD Theater has just become my favorite past-time.  DirecTV, you lost.  If you offered me the upgrade at no cost, you would have most likely kept me as a customer.  So sad, too bad.  If the cable modem is anywhere near as fast as I am thinking it will be during those heavy peak hours, I will be one happy camper.  Next step - order up Supra telecom and completely dump Bellsouth services and related affiliates.  Unfortunately I am stuck on Cingular for another year, but rest assured - their days are numbered too.

For now, you can get your bisonium fix over at Gear Live with the following posts:

Sony Ericsson P990: The Ultimate Mobile Phone

Put Some DICE In Your Ride

VMware Server Released for Free

Major Nelson Giving Away Xbox 360 for Dummies

Adobe On Mactel: An FAQ

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Following up on my previous post, thanks to everyone who voted for Laura! She's through round 1 and closing in on her quest to become the Bone's officlal "Rock Girl".  This is where we are going to need you to spread the word.  She's up against some stiff competition and she needs every vote!  So head on over to the Bone and cast your vote!  Just in case the link doesn't come through, here is is below:

http://www.1077thebone.com/asp/bracket/bracket2005.asp?ID=1&GID=3&BID=1

Thanks in advance and don't forget - spread the word!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just in case you don't follow the Gear Live blog, I wanted to let everyone know that I'll be blogging there for the next month or so, as well as updating a doing reviews on the shopping guides.  If all goes well, it will become a steady gig.  I'll try to cross post what I post on Gear Live here, but just in case, make sure you subscribe and check it out!  Peace!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey there blogsphere and friends,

It's been a few days since my last post, things here have been utterly insane.  In addition to running my business, I decided to accept an offer of employment that was too good to turn down.  So back to working 2 jobs I go!  It's all good though, I am learning more each day and I work with some absolutely great people.

But the real story behind this post is that the main reason I haven't been able to post much is because Bellsouth has completely screwed my DSL service and they have no clue what to do about it.  Yeah, you read right...Bellsouth doesn't have a clue.  Surprise surprise. 

The nightmare begins after the jump....

Continue reading "Eradicating Bellsouth Services...by a pissed off blogger" »