Imagine calling up your health data any time, any place. Microsoft already is hard at work to make that happen, along with other projects aimed at rebuilding society's infrastructure.

A few years from now, when you drive into a McDonald's parking lot, your dashboard computer will start beeping.

The computer is synced to your phone, and both devices have geographic location services. They know where you are and, based on your credit-card activity, they guess you're about to order another burger and supersized fries.

But because you've subscribed to Microsoft Personal Trainer 2015, a premium feature of the online health-management system you've been using since 2012, technology intervenes. The services are gathering information on your behalf, using a new software platform that began taking shape in 2008.