"Who was your favorite captain?" When this question was posed by a Comic-Con attendee to the members of the The 50th anniversary "Star Trek" panel -- with Capt. James Tiberius Kirk himself seated at the head of the table onstage in Hall H -- there was only one way for the panelists to answer. One among multiple celebrations around the seminal series, the panel brought together representatives from all five iterations of the television show: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Brent Spiner (the android Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), Michael Dorn (the Klingon Worf from "The Next Generation," and also holding it down for "Deep Space Nine"), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine from "Star Trek: Voyager") and Scott Bakula (Capt. "Is anyone legitimately not going to say Kirk," asked Ryan with a laugh when the favorite captain question emerged.

No need to panic, but automation and artificial intelligence may already be playing a role in reducing IT hiring in India. According to Nasscom, an Indian IT industry association, fresh hiring in the current financial year is expected to decline compared to last year as IT companies face stiff margins, and move more jobs to automation. Campus hiring may fall for the first time since 2009. "Hiring activity in the year before last was 2.20 lakh (new jobs were created in IT sector). Last year there were about two lakh additions. This financial year, we are expecting it to be on the lower side of that," Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said.

Abstract--Trajectory segmentation is the process of subdividing a trajectory into parts either by grouping points similar with respect to some measure of interest, or by minimizing a global objective function. Here we present a novel online algorithm for segmentation and summary, based on point density along the trajectory, and based on the nature of the naturally occurring structure of intermittent bouts of locomotive and local activity. We show an application to visualization of trajectory datasets, and discuss the use of the summary as an index allowing efficient queries which are otherwise impossible or computationally expensive, over very large datasets.

This paper introduces an extended version of the Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) graphical interface. It is a sketch based interface built on the Android platform which makes the LTL control interface more straightforward and friendly to nonexpert users. By predefining a set of areas of interest, this interface can quickly and efficiently create plans that satisfy extended plan goals in LTL. The interface can also allow users to customize the paths for this plan by sketching a set of reference trajectories. Given the custom paths by the user, the LTL specification and the environment, the interface generates a plan balancing the customized paths and the LTL specifications. We also show experimental results with the implemented interface.

As an avid comic book reader, I know that the outside world falls into two categories … people who love comics and those who think that comic book fans don't know how to read a real book. I have had numerous discussions over the years with friends, family and significant others who tell me that comics are for kids or that there is no literary value in graphic novels. My standard response is to hand them a copy of Alan Moore's Watchmen and tell them to read it. If they still don't think that comic books have value, then I quietly point out that most blockbuster movies since 2008 have been based on characters from either the Marvel or DC universes (well, maybe not DC so much). And if they are remain unconvinced, then I make a mental note to not mention comics again.

Nvidia this week unveiled a new, super powerful Titan X graphics card.Boasting 12 billion transistors, 3,584 CUDA cores at 1.53GHz (up from 3,072 cores at 1.08GHz in the previous Titan X), 12GB of GDDR5X memory, and more than 10 teraflops of computing performance, the 1,200 GPU began with a bet."Brian Kelleher, our top hardware engineer, bet our CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, we could get more than 10 teraflops of computing performance from a single chip," Nvidia said in a blog post. "Jen-Hsun thought it was crazy."Well, And, as of today, Jen-Hsun now owes Brian a dollar." In a Wednesday meeting of deep-learning experts at Stanford University, Nvidia's CEO presented the Titan X to Baidu Chief Scientist Andrew Ng. Four years ago, Ng helped jumpstart the field of artificial intelligence by using GPUs to build a network of artificial neurons."If

Google's DeepMind has reduced its power consumption thanks to artificial intelligence Google is using the firm's artificial intelligence system to control parts of its data centers, DeepMind cofounder Demis Hassabis told Bloomberg on Tuesday. DeepMind, which Google acquired in 2014, is using its AI engine to change how data center servers and cooling systems work to reduce power consumption. The company didn't say how much it's saving Google. Hassabis tipped a 15 percent improvement in power efficiency since Google launched the program this year, which he said is a "huge savings in terms of cost." The average electricity price in the US can range from 25 to 40 per megawatt hour, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

A new kind of customer service tool is being launched, and it is fascinating, exciting, and (for some experts) a little scary. Artificial Intelligence is becoming a hot button issue in the technology world. Experimentations have been improving their function more and more with each new test. The boundaries are being pushed every day. Tej Kohli wrote a post on the company's blog recently on just that topic.

Over the years, we have experienced dramatic changes in how we interact with computers. We went from flipping switches to stacking punch cards, typing away on hard copy and now, manipulating objects on a desktop using touch screens. Each transition has provided us with a greater ease of interaction and a new metaphor (switches, direct commands, desktops) for thinking about that interaction. But, advances in speech recognition are completely changing the game. Siri, Cortana, Alexa and Google Now have given us a taste of what it means to directly communicate our goals and needs to the machine.

The brain is relatively uncharted territory for tech. Harvard University geneticist George Church has written about impending technologies that "extend our brain both biologically and electronically," while AFP describes the brain as "the next frontier for the tech sector." We used the CB Insights database to identify 17 startups targeting the brain with their products and tech-enabled therapies. In just the past year, companies like Halo Neuroscience, InteraXon, Headspace, Nootrobox, and Israel-based BrainsGate have raised VC funds for supplements, apps, wearables and other brain-boosting technologies. Some companies hope to "hack the brain" to improve cognitive performance and reduce stress, while others are looking to treat mental illnesses and nervous system disorders.