I recently attended the Microsoft MIX10 conference in Las Vegas. I had a nice time, but mostly because of the location; Las Vegas is an interesting place. The conference itself was mainly a PR for the new Windows Phone, but there were a couple of very interesting lectures I would like to share:

• The Art, Technology and Science of Reading
  by Kevin Larson (blog)
  http://live.visitmix.com/MIX10/Sessions/DS07
  This is a fascinating lecture about how we (humans) process words visually. Kevin discusses several studies his group conducted on the subject, with some surprising results.

• The Elephant in the Room
  by Nishant Kothary (blog)
  http://live.visitmix.com/MIX10/Sessions/DS13
  Nishant effectively demonstrates how we tend to form ill-advised bias towards our peers, and how it applies to the process of software design.