As they say on the Powerset blog: At Powerset, we transformed our idea into a world-class semantic search platform, demonstrating the future of search with our Wikipedia search experience. But building a large-scale semantic search engine is expensive, requiring an engineering effort and computing resources beyond what most start-ups could ever imagine. Because our goals around improving search align so well, Powerset has decided to team up with Microsoft. We believe that this is the fastest way to bring our technology to market at a large scale.

Microsoft shares our goal to improve search through deeper analysis of queries and documents, and understands that our technology and expertise will play a key role in the evolution of search. With an existing search infrastructure, incredible capital resources, unlimited data, a leading search team, and clear mission to revolutionize the search landscape, Microsoft can rapidly accelerate our progress in building semantic search technology and bringing it to full Web scale.

That famous Wikipedia demo they talk about has been reviewed and tested by Ars Technica and they were pretty impressed with it. Powerset’s potential and passion are more than welcome, and I’m looking forward to seeing their technology melt together with ours to make the entire search experience better. Here’s a demo from their features:

And to top it off, LineRider even got it’s own moment of glory as it was fully integrated in a MacDonalds commercial:

A few days ago, an email got sent around in the company that said the LineRider.com website was now running on Silverlight technology, which is an even better reason to try it out and promote it. And so, here we are :)

• With Power Pack 1, the Windows Home Server Connector software for home computers is compatible with 64-bit editions of Windows Vista.
• Customers can now backup and restore their pictures, music, and documents that they have in their home server’s Shared Folders.
• Uploading and downloading batches of photos or other files, at home or away, is now easier with the option of ZIP or self extracting .exe files.
• Photos are now presented as thumbnails on the built-in Home Server web page, making it easier for customers, friends and family to see photo collections.
• There is now more granular control of the access various users have to data on a home server. This is particularly useful for home based-businesses who want to give their clients controlled access to certain files.
• Windows Home Server can automatically decrease and increase its power consumption on some processors, meaning making it more energy efficient.
• Windows Home Server now supports and streams Windows Media playlists.

More info in the press release

Pretty neat heh :)

I’m still not cancelling my account, but I really don’t want it to go any further than this. I’ll probably just go check the boxes to make myself no longer available for these toys. Hooray for Social Networking.

Guests in the iBar will be able to play games, order customized drinks for themselves (or that special someone across the room) and send photos and messages to each other via strategically placed video cameras that can be controlled by the Surface units.

The iBar Microsoft Surface units will feature eight brand new interactive applications:

• Flirt Vegas style by adding a hip ultralounge vibe to the flirting experience. This application allows guests to create an exciting new way to chat and meet people from one Surface to another. Strategically placed video cameras at each Surface add even more energy to the action, allowing guests to interact with old friends, flirt with new acquaintances, and take and send photos across the lounge.

• Mixologists are inspired to create and order their own signature cocktails for themselves or to send to that special someone across the room using Surface and Harrah’s intuitive food and beverage application.

• Hip-notic describes how guests will feel when kicking back to find and view the latest and most popular online videos with their friends on Surface.

• Head Games are taken to a whole new level with Harrah’s creative suite of play-for-fun games. With the unique Surface interface, Harrah’s adds an exciting new take on some old favorites such as High Roller bowling, Dissed multiplayer pickup pinball, and a Last Call musical memory game that encourage the whole group to play together. Leaderboards add excitement as guests compete with one another to see who can climb to the top of the scoreboard. In addition to Harrah’s unique applications and play-for-fun games, the Surface units also feature a photos application and a virtual concierge application developed by Microsoft that Harrah’s customized for its environment.

• See and Be Scene is what guests can do as they tour all of Harrah’s Vegas properties and explore attractions in Vegas without leaving their seat at the iBar.

• Virtual Vegas aptly describes how guests will take a virtual walk down the Las Vegas strip on Surface, letting their fingers be the guide. Guests will be able to get information on the latest events and attractions at all Harrah’s properties throughout Vegas.

Thanks for the heads up, Nic.

The day is sponsored by Zoom.nl, Kodak, Canon and Olympus. They’ll be present to show off their latest cool gadgets and cameras, and at the end of the day some really cool prizes will be handed out in a raffle. Govert De Roos will be present during the day to guide the photographers with some tips and tricks, and he’ll host the closing keynote when everyone is back from the boat, around 5 PM. After that, there’ll be a walking dinner and a moment to network or talk to the sponsors.

If you’re an amateur photographer and would like to participate in this project, surf to the dedicated Live Space for more information (in Dutch) or send an email to photo-event@live.nl to enroll.

The event is co-hosted by the OSG and DPE department of Microsoft -The Netherlands.

With Messenger TV, we are bringing two of the most popular activities online – watching videos and chatting on IM. This new service lets you watch MSN Videos with a friend as you have live text conversations about the videos you are watching together. Similar to watching television with your friends, you can watch videos and chat about them as you both see the same video at the same time. But the best way to understand Messenger TV is to visit http://MessengerTV.msn.com or to start the activity while chatting to a friend in Windows Live Messenger. With Messenger TV, you can select any of the videos that are available from MSN Video, build your playlist, and watch the videos with a friend.

With Messenger TV, you can also:

• Blog about the videos you see and like by clicking the “Blog to Spaces” button. Clicking this opens your browser with your Windows Live Spaces blog already written, complete with a thumbnail of the video and a link to watch it so all you have to do is click “publish” from within Spaces to share the video with your friends and family who visit your Spaces site.
• Send e-mail to offline friends with links to the videos you see and like by clicking the “Email Video” button. Clicking this creates a new e-mail in your default e-mail client, such as Windows Live Mail, with a link to the video so all you have to do is click “send” to share the video with your friends and family.
• Search for other videos to watch online by entering a word or two in the “Search for videos online” box. The search results open in your browser with search results displayed on http://video.msn.com where you can continue watching videos that are found as a result of your search.

Nice little gadget to make your Live Messenger activities a bit more fun!

Check out LiveInEurope to stay on track more releases and features

Video link

Microsoft is aiding the various response efforts in China and Myanmar with technical resources, corporate donations and volunteer support. Our disaster response team is working with subsidiary teams in China and Thailand to help where it’s most needed, while Microsoft.com and MSN are highlighting ways the public can help. In addition, employees in many Microsoft subsidiaries have been working non-stop to support relief efforts. The Chinese Microsoft Employees (CHIME) Community has reached out to relief organizations in China and created an internal website with additional information.

A few things then became clear to me. We have our own disaster response team, which is - to say the least - pretty wow. And there’s a lot of social efforts within the company amongst the employees of all countries to contribute in any way they can, which I find really cool too. The Citizenship Program, as it is called, helps a load of organizations take advantage of tools, technology and resources that enable them to respond effectively when disasters occur.

I admit, things like these make me proud to be part of this company.

The song in the catchy soundtrack is called “Girl From Mars”, and it is covered by a band named Magneta Lane. The original song was released in 1995 by a band named Ash from their album named “1977″. Enjoy.