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Microsoft has been whistling past the graveyard quite a bit lately with regard to its mobile strategy, but now it's actually invoking funereal imagery to show its confidence in Windows Phone 7.

To celebrate the Sept. 1 release to manufacturing of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft's long-awaited makeover for the plodding relic known as Windows Mobile, company employees last Friday marched through the Redmond campus adorned in graveyard regalia and staged mock funerals -- complete with hearses -- for Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry.

The message? That Windows Phone 7, which Microsoft plans to unveil at a media event in New York City on Oct. 11, is going to "bury" the mobile competition. Microsoft employees even performed a surprisingly well choreographed dance routine to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," perhaps to illustrate the idea that their company is about to claw its way out of its mobile grave and wreak havoc on an unsuspecting mobile market.

Although Microsoft's goal here was to have some fun and attract some publicity, its suggestion that Windows Phone 7 is going exert a "Night Of the Living Dead"-type of effect on mobile competitors is frightfully bold. Gartner expects Microsoft's share of the mobile phone market to continue shrinking even after Windows Phone 7 hits the market, from 4.7 percent this year to 3.9 percent by 2014.

Apple, meanwhile, is dealing with heavy demand for the iPhone 4, which hasn't been dampened by the 'AntennaGate' issue. Microsoft may have a point with RIM, to which Windows Phone 7 is much more of a near term threat .

Interestingly, Microsoft employees, in their faux death march, didn't include a hearse for Google's Android OS, which has been seeing the most rapid growth over the course of this year and appears set to continue growing for the foreseeable future.

Microsoft is reportedly preparing to drum up demand for Windows Phone 7 devices, which are due this holiday season, with a massive marketing campaign costing in the neighborhood of $1 billion, and possibly much more.

Although reviews of Windows Phone 7 have been largely positive, Microsoft isn't on the radar of most consumer smartphone users, and the company will have to bring the full weight of its marketing muscle to bear in order to change this perception.

‘This second edition is a much-anticipated modernisation of a classic book within the perioperative educational environment that should appear on the bookshelf of every student and educator. It is easy-to-read and contains diagrams, tables and photographs to support the written content. The first edition been updated to support the graduate workforce within perioperative practice, with chapters covering everything from the design of the operating department and decontamination and sterilisation to the management of perioperative medical emergencies within the operating department. The list of contributors reads like a who's who within the world of perioperative education and practice in the modern healthcare environment, and each of the 39 chapters links theory and practice within the perioperative environment with the detail they have come to know and expect from the previous edition.'

Giles Farrington Source: RODP PGCHPE FHEA MAcadMEd, Senior ODP Critical Care and Resuscitation, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

‘Fundamentals of Operating Department Practice is a must-have addition to any perioperative practitioner's literature collection. The first edition of this text was my “go to” resource when studying to become an Operating Department Practitioner, but what this second edition demonstrates is how the perioperative practitioner role has evolved, and continues to evolve. This text has been revised with the aim to be much more informative, utilising the current best evidence-based practice, written by the multidisciplinary subject matter experts. The wide-ranging Topics this text includes will be of benefit to both pre- registration and post-registration perioperative practitioners, and offers information on some of the most challenging aspects of perioperative practice. It is thorough in its approach and layout and is an enjoyable and informative read.'

Mark Cannan - MSc, BSc (Hons), Dip HE (ODP), Advanced Critical Care Practitioner (ACCP) and ODPs, North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

‘This really is a go-to textbook for all students, the newly qualified and those ODPs further along in their career. All the essential Topics are covered, along with many more you may not regularly practise in. The authors provide all the up-to-date information, in easy-to-understand language that will help you to refresh your knowledge and maintain your HCPC standards.'

Angela Lösekann - Perioperative Practitioner Team Leader, Education and Training LeadOxford National Organ Retrieval team, Churchill Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

‘This new edition of Fundamentals of Operating Department Practice is a must for all student ODPs, as well as being a valuable resource for qualified ODPs. The writing is clear and concise and not too jargon-heavy, making it an accessible resource for all.'

Samantha Kimberley - Operating Department Practitioner, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

‘This second edition is a textbook for both registered practitioners working in perioperative practice and students on pre-registration ODP and nursing courses. Chapters are organised so that readers can work through the content in a way that mirrors the patient's perioperative journey. Alternatively, chapters can easily be accessed independently as required for revision or reference. It excels in its holistic approach towards patient care, and is inclusive of subjects that students may find challenging in practice; the chapters concerning perioperative cardiac arrest and care of patients after death are particularly well considered. A useful resource for academics to support the planning of teaching and learning, and practice supervisors and mentors will find ideas and prompts for conversations with students in practice.'

Joanna Holland - RN DipN BA (Hons) MSc FHEA, Lecturer, BSc Nursing, School of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Brighton, Theatre Nurse, Royal Sussex County Hospital, University Hospitals Sussex

‘The 2nd edition of Fundamentals of Operating Department Practice is an excellent resource for both ODP students as well as more experienced ODPs looking to refresh their knowledge. Whilst the emphasis is on important clinical, equipment and monitoring topics, there are some excellent chapters on non-clinical issues aspects such as Ethics, the Law and infection control which are relevant to all staff working in the operating department. Writing a comprehensive book like this is not an easy task and the authors should be very proud of producing a superb text and that will be an invaluable resource to all ODPs.'

Anil Hormis - Consultant in Anaesthesia & Critical Care Medicine, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

'It was a pleasure to be given the opportunity to read the second edition of the Fundamentals of Operating Department Practice. The size and scope of this book serves to highlight the complexity of modern perioperative care and the enormous amount of knowledge that a student in perioperative practice must master. As such, this volume is a go to resource for those seeking to understand the fundamental principles that underpin practice and, most importantly, the care of the perioperative patient. It is not only students who will benefit from the information in this book, there is much between the covers that established practitioners will find informative.'

Bill Kilvington - FCODP, FRCA, Patient Safety Lead, The College of Operating Department Practitioners

On this episode of Chargers Weekly, Matt "Money" Smith and Chris Hayre analyze last Sunday's win vs the Las Vegas Raiders & talk where the Bolts stand at the bye week with a fan mp;amp;A. The hosts talk about edge rusher Khalil Mack's incredible performance, discuss what running back Austin Ekeler's return means for the Chargers, and how quarterback Justin Herbert will use the bye week to be prepared for the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6. Find out what recent trades mean for the future of the 2023 season and talk about why beating the Cowboys would be big for a 2023 playoff push for LA. Presented by Microsoft Surface.

The company reports that it’s making progress on its multi-stage plan of returning to the office, while continuing to allow some amount of work-from-home for many employees.

Microsoft says it will open its Redmond, Wash., headquarters and nearby campuses to more workers starting March 29, while continuing to emphasize a hybrid work approach going forward.

Employees can choose to return to those work sites, continue to work remotely or do a mix, said Kurt DelBene, Microsoft’s executive vice president in charge of COVID-19 response efforts, in a blog post Monday. The company, which has about 160,000 employees, had originally required remote working for all work sites except essential on-site workers starting in March 2020.

[Related: Microsoft’s WFH Policy Will Spread, But Data Security ‘Needs To Be Addressed’ By Employers]

“As some employees return to their global work sites and others prefer or need to work remotely, they are finding additional ways of putting their hybrid workplace into practice,” DelBene said in the post. “At each of their global work sites, the hybrid workplace model strikes a balance, providing limited additional services on campus for those who choose to return, while supporting those who need to work remotely or feel more comfortable doing so.”

Microsoft, he added, has “never stopped monitoring local health data and tracking government requirements to determine when their campuses could safely accommodate additional workers onsite.”

The company has operated off a six-phase reopening plan instead of a timeline, with headquarters moving from the “work from home strongly encouraged” third phase to the “soft open” fourth phase of the plan.

On the sixth phase, when COVID-19 is less of a burden, most work sites will drop pandemic-specific requirements and prevention measures and nearly all campus services will return, DelBene said.

The measures include social distancing of workspaces, face coverings, extensive cleaning procedures, daily health attestations and more. Microsoft has provided employees and external staff with disinfectant wipes and face coverings while on site. The company has also limited conference room and transportation services capacity, added hand sanitizer dispensers throughout its buildings and posted signs in common areas and cafeterias to encourage social distancing.

“Thousands” of employees have already returned to a Microsoft work site “in some capacity,” DelBene said. According to a Microsoft survey, 54 percent of employees spend less than a quarter of their time at a work site, and 69 percent spend half their time or less on site.

Ultimately, Microsoft’s goal is “is to supply employees further flexibility, allowing people to work where they feel most productive and comfortable, while also encouraging employees to work from home as the virus and related variants remain concerning,” DelBene said.

The tech giant will not go fully remote permanently any time soon. DelBene said Microsoft wants physical offices worldwide for innovation labs, sales centers and customer and partner interactions.

Microsoft is testing meeting spaces at its Redmond and U.K. campuses with multiple screens, cameras and mixed-reality elements to allow for teams with some workers on site and others remote. “It’s still early days, but we’ve explored solutions that range from simply reconfiguring existing technologies to designing exciting new Microsoft Teams innovations for hybrid work,” DelBene said.

The company expects a new standard after COVID-19 of some employees working less than half the time from home, if their managers and teams agree.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s investments in its collaboration tools and cloud infrastructure to embrace the trend of hybrid work include Teams’ “Together Mode” and Teams Rooms devices.

Various tech vendors have wrestled with allowing employees to return to the office despite the ongoing burden of COVID-19, with most choosing to extend work-from-home policies. In February, Salesforce announced a new policy to allow most of its employees to work part- or full-time at home on a permanent basis.