One big complaint people are having with the new update for Windows Phone 7 is that they get errors when attempting to actually do the update. Microsoft has published a support article for the situation. Check it out if you are having problems applying this update to your phone. I don’t have the problem, probably because Verizon is SLOW at bringing out new phones.

Microsoft has released a gadget to countdown the days until Windows XP officially drops support from Microsoft. Available for Vista and Windows 7, due to the fact that Gadgets and the Sidebar are only supported for those operating systems.

Microsoft is having a upgrade to Xbox Live this weekend for European users to help with a  Guinness Book of World Records attempt. Although Europe is the only region to get the free upgrade, they still need the help from anyone else, worldwide. So, what’s the record? Largest Online 100m Sprint using Kinect Sports. It will take place on Saturday, April 23rd at 1pm ET. I hope to see you there! I don’t have the Kinect Sports game, so I’m heading to my sisters to play two player. Should be fun! All participants get a cool T-Shirt for their avatar, as well.

Marking a free weekend of entertainment on Xbox LIVE, dubbed Xbox Nations, Kinect Sports players around the globe will join together and attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the ‘largest online 100m sprint’ at 1pm ET on Saturday, April 23. (Find out what time in your region) Players can participate by jumping on Xbox LIVE, firing up Kinect Sports, and running a 100-meter dash event at 1pm ET. Each and every runner will be rewarded with an exclusive Xbox and Guinness World Record Avatar t-shirt

For all those that preach storing your files offsite using a “cloud” service, you may want to make sure you also have an onsite backup as well. Both Amazon’s EC2 and Microsoft’s Azure have suffered several recent outages, causing all sorts of mayhem for different sites. Personally, I wouldn’t mind being there to help fix it. I’m good at that stuff!

I’m not posting this to downplay what’s going on with Amazon’s EC2. Nor am I doing so because I’ve heard Microsoft or Microsoft partners trying to use Amazon’s EC2 outage as a way to paint Azure as superior. (In fact, one member of the Azure team tweeted today that he hoped no one at Microsoft would do such a thing.)

Microsoft team members in Pittsburgh have gotten together to donate Xbox consoles to the local children’s hospital. Way to go!

The video from the Transplant Ward donation was shown at the Microsoft Mid-Atlantic States District meeting in September 2010 right before the kickoff of the company’s Giving Campaign. I was shocked and humbled with the response that we received from the district; we received more than $7,500 through employee donations and Microsoft matching. With this money, we were able to outfit every room on the Adolescent Medicine Ward with an Xbox which were installed on April 12.

Employees at Microsoft should have something to celebrate. Steve Ballmer has said that the employees are going to get raises! Ballmer says "Today we’re announcing changes that will benefit our employees by sharpening the clarity of our performance review process and increasing compensation. These changes represent the most significant investment in overall compensation we have ever made.". Sounds great! Details have not yet been finalized and no further comment on how much the increased compensation would be, but it still is a great step in this economy.

Employees currently receive a stock award, and some of that award will be converted to cash instead. Microsoft’s stock has changed little over the past 10 years, something that investors and employees have been grumbling about.

The company is also changing its performance review system, so employees will be ranked by a single rating system of 1-5, rather than having multiple ratings for different measures.

Ballmer wrote that Microsoft is making the changes to stay competitive in the job market: "The changes we’re rolling out today will help ensure Microsoft continues to be the place that top talent comes to change the world."

For as long as the Xbox 360 has been out, there have been rumors, suggestions and news surrounding the replacement for the great Xbox 360. Recently, the Kinect accessory was released for the console. Now, there are rumors that they are already working on the successor for it, according to NowGamer and Microsoft job postings.

"BINC is onsite at Microsoft’s Bay Area Campus in Mountain View helping the Xbox HW organization ramp up their Silicon Architecture and Development team to build the next generation Xbox and Kincet devices," reads the description on a BINC employee’s LinkedIn page. "With 8 million Kinects sold in the first 60 days of launch and 50 million Xbox consoles sold it is an exciting time for Xbox. The team is innovating in graphics, audio, and video architecture, 3d sensing, natural user interface, and fabless semiconductor technologies."

Dropbox has updated their terms of service (TOS) to say that if the Government asks, Dropbox will decrypt your files and turn them over to them. I think I will be moving my files to a private server, just out of principle. No, I have nothing to hide and I have nothing of interest to … well, much of anyone. I just don’t like how far the hand of the Government can go in the name of “National Security”.

As set forth in our privacy policy, and in compliance with United States law, Dropbox cooperates with United States law enforcement when it receives valid legal process, which may require Dropbox to provide the contents of your private Dropbox. In these cases, Dropbox will remove Dropbox’s encryption from the files before providing them to law enforcement.

Microsoft has made the decision to help out the environment a bit more, switching to 100% recycled paper in it’s Puget Sound offices, including the main Redmond campus. This is a great move for a company the size of Microsoft. I’d like to see more companies follow suit and do their part. Too many companies are focusing on the bottom line and disregarding any negatives of their decisions (like the oil companies).

Beginning April 22, Grays Harbor Paper will begin supplying Microsoft with a complete rollout of the product line to follow in the ensuing months. The move will replace Microsoft’s current printing stock, made with 30 percent recycled material, and the company anticipates the substitution will yield an annual savings of approximately 2,500 million BTUs in net energy, the equivalent of 750 million pounds of carbon dioxide, and will preserve roughly 8,000 trees each year.