Archive | August, 2012

Linode’s Clairvoyant Support Team

I swear Linode's (shameless referral linking :-p) support team have a crystal ball or something on their desks! So a couple of days ago my VPS at Linode was going up and down then down for a few minutes. I decided to send in a ticket wondering if there was some issue going on. Just have a look at the timestamps:

linodescary Linodes Clairvoyant Support Team

Yes, that is a reply to my question 7 SECONDS after I opened the ticket! You don't even find canned responses that quick! Oh and my Linode VPS was back up and running when I got the reply. So not only was it a response, it was also a resolution!



One of many reasons I recommend Linode if you are ever looking for a VERY reliable VPS (they use Xen).

This is not the first time I write about them: here is a review I wrote about them and another about their uptime. I wonder if they're better than Rackspace's Fanatical Support? Wouldn't be surprised, they definitely beat Liquid Web's Heroic Support!

 

 

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Upcoming Technological Trends in Artificial Intelligence

jlgp1 Upcoming Technological Trends in Artificial IntelligenceDuring the time of Star Trek, robots were simply a fiction that was far believed to come to reality. This also appeared in Greek myths that resemble the human likeness. These robots, not only resemble human physically, also have the human intelligence. Nowadays, unforeseen during those times, it is coming to life. The idea a creating a stand, thinking machine was so far-fetched. However, with the breakthrough in technology, it was made possible. The notion that led to this development was the fast rising technology with computers. The continuous advancement of computers has led to the realization of Artificial Intelligence.

There were several attempts for the Artificial Intelligence projects  that have failed. However, in the early 1980’s, Artificial Intelligence research was revived. By 1985, the market for A1 had soared into billions of dollars. However, in 1987, it collapsed once again.

Artificial Intelligence’s greatest success was in the 1990s. This is where A1 was usedfor data miningmedical diagnosis and many other areas throughout the technology industry. On May 1997, the first computer chess playing system named Deep Blue, beat reigning world chess champion, Gary Kasparov. In 2005, a Stanford robot won the DARPA Urban Challenge.

As time passes on, research on A1 has changed over time. Today, A1 is back and is in receipt of serious interest from NASA. This goes with Google, as well. The idea of creating smart machines with human or greater intelligence is back on track once more. Now, they use A1 to automate and replace some human activities and functions with computer driven machines. These machines were designed to see and hear, respond to questions and instructions, and even solve problems on their own. This shift would soon lead to the huge acceleration in technological enhancement of different kinds.jlgp2 Upcoming Technological Trends in Artificial Intelligence

In 2007, computers were designed to be adept at detecting human faces and recognizing them from different views. These were also designed for recognizing people or simulate as they age or grow hair or beards. These computers could also form geometric models of objects and determine a 3D structure of a scene.

Today, there are several ongoing projects. One of which is Cyc. Cyc is 22 year old project, aimed at generating knowledge and acquiring common sense based on symbolic reasoning.  This has accumulated knowledge to be able to learn new things on its own just like a human being. Cyc is also designed to communicate with people via Internet to get new knowledge from them. There were also several ongoing projects, aimed at creating a full featured thinking machine that could perform human functions.

For the future, they will continue to improve on different fields such as speech recognition until it reaches human level. Thus, making computers and machines able to communicate with humans. They intend to recreate parts of the human body such as the brain in silicon. This was already experimented on rats. There were two major projects that aimed for human brain simulation. These two projects were CCortex and IBM Blue Brain. They also aim to have robots to take over human jobs and functions.

This post is written by John Lewis and he works at PriceCollate as a writer. You can visit pricecollate to find and compare various type of ballet flats for women at great prices.

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Eid Mubarak

I would like to wish all of those in Bahrain and the rest of the world a happy Eid. For those with Fridays and Saturdays off, enjoy the extended weekend and stay safe icon smile Eid Mubarak !

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Outlook.com: A Cleaner Hotmail

With the arrival of instant messaging many years ago, and more recently social media networks, people thought that the death of e-mail would be coming inevitable soon. Big players such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (just to name a few) tried to resuscitate e-mail by increasing attachment size, providing unlimited storage and integrating e-mail closely with other products helping e-mail celebrate its 40th birthday (that's a millennium in Internet years!). In my opinion the complete overhaul in webmail also helped e-mail face off against its competitors.

My first ever webmail account was a Hotmail account (I believe I signed up back in 1998). I then went through several other providers before settling with Gmail. Why? Hotmail's SPAM filtering is really bad compared to Gmail, the URL structure isn't bookmark friendly (yes you can bookmark a Gmail conversation) and the interface was simply horrible. However, it looks like Hotmail may just be giving Google a run for their money with their new interface: Outlook.com

As the name suggests, the new web interface shares the same new as Microsoft's e-mail client Outlook. The Outlook web interface is not the new face of Hotmail and it has come with several new features (clean look, Twitter and Facebook integration, office and no ads).

outlookcom1 300x143 Outlook.com: A Cleaner Hotmail

I was quite surprised to see how CLEAN the Metro interface looked! Compared to the old interface, there is really no comparison. Almost like a breath of fresh air. It's even much cleaner than Gmail's interface.

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Composing e-mails is more comfortable as well. I really liked the clear separation between the sections where you add recipients, compose your message and either send, save or cancel your message. This was also the first time I bothered trying out a smiley :-p!

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Similarly to Gmail, the new Outlook interface also has that floating toolbar (reply, delete, junk, move etc…) that follows as you scroll through your email.

 

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Until now, Outlook has been just another e-mail interface. This is where it is truly different: it allows you to connect to your other online accounts. This connection will also apply if you have linked Windows 8 to your Microsoft account. At the moment I checked I had Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Flickr and Google. I have seen other people also have YouTube as an account integration option.

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If for some reason you do not like your Hotmail account dressed up in the Outlook interface, you can simply revert back to the old interface by clicking on the settings (the wrench). I see no reason why someone would want to go back to the old interface though (I very, very rarely use Hotmail anyway)!

Is e-mail dead, definitely not in Microsoft's opinion since they are providing more than just e-mail thanks to allowing integration with other accounts you use around the web. Would I start using Hotmail again? Not in the near future, my Gmail account is my main account and change is something difficult icon wink Outlook.com: A Cleaner Hotmail . I might consider it if Microsoft really improved their SPAM filtering algorithms which is one area that hasn't changed in my opinion.

Long live e-mail!

 

 

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Connectify Dispatch: Revolutionizing Connectivity

If you have been following one of the big tech blogs/sites or Connectify (@Connectifyme) you may have come across the word "Dispatch". So what exactly is this thing called "Dispatch" and what does it have to do with Connectify?

For those of you who don't know Connectify: they created the software that allows you to share your connection (Wifi, LAN, 3G you name it) to others using WiFi. Basically the Connectify software turns your PC into a router! Great for extending your home's WiFi network, or sharing that expensive hotel Internet access to your other devices.

Connectify have recently started a new project, this thing called Dispatch. According to them, Dispatch will allow you to "use all of your available Internet connections at once to maximize speed and reliability". Let's use an example and apply it to what Dispatch aims to do. At home I currently have a WiFi connection to ISP 1 (at 1 Mbps), LAN to ISP 2 (2 Mbps) and a 3G dongle (up to 42 Mbps). Dispatch will allow me to combine all these connection into a single super connection with the speed combined! So theoretically my Internet pipe using Dispatch could reach 45 Mbps.

The idea is not new, this is sort of what channel bonding (common in DSL) and link aggregation does anyway (or at least I think). However, they are not easy to configure, may or may not work with certain hardware and a ton of other variables that simply makes it not for the layman PC user. Dispatch hoped to make it a breeze.

Connectify are currently running a Kickstarter project to gather funds ($50,000) to develop Dispatch. Don't worry, if you contribute you get some goodies depending on how much you pledge, from a Connectify license to working with the design team making your own skin icon wink Connectify Dispatch: Revolutionizing Connectivity .

I sure am interested in trying out Dispatch when it comes, especially when I'm downtown!

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Yummy Raspberry Pi

Disclaimer: If you are reading this because you thought I am talking about "raspberry piE" then I am sorry to disappoint you icon sad Yummy Raspberry Pi . This is about "Raspberry Pi" the computer! For PIE here is the top result.

Wow where to start. Guess an introduction first. The Raspberry Pi is a cheap (around $35) computer that comes as an open circuit board. You get to see the components in the nude, touch the chips and components (not recommended due to ESD and a little shock icon wink Yummy Raspberry Pi ) and even add other compatible boards to it.

raspi1 300x224 Yummy Raspberry Piraspi2 300x224 Yummy Raspberry Pi

What makes the Raspberry Pi so special? For one it is quite powerful (taking price and size into consideration of course). It comes with a Broadcom BCM2835 (SoC: CPU, GPU and RAM sandwiched on a chip), 256MB of RAM that can be split between OS and the GPU, 2 USB ports, an Ethernet port, HDMI output (yes, the GPU has enough juice to output 1080p video), RCA video output and the popular 3.5mm audio jack. It also comes with GPIO (General Purpose Input / Output) that will let you connect to other boards (some available, others coming). All you need to run the OS is simply an SD card! And it only needs 3.5W from a USB power supply to run it (the micro USB type B available on some phone chargers today). Basically all you need is any TV with either the old video input or HDMI and a USB keyboard and mouse (or you can simply use Ethernet (it comes with a 10/100 port) for SSH and get rid of the keyboard and mouse).

raspi3 300x224 Yummy Raspberry Pi

It took quite a bit of waiting for me to get my Raspberry Pi. I actually had to register on a waiting list (many months ago), when it was my turn (invited to order on the 21st of June) I ordered and paid in full but had to wait a bit longer (16th July) before they shipped my Raspberry! It was also the first time any of my Aramex Shop and Ship packages had to go through customs (a circuit board definitely looks awkward, especially these days).

raspi4 300x224 Yummy Raspberry Piraspi5 300x224 Yummy Raspberry Pi

Software wise, the Pi runs Linux for now. A wide range of distributions are available, the more popular and recommended one being Raspbian (Raspberry + Debian). A more complete list of distros available may be found here (including some media servers). I  opted for the recommended Raspbian, that comes with an LXDE desktop. To be honest, the desktop is slow compared to one of those cheap Chinese tablets running Android. However, if all you need is the shell then the Pi is for you.

raspi7 300x224 Yummy Raspberry Piraspi8 300x224 Yummy Raspberry Piraspi9 300x188 Yummy Raspberry Pi

Given that the Raspberry Pi is targeted for kids and for educational purposes, it does have its applications in other areas. Here are just a few current and upcoming projects based on the Pi.The official site also showcases what people are doing with their Pis. At the moment I have decided to run my Raspberry Pi as a seedbox: no more noisy, power hungry PC left running overnight icon wink Yummy Raspberry Pi !

Here are a few great links for the Raspberry Pi:

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