Steve Ballmer (Microsoft photo)

What does Steve Ballmer have in common with Dale Chihuly? Unless the Microsoft CEO has been taking glass-blowing lessons on the side, the answer is that each has contributed the maximum $50,000 to President-elect Barack Obama's Inaugural Committee

The committee's website also lists "William Gates" for a $50,000 donation, although it's not clear f that's the Microsoft co-founder or his father, who are often confused in elections filings. Melinda Gates is listed separately for another $50,000 donation, as is Ballmer's wife, Connie. That's $200,000 total from the Gates and Ballmer families, for anyone keeping track.

Those are far from only Seattle techies on the list. Here are some of the other notable locals who caught our eye.

Rob Glaser, RealNetworks CEO, $50,000
Steven Van Roekel, Windows Server Solutions, $50,000
Nick Hanauer, Second Avenue Partners, $25,000
Craig Mundie, Microsoft chief research and strategy officer, $25,000
Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel, $25,000
Mike Mathieu, former CEO of All Star Directories, $25,000

Several Googlers also are on the list, all at the $25,000 level, including CEO Eric Schmidt, co-founder Larry Page, search vice president Marissa Mayer, and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley.

[Link via Joe Tartakoff.]