Constanze Roman - Writing documentation for mobile devices

What is the speaker's accent? (one of my interest). Reminds me of an Amish accent -- which has Swiss roots. (Sorry off topics)

The Windows CE Doc folks do an incredible job; I met them at the Windows Embedded Conference and still ware the cap they gave me! Platform Builder is their main project and much like the coders they are rewriting and updating their Docs constantly.

Let's see the entire team next time....

Minh wrote:

What is the speaker's accent? (one of my interest). Reminds me of an Amish accent -- which has Swiss roots. (Sorry off topics)

My guess is German (maybe even Northern Germany whilst I am guessing ).
Balz Wyss' accent (previous video) is also cool, sounds Franco-German to me but I am probably wrong.

yup. german could be right. at least the name could exist in northern germany.
yup. we are off topic but just a little.

Balz Wyss is definitely from switzerland. I'd guess the german speaking part of it.

I think it is Norweigan, but certainly not a Laplander...

Anyone going to email her and ask?

She has a funny laugh

Nice video. It's nice to see videos featuring exclusive interview with the regular developers and the people who are into Getting Things Done. We've seen managers, now we want to see developers as well. This video was refreshing.

Nice pendant.

She knows precisely how many words, how many topics, the process and stuff. She's very focussed you can tell. This is interesting for us, people outside Microsoft, to see because this is information for us. All relevant questions asked and very well answered by Constanze. More videos of this kind from people who actually do the work.

She looked like she was engrossed, in the zone, and was a very hard worker. She's nice looking too.

Thanks.

PS: One question comes to mind. Does one person write all the 32,000 pages?

Damn guys,

You guys have some hotties working at Microsoft Im going to have to get me a job there.  Id give up my senority and my role as the head of  IS to work at Microsoft.  Shoot, I thinks I might send a resume.

Uh my tatoos wouldnt disqualify me would they?

It sucks working in IT.  When the first woman you see is considered a hottie, that's just wrong.  I miss the days when I was Pre-Med.  Those were the days...sitting in Biology class with a bunch of young beautiful women.  Somewhere along the line, I swear someone must have hit me in the head because I decided to sit in classes like digital circuits class with a bunch of guys and a girl with a mustache who everyone was chasing after because she was a "hottie."

Anyways, Constanze proves a point.  To every job is a worker.  Being a software documentor doesn't sound like the most exciting or glamourous job in the world, but hey to each their own.

It's not like what I do is the greatest job in the world, but I love what I do. 

P.S.
I'd much rather be a MLB player.  Get paid millions to play a game what six months a year?  Or better yet, how about an NFL runningback get paid millions in a signing bonus, smoke pot, then retire and travel the world, only to realize I spent all my money on dope and then ask for my job back making millions as a runningback in the NFL again.  Sad thing is...their stumbling over eachother trying to sign him again.  What a crazy world we live in...

dugsnake wrote:

P.S. I'd much rather be a MLB player.

Not me, I love IT. It would be nice if I had more time left for philosophy, though. I still am stuck in the first few pages of 'Critique of pure reason' (Kant) and Derrida is gathering dust as well. Not too mention the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
And books on PKI, Security, TCP/IP, Linux, Windows ad nauseam. I wouldn't have the time to be a professional, multi-million dollar (or rather euro at the present rate) sportsman.

Greater Monster wrote:

'Critique of pure reason' (Kant)

Oooohhhh...Kant...I read 'Critique of pure reason' in my Philosophy class at Northwestern.  I'd hate to do this to you but I'll ruin the ending for you (kind of how my nephew ruined 'Sixth Sense' by telling me he was dead all along).  If memory serves me right, this book was very interesting because it's the basis of the saying, "I think; therefore, I am."  He starts off questioning his existence.  How do we know we exist?  How do I know I'm not a dream?  So, he goes through a process or 'pure reason' to prove his existence.  Eventually, he comes to the realization that he must exist because he has the capability to think thoughts, so therefore he must exist.  The spin off of this concept is known as a 'brain in a vat' idea.  How do you know that you are not just a brain in a science project being fed electrical impluses to give you perceptions of site, sound, touch, taste and smell.  This is the idea behind the movie 'Matrix'.  How do we know that we're not people lying in a tube but being fed the illusion of our being via a computer?

I think the earliest movie touching this idea was 'Tron'.  The programs that they wrote were beings inside the company's mainframe.  The quote under my avatar is from this movie.  Flynn said to a program, "Who are you calling program, program?"  This idea is becoming more interesting as we get closer to developing AI.  If  computers are given artificial inteligence, then are they now beings?

Speaking of  Philosophy, I would recommend reading Aristotle's works.  As programmers, you could appreciate Aristotle.  He would have been the ultimate OOP.

rjdohnert wrote:

Damn guys,

You guys have some hotties working at Microsoft Im going to have to get me a job there. 

Everytime I see a comment like this on Channel 9 when we have a female employee on camera I just cringe. Ever wonder why the numbers of women in IT are low?  Gee ... could it be because our male dominated industry finds it appropriate to make a comment like this every time a beautiful woman is on C9?  Imagine how they feel at the office now, I wouldn't sign up for that either. 

Can we keep it on topic gents and show some respect for the intelligent women who share their work with us on C9?

Sorry for the lecture, I know you mean no harm, but this one always tweaks me.

- lenn

Truthfully, if it weren't for the documentation, I'd be burnt toast.  Cheers to you guys and gals!  It's a thankless job and an afterthought for most people, but you keep doing it (and doing it well).  Without you, all hell would break lose! 

dugsnake wrote:

Greater Monster wrote: 'Critique of pure reason' (Kant)

Oooohhhh...Kant...I read 'Critique of pure reason' in my Philosophy class at Northwestern.  I'd hate to do this to you but I'll ruin the ending for you (kind of how my nephew ruined 'Sixth Sense' by telling me he was dead all along).  If memory serves me right, this book was very interesting because it's the basis of the saying, "I think; therefore, I am."  He starts off questioning his existence.  How do we know we exist?  How do I know I'm not a dream?  So, he goes through a process or 'pure reason' to prove his existence.  Eventually, he comes to the realization that he must exist because he has the capability to think thoughts, so therefore he must exist.  The spin off of this concept is known as a 'brain in a vat' idea.  How do you know that you are not just a brain in a science project being fed electrical impluses to give you perceptions of site, sound, touch, taste and smell.  This is the idea behind the movie 'Matrix'.  How do we know that we're not people lying in a tube but being fed the illusion of our being via a computer?

I think the earliest movie touching this idea was 'Tron'.  The programs that they wrote were beings inside the company's mainframe.  The quote under my avatar is from this movie.  Flynn said to a program, "Who are you calling program, program?"  This idea is becoming more interesting as we get closer to developing AI.  If  computers are given artificial inteligence, then are they now beings?

Speaking of  Philosophy, I would recommend reading Aristotle's works.  As programmers, you could appreciate Aristotle.  He would have been the ultimate OOP.

My deepest apologies.  I wasn't 100% sure that my memory was correct (I must have Rambus), so I did some research.  Kant was not the philosopher who came up with, "I think therefore I am."  It was Rene Descartes.  Kant was famous for his logic using scepticism.  Freshman and Sophomore year were kind of a blur for me.  Too much extra-curricular activities for me.  -_-

dugsnake wrote:

It sucks working in IT.  When the first woman you see is considered a hottie, that's just wrong.  I miss the days when I was Pre-Med.  Those were the days...sitting in Biology class with a bunch of young beautiful women.  Somewhere along the line, I swear someone must have hit me in the head because I decided to sit in classes like digital circuits class with a bunch of guys and a girl with a mustache who everyone was chasing after because she was a "hottie."

Anyways, Constanze proves a point.  To every job is a worker.  Being a software documentor doesn't sound like the most exciting or glamourous job in the world, but hey to each their own.

It's not like what I do is the greatest job in the world, but I love what I do. 

I didnt see a mustache on her.  Oh well, if thats YOUR thing then Im not going to criticize you for it.  Dont get me wrong, there are several ugly women in IT so when you find cute ones its interesting.  Overall though, if I had a chance to meet Rebecca Norlander, Amanda Silver or Constanze Roman, I think Amanda Silver would be the most interesting.  And it doesnt hurt Amanda is the hottest of all three.

lenn wrote:

Everytime I see a comment like this on Channel 9 etc...

hear, hear

Now *that's* childish.  I guess some intelligent women like to slum it with jocks.

Boys, Boys, Boys...let me fill you in on a few details about Constanze Kratel Roman.

She really is a cool girl!!! I met her in Europe years ago while backpacking. Her accent is Bavarian. She was raised with her two "hottie" sisters in the foothills of the German Alps. Even her Mom is a hottie! She was dropping into Double-Black-Diamond runs before some of you were playing around with your GameBoy.

Constanze can speak freely in five languages, English, German, French and Japanese...her hobby language and Geek-Speak, which she learned in the six years she has worked at Microsoft as a programmer writer.

By this summer she'll earn a second Masters Degree in Technical Communications at the University of Washington...with honors. In her free time she loves to travel, down hill ski in the steeps, drink really good beer and hang out with our three-year-old son Hans Sebastian.

~Adam Roman

Hello Venerable
I am very new on this site, i did study 10 years ago and forgoten no i am interested in study and i want to be progammer, pleae try teach me, further tell me how i can put put message for asking things, i hope u will consider me or u can direct email me at stupefying1@yahoo.com

Constanze,

You video was very insightful and I just have a few questions for you.

What is a typical day like for a technical writer at Microsoft?

What do you enjoy the most about your work and how do others view the documentation department in your team?

What are the essential qualities that MS looks for in a technical writer?

Thanks!