Jeff Sandquist

Geeks on Peaks - Microsoft Mount Logan Climb

Jeff — Sat, 05 May 2007 18:42:00 GMT

I just received an email from Larry Larsen who is on his way to Mount Logan to begin our coverage of Geeks On Peaks. Larry has just checked into Whitehorse, Canada on his way to the base camp for the climb.

For this expedition our plan was to use all consumer-level gear for the technology. Ideally, the main computer for the climb was going to be an OQO2. The problem is that hard drive heads tend to lie down on the platters after 10,000 feet. So by 19,551 feet the computer might be worthless. So instead we're using a Sony Vaio UX, the new handheld micro-computer, loaned to us by the UMPC team at Microsoft. The nice thing about the Sony UX is that it doesn't have a hard drive. It uses a 32GB flash drive instead.

You can follow along over on Summits of Canada via Live Maps and Larry will be uploading coverage as soon as possible.

Good luck Larry and be safe!

We shipped Vista Christmas Song

Jeff — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 17:13:00 GMT

Over on our sister site Channel 9, Don and Chris sing a special holiday song about Windows Vista. Check it out.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone from all of us at Channels 9 and 10.

Jon Udell is Joining Our Team At Microsoft

Jeff — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:01:00 GMT

Just a quick note this morning to announce that Jon Udell will be joining our team as a full-time employee of Microsoft. In Jon's new role he'll be creating screencasts, podcasts and conducting interviews for both Channels 9 and 10. If you've never heard a Jon Udell podcast or viewed one of his screencasts, you really need to, its a real treat. Jon is the ultimate story teller. :-)

Jon is taking a brief break,recharging his batteries and will be joining us in the New Year. I've posted more details over on my personal blog.

Meet Our New 10 Team Mate

Jeff — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 02:03:00 GMT

Awhile back I posted a video where I talk about a new opening on our team. The position has now been filled. Thank you everyone who sent an email, a resume or posted a video talking about why they want to join our team. We were simply blown away by all the applications and the caliber of folks who were interested. I wish we could hire everyone, but we only have one opening.

Larry Larsen will be joining our team and will help drive the content strategy for 10. The video in this post is what Larry sent as part of his application and we thought you'd enjoy seeing it too. Even better than his application video is Larry's home office which he is currently taking apart as he makes the move to Redmond.

Larry starts next week on 10 - watch for new content soon on 10 from Larry.

We’re Hiring – Come join the 10 Team!

Laura — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 22:56:00 GMT

Yes, we’re hiring! Come join the team that is changing the way Microsoft is connecting with customers! We have a key leadership position open on our team. In this lead role the successful candidate will be responsible for strategy, planning and execution for Microsoft 10 along with Microsoft’s global Enthusiast Evangelism efforts.

We are looking for a rare bird to help start a new kind of leadership role at Microsoft. The ideal candidate will be well versed in the current wave of consumer technologies, industry trends, and competition. An active passion for connecting with customers and sharing your passion for Microsoft products is required. Strong digital video filming and production skills are required as the team shoots, edits, and produces its own video on site. You would be a member of a small team responsible for the care and feeding of this unique and growing community. You must have a passion for generating excitement in the technology enthusiast community - both in person and through online media. You will partner closely with our development team in order to deliver on an amazing online experience. Strong written, verbal and visual communication skills are also important traits of a successful candidate.

Roles and responsibilities change quickly so flexibility and fast decision making abilities are a must.

A passion for blogging, wikis, gaming, video production and social software is critical.

Official Job Description

Postscript: This position has now been filled, thank you so much to all those that applied. We were humbled by all the interest. Meet Larry, our new 10 lead.

Help us get the right content on 10

Jeff — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 03:38:52 GMT

For 10 our goal is to reach technology enthusiasts.

Back in the day they created Excel Macros, Windows 95 Tips and tricks, etc. Today you create music, manage photo collections, create art, build robots, blog, write scripts and build web sites with technology. You attend events like Makers Faire, Reboot and Lift.

We want to create a place that you want to be a part of.

We're refining the content style on 10 to now also include text entries highlighting interesting software and services. The videos will show interesting software from inside Microsoft like applying Getting Things Done to Office 12, building your home network and of course gaming! On the outside we want to highlight cool stuff folks are doing with tech, conducting interviews with interesting people from the community.

Along the way I'll admit we made some mistake with tone and probably went way too much MTV, but we're learning and trying hard to make it much more unplugged and more timely.

One thing I think we're still missing is a simple, crisp one liner beside the logo that succinctly frames what we are doing. Like 10 - Tech, Life, Cool Stuff.

So we have some questions...

What do you want to see on ten?
What style and tone do you think works?
What should we keep doing?
What should we stop doing?
What should our tagline be?

If you read our manifesto, we want 10 to be what our users want it to be. ;-)

So here's your chance to help us make 10 great.

Welcome to 10 - version 1.0

Jeff — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 09:20:00 GMT

Just four months ago we unveiled 10 with a simple dream: create a place for people with both a passion for technology and also a desire to change the world.

Along the way we have covered a wide range of topics. Some of the content you loved and some didn't quite meet the mark. One consistent piece of feedback you gave us was that 10 lacked a purpose and the major side effect was that our content often was all over the map. As a team we took that to heart and wrote what the 10 Manifesto. This manifesto is a set of principles we'll use as a compass to help guide us forward.

The 10 Manifesto

One band of passionate digital citizens reaching out to enthusiasts around the globe.
Two-way communication that is based on mutual respect will lead to success.
Three degrees make up the interview: The medium, the subject, and the conversation.
Four corners of the world encompass millions of ideas and a shared global imagination.
Five by five is how we communicate; with maximum strength and clarity.
Six minutes of headlines and links isn’t enough. We want to create opinions, depth, and focus.
Seven days a week we hunt for discussions on seven continents. Work and life can be synthesized
Eight bits of media will grow into more than just bytes of data. They should inform and enthrall.
Nine plus Ten is much more than nineteen. Together we can teach, listen, and learn together.

10 is all of these things, but most important it is what our users make it. Listen to everyone.

These principles were what we used to guide every step of this release and it will be how we measure our content moving forward. We hope that we've made the site easier to use and that our new forums will allow you to connect with your peers from across the globe and discuss a wide variety of subjects.

Thank you for being a part of the launch of 10, we're looking forward to your feedback as we begin this journey together.

A sneak peek at Version 1.0 of Microsoft 10

Jeff — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 22:07:54 GMT

The long awaited update for 10 is almost ready. We're in the final march towards the launch of what we’re calling 10 - Version 1.0. There is a lot of stuff in this release so we thought we'd release some screenshots to give you a sneak peek.

10 Version 1.0 - Homepage

10 Version 1.0 - Entry View

So what's in it?

Shiny new logo, email subscriptions to threads (finally), homepage with an embedded media player (that works) and a much cleaner / easier to use experience. We didn't show the forums in the screenshots but yes we're finally bringing them online in this release as well. They will have an experience very similar to the items shown in the entry view screenshot.

If you look closely you'll notice that our new logo was created by Maxwell. Maxwell is the winner of our custom PC logo contest. Thanks Maxwell!

Note there is no big launch party planned for this design refresh launch (like the other folks). We are thinking about heading over to Jeff's house for some beer and paper plate pizza and then will be hard at work getting this code working with 10's sister site Channel 9.

We can't wait to get this out the door!

- The 10 Team

What is 10?

Jeff — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:33:42 GMT

10 is a place for people who want to use technology to change the world.

Every weekday at 10:00 am (PST) we’ll update 10 with a new number blogs with more on the way. These will cover a wide range of topics are written by Microsoft employees, members of the 10 community or a mixture of both. Our focus is not on products, but on scenarios and interest areas. Some examples of these area will be health, education, design, music, games, and film.

Our dream is that these areas will grow into places for people interested in helping make the world a better place through the application of technology.

There are a few guiding principles we have for 10:

1. Create a place for people who want to use technology to change the world.
2. Bring a voice to the underdog through our content giving audience to people who may not have one already.
3. Deliver content on 10 that excites, inspires and has you returning each day wondering will be on 10.

10 will always be changing and adjusting as we're experimenting with a number of styles and formats. We’re looking for your feedback to see what you like best, can’t stand and adjusting it all in real time. What would you like to see?

Spooky eh? :-)

Welcome to the beginning of 10. The next step starts with you!

-Jeff
http://jeffsandquist.com