Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise blog motorcycling

The geek in question: Nico Tomacelli The task title: SDET, Media Middle Connections staff. Inform me about what you're working on now. Proper now my staff is working on delivering Web content via Windows Media Middle on Windows 7. I can't go into a lot detail -- but trust me, it’s exciting stuff. There will be a full announcement from Microsoft on October 22nd,Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, when Windows 7 becomes available to the public. All the content material will be available starting then and delivered on-demand by means of Media Middle, so you don’t have to the provider’s website; you can just browse via Windows Media Middle and play the content material.How long have you been with Microsoft? This will be eight and a half years full time,Microsoft Office Professional 2010, and I was here as a contractor for a year before that. What do you feel like has changed with the company since you first started? The company has matured. You can look back by way of our ship parties, and you can see how the company has changed. It's not that we didn't have a good time when we shipped Vista or Win 7 for that matter, but we've just it's kind of toned down a little. We have responsibilities now to shareholders, and we make more targeted and smarter choices versus the wild and crazy ones. Then there’s the work/life balance thing. When I started here, I was here from 8:00 in the morning till 11:00 at night. We'd leave and go have dinner and come back, and still operate, perform, operate. That's not where we are now — I feel like the company had to make that shift, because that's how you burn people out. I mean, I had ulcers at 23 because I was so stressed out. My wife saw something on TV talking about companies in Mountain View and how some places offer free meals — she was like “That's so cool!” And I just had to say, “No, I want to leave operate.” I enjoy immensely what I do, but once I'm done, I'm done and I want to go home and see my family, play with my dogs, and enjoy my hobbies and life outside of function. So, what are your hobbies? I do amateur road racing on motorcycles, on closed course configurations. I also instruct motorcycle racing, teaching people how to race. I'm the president of our racing organization, WMRRA. I'm also the Northwest director for the Northeast Sport Bike Association. I also participate in a charity event every year put on by 2-Fast, a local track day organization. It’s called the “Seattle 100 – Race for a Cure” and is to raise money for the NephCure Foundation. The NephCure foundation is operating towards finding a cure for kidney disease. This year was my fifth year participating in it, and in those five years I've raised over $30,000 for the organization has Microsoft supported your charity work? I've been blown away by the generosity of the people within Microsoft, and how much they're willing to donate. And then Microsoft matches all their donations! I mean, I donate quite a bit, and it's because it's something that I care about and think in. But without the generosity of my coworkers and Microsoft contributing, we wouldn't have raised the money we have. You've been at Microsoft for a long time — what keeps you here? I kind of have ADD — I like things that are constantly changing. Although Microsoft has become a more mature company,Microsoft Office Professional 2007, the thing that stays constant is that we’re always changing. As your interests change, it's so easy to be able to say find people in other groups and say, hey, I'm interested,Microsoft Office Professional 2007! And I've never felt like there's been a vindictiveness from my current managers when I say, “hey, I want to go and look at another group. “ They're always supportive, and that's always been surprising. Did you always want to work here? 10 years ago, if you had said I'd be operating at Microsoft, I'd be like, ha, you're funny. Before I came here, I despised Microsoft — I had to support our early products, and I cursed the company daily. Then one of my friends said, “Hey, Microsoft is hiring.” And I was like, “Ha, that's a good one.” I decided to head up for an interview anyways and was surprised to find the company was not what I expected. So significantly passion and enthusiasm around projects, and people always looking to improve the products they are working on. I wanted to be a part of it and make things better. It's like this is not where I ever saw like my life or career going, and so it's kind of been a pleasant surprise. Now I can’t imagine not functioning here. If I ever get tired of what I'm operating on, there are umpteen million things that we're doing at this company that I can go and find something else to do. Any links you'd like to share? Nico's racing website,Microsoft Office 2010 Professional, hypnotiqracing.com