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- Sweetest GoodbyeSeptember 11
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Tomorrow is my last day here as an Office Labs intern developer. I must say this summer has gone by too fast for me to really appreciate just how great this internship truly has been. I honestly feel blessed to have been selected by such a unique group within Microsoft. The creative, fast-paced environment has kept me on my toes and excited to come to work every morning. Of course, there are good days and bad days. However, looking back now I am realizing how much I have grown as a developer over the last 12 weeks. Every time I overcame a difficult problem I have come out a better person than before. I really appreciate what my managers and mentor have done for me. Without them, I definitely would not be where I am today.
Thank you for reading my blog entries! I certainly hope that they have helped increase the transparency of what it is like to intern for a group like Office Labs. I hope that I will get the opportunity to blog on this website again in the future!
Category: From the InternsPublished: 9/11/2008 4:18 PM - Navigate pptPlex using a Wii controllerSeptember 11
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We’re hoping by now all of you have tried out the pptPlex prototype! I was one of the developers for the pptPlex prototype, and I thought I’d share something cool I tried with pptPlex a few months ago.
It’s common to see presenters give their presentations on stage with a hand-held controller. I have a Nintendo Wii at home and one day I realized that the Wii controller could make a great device for controlling Plex presentations, so I tried it out.
With the Wii controller you can flick your hand to go to the next and previous slide. You can point to the screen and navigate to any slide out of order. If you reach a section and don’t want to go into its details you can use another motion to bypass that whole section.
Take a look at this video I put together to see how it can work. If you like to try this out yourself see this page for instructions on how to set it up. Enjoy!
Category: pptPlexPublished: 9/11/2008 4:35 PM - About Us: Interns!September 9
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Some of the interns here have been blogging about their experiences here at Office Labs. These entries are listed under the "From the Interns" category. To give them a bit more context, here is a compliation of biographies from the 7 interns that had the opportunity to work with Office Labs during the summer of 2008. Enjoy!
FYI: if you are interested in interning with Microsoft, please visit here.
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Abhishek
I am a rising senior at Princeton University, and am currently pursuing a major in Electrical Engineering with a focus in Computer Systems and Software. This is my first time at Microsoft and the Seattle area and I am really looking forward to exploring. In previous summers, I have conducted research at Princeton in optical sensing and elastic semiconductors so I am working in a completely new abstraction layer here at Microsoft! I am an Indian national from New Delhi, but have lived in Ghana, South Africa, Panama, and most recently Colombia due to my father's job as a career diplomat. I enjoy recreational web design, tennis, table tennis, hiking/biking almost anything by Borges or Simon Singh, a good tune by the Beatles, and a large cup of Colombian branded coffee.
Nicholas
I live in Chicago, Ill
- NEW: Request a Video on Community Clips!September 5
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Can’t find the video you need on Community Clips? Let your peers know what video help topics you need, so that they can make a video for you!
We’ve released a new feature called Video Requests. This lets you request a video topic or ask a question, and it also gives community members an idea of what help topics people want to learn! If someone has already asked a question you want to know, you can “Me Too” the request. Then, if you've signed up for e-mail notifications, we'll e-mail you as soon as the question gets answered. Check it out on the Community Clips home page, or on the Video Requests page itself.
We hope this will help you get the tips and tricks you need, even more quickly than before!
Cheers,
The Community Clips teamCategory: Community ClipsPublished: 9/5/2008 10:32 AM - Oh... the Uncertainty!August 27
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Part of the everyday reality of working in a labs group is the ambiguity that comes with the work; it's a tradeoff that comes with trying to remain agile while the team pursues risky prototypes. Things are fast pace and constantly changing. Partners requesting changes to the existing feature set while wanting more and more new features to be added. Nothing is ever set in stone.
When people ask me what software developers do on a daily basis, I tell them that we generally are handed specifications and we implement software as indicated. However, the unique thing about this group is that there really isn't a particular "specification" to base development work off of. The project pod understands a certain "big picture" and the details are fleshed out as the project proceeds. This, in my opinion, keeps things exciting. It encourages me to take initiative to incorporate my ideas into the project. However, this freedom comes at a cost. For example, I have re-implemented the user interface for my project several times; each time due to a change in what we believe will "best serve our customers." Don't get me wrong - I thoroughly enjoy every moment I spend working here, and having to adapt promptly to change is simply part of my job description.
It is amazing what people do here to cope with the uncertainty. I have some experience with coding according to a nicely laid out specification in school. In fact, I think