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Steve Ballmer Directing "House Party 7"
theodp writes "What are you doing on Oct. 22? Microsoft is putting a Tupperware-style twist on the upcoming Windows 7 rollout, launching a new initiative to encourage thousands of employees, partners and technology enthusiasts to throw parties in their homes and communities to demonstrate and help spread the word about its new OS. People accepted as official launch party hosts will get their own copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition, and a chance to win a computer. Host spaces are very limited, so apply now, kids. Hey, what could possibly go wrong?"
He'll be the chairman, correct?
Table-ized A.I.
Theme is everyone wear Blue and pass out at a predetermined time
You have to be pretty nerdy to consider installing windows on 15-20 of your closest friends laptops a "party."
There's a BIG PARTY at this address: 835 73rd Ave NE, Medina, WA 98039
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
Once upon a time when the zune was first coming out, there was a box put out in the courtyard of the microsoft grounds, or some other common area (i can't recall which) where employees could ditch their ipods in a show of solidarity. If I recall correctly, there were only like 2-3 ipods dropped off from the whole of microsoft. I wonder how many "House Party 7"'s there will be? Although the ipod thing wasn't backed up by a show of chair-based kinetic force.
Will Kid 'N Play be available for this event?
You have to be pretty nerdy to consider installing windows on 15-20 of your closest friends laptops a "party."
More like pretty sadistic
aka "good way to lose 15-20 friends"?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
...what could possibly go right? That would at least set the correct expectations.
'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
"I just throw the chairs. Gravity does the directing."
Or are MS ensuring we get infected at the party?
Just last night I saw a long commercial with 3 women sitting around a couch watching a birth control commercial and having an in depth discussion about birth control options. Of course, my wife says that's total bullshit and no one she knows does that, but hey - it's on TV so it must be true. So inviting my friends and neighbors to come over to my house, have some snacks, and watch how Win7 handles disk caching so much better will increase sales eleventy gajillion percent.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Are they taking Kid and Play out of cold storage?
Virginia is for lovers. EVE is for griefers.
Crash (as in invade) your nearest party and pass out LiveCDs, plush Penguins, and for the health-conscious, Apples (the kind you eat).
Take bets on how many times you can get the host's computer to crash (as in computing).
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
With Linus it would be "Glaciar Party 2.6.31-rc8-git2"
Onda Technology Institute
I think the hosts should charge their guests $100 to come in.
Then just before serving drinks, the host springs a EULA that the guest needs to sign, or else he gets booted out the front door.
If the party is on a Tuesday, then in the middle of their festivities they need to sit still for half and hour while ADP comes in and upgrades the security system.
I just pity the poor guest who only paid the basic $100 to get in. The bathroom is only available to those who paid $299 to get in. Poor schmucks.
But as soon as insert-MLM-company-name-here* starts selling Windows 7 it will be.
*My lawyer recommended I not use any actual company name here.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Finally I can join the ranks of my wife's Tupperware, Mary Kay, and Stamping Up crowd!
...unless Kid 'n Play show up!
Maybe we could get Steve Balmer and Bill Gates to reprise the roles - not sure who would look better with the fade though.
1331461 is only semiprime *sigh* Alas - I am just short of 1337.
Geeze, it's an OPERATING SYSTEM. A minor update on Vista. What does he think he's selling?
I'm using the beta, (which is working rather well -- imagine my surprise) and it occurs to me that I'm being asked to pay $200 to $300 (depending on version) for what is essentially an improved TCP stack and a new bunch of drivers. Throw a party? I don't see why they even designed a new box.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
You know, it just occurred to me. Since so many LAN parties turn into Pirate Fests (dude!! you've got the latest (insert_game_or_movie_name_here), I suspect Microsoft is.. well... late to the party on this one.
I'm sure there is, at this very moment, a solid handful of LAN parties where cracked Windows 7 installs are happening.
And I'm sure the host of THOSE parties is receiving a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate. OK, "full" except the install disc, and artwork, and a shiny hologram logo, and DRM...
Still, kudos to Microsoft for being inventive in their marketing.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
As a geek, I'm probably more excited about an OS release then most (although I couldn't care less about Windows), but since when is an OS release a party-worthy occasion? I can see if I was on the development team, but for everyone else?
Oh - I thought you meant this:
http://www.webscription.net/p-328-pyramid-scheme.aspx
It's an insane fantasy with very little chance of ever actually occurring, so I think it more appropriate.
(Good read, though. and DRM FREE!)
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Working fine for me -- have you checked your Internet connection?
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
Mac: I'm a Mac
PC: And I'm a PC. Looks like I've got you beat this time. People all over America will be having a party for my new Operating System!
Mac: Wow, Congrats. That's really exciting. So are people going to be exposed to your new product while having fun at the same time.
PC: Well... Not really...
Mac: No? What are you....
PC: You see only the people who really care about Windows 7 will be hosting it... and they only get 1 CD to show all of their friends why they should buy Windows 7...
Mac: Oh, well, whats wrong with that? Wouldn't that mean more people will be buying Windows 7?
PC: The only friends Windows 7 enthusiasts have are other Windows 7 enthusiasts...
I'll go ahead and pass on that golden opportunity. Because I'm a student, I have access to MSDN downloads, and was able to download the RTM of Windows 7 already. On first glance, it was a pretty slick change (especially the new dock-style task bar), but after running it for a week or so I realized that it's little more than Vista with a UI upgrade and a few more driver issues. Specifically, I kept having a problem where the background on my desktop would look funny (almost like a bad jpg of the background picture). So for the meantime I'm back with Vista, and don't plan on upgrading until SP1 comes out.
The only way to tell the difference between a hamster and a gerbil is that the hamster has more white meat.
In some cities and neighborhood associations, you have to get a permit if your guests will need more than a few spaces' worth of parking or if the noise can be heard from a neighbor's house.
It's intended to limit loud partying and limit parking issues in congested areas.
In general, such rules wouldn't affect a purely-indoor party without mega-loud music where the guests carpooled in.
Oh, since the party is "commercial" in nature, potential hosts should consult with their neighborhood association bylaws and city ordinances regulating conducting businesses in homes. Most U.S. cities have such laws, but most also routinely don't enforce them if there aren't complaints.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Duck when the music stops...
"We live in a global world" - Harvey Pitt, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
When Windows 95 was released, there really was a whole bunch of crazy hoopla. Stores were having midnight sales, where they would open at midnight just to sell Windows 95 as soon as they were legally permitted. People were standing in lines outside the stores. (Heck, I read in the newspaper that one guy stood in the line and bought Windows 95, without even owning a computer. He just wanted to join in the hoopla!)
When I read this, my first thought was: they are trying to gin up the Windows 95 excitement again. And my second thought was: good luck with that. The world is a different place now; Windows 7 looks like a nice upgrade to Windows, but it's really hard to imagine people getting really excited about it. And many of the people who could potentially get excited by the improvements in Windows 7 have been running Mac OS X for years now. I predict the hoped-for tidal wave of excitement won't materialize.
You know, though, I have friends who work at Microsoft. If they can get some free goodies by having a "Windows 7" party, and if they invite me, I'll go. Any excuse for a party with my friends is good enough for me. I'll still run Linux on most of my computers, just like I do now, but why wouldn't I go to a party? (In addition to the whole computer thing, we could watch movies! An obvious choice: Se7en.)
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Shit, if it's going to be that kind of a party...I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes.
In the UK there are laws that forbid raving on public property and public parties.
From what seems to be called a 'Free party' on Wikipedia:
and
Frankly given the state of my licensed local university night clubs and raves after a night, it's very much a good thing that this law is around.
The litter is shocking, the vomit and the blood. It's not nice.
Slashdot needs Geekcode | Can anyone recommend any good SCIFI? My tastes: Foundation, Startide Rising, CITY, Ringworld,
I think a 'Windows party' more along the lines of the Boston Tea Party would be the slashdot thing.
In other news, Microsoft Windows users are now covered under the Americans with Disabilties Act...
But nowhere in Nebraska. Correct?
This space unintentionally left blank.
"Yes dear, every time I use a Mac."
Unix is user friendly, it's just selective about who its friends are.
Isn't this the way the Roman Empire fell? Lots of partying while the barbarians were pounding on the gates. Gates?
I actually applied to host in Nebraska. Do I lose Slashdot posting rights for a week?
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
The old OS/2 crowd was a different story -- they actually believed in what they were doing and had some minimal support from IBM. You very rarely ran into the tinfoil hat crowd that drove IBM's hands-off attitude and everyone was very lively. A few IBM employees actually got very involved, too. Those days are gone and the OS/2 guys have moved on, but I bet IBM could still outparty Microsoft any day of the week.
And don't even get me started on Linux! Those guys used to have freaking BEER WALKS for God's sake! Sure the LUG meeting is usually a sausage farm but traveling to another country and walking from bar to bar drinking beer and talking about kernel internals? Plus I bet Linus could drink Bill Gates AND Lou Gerstner under the table!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
You're right, but the Shakespeare line is "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war". Your version doesn't fit the metre!
throw a house party for Windows 7 and invite all of your friends.
Then when they do use Windows 7 and it doesn't live up to the hype and won't run their old games and old software and is annoying with security features and crashes and blue screens of death.
Why don't people throw Linux parties instead? Pass out free CDRs and DVDRs of popular Linux distros. At least that way you get a free operating system and don't have to pay anything for it.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Okay, you probably don't want to host one of these parties. But I do.
You make it seem like hosting a party is a big, bad thing. Like dropping $250 on food is a big deal. That Microsoft is EVIL for thinking you might be a normal person who has friends, and who regularly invites those friends over to your house so you can get together and have some fun. With friends.
The ONLY thing Microsoft is asking you to do, is to have a machine running Windows 7 at your house. They will give you a copy of Windows 7. They will also give you some other things (napkins, balloons, etc.) that you can use if you want.
You can also win a new computer for yourself.
I don't consider that to be such a bad thing. I regularly have parties anyway. The only difference here is that Microsoft is giving me a copy of an operating system (which I can choose whether or not I want to use) and a few other things.
And if you have friends...real friends...it is easy to say, "Hey, come on over to my party...yes, it will have some strange decorations, but that is no big deal."
For my friends, it won't be much different than my burger building parties. Or my 'Throwdown' (cooking contest, not WWF) parties. Or my Rock Band parties. Or anything else.
It's just a fairly flimsy excuse to get together with friends.
If that seems evil to you, then I think we have vastly different opinions on life.
No reason to lie.
If you're in Toronto there are install parties at the Linux Cafe.
I'm sorry, but I can't see throwing any party themed around some shit product.
Throwing a party to get together with friends is fine
but to host a party to market M$ windoz? Get a life!
"Suppose you were an idiot...and suppose you were a member of Congress...but I repeat myself." Mark Twain
Since when are nerds good party hosts?! Most of my comp-jockey friends get so nervous making public speeches the end up sounding like Beavis on meth!
War as we knew it was obsolete
Nothing could beat complete denial
- Emily Haines
I'm with you, I'm already using it and recommending it. Since most my friends call me for tech support anyway, they'd show up at a BYOB party to hear me point out some things that they'll want to know on the OS that they're gonna end up getting with new machines anyway. I'll bring the pizza and show you some reasons why 7 doesn't blow like Vista did and we'll all get drunk.
Don't let this guy fool you, I am one of his so called friends. We only come round because his little sister is so easy. And the free booze. As soon as that runs out, we leave him there to clean up the mess.
Looks like I need to get some more johnnies.