Blogs

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Survey: People Don’t Really Want Fancy Technology To Help Them Shop
While retailers are falling all over themselves trying to incorporate the latest and greatest retail technology - anything from smart mirrors in fitting rooms to robots that answer questions you’d ask store employees - frankly, shoppers just don’t seem to give a damn.

Basically, shoppers just want to get what they want as quickly and easily as possible. And although stores might be excited about their latest gadgets and gizmos, Maya Mikhailov, a co-founder of GPShopper told Bloomberg, “but consumers aren’t necessarily as eager as they are.”

Chatbots fared particularly poorly, Mikhailov says, mostly because talking to robots is still not as natural as talking with a live human about what you want.

Stores are spending lots of time and money trying out new, fancy technologies like touchscreen mirrors in changing rooms and robo-assistants out in the racks to get consumers to buy more.

Shoppers couldn’t care less.  read more »

What an amazing true story and happy healthy granny!
"* Kung Fu keeps Zhang in good health and in tip-top shape:
she has never been to the hospital – and never takes vitamins or supplements.
* Kung Fu has also earned Zhang the title of best cook in her village
because of her ability to do large-pot cooking with her strong arms -
once cooked 52 dishes for a single banquet, all by herself."

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February 21, 2017
Zhang began learning Kung Fu from her father at the age of 4 and has not stopped practicing her skills.
The face of strength and protection in a province of southeast China has a bamboo stick in her hand and 90 years of Kung Fu experience under her belt.

Zhang Hexian, 94, has been protecting the members of her village and fighting injustice for decades and has recently become a star on Chinese social media.

After photos and videos of the “Kung Fu Granny” practicing her craft surfaced on the Internet, stereotypes of inactive old women took a punch.

Kung Fu keeps Zhang in good health and in tip-top shape. According to her son, Feng Chuanyin, she has never been to the hospital – and never takes vitamins or supplements.

Zhang began learning Kung Fu from her father at the age of 4 and has not stopped practicing her skills. She has even become quite the teacher herself, according to her students in Zhejiang Province who called her “wing-footed.”  read more »

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Last night beneath the mockery of the moon
I heard the sudden startled whisperings
Of wakened birds settling their restless wings;
The North-east brought his word of gladness, "Soon!"
And all the night with wonder was a-swoon.
A soul had breathed into long-dreaming things;
Some unseen hand hovered above the strings:
Some cosmic chord had set the earth in tune.
And when I rose I saw the Bay arrayed
In her grey robe against the coming heat.
A pulse awoke within the stirring street--
The wattle-gold upon the pavements thrown,
And through the quiet of the colonnade
The smoky perfume of boronia blown.

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A Spring Sonnet - Poem by Arthur Henry Adams

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1 February, 2017
Artificial intelligence has made history by beating humans in poker for the first time, the last remaining game in which humans had managed to maintain the upper hand.

Libratus, an AI built by Carnegie Mellon University racked up over $1.7 million worth of chips against four of the top professional poker players in the world in a 20-day marathon poker tournament that ended on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

While machines have beaten humans over the last two decade in chess, checkers, and most recently in the ancient game of Go, Libratus' victory is significant because poker is an imperfect information game - similar to the real world where not all problems are laid out and the difficulty in figuring out human behaviour is one of the main reasons why it was considered immune to machines.

One of the main reasons for Libratus' victory was the machine's ability outbluff humans.
"The computer can't win at poker if it can't bluff," said Frank Pfenning, head of the Computer Science Department at CMU.

"Developing an AI that can do that successfully is a tremendous step forward scientifically and has numerous applications. Imagine that your smartphone will someday be able to negotiate the best price on a new car for you. That's just the beginning."

Dong Kim, one of the four top poker players who participated in the tournament echoed the statement. The 28-year old, originally from Seattle, had also participated in a similar poker tournament with another AI machine built by CMU in 2015 named Claudico.

"It was about half way through the challenge (with Libratus when) I knew we wouldn't come back," said Kim.  read more »

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27 January, 2017
"As the lanterns are lit and the dumplings are served, let me wish you and your family, wherever you are, a very happy and healthy New Year,” she said, before concluding her message in Chinese: "Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year)"
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday sent her wishes through the government’s website and her own Weibo account to those who celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year worldwide, pledging to further strengthen China-UK relations.

May said the Year of the Rooster is set to be particularly important for the relationship between Britain and China, because the starting point for bilateral relations is stronger than ever before.

Recalling the historic state visit of President Xi Jinping in October 2015, she said the two countries are seeing an increasing development of their relations. "We receive more Chinese investment than any other major European country. We’ve got around 150,000 Chinese students studying here and the number of Chinese tourists visiting has doubled in five years," May said.  read more »

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Jan. 27, 2017
Robot beats 'I am not a robot' Captcha test A mechanical robotic arm managed to circumvent a computer password system meant to deter "robots." YouTube user Matt Unsworth shared video of the robot, outfitted with a pair of googly eyes, as it used a stylus pen to check an "I am not a robot" Captcha security box.

The tounge-in-cheek video pokes fun at the language used by the security verification system intended to prevent spam or computer automated extraction of data from websites.

The robotic arm slides the stylus up the computer mouse pad before just barely managing to click inside the on-screen check box which proceeded to swirl into a green check mark.

Proud of its success, the robotic arm turns toward the camera and drops the stylus as an animated pair of glasses fall upon its "eyes" alongside the phrase "Deal with it."

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Photo courtesy Matt Unsworth / YouTube

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26 January, 2017
"Britain and America will no longer invade foreign countries 'to make the world in their own image'" - Theresa May. Britain and America will never again invade foreign countries “in an attempt to make the world in their own image”, Theresa May has said in the biggest shift in UK foreign policy for more than 20 years.

Addressing US Republican politicians in Philadelphia, the Prime Minister pledged not to repeat the “failed policies of the past” in a clear reference to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan by Tony Blair and George W Bush.

And she hailed Mr Trump's election as "dawn breaking on a new era of American renewal".

She told Republicans: “I speak to you not just as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but as a fellow Conservative who believes in the same principles that underpin the agenda of your Party.

“The value of liberty. The dignity of work. The principles of nationhood, family, economic prudence, patriotism – and putting power in the hands of the people.

“Principles instilled in me from a young age. Principles that my parents taught me in the vicarage in Southern England in which I was raised.

“I know that it is these principles that you have put at the heart of your plan for government. “  read more »