Pursuing the Next Level of Artificial Intelligence
New York Times (05/03/08) P. B3; Markoff, John
Stanford University researcher Daphne Koller's work in artificial
intelligence, which has earned her the first-ever ACM-Infosys Foundation
Award in Computing Sciences, taps an 18th-century probability theorem, and
her methods have been used to enhance computer vision systems and in
understanding natural language, while future applications are expected to
drive the augmentation of Web search. She developed tools that helped
facilitate a new type of cancer gene map based on analyzing the behavior of
a large number of genes that are active in an assortment of tumors, which
yielded a new explanation of how breast tumors spread into bone. Koller's
work has concentrated on the Bayes rule, which describes how to convert a
current assumption about an event into an amended, more accurate assumption
after observing additional evidence. The application of her theoretical
work into the area of information extraction could potentially lead to
software systems capable of reading Web pages, organizing the information,
and comprehending unstructured text. Koller is currently working with
biologists at the University of California, San Francisco, and her
expertise is seen as valuable in gaining a deeper understanding of cellular
processes because computation is playing an increasingly important role in
biology. Her work has already had a profound commercial impact, and her
peers say this will expand in the coming decade. "She's on the bleeding
edge of the leading edge," says Willow Garage machine vision researcher
Gary Bradski.
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White House Plans Proactive Cyber-Security Role for Spy
Agencies
Washington Post (05/02/08) Krebs, Brian
The White House could soon announce a policy in which U.S. spy agencies
would play a role in collecting intelligence on cybersecurity threats, said
an anonymous administration official. The official noted that the
intelligence community is uniquely poised to counter cyberattackers who are
continuously developing new intrusion strategies and taking advantage of
unknown security holes in software and hardware to expose government
networks. President Bush signed a directive in January that empowered the
intelligence agencies to monitor all federal network traffic to prevent
intruders from stealing sensitive data or disrupting vital systems, and the
official said the directive will enable cyberthreat intelligence sharing
between the government and the private sector. "We want a broader
information flow to the private sector of the threats we're seeing, so that
they can increase their security posture as well," the official stated.
The majority of the 18 strategic objectives outlined in the cyber
initiative are classified, but the official said the administration plans
to issue additional details on at least a dozen of those goals, as soon as
the Office of Management and Budget releases rules for assigning
classification levels for data collected and shared under the new program.
The SANS Institute's Alan Paller says intelligence agencies often face a
dilemma in sharing new threat information with allies and the private
sector because spy agencies frequently obtain intelligence by leveraging
the same security holes in software and hardware used by America's enemies.
The Center for Democracy & Technology's Jim Dempsey says the Bush
administration has a tendency to tag even the most innocuous information as
classified, which means the intelligence community may share less
information with the private sector rather than more. "The more
information that gets classified, the less likely the initiative will
succeed," he says.
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Closing the Achievement Gap in Math and Science
National Science Foundation (05/01/08) Zacharias, Maria C.
The latest results from the National Science Foundation's Math and Science
Partnership (MSP) program show that elementary and middle-school students
have improved their proficiency in math and science, and that the
achievement gaps between African-American and Hispanic students and white
students in elementary school math, and between African-American and white
students in elementary and middle-school science, are narrowing. The MSP
program supports institutions of higher education and K-12 schools by
partnering higher education science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) faculty with K-12 teachers for mentoring and professional
development. The most recent results are collected from schools where MSP
projects target specific improvements in math or science programs. Data
was taken from three years of student scores on state proficiency tests in
math and science. Between 2003 and 2006, among approximately 39,000
students at 160 schools, the scores of white students performing at or
above proficiency rose 4.6 percent, while the scores of Hispanic students
rose 18.3 percentage points, and the scores of African-American students
rose 17.9 percent. Asian-American, special education, and limited English
students also showed improvements. MSP is now working to determine which
strategies had the greatest impact on raising test scores.
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New Software Allows ISPs and P2P Users to Get Along
Without Getting Too Cozy
Northwestern University (05/02/08)
Northwestern University researchers have developed Ono, software that
eases the strain that peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing services place on
Internet service providers (ISPs). Ono allows users to efficiently
identify nearby P2P users and requires no cooperation or trust between ISPs
and P2P users. Ono, the Hawaiian word for delicious, is open source and
does not require the deployment of additional infrastructure. When ISPs
configure their networks correctly, Ono can improve transfer speeds by as
much as 207 percent on average, the researchers say. Ph.D. student David
Choffnes, who developed Ono with professor Fabian E. Bustamante, says Ono
relies on a clever trick based on observations of Internet companies to
find nearby computers. Content-distribution networks (CDN), which offload
data traffic from Web sites onto their proprietary networks, power some of
the most popular Web sites in the world, enabling higher performance for
Web clients by sending them to a server close to them. Using the key
assumption that the two computers sent to the same CDN server are near to
each other, Ono can identify P2P users close to each other.
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Electronic 'Pet' Could Replace Passwords and PINs
New Scientist (05/02/08) Barras, Colin
Northumbria University psychologist and computer scientist Pamela Briggs
and Newcastle University computer scientist Patrick Olivier say portable
electronic pets capable of recognizing their owner's voice and walking
style could replace passwords and PINs to secure personal information.
Instead of storing a person's biometric signature in a database, that
information would be kept in a small electronic pet or "biometric daemon"
the owner carries around. The daemon would learn to imprint itself on its
owner, after which it would use biometric signals such as a voiceprint,
fingerprint, or walking pattern to identify its owner. The connection
between the owner and pet would be strengthened by games and interactions
between the two. When near its owner, the daemon would receive
"nourishment," and act happy as a confirmation of the owner's identity, but
a daemon separated from its owner would no longer receive this nourishment
and die to protect the owner's information. Olivier says the elements
needed to make a prototype daemon already exist, although adequate battery
power is still problematic. Briggs says the daemon does not have to be an
animal, but it should be something people relate to best.
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Carnegie Mellon Technique Accelerates Biological Image
Analysis
Carnegie Mellon News (05/01/08) Spice, Byron; Duffy, Jocelyn
Carnegie Mellon University Lane Center for Computational Biology
researchers have improved an algorithm that automatically analyzes cell
cultures and biological specimens. The new technique improves the
efficiency of the belief propagation algorithm, a widely used method for
drawing conclusions about interconnected networks and promises to allow for
more accurate analysis of microscopic images created by high-speed and
high-tech biological screening methods. CMU professor Geoffrey Gordon says
current automated screening systems that examine cell cultures look at
individual cells and do not fully consider the relationships between cells,
largely because examining multiple cells simultaneously requires
impractical amounts of computing time. CMU researchers were able to expand
the focus from a single cell to multiple cells by increasing the efficiency
of the belief propagation algorithm. The algorithm enables a computer to
make inferences about a set of data by drawing from multiple sources of
information. With biological specimens, the algorithm can be used to see
which parts of the image are individual cells or whether the distributions
of particular proteins within each cell are abnormal. However, as the
number of variables increases, the belief propagation algorithm can become
unwieldy, requiring excessive computing time. By improving the performance
of the algorithm, the researchers say it can be applied to challenges such
as text analysis, Web analysis, and medical diagnosis.
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School Kids Turning Away From Computing Subjects
Computerworld Australia (05/02/08) Hendry, Andrew
Both young men and women are avoiding high school courses that could lead
to careers in IT, but young women are dropping those courses faster than
young men, says Australia's Charles Sturt University Faculty of Education
dean Toni Downes. Downes was a senior member of a research project that
examined the interest of male and female high school students in particular
high school subjects. The study of 1,334 male and female students found
that only 13 percent of girls said they would study IT-related subjects in
their senior years, and both boys and girls shied away from high school
computing and IT subjects between 2002 and 2007. Downes believes that a
shift in computer curriculum from a combination of computer literacy and
foundational studies to computing and IT as an academic discipline has
contributed to the decline in enrollments, particularly among females.
"The reasons are complex, but the reasons that girls give are often the
same reasons that disinterested boys give," Downes says. "Sometimes they
are making their judgments on careers based on stereotypes, sometimes the
girls are making their decisions based on self-limiting identities like
'it's not cool for me to be a nerd' because they think the career is
nerdy." Downes says part of the problem is that girls do not engage with
technology in ways that allow them to use it playfully, instead of just
functionally, so they are not attracted to thinking creatively or
critically about how and why technology works.
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Symposium to Probe Impact of Internet
New Brunswick Business Journal (04/28/08) Dunne, Melissa
The 2008 International Symposium on Technology and Society, scheduled to
be held in Canada in June, will examine the issues surrounding the
Internet's intended and actual uses, says Susan O'Donnell, a research
officer at the National Research Council Institute for Information
Technology and chairwoman of the symposium's program committee. She says
an example of how the intended and actual use of the Internet can vary can
be seen in Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia was intended to democratize
access to accurate information on a wide range of topics, and while it
often succeeds in that objective, it has also been used to spread
propaganda and falsehoods. The annual symposium will unite close to 100
experts from various fields, include engineering, computer science, social
sciences, arts and humanities, community-based researchers, policy makers,
and technology users, for a three-day event. University of New Brunswick
Fredericton education professor Ellen Rose is set to be a keynote speaker.
Rose believes the top issue facing post-secondary institutions and
technology is the fast-paced move to offer a variety of courses online.
While Internet courses may be cheaper and more convenient for both
educators and students, Rose believes it is another example of technology
use preceding any thought of its actual impact on society. Rose says
online courses eliminate the face-to-face experience, and though there is
constant communication with online learning, there is a sense of alienation
at the same time.
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UM Gets Only U.S. Lab for WiMAX Next Generation Wireless
Applications
University of Maryland (05/01/08) Tune, Lee
The University of Maryland has opened the MAXWell Lab, a new laboratory
that will provide developers of WiMAX compatible hardware and software with
a large test bed for developing applications for wireless technology. The
lab, backed by the WiMAX Forum, will be part of Maryland's Institute for
Advanced Computer Studies. "It currently is difficult for a WiMAX
application developer to test their application in a real environment at a
neutral site," says MAXWell Lab director Ashok Agrawala. "This facility
will support such testing extensively and the university is an excellent
site for such testing." WiMAX can provide data speeds comparable to cable
and ISDN services through a wireless service that covers between three and
30 miles, significantly larger than Wi-Fi hotspots. WiMAX also could allow
for the creation of metropolitan-area networks as well as provide easier
access to the Internet in rural areas not currently served by broadband.
"This new laboratory promises the development of path-breaking applications
in wireless technology," says University of Maryland President C.D. Mote,
Jr.
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Assistive Technology Research Institute Partners With
Microsoft to Develop SeniorPC Program
Misericordia University (05/02/08)
The Misericordia University Assistive Technology Research Institute (ATRI)
in partnership with Microsoft has developed the Elder Interface, software
designed to make it easier for people with special needs to use computers.
The interface includes larger icons, fonts, and other special features and
is part of the SeniorPC initiative launched by ATRI and Microsoft to
encourage seniors and others to use computers through training and
education exercises. ATRI director of research and development Denis Anson
will monitor the training provided to seniors participating in the program
to refine training methods to meet the special needs of seniors. Anson
says that younger learners like to be shown multiple ways of completing a
task to learn what works best for them, while older learners may be
confused by multiple options and learn best when provided a single way to
complete a task, even if it is not the most efficient. Once the training
has been tested, Microsoft intends to launch its SeniorPC program
nationwide. Microsoft is also partnering with Hewlett-Packard and Dell to
provide special computers through Microsoft Marketplace that will be
packaged with the most commonly needed software for email, Web browsing,
and writing, along with adaptations that tailor the computer to the needs
of seniors.
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The Green Grid's Datacenter Metrics
HPC Wire (05/01/08) West, John E.
The Green Grid has proposed key metrics--Datacenter Infrastructure
Efficiency (DCiE) and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)--for end-user
organizations to monitor in service of its mission to help members improve
datacenter energy efficiency, and Digital Realty Trust executive Jim Smith
has insights into how such quantities should be measured. Smith says
variables outside the datacenter manager's control play a large part in the
variance in the metrics, and from a practical perspective the metrics may
be more helpful as point measurements or as long-term trends. Smith
indicates that DCiE and PUE exhibit high sensitivity to both server load
and changes in the outside environment, such as temperature and humidity
shifts. "Higher [server] loads are more efficient in terms of the
metrics," he notes, and Digital Realty Trust has opted to modularize its
datacenters because of this realization. Smith says it is imperative for
the IT community to get measurement programs off and running because they
will be critical to understanding what is happening in the datacenter, and
it has the added advantage of not being excessively expensive. Smith adds
that the installation of automated monitoring is not a costly option. A
manager's biggest opportunity to upgrade datacenter efficiency is likely to
come during a renovation or during new construction. Smith points out that
certain datacenters also will be driven to implement a monitoring program
in order to meet new reportage regulations.
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If You Want a Robot to React, Test the Brain
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) (04/28/08) Cambourne, Keeli
Australia's The Thinking Systems Group (TSG) recently started work on
creating an autonomous robotic hand that uses sensory feedback to mimic the
connection between a human's hand and brain. University of New South Wales
professor Michael Breakspear, a founding chief investigator of the group
and a research fellow for the Black Dog Institute, says the project is not
only about building the hand, but also discovering how the brain's
hierarchical control systems works. "If we can build this hand there will
be important ramifications for neuroscience, including understanding many
brain disorders," Breakspear says. TSG's research group consists of a team
of experts from the fields of neuroscience, biomedical engineering,
computer science mathematics, psychiatry, and physics. The researchers are
working on a silicon finger as part of the hand, and have started
neuroscience experiments focused on better understanding sensory perception
and motor control. A major part of the project is developing technology
that can provide feedback from the robotic finger to help the hand
determine the amount of force needed to lift an object. The robotic hand
is only the first part of what the founding group sees as a long-term
project that could lead to discoveries in other neuroscientific areas, and
the development of medical instruments and devices.
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Web in Infancy, Says Berners-Lee
BBC News (04/30/08) Waters, Darren
Sir Tim Berners-Lee says the World Wide Web is still in its infancy, and
in the future the Web will make "all the data in the world" available to
every Web user. Berners-Lee predicts that the Web's ability to create
collaborative efforts could eventually lead to the Web being used to help
manage the planet. "What's exciting is that people are building new social
systems, new systems of review, new systems of governance," says
Berners-Lee, adding that he hopes these new systems will create novel ways
of working together effectively and fairly that can be used to manage
ourselves as a planet. Robert Cailliau, who worked alongside Berners-Lee,
says the ubiquity of the Web makes it appear that its success was
inevitable, but that was not always the case. Cailliau helped create one
of the early technical proposals for the Web, and later helped convince
Cern directors to release the Web to the public. "The difficult part was
explaining to them the true nature of what the Web was going to be,"
Cailliau says. "We had to convince them that this was going to take off
and ... the best thing to do was to give it away." Cailliau says Cern
played with the idea of asking for some type of royalty, but Berners-Lee
was not in favor of the idea, partially because competing technologies,
such as the University of Minnesota's Gopher, were offering methods for
using hyperlinks to connect documents across computers on the Internet. He
says putting a price on the Web would have caused these competing
technologies to have taken off instead of the Web.
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Robotic Wheelchair Docks Like a Spaceship
New Scientist (04/30/08) Kleiner, Kurt
Lehigh University roboticists have collaborated with Freedom Sciences to
develop a wheelchair that uses laser ranging to automatically dock with
vehicles. The new system, featuring an onboard computer that uses a light
detecting and ranging system, employs radio signals and laser guidance to
position the wheelchair onto the forks of a lift that hauls it into a van.
The system bounces laser light off two reflectors on the armrests of the
wheelchair to determine its position and align it with the forklift. When
the vehicle reaches its destination, the system reverses the process for
the laser-guided robot wheelchair. The system has achieved a 97.5 percent
success rate in tests. "The real challenge is to dock with 100 percent
reliability," says Lehigh roboticist John Spletzer. "That is something you
can't do with remote control."
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Q&A: IT Vet Gordon Bell Talks About the Most Influential
Computers
Computerworld (04/29/08) Gaudin, Sharon
Microsoft principal researcher Gordon Bell has spent almost 50 years in
the IT industry. Bell was a key engineer and vice president of research
and development at Digital Equipment for 23 years, and later he founded the
Computer History Museum. Bell is currently working on MyLifeBits, a
nine-year project that is designing ways for anyone to capture the memories
of their lifetime on a computer. The creation of the integrated circuit
and the microprocessor in 1972 is the most influential change or product
that he's seen over the years. After graduating from MIT, Bell says he
started out in speech work, and he expected speech recognition to be more
developed than it is. When asked what computer best illustrates the 20th
century, Bell says it is either the IBM 360 mainframe, which was and
continues to be the workhorse of computers, or the PC because it has had
such a tremendous impact and there are billions of PCs distributed over the
world. Bell thinks that telepresence is happening, but happening slowly
because developers understood that the network, the IP stack, and other
technologies had to improve before telepresence was possible. Looking
forward, Bell says he is most excited about combining cell phones and
wireless sensor networks and the ability to create radio connections
between everything.
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Ballot Box Blues
Government Computer News (04/28/08) Vol. 27, No. 9, Dizard III, Wilson P.
Voting process experts generally concur that states that have already
deployed direct-recording electronic (DRE) systems have little choice at
this point but to stick with the machines through the current election
cycle. "The problem with the upcoming [general] election is that any
county that doesn't have its election system locked in by now is in real
trouble," says Fortify Software chief scientist Brian Chess. Supporters of
DREs cite the systems' improved accessibility, among other things, while
the voting equipment industry's trade association argues that the security
questions raised by state studies do not take real-world conditions or the
complete spectrum of anti-fraud safeguards embedded in voting policies and
procedures into account. However, in December 2006 the National Institute
of Standards and Technology issued a draft report noting that
software-dependent systems such as DRE machines cannot be audited against
any proof of the voter's intent, which adds fuel to "continued questions
about voting system security and diminished public confidence in
elections." The organization urged the employment of software-independent
systems with a paper trail, pointing out that most states have some type of
voter-verified paper records that are either used across the state or on a
county-by-county basis. A bill was brought before the House earlier in
April that sought to encourage states to discard DRE machines in favor of
paper ballots, but the measure failed due to White House opposition based
on budget considerations, says Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.).
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The Move to Make Social Data Portable
Computer (04/08) Vol. 41, No. 4, P. 13; Heyman, Karen
Demand from social-network users for some degree of data portability so
that they can transfer their information between sites without re-entering
it every time is growing as rivalry between social-network operators
intensifies. Data portability could enable collaboration between multiple
social Internet services because they would be using the same data. Craig
Knoblock of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences
Institute says information integration and the development of universal
formats to which data can be written comprise the keys to the enablement of
data portability, and technologies that could play an important role in
this milestone include the OpenID Foundation's decentralized ID system,
which is designed to facilitate collaboration and interoperation between
the Web's distinctive login and registration systems; and the OAuth
protocol that permits secure and standardized application programming
interface-based authentication from desktop or Web-based applications.
Among the organizations engaged in data-portability initiatives is the Data
Portability Workgroup, which is striving to classify the nature of data
portability on social-networking sites, encourage best data-portability
practices, and endorse open standards for putting those practices into
effect. Other participants in activities related to data portability
include Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook. Facebook chief privacy
officer Chris Kelly says data portability carries concerns about privacy
and security. Many data-portability skeptics cite implementation as the
critical issue, with OpenID Foundation executive director Bill Washburn
noting that "portability of data is being defined on the fly and without
much certainty as to what the final definition or destination will be."
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