California's Sofware Sensing Δ 10th of December 2018 Ω 6:25 PM

ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ
~ U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ~ XTensa Processor Developer's Toolkit ~ YouTube	~ Industrial Light & Magic ~ Google ~ IronPort	~ Zope ~ SGI ~ TopQuadrant
~ NVIDIA ~ Six Feet Up (Plone) ~ Powerset (Semantic Web Search)	~ Metaweb ~ Adobe ~ Franz	~ Intel Software Network ~ Autodesk ~ Getac
~ EdicoGenome ~ AMD ~ AppDirect	~ Apple ~ Source Clear ~ Snap Route	~ Nervana ~ ArcSoft ~ Pelican
~ API.ai ~ HelpShift ~ Saucelabs	~ ClaraLabs ~ OpenAI ~ Intel Artificial Intelligence	~ Google AI ~ MulticoreWare ~ Anki
~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ
~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ
~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ
~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ ~ sense for Ξ	~ sense for Ξ ξ ξ
«U.S. Software Sensing	Θ	Θ
ΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞΞ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

select: ~[Σ] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ XTensa Processor Developer's Toolkit

»XTensa Processor Developer's Toolkit
ξ you can modify Tensilica’s Xtensa processors
ξ instruction sets,
ξ execution units,
ξ processor I/O ports
ξ to exactly match your application needs

The Xtensa Processor Developer’s Toolkit
ξ is the integrated design environment
ξ that delivers powerful automation tools to your desktop
ξ to guide you through the processor customization process.
ξ powerful yet easy-to-use tools for processor customization
ξ contains all the tools necessary to
ξ create,
ξ analyze, and
ξ build extremely highperformance application-specific processors

Tensilica’s Xtensa Xplorer GUI
ξ serves as the cockpit for the entire design experience
ξ you can profile your application code,
ξ identify “hot spots” that can benefit from acceleration,
ξ make the changes necessary to speed up that code
ξ Using a check-box menu within the GUI,
ξ you can configure processors to include features you need and remove features you don’t
ξ – options for processor interface, memories, operating system support, EDA scripts, debug and trace, and much more

»Configurable Procesors

The Promise of Configurable Processors
ξ The growth in the use of many large RTL blocks for SOC designs causes the well-recognized “SOC design gap” to widen every year.
ξ This gap arises between the explosive growth in chip complexity and the somewhat slower growth in designer productivity.
ξ The trend towards high-performance, low-power systems e.g.
ξ long-battery-life cell-phones,
ξ four-mega-pixel digital cameras,
ξ fast and inexpensive color printers,
ξ digital HDTVs, and
ξ 3D video games
ξ is increasing the size of SOC designs as well as the SOC design gap.
ξ Hardwired RTL design has many attractive characteristics—small die area, low power, and high-throughput.
ξ However, the liabilities of RTL (difficult design, slow and difficult verification, and poor scalability to complex problems)
ξ are starting to dominate as chip gate counts become enormous.
ξ Configurable processors are now a viable replacement for complex RTL.

What is a Configurable Processor?
ξ A full-featured configurable processor toolkit consists of
ξ a pre-defined processor core and
ξ a design-tool environment
ξ that permits significant adaptation of that base processor design for specific application requirements
ξ Typical forms of configurability include
ξ additions,
ξ deletions, and
ξ modifications to
ξ memories,
ξ external bus widths and
ξ handshake protocols, and
ξ commonly used processor peripherals.

ξ Extensible processors, an important superset of configurable processors,
ξ provide system designers with the ability to add instructions to the processor
ξ that may have never been considered or imagined by designers of the original architecture.
ξ The addition of highly customized instructions matched perfectly to a specific application gives configurable processors
ξ the ability to deliver performance levels rivaling RTL
ξ while gaining the benefits of pre-verified IP (intellectual property)
ξ Configurable processors are delivered as RTL code that is synthesized into an FPGA or SOC design.
ξ The best configurable processors also come with matching software development tools
ξ that reflect the hardware instructions added through designer-defined architectural extensions.

ξ A configurable processor can implement datapath operations that closely match those of RTL functions.
ξ The equivalent datapaths are implemented using the integer pipeline of the base processor,
ξ plus additional execution units, registers, and other functions added by the chip architect for a specific application.

ξ For example, the Tensilica Instruction Extension language (TIE, a simplified version of Verilog)
ξ is and example of a design tool that allows system developers to extend Tensilica’s Xtensa 32-bit processor architecture for specific applications.
ξ TIE is optimized for high-level specification of datapath functions in the form of instruction semantics and encoding.
ξ A TIE description is both simpler and much more concise than RTL
ξ because it omits all sequential logic descriptions, including state machine descriptions, pipeline registers, and initialization sequences.
ξ These complex items are actually developed in firmware.

ξ The new processor instructions and registers described in TIE are available to the firmware programmer
ξ via the same compiler and assembler that target the processor’s base instructions and register set.
ξ All operation sequencing within the processor’s datapaths is controlled by firmware,
ξ through the processor’s existing instruction-fetch, decode, and execution mechanisms.
ξ State-machine firmware can usually be written in a high-level language such as C or C++
ξ because of the high performance provided by tailored microprocessor architectures.

The Key: Automatic Hardware and Software Generation
ξ The first configurable processors were introduced in the mid-1990s and had one important drawback:
ξ once instructions were added to the processor,
ξ there was no automatic way to make sure the software-development tools could use those instructions.
ξ So companies that chose to use configurable processors had to somehow modify the software-development tools by hand.
ξ In early 1999, Tensilica introduced its first Xtensa processor with a major innovation – automatic hardware and software generation.
ξ Designers could specify configuration options using an Internet-based browser approach.
ξ New, designer-defined instructions were automatically integrated via the Xtensa Processor Generator,
ξ which produces a verified hardware implementation as well as tailored versions of all necessary software-development tools
ξ including compilers, debuggers, instruction-set simulators, and much more.
ξ The software tools are matched perfectly to the configuration, and no extra work is required to match tools and processor.

ξ The response to the Tensilica Xtensa processor and its ability to automatically generate the hardware and software has been strong.
ξ Over 60 companies are designing SOCs using Tensilica’s Xtensa processors.
ξ Many of these companies use multiple Xtensa processors –
ξ some designs employ multiple copies of the processor performing the same tasks and
ξ other designs use different tailored versions of the Xtensa processor to do perform a variety of on-chip tasks.

Fit the Processor to the Algorithm
ξ Configurable processors allow embedded-system developers to create processors specifically tailored to the target algorithms
ξ producing a much better fit between processor and algorithm
ξ Designers can add special-purpose, variable-width registers;
ξ specialized execution units; and
ξ wide data buses to reach an optimum processor configuration for specific algorithms
ξ These features allow developers to mold the processor’s characteristics to the algorithm
ξ instead of trying to force-fit the 10-pound algorithm into the resources available in a 5-pound, fixed-ISA processor or DSP.
ξ Consequently, application developers can more rapidly develop systems
ξ that meet all performance specifications using configurable and extensible processors
ξ than by using off-the-shelf, fixed-ISA microprocessors and DSPs.

ξ As with hand-tuned assembly language,
ξ optimization points for a configurable and extensible processor implementation become apparent through code profiling.
ξ Optimization targets typically reside within the innermost software loops that execute many thousands or millions of times per second.
ξ Reducing the instruction count of the object code inside of these loops produces a huge and positive effect on system performance.
ξ The following three examples illustrate the sort of performance improvements algorithm developers can expect
ξ when using configurable and extensible processors. (All of the following examples are based on Tensilica’s Xtensa microprocessor.)

»Partners

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ YouTube

»YouTube
ξ "Python is fast enough for our site and allows us to produce maintainable features in record times, with a minimum of developers," /Cuong Do, Software Architect/

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ ILM

»ILM
ξ "Python plays a key role in our production pipeline. Without it a project the size of Star Wars: Episode II would have been very difficult to pull off.
ξ From crowd rendering to batch processing to compositing, Python binds all things together," /Tommy Burnette, Senior Technical Director/

ξ "Python is everywhere at ILM. It's used to extend the capabilities of our applications, as well as providing the glue between them.
ξ Every CG image we create has involved Python somewhere in the process," /Philip Peterson, Principal Engineer, Research & Development/

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Google

»Google
ξ "Python has been an important part of Google since the beginning, and remains so as the system grows and evolves.
ξ Today dozens of Google engineers use Python, and we're looking for more people with skills in this language." /Peter Norvig, director of search quality at Google/

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ IronPort

»IronPort
ξ an independent business unit of Cisco operating as a part of Cisco's Security Technology Group
ξ is a leading provider of anti-spam, anti-virus and anti-spyware appliances

"IronPort email gateway appliances are used by the largest corporations and ISPs in the world," /Mark Peek, Sr. Director of Engineering/
"Python is a critical ingredient in this high performance system. IronPort's suite of products contains over a million lines of Python.
The PSF is an invaluable resource that helps keep Python on the cutting edge."

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Zope

»Zope

Making Information Worl for the Enterprise
ξ provides a full range of products, services, knowledge, training programs and methods helping organizations integrate data and processes and
ξ to harness the knowledge distributed across systems and parties
ξ with the mission to bridge the gap between business collaboration needs and enabling technology through semantic products and services,
ξ TopQuadrant helps customers implement new capabilities for integration, policy management, search, enterprise architecture and model-driven applications
ξ TopBraid product suite provides an enterprise-level platform for developing and deploying semantic applications
ξ TopQuadrant’s solution design process is based on Solution Envisioning,
ξ a creative approach to exploring how technology might offer new ways of supporting and transforming business strategies

ξ announced the general availability of TopBraid Live 2.0
ξ a semantic application deployment platform
ξ that dramatically simplifies the creation of web services to a ‘click and connect’ process
ξ Users can easily connect data from RDF stores, relational databases, spreadsheets, email, RSS feeds, as well as data in HTML and XML formats,
ξ without the need to understand programming languages
ξ a new Flex API creates graphical ‘information spaces’ as the output,
ξ which allow users to browse dynamic information by following graphical links
ξ TopBraid Live web services can also be used to make existing data available to semantically enabled search engines
ξ such as Yahoo! SearchMonkey
ξ TopBraid Live 2.0 marks the first application deployment technology
ξ that enables non-programmers to create and share web services
ξ that leverage the power of semantic data stores, semantic queries, semantic reasoning and semantic search engines

ξ "TopBraid Live 2.0 demonstrates an important step toward the ultimate ability for anyone
ξ to easily combine data in any format and share connected views of information in a web-like format,”
ξ said Holger Knublauch, vice president of product development at TopQuadrant
ξ “Most of the information that we view today is presented in a flat format that is disconnected from other relevant data.
ξ In order to get the information that you want, it’s usually necessary to search multiple data sources separately and
ξ then manually create a representation of the combined information to show others
ξ TopBraid Live 2.0 delivers web services that combine the power of semantic mash-ups
ξ with embedded, dynamic information views -- all without involving the IT department.”

ξ The unique capabilities of TopBraid Live 2.0 are possible because of the addition of SPARQLMotion Web Services and a Flex API

SPARQLMotion
ξ is a visual scripting language for semantic data processing
ξ Visual scripts can be displayed and edited graphically by people without programming skills
ξ Users can chain together simple processing steps to form complex processing pipelines
ξ Data processing pipelines can be used to merge, search, query and mash-up data as well as to create a report or information dashboard
ξ The SPARQLMotion Web Services function publishes SPARQLMotion scripts as web services,
ξ without requiring the user to learn any programming languages

TopBraid Flex
ξ TopBraid Live 2.0 includes a sophisticated client-side Flex API,
ξ which can be used to efficiently deliver dynamic, rich internet applications using Adobe’s platform-independent Flash Player
ξ The TopBraid Flex API provides out-of-the-box components to display and edit semantically enabled information
ξ as tree structures, forms, graphs, tables, calendars, maps, or images
ξ These components are seamlessly integrated with a powerful client-side object model
ξ that automatically synchronizes RDF and OWL semantic web data with the TopBraid Live server
ξ Based on this architecture and API, application developers can very efficiently develop semantic web applications
ξ from reusable components without having to implement or change the server

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
»TopQuadrant Delivers TopBraid Live 2.0
ξ the general availability of TopBraid Live 2.0, a semantic application deployment platform
ξ that dramatically simplifies the creation of web services to a ‘click and connect’ process
ξ Users can easily connect data from RDF stores, relational databases, spreadsheets, email, RSS feeds,
ξ as well as data in HTML and XML formats, without the need to understand programming languages
ξ A new Flex API creates graphical ‘information spaces’ as the output,
ξ which allow users to browse dynamic information by following graphical links
ξ TopBraid Live web services can also be used to make existing data available to semantically enabled search engines
ξ such as Yahoo! SearchMonkey
ξ TopBraid Live 2.0 marks the first application deployment technology
ξ that enables non-programmers to create and share web services that leverage the power of
ξ semantic data stores, semantic queries, semantic reasoning and semantic search engines

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
»James Hendler Joins TopQuadrant Advisory Board
ξ Dr. James Hendler, a driving force in the development of the Semantic Web, has joined the TopQuadrant Advisory Board.
ξ Dr. Hendler co-authored with Tim Berners-Lee and Ora Lassila,
ξ the Semantic Web article, which appeared in Scientific American in 2001 and
ξ is now the most cited paper in the Semantic Web area
ξ As an advisor to TopQuadrant, Dr. Hendler will provide insights in various areas,
ξ including Semantic Web market trends, emerging standards, market education and product direction.

ξ “We are honored to have James join our advisory board,” said Irene Polikoff, TopQuadrant CEO and cofounder
ξ “The ability to continually tap into his vision of the Semantic Web and the potential benefits
ξ that companies can drive from semantic applications will be of the upmost value to our company.
ξ We are looking forward to collaborating with James to help enable his vision of the Semantic Web become reality
ξ through our application development product suite, TopBraid™.”

ξ “TopQuadrant has attracted some of the world’s most talented technologists and technology intellects,” said Dr. James Hendler.
ξ “This company has the rare combination of a world-class semantic development team,
ξ as well as people who can teach and train Fortune 500 organizations how to design, deploy and use semantic applications.
ξ It will be my pleasure to fill an advisory role for the company.”
ξ This month Dr. Hendler published a book with TopQuadrant Chief Scientist Dean Allemang,
ξ entitled Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist
ξ This is the first book to offer an in-depth introduction to the Semantic Web and practical knowledge for non-programmers.
ξ Dr. Hendler is the Tetherless World Senior Constellation Chair at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
ξ where he has appointments in the Departments of Computer Science and the Cognitive Science
ξ He also serves as the associate director of the Web Science Research Initiative headquartered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
ξ Dr. Hendler was a driving force in the development of the Semantic Web and
ξ has authored approximately 200 technical papers in the areas of artificial intelligence, Semantic Web,
ξ agentbased computing and high-performance processing.
ξ Dr. Hendler was the recipient of a 1995 Fulbright Foundation Fellowship, a former member of the U.S. Air Force Science Advisory Board,
ξ and a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and the British Computer Society
ξ Dr. Hendler is also the former chief scientist at the Information Systems Office of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),
ξ was awarded a U.S. Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Medal in 2002, and is a member of the World Wide Web Consortium's
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
»New Book Offers Practical Knowledge about Semantic Web Modeling
ξ announced that Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist: Effective Modeling in RDFS and OWL
ξ has been published by Morgan Kaufmann and is now available in major bookstores across the country as well as Amazon.com.
ξ Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist is a book authored by two Semantic Web experts,
ξ Dean Allemang, chief scientist at TopQuadrant and
ξ James Hendler, artificial intelligence professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and
ξ one of the originators of the Semantic Web.
ξ The book offers an in-depth introduction to the Semantic Web and
ξ practical knowledge that provides non-professional programmers with the skills to develop data models that fit the technology requirements of the Semantic Web.
ξ The promise of the Semantic Web-- to provide a universal medium to exchange data information and knowledge-- has been well publicized.
ξ But until now, individuals engaged in creating ontologies--
ξ formal descriptions of the concepts, terms, and relationships within a given knowledge domain--
ξ have had no sources beyond the technical standards documents.
ξ Semantic Web for the Working Ontologist provides practical knowledge that both programmers and subject domain experts need.
ξ Authors Dean Allemang and James Hendler begin with solutions to the basic problems, but don't stop there--
ξ they demonstrate how to develop solutions to problems of increasing complexity and
ξ ensure that the reader’s skills will keep pace with the continued evolution of the Semantic Web.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
»Architect of Jena Semantic Web Framework Joins TopQuadrant
ξ Dr. Jeremy Carroll has joined TopQuadrant as Chief Product Architect
ξ Carroll has contributed to many Semantic Web standards from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
ξ and was the lead architect in the creation of Jena 2.0,
ξ an open source Semantic Web framework developed by Hewlett Packard Research Labs.
ξ Jena is currently the most used Java toolkit for building semantic applications and
ξ is the leading Java toolkit referenced in academic papers and conferences.
ξ At TopQuadrant, Carroll will work closely with Dr. Holger Knublauch,
ξ TopQuadrant’s Vice President of Product Development,
ξ to extend the company’s leading semantic application development platform,TopBraid Suite™, and
ξ ensure that the integrated suite of products continues to support W3C standards as they are developed.
ξ Currently, TopBraid is the only W3C standards-based toolset
ξ that supports the entire semantic application development lifecycle.

ξ “Jeremy’s unique skill set and vision for the future of semantic application development will be a tremendous asset to TopQuadrant,”
ξ said Irene Polikoff, TopQuadrant CEO and co-founder.
ξ “We believe that the collaboration between Jeremy and Holger will help to push enterprise-class semantic application development into the mainstream.”
ξ “Semantic Web standards are now at a stage that, with the right tool support,
ξ companies can use them to develop mission critical applications,” said Carroll.
ξ “I’m looking forward to working with Holger and everyone at TopQuadrant.
ξ I believe that the combination of Holger’s skills in user interfaces and mine in semantic infrastructure, will make a world-class team.”
ξ Carroll has been responsible for editing important W3C Semantic Web standards:
ξ RDF Concepts and OWL Test Cases; and
ξ has made significant contributions to many others including: GRDDL, GRDDL Tests, OWL Semantics, RDF Semantics, RDF Syntax and the Quality Assurance Framework.
ξ Prior to joining TopQuadrant, Carroll spent sixteen years as a senior research scientist at Hewlett Packard,
ξ where he conducted research in the areas of knowledge engineering, Semantic Web technology, telecommunications,
ξ very large databases, distributed printing and Venn triangles.
ξ While at HP Labs, Carroll architected the Jena 2.0 Semantic Web framework and
ξ led the development of the first alpha version of the code.
ξ Before HP Labs, Carroll was a researcher at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST),
ξ where he studied computational linguistics and machine translation, specializing in Japanese and Turkish.

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ SGI

»SGI
ξ SGI uses a Zope solution to manage the publication of software updates and technical information for its customers.

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ TopQuadrant

»TopQuadrant

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ NVIDIA

»http://www.nvidia.com/
ξ »Vulkan API

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Six Feet Up (Plone)

»Six Feet Up

References
»Winton Woods City School District
»EIMInstitute
»ICE SAfety Solutions
»Holland
»American Red Ball

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Powerset (Semantic Web Search)

»Powerset (Semantic Web Search)

About Powerset
ξ goal is to change the way people interact with technology by enabling computers to understand our language
ξ is first applying its natural language processing to search,
ξ aiming to improve the way we find information by unlocking the meaning encoded in ordinary human language
ξ first product is a search and discovery experience for Wikipedia, launched in May 2008
ξ Powerset’s technology improves the entire search process
ξ In the search box, you can express yourself in keywords, phrases, or simple questions
ξ On the search results page, Powerset gives more accurate results,
ξ often answering questions directly, and aggregates information from across multiple articles
ξ Powerset’s technology follows you into enhanced Wikipedia articles, giving you a better way to quickly digest and navigate content

»Henry VIII

Factz from Wikipedia

verbs:
ξ such as granted, made, dissolved, turned, brought, married, built, began, founded, confiscated, appointed....

objects:
ξ for each verb such as dissolved: monasteries, prebend, churches and Priory

»Powerset Demo Video
ξ sources freebase
ξ Factz
ξ Explore Factz
ξ conception; how Golden Gate got its name
ξ what did david do ?
ξ Elvis Presley ...
ξ hmmm...demo was NOT very impressive !

ξ A San Francisco-based company,
ξ Powerset was founded in 2005
ξ is funded by Foundation Capital, Founders Fund, Paperboy Ventures, and a number of angel investors

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Metaweb

»Metaweb

»freebase; created by Metaweb
»Powerset (Semantic Web Search); user of freebase

FAQ

1 What is Freebase?
ξ an open database of the world’s information
ξ is built by the community and for the community
ξ free for anyone to query, contribute to, build applications on top of, or integrate into their websites
ξ covers millions of topics in hundreds of categories
ξ drawing from large open data sets like Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, and the SEC
ξ contains structured information on many popular topics, like movies, music, people and locations
ξ all reconciled and freely available via an open API
ξ this information is supplemented by the efforts of a passionate global community of users,
ξ who are working together to add structured information on everything from philosophy to European railway stations to the chemical properties of common food ingredients.
ξ part of what makes Freebase unique is that it spans domains
ξ but requires that a particular topic exist only once in Freebase
ξ even if it might normally be found in multiple databases
ξ Arnold Schwarzenegger would appear in a movie database as an actor,
ξ a political database as a governor and a bodybuilder database as a Mr. Universe
ξ In Freebase, there is only one topic for Arnold Schwarzenegger, with all three facets of his public persona brought together
ξ the unified topic acts as an information hub, making it easy to find and contribute information about him
ξ the underlying structure of Freebase lets you run complex queries
ξ ask questions of the data—that are difficult or impossible to run in conventional databases
ξ if you ask Freebase for Jennifer Connelly films with actors who have appeared in a Steven Spielberg movie,
ξ you’ll get a tidy list of eight movies
ξ the extra-cool part is that if you’re a developer, or just mildly technical,
ξ Freebase offers tools that make it easy to query and integrate the data into web apps, blogs, wikis, user pages or
ξ anything else that would benefit from an injection of structured information

ξ Finally, while information in Freebase appears to be structured much like a conventional database,
ξ it’s actually built on a system
ξ that allows any user to contribute to the schemas—or frameworks—that hold the data
ξ this wiki-like approach to structuring information lets many people organize the database without formal, centralized planning
ξ it lets subject experts who don’t have database expertise find one another, and
ξ then build and maintain the data in their domain of interest

3. How's Freebase different from Wikipedia? From GoogleBase?
ξ the difference lies in the way they store information
ξ Wikipedia arranges information in the form of articles
ξ Freebase lists facts and statistics
ξ Freebase’s list form is good not only for people who like to glance at facts,
ξ but also for people who want to use the data to build other web sites and software
ξ Information in article form can’t be reused in the same way (though, obviously, articles are awesome for other purposes)

ξ the topics covered by Freebase include subjects that are too obscure for Wikipedia,
ξ which strives for notability appropriate to an encyclopedia

ξ GoogleBase is a whole ‘nother ball of wax
ξ data in Freebase is all shared and collectively editable, with a single instance of each topic
ξ Google Base, on the other hand, lets you help other people find your data,
ξ but it doesn’t provide a community editing tool nor does it attempt to reconcile data sets. It's a different animal.

4. How can I participate?

1) Browse and read information.
ξ If you’re looking for something specific, use the search and filter features.
ξ If you’re just exploring, start on the Domains & Types page (clicking the Data link at the top of any page takes you there, too).
ξ You can also just navigate around the site.

2) Edit existing data.
ξ Many topics need additional info, and you can add details to your heart’s content.
ξ Or, if you see a mistake, you can dive in and correct it.

3) Upload new data sets.
ξ While we’re endlessly interested in more data, we’re better equipped to handle conceptual rather than statistical information on topics,
ξ and we have some guidelines on the kinds of data that best fit the system.
ξ If you have a data set you want to share, contact us for help with a bulk upload.

4) Build applications that use Freebase data.
ξ For ideas, check out these featured apps.
ξ When you’re ready to build your own, the developer center gives you all the tools to get started,
ξ including an API and mjt, the Metaweb JavaScript Templating language.

5) Suggest and create schemas for new data.
ξ Schemas are the frameworks that hold data and help determine the relationships between separate pieces of information.
ξ Schema building is commonly known as data modeling,
ξ and we’ve written up some guidelines for tackling it in Freebase.

6) Why would I want to contribute?

1) You’ve got a bunch of data that you’d like to share with the world.
ξ Freebase gives you a place to do it.
ξ A related benefit:
ξ once your data is in Freebase, you or anyone else can run MQL (Metaweb Query Language) queries against it.

2) You’ve got a bunch of data that you’d like to share
ξ said data would benefit from the knowledge and refinement efforts of other people
ξ Freebase gives you a place to share it and others a place to improve it.

3) You don’t have data, but you're an authority on something, and you like sharing your expertise.
ξ Freebase lets you dive into the details and improve or add to existing data.

7. What are the rules for using the data in Freebase?
ξ Freebase uses a Creative Commons license
ξ known as an “attribution” or “by” license
ξ It means that if you're welcome to use the Freebase data on your own site,
ξ as long as you credit Freebase as the source
ξ Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that has developed free, public licenses
ξ that let creators make their work available so that other people can legally build on and share it.
ξ Put another way: the data in Freebase is available for commercial or non-commercial purposes
ξ —just remember to attribute it to Freebase.com and the community that created it, as described in the licensing policy.

8. How do I know the data's accurate?
ξ Actually, you don’t know for sure
ξ Freebase lets anyone edit the data
ξ there’s always a chance that somebody has—intentionally or unintentionally—introduced a mistake
ξ By the same token, data in the system can be cleaned up by anyone
ξ people make incremental improvements all the time
ξ One of the challenges any database faces—whether its job is keeping track of responses to a wedding invitation or holding information collected by the US Census
ξ is ensuring good, clean data
ξ While no database is perfect, the eyes and efforts of a whole community can move a data set in the right direction

9. Do I have to pay to use Freebase?
ξ Nope.
ξ It’s free to use—whether you’re browsing, editing, uploading or using the data for your own purposes.
ξ Hence the name “Freebase.”

10. How does Metaweb plan to make money?
ξ Metaweb provides access to its technology through an API program.
ξ Depending on the commercial vs. non-commercial nature of the API use, and
ξ the extent of services required by a developer or publisher, varying fees might apply.
ξ We also hope to serve relevant ads alongside the content at some point in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Data Engineering
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Distributed Data Processing Guru
Freebase needs YOU in its quest to build a database of the world's public knowledge.
We are developing highly scalable methods for creating, loading, and reconciling large data sets.
We're looking for someone that lives and breathes distributed processing.
You will be:
* Developing and evolving a declarative query language on a distributed compute cluster
* Write large-scale data manipulation operators
* Creating directed search crawler operations for structure extraction from the web
We are looking for talented and energetic software engineers with experience in:
* Database or OLAP engine internals, or analytical business applications
* Distributed computing
* Language design, interpreters or compilers
* Map/Reduce algorithms

We also want you to have a passion to work with data and give it away to the world.
We will give you:
* Hard problems that require you to learn quickly and take ownership
* A chance to work with world-class people to change the world
* Freedom to do things the right way

If you choose to accept this mission, please:
1. Submit a cover letter and resume in plain text, HTML, or PDF to jobs@metaweb.com.
2. Distinguish yourself from others by responding in writing to the following questions:
1. What is your favorite programming language? Why?
2. What's most broken with SQL as an API of database access?
ξ How would you fix or replace it?
ξ What would a representation of your personal music collection information
ξ in your new, improved design allow you to do that you couldn't easily do with a standard relational database?
3. Imagine a graph that consists of directional links between nodes identified by small non-negative integers < 2**16.
ξ We define a "cycle" in the graph as a nonempty set of links that connect a node to itself.
ξ Imagine an application that allows insertion of links, but wants to prevent insertion of links that close cycles in the graph.
ξ For example, starting from an empty graph, inserting links 1 ->2 and 2 ->3 would succeed;
ξ but inserting a third link 3 -> 1 would fail, since it would close the cycle 1 ->2 ->3 ->1.
ξ However, inserting a link 1 ->3 instead would succeed.
ξ In your favorite programming language, declare data structures to represent your graph, and
ξ provide code to populate your data structures with a starting graph and
ξ to perform an "insert link" function that fails if a new link would close a cycle.
ξ What is the time and space complexity of your solution?
ξ Hint: a good solution performs an insert much more efficiently than in O(e) time, where e is the number of edges in the graph.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Data Pipeline Engineer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3 million topics in Freebase is a great start -- but we need more!
Metaweb's data pipeline operations team is responsible for making sure that the cutting-edge algorithms
written by our world-class semantic engineers are continuously (and consistently) populating Freebase with ever more topics and assertions.
We need your help in building out our pipeline architecture,
integrating in new algorithms, and writing monitoring frameworks to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Your efforts will help us grow Freebase into a compendium of all the world's knowledge!
We are looking for someone who has:
* Experience with large scale operational processes
ξ such as ETL/warehousing projects,
ξ data-centric web applications, and/or
ξ web indexing operations
* A passion for process, detail, and quality
* Built real-time monitoring and test frameworks to assure operational quality
* Understands the difference between production code and quick scripts, and is comfortable creating either when required.

At Metaweb, you'll be:
* Architecting stable, scalable data processing frameworks
* Creating innovative parallel processing systems
* Designing solutions for problems of massive scale
* Working with the best, brightest, and funnest people in the industry

Instructions
ξ If this sounds like you, then please send us your resume in HTML or pdf format to jobs@metaweb.com.
ξ Let yourself stand out from the crowd by sending us your thoughts on the following:

1. A reliable data pipeline
ξ consists of more than just continuous running of code that was successful for single data load
ξ What are some design strategies for a data pipeline that will increase reliability, auditability, and maintainability?
ξ Are there other important characteristics that a data pipeline should have?

2. Complex data operations
ξ often produce output that cannot be automatically audited for correctness,
ξ because there is no "gold standard" to compare to (other than the algorithm itself).
ξ Discuss three strategies for assuring that these algorithms are indeed running properly.

3. As the number of data sources and algorithms added to an data pipeline increases,
ξ the chances of system failure also increases.
ξ What failure modes are to be expected as the pipeline's complexity increases?
ξ How can they be prevented?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Semantic Data Tools Engineer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Adobe

»Adobe

Links from CDO
» Rich Internet applications
» Adobe Flex 3
» Ajax
» Adobe ColdFusion8

What does 64-bit computing mean, practically speaking?
ξ it lets an application address very large amounts of memory--specifically, more than 4 gigabytes
ξ this is great for pro photographers with large collections of high-res images
ξ Lightroom being able to address more RAM means less time swapping images into and out of memory during image processing-intensive operations

Adobe's 64-bit Roadmap
ξ Adobe has been taking prompt, pragmatic steps to enable 64-bit Photoshop as quickly as possible on both Mac and Windows.

Photoshop x64
ξ realizes some big performance gains
ξ for example, opening a 3.75 gigapixel image on a 4-core machine with 32GB RAM is about 10x faster

Objective C
ξ began training engineers to rewrite code in Objective C instead of C++

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Franz

»Franz
ξ Semantic Web technologies
ξ 64-bit tools for RDF

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Intel Software Network

»Intel Software Network

Registration
ξ Email Address: cto@yourdragonxi.com
ξ Login ID: dragonxi
ξ Password: intel4dragonxi
ξ Security Question: What tis the name of your first pet?
ξ Answer: Santtu

Sending instructions to one core
ξ how to send a specific instruction to one core in a dual-core CPU
ξ to read the thermal status of the second core
ξ is there another way by to be able to retrieve the temperature from the DTS (digital temperature sensor) of one core ?
Answers:
ξ A common way of doing this is to create a thread that is forced to run on the target core.
ξ If using Windows, for example, look at the SetThreadAffinityMask() function.

Linux: you can write a kernel module with the following:
int temperature[NR_CPUS];
void get_temp(int cpu)
{ int this_cpu = smp_processor_id();
if(this_cpu == cpu) __temp_read(NULL);
else smp_call_function_single(cpu,__temp_read,NULL,1,1);
return temperature[cpu]; }
void __temp_read(void *info)
{ u32 low,high; int cpu = get_cpu();
rdmsr(IA32_THERM_STATUS,low,high) temperature[cpu] = low | MASK; // get temp }

Support for C/C++0x atomic operations by Dmitriy V'jukov
ξ Does Intel have some plans to support "fine-grained" atomic operations in future x86 processors
ξ in the context of emerging C/C++0x standard and it's support for such operations?
ξ Particularly I mean atomic RMW operations (XADD, XCHG, CMPXCHG, ADD, AND etc) with fine-grained memory ordering parameters.
ξ For example: std::atomic_xchg(x, 1, std::memory_order_relaxed);
ξ or: std::atomic_fetch_sub(x, 1, std::memory_order_release);
ξ The main point is that programs relying on C/C++0x atomic API
ξ will be able to transparently benefit from those fine-grained hardware operations.
ξ Since load on x86 is always acquire, and store is always release,
ξ so I think it will be difficult to eliminate acquire/release fences, i.e. provide real relaxed operations.
ξ But at least store-load memory fence can be eliminated from atomic RMW operations.
ξ Is it possible/feasible?

Simultaneous multithreading (SMT)

Intel:
ξ has SMT support in next generation Intel(R) microarchitecture (!)
ξ there will be 2 threads per core and you can find more information about it here: http://www.intel.com/technology/architecture-silicon/next-gen/?iid=SEARCH
ξ don't have SMT support in current Core(TM) 2 generation microarchitecture
ξ had SMT support (Hyper Threading - again 2 threads per core) in some of the Xeon and Pentium(R) family processors

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Autodesk

»Autodesk

Windows Vista 64-Bit Compatability
ξ Inventor 2008 can't take advantage of more than 3 gb of memory
ξ you will need to upgrade to Inventor 2009 and Vista 64 bit in order to get the advantage of greater amounts of ram

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Getac

»Getac
Small & Smart (S&S) is a California company designing unmanned and autonomous systems (UAS)
for network-centric operations at remote and demanding theaters.

Mobile devices are being used by manned forces for military, patrol and business UAS missions.

At what kind of theaters have Getac laptops being used ?
~ coldest environment ?
~ hottest environment ?
~ dessert ?
~ snow ?
~ highest altitude ?
~ oil rigs ?

S&S designs devices for multi-purpose missions thereby making it possible to use the same device with minor modifications both for military, patrol and business operations.

Which kind of certificate do you have for
1) military - any to Navy or air force ?
2) patrol - any to border patrol ?
3) business - any for energy sector such as oil,gas ?

S&S is looking partners to develop UAS systems where mobile devices are essential part. Devices are being
designed for mass production in large quantities.

What are the prices to evaluate some of your laptops at demanding theates ?

How many cores do your laptops have for multiprocessing?

Can GPU computing be used with your laptops ?

Looking forward to hear from you,
Paivi MayHill
Secretary / Mobile Solutions
www.dragonxi.com

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ EdicoGenome

»EdicoGenome
ξ developed the DRAGEN™ Bio-IT Processor
ξ the world’s first next-generation sequencing bioinformatics application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
ξ this chip is able to analyze the large amounts of data
ξ generated by next-generation sequencing rapidly and cost effectively,
ξ without compromising accuracy, and overcoming a key bottleneck in the DNA sequencing workflow
ξ founded in 2013
ξ a member of EvoNexus, San Diego’s only community-supported, fully pro-bono technology incubator
ξ a DRAGEN PCIe card and minimum system requirements enable to run your own data through the DRAGEN pipeline at your own location

Dear Sirs,

Small&Smart (S&S) is a California company interested to collaborate with Edico Genome worldwide.

S&S has developed software which autonomously generates new software for processing units {APU, BPU, CPU ... GPU ... ZPU} = Xi.
Applications requiring high performance and parallelism can command system to perform operations with one (BPU= BIO) or
more (APU,GPU,PPU) special processors or let system to decide which processors to use by commanding Xi = {APU, BPU, .. GPU ... ZPU),
where BPU could be a BIO processor designed by Edico Genome.

S&S "dragonizes" systems and applications with highly parallel architectures and solutions which scale from single core CPU to multi-core CPU
platforms with not only GPU processors but also other special processors.

S&S is interested to evaluate BIO processors designed by Edico Genome to explore
which kind of competitive edge they could offer to our partners and clients.

Looking forward to hear from You!
Paivi MayHill
Secretary, sec@yourdrgonxi.com
Small and Smart
www.dragonxi.com

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ AMD

»AMD
AMD AMD in collaboration with Microsoft announced the release of C++ AMP version 1.2
— an open source C++ compiler which implements version 1.2 of the open specification for C++ AMP,
available on both Linux and Windows for the first time.
The release represents another step forward toward AMD’s goal of supporting cross-platform solutions,
multiple programming languages and continued contributions to the open source community.
The tool, which leverages Clang and LLVM, accelerates productivity and ease of use for developers
wishing to harness the full power of modern heterogeneous platforms spanning servers, PCs and handheld devices.

It allows increased productivity and accelerated applications through shared physical memory
across the CPU and GPU on both Linux and Windows.

Partnering with AMD to deliver C++ AMP to the Linux and Open Source communities
was a natural step for Microsoft as we work to improve the performance and developer experience on modern computing platforms,”
said S. Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft.

C++ AMP version 1.2 enables C++ developers to accelerate applications across a broad set of hardware and software configurations
by supporting three outputs:
-- Khronos Group OpenCL, supporting AMD CPU/APU/GPU, Intel CPU/APU, NVIDIA GPU, Apple Mac OS X and other OpenCL compliant platforms;
-- Khronos Group SPIR, supporting AMD CPU/APU/GPU, Intel CPU/APU and future SPIR compliant platforms
-- HSA Foundation HSAIL, supporting AMD APU and future HSA compliant platforms

Akey performance feature of version 1.2 of the open source C++ AMP specification is support for shared physical memory,
which greatly simplifies sharing of data between the CPU and GPU on heterogeneous platforms.

Heterogeneous platforms built on the new spec allow programmers to benefit from minimized overhead of expensive data copies
and pointer updates when accelerating applications.

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ AppDirect

»AppDirect
ξ commerce platform for selling cloud services

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Apple

»apples-tim-cook-doubles-down-wont-comply-with-order-to-help-fbi-hack-into-iphone
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been a high-profile champion of encryption
Now his company is embroiled in what could be a defining case
in the battle over privacy vs. national security.

Apple is opposing a magistrate court judge’s order to help the government
hack into the encrypted iPhone of Syed Farook,
one of the killers in an attack in San Bernardino that killed 14 people.
Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik
— who reportedly had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State —
later died in a shootout with the police.

Farook’s phone reportedly was running the newest version of Apple’s iOS,
which can’t be unlocked without a passcode.
Now the FBI wants Apple to provide it with software
that will keep the agency from getting locked out of Farook’s iPhone
if it enters the wrong passcode too many times.

The U.S. government has asked for something Apple simply do not have, and
something Apple considers too dangerous to create
“They have asked Apple to build a backdoor to the iPhone.”

Talk about “backdoors” has been on the rise since the 2013 revelations
of mass spying by U.S. and other governments,
aided by electronic communications, the Internet and
technology made by Silicon Valley companies.

Apple, Google, Facebook and others have denied
providing backdoors to their users’ personal information.

In 2014, Apple and then Google enabled encryption by default on iPhones and Android phones.
This has prompted complaints from people such as
FBI Director James Comey,
who say the rise in encryption is a hindrance to criminal and terrorist investigations.
Recently, though, Comey has tried to strike a more conciliatory tone,
saying that the government doesn’t want backdoors,
it wants companies to comply with a judge’s order when needed.

In his letter, Cook repeats his longstanding argument
that building technology to circumvent the encryption on iPhones
would be a threat to privacy and security.

Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system,
circumventing several important security features, and
install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation.
In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today —
would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.

The FBI may use different words to describe this tool,
but make no mistake:
Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way
would undeniably create a backdoor.
And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case,
there is no way to guarantee such control.

How might Apple’s stance be received by the public?

Note that Cook didn’t say Apple couldn’t build the technology to help the government
— at least one security firm claims it is technically possible — he’s saying it won’t.

Recently, a Forrester analyst said he thought any company that stands up to the government on privacy would be seen as heroic.

A digital rights advocacy group,
Fight for the Future, on Wednesday called for protests outside Apple stores
throughout the country on Feb. 23 “to demand that the U.S. government drop its dangerous request.”

Cook says in the letter that Apple is fighting
“what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government,”
but he also makes sure to include: “We have no sympathy for terrorists.”

But Apple is “risking a lot given the sensitivity of the San Bernardino case,”
said Darren R. Hayes, assistant professor and director of cybersecurity at Seidenberg School of CSIS
at Pace University in New York. “It risks the tide of public opinion swaying.”

In a phone interview with SiliconBeat,
Hayes said Apple’s stand might also push Congress to “change legislation
to push companies to develop technologies to facilitate” law enforcement investigations.

Hayes also said he found it interesting that Apple is making this strong stand
now considering “what law enforcement has been asking for is for the company to
revert back to key management” — in other words, to go back to the time a couple
of years ago when Apple could comply with such requests to unlock phones.

The ACLU said this morning it would support Apple’s position.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based Internet rights advocacy group,
also said it plans to file an amicus brief to support Apple’s position.

“Essentially, the government is asking Apple to create a master key so that
it can open a single phone,” Kurt Opsahl, deputy executive director and general counsel for the EFF,
writes in a post on the group’s website.
“And once that master key is created,
we’re certain that our government will ask for it again and again,
for other phones, and turn this power against any software or device that has the audacity to offer strong security.”

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Source Clear

»Source Clear

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~SnapRoute

»SnapRoute

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
contact from SnapRoute 17tgh of June 2016
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello CTO,

Thank you for reaching out, we appreciate your interest in SnapRoute.
Here are SnapRoute we are excited to partner with you to find a better way to run your network.
Whether you have one switch or multiple data centers, we can help.

A little about us,
we have open sourced the world’s first L2/L3 stack written from the ground up in Go.
Using FlexSwitch companies can gain control of the network,
create operational efficiency
that makes life easier for the operator,
all while leveraging the benefits of open source.

I would love to set-up a time to discuss your needs and
find out more how SnapRoute can help you.

Please send me your contact information and we can schedule a time to talk in more detail.
If you have specific technical questions and would prefer we can communicate via email.
Thanks again for your interest and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Thanks,
Michael Dunn
mdunn@snaproute.com
www.snaproute.com
801-661-1682

This message and its attachments are intended only for the addressee and
may contain legally privileged and/or confidential information.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you must not
use, disseminate, or copy this material in any form, or take any action based upon it.
If you have received this message by error, please immediately delete it and its attachments and
notify the sender at SnapRoute, Inc. by electronic mail message reply. Thank you.

Story
data center networking
SDN software controllers
white-box switches
toold for melding corporate-owned networks with public cloud services
only few companies changing the way they build and run their networks
truly open software standard for basic switches and routers (layer 2 and 3 protocol stack) lacking
engineers have to rely on closed software and to wait for bug fixes - risking to get sacked
Linux, MySQL, Hadoop ... still network companies hold their grip making > 60% margins!

SnapRoute mission is to free talented network engineers to do their job to the best of their ability
uncontrained by vendor lock-in thereby accelarating innovation and reducing costs for companies

Founding team has a combined 30 years of experinece building and running enterprise networks
Internet services and traffic increased creating layers of complexity
Companies got hit every quarter by bugs and problems
Engineers lacked tools to solve problems and their professional reputation called in question
Companies such as Apple are followed by media - when traffic gets stalled it's in news
Guys developed inside house tools to monitor and solve problems

Team left Apple in 2015
Large cloud providers, companies in retail, financial services believed to have need
Cloud companies starting to build their own infrastructure instead of depending on cloud provider

Dell, Microsoft, HP, Cumulus Networks competitors
Believe to be better than networks stacks into Linux

Network switches and routers claimed NOT to be servers.
Network operators to need purpose-built networking software

Near-term challenge to beging building an ecosystem of partners, customers, distrobutors for FlexSwitch <-- Ψ

OPS project to offer FlexSwitch as an option for OpenSwitch network operating system
Plans to contribute the code to Facebook's Open Computer Program
to be used in white box hardware built to these specs

OpenSnaproute
»OpenSnaproute
»reltools <-- Ψ Python code!
»SnapRoute Layer 3 Protocol Stack
ξ source code and tests for various the layer 3 protocols and the infrastructure code for layer 3 protocols provided by SnapRoute
»Layer 2 Protocol
ξ architecture layout

Architecture in Detail <-- Ψ
»Architecture
FlexSwitch software is a collection of L2, L3 protocols and some infrastructure components.
All FlexSwitch daemons are designed like micro servers.
Each protocol/infrastructure daemon provides APIs using RPC mechanism.

Currently use ApacheThrift as RPC mechanism »thrift.apache.org
ξ The Apache Thrift software framework, for scalable cross-language services development,
ξ combines a software stack with a code generation engine to build services
ξ that work efficiently and seamlessly between C++, Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, Erlang, Perl,
ξ Haskell, C#, Cocoa, JavaScript, Node.js, Smalltalk, OCaml and Delphi and other languages.
ξ Apache Thrift allows you to define data types and service interfaces in a simple definition file.
ξ Taking that file as input, the compiler generates code to be used to easily build RPC clients and servers
ξ that communicate seamlessly across programming languages.
ξ Instead of writing a load of boilerplate code to serialize and transport your objects and
ξ invoke remote methods, you can get right down to business.

FlexSwitch software uses database to store configuration, state and events information.
Currently we use Redis as our database.
All components of FlexSwitch use Nano Message for notifying various events.

FlexSwitch also provides SDK for accessing all the REST APIs.
The goal is to have SDK available in Java, Golang,
Python Currently we support only Python SDK »Python SDK

»FlexSwitch Package Installation
ξ The SnapRoute FlexSwitch network protocol stack and accompanying toolchain is provided as an installable Debian dpkg package

»Network Engineer Guide

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Nervana

»Nervana
ξ Python-like AI
ξ San Diego, acquired by Intel

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ArcSoft

»ArcSoft

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Pelican

»Pelican

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~API.ai

»API.ai
ξ »api-ai-python by github.com
ξ »console.api.ai
ξ »discuss.api.ai
ξ »Python SDK for API.AI by github.com
ξ acquired by Google

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~HelpShift

»HelpShift

25 million dollar roundup
Cisco announced $25 million funding round.
That’s a big endorsement for the startup’s business of providing in-app customer support.

Helpshift has been able to reduce customer support costs
for a wide swath of clients by building robust customer support directly into apps.

It provides answers for frequently asked questions (FAQs) and
improves search in help queries so that users can perform more self-service in getting help with their apps.
That could make a real impact in the $350 billion customer support industry.

Abinash Tripathy ia CEO and cofounder of San Francisco-based Helpshift
the company’s largest customer sees 50 million people open the help section in an app every month.
Most of their questions are answered, and
only 2.4 million of those sessions go on to chat sessions with 2,000 live human agents.
That’s a dramatic reduction in the costs associated with operating customer support.

Cisco has a large customer contact center business.
They see a shift from voice calls to the kind of dynamic chat channel.
They want to keep their options open in this space.

Cisco adds just a couple of million dollars to the previously announced round.
Other investors in the round include Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures.

As one of Cisco Investments’ portfolio companies,
Helpshift will also explore opportunities to integrate its in-app customer support solutions with Cisco’s contact center solutions.

Apps have become the primary way in which consumers and employees in the enterprise are accessing products and services.
Just like customer service moved away from phone (voice) to email in the era of the web,
we are now seeing a transition where customer service is moving inside apps
to eliminate all the friction in the process of supporting users.
With the additional funding from Cisco Investments,
company is looking to help the entire contact center industry transition
from being reactive to proactive while driving higher customer satisfaction and lowering cost.

In the smartphone era, customers are using mobile apps to interact with products and services.
By bringing customer service in-app,
Helpshift has eliminated the frustration of customers having to leave the app to get support.

Helpshift’s customers include Zynga, Virgin Media, Microsoft, Western Union,
Flipboard, Shyp, WordPress, and thousands of other industry-leading brands, startups, and developers.

Helpshift is installed on 2 billion devices worldwide, and
it serves more 400 million mobile customers monthly.

Helpshift has raised more than $38.2 million and is backed by
Cisco Investments, Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners,
Salesforce Ventures, True Ventures, and Visionnaire Ventures.

The company has 125 employees.
Gaming was once the dominant part of the company’s business, with companies like
Supercell using Helpshift to head off customer support calls.
Now it is just 40 percent.

Other verticals are growing, like on-demand video and over-the-top video apps.
Company expects to grow in productivity apps.

The company is investigating chatbot technology as well, but
reagrds it an “overheated” space, and
that the chatbot technology “isn’t ready to roll out.”

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Saucelabs

»Saucelabs
ξ the global software testing market as a $34 billion industry
ξ San Francisco’s Sauce Labs closed a $70 million venture round

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Clara Labs

»Clara Labs
ξ a conversational intelligence trained on high-quality data

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~OpenAI

»OpenAI

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Intel Artificial Intelligence

»Intel Artificial Intelligence

select: ~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Google AI

Jeff Dean’s Talk on Large-Scale Deep Learning
leads the Google Brain project
using machine learning for performance optimization
a reinforcement learning model learned which device to place tensor operations to in order to optimize the time of computation
this resulted in 19% faster computation comparing to device placement by an expert human
deep learning talent is scarce and expensive
computation gets cheaper every year
that makes sense to try to automate this work
Google is trying 2 approaches: learning model architectures and learning optimizers
Google researchers used reinforcement learning to train optimizers
a recurrent neural network constructs a weight update function from a few primitives,
trains a child model using this optimizer, and uses accuracy as reinforcement learning signal
a few optimizers learning with this approach achieved better results than popular handcrafted optimizers like SGD, Momentum, ADAM and RMSProp
Google designed TPU, Tensor Processing Units
reduced precision, optimized for tensor operations
180 teraflops of computation, 64 GB of memory

~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~MulticoreWare

»MulticoreWare

~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Anki

»Anki

~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~

~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~

~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~

~[Σ] ~[Ω] ~[Δ]!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small & Smart Inc reserves rights to change this document without any notice
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~