Excellent video!
September 30, 2014
September 29, 2014
Talk To The Hand
Well IPSoft has an artificial intelligence agent called Amelia that handles service requests.
Instead of talking to a human customer service rep, you get to talk to a computer.
The question is whether Amelia is like talking to a hand or is someone really home when using IA to adroitly address your service issues?
Now apparently, according to the Wall Street Journal, this computer is pretty smart and can ingest every single manual and prior service request and learn how to answer a myriad of questions from people.
On one hand, maybe you'll get better technical knowledge and more consistent responses by talking to a computerized service representative.
But on the other hand, if the interactive voice response systems with the dead end menus of call options, endless maze of "If you want to reach X, press Y now" along with all the disconnects after being on for 10 minutes already are any indication of what this, I am leery to say the least.
The Telegraph does says that Amelia can service customers in 20 languages and after 2 months, can resolve 64% of "the most common queries" independently, so this is hopeful and maybe even inspiring of what is to come.
These days, based on how much time we spend online in the virtual world, I think most people would actually prefer to talk to a knowledgeable computer than a smart alec human who doesn't want to be handling annoying customer calls all day, anyway.
The key to whether Amelia and her computerized brothers and sisters of the future will be successful is not only how quickly they can find the correct answer to a problem, but also how well they can understand and address new issues that haven't necessarily come up the same way before, and how they handle the emotions of the customer on the line who wishes they didn't have the problem needing this call to begin with. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Vernon Chen)
September 28, 2014
Asleep During The Speech
The man talked about the speeches the clergy gave and how he only understood the basics, and the rest was sort of over his head (hey, I can definitely relate to that too...we all can).
Perhaps, this points to how important it is to talk to the people (and not over the people)--making it relevant and stirring--although it's probably not easy to give a speech that resonates well with everyone.
Anyway, there are good speeches, and then let's face it, there are speeches that could be better.
Afterward, my dad and this man joked about how they've seen some people actually fall asleep during the clergy's speech...yes, this is obviously not very respectful, but sometimes people just doze off perhaps because it's hot inside with all the people, and they work so hard during the week that they just are relaxed and off they go.
My dad goes on to tell this joke:
The clergyman is giving a speech from the pulpit.
All of a sudden he notices this guy sleeping in one of the pews.
The clergy says to the man's neighbor sitting next to him, "Can you please wake him up?"
The worshipper responds, "You put him to sleep, you wake him up."
Then my dad let out a really nice, healthy laugh...it was good to hear (the other guy was laughing with him).
On a side note, my dad said something else funny and insightful today:
"It's not easy getting old...it takes many years!"
Amen to that. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 27, 2014
Mars On A Dime
According to the Wall Street Journal that compares with $671M that it cost NASA (which arrived just 3 days earlier than India's) and the European Space Agency's mission that cost $386M in 2003,
But aside from the Indian's being able to achieve a Mars mission at a tenth the cost of what we did, BBC reported that they also did it $26M cheaper than even the cost of the science fiction movie Gravity with Sandra Bullock about the International Space Station.
While we clearly go the extra mile and are able to do great things--why does it always cost us so much to get there?
Perhaps, you can say that we are somehow more diligent or careful in our work (i.e. putting a premium on safety) or that it's just the higher cost of labor in this country or that we are early innovators and incur the costs of research and development that others than leverage.
However, even though we are considered a very wealthy nation, it is fair to ask whether we are managing our wealth with discretion and an eye to the future or do we just take it for granted and are wasteful with it?
With a $3.9 trillion federal government budget (note, this is a full 21% of the entire U.S. economy/GDP), we are talking about some serious money, and we should be getting the most for it.
Unfortunately, the gravy train extends from certain "Beltway Bandit" contractors--e.g. remember the $640 toilet seats, $7,600 coffee makers, and $436 hammers uncovered by the Project on Government Oversight--and apparently all the way to mission Mars. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 24, 2014
Rosh Hashanah iPhone Greeting Card
Flower Car
Dexterous Drones
Ok, after the da Vinci System that uses robotics to conduct surgeries this many not seem like such a feat, but think again.
While da Vinci is fully controlled by the surgeon, this Drone from Drexel University that can turn valves, or door knobs and other controls, is on the road to doing this autonomously.
Think of robots that can manipulate the environment around them not on a stationary assembly line or doing repetitive tasks, but actually interacting real-time to open/close, turn things on/off, adjust control settings, pick things up/move them, eventually even sit at a computer or with other people--like you or I--and interface with them.
Drones and robots will be doing a lot more than surveillance and assembly line work--with artifical intelligence and machine learning, they will be doing what we do--or close enough. ;-)
September 23, 2014
What Are You Looking At
September 22, 2014
For Everyone That Loves Reading
Whether you read from traditional paper books, newspapers, magazines, and journals, or you prefer reading from a tablet, smartphone, eReader, or browser.
Reading expands our mind, challenges our thinking, and builds on our knowledge.
Here's to reading...just about everything you can get your hands on. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 21, 2014
Health Monitoring Ad Nauseam
However, the question raised in the New York Times is whether this level of continuous monitoring is really all that necessary?
"One central rule of doctoring is that you only gather data that will affect your treatment?"
But how can more data hurt you?
- Change in measurements are often normal: For example, "blood pressure jumps up and down in response to thoughts, hydration, and stress."
- Data sometimes outstrips our ability to understand it: So collecting more and more data may actually end up concealing the needle in the haystack, rather than culling the crucial piece of evidence we need for a diagnosis and treatment.
- Data can sometimes belie the underlying truth: "Some patients die with 'Harvard numbers, [and in others] test results can can look bad even when the patient is fine."
- Obsessive-compulsive monitoring may actually stress us out: "If you were dieting would stepping on the scale 1,000 times a day help you lose weight?" Perhaps, the stress of monitoring every stat we generate may actually make us sick from fear and worry.
The point is that as they say, "there can be too much of a good thing"--monitoring and checking is helpful, but not every minute of every day without some intelligent filtering and analysis.
Perhaps, the technology will evolve to wear the monitoring is unobtrusive and where the artificial intelligence is there to more or less accurately decipher true warning signs from run of the mill changes in bodily functions, and where data is aggregated to get a holistic picture and diagnosis of the person rather than a snapshot of individual functions.
No one can live under a microscope and making ourselves sick with an endless stream of health tracking and worries is not helpful.
However, in time, the technology will most certainly evolve to where it will be discreet, accurate, and truly lifesaving. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 20, 2014
Like A Rock Star
If someone says something nice to/about them, then they feel on top of the world--full of worth, productive, successful, confident.
And when someone says something negative, then they get down in the dumps--depreciated, questioning, can't do anything right, like a failure.
Yet, it the same person inside--the same heart, the same soul.
Of course, we are impacted by our behavior (when we do good and not) and people's reactions to it--and we should be--it's a helpful feedback mechanism to let us know when we are messing up or as reinforcement to continue doing good things.
But at the same time, people's feedback is not always correct or well-intentioned and certainly it doesn't necessarily represent holistically who we are...it's just a snapshot in time.
So we need to take what people say and reflect back to us with a grain of salt--listen, try to understand, but also look at the bigger picture of you.
You know yourself better than anyone else, so incorporate the feedback and use it to improve, but don't get bogged down by any person, event, or cheap talk.
Yes, you can be a rock star, by reflecting from what others tell you, but more importantly by listening to that voice inside that guides you. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 19, 2014
Overqualified And Underwhelming
A colleague, who is a supervisor, asked me :
"How do you take a group that doesn't know how to do the work (literally does not know how) and get them going, then teach them to do it on their own instead of doing nothing, waiting, blaming?"
My response was:
You can't do everyone's job for them...you will fail that way (and they will fail that way).
You have to learn to work effectively with others...you have to delegate and let them do their jobs.
As a manager, you should review, edit, comment, question, suggest, recommend, and quality assure (not micromanage).
Send staff to training, mentor, and guide them, but don't do the job for them.
What do you think?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
It's Friday
September 18, 2014
Put A Screwdriver In It
September 17, 2014
Super Military Sentry
Awesome robotic sentry being deployed by South Korea along the DMZ.
Ubergizmo reports that the Samsung SGR-A1 costs just $200,000 and supports all weather detection, a 5.56 mm machine gun, grenade launcher, surface to air missiles, and has an illuminator, laser range finder, heat infrared and motion detection, and can track multiple targets.
Moreover, the human operator remains safe at a remote command location, while this robot at the front line targets the enemy at over 2 miles away.
I would think this needs to be augmented with a bunker, camouflage, and/or additional sophisticated anti-air defense system to protect these stationary devices or perhaps add some mobility to these.
Can you think of other countries that could benefit in protecting their borders from terrorists and military incursions with such a robot? ;-)
September 16, 2014
Decide To Win
It asks to Stop Fighting Congress or perhaps stop the fighting in Congress.
The point is to come together and collaborate for a better decision, rather than have bad decisions made by just one side or have indecision altogether.
The New York Times had an Op-Ed over the weekend called The Great Unraveling about how we are living amidst hatred, fighting, disintegration, disease, and disorientation.
And we are watching it as if dazed and confused--paralyzed as a nation taking maybe a baby step here or there, but with seemingly no solid committment to do anything to really change, improve, better, or win.
Scared by lost lives and treasure since 9/11...we cannot bear to lose or waiver in our resolve because of weariness or despair.
Their is a lot to get done...for ourselves and future generations.
We've got to stop fighting our demons and each other and instead face up, man up, to the myriad of global problems that confront us. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 15, 2014
Just About Says It All
Story of human civilization in 2 minutes by Joe Bush
History majors can probably add some, but overall completely awesome!
Maybe this is a glimpse of what it's like to have a G-d's eye view of the world--where time and space are inconsequential.
Looking at this, are we almost at the end or are we just on the verge of a new beginning? ;-)
Doctor In Context
No, this is not my doctor, but a statue of one on the countertop.
What's funny to me is how he looks in context of the bottles and anatomical models all around him.
Either the doctor has shrunk or the other things are really huge.
My dad used to tell me that doctors only know what G-d tells them, so we should pray that G-d gives them the wisdom to help us.
And my grandfather used to say in German that "G-d is my doctor."
Maybe that's why the image of the doctor is looking up--to get the guidance from the one above to help us.
That's the intersection of medicine and faith--where truly big things can happen. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 14, 2014
Who Can Resist
The New York Times says that regardless of the push and pull of these two forces in our lives, we can learn to show restraint and stay goal-oriented.
By seeing the long-term rewards of good behavior, we can avoid pigging out in the moment.
With Kids, it's called the Marshmallow Test--those who can resist eating a marshmallow for 15 minutes, get two marshmallows to enjoy later!
For adults, it may be that those who avoid the cake and ice cream today will live healthier and longer in the future.
In Yiddish, there is the term sitzfleisch that refers to our ability to sit still and get our work done.
The point is that if we can distract and distance ourselves from the indulgences of the moment, we can focus on the important things we really want to achieve with our lives.
Of course, this is always easier said than done, because the two forces are both powerful and can be convincing.
For example, how many times can you hear, "Enjoy life a little, you aren't going to live forever" or "You've worked so hard, you deserve a little break", or "Come on, no one is perfect"...before you give in to a little excess?
We are all tested in life, and we must try our best to pass as many as we can with flying colors--probably success is a healthy balance between living a little today in the here and now and working and saving abundantly for tomorrow's marshmallows.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
September 13, 2014
6 D's Of Cyberwar
On the offensive side, you want to destroy, deny, degrade, disrupt, and deceive.
"Unlike World War II code breaking, cyber attacks offer the potential to not just read the enemy's radio, but to seize control of the radio itself."
- Step 1: Infiltrate the enemy's networks and communications and gather/exfiltrate information.
- Step 2: Compromise the enemy's information either by:
1) Corrupting the enemy's information, planting misinformation, sewing erroneous reports, and causing poor decision-making.
2) Taking control of their networks, disabling or jamming them, and disrupting their command and control or harming their critical infrastructure and causing mass confusion, destruction, and death.
Examples are "not merely to destroy the enemy's tanks, but to make them drive in circles--or even attack each other" or to cyber attack an enemies control systems for electricity, dams, transportation, banking, and so on.
With the ability to steal information, sow misinformation, seize control, or even stop the information flow altogether, cyberwar is not just another weapon in our arsenal, but "a tool to help achieve the goals of any given operation."
On the flip side, you want to defend against the enemy's use of cyberspace to hurt us.
We need to continue to get serious about cyberwarfare and cybersecurity and become the masters in the information domain, and quickly. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
