Stemato.com - Stephen Tompkins’ Blog

Last week, I went to the NASDAQ to attend the Microsoft closing bell ceremony. It was quite an honor and a great way to spend my afternoon. Not to mention Windows 7 is a great product! I have been using it for a couple weeks now on my work PC and its really sharp. It is so much easier to use  and packed with great features that have made me more productive at work But I digress.

I don’t want this to be a shining endorsement of Windows 7 but a congratulations to all the folks who put such hard work into turning out this product. It was truly an honor for me to be able to represent you as a fellow Microsoft employees at the NASDAQ for the closing ceremony!

PS- Can you spot me in the Photo?

Wed 3-11

As part of my Mid-Year Commitments and Career Review at Microsoft, I decided I wanted to inform my colleagues on some of the industry news and company specific information that daily swims the internet. I also think it would be related to this blog and will post it here for your enjoyment.

Basically it is a list of some of the stories I read and look at daily about online marketing with a specific focus on the display ads and the Atlas Media Console from Microsoft Advertising.

Tues 3-11

This post is way overdue but on the eve of one of the greatest elections I have witnessed I just could not help. At work (Microsoft), we received an email telling us about this great political application to try out. I was intrigued so I downloaded it. The results were eerie and totally not staged.

Above is the map after I went through all 50 states and made what I thought would be the election results. I almost fell out of my seat when I saw that it was a tie. Wow, can you believe it? Not 200 again, please.

Anyway, not going to say much about tomorrow, as my personal state has been a little off lately but I will be back like the champion that I am. In any event, if you read this before tomorrow, I highly recommend you download and try this fun and innovative tool out.

Download application here, I promise you will enjoy it.

This morning I had my first look at the joint MSN-NBC Olympics videos on the web using Silverlight. I have to say, on first look, the video looks much better than any Flash video’s on the web. Pixelation was at a minimum and the it did not buffer for the 9 minutes I watched President Bush. Realizing my connection speed here at work is fast but still I was impressed with the quality.

I hope more online companies migrate to a platform with this style video. For now, I will just have to enjoy the limited videos that use Silverlight. Check this link out to see some of the material.