Archives for April 2012

Smartphone savvy pays off

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Senior Brian Phagan begins a position with Microsoft Corp. following graduation. Photo by B.A. Rupert

Now that he’s graduating from Missouri S&T, Brian Phagan is heading off to a new campus in the Seattle metropolitan area. This new campus has soccer fields, outdoor basketball courts and biking trails. Oh, yeah, it’s also the sprawling headquarters of Microsoft Corp.

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The eyes have it

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Left to right: Graduate student Sneha Pochinapeddi and professors Hong Sheng and Nick Lockwood with a gaze plot depicting eye-tracking data on a website. Photo by B.A. Rupert

Eyes may be the “windows to the soul,” as the adage states. But Missouri S&T researchers are finding that how the eye moves around a website — and how long it lingers on a particular section — can also reveal a lot about the importance of web design as a means of holding attention.

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Low-impact day

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Melissa Morrison, shown here at the Rolla Recycling Center, is trying to minimize her environmental impact. Photo by B.A. Rupert

For 24 hours last fall, Melissa Morrison gave up some of her favorite things — chewing gum, toasted Pop-Tarts, the Internet and text-messaging.

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