• Contact
    • Email for Help/Support
    • Contact Paul
    • Email our Advertising Team
  • About Thurrott.com
    • Meet Paul
    • About Petri.com
  • Our Other Sites
    • Petri
    • Thurrott
  • Home
  • Windows 10
    • Windows 10 Field Guide
    • Programming Windows (Premium)
  • Mobile
    • Microsoft Surface
    • Android + Chromebook
    • iPhone, iOS + Mac
    • Laptops + More Hardware
  • Cloud
    • Office 365
    • Outlook.com
    • OneDrive
    • Skype
    • Bing + MSN
  • Office
  • Home + Media
    • Smart Home
  • Xbox + Games
    • Xbox One
  • Podcasts
    • First Ring Daily
    • The Sams Report
    • Windows Weekly
    • What The Tech
    • How To Subscribe to Premium RSS
  • Paul
    • Ask Paul
    • What I Use
  • Premium Content
    • Beneath A Surface Commentary
    • Programming Windows
    • Join Premium
    • Premium Experience Benefits
    • Premium FAQ
  • Webinars
  • Forums
X
  • Our Other Sites
    • Petri
    • Thurrott
  • Contact
    • Email for Help/Support
    • Contact Paul
    • Email our Advertising Team
  • About Thurrott.com
    • Meet Paul
    • About Petri.com
  • Upgrade to Premium
  • Log In
Thurrott.comThe Home for Tech Enthusiasts: News, Reviews & Analysis
  • Home
  • Windows 10
    • Windows 10 Field Guide
    • Programming Windows (Premium)
  • Mobile
    • Microsoft Surface
    • Android + Chromebook
    • iPhone, iOS + Mac
    • Laptops + More Hardware
  • Cloud
    • Office 365
    • Outlook.com
    • OneDrive
    • Skype
    • Bing + MSN
  • Office
  • Home + Media
    • Smart Home
  • Xbox + Games
    • Xbox One
  • Podcasts
    • First Ring Daily
    • The Sams Report
    • Windows Weekly
    • What The Tech
    • How To Subscribe to Premium RSS
  • Paul
    • Ask Paul
    • What I Use
  • Premium Content
    • Beneath A Surface Commentary
    • Programming Windows
    • Join Premium
    • Premium Experience Benefits
    • Premium FAQ
  • Webinars
  • Forums
Avatar

ThomasMNS

Alpha Member Since Jun 2016

4 Posts
30 Comments
Upvotes 100%
Downvotes 0%
  • Subject Posted By Forum Category Last Activity Activity
    How can Microsoft balance the benefits of AI and pervasive computing with user privacy? Do they even need to?
    By ThomasMNS, 4 years ago
    3 Replies
    Forum: Microsoft
    Category: Uncategorized
    ThomasMNS Microsoft Uncategorized 4 years ago 3 Replies
    Favourite Premium Articles?
    By ThomasMNS, 4 years ago
    4 Replies
    Forum: Premium
    Category: Uncategorized
    ThomasMNS Premium Uncategorized 4 years ago 4 Replies
    Gaming ID Thread
    By ThomasMNS, 4 years ago
    4 Replies
    Forum: General Discussion
    Category: Games
    ThomasMNS General Discussion Games 4 years ago 4 Replies
    Microsoft ABCs
    By ThomasMNS, 4 years ago
    12 Replies
    Forum: General Discussion
    Category: Uncategorized
    ThomasMNS General Discussion Uncategorized 4 years ago 12 Replies

    comment
    Smite esports are broadcast exclusively on Mixer, so I have been using it quite a bit recently. Last season it

    Posted 1 year ago on Mixer – 3 Comments

    comment
    In reply to wbhite: I am proud to be funding Brad and Paul's wacky adventures. 

    Posted 4 years ago on CES 2017: Brad and Paul Behind the Scenes (Premium Video) – 65 Comments

    comment
    Love it! More please guys. 

    Posted 4 years ago on CES 2017: Brad and Paul Behind the Scenes (Premium Video) – 65 Comments

    comment
    Haha, yes please to a hate mail episode! 

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 55: Apple Surface Counts – 5 Comments

    comment
    RossNWirth Posted   I also remember (bittersweetly - not a word) the experience of using the iPhone as a

    Posted 4 years ago on Throwback: Samsung “Taylor” Windows Phone Prototype – 23 Comments

    comment
    captobie Posted Although I was a longtime Windows Mobile user, my one and only experience with Windows Phone w

    Posted 4 years ago on Throwback: Samsung “Taylor” Windows Phone Prototype – 23 Comments

    comment
    Great article Paul, I love things like these.  Looking at these images reminded me just how much I loved

    Posted 4 years ago on Throwback: Samsung “Taylor” Windows Phone Prototype – 23 Comments

    comment
    Haha that's really cool, good job. :) 

    Posted 4 years ago on A little holiday music from me, to you (you blockheads!) – 11 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Brad Sams: Hey, Brad is a jerk and stuff! Sorry, just trying to even it out a bit. 

    Posted 4 years ago on Stop Bashing Paul – 41 Comments

    comment
    I don't want to get into the entire Windows Mobile argument but I appreciate that Paul is able to offer critic

    Posted 4 years ago on Stop Bashing Paul – 41 Comments

    comment
    I'm getting a similar sort of feeling with this as I did with the iOS / Android mobile bridges that were annou

    Posted 4 years ago on What The Tech 333: x86 Emulation on ARM – 2 Comments

    comment
    I’d like the Zune

    Posted 4 years ago on Everything Must Go: Original Zune – 44 Comments

    comment
    That's a mighty nice yard there Paul.  Love these little behind the scenes shows.

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 24: From the Microsoft Teams Event – 4 Comments

    comment
    A livestream of Paul and Brad playing COD would be great. :) 

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 17: Entering The Surface Studio – 3 Comments

    comment
    Love these little behind the scenes peeks. 

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 18: Boots on the Ground – 9 Comments

    Forum Post

    How can Microsoft balance the benefits of AI and pervasive computing with user privacy? Do they even need to?

    I’ve been thinking about a couple of interesting articles over the past few days, namely Paul’s ‘The Failure of Windows Phone and the Next Big Thing’ (https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/windows-phone/82610/failure-windows-phone-next-big-thing) and Brad’s ‘Microsoft’s Home Hub Looks To Bring Cortana To The Kitchen’ (https://www.thurrott.com/hardware/83654/microsofts-home-hub-looks-bring-cortana-kitchen). 

    I currently have no interest in talking to my computer. I made a concerted effort when Windows 10 came out bundled with Cortana to use it as much as I could and make it a part of my day to day workflows, but ultimately it’s still just easier for me to use my trusty mouse and keyboard. 

    That being said, I think AI and relatedly pervasive computing are going to be big. While hovercars and holodecks are still a distant dream, the sci-fi future where I can walk up to my house, unlock the door using Windows Hello, have the lights come on and my favourite music automatically start playing when sensors detect it’s me who has walked into a room, ask Cortana what food is in the fridge and have one of the Echo like AI enabled devices located in every room respond to me, tell it to play a movie on one of the various connected screens located throughout the house while I do some cooking, ask it to order me a self driving taxi to arrive so I can make a date in 30 minutes depending on the traffic conditions, leave the house and have my movie playing where it left off in the car is just around the corner, if not here already. Assuming this is an area MS does decide to get inolved in, of course, although this is appearing increasinly likely. 

    While I think this sounds amazing, it would also mean that Microsoft, a for-profit company, would know almost everything about me, and this makes me somewhat uncomfortable. Knowledge of movements, tastes, habits, communications, far greater than they have today. And of course if Microsoft have it, what guarantees are there that it wont be accessed by a government agency? Or released in a data breach? 

    But does this even matter? Having a camera on a laptop pointing at our face all day and carrying around a GPS tracker in our phones everywhere we go are things that 30 years ago would sound uncomfortably 1984ish, but we now demand that our devices have these things, and base our buying habits around them. Conversely, there were real concerns – even outcries – about the privacy implications of Google Glass. Windows 10 perhaps fell somewhere in the middle, with complaints about data tracking and the like being common in the early days but quickly dying off. 

    Where will future forays into these fields fall? Will privacy concerns prevent AI like Cortana from becoming truly mainstream, and keep it relegated to an interesting novelty? What about devices like Home Hub? Will we feel uncomfortable allowing them more and more access into our homes and lives, controlling appliances, lighting, heating and communications, instead keeping it as a glorified voice enabled MP3 player? Or will these concerns be swept aside as we embrace the utility of the devices. 

    Talking specifically about Microsoft, if they were to get involved, what guarantees could they make, or what systems could them implement to reassure people that only necessary data is being gathered, and that it is being kept safe? Cortana’s Notebook feature seems to be a good step towards this. And could Microsoft leverage it’s image as a security conscious safe pair of hands (Brad has an interesting article about this here: https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/83177/microsoft-security-company-premium) to get an advantage over the likes of Google who are traditionally seen as only wanting users so they can commercialize their data, or Amazon who presumably just want to sell us as much as possible?

    Would love to hear your thoughts. 

    Posted 4 years ago on How can Microsoft balance the benefits of AI and pervasive computing with user privacy? Do they even need to? – 3 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Hougaard: I think the format is fine. While a straight 10 minute roundup of the days MS focus

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 13: Password Fiasco – 20 Comments

    comment
    I’d like the watch

    Posted 4 years ago on Everything Must Go: Windows Server 2003 Ship Gift – 93 Comments

    comment
     "I literally cannot stop using iTunes" - Brad Sams

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 9: Surfacing The Music – 20 Comments

    comment
    Camera going to sleep because Paul is booooooring ;D Love how the podcast is coming together, it's like having

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 8: That Windows Thing – 20 Comments

    comment
     Interesting as always, cheers Brad. I think like many here I use an Android phone but am still firmly in

    Posted 4 years ago on The Sams Report EP 59: Should Microsoft Build An Android Flagship – 13 Comments

    comment
    Cheers Tim! Thanks for the update.

    Posted 4 years ago on Site updates for the week of 10/3/16 – 14 Comments

    comment
    LOL at everyone ganging up on Paul. 

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily Live – Expectations For Microsoft’s October Event – 49 Comments

    comment
    Surface hardware did look underwhelming. Hopefully the surface brand doesn't get diluted with subpar stuff.&nb

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily Live – Expectations For Microsoft’s October Event – 49 Comments

    comment
    In reply to Andrewzarian: One more time! 

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily Live – Expectations For Microsoft’s October Event – 49 Comments

    comment
    Hype!

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily Live – Expectations For Microsoft’s October Event – 49 Comments

    comment
    Always fun getting a little look around the studio. Paul next please. :) 

    Posted 4 years ago on What The Tech 327: Google’s New Hardware – 4 Comments

    comment
    In reply to MacLiam: I'm also waiting for the episode where Paul stands up and it turns out he hasn't been wea

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 6: Kin You Not – 9 Comments

    comment
    Fun episode, Throwback Thursdays are something I'm going to be looking forward to now. And glad to see site de

    Posted 4 years ago on First Ring Daily EP 6: Kin You Not – 9 Comments

    comment
    brb, cancelling Premium because of that terrible joke at the end.  Interesting episode guys. Podcast is c

    Posted 4 years ago on Episode 4: A Day of Google – 21 Comments

    comment
    In reply to jr.flynn: Nice idea. PC Gamer magazine has a 'face off' section which sounds similar to this and i

    Posted 4 years ago on Favourite Premium Articles? – 2 Comments

    comment
    Lol that's pretty funny, hopefully gets fixed soon.  From inspecting the page source, this https://w

    Posted 4 years ago on forum bug? – 5 Comments

    comment
    A link to the premium stories category (https://www.thurrott.com/tag/Premium) on the 'Join Premium' drop down

    Posted 4 years ago on New Site Design Feedback – 105 Comments

    Forum Post

    Favourite Premium Articles?

    So, what's everyone's favourite Premium articles? I'm thinking this thread could be useful for people who have only gotten Premium recently by acting as a collection of interesting older posts they should go back to read to get the most from their subscription, or for those who don't have the time to read every post on the site.  

    'The Windows Mobile Manifesto' (https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/windows-phone/79041/windows-mobile-manifesto-premium) is one I encourage everyone to check out if they haven't already. It provides the sort of insights only someone with Paul's history and experience can provide and is overall a really interesting read. 

     

    Posted 4 years ago on Favourite Premium Articles? – 2 Comments

    comment
    Kinect

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft ABCs – 12 Comments

    comment
    In reply to lordbaal1: Booooo. :p I'd have thought a System Lord would be able to figure out a simple game.&nb

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft ABCs – 12 Comments

    comment
    Perhaps a website suggestion rather than a forum one, but I think a calendar page could be fun. You and Paul c

    Posted 4 years ago on What features are we missing, what do you want to see added? – 82 Comments

    comment
    Insider Hub

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft ABCs – 12 Comments

    comment
    I like it. Nice clean design, and it's especially nice to get the forums featured prominently on the sidebar.

    Posted 4 years ago on New Site Design Feedback – 105 Comments

    comment
    I like how the First Ring Daily logo on the screen behind Paul makes it look like he has a halo. :)  Enjo

    Posted 4 years ago on Episode 3: Zero Day In The Blurry Bunker – 58 Comments

    comment
    Currently using a modest desktop PC. :)  (Older image, have since upgraded the OS and monitors) 

    Posted 4 years ago on What do you run? – 15 Comments

    Forum Post

    Gaming ID Thread

    Post your gaming IDs here if you'd like to play with other community members. In the future we could look at setting up gaming events or servers for PC games, but for now post your names and the games you play so we can add eachother if wanted. :) 

    Xbox Live (PC only): milkntwosugars
    Games played: Halo 5 Forge, Minecraft Windows 10 Edition

    Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/mn2s/
    Games played: Rocket League, Unturned, Block N Load, Ace of Spades

    Battle.net: MilkN2Sugars#21816
    Games played: Overwatch

    Posted 4 years ago on Gaming ID Thread – 4 Comments

    Forum Post

    Microsoft ABCs

    Because is an internet forum really complete if intelligent discourse isn't drowned out by frivolous forum games? 

    Rules Go through the alphabet with Microsoft related words, one letter per post. For example: 

    Poster 1: Access 
    Poster 2: Ballmer 
    Poster 3: Cortana 

    (Note - you'll need to make sure posts are sorted by date for this to make sense)

    When you reach Z, you can either start from A again, or go backwards (the next poster decides.)

    I'll start with... Azure

    Posted 4 years ago on Microsoft ABCs – 12 Comments

    comment
    Hello!  Do we have a name for ourselves yet? Paulites? Thurrottians? ;) 

    Posted 4 years ago on Hello ! – 49 Comments

    comment
     Hi! Looking pretty cool in here. 

    Posted 4 years ago on A new forum – 9 Comments

    comment
    Fancy!

    Posted 4 years ago on Windows 10 is Now on 400 Million Devices – 94 Comments

    comment
    Hello! 

    Posted 4 years ago on Hello World – 13 Comments

    Thurrott.com
    • Sections
      • Home
      • Windows 10
      • Mobile
      • Cloud
      • Digital Media
      • Games
      • Podcasts
      • Forums
      • Related Sites
    • About Thurrott
      • About Us
      • Meet Paul
      • Conditions of Use
      • Privacy Notice
    • Contact
      • Contact Paul
      • Contact Support
      • Advertising
    • Our Other Sites
      • Petri IT Knowledgebase
      • IT Unity
      • BWW Media Group
    • Subscribe
      • Thurrott Daily
      • Thurrott Basic
      • Thurrott Premium
    • © 2021 BWW Media Group
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Notice
    • Help

    Already a Member?

    Log in to Thurrott.com
    Or
    Log In Instantly:
    Connect with:
    Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google

    No account? Set up your basic account

    Looking for more?
    Become a Premium Member

    Hi there ... your ad blocker is showing.


    You're not here for the ads. We understand. But ads help us keep the lights on. And you can support our journalism by taking advantage of one of these options:

    Sign-up for a free Thurrott.com account below and you can ad-block to your heart's content. Or, if you don't want an account, you can put Thurrott.com in your ad-blocker's whitelist. Whichever you choose, thanks!

    Already a member? Log In  |  Move on to site

    We use cookies to improve your browsing experience.

    Find out more about our cookie policy here.