A report on foreign influence on software from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (www.csis.org)
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070307_foreign_software.pdf
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Live Science Web Site
This is a nice popular science site with a lot of information regarding both natural and human sciences @ http://www.livescience.com/.
Be sure to check the Science Myths page ("we are using only 10% of our brain" and the like) @ http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/result.php?back=&cat=myths
Be sure to check the Science Myths page ("we are using only 10% of our brain" and the like) @ http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/result.php?back=&cat=myths
Soar
Soar is a unified architecture for developing intelligent systems. That is, Soar provides the fixed computational structures in which knowledge can be encoded and used to produce action in pursuit of goals.
There are free Soar tools @ http://sitemaker.umich.edu/soar/soar_software_downloads
The FAQ is @ http://acs.ist.psu.edu/soar-faq/soar-faq.html
There are free Soar tools @ http://sitemaker.umich.edu/soar/soar_software_downloads
The FAQ is @ http://acs.ist.psu.edu/soar-faq/soar-faq.html
Revolutionizing Science & Engineering Through Cyberinfrastructure
This is a report on the topic of cyberinfrastructure needed for science & engineering published on January 2003.
Find it @ www.nsf.gov/cise/sci/reports/atkins.pdf
It is from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Blue-Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure and is also known as the Atkins report.
By the way, NSF sometimes is referred to as Never Sufficient Funds!
Find it @ www.nsf.gov/cise/sci/reports/atkins.pdf
It is from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Blue-Ribbon Advisory Panel on Cyberinfrastructure and is also known as the Atkins report.
By the way, NSF sometimes is referred to as Never Sufficient Funds!
Free Machine Learning Software
Weka (Weka is an endangered flightless bird with an inquisitive nature) is a free Machine Learning Workbench from the Computer Science Department at the University of Waikato, NZ.
It is useful for mining underlying data patterns in large data sets but is far more than a glorified neural network system. It does a variety of regression, clustering and classification problems as well as many statistical analyses to assist in better discovering and understanding patterns in large (or smaller) data sets. It contains several familiar neural networks as well as others developed specifically for the program. To make it even more useful, there are extensive graphics capabilities so that one may visualize patterns and results to further suggest different lines of analysis.
It is Java based and the release and developer branches require Java 1.4 and 5.0 respectively.
Download it @ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~ml/weka/
There is also a very active users group that can be accessed on line @ list.scms.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wekalist
The developers usually refer users to the Witten and Frank text for questions (see below).
It was announced that Pentaho, an open source Business Intelligence organization, acquired the Weka project.
University of Waikato
Department of Computer Science
Private Bag 3105
HamiltonNEW ZEALAND
+64 7 838 4021 Fax: +64 7 858 5095
cs@waikato.ac.nz;
Weka Home @ www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka
Ian H. Witten and Eibe Frank. Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, 2nd Edition, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 2005, ISBN 0120884070.
It is useful for mining underlying data patterns in large data sets but is far more than a glorified neural network system. It does a variety of regression, clustering and classification problems as well as many statistical analyses to assist in better discovering and understanding patterns in large (or smaller) data sets. It contains several familiar neural networks as well as others developed specifically for the program. To make it even more useful, there are extensive graphics capabilities so that one may visualize patterns and results to further suggest different lines of analysis.
It is Java based and the release and developer branches require Java 1.4 and 5.0 respectively.
Download it @ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~ml/weka/
There is also a very active users group that can be accessed on line @ list.scms.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wekalist
The developers usually refer users to the Witten and Frank text for questions (see below).
It was announced that Pentaho, an open source Business Intelligence organization, acquired the Weka project.
University of Waikato
Department of Computer Science
Private Bag 3105
HamiltonNEW ZEALAND
+64 7 838 4021 Fax: +64 7 858 5095
cs@waikato.ac.nz;
Weka Home @ www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/ml/weka
Ian H. Witten and Eibe Frank. Data Mining: Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques, 2nd Edition, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 2005, ISBN 0120884070.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Placebo Effect
I am including here an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal, 03/01/2007, Page BI article titled "Emerging Drugs Show Promise Against HIV":
"Robin Isaacs, Merck's executive director of infectious-disease clinical development, said the two latest studies show the drug, taken twice a day, helped drive virus levels down to undetectable in slightly more than 60% of volunteers when added to an antiviral cocktail. Only 33% to 36% of patients receiving a placebo had similar reductions. Volunteers taking the new drug also saw higher levels of CD-4 cells than patients receiving placebo. A Merck spokesman said the company expects to file for FDA approval in the second quarter of this year."
I have highlighted the part that I find astonishing - that 33 to 36 percent of the patients on placebo had the same response as those on the actual drugs.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Placebo Effect.
Only if we knew how to harness it.
"Robin Isaacs, Merck's executive director of infectious-disease clinical development, said the two latest studies show the drug, taken twice a day, helped drive virus levels down to undetectable in slightly more than 60% of volunteers when added to an antiviral cocktail. Only 33% to 36% of patients receiving a placebo had similar reductions. Volunteers taking the new drug also saw higher levels of CD-4 cells than patients receiving placebo. A Merck spokesman said the company expects to file for FDA approval in the second quarter of this year."
I have highlighted the part that I find astonishing - that 33 to 36 percent of the patients on placebo had the same response as those on the actual drugs.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Placebo Effect.
Only if we knew how to harness it.
Inventor picks brain for new tool class
Interview with Jeff Hawkins, the founder of Palm, Inc. & Newmenta, Inc. @
It requires registration at EE Times.
The Numenta tools are available as free Linux downloads @ http://www.numenta.com/
AI Add-ins for Excel
If you are like me and are interested in building solutions for clients who can benefit from AI technologies, it will be a good idea then to consider Excel. MS Excel is pervasive, people understand it, it is inexpensive, and it has tremendous analytical capabilities. And there are a lot of COTS solutions out there for it in the form of Add-ins. Examples are:
1. Neuranalyst @ www.cheshireeng.com/Neuralyst/nrlnfe.htm which is a general purpose neural network engine.
2. Data Intelligence Add-In @ http://www.aicomponents.com which is offering decision trees, clustering, association rules and feed-forward neural network algorithms
3. nn_Solve is a neural network model built with MS Excel. User will learn how easy it is to use a worksheet as a powerful forecasting tool @ http://www.xlpert.com/
4. NeuroXL Classifier is a neural network software tool for classifying data in Excel. There is also NeuroXL Predictor which is a neural network forecasting tool. Find them both @ http://www.neuroxl.com/
5. Braincel: Neural Net Add-In Module @ http://www.jurikres.com/catalog/ms_bcel.htm
6. Alyuda Forecaster XL @ http://www.alyuda.com/
7. NeuroSolutions @ http://www.nd.com/
8. Tiberius Data Mining has TiberiusXL @ http://www.philbrierley.com/main.html?code/vba.html&code/codeleft.html
9. ClassifierXL @ http://www.dotxls.com/excel-stock-market/80/classifierxl-data-mining-and-pattern-recognition
10. BrainSheet @ http://www.brainsheet.com/
11. Artificial Neural Network Software @ http://www.ozgrid.com/Services/neural-network-software.htm
12. Text Analysis @ http://www.componentsource.com/features/ai/index.html
13. Treeplan offer a decision tree Add-in for Excel @ http://www.treeplan.com/treeplan.htm
14. Free Classification Tree in Excel @ http://www.geocities.com/adotsaha/CTree/CtreeinExcel.html
15. The Lumenaut Excel software add-in features a Monte Carlo Risk Simulation package, a Decision Tree analysis package and a Parametric and Non-Parametric Statistics package @ http://www.lumenaut.com/
16. PrecisionTree is Decision Analysis @ http://www.palisade-europe.com/precisiontree/
17. TreeAge Software is a decision tree based software program that also links with Excel and includes Monte Carlo simulation, cost-effectiveness analysis. Their website is www.treeage.com. The Excel Module is located at: http://www.treeage.com/products/overviewExcel.html
The Generation 5 @ http://www.generation5.org/ site is a community-orientated, site that deals with all AI topics including robotics, neural networks, genetic algorithms, AI programming.
Also the site The Excel Nexus contains a long list of Excel Add-is @ http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelLinks/cat/excel-add-ins-software-1.html
1. Neuranalyst @ www.cheshireeng.com/Neuralyst/nrlnfe.htm which is a general purpose neural network engine.
2. Data Intelligence Add-In @ http://www.aicomponents.com which is offering decision trees, clustering, association rules and feed-forward neural network algorithms
3. nn_Solve is a neural network model built with MS Excel. User will learn how easy it is to use a worksheet as a powerful forecasting tool @ http://www.xlpert.com/
4. NeuroXL Classifier is a neural network software tool for classifying data in Excel. There is also NeuroXL Predictor which is a neural network forecasting tool. Find them both @ http://www.neuroxl.com/
5. Braincel: Neural Net Add-In Module @ http://www.jurikres.com/catalog/ms_bcel.htm
6. Alyuda Forecaster XL @ http://www.alyuda.com/
7. NeuroSolutions @ http://www.nd.com/
8. Tiberius Data Mining has TiberiusXL @ http://www.philbrierley.com/main.html?code/vba.html&code/codeleft.html
9. ClassifierXL @ http://www.dotxls.com/excel-stock-market/80/classifierxl-data-mining-and-pattern-recognition
10. BrainSheet @ http://www.brainsheet.com/
11. Artificial Neural Network Software @ http://www.ozgrid.com/Services/neural-network-software.htm
12. Text Analysis @ http://www.componentsource.com/features/ai/index.html
13. Treeplan offer a decision tree Add-in for Excel @ http://www.treeplan.com/treeplan.htm
14. Free Classification Tree in Excel @ http://www.geocities.com/adotsaha/CTree/CtreeinExcel.html
15. The Lumenaut Excel software add-in features a Monte Carlo Risk Simulation package, a Decision Tree analysis package and a Parametric and Non-Parametric Statistics package @ http://www.lumenaut.com/
16. PrecisionTree is Decision Analysis @ http://www.palisade-europe.com/precisiontree/
17. TreeAge Software is a decision tree based software program that also links with Excel and includes Monte Carlo simulation, cost-effectiveness analysis. Their website is www.treeage.com. The Excel Module is located at: http://www.treeage.com/products/overviewExcel.html
The Generation 5 @ http://www.generation5.org/ site is a community-orientated, site that deals with all AI topics including robotics, neural networks, genetic algorithms, AI programming.
Also the site The Excel Nexus contains a long list of Excel Add-is @ http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelLinks/cat/excel-add-ins-software-1.html
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Do Animals Posess A Sense of Beauty?
It was Stendahl who defined "Beauty as the Promise of Happiness". And Robinson Jeffers who wrote:
"Or as mathematics, a human invention
That parallels but never touches reality, gives the astronomer
Metaphors through which he may comprehend
That powers and the flow of things: so the human sense
Of beauty is our metaphor of their excellence, their divine
nature:-like dust in a whirlwind, making
The wild wind visible."
So I far as I know there has not been a lot of studies on chimps, dogs, or song birds to determine if they possess, like man, a sense of beauty.
I have in mind experiments in which animals are exposed to human music, either voice or instrumental, and their reaction are measured in some manner. Or ones that make changes to the physical environment of the subjects - using color, size, and shapes as well.
(The research emphasis of neuroscience is always on cognition to the exclusion of other mental capacities.)
There are many studies that indicate that song birds have preferences for complex songs - if one considers that complexity is indicating "beauty". For example:
Catchpole, C. K., and Slater, P. L. B. (1995). Bird song: themes and variations (Cambridge University Press, New York).
And one that is comparing musical perception of humans and monkeys:
McDermott, J., and Hauser, M. D. (2004). "Are consonant intervals music to their ears? Spontaneous acoustic preferences in a nonhuman primate," Cognition 94, B11-B21.
So, I think the question that I posed still remains unanswered.
"Or as mathematics, a human invention
That parallels but never touches reality, gives the astronomer
Metaphors through which he may comprehend
That powers and the flow of things: so the human sense
Of beauty is our metaphor of their excellence, their divine
nature:-like dust in a whirlwind, making
The wild wind visible."
So I far as I know there has not been a lot of studies on chimps, dogs, or song birds to determine if they possess, like man, a sense of beauty.
I have in mind experiments in which animals are exposed to human music, either voice or instrumental, and their reaction are measured in some manner. Or ones that make changes to the physical environment of the subjects - using color, size, and shapes as well.
(The research emphasis of neuroscience is always on cognition to the exclusion of other mental capacities.)
There are many studies that indicate that song birds have preferences for complex songs - if one considers that complexity is indicating "beauty". For example:
Catchpole, C. K., and Slater, P. L. B. (1995). Bird song: themes and variations (Cambridge University Press, New York).
And one that is comparing musical perception of humans and monkeys:
McDermott, J., and Hauser, M. D. (2004). "Are consonant intervals music to their ears? Spontaneous acoustic preferences in a nonhuman primate," Cognition 94, B11-B21.
So, I think the question that I posed still remains unanswered.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Five Rules for the Evolution of Cooperation
This is an article by Martin Nowak on the rules needed for evolution to construct new levels of organization via cooperation among agents.
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ped/people/faculty/publications_nowak/Nowak_Science06.pdf
Clearly, the ideas are applicable to Swarm Intelligence and Software Agents as well as to theoretical history; a.k.a. Evolutionary Dynamics, a.k.a. historical simulations (think of the the PC game - Age of Empires).
The article, "Group Competition, Reproductive Leveling, and the Evolution of Human Altruism" (Science magazine, 8 December 2006:Vol. 314. no. 5805, pp. 1569 - 1572) by Samuel Bowles discusses similar ideas within the context of human cultural evolution. There we read:
"Humans behave altruistically in natural settings and experiments. A possible explanation—that groups with more altruists survive when groups compete—has long been judged untenable on empirical grounds for most species. But there have been no empirical tests of this explanation for humans. My empirical estimates show that genetic differences between early human groups are likely to have been great enough so that lethal intergroup competition could account for the evolution of altruism. Crucial to this process were distinctive human practices such as sharing food beyond the immediate family, monogamy, and other forms of reproductive leveling. These culturally transmitted practices presuppose advanced cognitive and linguistic capacities, possibly accounting for the distinctive forms of altruism found in our species."
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ped/people/faculty/publications_nowak/Nowak_Science06.pdf
Clearly, the ideas are applicable to Swarm Intelligence and Software Agents as well as to theoretical history; a.k.a. Evolutionary Dynamics, a.k.a. historical simulations (think of the the PC game - Age of Empires).
The article, "Group Competition, Reproductive Leveling, and the Evolution of Human Altruism" (Science magazine, 8 December 2006:Vol. 314. no. 5805, pp. 1569 - 1572) by Samuel Bowles discusses similar ideas within the context of human cultural evolution. There we read:
"Humans behave altruistically in natural settings and experiments. A possible explanation—that groups with more altruists survive when groups compete—has long been judged untenable on empirical grounds for most species. But there have been no empirical tests of this explanation for humans. My empirical estimates show that genetic differences between early human groups are likely to have been great enough so that lethal intergroup competition could account for the evolution of altruism. Crucial to this process were distinctive human practices such as sharing food beyond the immediate family, monogamy, and other forms of reproductive leveling. These culturally transmitted practices presuppose advanced cognitive and linguistic capacities, possibly accounting for the distinctive forms of altruism found in our species."
Friday, February 23, 2007
Motto for Software Development
I think the following motto (from the Russian Constructivists) is a pretty good one when applied to software development:
Not The Old, Not The New, Only The Necessary!
Not The Old, Not The New, Only The Necessary!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Alternative Transportation Fuels: Automotive Technologies
Listen to the discussion on alternative transportation fuels from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (http://www.csis.org/):
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/events/070220_alt_fuels.m3u
(Automotive and transportation industries are one of the highest consumers of IT, both in the enterprise and embedded markets.)
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/events/070220_alt_fuels.m3u
(Automotive and transportation industries are one of the highest consumers of IT, both in the enterprise and embedded markets.)
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
A Book on Innovation in US
"They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators"
by HAROLD EVANS
Published by Little & Brown,
2004.
by HAROLD EVANS
Published by Little & Brown,
2004.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Wiki-based Novel
Penguin Books has created a Wiki-based novel titled "A Million Penguins"
@ www.amillionpenguins.com
It went live on February 1 and is expected to be there until mid March.
The publisher is interested in whether the principles of open-source software can be applied to creative processes such as writing a book.
@ www.amillionpenguins.com
It went live on February 1 and is expected to be there until mid March.
The publisher is interested in whether the principles of open-source software can be applied to creative processes such as writing a book.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Spotlight on: the 2007 Microsoft Office System
Introducing the Office Developer How-to Center
Discover task-based samples to help you learn the new features of the 2007 Microsoft Office system programs, servers, services, tools and technologies.
Visual How-to: Building Word 2007 Document Templates Using Content Controls
Content controls are bounded and potentially labeled regions in a document for specific types of content. Watch a short video, read about it, and then learn how to write code.
Visual How-to: Build Word 2007 Documents Using the Office Open XML Formats
If you own a licensed version of Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office or Visual Studio Professional and above you are eligible to
download a free copy of VSTO 2005 Second Edition.
New: Developer References for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
Access 2007 Developer Reference
InfoPath 2007 Developer Reference
InfoPath 2007 XSF Schema Reference
Object Library Reference for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
Outlook 2007 Developer Reference
Project 2007 Developer Reference
SharePoint Designer 2007 Developer Reference
Word 2007 Developer Reference
Excel 2007 Developer Reference
Incidentally: I have been using Office 2007 for more than a month now and I really like its new "Ribbon" UI. It is intuitive and easier to use and it is consistent across all the MS Office suite of tools.
Discover task-based samples to help you learn the new features of the 2007 Microsoft Office system programs, servers, services, tools and technologies.
Visual How-to: Building Word 2007 Document Templates Using Content Controls
Content controls are bounded and potentially labeled regions in a document for specific types of content. Watch a short video, read about it, and then learn how to write code.
Visual How-to: Build Word 2007 Documents Using the Office Open XML Formats
If you own a licensed version of Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office or Visual Studio Professional and above you are eligible to
download a free copy of VSTO 2005 Second Edition.
New: Developer References for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
Access 2007 Developer Reference
InfoPath 2007 Developer Reference
InfoPath 2007 XSF Schema Reference
Object Library Reference for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
Outlook 2007 Developer Reference
Project 2007 Developer Reference
SharePoint Designer 2007 Developer Reference
Word 2007 Developer Reference
Excel 2007 Developer Reference
Incidentally: I have been using Office 2007 for more than a month now and I really like its new "Ribbon" UI. It is intuitive and easier to use and it is consistent across all the MS Office suite of tools.
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About Me
- Babak Makkinejad
- I had been a senior software developer working for HP and GM. I am interested in intelligent and scientific computing. I am passionate about computers as enablers for human imagination. The contents of this site are not in any way, shape, or form endorsed, approved, or otherwise authorized by HP, its subsidiaries, or its officers and shareholders.