Archive for the ‘Contests’ Category

Ahhh, it’s a Microsoft kind of morning! I woke up, checked my Hotmail account as I do every day, and was greeted with a rather odd (yet quite humorous) series of emails from Microsoft! See the screen shot below:

An email from Microsoft with the subject “tbd” sounded rather interesting, so I started with it first. All-in-all, it was nothing special; just an OEM Partner Center newsletter dated August 16th which contained a contest, various partner-related training opportunities, etc. Next, I read the email with the subject “Updated Subject.” As you might have guessed, it was a repeat of the “tbd” email — same date on the newsletter and everything, despite the fact that it was sent the next day. I suppose the importance of it is the contest offering a chance to win a 42″ plasma TV. If you’re interested in said contest, visit the following link to read the rules and details: http://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?pageid=566235

So, the long and short of it is that I found it hilarious that Microsoft sent out an email with the subject “tbd,” then sent out the same email a day later with an updated subject. Personally, I don’t see why they couldn’t have just waited a day to send out the email… or why coming up with a subject other than “tbd” was such an arduous task in the first place.

I’m just poking fun, though. I love you, Microsoft. =)

-Stephen

UPDATE: We have winners! Thanks to everyone who participated and stay tuned as I’ll be bringing more contests like this to you in the near future. Winners are: @marriop, @markyb86, and @orionll! Congratulations, guys!

Yaaaaay, contest! Alright, I have 3 TuneUp Utilities 2010 licenses to give away to 3 people (one license each, a $50 value)! Each license is able to be activated on 3 machines, so if you’re like me and you’ve got Windows 7 (or some other version, it doesn’t have to be 7) on your desktop, laptop, and netbook, one license will travel far for you. If you’ve never heard of it, put simply, it’s one of the best all-in-one solutions out there for tweaking and optimizing your OS. I used to use this app on my XP installs before good ol’ Vista rolled around. Now, trying it again for Windows 7, I can honestly say it adds more value to the OS. The additions of their Turbo Mode and Live Optimization are down-right spiffy.

So…

… do you want to customize your boot screen and theme?

 

… do you want to TRULY delete data?

 

… do you want to optimize your system processes, registry, and boot/shutdown times!?

 

OF COURSE YOU DO! And guess what!? YOU CAN DO IT and a whole lot more with TuneUp Utilities 2010!

No, but seriously… it’s an awesome application. As for the rules and what not, this is a really simple contest. All you have to do is retweet a tweet, do a quick little scavenger hunt, then email me the results. It also doesn’t hurt to actually read a bit about the software. After all, you *are* competing for it, right? Might as well understand what you’re trying to win! If you want to download a trial version of the software to check it out yourself, you can do so by clicking the image below:

1 – Retweet the Following Message (all you have to do is click it if you’re logged in to Twitter): RT @msftkitchen Win 1 of 3 TuneUp Utilities 2010 licenses ($50 value!) Details on MSK: http://bit.ly/8V9n0Y

2 – Quick Scavenger Hunt: Start on this page of TuneUp’s website and from there, find the page that I took this screen shot from:

Hint: You can find the page in just 2 clicks from the page I gave you to start on!

3 – Email Me: Once you have performed the two steps above, send me a quick email with “TuneUp 2010 Contest” as your subject and in the body of your message, include the link you found the image on and your Twitter alias (click here if you’re configured for clicking email achor text and all the information you need will auto-fill — just don’t forget to add the link and your Twitter alias). That’s it!

When it comes time to draw winners, 2 winners will be chosen completely at random. The third might be chosen from random, but I’m reserving the right to select one depending on any given number of circumstances. From there, I will verify that you tweeted the message and that you’ve given the correct link. The winners will be selected on December 11, 2009 (next Friday). 3 steps to win 3 licenses with the ability to activate 3 machines per license. Easy peasy! Oh, and I’m going to be moderating all comments for this post since I just know that some spiteful bonehead out there will comment with the link from step 2. Har har!

Good luck!!!

-Stephen
http://www.msftkitchen.com