IBM today announced new offerings to its Watson Data Platform, including data cataloging and data refining, which is designed to make it easier for developers and data scientists to analyze and prepare enterprise data for AI applications, regardless of its structure or where it resides. By improving data visibility and helping to better enforce data security policies, users can now connect and share data across public and private cloud environments.

I posted a second round of pirate signs and heard from the city parking manager.

Pity the salesman who doesn't have some device to steer people into his booth.

I got a job with a law firm, helping build their website, re-working their intranet site, editing videos, creating presentations for trial and other techy stuff! It is one of the largest firms in Sacramento, with about a hundred employees and almost thirty lawyers.

A few people don't want to own one of these intriguing red cement balls. I'm not one of those people.

was inspired to make a giant geometrical shape, that of the 20-side die, or isocahedron.

If your timing is just exactly right, you can experience a Disneyland ghost town

3D printing is a slow process. A hot nozzle heats up and squirts molten hot plastic in a carefully determined pattern to form a three dimentional object. It's like using a hot glue gun to squirt out an entire sculpture. It takes time.

Bank of Montreal (BMO), CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Erste Group have joined an initiative launched by UBS and IBM in 2016 to build a new global trade platform based on blockchain technology. This new platform, called Batavia, is built to be openly accessed by organisations of all sizes anywhere in the world, and can support trade finance for transactions across all modes of trade, whether goods are being transported by air, land or sea.

IBM today announced a new IBM Cloud Private software platform to help companies unlock billions of dollars in technology investment in core data and applications and extend cloud-native tools across public and private clouds.

[Image: Diamond nanowires produced by physicist William Gilpin, used only for the purpose of illustration.] As part of some early prep, just putting notes together for a workshop I’ll be leading in Moscow later this summer, I thought I’d link back to this 2014 post by Paul Gilster on Centauri Dreams about “SETI at the … Continue reading "Synthetic at Every Scale"

[Image: Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer by Caspar David Friedrich (c. 1818).] It would be interesting to look at locations of the American popular imagination, as seen in movies and TV, mapped against regional tax breaks for the film industry. There was a brief span of time, for example, when rural Pennsylvania stood in for … Continue reading "Tax Incentives and the Human Imagination"

[Image: An example of gravitational lens effects, via Wikipedia.] Over at WIRED, Daniel Oberhaus, author of the recent book Extraterrestrial Languages, takes a look at some proposals from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) program. “Among this year’s NIAC grants,” Oberhaus writes, “are proposals to turn a lunar crater into a giant radio dish, to develop … Continue reading "Gravitational Lensing, Interstellar Cinematography, and the Future of Magical Warfare in Space"

[Image: An otherwise unrelated photo of fire-fighting foam, via Wikipedia.] There are at least two classes of materials that have always interested me: synthetic materials designed to be so resistant and indestructible that they verge on a kind of supernatural longevity, and engineered biomaterials, such as enzymes or microbes, designed to consume exactly these sorts … Continue reading "Fables of the Permanent and Insatiable"

IBM announced today that Mediacorp, Singapore’s largest media company, has completed a digital transformation of its broadcast operations using IBM Hybrid Cloud solutions as part of the move to a new office building in Singapore’s one-north district. The Mediacorp broadcast operations team can now more quickly, seamlessly and efficiently deliver video and audio content to consumers across different platforms, including new mobile apps, interactive televisions and other connected devices.

IBM is bringing its expertise in sports venue infrastructure design and implementation to the practice field for newly formed Major League Soccer Club, Atlanta United, providing a year-round, state-of-the art technological experience for the players and staff.

IBM today announced a new agreement with Walgreens, one of the country’s largest drugstore chains, to deploy IBM retail analytics at more than 8,100 locations nationwide to help improve the efficiency of field service support for these locations.

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IBM Security today released a global study examining consumer perspectives around digital identity and authentication, which found that people now prioritize security over convenience when logging into applications and devices. Generational differences also emerged showing that younger adults are putting less care into traditional password hygiene, yet are more likely to use biometrics, multifactor authentication and password managers to improve their personal security.

As companies look to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) to gain competitive advantage and increase productivity, IBM today unveiled a new data science and machine learning platform and an elite consulting team to help them accelerate their AI journeys.

IBM today announced it is building an industry-first insurance platform on the IBM Cloud that aims to improve the processes and economics for new product development, underwriting, and benefits delivery.

NASCAR and The Weather Company, an IBM Busines, announced today a multi-year agreement that will optimize the weather-related decision process for NASCAR as it incorporates hyper-local weather data and forecasts into their races to improve race-day operations and fan engagement. As part of the agreement, The Weather Company, via The Weather Channel brand, becomes the Official Weather Partner of NASCAR.

IBM Watson Health™ today published its 100 Top Hospitals® annual study identifying top–performing hospitals in the U.S. based on overall organizational performance. Formerly known as the Truven Health Analytics® 100 Top Hospitals, this study spotlights the best–performing hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational, and patient satisfaction metrics and data. It has been conducted annually since 1993.

Mayo Clinic and IBM Watson Health today unveiled results from early use of the Watson for Clinical Trial Matching, an IBM cognitive computing system. Use of this system in the Mayo Clinic oncology practice has been associated with more patients enrolled in Mayo’s breast cancer clinical trials.

IBM Japan today announced that Sony Corporation and Sony Global Education, a subsidiary of Sony that works to provide global educational services, have developed a new blockchain-based student education records platform. With the solution, school administrators can consolidate and manage students' educational data from several schools, as well as record and refer their learning history and digital academic transcripts with more certainty. The new platform, developed using IBM Blockchain, uses blockchain technology running on the IBM Cloud to track students’ learning progress, as well as establish transparency and accountability of scholastic achievements between students and schools.

IBM today announced a new data protection software that is easy to set up, easy to manage and helps simplify data recovery. IBM Spectrum Protect™Plus can be set up quickly making data protection available in as little as one hour.

As the new school year begins, elementary school teachers across the United States are now able to access a new, free online tool designed to provide elementary school teachers with targeted math resources for their kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms.

IBM today announced the Integrated Analytics System, a new unified data system designed to give users fast, easy access to advanced data science capabilities and the ability to work with their data across private, public or hybrid cloud environments.

IBM today announced sweeping advances in its all-flash storage solutions and software to significantly drive down the costs of data and extend its solutions for hybrid and private cloud environments.

IBM today announced it has reached agreement to resolve the patent lawsuit between IBM and The Priceline Group pending in the United States District Court for Delaware. As part of the confidential settlement, the parties will obtain patent cross-licenses to each company’s worldwide patent portfolio.

IBM inventors received a record 9,043 patents in 2017, marking the company’s 25th consecutive year of U.S. patent leadership and crossing the 100,000-patent milestone. The new patents were granted to a diverse group of more than 8,500 IBM researchers, engineers, scientists and designers in 47 different U.S. states and 47 countries.

IBM today announced that it broke the U.S. patent record with 8,088 patents granted to its inventors in 2016, marking the 24th consecutive year of innovation leadership. IBM’s 2016 patent output covers a diverse range of inventions in artificial intelligence and cognitive computing, cognitive health, cloud, cybersecurity and other strategic growth areas for the company.

Highlights  IBM scientists have measured how long information can stay in an individual atom  IBM breakthrough enables ability to actually record, study and visualize the magnetism of individual atoms at staggering speeds – one million times faster than previously possible  Could be valuable tool to study solar cells, quantum computing and storage-class memory at the nanoscale Today IBM researchers published a breakthrough technique in the peer-reviewed journal Science that measures how long a single atom can hold information, and giving scientists the ability to record, study and "visualize" extremely fast phenomena inside these atoms.

IBM today announced a research collaboratory in Singapore, where researchers from IBM intend to collaborate with scientists and engineers from public agencies in Singapore to improve the quality of its urban services. The focus of this research effort will be to use sensor networks to more effectively model, predict and manage the use of natural and physical infrastructure resources – water, transport and energy.  

IBM, which is celebrating its centennial this Thursday, announced that its Watson computer system was honored this evening as the Person Of The Year at the 15th Annual Webby Awards gala in New York City. Earlier this year, Watson captured the international spotlight when it competed on the renowned quiz show Jeopardy! and defeated the show's two most successful and celebrated contestants, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

• Con vigencia de 10 años, Banorte e IBM firman alianza estratégica que permitirá establecer las bases de un nuevo modelo de banca enfocado al cliente, y mejorar sustancialmente sus índices de eficiencia para alcanzar niveles cercanos al 40%, así como retornos sobre capital superiores al 20%. El acuerdo incluye servicios de consultoría y de tecnología, investigación y desarrollo. • “Estamos plenamente satisfechos con el acuerdo logrado, pues este suma el mejor talento humano, tanto de IBM, como de Banorte Ixe, y está en línea con nuestra búsqueda de herramientas tecnológicas para servir a nuestros clientes de manera individualizada”: Alejandro Valenzuela.

IBM today introduced a new supercomputer powered by one of the world’s fastest microprocessors and cooled by an innovative water system.

IBM anunció hoy la primera plataforma de servicios basada en IBM Watson y construida en IBM Cloud para aumentar la inteligencia humana y ayudar a mejorar las operaciones de los proveedores de servicios a través de tecnologías cognitivas.

El Grupo BBVA acaba de formalizar un acuerdo con IBM para que esta firma asuma la operación y transformación de la infraestructura tecnológica actual de BBVA y el procesamiento de datos en América Latina y EE.UU., actualmente gestionada por su filial ATA en México.

IBM and AT&T* today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Sterling Commerce from AT&T for approximately $1.4 billion in cash. The acquisition of the Dublin, OH-based company will expand IBM's ability to help organizations create more intelligent and dynamic business networks by simplifying and automating the way they connect and communicate with customers, partners and suppliers both on-premise or through cloud computing delivery models.

IBM suma esfuerzos con Movimiento STEM, una asociación civil sin fines de lucro que busca involucrar a diferentes actores sociales para impulsar la educación en México en Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas, con enfoque de género.

Los inventores de IBM (NYSE: IBM) recibieron un récord de 9,043 patentes en 2017, lo que marca el 25º año consecutivo de liderazgo en Estados Unidos y supera el hito de 100.000 patentes. Las nuevas patentes se otorgaron a un grupo diverso de más de 8,500 investigadores, ingenieros, científicos y diseñadores de IBM en 47 países, Latinoamérica incluida, región que contribuyó con cerca de 100 patentes al registro de 2017.

IBM anunció dos nuevas soluciones de almacenamiento empresarial completamente basadas en tecnología flash, las cuales ofrecen avanzada eficiencia e incremento en desempeño, así como una sobresaliente confiabilidad para ayudar a reducir costos, y acelerar infraestructuras y aplicaciones con manejo intensivo de datos.

IBM fue reconocido como líder de software de almacenamiento en el Cuadrante Mágico de Gartner para Software de Recuperación y Respaldo en Centro de Datos1. En sus “cuadrantes mágicos”, los analistas de Gartner evalúan tecnología y soluciones con la “capacidad de ejecución” y una “visión completa”.

IBM y organizaciones aliadas lanzaron la iniciativa global 'Call for Code', el esfuerzo más grande y ambicioso para reunir a desarrolladores del sector académico y empresarial, para resolver uno de los problemas más acuciantes de la sociedad de nuestro tiempo: prevenir, responder y recuperarse de desastres naturales.

IBM today announced it plans to shift $100 million investment over the next five years into a major Research effort which aims to advance mobile services and capabilities for businesses and consumers worldwide.

Empresas y organizaciones como bancos, agencias de viajes, restaurantes, proveedores de salud y gobiernos municipales en toda América Latina están adoptando nuevas tecnologías de nube, movilidad y analítica que llevan a una mayor eficiencia, menores costos y un mejor servicio a sus clientes y ciudadanos.

IBM today announced that Westpac New Zealand, part of one of the world’s largest financial services institutions, has selected IBM’s private cloud technology to support its goal to be New Zealand’s leading digital bank. The new five year agreement is part of an extensive services and technology contract which includes Westpac migrating some of its business critical IT systems into IBM’s state-of-the-art Auckland data centre, enabling enhanced customer service.

One in four A/NZ executives believe their organisations excel in leadership development New Zealand executives focusing on bringing back retired employees The Social Network: Largely absent from A/NZ organisations

IBM today announced that it set a new U.S. patent record in 2011, marking the 19th consecutive year that the company has led the annual list of patent recipients. IBM inventors earned a record 6,180 U.S. patents in 2011, more than quadrupling Hewlett-Packard’s issuances and exceeding by six times those of Oracle/Sun.