What you're seeing is a tiny section of the 7.5 miles of cooling pipes inside Microsoft's new 700,000-foot Chicago data center, which is one of the—if not the—largest in the world.

It's a mesmerizing place, simultaneously industrio-scary and dreamy, eerily glowing and searingly lit. But for all the painted piping, shimmering server racks and retro-futuristic control panels, the blood running through this place's veins couldn't be more benign: we're talking Windows Live Mail, My Phone, and Messenger; WGA activation servers and Windows Update; Windows Live Office, Xbox Live and Azure, but interestingly, not Sidekick.

And amazingly massive as it is, data centers like this are the undeniable future of the biggest names in tech. Where do you think the Google searches come from? The iTunes music? The Xbox Live games? Full gallery at [CNET]

The three hospitals to receive an Ultimate Gameroom through Microsoft's partnership with the Children's Miracle Network are chosen by a very public popular vote. Not a random raffle, not a secret vote, but a public popular vote with results regularly updating on the CMN's website.

As I'm writing this, there is an eight-way tie for last place, with each hospital having one measly vote. The hospitals currently in the top three have a lead of several thousand votes over the rest, but that can and probably will change quickly. How will those kids feel when they miss out on the gamerooms after thinking they could win? How do the kids at the hospitals with barely any votes feel? While I'm sure that all the kids at the winning hospitals (or at least those who enjoy Xbox-based games) will be as giddy as can be, charity isn't about making 167 hospitals full of kids feel like losers in the process.

Looking at the premise of the giveaway, it's like Christmas gone oh-so-very wrong: They'll give some Children's hospitals about ten thousand dollars worth of equipment which could include several 42" Plasma TVs, a pair of Xbox consoles, some Zunes, four computers, oodles of games, and associated furniture. Microsoft is even throwing in delivery, installation, and "reasonable labor," while the hospitals cover any construction costs. Pretty fair. Except that the world is voting on where Saint Microsoft will bring Xboxes.

I truly hope this is just a one-time bad decision, especially since Microsoft is normally rather good about charities, this one included. They've helped raise $1.3 million of the incredible $3.2 billion total which the Children's Miracle Network has raised for Children's hospitals around the world. Microsoft has also contributed an Xbox kiosk to each of the 170 hospitals in the Network and been an all-around great partner to the CMN. It's truly sad that they've chucked away any milligram of character with the Ultimate Gameroom Giveaway. This vile competition is on the level of tearing a teddy bear out of a child's arms and then ripping it apart into a pile of fuzzy remains on the spot.

It's almost sad the mess probably started with good intentions. Perhaps someone truly struggled to find a way to cajole his or her boss into approving giving away $30,000 in equipment. Maybe turning it into a marketing scheme was the only way to cover or justify the expense, but if that's the case then I'm even more disappointed. Microsoft has spent hundreds of millions on individual ad campaigns, some of which barely made sense and were ridiculed, while this act of charity had the potential for a lot of positive publicity. And even if Microsoft went as far as outfitting each of the 170 hospitals with the same Ultimate Gameroom, it would've cost them a measly $1.7 million total. That's a lot to you and I, but to Microsoft that's .6%, point freakin' six percent, of the cost of a single ad campaign.

That perspective aside, no one is demanding that Microsoft give away $1.7 million. Charity is charity, and it is wonderful that they're giving as much as they are. But they're toying with the hopes of children at 170 hospitals and frankly, I would really love to find whoever decided on this messed up vote-based competition approach and tear any Birthday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Summer Solstice, and un-freakin'-Birthday gift right out of his or her cruel, little claws. If you're going to contribute to a charity, especially a children's charity, you shouldn't turn it into a game with winners and losers.

Even without spending more than $30,000, this situation could've been handled differently. I understand that some sort of public announcement is needed in order to justify the spending, so I don't really expect Microsoft to just quietly pick a few hospitals for these donations. But the money could've been used for a smaller campaign encouraging others to give. Or if someone's really stuck on having a public vote then choose the hospitals without a spectacle and keep the rankings hidden. Those kids have enough sadness in their lives and really don't need to be yanked back and forth while watching a ranking of just how much the public cares about them or their particular hospitals.

The Abridged Version for Those Strapped for Time:
I like charity. I personally donate both time and money to various causes and I encourage others to do the same. I applaud Microsoft for everything they've done in the past and continue to do. Hell, I'm even secretly a Microsoft-fangirl (but lets not go there, because this isn't about the company). What this rant is complaining about is the game-like approach taken with this particular donation.

Whether you agree or disagree with any or all of the points, or have thoughts on a better approach: The comments are here for a reason, so please let your opinions be known. If a few good ideas, a constructive discussion, or maybe a few extra donations come out of things then all the better. [Children's Miracle Network via TeamXBox]

The obvious ones: Microsoft is still using this to test for bugs, so you using a late-stage Release Candidate now equals faster security and usability updates after Windows 7 later. But more importantly, you get to try Windows 7 for an extended period now—you'll have until March before Microsoft starts forcefully shutting your computer down every two hours—before you commit to buying. Thursday may be your last day to nab an official download, but even then, Microsoft says they'll be handing out license keys for a while; you'll just have to supply your own copy of Windows. Microsoft is practically asking telling you to torrent Windows.

You should try it now, but wait to buy—prices will almost certainly come down before or after launch—maybe not very soon, but certainly before your RC expires and/or becomes an aggressive annoyance.

A few things to chew on while Windows 7's works through its prerelease "awkward phase:"

• A characteristically confusing upgrade chart, which won't help you at all.

• A much less confusing guide to Windows 7's price tiers, as well as a glimpse at some expired deals that you can expect to see again in a few months.

• A full review of the final, soon-to-be-released version of Windows 7, in case you're still not convinced that a free copy of the best version of Windows, ever, is worth downloading.

• Everything else you need to know to enjoy your borrowed copy of the OS for the next six months or so.

[Windows 7 on Giz]

From the application:

The [wand's] architecture can utilize one or more sensor from a collection of sensors to determine an orientation or gesture in connection with the wand, and can further issue an instruction to update a state of an environmental component based upon the orientation.

So it's a motion sensing controller, much like Nintendo's, except in the form of a wand. Also mentioned are possible "biometrics" features, but it's not totally clear what that is supposed to mean.

That Microsoft is working on a motion-sensing controller isn't a surprise—it's that they're interested in this particular kind. Recent rumors point persuasively to the possibility that Microsoft will debut a motion accessory at E3 in June, but they've emphasized Microsoft's acquisition of ZCam, makers of a camera-based controller system that operates in a different manner to that described in this patent.

Crucially, though, this patent was filed in 2007—probably before Microsoft had a coherent plan for a motion-sensing controller, and months before they purchased ZCam. Heading into E3 and assuming that Microsoft is working on a motion controller at all, then, we now have a few healthy possibilities. [Techflash]

• There is a new interface! Sort of! The typical 6.1 home screen is still present at times, but there appears to be an alternate, Zune-like menu too. It's glitchy for the time being, but it looks like a step in the right direction, and like it runs significantly more smoothly than many of the third-party interface layers out there (Yeah, I'm talking about you, TouchFlo 3d). There are also a few new element skins—namely a new dialer, finally. The keyboard doesn't get shown off, but I'd assume that'll be changed too.
• Zune integration is here, in a way. The aforementioned new menu doesn't just look and feel like the clean Zune UI we're all so used to, it contains icons for media playback at the bottom, including music and photos. Both had image previews in their entries, and there were specific music functions built into the first layer of menus. In other words, the default user interface for Windows Mobile will be usable as a media player.
• Inertial scrolling is everywhere now. This might seem minor, but the psychological impact of smooth interface movements is huge. Grids of icons can now be thrown around, as can the contact list and web browser (though we saw this in the Mobile IE6 emulator).

• There are a few other new, minor features seen in the video, but it's unclear which of them belong to Microsoft, which to HTC and which to random third parties (this is XDA, after all). And as I said before, this is probably a very early build and not totally representative of the final product. However, if these few improvements are anything to go by, the user experience will be markedly improved for users of WinMo 6.5, especially on touchscreen handsets.

Well, the actual response was a little less Victorian (as reported by Wired Epicenter):

"Basically, what happened last week, Steve [Ballmer] said a couple of things about the category," said Adam Sohn, head of Microsoft's Zune marketing division, causing speculation that Microsoft would stop making Zunes. However, he clarified, "we're not getting out of the hardware business at all," adding that Microsoft is "deeply committed" to continuing to its Zune hardware strategy.

For what it's worth, this is a direct statement from Microsoft—the crux of last week's Financial Times story was not found in a direct quote, but rather in a section of analysis. Says the FT:

[The future of the Zune] lies in planting the software and online service linked to the player in other devices.

Given that music phones have long since come of age, such a strategy—whereby the Zune is a software platform primarily intended for the multitude of Windows Mobile handsets—would make sense. But for now at least, the standalone Zune seems to have some time left. [Wired Epicenter—Thanks, Joel!]

The crisis has been dubbed by Zune users 'Z2K9', due to the apparently synchronized faceplantings across the country. According to tipster Michael, the Zune users experienced something like this:

Apparently, around 2:00 AM today, the Zune models either reset, or were already off. Upon when turning on, the thing loads up and... freezes with a full loading bar (as pictured above). I thought my brother was the only one with it, but then it happened to my Zune. Then I checked out the forums and it seems everyone with a 30GB HDD model has had this happen to them

This report is consistently corroborated by literally hundreds of others across the various Zune support and fan forums.

What hasn't emerged yet, largely due to the fact that MS's support lines aren't yet open for the day, is why these devices are failing. The evidence seems to point to a software glitch, but simple resets aren't providing any relief. Some reports indicate that only Zunes with the latest firmware are affected, but this hasn't yet been confirmed.

The proximity of the events to the New Year, which inspired the Y2K9 moniker, provides little more than a colorful backdrop; it's unlikely that the switching of years in the Zune's internal calendar has anything to do with the failures (besides, it hasn't even happened yet).

If not for the uniform representation of events across the internet, I'd be tempted to suspect this as a hoax, but it just doesn't look that way. The story, assuming the described problem is of the magnitude reported, will probably take a turn for the large when the majority of Zuners start waking up. Let us know about your experiences in the comments. [Zunescene, ZuneBoards, Zune.net—Thanks, Michael, Josh, Ben and others]

Update: We've got a DIY fix to revive slain Zunes.

Update: Reader Bill Bradski (Bill Brasky?) has summed up the situation thusly:

Update 2: Here's Microsoft's official response for the time being (it's clear they just woke up and probably haven't even flipped on their coffee pots yet):

We are aware that customers with the Zune 30GB are experiencing issues with their Zune device. We are actively working now to isolate the issue and develop a solution to address it. We will keep customers informed on next steps via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support).

Much of the application is unsurprising, and even somewhat dated. The vision incorporates heavily-subsidized hardware (though not under a timed service contract) that can utilize services on a pay-as-you-go basis. Certain programs and functions cost more than others, and could be unlocked on demand. At first that sounds like a reasonable approach, but it's not just high-performance software that can be rented, it's high performance itself.

Described in the patent is a system by which individuals will be forced to rent different levels of computer performance, being shunted into an arbitrarily-slow mode if they choose not to pay. In other words, to play a high-end game, you'd have to rent not just the game, but a sort of unlock for your processor, RAM and video hardware, just so you can fully make use of them.

The idea of subsidized, service-fee based computing has potential, but not like this. It'd be hard to imagine Microsoft winning many fans by forcing users to pay to unlock the obvious potential of hardware that is sitting right in front of them. [CNET—Thanks, Gibberish]

The 'peek' function, which appears to be a late but worthy answer to OS X's Expose, is activated and looks fairly useful. This is the best evidence yet that the Windows 7 user experience may be drastically different from Vista, despite the superficial similarities evident in early builds. The video runs though Windows 7's solid gesture customization engine and a few other interesting tidbits, so it's probably worth downing some Dramamine and powering through. [FayerWayer]

Wrote the tipster:

I‘ve got a close friend who works at Microsoft, previously with the HD-DVD division and now in the E&D division (Xbox, zune). I’m told MS will upstage Apple with a Monday 9am PDT announcement (1 hour before WWDC) via press release that the Xbox 360 will get Blu-Ray before Christmas. Price was “under the current Elite”, but i could get any more details.

Why am I picturing a sand castle right before high tide right now? [CrunchGear]

The two-button, single-breasted suit is a combination of British tailoring (wolf-whistles, please) and British technology (alright, alright, you can stop with the name-calling right now). And I know you dress-downers probably couldn't give a flying fop about suits, being strictly thong 'n' combat pant kinda-guys, so I'll keep the fashion commentary to a minimum and big-up the tech details.

So, what do you get for your $300? Well, as well as a pair of strides, some lapels, buttons, sleeves and a lining, you get volume and selection controls and a pocket complete with cable and jack for you to plug your iPod into. There's even a loop for your earphone wires.

And the company behind all of this smart-fabric know-how is Eleksen, who were given the thumbs-up by Apple earlier this year for the Made-For-iPod Program. Useless fact-fans may be pleased to know that they are based in the old Pinewood Studios, where many of the early James Bond movies were filmed. Q would be so proud. – Ad Dugdale

Marks & Sparks - delivering electronics to the pinstripe brigade [Red Ferret]

Ms. Dewey [via The Raw Feed]