Powers Unfiltered

An entrepreneur’s journey into grid computing and partnering with Microsoft, by John Powers

Powers Unfiltered header image 4

Entries from January 2008

Five Suggested Technical Improvements for the Microsoft Partner Web Site

January 29th, 2008 · 6 Comments

In the spirit of Todd Weatherby’s comments about opening a dialog regarding the Microsoft Partner Program Web Site, here are five technical things Microsoft could do to improve interactions with partners and customers.  I (and other partners) have put forward some more radical ideas for redesign of partner program policies and tools, but let’s start […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Partnering with Microsoft · Usability

Off-topic: Apple’s Lawyers visit Mars

January 27th, 2008 · No Comments

OK, it’s mildly annoying that iTunes and Quicktime want me to install 60-MB updates pretty much weekly these days, but no big deal, I can ignore their nagging messages. But I actually wanted to upgrade today — and here’s what I got when I hit “Install 1 item:” My Martian is a little rusty, so […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

Visual Studio Industry Partners — VSIP Rocks!

January 25th, 2008 · 1 Comment

I got an email from the VSIP program last night, requesting that I fill out a satisfaction survey.  I did so happily — there’s nothing like a quick dose of VSIP to wash away the taste of a bad MSPP experience. (OK, too much jargon — sorry. Let me explain.) The Visual Studio Industry Partners […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized

Two Weeks Later

January 23rd, 2008 · 3 Comments

For the folks following our Adventures in Partnerland, here’s an update. About two weeks ago, I wrote a post here about how the persistent technical difficulties with the Microsoft Partner Program Web site (partners.microsoft.com) had spilled over from every-day inconvenience to genuine negative impact on our relations with our customers. I howled, because I think […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Customer Service · Partnering with Microsoft

Hey, Microsoft — get off of my cloud

January 8th, 2008 · 5 Comments

All my regular readers know I use the Microsoft partner Web sites fairly often, and that I experience frustrating time-sucking issues almost as often. Believe me, I spare my readership the great majority of my experiences with the unending nightmare that is the Microsoft partner online world, and when I do raise these issues I’m […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Customer Service · Partnering with Microsoft · Usability

Grid computing with F# and Digipede

January 2nd, 2008 · No Comments

Functional programming and grid computing are a good match for some types of computing problems.  Digipede Director of Products Dan Ciruli has been experimenting with F# and the Digipede Network.  He has posted a code sample showing how to distribute F# calculations across a grid using the Digipede Framework SDK, along with some comments describing […]

[Read more →]

Tags: Grid applications