Microsoft Research TechFest - Intro, DynaVis, and FastDash

Posted By: Rory | Mar 6th, 2007 @ 12:13 PM | 34,814 Views | 17 Comments

If you could see me now, I'm a giddy, happy, silly little niner.

I just learned about something at Microsoft that happens every year called "TechFest". It's a convention for Microsoft Research, meant to provide a glimpse of what goes on in what I now think of as the Area 51 of Microsoft.

I spent a couple hours just walking around yesterday, going nuts for everything I saw. Typically, when I go to a convention, I like most of what I see, but it's only the rare item that really brings out my excitement.

TechFest is completely different. There isn't a single thing sitting in there that isn't simply fantastic. Beautiful. Amazing. Fun. Useful.

In this, the first video in what will be a series covering this event, we get a nice introduction to TechFest, some info about Microsoft Research (MSR), and two projects: DynaVis and FastDash.

When you watch this video, hopefully you get an idea of why I'm so excited right now. Once I have the whole series online, you'll be able to see the amazing work being done in MSR - and this only represents a few projects. There are many others.

I'd like to film them all someday Smiley
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#Mar 6th, 2007 @ 2:36 PM
dot_tom
dot_tom

Rory will you get a chance to talk to Don about F# 1.9 ? It would be great to get some of that on video, esp. if Don has some F# and LINQ action going on! Smiley

#Mar 6th, 2007 @ 3:46 PM
Rory
Rory
Free Tibet While Supplies Last
dot_tom wrote:


Rory will you get a chance to talk to Don about F# 1.9 ? It would be great to get some of that on video, esp. if Don has some F# and LINQ action going on! Smiley



It might be possible to get that interview, but it wouldn't be part of TechFest.

Don works in the non-research portion of Microsoft.

The toughest thing about getting a Don interview is that he's a really busy guy...
#Mar 6th, 2007 @ 3:55 PM
Richard.Hein
Richard.Hein
... my guitar gently weeps ...
LOL, Rory you are hilarious!  Big Smile  Aren't you afraid that you'll offend someone by refusing to shake hands?  What if you interview Bill G, will you shake hands?  Perplexed

Sweet interview.
#Mar 6th, 2007 @ 6:38 PM
briankel
briankel

I want my DynaVis! Cool stuff, I hope this makes it into the next version of Excel. Great stuff, Rory and Don.

If anybody wants more FASTDash coverage I shot another video back in October with Mary Czerwinski and Greg Smith over in MSR.

Brian

#Mar 6th, 2007 @ 8:08 PM
JohnLam
JohnLam

Rory, he was referring to Don Syme, who does work at MSR Cambridge. I just saw Don today in a meeting, and he is here at TechFest.

#Mar 6th, 2007 @ 10:48 PM
Lorin
Lorin

Pretty kewl stuff.

BTW, you should deinterlace your video as a first step before doing any resizing or compressing.  Will make the text shots turn out clearer, and also any vertical motion will be more natural.

Wish TechFest could still be going on next week since I'll be on campus.  Oh well.  But seeing these videos is the next best thing!  Looking forward to the next one in the series.

#Mar 7th, 2007 @ 5:02 PM
Rory
Rory
Free Tibet While Supplies Last
JohnLam wrote:
Rory, he was referring to Don Syme, who does work at MSR Cambridge. I just saw Don today in a meeting, and he is here at TechFest.


Whoops Smiley

I think my memory has hit some kind of critical density.

Too many names. Too many faces. Too many people.

Thanks for clarifying, though. Hopefully the name'll stick. I really do think my head's full.
#Mar 7th, 2007 @ 5:09 PM
Rory
Rory
Free Tibet While Supplies Last
Lorin wrote:
Pretty kewl stuff.

BTW, you should deinterlace your video as a first step before doing any resizing or compressing.  Will make the text shots turn out clearer, and also any vertical motion will be more natural.

Wish TechFest could still be going on next week since I'll be on campus.  Oh well.  But seeing these videos is the next best thing!  Looking forward to the next one in the series.



I've had the same thought about deinterlacing, but we're working with some fairly limited tools. We have to make a compromise between quality and speed in getting these out the door Expressionless

I'll look into it, though. I've slowly been modifying the way I produce my videos. They're generally smaller (in file size), but higher quality than they used to be.

I though I might have been the only one who was bugged by the interlacing problem, but now that you've mentioned it... it seems more "real" to me all of a sudden.

Anyway...

Sorry you won't be able to visit TechFest in person - this is my first time, not even having known about it before since I wasn't working on campus, and it's a wonderful event. The things you see are just insane.

And wait for Friday - I have a really nice one planned Smiley

#Mar 8th, 2007 @ 1:56 PM
Bazul
Bazul
A general Rory video comment (there may be a better place to post this), I may be the only one but I'd like to see him lighten up on the shtick.  Not really "new to this thing" anymore and it's approaching Bevis and Butthead level.

I like the videos, like Rory and like the friendly banter but it's getting a little old.  I guess the reason I post this is due to the fact I watch a lot and over many videos it gets annoying. If this is Rory in real life I'd suggest spending time watching the videos and trying to polish on-air presentation skills. 

P.S. Love the content! Big Smile
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