The only way to shoot big game, with wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein September 21, 2015 One June morning I found myself in the back of a mud-splattered four-by-four, the savannah sun beating down upon my head, a torrent of profanities drumming my ears, and a full-grown cheetah eyeing me down the barrel of my Canon lens. As she prowled the long oat grass I struggled to keep her in focus. [...]
Art review: Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy September 21, 2015 VISUAL ART AI WEIWEI ROYAL ACADEMY RATING ★★★★☆ Ai Weiwei’s profile is so high, the stories of his struggle against the Chinese regime so ubiquitous, that you might be surprised to learn there’s never been a major UK exhibition of his work. The Royal Academy rights this wrong with a show collecting pieces from 1993 onwards, [...]
Gotta be in it to wine it: 26 miles, 20 wine tastings, 1 Medoc Marathon September 21, 2015 A burly man is trying to force me to eat an oyster. Beside me, a group of fancy dress Caesars are jostling with a herd of pantomime Norwegian cows (they have udders on their heads, for some reason). They are all drinking glasses of Sauvignon Blanc. I’ve just run 24 miles, I still have another [...]
Demis Hassabis of Google’s DeepMind on AI: Three things he said about Siri-like smart assistants, AI helping doctors and a possible killer robot future September 16, 2015 Demis Hassabis, founder of the British artificial intelligence company DeepMind which was snapped up by Google for millions, has spoken about the implications of a future with AI, from healthcare to smart assistants – but warned misusing the technology could do harm. Speaking in a rare interview with the BBC, he addressed warnings made by [...]
As Apple launches the iPhone 6s and iPad Pro: How to stave off robot-redundancy September 10, 2015 Last night, Apple unveiled its latest raft of new gadgets. Quicker and slicker than their predecessors, the company’s annual showcase has become a ceremony which marks the fact that today’s tech will be on tomorrow’s scrapheap. But much like their old products, Apple’s technicians – organic and fallible – are also at risk of [...]
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain game review September 9, 2015 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Kojima Productions Konami RATING ★★★★★ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain casts you in the role of the boss of a private military contractor working out of a refurbished oil rig in the Seychelles. You pop out on regular missions to the field, sneaking through the Afghan countryside, [...]
This is why the world needs Facebook M: Its new AI and people-powered virtual personal assistant in Messenger app could be better than Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana and Google Now August 27, 2015 Soon Facebook will be able to answer any question you have, book a restaurant on your behalf and give you the weather forecast for the day. The social network is working on creating its very own virtual assistant like the already well-known and commonly used Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana and Google Now. Facebook is testing the service, called [...]
Alibaba’s cloud computing arm Aliyun launches “China’s first” artificial intelligence service August 25, 2015 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s cloud computing arm is breaking into the artificial intelligence market, launching what the company is proclaiming to be “China’s first AI platform”, which will give developers the capacity to analyse large amounts of data. Cloud computing division Aliyun is Alibaba’s fastest-growing division, and although the company still gets most of its [...]
Ghost in the ad machine August 23, 2015 ZenithOptimedia’s Grant Millar talks stack-storytelling and AI WITH the rise of the algorithm in the advertising industry, it is becoming easier to tailor messaging around a consumer’s individual preferences. But as traditional segmentations are consigned to history and analytics continues its inexorable march, advertisers face pressure to defend their methods from criticism around privacy. Grant [...]
Quiz: How well do you know Google’s Alphabet? August 12, 2015 Is it as easy as ABC? As Google transformed into Alphabet, the rest of its vast empire that isn't the money-spinning search or advertising side took the spotlight. We've put together this fiendishly tough quiz so you can test just how well you know the mysterious and ever so slightly secretive Alphabet. Think you know [...]