The Insider: Another Microsoftie tries his hand on reality TV

EYE FOR A MICROSOFT GUY: Microsoft's reputation on reality television could soon improve considerably, thanks to one of the company's Singapore-based employees.

Howard Lo, who moved from Redmond two years ago, is one of 10 contestants on "Eye For A Guy 2," a reality TV dating show now airing on MediaCorp TV Singapore Channel 5. He and his rivals are competing for the affections of supermodel Denise Keller, an MTV Asia VJ.

Reality TV show fans may recall that another Microsoft employee, Verna Felton, became the first contestant to voluntarily leave Donald Trump's show, "The Apprentice."

But Lo, a 28-year-old Microsoft community program manager, is faring much better on "Eye For A Guy," at least based on the one episode aired thus far. At the conclusion of the first episode, Keller ranked Lo as the front-runner at that point among the 10 contestants. She was apparently charmed by a song he sang, accompanying himself on guitar, with lyrics he wrote poking a little fun at some of the other contestants.

"She was cracking up -- she really liked it," Lo said last week, describing it as "one of the luckier moments of my life."

Lo isn't allowed to comment on the contents of unaired episodes, so it is unclear how he fared from that point. The winner gets a 10-day European vacation with Keller.

WHAT'S A RETIRED SOFTWARE CEO SUPPOSED TO DO?: Attachmate founder Frank Pritt, who sold his 23-year-old Bellevue software company to a group of private equity firms last week, isn't sure what he will do once his retirement starts next month.

An avid boater who also has raced vintage sports cars, Pritt, 64, said he needs to find a new hobby. But he said he doesn't have the "foggiest idea" what that might be.

"It seems like I have done about everything there is to do, but I am sure I can find something," he said. "I was thinking about fly fishing, but that might be a little too boring for me."

Pritt, who sold his 70 percent stake in Attachmate for an undisclosed price, said he plans to travel to Hawaii in the next couple of weeks to "clear his head."

WHAT'S WAMU IN SPANISH? Washington Mutual Inc. Chief Executive Kerry Killinger has been working over the years to build a national retail-banking brand name. At last week's annual meeting, a shareholder asked Killinger if he'd consider international expansion -- particularly to Canada or Mexico and other Latin American countries, to serve customers who move back and forth across the border or want to transfer funds.

Killinger said Canada is a "back burner" item, but Wamu is interested in what it might do south of the border, given its growing Hispanic customer base, a market that the company has specifically targeted. "It makes sense for us to make sure we're taking care of their needs," he said.

Killinger said the question reminded him of the queries he would get years ago when Wamu was a Northwest institution. Given the travels of its customers, he would be asked, when would Wamu expand to a somewhat foreign market -- California.

A JOYOUS HOLIDAY, IMPROVED: An Israeli rabbi has ruled that Viagra, the original and best-known treatment for impotence, is kosher for Passover. His ruling reversed an earlier determination that the drug can't be used by observant Jews during the weeklong holiday, which began Saturday night. It celebrates the Jews' release from Egyptian slavery in about 1290 BC.

During the holiday, religious Jews avoid ingesting anything containing yeast, and apparently Viagra's coating does. But the drug can be made kosher for Passover use if, before the holiday begins, it's inserted into an empty capsule made of kosher gelatin, Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu ruled, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Eliahu apparently made no determination whether Viagra's two competitors -- Levitra, from Bayer Pharmaceuticals, and Cialis, jointly produced by Lilly and Bothell-based Icos -- can also be made kosher.

"We know Lilly's Israeli affiliate addressed that question last year," Icos spokeswoman Lacy Fitzpatrick said. But the affiliate couldn't be reached Friday, she said, because everyone there had already left to begin the holiday.

P-I reporters Todd Bishop, John Cook, Dan Richman and Bill Virgin contributed to this edition of The Insider, the P-I business staff's weekly compendium of quips, quotes, observations asides, tidbits, weird facts and gossip.

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