Tag: Microsoft

996.ICU

There has been some noise in the mass media about the 996.ICU (official website) recently. That’s good, but I think we can do better. So, spread the word!

Here are a few bits to get you started:

The name 996.ICU refers to “Work by ‘996’, sick in ICU”, an ironic saying among Chinese developers, which means that by following the “996” work schedule, you are risking yourself getting into the ICU (Intensive Care Unit).

What is 996?
A “996” work schedule refers to an unofficial work schedule (9 a.m.–9 p.m., 6 days per week) that has been gaining popularity. Serving a company that encourages the “996” work schedule usually means working for at least 60 hours per week. Visit 996 working hour system on Wikipedia for more details.

GitHub and Microsoft works support the 996.ICU initiative, as well as many other companies and teams.

SQL Server in a Fedora Docker Container


MS SQL Server and Docker

It’s a well known fact that I am not the greatest fan of Microsoft and their technologies.  I’ve been bitten many a time through the years.  And not even them becoming a Platinum Partner in the Linux Foundation can change my attitude towards them.  It’s just been too much pain, and scars, and tears, and sweat.

But the way life is, once in a while, I just have to work with or around them.  Recently, for example, at work, we’ve done a project that just had to use MS SQL Server and there was no way to get around it.  Gladly, I managed to find just the right image on the Amazon AWS Marketplace, and spin a new EC2 instance for testing.  The local development was difficult, but at least we had a place to test stuff before sending it off to the customer.

If such a need arises in the future, I think I’ll give the MS SQL for Linux a try.  And that’s when this article from Fedora Magazine might come in handy.  MS SQL + Docker + Fedora.  Hmm.




Microsoft has developed its own Linux


The rumor of Microsoft working on its own Linux distribution has been going around for a while.  Now it’s confirmed by Microsoft themselves:

The Azure Cloud Switch (ACS) is our foray into building our own software for running network devices like switches. It is a cross-platform modular operating system for data center networking built on Linux. ACS allows us to debug, fix, and test software bugs much faster. It also allows us the flexibility to scale down the software and develop features that are required for our datacenter and our networking needs.

The distribution is not for sale or download, but purely for use in their Azure cloud infrastructure.  The Register looks at this in detail.

I guess, Mahatma Gandhi was right:

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.




Microsoft Desktop Backgrounds


After the upgrade to Fedora 22 last night, I was looking for a new desktop background image, to change the mood.  Surprisingly, one of the top search results pointed me to the Microsoft website, which has a selection of some really good background images.   Backyard bonfire works well for me.

Backyard bonfire
Backyard bonfire

 




1994 web design from Apple, Microsoft


Jason Kottke links to some examples of the early (circa 1994) web design from both Apple

apple-early-homepage

and Microsoft (still online, by the way)

microsoft-early-homepage

Quite an evolution we went through!  Here are some interesting bits to notice:

  1. “If your browser doesn’t support images” on the Microsoft one.
  2. Painted grey background, even though that was a default browser background color back in a day.
  3. Microsoft server is NOT running on IIS. Yet. But HTTPS is mentioned already!
  4. I still, in 2015, know multiple so called “web developers” who wouldn’t be able to implement these designs in any sensible time frame (within a day). How rusty are you image maps?

The good old days…