Breaking News! A freind's interview on JobsBlog!

One of my friends had an interview with Priya ( An international recruiter in MS) published in MS JobsBlog... Mona was accepted in Microsoft interviews in Egypt last December... she posted a couple of comments here responding to my posts about MS interviews results...

What's really nice is, we have now more than 10 from the Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences Ain Shams university have been offered positions in Microsoft! This faculty only graduated 7 generations! Each have an average of 150 student... it's almost a 1% from the graduates, but these 1% are just normal students in the faculty! I admit there are many better than me that didn't have luck with MS interviews (at least I know 3 of them)! My point I want to prove is, this is considered as a very healthy sign to all FCIS graduates, we are here, in the largest software company in the world! We can do it, any Computer science Ain Shams graduate can do it... btw I hardly passed my exams during college! I didn't like to study and I believe I only studied the last 3 days before the exams, sometimes in these 3 days I open books I've never seen before, I didn't attend lectures, I hardly go to labs! This doesn't mean u should do so; the reason I'm saying this is to encourage everyone to study programming and algorithms harder and harder, be practical, if your grades are not that good in school, u should know that this doesn't mean anything in terms of practical life! GO FCISers! Coz many of u really have talent!

Mona's Interview:
http://blogs.msdn.com/jobsblog/archive/2007/01/25/meet-mona-from-egypt-to-seattle.aspx

Funny from Microsoft

From day one in Microsoft, everyone is talking about security... when u sit with your team lead, or any of your team members, they keep on warning u to always lock your pc before leaving it, even if u r just going to the bathroom or going to the room next to you, Because u have the Windows code on your machine, and there is a lot of people going around the building that are not allowed to c the code; so u always need to lock your machine... One of my team mates told me once that whenever some1 leaves the pc unlocked, some1 else send an e-mail from his outlook to the whole team to embarrass him... I didn’t pay a lot of attention, till one day I received these 3 mails in my inbox, starting with this e-mail:

To: All Developers
Subject: Hello, I am a teddy bear!

And I forgot my pants today!

Signed by: A.R
--------------------------------------------

I didn’t really understand what that is?!... Why would A.R (A British dev who just joined the team) send something like that?! Until I received this e-mail from a team lead (Who’s also British):

----------------------------------------------
To: All Developers
Subject: RE: Hello, I am a teddy bear!

Really? That must be embarrassing!
Almost as embarrassing as leaving your computer unlocked, perhaps?

Signed by: I
----------------------------------------------
Now that was funny, now I got it, so A.R really left his pc unlocked, and some1 sent this e-mail for him... But, it’s not over; A.R sent this e-mail later the same day:

----------------------------------------------
To: All Developers
Subject: RE: Hello, I am a teddy bear!

I,
As a fellow British; I would have thought you of all people would have realised this message was from an impersonator – I would of course use ‘trousers’ rather than ‘pants’ in any group-wide communication, to avoid any confusion as to what I meant.
I would have thought the prankster responsible ought to be the one most embarrassed... ;-)
Yours,
A.R

Did u get it? :-) Smart from I. to figure out that this was an un-locked pc case, even smarter and funnier e-mail sent by A.R. to reply and avoid a little embarrassment!

Breaking News - Snow! and an Accident!

Last Wednesday, everyone got stuck in the office because of all the snow on the streets... Cars just get stuck climbing a very small hill, or just trying to turn around a corner or something!, wheels just keep on spinning without the car moving... a lot of people actually just leave their cars in the streets and walk; because cars just don’t move with all the snow that turns into ice on the roads!!. Here are some pics I have taken in Redmond.


I stayed at work for more than 2 hours, just waiting for the traffic to clear up a little bit... anyway we decided to go home me and Ali (we live in the same complex)... so he took his car, I took mine, he was driving in front of me... My car is kind of a small compact car, It’s not bad (thank god) actually it’s considered a very good car, but it’s just a small car... anyway It all started by having problems with climbing out of the building garage! I couldn't get any traction, I reached almost the rpm red line, and the wheels just keep on spinning without the car moving!... after a long struggle I managed to get out of the garage, Ali was driving in front of me coz he knew a shortcut to home... He says he was slowing down for a speed pump or something just before getting out of the MS campus, that's when he actually suddenly fully stopped! anyway, I was just behind him.. I pushed the brakes but the car kept on sliding towards him, I hardly turned to the other lane of the road which luckily was free of other cars! (Thank God)... But still, I didn't manage to completely avoid hitting Ali; I just slightly scratched both of our paintings... Oops, Ali went down to go to look for how much damage we made, in the meanwhile I was still under the shock that I couldn’t even open my car door! I asked him “Did we hit hard?”, “No, no everything is OK, it doesn’t look like there is anything” he replied (Thank God again).

In the middle of the shortcut, we kind of figured out that it's moving so slow... really so slow!, so we decided to go on the normal regular way, so just turning to the other lane to head back, since the other lane was almost free (no cars actually was going on the other way), so snow was heavier on the road, so again, my car got stuck in this snow, and Again I tried to get the full car's horsepower to get out of this thing!... Anyway we went back to the MS campus, I parked my car in the garage, we took Ali's car to go back home, he and his wife spent some time with me and my Mom, we went down for a while to play in the snow... headed back, watched a little TV... and then they just went home...
Wow, What a day... How many times did this happen to u?!... It was kind of a cool day after all.

The Truth The Way It Is!

Read this post and Fahmy Howeidy's article that was banned from publishing
The sarcastic post:
http://engafm.blogspot.com/2006/12/blog-post_24.html
The banned article:
http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=41645&r=t

Let me take this part from the article, and put it here, as I feel it really describes what's going on in Egypt now... What do u think?

في «أحلام فترة النقاهة» - الحلم رقم ٢٠٣ - التي تطبعها الآن «دار الشروق» مكتملة، كتب الأستاذ نجيب محفوظ يقول: رأيتني أقرأ كتاباً وإذا بسكاري رأس السنة يرمون قواريرهم الفارغة، فتطايرت شظايا، وينذرونني بالويل، فجريت إلي أقرب قسم شرطة، ولكني وجدت الشرطة منهمكة في حفظ الأمن العام، فجريت إلي فتوة الحي القديم، وقبل أن أنتهي من شكواي هب هو ورجاله وانقضوا علي الخمارة التي يشرب فيها المجرمون، وانهالوا عليهم بالعصي حتي استغاثوا بي!

المعني الذي أراد نجيب محفوظ توصيله أن «الأمن العام» في مفهوم رجال الشرطة ليس هو أمن الناس أو المجتمع، ولكنه أمن النظام، وعلي الناس أن يدركوا هذه «الحقيقة» وأن يتصرفوا علي هذا الأساس. وملاحظته هذه تفسر لنا المفارقة التي نحن بصددها، حيث لم تنتبه الشرطة إلي عمليات القتل التي مارستها عصابة التوربيني طوال السنوات السبع التي خلت، لأنها كانت منشغلة «بالأمن العام» المتمثل في متابعة النشطاء السياسيين، الأمر الذي يجسد الاهتمام بالأمن السياسي دون الأمن الاجتماعي، وهو موقف يعبر بصدق عن الخلل الشديد في علاقة السلطة بالمجتمع في مصر، والذي ترجح فيه كفة السلطة باستمرار، الأمر الذي رتب نتيجة مهمة خلاصتها أن تأمين النظام بات أهم واجبات الشرطة، وكل ما عدا ذلك تتراجع أهميته أو تنعدم.
هذا التفسير رددته بعض التحليلات التي نشرتها صحف المعارضة، حتي أصبح أمراً متعارفاً عليه ومسلماً به، ناهيك عن أن شواهد الواقع تؤيده. والانطباع السائد في المجتمع المصري الآن أن أغلب مخافر الشرطة أصبحت تستقبل بفتور وعدم اكتراث أي بلاغ تتلقاه حول قضية جنائية أو مدنية، لكنها تستنفر وتعلن الطوارئ وتهرول، إذا كانت القضية سياسية أو كان البلاغ يشكك في وجود رائحة للإرهاب في أي مكان.
ليس ذلك فحسب، وإنما بات مستقراً في أوساط الشرطة أن كفاءة الضابط أو القيادي، ومن ثم ارتقاءه واستمراره، ذلك كله يقاس بمدي الإنجاز الذي يحققه في ملاحقة وإجهاض العمليات الإرهابية، فضلاً عن كفاءته في «التعامل مع الإرهابيين بالأسلوب المناسب»، وهو ما يدفع رجال الأمن إلي التفاني في اتجاه والتراخي في الاتجاه الآخر، وفي ظل ذلك الوضع فلا يستغرب ألا ترصد ممارسات عصابة «التوربيني»، بينما تسلط الأضواء القوية علي ممارسات طلاب الجامعة، إذ بحكم ذلك المنطق، فإنه من حسن حظ الرجل وعصابته أنهم ليسوا في عداد «الإرهابيين»، حيث لم يفعلوا أكثر من أنهم اغتصبوا وقتلوا ٣٠ طفلاً فقط!

Human

It’s weird when some1 feels he is on the top of the world.. when some1 forgets about God.. When some1 thinks he rules.. He Rocks!.. he have everything!.. every1 wishes to be in his place!.. and yet, at this very moment, no matter who he is, what he does, where he is!.. Something happens make him think about that all over again.. Something reminds him that he’s just so fragile.. very easily breakable!.. It doesn’t even have to happen 2 u.. but something might happen to some1 u love, or some1 u care about.. at this very moment, u remember again ur god, go pray, do what u have to.. u don’t think u rock anymore, u just found out that u r just a human being.. who have feelings, one of the feelings is to be afraid, afraid of the unknown!.. the unknown that might happen 2 u, and u just pray and wish it doesn’t.. God be with us all, helping and supporting us.

Seattle 2007

Happy Eid, Happy New Year and Merry Christmas everyone.. Yesterday we went (Me, Ali and his wife, Meshref and Ramy) to watch the fireworks beside the Space Needle down town Seattle..

It was pretty cool.. I had my camera with me, I took pics of us and for the fire works.. all these pics were taken by me in the event, I also took a couple of videos for the event.. before u watch the video, please turn ur volume down a little bit, there is a lot of people screaming and yelling all around me (They are really really excited!) :-) I was excited too, :-) but apparently not as much as they were!.


Video: Seattle 2007

There was a symphony playing, and the fire works were just like the equalizer for the music playing.. It was really interesting.. I'm kind of shy to post my personal pics, but this is the first time I'm gonna post any pics in my blog.. here is a pic of us.. Ali - Me - Meshref - Ramy.

As u all can c.. :-) it was really cold, we were all wearing all the clothes we have!..

In brief, It was fun and a cool event.. In the middle of all that, all what I miss, Is my Fiancee (Radwa).. I really do Miss u, hope u'll be with me soon.. Hope u all r having fun these days too. If not, don't worry about it, just do what u have to do now, finish it right, and then u'll have ur fun time soon.. untill then, just take care..

After MS Interview!

well, there are 3 outputs from MS interviews!, those who get accepted, those who know that they didn't did good and that's why they were not accepted, and those who don't know what on earth has just happened!..

well, to start with who didn't get accepted, it's really OK, as a start try to find what did u miss?.. try to read my Interview tips again, hope this could help!. Try to look at the interview process as an experience interview, u really did sit with gr8 minds, team leads and managers in the largest software development company in the world!.. they r brilliant, and u had the opportunity to talk to them coz from the phone interview, they suggested that u r a qualified person, and u r qualified, u just need some more work to do. Do it, study harder for next time interviews, Don't give up!, it's really a life time chance that's gonna change ur life!!, u can't give up that easily!, or can u?.

For everyone got accepted!, Congratulations!.. :-) I'm really happy and looking forward to c u soon in MS campus!, u really reached something u dreamed about for a long time!, or maybe worth, u didn't even dare to dream about it!. will to be honest, if u think that u reached ur goal, maybe it'll take u some time, maybe till u start working, and u'll find it's not the end, it's just the start!!.. what do u think!, that this is ur stop!, it's just getting starting!..

well, there is a lot of stuff that u'll need to ask about of course, a MS recruiter will contact u soon to talk to u about many things, u'll be assigned a relocation specialist, a paralegal, and a lawyer!.. all will work with u for ur visa procedures if u are not already an American citizen... MS consider it all as a long term investment.. Investment in U!. Don't get scared!, Never be afraid, those people who hired u know what they r doing!, U R QUALIFIED TO WORK FOR MS.. u needed me to tell u that!.

2 days ago, I'm still currently working in a tool that's gonna be released with MS longhorn next year, so I was discussing the implementation design and algorithm with my team member (He's also now my project lead or my senior Dev.).. well, He's 27, he has 2 masters in Computer science!.. and he has been working for MS for a bit more than 1 year now.. To be honest, getting my code reviewed is not that easy in MS!!.. there's a lot to talk about during code review, a lot of standards that u need to follow!!.. a lot of things that u need to secure and make sure that u didn't leak!.. so we had this argument about a performance issue in the design that he wants to implement, to make it brief and simple, I didn't agree to initialize all the class objects just by calling the constructor, if the caller needs to do something I wanted him to call it individually just in case the caller doesn't need to use all the methods!.
Well, after a long argument with him, we both agreed to use his approach in case the caller is actually gonna use all the methods that's called in the constructor!.. Anyway that's not what I needed to tell u, but, I'm just like u, I just graduated from the Computer science school in Cairo, and I just had a good and a true argument with some1 here!.. what I want to say is, If I'm OK, U'll be!.. :-) I'm actually just like u, hope I continue to be OK!..

But really, U'll learn everything!.. right now, concentrate on whatever u r doing, if u have any questions about the procedures or anything in ur mind u r free to leave me a comment and hopefully I'll be able to answer ur questions!

Microsoft Interview Results!

OK.. Today, I knew that 3 of my friends, including my best friend Emad are going to be offered positions for Dev Div team in Microsoft.. I hope my tips helped all of u to pass.. I also hope that the whole interview process ( doesn't matter if u got accepted or not) had been a nice and a good experience for u. You really met gr8 minds, had the opportunity to talk and chat and solve problems with them.. Had the opportunity to think with them.. Please make it a useful experience for u.. and If u didn't have an offer, study harder for the comeback!..

for anyone who has participated in this interview process (Doesn't have to be exactly these interviews, any interviews that u did with MS even in the past), can u please tell us ur experience, how did u do?, is there anything that anyone should know about?, how to prepare, how did u feel?.. how many questions did u answer?, what do u need to stress on next time in the interviews?.. how did the interviewers talk with u?.. even the simplest stuff that u were curios about before the interview, say it so that others can benefit from it.. waiting for replies.

Microsoft Interview Tips!

Of course since I'm a SDE, I'll talk about tips for SDEs or SDETs interviewing for MS..

Tip #1. Do u love Microsoft?.. want to join MS? why?
U really have to think why do u want to join MS and do u have the passion for technology or what it can do?!.. that's a question u need to ask urself!. Try to read more about Microsoft.. have u heared about something called the green house?.. try to do some homework about the company that u wish to join.

#2. SDE or SDET?.. Prove it!
CODE, CODE, CODE, CODE... U really need to write a lot of code on paper.. think on paper!.. remember there won't be a PC in the interview process, u'll be asked to write a lot of code on paper.. Test and debug your code.. Think, be creative!.
Optimizations.. From now on, whenever u write a piece of code, optimize it.. was it O(n^2)?.. make it O(n*log n) by some sort of binary search or something.. did u do it?.. Why don't u start using pointers, get a handle to the whole input or something, and maybe u'll be able to optimize it to be O(n)!!!

#3. Your CV... 95% Your interviewers will have your CV while interviewing you.
Everything in your CV, U must really know it.. Know ur CV..

#4. It's not all about how much u already know!.. It's about how much u r ready to learn.
It's about ur ability to develop.. and believe me it's totally true, I'm here and I c it myself!.. People in Microsoft have the ability to recognize who have this ability and who don't!.

#5. Communication!!.. how do u communicate with the interviewers?, do they understand u?.. did they get what u really want to say?.. do u understand them?.. how good is ur english?
If your english is not that good, u still need to communicate with ur interviewer, u still need to show him how good u r!.. So, If you didn't understand a question or part of it, after the interviewer finishes, ask him to repeat the question again.. It's really OK to ask, and believe me it's much better than answering a whole different question!. u still need some data?, talk with the interviewer.. Communicate with him!!.. if ur english really doesn't help u, then after u have been asked the question, try to have like 10 sec. or something to put the answer in place in enlgish, and then say it, try to avoid hesitating or talking then stop, then talk again, then stop!.. it makes the interviewer feels that u lack some confidence, and its a kind of miss communication too!.. Ur interviewer might be ur team lead, or team member!, so If u can't communicate with him, he won't be sure to accept u!.

#6. Be ready for the interview!.. u really really need to study very hard!.
Solve all types of puzzles u c.. Data Structures, u have to be able to write full classes of a linked list, trees... etc. on paper!.. what's a stack?, how to test it?.. etc. Searching in a string, string operations, binary search... Sorting, all types of sorting, did u know that there is a sorting algorithm that sorts an array of integers in O(n)?.. read about it, it'll open ur mind to code optimization.

#7. No matter how many questions u've read, no matter how many interview questions u have read... Get ready to c whole new set of questions in ur interview!.
Don't get surprised or afraid from any question.. always expect that u r going to be asked a new question!.. go step by step.. Don't be afraid.. no matter how u think this question is hard or un-solvable. IT IS!.. just start collecting small info, write them down.. go another step forward.. just a small one... U 'll be there!.

I hope u'll remember all these tips, make sure u do them!.. about what to wear, u r free to wear anything!, ur interviewers might be wearing shorts!!. so wear whatever is comfortable.. for example I was wearing a black trousers and a grey T-shirt.. just whatever makes u stop thinking about it!..
I guess that's all what anybody should need in a Microsoft interview!.. but really if u have any questions or need some help with some specific thing that I missed or anything that u have in mind, u r free to leave me a comment and I'll be more than glad to answer or help!.. Hope to c u soon in Microsoft Campus!

Who Am I ?

"Just a normal person with nothing to lose" Academy award winner Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. I just wanted to say this sentence coz I really love it.. about me?, I'm just a normal average guy, love to have fun.. Love to be Free!!


Don't u want to be free?!, Imagine how tied u r right now?, how many things are running thru ur mind?.. don't u want to relax for a while?!, stop thinking.. ur work, ur friends, ur fiancee or wife or girlfriend, ur career, how much u should save each month, how much u owe to some1.. Oh my god, 5 min of peace of mind are considered a treasure these days!..
How r u?....... No really.. How r u?!.. Are u OK.. don't worry, everything is gonna be OK.. everything is really gonna pass.. WOW, don't ever feel alone.. that's a bad feeling, it's weird, no matter how different people are, it's harder than they can stand to be alone!..
so, take a look around u.. Float above ur body.. c urself right now sitting in ur office or ur room, take a look on people around u.. What r they doing?.. How do they feel?.. If ur love is near u, hug him/her.. Call him/her to tell her that u love them.. that they mean the world 2 u..
ask them.. How r u?.. How u doing?.. I just realized that this simple question means the care of the world!.. How are they holding in life..

learn how to relax.. Love.. Stop thinking for a while.. Love ur life.. Thank god for everything u have.. Kiss ur mom & dad telling them that u really appreciate how they did their best to raise u.. be thankful for what u have.. how r ur friends?.. It's amazing how many people are running in my mind right now, even if they think I never think about them, or doesn't even know, but I'm sure I'm also on somebody's mind right now..

I'm not a philosopher and sure not trying to be one.. And I'm sure u have no idea what I'm talking about.. but don't worry.. U'll some day..

After One Month With MS

Well, Do you want to know how Microsoft is?..


Ok... Microsoft Campus is HUGE!!.. We have many buildings, many many buildings.. My building is building 28.. We have almost like 5 soccer fields in the campus, probably like 1 baseball field and basketball courts in some buildings.. U can come to work at anytime u want to.. Almost all communications are done by e-mail, I'm still new but there are these automatic groups that u join since u r in their team, so u receive every day at least 20 e-mails.. For me, most likely I receive 8 e-mails that are sent for me (not for a group that I join) by my boss, my team members, MS benefits.. etc..

U have a 1-on-1 meeting every week with ur direct manager to talk about ur progress, any issues that u have, ur plans..etc.. I'm an SDE (Software Development Engineer) in the Windows serviceability team (Team responsible of delivering hot-fixes, service packs and special customer's services) and I have 2 Pcs on my desk.. 2 LCD monitors, and u have a switch so that u actually can switch one LCD between the 2 Pcs... My 2 LCDs work with on pc, and with the switch I can switch one of the LCDs to see the other PC... One of the Pcs is my Development PC, and the other is my testing PC.. U have 2 LCDs attached to one PC because that increases ur productivity in writing code, this way its easier for you to open 2 VS or have 2 maximized windows one on the 1st LCD and other App is on the other one and u can move everything around and c everything clearly without having to minimize and maximize every now and then (and believe me having 2 LCDs is not just nice and fun to have, they actually DO increase ur productivity)..

Right now buildings are crowded and they r building new buildings to fit all MS employees, so I'm currently sharing an office with some1, so almost every office now contain two SDEs or SDETs (SDE in Test).. Except ofcourse Team leads and PMs who have their own single offices.. U have this MS ID card, where u enter the buildings just by passing it infront of this thing so that the door opens for u, no one should be in MS campus unless he's a visitor or an employee, otherwise MS security will ask him to leave asap and 'll make sure that no one un-authorized is in the campus..

Each floor in the buildings have free video game, foosball (the little soccer table with little players) or an Xbox in one of the meeting rooms (all these games are actually in my building).. There is also free Cokes , popcorn, Starbucks Coffee.. all free.. You have a lot of meetings every week, and I mean a lot of meetings.. My outlook calendar is filled with meetings and events and sessions.. Some of the sessions I have them scheduled next June or something!!..

People working in MS are from all countries, u c Arabs, Indians (of course, 2 of my team mates are Indians), Chinese ( have a team mate who's Chinese), British, French (my manager is French), Bangladesh, Turkey and of course from the US (one of my team members also is American).. So my team consists of 5 and our team lead is 6..

People in Microsoft are really really nice, really funny, and really polite.. We have this gr8 environment between us, which makes us really a team.. U r flexible to do anything u want, which makes u comfort, so u want to make others comfort, which reflect to the way u work, so u want to produce more and more, in a better way.. Which I think is excellent environment to work.. In my 1st and 2nd week I had this 3 or 4 meetings, where all the WinSE Devs (Windows serviceability Developers) join and all we did was introducing new employees like me, and introducing old employees and having jokes and laughs!.. :-) so we r really working hard..

One thing that I really really liked, and still amazed!.. is that I met all people who interviewed me.. and they all remember me by NAME!!.. I come to them say Hey, u might not remember me, and before even I complete my sentence, they say.. heyyy.. I remember u.. U r Hany Barakat from Egypt!!.. even my manager's manager remembered me by name!!.. btw they didn't remember others who got accepted in same interviews last year.. THEY ONLY REMEMBER ME.. AND BY NAME!!!

I also met Priya, she was my recruiter, we had this welcome party one day, I had some energy so I was all over the party making jokes and playing with everyone, That made Priya ask me to have an interview with her to post it on Microsoft Jobs blog!!.. so we r having this next week in the Cafe while having lunch.. so my name is gonna be on MS website from the 1st month at work!!.. :-) cool !!..

Right now I'm using C++ in the product that I'm working on now, which might scare some people coz we didn't study C++ in school and I always thought that VC++ is really hard.. but this is not Visual, this is only C++, u either work on a console application or a library, I never liked VC++, but C++ is fine.. also I'm in WinSE team, so most of the code is already there, I only either fix something in it or redesign it to work better.. and if there is any function that I don't understand, there are many places to look it up and know what exactly it does.

Owns in MS means this part is yours, u r responsible for it.. it's ur code.. I own this tool that I'm working on right now which 'll be shipped n sha2 Allah with Windows Longhorn Server next year.. and after Windows Vista is shipped, I 'll own many of the file systems and new file systems in it, and I 'll also own the command propmpt!!.. the cmd.exe!!.. :-).. which I find cool to own something used by many people!..

In MS we don't use VS to build or compile, instead we have this command prompt tool to build and compile our code.. and u can edit ur code anyway u want, but u only compile using this tool..
The first thing u do is do something called enlisting (downloading the source code on ur machine to be able to compile).. only if u have permissions to.. and since I'm in the WinSE team I can enlist any Windows version to compile..

Actually there is still a lot to talk about!!.. so y don't we leave it in another post?.. hope 2 c u all soon.

US 2nd day

It has been a while since I last post anything, I was relocating to the US since my last post, Seattle, Now I'm in Seattle. Actually its a very nice city, very alive, looks cool, a lot of things to do around, near the sea so u can get nice scene every once and a while. I'm staying now downtown Seattle not in Redmond where Microsoft is. Check out Seattle on any map on the internet to know where to live near Microsoft campus which can be found . There is Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Mercer Island and Kirkland.

I took a tour today in most of these places with my relocation consultant, I still don't know much about them, still not sure where I'm going to rent in the end, but still, I have along time to choose, things will be more clear in a month or a month and half. My start date is next Monday 2nd of October. Wish me luck.
I miss all my friends, even though when I was in Cairo, we didn't used to see each other that often, :-) but now when I know that I won't be seeing them for a long time, I really do miss them. Ofcourse I miss Radwa (My Fiancee) the most, we talk to each other and I see her in the webcam everyday, but still I wish she was here with me, but I'm OK... I just need some time to sort things out and bring here to share out life together. I really do miss her, I miss all my friends.
I got lost today while I was picking the rental car, it supposed to have a GPS so that it can help me to show me the way home, but as soon as I drove out of the rental garage, the GPS started to tell me where to go, :-) and suddenly in the middle of no where, I realized it was talking about a whole different road, it couldn't even show the map of where I'm, it didn't locate my location right. I stopped at a fire department and asked for directions, then I managed to go to the highway, and I drove along way before seeing a Seattle and Redmond signs, that's when I remembered from my tour in the morning this road, and managed to go downtown Seattle. In downtown Seattle, all I did was turning the GPS off and back on Again, and suddenly, now it can locate my correct location and it was just perfect. Nice experience I believe. For those who are curios the car Im driving now is a Pontiac G6. I 'll see u around.

الطالبة الاء

Please note the next lines contains some words that some could find them inappropriate or others could be offended by these words, I just warned u so that if u completed to read u know u 'll find some words that u might not like, anyway, I was reading some other blogs and 'Kefaya' Blogs, and I found this very interesting words about the famous incident that happened to an Egyptian student. U can find the whole story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5134470.stm
Now with the words I found at http://daktara.blogspot.com (Again there are some words that might offend some readers, specially female readers).


تتقدم مؤسسة الرجل الكبير قوي بتوجيه الشكر لك ايها المدرس الصغير علي ما فعلته من كشف الجريمة النكراء التي ارتكبتها الاء ذات العقل والذكاء,ولا ادري كيف كانت بهذا الغباء حتي تكتشف ان سيدنا جورج بوش هو حاكم العالم وان له عملاء في كل البلاد ومصر ايضا من العباد ومش علي راسها ريشة لأ والمصيبة تكتب كده في الامتحان وكأن البلد مفيهاش امن او نظام,نشكرك علي عدم اغفال هذه الورقة وقيامك بواجبك علي اكمل وجه بتحويل الورقة الي الظابط المختص بتصحيح التعبير في وزارة التربية والامن العام ونشكره علي رفعه الامر الي وكيل وزارة التربية والتعريس ومنه الي الوزير ابننا الامير الحامي والغفيرالشجاع الهمام الذي اتخذ قراره بالاعدام للطالبة الاء واقرانها منهم الاوفياء, شكرا ايها المدرس فانت حافظ علي النظام والكرسي والالتزام , ومرفق بهذا الخطاب قرار ترقيتك لرتبة نقيب ورقيب وعلي الكتابة حسيب لأي ابن كلب او حبيب بيحب وطنه وعنده مخ ولسان وعايز يبعدنا عن الكرسي والكرباج والصولجان
هذه الرسالة بمناسبة حرمان الطالبة الاء من الامتحان واعتبارها راسبة لانها كتبت نقد للنظام
في موضوع التعبير في امتحان اللغة العربية

3ala fekra zy maho wade7 fel link bta3et el BBC elly fatet, EL Rayes amar be e3adet tas7e7 war2et el bnt, w ng7et!!.. Alf shokr ya rayes ya 3adel!!..

Alexandria Trip

I went 2day to Alex to see my best freind Emad.. we spent some time together, he ordered lunch for us, and we spend some good time.. I 'll go to visit him again soon n sha2 Allah before I go to the US with Ahmed Nada.. Anyway, I 'll tell u about this trip as soon as we do it.. while I was with Emad, we talked a little about Marina and how its a little different from Egypt, from us, and how people live there.. after I came back I found this mail sent to me.. An article written by Yousef Maa'ti...

كتب: يوسف معاطي حاضر‏..‏ خلاص‏..‏ فلقتوني‏..‏ و‏..‏ ذهبنا الي مارينا‏..‏ ولأنني لست مارينيا اصيلا كنت مضطرا الي التنكر في هيئة مارينية حتي لا أكسف المدام والاولاد أمام المارينز أعني المارينيين‏..‏ ارتديت شورت بلو بتلتميت جنيه‏(‏ والنعمة الشريفة‏)‏ علي تي شيرت روز‏..‏ مع شبشب ستايل ونضارة‏..‏ وكاسكيتة‏..‏باختصار الطقم الذي ارتديته هذا كلفني ما يوازي بالضبط راتبي في الاهرام عن كتابة مقالات لمدة سنة ونص‏..‏ كان الشاطيء الذي قبلني علي مضض شاطئا خاصا يقف علي بابه بودي جاردات يتأملون الداخلين‏..‏ ودخلت المدام بكل ألاطة‏..‏ وخلفها ابنتنا‏..‏ والاصدقاء‏..‏ وما ان جاء دوري أنا حتي وجدت يدا تنزل أمامي‏..‏ ويسألني صاحب الذراع القوية‏..‏ الباشا داخل لمين ؟‏!‏يبدو ان شكلي برغم التنكر كان يبدو عليه البيئة برضه‏..‏ الراجل ده عبيط ولا ايه هو مش شايف الشورت‏,‏ ولم ينقذني من الموقف إلا البودي جارد الآخر الذي كان عنده خبر بي‏..‏ وقال لزميله سيب الباشا ده تبع شريف بيه‏..‏ وشريف بيه صديقي الذي عزمني هو ماريني قديم غارق في مارينيته يحب دائما ان يلم حوله صفوة المجتمع‏,‏ ويبدو أنه اعتبرني ولا اعرف لماذا اعتبرني واحدا من الصفوة فدعاني إلي الشاطيء الخاص‏..‏ وسمعت البودي جارد الذي منعني من الدخول يقول لزميله مندهشا‏..‏ ده يوسف معاطي‏!!‏ أنا معرفتوش‏..‏ يبدو أن تنكري الذي تصورت انه سينفعني هو الذي كان العقبة في دخولي‏..‏والحقيقة‏..‏ الشورت ما كانش بتلتميت جنيه هو كان في حدود متين وخمسين‏!!‏ قالت لي المدام وهي سعيدة بالمكان كان بيقولك ايه البودي جارد‏,‏ قلت لها لا بس كان عاوز يتصور معايا انتي عارفة المعجبين ورذلتهم بأه‏..‏ نظرت نحوي بغيظ ثم قالت‏..‏ طلع الفانلة برة الشورت‏..‏ قلت لها‏..‏ بس عشان ماركة الشورت تبان‏..‏ ده انا دافع دم قلبي فيه‏..‏ جلسنا تحت الشمسية وانخرطنا بسهولة بين المارينيين حتي لو انك كنت معنا لم تكن تستطيع مهما أوتيت من قوة الملاحظة ان تفرق بيني وبينهم‏..‏لا اريد أن أذكركم ان الشورت لوحده بمتين جنيه فهذه معلومة وصرتم تعرفونها جيدا‏..‏ كانت المايوهات البكيني تمر أمامنا‏..‏ كأسراب الحمام واحدة تلي الأخري في ايقاع متناغم وكأن جاد شويري هو اللي قال لهم يعملوا كده‏..‏ قالت زوجتنا‏(‏ وهي مارينية التوجه‏)‏ متأففة وهي تنظر حولها‏..‏ لأ‏..‏ الشاطيء ده لم خالص‏..‏ بأه بيئة قوي‏..‏ حدجتها بنظرة من طرف المبروكة‏(‏ عيني‏)‏ إذ لا أعرف لماذا شعرت انني المقصود بتلقيح الكلام ده‏..‏ واطمأن قلبي حينما وجدتها تنظر نحو بعضهم وقالت‏..‏ لبسهم رخيص قوي‏..‏قلت لها‏..‏ هو فين لبسهم ده‏..‏ أنا مش شايف حد لابس اي حاجة‏..‏ قالت‏..‏ ما انا باتكلم عن المايوهات‏..‏ مر بائع الفريسكا‏..‏ وهتفت ابنتنا كالعادة‏..‏ عاوزة فريسكا‏..‏ وجاء الرجل من نفسه كده دون ان أدعوه واعطاها للبنت كأنه بابا نويل‏..‏ و‏..‏ لكن بابا الحقيقي الذي هو أنا يجب ان يدفع‏..‏ كام يابابا ؟‏!‏ ثلاثين جنيه‏..‏ قبل ان أهم بان افاصل الرجل الحرامي‏..‏ زغرت لي زوجتي وهمست في غيظ‏..‏ خللي بالك‏..‏ انت في مارينا‏..‏ حاضر‏..‏ ومر بائع البطاطس‏..‏ وعهتفت ابنتنا‏..‏ عاوزة بطاطس‏..‏ وفي ثانية كان من نفسه كده يدس قرطاس البطاطس في يد البنت‏..‏ و‏..‏ عشرة جنيه‏..‏ ثم ساندوتشات سوسيس‏..‏ وخمسين جنيه‏..‏ هكذا‏..‏ ولا تأكل ابنتنا سوي قضمة صغيرة من كل حاجة ثم تنفلت بحركة مارينية اصيلة وتترك كل هذا او تجري علي البحر‏..‏ وأنا كان دوري أن آكل بقايا المفعوصة مش نعمة دي‏!!‏فيه ناس مش لاقية العيش الحاف‏..‏ همست زوجتنا في اذني بحدة وطي صوتك‏..‏ أنت مش قاعد ع القهوة‏..‏ انت في مارينا‏..‏ وفجأة مرت أمامنا امرأة ومعها رجل ماريني‏..‏ قالت زوجتنا‏..‏ دي سوزي‏..‏ صاحبتي‏..‏ وما ان رأتها سوزي حتي عانقتها‏.‏ وأزيك‏..‏ وعامله أيه‏..‏ وكله كويس‏..‏ وانجوي بأه‏..‏ وموبايلات والحاجات دي‏..‏ ثم قدمت لنا الرجل الماريني‏..‏ الذي كان مرتديا شورت نسخة طبق الاصل من شورتي ابو مية وخمسين جنيه وقالت لنا اشرف جوزي‏.‏ ولما كانت سوزي في العام الماضي قد قدمت لنا رجلا آخر بنفس الصفة‏..‏همست لزوجتي‏..‏ هي مش كانت متجوزة واحد تاني طلع امتي ده‏..‏ فنظرت نحوي بغيظ وقامت‏..‏ وطي صوتك‏..‏ انت في مارينا‏..‏ جاءت ابنتنا تجري من البحر وخاطبتني بانجليزية سليمة متأثرة بالجو المحيط بها‏..‏ بابي آي ونت بي نت‏..‏ يعني عاوزة فول سوداني‏..‏ وردت عليها امها بانجليزية اغاظتني قليلا‏..‏ اوكيه دار لنج‏..‏ لاحظوا اني كل ده قافل بقي‏..‏ ثم فجأة مر بنا رجل ماريني ومعه امرأة رائعة‏..‏ وجاء نحوي وسلم بحرارة انت مش فاكرني‏..‏ أنا عصمت جوز سوزي‏..‏ اللي قابلتك السنة اللي فاتت اقدم لك هايدي مراتي‏..‏همست لزوجتي‏..‏ هو عصمت وسوزي بيصيفوا هما الاثنين في مارينا وكل واحد معاه فردة جديدة‏..‏ صرخت زوجتي وقالت‏..‏ وبعدين‏..‏ انا قلت أيه‏..‏ وطي صوتك‏..‏ انت في مارينا‏..‏ وأخيرا جاء الرجل بتاع البي نت اللي هوه السوداني ليأخذ حسابه‏..‏ كام ياعم‏..‏ قال أربعين جنيه‏..‏ صرخت فيه بأه ما انا كاتم في قلبي من الصبح شوية سوداني قد كف البت بأربعين جنيه ليه كيلو السوداني لما يضربه الدم يعمل كام ياعم الحاج‏!!‏والتف حولنا المصطافون وأنا كأني ماسورة وانفتحت‏..‏ توترت زوجتي‏..‏ وأخذت تشدني من الشورت ابو اربعين جنيه ولما فاض بها الكيل‏..‏ صرخت‏..‏ قائلة‏..‏ فضحتنا‏..‏ اقعد بأه ـ وامسك لسانك ده‏..‏ أنت ايه‏..‏ هنا‏..‏ همست لها بحدة‏..‏ وطي صوتك‏..‏ انتي في مارينا‏..‏ و‏..‏ عدنا‏.‏

Egyptian Disaster.. AGAIN!!

From the BBC News: The collision between two passenger trains in Egypt is the country's worst rail accident for four years!!.

This is the worst in Four years!!.. Does that mean this is not the only accident!!.. Actually I made some search myself, Look what I found:

February 2006: Passenger ferry with 1,400 sinks in Red Sea.
January 2004: Airliner crashes into Red Sea No survivors likely. A charter with 152 people aboard, most of them French tourists, crashed shortly after takeoff.
February 2002: Train travelling south from Cairo was consumed by a fire, killing some 373 people.
November 1999: A train travelling between Cairo and Alexandria hit a truck and derailed, killing 10 and injuring seven.
April 1999: At least 10 people died and nearly 50 were injured in northern Egypt after a head-on collision between trains.
October 1998: About 50 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a derailment just south of Alexandria. The train failed to stop at buffers and ran into a busy market square. Reports suggested that passengers travelling on the roof of the train may have tampered with an air pipe, disabling the brakes.
February 1997: At least 11 people died after a collision caused by human error and a signalling failure north of Aswan.
February 1996: A train hit a lorry on level crossing 90km north of Cairo, killing 11 people.
December 1995: A train rammed into the back of another in thick fog, killing 75 people. The driver was blamed after an inquiry found that the train was travelling well above the speed limit.
May 1995: Nine people died after a train hit a barrier just north of Cairo and derailed.
April 1995: A train and a bus collided on a level crossing in the Nile Delta, killing 49.
December 1993: At least 12 people died and 60 were injured when two trains collided head-on about 90km north of Cairo.
February 1992: A head-on train collision just outside Cairo killed 43 people.


Just look at all these people getting killed!!, that's one of the worst symbols of just how low the Egyptian citizen is in the government eyes!.. I blame the government for all these disasters.. I believe if the government has even the lowest self dignity, the whole government should resign and announce that they fail to rule Egypt, From the president to every single minister to the heads of the country!.. All should resign form their positions.. But ofcourse, nothing will happen, Its just normal disaster that happens in every country like they always say.. Hope u wake up fellows, and no it doesn't happen this often.. I find no words to say except these written by Ahmed Fouad Negm, Actually its for a whole different disaster when he wrote this poem, but I 'll just use his lines in this disaster too.

الحمد لله خبطنا
تحت بطاطنا
يا اهل مصر المحميه
بالحراميه
الفول كتير والطعميه
والبر عمار
والعيشه معدن واهي ماشيه
اخر اشيا
مادام جنابه والحاشيه
بكروش وكتار

ح تقول لى سينا وما سينا شي
ما تدوشناشي
ما ستميت اوتوبيس ماشى
شاحنين انفار
ايه يعني لما يموت مليون
او كل الكون
العمر اصلا مش مضمون
والناس اعمار

الحمدلله وأهي
ظاطت
والبيه حاطط
في كل حته
مدير ظابط
وإن شالله
حمار

ايه يعني شعب ف ليل ذلة
ضايع كله
دا كفاية بس اما تقول له
احنا الثوار

الحمد الله ولا حولا
مصر الدوله
غرقانة فى الكدب علاوله
والشعب احتار
وكفايه اسيادنا البعدا
عايشين سعدا
بفضل ناس تملا المعده
وتقول اشعار
اشعار تمجد وتماين
حتى الخاين
وان شا الله يخربها مداين
عبد الجبار

Ain Sokhna Trip

Yesterday, I was going to Ain El Sokhna, we started this trip at 5:30pm.. I just had my car battery replaced with a new one, so everything should be pretty fine.. Suddenly, on the middle of the road after 50 Kilos.. The car's battery indicator turned red.. These indicators don't turn on unless there is something wrong.. But it turned off after 5 min or something.. So, I was relieved... Then.. The ABS indicator turned on, then the Airbag system indicator turned on...

I pulled over by the side of the road, no one was really on road coz we were in the middle of the week, and no one actually take a vacation in the middle of the week. Anyway, I pulled over, turned off the car to take a look on the battery, maybe it has been installed in a wrong way or something, I took a look at the battery, everything is in place, everything is plugged in place. I came back into the car, turned it on.. And the engine doesn't start, its not turning on.
I tried to look again at the battery installation, but everything seems in place. I called my cousin, He's a mechanical engineer and very good at what he do, and me and his car have the same engine too. Anyway, he told me don't stop the car engine (He didn't know yet the I already stopped it). By this time, Another car pulled over to check on me, he asked if I need any help, Thank god one of them was actually a mechanic, he took a look at the battery, and he said its installed correctly, but since my car is automatic, we can't just give it a push and start the engine. I had wires so that we can connect my car battery with his, and we did, and I finally started the engine, my cousin told me to stop by the nearest gas station and check on the battery, and that there two options that could have done this, either the battery is bad, or the dynamo is not working.
I pulled over at the next gas station that I found, there were two guys at first who seemed didn't know much about anything, I told them not to touch anything, anyway the electrician in the gas station came, he checked it, over, and over, and over again.
And finally he came with the conclusion that the dynamo is not working. I called my cousin, he had the same opinion as the electrician, and they both told me that all we can do is, just charge the battery, then I have to drive all the way back to Cairo which is 60 Kilos away, without turning any lights on(it was almost 9pm), because all the electric of the car now is depending on the battery..
we charged it, I went on my way, took the first U turn, and headed back to Cairo, I turned off my lights, and I was going behind a microbus depending on his lights..
unfortunately, my car just dropped of battery, because the dynamo is not working, and it turned off by itself.
The bad and the good thing in all this was that my Mom was with me.. I called my cousin to tell him to call his friend who has those big cars to left our car all the way to Cairo, then I called 8000 (mobinil personal services) took the lifting car service of Mobil. I called them, they said they will send me one of their cars now. And they did.. The Mobil car arrived almost at 11:30, we lifted my car, drove to Cairo, sent the car to the mechanic, me and mom took all the stuff that we cant keep in the car (lots of stuff coz we were going in a vacation). Took a taxi back to home, and arrived home at 2:00 am. :-) WOW.. What a trip and a nice vacation!!.. Forgot to tell u, the sky was really clear while waiting for 3 hours in the desert, the stars where amazing, and only one car pulled over to check if we need anything or any help, only one car, all others just drove by!..

United Arab Nations!

Today in the news: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya,
Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen have decided to have one flag, and to plan to have their economy, currency, and army stand as one front, with all the political decisions taken by the people themselves in a true democracy.


Howcome Egypt doesn't pull back the ambassador from Israel!!.. How come we don't even condemns the Israelian attacks!!.. Howcome we blame 'Hezb Allah' saying that they kidnapped 2 soldiers, and we didn't condemn Israel attacking Palestinians every day, killing innocents in cold blood... howcome all Arabs just stand still watching their brothers getting killed!!!.. Can u imagine this, someone killed just by ur side, Here is a picture of it, u both knew about the war and trying to get out of the country, u r both in the bus, and a bus infront of u get blown up by bombs.. Ur bus stop!!.. Passengers run out of the bus with fire shooting all around them, running beside ur freind, he got shot!!.. Imagine ur best friend shot by Israelian soldiers in cold blood!.. He is bleeding infront of u.. That's what is happening now in Lebanon!!..

Its true, we r weak, every Arab country is standing alone.. Weak!.. Howcome there is not even an idea of an Arab union..

To every Israelian: U r not welcomed here, U r not welcomed in my blog, If that's the only thing I can do, then that's it, I 'm telling u in ur face, U r not welcomed by me, and on behalf of all my friends, u r not welcomed by any of them. And please know this, Every single true Arabian heart hates u and ur country..

Wedding

There has been a lot going on lately.. Me leaving work at Harf, getting ready to my flight to the US.. Etc... Last Wednesday 5/7/2006, my best friend got married to a friend of ours.. ofcourse I'm so happy for them, I'm so happy for my best friend, but its kinda wired still, I feel something in me, part of me can't believe it..


Don't know y.. I'm not sad at all ofcourse, and I knew it was going to happen someday, but its just like a dream.. :-) my best friend is getting married!!.. May be coz we went throught a lot together.. And now... I don't know.. My be I just miss him.. miss all of us.. I do, really do.. I miss all my freinds.. God bless u Emad and Asmaa, and help all others to reach what they are dreaming of... I have 2 posts in the draft one about Microsoft's 3rd interview.. I 'll write 2 u later...

My Second Interview

See Also: First Interview

He started with introducing himself, "Hello Hany, My name is Ahmed I'm a testing manager at Microsoft. One of the projects I worked on is testing TCP/IP over windows" or something like that. He started with asking me about my work and what I do, I told him that I developed the ticketing engine for the soccer African cup of nations 2006 that was used to book tickets online for the matches, and the previous week I just finished the development of the Syrian e-government website.
- "very cool, sounds nice... Ok Hany, lets c, Why do you want to join Microsoft?".


"I Love Microsoft, I love the way that Microsoft actually delivers the easiest OS and applications for grandma, grandpa, children and just normal end users. So, it actually delivers and support their needs even accessibility options and still secure".
That’s when he wondered "secured!!.. Don't u hear every now and then about windows trojans and hacks". My answer was "Well, how many windows OS in the world compared to other OSs, ok, what’s the number of end users that uses windows?.. Many of the windows users are actually children, old grandpas and grandmas, or just a normal end user that knows so little about computers. I believe these users are considered a good material for hacking. On the other hand, how many Linux is used on the world?, and who uses it?... most of the Linux users are actually professional IT or developers, give these guys a windows, and it 'll be secured to them just like a Linux and maybe more with up to date service packs and hot fixes. And don't forget that not using Linux so widely at homes like windows, makes it even harder for hackers to learn how to hack it, while the wide spread of windows, gives hackers an opportunity to try and learn on many users, but still, the wide spread of windows and the very good support, hot fixes, and service packs delivered by Microsoft after the windows release, makes it more reliable."
- "Fair enough, What if you couldn't join MS? What will u do?"
- "Its not gonna be the end of world, I’ll climb my career path as I should be, but still, Its like my dream to join MS, I love MS and I want to be part of its team, its just like u r a professional player, u play for many teams, I can join Google, Oracle or whatever, but I love MS as if it was my team and I'll love to join it in the end."
- "What you could probably give to Microsoft?. Do u know how many people work for Microsoft?.
- "A million"
- ":-) no no, not that much, 50,000. What’ll u give in the middle of all that?"
- "I’ll be part of the team, No one stands alone, I'm part of my team".
- "Fair enough, fair enough... Ok Hany, what’s your most 3 preferred computer fields that you like?".
- "Well, AI, I love AI... Cryptography... And" (I don't remember what my 3rd computer field that I said was).
- "Cool"

He read my CV a little bit, then asked me about cryptography, "If some1 wants to send secure information, encrypted information to another pc, how he could possibly do it?". We talked a little about private and public keys, in the end I was saying that PC1 that receives the data have a key which decrypts the message sent, and the other PC2 that sends the message have another key that encrypts the data.. That’s when he asked me
- "Ok, so how PC1 sends the key to PC2?!"
- "On a secure channel" I replied.
- "What is a secure channel!, there nothing called secure channel!" he said while drawing it on paper a channel between 2 PCs, and then drawing a line cutting the channel he drew saying "I'm here now, I interrupted this channel and I can know what’s the key".
I started to think... We just can’t encrypt the key coz that’ll need other keys so that’s an infinite loop. It took me about 10 sec when I said "So what! It doesn’t matter if any one sees the key; actually we don’t even need a secure channel or anything. It’s a public key. Anyone can encrypt a message and send it to me; its just no one can decrypt it; because only me have the private decryption key".

He then started to ask me if I know assembly, my answer was "Yes, we studied assembly during my 3rd year and I love it, but I don't remember it very well". He asked me about interrupts, is there functions in assembly and how we pass parameters between functions...etc.

He then gave me what's considered my first problem during my 2nd interview "We want to implement a function, that takes as a parameter 2 numbers and an operator ('+' or '-') and returns the result of the first number plus or minus the second number depending on the operator. I want u to write the design of this function for me, no code, I don't want u to write the code for me, or the pseudo-code, I want a design, describe the function in text. Ur design, or what u 'll write now, 'll be given to a developer to implement it, so u have to write it so clearly that he can develop it without getting back 2 u or asking u about anything. U should consider in ur design 2 important things, first is object oriented, second is maintenance of the design, which means for example that we can increase the number of operators in the future."

I started to write the design as he said, just after I started he again told me to remember that he doesn't want code or pseudo-code. I took about 7 min or something and then he told me "Ok, that's enough, what we have here?” My design was fine, I considered object orientation and maintenance, for example I thought of having a function that takes an array of numbers and an array of operators, which then calls another function, so that we can increase the number of operations if we want, I also assumed that operators are kept in a table with a pointer to the function that implements this operator so that we can easily add more operators after implementing the function that does the operator and add it to the table, where each function of these takes 2 numbers and an operator and return it to the main function to continue with other operations if there is any more.

He read the design so fast with me, that's when he told me "Ok, I'll take this design now, I'll implement it, I'll code it on my notebook, While doing so, I want you to write the test cases for this function just on the back of your design."
I asked "How should I write the test cases? Like just the input and expected output?" "Yeah, just a table with inputs and expected output for each input"

I started to write my test cases. N.B.: Remember that the most important feature of any application or even a function, is to do what it was designed for. Always start with basic scenarios that 'll usually happen, and then u can begin to test the limits of ur function, maybe whats the max data it can hold as input, max data in output, what about min data, empty.. etc.

So, my first couple of test cases where just Normal test cases, 2+5=7, 8+2=10, 5-2=3, -4-3=-7.... 3.6 + 2.7 =! That's when I asked him "Are we allowed to add float numbers!” "That's actually a very good case, lets see, are we?, lets take a look at the design" he said. In my design I didn't mention whether numbers are integers, double or float, he told me numbers, and I wrote it in my design just like he said, and that's was just the beginning. I then told him that I’ll add in my design that the function allows float, but he told me "No, no, no the design has already been delivered we can’t change the design, just lets see other test cases". Int.Max+1 =!!! Again, I looked at him, "what then? What’s our limit?" I wondered. He answered with a big O, "That’s a very nice case, what's the output of your design on this case", Of course I answered the result’ll be Int.Min that's when he told me "Is that a reasonable answer!!, a guy give a very large number + 1 and the result is in negative!", I said "Nope, I should return an error or something". And ofcourse the same was with int.Min -1. He considered that’s enough trying to point out that my design wasn't actually the best as my test cases tell. That was probably everything about this problem, and we moved to this very hard question.

- "What is the most computer science field that u r good at, and I’ll ask u in it".
- "Thats the most hard question ever could asked" I said laughing.
- "Yes, in the matter of fact It is" He said.
- "Ok, well, AI, Artificial intelligence"
He then gave this puzzle "Four people must cross a bridge at night; the bridge can hold only two. The travelers must use a flashlight to guide their steps and there is only one flashlight. There is one of them that travels the bridge in 1 min, the second in 2 min, the third in 5 and the 4th in 10 min." and that's it.
I didn't get it, "Where is the problem then!!" I stared at him wondering, I couldn’t know so what! they just can pass.
That’s when the HR who were sitting with us spoke up, "So, u want him to get the optimum time to pass the bridge, don’t u?" she was asking Ahmed. He just said that he needed to get any solution, and then we’ll need to optimize it. "Well, I can’t think now but with the optimum path" I said. He answered "Be my guest".
I started to think and talking to myself, he tried to help me at a point, but I told him to wait, I can do it, I jumped to conclusions like that the 10 min guy must pass with the 5 min guy to minimize time, and neither of them can pass twice on the bridge, so whenever they pass together, some1 on the other side from the fast other guys (who are considered fast) must take the flashlight from them to turn it back, then that was it, I got all the hints, put them together and found the solution and told him about it. I believed at this point that the worst thing went on my interview was the design question.

"Time is up" HR said. “Ok Hany, IT was really nice to meet u" said Ahmed standing up and shaking my hand. While we were going out the door, still talking a little about ACM, I mentioned that I used to test the implementation of my friends in the contest because I used to give very good test cases that could define if there were any leaks in there implementation. That's when he pointed to the design paper telling me "Well, u seem u couldn't prove urself that much" he said with a very little smile on his face. To be honest that brought me down a bit as I was heading to the middle room (where we sit between interviews). I was the last one went out from the interview as all the interviewees already were waiting in the room. I sat there, opened a coke, kept on sipping small sips waiting for my 3rd interview.

First Interview

Previously: Before Microsoft Interview (Getting Ready)

- "So, you won the 2nd place in the ACM contest?" he said reading my CV..
- "Yeah" I answered.
- "so what did u do in ACM?".
I started talking about the ACM rules and how the contest goes, Then I told him that I was responsible for dynamic programming, recursion, and pattern problems in my team.
- "Dynamic Programming!, So you are good in dynamic programming?" He asked.
- "Actually not that good, Its like I'm a beginner, Its like I know basics and concepts, but still I can solve some dynamic programming problems." I replied.
- "Okay, I have this dynamic programming problem that I need you to answer me, just to know how much u know about dynamic programming, if you don't understand anything please ask me to tell u the question again".


At this point I was kinda afraid from dynamic programming problems ofcourse, and I wasn't that sure I can solve it, yet I was doing my best to be cool and calm.
Then he asked me this: "You have three big jars, each contains a different type of liquid, and you have many customers come to you, each one requests either a type of liquid from a jar, or asks for a mix between liquids in more than one jar".

I did nothing.. In my mind I thought "What!!".. I didn't even knew why this is a dynamic programming problem!!.. I asked him to explain some more, I even asked where is the problem?. "So, you want me to develop a solution that handles this scenario?" I asked. My idea was to keep customers in a queue with FIFO and just give them whatever they need unless they asked for something that is no longer available then they 'll be tomorrow's queue. I was just giving hints and talking with him, I didn't really give him an exact answer, but we just talked about this one.

He then drew a line on the paper saying "Well, forget this problem, now our interview is going to start".
- "You have people standing in a circle" he said drawing nodes on the paper circularly. "After n someone, this n someone is removed from the circle, and then u start counting another n someone from the last u just remove" explaining what he was saying on paper. "Who wil last till then end?" he asked.
I said "that's Josephus' Problem". He answered "Yes, that's good, you know Josephus' Problem?", "Yes" I replied. He asked me about the idea, and to implement the algorithm, that's when I said "I 'll assume that the linked list data structure is already made", So I wont write the implementation code of the linked list. But he said "No, Implement the code of the linked list, I want the whole problem solved from scratch".

I implemented both the linked list and Josephus' algorithm, then he started to take a look at the code with me, he didn't comment on the linked list implementation, but when we got to the main problem's algorithm he asked me "How could you make this code work better?". My answer was mainly about just simple code optimizations that makes the code more easily readable and just saves one or two checks and code lines.
- "Ok, how can you test your code?".
This was actually the key to most of my algorithm implementation failure, I started to tell him test cases, my first couple of test cases were normal test cases just to make sure that the algorithm is running ( and that's the only thing that passed my testing). What if the number n to remove from the list is zero?, what about the list is empty?, Okay, the worst is.. What if the number n to remove from the list is NEGATIVE.. And some others, my implementation was actually handling the basic cases of the algorithm the normal cases, and sometimes it passed some of my cases, but not all of them.

Anyway, he then started to read my CV, he noticed that my graduation project was robot motion planning, so he started asking me about it. I even explained to him the algorithms I used, what I was responsible for in this project?, how did I move the robot in both known and unknown environments, and how I divided my environment into small cells.

Then he asked me about the MCSE course, and how I became MCSA certified, he then asked me about TCP, UDP, DHCP, supernetting, DNS.

That was almost everything in the first interview, Thoughts in my mind were "My first interview went fine, but still I have a long way to go." .

The interview almost took 45 min, and then me and the other four interviees met in our room, where we hanged out, drink some coke and relax for 15 min, I didn't really talk about anything, I was trying to concentrate as much as possible.

My second interview was with a testing manager called Ahmed, when we went on the interviewing room together, the table was in the middle of the room where we sat facing each other, and again a laptop infront of him, some papers and a pencil. One of the HR ( the girl who called me in the phone interview) came to the room with us, telling me that she hopes it wont bother me staying with us, she sat with us for the whole 45 min of the interview taking notes.

To be continued.