For those who don’t know J. Allard is leaving Microsoft. Allard is the driving force behind the Xbox 360 and Zune movements. Below is his sign off letter that he sent to the Entertainment & Devices Division, as well as some other select individuals at Microsoft. There is a great message in this email, and so I have reposted it here to make sure more of the geeks who need the message see and read it.

From: J Allard
Date: May 25, 2010 8:56:08 AM PDT
To: “Robert (Robbie) Bach”, Entertainment & Devices Division FTE
Cc: Senior Leadership Team
Subject: Decide. Change. Reinvent.

Reinvent.

If you’ve been following along, you probably understand just how difficult it was for me to decide to leave the tribe and explore new territory, but the time has come.

My passion for our cause combined with my obsessive nature has put many of my other interests on hold for a long time. I don’t know exactly what tomorrow looks like – but if my focus has been 95% MSFT, 5% life until now, I know that the first step is to flip that ratio around. After wrapping some projects up, I will shift to 95% life and 5% MSFT. With that 5% I’ll be working for SteveB on a couple of projects beginning this fall…..

In response to the curiosity, no chairs were thrown, no ultimatums served, I am not moving to Cupertino or Mountain View, I did not take a courier job and I require no assistance finding the door. I do know that I’m going to help a couple of friends get their startups going (e.g. The Clymb), I’m planning some races (by foot, bike and off-road trucks), and I’m going to put some energy into my passion for design, the arts and philanthropy. For those of you reporting into one of my organizations, I am committed to working through all of the transition issues and assure you that The Tribe remains committed to the work you are doing and our purpose going forward.

If, at the next juncture, I decide to join a corporate tribe again, this place will definitely top my list. There are a lot of great companies out there doing terrific and meaningful work with better pizza, nicer décor and great implementations of “ls” on the desktops, but The Tribe? No one can touch our talent, our impact or our ambition. We’re the only high-tech company with the track record and self-confidence to reinvent ourselves as we have. If you want to change the world with technology, this is still the best tribe out there.

Please, put my headcount and that cardkey “invitation” to good use. Find a college student that claims we don’t get it and blogs tirelessly about our lack of agility. Track down an EE that has been focusing on fuel cells and has radical thoughts about power management. Or a social networking whiz who is tired of building little islands that go hot and cold and can’t break the mainstream. Hire a designer who’s given shape to 2 decades of beautiful automobiles and thinks we can sculpt technology to better connect to users. Infuse them with our purpose. Give them the tools. Give them lots of rope. Learn from them. Support where they take you. Invite them to redefine The Tribe.

Decide. Change. Reinvent.

I certainly will never think of my cardkey the same way again

Taco Bell recently brought out $2 combos, and I have to say they are great! However, the Taco Bell marketing team has really missed a golden opportunity here, and I think that Taco Bell should probably adjust quickly to what I have to say.

I am no marketing genius, case in point my whole <20 visitors a month, however, I know a good opportunity when I see one. The opportunity I see that Taco Bell missed, is budget conscious week long planner.

The new $2 menu has 4 options. Drink + Doritos + (your choice of) Chicken Burrito, 5-layer Burrito, Double Decker Taco, Gordita Supreme. These are all great options and make a pretty great lunch for $2. However there is something wrong with the lineup, a fifth! There are 5 days in the work week. That means for $10+tax I could eat a hot lunch, out of the office, every day! However, the short coming is that 1 of those meals will be exactly the same as a previous meal that week. Not terrible and there are ways to make it work, but why not add a 5th option?

I also think Taco Bell, while aiming for the $2 range, missed a grand opportunity for another range, $3. Let me explain. Each of the entrée items in the meal is $1 or less. This means you can add any entrée item for under a $1 and hit a $3 meal. This is priceless, cause now you can make a mix and match of the 4 items. That gives you 16 meal options for only $3!!! Seriously now, 16 different meals all for under $3. Taco Bell you listening?

The Utah Open Source Conference 2010, like the object in the rear view mirror, running October 7th through the 9th 2010, is closer then it appears!!

The Call for Papers for UTOSC 2010 is officially open! Paper submission deadline is July 15th, 2010 at Midnight and can be submitted through theUtah Open Source Conference website at http://2010.utosc.com.

If you’ve got something to share, something to tell, something to introduce or something to show, please take the time and submit a presentation to the Utah Open Source Conference 2010. We’d love to see your presentation!!

Some people are natural public speakers and presenters while others are reluctant to imagine themselves in front of a group of people at a conference. Nobody should feel unqualified or inexperienced to present. We want presenters who can share information at all levels.

And now, some tough questions

What should I talk about?

You should talk about Open Source software, philosophy, technology, etc. The theme for this year’s conference centers around being “free“, so your topic can be targeted at beginners, experts, or someone in between. Don’t forget that there are plenty of “free” applications out there as well!

It may help to see what topics were presented last year. Go to for information about 2009’s conference sessions.

Several sessions will be targeted at beginning or “newbie” users including those who are family members of an Open Source geek. Basic sessions around Linux, The GIMP, or WordPress are good examples of these types of sessions.

We have expanded our categories offerings this year and you can select multiple audiences as well. If there is a category you do not see listed, please let us know by emailing our program coordinator, atprogram@utos.org.

What does a response to a call for papers look like?

You should come up with a brief outline, or abstract, of your presentation and who would be interested. You should also provide some information about you, your
experience with open source software and the specific aspects you’re proposing to speak about.

Here’s an example of an abstract:

Title: Open source home security
This presentation will outline how I have used a Linux server,
IP cameras, and open source software, to provide around-the-clock
video and image surveillance of my home which is archived for
later viewing and is available for viewing via the Web when
I’m not at home.
The presentation will describe how to set up a system similar to
mine and what alternatives are available for software and hardware
in the system.

What’s in it for me?

There are lots of perks reserved for people chosen to present at the Utah Open Source Conference!

Resumé material
Having presented on a topic at a conference is a great thing to add to your resumé and could make the difference the next time you apply for a job.

Free admission
If you’re chosen as a speaker, we’ll let you — and your family — into the conference for FREE!

A picture and a paragraph
Speakers are asked to submit a digital photo and a paragraph of biographical information which will be seen by those viewing the UTOSC website and those reading the conference program.

Warm fuzzies
Being involved in the Utah Open Source Conference is a great experience. Just ask anyone who was involved in UTOSC 2007, UTOSC 2008 or UTOSC 2009.

What’s that URL again?

Go to http://2010.utosc.com and get yourself an account. Then you can submit as many presentation ideas as you wish!!

2010 is here and moving along at a good clip, can you believe it is already May?! Well the good folks at the Utah Open Source Conference have just announced their plans for this year’s conference, including dates, theme and location!

Here are the details:

The Utah Open Source Foundation is pleased to announce its 2010 Conference: October 7th-9th, 2010 at the Salt Lake Community College –Miller Free Enterprise Center in Sandy, Utah.

The Utah Open Source Conference 2010 will explore the theme “It’s better when it’s free*”.

The conference, now in its fourth year, is designed for all users, developers and administrators of Free and Open Source Software of any skill level.

You can see the official press release a Free Press Release: Utah Open Source Conference 2010 Announcement

For more information about the conference and to keep up with Open Source technology in Utah check out the foundations websites:

• http://blog.utos.org – Utah Open Source Blog
• http://utosc.com – Utah Open Source Conference 2010 Website
• #utos on irc.freenode.net
• http://identi.ca/utos – Utah Open Source on Identi.ca
• http://twitter.com/utos – Utah Open Source on Twitter
• http://www.flickr.com/groups/utosc/ – Flickr photos from previous years
• http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=117121981637421 – UTOSC on Facebook