Remarkably enough, all of you have shown restraint when it comes to asking me what I actually do for Microsoft. Though your politeness is truly appreciated, today is your lucky day. Today's the day I indulge your curiosities.
I'm a program manager. I won't tell you the team name; in my opinion it's a little lackluster and you will stop reading. I will, however, tell you about the most interesting program I've managed thus far.
If you have a few moments, go and check out the Times Reader from the New York Times. It's a fantastic application and a great way to get the news. Unfortunately, I can't take much credit for it. I joined Microsoft right as our most intense involvement was ramping down.
The concept of the Times Reader has resonated well with a lot of publishers around the world. Most publishers have neither the technical expertise nor the resources to create one of these experiences from the ground up. My job has been to work with a team of developers at Microsoft and create a starter kit which allows publishers to quickly create these kinds of applications.
In February, the first round of publishers released beta applications based on the starter kit. Some of these applications were created in just over a month. Some of them are still a bit rough around the edges, but you should go and check them out.
As a teaser, I've included a screen shot of the daily mail. It's a British tabloid. Before you download it, I should warn you that British tabloids are decidedly less fictional than their American counterparts. Although I'm not exactly within their target demographic, I do find that the stories make interesting water cooler conversation.
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