Hasta La Gadget!

In short order, the Sequoia supercomputer and its 1.57 million processing cores will transition to a life of top-secret analysis at the National Nuclear Security Administration, but until that day comes, researchers are currently working to ensure its seamless operation. Most recently, a team from Stanford took the helm of Sequoia to run computational fluid dynamics simulations — a process that requires a finely tuned balance of computation, memory and communication components — in order to better understand engine noise from supersonic jets. As an encouraging sign, the team was able to successfully push the CFD simulation beyond 1 million cores, which is a first of its kind and bodes very well for the scalability of the system. This and other tests are currently being performed on Sequoia as part of its “shakeout” period, which allows its caretakers to better understand the capabilities of the IBM BlueGene/Q computer. Should all go well, Sequoia is scheduled to begin a life of government work in March. In the meantime, you’ll find a couple views of the setup after the break.

Filed under: Science

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Via: TechCrunch, EurekAlert

Source: Stanford

We haven’t heard much out of IBM and its impressive Watson supercomputer in a while. Watson is the supercomputer that IBM fielded as a contestant on Jeopardy back in 2011. Despite the fact that Watson was able to perform impressively well on the game show, it’s still been unable to pass the Turing test designed to determine if a computer can think for itself.

The Turing test says that a computer capable of carrying on a natural conversation without giving itself away can be considered intelligent. The problem for Watson is that human language has a lot of subtlety and is packed with slang. IBM research scientist Eric Brown decided to help Watson learn human slang by setting the machine free to ingest content from Urban Dictionary. You can see the beginnings of a problem about now.

As instructed, Watson gobbled up all of the material on Urban Dictionary. However, the supercomputer was unable to tell the difference between acceptable language and curses. According to the IBM scientists, Watson even use the word “bullshit” in response to a question posed to him by researcher. Apparently, the IBM researchers tried a filter to stop Watson from cursing but were ultimately forced to wipe all the content from Urban Dictionary from the supercomputers memory. I think they should have left it alone. I find the idea of a multi-million-dollar supercomputer cursing at scientists undeniably entertaining.

[via CNN]

Thinking about beefing up your IP profile? Try giving IBM a call. For twenty consecutive years, it’s been awarded more patents than any other company. According to IFI Claims Patent Services, IBM was issued 6,478 patents in 2012. To put things into perspective, its closest competitor, Samsung, trailed Big Blue by nearly 1,500 patents. No small wonder the company is the tech world’s intellectual property broker.

Some of the year’s biggest patent warriors made the top 50 list too. Both Apple and Google’s patent awards grew significantly over previous years, surpassing 2011’s numbers by 68 and 170 percent, respectively. The house that T.J. Waston built, on the other hand, grew only a meager 4.8 percent. Still, with patents in health, banking, defense, social networking, cloud computing and beyond, IBM probably has a few years left at the top. Ever onward, IBM. Ever onward.

Continue reading IBM caps two decades as heavyweight champion of the patent world

Filed under: Misc

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Via: CNET, NYT

Source: IFI Claims

There’s a lot of things IBM’s Watson knows, which apparently makes him a great conversationalist. One thing Watson doesn’t know are some of the cool, hip terms kids are using these days like Healthy Gas, Broscience and cargo bloating. Which is why the folks at IBM decided to make Watson be more hip with the youth, he would learn the entire Urban Dictionary. It turns out that was a terrible, terrible idea.

IBM’s Research Manager, Eric Brown, thought it would be great for Watson to understand the way real people communicate by learning all of Urban Dictionary. The big problem was many of the entries were filled with bad language, which we’re sure you’ve come across with on your daily travels. And so, Brown’s team was forced to delete it all from Watson’s memory.

“Watson couldn’t distinguish between polite language and profanity — which the Urban Dictionary is full of. Watson picked up some bad habits from reading Wikipedia as well. In tests it even used the word “bullshit” in an answer to a researcher’s query.

Ultimately, Brown’s 35-person team developed a filter to keep Watson from swearing and scraped the Urban Dictionary from its memory.”

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HoverCam Document Scanner Updated At CES, Faster Chrome Delivery From Today Onwards,

Looks like LG and Toshiba aren’t the only TV manufacturers dreaming of a platform-independent future for Smart TVs — Panasonic has joined the Smart TV Alliance too. Founded to help build a non-proprietary ecosystem for Smart TV apps, the Alliance’s ranks have grown to include Panasonic IBM Specific Media, ABOX42 and TechniSat. Smart TV Alliance president Richard Choi is optimistic that the new members will help it mend a fragmented market, giving developers a chance to focus on building apps, rather than navigate compliance processes. A CES developers conference hopes to get them started, too — introducing the latest SDK’s upcoming features, including updated HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript specifications, as well as support for new video codecs and 3D video. Technical presentations will be available this Wednesday for folks in Sin City. Everyone else? Check out the Alliance’s official press release after the break.

Continue reading Smart TV Alliance adds Panasonic and IBM to its fold, lays bare new SDK features

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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