Microsoft "Hack Day" is creative play at work
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A group of 75 Microsoft developers set out Thursday to brainstorm at an internal event called "Hack Day."
The topic of the day was Windows Live a collection of online services being built to compete with Google and Yahoo! The idea is that pulling developers away from their routines and giving them beer, laptops and an empty cafeteria might inspire their creativity.
Crunch time is pretty much all the time in the Windows Live group these days. New Web search or instant-messaging features come out in weeks, not years, as companies step up the pace to outdo each other. And unusual deadlines call for unusual measures, which is how Hack Day came to be.
