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Here is another for comparison.

boadilla del monte, spain

calle manuel caldeiro, madrid, spain

All this is is an opportunity to buy extra space for GMail/Picassa/etc. beyond what you already get on their servers for free. It is not an online storage service like Xdrive, but an equivalent to buying Hotmail Plus.

I briefly talked about some of it on my blog. Good thing I did. http://geekspeaker.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!588D13 9CAFEFE462!921.entry I've been working on a similar system for over a year. I didn't think someone was going to patent it. I assume Google has been working on a similar method for quite some time. I have diagrams that go back for over a year when I first had the idea. I've been trying to get some folks at my company more involved but it takes forever to get my ideas moving at my company. It's pretty frustrating to see something like this get a patent on it. The reason why this is so important is so many people spend more money via their cars which means advertising could be sucked back out of the internet in the not so near future perhaps.

Try Photosynth yourself: http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

Reminds me of the recently announced Photosynth from Microsoft that seems to do something similar, but focuses on stitching images together rather than replacing parts of existing ones.

does it run on linux?

No

Go forth and multiply (Microsoft's bandwidth bill).

This time, Bill Gates is actually giving away money if you forward messages! I kid you not, they have to pay their customers (well, OK, their customers' favorite charities) to get people to use their software.

or use alternatives like http://live.com/ / http://ixquick.com/ And its abt time to dump evil google anyway

While I'm sure there's lots of cases where Google searches don't lead you to the page you want. There's a pretty clear explanation for this one. The page you want doesn't have the word you' re searching for. Where as if you searched for "thinstall isolation modes" you would have got it.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=thinstall+iso lation+modes&btnG=Search

For comparison's sake, look at :
http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=DirectoryIso lationMode
http://www.ask.com/web?q=DirectoryIsolationMode&se arch=search&qsrc=0&o=333&l=dir
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGkyEomaJGRg cBZlal87UF?ei=utf-8&fr=sfp&p=DirectoryIsolationMod e&iscqry=&fspl=1

>>If I'm not mistaken...

But, of course, you are.

TOS: http://tou.live.com/en-us/default.aspx

Not all hotmail is free :

http://get.live.com/1586062162?workarea=1
The Windows Live Hotmail Plus yearly subscription of £14.99 (inc VAT) includes 4 Gigabytes of total Windows Live Hotmail account space, the ability to send larger attachments up to 20 MB, no graphical ads, and exemption from the account expiration policy. Refund only available if cancelled within one month from purchase and automatically renews yearly unless cancelled. You will receive a renewal letter 30 days prior to the renewal date.

However the regular free service doesn't even mention restricted attachments

http://get.live.com/mail/features

Not all hotmail is free :

http://get.live.com/1586062162?workarea=1
The Windows Live Hotmail Plus yearly subscription of £14.99 (inc VAT) includes 4 Gigabytes of total Windows Live Hotmail account space, the ability to send larger attachments up to 20 MB, no graphical ads, and exemption from the account expiration policy. Refund only available if cancelled within one month from purchase and automatically renews yearly unless cancelled. You will receive a renewal letter 30 days prior to the renewal date.

However the regular free service doesn't even mention restricted attachments

http://get.live.com/mail/features

• we have configure our server with the SPF DNS entry
• we automatically remove email that return error while sending the email
• we do unsubscribe users that ask for it
• we have registered to their snds service: https://postmaster.live.com/snds/data.aspx and we are flaged in the green 95%+ of the time

DISCLAIMER: I am a former MSFTie and I held an R&D position, although not in MSR. This is all speculation on my part and not based on any tangible insider info...

Some thoughts:
0. This sounds more like a development lab than an expansion of MSR. More and more the company is expanding its research away from MSR and into product groups. See Live Labs or adCenter labs as good examples.
1. MSFT pays good money for top-tier programmers and developers- more salary and better benefits than you'll find just about anywhere. Add to this the cost of relocating international researchers and it's mind-boggling to think about how much money they throw at attracting talent.
2. Vancouver is a natural choice to locate a new facility- high quality of life, proximity to Redmond, and most importantly a relatively deep talent pool- *especially in game programming*. MSFT is one of the few kids on the block that can compete directly with EA for top talent and it makes sense to set up shop in their back yard. There's no indication that this will be a game studio but I'd put some money on that bet.
3. MSFT can spin this as an immigration issue all they want, as it suits their political agenda, but the truth is that there is a large, growing, highly educated segment of the talent pool that has no interest in moving to the US, at any price.

As an aside, it is a common belief amongst Canuck MSFTies that there are more University of Waterloo grads at MSFT than any other alma mater. I don't know the actual numbers but I'm more than willing to believe it based on my encounters there. It would cost the company a whole lot less to relocate their annual recruits from Waterloo and other Canadian schools to a Canadian development center. Pardon me, centre, eh?

Ever tried http://local.live.com/ ?

Try http://local.live.com/
You'll be surprised at what you've been missing out on. Google has a lot to catch up on.

And check out the latest mobile version (visit form your cellphone):
http://wls.live-int.com/

GPS Integration, turn by turn directions, movies, directory, etc.

Wake up ppl!

Live Maps has the ability to store collections of previous destinations.

I just thought of an example. I've been a huge fan of google and google maps for quite some time. I absolutely hate microsoft. Somebody showed me the cool 'birds eye view' on http://maps.live.com/ (firefox or IE required, safari doesn't work) ... it blew me away. I now use this to look around quite a bit. Google tried to combat with the 360 view thing. Honestly, that 360 view thing is completely worthless. Doesn't pull off the 'birds eye view' even close.

If you are one of these 5.000 people with access to this service...

I didn't think I was. Got no notice or anything. Went to http://login.live.com/ and signed up. Already had a MS Passsport logon from long ago. It let me sign up. Checking again this morning, my account is still active.

1. Offsite backup.
2. Making your data "mobile", by making it available wherever you are.
3. Transfering your data to another machine (local or remote).
4. Distributing data

Should anyone have other ideas, please share them.

That's what Brian Hall, general manager of Windows Live, is calling it in a much better article from PC Magazine. According to that article, the current limited beta is also limited to 50MB per item (so I can't share my WMV HD-encoded home sex video with my friends).

Hall also says "Live Folders" can be private, public, or shared with certain users (e.g. co-workers having edit permissions on an Excel spreadsheet). I'm sure other free "storage" services allow this. E-mail notifications about shared folders can be sent to whoever is sharing the folder.

Hall seems to hint that "Live Folders" will integrate nicely with their other "Live" applications and their upcoming "Windows Live Suite." (A list of current betas, apps, and services here.) Since I don't use any Live apps, I'll wait for online reviews to see if it will be worth checking out. I'm not "camping out" in anticipation.

The most relevant information to this whole thing (to me) is the EULA MS is foisting on people.

Read it for yourself.

That, and other privacy issues ...are things I'd like to see clearly addressed and spelled out in their EULA.

It doesn't sound that far removed from Google's.

I am also interested in how this all fits in with their current DRM schemes and related practices. Will they DRM any music I upload?

Apparently, no. I just uploaded, via XP+FireFox, a DRM free mp3, from an eMusic file I own. Then accessed and downloaded that same file via Ubuntu+FireFox box. Plays just like any other mp3.

http://folders.live.com/ http://tou.live.com/en-us/default.aspx

Section 8: ...snip...

However, by posting or otherwise providing your submission, you are granting to the public free permission to:

        * use, copy, distribute, display, publish and modify your submission, each in connection with the service;
        * publish your name in connection with your submission; and
        * grant these permissions to other persons.

Have you tried it yet?

Don't speak so fast, competition is ultimately good for the consumer.

Here you go, give it a spin: http://folders.live.com/

Linux.org.uk: Index
Alan Cox's, UK oriented, Linux news and information site. Includes a gnuwhoo-like index of commercial Linux software. Updates weekly, event-driven.
* www.linux.org.uk

Linux Home (UK) -- Linux.co.uk
This site provides information and support to Linux users in the UK. Specific attention is paid to Content Management Systems and the ability for users to publish their own content.
* linux.co.uk

Linux.co.uk -- Linux.co.uk
Linux.co.uk - Welcome to the home of linux, the best linux resource in the UK. ... The MS message: Time to invest in Free Software . In an attempt to inspire fear, uncertainty and ...
* linux.co.uk/News

The Linux Home Page at Linux Online
Comprehensive information and resources about the Linux Operating System.
* www.linux.org

Linux.com: The Enterprise Linux Resource
Linux portal by the Linux community for the Linux community.
* www.linux.com

Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a community developed, linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and ...
* www.ubuntu.com

Thanks, will check it out. This looks promising, but too bad they closed the beta. (And the tech looks pretty young too).

My thoughts exactly. They could even market the software they develop to do this.
Actually a software called Photosynth already exists. Too bad Microsoft already beat them to it.

The "LiveLabs Preview" - i.e. actual application to try out - is actually here: http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

Strangely enough, works only in a Windows browser...

Of course based on actual research into "Photo-tourism" by Noah Snavely et al. (note his supervisor is Richard Szeliski, explaining the M$ connection:-)

Got to hand it to them, this only backs up what some people have said for a while about taking Computer Vision research and throwing a proper development teams at it (c.f. Boujou). Result: one cool product.

There is already an API to the Service Control Manager API for google or anyone else to use.

Yes google provides a great search as you mentioned, i find it more funny to use these examples.

live.com search engine owned by microsoft search for Windows Vista ISO and Office XP and dvdrip

but yes google is much better at this, just find it funny i can use a microsoft website to find a torrent for their own software. Same thing is true about a few other companies. Ira Rothken was my defense attorney on a civil case with microsoft and Disney being 2 of the plaintiffs for a very similar thing. Disney and Microsoft both dropped out the suit from this basic argument about their search engines, still had about 5 more software companies left, but after a while they just dropped the case.

I dont see this ruling standing either if it is appealed, this isnt like getting a wiretap, the cops or whatever do all the work, they don't force the business to do it for them, then just give the logs to the cops when they want, this seems more like a tactic to scare some people and hurt the business of Torentspy.

Yes google provides a great search as you mentioned, i find it more funny to use these examples.

live.com search engine owned by microsoft search for Windows Vista ISO and Office XP and dvdrip

but yes google is much better at this, just find it funny i can use a microsoft website to find a torrent for their own software. Same thing is true about a few other companies. Ira Rothken was my defense attorney on a civil case with microsoft and Disney being 2 of the plaintiffs for a very similar thing. Disney and Microsoft both dropped out the suit from this basic argument about their search engines, still had about 5 more software companies left, but after a while they just dropped the case.

I dont see this ruling standing either if it is appealed, this isnt like getting a wiretap, the cops or whatever do all the work, they don't force the business to do it for them, then just give the logs to the cops when they want, this seems more like a tactic to scare some people and hurt the business of Torentspy.

Yes google provides a great search as you mentioned, i find it more funny to use these examples.

live.com search engine owned by microsoft search for Windows Vista ISO and Office XP and dvdrip

but yes google is much better at this, just find it funny i can use a microsoft website to find a torrent for their own software. Same thing is true about a few other companies. Ira Rothken was my defense attorney on a civil case with microsoft and Disney being 2 of the plaintiffs for a very similar thing. Disney and Microsoft both dropped out the suit from this basic argument about their search engines, still had about 5 more software companies left, but after a while they just dropped the case.

I dont see this ruling standing either if it is appealed, this isnt like getting a wiretap, the cops or whatever do all the work, they don't force the business to do it for them, then just give the logs to the cops when they want, this seems more like a tactic to scare some people and hurt the business of Torentspy.

1. It is not about ODF, it is about a usable open standard with available usable implementation. ODF naturally fits the bill. If there was something else available, it would have been on the table.

2. Yes, open format document is easy to spot -- if you get it into your email box regardless of the OS, and can open it with tools from several different vendors without trouble, it is probably open. Sorta like PDF or ODF.

3. There are a lot of good explanations on the web about it, try your favourite search engine.

http://www.google.com/search?name=f&hl=en&q=ODF+vs +OpenXML&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=ODF+vs+OpenXML&ei =UTF-8&fr=moz2
http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=ODF+vs+OpenX ML&sourceid=Mozilla-search&form=CHROME

I agree, this tech is utterly incredible. However:
Last week I found MS's fully textured (though low-res) 3d model of new york on their mapping site http://maps.live.com/ and thought that was very cool (it puts google earth's gray blocks that only go to 59th street to shame).

Isn't that just Microsoft Flight Simulator data?

Check out imagemodeler for objects or stitcher for panoramas. I don't know of commercial products that will do this from video, but I saw a site about a research project that did just that several years ago.

With that said (and putting aside the fact that I am an architect and 3D artist and would find it useful for work), this is just so much cooler than something that will spit out a 3D file and separate textures that have to be imported to some 3d program. This is not about making a 3D model. It's about the experience of being able to search through potentially millions of high res photos almost instantly for either fun, entertainment, research, education, or work.

I'm a computer geek, and am rarely surprised by what comes out these days, but this truly blows me away.

Last week I found MS's fully textured (though low-res) 3d model of new york on their mapping site http://maps.live.com/ and thought that was very cool (it puts google earth's gray blocks that only go to 59th street to shame). Now I'm imagining a combination of these two things.

Picture starting out looking at a view of the earth, zooming in to a model of a city that can be flown around at will (this textured model with it's interactivity, though not photorealistic, is new york in a way it's never really been seen), and then going down to street level to browse through the millions of high res photos people take all around the city and upload to flickr, and being able to zoom in on menus in restaurant windows!!

I am amazed by this.

I was one of thee engineers that worked on the first release Photosynth. It's a great team, and it was a super fun project.

I can tell you that we did not tweak any camera positions by hand. The only real "editing" we did was to eliminate pictures that just didn't correlate well, generally because they didn't have enough feature points in common with the rest of the photos. We didn't tweak any camera positions, but the camera positions (i.e. the locations of the orange camera frusta when you have frusta turned on) are a best estimate, which is subject to some error. Same goes for the projection planes.

What's great about Photosynth is that from the perspective of anyone outside the computer vision community, it appears to be magic. Enough so that lots of the blogosphere was convinced that we somehow "authored" the 3D point clouds. Nope. It's more or less an automatic (albeit somewhat prolonged) process. The hard work is done as a big preproceess, then the client consumes largely precomputed data.

It'll be cool to see Photosynth in action in BBC's upcoming How We Built Britain piece that was announced on Live Labs today.

I did a video interview about Photosynth a while back which is targeted at a non-technical audience but still might be of interest. (And I wrote the music for the original video at Live Labs.)

I was one of thee engineers that worked on the first release Photosynth. It's a great team, and it was a super fun project.

I can tell you that we did not tweak any camera positions by hand. The only real "editing" we did was to eliminate pictures that just didn't correlate well, generally because they didn't have enough feature points in common with the rest of the photos. We didn't tweak any camera positions, but the camera positions (i.e. the locations of the orange camera frusta when you have frusta turned on) are a best estimate, which is subject to some error. Same goes for the projection planes.

What's great about Photosynth is that from the perspective of anyone outside the computer vision community, it appears to be magic. Enough so that lots of the blogosphere was convinced that we somehow "authored" the 3D point clouds. Nope. It's more or less an automatic (albeit somewhat prolonged) process. The hard work is done as a big preproceess, then the client consumes largely precomputed data.

It'll be cool to see Photosynth in action in BBC's upcoming How We Built Britain piece that was announced on Live Labs today.

I did a video interview about Photosynth a while back which is targeted at a non-technical audience but still might be of interest. (And I wrote the music for the original video at Live Labs.)

"I think because as a part of microsoft, the technology will be used to bolster the market share of internet explorer, rather than be available to everyone regardless of their OS or browser. The current photosynth demo is an activeX plugin."

You people and your narrow minded bigotry.

And now in Firefox

It's been great for us to watch your comments, suggestion and ideas around Photosynth. As you know, this is a long term project and the team continues to make progress on a daily basis to add more functionality to the underlying technology. After we released the technology preview in November we saw a number of requests for a version that would work in Firefox. Live Labs is committed to making our technologies available to the widest possible audience, and today we're happy to announce the availability of the Photosynth Firefox plugin. We know that you are waiting for the day when you will be able to create your own collections, and that will happen, but in the meantime look for more beautiful new examples of Photosynth in action over the coming months.

Adam Sheppard
Group Product Manager

Live Labs | Microsoft

"I think because as a part of microsoft, the technology will be used to bolster the market share of internet explorer, rather than be available to everyone regardless of their OS or browser. The current photosynth demo is an activeX plugin."

You people and your narrow minded bigotry.

And now in Firefox

It's been great for us to watch your comments, suggestion and ideas around Photosynth. As you know, this is a long term project and the team continues to make progress on a daily basis to add more functionality to the underlying technology. After we released the technology preview in November we saw a number of requests for a version that would work in Firefox. Live Labs is committed to making our technologies available to the widest possible audience, and today we're happy to announce the availability of the Photosynth Firefox plugin. We know that you are waiting for the day when you will be able to create your own collections, and that will happen, but in the meantime look for more beautiful new examples of Photosynth in action over the coming months.

Adam Sheppard
Group Product Manager

Live Labs | Microsoft

Microsoft also worked with the BBC to produce this collection of Photosynths of several well known places in Britain.

It's kind of amusing how the original research demo is in Java, so it runs on anything. The microsoft demo of course is Windows XP/Vista only. At least they ported the plugin from ActiveX to work in Firefox.

The page also links to sample collections and a Photosynth Firefox plugin.

This system was demoed a while ago, I think at siggraph 2006. There are some videos on the original university of washington "PhotoTourism" research page. Also here's a repost of the same video on that page on youTube.

Also there's microsoft's photosynth page, which has the demo (it's been up for months). It seems to have some longer videos.

Non-newness and marketing hype aside, this software is frickin' awesome. It lets you view and tag photos organized in a 3D environment that reflects where the photos were taken. It should be particularly useful once cameras have GPS built in. It could be used by a single person, but it's definitely well suited to large collections such as flickr. I imagine the reason the software is still in the demo phase is because it's very difficult to take a large number of photos and reliably figure out where they were all taken from. For the demo purposes, Microsoft probably hand corrected a lot of the placements. Even so, everyone I've shown this to thinks its awesome (even non-slashdot readers!).

This system was demoed a while ago, I think at siggraph. There are some videos on the original university of washington PhotoTourism page.. Also here's a repost of the video on youTube.

Also there's microsoft's page, which has the demo (I don't think that's new either). It seems to have some longer videos

Non-newness and marketing hype aside, this software is frickin' awesome. It lets you view and tag photos organized in a 3D environment that reflects where the photos were taken. It should be particularly useful once cameras have GPS built in.

I imagine the reason the software is still in the demo phase is because it's very difficult to take a large number of photos and reliably figure out where they were all taken from. For the demo purposes, Microsoft probably hand corrected a lot of the placements. Even so, everyone I've shown this too thinks its often (even non-slashdot readers!)

David Carlisle has made changes to omml2mml.xsl stylesheet supplied by Microsoft to fix the issue.

http://bhandler.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!70F64BC91 0C9F7F3!2029.entry

http://dpcarlisle.blogspot.com/2007/04/xhtml-and-m athml-from-office-20007.html

Actually, as cool as the "birds-eye view" is, Microsoft already did this exact thing (street-level view) last year... Although it looks like they haven't touched it since launch:

http://preview.local.live.com/
http://blogs.msdn.com/livesearch/archive/2006/02/2 8/540724.aspx