Channel 9 - Discussions by Wil http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/Dev/App_Themes/C9/images/feedimage.png Channel 9 - Discussions by Wil http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions Channel 9 keeps you up to date with the latest news and behind the scenes info from Microsoft that developers love to keep up with. From LINQ to SilverLight – Watch videos and hear about all the cool technologies coming and the people behind them. http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions en Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:34:48 GMT Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:34:48 GMT Rev9 0 0 0 Coffeehouse - At the risk of sounding like a jerk and being insensitive.. Steve Jobs is apparently still alive, unless he applied some bizarre Pixar holography to his Buddhist beliefs so that he would be reincarnated as a virtual image of himself.

Really, I had no idea that he was a Buddhist.  Does his Ipod just go, "OMMMMMM...."?

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/423957-At-the-risk-of-sounding-like-a-jerk-and-being-insensitive/2483efba40c749b68d6d9deb0138076a#2483efba40c749b68d6d9deb0138076a Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:52:07 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/423957-At-the-risk-of-sounding-like-a-jerk-and-being-insensitive/2483efba40c749b68d6d9deb0138076a#2483efba40c749b68d6d9deb0138076a Wil 21 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - What did you do when Channel 9 started? I joined C9 the first day.  I was working at the company that was taken over by the company that was taken over by the company where I work now.  When C9 started, I was already old.  Sad

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/421926-What-did-you-do-when-Channel-9-started/eae71da1204b45ef862e9deb0135bd5f#eae71da1204b45ef862e9deb0135bd5f Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:33:06 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/421926-What-did-you-do-when-Channel-9-started/eae71da1204b45ef862e9deb0135bd5f#eae71da1204b45ef862e9deb0135bd5f Wil 49 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Pixar uses Windows HPC > All of it on RenderMan. 14 versions going back 20 years, nothing else like RenderMan, and now you’ll be able to work with 64-bit datasets

Didn't RenderMan always run on farms of 64-bit SGI and Sun machines?  I really don't know, but I'd be surprised if it hadn't been 64-bit code for a long time now.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/421316-Pixar-uses-Windows-HPC/98def51fcf134ce584449deb0135252c#98def51fcf134ce584449deb0135252c Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:54:24 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/421316-Pixar-uses-Windows-HPC/98def51fcf134ce584449deb0135252c#98def51fcf134ce584449deb0135252c Wil 7 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Confirmed: Water on Mars Although water apparently flowed on Mars, it's not known for certain just how long it flowed.  For instance, a catastropic flood of only months' duration, rather than a drainage pattern that lasts for millions of years, can have a huge effect in geomorphology, carving out very long and deep channels.   That happened on earth at the end of the most recent ice age, when melting glaciers formed huge lakes behind them that suddenly came pouring out when the last barriers containing them gave way.  It is at least possible that large quantities of ice buried in the Martian crust melted all at once as the result of a volcanic erruption, with a similar effect.  In a desert environment even a huge lake can evaporate quite rapidly, showing retreating shorelines of salt deposits that were formed over just centuries, not millenia.  Also, it should be remembered that all evidence collected so far indicates that the present very weak magnetic field of Mars was not any stronger billions of years ago - it is not something that happened over eons as the core cooled down slowly.  That means  for most of the time that life on earth consisted of microbes, the surface of Mars has been zapped by radiation that would tend to break down complex molecules and of course kill organisms.  As Elton John and Bernie Taupin reminded us in "Rocket Man", "Mars ain't no place to raise your kids..."

It's too bad that the overall search for understanding of the universe around us and its origin has been so completely dominated in the public mind by only one aspect of that search, namely the quest for extraterrestrial life.  It's hard to fault NASA for jumping on that same bandwagon in order to win support, but putting so many of their eggs in this one basket runs the risk that if the landers do eventually show that life was never present on Mars, then people will decide "Then what's the point?" of the whole space program, and the whole thing will go away.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/418861-Confirmed-Water-on-Mars/3f859f72c5cc4745ba959deb0132dea5#3f859f72c5cc4745ba959deb0132dea5 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:38:29 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/418861-Confirmed-Water-on-Mars/3f859f72c5cc4745ba959deb0132dea5#3f859f72c5cc4745ba959deb0132dea5 Wil 31 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Windows "Mojave" Leave it to Microsoft marketing (who came up with the name "Hailstorm" to make you want to use a product) to name an OS (even a "dummy" one) after a desert.   Makes for some great slogans: "Mojave - and you thought Win ME was barren!", etc., etc.  When Windows 7 hits the shelves, will it be sold under the name "(Blue Screen of) Death Valley"?

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/417438-Windows-Mojave/d38df9ef47eb46aaba5f9deb01309c69#d38df9ef47eb46aaba5f9deb01309c69 Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:31:34 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/417438-Windows-Mojave/d38df9ef47eb46aaba5f9deb01309c69#d38df9ef47eb46aaba5f9deb01309c69 Wil 85 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Windows 7 name snd slogan spoofs Windows Schwarzenegger : Hasta la Vista, baby

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414861-Windows-7-name-snd-slogan-spoofs/bfd7d54f1ab2417bb9a99deb012d4fee#bfd7d54f1ab2417bb9a99deb012d4fee Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:30:46 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414861-Windows-7-name-snd-slogan-spoofs/bfd7d54f1ab2417bb9a99deb012d4fee#bfd7d54f1ab2417bb9a99deb012d4fee Wil 30 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Windows 7 name snd slogan spoofs Windows Seven-come-Eleven - It's a crap shoot

Windows Magnificent Seven - Strong enough to withstand an attack by Mexican bandits

Windows Seventh Heaven - Computing on Cloud Nine

Windows Seventh Seal - Wait till you see our chess game!

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414861-Windows-7-name-snd-slogan-spoofs/b6bf25c1db9247a382899deb012d4f03#b6bf25c1db9247a382899deb012d4f03 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:59:47 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414861-Windows-7-name-snd-slogan-spoofs/b6bf25c1db9247a382899deb012d4f03#b6bf25c1db9247a382899deb012d4f03 Wil 30 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Google's virtual world
wisemx said:
I'm curious, how many of you guys joined us on the Microsoft Second Life island?
http://sldnug.net/Photos.aspx
I have no (first) life, so what would I do with a second one?

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414478-Googles-virtual-world/5c8a121098e04b299bc89deb012cdfec#5c8a121098e04b299bc89deb012cdfec Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:45:42 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414478-Googles-virtual-world/5c8a121098e04b299bc89deb012cdfec#5c8a121098e04b299bc89deb012cdfec Wil 29 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Google's virtual world
Bas said:
Minh said:
*snip*


That's a frightening thought. It's like an irresistible spam superweapon.
I can see it now -- Spamela Anderson...

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414478-Googles-virtual-world/364bbfbdfac742e698559deb012cded1#364bbfbdfac742e698559deb012cded1 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:23:24 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414478-Googles-virtual-world/364bbfbdfac742e698559deb012cded1#364bbfbdfac742e698559deb012cded1 Wil 29 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Google's virtual world Maybe the long-term goal is to build a Virtual Cineplex consisting of dozens of Youtube theaters, where your avatar has to sit through a bunch of ads to get to the videos (while chatting with your fellow audience members, of course)?  It's hard to see how they will make money from this "product" otherwise.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414478-Googles-virtual-world/77b682f65f374b54b71e9deb012cde0f#77b682f65f374b54b71e9deb012cde0f Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:24:55 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/414478-Googles-virtual-world/77b682f65f374b54b71e9deb012cde0f#77b682f65f374b54b71e9deb012cde0f Wil 29 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - 850 * 77.1 is 65535... unless you're Microsoft Excel. At this site an investigator performed a simple loop to calculate (65535/x)*x for x = 1, ..., 65535.  For over 10,000 values of x, it gave 100,000 rather than 65,535 as the answer.

If you have a stock whose value is fluctuating close to 77, keep watching the ticker to see when to sell 850 shares of it!

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257811-850--771-is-65535-unless-youre-Microsoft-Excel/e1f9204257b54477b6069deb00191acf#e1f9204257b54477b6069deb00191acf Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:38:21 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257811-850--771-is-65535-unless-youre-Microsoft-Excel/e1f9204257b54477b6069deb00191acf#e1f9204257b54477b6069deb00191acf Wil 44 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Old black & white movie fav's ... And on the comedy side of things, add any one of the Marx Brothers' classics (e.g., "Duck Soup") and W.C. Fields in "It's a Gift".  A number of Carg Grant comedies (mention has already been made of "Arsenic and Old Lace") certainly qualify, too.  And don't forget Laurel and Hardy!  (As I did, before I hastily edited this post.)

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257726-Old-black-amp-white-movie-favs-/6cbe47e78d74490894c69deb0017e6a6#6cbe47e78d74490894c69deb0017e6a6 Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:19:43 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257726-Old-black-amp-white-movie-favs-/6cbe47e78d74490894c69deb0017e6a6#6cbe47e78d74490894c69deb0017e6a6 Wil 13 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - War of the worlds? Space illnesses? Apparently the meteorite hit a rather sandy rock formation or soil horizon, so it would have really pulverized a lot of the sand into fine dust ithat would linger in the air inside the crater.  Inhaling quartz dust will really irritate your throat and lungs.  Plus, the heat of impact would have fused a lot of material from the soil, and from the disintegrating meteorite, into fine particles.  Perhaps some of those could be suspended in the air, too.  I don't know what inhaling colloidal-sized glass shards does for you, but I doubt that it does you much good.

In a worst-case scenario, I suppose long-term exposure could cause that occupational disease of miners and sandblasters that's the longest word in the English language.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257692-War-of-the-worlds-Space-illnesses/dcee790e3c23453690639deb0017a1fb#dcee790e3c23453690639deb0017a1fb Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:49:22 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257692-War-of-the-worlds-Space-illnesses/dcee790e3c23453690639deb0017a1fb#dcee790e3c23453690639deb0017a1fb Wil 16 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - I give up ... what the hell is it? Actually, it looks more than a little bit like the first-ever atomic bomb:




replica of the "Trinity" device

Do you suppose that if you get enough of these things close to one another, say on the shelves of a Wal-Mart somewhere, they reach a critical mass, and then...

Sony's revenge!

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257533-I-give-up--what-the-hell-is-it/4b85bcb843144bc996b59deb0015569f#4b85bcb843144bc996b59deb0015569f Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:58:59 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257533-I-give-up--what-the-hell-is-it/4b85bcb843144bc996b59deb0015569f#4b85bcb843144bc996b59deb0015569f Wil 14 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Sun Microsoft Partnershp for Windows Server 2003 on X64 Boxes So Sun is now a Wintel vendor.  Scott McNealy must be turning over in his grave.

Oh, he's not dead yet?

Wanna bet?

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257575-Sun-Microsoft-Partnershp-for-Windows-Server-2003-on-X64-Boxes/69a076f2f4494b17985e9deb001620b3#69a076f2f4494b17985e9deb001620b3 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:37:37 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257575-Sun-Microsoft-Partnershp-for-Windows-Server-2003-on-X64-Boxes/69a076f2f4494b17985e9deb001620b3#69a076f2f4494b17985e9deb001620b3 Wil 20 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Is Lloyd Humph really the youngest niner?
esoteric wrote:
The Internet: How old do you want to be today

[W3bbo, don't be so "Schadenfroh" (forgot the english word for it), the guy may have acted immaturely, but that's no reason to trample all over the guy.]

Now that we know the youngest niner - do we also know the oldest niner?


On the Internet no one knows you're a dog, which is a good thing, since I'm over 400 in dog years.  Sad  Sad  Sad

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257233-Is-Lloyd-Humph-really-the-youngest-niner/bce53f698edf40e7ab9c9dec00a339c4#bce53f698edf40e7ab9c9dec00a339c4 Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:21:03 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257233-Is-Lloyd-Humph-really-the-youngest-niner/bce53f698edf40e7ab9c9dec00a339c4#bce53f698edf40e7ab9c9dec00a339c4 Wil 40 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Interviewing programmers "Under what circumstances would you, or would you not, use (A) static polymorphism, (B) dynamic polymorphism, and (C) the Barton-Nackman trick?"  Then, "How many different ways is the keyword 'static' overloaded - and why???" Wink

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257126-Interviewing-programmers/07e3196cd9944ebd8c7f9dec00a128a2#07e3196cd9944ebd8c7f9dec00a128a2 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:06:35 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257126-Interviewing-programmers/07e3196cd9944ebd8c7f9dec00a128a2#07e3196cd9944ebd8c7f9dec00a128a2 Wil 80 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - "do no evil" vs "the first liberators"
jamie wrote:

Microsoft: Always at your side


Yeah - how else could they always have their hand in your pocket?  Big Smile

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257159-quotdo-no-evilquot-vs-quotthe-first-liberatorsquot/f83e2c5e6a3942f7b84b9dec00a1d05a#f83e2c5e6a3942f7b84b9dec00a1d05a Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:59:41 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257159-quotdo-no-evilquot-vs-quotthe-first-liberatorsquot/f83e2c5e6a3942f7b84b9dec00a1d05a#f83e2c5e6a3942f7b84b9dec00a1d05a Wil 19 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - What's the longest youve been a forum member to a site?
jamie wrote:

has anyone been in a forum over 5-6 years?  Is it more about friends (the original context just goes away?)


From time to time, I've been active in certain Listservs or newsgroups for over 10 years at a stretch.  I think the longest I've been active in any particular group is about 15 years, although there are others that I have read occasionally - like once every few months or so - for longer than that.  For the most part, my reason for staying active in some groups for a long time is to continue to follow new developments in whatever the subject is which that particular group is designed to discuss, so "the original context" really doesn't "just go away".  As for being about friends, I am especially interested in reading what certain people have to say whenever a new development happens in that subject, and I know just to hit the "delete" button when certain other persons make their comments known on that same topic.  Of course, I suppose that during 10 or 15 years in a given group, I wind up on a number of other folks' "kill" lists, too. Smiley

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257094-Whats-the-longest-youve-been-a-forum-member-to-a-site/4cbb398bc186411b82399dec00a08684#4cbb398bc186411b82399dec00a08684 Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:50:14 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/257094-Whats-the-longest-youve-been-a-forum-member-to-a-site/4cbb398bc186411b82399dec00a08684#4cbb398bc186411b82399dec00a08684 Wil 25 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Oh my God, I am ***so*** old!!!
Sven Groot wrote:

Scrooge: "Bah!"
Donald: "And "humbug", right?"
Scrooge: "Yes, dagnabbit -- humbug, too!"
(From "The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck, Part Twelve: The Richest Duck in the World" by Don Rosa)


I started this thread because it suddenly dawned on that I've been banging on my various computer keyboards for four decades now, but the quote posted above has now brought back a certain memory that helps me feel a bit better about myself.  In 1996 I attended the 95th birthday celebration for Carl Barks, the comic-book writer and artist who was the creator of Scrooge McDuck.  (The birthday party was a fund-raiser for the Museum of Comic Art, so the public was invited to attend - for a price, of course).  At 95 Barks was a little slow in his step, supporting himself with a cane, but he was generally spry and quite alert.  Perhaps a lifetime of being so creative - and of writing and drawing so many classic stories for kids - had kept him young.  Since most of my computer programs appear to have been written by a 5-year-old Wink then maybe there's some hope for me, too!

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/256854-Oh-my-God-I-am-so-old/e252319866844160b67a9dec009ca840#e252319866844160b67a9dec009ca840 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:17:17 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/256854-Oh-my-God-I-am-so-old/e252319866844160b67a9dec009ca840#e252319866844160b67a9dec009ca840 Wil 23 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Oh my God, I am ***so*** old!!! The most depressing thing you can possibly imagine has just now happened to me.  For reasons that are not at all clear, I suddenly realized from just out of the blue that it was forty years ago this very month (I don't remember the exact day) when I wrote my first-ever computer program.

I hope to have it debugged "any day now".

Sad   Sad  Sad  [C]

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/256854-Oh-my-God-I-am-so-old/256854#256854 Tue, 07 Aug 2007 22:17:07 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/256854-Oh-my-God-I-am-so-old/256854#256854 Wil 23 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Is being a developer enough? Most businesses want someone who understands the business and its needs, and how IT can help meet them, far more than they want someone who is interested in IT just for its own sake.  The last thing they want is some IT project that evolves into a sort of CS showcase, or worse yet a Master's thesis project, instead of just getting the work done in the most cost-effective way.  Developing strong business-specific (or engineering-specific, depending on your industry) credentials and a proven IT skill set will help more than will developing CS skills and then just looking for some place to work where you have no real knowledge of how their business operates.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/256552-Is-being-a-developer-enough/c23f35848b784121a5069dec009804ce#c23f35848b784121a5069dec009804ce Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:51:35 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/256552-Is-being-a-developer-enough/c23f35848b784121a5069dec009804ce#c23f35848b784121a5069dec009804ce Wil 27 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - MS developing software to identify you from your online habits Sure, but that's the bothersome part.  It's not that the site you surf to will know, "Oh, that's Mr. IP number... from Omaha," it's that they'll know, "Oh, that's the guy from Omaha who shops online for inflatable cushions and submits queries to the Dr. Koop site about hemorrhoid treatments.  Hi Chuck!  Even though we're just the IMDB movie site, can we direct you to a theater with a standing-room section?"  That's just too close to having a link posted to a myspace page with your colonoscopy results.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/254878-MS-developing-software-to-identify-you-from-your-online-habits/cd45544924b64adea0b09dec007d3678#cd45544924b64adea0b09dec007d3678 Thu, 24 May 2007 17:52:08 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/254878-MS-developing-software-to-identify-you-from-your-online-habits/cd45544924b64adea0b09dec007d3678#cd45544924b64adea0b09dec007d3678 Wil 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - Is Dell really serious about Linux?
eagle wrote:

fdisk wrote:


I wonder if Eagle will finally quit saying "everywhere I travel, I never see a Linux laptop".



The day I see one I'll let you know about it.

So who's buying a Dell laptop with Linux preinstalled?


Our company uses lots of Dell laptops, on which we replaced XP with Linux.  Whether we start buying Dell laptops with Linux re-installed depends on just what hardware features these particular laptops offer, and whether our apps run OK on that particular Linux distro.

Does anyone here have a laptop (Intel, not SPARC) with Solaris installed?  If so, what has been your experience?  That would really make more sense for what we do than Linux, I think, since our apps were originally UNIX before being ported (with varying degrees of success) to Linux.

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/254922-Is-Dell-really-serious-about-Linux/1c0934cc22fd4ad3b9f99dec007dd481#1c0934cc22fd4ad3b9f99dec007dd481 Wed, 23 May 2007 20:20:49 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/254922-Is-Dell-really-serious-about-Linux/1c0934cc22fd4ad3b9f99dec007dd481#1c0934cc22fd4ad3b9f99dec007dd481 Wil 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS Coffeehouse - MS developing software to identify you from your online habits Forgive me if this is old news (the story is dated May 16, and it reports on a conference that was held the week before that) which has already been discussed, but I just now got around to reading an article in the Web site of "New Scientist" magazine.

Speaking at the World Wide Web 2007 Conference in Banff, Canada, last week, software engineer Jian Hu from Microsoft's research lab in Beijing and colleagues said his team is developing software to use of a wide range of profiles in a probabilistic analysis to use your browsing habits to determine information about your identity.  Hu reports that the software so far currently deduces only people's genders and ages with any accuracy, but the team say they expect to be able to "refine the profiles which contain bogus demographic information", and one day predict your occupation, level of qualifications, and perhaps your location.

OK, even with the crudest probabilistic analysis, you can deduce that someone who surfs a lot of Web sites devoted to the trendiest alternative bands or to TV shows and movies featuring the hottest teen idols probably isn't a 55-year-old guy in Dubuque, and someone who spends most of their online time checking out sites about prostate health, 401(k) plans, and golf courses probably isn't a 13-year-old girl in Manhattan.  But clearly this MS team in Beijing has their eyes on a much tigther profile better defining just who you are, and perhaps that should make us a bit nervous.  I suppose it is hardly unexpected that, with the trend toward acquisition by Google and MS of on-line advertising companies, the developiing of profiling software would be given a push, but just how far does MS intend to push this?

Anyway, the full article is here.
"

]]> http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/254878-MS-developing-software-to-identify-you-from-your-online-habits/254878#254878 Tue, 22 May 2007 08:14:04 GMT http://channel9.msdn.com/Forums/Coffeehouse/254878-MS-developing-software-to-identify-you-from-your-online-habits/254878#254878 Wil 17 http://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/Wil/Discussions/RSS