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Latest: Dallas chief calls shooting of police 'well-planned'

Associated Press

In this still image from video provided by NBC DFW, police officers salute their fallen peers outside Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where several officers were transported after shootings at a protest late Thursday, July 7, 2016. Five Dallas police officers were fatally shot and seven others wounded during a protest over the deaths of black men killed by police this week in Louisiana and Minnesota. It was the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In this still image from video provided by NBC DFW, police officers salute their fallen peers outside Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where several officers were transported after shootings at a protest late Thursday, July 7, 2016. Five Dallas police officers were fatally shot and seven others wounded during a protest over the deaths of black men killed by police this week in Louisiana and Minnesota. It was the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. John Fife hands a police officer guarding Jack Evans Police Headquarters a rose in Dallas on Friday July 8, 2016. Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men. Investigators leave the home of Micah Xavier Johnson in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas, Friday, July 8, 2016. A Texas law enforcement official identified Johnson, 25, as the sniper who opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men. Dallas police respond after shots were fired during a protest over recent fatal shootings by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, Thursday, July 7, 2016, in Dallas. Snipers opened fire on police officers during protests; several officers were killed, police said.


Amazon may have ALREADY begun testing its hotly anticipated delivery drones in its rumoured airfield in Cambridge

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Your Amazon deliveries may be delivered by drone sooner than you think - if rumours that the retail giant have just begun testing UAVs in a top secret field UK location are to be believed. An air traffic alert for UAV testing near Amazon's HQ in Cambridge today sparked speculation that the retail giant is already testing its delivery drones in the UK. The revelation comes as the race between Google and Amazon to use the technology for 30 minute deliveries intensified. Google announced it will begin using the devices by next year, putting the heat on tech rival Amazon to roll out its technology as soon as possible. Amazon claims it will be ready to start using drones by the middle of next year.


The challenges behind parsing & matching CVs and jobs - Textkernel

#artificialintelligence

For the human eye reading a CV (resume) or a job ad is an easy task. These semi-structured documents are usually separated in sections and have layouts that makes it easy to quickly identify important information. In contrast, a computer system that parses CVs needs to be continuously trained and adapted to deal with the endless expressivity of human language. As a leader in the field of language technology, Textkernel is working hard to provide the best CV parser to our customers. In this blog article I will explain how we achieve this and discuss the focus of our current research efforts.


Project Malmo, which lets researchers use Minecraft for AI research, makes public debut - Next at Microsoft

#artificialintelligence

Microsoft has made Project Malmo, a platform that uses the world of Minecraft as a testing ground for advanced artificial intelligence research, available for novice to experienced programmers on GitHub via an open-source license. The system, which had until now only been open to a small group of computer scientists in private preview, is primarily designed to help researchers develop sophisticated, more general artificial intelligence, or AI, that can do things like learn, hold conversations, make decisions and complete complex tasks. That's key to creating systems that can augment human intelligence -- and eventually help us with everything from cooking and doing laundry to driving and performing lifesaving tasks in an operating room. Katja Hofmann, a researcher in Microsoft's Cambridge, UK, research lab, who leads the development of Project Malmo, said the system will help researchers develop new techniques and approaches to reinforcement learning. That's an area of AI in which agents learn how to complete a task by being given a lot of room for trial and error and then being rewarded when they make the right decision.


Microsoft's Project Malmo is teaching AI to build stuff in Minecraft

#artificialintelligence

Hell, Microsoft issued an Education Edition of the popular PC game earlier this year targeted at use in a classroom setting. Turns out the game could also prove a useful tool for helping artificial intelligence be more, well, intelligent. Back in March, Microsoft Research showcased the work it was doing with Project Malmo, a platform designed to leverage Minecraft as a means of helping improve AI problem solving, using machines to accomplish tasks and create items in the blocky game. Now the company is bringing Malmo to the GitHub-using masses, courtesy of an open-source license in a private preview. Katja Hoffman of MS's Cambridge, UK lab highlighted the key of teaching AI fundamental connections that go build simple pattern recognition.


Video Friday: RoboCup Finals, Crowdsourced Robotics, and Growing Drones in Vats

IEEE Spectrum Robotics

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Chemputer -savvy Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. Here are highlights from the RoboCup 2016 finals, with Tech United up against Water (in pink). Don't worry about keeping score, because it goes to penalty kicks at the end.


Mobile dating app Bumble is taking on LinkedIn

The Independent - Tech

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display


Microsoft Open Sources Project Malmo, Another AI Milestone

#artificialintelligence

Without a doubt, cloud computing and Big Data analytics are top of mind for many people when it comes to hot technology categories where open source is making a big difference. However, there is an absolute renaissance goind on right now in the field of artifical intelligence and the closely related field of machine learning. Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO, recently said on a conference call, "I do think in the long run we will evolve in computing from a mobile-first to an A.I.-first world." Facebook, Google and many other companies have been open sourcing key AI tools as well. Now, Microsoft has released an artificial intelligence system dubbed Project Malmo to the open source community.


Dallas gunman killed by bomb robot, 'wanted to kill officers,' officials say

Los Angeles Times

Police used a "bomb robot" early Friday to kill a gunman who fatally shot five police officers and wounded seven others in downtown Dallas, saying he "wanted to kill white people," officials said. The end to the standoff came several hours after a suspect began firing during a protest over recent police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana and then holed up in a garage, officials said. "We cornered one suspect and we tried to negotiate for several hours," Dallas Police Chief David Brown said during a Friday morning news conference, but "negotiations broke down" and turned into "an exchange of gunfire with the suspect." The suspect was identified as Micah X. Johnson, 25, a former Army reservist and resident of the Dallas area, two U.S. law enforcement officials said. Johnson had no known criminal history or ties to terror groups, the official said, and has relatives in Mesquite, Texas, which is just east of Dallas.The official said federal agents were assisting Dallas authorities in the investigation.


The Latest: Police at apparent home of Dallas attack suspect

Associated Press

Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas Thursday night, during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men. Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas Thursday night, during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men. Police and others gather at the emergency entrance to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, where several police officers were taken after shootings Thursday, July 7, 2016.. (AP Photo/Emily Schmall) A police officer looks up while standing behind a vehicle, as police responded to shots being fired during a protest over recent fatal shootings by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, Thursday, July 7, 2016, in Dallas. Snipers opened fire on police officers during protests; several officers were killed, police said. Dallas police respond after shots were fired during a protest over recent fatal shootings by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, Thursday, July 7, 2016, in Dallas. Snipers opened fire on police officers during protests; several officers were killed, police said. Dallas police respond after shots were fired during a protest over recent fatal shootings by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, Thursday, July 7, 2016, in Dallas. Snipers opened fire on police officers during protests; several officers were killed, police said.