John Gruber over at the fantastic Daring Fireball linked to this story over at ZDNet titled “Where in the World is J Allard?”.

It’s a question many of us have been wondering with no shortage of speculation on just what “Extreme Business” he’s been on. After all, it’s been over a year since anyone’s heard from the guy and you know he has to be doing something amazing. For those curious on this relic from the Xbox past (and frequent DGR/TFL cannon fodder), following are some highlights from the ZDNet article.

On where he is now (emphasis mine):

“Over the past month or so, I’ve been asking around about Allard’s whereabouts. One of my sources who has been a pretty reliable tipster in the past told me that Allard is on sabbatical and is unlikely to return to Microsoft. His name is still in the Global Address Book inside Microsoft, I hear, and his bio page is still unaltered on the Microsoft Corporate Web site, where he still is listed as Chief Experience Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Entertainment and Devices Division.”

On why he might have left Microsoft:

“Word inside was Allard was none too happy about the killing off of Courier and has finally made good on his (what sounds like they may have been regular) threats about leaving the company all together. (Another person with whom I communicated claimed CEO Steve Ballmer showed Allard the door because of disagreements regarding the Courier’s potential.)”

The article also quotes from sources that state the nature of Allard’s role and importance within the company. I got a chuckle out of the Steve Jobs comparison. Does he not wear shoes either?

My guess is that Allard has taken a Zune and solar sailed into deep space. He is currently using it to colonize a soon to be named Planet X with just his teeth and some gum in Zero G and without oxygen. That shit’s extreme. Sigh. Old jokes die hard here.

The far more respectable John Gruber hazards a guess that we’ll see Allard moving over to Google. I could actually see that.

For old time’s sake:

Living in the Russian Federation 21/10/2008

I’ve now been in Russia for a day and a half with almost no sleep or food as of yet. But it’s ok, I’ve had an amazing time so far and I’m really blown away by how nice the city is. First things first, I want to dispel the myth that the city is ridiculous levels of cold. Experience so far puts it at a little warmer and clearer than Leeds, whilst it may get much colder during January and February, right now it’s pleasantly mild.

Today was my first day in the office, a daunting prospect when I hadn’t really gotten my bearings with my surroundings yet (or eaten any food). I hadn’t even had any coffee due to a lack of milk, which as those who know me will understand means that I was barely even functioning on a basic level this morning.

A good thing that I had a Taxi organised to get me to the office! Even better was the really nice quality FREE coffee available all day long in the office. This was a good thing seeing as I was there from 8am through until 8pm – a pretty lengthy first day on the job. I only stopped once to pick up some sandwiches somewhere around lunchtime so by the time I finished I’d had almost nothing to eat since mid-day yesterday (and that was an in-flight meal…) Some how I managed to find my way around the Moscow Underground Metro and arrive at the street I’m staying at (Novvy Arbat).

I was really impressed with the sheer liveliness of the city – there’s a really amazing vibe that I really wasn’t expecting.

After looking at the shiny stuff I decided that I should really find somewhere to get some food so I started exploring until I found a 24 hour place. Now Moscow is expensive, people warned me but I had no idea. I bought the following:

Toothpaste, cheese, bread, ketchup, Pringles equivalent, a bottle of Pepsi, 2 bottles of Mountain Dew, some shower gel and a Snickers.

The total cost for this stupidly small list was £26 or $47

WOW

I eventually made it back to the apartment with less trouble than I’d anticipated.

Philthy