Hasta La Gadget!

Don’t tell Google, but its latest X lab project is something performed by the great internet public every day. For free. Mountain View’s secret lab stitched together 1,000 computers totaling 16,000 cores to form a neural network with over 1 billion connections, and sent it to YouTube looking for cats. Unlike the popular human time-sink, this was all in the name of science: specifically, simulating the human brain. The neural machine was presented with 10 million images taken from random videos, and went about teaching itself what our feline friends look like. Unlike similar experiments, where some manual guidance and supervision is involved, Google’s pseudo-brain was given no such assistance.

It wasn’t just about cats, of course — the broader aim was to see whether computers can learn face detection without labeled images. After studying the large set of image-data, the cluster revealed that indeed it could, in addition to being able to develop concepts for human body parts and — of course — cats. Overall, there was 15.8 percent accuracy in recognizing 20,000 object categories, which the researchers claim is a 70 percent jump over previous studies. Full details of the hows and whys will be presented at a forthcoming conference in Edinburgh.

Google simulates the human brain with 1000 machines, 16000 cores and a love of cats originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SMH.com.au  |  Cornell University, New York Times, Official Google Blog  | Email this | Comments

Adobe’s primary tool for tweaking and organizing photos was always destined to be part of the Creative Cloud offering, but for whatever reason it didn’t make it in time for launch. As of today though, Lightroom 4 is available to download on PC or 64-bit Mac (or both, since you’re allowed multiple installations) as part of a CS6 monthly license. The additional title may not be enough to sway cloud doubters, but even they can’t dispute that the subscription approach now delivers more software than the full-on $2599 shrink-wrapped Master Collection.

Lightroom 4 finally floats into Adobe’s Creative Cloud originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Adobe  | Email this | Comments

We’ve seen Angry Birds go into strange places both figurative and literal, but Formula 1 racing? That’s a less natural mix than a peanut butter cup. As a way of backing race driver and fellow Finland native Heikki Kovalainen, Rovio has crafted Angry Birds Heikki, a free web game themed all around its namesake’s escapades during the F1 race year. The gameplay changes are more cosmetic than functional, although that leaderboard matters a little more in spirit than it might otherwise. Perhaps the biggest draw is simply that your gameplay schedule is intrinsically linked to Heikki’s: new sections only unlock as the real-world races get near, so you’ll have an incentive to keep coming back until the Sao Paulo race determines the F1 championship on November 21st. Let’s just hope that there aren’t too many road hogs spoiling either Heikki’s fun or our own.

[Thanks, Rodrigo]

Angry Birds Heikki: because F1 and fort-breaking games are like peanut butter and chocolate originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Angry Birds Heikki  | Email this | Comments

The convenience of shopping at Amazon just got bumped up a few notches in the Northern Virginia sector of Washington DC. Folks who swear their delivery person never rings the bell before dropping off packages will be pleased to know that Amazon Lockers have popped up at multiple 7-Elevens around the region. As Zatz Not Funny notes, Amazon has yet to officially list the market under the service, but at least four locations are searchable — and the site did find one more that’s currently off the radar. If you’re eager to get a glimpse of the P.O. Box-esque units for yourself or get access on your account, you’ll find more info at the source links below.

Amazon Lockers hit 7-Elevens in Washington DC, let you grab your parcel and a Slurpee originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  ZatzNotFunny, Amazon  | Email this | Comments

Boingo has surely overestimated New York City’s desire to “soa[k] up the warm weather” this summer, but when it comes to complaining about the heat, no one does it like the Big Apple. And now, thanks to the hotspot provider (with some promotional help from the folks at Google Offers), Manhattanites will be able to do just that all over Twitter from the convenience of a handful of subway stations on 14th and 23rd street. The promotion begins today and runs through September 7th. Including the hashtag #FreeNYCWiFi puts you in the running for Boingo rewards. We also recommend #wheresthatdamnEtrain, which will surely be trending for the next few months. For a full list of stations, check out the source link below.

Boingo, Google Offers bring free WiFi to select Manhattan subway stations, let you tweet the heat originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phys Org  |  Boingo  | Email this | Comments