The Emmy nominations are always "political," but they're rarely political. While many non-artistic factors may affect the anointing of a chosen handful with the word "best," the nominations, at least as a group, rarely reflect the sociopolitical concerns of the American citizenry. In the midst of a presidential race bristling with divisive issues and distrust, the Television Academy singled out a large number of series that took on that distrust and those issues in ways dramatic, comedic and deeply human. Political TV came in two distinct forms this year. Robot," "Veep"--reflect a near-hopeless cynicism toward actual government. Other nominated series took on issues rather than governance --"black-ish," "The People v. O.J. Simpson," "American Crime"-- and directly addressed complicated themes, especially those of race, in a way that is, if not always hopeful, at least productive. Likewise, series anchored by the once-rare strong female lead and her experience filled virtually every ...

The Emmy nominations are always "political," but they're rarely political. While many non-artistic factors may affect the anointing of a chosen handful with the word "best," the nominations, at least as a group, rarely reflect the sociopolitical concerns of the American citizenry. In the midst of a presidential race bristling with divisive issues and distrust, the Television Ccademy singled out a large number of series that took on that distrust and those issues in ways dramatic, comedic and deeply human. Political TV came in two distinct forms this year. Robot," "Veep"--reflect a near-hopeless cynicism toward actual government. Other nominated series took on issues rather than governance --"black-ish," "The People v. O.J. Simpson," "American Crime"-- and directly addressed complicated themes, especially those of race, in a way that is, if not always hopeful, at least productive. Likewise, series anchored by the once-rare strong female lead and her experience filled virtually every ...

Deploying the most innovative technologies alone will not ensure Singapore can succeed in its smart nation ambition, as this will require a population that is willing to embrace change in the way it interacts with its government. Since the launch of its smart nation initiative in 2014, the Singapore government has been rolling out various pilots and programmes to put in place the supporting infrastructure and systems. These centred around key objectives, among others, to enable safer and greener urban living, provide more transport options, facilitate better healthcare, and deliver more responsive public services and citizen engagement. Several initiatives had focused on a range of technologies including data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing. Microsoft earlier this week announced it was working with the Singapore government to explore the use of machine learning and chatbots to deliver more interactive online citizen services.

A bird-shaped robot crashed in Mogadishu earlier this week. It was covered in dirt and grime, with signs of heavy wear, shoddy construction, or both. The bird-bodied drone looked tired, if it's possible for a machine to look tired. Within hours, observers on Twitter noted that the crashed bird-drone looked a lot like a prototype floated by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab in 2010, though the existence of a U.S. prototype doesn't mean all future designs are derived from it. Local reports associate this drone, which came down on May 1st, with Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA).

For the past year, Tara Hutchinson has been trying to figure out what will happen to a tall building made from thin steel beams when "the big one" hits. To do that, she has erected a six-story tower that rises like a lime-green finger from atop a shrub-covered hill on the outskirts of San Diego, California. Hundreds of strain gauges and accelerometers fill the building, so sensitive they can detect wind gusts pressing against the walls. Now, Hutchinson just needs an earthquake. In most of the world, this would be a problem.

Cisco is just wrapping up its annual CiscoLive customer event. This year's proceedings took over Las Vegas, occupying the Bellagio, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, and MGM Grand hotel. At least for this week, Cisco was bigger in Vegas than Wayne Newton, Steve Wynn and even Carrot Top. While digital transformation served as the main theme at CiscoLive, cybersecurity had a strong supporting role throughout the event. For example, of all of the technology and business initiatives at Cisco, CEO Chuck Robbins highlighted cybersecurity in his keynote presentation by bringing the GM of Cisco's cybersecurity business unit (David Goeckeler) on stage to describe his division's progress.

Although artificial intelligence has become commonplace--most smartphones contain some version of AI, such as speech recognition--the public still has a poor understanding of the technology. As a result, a diverse cast of critics, driven by fear of technology, opportunism, or ignorance, has jumped into the intellectual vacuum to warn policymakers that, sooner than we think, AI will produce a parade of horrible outcomes. Unfortunately, their voices have grown so loud that we are nearing a tipping point where their narratives may be accepted as truth, which would create a real risk that policymakers will decide to ratchet back the pace of progress. With the White House convening a discussion later this week on the social and economic implications of artificial intelligence technologies, to be followed just days later by the 25th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Rob Atkinson rebuts these pervasive and pernicious myths in the Huffington Post.

New York University's Information Law Institute in collaboration with the White House is slated to host an extensive public symposium on Thursday, July 7 in a bid to focus on the near-term influence of AI (artificial intelligence) technologies across the economic and social systems. A brand-new series of workshops and an inter-agency working group that will delve into understanding more about the advantages and hazards of artificial intelligence was announced by the White House on May 3, 2016. There is a lot of excitement surrounding artificial intelligence and how to create computers that are capable of intelligent behavior. Following years of consistent but sluggish progress on making computers smarter at mundane tasks, a slew of developments in the research community and industry have recently sparked momentum and investment in the advancement of this work. The Social and Economic Implications of AI Technologies in the Near-Term will concentrate on problems of the next five to 10 years, particularly focusing on four themes; What impact AI will have on social inequality, ethics, healthcare and labor.

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

Michael Isman, a vice president in Booz Allen Hamilton's strategic innovation group, has said the firm expects the government and the commercial market to adopt automated interactive messaging technologies for customer service, Fedscoop reported Tuesday. Isman told Fedscoop reporter Samantha Ehlinger chatbots powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning, automated analytics and crowdsourcing tools could replace call centers in customer service delivery through the next five years. "The federal government is uniquely positioned and motivated to seize the opportunity and deliver on the promise for self-service," said Isman. "What we're trying to do is push our federal clients to actually move into these areas because not only does it simplify the interaction with citizens, it's actually a cost-reduction opportunity around these programs," he added. ExecutiveBiz reported Tuesday that Booz Allen will collaborate with Conversable to deliver automated interactive messaging tools and services for organizations' customer care efforts.