Microsoft has developed a financial program designed to help investors track stock markets.
Microsoft will offer a test version of the program through the Web site of partner Zignals, a Dublin, Ireland-based online finance firm. The site uses Microsoft's Solver Foundation technology, which detects patterns in large amounts of fluctuating data.
The software helps users analyze patterns and build trading strategies, competing with similar programs used by investment banks. The Zignals software eventually may be linked to Microsoft's MSN Web site to help drive traffic, said David Harnett, a senior director at Microsoft.
Microsoft is getting into the business of pickup lines.
OK, not exactly, but a new deployment of Microsoft Surface tabletop computers at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas comes with a software program for flirting with other Surface users across the room by choosing from stock text messages. Examples include such groaners as "You're so HOT ... got sunscreen?" "Apart from being sexy, what do you do for a living?" and "I tripped on a kiss and fell in love with you."
Is this how Bill wooed Melinda?
A Dublin company introduced a financial alerts service based on emerging data-crunching technology from Microsoft on Wednesday.
Zignals is opening a beta of a new service that lets users set parameters about stock performance and receive text messages or e-mail
when the parameters are met. The free service is designed for "someone who is active about managing their own portfolio of
investments but not obsessed. We're talking about people who actively manage their investments but who have day jobs," said
Pat Brazel, CEO of the new company.
Microsoft has quietly hired the founder of antispam Web site CastleCops.com to work on its own antispam efforts regarding the company's consumer Live services initiative.
CastleCops founder and administrator Paul Laudanski announced the move a week ago in a post on the site's blog, although he actually started his new job at Microsoft last month.
"Effective May 16th I have accepted a new opportunity as a full-time Internet safety investigator for Microsoft's Live consumer services, Laudanski wrote in his post. "My areas include investigations into phishing, spam, and other Live service abuses." In the meantime, Laudanski is looking for someone to take over CastleCops.
Microsoft revealed this week new details of its forthcoming Internet Explorer 8, including several capabilities designed especially for IT shops.
The new features will include a function that enables administrators to slipstream IE8 into Windows Vista installations, new Group Policy settings to help them deal with application compatibility problems, and security modifications that let users install some browser add-ins without having to contact an administrator.
Wednesday's disclosures were made jointly in a posting on the company's IEBlog as well as to attendees at Microsoft's Tech-Ed for IT Professionals conference in Orlando, Fla.
Microsoft pointed to gains in the high-performance computing market as it readies the release of its HPC Server 2008 for later this year. On Wednesday, Microsoft released details of nine HPC projects in higher education that are using Microsoft's current Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 product. The projects all launched within the last nine months.
We spoke with Microsoft yesterday about the schedule for HPC Server 2008's release, and a representative said it's still on target for this year, although an announcement for the specific release date is "still a few months out." HPC Server 2008 is scheduled for release in the second half of 2008 and will be the successor to CCS 2003.
At its Tech-Ed for Professionals summit, being held in Florida this week, Microsoft unveiled the first public beta version of Identity Lifecycle Manager 2.
This product will handle the entire identity life cycle, from provisioning new users to deployment to termination.
It provides a much-needed solution in the Microsoft space in enterprises, but whether or not it's acceptable by enterprises remains to be seen, because it will enable end users to manage their own identities, which raises security issues.
Microsoft's Tech-Ed North America event for IT professionals kicked off today with a keynote address on enabling "dynamic IT." That idea was the main concept emphasized by keynote speaker Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's Server and Tools Business unit. The talk, given in Orlando, Fla., also consisted of a number of practical demos that displayed the latest Microsoft IT management solutions.
It turns out that the dynamic IT concept is a ten-year Microsoft plan, which is currently in its fifth year. The aim of dynamic IT, according to Muglia, is to reduce IT maintenance costs and "drive business advantage" via Microsoft technologies.
Continuing its ongoing legal battle against software piracy, Microsoft on Monday filed 21 federal lawsuits against alleged software pirates in 14 states, including two in Washington state.
The two Washington suits were filed against 1 Source Computer Solutions LLC and owner Randy Simpson, both of Vancouver, and against Richard Arriaga, who does business as Twilight Computers and as Skylight Computers, both of Burien.
In addition to Washington, the suits were filed in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Microsoft Monday announced a pilot project with the nation's largest not-for-profit health care plan ? Kaiser Permanente ? to enable data transfers between consumers' medical records and Microsoft's HealthVault online health site.
To start, the pilot will only include volunteers from among KP's 156,000 employees, although if successful the offer will be extended to the plan's 8.6 million members according to a KP spokesperson.
Both companies seek that holy grail of consumers' medical records ? providing consumers with access to and control over what's called their "personal health records" or PHRs ? which can contain pretty much any and all personal health information on a patient.