How I almost was a Code7 Runner Up

Microsoft ran a programming contest a few months ago called Code7 – the idea is you’d code up an app with specific support for Windows 7 – things like touch, location, taskbar improvements, etc. All you had to do was submit a (up to) 3 minute screencast of your app. The prizes were pretty awesome too, first place is trip to PDC09 + $17,777USD. Regional winners get trip to PDC09 + $7,777USD, and regional runners up get a $1000USD laptop.

Well, I fell into the latter category – that is, I was told I was a regional runner up – awesome eh? My entry was MahTweets, which has support for geocoding photos for Flickr using the Win7 Location platform, as well as taskbar enhancements.

When I say I was told I was a runner up, I mean that I was notified I’d win the prize if I completed certain forms, which I did instantly. Then I was told they’d send out the physical forms, since apparently electronically filling them in isn’t enough. Once the deadlines for submitting those forms came and went without the forms even arriving, I was a little concerned. Turns out Microsoft Legal Counsel decided it was "concerned about the use of the real status feeds from the various social media sites, use of the Flickr website" (emphasis mine – there was more stuff about logos of the various services featured, but that’s relatively minor)

Just to recap, I submitted a screencast of MahTweets, showing some of functions it does with tweets as well as uploading and geotagging a webcam picture (of my ugly mug) to Flickr. Because I featured my Flickr profile, Microsoft Legal Counsel was concerned that I didn’t have permission from Yahoo to use a screenshot of Flickr. Right. To be honest, it wasn’t until I started drafting up this post that I even noticed the Flickr crap – I’ve been more concerned with the "real status feeds".

Firstly, what the hell is a ‘real status feed‘? I asked for clarification on what they meant – and it took twelve days to get a response - turns out that’s just what normal people would call a tweet. I’d say ’social media network update’, but I only showed off Twitter functionality. MSFT Legal wanted permission from every identifiable twit in the video. "Okay, sure, that’s do-able" I thought, "there is only about eight or nine people who actually have tweets/avatars being shown off".

Turns out that no, I was wrong, they want not only consent from those people, but from any handle visible – so if XYZ wrote "hello @foo", I’d have to get consent from "@foo" as well – as well as all the names visible when I demonstrated building a group/column. Once I got the final bit of clarification, I just gave up, as the number of people I needed consent from was reaching 40+. A big thank you for those who did give me consent when I thought it was still eight or nine people.

The most frustrating bit about this is the way it was set up to be a disappointment – if they had of opened with "hey, if you can clarify XYZ legal situation, we’ll award you a prize" that would have been cool, but the "hey, you’ve won! fill in a form!" then waiting a few days (as it took that long for each email response) to find out there were more concerns just left a bitter taste in my mouth.