Mix moblogging and "hot or not" and what do you get? Mobileasses. Oh geez.

Niall also says "So far Scoble has not been able to convince me why I should start planning something big for this product launch. I would rather use the best of what's out there now, and wait until the Longhorn vapors start to solidify before acting on anything."

My answer: for most people Niall is taking the best approach. The only people who should be banging on our doors before the PDC are folks who have something to gain by having a product out on the first day that Longhorn will launch (which won't be until at least 2005 sometime). Even then, I'm not able to show most of those types much, if anything, until the PDC.

But, there are more new APIs being shipped with Longhorn than we've shipped in a long time with Windows. One reason we're gonna show you Longhorn so darn early (the PDC will be about two years before Longhorn will ship) is to give developers time to learn all about it. It will take that long to really get a handle on it. I've been reading all the top secret documents inside Microsoft and it's taken me months to just wrap my brain around what is going on. And I'm not trying to learn all the APIs.

Look at .NET. It's taken from June 2000 (which is when all the PDC members got betas of .NET) until now for the market to really come together and figure it out.

We want you to be ready for when the market takes off and employers demand Longhorn experience. And, it will. You'll have to trust me on that.

Niall Kennedy found an article about the Seattle Mariners using Tablet PCs.

Joel Spolsky has another classic: "Rick Chapman is in search of stupidity."

Chris Sells finds great links. Today he points to Raymond Chen, who explains why you need to shut down your computer by clicking "Start." Oh, also over on Chris's site, he's showing you cool WinForms controls.

Chris Pirillo's "birthday video" is hillarious.

Steve Gillmor wonders why Microsoft isn't making speeches about RSS.

Well, we've been pretty darn aggressive about supporting RSS. But, the way I read it, Microsoft doesn't wanna get involved in the political "Atom vs RSS vs O'Reilly" stuff that's going on. Which one should Microsoft support? The format that Google and IBM is pushing? The format that Dave Winer is pushing? The format that O'Reilly is pushing?

Now, what's the business reason for Microsoft to get involved until the community comes together and one of those three formats wins?

But, so far, looks like most of the stuff we've done (MSDN's feeds, for instance) have gone with Dave Winer's (RSS 2.0). It'll be interesting to see how we move in the future.

If you were a Microsoft executive, what would you do? Why?

Is there a business reason to dive into RSS now instead of waiting a year for the politics to subside and for one format to prove that it's a clear winner?

Also, how can Microsoft build a syndication format into its products without looking like it's pushing its weight around? Translation: what is the right thing to do?

Randy Holloway and Mike Gunderloy talk about keeping Microsoft's secrets secret and the tendency for people under NDA to blabbermouth.

One thing, though. If you see someone breaking NDA, don't get all self-righteous. Just report the offenders to the beta administrators. No need to posture as a "clean guy" in public.

Just relax and be happy!

Oh, and each team has its own NDA rules. If you wonder if it's OK to talk, ask your beta administrator. Remember, there are different betas with different rules. When I was at Fawcette I often had a "press beta" that wouldn't have any NDA rules while other people had a "technical beta" that they weren't allowed to talk at all. Used to make people mad who thought I should keep my mouth shut too.

It's always safest to keep quiet unless you have approval. If you make your beta administrator mad, bad things might happen.

Jeff Key has an awesome list of tips for the new UI PowerTips.

Garrett Fitzgerald writes about today's Flash Mob. It was a small affair, but fun. We should do it every Friday. Yeah, the freeways were closed for the Sea Fair preparations (the Blue Angels flew overhead).

There's now a website for Windows Movie Makers.

Mike Sax says that RSS isn't the only format that is seeing a splintering effect. ZIP is seeing a similar fight between two parties that have an interest in that format, Sax says.

See ya all at the Flash Mob today at noon. I'll have a black hat on with a Longhorn logo. Bring your Tablet PC. I wanna take a picture. Then we'll hit one of the cafeterias on campus for lunch. Wanna come? Gotta send me email for the location. robertscoble@hotmail.com. If you're coming from off-campus, I'll buy you pizza.

Does Microsoft has a new direction when dealing with Linux? Here's reports from: ComputerWeekly; Mary Jo Foley.

WatchingMicrosoftLikeAHawk.com (the longest, but still useful, URL out there) has a Longhorn news page. Here's their overview of Longhorn page too.

Here's Scott's quote, from ZD in UK.

Oh, oh. Scott has another precious quote. This time he's saying that Ballmer and Gates had a leg up on the competition because they quit college. Geesh, if that were true, I should be a billionaire too. I quit San Jose State University right before I graduated. I get a lot of s##t about that from my family and friends. Tell me again, what is a journalism degree worth today? Especially inside a place like Microsoft? I'd rather take a C# class.

News.com's Charles Cooper: "Guess what, Microsoft won."

Oh, I CAN go to work today. Whew. Scott McNealy had me freaked out for a while there. ;-)

ComputerWeekly: "Will Longhorn be a bull's-eye for Microsoft?"

Brenton House is trying to figure out how to get on the Whidbey beta.

Begging on a weblog is a great way, actually. Going to the PDC and cornering the product manager is another. That's how I got on the Train Simulator beta.

Ross: "Word about Blogware got out a little early."

Hey, if I see something in my referer's page, it's fair game! :-)

Macromedia is showing how to build an RSS aggregator in Flash.

Thanks to Christopher Coulter, who continues to send me more news items than all other people combined. I keep wondering why a PR agency just doesn't hire him. He's one of Microsoft's best evangelists. I sure hope Sun doesn't get a hold of him.

Who said Microsoft isn't winning operating system deals overseas? Tablet PCs even! 8000 sold to British Gas.