For artificial intelligence (AI) to become useful in our everyday lives, AI must have the ability to work with other agents and humans in order to function in complex environments. At Microsoft, one AI research approach involves creepers, endermen, zombies, skeletons, Iron Golems and, yes, those pigs.

Continuous integration is the best way to get feedback often on the state of your project. Running automated builds and tests after each integration improves reliability and predictability. Consequently, using task and feature branches, while useful in some cases, can be a distraction and delay getting information.

Security is continuing to skyrocket in importance as we tie more and more aspects of our personal life to the phones we carry. And with the Internet of Things burrowing deeper and deeper into our daily lives, we need to understand who has access to our info and how we can best protect ourselves.