ALL NOVEL 397. official society.
Seattle is a classic American city, its industry and business sectors fueling American expansion, and from certain understandable encounters, you can see that the development of the entire industry is guided in a particular direction.
-So we’re headed here, - Monica remarked as she took in the business district. It was something different, she hadn’t expected something so vast.
-I don’t have much time, but I think it’ll be enough before our trip to Italy, - Billy told her, giving the brunette a gentle kiss. - Paul will take you to the shopping centers a few blocks away. You can use the time to buy clothes or anything else you might need... I’ve arranged for a supplementary card; you can spend up to $10,000 a day on your expenses. If you need something more expensive, you can use a credit card. -
Her eyes lit up at the thoughtful gesture, noticing the shiny silver letters spelling out Billy Carson’s name against the black background of the American Express card. She’d been given a credit card before, but now she had a debit card for daily expenses. She tried to hide her smile but couldn’t. She missed part of the conversation as Billy gave instructions to the security team.
Now the security team had a fixed rotation of five members, with Erwin as the leader, Douglas Sing as the vice-captain, Roy Hancock, Paul Ambrosio, and Kael. Among them, Billy entered with Roy as his escort for the pending meetings at Bill Gates’ company.
The $500 million deal had the security to ensure that Billy’s moves would improve the Hotmail page, along with some small agreements, but the salary for being a commercial advisor was nothing to scoff at.
As a commercial advisor for Hotmail, now part of Microsoft, Billy had a deal to receive 1% of the company’s profits during his tenure as an advisor. Given his role, he had to focus on improving the well-known Hotmail page.
The meeting stretched over two hours, covering all processes, attachments, and operations conducted over the past few months—three, to be exact—since they gained the power to participate in the use of email. They had expanded their service to Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, facing challenges in Asia, and decided to plan a major launch for February of the following year.
-Two simple things: if we want to attract the public, the first is the visual appeal of the page. I’d like to propose the use of a defined color palette—blue, white, and gray. For points 2 and 3 in this meeting... for points 4 and 5, we should improve the message-sending capacity, allowing attachments of at least 5 megabytes if possible. Point 6, in line with the proposal to engage with European universities, the sooner the better. I’ll be in Italy for Christmas, and I might reach out to some of them. - The room fell silent. The chief engineer wanted to shout that sending files over 5 megabytes was impossible but held back. - As for points 7 and 8, they’re not as relevant, and it’s better to focus on what we have and expand on the needs that email requires. When forming an idea, it’s possible to say that we want an online desk where the user can adjust their schedule, so I believe we should prioritize the initial points on this agenda. -
-What will the page design be based on? - the company’s global design department asked.
-Page improvement, quality, image, and of course, log in. It’s possible that in the coming years, performing actions won’t require waiting time; I want that to happen now, minimizing wait times for transactions. Investing in a better network is more important than anything else, - Billy stated.
The color scheme was based on the dark blue of Lux Animation, but now with a lighter blue and different shades, it could be called Microsoft’s version.
The process of sending an email is as follows:
Sender >> WWW Server >> (Internet) >> Destination Server >> Recipient.
For now, the servers, the internet itself, and the destination server aren’t capable of handling a 5-megabyte load. The fact that it can send a black-and-white photo with a one-page Word document is a significant advance. This advancement was made in 1992, but Billy added the 1-megabyte attachment. Now, with the push to 5 megabytes, it requires substantial work.
-I don’t want an explanation of how it’s done—I want you to find out why it can’t be done and how you’re going to solve it. If you can’t do it, you can’t. You’re the experts. But remember, if another company achieves it first, while you’re part of one of the pioneering email services, don’t expect a ‘well done’ at the end of the year, - Billy responded, silencing the engineers' doubts. - On another note, delegating many services is good, as long as they’re entirely separated in function. For instance, to log into a page, I need a user that’s allowed, provided the page is separate from the email and information. Improving the email service is the priority. -
The IP reading, which will be widely used in the future, is already planning the Messenger chat for its next big launch, something that needs to be kept under wraps for now. They focus on news, browsers, and domains, forgetting about the instant messaging service.
***
-Ma’am, you can’t go alone; Mr. Carson forbade you from walking alone, - Roy commented.
-What do you mean, forbade? -
-Yes, ma’am, the orders were clear: not to leave your side, to take you wherever you wish to go, and, of course, to ensure your safety, - the man in the suit replied, somewhat uneasily. He needed to be vigilant about anyone following her, just as had happened with the women who previously dated Billy. Special attention was necessary. The thing is, when you deny something to a woman, she tends to think the opposite of what she should.
The eagle-eyed man watched but didn’t intervene.
-Fine, but don’t bother the other people, - Monica said as she walked toward the handbag store. Even if they offered her handbags for promotions, she always liked to see what was new from the brands, including perfumes, although for now, she only allowed herself a single fragrance.
The dilemma of commercial brands had ruined her sense of fashion in certain aspects. She could still buy from better-known brands, like jeans, dress shirts, and anything not considered high fashion. A complicated clause that Monica simply chose to ignore.
***
Microsoft Games was in action.
-For now, we’re working on the specific controls you developed; in terms of ergonomics, they’re fantastic, - Marcus, a worker at the video game company, responded. - The studies skipped a lot of work time, - using a strong course and various types of designs, they were building the essential parts while waiting.
The research system conducted an in-depth study on how to improve the processor, but it was clear that this would take enough time to carry into the end of the decade. The bold proposals and daring game developments from ID Software were targeting a market that might be young but wouldn’t lose its identity for two simple reasons: they wanted a portable console with specific and unique characteristics, dedicated solely to games.
-How’s my request for the portable console coming along? With a capacity of 64 bits at 97 MHz, if you can upgrade the system to 64 bits at 180 MHz, I’d be greatly appreciative of all your efforts, - Billy commented, knowing the strength of a company that develops this kind of video game.
-That’s more challenging, but we’re working on microprocessors. So far, nothing is going as we hoped, but... you’re right, if we can identify a similar service like cell phones, the advancement could be significant, -responded the chief researcher, Hayato.
-For now, let’s focus on compressing these types of video games and on improving and producing batteries that can support six to eight hours of gameplay, - Billy suggested, feeling the air of the next big phase of Lux Animation.
-We’ll do our best, - Hayato replied.
...