steady as she goes

Listening to the Planet Money podcast isn’t good for anyone who’s worried about the economy. If watching stock tickers go up and down is akin to a train wreck, Planet Money is the calm, professional narration. It tells you more than you really need to know and gives you cause to worry about things that you didn’t even know you could worry about. Particularly when you’re watching all of the layoffs pop up left and right around you.

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Windows 7 Beta available Friday 1/9

From WindowsTeamBlog.com:

On January 9th, the Windows 7 Beta will be available for Windows enthusiasts to download via the Windows 7 page on Windows.com. The Windows 7 Beta is going to be available download-only (we’re not sending out physical media) and available for a limited time to the first 2.5 million people who download the beta.

I’m super excited about this.  Like, compeltely ecstatic.  I’ve been talking up Win7 now for months to my friends and now we really get to show it off and have a ton of people try it.  Yes, I’m pimping out my work because I’m damn proud of it!

Most important, “Give Feedback”!  Everyone who uses Windows 7 will have the opportunity to give Microsoft feedback on pretty much everything. It’s the best way you can help Microsoft understand your experience with Windows 7. And, yes, we’re listening. :)  There’s an easy lil button for you to click that sends us your comments and thoughts and musings.  So, if you find bugs, report them!

For more information, see the Windows 7 page here (http://microsoft.com/windows7).  If you want to get it as soon as it comes out, there’s an RSS feed that will let you know as soon as the public Beta becomes available (feed here: http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/MainFeed.aspx).

Giving

Every year Microsoft launches a giving campaign to encourage employees to give back to the community monetarily as well as via volunteerism.  Since 2005 the ‘soft has been matching employee donations dollar-for-dollar up to $12,000 per employee.  More than that, if I volunteer with an organization, that organization will get paid $17 for every hour I’m there.  Every year, Microsoft employees give hundreds of thousands to non-profit organizations (NPOs), and every dollar the employs give gets matched with a dollar from the company.  I personally think this is one of my biggest perks and benefits of working for the company.
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