I just updated the site yesterday to the released version of DasBlog 1.7 now available on SourceForge which has fixed the comments-posting issue so post away. Email has been piling up so I thought I'd get a few regular questions addressed:
Why did you start this blog?
I started this blog as a way to share my passion for digital media and entertainment with family and friends and maybe a few similar-minded enthusiasts. I also wanted to keep at least some small part of my developer tool roots and still be able to tinker with web development.
Who reads this thing? What kind of traffic do you get?
I'm not sure on the former rather than the emails I get, and I'm starting to get them from all over the world which has been enlightening. I have a queue of responses I'm still working on. As for traffic, on average, I've had about 4000-5000 visitors per day, steadily increasing over the past 2 years. But something happened that's spiked my readership to over 80,000 unique visitors this month. I wrote a behind the scenes blog entry on the CES keynote and felt obliged to follow it up afterwards. As for my involvement in the keynote, I was asked and subsequently volunteered to come in from vacation (and my new job) to present on-stage at the keynote after doing the Digital Entertainment Anywhere event, launching my prior product, MCE 2005. I told MS PR I was going to blog and they didn't ask me to edit anything I said, just that I keep it factual. Within 12 hours, I was Slashdotted for the first time. What a wild ride this past three weeks has been :).
Why don't you have an "About Me" page up? I saw you at the DEA event and/or CES and it was nice to put a face with the name.
How about I like obscurity and a sense of mystery? Actually I've never really been a big fan of those CV/Resume/About the Author pages but I guess I'll have to get around to it one of these days. At least Brian Bailey, Thomas Hawk, and Robert Scoble think we all should... :)
Ok, so you mentioned before CES you were changing jobs. What is your new job?
I'm the Group Product Manager for Windows "Longhorn" Consumer - the next-generation of Windows. The job is keeping me busy for sure. Sorry, like Robert, I'm not going to really talk about Longhorn until the time is right. I won't comment on any rumors either. All I can say is based on what I've seen so far, I'm excited and honored to be a part of the team working on it.
Do work with Robert Scoble, the "Microsoft Geek Blogger"?
Not directly. Robert and I go back 7 years, prior to his joining Microsoft. I first met Robert when I was a brand new product manager at Microsoft and he was managing events. While we don't "hang out" socially, we definitely keep in touch and I consider him to be a generally like-minded, passionate person. We don't always agree, but that would be boring anyway.
No, really. Tell us about Longhorn...
When the time is right. Right now, I just need to focus on the job.
Lastly, I'd just like to thank everyone who reads this blog for their continuing support and constructive criticism - of products, service, and even me. I've been humbled by the enthusiasm and support of the blogosphere. Consider me an official convert now to the power of more transparency and more valuable community interaction through blogging.