history

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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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Jan. 10, 2017
On January 15, 2009, Flight 1549 struck birds, lost all engine power. pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River, saved all 155 people aboard. US Airways Flight 1549 was an Airbus A320-214 which, three minutes after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009, struck a flock of Canada geese just northeast of the George Washington Bridge and consequently lost all engine power. Unable to reach any airport, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off midtown Manhattan. All 155 people aboard were rescued by nearby boats and there were few serious injuries.

The incident came to be known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", and a National Transportation Safety Board member described it as "the most successful ditching in aviation history." The pilots and flight attendants received the Master's Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators for a "heroic and unique aviation achievement".

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Image courtesy Wikipedia and @CaptSully

*NEW release*
Two Steps Wiser - World Culture Pictorial Online Journal Vol. 02
by Dean Goodluck
Available via Apple iBookstore/iTunes and Kobo eBooks.

Happy New Year!

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29 Dec 2016
Priebus on Russia: Trump 'Not Interested in Going to War' - Wants to Have 'Relationships'
Thursday on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," while discussing the sanctions President Barack Obama announced today against Russia, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said while he can not yet comment on President-elect Donald Trump plans to address Russia once in office he did say Trump is "not interested in going to war." Instead he said that Trump was interested in "having relationships."  read more »

*NEW releases*
One Step Wiser - World Culture Pictorial Online Journal Vol. 01
by Dean Goodluck

Two Steps Wiser - World Culture Pictorial Online Journal Vol. 02
by Dean Goodluck

*NEW releases*

Three Steps Wiser - World Culture Pictorial Online Journal Vol. 03
by Dean Goodluck

Four Steps Wiser - World Culture Pictorial Online Journal Vol. 04
by Dean Goodluck

From the publisher -
World Cultural Pictorial®'s online journey took its very first step on Earth Day, 2008 (Vol. 1-4: Apr-Dec'08). Universe is infinite, comprehensive reading is twin to broad vision. Thus the journal collections is filled with random thoughts, humor and art - from poetry to policy, from food to high tech, from floating city to cosmic smash-up, to endless wrestling of global powers... Fun to read tons of readers' comments.

*NEW release*
One Step Wiser - World Culture Pictorial Online Journal Vol. 01
by Dean Goodluck

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On 31 Oct 1892, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle, was published. The book was the first collection of Holmes stories, which Conan Doyle had been publishing in magazines since 1887.
Conan Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later.

After medical school, Conan Doyle moved to London, where his slow medical practice left him ample free time to write. His first Sherlock Holmes story, “A Study in Scarlet,” was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Starting in 1891, a series of Holmes stories appeared in The Strand magazine, and Conan Doyle was able to give up his medical practice and devote himself to writing. Later collections include The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905), and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (1827).

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Image courtesy natedsanders.com