Robotic brain 'learns' skills from the internet. 26 August 2014Last updated at 08:47 ET Robots designed for a range of tasks are already being developed A super-intelligent robotic "brain" that can learn new skills by browsing millions of web pages has been developed by US researchers. Robo Brain is designed to acquire a vast range of skills and knowledge from publicly available information sources such as YouTube. The information it learns can then be accessed by robots around the world, helping them to perform everyday tasks.
A similar project is already being developed in Europe. RoboEarth, described as a world wide web for robots, was demonstrated by researchers at Eindhoven University in the Netherlands in January. Like Robo Brain, it aims to become a global repository for information that can be accessed by other robots. But unlike RoboEarth, Robo Brain is able to build up its own understanding from the information it gets from the internet, rather than being programmed by humans. Microwaves and umbrellas Continue reading the main story. How to drive technology innovation SmartBlogs. Recently, New Milford High School in New Jersey was recognized as the November/December “School of the Month” by eSchool News for its accomplishments pertaining to the use of educational technology. As I look back on our journey and the path that was taken, I have been able to identify some key elements that have driven change and allowed New Milford to become a technology-rich school where potential and promise are emphasized as opposed to problems, challenges and excuses.
Connectedness matters My social media journey has been well documented, and it was this journey that provided me with the knowledge, tools and ideas needed to initiate change. Knowledge is everything and it influences our decisions and opinions. Once connected through social media, I was given the knowledge I desperately needed. For my school, connectedness was the original catalyst for change. Vision The seeds for change will only germinate if a coherent vision is established. Value Support Support comes in many forms. How To Integrate Education Technology With Scaffolding. Imagine asking students to write a research paper without teaching them how to write an introduction, body and conclusion first.
How about writing the equation of the quadratic formula on the board, and just giving students a set of problems to start solving with no prior instruction? These types of tasks are nearly impossible for students if teachers do not break up the learning process into small chunks aimed at meeting the students where they are and then building on them to create new knowledge, otherwise known as scaffolding. Meeting with several teachers recently calls to mind a couple of instances that serve as a useful reminder why scaffolding not only applies to teaching content, but is also imperative to employ when introducing new technology into the classroom. I want to share experiences from two teachers that I work with and demonstrate how scaffolding would apply to each situation.
Teacher Experiences In turn, the students resorted to the old paper and pencil route. The End of Facebook? With the emergence of apps and a transition away from websites, Facebook may fall by the wayside A third generation of Internet companies is unfolding now, stepping away from the Web completely and moving toward standalone "apps. " Websites are an afterthought for them. But websites are in Facebook's DNA. Every day on my Forbes.com dashboard, I see hundreds of hits from visitors who have found me via links from Facebook. In the online media business, links are eyeballs, as good as cash. To reporters and media outlets clamoring for attention, Facebook links are as important as the coveted Nielsen ratings are to mainstream broadcasters.
I challenge readers to find me a single top-rated media outlet without a Facebook presence. Big Media loves Facebook. Web-based companies have been around for nearly 17 years now. The media's old Fifth Estate has been in foreclosure for some time. “Look at Yahoo,” says Eric Jackson, an investment professional based in Naples, Fla. Forget Apple, Forget Facebook: Here's The One Company That Actually Terrifies Google Execs.
Is this the end of Facebook as an Advertising Platform? Facebook is having a torrid time of things at the moment. Only a week after they were forced to reveal that just shy of 10% of registered accounts were fakes that were either run by spammers or duplicate users, Facebook’s shares have hit an all-time low of $19 – roughly 50% of their original IPO value. Mark Zuckerberg must have been nursing his wounds, wondering what could possibly go wrong next. It now seems that a landmark decision made yesterday in Australia means that Facebook advertisers could soon be forced to moderate all comments made on their pages. The Australian Advertising Standards Board ruled that all posts made on Smirnoff’s Facebook page were advertising – regardless of whether they were made by Smirnoff themselves, or by members of the public. This could well mean that all companies using Facebook in the future will have to pre-moderate comments, to avoid misleading or derogatory statements.
Amazon Brings Kindle Fire's Killer Instant Video Feature to iPad | Gadget Lab. Amazon’s Instant Video just leaped into a larger mobile pool. Photo: Peter McCollough/Wired Amazon wants to sell you content and products, and it doesn’t care which devices you use to help achieve that goal. On Wednesday, Amazon released an iPad version of its Instant Video app. The app accesses Amazon’s video library of over 120,000 movie and TV show titles, and makes the iPad the only mobile device other than the Kindle Fire to receive Amazon’s special brand of video love. “We listen to our customers and are always innovating on their behalf. Amazon Instant Video for iPad was one of our top customer requests, so we delivered,” an Amazon spokesperson told Wired via email. One of the features customers love about Amazon is Whispersync, a technology that’s usually associated with Amazon’s Kindle hardware and Kindle apps.
In addition to the Kindle Fire and now iPad, those other devices include smart TVs, TiVo, Roku, Xbox 360 and select Blu-ray players. So what say you, Amazon? Apple may invest “hundreds of millions” in Twitter. Ten Questions for New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer (This Won't Hurt a Bit!) - Kara Swisher. Today will be Marissa Mayer’s first day at Yahoo as its newest fearless leader. Besides Yahoos sighing collectively at the prospect of yet another all-hands meeting to get a gander at their latest CEO — “I should be excited, but I really can’t take another new org,” said one exhausted staffer at the news, in a common refrain — how she presents herself to investors will be on display in the company’s second-quarter earnings call later today. Yahoo is expected to report unremarkable results, but the real draw should be to see how much Mayer will talk. Given that she just came on board, it is unlikely Mayer will have much to say of any substance, and it’s probably in her best interest to say as little as possible until she gets the lay of the troubled land at Yahoo.
In fact, the less said the better, in order to dramatically lower expectations of exactly what she can pull off. Still, I have a few questions for Mayer, with many more to come. So, here goes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Homescreen.me opens signups to all, lets you beautifully share your most important page of iOS apps. I’ve been testing a service called Homescreen.me for what feels like forever. Now, the service has opened its doors to the public, accepting signups from anyone. It’s a simple site, really. It just allows you to share the home screen of your iPhone or iPad on the web in a cleanly formatted way, with a place to leave comments and more about your choices of apps. A few words about the choices you’ve made on your apps definitely lets you answer questions you might get if you just posted it on Twitter or shared it in another way.
The screenshot is presented in a mockup of the appropriate Apple device and there is a place for you to enter profile information that can allow people to follow you on Twitter and such. So why would you care about the home screen of someone else’s device? Some people might use their devices differently, of course. The site also allows you to explore and discover more home screens through a search function.