All good things ...
It has now been almost three years
since I joined Microsoft to work with developers in Ireland. During
that time, Microsoft has unleashed one-and-a-half new Visual Studios,
presented the world a new Vista, and most recently they've shed some
SilverLight on things. Meanwhile, I've kept up the auld vices:
dabbling in AI, shooting some photographs, and even introducing
people to the occasional moose.
But all good things must come to an end. The silverlit vista
pictured here was the view out my window last night on Georgian Bay,
just north of Toronto. I've been back in Canada this week, and am
returning on Friday for my Microsoft Ireland home stretch between now and
the 18th of June.
Next month, I'll be saying farewell and returning to Toronto for an
exciting summer that will culminate with my sister Elizabeth's wedding
in September. (She and her fiancé Jason are the ones with the adorable husky dogs.)
Then, with backpack and camera over shoulders, I'm off to see the
world. And beyond that? Well, I have some ideas, but you'll have to keep in touch :)
Between now and the middle of June, there are some big things happening for developers in Ireland:
- There's a Windows Server 2008 (née Longhorn Server) Jumpstart event coming up in Dublin with some great developer-focused content.
- Then, at the Irish Microsoft Technology Conference
on the 7th of June, I'm giving the talk I've always wanted to give,
which will feature XNA, the XBox360, the Wiimote control, Microsoft
Robotics Studio, and dancing robots. Rob's last stand. - And, great news for the team, we have three great new people joining the Developer and Platform group in Ireland!!
And now for a little housekeeping: Although I'll keep posting here for
a few weeks, I'm going to move my weblog off of MSDN, and over to my
shiny new blog over at www.robburke.net.
I'll still be exploring and building and humming and hah-ing, and hope
you'll join me there, where we'll carry on this motif: [.NET, AI, Photography, Moose]. For your convenience and my sanity, I'm going to
split the blog into three main subscription feeds: Personal, Technical, and
(Personal + Technical = ) Everything.
Thanks to everyone who has been a part of my past three years with
Microsoft. With a month left, it's too early to get sappy, but I do
want to take this chance to say thanks for all the craic, and I very much look
forward to keeping in touch.
with very best wishes,
Rob
Comments
Anonymous
May 21, 2007
Congratulations. We'll miss you, but I hope you have a great time touring the world and I hope I bump into you again when you are done. Good luck in the future - it has been a pleasure working with you for the past few years. Cheers, Martin.Anonymous
May 21, 2007
Sad news, Robert Burke is leaving Microsoft Ireland :-( Robert was one of the best speakers I ever metAnonymous
May 21, 2007
All the best mate, thanks for all your help with the communities etc... SiAnonymous
May 21, 2007
Hi Rob, sorry to hear you're leaving mate, Irelands developers will miss you and your moose jokes ;) . I’m sure you'll have a great time during your travels while you're off snapping the world. We'll have to make IMTC one to remember! DamienAnonymous
May 21, 2007
This is big news Robert! Congrats on taking a leap of fate and exploring the world! I dont know if I've mentioned it (or have blogged about it yet), but I'm joining Capgemini i Trondheim 06.august, and in January 2008 Hege and I are moving to Melbourne, Australia. Hege is taking her final year of her bachelors degree, while I'll be working for Capgemini Australia. On your jurney around the world you're more than welcome to sleep on the couch in Melbourne. We'll be there from January to December 2008! GOOD LUCK MATE! I assume I won't be seeing you in a while? Let me know if you're planning a new trip to Tromsø. Berhaps I'll pay my soccer buddy a visit the same time, and we could do some serious North-Norwegian partying!Anonymous
May 21, 2007
you must call/text me and tell me what's up! my hard drive died, so i lost 6 months of email (that's what i get for storing it locally). email me and help me build up my inbox again! it's my birthday on sunday!Anonymous
May 22, 2007
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May 22, 2007
Abstract: By day, he's helped mild-mannered developers build n -tiered architectures using .NET technologies.Anonymous
May 22, 2007
Yes, one man can! By now, many of you will have already seen the very sad news that Rob is leaving theAnonymous
May 23, 2007
Rob, Sad to hear that youre leaving us in Ireland and heading off to pastures new. Hope the future bodes well for you and I look forward to reading about your experiences elsewhere. All the best man! Andrew.Anonymous
May 24, 2007
Hi Rob. Congrads on getting to do what you want! Sad day for MSDN Ireland though. Your blog was the most frequently updated and interesting out of the rest of the team, didn't read like a press release either. You're a great speaker and you genuinely seemed excited about vista/office at the launch. Also you're incredibly helpful, and you're not afraid of hitting the 'reply' button in your mail client either. Oh, and being excited about XNA with the "Yay, I don't have to worry about Direct3D.CreateFlags for my device anymore" is sharing OUR joy of XNA too! Yep, a really nice helpful guy. You're gonna be a tough act to follow. Now for the world! Thanks ;-) MichaelAnonymous
June 01, 2007
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June 07, 2007
u have done a great job, best of luck for ur future hope u will enjoy as u r on jobAnonymous
June 18, 2007
Thanks for all of your contributions to the blog Rob. I'll look forward to your new blog going up!Anonymous
June 18, 2007
Thanks Dave. The new blog is up and going at http://www.robburke.net and I will continue to post followup from my IMTC and new fun stuff up there in the coming weeks when I have more time to explore stuff I've been too busy to check out!!