Microsoft Research

I just visited Dan Miser's Blog and found a link to Microsoft Research Downloads. I knew they did some research out there, but this stuff is just awesome! They have Allegiance- a multiplayer space-combat game, source code to attach to WiFi Networks using a single WiFi card, and even a safe versoin of C.

I haven't yet experiemented with ConferenceXP - another one of the research projects. Essentially it's software that allows video conferences to be "multi-cast" across a network - currently it needs a good/fast link, multi cast support and a really high end dedicated server for such stuff, but I think in the near future that will not be a big issue. This is a killer app, especially for multi location offices like ours. What I like about this is the ability to "archive" sessions - so that people who couldn't attend a session can view it at a later date. I've always wanted such things for conference calls - i.e. record a call to mp3 and then run it back for a transcript. (If anyone knows such a tool...)

Also, we've started to use Skype for office communication. It's amazing in terms of quality and also has an answering machine. Not that I hate regular phones - but I think they're too darn expensive when you're calling between India and the UK.

Yeah, no code in this post either. I have not compiled anything for weeks now...but I have found time to play squash. Maybe they're mutually exclusive.