I’ve gotten to know Stephen Toulouse, better known as Stepto, through at least a couple of his jobs inside Microsoft over the years. In my mind he has always been one of the real characters inside the company — a sharp guy who was able keep sense of humor even in the high-stress role of speaking on behalf of Microsoft’s security initiatives.

The 18-year Microsoft veteran said yesterday that he’s leaving the company, deciding that it’s time to move on after spending most of his adult life there. Read his full blog post here.

In recent years, he has worked as the Xbox Live director of policy and enforcement, a job that he captured with a something that he called a “Reading from the Xbox Live Book of Enforcement.”

I first saw it a few years back at PAX, but he developed it into a full-blown performance for the W00tstock events. To commemorate his announcement this week, here’s the traditional shaky cam video from the front row, embedded above.

Also check out his book, A Microsoft Life.

Good luck, Stepto, and hope to see you around.

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