On a crisp autumn day just outside the town of Peshashtin in central Washington, I could be seen alongside seven other Microsoft employees hauling bunches of dogwood and alder saplings down a steep embankment in Darby Canyon to the trickling creek below. For a day, we stepped away from our standing desks and back-to-back Skype meetings to roll up our sleeves and work with Trout Unlimited on a fascinating project, constructing beaver dam analogs – BDAs – on Darby Creek.

Let me answer the two obvious questions here. First, what are BDAs? They are lines of pilings driven into the streambed with branches woven between them that mimic the functionality of beaver dams, generating a host of water availability and quality benefits, such as reducing sediments and stream temperature in the summer. Secondly, why are Microsoft employees weaving beaver dams in central Washington? Believe it or not, this project represents the future of our approach to water, and specifically water replenishment.

Microsoft has been taking actions, within our operations and with our partners, to use less water and preserve this vital natural resource. Overall, our approach rests on four cornerstones: understanding water risks, setting water reduction goals, investing in replenishment, and fostering digital transformation in the water space. Increasingly, we’re looking beyond conservation to include replenishment in this water strategy.

By supporting water replenishment, we have an opportunity to balance our consumption of water, while generating tangible water benefits for the ecosystems and communities where we operate. As a changing climate and competing demands for water put greater pressure on this essential resource, it’s important for companies like Microsoft to engage in water replenishment, particularly in water-stressed regions where we have substantial operations.

One such region is central Washington, where we have datacenter operations, and just over the mountains, our global headquarters in Redmond. Given the proximity and import to our business, it just made sense as the location for our initial investments in water replenishment. In addition to the BDA project, Microsoft partnered with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to support projects that will increase flows and habitat conditions for migrating fish, remove fish passage barriers, and test new irrigation techniques that can improve the quality and quantity of fruit, while using less water. These projects are designed to produce tangible benefits that are meaningful for the aquatic environment and for the agricultural sector in the area.

Our work won’t end here. Microsoft is a global company with an operational presence around the world and we want our water stewardship program to span the globe as well. To accomplish this, we’re evaluating what we’ve learned in central Washington and are experimenting with ways to apply it more broadly. We know that as we explore scaling replenishment, we’ll need to keep some key factors in mind:

• Replenishment investments should be informed by what’s happening on the ground in a region with respect to water – this could vary from lack of availability of water for aquatic species to inadequate access to drinking water for people. The famous axiom “all politics are local” could be applied to water, with “water” replacing “politics.”
• Working with partners who understand what is happening on the ground is critically important, and we need to collaborate with them and listen to their guidance.
• Replenishment investments should be directed toward activities that will contribute to alleviating water stress.

We endeavor to make our operational commitments serve a higher value than just improving our operations – from carbon neutrality, renewable energy, AI for Earth, and beyond, we are focused on making changes that can scale globally and deliver benefits well outside of our four walls. As we explore the role Microsoft can play in water, we’ll look to and build off the work, experiences and lessons learned along the way to advance an environmentally sustainable agenda. Follow this blog to learn about our progress.

Tags: green tech, Microsoft, Water

Two brothers sat at their Commodore 64, eyes fixated on the screen. Fifteen-year-old Aydin Aslaner had caught computer fever; as he showed his 2-year-old brother Milad Aslaner what the magical, boxy, beige machine with the black and green screen was all about, Milad got hooked, too.

“I literally could not go to school some days because I loved our computer so much,” said Aydin. “Windows 3.1 in 1995,” he said, “it was my life.”

Fast forward 20 years to their mother’s dinner table: Aydin was bantering with Milad about whose company was better, Apple or Microsoft. Their middle sibling, sister Aylin Aslaner-Chahin, a civil engineer, passing the potatoes to her mother, amused at her spirited, competitive brothers.

The three siblings had no idea then how their three careers would one day intersect.

After Aydin finished his computer science degree, he spent the following years in various technical positions in Germany before he decided that he wanted to go into business for himself. At the time, Milad had just graduated from high school, so Aydin asked Milad to open a consultancy/PC store with him.

“As crazy as it sounded, I agreed. So there I was, 18 years old, following my big brother to build our own business,” recalled Milad.

But two weeks before the store was scheduled to open, Aydin got a phone call that changed the trajectory of all three Aslaner careers forever.

It was Microsoft, where Aydin had dreamed about working. He didn’t feel like he could pass up the opportunity. Taking the job would mean leaving Milad to open the store on his own, which the younger brother was less than thrilled about.

“As selfish as it sounds, I was against it,” recalled Milad. “How was I supposed to run a business without my brother? I’m happy he went for it, but for me it sounded crazy.”

Aydin joined Microsoft, and Milad opened the doors and ran the business solo. He did well enough for several years, but he grew restless. He sold the business and eventually landed at Apple’s Ireland offices.

Meanwhile, their sister, Aylin, was well into her career as a civil engineer. Family dinners were interesting, she recalled. Aydin raved about Microsoft, Milad praised Apple, and there she was between them, absorbing it all.

It reminded her a lot of when the siblings were young, how the adventurous Milad was always ready to jump into something new but also looked up to the steady Aydin, who was forging the path ahead. And how she was always somewhere in the middle, happily holding it all together, observing them and quietly plotting her own path but rarely quick to leap into her brothers’ schemes.

Though she didn’t see a future for herself at a technology company back then, she did remember being impressed with the way her oldest brother spoke about Microsoft.

“I was learning so much at my job and at the company—it was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I wanted my siblings to have the same experiences,” Aydin said.

His persuasion plan had begun.

Let’s talk about Android for a moment. Yes, I know it’s only Linux by way of a modified kernel, but what isn’t these days? And seeing as how the developers of Android have released what many (including yours truly) believe to be the most significant evolution of the platform to date, there’s plenty to talk about. Of course, before we get into that, it does need to be mentioned (and most of you will already know this) that the whole of Android isn’t open source. Although much of it is, when you get into the bits that connect to Google services, things start to close up. One major service is the Google Play Store, a functionality that is very much proprietary. But this isn’t about how much of Android is open or closed, this is about Pie.
Delicious, nutritious … efficient and battery-saving Pie.

I’ve been working with Android Pie on my Essential PH-1 daily driver (a phone that I really love, but understand how shaky the ground is under the company). After using Android Pie for a while now, I can safely say you want it. It’s that good. But what about the ninth release of Android makes it so special? Let’s dig in and find out. Our focus will be on the aspects that affect users, not developers, so I won’t dive deep into the underlying works.

Gesture-Based Navigation

Much has been made about Android’s new gesture-based navigation—much of it not good. To be honest, this was a feature that aroused all of my curiosity. When it was first announced, no one really had much of an idea what it would be like. Would users be working with multi touch gestures to navigate around the Android interface? Or would this be something completely different.

The reality is, gesture-based navigation is much more subtle and simple than what most assumed. And it all boils down to the Home button. With gesture-based navigation enabled, the Home button and the Recents button have been combined into a single feature. This means, in order to gain access to your recent apps, you can’t simply tap that square Recents button. Instead, the Recent apps overview (Figure 1) is opened with a short swipe up from the home button.

Another change is how the App Drawer is accessed. In similar fashion to opening the Recents overview, the App Drawer is opened via a long swipe up from the Home button.

As for the back button? It’s not been removed. Instead, what you’ll find is it appears (in the left side of the home screen dock) when an app calls for it. Sometimes that back button will appear, even if an app includes its own back button.

Thing is, however, if you don’t like gesture-based navigation, you can disable it. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings

2. Scroll down and tap System > Gestures

3. Tap Swipe up on Home button

4. Tap the On/Off slider (Figure 2) until it’s in the Off position

Battery Life

AI has become a crucial factor in Android. In fact, it is AI that has helped to greatly improve battery life in Android. This new feature is called Adaptive Battery and works by prioritizing battery power for the apps and services you use most. By using AI, Android learns how you use your Apps and, after a short period, can then shut down unused apps, so they aren’t draining your battery while waiting in memory.

The only caveat to Adaptive Battery is, should the AI pick up “bad habits” and your battery start to prematurely drain, the only way to reset the function is by way of a factory reset. Even with that small oversight, the improvement in battery life from Android Oreo to Pie is significant.

Changes to Split Screen

Split Screen has been available to Android for some time. However, with Android Pie, how it’s used has slightly changed. This change only affects those who have gesture-based navigation enabled (otherwise, it remains the same). In order to work with Split Screen on Android 9.0, follow these steps:

1. Swipe upward from the Home button to open the Recent apps overview.

2. Locate the app you want to place in the top portion of the screen.

3. Long press the app’s circle icon (located at the top of the app card) to reveal a new popup menu (Figure 3)

4. Tap Split Screen and the app will open in the top half of the screen.

5. Locate the second app you want to open and, tap it to add it to the bottom half of the screen.

Using Split Screen and closing apps with the feature remains the same as it was.

App Actions

This is another feature that was introduced some time ago, but was given some serious attention for the release of Android Pie. App Actions make it such that you can do certain things with an app, directly from the apps launcher.

For instance, if you long-press the GMail launcher, you can select to reply to a recent email, or compose a new email. Back in Android Oreo, that feature came in the form of a popup list of actions. With Android Pie, the feature now better fits with the Material Design scheme of things (Figure 4).

Sound Controls

Ah, the ever-changing world of sound controls on Android. Android Oreo had an outstanding method of controlling your sound, by way of minor tweaks to the Do Not Disturb feature. With Android Pie, that feature finds itself in a continued state of evolution.

What Android Pie nailed is the quick access buttons to controlling sound on a device. Now, if you press either the volume up or down button, you’ll see a new popup menu that allows you to control if your device is silenced and/or vibrations are muted. By tapping the top icon in that popup menu (Figure 5), you can cycle through silence, mute, or full sound.

Screenshots

Because I write about Android, I tend to take a lot of screenshots. With Android Pie came one of my favorite improvements: sharing screenshots. Instead of having to open Google Photos, locate the screenshot to be shared, open the image, and share the image, Pie gives you a pop-up menu (after you take a screenshot) that allows you to share, edit, or delete the image in question. 

If you want to share the screenshot, take it, wait for the menu to pop up, tap Share (Figure 6), and then share it from the standard Android sharing menu.

A More Satisfying Android Experience

The ninth iteration of Android has brought about a far more satisfying user experience. What I’ve illustrated only scratches the surface of what Android Pie brings to the table. For more information, check out Google’s official Android Pie website. And if your device has yet to receive the upgrade, have a bit of patience. Pie is well worth the wait.

Riot has pulled back the curtain on how its developers handle botters, scripters, and boosters who cheat in League of Legends in a detailed blog post outlining anti-cheat methods.

Developers take exploits seriously, often banning or taking hackers to court if cheating software gets in the way of a good, clean match.

It’s always interesting to see how devs tackle the situation, and in Riot’s case with League of Legends, there’s an entire anti-cheat team to combat malicious players.

As detailed in the blog post, cheating in League of Legends is described as the result of one of three things: scripting, boosting, or botting. 

Scripting seems to be the most influential type of cheating in MOBAs, and it refers to using an external programs like aimbots, cooldown trackers, and combos to give a player an unfair advantage during gameplay. 

Regarding scripting in League, The green line in the image above represents scripters as a daily percentage of ranked games played. It trends downward with time, and is statistically referred to as “A Good Line.” Banwaves are displayed on the same time scale.

But are the cheats really helping? The blog explains how the average win rate of a random sample should be 50 percent, so while scripting may still produces some kind of advantage, it’s clear that there’s a decline.

For example, in an effort to avoid detection, League developers voluntarily added additional delay to their own automated actions, essentially forcing them to perform more like a human. 

Scripts are also the most useful on mechanically intensive champions, so League developers are actively changing champion abilities to make them more forgiving, giving players a chance to better compete with cheaters.

Developers interested in seeing how Riot is continuing to combat cheating should read the entire blog post here.