Author: Vanessa Ho

Vanessa Ho

Celebrating Computer Science Education Week, sharing predictions and empowering professionals — Weekend Reading: Dec. 9 edition

- Vanessa Ho
Black-and-white portraits of 17 female Microsoft researchers

It was an exciting week at Microsoft, with STEM education support, LinkedIn news, WinHEC in China and predictions for the new year. Let’s catch up. To celebrate Computer Science Education Week and counteract the dearth of women in computing fields, 17 female researchers at Microsoft shared their predictions for 2017 and 2027. They included Kalika Bali in India, who says speech and language technology applications will become more multilingual next … Read more »

Talking DevOps, hardcore air hockey and more with Donovan Brown

- Vanessa Ho
Spoof movie poster for "The Man in the Black Shirt" starring Donovan Brown

Donovan Brown was a new technical seller at Microsoft struggling with a demo when he sent the email that changed his life. “I had completely hosed the VM [virtual machine] I was using,” Brown recalled. He sent a desperate, cold-call email to a technical evangelist for help, which led to an invite for Brown to demo on stage, which led to a meteoric career rise. Three years later, the once-unknown … Read more »

Expanding and democratizing artificial intelligence, transforming businesses at Ignite — Weekend Reading: Sept. 30 edition

- Vanessa Ho
Collage of people working in science, technology, space and health industries

This week delivered plenty of powerful news from Microsoft, from game-changing announcements about artificial intelligence to new avenues for business transformation demonstrated at Microsoft Ignite 2016 in Atlanta. Here’s the highlights. Microsoft announced on Thursday that it’s forming a new group to expand its artificial intelligence efforts by bringing together the company’s world-class research organization with more than 5,000 computer scientists and engineers. Harry Shum, a computer vision luminary and … Read more »

Computers that get what we’re saying, new innovations for business and real-time insight for Giving Tuesday – Weekend Reading: Dec. 4 edition

- Vanessa Ho
Fil Alleva, left, a Microsoft group engineering manager, and Xuedong Huang, Microsoft’s chief speech scientist.

Microsoft news spanned the globe this week and encompassed a variety of technologies that enrich innovation, productivity and generosity. Lots of good stuff. Let’s take a look. Once the lore of science fiction, technology that understands human speech now includes apps that translate conversation as it happens and a virtual assistant who can give you numbers to call for pizza. Those breakthroughs and a peek at future voice recognition are the subject … Read more »

Microsoft researchers help a race pilot go faster, Surface Pro 4 gets down to business and Windows 10 devices get a world-wide celebration – Weekend Reading, Oct. 23 edition

- Vanessa Ho
microsoft_2_101615-1600x700

From up in the air to eastern Africa, lots of cool Microsoft news happened this week. Dig in! Microsoft researchers were busy in Las Vegas helping Red Bull Air Race pilot Kirby Chambliss fly the fastest, most efficient way possible. Chambliss already races at a speed of more than 200 miles per hour, sometimes while upside down. But with control theory, robotics, machine learning and path planning, researchers are working … Read more »

Inside Microsoft’s futuristic hardware labs, helping disaster recovery in Nepal and geeking out with Cortana’s wit – Weekend Reading: Oct. 2 edition

- Vanessa Ho
MS-Architecture-Seattle-Building-87-2015-08-11-640x427

A lot of cool stuff happened this week, so let’s dig in! Microsoft’s /stories team published “Inside B87,” a rich, immersive look at what’s behind the nondescript exterior of Microsoft’s Building 87 in Redmond, Wash. Turns out it’s some of the world’s top hardware labs, where brilliant minds are transforming visions of tomorrow into tangible technology. Peek inside the futuristic labs to explore the world’s quietest room, a human-sized light … Read more »

Helping military vets build new careers, applauding a hands-on young researcher and ‘connecting’ cows for healthier herds – Weekend Reading: August 21 edition

- Vanessa Ho
Helping military vets build new careers, applauding a hands-on young researcher and ‘connecting’ cows for healthier herds – Weekend Reading: August 21 edition

It may be August and prime vacation time, but it was a busy week of interesting news at Microsoft. Let’s get started. The #GiveThem20 challenge raises awareness of the need to help returning military veterans transition to fulfilling civilian careers. Chris Cortez, vice president of Microsoft Military Affairs, and other Microsoft employees recently rose to the challenge, which included 20 push-ups. It was part of an ongoing commitment to helping … Read more »

Microsoft’s Harry Shum discusses Hackathon and TalkEasy, which helps people with hearing impairment

- Vanessa Ho
Harry Shum discusses Hackathon project TalkEasy, which helps people with hearing impairment

Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Technology and Research Group, says the excitement at last year’s Hackathon inspired him to do his own hack this year. “I thought about what I want to hack on,” he says. “Very often, great products come from the things that people really care about.” For the 2015 Hackathon, he was inspired by his father, who is hard of hearing. Shum assembled a team … Read more »

Windows 10 launches, //oneweek Hackathon exercises innovation muscles and Microsoft Imagine Cup winners announced – Weekend Reading: July 31 edition

- Vanessa Ho
Windows 10

Welcome to a jam-packed edition of Weekend Reading, a recap of a very exciting, busy week at Microsoft. Let’s get started! Windows 10 launched worldwide across 190 countries as a free upgrade or with new PCs and tablets, complete with global fan celebrations and a new #UpgradeYourWorld initiative. “We are excited to bring Windows 10 and its many innovations to the world,” said Windows and Devices Group Corporate Vice President … Read more »

Windows 10 launch date announced, new devices revealed at Computex and a Microsoft intern who proved the doubters wrong – Weekend Reading: June 5 edition

- Vanessa Ho
Windows 10 launch date announced, new devices revealed at Computex and a Microsoft intern who proved the doubters wrong – Weekend Reading: June 5 edition

Welcome to another edition of Weekend Reading. It was a big week for Microsoft news, so let’s dig in. Microsoft announced July 29 as the launch date for Windows 10, which means in less than eight weeks, Windows customers will get a free upgrade to start doing great things across devices with help from Cortana, Windows Hello and Microsoft Edge. They’re all included in Windows 10, which brings back the … Read more »