During the christmas vacation of 2015, I got a motivational boost again and decided try out Kaggle. So I spent quite some time experimenting with various algorithms for their Homesite Quote Conversion, Otto Group Product Classification and Bike Sharing Demand contests. The main takeaway from this was the experience of iteratively improving the results by experimenting with the algorithms and the data. I learned to trust my logic when doing machine learning. If tweaking a parameter or engineering a new feature seems like a good idea logically, it's quite likely that it actually will help.

More investors are setting their sights on the financial technology (Fintech) arena. According to consulting firm Accenture, investment in Fintech firms rose by 10 percent worldwide to the tune of $23.2 billion in 2016. China is leading the charge after securing $10 billion in investments in 55 deals which account for 90 percent of investments in Asia-Pacific. The US came second taking in $6.2 billion in funding. Europe, also saw an 11 percent increase in deals despite Britain seeing a decrease in funding due to the uncertainty from the Brexit vote. The excitement stems from the disruption of traditional financial institutions (FIs) such as banks, insurance, and credit companies by technology.

Conversations about artificial intelligence are nothing new, nor are interviews with politicians about national policies. What is relatively new though, is hearing a national leader talk openly about a nation's relationship with (and policies regarding) artificial intelligence. Emmanuel Macron, France's president, recently gave an extensive interview to Wired magazine, where he spoke about France's goals with AI. President Macron said that the two applications of AI that made him realize how powerful, useful, and beneficial the technology could be, were applications in the healthcare and autonomous driving sectors. Macron says that he was impressed by new innovations that may allow healthcare to become much more personalized and allow doctors/researchers to better predict, diagnose, and treat illnesses.

Razer creates virtually every type of PC peripheral you can think of, from headsets to mice to keyboards, but today it's taking on a new challenge: Steam. Aptly called the Razer Game Store, the new marketplace taps into the zVault rewards system that Razer debuted last year to give loyal customers free games and gear. The Razer Game Store behaves similarly to the Humble Store. When you buy a game, you'll receive a key to activate it on a platform like Steam or Uplay. The company says you'll see titles from Ubisoft, Bethesda, Bandai Namco, Sega, and Rockstar, as well as other publishers.

New reports show that Google has ten times the personal information stored on you as Facebook. Tony Spitz has the details. More than 3,000 Google employees have signed a letter asking management end the company's involvement in Project Maven, a Defense Department drone surveillance project. The employees, in a letter addressed to company CEO Sundar Pichai, say Google's assistance in developing the artificial intelligence-powered system to detect vehicles and other objects in video captured by military drones betrays the company's motto of "Don't Be Evil." Google counters the employees' arguments saying, in a statement, the company's involvement is for "non-offensive purposes" and is used "to flag images for human review and is intended to save lives and save people from having to do highly tedious work."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will appear before the US House Commerce Committee on 11 April to explain his company's part in the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal. The hearing will be broadcast on C-SPAN and be available to stream online on the channel's website. The story broke on 17 March that Cambridge Analytica, a "strategic communications" consultancy, had harvested information from the profiles of 50m Facebook users - now thought to be closer to 87m - and sold it on to the Donald Trump campaign for use in the micro-targeting of swing voters in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election. The Vote Leave campaign pushing for Britain to quit the European Union are also understood to have employed the company's services prior to the Brexit referendum in 2016. Cambridge Analytica had acquired the data from Global Science Research (GSR), a firm run by academic Dr Aleksandr Kogan, who had been carrying out a personality test using a third-party app called This is Your Digital Life that required its 270,000 paid participants to provide access to their Facebook pages.

A postal drone in Russia crashed into a wall and smashed into pieces during its maiden flight. The unmanned aerial vehicle took off to deliver a small package to a village near Ulan-Ude, a city in Siberia, but hit a three-storey building shortly after lifting off from a mini launch pad in front of a crowd of spectators. The drone had been touted as a new way to deliver post in the rural Buryatia region, located more than 2,700 miles from the Russian capital Moscow. Video footage of the crash showed the vehicle taking off before veering into the apartment building and showering onlookers with debris. No one was harmed in the incident.

This article originally appeared in Vulture. When the first trailer arrived for Isle of Dogs last fall, I had three immediate, consecutive reactions: One: Oh, no. Two: Wait, I take that back. I'm going to be a good critic and reserve judgement until the week of March 23. In the week since Isle of Dogs' initial limited release, a measured, varied, and nuanced discussion about Wes Anderson's use of Japanese culture--and other cultures in general--has happened in fits and starts.

Tinder has introduced new looping profile videos that repeat and reverse a two-second clip like an Instagram Boomerang. The feature, known as Loops, allows users to replace their static profile photo with a video that'shows more personality', according to Tinder. The popular dating app is currently trialling Loops in Canada and Sweden, and will roll the feature out worldwide if initial tests are successful. Tinder has introduced new looping profile videos that repeat and reverse a two-second clip (right) like an Instagram Boomerang. The feature, known as Loops, allows users to replace their static profile photo with a video that'shows more personality', according to Tinder The company said videos can show more of users' personalities and boost people's chances of getting right-swiped.

On Day 1 of SXSW, the Fashion Innovation Alliance joined experts from L'Oréal, Heuritech and by REVEAL for a panel on AI for luxury, fashion and beauty--a topic that proved so popular SXSW had to turn people away as the room reached capacity well before the 11 A.M. panel began. The session represented the diversity of tech, fashion and beauty in terms of race, gender, geography and areas of expertise. Panelists traveled from Paris, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC--all with varied backgrounds in the science of beauty, fashion, retail, machine learning and law. The session also included two female founders in tech--Megan Berry of by REVEAL and attorney and fashion tech strategist Kenya Wiley. The panelists' expertise and representation showed the value of diversity when developing innovative products for luxury, fashion and beauty.