A UDACITY COURSE BY GOOGLE WILL TEACH ENGINEERS AND DATA SCIENTISTS THE BASICS OF DEEP LEARNING, WHICH INFORMS MUCH OF GOOGLE’S TECH.
Techies who have some background in machine learning may want to tune intoGoogle’s new course on deep learning. Available through Udacity—home to a host of open online courses—the class is expected to run about three months, assuming people put in about six hours of work per week.
The course will also introduce participants to TensorFlow, the open-source deep learning platform Google unveiled back in November. Deep learning, a division of machine learning through which machines detect and classify patterns in data, is the driving force behind Google Photos’ search engine and the company’s speech recognition technology.
“Deep learning is a modern take on the old idea of teaching computers, instead of programming them,” Vincent Vanhoucke, a principal scientist at Google, wrote in a Udacity blog post. “It has taken the world of machine learning by storm in recent years, and for good reason! Deep learning provides state-of-the-art results in many of the thorniest problems in computing, from machine perception and forecasting, to analytics and natural language processing.”
Vanhoucke—who will teach the course—explained that deep learning wasn’t only restricted to tech companies that can match Google’s resources, and that TensorFlow, in particular, met the needs of a wide range of users. From the blog post:
Reading the flurry of recent popular press around deep learning, you might rightfully wonder: isn’t deep learning just a ‘Big Data’ thing? Don’t I need the computing resources of Google or Facebook to take advantage of it? Isn’t there a lot of ‘black magic’ involved in making these models tick? And wouldn’t it only work for a narrow spectrum of perception tasks in the first place?
As someone from industry who accidentally fell into deep learning while working on Google Voice Search just five years ago, I’ve seen how nothing can be further from the truth. At that time, I didn’t use Google’s bazillion machines to get started with deep learning: I bought a modest computer with a GPU.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi in a team for charity ?! According to the lattest news of medias and social networks we are informed that Ronaldo and Messi are going to play a single match in the same team. It is about a charity act. Some unofficial sources say that the friendly match it is going to be played in Argentina in March when Fifa decides it . Anyway there is nothing official yet. We just expect to see if the two Stars will be seen together in a match or not?!
Their “Hot Overdose” is the crayzest thing ever … they have their own club , they organise parties different trips to cheer for their teams .. They challenge other fans anywhere even when they are on they social networks showing their own beauty and perfect body … Ashley is the cheerleader , she says it is very important to her to give the perfekt image to NBA challangers , it is what makes them happy …
Perhaps the most important quality of a really good fight scene is realism. There has to be a sense that the two people fighting are actually in danger of being hurt — otherwise, it comes off as just well-executed choreography. While filming “Creed”, the latest installment in the “Rocky” franchise, actor Michael B. Jordan got a taste of what a real-life knockout punch feels like — at least, according to co-star Sylvester Stallone: Jordan seems just fine now, but that looked like it hurt.
We’re breaking free – from the unrealistic expectations High School Musicalgave us about high school.
A few of the stars of the popular Disney made-for-TV-movie franchise are reuniting this week for an anniversary telecast of the original film (it airs Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on Disney Channel).
And while we’re excited, it reminds us – as much joy as HSM brought into our lives, it also made our own high school experiences pale in comparison to what the students over at East High had.
Here, just a few of the things that HSM misled us into expecting for ourselves in high school.
1. When you were upset, you could belt out a ballad at your locker without a hall monitor getting up in your business.
2. Your pep rallies would include school-wide choreographed dances.
3. That cute guy you met on your family vacation would end up transferring to your high school when you were back from break.
4. You’d be able to get away with painting your locker pink just because you were the star of the drama department.
5. Your basketball team would be better at dancing then they were at basketball.
6. If you were intimidating enough, people would move out of your way in the hallway.
7. A callback conflict would really keep you from auditioning for your school musical.
8. Joining a new club would tilt the entire student body off its axis.
9. Any of your male classmates would be as attractive as Zac Efron.
Russia's economy contracted by 3.7% in 2015, according to preliminary figures published by the country's statistics service.
Retail sales plunged by 10% and capital investment fell by 8.4% in the economy's worst performance since 2009.
In contrast, Russian GDP increased by 0.6% in 2014.
The economy has been hit hard by the extraordinary collapse in oil prices, which have fallen by 70% in the past 15 months.
Sanctions imposed by the West after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 have also had an impact.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned earlier this month that the fall could force Russia's 2016 budget to be revised.
President Vladimir Putin said in December that the budget had been calculated based on oil at $50 a barrel. Oil is trading at just over $30 a barrel.
In a few weeks, it will be time for new mum Rashmi Sharma to go back to work as a teacher. Her daughter Arya is five months old and is just beginning to roll over. Rashmi got 12 weeks of paid leave from her company, as Indian laws mandate, and then took three extra months off without pay.
Not all employers grant additional leave though, and with expenses shooting up after having a baby, the Indian government's plan to increase maternity benefits from 12 to 26 weeks of paid leave, is being welcomed by mothers and women's rights groups in the country.
It will need parliamentary approval, but India's women and child development minister has said the government is committed to making the amendment to the maternity benefits law as soon as possible.
"I wish it's something that would have come in time for me," says Rashmi. "Three months is too [little]. Six months, I would say, is a fair amount of time to spend with your newborn before going back to work."
It would certainly make things easier for women who have just had babies. But is it enough to keep them from quitting their jobs to take care of their children?
Maternity leave entitlements around the world
India: 12 weeks at full pay (currently)
UK: 39 weeks of paid leave, 90% of pay for first six weeks
China: 14 weeks, paid at least the average wage at the company
US: 12 weeks, employers not obliged to pay anything
Patriarchal mindsets
A survey by industry body Assocham recently found that a quarter of Indian women give up their careers after having a baby.
That's in a country where female participation in the workforce is already very low, ranking among the worst in major global economies. Women make up only a quarter of all workers employed, a number that has shrunk over the past decade.
hild is largely seen as the mother's job in India, not a shared responsibility between both parents.
I've heard the words "ambitious" and "career-minded" being used to describe women who went back to work after having a baby, and it's not meant as a compliment. Many women have talked about being made to feel guilty about being away from their child.
Discrimination
Then there's the corporate side of things. Even in India's top firms, the gender gap is glaring.
In 2014, when the country's markets regulator ordered all firms listed on the stock exchange to have at least one female director on their board, there was a mad scramble in India Inc. Many companies appointed female relatives of their promoters, and 13% of firms missed the deadline
.
Anurag Shrivastava who runs HRNext, a human resources consultancy, says the sense of discrimination against women is already very high. Questions about when a female candidate plans to get married or have a baby are not uncommon during interviews, although they might be asked in a veiled manner.
Mr Shrivastava thinks extended maternity leave will further increase the bias against women. "Having worked with a lot of managers, and seeing the kind of attitudes they display, I fear for the employment of women in the future," he says.
Childcare difficulties
And even if you are lucky enough to have supportive employers and family, then you're confronted with a more basic problem - where to leave your child while you're at work.
It's something I've seen countless peers struggle with
.
Although more childcare facilities have sprung up in recent years, there are no laws governing them. Different states have different guidelines to regulate creches, but monitoring for quality is rarely done. Those that do comply with the rules are unaffordable for most couples.
Trained nannies are equally rare to find. In most Indian homes it's usually the house help or maid who is trained by the family to care for their child.
There is perhaps a ray of light in this direction though. A handful of companies have begun on-campus creches for their employees in the past two to three years. These include Indian brand Godrej, retail giant Hindustan Unilever and cosmetics firm L'Oreal.
Game changer?
More significantly, the Labour Ministry is considering a proposal to make it compulsory for companies that employ more than 30 women to have childcare facilities, either on campus or a short distance from the workplace.
This could be a real game changer for mothers who want to work. But it will probably be opposed by many in the corporate world, for whom the costs of running a business will increase. And, as is often the case in India, it could be years before it really sees the light of day.
For now, it is not on the horizon for women like Rashmi.
Her mother-in-law has come to stay to help with baby Arya when she goes back to work. Rashmi is an outdoor educator. She takes groups of children out on camps teaching them about nature and wildlife. She knows it is going to be a difficult balance.
"We'll see how things pan out," she says, as she prepares for a battle that so many Indian women are fighting.
The US Treasury has told a BBC investigation that it considers Russian President Vladimir Putin to be corrupt.
The US government has already imposed sanctions on Mr Putin's aides, but it is thought to be the first time it has directly accused him of corruption.
His spokesman told the BBC that "none of these questions or issues needs to be answered, as they are pure fiction".
Last week a UK public inquiry said Mr Putin had "probably" approved the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Secret wealth
Litvinenko, a former Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent and fierce critic of Mr Putin, was poisoned in London with radioactive polonium in 2006.
Adam Szubin, who oversees US Treasury sanctions, has told BBC Panorama that the Russian president is corrupt and that the US government has known this for "many, many years".
He said: "We've seen him enriching his friends, his close allies, and marginalising those who he doesn't view as friends using state assets. Whether that's Russia's energy wealth, whether it's other state contracts, he directs those to whom he believes will serve him and excludes those who don't. To me, that is a picture of corruption."
The US government imposed sanctions against a number of Kremlin insiders in 2014 and stated that Vladimir Putin had secret investments in the energy sector. However, the Americans did not directly accuse him of corruption at the time.
The sanctions - later expanded to include more individuals and organisations - coincided with similar EU measures against Russia. The trigger for them was Russia's annexation of Crimea, during political turmoil in Ukraine.
US government officials have been reluctant to be interviewed about President Putin's wealth, but Mr Szubin agreed to take part in a BBC Panorama programme investigating the issue.
Mr Szubin would not comment on a secret CIA report from 2007 that put Mr Putin's wealth at around $40bn (£28bn). But he said the Russian president had been amassing secret wealth.
"He supposedly draws a state salary of something like $110,000 a year. That is not an accurate statement of the man's wealth, and he has long time training and practices in terms of how to mask his actual wealth."
The Kremlin denies such allegations. In 2008, President Putin personally addressed claims that he was the richest man in Europe, saying: "It's simply rubbish. They just picked all of it out of someone's nose and smeared it across their little papers."
Offshore company
But Panorama has spoken to former Russian insiders who say they have first-hand knowledge of Vladimir Putin's secret riches.
Dmitry Skarga, who used to run the state shipping company Sovcomflot, says he oversaw the transfer of a $35m yacht to Mr Putin. Mr Skarga says the 57m-long Olympia was a gift from Britain's most famous Russian - the Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich.
"It's a fact that Mr Abramovich, through his employee, transferred a yacht to Mr Putin," he said. "I was on board of this yacht at the end of March 2002, in Amsterdam. And there was a representative of Mr Abramovich… He said that Roman is the owner of this yacht."
Mr Skarga says the Olympia was then given to the Russian president via an offshore company. He then oversaw the management of the yacht for Vladimir Putin and prepared reports on the boat's running costs.
He said: "This yacht was maintained and paid for running costs from the state budget."
Mr Skarga says the yacht was kept secret because it belonged personally to Vladimir Putin, rather than the state.
Panorama asked Mr Abramovich about the yacht. His lawyers dismissed claims about him as speculation and rumour.
President Putin declined to be interviewed for Panorama.
The huge blizzard that blanketed the US east coast kept most people indoors, but it also provided ideal conditions for "snow-swimming".
Competitive and amateur swimmers, not to be put off by the bad weather, found a novel use for the deep layers of snow which in some areas reached 40 inches (100cm), and posted videos of people launching themselves into the soft powder.
Chris McMahon and Drew Riebel in Morgantown, West Virginia, braved the elements for their snow swim.
"It started when we dared one of our friends to jump in the snow in their Speedos", they said.
"We thought it would be funny if we had a race".
Snow swimmer's inspiration
Magz, from Fairfax, Virginia is a competitive swimmer and didn't want to let the white stuff get in the way of her fitness regime.
Different strokes
Mick Vanoosten from New Jersey was with his fellow college students at Montclair State University when they decided to do a snow swim.
"We had a practice swim in the morning and we were talking about doing it.
"We planned to do four different strokes in a sequence - it was freezing when we all dived in.
"After the snow swim we all sprinted inside and had a hot shower!"
Explorer Henry Worsley has died after suffering exhaustion and dehydration as he tried to cross Antarctica unaided.
The ex-Army officer, from London, had been rescued 30 miles shy of his goal.
His wife Joanna said she felt "heartbroken sadness" after he died of "complete organ failure".
Mr Worsley, 55, was trying to complete the unfinished journey of his hero, Sir Ernest Shackleton, 100 years later, but in his final audio message, he said: "My summit is just out of reach."
In that last broadcast, sent from Antarctica on Friday, he told supporters: "When my hero, Ernest Shackleton, was 97 miles from the South Pole on the morning of January the 9th 1909, he said he'd shot his bolt.
"Well today I have to inform you with some sadness that I too have shot my bolt."
Mr Worsley said his journey had ended because he did not have the ability to "slide one ski in front of the other".
"I will lick my wounds, they will heal over time and I will come to terms with the disappointment," he added.
'Grinding down'
Prince William has led the tributes to Mr Worsley, who was raising money for the Endeavour Fund, a charity which helps wounded servicemen and women and is managed by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
The duke, who was patron of the expedition, said he and Prince Harry had lost a friend, as he paid tribute to Mr Worsley's "selfless commitment" to fellow soldiers.
"He was a man who showed great courage and determination and we are incredibly proud to be associated with him," he said.The princes pledged to ensure Mr Worsley's family, which includes his two children, Max, 21, and Alicia, 19, received the support needed "at this terribly difficult time".
Mr Worsley made the call for help on Saturday, on day 71 and 913 miles (1,469km) into his trek. He died in hospital on Sunday.
The ReMark Group, which was supporting Mr Worsley's effort, said in a statement: "When Henry was picked up by Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE), he was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.
"He was flown to a hospital in Punta Arenas [in Chile] where he was found to have bacterial peritonitis.
"This resulted in Henry undergoing surgery but in spite of all the efforts of ALE and medical staff, he succumbed."
Peritonitis is inflammation of the peritoneum, the thin layer of tissue that lines the inside of the abdomen. According to the NHS, most cases come from injury or infection in another part of the body.
On Instagram, David Beckham said he was "lucky to have met Henry", who had "served our country for so many years".
And adventurer Bear Grylls tweeted: "We are devastated by this loss. One of the strongest men & bravest soldiers I know. Praying for his special family."
Gen Sir Nick Carter - the head of the Army and a close friend of the explorer - said Mr Worsley had "extraordinary traits of courage and determination" but he did it all with the "most extraordinary modesty and humility".
Polar explorer Pen Hadow told the BBC that Mr Worsley, by going solo with no resupply, had embarked on the "hardest form of travel quite possibly on the surface of the earth".
He said his body would not have had enough time to replenish itself during the rest periods, which meant "losing a small percentage of your capability every day". But he said the "single hardest challenge" on such a journey was "managing your mind-set".
Mr Worsley began the coast-to-coast trek in November, pulling a sledge containing his food, tent and equipment.
The plan was to cross the continent "unassisted and unsupported" - with no supply drops or help from dogs or any other source.
The first solo and unsupported crossing of the continent was achieved by Norwegian Borge Ousland in 1997. But Mr Worsley's record attempt differed as Mr Ousland used a kite to help drag his supply sled.
British explorer Felicity Aston became the first woman to cross the Antarctic alone in January 2012 but she had supply drops.
The Zika virus is likely to spread across nearly all of the Americas, the World Health Organization has warned.
The infection, which causes symptoms including mild fever, conjunctivitis and headache, has already been found in 21 countries in the Caribbean, North and South America..
It has been linked to thousands of babies being born with underdeveloped brains and some countries have advised women not to get pregnant.
No treatment or vaccine is available.
The virus was first detected in 1947 in monkeys in Africa. There have since been small, short-lived outbreaks in people on the continent, parts of Asia and in the Pacific Islands.
But it has spread on a massive scale in the Americas, where transmission was first detected in Brazil in May 2015.
Large numbers of the mosquitoes which carry the virus and a lack of any natural immunity is thought to be helping the infection to spread rapidly.
Mosquito
Zika is transmitted by the bite of Aedes mosquitoes, which are found in all countries in the region except Canada and Chile.
In a statement, The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional office of the WHO, said: "PAHO anticipates that Zika virus will continue to spread and will likely reach all countries and territories of the region where Aedes mosquitoes are found."
PAHO is advising people to protect themselves from the mosquitoes, which also spread dengue fever and chikungunya.
It also confirmed the virus had been detected in semen and there was "one case of possible person-to-person sexual transmission" but further evidence was still needed.
Around 80% of infections do not result in symptoms.
But the biggest concern is the potential impact on babies developing in the womb. There have been around 3,500 reported cases of microcephaly - babies born with tiny brains - in Brazil alone since October.
PAHO warned pregnant women to be "especially careful" and to see their doctor before and after visiting areas affected by the virus.
