Gates to Leave Microsoft

After three decades and a dream of placing a computer in every home and business Bill Gates announces his transition out of Microsoft. Over the next two years Gates will phase out his day to day role in his megacompany. Bill and Melinda Gates plan to focus more on their side project, the world's largest philanthropic organization.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to health and education issues, especially in poor nations. A worthy cause indeed.

Gates stated he would not leave Microsoft completely but did note this as a major transitional time for the company.

"I always see myself as being the largest shareholder in Microsoft," Mr. Gates said.

Gates plans on maintaining his position as chairman while keeping his current holding on the company. He's not turning his back on Microsoft, he's moving on to greater projects while keeping his eye and his finger on Microsoft.

George F. Colony, chief executive of Forrester Research commented on Gates move by saying;

I think we'll look back at this day as the separation between two eras in software — the first being software in a box, and the second software distributed over the Internet for free and funded by advertising. The new era requires a complete re-examination of Microsoft's business model, which has been one of most profitable the world has ever seen.

The transition will begin immediately with Steven Ballamer remaining chief executive and Ray Ozzie taking over Gates' role as chief software architect.

Gates' decision comes at a time when, while revenues are topping in at $1 Billion per month, Wall Street is becoming "increasingly critical of Micrsoft's inability to make significant headway in new markets as diverse as video games, Internet television and Web advertsing," as noted by The New York Times.

Stocks feel with Gates' announcement, though time will tell if the change will take hold of Wall Street cynicism. While Gates transitions toward more phinanthropic issues the issues remain at Microsoft. According to the plan Gates seems ready to handle both on a fairly deep level over the next few years.

Search: A Book Review

Having recently run across this title at the local library I found myself engrossed in "all things search". Given I was launching my first web site and offering up my seacrh engine expertise, so that made the topic even more thrilling.

This title should be on your reading list if it isn't already. Wonderfully written by John Battelle this guide carries you through the begining on search engines all the way to the future. What to expect? Learn something from history.

Now if a history lesson isn't what you're in the mood for don't discount The Search just yet. It offers valuable insight to entreprenuers, venture capitalists, basically anyone dabbling in the pool of search engines. And who isn't these days?

The book flows nicely, is easy to read and not stuck in the "text book" genre. Whether you read this for work or read this for pleasure everyone is certain to come away with valuable information.

I enjoyed the writing style so much I hunted down John Battelle's blog to keep up with him. Ok, it wasn't hard to find him, but there are valid reasons behind that.

Check out The Search. No matter how seasoned or how new you are to the search world this book is the perfect text to fill in the blanks or tell the whole story.

MySpace and FaceBook: The New Background Checks?

The New York Times has a front page article a new phenomenon. Well, we shouldn't be surprised. Many companies "google" a potential hire, now they're moving to other social networks.

Please don't flame me for this but I think it's a good idea.

Sure, work and play should be kept separate. I whole-heartedly agree with that. But can corporations afford to "guess" whether new grads are up to the task and reliable.

Well, probably. But smaller companies may not be. Recruting and hiring take time, effort, money and other resources many small to medium size businesses cannot afford to waste.

People, realize what you place on the web, in social networks and other areas, is PUBLIC DOMAIN. Why else would we love them so much? Even semi public areas can be accessed by people other than your inner clique.

On MySpace and similar sites, personal pages are generally available to anyone who registers, with few restrictions on who can register. Facebook, though, has separate requirements for different categories of users; college students must have a college e-mail address to register. Personal pages on Facebook are restricted to friends and others on the user's campus, leading many students to assume that they are relatively private.

But companies can gain access to the information in several ways. Employees who are recent graduates often retain their college e-mail addresses, which enables them to see pages. Sometimes, too, companies ask college students working as interns to perform online background checks, said Patricia Rose, the director of career services at the University of Pennsylvania.

So girls, save your skimpy night club pictures to a less public forum. Guys, save the keg stands and embarrasing party pictures. Don't use these pics as your icon when going to seek a professional grade post-grad job (change it back after you're hired if you must).

Think of public forums the same way you think of your voice mail message. Hopefully you've thought to take off "My Humps" when awaiting a return call after an interview. Changing your public image to reflect a more professional "you", even for a few weeks, may pay off big. Believe me, your prospective boss will be more likely to respect you if you have a generic sounding voice message rather than the "hottest new hip hop" song blaring when voice mail picks up.

Students may not know when they have been passed up for an interview or a job offer because of something a recruiter saw on the Internet. But more than a dozen college career counselors said recruiters had been telling them since last fall about incidents in which students' online writing or photographs had raised serious questions about their judgment, eliminating them as job candidates.

Save yourself from "red flags". Don't red flag yourself.

Internet: The Next Cable?

Congress passed on establishing net neutrality last Thursday. While those-in-the-know, mainly internet users and techies, pushed for net neutrality awareness and sent massive emails, letter, and made phone calls to senators nationwide the outcome remains.

Some think big shots like Google and Microsoft woke to the issues too late.

The fight's not yet over.

The reintroduction of guaranteed net neutrality may come forth in the Senate. The Senate begins meetings next week. Grassroots organizations and those following the movement hope to see net neutrality become a part of the Senate's own telecom bills.

So what's the big deal? If you haven't been following the recent events founder of savetheinternet.com coalition, Robert McChesney, used a metaphor we all know too well. (Full story here.)

If we lose Net neutrality, we lose the most promising method for regular people to access and provide diverse and independent news, information and entertainment. We will see the internet become like cable TV: a handful of massive companies will decide what you can see and how much it will cost. Gone will be the entrepreneurship and innovation that has made the internet the most important cultural and economic engine of our times.

How many people with cable actually like how cable companies have handled all the power entrusted to them? Phone companies are another telecom monster. If the internet becomes regulated by corporations we may need to seek another form of free speech as the internet will no longer warrant us little guys the space -- for less than an apendage and our first born, which I'm not willing to give up and you're probably not either.

If the internet breaks down due to overregulation (read: rising costs and strict specifications of publication) only large corporations with the money to spend will be able to utilize the internet as originially intended.

The internet will no longer be a level field where local brick and mortars have the same oppurtunity (in theory) as, say, WalMart to market themselves in front of target audiences.

Blogs will be out. Like keeping up with Matt Cutts? Ok, so he's probably not going to effected as Google is one of those companies that could pay to keep him in front of you. That is, if Google wasn't regulating things itself by that point. But those associated with smaller companies than Google might slip, regardless of relevancy, popularity, or advertising.

The SEO world will take a turn again. But this time not for the better of all. While we currently focus on getting our customers in front of the eyes searching for them it may become impossible if the "toll booths" erected across the net are too costly to cross. Another type of SEO will morph, certainly, but how free will the speech be then?

Now most anyone will a little browsing knowledge can have a web site -- there are programs and sites to help. Those will a little more knowledge on coding can even create a prettier site. Understanding search engines and how they work allows some to actually be found organically, while paid advertsing is easier for others. To truly show up, rank well, and see positive ROI consistantly it usually takes a little more than having "some" knowledge about the internet and computer world, but people, plain ordinary people, have a chance.

I beg you, stay on this. If the Senate does reintroduce net neutrality take a few seconds to send an email to your representatives. 15-30 seconds and an email will be better than sitting back wondering what the %$#* happened in the next few years.