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And here’s something really neat: there are some new papers to be presented at the upcoming NIPS conference that will take things much further — no about language translation per se; but, more generally, about what you can get out of vector space embeddings of entities. |
The old record was about 76%; the new record is near 90%! The kind of thing this can be used to do is to fill in missing relations in Knowlege Graphs; or verify existing relations — now with much greater accuracy. Imagine: when IBM’s Watson answered a question incorrectly, thinking Toronto was a U.S. city — what if it ... |
This paper explains how they have greatly improved the continuous skip-gram algorithm, so that it gives much better vector representations, and can even handle phrases like “Air Canada” (whose meaning can’t be discerned just from the words “air” and “Canada”). |
The work that’s being done with language models right now really is a breakthrough of its own. We’ve known that we can build models where the word “one” and “two” automatically learn that they are pretty close to each other in “vector space”–but now it turns out that you can use other languages to flesh out those simil... |
There are a lot of directions this can go–people might take learned object representations (say, by watching youtube videos) and find that they can be combined with those language models to improve language processing and vice versa (text data helps improve vision performance). |
In 2013, deep learning has started entering the limelight but it’s still a very abstract thing for most people. The “killer app” of deep learning doesn’t exist yet, but I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t make use of these types of concepts and involve some non-trivial NLP. |
Louis Wery, who helps manufacture bathtubs, joined 2,000 other union members on Thursday in returning to work for the Kohler Company – a leading producer of sinks, tubs and toilets – after a 32-day strike that focused on one of the most contentious issues in labor today: two-tier contracts. |
Wery, a Kohler employee for 42 years, attacked Kohler’s demand to keep its two-tier pay system, saying such contracts are grossly unfair because they often pay new workers far less. “Aren’t young people who work alongside me supposed to be treated the same, aren’t we supposed to be equal?” said Wery, a top-tier “tub gr... |
Before the strike began on 15 November, Kohler, with 48 factories and 30,000 employees worldwide, threatened to move many of the production jobs from its headquarters city here, 57 miles north of Milwaukee, if it were forced to end its two-tier contract. |
Before walking out, the workers voted overwhelmingly – by a 94% majority – to authorize a strike and reject Kohler’s demand to keep its two-tier contract. Kohler first pressured the United Auto Workers into accepting a two-tier contract in 2010, when Kohler’s business was ailing because of the Great Recession and weak ... |
Tim Tayloe, president of UAW Local 833, said it was inexcusable that some lower-tier workers still earn just $11.50 an hour. The union says Tier A workers average $22.50 an hour, but Kohler says $23.45. |
Tayloe added that under the new contract, some lower-tier workers will earn $19 to $21 an hour, as much as some top-tier workers. According to Tayloe, the average raise for the Tier B workers will be $4.70 an hour spread over four years – which translates into a 37% raise, according to the union. The UAW. says the near... |
The top-tier workers will receive raises of 50 cents a year for four years, and many will receive one-time payments of $2,000. Tayloe said the improved deal means $7m more in wages over four years than the rejected offer. |
Judging from the mood at the Wednesday night ratification vote, the workers were feeling good about the settlement. |
“It’s a lot better than it was, but I’m sorry the two-tier is still there,” said Antonio Spearman, a Tier B foundry operator, who added that he was glad he would soon receive a $3-an-hour raise. |
Among the workers, there was a strong sense that their sticking together along with robust community support had forced Kohler to bend more than it had intended – even as they recognized that Kohler had dug in on retaining the two tiers. |
Inside his UAW office on Thursday, Tayloe looked exhausted, with dozens of workers dropping in to pick up their $200-a-week check for strike pay. They had to navigate their way around hundreds of toys on the floor – Star Wars Monopoly, Good Kids dolls, Monster Treads Wheelie Tractors – that had been donated for the str... |
Kohler has a notorious labor history. In 1934, after workers went on strike to seek to replace the company-supported union, the walkout turned violent. The strikers turned back a coal car, and in the ensuing battle, two strikers were killed and 40 injured. In 1954, after 2,800 of the 3,300 Kohler workers here walked ou... |
Outside Tayloe’s office is a blown-up photograph of that $3m check. On his desk is an elaborate scrapbook with news stories about the 16-day strike of 1983. “They used the same tactics as in the last strike, threatening to move jobs,” Tayloe said. |
After governor Scott Walker pushed through legislation in 2011 to cripple the state’s public-employee unions – and defied a huge labor protest in doing so – Wisconsin’s unions have worked hard to support each other. The carpenters union donated $42,000 to the Kohler strikers, while the teachers union donated several th... |
The Kohler workers were mindful of the UAW’s recent negotiating battle with General Motors, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler. Rank-and-file autoworkers were eager to end their two-tier contracts with the Detroit Three, and after the Fiat-Chrysler deal was initially voted down, the union got the three automakers to agree to phase... |
The union’s solidarity and the community’s strong backing, Bruno said, helped push Kohler to reach that sweet spot. |
"We've been developing this magazine for all these interesting creative women who enjoy cannabis." |
Getting your veggies is about to get a lot easier. |
Portland is about to get its own cannabis lifestyle magazine run entirely by women, about women—and it's really, really pretty. |
Broccoli, which comes from former Kinfolk creative director Anja Charbonneau looks at cannabis "through an art, fashion and culture lens." It launches in November and will be published three times a year. |
"We've been developing this magazine for all these interesting creative women who enjoy cannabis," Charbonneau tells WW. "It seems like people are ready for something like this." |
The first issue will feature an interview with Korean smoke-wear designers Sundae School, a profile series of the women leading Portland's cannabis scene and a recurring travel feature about places to visit paired with matching cannabis products. |
Though Kinfolk has no previous connection to cannabis, the aesthetic cross over of the two is undeniable. It's exciting for an industry where minimalist, Anthropologie-dream dispensaries like Serra and New Amsterdam are becoming more prevalent, but still are nowhere near the norm. |
Charbonneau says that as the magazine expands, the aesthetic will expand too. |
"I would say that it's maybe more experimental [than Kinfolk Magazine]. There's limitations to a specific brand. We're going easy on the first issue and looking to experiment more a little bit along," she tells WW. "Cannabis is such a fun topic and I think there's a lot of room to be more esoteric and weird and psyched... |
Broccoli will print its first issue in November. You'll be able to pick it up for free at select dispensaries and weed-friendly design/fashion boutiques internationally. Charbonneau hasn't announced a release date yet, but will in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, you can follow Broccoli on Instagram. |
Hewlett-Packard says it has broadened a contract with the satellite TV provider to handle customer-billing technology in a five-year, multimillion-dollar arrangement. |
Hewlett-Packard on Thursday will announce an expanded IT services deal with DirecTV worth hundreds of millions of dollars, continuing the momentum of HP's outsourcing arm. |
The new five-year contract calls for HP to manage the technology behind DirecTV's customer billing. DirecTV, which is a unit of General Motors' Hughes Electronics, has 11 million satellite TV subscribers. |
Precise terms of the deal were not disclosed. A representative from DirecTV confirmed the agreement but could not immediately provide additional comment. |
HP has been hosting DirecTV's billing computer infrastructure for nearly 10 years. With the new contract, HP will also take over the management of DirecTV's billing software system. HP plans to use billing software from DST Innovis. |
HP also will upgrade the billing system's hardware, with HP AlphaServer GS series servers running HP's Tru64 UNIX software and HP StorageWorks data-storage equipment. |
The new gear should prepare DirecTV to handle surges in customer transactions, such as when people sign up during promotions or when the satellite TV service offers a pay-per-view special event such as a prize fight, said Joe Hogan, vice president of managed services for HP Services. |
HP said its outsourcing contract would not have been affected by the proposed merger between Hughes and EchoStar Communications, which owns the Dish Network satellite TV network. On Tuesday, Hughes and EchoStar called off the merger. |
The DirecTV deal is one of the biggest 10 in the past few months snagged by HP managed services, a division of the broader HP Services unit focused on tasks such as running a company's IT infrastructure or operating its tech support service. |
In September, HP announced a seven-year, $1.29 billion deal to manage a major portion of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's IT infrastructure. |
IT outsourcing is gaining steam in general, as companies look to trim costs. Market research firm Gartner has forecast that the IT outsourcing market in North America will jump from $101 billion in 2000 to $160 billion in 2005. Other competitors in the IT outsourcing field include U.S.-based companies IBM, Electronic D... |
HP's services unit has $15 billion in annual revenue and more than 65,000 employees. The company will take another step Thursday on the outsourcing front by announcing a plan to jointly provide outsourcing services with NEC, which makes broadband network technologies and offers outsourcing services. HP and NEC said the... |
Dubai: Passengers travelling with Etihad can score cheaper tickets through the airline’s newly launched fare scheme. |
The Abu Dhabi-based carrier announced on Sunday that it is rolling out its “hand baggage only deal fare” across selected destinations, allowing travellers to save money on tickets in economy, provided they travel light. That is, they travel only with a carry-on bag. |
The airline first carried out a trial of the new scheme late last year, and customer feedback indicated that flyers actually like the idea of having more wallet-friendly fare options. |
With the new deal, flyers can enjoy discounts on fares and carry with them a cabin baggage of up to seven kilos and opt not to check in any luggage. |
So far, the promotional fare can be availed of in flights between Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Azerbaijan. |
“After a successful trial of the deal fare late last year, purchasing behaviour demonstrated guests appreciate having more choice and like to be able to select the travel option that best meets their needs,” said Robin Kamark, Etihad chief commercial officer. |
This is not the first time an airline is offering a "hand baggage only fare." Back in 2015, SpiceJet announced it is offering discounts to flyers who travel only with a carry-on bag. |
Travelling light is said to be environmentally friendly, as it can help reduce fuel consumption. |
To further strengthen its brand, the airline has recently launched a new major partnership with the Italian fragrance brand, Acqua di Parma. |
Starting August, the UAE national carrier introduced a range of exclusive amenity bags and toiletries for its customers travelling in The Residence on its Airbus A380, and on long-haul First Class and Business Class services. |
An upcoming Showtime series highlights debauchery and some of the riskiest bets on Wall Street during the 1980s. |
One extreme example is the “O’Hare Play." Traders would bet on a commodity, then head to the Chicago airport. |
If the bet paid off, they’d set off for a lavish vacation. If not, according to producers, they bought a one-way ticket to start a new life. |
Traders were already famous for risk-taking in the 1980s. But one bet is particularly absurd. |
Producers for an upcoming Showtime series used stories told by former traders in episodes of "Black Monday," premiering Jan. 20. Throughout the '80s, Chicago commodities traders were deploying something known as the "O'Hare Play." |
They would bet on a commodity like soy or wheat, then head off to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. When they arrived, traders would check to see if that investment had paid off. If it did, they set out on a lavish vacation. If not, according to the show's producers, the trader would buy a one-way ticket and star... |
"A lot of it seems crazy," producer David Caspe told The Washington Post. "But that's what was nice about setting it in the '80s — you could be broad and still be grounded." |
CNBC's Jon Najarian, a former trader on the floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, told CNBC while it was rare he also witnessed "airport trades." |
"Some people put on too much risk and bought a one-way ticket," Najarian said. "If the trade blew up, they disappeared." The Chicago trading pits were the Wild West arm of Wall Street at the time, where there were often fistfights along with millionaires being minted. The CME Group closed down most of the famous floors... |
The Showtime series highlights risk, opulence and debauchery in the financial world throughout the decade that's been documented in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" and books like books like "Barbarians at the Gates" and "The Predators' Ball." |
The dramedy's first episode is directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The show is named after the infamous October stock market crash in 1987 that followed a bull market. Based on current market behavior and the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop in December, producers Caspe and Jordan Cahan told the Post the show's ... |
"To see the Dow drop 400 points and then drop another 400 points, and then spike and then go down again — this feels timely in a way we could not have planned," Caspe said. |
Click here to view the full Washington Post article. |
Discrimination can take many forms, but when it comes to finding a roof to put over your head, it can be subtle or even unnoticeable. |
Property managers could racially segregate tenants. Families with children might unknowingly pay a higher rental deposit than those without children. |
In 2009, more than 30,000 complaints were filed with government agencies and not-for-profit agencies for housing discrimination, according to the latest report from the National Fair Housing Alliance. |
The number is a �drop in the bucket,� the report says, compared with an estimated 4 million violations of fair-housing laws. |
According to the report, nearly half the complaints came from people who felt they were denied access to housing because of a disability. |
Complaints of discrimination based on race and family status came in second and third. |
�A lot of times, people don�t know they are being discriminated against,� said Rigel Oliveri, a University of Missouri law professor who spent more than five years as a fair-housing lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice. |
Oliveri will be one of several authorities discussing housing discrimination tomorrow at the city�s third annual Fair Housing Symposium, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Sanford-Kimpton Building, 1005 W. Worley St. |
State and local housing officials also will be there to discuss the rules designed to protect homebuyers and renters from discrimination as well as proposed state legislation that could affect equal access to housing. |
Missouri legislators recently approved a measure that would change workplace discrimination laws, essentially making it more difficult for employees to take legal action against employers. Republican leaders have portrayed the bill as a measure that could spur economic development. But Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon disagre... |
What has been less discussed are the bill�s possible effects on protections against housing discrimination, said Alisa Warren, executive director of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. Oliveri said the measure would increase the burden of proof for victims of housing discrimination. �Basically, it requires you to ... |
Columbia�s Human Rights Commission issued a memo to the Columbia City Council urging its members to denounce the bill. |
At the April 4 meeting, council members said they were uneasy about taking sides in what they considered a statewide issue and took no action. |
CryptoKitties aims to make blockchain technology accessible by leveraging the power of fun. |
VANCOUVER, Nov. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - CryptoKitties is the world's first game built on the Ethereum network. Releasing to the public on November 28th, users can collect and breed digital cats called CryptoKitties. The game uses ether (ETH), a digital currency, for all its transactions. |
Most of the game's appeal comes from its breeding system and the unique offspring that can emerge from it. When two CryptoKitties breed, their offspring's appearance, biography, and traits result from each parent's 256-bit genome, leading to 4-billion possible genetic variations. |
"The CryptoKitties economy is entirely decentralized and impossible for the development team to manipulate," says Dieter Shirley, CryptoKitties' Technical Architect. "Anyone on the team with knowledge of the breeding algorithm is prohibited from playing." |
On Thursday, November 23rd, CryptoKitties launched its closed beta to 200 early access users. Within three hours, the decentralized app (dApp) was the third most active smart contract on the Ethereum network, accounting for roughly 2% of all Ether transactions. |
Since then, over 25 ETH (roughly $11,750 USD) has been used to collect and breed CryptoKitties, and there are roughly 34 CryptoKitties for every early access user. |
CryptoKitties launched their alpha at ETHWaterloo, the world's largest Ethereum hackathon, in October, 2017. The team also won the hackathon with Rufflet, a mixpanel application for smart contracts. |
"The reaction to CryptoKitties in Waterloo was incredibly validating," says Benny Giang, CryptoKitties' Head of Community. "We helped crypto newcomers set up a MetaMask wallet, call a function on our smart contract, and come out of the other end being super enthusiastic about everything blockchain." |
Dmitry Buterin, founder of BlockGeeks, and father of Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, was an early CryptoKitties advocate. Buterin helped design an exclusive CryptoKitty that the game's community can unlock through breeding. |
Unlike most blockchain projects, CryptoKitties ignored the traditional ICO approach, opting instead for a sustainable revenue model. A small percentage of each marketplace transaction will support the project, though it's possible for users to avoid this small fee by operating outside of the CryptoKitties' supported ma... |
"Our approach to brand and marketing is, in part, a tongue-in-cheek critique of the ICO market today," says Elsa Wilk, CryptoKitties Marketing Director. |
"Blockchain technology could be the biggest technology revolution since the Internet," says Wilk, "but opportunists, investment froth, and a lack of consideration for everyday consumers is distracting folks from the technology's long-term potential." |
CryptoKitties is developed by Axiom Zen, an award-winning venture studio specializing in emerging technology. CryptoKitties team members include startup founders, early crypto advocates, and blockchain specialists from a diverse range of backgrounds. |
About Axiom Zen: Axiom Zen is a venture studio with offices all over the world and headquarters in Vancouver, BC. Specializing in emerging technology, Axiom Zen was named first among Canada's Most Innovative Companies by Canadian Business. Their products are used by Adobe, Microsoft, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laborator... |
Axiom Zen is the team behind CryptoKitties. |
Joel McVeagh. Picture by Robert Chilton. |
A Leeds actor has landed his biggest role yet with a Netflix comedy filmed in Romania. |
Joel McVeagh, 21, of Guiseley, plays the best friend of Rose McIver’s main character in A Christmas Prince, which is due out around the festive period. |
He said that his mum Yvonne was “jumping around the living room” after his agent Matthew Zina revealed that he bagged a part. |
Mr McVeagh, of Ings Lane, said: “It was a super experience. It was definitely a new experience for me. |
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