5 ms·

Microsoft Research Publications

186 points by Legend 13y ago

pradn 13y ago
I'm curious about this paper: The use of Melodic Scales in Bollywood Music: An Empirical Study Cool that Microsoft does research into Bollywood music? http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=198398 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=1983...
- shavingspiders 13y ago
  http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/songsmith/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/song... Could it be related to SongSmith? "Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. Just choose a musical style, sing into your PC’s microphone, and Songsmith will create backing music for you."
- zmitri 13y ago
  I took an interdisciplinary course in University and one of the CS professors did a whole lecture series on research in music and analysis. A lot of beat analysis, understanding rhythms and predicting popularity of songs based on the distribution of the timing between their beats. It was very cool and extremely creative. Here's his homepage if you want to learn more http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~godfried/ http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~godfried/ Edit: Looks like he recently published a book on it too http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466512023 http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466512023
  - morgante 13y ago
    His research is definitely fascinating. Funny to see my CS professor pop up in here though. :)
- chimmy 13y ago
  in this age of data, they analyze 300 songs? I am all for going on unchartered paths but as a stock holder I would question such wasteful research.
jdmitch 13y ago
How is it that they can say "Our research" about publications from 1951, like: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=65008 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=6500... and http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=65035 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=6503... are they just part of Microsoft's IP portfolio, or are these authors previous incarnations of Bill Gates?
- mturmon 13y ago
  Nice find. Sorting by oldest first turns up pages and pages of classic papers, e.g. by Kolmogorov, Bucy, David Marr, etc., etc. Many of these people have never had a relationship with MS. And they are, in many cases, copyright by other entities, like the IEEE or the Royal Statistical Society, so they are in no way MS IP.
- packetslave 13y ago
  This is just a guess, but maybe those are papers that are cited in others from MS Research authors, and there was a data migration bug at some point that mixed citations with authored papers.
  - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
    It is obviously a bug since MSR was founded in...1991. Many researchers also insert papers into the system written in other labs or universities before joining MSR; these seem to be included as well even though these days we clearly get to distinguish between was written when at MSR and what wasn't. This behavior seems to only apply to older papers and not newer ones.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- pradn 13y ago
  Haha! HN is extremely critical of Microsoft all the time. I suspect this article was posted in response to the post about Facebook's research publications, which was near the top earlier in the day.
- adamnemecek 13y ago
  What circle jerking are you referring to exactly?
- nivla 13y ago
  Quiet ironic given that most of your comments are only on posts about Microsoft. I therefore direct the question back to you.
mtdewcmu 13y ago
There are lots of machine learning papers in there, and lots of papers about mobile, search, social networks, etc. This one seemed a little out of place: "Taking Stock of Toilets in Bangalore’s Government Schools: Status, Challenges and Opportunities"
- msutherl 13y ago
  Many if not most large corporations employ anthropologists who conduct ethnographic studies of how people all over the world use technology. Toilet jokes aside, this is not at all out of place.
  - mtdewcmu 13y ago
    I had no idea that Microsoft did that kind of research. Maybe this is connected to Bill Gates's philanthropic work.
    - msutherl 13y ago
      I don't think so. It's pretty standard for companies with a global presence – they need to employ to find out how (potential) customers use technology in other parts of the world with different cultural and socioeconomic conditions. Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, etc. all do this. A great blog from a Nokia ethnographer: http://janchipchase.com/themes/future-perfect/ http://janchipchase.com/themes/future-perfect/.
balakk 13y ago
Also this: https://github.com/MicrosoftResearchSVC/ https://github.com/MicrosoftResearchSVC/ Dryad under an Apache license!
citrin_ru 13y ago
Be aware - some algorithms described in publications on research.microsoft.com can be patented by microsoft (and this fact not referred in publication itself, google patent search can be useful for this).
- levesque 13y ago
  How would it go if you were to write an algorithm based on the patented version?
  - Keyframe 13y ago
    Very secretly. On a serious note, I wonder what would it mean to implement a patented algorithm (patented in US where it's possible) in a country where it's not possible to patent software, like anywhere in EU. I presume it would mean you couldn't sell your software in US and that's about it?
- marcosdumay 13y ago
  How interesting. Isn't there a requirement to mark every publication of a patented idea? Did Microsoft just invalidated those patents? (Do they even know what patents apply?)
  - DalekBaldwin 13y ago
    I'm not an academic, but I read a lot of scholarly publications in computer science and I have never seen a single reference to a patent in any of them. Usually I only discover that something is patented or patent pending later, after some heavy Googling. I copied down this quote from somewhere earlier this year but I can't find the source now: "One of the things they tell us developers here at Microsoft is that we should never read any patents. That's because you're liable for triple damages if you knowingly infringe on a patent."
    - RyJones 13y ago
      Yes, I went through that training, and that's an accurate summation of the commandments given. Do not peruse patent databases because it only takes one person at Microsoft reading the patent, and someone else totally unrelated infringing, to turn a simple "oops" into "knowing infringement".
Flenser 13y ago
I didn't know they made videos of visiting speakers available: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&sb=no&ps=25&t=videos&sf=&s=&r=&vr=105128&ra= http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&... There's also an RSS feed: http://research.microsoft.com/rss/visitingSpeakers.xml http://research.microsoft.com/rss/visitingSpeakers.xml
Erwin 13y ago
See also this more applied site, where you can try out results of some of a part of MS research in your browser -- http://rise4fun.com/ http://rise4fun.com/ -- this comes from the "research in software engineering" group: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/rise/default.aspx http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/rise/default.aspx
err4nt 13y ago
Am I the only one who noticed they had articles published in August 2014 on that site? Also, the first blog post I clicked on [1] brought this quote: "We propose a new progressive analytics system based on a progress model called Prism" WHY is Microsoft so terrible at picking names for their products? 1: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=200169 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=2001...
- Metrop0218 13y ago
  It's an MSR publication, not a marketing team pitching a product. I don't think anyone thought hard about the name.
- JL2010 13y ago
  Those are typical names for academic papers, check out pretty much any conference's list of accepted papers for similar verbosity.
- ac 13y ago
  > Am I the only one who noticed they had articles published in August 2014 on that site? It's probably the papers that have just been accepted for publication, but haven't actually been published yet. The submission-reviewing-publication process is very slow and usually takes at least 5 months in CS conferences. So, many authors make the papers available right after they get an acceptance notification from the program committee. So, my best guess is that the publication date refers to the date those papers would be published officially.

186 points by Legend 13y ago

pradn 13y ago

I'm curious about this paper: The use of Melodic Scales in Bollywood Music: An Empirical Study Cool that Microsoft does research into Bollywood music? http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=198398 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=1983...

shavingspiders 13y ago
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/songsmith/ http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/song... Could it be related to SongSmith? "Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. Just choose a musical style, sing into your PC’s microphone, and Songsmith will create backing music for you."
zmitri 13y ago
I took an interdisciplinary course in University and one of the CS professors did a whole lecture series on research in music and analysis. A lot of beat analysis, understanding rhythms and predicting popularity of songs based on the distribution of the timing between their beats. It was very cool and extremely creative. Here's his homepage if you want to learn more http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~godfried/ http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~godfried/ Edit: Looks like he recently published a book on it too http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466512023 http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466512023
- morgante 13y ago
  His research is definitely fascinating. Funny to see my CS professor pop up in here though. :)
chimmy 13y ago
in this age of data, they analyze 300 songs? I am all for going on unchartered paths but as a stock holder I would question such wasteful research.

jdmitch 13y ago

How is it that they can say "Our research" about publications from 1951, like: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=65008 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=6500... and http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=65035 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=6503... are they just part of Microsoft's IP portfolio, or are these authors previous incarnations of Bill Gates?

mturmon 13y ago
Nice find. Sorting by oldest first turns up pages and pages of classic papers, e.g. by Kolmogorov, Bucy, David Marr, etc., etc. Many of these people have never had a relationship with MS. And they are, in many cases, copyright by other entities, like the IEEE or the Royal Statistical Society, so they are in no way MS IP.
packetslave 13y ago
This is just a guess, but maybe those are papers that are cited in others from MS Research authors, and there was a data migration bug at some point that mixed citations with authored papers.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  It is obviously a bug since MSR was founded in...1991. Many researchers also insert papers into the system written in other labs or universities before joining MSR; these seem to be included as well even though these days we clearly get to distinguish between was written when at MSR and what wasn't. This behavior seems to only apply to older papers and not newer ones.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

pradn 13y ago
Haha! HN is extremely critical of Microsoft all the time. I suspect this article was posted in response to the post about Facebook's research publications, which was near the top earlier in the day.
adamnemecek 13y ago
What circle jerking are you referring to exactly?
nivla 13y ago
Quiet ironic given that most of your comments are only on posts about Microsoft. I therefore direct the question back to you.

mtdewcmu 13y ago

There are lots of machine learning papers in there, and lots of papers about mobile, search, social networks, etc. This one seemed a little out of place: "Taking Stock of Toilets in Bangalore’s Government Schools: Status, Challenges and Opportunities"

msutherl 13y ago
Many if not most large corporations employ anthropologists who conduct ethnographic studies of how people all over the world use technology. Toilet jokes aside, this is not at all out of place.
- mtdewcmu 13y ago
  I had no idea that Microsoft did that kind of research. Maybe this is connected to Bill Gates's philanthropic work.
  - msutherl 13y ago
    I don't think so. It's pretty standard for companies with a global presence – they need to employ to find out how (potential) customers use technology in other parts of the world with different cultural and socioeconomic conditions. Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, etc. all do this. A great blog from a Nokia ethnographer: http://janchipchase.com/themes/future-perfect/ http://janchipchase.com/themes/future-perfect/.

balakk 13y ago

Also this: https://github.com/MicrosoftResearchSVC/ https://github.com/MicrosoftResearchSVC/ Dryad under an Apache license!

citrin_ru 13y ago

Be aware - some algorithms described in publications on research.microsoft.com can be patented by microsoft (and this fact not referred in publication itself, google patent search can be useful for this).

levesque 13y ago
How would it go if you were to write an algorithm based on the patented version?
- Keyframe 13y ago
  Very secretly. On a serious note, I wonder what would it mean to implement a patented algorithm (patented in US where it's possible) in a country where it's not possible to patent software, like anywhere in EU. I presume it would mean you couldn't sell your software in US and that's about it?
marcosdumay 13y ago
How interesting. Isn't there a requirement to mark every publication of a patented idea? Did Microsoft just invalidated those patents? (Do they even know what patents apply?)
- DalekBaldwin 13y ago
  I'm not an academic, but I read a lot of scholarly publications in computer science and I have never seen a single reference to a patent in any of them. Usually I only discover that something is patented or patent pending later, after some heavy Googling. I copied down this quote from somewhere earlier this year but I can't find the source now: "One of the things they tell us developers here at Microsoft is that we should never read any patents. That's because you're liable for triple damages if you knowingly infringe on a patent."
  - RyJones 13y ago
    Yes, I went through that training, and that's an accurate summation of the commandments given. Do not peruse patent databases because it only takes one person at Microsoft reading the patent, and someone else totally unrelated infringing, to turn a simple "oops" into "knowing infringement".

Flenser 13y ago

I didn't know they made videos of visiting speakers available: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&sb=no&ps=25&t=videos&sf=&s=&r=&vr=105128&ra= http://research.microsoft.com/apps/catalog/default.aspx?p=1&... There's also an RSS feed: http://research.microsoft.com/rss/visitingSpeakers.xml http://research.microsoft.com/rss/visitingSpeakers.xml

Erwin 13y ago

See also this more applied site, where you can try out results of some of a part of MS research in your browser -- http://rise4fun.com/ http://rise4fun.com/ -- this comes from the "research in software engineering" group: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/rise/default.aspx http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/rise/default.aspx

err4nt 13y ago

Am I the only one who noticed they had articles published in August 2014 on that site? Also, the first blog post I clicked on [1] brought this quote: "We propose a new progressive analytics system based on a progress model called Prism" WHY is Microsoft so terrible at picking names for their products? 1: http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=200169 http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=2001...

Metrop0218 13y ago
It's an MSR publication, not a marketing team pitching a product. I don't think anyone thought hard about the name.
JL2010 13y ago
Those are typical names for academic papers, check out pretty much any conference's list of accepted papers for similar verbosity.
ac 13y ago
> Am I the only one who noticed they had articles published in August 2014 on that site? It's probably the papers that have just been accepted for publication, but haven't actually been published yet. The submission-reviewing-publication process is very slow and usually takes at least 5 months in CS conferences. So, many authors make the papers available right after they get an acceptance notification from the program committee. So, my best guess is that the publication date refers to the date those papers would be published officially.