Microsoft's attempt to use machine learning to improve on the Duckworth-Lewis method in cricket has been dismissed by the current custodian of the system. For the uninitiated, the Duckworth-Lewis method, or D/L method for short, is used to calculate the score that the team batting second in a limited overs cricket match needs to reach if the match is affected by rain. For example, if the team batting first scores 400 in 50 overs for five wickets, but rain reduces the second team's innings to 40 overs, the D/L method may put forward a score of 300. It was invented by statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis and was first used in 1997 in a match between England and Zimbabwe. It is now regularly used at matches at all levels.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has gradually become an integral part of modern life, from Siri and Spotify's personalized features on our phones to automatic fraud alerts from our banks whenever a transaction appears suspicious. Defined simply, a computer with AI is able to respond to its environment by learning on its own--without humans providing specific instructions. A new report from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, outlines how AI could become more integrated into people's lives by 2030, and recommends how best to regulate it and make sure its benefits are shared equally. Here are five examples--some from this report--of AI technology that could become a part of our lives by 2030. Smart traffic lights using artificial intelligence technology to learn and adapt to traffic patterns in real time could make intersections safer and more efficient.

But while the San Francisco entrepreneur misses his mother and father in Australia, he doesn't worry about their health. That's because he's pinged multiple times per day about their medication management and activity levels via an app connected to the PillDrill Wi-Fi health hub in their home. When the parents pop a pill, the system updates that the medication has been ingested and even registers their current state of mind with a scannable mood cube -- a different emotion is pictured on five of the six sides to represent comfort levels and pain. Havas, the founder of the company that manufactures the PillDrill, isn't trying to be creepy; he's trying to be cognizant of his parents' health care -- and stay ahead of trouble. In 2012, around 300,000 Americans called poison control hotlines after accidentally ingesting medications, according to the National Poison Control Center.

A variety of technologies have emerged in the last decade that make it easier and cheaper than ever before to make representations of everyday mobile embodiment. Increasing numbers of people are quantifying and self-tracking their everyday lives recording behavioural, biological and environmental data (Beer, 2016; Neff & Nafus, 2016) using a variety of technologies, for example: • lightweight wearable cameras such as the GoPro allowing users to record footage of their most banal everyday activities; • devices such as the Fitbit and Apple Watch bringing continuous physiological monitoring out of the medical realm and into mainstream culture; • apps like Strava allowing people to quantify their cycling, running and walking activities; • lightweight devices for measuring brain activity (EEG) and stimulation (EDA) becoming sufficiently robust and discreet to be used in non-lab environments. None of the underlying technologies are novel, but as they are made accessible in cheaper and more user-friendly packages, new techniques and sources of data are becoming more readily available for geographical analysis. Engagement with these technologies has created a rapidly expanding area of investigation within geography. The emergence of the quantified-self poses both opportunities and dilemmas for geographical thought. We wish to move past simplistic protests that dismiss such technology as offering another take on Haraway's (1988) 'god trick', presenting partial, and highly situated data as objective truth. Instead, this session will build on the potential identified by Delyser and Sui (2013) to take more inventive approaches toward mobile methods. The focus will be on how these technologies can be engaged with by critical geographers to bring new perspectives to their analysis of everyday embodiment.

US lawmakers mull long and short-term CRs, and'minibus' appropriations packages. Out of the shadows, the SCO now needs to justify its long-term existence to a new president. Defense dollars are the big issue as the'Big Four' lawmakers met to negotiate the 2017 defense poli… In a recent visit, Lockheed Martin's proposed move of the F-16 production line to India was a subjec… Directed energy may be ready in the future, but Kendall is tempering excitement. In a recent visit, Lockheed Martin's proposed move of the F-16 production line to India was a subjec… The next administration will grapple with the F-35's move to full-rate production and the first set… Is MEADS Back in Running for Poland's Missile Defense Competition? The United States is set to approve the sale of Mk-48 heavyweight torpedoes for Taiwan.

Earlier this week, Mindtree and Conversable announced plans to work together to automate customer service for businesses. A small business should never automate chatting with customers, said Kit founder Michael Perry, not until natural language processing has made a lot of strides. Perry is founder of Kit, a bot that helps business owners create Facebook ads and promotional material by SMS or chat. One day after news of a Messenger API was shared by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at F8 and Shopify became the first commerce platform to announce an integration with Facebook Messenger, Shopify announced that it had acquired Kit for an undisclosed amount of money. Following the acquisition, Kit is working with 5,000 small businesses and merchants in 76 countries.

Technology is continuing to play an integral part in sports. In cricket too, there are many areas where technology can be used. Machine learning will play an important role in Sports Analytics. We believe that we can use Machine Learning to analyze historical cricket games, and use this to continuously improve the Duckworth Lewis (D/L) Method of computing target scores in rain-shortened matches. The Current D/L method is a statistical method invented by statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis.

What better way to demonstrate the capabilities of IBM's artificial intelligence system, Watson, than to show it working its hardest, and when it really matters? For the film IBM partnered with oil and gas company Woodside, and creative agency the Barbarian Group, to create '70 Miles from Shore with Watson: Woodside Energy and IBM'. The result is a two-minute journey that shows IBM's Watson working and learning, on one of the toughest work sites in the world – an oil rig. To produce a film on such an especially challenging scale required an experienced set of hands, and PSN Australia was enlisted for the job through Production Service Network's U.S. Liaison Carolyn Hill. Choosing to shoot on the rig for real as opposed to a studio levied some strict safety regulations on the team that had not been previously encountered.

Using airdrops to deliver relief to disaster zones may sound like a simple solution, but these missions have proved to be inaccurate, wasteful and expensive. With that in mind, ex-British Army veteran Nigel Gifford is developing a drone with edible wings that is capable of carrying 100-pounds of vacuum-packed food and medical supplies. Although in early stages, the'Pouncer' would be released from a plane or catapult and dropped within a 25 mile radius of the target. Nigel Gifford is developing a drone with edible wings that is capable of carrying 100-pounds of vacuum-packed food and medical supplies. Although in early stages, the'Pouncer' would be released from a plane or catapult and dropped within a 25 mile radius of the target Pouncer is the brain child of engineer and ex-British Army veteran Nigel Gifford.

The Draper Satellite Image Chronology Competition (Chronos) ran on Kaggle from April to June 2016. This competition, which was novel in a number of ways, challenged Kagglers to put order to time and space. That is, given a dataset of satellite images taken over the span of five days, the 424 brave competitors were required to determine their correct order. The challenge, which Draper hosted in order to contribute to a deeper understanding of how to process and analyze images, was a first for Kaggle--it allowed hand annotation as long as processes used were replicable. While the winners of the competition used a mixture of machine learning, human intuition, and brute force, Damien Soukhavong (Laurae), a Competitions and Discussion Expert on Kaggle, explains in this interview how factors like the limited number of training samples which deterred others from using pure machine learning methods appealed to him.