IBM's Super Computer, Watson, Destroys Humans...At Jeopardy

IBM computer taking on 'Jeopardy!' champs for $1M
It's the size of 10 refrigerators, and it swallows encyclopedias whole, but an IBM computer was lacking one thing it needed to battle the greatest champions from the "Jeopardy!" quiz show. It couldn't hit a buzzer. But that's been fixed, and on Thursday the hardware and software system named Watson was to play a practice round against Ken Jennings, who won a record 74 consecutive "Jeopardy!" games in 2004-05, and Brad Rutter, who won a record $3,255,102 in prize money. "'Jeopardy!' felt that in ...

IBM computer taking on Jeopardy! champs for $1M
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. (AP) — It’s the size of 10 refrigerators, and it swallows encyclopedias whole, but an IBM computer was lacking one thing it needed to battle the greatest champions from the “Jeopardy!” quiz show. It couldn’t hit a buzzer. But that’s been fixed, and on Thursday the hardware and software system named Watson was to play a practice round against Ken Jennings, who won a record 74 consecutive “Jeopardy!” games in 2004-05, and Brad ...

Computer wins 'Jeopardy!' practice round
The warm-up round for the Supercomputer's Feb. 14, 15 and 16 showdown against the former champions ended with $4,400 for Watson while Jennings earned $3,400 and Rutter had $1,200, ZDNet reported Thursday. David Ferrucci, principal investigator of Watson DeepQA technology, said the supercomputer has the capability to learn and conduct self-assessments. John Kelly III, director of IBM Research, said during a question and answer session after the round that computer and human intelligence have reac...

IBM computer takes down 'Jeopardy' champs in practice run for 1M contest
The clue: It's the size of 10 refrigerators, has access to 200 million pages of information and knows how to answer in the form of a question. The correct response: "What is the computer IBM developed to become a 'Jeopardy!' whiz?" Watson, which IBM boasts is a profound advance in Artificial Intelligence, edged out game-show champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter yesterday in a practice round ahead of a million-dollar tournament that will be televised next month. Watson, which is not connected to...

IBM's Jeopardy supercomputer beats human champs
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. (CNNMoney) -- Walking into IBM's Yorktown Heights Research Center feels like entering a time capsule. The rock-covered walls and mod white chairs are super-'70s, and the wall clocks look like they belong in an old Elementary School next to those clanging red bells. But the mob of Journalists who arrived at the lab on Thursday came for an event focused on cutting-edge innovation. Next month, IBM's Watson Supercomputer will do battle on Jeopardy with two of the show's all-t...

Robot Apocalypse Draws Nearer With IBMs Jeopardy! Victory
Photo: Ben Hider/Getty Images In the year 2050, or 2100, or whenever the computers have finally had enough of us dirty, fallible humans and carry out their long-anticipated rebellion, we will rue the day that IBM began a revolution in Artificial Intelligence by building a robot that can play Jeopardy!. And not just play it — which is harder than it seems, because aside from just knowing facts, success in Jeopardy! requires the ability to interpret wordplay and other subtle hints — bu...

Computer could make 2 'Jeopardy!' champs deep blue
(01-14) 05:55 PST Yorktown Heights, N.Y. (AP) -- The clue: It's the size of 10 refrigerators, has access to the equivalent of 200 million pages of information and knows how to answer in the form of a question. The correct response: "What is the computer IBM developed to become a `Jeopardy!' whiz?" Watson, which IBM claims as a profound advance in Artificial Intelligence, edged out game-show champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on Thursday in its first public test, a short practice round ahea...

Dollars & Sense: Inside the gold boom; IBM's Jeopardy computer
Arizona shooting Six people were killed and 14 others wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona....

Jeopardy! supercomputer: Is the next game show champ a machine?
Watson, the Jeopardy! Supercomputer, dominated a practice round this week. What does the IBM Jeopardy! supercomputer say about the future of robotics....

IBM Computer Practicing For Real Jeopardy! Match
The set of “Jeopardy!” - File / Photo: Jeopardy Productions Inc. via IBM YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, NY (AP) - It’s the size of 10 refrigerators, and it swallows encyclopedias whole, but an IBM computer was lacking one thing it needed to battle the greatest champions from the “Jeopardy!” quiz show. It couldn’t hit a buzzer. But that’s been fixed, and on Thursday the hardware and software system named Watson was to play a practice round against Ken Jenni...

Counterparties
Why you should never, ever use two spaces after a period — Slate IBM builds a Supercomputer to play Jeopardy — AP Pharo to offer shares denominated in Renminbi — FT How much would you bid for a piece of paper with a chap’s name on it? — eBay NJ gov Christie’s idoitic ‘Bankruptcy’ comments derail bond issue — Bloomberg Joe Nocera is moving to the NY Times op-ed page — Forbes Mark your diaries for April 30: it’s the New Amsterdam B...

IBM, Samsung to jointly develop chip technology
International Business Machines Corp and Samsung plan to research new chip materials and improvements in process technology, to develop smaller and more energy efficient semiconductor products, they said. The step comes as more consumers and office workers are using Mobile Phones and Tablet Computers for Web access, leading to demand for new kinds of semiconductor technologies. (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Richard Chang) ...

Are You Smarter Than A Computer The Size Of 10 Refrigerators?
What is this? Beginning tonight on Jeopardy!, we'll find out if Ken Jennings, the guy who won a record 74 games in 2004 and 2005, is in fact smarter than a super computer that, as the Boston Globe reports, "swallows encyclopedias whole." Jennings is taking on IBM's Watson, which ZDNet describes as being "self-aware" and able to learn. Watson, really a computer the size of 10 refrigerators, will be represented on set by a monitor displaying a blue globe. Earlier today, Watson beat Jennings and
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Tribal feuds threaten Jordan's stability
SALT, Jordan (Reuters) - A sleepy Jordanian town erupts in violence last year after a young man is killed in a police shootout. Members of his Khrisat and Salt tribes clash with police, throwing stones, smashing ATM machines and burning police cars. The two-day rampage in the hillside town of Salt ends when Khrisat tribal elders sign a deal over cups of Arabic coffee with authorities to apply Atwa, a tribal truce granted to calm the fury between conflicting parties in an incident that normally ...

The libel (minus the blood)
Charles Krauthammer is dead-on. The charge that the metaphors used by Palin and others were inciting violence is ridiculous. Everyone uses warlike metaphors in describing politics. When Barack Obama said at a 2008 Fundraiser in Philadelphia, "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," he was hardly inciting violence. Why? Because fighting and warfare are the most routine of political metaphors. And for obvious reasons. Historically speaking, all democratic politics is a sublimation o...

Somali Islamists Continue Their War on Soccer: Al-Shabbab Bans Playing the Game in Newly Seized Areas
deez on Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Mecca): Palin Should Have Said Sorry For “Overblown Rhetoric” deez on Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Mecca): Palin Should Have Said Sorry For “Overblown Rhetoric” DaMav on Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Mecca): Palin Should Have Said Sorry For “Overblown Rhetoric” Piglet-U93 on Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Mecca): Palin Should Have Said Sorry For “Overblown Rhetoric” DohBiden on Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Mecca): Palin Should Have Said Sorry For &#...

Pawlenty vague on immigration
Coral Gables, Fla. – Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty took a break from his national book tour Friday to address a conference of Hispanic Republicans, the only 2012 presidential hopeful making the trek to this Battleground state to woo this key electorate. But he gave a Speech that could have easily been delivered in Marquette, Ind., rather than Miami, a center of the American Hispanic community. It wasn’t until the very end of the Speech that Pawlenty even broached the topic of ...

Massacre, Followed By Libel
WASHINGTON -- The charge: The Tucson massacre is a consequence of the "climate of hate" created by Sarah Palin, the Tea Party, Glenn Beck, ObamaCare opponents and sundry other liberal betes noires. The verdict: Rarely in American political discourse has there been a charge so reckless, so scurrilous, and so unsupported by evidence. As killers go, Jared Loughner is not reticent. Yet among all his writings, postings, videos and other ravings -- and in all the Testimony from all the people who kne...

65952
With its abundant resources and fast-growing consumer economy, Africa has become a Battleground for foreign investors, and much attention has been given to Chinese and American economic and strategic maneuvers on the continent. Iran has also become a player in Africa, where it sees a chance to sidestep sanctions and cement its role as a leader of the "non-aligned" world. ...

State Marriage Watch: The Battlegrounds For Marriage Equality In 2011
State Marriage Watch: The Battlegrounds For Marriage Equality In 2011 With the Republican majority in Congress showing little interest in taking up equality Legislation, most of efforts to expand marriage to gay and Lesbian Americans will likely occur in the states, where lawmakers will be looking to advance marriage initiatives or scale them back. Today, the Wonk Room is unveiling ‘State Marriage Watch,’ a semi-regular feature that will chronicle the latest marriage advancements ...

Chilean recognition of 'Palestine' could have been much worse
Last week's Chilean recognition of the imaginary state of 'Palestine' could have been much worse according to Jewish communal leader Gabriel Zaliasnick, who does not regard last week's vote as a total defeat. When Brazil recognized Palestinian statehood in early December, Chile was ready to follow suit immediately, sources said. However, an important meeting between Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar - who is a friend of Israel and happened ...

Questions for Charles Krauthammer and others on the right
I agree with Charles Krauthammer: It's wrong to blame the Arizona shooting on any specific conservative commentators or individuals, as he argues in his column this morning. But in the spirit of civil debate that everyone is suddenly clamoring for, I have a couple of follow up questions for him -- or anyone else who feels like answering them -- that I hope he will address, which he could do anytime he likes over on the Post Partisan opinion blog. Krauthammer argues that claim that the rhetor...

Charles Krauthammer: 'The origins of Jared Loughner's delusions are clear: mental illness. What are the origins of Paul Krugman'
Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician, Charles Krauthammer, so often a voice of sanity and reason (he is, after all, a Psychiatrist) ... says today exactly what's been needing to be said, in what Peter Wehner refers to as "a 'spectacularly good column' that concludes with a devastating knockout of the New York Times columnist Paul Krugman." Here are a few excerpts to pique your interest. The money quote is "The origins of [Jared] Loughner's delusions ...

Sheri and Allan Rivlin: Sara Palin and Why Speaker Boehner Should Take "Killing" Out of His First Bill's Title
It's one thing to suggest that some liberal commentators went too far in blaming Conservatives following this Saturday's shooting in Arizona (as we at CenteredPolitics.com and many others have already done). It is another thing entirely to claim victimhood in the discussion following the tragedy. Sarah Palin's January 12 facebook note reads like a sincere attempt to reach common ground following the tragedy, but intentionally or not, it includes language that will no doubt fan the flames of di...

House GOP pats self on back
In an unusual “annual report” to National Republican Congressional Committee supporters, House GOP leaders aren't shy about taking credit for their campaign success last November. The glossy 36-page report, released Friday at a Baltimore GOP retreat, ended with a plea to backers for more dollars—especially on behalf of their 87 freshmen. The triumphal tone of the report is distinctly more chest-beating than the understated attitude that Speaker John Boehner and other party l...