Microsoft Pivot: a new way to browse and arrange massive amounts of data online

In its endless quest to categorize all information available (just like Google), Microsoft Live Labs has come up with Pivot:

Here at Live Labs we’re all about experiments, and Pivot is our most ambitious to date. Pivot makes it easier to interact with massive amounts of data in ways that are powerful, informative, and fun. We tried to step back and design an interaction model that accommodates the complexity and scale of information rather than the traditional structure of the Web.

Sounds ambitious indeed, but looks cool and handy too I have to admit. Gary Flake, founder and director of Live Labs, did a TED presentation on the Pivot features (spectacular zooms in and out of web databases, discovery of patterns and links, …) that you absolutely, definitely have to see:

Will this become the new search, will this kind of applications revolutionize the way we think about search? Or will it change the way we browse the web?

The inevitable end of Microsoft adCenter Analytics

Too bad, it had some nice visual and demographic features…

Microsoft adCenter Analytics

Dear Joris,

Last March, we announced the end of the adCenter Analytics beta program. We sent a reminder e-mail about the change last October.

This e-mail message is your final reminder that all hosted services, data collection, and technical support for adCenter Analytics will end on December 31, 2009. If you want to save your historical data, please use the export feature to download your reports before that date.

Microsoft adCenter e-mail support will also end on December 31. If you have not yet found an alternative web analytics solution, here is list of companies that offer comparable analytics solutions.
Thank you for your participation in the adCenter Analytics beta program. We appreciate your contribution.

Sincerely,

The Microsoft adCenter Analytics Team

The Microsoft Analytics blog stays online and will now focus on advertising ROI and optimization.

Steve Ballmer attacked in Hungary…

… with eggs.

Yesterday May 19th, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, was in Hungary to speak to the Corvinus University students. Suddenly a student started shouting at Ballmer and attacked him with a few eggs.

The incident was filmed from two different angles (I love modern technology…).

Angle 1:


Angle 2:

Continue reading Steve Ballmer attacked in Hungary…