parvez's favorite microsoft pages, page 1

Last login: 11 hours agoParvez: Parvez is a 34 year old single guy from Bangalore, KA, India.; Likes 30,180 pages, 50 videos, 95 photos • 557 fans • Received 56 reviews; Member since Mar 31, 2004

Favorites » His microsoft pages

Microsoft Researchs SearchTogether project looks promising: Jun 5, 7:21pm 1 review internet, search, science, research, microsoft
http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/06/05/microsoft-researchs-...; Microsoft Research points out that existing search engines (Live Search included) don't support collaborative search because they weren't designed to be used by more than one person. Current solutions (two computers and communicating over phone or IM) are nowhere near optimal; SearchTogether, on the other hand, allows users to work together regardless of location or time (it can be used synchronously or asynchronously). Worth looking at more seriously!

Survivor Buddy, a friendly robot rescuer: May 17, 7:05pm 1 review science, usa, microsoft, robots, emergency
http://www.primidi.com/2008/05/17.html; The St. Petersburg Times, Florida, reports that a well-known robot designer, Robin Murphy, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of South Florida (USF), 'plans to add a heart to robot rescuers.' As says USF, the goal is to develop 'a robot that will be a companion to a person who may be trapped after a car crash or in building ruins following an earthquake, or someone pinned down by sniper fire.' As said Murphy, 'robots can provide not only a sense of being a 'buddy' by playing soothing music or providing other entertainment, the robot also can be the audio and video link between survivor and family.' Murphy will develop this robot with some money coming from Microsoft. Good news only!

Microsoft tries to put a ceiling on ultra-low-cost PC power - Boing Boing: May 12, 7:25pm 1 review business, computers, usa, microsoft, world
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/12/microsoft-tries-to-p.html; From the page: "Microsoft is trying to distort the market for cheap, tiny laptops by setting up artificial incentives to manufacturers to limit the power and capability of their lowest-cost units -- even if a vendor can figure out how to put more storage, a bigger screen, or a touchscreen into its machines, Microsoft doesn't want it there, and they'll punish any vendor that tries by refusing to license XP Home Edition on the same preferential terms that lower-spec machines get. The key term here ls "Ultra Low Cost" -- note that this is not the same as "Ultra Low Spec. The primary market for these super-cheap machines are kids and poor people, and they'll be the collateral damage in Microsoft's crusade. If Microsoft wants to set up a licensing program for low cost machines, then cost should be the limiting factor, not power." I hope Microsoft understands the issues involved here better

Microsoft increases focus on Fone+ cellphone project for the poor - Engadget Mob…: May 9, 8:36pm 1 review business, usa, poverty, microsoft, development
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/05/08/microsoft-increases-focus-on-fone-ce...; Microsoft has been touting its Fone+ project for a little while now, but it looks like the company is starting to step up its efforts a bit further, with the new head of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Group, Craig Mundie, reportedly leading the charge to increase the focus on the project aimed at bringing cellphones to the poor. This isn't a case of simply handing out as many barebones handsets as possible, however. Instead, Microsoft wants to use the cellphones (which are described as a "low-to-mid-end smartphone") as an alternative to computers like the OLPC, an idea the company has been tossing around since before the Fone+ project even had a name. To make things a bit more practical, the cellphones would be paired with a dock that hooks up to TV, resulting in a system that Mundie says is "a lot cheaper than having to buy a whole separate computer." Unfortunately, while it is upping its efforts, Microsoft apparently still isn't ready to provide any sort of timeline about when we can expect to see an actual product, and Mundie adds that the company continues to "explore and look at both phone-up models and PC-down models" to make computing more accessible to the poor.

i’m MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Apr 11, 6:57pm 1 review agriculture, microsoft, water, world, warming
http://im.live.com/Messenger/im/Causes/Cause.aspx?Charity=SGW; This is a cool initiative from Microsoft and www.StopGlobalwarming.org

Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020: Apr 7, 9:43am 1 review science, microsoft, hci, computing, humans
http://research.microsoft.com/hci2020/; On March 15-16, 2007, a forum entitled HCI 2020: Human Values in a Digital Age, was held in Sanl�car la Mayor, Spain, just outside Seville. Its purpose was to gather luminaries in computing, design, social sciences, and scientific philosophy to discuss, debate and help formulate an agenda for human-computer interaction (HCI) over the next decade and beyond. The event--facilitated by Microsoft and convened by Richard Harper and Abigail Sellen of Microsoft Research Cambridge, Tom Rodden of the United Kingdom's Nottingham University, and Yvonne Rogers of the Open University--resulted in a detailed report, released April 2 2008, called Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020. This report is for anyone interested in the ramifications of our digital future and in ways society must adjust to the technological changes to come. It is also for those of us who work in the field of Human-Computer Interaction and who are concerned that our research agenda stays relevant in the years to come.

Worlds Hottest Tech Markets Voted Against Microsoft OOXML -- Microsoft -- Inform…: Apr 6, 8:12pm 4 reviews microsoft, office
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterpriseapps/showArticle.jhtml...; From the page: "Brazil, India, and China, which together count for more than a third of the world's population, all voted against Office Open XML last week."

Technology Review: Microsoft Office 2007 file format is approved as ISO standard: Apr 3, 7:29am 1 review business, microsoft, office
http://www.technologyreview.com/Wire/20506?nlid=982; From the page: "The format Microsoft Corp.'s Office 2007 programs use to save documents was approved as an international standard, a step the company touted as proof it is willing to make once-proprietary technology work openly with competing programs. But the International Standards Organization vote did not quiet some opponents, who argued that the Office Open XML standard still locks out competitors and gives Microsoft customers no choice but to keep buying its programs forever. The decision was made public on the Web site of a European standards organization, Ecma International, on Tuesday. ISO is expected to formally announce the vote Wednesday. Years before Microsoft started selling Office 2007, its plan to switch to a new way of saving Word, Excel and PowerPoint files sparked concerns that future changes made by the software maker could render government or corporate archives unreadable, especially by non-Microsoft programs."