IBM bets on Watson

Posted on November 10, 2014 by - News

Sherlock-Holmes-and-WatsonBig Blue is hoping that its AI based supercomputer Watson can come up with a few ideas which will help turn it around.

IBM  is taking a kicking from cheap cloud computing services and the outfit is  facing an uncertain future.

Apparently, IBM’s research division is building on the research effort that led to Watson, the computer that won in the game show Jeopardy! in 2011. The hope is that this effort will lead to software and hardware that can answer complex questions by looking through vast amounts of information containing subtle and disparate clues.

John Kelly, director of IBM Research told MIT Technology review  that IBM was betting billions of dollars, and a third of this division now is working on artificial intelligence techniques related to Watson.

Earlier this year the division was reorganised to ramp up efforts related to cognitive computing. The push began with the development of the original Watson, but has expanded to include other areas of software and hardware research aimed at helping machines provide useful insights from huge quantities of often-messy data.

So far, the research has created new recipes by analysing thousands of ingredients and popular meals, and, less interesting, electronic components, known as neurosynaptic chips, that have features modelled on the workings of biological brains and are more efficient at processing sensory information.

The hope is that the technology will be able to answer complicated questions in different industries, including health, financial markets, and oil discovery; and that it will help IBM build its new computer-driven consulting business.

There is a growing belief that machine-learning techniques may provide ways to use big data.  Already Google, Facebook, and Amazon have their own methods for hunting through vast quantities of data for useful insights.

So far those Watson has proved a bit elementary.  Some companies and researchers testing Watson systems have reported difficulties in adapting the technology to work with their data sets. However that has not stopped IBM’s CEO, Virginia Rometty, said in October last year that she expects Watson to bring in $10 billion in annual revenue in 10 years, even though that figure then stood at around $100 million.

IBM is aggressively commercialising the technology. Last week the company announced it had teamed up with Twitter and the Chinese social network Tencent to offer a service that will try to find useful insights from messages daily sent through these services, as we reported here. A company that sells phones might, for example, learn about a possible problem with one of its products from comments made by restaurant patrons.

 

Blizzard boss wades into Gamergate

Posted on November 10, 2014 by - News

558_L-narikoBlizzard Entertainment’s president and CEO Michael Morhaime surprised the software industry by referring negatively to Gamergate.

For those who came in late, Gamergate is a campaign by backward misogynistic gamers to chase women from the industry with death threats and online harassment so that they can continue to play games where big-breasted women are saved by men. All this is done under a pretext that women gaming journalists are corrupt.

Morhaime has to be careful, after all, he sells many games to people who support Gamergate and have views about women which make cavemen look enlightened. He did not mention he was talking about Gamergate but it is not difficult to spot the thread.

“Over the past couple months; there’s been a  group of people who have been doing really awful things. They have been making some people’s lives miserable, and they have been tarnishing our reputation as gamers… “It’s not right.”

Blizzcon is a great example of how positive and uplifting gaming can be,” Morhaime added—speaking to his company’s long-running convention dedicated to its small but enormously popular handful of games. “Let’s carry the good the good vibes from this weekend out into the world all year round.”

“There is another person on the other end of the chat screen,” he continued, making a strong reference to the online harassment that has flared up unpleasantly in recent months. “They’re our friends, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters.”

“Let’s take a stand to reject hate and harassment,” Morhaime said.

“Let’s redouble our efforts to be kind and respectful to one another. And let’s remind the world what the gaming community is really all about.”

Dark net raided by police worldwide

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

seizedPolice in Europe and the United States have shut down over 400 so-called dark net sites and made multiple arrests.

The police forces shut down Silk Road 2.0 and other sites using the Tor network, that some have dubbed the unternet of fangs.

The sites were alleged to have sold weapons and drugs, according to the BBC.

Out of those arrested, six were British and have been bailed.

The report said Bitcoins worth over £630 thousand were seized.  Troels Oerling, who runs Europol’s cybercrime unit said the combined forces had closed web sites using Tor – crooks had thought themselves out of reach of the law.

Tor was originally created by the US Navy and still gets funding from the US government.  It uses many different levels of encryption in daisy chains across the globe, each link being separately encrypted.

Glass to power superfast computers

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

Glass of tea, Wikimedia CommonsScientists at the universities of Cambridge, Southampton and Surrey believe they’ve cracked a glass problem that has eluded researchers for decades.

They say they have made a breakthrough using amorphous chalcogenides, used in CDs and DVDs, that will allow the creation of all optical computer systems.

Dr Richard Curry, project leader of the team, said: “The challenge is to find a single material that can effectively use and control light to carry information around a computer. Much how the web uses light to deliver information, we want to use light to both deliver and process computer data.”

He said the team shows how a widely used glass can conduct negative electrons as well as positive charges, meaning that pn-junction devices can be made.

The team thinks that its research will be integrated into computers within a mere 10 years.  But the glass is already being manufactured and used for a memory technology called CRAM.

Open source rules for robots

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

robotsRobot operating systems (ROS) rely largely on open source software and that’s likely to continue.

That’s according to a report from ABI Research which said that using open source software, libraries, tools and the run time environment all contribute to a reduction in complexity, robustness, maintenance and speed of devleopment and deployment.

Dan Kara a director of robotics at ABI said that the complexity, difficulty and “glacial pace” of software development has stifled robotics and held up commercialisation of products.

He said that ROS is now a standard technology for robotic researchers and the next generation of engineers will be well schooled in ROS.

The move is being driven by giants like Google and Toyota, but also aided by Rethink Robotics and Universall robots.

He said: “ROS has the potential to become a foundational software platform for all manner of actuated devices, ranging from service robots, industrial manipulators, consumer systems, self drive cars and more.”

Internet of things worth trillions by 2020

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

Internet of ThingsA forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) is predicting that the market for internet of things (IoT) elements will be worth $3.04 trillion in 2020, up from $1.3 trillion now.

IDC includes elements including hardware, software, services, connectivity and security in its report, and defines the IoT as a network of networks of uniquely identifiable nodes that communicate without people using IP (internet protocol) connectivity.

While the US market has taken the lead in the IoT, it will be outstripped by Western Europe and Asia Pacific in revenues and installed base as the decade continues.

IDC believes no one vendor will dominate the market but growth will depend on the coexistence of different vendors, service providers and system integrators to work to broadly similar standards.

The number of individual nodes worldwide is likely to be around 30 billion devices by 2020 and startups are going to be important as the IoT develops.

Notebook PC sales slumped in October

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

notebooksOctober was always one of the months where computer vendors expected to do well.

But, according to research from Digitimes Research, shipments fell by an average of 15 percent.

The slump in shipments affected not only the branded vendors like HP, Dell and the like, but also the top three original design manufacturers (ODMs) – those are manufacturers which make unbranded machines.

The researchers believe the fall was caused because many companies released cheaper notebooks in September.

HP, in particular, suffered a decline in shipments while dell, Asustek and Lenovo also showed a fall compared to the same month in 2013.

The researchers believe that HP will see its notebook business suffer in 2015 as a result of the decision to split the company in two.

FCC leaks terrible net neutrality decision

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

face-palmThe US FCC was expected to bow to public pressure and allow some semblance of net neutrality in the Land of the Free.

It was to be a brave move – after all a huge chunk of the FCC has connections with phone companies and the watchdog is widely seen as being in the telco pockets.

But the problem was that a huge chunk of the American public had told the FCC that they did not want the telcos strangling their bandwidth or making them pay extra for a reasonable service. In fact, more than four million Americans made it clear to the FCC that they were not going to stand for this thing.

However a new leak shows that the FCC is considering a proposal which it is called a hybrid proposal. It would expand the FCC’s powers to regulate broadband while also allowing cable providers to charge more money for fast lanes.

The “hybrid” proposal now under consideration has not been finalised but according to media leaks and discussions with interested parties they would expand the FCC’s powers to regulate broadband while also allowing a carve out for cable providers to charge more money for fast lanes. However, the rules will only allow the FCC to intervene to promote competition.

The idea is that would not upset the comms companies because they would be allowed to do what they like.

All those people who voted against such a scheme are a little miffed. Apparently, they thought if enough people voted against such a scheme the US government would have to listen. After all the US is supposed to be a democracy and follow the will of the majority and not corporates.

Apparently not.

Protesters having been gathering outside the White House and in a dozen US cities to demonstrate against a “hybrid” solution now being considered to end a stalemate over regulating the internet.

 

Universal Credit IT pilot project about to fail

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

system-failure-computer-greenWord on the street is that the government’s Universal Credit pilot project is set to fail and the Parliamentary Work and Pensions Committee will be grilling the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and then serving him in a white wine sauce.

So far all the statistical evidence on how successful Universal Credit has been with the one percent of claimants who have been taken on board is being kept under wraps. However, it appears that under the scheme rent arrears have soared to 90 percent and that the largest landlord was moaning like crazy.

It is possible that it will cost £500m to write off  the IT involved in the project.

A Channel 4 whistleblower confirmed that the IT still only works for single claimants and after four years, and £750 million spent on the project, complex cases are still done manually.

The DWP says that is not true and the project is all a box of fluffy ducks, although apparently the box is tenanted by ducks who can’t pay the rent.

Peter Fitzhenry of Warrington’s largest landlord, the Golden Gates Housing said that only one or two tenants have been offered personal budgeting support from DWP that was promised under Universal Credit. He also says that even when rent payments are received directly from DWP, they are often incorrect, or do not include the tenants’ names.

The government appears to be getting ready to blame the supplier, ATOS, and this is because the project was awarded under Labour.  However, that might cause a few problems because ATOS was not a ministerial decision and was decided by the civil service. Rather than this being Labour’s fault, it might be a civil service person whose pinstriped bottom is still gracing her or his Whitehall chair.

Luxembourg Amazon deal under EU scrutiny

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

luxembourg_villeEU watchdogs are investigating how Amazon avoided paying billions in tax using a dodgy deal with the Luxembourg government.

Leaked tax documents from accounting firm PwC in Luxembourg show how Amazon sidesteps the 30 percent tax rates so they can price rivals out of the market.

The Luxembourg documents, obtained in a review led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, contain some of the first hard numbers and details on how Amazon pays virtually no tax for its non-US earnings.

The deal was hatched in secret in 2003 and was part of a cunning plan by Amazon after it was investigated by French tax authorities and the US Internal Revenue Service. In 2011, Amazon reported US tax authorities were demanding $1.5 billion in federal tax and penalties covering 2005 to 2011 in connection with the royalties payments. In 2012 the French government slapped a $252 million tax bill on Amazon. The company is appealing both matters in court.

So to fix this problem, Amazon hatched up a deal with teeny weeny countryLuxembourg. Almost all Amazon’s income outside the US ends up in a Luxembourg company, Amazon EU Sàrl, which was the beneficiary last year when Amazon notched up £4.3 billion ($7.9 billion) of sales in the UK and paid only £4.2 million in income tax.

A secret appendix to an annual report filed with the Luxembourg government shows the missing cash went in two related-party deals. Amazon EU paid €379 million in “service fee expense” and €519 million in royalties to Amazon Europe Holding Technologies.

So, in other words, Amazon Europe paid €105 million to Amazon Technologies in Nevada to license the rights to Amazon’s intellectual property – the patents and software for the websites, including that button that buys a book with one click.

Amazon Europe onsold the rights to use this intellectual property to Amazon EU for €519 million – five times what it had paid the US Company. ­Amazon Europe made an instant profit of €414 million, which would have been taxable, except that Amazon Europe is a limited partnership and does not pay tax in Luxembourg.

Amazon EU ended up paying 0.5 per cent tax. Amazon Europe’s money ended up tax-free in Gibraltar.

Luxembourg is not exactly being forthcoming about providing information about the deal either. In fact, the European Commission complained that Luxembourg has provided only limited information about the Amazon deal.

This is causing problems because there is nearly €1.2 billion of cash generated by Amazon which is missing. Some think the cash might have been “invested” in Amazon Data Services Ireland. However, either way it is proving very difficult to find.

Zalman loses its cool over dodgy deals

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

Melting-ice-polar-bearCooling product company Zalman has gone bankrupt following the discovery of some somewhat unorthodox actions by its CEO and vice presidents.

The South Korean company was thought to be doing well, as its products were under the bonnet of rather a lot of PCs.

The reason for its bankruptcy is not anything to do with its own products or performance, in fact this news shocked Zalman employees. What appears to have happened is that the company has collapsed is due to the actions of its parent company Moneual, and its CEO and vice presidents.

Moneual CEO Harold Park, and vice presidents Scott Park and Won Duck-yeok, have, or so it is alleged, spent the last five years producing fraudulent documentation relating to the sales performance of Zalman.

They had been giving inflated sales figures and export data for Zalman’s products to get loans from the bank, it’s alleged.

By increasing sales and exports, Park and his associates were able to secure bank loans totalling $2.98 billion, it’s alleged.

According to The Korea Times, Moneual failed to repay its huge export bonds that matured on October 20, 2014, and filed for bankruptcy.  Zalman’s stock price also began a quick downfall. However, the numbers just do not add up – Moneual has been repeatedly reporting major profits, with their 2013 annual report being nearly 1.2 billion dollars in sales and over 100 million dollars in profit. Regulators investigated and it appears that there was evidence of a well-designed corporate fraud.

Moneual allegedly acquired Zalman in 2011 as part of the fraud. They are said to have forged Zalman’s export and accounting documents, greatly overstating their export and income reports, in order to become eligible for huge bank loans. The employees knew that the company was a sham but, despite the unearthly profit reports of the past few years, no government officials noticed.

Moneual received about $620 million in loans from several Korean banks and another 275 million dollars as export credit from the Korea Trade Insurance Corp, making the owners of Moneual richer by nearly $900 million.

The company’s owners have been arrested and, alongside many top and mid-level executives of the company, are now facing prison if convicted of the charges. However Harold Park has US citizenship and his brother has Canadian, and there’s some concerns that Korean law could face trouble prosecuting them.

No one expects Zalman to survive. The company does hold a number of patents relating to cooling and fan noise reduction technology and it seems likely a patent sale will happen eventually. However, these are unlikely to be worth $3 billion.

Nvidia turns in good results

Posted on November 7, 2014 by - News

nvidia-gangnam-style-330pxGraphics chip maker Nvidia posted higher fiscal third quarter revenue than many of the cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street expected.

Revenue in the fiscal third-quarter ended Oct. 26 was $1.225 billion, up 16 percent from the year-ago quarter, compared with Wall Street’s random guess of $1.202 billion.

For the current fourth quarter, Nvidia said it expects revenue of $1.20 billion, plus or minus two percent. Analysts on average expected fourth quarter revenue of $1.198 billion.

Third-quarter net profit was $173 million compared to $119 million a year ago.

Nvidia did better by focusing on using its Tegra chips to in entertainment and advanced navigation systems in cars made by companies including Volkswagen’s Audi, BMW and Tesla.

In the third quarter, revenue from Tegra chips for automobiles and mobile devices jumped 51 percent to $168 million. Nvidia’s PC graphics chip business expanded 13 percent to $991 million.

Amazon might deliver by cab

Posted on November 6, 2014 by - News

London Cab, Wikimedia CommonsAfter contemplating the idea of drones dropping your groceries in your back garden, Amazon has apparently come up with a cunning plan to deliver goods using taxis.

That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which claims that Amazon has already tested delivery of goods in both LA and San Francisco by using a mobile app called Flywheel.

The plan is to counter criticism from people that packages don’t arrive when expected. Last Christmas, it apparently had a problem with the US Post Office as well as courier companies FedEx and UPS.

While Amazon appears to have limited the trials to two US cities so far, we wonder how well it would work in congested cities like London or Oxford.

Sometimes you’d be faster walking to your destination rather than hailing a pricey black cab in Oxford Street or Victoria.

Renesas intros anti car hacking devices

Posted on November 6, 2014 by - News

modeltSemiconductor manufacturer Renesas said it has introduced an automotive controller aimed for advanced self driving car systems.

The microcontroller incorporates sensor fusion gateway and advanced chassis system applications and includes safety tech, security tech and vehicle control network technology.

The safety features are fault diagnostic functions with error checking and data correcting features.  The chip can detect faults in the different fault detection systems.

The security features are intended to prevent people from hacking into cars and includes data encryption, random number generation as well as providing information on road conditions.

The sensor facility can support up to 8MB of flash memory, up to 960K of RAM and can steam along at 240MHz.

Communications support includes ethernet, CAN, LIN, CSI and FlexRay functions and can pick up complex control of chassis systems using a vehicle network or a gateway.

The family of chips has the not so catchy name of RH850/P1x-C Series with samples being available in February 2015 with an emulator device costing $1,000 a unit.  Mass production will start in September 2016 and volume will reach two million units a month by January 2020, Renesas claims.

Scientists use cockroaches for search and rescue

Posted on November 6, 2014 by - News

BiobotCockroaches that have electronic circuit boards strapped to their backs are to be used to find and help rescue human victims subject to catastrophes.

The North Carolina State University team said it has allowed so called “cyborg cockroaches” to pick up sounds using microphones and search for the source of the sound.

The insects can be fitted with two kinds of backpacks.  One uses a single microphone that can pick up sounds that can then be wirelessly sent to search teams.

The second type is fitted with three directional mikes to pinpoint the direction of the sound and steer the cockroach in the right direction. The researchers call the creatures “biobots”.

How do you control any wayward cockroaches? The team said it has already shown technology that keeps the insects in a defined area and also to keep them within range of each other.