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Daily Archives: June 19, 2017
How Google is powering its next-generation AI – T3
Posted: June 19, 2017 at 7:17 pm
If you paid any attention to Google's big developer conference earlier this year then you'll know artificial intelligence is about to get big - really big. It's already powering most of Google's apps, one way or another, and the other giants in tech are scrambling to keep up.
So what's all the fuss about? Here we're going to dig deeper into some of the AI announcements Google shared at I/O 2017, and explain how they're going to change the way you interact with your gadgets - from your smartphone to your music speakers.
In broad terms artificial intelligence (usually) refers to a piece of software or a machine that simulates smart, human-like intelligence - even if it's just a hollow robot being operated by a person behind a curtain, pretending to respond to your commands, that's still a kind of AI.
Within that you've got all kinds of branches, categories and approaches. As you may have noticed, different types of AI are better at different tasks: the AI responsible for beating humans at board games isn't necessarily going to be any good at holding up a conversation across an instant messenger app, for instance.
The type of AI Google is most interested in is known as machine learning, where computers learn for themselves based on huge banks of sample data. That could be learning what a picture of a dog looks like or learning how to drive a car, but whatever the end goal, there are two steps: training and inference.
During training, the system is fed with as much sample information as possible - so maybe millions of photos of dogs. The smart algorithms inside the AI then try and spot patterns in the images that suggest a dog, knowledge that's then applied in the inference stage. The end result is an app that recognises your pets in pictures.
Artificial intelligence is already all over Google's apps, whether it's in spotting which email messages are likely to be spam in Gmail, or making recommendations about what you'd like to listen to next in Google Play Music. Any decision not made by a human could be construed as AI of some kind.
Another example is voice commands in the Google Assistant. When you ask it to do something, the sound waves created by your voice are compared to the knowledge Google's systems have gained from analysing huge numbers of other audio snippets, and the app then (hopefully) understands what you're saying.
Translating text from one language into another, working out which ads best match which sets of search results, all of these jobs that apps and computers do can be enhanced by AI. It's even popped up in the Smart Reply feature recently added to Gmail - short snippets of text you might want to use in response, based on an (anonymous) analysis of countless other emails.
And Google isn't slowing down, either. The company is busy working hard to improve its efforts in AI, as we saw at I/O earlier in the year - that means more efficient algorithms, a better end experience for users, and even AI that can teach itself to be better.
We've talked about machine learning but there's a branch of machine learning that Google engineers are specifically interested in called deep learning - that's where AI systems try and mimic the human brain to deal with vast amounts of information.
It's a machine learning technique made possible by the massive amounts of computational power now available to us. In the case of the dog pictures example we mentioned above, it means more layers of analysis, more subtasks making up the main task, and the system itself taking on more of the burden of working out the right answer (so figuring out what makes a dog picture a dog picture, rather than being told by programmers, in our earlier example).
Deep learning means machine learning that relies less on code and instructions written by humans, and deep learning systems are known as neural networks, named after the neurons in the human brain. On stage at Google I/O 2017 we saw a new system called AutoML, which is essentially AI teaching itself - whereas in the past small teams of scientists have had to choose the best coding route to produce the most effective neural nets, now computers can start to do it for themselves.
On its servers, Google has an army of processing units called Cloud TPUs (Tensor Processing Units) designed to handle all this deep thinking. In fact, Google makes some of its AI available to all via the TensorFlow portal - developers can plug the smart algorithms and machine learning power into their own apps, if they know how to harness it. In return, Google gets the best AI minds and apps in the business using its own services.
There was no doubt during the I/O 2017 keynote that Google thinks AI will be the most important area of technology for the foreseeable future - more important, even, than how many megapixels it's going to pack into the camera of the Pixel 2 smartphone.
You can therefore expect to hear a lot more about Google and artificial intelligence in the future, from smart, automatic features in Gmail to map directions that know where you're going before you do. The good news is that it seems keen to bring everyone else along for the ride too, making its platforms and services available for others to make use of, and improving the level of AI across the board.
One of the biggest advances you'll see on your phone is the quality of the digital assistant apps, which are set to take on a more important role in the future: choosing the apps you see, the info you need, and much more. We've also been treated to a glimpse of an app called Google Lens, a smart camera add-on that means your phone will know what it's looking at and be able to make decisions at all times.
The AI systems being developed by Google go way beyond our own consumer gadgets and services too - they're being used in the medical profession as well, where deep learning systems can spot the spread of certain diseases much earlier than doctors can, because they've got so much more data to refer to.
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The Four Immortality Stories We Tell Ourselves – Big Think (blog)
Posted: at 7:15 pm
Since the moment humans became aware of their existence, they have been haunted by the knowledge that it will inevitably come to an end and the hope to change this unfortunate fate.
This month, during Brain Bar Budapest Europes leading conference on the future Stephen Cave talked about the four immortality stories we tell ourselves and how they are changing in the context of new scientific discoveries and technological advancements. Stephen Cave spent a decadestudying and teaching philosophy, and was awarded his PhD in metaphysics from the University of Cambridge in 2001. He isExecutive Director of theLeverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligenceand Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge.
Stephen Cave / Credit: Speakerpedia
Thinking about our own mortality has significant effects on the mind. Studies show that when people are reminded that they are going to die, those who are religious become more religious, those who are patriotic, become more patriotic whatever makes up the core of their worldview, they defend it more aggressively. They are also more likely to believe any kind of story that tells them they may live forever.
We need to tell ourselves stories that deny the reality of death so that we can manage the paralyzing fear of death. In social psychology this is called terror management theory (TMT) where humans embrace stories, cultural values, and symbolic systems to alleviate the fear of death. Stephen Cave points out that civilization as a whole can be viewed as a collection of life-extension technologies, the motivation for its existence being again immortality.
In the age of unprecedented technological advancements, stories about how new scientific discoveries will extend our lives abound in our cultural narrative. As new as these may seem they are nothing but upgrades of four basic narratives weve been telling ourselves for.
Immortality Story I: The Elixir Story
Almost every culture has some version of the story of the elixir of life or the fountain of youth. It is the most basic form of immortality story - avoiding death physically by staying young and healthy day after day and somehow managing to keep it up forever. To some extent civilization has helped us do that - our ancestors had a life expectancy of 30-40 years, while ours has doubled. This longevity revolution is one of the most important ones in human history and thanks to science and technology perhaps we are on the verge of even another doubling of life expectancy.
To sober us, Cave reminds us that the ancient Egyptians believed exactly the same thing 4000 years ago, and the ancient Chinese believed it 2000 years ago seeing their civilizations as incredibly advanced and believing beating death must be just around the corner. Cave urges us to be skeptical about these stories. Perhaps in our lifetime we will live till 120 or even 150 an unprecedented technological marvel - but that is still far from eternity.
Physicist Geoffrey West explains why we don't live for more than 100 years:
Immortality Story II: The Resurrection Story
If we are not able to extend our lives indefinitely, there is the hope that even if we die, we could rise again and live again. We see a symbolic resurrection in nature every year with the changing of the seasons as well as a literal one in Christianity. But even if you dont believe that an omnipotent god could resurrect you, you can believe that omnipotent scientists and doctors could do the same in the future. As of May 2017, The Alcor Life Extension Foundation, for example, has 151 patients in cryopreservation whole bodies or brains preserved in liquid nitrogen, awaiting a moment in the future when they could be brought back to life.
Here, Cave reminds us of Mary Shellys Frankenstein the creature that rises from the dead but has no identity. The resurrection story has a deep philosophical flaw if a person seizes to exist and is rebuilt again, it is impossible to know if we are bringing the same person to life or we are creating a copy.
By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Google books) [Public domain] / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
To save us from this philosophical flaw comesthe story of the immaterial essence that lives on even after we die the soul.
Immortality Story III: The Story of the Soul
If we embrace the idea of the soul, we can give up on the body altogether because our true essence becomes not a physical organism but an immaterial thing. Many thinkers from Plato to the Hindus have argued that the body is an obstacle to immortality and the main goal in life is to become pure spirit.
This story too is being reinvented by our technological age with the idea of mind uploading and scientific fields like Whole brain emulation (WBE). Organizations like Carboncopieshope to create accurate computational models of neural tissue at the scale of complete brains, as well as develop neuromorphic hardware to run simulations of these models.
According to Cave, as science progresses the idea of a separate immaterial soul is becoming less and less plausible, as we learn that the real "you" is dependent on your particular brain. As bits of the brains are destroyed, bits of the personality are destroyed as well. And it is not just the brain itself that makes up who you are but also the millions of chemical reactions that happen in the body to produce sensations and emotions.
Unable to save the body or the soul, we are left with the last immortality story, which says that the real you is a bundle of things, and as you die the bundle scatters but its elements can live on.
Immortality Story IV: The Legacy Story
Here Cave reminds us of the story of Achilles who was given the choice to go home and live a long and happy life or stay in Troy, fight and die but be remembered forever asthe greatest hero of all times. Many people have been inspired by the pursuit of immortality through fame and cultural legacy. Nowadays, technology gives everyone the means to instant fame, enables us to build our own statues through tweets and instagrams, and allows us to capture and preserve every moment of our life.
But many consider this route to immortality far too indirect. Cave quotes Woody Allen who famously said:
I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen, I want to live on in my apartment.
==
Having run out of stories to keep us alive forever, in the end of his talk, Cave urges us to embrace a fifth narrative. He explains that the fear of death is based on a misconception, and while it is natural, it is not rational. He reminds us of the words of the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein:
Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in just the way in which our visual field has no limits.
The fifth narrative is to look at life as if it was a book. Just like a book is bounded by its covers, our life is bounded by birth and death. However, even though a book is limited by a beginning and end, the characters in it know no horizons.
You can only know what happens inside the covers these are the moments of your life. It makes no sense for you to fear what is outside of these covers before your birth or after your death. In fact, if you think how unlikely it is that the book of your life should have ever come to be written all of the coincidences from the beginning of life that brought you here - the proper attitude is not fear that it might come to an end but gratitude that it should have been written at all. So there is no room to complain how short life is - the only thing that matters is that you try to make it a good story.
Bill Nye's has similar thoughts on immortality:
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The Four Immortality Stories We Tell Ourselves - Big Think (blog)
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Suffering from severe pain? Experts say THIS form of alternative medicine will work just as well as drugs! – Zee News
Posted: at 7:15 pm
New Delhi: The phobia of needles is something many people will confess to, but, the alternative medicine of acupuncture that involves thin needles being inserted into various points on your body, adheres to effective healing of many health problems.
A new study conducted by researchers RMIT University in Australia has revealed that the form of holistic medicine is also a safe and effective alternative to painkillers in providing long-term relief for patients with severe pain.
Researchers conducted a trial in the emergency departments of four hospitals involving about 528 patients with acute low back pain, migraine or ankle sprains.
Acupuncture is a key component of traditional Chinese medicine.
Patients who identified their level of pain as at least four on a 10-point scale randomly received one of three types of treatment acupuncture alone, acupuncture plus pharmacotherapy (treatment using drugs) or pharmacotherapy alone.
Researchers noted that one hour after treatment, less than 40 percent of patients across all three groups felt any significant pain reduction, while more than 80 percent continued to have a pain rating of at least four.
However, 48 hours later, the vast majority found their treatment acceptable, with 82.8 percent of acupuncture only patients saying they would probably or definitely repeat their treatment, compared with 80.8 percent in the combined group, and 78.2 percent in the pharmacotherapy-only group, researchers said.
"Our study has shown acupuncture is a viable alternative, and would be especially beneficial for patients who are unable to take standard pain-relieving drugs because of other medical conditions," said Marc Cohen, professor at RMIT University.
While acupuncture is widely used by practitioners in community settings for treating pain, it is rarely used in hospital emergency departments, researchers said.
"We need to determine the conditions that are most responsive to acupuncture, the feasibility of including the treatment in emergency settings, and the training needed for doctors or allied health personnel," Cohen said.
The study was published in the Medical Journal of Australia.
(With PTI inputs)
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Centre of Awareness clears air about food supplement – Graphic Online
Posted: at 7:14 pm
The Centre of Awareness (COA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and a medicine manufacturing firm, has dismissed claims that it advertises and promotes its COA FS food supplement as a cure for HIV and AIDS.
According to the centre, the product is registered with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) as a food supplement that boosts the immune system and not a therapy for HIV and AIDS or a replacement for anti-retroviral drugs (ARTs).
It has, therefore, cautioned the public to desist from spreading false information about the centre and its products.
Reactions
A few months ago, the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council (ERCC) and the Regional AIDS Committee ordered the COA to halt all adverts in the media about the supplement being a substitute for ARTs.
At a press conference in Accra yesterday, however, the Executive President of the centre, Dr Samuel Ato Duncan, said the company had not run any adverts to that effect.
There is only one advertisement approved by the FDA, which is played on two programmes; namely, The Miser shown on GTV and the R&L Show on Joy Prime TV, featuring Kwame Djokoto, an actor, and a lady.
The COA FS is described only as an immune booster and not a cure for HIV and AIDS in that advertisement. So it is wrong for anyone or an institution to allude that the centre has put out adverts to deceive the public, he said.
Dr Ducan said he believed some people were out to tarnish the hard-earned image of the company, but that would not wash since the product had been globally accepted.
The centre also gave opportunities to some users of COA FS, including rapper OJ Blaq, to give testimonies about how it had improved their general wellbeing since they started using it.
About COA FS
COA FS is a plant extract which supports the immune system to fight chronic diseases such as HIV and AIDS, hepatitis, liver disorders, cancers, hypertension, diabetes, and other blood-related diseases.
It has been scientifically tested by the Centre for Plant Medicine at Akuapem Mampong and the Nugochi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Legon, as well as other international bodies as an immune booster.
Though Dr Duncan emphasised that the COA FS was not a remedy for HIV and AIDS, it was likely that due to its efficacy, some dealers and suppliers of the food supplement were misinforming the public in that regard.
Aims of the centre
Dr Duncan reaffirmed the centres resolve to produce medicines that would help to treat diseases and ailments.
One of the aims of the centre is to research and develop medicines that can treat diseases that affect the wellbeing of humanity, he said.
Dr Duncan also cautioned the public not to rely on chemical-based food supplements as that could be harmful to ones health, the reason for which we developed the COA FS.
He stated that the product was already available in countries such as Germany, United Kingdom,South Africa, Sierra Leone, Canada, the United States, Spain and Belgium.
We, therefore, urge the general public, especially our clients, to disregard the erroneous impression being created by some people that the product is not safe and should not be taken by anybody, he added.
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Centre of Awareness clears air about food supplement - Graphic Online
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North America Dietary Supplements Market is expected to reach USD 68.22 billion by 2025 – PR Newswire (press release)
Posted: at 7:14 pm
Rising consumer awareness regarding proper weight management and improvement of muscular strength is likely to boost the demand of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and enzymes in North America, over the years ahead.
Leading corporates including Microsoft, IBM, ExxonMobil, AT&T, GM, and GSK have increased expenditure for the development of gymnasiums and fitness centers in their commercial offices.
As a result, the health & wellness segment is expected to witness a noteworthy increase that is ultimately expected to play a crucial role in promoting the use of dietary supplements over the forecast period.
The North America dietary supplements market is expected to reach USD 68.22 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Rising consumer awareness regarding proper weight management and improvement of muscular strength is likely to boost the demand of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and enzymes in North America, over the years ahead.
Consumers belonging to all age groups are focusing on enhancing their diet intake through utilization of nutritional food ingredients, owing to increasing publicity through media houses and e-commerce portals is expected to promote the scope of nutraceuticals including dietary supplements.
Leading corporates including Microsoft, IBM, ExxonMobil, AT&T, GM, and GSK have increased expenditure for the development of gymnasiums and fitness centers in their commercial offices. As a result, the health & wellness segment is expected to witness a noteworthy increase that is ultimately expected to play a crucial role in promoting the use of dietary supplements over the forecast period.
Further key findings from the report suggest: In terms of revenue, minerals segment is estimated to be one of the fastest growing segments and is likely to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% over the forecast period, owing to significant usage of mineral-based dietary supplements in the U.S. and Canada Liquid product segment is expected to provide considerable scope for market growth and is estimated to account for a revenue of USD 10.40 billion by 2025, as a consequence of rising clinical nutrition products demand for prevention of malnutrition Medicinal supplements application constituted a revenue of USD 6.40 billion in 2016 and is likely to expand at a robust growth rate by 2025, owing to rising health risks pertaining to cardiovascular, obesity, and gastrointestinal disorders Mexico is projected to witness fastest industry growth during the forecast period, owing to rising usage of ingredients such as botanicals and vitamins among children, infants, and adult age groups Amway Corporation, Pfizer Inc., NBTY, Inc., and Herbalife International are the key players that collectively accounted for over 15% market share of the global industry in 2016 Companies are focusing on strengthening their presence as key players, by forward integrating their business operations across the value chain and through implementing strategies such as distribution agreements and new product launches. In April 2016, Amway Corporation launched a new sports nutrition product line to cater to the regional demand. Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04946474/North-America-Dietary-Supplements-Market-Analysis-By-Ingredient-Botanicals-Vitamins-Minerals-By-Product-Tablets-Capsules-Gel-Caps-By-Application-By-End-use-And-Segment-Forecasts.html
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USAF seeks to expand F-16 life-extension program – Quwa – Quwa Defence News & Analysis Group
Posted: at 7:13 pm
Quwa Defence News & Analysis Group | USAF seeks to expand F-16 life-extension program - Quwa Quwa Defence News & Analysis Group The U.S. Air Force is looking to expand its service-life extension program (SLEP) from 4000 additional hours to 5856 hours. |
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USAF seeks to expand F-16 life-extension program - Quwa - Quwa Defence News & Analysis Group
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Does it matter who designed your watch? – GQ.com
Posted: at 7:12 pm
Will who designed a watch become more important than who made it? It seems a ridiculous idea, when the most sought-after watches are still those made by individual watchmakers, whether working under their own names or for larger brands the more complicated watches from the top maisons are almost always made by a single watchmaker.
However, two forces at play are changing the picture. The first is that, for most watches, more of the actual watchmaking than ever before is done by machine, a direction of travel that improving technology and a tougher business environment is propelling more surely than ever. The result is that the difference between one watch and another is owed more to the engineering design than the skill of the watchmakers doing the assembly its who designed the system that made the watch rather than who made it.
The second is that the watch industrys traditional approach to design is simply out of date. In a design-literate world in which we know who designed everything from our chairs to our shirts, to accept that our watches simply come from this brand or that maison no longer makes sense. The watch industry takes its own good time to adjust, but design is now part of the conversation in ways that would have been unthinkable in earlier decades.
Ceramica by Rado, 1,705. rado.com
The watchmaking world was actually relatively quick to adopt the idea of brands in the modern sense Longines, in 1889, was one of the first to register a trademark and the winged hourglass is the oldest extant registration at WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organisation). At a time when precision and quality were much more variable than today, brands focused their marketing on those qualities almost to the exclusion of everything else. For most of the 20th century, only a few brands had a consistent look across their collections and the design of a watch might owe as much to external suppliers (of cases, dials and hands) as to any directed aesthetic. Instead, the priorities were functional both in terms of the retail product offered and the manufacturing process. Jack Heuer, himself an acknowledged devotee of mid-century architects such as Oscar Niemayer, revealed that the 1963 Carrera owed its most identifiable feature (an angled inner flange on which the tachymetre scale was printed) to a new method for fixing the crystal in place. From almost the same period came what is generally accepted as the finest watch design of all, the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, for which there seems to be no evidence at all as to who designed it.
There were exceptions of course: Louis Cartier, whose Tank is a century old this year, clearly had a strong vision for the watches he designed. Similarly, Hans Wilsdorf of Rolex and Henri Stern of Patek Philippe were detail obsessives that allowed nothing to pass without their approval. Nevertheless, the actual business of producing final designs was left to draughtsmen working to order and, as Jaeger-LeCoultres Reverso or even early Panerais demonstrate, having anonymous designers didnt mean poor design.
Edge by Movado, 800. movado.com
Nevertheless, the post-war rise of the designer was inevitably going to reach the watch world. That it did so first in the United States probably shouldnt be a surprise. Movados Museum Watch, with its dial being defined by a solitary dot at 12 to symbolise the sun at high noon, was designed in 1947 by the Bauhaus-influenced artist Nathan George Horwitt. (NB: it was first made by Vacheron & Constantin-LeCoultre Watches Inc, and only later produced by Movado.) The Museum Watch might have been an anomaly, or at least a rarity (Warhol also designed a watch for Movado) had Hamilton not followed suit a decade later.
The company had been experimenting with a new electronic movement since 1946 and wanted the watch to have a suitably futuristic design when it was finally ready in 1957 it turned to Richard Arbib, an industrial designer with a reputation for ideas that captured the space-age zeitgeist. The result was the Ventura, a watch unlike anything before, though its fame owes as much to Elvis Presley wearing one as its futuristic lines.
TYPE 3 B in titanium/black matt pvd by Ressence, 33,500. ressencewatches.com
Matthew Beedle
If the next decades most famous watches were, effectively, unsigned, it was a jobbing watch designer, Grald Genta, that would change the terms of engagement with a string of highly recognisable and still sought-after designs for Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and others. And while it was only once collectors began to value his work that his name escaped the industry and he achieved recognition in his own right, it was his reputation in the industry that allowed him the creative freedom to make sure it was his ideas that saw the light of day.
Gentas path was followed in relatively quick succession by Jorg Hysek who designed the 222 for Vacheron Constantin (from which the contemporary Overseas is derived) and went on to produce key designs for Breguet, Seiko, TAG Heuer and Tiffany & Co. By 2005, when Dior planned the launch of a new mens collection it was unthinkable that the watch would be designed without the houses then artistic director, Hedi Slimane, being closelyinvolved.
Octo 41 mm by Bulgari, 5,800. bulgari.com
Matthew Beedle
Now its simply a matter of strategic choice, there are brands that emphasise design and brands with other stories to tell. For Patek Philippe, the maisons identity must come first, second and third, but no one at Patek pretends that design is irrelevant (you might even hear a whisper to the effect that Mme Christine Stern likes to keep a watchful eye on proceedings). Similarly, the house styles of both Panerai and A. Lange & Shne are so central to their brand identities that it is, effectively, the brand that signs the watches. Rado, meanwhile, has long made design a priority, regularly working with outside designers such as Konstantin Grcic.
Smaller independents are naturally somewhat freer to produce designs that challenge and with several having come into existence from the wider design world rather than watchmaking, its been no surprise to see some fairly radical takes on the basic form of a wristwatch. Of the more successful, Benot Mintiens Ressence project and Martin Frei, the co-founder of Urwerk stand out for having introduced designs that have come to be seen as almost natural. Pushing hardest at the envelope of the past 20 years has been Maximilian Bsser. Firstly through the Opus series that he created for Harry Winston and then through his MB&F project, Bsser has encouraged designers, watchmakers and, crucially, collectors to embrace a much more liberal approach to design. Theres a fine line between the intriguing and the ridiculous though, which is why Bsser (a) is clear about his intentions and (b) works so closely with Eric Giroud, the industrys go-to designer.
HM8 CAN-AM in wg by MB&F, 78,000. mbandf.com
Matthew Beedle
Even for maisons where it is the brand that takes centre stage, theres been a much greater acknowledgement of design as part of a brands identity. Jaeger-LeCoultre is a serious watchmaking Grande Maison first and foremost, but have long given equal billing to Janek Deleskiewicz, the brands artistic director for the past three decades. More recently, Bulgari has elevated the director of its Watches Design Centre, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, to a starring role in the development of its products. Meanwhile, Deleskiewiczs former boss was Jrme Lambert, has moved to Montblanc where hes appointed Davide Cerrato to give life to the vision that Lambert has for the brand. The critical and commercial success that Montblanc has achieved owes much to the partnership Lamberts created, pointing to the critical role that the CEO plays.
So should you now care more about the designer than the watchmaker or the brand? On occasion yes, but it isnt a binary question. Design matters, even in the most horological of spheres Vacheron Constantins 57260, the most complicated watch ever made, certainly tested the watchmakers and engineers, but Vacheron were right to emphasise the achievement of the maisons design team in making visual sense of such a dense package of indications and dials.
Styling by Grace Gilfeather
This was first published in GQ magazine. Subscribe now to get 6 issues of GQ for only 15, including free access to the interactive iPad and iPhone editions. Alternatively, choose from one of our fantastic digital-only offers, available across all devices.
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Blue State, Red State – Fayette Newspapers
Posted: at 7:12 pm
A civil war may be defined as a violent clash within the boundaries of a particular country initiated by radicals who are unwilling to accept the governance of anyone not chosen by them. The goal of the radical element is to regain power to the ends that abolish, by any means necessary, the existing government policies. An integral part of any civil war is the undermining of the party du jour, i.e., spreading scurrilous and false information to the people without naming any sources. This insures that the population would have no way to challenge the information. Once this operation has placed a seed of discontent and suspicion against the ruling party, the radicals then move to phase two: Visual displays that graphically depict the party in power as vile racists and xenophobes? The modern day radical has the same modus operandi, but it is more refined. I digress. The question is: What drove these modern day radicals to such extreme measures? Simple answer: Donald J. Trump. And who is to blame for the flame out of the Democrat party? Well, lets see. How about Hillary? I would quote Camille Paglia who said, With her supercilious, Marie Antoinette-style entitlement persona, who was a disastrously wrong candidate to begin with, and secured the nomination only through overt chicanery by the Democratic National Committee, assisted by a corrupt national media who, for over a year, imposed a virtual blackout on potential primary rivals. The most fervid Hillary acolytes (especially among young and middle aged women, show biz types, and denizens of the unisex movement) were so obtusely indifferent to Hillarys incompetence as Secretary of State, they failed to recognize that the only accomplishments of note (but those only deserve a Bronx cheer) by Hillary was her piling up air miles, lying to the family of the Ben Gazi victims, and the destabilization of North Africa. After Hillarys loss, her dazed and confused sycophantic pant-suit gang expected some sort of salvivic sermon of regret, or in the least a mild crimination, but no. Hillary went hiding into the woods and just recently (to receive a big fat check for a speech) emerged. Subsequently, after the retirement of Harry Reid as Democratic Leader, the disingenuous Chuck Schumer, who had neither a care nor concern for moral authority, ascended to the leadership role. There were no statesman-like words of caution and restraint from either Reid or Schumer. Thus, there was none. The crazies among the radicals took the gloves off. One hack comedian published on national social media the (beheaded) bloody head of President Trump; a theatre troupe in New York put on a play ostensibly about Julius Caesar, when in actuality it graphically showed the assassination of President Trump and his wife; Madonna expressed her desire to blow up the White House (I suppose with the President in it). Now for the denouement by the crazy left. Some hayseed Trump hater from Illinois moved bag and baggage into his van, put sheets over the windows, and drove on down to Alexandria, Virginia to be near Congressional goings on. After his shower at the YMCA, he produced an assault rifle and began to fire indiscriminately at a baseball practice squad consisting of a bunch of republicans. A left wing radicals dream. Edward Gibbon said in his Magnus Opus, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, The most worthless of mankind are not afraid to condemn in others the same disorders which they allow in themselves; and can readily discover some convenient difference in age, character, or station, to justify the distinction.This was the prevailing zeitgeist in 476 A.D. at the fall of the Roman Empire. Does it have a familiar ring in 2017 A.D?
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Dominic Hinde: Vague Brexit approach means UK is in for ‘wild two years’ – The Scotsman
Posted: at 7:11 pm
10:22 Monday 19 June 2017
The British economy is so entangled with the EU that cutting it off virtually overnight would be disastrous, writes Dominic Hinde
When I was in my first year of university, I wrote a terrible essay on the advantages of leaving the EU.
Going through the feedback on the exam script was sobering, and put an end to the delusions about my own genius Id carried over from school.
As the lecturer pointed out, I had written a barely coherent 2000 words based on some vague ideas about Norway. If I had carried on in the same vein Id have failed my degree, and it would have been entirely my own fault.
Fast-forward a decade and UK politics looks like my teenage hubris writ large.
Competing voices in the Conservatives are expressing support for hard, soft, open and wet Brexits.
Get the latest news on Brexit from our politics section
All of these are essentially meaningless, because none of them have outlined how these relate to specific parts of the Treaty on European Union, the central agreement the UK has decided to withdraw from.
Everyone knows the UK is seceding from the treaty, but nobody knows which parts it wants to replicate, and how it views its relationship to the associated Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which outlines the details of everything from the free movement of goods to the European Investment Bank and structural funds.
Any kind of soft Brexit will mean finding a special place for Britain in the second treaty instead of relegating it to a place as merely another part of EU external policy.
The European negotiating team had hoped that Britain might give it some idea of what it wanted from Brexit, but as negotiations start in Brussels today, nobody on the European side seems sure what Britain actually sees as its destination.
READ MORE - UK will seek a deal like no other on Brexit
The fallacy that appears to exist at the top levels of British government that specific deals can be done on a sector by sector basis is a dangerous one.
The EU treaties forbid member states from negotiating individual trading agreements, so the idea that German cars (many of which are manufactured outside Germany in other EU states) being sold in the Home Counties would somehow mean a good deal for the UK is a non-starter.
The second point of the Brexit manifesto that the UK can forge trade agreements with developing economies is also difficult to stand up.
The EU already has free trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, South Africa, South Korea, and Singapore, and is negotiating or near implementation with Canada, India and Brazil, as well as a host of developing African states.
The UK will exit the European union with potentially worse trading conditions than ever before, losing access not merely to EU markets but a host of others.
READ MORE - SNP Westminster leader: Brexit talks must involve all parties
If the UK agrees to continue cooperating with EU external trade policy as a matter of necessity to keep these markets open then it will also bind itself to the EU more generally, but without having any power within the European Commission or European Parliament.
Another major risk is that the UK share of the EUs overall economic heft is footloose; something the EU knows.
If financial services disappear to Frankfurt or Paris, Britain does not have a resource-based economy to fall back on.
It is also neither food nor energy independent, and needs to avoid tariffs on importing both.
What Britain does have is fish, and all the fishing towns who voted to leave the EU may find out that access to UK waters is very much on the table when London has such a poor hand and lack of direction.
If Britain fails to agree a deal and really does fall out of the EU without reaching consensus, then there is no knowing what will happen.
Food prices could soar, the pound could plummet, and the UK tax base could shrink to the point that public services already under huge strain would fall apart.
Britains economy is so entangled with the EU that cutting it off more or less overnight would be nothing short of a catastrophe.
Hold onto your hats, because the next two years are going to be wild.
Dominic Hinde is a European correspondent and visiting researcher at the University of Edinburgh.
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Dominic Hinde: Vague Brexit approach means UK is in for 'wild two years' - The Scotsman
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Berlin blog: We need action to encourage startups to establish and stay in NL – CBC.ca
Posted: at 7:11 pm
Today I grabbed Berlin's S-Bahn to the coolest stop yet; I took the U2 from Zoo Station. If that sounds familiar, you might be a U2 fan like me. It was an indication of the cool things to come later in the day.
We heard from Barr Solomon Dalung, the minister of youth and sports for Nigeria. While Nigeria is not a member of the G20, they sent a delegation of observers to this summit. This shows the courage and tenacity of the Nigerian people, and their recognition of the importance of the digital economy for the future of Africa.
At the same time as Dalung's inspiring speech, the communiqu process was underway upstairs on the third floor of Haus der Deutschen Wirtschaft. The communiqu includes all the recommendations made by the G20's young entrepreneurs to help focus for policy development.
The three main priorities for 2017-2018 are(drumroll, please):
What do these priorities mean for Newfoundland ?
Newfoundland has a strong culture of passion and perseverance. The three G20 priorities can and should be promoted in our own province. We have immense talent amongour youth but we lack the infrastructure to support it. We need to realize the pace at which others are moving and accelerate our efforts.
I'd like to see the government of Newfoundland and Labrador use these recommendations to become tech leaders in Canada as opposed to laggards. We don't do enough to support the young minds and talent we have here, especially those who migrate here for education.
The founders of Hey Orca, a successful, St. John's-based startup, almost faced deportation because they worked for themselves and not for a business. They now employ 25 full-time NLers and are growing.
Genesis Centre, located on Memorial University's campus,has just been recognized as a qualified innovation hub for the Start Up VISA Program. Now we need the resources to administer and promote the program. We have the power to recruit talent, and a partnership with local legal firms could help this initiative succeed. Let's mobilize government, education, industry, and our young minds like the Nigerians are doing.
Taxes, taxes, taxes Let's just say Newfoundland and Labrador is not the most hospitable for startup businesses right now.
The Canadian delegation to the G20 summit in Berlin. Dana Parsons is in the middle row, second from left. (Submitted)
Everything from insurance taxation to high Canada Revenue Agency penalties impedes local start ups. I'm convinced that local government can make small incentives to assist those working in the province and lessen the desire to move to other provinces with better weather and a more hospitable tax environment.
Education this is near and dear to my heart as the chapter lead for Canada Learning Code. We are way behind. My organization is run 100 per centon a volunteer basis. We need government supports to reach rural students and business owners; to bring them into the age of technology. Every year that passes that we fail to do this we fall back five years in the global economy. Our resource-based economy has been managed poorly;let's not do the same with our knowledge potential.
Newfoundland and Labrador can become a Canadian leader.With our immense pride and resilience we have the ingredients for success, but action needs to happen immediately. There were four participants from Atlantic Canada in the 32-person Canadian delegation. I was the only one from Newfoundland and Labrador and I had to pay the entire cost of the summit to the tune of over $5,000. It was certainly worth it, but government supports could be put in place.
To apply for the next G20 in Argentina, contactScott Andrews, manager of Futurepreneur NL. Among other great programs, Futurepreneur recognizes and supports the efforts of young entrepreneurs across Canada and leads the G20YEA efforts in Canada. For more information check out futurepreneur.com.To learn more about the G20YEA watch this video.
Dana Parsons is venture lead at the Genesis Centre and vice-president of the startup Brownie Points. She also leads Ladies Learning Code in Newfoundland and Labrador. This year, Dana was also invited to join 21inc's top 50 Innovators under 40 as a delegate from NL; she now remains active in the 21inc Alumni Network. She is also active in the Women In Technology peer group in the St. John's region. She has previously held positions as a director for TEDxStJohns, Happy City St. John's, andPMI NL Chapter.
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Berlin blog: We need action to encourage startups to establish and stay in NL - CBC.ca
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