Wednesday, 13 July 2016

How Goole glass works


According to string-theory advocates, our universe has at least 10 dimensions. But we humans can only directly perceive three spatial dimensions. We also experience the passage of time, a fourth dimension. Beyond that, we only know other dimensions are even possible through theoretical mathematics. Our universe may hold secrets that we will never be able to observe directly.

Monday, 11 July 2016

AI could help prevent another instance of Dallas incident -Brian

As the country reels from the spasm of gun violence that killed two black men and five police officers this week, a prominent digital vigilante is using an online tool he hacked together to keep an eye on hot spots that seem at risk of boiling over into bloodshed.

The Web app, which is powered partly by artificial intelligence, analyzes  posts on social media as well as police radio chatter and feeds of the local airspace in virtually any region. Its goal? To detect rumblings of unrest and alert the public. At the moment, the tool has its gaze trained on Baton Rouge, where protesters backed by the New Black Panther Party have gathered for a rally.
"I'm looking for any indication they are coordinating skirmishes. … I guess I'm expecting trouble in that location, so [I] have it trained on Baton Rouge preemptively," said the creator of the site — who goes solely by his Internet pseudonym, the Jester — in an interview with The Washington Post.
Using IBM's Watson AI, the tool not only examines large collections of tweets but — somewhat eerily — also can go through a single user's timeline and, with Watson's machine learning technology, offer an analysis of that user's "trustworthiness, propensity toward violence [and] openness," the Jester said. That information, he said, could hold clues to a criminal's intentions.
The hacker likens his tool to the future-seeing "precogs" from "Minority Report.
If the Jester's name sounds familiar, that's because the hacker has appeared elsewhere — on Time's list of most influential Internet personalities, on CNN and, according to a recent blog post, on an upcoming episode of USA's "Mr. Robot." He has used his hacking skills to bring down dozens of websites that he says helped spread Islamic extremism. What he does technically may not be legal, CNN reports, but law enforcement officials have largely turned a blind eye to his independent activities.
In fact, the Jester said, many law enforcement and emergency preparedness officials have given him "positive feedback" for his AI-powered monitoring tool, called iAWACS. That's short for "Internet AWACS" — likely a reference to the military's Airborne Warning and Control System, a type of aircraft that essentially functions as a mobile command and intelligence platform. (Most of the Jester's operations are sprinkled with radio codes and other military language.)
IAWACS comes in several flavors. One version watches for reports of active shooter situations. Another is tuned to listen for Islamic extremists; that service has detected spikes in online chatter ahead of every major attack that has occurred since the tool was switched on, according to the Jester. The version that's focused on Baton Rouge, which is set up to track "major incidents," has only been running for about six months. It was used earlier in the week to monitor the Dallas shootings. Altogether, the entire setup consumes terabytes of data every week.
Even though each variant of iAWACS performs a different function, the technology is similar. The software, which is linked to IBM's Watson artificial intelligence, combs through tweets and images, specific hashtags and phrases, or posts from or about a particular geographic area and then uses computer algorithms to gauge the mood of that swirling digital conversation. That mood is then expressed on a sentiment meter as a number, positive or negative.
It's "looking real-time using nodeJS at all tweets within its set parameters," the Jester said. "EG I can say show me all geo-tagged tweets coming out of Chicago or all tweets with the following hashtags or phrases, including in the case of DRONEBAIT NODE in Arabic."
While watching the Dallas situation unfold, he said, the system picked up "very disturbing" tweets from admirers of the gunman responsible for the attack, helping to "build up a picture of the level of crazy surrounding it."
The Jester got the idea of building iAWACS in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, when he said he recalled police trawling social media for information and asking for the public's help in tracking down the suspects.The AI aspects of the iAWACS app only monitor the social media posts — they don't analyze the audio from police scanners nor the airspace maps.
"I thought, hey, this whole process could be made easier," he said.
The result, which the Jester said is still a work in progress, was built from the ground up for law enforcement and intelligence officials with real-time information needs. The iAWACS interface is intentionally designed to fit on large screens like the kind you'd find in a command center.
Now, that system is listening diligently for unrest in Louisiana — though with any luck, it won't be needed.

Source - The Washington Post

Saturday, 2 July 2016

How Write a Killer CV (Resume)

Writing a Killer CV (Resume)


Resume
Got good grades, skills and experience, where else do you think you can prove that to your recruiter besides in your "CV". The Curriculum Vitae is a profile that lets your recruiter know what there is to know about you. It is the first impression you give your recruiter and as the famous saying goes, first impression lasts longer, you have give your recruiter the impression that you are real. An employer might have hundreds of CV on his desk but only the best are summoned for interview so CVs' are best written to be competative.

You have to keep somethings in mind when writing a CV, for example your CV should
  • Be concise
  • Be readable 
  • Not be ambigous
  • Be in vogue
  • Not contain irrelevant experience
  • Be dynamic

To achieve these, the guidelines below might be employed:

1. Layout
Your goal here is to make sure whoever is reading your CV reads it all the way through (or at least, most of it). Three aspects to focus on: 

  • Readability: This is an all-encompassing term that involves the design, spacing, font size and arrangement of content for maximum legibility. Disorganised sections, inconsistent spacing, margins that are squeezed too tight - you may think these are minor - but I think it's a representation of your professional self! Subconsciously it shows the amount of attention you pay into crafting a professional summary of YOURSELF, and if you can't even do a decent version of that, how can you do that for the hiring company? A sharp, neat and concise CV crafted specifically for the job is what hiring managers look for.
  • Objective statement: This is the first thing a recruiting manager reads after your contact information at the top, so make sure it counts and intrigues them to read the next line! It should be short and concise, maximum 3 (short) sentences long. It should describe your current role, field of experience and why you're the right person for the role. Yes, this needs to be customised for every single role you apply for, there's no one size fit all here!
  • Length: Having so many pages in your CV might tend to bore the recruiting manager. Your CV should be at maximum 3 pages long, with normal margins and a legible font size. So be concise, every word counts. Everything you write has to have a purpose to demonstrate why you're the perfect candidate for the job, if not, it shouldn't be there. 
2. Contact Information
Often CVs are kept on file for long periods so any contact details you give have to remain accurate in the long term. A daytime phone number is most important, include your mobile number if you have one. Include an e-mail address, a gmail address is good because you will have it for life, rather than a university one which may expire.

3. Education and qualifications
The next section is straightforward, it should be a short, brief and relevant. List your professional qualifications first (if any), then degree and name of educational institution, in reverse chronological order. It should be up to 3 items at maximum, so just list the recent 3, first school leaving certificates, university degree and college results. You need most of the space for the next important section.
4. Experience/Previous Employments
Here's the section to focus 80% of your energy on, where you list and describe your past/current roles, and what you actually did for that job.The problem is 90% of people write this part of their CV in a task-based format, highlighting things they did with loads of buzzwords - that's a lot of waffle with negative value.

Instead, be like the rare 10% that make it by writing what you've accomplished by stating what is the (measurable) impact of your work. You must prove that you're a great hire not only because you get things done, but you also deliver measurable results and are worth the investment.

So instead of saying " I did Task A, B and C for Project X", go for "I did Task A,B and C for Project X which led to #15 million upfront savings". You know which is more impressive and convincing. Of course, that is not saying you should make up numbers or fake things you didn't do (never do that, the interviewer would know), but for every task you do, you'll now be more keen to find out why you're doing it, and what impact does it have.
Also write in reverse chronological order, including starting and leaving dates for each position. Include concise details of what the job entailed, your responsibilities and what you achieved in the role. If there are any time gaps between employment explain what you were doing in that time, for example travelling, at college, carrying out charity fund raising work. Use active verbs to describe your achievements: for example "has experience in”, “trained in”, “managed a project involving”, “developed”, “co-ordinated the development of” etc. Bullet point these at the start of a sentence for maximum impact. Try to avoid using “I” at the start of most sentences.
Always focus on the results on what you did to demonstrate your value to your potential new employer.

5. Skills and achievements
Here is last section where you can list both work and non-work related skills, make it relevant to the job you're looking for though! It's meant to be a boost to your current work experience while show a little bit of your individuality through your achievements. It could be that you're very proficient at using Bloomberg, speak Chinese and Italian, or used to be tennis champion - use your judgment here. Just a few bullet points on this section will do.

Don't forget to leave some space for "references available upon request" too! And make sure you found 2 willing references who has worked with you in a professional capacity for this ready.


6. Hobbies and InterestsIf you do choose to include this section, it can be used to give an insight into your personality. Consider carefully what you are putting down and its implications.  Be specific, and show what you learnt or gained from the activity (such as perseverance, teamwork, communication skills), and if you were on the society or helped organise anything emphasise this. Keep this section very brief, do not list ALL of your interests and hobbies. You do not want to give the employer the impression you would rather be doing your hobbies, or travelling around the world than doing the job you are being considered for.

7. References
This is where most people try to spook the recruiter. Unless you have a particular referee you are proud of, you can simply write "Reference available on request ". You don't have to over play or under play your achievement.
8. Revise, edit and reiterate
You never get it right the first time, there's a lot of revise and editing to craft your CV to be perfect for the role. Like writing, it's better to flesh out all your thoughts and ideas in one go, section by section, before rephrasing and cutting it down to what's relevant and most important to highlight. You'll get there after a few iterations.