Posted by Kevin Schofield Perhaps it’s just me, but I wince whenever my American phone or GPS tries to pronounce a French restaurant name or a Spanish street name, or the name of one of my non-American friends. While we’ve made much progress in creating…
Posted by Steve Clayton There are a lot of really cool projects at TechFest this year - if you pushed me to pick a personal favorite, I'd choose FetchClimate!. With amazing demonstrations such as Holoflector and Illumishare, this is one that you may notexpect...allow me to explain why I'm so…
Posted by Kevin Schofield One of the perennial challenges for teachers is to find new ways to keep students engaged and interacting in class. Some have embraced a new generation of in-classroom technology where each student has a pocket-sized wireless keypad. The teacher can “poll”…
Posted by Steve Clayton We talk about Bing as a “decision engine” that anticipates your intent and surfaces search results to help you quickly make an informed decision. Built into this concept is the assumption that productivity is your chief goal. The Socio-Digital Systems group…
Posted by Kevin Schofield Of the 6800 “living” languages in use around the world, close to half are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. The historical and cultural heritage represented by those languages is in danger of being lost forever – in fact, some experts predict that…
Posted by Steve Clayton With most digital cameras these days, you can shoot still photos or video. The critical question, then, is which one to use when you’re at your child’s soccer game or out with a group of friends: a picture often won’t do…
Posted by Steve Clayton I’ve learned to track the work of Hrvoje Benko from Microsoft Research quite closely. He’s been involved in projects such as MirageTable, LightSpace, Pinch-the-Sky Dome and products such as the Microsoft Touch Mouse. This week at TechFest, he’s been showing his…
Posted by Rob Knies With March 2012 upon us, you could say that, from a calendar perspective, the drama of this leap year already has passed. February has enjoyed its quadrennial enhancement. The ides of March are nearly upon us. A change of season…
On February 9, 2012, Russian astronomers of all levels—professional, amateur, student, and teacher—congregated at Moscow’s Sternberg Astronomical Institute for WorldWide Telescope Day. Russia’s foremost astronomy institution, the Sternberg Astronomical Institute, also known as GAISH, represents the top echelons of the country’s astronomical research and science…
Imagine the informational and cultural isolation that can result if you don’t speak one of the world’s major languages. Think about how limited your Internet experience would be. This is a reality for billions of people worldwide, who find themselves cut off linguistically from this…
Posted by Paul Coebergh The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology announced today that Jennifer Chayes, Microsoft distinguished scientist and managing director of Microsoft Research New England, has been selected to receive the Women of Vision Leadership Award. Founded in 1997 by renowned computer…
Posted by Rob Knies Sometimes, things can go sideways. There are an infinite number of ways that a project can get derailed. We’re human. We understand this.But every once in a while, it seems as if everything just stays on track, from start to finish.…
