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A very emotional goodbye[^] from Steve Ballmer.
One of the few CEOs who are also a good person. It's very difficult to cry in front of thousands of people who works for you. Good fella.
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He's probably emotionally upset for having blocked the growth of a company that could have potentially done better.
As to your claim on him being a "good person", I've got no clue. I don't know him personally, so I don't know how good or bad of a person he is in life. But it's rather good for MS that he's deciding to clear the way.
Just my opinion.
But he sure was one hell of a guy. And he forgot to end it with "Developers, developers, developers". 
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote: He's probably emotionally upset for having blocked the growth of a company that could have potentially done better.
I don't know why people blame/hate him this much. IMO every single Microsoft product is much better right now. He is a decent CEO, he hasn't done anything groundbreaking, and he hasn't screwed up anything.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote: As to your claim on him being a "good person", I've got no clue. I don't know him personally,
You don't have to know anyone personally to pass an overall judgement. He was friendly and humble in the interviews and presentation. His presentations were about customers and not about Microsoft (Like Apple just focus their presentation on how cool they are, it's never about the customers). For these many years he has maintained his 'good guy' attitude.
On the other hand Steve Jobs was a great CEO (I admire what he has done, but don't like him as a person), but as a person not as good as Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer.
Rajesh R Subramanian wrote: But he sure was one hell of a guy. And he forgot to end it with "Developers, developers, developers".
He kind of did that as he left the stage giving people hi-five. The old guy has crazy amount of passion and energy at this age. 
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Yeah, I think I might have been a little harsh there. But it probably roots from from my feeling that MS has great talent which could have been put to better use. There hasn't been a lot of groundbreaking stuff like you said, which is probably what makes people dislike him generally.
Rutvik Dave wrote: IMO every single Microsoft product is much better right now. He is a decent CEO, he hasn't done anything groundbreaking, and he hasn't screwed up anything.
I partly agree with you. Several products have been made better under his leadership, but there hasn't been any exciting innovation. Windows has come a long way in stability though, which is really great.
Rutvik Dave wrote: You don't have to know anyone personally to pass an overall judgement.
May be you don't but I do. At least to make comments on the line of "he's good as a person", etc.
He's passionate and crazy, which I will totally agree with you on.
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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Quote: every single Microsoft product is much better right now
How do you reckon Windows 8 as being better? Windows 7 is still a far better version. MS is going backwards.
In addition the Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 joystick was great - except the later versions of Windows don't support it properly, turning it into just another joystick without Force Feedback. How is that better?
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Rajesh R Subramanian wrote: blocked the growth of a company that could have potentially done better
He's been involved in every decision and product made by one of the biggest companies the world has ever seen, right from day one. Microsoft probably would not exist without him.
What does it take to impress you?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I agree, I've been a bit too harsh. I only wish that there was true innovation (not the likes of vista or ribbon or metro) during his tenure, because MS has great talent that's next to none.
See my reply above.
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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Mark_Wallace wrote: What does it take to impress you?
Linux, right there spot on the same OS field as Windows. No monkey business corp types flaunting its open source origins, development and deployment, no millions of dollars backing it up, and yet it has always kept a relevant enough presence to force a mega corporation like Microsoft to take notice and keep a watchful eye.
Microsoft is with no doubt one of the greatest companies of our times, Rajesh has a point though: Ballmer missed the boat dearly on stuff like media players, cell phones and pads and on sizing up a company that started as yet another search engine enterprise, no need to name names.
Instead of dissing on the competition he should have been as equally "developer developers crazy" to have his weight within the top echelons at Microsoft company work for good to INNOVATE, from-day-one. Opportunities - which don't come twice - were missed, and now we have him forced to step down because of that - bottom line, call it "retirement" if you will, he was pushed out.
Microsoft was Bill Gates and Paul Allen to me, both retired/stepped down under different circumstances but more or less on their own design.
Steve Ballmer?, for sure his charisma will be missed. His managing abilities probably not.
-- RP
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Maybe he's gone to a job where he will be appreciated - selling cars.
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I offer to those who live in places where firearms are forbidden, or access to same seriously limited, a video course of instruction in firearm safety which is required in order to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon here in Arizona. The instructor is actually fairly good, with only a couple of script-reading errors. It's a bit humorous to watch him attempt to demonstrate the Weaver stance, intended to reduce the cross-section available to an assailant to shoot at, since he's rather fat. But he does manage to suck it up enough to show a plausible difference in target area. It does take 40 minutes to get through the video, but it's all informative and relatively interesting.
Everything is free until you want an actual certificate emailed or snail-mailed to you, so you can play the video as often as you like. Have fun!
Will Rogers never met me.
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It's customary to provide a link to videos that you refer to!! 
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The link was actually in the original post, but for some odd reason it went away. For the sake of completeness, here it is.[^] I really hope it doesn't go away again. That might incline me to start taking conspiracy theories more seriously.
Will Rogers never met me.
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Roger Wright wrote: actually
HYLaire3eous!
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What's hilarious is that this is all that's required to obtain a concealed weapon permit in Arizona. At least when I got mine I had to learn the laws about shooting in self-defense and demonstrate that I can hit a target. I'm not in favor of letting government tell me what I may or may not carry, but this is just asking for legal troubles. I wonder how many people are walking around with guns who don't know when they're legally allowed to use them? I was surprised to learn, for instance, that if I see somebody shooting school kids on campus and I stop him by shooting him, I go to jail and forfeit my right to have a gun. Weird, and I doubt that anyone would try to enforce it against someone who saved a bunch of kids' lives, but that is the law. Crazy...
Will Rogers never met me.
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The Weaver stance ... That's the position one assumes when one's standing as far as possible into the rack of hanging suits and ironed shirts without hitting the back of their head on the 1.5 inch wooden clothing dowel that spans the two side walls of the bedroom closet.
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Lets say you just found a genie... You get your wishes, what would it be.
Just tell me your first wish, and lets see if you would be able to get what you wish for.
(Many idiots wish for something and then end up wishing it back to the way it was, so lets see if a bunch of programmers can do better)
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Unlimited wishes.
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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Granted. You are now a genie and must grant others their wishes!
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If I were a genie, I'd be one of the naughty ones[^].
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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first_wish=1; // as per the genie's wish rule
while(first_wish)
{
first_wish++;
// make one wish
}
Coding my dreams, compiling my future..
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While (wish)
grant wish;
wish = true;
End
Get {yourown wish}
catch(exception)
{
Console.WriteLine("You never get your own wish. You are now a genie")
}
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'I wish I had always had whatever I truely need, when I need it, where I need it"
The only instant messaging I do involves my middle finger.
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Granted.
You are now getting what truly need when you need it. Becoming hated by everyone as free will does not get affected they kill you. (No, you do not really need to be immortal or not die so thus you die after a few months you got your wish)
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Except, I would truly need something to protect me from the mob...
The only instant messaging I do involves my middle finger.
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