As many of you probably already know, Silverlight 2 was released in the wee hours of the morning (3AM EST or 12AM Microsoft-time). We've noticed some inconsistencies with the upgrade process from Silverlight 2 Beta 2 to the Silverlight Release, so I figured I would share our findings with you here.

It looks like there was an issue with the Silverlight Auto-Updater in Silverlight Beta 2, so a Windows Update was pushed this morning to rectify the auto-updater. The windows update pertains to Microsoft Support article KB955011.

As a result, users who didn't install the Windows Update yet were prompted with what I call a "not-so-intuitive" upgrade process for Silverlight 2. They basically have the same experience as users who don't have Silverlight at all:

Those who did install the Windows Update will see what I call the "More-intuitive" image:

So to accommodate for those users who didn't install the update, we've created our own custom image that explains why Silverlight has to be updated:

So now everything should be as smooth as we can expect it to be.

MacLeans recently ran an article about the Top 100 places to work in Canada. After reviewing the perks that a lot of the top companies were providing to their employees, it really surprised me that imason isn't on that list. At first I thought maybe it was because we are too small (We have approximately 36 full time employees), but then I noticed there were several companies with less than 30 employees that made the list. We must not have applied to make the list; otherwise I’m sure we would have been listed.

Here are some of the perks that we have at imason (that we sometimes take for granted):

·         Paid birthdays off (if it falls on a weekday)

·         Annual company trip to Canadian destination (Usually a 3-4 day trip)

·         Paid week between Christmas and New Years off

·         Free Home Internet and subsidized Cell Phone

·         Pool table, XBox and beer fridge at office

·         Profit Sharing program

·         Vacation starts at 3 weeks (In addition to Christmas break / birthday / company trip)

·         Monthly Gym membership / sports activity coverage

·         Fundraiser matching for charity work

·         Subsidized training / education for career growth

·         Comprehensive benefits plan for employees / spouses and family

These are some of the things that I think could put us on the list. But for the time being, we'll enjoy our beer fridge and pool table while the employees at Procter & Gamble can keep their 3 paid personal days off and their health benefits transfer plan.