thebaldgeek

Kind of related to my thoughts on AI (Artificial Intelligence), but also related to my math major wannabe son….

http://alistapart.com/blog/post/knowledge-vs-intelligence

I’m having a hard time pulling thoughts together on this one, but I don’t think I agree with his conclusion.

“Knowledge is the collection of skills and information a person has acquired through experience. Intelligence is the ability to apply knowledge.”

Thinking about it, my conflict might come from trying to apply this blanket statement to both computer intelligence and human.
Terry, for example, is very intelligent, but his (at this point) knowledge is very shallow.
The way the article paints it in their summing statement is almost like you can’t have intelligence without knowledge.

Computers can’t have skills. They just run programs.

Need some help with this one.

(Also, I want to bring wisdom into the discussion on this topic… another blog for another day).

Ok, this one is a bit of a head spin……

IBM is… well, take a read and see what you make of it….

http://www.programmableweb.com/news/ibm-extends-reach-watson-api/2014/11/13

What we are talking about here is a computer or software interface to an AI engine.
That’s at the core, then they step it up a notch…..

“…developers of Watson applications need to think in terms of teaching their APIs how to explore and discover relevant data, test them, then create a feedback loop through which Watson can then learn not only what new data has been added to the environment, but also how that data changes the context of other sets of data.”

In other words, its exactly what I have been saying about IoT, Big Data, AI and closing the loop between all three… Teaching AI, giving feedback and giving the data context…. Only it’s on a level that I did not see coming.
We have talked about APIs here in the past (I really should start linking to myself?) and how they are important to get at data and liberate it.
IBM is taking up a notch and saying that even the API can now learn.

Did you catch that?
IBM are ‘forcing’ users of their AI engine, Watson, to make sure that they
‘….create a feedback loop through which Watson can then learn…’

Phew.

Pretty quirky use of the sensors in a cell phone.

http://www.tuaw.com/2014/11/26/video-man-creates-real-time-magnet-position-detection-system-us

As smartphones have gotten smarter their insides have had to get smarter with them. Right now the iPhone in your pocket contains an accelerometer, magnetometer digital compass, gyroscope, microphone, proximity sensor, camera, GPS, and more. Ivo Leko is a developer who was inspired by the possibilities inside our phones to create a new way of interaction with the device.

Using the iPhone’s magnetometer, accelerometer and microphone Leko has written a library in Objective-C and C that allows you to detect the position of a magnet in real time.

There is a simple (boring) video at the link, but what he is showing is by moving the magnet around at the same table as the phone is sitting, he can use the many sensors to detect where the magnet is, if its sitting on the table or lifted off.

At this stage he can not really do much with it, but it should open the door for others to take his code and think about what other hardware devices can be interfaced with a mobile phone in non-conventional ways.

This has been one of my personal…. not sure what the word is…. interests I think is best.
I have been trying to follow it for years and years, but just have not had the time to give it the focus it needs.

http://betanews.com/2014/11/28/analog-tv-frequencies-could-be-used-for-super-wi-fi-say-scientists/

Outdated analog TV frequencies should be used to create new space for “super Wi-Fi” that would boost the world’s economy and take the strain off overloaded mobile networks even though worries persist over how workable they are.

Scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology [KIT] are calling for governments to hand over the unused frequencies so that a widespread free Wi-Fi network can be created.

When the TV stations moved from analog to digital, they did not just change transmission modes, they actually moved frequencies. (Digial is higher frequency than the old analog).
This means that there is a big chunk of empty space where the old tv stations used to be.
It’s not just any frequency either, remember the days of picking up a tv signal just about anywhere, in a moving car, inside a building.. those little B/W LCD battery tv sets… those dinky watches that picked up tv stations?
Well, the reason you could do that was largely due to how well those analog TV frequencies could penetrate and go around stuff.

Right now they are sitting empty. No one is using them. Yet.

People are pushing and shoving at the starting line with their pockets bulging with cash to get a chunk of the action…. To the tune of billions of dollars.
Yes, what frequency your IoT device transmits on makes that big of a difference.

This allocation of old disused spectrum will change the face of connected devices. Cheaper, lighter, faster and lower power. You can have all 4. At the same time.