On Leaving Microsoft: Frequently Asked Questions

by Stepto
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It’s been a great couple of weeks.  There’s just no way I can possibly thank everyone both at Microsoft and outside for the kind words and good wishes.  And also for the new opportunities that have popped up!  I’m now a free agent and certainly still evaluating the future so please get in touch.

What’s been the most fun however has been the questions and speculation.  So let me for a moment answer the top frequently asked questions from the past 2 weeks since the announcement I am leaving Microsoft.

OMG ARE YOU MOVING BACK TO DALLAS?

No Mom. We love Seattle.  My plan is to stay here if I can.

No one just leaves their job like that, were you forced out/asked to resign?

People who ask this I think don’t really understand how corporations work.  The short answer is: absolutely not.  If Microsoft wanted me gone, it would be as simple as showing me the door.  As I mentioned in my previous blog post this was a personal decision and it was completely amicable with the company.

Why doesn’t Xbox LIVE use true two factor authentication for account security?

That is an excellent question for the Windows Live ID team.

Are you going to work for Sony/Apple/Nintendo/Google/Amazon?

I have no plans to announce at this time.  A number of great opportunities are currently being evaluated and out of respect for the people who made them available I’m not saying anything more.  The short answer though is that for now I currently have no plans other than to take some time off and enjoy the company of my family and friends.

Will you stay in the games industry?

That looks very much to be the case, given the options presented so far.  However I’m open to just about anything I feel I can devote passion to.

Why were you so mean to Jonathan Blow on the Giantbomb e3 podcast?

***

How in the world did you manage to keep your cool with that insufferable Jonathan Blow during the Giantbomb e3 podcast?

I love this question(s).  Shortly after the podcast, Jonathan offered us a ride back to the area of LA downtown where e3 is held, it was hardly an angry situation.  Jonathan is one of the few developers I will say “shut up and take my money” before he even tells me what the game is about.  The podcast was an actual conversation in a room about a set of real things.  I find the accusation that myself or @thevowel were shills to be funny, because the thing we were most worried about during that conversation was that we were drifting too far away from what people on the podcast wanted to hear about at e3 like the Wii U or Uncharted 3, etc.  We didn’t intend to get mired in the details of Xbox.  I love the Bombcast and would love to be a guest again.  I’m a huge fan.

Long story short, there was actually no bad blood there, and it’s entertaining to see people speculate.

Were you just a shill or did you actually do something on Xbox LIVE?

Despite twittering like a mad twitter monkey, press or public engagement was about 15-20% of my role.  The rest was actually working on either enforcement or actual new features and Xbox or LIVE specific functionality.

Who’s replacing you, who do we go to about security issues or enforcement issues on Xbox LIVE?

I do not know, at this time the company has not announced an individual for those questions.

Would you ever go back to Microsoft?

Absolutely without hesitation, if the opportunity was right.

Will you speak at my event/grant me an interview/be on my podcast?

Maybe!  I’m now a free agent with all sorts of thoughts.  Just send me an email with "[MEDIA REQUEST]" or "[EVENT REQUEST]" in the subject line to stepto at stepto.com and I will look your request over.

Why did you *really* leave Microsoft?

Like I have said, it was a personal decision.  The company has a lot going for it and I’m not interested in being one of those people who leave then are prone to lobbing hand grenades over the wall from the outside. Microsoft has publicly wished me well in my future endeavors, and I likewise remain excited about the future of the company and especially about the future of Xbox and Xbox LIVE.

 

So there it is.  And I totally came home tonight and flopped in a chair and said “Well, I’m back.” from my last day on this epic journey.  Tomorrow the house sitters/dog sitters arrive in the morning and we’re off to Dallas and then off to our cruise.

I plan to drink rum drinks, and laugh with my friends.  Rochelle and I are going to go snorkeling in the sun and visit an ostrich farm. There will be plenty of Rock Band, and board games and the ritual smoking of Cuban cigars in sight of Cuba itself.  Then after we say goodbye to our Internet friends, we’ll meet up with my brother Jeff and go visit NASA.

And we’ll come back to Seattle. We’ll play with our dogs in the valley, check email for the first time in weeks.

And the next phase will begin.

In which I leave Microsoft.

by Stepto
128 Comments

Over the past year I’ve been doing quite of bit of thinking. Nothing specific, nothing groundbreaking. Just plain old thinking. I turn 40 this year. Despite the wonderful ability in Microsoft to change careers pretty dramatically inside the company, I’ve been there nearly 18 years and it’s the only world I’ve really ever known. I feel too strangely comfortable, and too strangely tied.

So over the past several weeks I’ve made the decision to resign and have been working with my management for an orderly transition. My last day will be February 15th.

On the 16th, I’m going to head down to Dallas to visit my family. Then I’m off to JocoCruiseCrazy! I have no other plans beyond that. I’m a free agent! One with 18 years of experience in technology, public and written communications, and 5 years spent deep in the entertainment business. If you have something you think I’d be good at, by all means feel free to contact me at Stepto at stepto.com. Or you can buy my book or the audio version of my book via the links to the left (shameless plug).

Nothing will change with regards to my Twitter or blog, I plan to return to doing a lot more writing here on new topics and video game thoughts.  And I’ll continue to be a super tweeting twitter guy who tweets a lot, again keeping a video game oriented focus.

For anyone wondering, I want to make sure I am clear: This is a positive thing. I have nothing but confidence in the future of Microsoft and specifically Xbox and Xbox LIVE. I have enormous gratitude for my time there. I want to finish my next book, and explore other opportunities.

So there it is. I have no idea what the future holds, for the first time in my life.

This ought to be interesting!

In the time honored tradition of Microsoft employees who make the decision to leave, I just sent my farewell email.  In another tradition, Microsoft doesn’t comment on specific personnel changes and I’m going to be honoring that. I’ll be declining any media requests for now since until the 15th I’m still a Microsoft employee, and after that I plan to be enjoying rum drinks and being disconnected from everything for a while. I’ll be back online and in Seattle on the 28th.

Here’s my goodbye mail, presented here with some personal names removed:

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.

On a warm Dallas day April 11th, 1994, I grabbed my keys and wallet and headed for the front door of my apartment. I stopped short when I realized I was going to need my building access badge that I had just been given that previous Friday. I walked into my bedroom and grabbed the badge, making a mental note to remember to keep it with my wallet at night so I wouldn’t forget it in the morning. It was my first full day at Microsoft. I was 21.

Since that day (very nearly without exception) I’ve carried a Microsoft badge with me basically where ever I went. That April day I was a contractor with Microsoft, A-Stepto. The following January I was hired as a Microsoft FTE and issued a new email name, SToulouse. Because everyone had already started calling me Stepto, my manager had them change it to Stepto. It stuck.

I wrote in my book about some of the amazing things I’ve been a part of at this company. Shipping Windows 95. Traveling the world in the training organization teaching support engineers about upcoming technologies. Being a security PM and spokesperson for the entire company on security issues. Getting to play a part in the success of Xbox, Xbox LIVE, and Kinect. I can’t possibly conceive of the good fortune, challenges, and rewards I’ve gotten from almost 18 years at Microsoft happening to me anywhere else.

But I’m going to go see just to make sure.

February 15th 2012 will be my last day at Microsoft. My reasons for leaving are complex and personal, but the parting could not be more amicable. I continue to believe this place makes great technology, and I am absolutely thrilled for the future of Xbox and Xbox LIVE.

What are my plans? I don’t have any! That’s both scary and exciting. Well, it’s also a bit untrue. The day after I leave I’m headed out to join my Internet friends on JoCoCruiseCrazy in the Caribbean. And I’m nearly finished with my second book, on a topic unrelated to Microsoft.

But after that I don’t have anything lined up. I’m going to see what happens.

My team will continue its work as always, there will be no interruption. In the meantime don’t worry, we have top men working on an orderly transition. Top men.*

After almost 18 years There’s too many people to thank. First and foremost CSS for my start at Microsoft in the Las Colinas office. TwC for my wonderful time there working at the Microsoft Security Response Center. I’d like to thank Xbox, my team and the entire staff of my wonderful enforcers who work so tirelessly to help protect the Xbox LIVE service. It’s been an incredible privilege and honor to work with people so friendly, dedicated, and nearly impervious to naughty Internet slang.

I’d like to thank Microsoft for an unbelievable set of opportunities, an incredible education that they paid *me* to obtain, and for the opportunity to be neck deep for five years in my first love: video games.

My leaving’s not tied to any event or thing, so I’m not out the door just yet! Please feel free to drop by or chat. After the 15th you can reach me at Stepto@stepto.com. But be aware I probably won’t be able to answer you until I arrive back in Seattle on the 28th because I’ve always been the guy that checks my email on the beach and I’m not going to be that guy anymore.

I wish you all the very best success. Godspeed and please…

Be excellent to each other.

S.

*I apologize for the gender specificity, but it’s a movie quote. I’ll let you go Bing it. :>

Trustworthy Computing Ten Years On.

by Stepto
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On December 7th, 1995 something extraordinary occurred at Microsoft.  For years our primary focus for software development had centered around narrowly scoped features that centered around the isolated experience of the personal computer.  To the extent connected experiences mattered it was always in the context of corporate networks.  The idea of a personal network in a home connected to a giant world-wide network of computers wasn’t a scenario that factored into our planning.

Until that day.  On that day a memo from Bill Gates to the entire corporation arrived in my inbox.  It laid out in precise terms how we’d come late to the game on the Internet experience and we would now be focusing all of our energy on it.  It was a galvanizing event.  A ship as big as Microsoft turned overnight.

The power of such a memo is easily diluted.  If used too often it loses the effect.  If used for small issues it can lead to too much energy being applied to something.  Bill didn’t send another memo of its like for a while, but when he did it had the exact same effect.

On January 15th 2002 Bill sent a memo to all employees entitled “Trustworthy Computing.”  In it, he articulated the case to pivot all our efforts in creating what was then the .NET platform to lead something he termed “Trustworthiness in Computing.”  Casting computer security against the industry and the world at large (including the terrorists attacks of 2001) Bill laid out key pillars of this effort: Availability, Security, and Privacy.  He tied the impact that a security vulnerability has to trust in Microsoft and our products.  He then made what I believe was the most fundamental change in our development methodology that would achieve the goal of more secure software:

“So now, when we face a choice between adding features and resolving security issues, we need to choose security. Our products should emphasize security right out of the box, and we must constantly refine and improve that security as threats evolve.”

The greatest impact of that memo is that I see younger people today in the industry read that line and shrug and say “well of course.”  But the computer industry was very different at that time.  People rushed to focus on features first, not just at Microsoft but other companies as well.  In general, my experience with software developers across the industry in the late 90’s was that security audits were routinely seen as a “tax” on development, and anyway if someone exploited a bug as an attack then that’s a crime and the law should handle it.

Bill’s memo transformed overnight the mindset of our development to think as much about misuse of features as use of them. That security was a fundamental aspect of software quality.

Today, security is at the forefront of software development.  Computer security is very much a journey, not a destination; much remains to be done.  But I look at the world of software and development today and I see a much different world than in 2002.  It’s fair to say that much of it started with a memo from Bill Gates on January 15th. Great work is still occurring every day, and to celebrate an amazing ten years the Trustworthy Computing team has made a special post, you can read about it here.

The Child is Father to the Man

by Stepto
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Almost 30 years ago probably one of the more formative events in my life occurred. My father left my mother, and shortly thereafter my stepfather entered my life.

Independent of any other emotional or parental changes, one singular part of that transition has affected me above all else: My stepfather introduced me to rock and roll.

I’m overstating it a bit, I’d been soft rocked by adult contemporary as a child.  But regular rock and roll was the devil’s music, and I was repeatedly told by my father I was going to hell for purchasing my very first cassette tape: Queen’s The Game.  In our house it was mostly gospel, Mickey Gillis, the Gatlin Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, or Streisand and maybe, just maybe, those out of control rebels The Bee Gees. Neil Diamond was also allowed, sparingly.

When my mom first met Ted, my eventual stepfather, we were still struggling as she was a single parent trying to cope with her new situation and raising three boys.  Once they started dating, we got to visit his apartment.  At that time, I believe Ted’s album collection had reached close to 1000 albums. 

You have to understand just how much physical space 1000 vinyl records takes up.  It’s just gargantuan. His entire place seemed to be one large record storage area.  And he was a fan not just of classic rock but of the modern stuff I normally wasn’t allowed, some classical, jazz, etc.

When I was 11 I got my own self contained record player with speakers.  And Ted immediately began to give me all his older stuff (so that he could justify buying new copies).  His system was a high-end adjustable automatic turntable with tracking, connected to massive Cerwin Vega speakers via an amp.  Mine was a two speed manual unit with small tinny built in speakers, so the fact I had hand me down worn copies of his LP’s really didn’t matter.

What mattered is that while I wanted Michael Jackson and Taco, what I got was Jimmy Buffett, Bruce Springsteen, Poco, and an education into classic rock and roll that, lacking the albums I wanted, I had to play because they were the only albums I had.

Over the next year I bet I was the only 11 year old in early 1984 listening to Dylan, Brinsley Schwarz, Jethro Tull, Beatles, Stones, and my Stepdad’s favorite, It’s a Beautiful Day and Blood Sweat and Tears’ “Child is Father to the Man”

Fast forward to today, my stepfather’s marriage to my mother lasted almost two decades, but they eventually divorced.  But he’s probably one of the most profound influences on my life and my appreciation of music.  I still remember once I got a cassette recorder system that recorded from the phonograph.  I made a general mix tape for myself of my favorite stuff that got spied by an older kid in middle school who grabbed my walkman. 

“Cream?  Led Zeppelin?  not exactly new age music” he mocked as he read the tape label I worked so hard on.  My Depeche Mode and Duran Duran cassettes were in my backpack still but that was ok.  I look back on it now as a validation, not that the modern music at the time was bad, but that I was capable of enjoying it all.

This Christmas I thought of that time in my life.  My stepdad’s vinyl collection is long since sold and he’s relocated to his hometown of New Orleans. On a whim I hit Amazon. I sent him the following:

An Audio Technica Automatic Turntable (has an amp)
Logitech 2.1 Z323 speakers (has inputs for the turntable amp)
Blood Sweat and Tears, Child is Father to the Man

Along with cables to make sure it would all work.  I sent him this note:

Almost 30 years ago, you introduced me to so much music via your record collection. Included in this package should be everything you need to start your record collection over again. Much love and merry xmas, Stepto and Rochelle.

I hope he likes it as much as I think he will.

I hope he knows just how important his gift of music was to me.

I hope my brothers remember to send him more albums as their part of the gift.

I hope.

Recipe File: There’s the rub.

by Stepto
1 Comment

For years I’ve been using either store bought meat rubs or creating general purpose meat rubs from the Intertubes.  Recently Rochelle and I have been getting a meat package from our local farm drop.  It contains locally raised grass fed beef and pork, chickens, etc.  For the first time I got a cut of side pork.  Basically the easiest and quickest way to explain what side pork is would be to call it uncured, unsmoked bacon.  The cut is fatty, but with a little more meat than bacon. 

To deal with the lack of curing and smoke you can do two things: cure and smoke the cut, or season and cook it.  I chose the latter.  The cut came pre-sliced, so I chose to marinade the slices for 8 hours in a mixture of 90% Apple juice and 10% Garlic infused Tabasco sauce. I decided on an oven roasting cooking method so I wanted to season each slice with a rub. 

Now, as I mentioned there’s a bazillion general purpose rub recipes out there.  Most of them are variations of black pepper, chili powder, paprika, onion powder, sugar, and salt.  I didn’t deviate too much from that basic foundation, except that I added a special ingredient that yielded a really great rub that tastes better than the general purpose ones I’ve been making for years. 

The secret ingredient?  Habanero infused cane sugar from Flavorstorm.  This created a rub with bite, but not the normal bite of cayenne pepper.  I omitted brown sugar and garlic powder (two common bbq rub ingredients) because for the amount of rub I wanted to create, I figured that I could better focus on onion as a flavor and use regular sugar so that the habanero would power through even only using a tablespoon.  I also substituted Ancho Chili powder instead of regular chili powder.  (I do this for most recipe’s that require chili powder.  I find the ancho chili powder to be a nice change of pace.  Ancho chili powder is just ground dried pablano chilies, but the powder has a slightly sweeter taste)

I hate “secret” recipes, so here you go:

1/2 cup paprika
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon habanero infused cane sugar
2 tablespoons regular cane sugar

Shake it up good in a container to mix it evenly.  It doesn’t have a strong salt component so you can be ok using a little more rub so you get that onion and that sweet ancho chili and  habanero flavor to come through.

I’ll let you know how the side pork turned out.  Enjoy!