URU vs. GHA Soccer World Cup 2010 (blue hour) in Olympic park

Poeple are watching the game URU vs. GHA at the soccer world cup quarter finals in Southafrica. The team from URU won 4:2 after some very dramatic scenes. View other cities HERE.

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The pursuit of machine intelligence means we have to come up with ways to communicate with our computers in a way both entities can understand. But while computers process verbal commands in a straightforward fashion, humans tend to use more sophisticated speech forms, employing slang or symbols to convey an idea. So an Israeli research team has developed a machine algorithm that can recognize sarcasm.

SASI, a Semi-supervised Algorithm for Sarcasm Identification, can recognize sarcastic sentences in product reviews online with pretty astounding 77 percent precision. To create such an algorithm, the team scanned 66,000 Amazon.com product reviews, with three different human annotators tagging sentences for sarcasm. The team then identified certain sarcastic patterns that emerged in the reviews and created a classification algorithm that puts each statement into a sarcastic class.

The algorithms were then trained on that seed set of 80 sentences from the collection of reviews. These annotated sentences helped the algorithm learn what sorts of words and patterns distinguish sarcastic remarks – those that mean the opposite of what they literally convey, or that convey a sentiment inconsistent with the literal reading.

They then turned the algorithm loose on an evaluation set. Pattern evaluation efficiency scored accurately 81 percent of the time, while the overall precision of the pattern recognition/sarcasm categorizing algorithm was accurate in 77 percent of instances. Not bad for a computer’s first shot at interpreting the human sense of humor.

This isn’t all just so your Roomba gets the joke when you tell it it sucks. Computer programs that can recognize sarcastic statements could generate better personalized content and make better recommendations to human users by not mistaking a product review titled “keep your receipt” with a sound piece of online shopping advice. It could also benefit opinion-mining systems that troll the Web trying to measure public sentiment about a product or idea.

[Credit: BoingBoing via Popsci]

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Largest crib recall in U.S. history announced – Suffocation danger tied to 2.1 million drop-side cribs made by Stork Craft

NBC, msnbc.com and news services - updated 7:08 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov . 23, 2009  

Government safety regulators say more than 2.1 million drop-side cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing are being recalled, the biggest crib recall in U.S. history.The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the recall involves 1.2 million cribs in the United States and almost 1 million in Canada, where Stork Craft is based. 

The Stork Craft cribs have had problems with their hardware, which can break, or with assembly mistakes by the crib owner.

Nearly 150,000 of the cribs on recall carry the Fisher-Price logo.  The agency is aware of four deaths of young children who suffocated in the cribs, which have a side that moves up and down to allow parents to lift children from the cribs more easily. The danger is that a child’s head can get caught between the mattress and the side railing, if it separates from the crib.

This is not the first time cribs have been recalled due to such fears. Nearly 5 million cribs by several manufacturers have been recalled over the past two years, including half a million from Stork Craft earlier this year, and the CPSC has considered banning drop-down sides altogether.

“Drop-side cribs, because of the amount of hardware that’s involved, because it weakens the structure of the crib itself have been involved in numerous deaths and injuries, crib failures where the side may come loose or come off,” said Nancy Cowles, of the advocacy group Kids in Danger.

Stork Craft is one of the most widely purchased brand names in baby cribs, with products sold at some of the biggest retailers in the country, including Target, WalMart, Sears and Kmart.

CPSC urges parents and caregivers to immediately stop using the recalled cribs, wait for the free repair kit and avoid attempting to fix the cribs without the kit. They should find an alternative, safe sleeping environment for their baby. Consumers should contact Stork Craft to receive a free repair kit that converts the drop-side on these cribs to a fixed side.

The cribs, which were manufactured and distributed between January 1993 and October 2009, sold for between $100 and $400, and were made in Canada, China and Indonesia.

The manufacture date, model number, crib name, country of origin, and the firm’s name, address and contact information are located on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board. The firm’s insignia “storkcraft baby” or “storkling” is inscribed on the drop-side teething rail of some cribs.

   

Government safety regulators say more than 2.1 million drop-side cribs by Stork Craft Manufacturing are being recalled, the biggest crib recall in U.S. history.

 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the recall involves 1.2 million cribs in the United States and almost 1 million in Canada, where Stork Craft is based.  Nearly 150,000 of the cribs on recall carry the Fisher-Price logo.  The agency is aware of four deaths of young children who suffocated in the cribs, which have a side that moves up and down to allow parents to lift children from the cribs more easily.The danger is that a child’s head can get caught between the mattress and the side railing, if it separates from the crib.

This is not the first time cribs have been recalled due to such fears. Nearly 5 million cribs by several manufacturers have been recalled over the past two years, including half a million from Stork Craft earlier this year, and the CPSC has considered banning drop-down sides altogether.

“Drop-side cribs, because of the amount of hardware that’s involved, because it weakens the structure of the crib itself have been involved in numerous deaths and injuries, crib failures where the side may come loose or come off,” said Nancy Cowles, of the advocacy group Kids in Danger.

Stork Craft is one of the most widely purchased brand names in baby cribs, with products sold at some of the biggest retailers in the country, including Target, WalMart, Sears and Kmart.

CPSC urges parents and caregivers to immediately stop using the recalled cribs, wait for the free repair kit and avoid attempting to fix the cribs without the kit. They should find an alternative, safe sleeping environment for their baby. Consumers should contact Stork Craft to receive a free repair kit that converts the drop-side on these cribs to a fixed side.

The cribs, which were manufactured and distributed between January 1993 and October 2009, sold for between $100 and $400, and were made in Canada, China and Indonesia.

The manufacture date, model number, crib name, country of origin, and the firm’s name, address and contact information are located on the assembly instruction sheet attached to the mattress support board. The firm’s insignia “storkcraft baby” or “storkling” is inscribed on the drop-side teething rail of some cribs.

The Stork Craft cribs have had problems with their hardware, which can break, or with assembly mistakes by the crib owner.

The cribs’ drop-side plastic hardware can break or deform, or parts can become missing. In addition, the drop-side can be installed upside-down, which can result in broken or disengaged plastic parts. All of these problems can cause the drop-side to detach in one or more corners. When the drop-side detaches, it creates space between the drop-side and the crib mattress. The bodies of infants and toddlers can become entrapped in the space, which can lead to suffocation. Complete detachment of drop-sides also can lead to falls from the crib.

CPSC, Health Canada and Stork Craft are aware of 110 incidents of drop-side detachment; 67 incidents occurred in the United States and 43 in Canada. The incidents include 15 entrapments, 12 in the U.S. and three in Canada. Four of the entrapments resulted in suffocation: a 7-month-old in Gouverneur, N.Y.; a 7-month-old in New Iberia, La.; a 6-month-old in Summersville, W.Va.; and a 9-month-old in Bronx, N.Y.  Another 20 babies have fallen from their cribs.

Meanwhile, safety experts caution that cribs often stay in homes for generations. If you have one of the cribs in your basement that’s been recalled in recent years, fix it or get rid of it. The full list of crib recalls is on the CPSC Web site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Discrimination?  Racism?  Inequality? You be the judge… About a month following a rumor I heard through a friend about how a former DJ was no longer asked to DJ at Maker’s Lounge because he was attracting a crowd that was ‘too dark’, I read about a pending lawsuit against Maker’s Mark Bourbon Lounge on 4th Street Live, alleging discrimination.  Below, I provided a few media outlets and their reports, in addition to something that caught my attention in an email I received yesterday via their promotional distribution list.  I’m not here to pass judgement… so YOU BE THE JUDGE!

• Read about what Race Discrimination is HERE.
• Facts about Race/Color Discrimination provided by the EEOC HERE.
• Statistics by EEOC: In fiscal year 2008, EEOC received 33,937 charges of race discrimination. EEOC resolved 28,321 race charges in FY 2008, and recovered $79.3 million in monetary benefits for charging parties and other aggrieved individuals (not including monetary benefits obtained through litigation).

WLKY reports on the lawsuit and you can view the VIDEO here: Ex-Employee Sues Maker\’s Mark Lounge

Additionally, the Courier Journal reports: The former director of promotions and marketing for Maker’s Mark Bourbon House and Lounge at 4th Street Live has sued the bar, claiming she was instructed by management to discriminate against African-American patrons.  Kiersten Trover-Gillam filed suit earlier this week in Jefferson Circuit Court, claiming management instructed her that it wanted a “predominantly white crowd” and that she needed to “keep out the darker element.”

Three alleged incidents are detailed in the suit:

*Trover-Gillam was instructed to approach a group of African Americans having a birthday party, get contact information under the pretext of signing them up for restaurant promotions, then remove them from the promotional contact list. Management instructed her to give a “false, nondiscriminatory answer” if asked why a check-mark was by a black person’s name.

*She was asked by a supervisor “what were you thinking?” after she booked a group of African American Central High School alumni for a promotional event. Subsequent to that, Trover-Gillam was told “things are not going well” and that she wasn’t “booking the types of parties” management wanted.

*She was instructed to convince African-American patrons to move to the back of the bar so they would not be visible in the front of the establishment. [Read the full article on the Courier-Journal]

I recently received a promotional email from Maker’s Mark Bourbon Lounge and noticed that for job opportunities, please send your resume and “picture”. Though I don’t believe it’s illegal by any means to request a photo during the screening process, it seems a bit abrasive during a time when such a lawsuit has been filed against Maker’s Lounge… don’t cha think?

This also comes during a time when a recent patron of 4th Street Live has plans to also push legal action against 4th Street Live over a Halloween Controversy – also alleging discrimination.  Read the full article HERE.

*** If you know any additional information – please share via the comments or feel free to contact me directly via my CONTACT ME form.

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When I dialed up my car insurance company last week with a billing question, an estimated 1,362 other Americans were phoning a customer service line at that very second. According to Emily Yellin’s “Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us,” Americans make 43 billion customer service phone calls every year. In a piece for NPR, Yellin further notes that a majority of people experience customer-service-induced rage at one point or another, and 57 percent of those angry clientele drops their business as a result.

There’s something about dialing through extensive automated phone menus and listening to background Muzak that arouses our deepest-rooted sources of ire so that by the time we actually speak to a service rep, we’re ready to burst forth with verbal venom. Granted, with all the bad press about outsourcing call centers and excessive call wait times, some companies have tried to address the problem. Internode, an IP-provider, has even set up a call wait time gauge on their Web site that shows the average wait for the day and the number of calls being queued.

Not all companies are as cognizant of customers’ general lack of patience, but I ran across a slightly vintage post from the wonderful Good Magazine that offered some assistance the next time I have to dial an 800 number. It linked to two sites, Get2Human and Fonolo, which offer shortcuts through an impressive catalogue of company phone menus.

Get2Human provides an extensive list of customer service lines and instructions for speaking to a living and breathing rep. For instance, if I have a question about my GAP credit card, Get2Human says I should “press 000 at each prompt; ignore request for account number.” Done and done.

Fonolo is more of a concierge service that actually does the calling for you. Users give Fonolo their phone numbers and request the company and customer service department they need to speak with. Fonolo then rings up the appropriate number, steers through the automated menu (what they refer to as “deep dialing”) and calls the users’ phones to connect them with the representative. Fonolo can also record the conversation for later playback.

Now, if only we could fast forward through the 20 minutes of Kenny G we’ll have to endure when that service rep puts us on hold. Again.

[Credit: HowStuffWorks]

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