For Mr. Skeet. MVP Defined [off-topic]

[Michael Starberg]

Just a funny qoute I got from a friend of mine, who is a MVP.
I got it via phone, in Swedish, but will translate as best I can..

<q>
Well it is simple. As Microsoft is a poor company with no assets, or monies,
whatsoever; they can't afford to hire skilled people. So they hand out nifty
titles to people like me, to do the work for them. For free! Sometimes
Microsoft ask me how stuff works. I don't have a problem with that.
<q/>

Sounds like you Jon.

- Michael Starberg

 

[Michael A. Covington]

Just a funny qoute I got from a friend of mine, who is a MVP.
I got it via phone, in Swedish, but will translate as best I can..

<q>
Well it is simple. As Microsoft is a poor company with no assets, or
monies, whatsoever; they can't afford to hire skilled people. So they hand
out nifty titles to people like me, to do the work for them. For free!
Sometimes Microsoft ask me how stuff works. I don't have a problem with
that.
<q/>

Sounds like you Jon.

- Michael Starberg

Brings back memories of Team OS/2 (which I have dim memories of actually
having been a part of).

 

[William Stacey [C# MVP]]

hmm. I don't get it.

 

[Alvin Bruney [ASP.NET MVP]]

Ya this one went over my head as well. If you want to get jon's attention
post a thread with subject: objects are passed by reference by default. That
ought to wake him up. Or no, was it pass by value?...

--
--
Regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
The O.W.C. Black Book, 2nd Edition
Exclusively on www.lulu.com/owc $19.99

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

Ya this one went over my head as well. If you want to get jon's attention
post a thread with subject: objects are passed by reference by default. That
ought to wake him up. Or no, was it pass by value?...

It depends whether or not they contain extended ASCII, or decimals
(i.e. fixed point numbers)

The first post got my attention, but I didn't really get it either.

 

[Peter Duniho]

[...]
The first post got my attention, but I didn't really get it either.

Well, you should know by now that Starberg has a sense of humor that
sometimes seems to lose something in the translation.

But, possessing myself a somewhat abstract sense of humor that other
people often don't "get" (and I usually find some humor in Michael's posts
when he's intentionally being funny ), I'll take a stab at explaining
it.

Michael was apparently talking to someone else who's an MVP, who commented
on the MVP program by pointing out that Microsoft has managed to staff
much of their technical support offerings with people who basically work
for no pay. Yes, there are some compensatory elements to the MVP program,
but given how much time MVP's actually spend on what they do that earns
them the title, if converted to an hourly rate it wouldn't even make
minimum wage (or whatever the equivalent might be in countries other than
the US ), never mind a salary suitable for highly proficient technical
staff.

Basically, Microsoft's getting a major bargain with the MVP program, and
Michael's friend is sarcastically pointing that out (by describing
Microsoft as a penniless company, something we all know it's not).

Or something like that. I think once you get this far into trying to
explain a joke, it's pretty much dead already. But hey, I tried.

Pete

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

Basically, Microsoft's getting a major bargain with the MVP program, and
Michael's friend is sarcastically pointing that out (by describing
Microsoft as a penniless company, something we all know it's not).

I think I got that much, but didn't see why it related to me in
particular. I'd say all the MVPs do sterling work - not necessarily on
Microsoft's behalf all the time, admittedly... I know I'm happy to
point out when a non-MS solution is the most appropriate one

 

[Peter Duniho]

I think I got that much, but didn't see why it related to me in
particular. I'd say all the MVPs do sterling work - not necessarily on
Microsoft's behalf all the time, admittedly... I know I'm happy to
point out when a non-MS solution is the most appropriate one

One of the benefits of not actually being paid staff.

I think Michael dedicated his post to you because, as evidenced in past
messages from him, he views you as sort of the epitomy of MVP-ness. And
really, can you blame him? After all, in addition to all the useful
replies you post here, you have a book!

Pete

 

[Ben Voigt [C++ MVP]]

One of the benefits of not actually being paid staff.

I think Michael dedicated his post to you because, as evidenced in
past messages from him, he views you as sort of the epitomy of
MVP-ness. And really, can you blame him? After all, in addition to
all the useful replies you post here, you have a book!

Jon *is* the epitomy of MVP-ness. He knows more about several MS
technologies than any MS employee (at least the ones allowed to talk to the
general public).

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

Jon *is* the epitomy of MVP-ness. He knows more about several MS
technologies than any MS employee (at least the ones allowed to talk to the
general public).

Lovely as it would be to bathe in this glory as if it were fact, it's
simply not true

I think I can reasonably consider myself an expert to a fair degree on
C# as a language - but talk to Eric Lippert some time. (Or others, I'm
sure - Eric's just the MS employee I've had the most contact with about
C#.)

I'm competent with the standard libraries. I like to think I know a
fair amount about threading - but talk to Joe Duffy some time. (Or buy
his upcoming book. I haven't read it yet, but I seriously doubt it will
be anything other than a market-killer for other Windows concurrency
books.)

When it comes to web services, WinForms, ADO.NET, etc - I'm bluffing.
Well, not bluffing per se, but I'm far from an expert. However, I'm
quite good at working out where problems are, even if I wouldn't be
able to write the complete app - and that can give the appearance of
expertise without the reality. You could call it Just-In-Time
expertise, potentially


This isn't some exercise in false modesty. I'm proud to be useful to
the community, even if it's mostly a skill in communicating the "little
bit more" that I know rather than being a true expert in all the fields
I answer questions about. Just don't mistake the ability to not look
stupid (most of the time) with true expertise.

I blogged similar thoughts recently, btw:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/jon.skeet/archive/2008/01/26/bridging-gaps-and-
finding-my-role.aspx


I appreciate the compliment mind you, even though I disagree with it