Computer teaches itself common sense

25 November 2013 Last updated at 11:39 ET

A computer program is trying to learn common sense by analysing images 24 hours a day.

The aim is to see if computers can learn, in the same way a human would, what links images, to help them better understand the visual world.

The Never Ending Image Learner (NEIL) program is being run at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States.

The work is being funded by the US Department of Defense's Office of Naval Research and Google.

Since July, the NEIL program has looked at three million images. As a result it has managed to identify 1,500 objects in half a million images and 1,200 scenes in hundreds of thousands of images as well as making 2,500 associations.

The team working on the project hopes that NEIL will learn relationships between different items without being taught.

Computer programs can already identify and label objects using computer vision, which models what humans can see using hardware and software, but the researchers hope that NEIL can bring extra analysis to the data.

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• "Airbus_330" can be a kind of / look similar to "airplane".
• "Deer" can be a kind of / look similar to "antelope".
• "Car" can have a part, "wheel".
• "Leaning_tower" can be found in "Pisa".
• "Zebra" can be found in "Savanna".
• "Bamboo_forest" can be/can have "vertical_lines"

"Images are the best way to learn visual properties," said Abhinav Gupta, assistant research professor in Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute.

"[They] also include a lot of common sense information about the world. People learn this by themselves and, with NEIL, we hope that computers will do so as well."

Examples of the links that NEIL has made include the facts that cars are found on roads and that ducks can resemble geese.

The program can also make mistakes, say the research team. It may think that the search term "pink" relates to the pop star rather than the colour because an image search would be more likely to return this result.

To prevent errors like this, humans will still need to be part of the program's learning process, according to Abhinav Shrivastava, a PhD student working on the project.

"People don't always know how or what to teach computers," he said. "But humans are good at telling computers when they are wrong."

Another reason for NEIL to run is to create the world's largest visual knowledge database where objects, scenes, actions, attributes and contextual relationships can be labelled and catalogued.

"What we have learned in the last five to 10 years of computer vision research is that the more data you have, the better computer vision becomes," Mr Gupta said.

The program requires a vast amount of computer power to operate and is being run on two clusters of computers that include 200 processing cores.

The team plans to let NEIL run indefinitely.

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NSA malware 'hit 50,000 networks'

25 November 2013 Last updated at 07:05 ET

The US National Security Agency (NSA) infected 50,000 networks with malware, Dutch newspaper NRC has reported.

The Tailored Access Operations department used it to steal sensitive information, according to a censored slide leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

NRC said 20,000 networks had been hit in 2008, with the program recently expanded to include others in Rome, Berlin, Pristina, Kinshasa, Rangoon.

The NSA declined to comment.

The malware could be put in a "sleeper" mode and activated with a click of a button, the paper said.

"Clearly, conventional criminal gangs aren't the only people interested in breaking into computer networks anymore," wrote computer security expert Graham Cluley in a blogpost.

"All organisations need to ask themselves the question of whether they could be at risk."

The reports come as Twitter introduces technology it says will help protect people's messages from unwanted scrutiny.

It has employed a system known as "forward secrecy" that makes it harder for eavesdroppers to access the keys used to encrypt data passing between Twitter's servers and users' phones, tablets and PCs.

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Microsoft responds to Xbox problem

25 November 2013 Last updated at 07:17 ET

Microsoft has responded to reports that owners of its new Xbox One console are experiencing problems with the disc drive by offering a free download.

Some users have said the drive makes very loud noises when they try to insert a disc and in some cases is not reading discs at all.

Microsoft said only a very small number of users are affected.

The Xbox One was launched on Friday and sold more than one million units in the first 24 hours.

In a statement Microsoft said that those customers who had reported problems and were waiting for a replacement console would be provided "with a free digital download of one of the launch titles published by Microsoft studios."

More than 150 people contacted Kotaku, a gaming news website, claiming their new consoles were faulty. Other users uploaded videos apparently showing the problem to the gaming forum NeoGAF.

The Xbox One is the first new console from Microsoft in eight years and it broke all previous Xbox first-day sales records when it went on sale in the UK and 12 other countries last week.

The company said it had now sold out at most retailers and it was working to replenish stock as fast as possible.

Shipping damage

This is not the first time Microsoft has experienced problems with the launch of an Xbox console. When the Xbox 360 was launched in 2005 some users reported faults with the hardware which led to three red lights flashing on the front of the device and the console becoming unusable. The problem became known as the "red ring of death".

"Microsoft suffered very significant quality control problems with the early Xbox 360 consoles and has put significant effort into its hardware design and manufacturing process to minimise faults," Spencer Izard, an analyst with IDC told the BBC.

"For launches over multiple countries the volume of manufacturing required by both Microsoft and Sony will always unfortunately yield a minor amount of hardware failures, in one form or another, and we are seeing this with this launch cycle," he added.

The launch of the Xbox One came a week after the US launch of Sony's PlayStation 4. The two consoles are set to go head-to-head in the crucial Christmas season.

The PlayStation 4 will go on sale in the UK and Europe on 29 November.

The PS4 also experienced technical issues after its launch with users complaining that a blue light continually flashed on the console affecting its operation and others reporting that sometimes the unit suddenly turned itself off.

In its latest statement Sony said several issues had been reported.

"[This] leads us to believe there isn't a singular problem that could impact a broader percentage of PS4 units," Satoshi Nakajima, a spokesman for Sony, told Bloomberg.

"We also understand that some units were reportedly damaged during shipping."

Mr Nakajima said fewer than 1% of the consoles sold were affected.

Amazon said it shipped more PlayStation 4 units than any other gaming console in its history and confirmed it was working with Sony to assist the "small percentage of customers who reported issues".

Mr Izard said more people were becoming aware of problems with the new consoles than before because of postings on social networking sites.

"Overall, I do not believe we will see significant manufacturing problems with either the Microsoft or Sony console but due to social media the relatively few that do occur will become more apparent to those looking to purchase over this holiday season," he said.

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Yahoo hires broadcaster Katie Couric

25 November 2013 Last updated at 13:15 ET

Internet company Yahoo has hired veteran television correspondent Katie Couric, the company's chief has said.

Ms Couric, a popular broadcaster who formerly hosted the CBS Evening News and co-hosted NBC's Today show, will be a "global anchor", beginning next year.

She will cover stories and be the "face of Yahoo News", Marissa Mayer said.

Yahoo's growing news operation has hired several high-profile journalists in recent months, including Matt Bai and David Pogue of the New York Times.

'Thoughtful, charismatic'

Ms Mayer said in a statement she was "incredibly excited" to welcome Ms Couric, 56, to Yahoo.

"I've always respected Katie for her thoughtful, charismatic approach to journalism," she wrote.

"[Ms Couric] will lead a growing team of correspondents at Yahoo News who will cover the world's most interesting stories and newsmakers."

Mr Pogue was a technology correspondent for the Times, and Mr Bai was chief political correspondent for the New York Times Magazine.

Yahoo also recently hired New York Times deputy news editor Megan Liberman.

In the quarter ended 30 September, Yahoo's revenue was down 5.2% from the previous year as it struggled to compete with Google and Facebook.

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Launch for UK-built space cameras

25 November 2013 Last updated at 16:12 ET By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

A Russian Progress freighter has launched to the International Space Station (ISS) carrying a pair of UK-built Earth observation cameras.

One of the imagers is a high-resolution video unit that will return short snatches of the planet's surface up to about 150 times a day.

The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire made the cameras for a Canadian start-up called Urthecast.

The company hopes to build a business around space station imagery.

One of the customer sectors for the hi-res video, for example, is likely to be news organisations that want moving pictures of major events, such as war zones and regions of the Earth hit by natural disasters.

The movie camera should be able to pick out details as small as a metre across from the ISS's altitude of 400km.

This means it ought to be possible to discern large crowds and moving vehicles.

The second camera will provide static imagery at a resolution of 5m per pixel. Urthecast hopes to have both units operational in the New Year, shortly after they have been installed on a special gantry at the rear of the station by spacewalking astronauts.

The Progress-53 cargo ship lifted clear of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz rocket at 02:53 local time (Tuesday, 26 November - 20:53 GMT, Monday).

Scott Larson, the CEO of Urthecast, was at the Kazakh spaceport to witness launch.

"There are a lot of very happy Canadians, a lot of very happy Brits and a lot of very happy Russians," he said. "It is truly spectacular. We are just incredibly grateful and thankful to have the opportunity to come here, and for all the hard work that has gone into it."

The Progess docking at the ISS is planned for Friday. As well as the cameras, the freighter is carrying general hardware, food, and fuel needed by the station's astronauts.

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Qualcomm faces China antitrust probe

25 November 2013 Last updated at 20:58 ET

China has launched an antitrust probe against one of the world's biggest chipmakers, the US firm Qualcomm.

Qualcomm said the probe involved China's anti-monopoly law, but added that regulators told it the "substance of the investigation is confidential".

The firm said that it was "not aware or any charge" by the regulators that it had broken the law.

China has increased scrutiny of business practices that lead to higher prices for consumers.

In August, Chinese regulators levied a record fine of 670m yuan ($109m; £71m) on six foreign producers of baby milk formula for price-fixing.

China's National Development and Reform Commission, the body which is probing Qualcomm, also launched a pricing investigation into the pharmaceutical industry earlier this year.

4G launch

Continue reading the main story

You're getting ready to have this battle over 4G royalties and now you have this antitrust investigation"

End Quote Cody Acree Williams Financial

The investigation against Qualcomm also comes at a time when China is gearing for the launch of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) Networks.

The country will start commercial 4G mobile communications services on 18 December.

China Mobile, the country's biggest mobile operator with over 700 million users, will be the first one to offer the services to its subscribers.

That will be followed by China Unicom and China Telecom, the country's other two major carriers.

The US firm is a key player in the area and some analysts suggested the probe against it may be an attempt to help domestic players in China.

"We suspect this investigation is related to the forthcoming launch of TD-LTE by China Mobile... and the negotiations on chip pricing and license pricing between Qualcomm and Chinese-based handset [manufacturers] that are likely occurring right now," said Travis McCourt an analyst with Raymond James & Associates.

Cody Acree, an analyst with Williams Financial, added: "You're getting ready to have this battle over 4G royalties and now you have this antitrust investigation".

"It may well be that this reform commission is beginning to throw up reasons and excuses for why China doesn't pay royalties on 4G."

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Blackberry shakes up top management

25 November 2013 Last updated at 22:50 ET

Struggling smartphone maker Blackberry has shaken up its top management as part of its continuing reorganisation.

The firm's chief financial officer, Brian Bidulka, will be replaced by James Yersh who has previously served as controller and head of compliance.

The chief marketing officer and chief operating officer will leave the firm with no replacements announced.

This comes just weeks after the firm appointed a new interim chief executive as it shelved a plan to sell itself.

Blackberry named John Chen as the interim chief executive officer as it announced it had abandoned a planned sale to its biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings.

The management changes are the first major move made by Mr Chen.

'Working more closely'

Blackberry once dominated the smartphone market, but has seen its fortunes dwindle in recent years,

It has been hurt by the success and popularity of smartphones launched by rivals such as Apple and Samsung. Its attempts to boost its market share have not yielded the desired results.

In September, it reported a net loss of $965m (£597m) for the second quarter, blaming poor sales of its new smartphone, the Z10.

The firm has also announced a plan to cut 4,500 jobs, or 40% of its workforce, to reverse the giant losses.

Mr Chen said the management changes were aimed at refining the company's strategy "to ensure we deliver the best devices, mobile security and device management".

"I look forward to working more directly with the talented teams of engineers, and the sales and marketing teams around the world to facilitate the BlackBerry turnaround and to drive innovation," he added.

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FDA bans personal genetic tests

26 November 2013 Last updated at 07:04 ET

The US Food and Drug Administration has imposed a ban on a company offering personal genetic screening to the general public.

Google-backed 23andme has been ordered to "immediately discontinue" selling its saliva-collection tests after failing to provide information to back its marketing claims.

The tests aims to show how personal genetic codes may affect future health.

The company said it would address concerns.

The start-up has been operating since 2006 and was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

For $99 (£61), users receive a kit allowing them to take sample of saliva. This is sent to the company and in return users receive a readout of their genetic code.

The website promises reports on 254 health conditions and traits as well as offering to help people trace their genealogy.

Under FDA rules, the company must provide proof about how accurate its detection methods are as well as supplying the error rates from its personal genome service (PGS).

In a public letter the FDA said that 23andme had not supplied this information, despite increasing its marketing campaign and the scope of its tests.

"FDA is concerned about the public health consequences of inaccurate results from the PGS device - the main purpose of compliance with FDA's regulatory requirements is to ensure that the tests work," said Alberto Gutierrez, director of the FDA's centre for devices and radiological health, in a letter to the company.

"Patients relying on such tests may begin to self-manage their treatment through dose changes or even abandon certain therapies depending on the outcome of the assessment," he added.

Build-a-baby

Despite hundreds of emails and 14 face-to-face meetings with 23andme, little evidence had been provided, the agency added.

The company said: "We recognise that we have not met the FDA's expectations regarding timeline and communication regarding our submission.

"Our relationship with the FDA is extremely important to us and we are committed to fully engaging with them to address their concerns."

The Center for Genetics and Society said it welcomed the FDA's stance.

"Our society regulates medical products to protect public health. Without strong public oversight, we're back to the era of snake oil," said executive director Marcy Darnovsky.

"The public agency charged with protecting public health has finally lost patience with a private company that seems to think it doesn't have to play by the rules," she added.

It is not the first time the company has hit the headlines. A "build-a-baby" patent, which offered to show perspective parents what traits a future baby may have, was criticised by the Genetics and Society organisation.

The company described the system as an enjoyable way for parents to "dip their toes into genetics".

There are an increasing number of companies offering low-cost home genetic testing - but some medical experts have raised questions about the accuracy of the tests, and asked what benefit they offer to consumers.

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Microsoft Xbox One bans swear words

26 November 2013 Last updated at 07:57 ET

Users of Microsoft's Xbox One console caught swearing in video clips are having their accounts suspended.

Files containing "excessive profanity" will be taken down and their owners will have access to some features on Xbox Live removed.

Microsoft said all files uploaded to its Upload Studio were monitored for violations of its code of conduct.

The review process was to help maintain a clean, safe and fun environment for all users, the company said.

Direct peer-to-peer communications such as Skype chats and calls are not monitored by the Xbox Live enforcement team, according to Microsoft.

Xbox Live, which allows users to upload media files, including videos they have made, and take part in multiplayer games, was available on previous Microsoft consoles, but the company says the new Xbox One console has a more sophisticated system of enforcement.

"As a result, if someone misbehaves on the service, we may only suspend some of their privileges," said a Microsoft spokesperson.

The XBox One was launched in the UK and 12 other countries on 22 November.

Rumours of account suspensions first surfaced on gaming forums, with one user noticing they could not upload videos after previously posting one containing a "bad word."

Ban or suspend

Responses to the action taken by Microsoft were varied.

"I question the validity of this, but the average gamer is 32. I don't mind hearing someone saying it. Free speech," said one member.

Another thought some moderation was necessary: "Game uploads get sent to everyone. You see them when you browse a game etc. There has to be some control and moderation. Your private conversations are not censored or moderated. Only what you share with the public which includes little kids."

Keza MacDonald, UK games editor at IGN.com, said new features on the latest consoles presented challenges for companies.

"What's happening with the new generation of gaming consoles is that they are increasingly incorporating social network-like features - there's a lot more sharing and communication between players, which means more potential for abuse of the terms of service.

"Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have robust parental controls, but those don't apply to content or video that players are uploading and sharing themselves.

"For this reason both Microsoft and Sony are strongly enforcing the terms of service... which is especially important when these consoles are in people's living rooms," she said.

Users of rival console, Sony's PlayStation 4, may also experience a ban if they fail to adhere to the program's terms of service.

Twitch allows gamers to "broadcast, play and chat" using a live streaming service but after reports of people using the feature to show sexual content the company announced that any streams not about gaming or games would be moderated and turned off.

"Twitch has a very strict terms of service policy. We are very vigilant about removing content that breaks the TOS guidelines and depending on the severity of the violation we will either ban or suspend accounts," the company said in a statement given to the website Kotaku.

The service is already very popular via other platforms but the PlayStation 4 is the first console to integrate the Twitch broadcasting feature.

The PlayStation 4 goes on sale in the UK on 29 November.

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Net names .bike and .guru available

26 November 2013 Last updated at 09:03 ET

Nine new web address suffixes, including .bike, .clothing, .singles and .guru, have been made available as the net names system undergoes a radical shake-up.

The new names, formally known as generic top level domains (gTLDs) are currently open only to those with registered trademarks.

They will be open to the general public at the end of January 2014.

New names are expected to be released at a rate of about 10 a week.

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• .guru
• .ventures
• .camera
• .clothing
• .lighting
• .singles
• .voyage
• .holdings
• .equipment

Last month four new domains were launched: شبكة, the Arabic word for "web"; 游戏, the Chinese word for "game"; and the Russian words for "online" and "web site", онлайн and сайт.

Approximately 1,400 new gTLDs are expected to come online in the next few years.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) believes that the new set of names will transform the way business is done online.

"From fashion brands and dating agencies, to spiritual healers and cycle advocates, the launch of these new domains mean consumers can easily find specific content within each extension, while businesses will benefit from a stronger and more relevant online proposition," said Jan Corstens, project director of Icann's Trademark Clearinghouse.

Icann has invited companies to submit applications for names they would like to register.

Firms have come forward to request almost 2,000 new names including the likes of .porn, .ninja, and .ferrari. The BBC has expressed an interest in .bbc.

As well as domain names set aside for brands there will be around 700 more generic names, such as .shop, .hotel and .site.

But not everyone thinks that the shake-up is necessary. The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse estimates that companies will need to spend thousands of pounds to ensure their brands are not hijacked by others.

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