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Channel 9 - Out in the open now...

For anybody who thought that my snowman comic was stupid and devoid of any useful information...

Well, you were right.

However, it was just a little bit of fun to help the guys behind Channel 9 kick off their new site, which is now open for business.

The cool thing about Channel 9 is that it opens Microsoft right up. You'll bypass the "rock stars" and get straight to the people who are building the tools we're all using.

For anybody who seriously believes that Microsoft is one monolithic God-brain that controls 55,000 people and bends them to its will (that, of course, being to enslave humanity), Channel 9 is for you.

If you want to really know what's going on "up there," then this is good stuff. I'm talking to you, Christopher Anthony :) I know we've talked before about MS employees, and this is your chance to see that they're real people with real ideas that they really care about.

Also, it's probably the most RSSified site I've ever seen in my life. I'm not going to detail everything you can consume via RSS on Channel 9, but you'll have fun experimenting and realizing just how far RSS has been incorporated into the system. It's something.

Published Tuesday, April 06, 2004 8:30 AM by Rory

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Comments

 

paul said:

Long live Channel 9! This is going to be fun, the stories and the people who make software!
April 6, 2004 11:11 AM
 

GuyIncognito said:

Really? I thought Microsoft Windows was made by robots on an assembly line.
April 6, 2004 1:52 PM
 

SAMark said:

Rory,

It is funny that you are up in Seattle when you are "not an MVP." Several of us were discussing how you should be here and that if anyone should be MVP you should be... especially since your comics are so prophetic :+) .NET Rocks is ok but the comics are just to good. Rory Blyth the first ever comic MVP!
April 6, 2004 2:39 PM
 

Josh said:

What happened to the rectangle-spewing snowmen?!? I was really looking forward to "all-rectangle-spewing-snowmen/all-the-time" broadcasting.

Oh, and now that it's live...what is it?
April 6, 2004 3:44 PM
 

Aaron said:

I'm severely underwhelmed. I don't know... maybe it was the hype from Scoble, or the anticipation of snowmen, but I flipped to Channel 9 and was like DAMN! this is one way too busy interface... I eventually found some content, but I really don't get it.
April 6, 2004 3:51 PM
 

Anonymous said:

Eyes, where are the eyes for the default avatar pictures?!
April 6, 2004 3:53 PM
 

Rory said:

SAMark -

"It is funny that you are up in Seattle when you are 'not an MVP.'"

Hey, man - how do you think *I* feel about it :) ?

I've been keeping quiet about it because I feel a little bit like an intruder, you know? I'm not an MVP, don't really belong here, but I couldn't turn down the invite.

"Several of us were discussing how you should be here and that if anyone should be MVP you should be..."

Whoah - if that's really the case, then I'm honored. I don't know if I *agree* that I should be an MVP, though (I know I've been nominated, but I feel like my contribution isn't technical enough for MVP status - I basically just say "penis" a lot while talking about software).

"Rory Blyth the first ever comic MVP!"

OK - I buy *that* :) That sounds like a good deal...
April 6, 2004 4:19 PM
 

Rory said:

Josh -

"Oh, and now that it's live...what is it?"

It's like a constant look inside the Microsoft sausage factory.
April 6, 2004 4:20 PM
 

Rory said:

Aaron -

"I'm severely underwhelmed. I don't know... [snip] I eventually found some content, but I really don't get it."

It has yet to really get going, but it's a way of getting past the "rock stars" and seeing how sausage is made at Microsoft. It's Microsoft's big community gamble - an officially sanctioned "let the community come out and participate" site.

It's a big deal because, although us "normal" people do stuff like this all the time, MS is slowly changing, and this is a sign of that change.

I can see how you might not get excited about it (the hype never helps ;) ), but the cool thing is that this is just a few crazy softies running around with video cameras and conducting impromptu interviews with the people who are doing the "real work." Considering that, until recently, Microsoft was about as secretive as Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, this is a big step...
April 6, 2004 4:25 PM
 

paul said:

channel9 will become whatever we make it to be, this is about a community.


Rory, when will we see you on channel9?
April 6, 2004 6:00 PM
 

NJ John said:

Don't you *get* it, Rory?

You're being brought before the MVP council to drink goat's blood, chant in tongues, and become One Who Walks Among Them.

Of course, due to the Rules of MVP Omerta, you'll never actually CONFIRM this after it happens... but that logo will strangely appear on your blog, signaling your status as a made man.
April 6, 2004 6:10 PM
 

m said:

Looks cool. However, I was wondering, Can you view much of it on your mac? WMP seems to always (on any streaming video, not just channel 9) turn into a slide show or completely stop displaying video sometime after 50% of the video. Sound keeps going but video quits. Even on other sites. Even in closed systems. If there was a bugzilla, I would submit one ;) Maybe someone can give it a try, maybe it is just something messed up with my mac. However, it looks cool, just wished I was able to see the rest of the content.
April 6, 2004 7:01 PM
 

Jason Mauss said:

Rory - I think perhaps you've had the wool pulled over your eyes if you think Channel 9 is going to "get past the rock stars". Did you hear the names of the people they said they've done video with or want to? Chris Brumme, Anders Hejlsberg, Eric Gunnerson...yeah, not rock stars at all.
April 6, 2004 7:27 PM
 

Rick Childress said:

+1 Jason

I wanna see the guy that's responsible for testing the test code that used to regression test windows.....
April 6, 2004 8:22 PM
 

Rory said:

NJ John -

"Of course, due to the Rules of MVP Omerta, you'll never actually CONFIRM this after it happens... but that logo will strangely appear on your blog, signaling your status as a made man."

Unless they introduce a new category for "community loudmouths," I honestly don't think I deserve the MVP title.

'Course, if there's a Frontpage MVP, then maybe it's OK for me, too :)
April 6, 2004 11:02 PM
 

Rory said:

Jason -

"Rory - I think perhaps you've had the wool pulled over your eyes if you think Channel 9 is going to 'get past the rock stars'."

I honestly don't think so.

The way it was sold to me was that the community can make it into what they want. Sure, there'll be rock stars, but they *will* get the real people in there - especially if you head over there and say, "THIS SUCKS - SHOW ME THE MONEY."

They'll listen.
April 6, 2004 11:06 PM
 

DonXML Demsak said:

What I want to know is when will Channel 9 hire Rory to run the show! That's what they need, Rory's behind the scenes view of life at MS (and I'm not talking about a bathroom cam either).

April 6, 2004 11:47 PM
 

Robert Scoble said:

Jason: actually, I'm getting around to quite a few non rock starts with my Channel9 video camera. Yeah, there'll be some recognizeable names too.
April 7, 2004 8:16 AM
 

Scott said:

Rory,

After reading a lot of the MVP blogs, "deserve" has got nothing to do with the MVP title. Some of the people are actually technically talented enough to deserve some kind of recognition or spend a lot of time in the newsgroups/forums/blogs helping people, the rest are all friends of somebody popular or campaigned to get the title. When it's watered down like that, why not make everyone who asks an MVP?

Even if YOU don't think you're technically capable enough, at the very least they should have an evangelist MVP award. Maybe Scoble could sponsor it and nominate you? (I'm being serious not sarcastic). You get a lot of traffic and you promote MS technologies. That sounds like an evangelist to me. Shit they have an Xbox MVP award. What do you have to do to get that? Play XBox? If it's based on what you do in the MS community, and the community says "you're an MVP", doesn't that make it so?
April 7, 2004 1:39 PM
 

TrackBack said:

Take Outs for 6 April 2004
April 7, 2004 4:05 AM
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