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The Seattle Times: Business & Technology

A top Microsoft executive responsible for marketing Windows Live — a major initiative the company spotlighted this week — has left under unusual circumstances.

Microsoft confirmed Martin Taylor, named in March to be corporate vice president of Windows Live and MSN marketing, is gone after a 13-year career that included high-profile roles close to Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

"We've made the difficult decision to part ways with Martin, but we don't comment on personnel matters," Microsoft said in a statement Tuesday.

Taylor had been scheduled to give interviews Monday about the release of Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft's first big offering in a suite of about 20 consumer-focused products that will compete head-to-head with the likes of Google, Yahoo! and other big names on the Internet.

The company's public-relations handlers canceled Taylor's interviews, saying he was bumped from a flight out of Dallas on Sunday night and was stuck there on standby Monday. Taylor was featured in a written question-and-answer session the company provided to reporters about Windows Live.

"This is not a normal type of exit," said Rob Horwitz, CEO of analysis firm Directions on Microsoft. "... [This] is pretty odd to have someone center stage in press releases and stuff one day and removed from the Web site the next day."

E-mails sent to Taylor's Microsoft address bounced back Tuesday, and he could not be reached by phone.

Joe Wilcox, a senior analyst at Jupiter Research, characterized Taylor's departure as "sudden and unexpected." Typically, Microsoft's announcements of executive departures are more amicable and give the reasons for leaving, he said.

"The question that everyone will be asking over the next couple of days is, 'Why did he leave?' " Wilcox said.

Microsoft spokespeople would not elaborate.

Laura DiDio, analyst with the Yankee Group, said Taylor was "one of the brightest up-and-coming executives that I had dealt with there in a long, long time."

Wilcox said Taylor "performed magic" in an earlier job at Microsoft, confronting the threat posed by Linux and other open-source software. He led a team of strategists working on the issue.

Ballmer was impressed by Taylor, 36, early on and gave him the high-profile Linux assignment.

Taylor faced another major challenge in the role he assumed three months ago as part of a substantial shake-up of the division that includes Windows and Windows Live.

"He would have had important responsibilities for marketing some of the new Windows Live Services, and also competitively dealing with Google, again from a marketing perspective," Wilcox said.

Taylor's exit comes a month after his boss, David Cole, head of the online business group, began a yearlong leave of absence. Cole was replaced by Steve Berkowitz, former president of search company Ask.com.

Wilcox said the turnover "could cause some disruption" to the rollout of Windows Live.

Marketing is to accelerate this summer and fall as Microsoft launches more services, but the big Windows Live sales push will probably occur in January, when the new Windows Vista operating system is set for release to consumers.

"On the other hand, anyone can be replaced," Wilcox said. "... [It] isn't like Microsoft has a shortage of talent."

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Reuter Alert Net
VOA News

Members of WHO avoid the trouble of dealing Taiwan issue with China, and regard excluding Taiwan not a obstacle of fighting the avian flu. It seems Taiwan will still be excluded until it proves its unexpected importance to the world.

The decision of invading Iraq seems a terrible mistake today. Almost three years had passed, and the "conquerors" are still unable to retreat their force. Although the test of the newest weapons and war systems appears to be well rewarded, but the huge amount of mistakes had cost Americans more they had ever expected.

Maybe this is a milestone of the end of a U.S. dominant era, and the start of a more healthy international society. The power of the U.N. is decreasing, and the new organization must be founded.

Voice of America

The Three Goreges Dam in China was completed in May 20, 2006, which was nine months ahead of schedule. It is built for easing the energy shortage problem in coastal cities in China, and preventing the devastating flood of Yangtze River.

But some groups of enviromentalists call this project 'a mistake.' It is expected to become a cesspool of the Chang River, accumulating the pollutants from the factories and the ill-controlled constrution sites near the river. And the site of the dam is on a geological fault, which might cause land slides and even earthquakes.

The leaders of china insist on contructing dams as many as possible. There are only few rivers left without a dam in China. With the time passing, the citizens of China may finally found they can't tolerate the consequence of exchanging the environment for economy growing. Hope it will not be too late.

CNN.com

Brief:
Because of the tranfer of the PCC(First Capital Command, initialed in Portuguese) leaders to the maximum-security facility, a mass riot led by PCC members have shock the San Paulo city since last Friday. The primary targets of the riot are police station and uprisings in 65 of the state's 74 jails. Securuty force reported at least 81 dead, and lots of property loss.

This news reminds me of the information I've learned from the economics class - Brazil has been a country with a very large poverty gap since early 1900's. I always consider poverty as a major contributor to the criminal rate, and the growing pf PCC in Brazil seems to have proved my theory.

However, I believe that Internet could save the poor in these "rising" countries. Not financially, but intelletually. Internet open a window for the poors to the world of knowledge, and the poors finally get a better chance to raise their social statues. Ultimately, the poors would become the wealthes.