March 2008 - TechFest Live! - Microsoft Research Community

Roll the Credits

Three hundred fifty computers. Two hundred twenty-five monitors, Almost a mile of computer cable. More than 6,500 attendees. Almost seven months of preparation. Three days of technical setup. Four hours of tear-down. About 500 researchers, most of them...

Published 03-07-2008 12:35 AM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Kendall Martin, James Oker

BLEWS: What the Blogosphere Tells You About News

Some people look for controversy in the strangest places. As hundreds of computer-science researchers congregated for TechFest on Tuesday, one Web site interpreted a cross-disciplinary but topical demo from a team of Microsoft Research Redmond folks as...

Published 03-05-2008 11:46 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Sumit Basu, Dmitiry Belenko, news, Michael Gamon, aggregator, BLEWS, Christian Konig, Danyel Fisher

Auto Shift: Energy-Aware Server Provisioning

Green, as we now know, is, indisputedly, the new black. Seems like you can't turn on the television or pick up a newspaper to read about the latest green initiative. Lots of people are talking. Feng Zhao is doing something about it. Zhao's Networked...

Published 03-04-2008 8:15 PM by robk

Filed under: Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Feng Zhao, load, Network Embedded Computing, Auto-Shift, data center, energy, provision

The Art of Theory

OK, consider me dazzled. This afternoon, I got to spend a few minutes with Yuval Peres , principal researcher within Microsoft Research Redmond's Theory Group . In viewing the Theory Group's TechFest demos over the past few years, it has occurred...

Published 03-06-2008 10:09 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Yuval Peres, Theory

Tiny Web Services

I mentioned the other day that I had run into Feng Zhao , principal researcher in the Networked Embedded Computing group, who was looking particularly happy at the moment. Well, Feng has been demonstrating the reason for his delight over the past three...

Published 03-06-2008 7:31 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Rick Rashid, Feng Zhao, sensor, Web service, wireless

Diagnosing Home-Networking Problems with NetPrints

Now here's technology I could use right now, and I'll bet you could, too. Ranjita Bhagwan is a researcher at Microsoft Research India who found herself getting frustrated with her home network. And that got her to thinking about her family. "I...

Published 03-05-2008 5:49 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, problem, configuration, home network, Ranjita Bhagwan, NetPrints

Stephen Emmott on 21st Century Science

Next, I wandered over to a mega-booth from Microsoft Research Cambridge called Science for the 21st Century, featuring no fewer than six demos. There was a lot to absorb, so before diving in, I found Stephen Emmott , director of the lab's European...

Published 03-05-2008 8:07 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, European Science Initiative, Cambridge, Stephen Emmott

Science for the 21st Century, part 2

With a grounding in what the European Science Initiative is trying to accomplish, and the reasons why, I then stepped across the aisle in the Rainierr/St. Helens room of the Microsoft Conference Center to get a feel for the individual demos on display...

Published 03-05-2008 9:23 PM by robk

Filed under: Research, Microsoft, European Science Initiative, Cambridge, Drew Purves, Robin Freeman, Martin Calsyn, Leeza Pachepsky, Andrew Phillips, Rich Williams, Andreas Heil

The View from England

Andrew Herbert , managing director of Microsoft Research Cambridge , was busily reading e-mail when I passed him in the hall a few minutes ago, so I doubled back and asked him to provide a brief statement about the value of TechFest for his lab and for...

Published 03-06-2008 6:49 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Andrew Herbert, Cambridge

The Father of TechFest

I just ran into Phil Fawcett, who had an idea seven years ago that became the original TechFest, which has since become Microsoft Research's signature event. The fact that I could barely manage to squeeze through the throngs to get to Phil speaks...

Published 03-06-2008 5:27 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Phil Fawcett

Video Entertainment

A video of yesterday's TechFest 2008 keynote is now available . Also, the Channel 9 folks have posted a bunch of additional videos: Privacy Integrated Queries New Search UI BEE3: Revitalizing Architecture Research Tiny Web Services Music Steering...

Published 03-05-2008 2:47 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, keynote, Tiny Web Services, Music Steering, BEE3, video, Privacy Integrated Queries, New Search UI

Privacy Integrated Queries

Data abounds in the digital age. Bits by the billions are collected on a daily basis from a variety of sources: Web services, financial programs, governmental agencies. Those who specialize in data mining and analysis could spend a hundred lifetimes sifting...

Published 03-06-2008 3:57 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, Frank McSherry, privacy, Silicon Valley, Cynthia Dwork

An HMM-Based Talking and Singing Head

Today's session just got under way, and I made a beeline toward the demo entitled An HMM-Based Talking and Singing Head. This is speech-synthesis work out of Microsoft Research Asia, and Frank Soong, a principal researcher and research manager of...

Published 03-05-2008 4:16 PM by robk

Video Entertainment, part 2

A cool video that captures the energy of TechFest has been posted externally . Enjoy!

Published 03-06-2008 2:33 PM by robk

Filed under: 2008, Research, TechFest, Microsoft, video

A Short Interview

Amazingly enough, it wasn't long afterward that I actually found myself talking with Alan Alda and Craig Mundie. Representatives for the two graciously arranged for me to get a couple of minutes with the two, so I introduced myself and started by...

Published 03-04-2008 6:12 PM by robk

March 2008 - TechFest Live!

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