So, you bought into the current machine learning craze and went on to collect millions/billions of records from this promising new data source. Now, what do you do with them? Too often, the abundance of data quickly turns into an abundance of problems. How do you extract that "magic essence" from your data without falling into the common pitfalls? In her session at @ThingsExpo, Natalia Ponomareva, Software Engineer at Google, provided tips on how to be successful in large scale machine learning.

Elaine Chao previously served as secretary of labor. Elaine Chao shown arriving last month at Trump Tower, shortly before being told she would be the president-elect's nominee for Transportation secretary. SAN FRANCISCO -- On Wednesday, top tech CEOs are expected to sit down with president-elect Trump in New York to discuss what remains a mystery: how the new administration will treat the nation's high-tech engine. But at least one confirmed attendee -- Telsa CEO Elon Musk -- may be even more eager for a sit-down with Trump's Transportation secretary nominee, Elaine Chao. As the new head of the DOT, replacing outgoing secretary Anthony Foxx, Chao, 63, would take the wheel of a department just as it was beginning to corral the players shaping our self-driving car future under a cohesive national plan.

Computer mastery of the complex board game Go has long been seen as a landmark for artificial intelligence. A mystery player causing a stir in the world of the complex strategy game Go has been revealed as an updated version of AlphaGo, the artificial-intelligence (AI) program created by Google's London-based AI firm, DeepMind. Known only by the name'Master(P)', since late December the anonymous player has beaten the world's best at Go in a string of online games, including defeating current world number one, 19-year-old Ke Jie. South Korea trumpets $860-million AI fund after AlphaGo'shock' Go is regarded as the most complex board game ever invented, and is famously difficult for computers to crack. But last year, AlphaGo showcased the strength of AI software when it stunned the Go world, first by defeating a professional human player, Fan Hui, and then going on to beat one of the Go world's top players, Lee Sedol.

Artificial intelligence might conjure up futuristic images from science fiction, but in social media, it's already being used to recommend the right jobs, tag photos or display news you're more likely to care about. To LinkedIn's Vice President of Engineering Deepak Agarwal, AI is like oxygen for the business-oriented social network. "Data is our biggest asset. Without AI and machine learning, you're not going to be able to surface the right insights to the right users and customers," Agarwal said. AI is the science and engineering of creating intelligent machines with the ability to achieve goals like humans do, according to John McCarthy, the computer scientist who coined the term "artificial intelligence" in the 1950s.

Alexa is featured at the Whirlpool booth. LAS VEGAS--Bark out "Alexa" in the congested halls of CES, and you would have heard a chorus of devices, from cars to smartphones to household appliances, answer back. OK, so not literally, but Alexa is assuming an increasing role across numerous products, a sure sign Amazon is leaning on its vocal digital assistant to spread its artificial intelligence system everywhere, and certainly go well beyond the popular Echo speaker where Alexa got its start. Rival Google Assistant wasn't as prominent at this CES, though hot chipmaker Nvidia aims to expand the artificial intelligence-powered assistant's reach throughout the home. Also, Google announced integrations with Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, and Rishi Chandra, the vice-president for Google Home, gave a talk on smarter homes.

The contentious presidential campaign was filled with accusations of elitism and bias by the media -- from the news to entertainment. Many supporters of Donald J. Trump saw his victory as a repudiation of the so-called liberal elite. So as 2017 begins, we ask: Is Hollywood representing all Americans? Are Hollywood values out of sync with American values? It's the start of a conversation we'll have all year with Hollywood's creators, consumers and observers. Most of all, we want to hear from you . Is Hollywood out of touch with your America? Here's what our critics and writers have to say: KENNETH TURAN on potent Hollywood visions that helped elect Trump TV's affluent bubble: MARY McNAMARA on Hollywood's reluctance to deal with class issues Fear of the powerful woman: JUSTIN CHANG on working women and men still behaving badly Realistic or cliche?: JEFFREY FLEISHMAN on film's working class men and women Building distrust: LORRAINE ALI on destructive TV portrayals of Muslims and how TV ...

More cities are adding smart city features so that Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and other connected technologies can improve the lives of citizens and visitors. As everyone knows, technology moves fast and finding out what's in store next is crucial to stay in the game. The concept of a smart city has been around for more than a decade, but it was only recently that the phrase "smart city" became part of the modern lexicon. The trend toward adding smart city technology began in Europe, with Barcelona, Spain one of the earliest adopters. Dubai, Singapore, Hamburg, and Copenhagen quickly followed suit.

As US president-elect Donald Trump counts down to his inauguration on January 20, the American public - and the world - is watching closely as Trump's financial conflicts of interest remain a point of concern. According to Trump, US law states that both the president and the vice president are exempt from even having a conflict of interest at all - a comfortable resolution for the vast Trump business empire. When he appoints his cabinet, is he making those choices to help the United States or is he doing it to help his own pocket book? The Wall Street Journal, however, says that The Trump Organisation and its numerous subsidiaries happen to owe hundreds of millions of dollars to hundreds of Wall Street institutions. As president, Trump will have the power to regulate those lenders, and the American people only have his word in stating he will not use his office to favour his business interests.

Those amazing, lifelike robots, reports Jefferson Graham on #TalkingTech. LAS VEGAS --The one, coolest thing from this year's 2017 CES is an easy pick -- those amazing robots. We saw robots to make your morning coffee, pour candy, fold your clothes, turn on and off your lights, project a movie on the wall, handle your daily chores and most impressively, look just like a human, or in this case, legendary scientist Albert Einstein, with facial expressions and movement. Why did robots dominate CES? You can thank the popularity of Amazon's Echo device for showcasing the technology of a voice-activated personal assistant.

The title implies yet another foray into video game action-horror, but the miseries you encounter here are of a different class. College dropout Mae Borowski returns home to find an impoverished American community that, through industrial decline (Possum Springs is a former mining town), has lost its hope and identity. Societal issues are expressed via individual symptoms in mental illness and depression. Illustrator Scott Benson's animation gives the game the texture of a luxury hipster fairytale book. It cannot disguise its dark, intimate, melancholic core.