are viv + i?
“hallo…” from amsterdam, netherlands!

definitely an interesting place… especially after the scenic, country-side feel we experienced while in southern france. amsterdam is well known for many things: it’s historic churches/buildings, great public transportations: trains, trams, buses + bicycles, windmills and beautiful canals… and probably equally known for their, er… ummm… well, open views (like hatred of google, recreational drug use + prostitution, just to name a few).

steve balmer's favorite t-shirt (had to censor the 'F' word for the younger viewers)...

I AM-sterdam-it!

viv had heard about their “special” brownies so we decided to take a stroll towards the dam square (yeah, i chuckled in disbelief when i first heard this square was actually called “dam square”). anyway, we ran across no shortage of “special” coffeeshops that offered these delectable delights. and in the immortal words of former president ‘slick willy‘: we ‘did not inhale‘. j/k…
viv nor i, partook in any of these delirium-inducing desserts… besides, there were PLENTY of other delicious pastries/treats to munch on… one of my favorites: stroopwafels (thanks for the heads-up on this one, julie)! 

"stroopwafels" - they are AWE-friggin-SOME (and i just found out trader joe's sells them... whee!)

we managed to visit many of their local cafes and eat some killer food. our favorite place was recommended by several of the locals:

viv + i having our hazelnut latte + cafe americano at tisfris cafe...

and our corresponding lunch, a roast beef + avocado samich, a sausage, cheese + tomato samich and the best tomato basil soup i've had!

dam square was dam nice. a mash-up of modern + medival sites and sounds. a bit too touristy for me though.

bikes, bikes and more bikes... heading towards "dam square".

oh so picturesque! i couldn't have staged it any better...

sunset (that's the reflection of it in the building's window) at dam square...

when in amsterdam, do as the amsterdam-ians… we decided to rent a tandem bike and stroll around the city streets.

look how happy viv is to go biking in amsterdam!

and wouldn’t you know it? being rain-less (albeit a little cold) our entire stay in amsterdam, the day we decide to bike, it rains and is super windy! like a gentleman, i was in the front seat and took most of the rain and wind to my face…  :|

viv showing how bummed we were b/c the heavy rain + super wind/gust prematurely ended our biking adventure...

and what is a visit here if you don’t see the infamous ‘red-light district‘? it was quite a shock as viv and i walked and discovered our first bay of windows occupied by women right across the street from the ??? church. and as we strolled more, we found that no matter what street we turned into, we found ourselves facing more banks and banks of these windows.

the infamous red-light district...

it launched viv + i into a discussion about these women, their profession, how they got into this line of work and countless others. these women are someone’s daughters/sisters/and some… even mothers!
wanting to be a father (hopefully soon if the Lord’s willing!), i told viv how my heart was just crushed and deeply saddened by what we were witnessing. this led me to think of countless millions who are trafficked and sold into the sex-industry. it renewed our desire and commitment to the great organizations that are out there wanting to bring justice and liberation to those oppressed (www.ijm.org + www.thesoldproject.org just to name a few).
wasn’t expecting to get on a soap box, but i guess my heart needed to vomit this out. it is something viv + i will continue to wrestle,pray and dedicate our lives + resources to help make an impact for God’s kingdom and His people.

- amsterdam.
  places visited:
    – 9 streets shopping district:  some pretty cool stores. you can definitely spend hours/days walking around and enjoying what each unique place/store has to offer.
    – anne frank huis museum.  
    - van gogh musem.
    – rikjsmuseum “national museum“:  an absolutely beautiful museum… but much of it was under renovation. it featured many european artists’ collections alongside a group of dutch master paintings. 
    – red-light district:  you just have to experience it.
    – canal cruise.

the view from our seat while we did the canal cruise for the day...

another beautiful amsterdam/canal shot...

flight itinerary:
- amsterdam
- gatwick london
- back to -> marseille
- back to ->paris
- back to ->hong kong (total travel time = 27.45 hours… ugghhh)

tot ziens (for now)…

for more reading:
- where in the world… (part 3)
- where in the world… (part 2)
- where in the world… (part 1)

Find out with the link here.

Prior to the January 2007 announcement of the impending iPhone, I was already a minor shareholder of Apple for their fine set of products.  Ironically, I had not yet owned an Apple product beside a mere iPod nano obtained through a holiday party raffle.  I invested a small amount simply on the news they had decided on switching over to Intel CPU’s for their entire product line.

The reason was not simply because Intel carries more weight in the industry or because Apple computers are to benefit from the higher processing power of the de facto leader in semi’s, but simply because an Apple computer has now become “doubly” valuable when compared to mere PC.  With an Apple computer, I can not only run Apple’s OS and all their slick consumer geared applications, but I can also quickly boot over to a full native Windows OS with a simple key press when turning it on.  Initially Apple lacked direct support for such a boot feature and most of the press focused on the ability to virtualize Windows within Mac OS.  Parallels and VMWare Fusion, the two main competing mac virtualization softwares, effortlessly ran to the spotlight as the way to run Windows within a Mac.  Ultimately Apple caught headwind of this frenzy and no more than few months, Mac had native dual boot feature for anyone wanting to run Windows and Mac as a choice with a single button click at boot time.

In short, a Mac, all of a sudden, presented a very valuable proposition for any serious Windows user in the market for a new computer.

A year or so later, the iPhone is announced.  My gosh, is this thing for real I remember asking myself.  The stock price that day was roughly in the 80’s if I recall correctly and had jumped about 8% following the announcement.  While I’m not an investor on day to day news, I am however a long term investor and any news having a definitive impact on longterm will always surely fork me to action.  I was sold from the moment jobs scrolled the music list with his finger in public for the first time — and I wasn’t the only one.

Video Jobs Demoing iPhone for first time in public:

So I decided to up the ante a bit for the longterm, Apple had an Ace card.

As the woo’s and wow’s resonated in blogospheres and hallways of corporate and consumer america in a relentless fashion never seen before, I was certain my ante was safe for the long term.  The impact was clearly evident in multiple sectors, music, phone, entertainment — even to the distaste of some non-believing computer sector titans.

Balmer laughs as first comment to iPhone:

Launch day, June 29, 2007.  Having performed my share of voluntarily marketing for the weeks and months leading up to release, my coworkers knew I would be one of those unfortuanate souls waiting in line for their purchasing opportunity.

The last time I saw lines forming with this voracity was Microsoft’s release of Windows 95.  At that time, I was too young to understand and apply Peter Lynch’s investment style — invest in what you know and are certain of, however had I, I would have reaped the benefits as Microsoft dominated the desktop and business software category the following 5 to 10 — year over year.  That missed opportunity only served as a reminder and a lesson learned for any future opportunity — and this may be it.

This frenzy served only to convince me I am not alone, and this is a domestic occurrence for product already planed and destined for international release.  The ante must be increased — the long term odds are too good to be true.

For the weeks and months that followed, I decided to stalk the Apple stores around south Florida.  Initially I was simply a member of the of the frenzied group interested in all things Apple.  I was going at my leisure when time permitted, however in short order I realized the frenzy, post iPhone launch, simply continued.  You couldn’t walk through an Apple store without saying “excuse me” at least a half a dozen times if not more just to navigate the main corridors.  I immediately questioned, is this frenzy having a halo effect on Apple and it’s entire product line?

Coincidentally the iPhone launch was on the last two days of Apple’s fiscal quarter so the full effect, particularly the halo effect, should be recognized and felt on their next quarterly announcement.

Touring the Apple stores became an interesting game of quasi-interrogation with various Apple staff and geniuses from store to store.  Questions were phrased with basic customer interest as an allegory to a relentless statistical business analyst.  Throughout the fiscal quarter, I visited each south Florida store at least twice — shaving the last bit of doubt for an all-in wager as I was witnessing the perfect hand forming.

Interestingly enough, while working at Inktel Direct, the President, Ricky Arriola, happend to give a presentation on leadership as a kick of to a series of successful internal training seminares termed “Idea” (Inktel Direct Excellence Academy) a few days prior to Apple’s quarterly announcement.  Already motivated by the various topics presented, a topic which resonated was making a decision — leaders don’t teeter on a topic longer than necessary and more often than not make a decision and take direction.  This inspiration from the presentation and the highlight of that one particular topic combined with Apple quarterly announcement imminent and the bag full of statistical measures all pointing to a  royal flush, the “all in” call was a no brainer at 3:50PM before markets closed prior to Apple’s after market quarterly announcement.  Chip gathering followed at 9:40AM shortly after markets open the following day.  Ironically, I must emphasize I truly don’t condone or recommend any type of short term trading of this fashion as the only sure fire way to win in markets is Buffet & Lynch’s style with long term solid positions.

Apple was on the rise.  All throughout 2008 reaching a peak of about $200/share at end of 2007 prior to the general collapse of the markets.  As the markets collapsed, Apple, as much any company in any sector, suffered as the exodus of investors seeking a safe haven in treasuries, bonds, and other low risk fixed income investments.

Are the fundamentals of Apple really affected though?

TIME magazine named iPhone invention of the year
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1677329_1678542_1677891,00.html

The rumor mill for a new iPhone becomes rampant, an iPhone which connects to the faster 3G network.  The blogosphere lights up again, this time with spy fotos from China factories confirming the imminent release.  For a recession, Apple seems to be capturing all the spare attention and dollars at the expense of all other non-essential items.

iPhone 3G launch day, lines abound even further. Here is a video I recorded while arriving at Aventura mall in Florida.  In a recession, lines like these convinced me to play more long term rounds in the Apple game.

iPhone 3G launch in Aventura Mall, July 7 2008

Store congestion not only continues, but actually increases as it’s difficult to even walk through a store during the 2008 holiday season.  Can this long term game ever have any signs of ending?  During this time, the financial crisis is in full swing.  Henry Paulson and Bernanke are feverishly trying to get emergency liquidity approved and injected into the economy through the treasury as Bernanke had virtually exhausted all his options from a federal reserve perspective. It was literally chaos in D.C. and economically as a whole.  Ironically, while financial armageddon was occurring domestically with trickling effects internationally, Apple stores were flush full with holiday shoppers.  I’m I seeing an oxymoran here or what?

Despite Apple shares suffering along side all companies, I decided to apply Lynch’s & Buffet’s philosophy along with the typical dollar cost averaging during the continued down turn.  The company long term is solid, it’s fundamentals are solid, it’s sitting on tons of cash with no debt and customers abound.  Lets start the wagers.  I don’t have the full house assured in my hand, however I’m certain the turn or the river will complete my flush long term. With each down turn of $10 in share price, the ante was matched.  It was painstakingly difficult to continue this pace from $190/share through to $80/share — but images of Buffet preaching fundamentals soothed my anxiety and gave me confidence with each submission.

By the time $80/share came around I was too heavy in Apple.  Apple far outweighed my portfolio 10:1 if not 20:1 — I needed to diversify, and no better time to do so than on the down low.  A weekend long research, steadfastly applying Buffet’s value approach and some stats filtering tools putting me neck deep into P/E, debt, revenue qtr to qtr, stochastics and bollingers for hours on end,  I arrived at a solid list of fundamental stocks by Sunday evening.  Ricky’s presentation echoed in my mind again — a decision needs to be made — should I throw new capital at the fire or simply reduce some Apple at a loss.  Buffet kept me from selling at a loss just for capital reasons — fundamentally, Apple is too good and I barely gave it the time necessary to fulfill it’s long term destiny.  Done.  Timing on late February 2009, the theoretical bottom of this recession, was purely coincidental and the long term bandwagon officially commenced.

Quarter after Quarter, the sound of Apple increasing it’s market share in the computer space resonated and brought a subtle smirk.  iPhone exceeding sale expectations, 3GS with video launches in mid summer brining demand so high problems with fulfilment and inventory plague Apple for weeks.  World wide launches continue in other countries where even my cousin in Uruguay is now aware of a company called Apple and their infamous iPhone.  Apple erecting stores world wide at a pace faster than people fill their gas tanks.   Wall street journal classifies Apple’s brand within spitting distance of titans like Coca-Cola, Google, & Microsoft and first in regional ares such as Asia.

WSJ 9/11/2009 – Apple ranked as region’s most admired multinational company
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125259938989400063.html

The explosive growth is so horrendous, for lack of a better word, Microsoft had to rethink their strategy from a full business perspective.  Ads now target Apple directly, something lacking from Microsoft now for over a two decades.  Their mobile phone strategy had to take a full about face and consider touch screens and hardware innovations as key priorities.  To get closer to the consumer, Microsoft saw the need to open resembling retail outlets — the first opening less than a month ago on Oct 23.

Microsoft opens first retail store:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569264,00.html

To bring finality on this growth segment, while Apple has a steadily increasing market share for computers sales currently at 8-9%, setting aside all the low end laptops and desktops sold and only considering computers in the $1k range and up, apple commands a 91% market share, up roughly 40% from their 66% the year earlier.

In overall conclusion, although Apple is currently a large cap with slow stymied growth, the numbers are extremely good and investor appreciation, be it stock or dividends, are sure to materialize more long term.  It’s additionally rumored, Apple will be changing the accounting rules on iPhone sales.  Instead of spreading the sale over two years, as a subsidized product by AT&T, Apple may soon start accounting for the full value upfront.  If this occurs, Apple earnings report would have a redbull injection to boot.

P.S. Oh, I forgot to mention Apple is now the #1 music distributor, leapfrogging Amazon, Best Buy, Wal-Mart in roughly two to three years of massive iPod expansion and sheer dominance in portable music devices.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2008/04/apple-passes-wal-mart-now-1-music-retailer-in-us.ars

people, I just loved this one. I never imagined that the CEO of such a big company could be talking like he is in this video, relaxed, happy and in a good mood.

I am referring to the conversation between Joshua Topolsky, editor-in-chief of Engadget & Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft about Windows 7.  Watch this video ..

The Engadget Show – 002: Steve Ballmer, Droid, Nook, and new Macs

on a personal note, Windows 7 is one of the best operating systems I have worked on, seamless, fast and pleasing.

O novo homem forte da Microsoft, ameaçou esmagar um iPhone que pertencia a um empregado seu, quando este tentou tirar-lhe uma foto com um iPhone.

Para quem sabe como é a personalidade de Steve Balmer, talvez isto não espante tanto, mas o certo é que quando Steve Balmer ia a entrar no edifício da Microsoft para uma reunião privada em Seattle, um empregado da Microsoft, puxou o seu iPhone para tirar uma foto ao patrão, e quando ia tentar tirar a foto, Steve Balmer tirou o iPhone das mãos do empregado ameaçando partir o aparelho e dizendo umas piadinhas sobre o iPhone.

Este acontecimento ficou dividido entre aplausos e apupos de outros empregados da Microsoft. Com isto, Steve Balmer jogou o iPhone para o chão e ameaçou esmagá-lo com os pés.

Entretanto, foi divulgada, pelo Engadget, a suposta foto que o empregado tirou ao seu patrão.

iZFonte: Engadget

]]> http://thec0unt.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/hey-ballmer-you-make-us-laugh-too/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:42:40 +0000 thec0unt http://thec0unt.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/hey-ballmer-you-make-us-laugh-too/ http://gadgatic.com/2009/06/18/balmer-confirms-natal-xbox-360/ Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:37:37 +0000 shockemshaun http://gadgatic.com/2009/06/18/balmer-confirms-natal-xbox-360/ http://onthebutton.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/naming_bing/ Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:09:32 +0000 danny altman http://onthebutton.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/naming_bing/

Bing: The premier way to search for Dutch windmills. Photo: bing.com

by Danny Altman

Microsoft, hoping that the third time is the charm, has renamed its third place search engine Bing, due to launch this week at bing.com. First it was MSN Search. Then it became Live Search. Now it’s Bing. Without an exclamation point.  And with a strategy that is less than inspiring, how is Microsoft going to climb above an 8% share of the search engine business?

If I were naming a new search engine, Bing might be a cool choice. It says, “Results right here!” Yes, it’s a little close to Ning (Marc Andreesson and Gina Bianchini’s new venture), and Ping (a way to update your status on Facebook and Twitter, and Ding! (Southwest cheap fare alerts), but like anything, it could be cool in the right hands. It worked out pretty well for the name of Tony Soprano’s strip club, BadaBing! (aka “The Bing”).

So, what’s the first thing you do after you come up with a cool name? Okay, Microsoft, this is the first test. You come up with a cool logo, right? Oh no…the logo they came up with is kinda cute, definitely not cool.

If I were Steve Ballmer, about to drop a hundred million bucks on a campaign to retake the initiative in the search engine wars, how am I going to convince the world that I have a chance in hell to pull this off? For openers, I might take a pretty aggressive posture. But considering that Google is the adversary, and looking at Microsoft’s track record in search, the statements coming out of Microsoft are just not sounding very confident. He’s saying things like, “We are taking a big first step.”

According to a story in the New York Times aptly headlined, “Bloodied by Google, Microsoft Tries Again on Search,” Bing is the result of a year of consumer research that says that consumers are basically satisfied with Google, but there are a few things Google could do better like deciding what camera to buy, where to go on a trip, or learning more about a medical diagnosis. Okay, so their strategy is to carve off Google by the slice. Not exactly a compelling call to battle.

So here’s the problem, which gets to the fundamental attributes of the brand: As a consumer, do I want this kind of help from Microsoft? And what have they done for me lately that demonstrates they have a clue about how to simplify my life?

And as a strategy person, I’d like to know if Microsoft has located Google’s Achilles heel, or have they merely bumped into a few bunions?

Microsoft dévoilerait son moteur de recherche Kumo la semaine prochaine

Microsoft s’apprête à dévoiler son nouveau moteur de recherche Kumo lors d’une conférence sur le numérique devant avoir lieu du 26 au 28 mai en Californie, selon des informations publiées mardi sur le site internet de ces rencontres. Le Pdg de Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, est attendu à ce salon organisé dans la ville de Carlsbad, sur la côte sud de la Californie. Le groupe fondé par Bill Gates avait annoncé début mars qu’il testait un nouveau moteur de recherche baptisé “Kumo”, qui pourrait remplacer à terme son moteur Live Search, largement distancé par Google.
source : CBNews

I preach two things

1. Christ Crucified and Risen!

2. Steve Jobs does know what we need in a computer better than Steve Ballmer.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/163537/which_is_better_for_your_businessa_mac_or_a_pc.html

O CEO da Microsoft, diz que num cenário de crise, quem comprar portateis da apple, está a pagar 500$ apenas pelo logotipo.

Como é obvio, e também se pode verificar pelo preço do iPhone, a Apple exagera bastante os preços dos seus produtos. Mas a verdade é que apesar disso, estes têm sido vendidos em larga escala.

Será que Steve Balmer tem alguma na manga? De que maneira poderia a Microsoft beneficiar com um mau investimento da Apple?
O Windows 7 será a resposta obvia.

Como corre em qualquer netbook, e como a Apple não tem intenções de meter esse Sistema Operativo nos seus PC’s, quantos menos netbooks/portateis da Apple forem vendidos, mais Windows 7 serão comprados. Será que acertei? Qual é o prémio? xD

So it’s now Thursday night and the MVP Summit for 2009 is over and done with.

It has been a very interesting few days spending time with the Windows Home Server team, and hearing about lots of new cool things that are happening with the product over the coming months and years. Unfortunately because of the NDA I am under, I am not able to divulge any of the information just yet, or I will be in trouble! But don’t worry, there will be some news soon.

It was also really great to meet up with most of the Windows Home Server MVP’s, some of whom I had already met and some of whom I only met for the first time this week.

So, thank you to everyone for making this year great, it was great to see everyone and to hang out, and once again thank you to Yoshi for my very cool WHS Hello Kitty.

One final thought just before I wrap this up, on the last day of the Summit, Steve Balmer the CEO of Microsoft, was presenting one of the keynote presentations and Donovan West, my fellow WHS MVP, managed to get Steve to put a WHS sticker on his head, as you can see.

Picture Credit : Olaf Engelke

To his credit, Steve was a great sport and then proceeded to sit for the next 30 minutes or so with the WHS sticker on his arm.

Picture Credit : BitsfromBill.com

One of my other fellow WHS MVP’s and fellow blogger, Phillip Churchill just beat me to the punch of getting these pictures out – nice one Phil!

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Chicago Metallic Gourmetware Nonstick 6-Cup Popover Pan is available at Amazon for $17.99. To Order click here
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Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• Stonewall Kitchen Traditional Popover Mix, 12.33-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)
• Norpro 12 Mini Popover Pan
• Chicago Metallic Gourmetware Nonstick 12-Cup Popover Pan
• Oxo Good Grips Pastry Scraper
• Silpat 11-5/8-by-16-1/2-Inch Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat

Barack Obama Uh-Count

Caroline Kennedy, You Know You Know

all about Steve – All-time favorites

Developers

LOL

What exactly is “change”…

Caroline Kennedy is a joke…

Background Articles and Videos

Tic

“A tic is a sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups.^[1][2] Tics can be invisible to the observer, such as abdominal tensing or toe crunching. Common motor and vocal tics are, respectively, eye blinking and throat clearing.^[3] Movements of other movement disorders (for example, chorea, dystonia, myoclonus) must be distinguished from tics. Other conditions like autism and stereotypic movement disorder also include movements which may be confused with tics. Tics must also be distinguished from compulsions of OCD and seizure activity. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tic

Tourette syndrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourette_syndrome

Barack Obama Uh Rush Limbaugh Uhh Uhh montage

Tourette Syndrome – HBO & Tourette Syndrome Association

I came across several email addresses and a phone number for Microsoft Executives, and I pose this challenge to them:

For this long time and loyal customer, provide a solution that gets the XBOX 360 replaced in time for Christmas.

In this case, I contacted:

khogan@microsoft.com, billg@microsoft.com, robbieb@microsoft.com, donm@microsoft.com

and

Steve Balmer’s Office:  (425) 706-8448

(Thanks to Consumerist website. Here and here)

Yes, I know that Mr. Gates has stepped down and handed the reigns over, but I have a feeling that he still cares how the business is run and may have some contacts if he happens to read my email.

When talking with Ms. Hill at Steve Balmer’s office I was very respectful and tried to be very suscinct in what my problem was and what I wanted done to fix it.   She was very nice, took my information, and told me someone would be contacting me in the next 2-3 days.    In the emails I sent out I tried to be polite, but explain how this is the 5th Hardware Failure and this latest one has rotten timing.  (Anyone else who has had more failures or just as much frustration with the support process please take note… you need to be respectful in your complaints.  You can be upset, but don’t cross that line into beligerent.)

So, we will see what happens.  I still don’t think Microsoft is able to move fast enough to get this resolved in time for Christmas, but I can still hope on the other hand.

Here’s the email I sent with minor editing for publishing on the web:

Dear Executives and Representatives of Microsoft:

I have just experienced my 5th hardware failure and my 3rd Red Ring of
Death (RRoD) on Saturday Night (December 13th) while I was watching a
Netflix movie on the XBOX 360 w/ NXE.

I need this issue taken seriously and something done to help avoid
disappointing my wife on Christmas day when she opens her present and can't
play!  I am already starting to post on various blogs, forums, and comment
places.  I would be glad to post followups explaining how Microsoft helped
me out here.

WHAT I WANT: A NEW replacement XBOX 360 to arrive in time for Christmas!   

My wife was excited about "Lips" coming out for the XBOX 360 so I bought it
for her for Christmas.  Now with my DEAD XBOX360 she is going to smile when
she opens her present and then immediately become sad that she can't play
it!!

Your "support" team said they would "expedite" the repair but it would
still take up to two weeks to be done.  This is not acceptable. The timing
of this failure is horrible beyond the fact that it ruined my wife's
Christmas Gift... take into account also that my wife and I both are off of
work during the week of Christmas.   By the time the repair is completed we
will be going back to work!

After buying the MICROSOFT extended warranty, over 26 XBOX 360 games, 4
controllers, 120GB HDD, and several hundred dollars worth of DLC from XBOX
Live I feel that asking for a new console to be rushed out to me in time
for Christmas is not an inappropriate thing to ask for especially since
I've had to send the 360 in FIVE TIMES NOW.  (Please verify these
claims...you can see for yourself on my gamer profile listed below what I
speak is true.)   Heck I have 3 games on hand that I haven't ever even
played because I have been busy the last couple months.  I was going to
catch up on some gaming during this Christmas break!

My XBOX Live GamerTag is BustedChain
My console serial number was 9015857740xx
My support reference number is 10876162xx

Supposedly I will be receiving the box to ship the XBOX 360 back in today,
however when I check the Repair Status online it says "Current Status:
invalid tracking number"  and  "Your order is currently in the queue to be
processed.  We will mail your box to you shortly."  which implies to me
that I won't be receiving the box to ship the console back in any time
soon!

Please let me know how you can help salvage my wife's Christmas present
this year!    I will send you a followup email right after this with a link
to the article I have started to share this disappointing situation with
everyone.  I am sending it in a separate email just in case your filters
block emails with addresses in them.

“More documents are coming out in court proceedings over the Vista Capable debacle. Internetnews.com has good coverage of HP’s fury over Microsoft lowering the requirements for a Vista Capable sticker, at Intel’s request. “Intel officials may have been pleased that Microsoft lowered standards for obtaining the company’s Windows Vista Capable logo program sticker, but the same can’t be said about HP’s execs. ‘I can’t be more clear than to say you not only let us down by reneging on your commitment to stand behind the [device driver model] requirement, you have demonstrated a complete lack of commitment to HP as a strategic partner and cost us a lot of money in the process,’ said one e-mail from Richard Walker, the senior vice president of HP’s consumer business unit, to [Microsoft executives].” PCPro.co.uk follows the trail of accusatory emails inside Microsoft from there: “HP’s email prompted then Microsoft co-President, Jim Allchin, to send a furious email of his own to company CEO Steve Ballmer. Allchin’s email suggests the decision to lower the requirements was made in his absence by Ballmer, following ‘a call between you and Paul [Otellini, Intel CEO].’ ‘I am beyond being upset here,’ Allchin wrote to Ballmer. ‘What a mess. Now we have an upset partner, Microsoft destroyed credibility [sic], as well as my own credibility shot.’ Ballmer, in turn, blamed another Microsoft executive, Will Poole, in a rather erratically typed reply to Allchin.” Via Slashdot. See also The Seattle Times, and InternetNews.Com