Here at InterKnowlogy, as a Microsoft Gold Partner, we pride ourselves on being able to keep up with the latest and greatest technologies, and to bring that breadth of knowledge and experience to the table for our customers.  As an example, the latest projects we’re working on are based on WPF, Silverlight, Surface, Windows Phone 7, and even iPad development.  As we all know, the pace at which new technologies come out of Microsoft and other industry leaders these days is crazy, so it becomes difficult to keep up. 

At IK, we have a perk we call RECESS. 

Research (and)
Experimental
Coding (to)
Enhance
Software
Skills

The company gives us some time each week to work on whatever we want – learn a new technology, write an app for a different platform, investigate the feasibility of some new pattern, catch up on new language features, etc.  It’s a great investment that IK makes in us to spend a few hours away from our current project, doing something completely different, and then share that knowledge amongst the rest of the company.  We got the idea from one of our devs working at Microsoft a couple years ago – that team had a similar program.

We don’t always end up with a finished “product”, maybe we just cut some sample code, read some articles, etc. but once in a while, we end up with some very cool stuff.  As an example, some of the actual software we’ve created during RECESS:

• Surface Craps
• Surface JukeBox
• Wish 43
• Surface Curling
• Firebrick
• Atlas (Virtual Earth on Surface)
• 3D Boxes (Surface physics engine display)
• Surface PixMatch (child picture matching game)
• Surface YouTube viewer
• Blackjack
• . . .

Anyway, thought the RECESS concept is worth mentioning – I think it’s a very cool “feature” of working here. 

Well, … this afternoon is RECESS, so I have to get busy learning something new…