March 14, 2011
A neural network is an artificial brain (made of artificial neuron cells). It is modeled after the human brain. Several computing cells work in parallel to produce a result. Neural networks are able to learn by themselves, in comparison to normal computers, which cannot do anything for which they are not programmed.
Artificial neural networks are composed of interconnecting artificial neurons (programming constructs that mimic the properties of biological neurons). Artificial neural networks are used to gain an understanding of biological neural networks, and for solving artificial intelligence problems.
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March 14, 2011
Computer poker players are computer programs designed to play the game of poker against human opponents or other computer opponents. They are commonly referred to as pokerbots or just simply bots.
These bots or computer programs are used often in online poker situations as either legitimate opponents for humans players or a form of cheating. Cardrooms forbid the use of bots although the level of enforcement from site operators varies considerably.
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March 14, 2011
Polaris is a 2007 Texas hold ’em poker playing program developed by the computer poker research group at the University of Alberta. The program requires little computational power at match time, so it is run on an Apple MacBook Pro during competitions. It currently plays only heads-up (two player) Limit Texas hold’em. The University of Alberta has been developing ‘pokerbots’ since 1997.
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March 13, 2011
Kalimotxo [kal-ee-moht-cho] is a drink consisting of approximately 50% red wine and 50% cola-based soft drink.
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March 13, 2011
The ARM is a computer instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by ARM Holdings. An instruction set is a list of all the instructions that a processor can execute (e.g. add, subtract, move, load, store, etc.). It was known as the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that as the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used ISA.
In 2005, about 98 percent of the more than one billion mobile phones sold each year used at least one ARM processor. ARM processors are used extensively in consumer electronics, including PDAs, mobile phones, digital media and music players, hand-held game consoles, calculators and computer peripherals such as hard drives and routers.
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March 13, 2011
Silicon Fen (sometimes the Cambridge Cluster) is the name given to the region around Cambridge, England, which is home to a number of high-tech businesses, especially those related to software, electronics, and biotechnology. Many of these have connections with the University of Cambridge, and the area is now one of the most important technology centers in Europe. It is called ‘Silicon Fen’ by analogy with Silicon Valley in California, because it lies at the south of Fenland.
The so-called Cambridge phenomenon, giving rise to start-up companies in a town previously only having a little light industry in the electrical sector, is usually dated to the founding of the Cambridge Science Park in 1970 (an initiative of Trinity College that moved away from a traditional low-development policy for Cambridge). The area is known for a high degree of ‘networking,’ enabling people across the region to find partners, jobs, funding, and know-how. Organisations have sprung up to facilitate this process, for example the Cambridge Network.
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March 13, 2011
The Kōreisha mark is a statutory sign in Japan which indicates ‘aged person at the wheel.’ The law decrees that when a person who is aged 70 and over drives a car and if his/her old age could affect the driving, he/she should endeavor to display this mark on both the front and rear of the car. Drivers aged 75 and over are obliged to display the mark.
Conversely, the green and yellow shoshinsha mark or wakaba mark denotes new drivers. Both marks are designed to warn other drivers that the marked driver is not very skilled, either due to inexperience or old age.
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March 11, 2011
Kruder & Dorfmeister is an Austrian duo most known for their downtempo-dub remixes of pop, hip-hop and drum and bass songs. Their mixes are usually flavored with sampler-processed vocals, deep bassline dub, trip-hop elements, bossa grooves and smoothly-shaped echoes. Some of their better-known works include ‘High Noon,’ ‘Original Bedroom Rockers’ and remixes of Madonna’s ‘Nothing Really Matters,’ Depeche Mode’s ‘Useless,’ Count Basic’s ‘Speechless’ and Roni Size’s ‘Heroes.’
Many of their remixes are collected on the double album ‘The K & D Sessions.’ Although best known internationally for their remixing work, the duo gained their primary reputation in Europe for their live DJ performances and ‘DJ-Kicks’ album. Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister have their own record studio, G Stone Recordings in Vienna, through which they release many of their own albums.
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March 11, 2011
AdWords is Google’s main advertising product and main source of revenue. Google’s total advertising revenues were USD$28 billion in 2010. AdWords offers pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, cost-per-thousand (CPM) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for text, banner, and rich-media ads. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution. Google’s text advertisements are short, consisting of one headline and two additional text lines. Image ads can be one of several different Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard sizes.
On Google the adverts are displayed either at the very top of the search results with an orange background, on the right hand side or in both these places. In a PPC contract advertisers pay Google each time someone clicks on their advert. Many pay per click providers exist, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter are the three largest operators.
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March 11, 2011
The Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to March 15th. It was marked by several religious observances, and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. In Canada, the day is commemorated with the drinking of Bloody Caesar (a Bloody Mary made with Clamato). In the original Roman calendar, March was the first month of the year. The holidays observed by the Romans from the first through the Ides often reflect their origin as new year celebrations. The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the first through the last day.
Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the Kalends (1st) of the following month. The Ides occurred near the midpoint, on the 13th for most months, but on the 15th for March, May, July, and October. The Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. On the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year.
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March 11, 2011
An antigen [ann-tuh-jen] is a protein expressed by a bacteria or virus that is recognized by an immune system as foreign which can stimulate the production of antibodies and combine specifically with them. Usually an antibody is a molecule, perhaps on the cell surface of a bacterium or virus. Antibodies are always ‘foreign’; except in rare cases the system is tolerant of its own molecules. Autoimmune diseases are caused when this safeguard fails. When an antigen is introduced into the body it causes the production of antibodies. Antigens include bacteria, cells of transplanted organs, plant pollen and toxins.
The first time that a new antigen comes into contact with the body the response of the immune system will be a complete immune response. During this first response, the antigen will cause antibodies to be made. The next time the same antigen contacts the body, a full scale immune response is not needed as the body already has a specific antibody available instantly for that antigen. This means that the body can begin fighting an infection much sooner for illnesses it has encountered before, and takes more time to begin to fight an infection in new illnesses.
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March 10, 2011
Beer head is the frothy foam on top of beer after it is poured in a glass. It is produced by bubbles of carbon dioxide rising to the surface. The density and longevity of the head will be determined by the type of malt and adjunct from which the beer was fermented. In general, wheat tends to produce larger and longer lasting heads than barley.
The carbon dioxide may be produced naturally through the activity of brewer’s yeast, or artificially by dissolving carbon dioxide under pressure into the liquid. The beer head is created by the carbon dioxide produced as a byproduct of the metabolism of brewer’s yeast acting upon starches and sugars found in the wort.
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The Daily Omnivore 