microsoft archives

So Microsoft finally released the coolness that is Photosynth that we saw in video form over a year ago (yes, Microsoft has the occasional cool thing).

The first thought that came to mind was how cool it would be to have the LDS Temples done as “synths” so that anyone could see all the details of the beautiful architecture.

So I did a quick attempt of Manti and Timpanogos temples from pictures I had taken over the years… which came out so-so.

This morning I dropped by temple square and took quite a few pics of the temple for the specific purpose of using them in a synth. This time the result is much better.

Presenting Salt Lake City Temple Photosynth attempt #1. It has 3 large groupings and then a few rogue photos. Not bad for the first try =)

I’m by no means hinting at any project, but how cool would it be to have official synths of all the temples so we can dive in and see the details from across the globe. Hopefully they will get the social aspect going, and the community can provide that coolness.

(windows only browser plugin required. parallels won’t work. they say bootcamp and vmware 2.02beta will work, but I had no luck with vmware. didn’t try bootcamp. ymmv)

posted by aaron on Monday, Aug 25, 2008 · 2 comments

Facinating article in Wired magazine called Halo 3: How Microsoft Labs Invented a New Science of Play. Wired takes a close look at Bungie Studios, the makers of the massively huge Halo video game series, and how the Microsoft-owned company utilizes state of the art usability labs to test their video games. It appears Bungie is following some principles of the agile software development methodology, with constant revision and tweaking in response to an extremely detailed look into how players move through the game. It’s obvious the games would be nothing if not tested this way. Pretty interesting look into how video games are designed and refined.

posted by jason on Saturday, Sep 01, 2007

Smile! (via)

posted by jason on Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007

Molly E. Holzschlag signs on to help Microsoft, Working Together for a Better Web and creates The Daily Molly to keep us up-to-date. This is just plain good news for everyone. Kudos to Microsoft and Molly for pursuing this. We look forward to your success!

posted by tadd on Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007

Good for a few chuckles: Announcing Microsoft Firefox 2007. Make sure to read the fine print and advertising for full effect.

posted by ted on Monday, Dec 04, 2006

“They can be relentless and the guy heading it up is the guy behind xbox (a mac user).”
Tadd, on why you shouldn’t count out Microsoft’s Zune

posted by jason on Sunday, Dec 03, 2006