The 463: Inside Tech

Rise of the Robots

(Katie Durkin)  IBM’s supercomputer aka Watson crushed its two-legged Jeopardy! opponents last night in the second part of a three-night series.  Watson fell short of expectations the first night, tying Jeopardy! legend Brad Rutter.  Watson shined on Day 2 though and finished with $35,734, while his contenders Rutter earned $10,400 and Ken Jennings earned only $4800.

 Scientists at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Lab in New York spent over four years designing and preparing Watson for the Jeopardy! challenge.  Watson’s overwhelming victory last night demonstrates the power and rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. 

Not every one is as impressed by Watson as I am though.  Wired reader Anthony Williams commented, “Duh, what a concept.  A computer can locate and answer questions faster than a human big deal.”  Others allude to an eventual machine takeover: “By 2030 we’ll make good pets if we’re lucky,” commented Wired reader ConvivalVisits. 

 However, the triumph of Watson is a truly feat in the name of innovation.  IBM has designed a machine that can analyze and understand complicated human language and wordplay.  The reach of IBM’s accomplishments could span from the military to health care to classrooms. 

The important thing to remember is that whether it’s Watson, Rutter, or Jennings that wins the final game tonight, the power of the human brain will be behind the victory.  

 

National Wireless Initiative: Win-Win for All

(By: Krista Strum) If you missed President Obama’s speech on the National Wireless Initiative and its execution plan, here are a few important highlights. First, he signaled support for legislation to allow the FCC to conduct voluntary incentive auctions to free up 500MHz worth of spectrum. What makes incentive auctions attractive, as proposed in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, is that current owners will get a share of revenue earned from auctioning off the spectrum. It’s a sweet deal that should encourage those “squatting” on idle or unused spectrum to participate.

Second, the plan includes measures to help consumers become more connected, directing $5 billion to constructing 4G networks in rural areas. The effort will also be backed by a $3 billion R&D budget to help guide the rollout. When all is said and done, it’s projected that at least 98 percent of American’s will have service.  This is awesome considering more connectivity and information sharing makes for a smarter America.

The ‘icing on the cake’ is a $10.7 billion budget for a nationwide public safety network.  So during national emergencies, emergency response workers and groups can communicate on a larger scale. Under the plan, “$3.2 billion would be devoted to reallocating the “D Block” (which is a band of spectrum that would be reserved and prioritized for public safety and not auctioned as called for under existing law); $7 billion to support the deployment of this network; and $500 million from the WIN Fund for R&D and technological development to tailor the network to meet public safety requirements.”

If you’re worried about this adding to the federal deficit, don’t! The spectrum auctions, “estimated to raise $27.8 billion,” will help offset these costs -- $9.6 billion of which will go toward reducing the deficit.

Overall, his plan is a win-win for all: “squatters” have good reason to unload their idle spectrum, consumers could enjoy more connectivity and, in times of national emergency we’ll be able to communicate better.

For more details about the plan, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/10/president-obama-details-plan-win-future-through-expanded-wireless-access

Super Bowl Ads vs. Social Media Marketing

(Katie Durkin) On one particular Monday morning of every winter, there’s always three pressing questions Americans will ask each other: who were you rooting for, what’d you think of that half-time show, and which was your favorite commercial? Advertisers spend up to $3 million for a 30 second spot during the coveted Super Bowl airtime.  With viewership climbing every year, it seems like a smart investment.  Last year, 106 million viewers tuned in to watch the big game, and early ratings show that last night’s game will most likely shatter the record number of audience members once again. 

However, in the age of new media, one wonders whether spending millions of dollars for a few seconds of television advertising is wise.  While the Super Bowl attracts millions of viewers each year, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube boast billions of users daily.  Why not just launch a viral campaign that will cost next to nothing in comparison? 

Not to worry, Super Bowl ad fans.  Social media won’t be diminishing the quality of your annual parade of amusing advertisements anytime soon; it will actually enhance their influence.  The buzz around this year’s commercials seems bigger than ever thanks to Internet traffic. 

Here’s how some of the most popular ads from last night are faring so far on YouTube:

Chrysler’s “Imported From Detroit” featuring Eminem: 803,406 views

Best Buy’s “Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber”: 408,572 views

NFL’s “Best Fans Ever”:  170,011 views

And the winner by a landslide is Volkswagen’s “Darth Vader Kid”: 15,662,189 views  (It had just over 13 million when I started writing this post.)

 

Cutting the Internet Off To Spite Its Regime?

The events in Egypt over the past 10 days are historic, memerizing, scary, uplifting (insert your adjective here).  Much has been written about the impact of social media on the ability for protesters to organize and participate in the uprising in such large numbers. 

Indeed, the Mubarak government even took the amazing step of actually shutting down the Internet across the entire country.  However, much like a cortisone shot may ease pain but does not fix the bulging disk in a back, Egypt has proven that shutting down the Internet and social media may ease the pain for some time (just hours in today's fast-paced world) but it does not eliminate the underlying malady.

Perhaps most importantly, the shutting of the Internet appears to have made the Mubarak government even more vulnerable.  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that Egypt's Internet shut down cost the country's economy more than $90 million, accounting for roughly 3-4 percent of economic output, resulting in a loss of $18 million per day for the Egyptian economy.  Those esimates may  appear to be an understatment as further calculations have valued the economic impact at more than $110 million.

Moreover, the shutting down of the Internet did not stop communication among protesters.  Google, for instance, created a voice-to-tweet service that allowed Egyptians to leave voicemail messages that were turned into tweets. Other Internet services allowed streaming audio clips from young Egyptians to be heard from anywhere on the world.

So, in a story with many morals, the Egyptian government has proven that technological innovation and communication in 2011 cannot be thwarted with a simple on/off switch.  But, maybe even more importantly, as the OECD study proved, the government is just as dependent on the Internet as its citizens.

An Internet shut down may have cut Mubarak's nose off to spite his face.