Month: February 2014

February 28, 2014
Microsoft files Supreme Court amicus brief in support of ending overly broad patents

On Friday, Microsoft filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in support of affirmance in the Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank case. “Our interest in this case is to ensure the Supreme Court understands the difference between true technological innovations and the types of business method patents at issue in this case. Adobe and HP joined Microsoft on the brief,” Horacio Gutierrez, deputy general counsel and corporate vice president of Legal & Corporate Affairs at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post Friday.

February 28, 2014
Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School now accepting applications

The Microsoft Research Data Science Summer School encourages women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and students from smaller colleges to apply. The school, which takes place from June 16 to Aug. 8 in New york City, provides an introduction to large-scale data analysis for local undergraduate students who are interested in attending graduate school in computer science and related fields.

February 27, 2014
Win this Skype contest, and you could be on your way to Europe for two weeks

In “Rerouted: a Skype travel challenge,” travel blogger Mike Corey wound up bungee jumping in Italy, dancing in France and scuba diving in Greece. With the help of his friends on Skype and Twitter, Corey made it across Europe. Now, you have the chance to follow in his footsteps (bungee jumping is optional) with an all-expense paid trip that’s being offered by Skype.

February 27, 2014
ChronoZoom and zombies head to SXSWedu

The beta version of ChronoZoom released about a year ago, quickly earning the team behind it the SXSW Interactive Award for Best Educational Resource. At this year’s SXSWedu event, curriculum designer David Hunter will present his Zombie-Based Learning Curriculum, as well as the ChronoZoomers Guild project that utilizes ChronoZoom to teach historical thinking in a time-traveling scenario.

February 27, 2014
Intelligent Systems competency assures experience and skills for Microsoft Partner Network

The newly launched Intelligent Systems competency follows through on a commitment to offer Microsoft’s partners more program options and greater partner benefits. It’s the culmination of the combined efforts of the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) and Windows Embedded to transition program administration for the Windows Embedded Partner Program ecosystem into the MPN.