Category Archives: News

IBM’s Watson supercomputer vs. humans in a game of Jeopardy

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On February 14, 15, and 16 two Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter will face off against each other and a supercomputer named Watson.  Named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, the supercomputer is comprised of 10 racks full of IBM Power 750 servers, with 15 terabytes of RAM and 2,880 processors operating at a collective 80 teraflops.  To say this machine is powerful is a grand understatement.  With Watson, IBM’s goal was to “build a computing system that rivals a human’s ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence.”  And that it does.  As you can see the in the video above, Watson performed extremely well at last week’s practice round of Jeopardy before the February main event.  IBM has created a terrifyingly smart machine in Watson; not only does it simply answer questions but it also intuitively understands the questions being asked, buzzes in, and speaks in human-ish voice (not unlike 2001‘s Hal).  In essence, when a question is asked Watson uses algorithms (brain power?) backed up by vast databases of learned knowledge to formulate a response.  Watson is not controlled by outside forces (i.e. humans) and it is not connected to the Internet, so technically it’s not cheating.

During its development period engineers threw thousands of questions at it and so now they believe it’s ready for prime time. “After four years, our scientific team believes that Watson is ready for this challenge based on its ability to rapidly comprehend what the Jeopardy! clue is asking, analyze the information it has access to, come up with precise answers, and develop an accurate confidence in its response,” said Dr. David Ferrucci, the scientist leading the IBM Research team behind Watson. “Beyond our excitement for the match itself, our team is very motivated by the possibilities that Watson’s breakthrough computing capabilities hold for building a smarter planet and helping people in their business tasks and personal lives.”

Or it will end up creating its own army of supercomputers and kill us all.  Wondering how Watson did at the completion of the practice round?  Watson: $4400. Jennings: $3400. Rutter: $1200.  Watch Watson dominate this February and prepare for J-Day.

[Via Engadget, here & here; IBM]

YouTube documentary ‘Life in a Day’ premieres January 27

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Remember that crowd-sourced documentary film attached to filmmakers Kevin Macdonald and Ridley Scott I was telling you about back in early July?  Well it’s almost complete and ready for us to enjoy!  Here’s a quick refresher if you need it.  Life in a Day is described as “a historic cinematic experiment to document a single day on Earth.”  Director Macdonald and producer Scott asked people all around the world to film their day on July 24, 2010.  Over 80,000 video clips of people’s lives were submitted (over 4500 hours of footage), and a team of editors managed to whittle it all down into a 90 minute documentary film “that gives an honest and inspiring glimpse of our world.”  Of the 80,000 clips originally submitted, 1,125 of them made it into the final cut.  One of these chosen clips is embedded above; the beautifully shot clip called “Slim Up” was shot by by Toniu Xou and Patricia Martinez del Hoyoa of Spain and features a young girl climbing a human castle in the small town of San Jaume dels Domenys in the Spanish province of Tarragona.  This is just a sneak peak into what the film will encompass.  The film “really gives you a flavor of what it was like to be alive on 24th July 2010,” says Macdonald.

Life in a Day will premiere January 27 at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and it will be broadcasted live on YouTube for everyone to see that day at 8PM EST.  Following the premiere the director of the Festival will conduct an interactive interview with Macdonald and the 20 top contributors of the film.  Starting Monday, January 24 you can submit questions and maybe yours will get picked when the interview is streamed after the film.

Bookmark the Life in a Day YouTube channel and check back there on the 27th at 8PM to watch what promises to be an exciting and curious look into a single day of humanity.  Look after the break to watch a recent and informative interview with Macdonald and editor Joe Walker.

Update: National Geographic has partnered up with YouTube to acquire the rights to bring the doc to the States. If you missed Life in a Day when it streamed online, it’s expected that Nat Geo will release it in theatres on July 24, 2011; yes, that is exactly one year after all the footage was shot.  A DVD release with bonus content will follow.

[Via YouTubeBlog; Deadline] Continue reading YouTube documentary ‘Life in a Day’ premieres January 27 →

Beatles music sells like hotcakes on iTunes

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In mid-November, Apple Inc. and Apple Corps. put their differences aside and finally agreed to put the entire Beatles music collection onto iTunes, the #1 retailer of music.  Now that some time has passed, it’s time to take a look at the sales figures, and boy are they mighty impressive.  Let’s do some comparing.  During its very first week on iTunes, record company EMI reported that 2 million songs and 450,000 albums were sold.  And now about two months later, Apple says iTunes customers have purchased 5 million songs and 1 million albums in total.  For music that’s over 40 years old, these numbers are certainly staggering but expected; Beatles music rocks and now people have an easily accessible way to get their hands on it.  Can you guess what the most popular song and album is?  Well here’s your answer: “Here Comes the Sun” and Abbey Road, respectively.

[Via EW-MusicMix]

Michael Scott to check out of ‘The Office’ early

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After seven seasons of laughs, Steve Carell is ready to leave his position as Dunder Mifflin/Sabre’s Office boss.  But you knew that already.  What you didn’t know is that the producers have planned an exit strategy that involves Carell leaving the show earlier than you might have expected.  “Steve is leaving earlier than the [season finale],” reveals executive producer Greg Daniels.  “The big ‘Goodbye, Steve’ thing will be before [May] sweeps.”  He continues, “Our basic plan is to see the jockeying and interviewing [for Michael’s job], and not have that happen off-camera and suddenly present America with the choice. We’d rather play out the stories of the various characters who want that seat, and show them fight for it.”

Although Carell won’t hang on until the season finale, Daniels is excited about the episodes leading up to it.  “It’s kind of a fun situation, and the chaos is creatively exciting. Whenever something with big stakes happens, it leads to good episodes — and we will have a lot of significant things happening.”

Kathy Bates, who plays Sabre CEO Jo Bennett with mighty fine ‘tude, is coming back. “We’re going to play out the whole [replacement] process in a realistic way,” says Daniels. “And it’s always great to have Kathy here.”

The season finale, which will run an hour long and is expected to be written by Carell himself, will reveal Michael Scott’s successor and the immediate reaction from the employees.  “They’re all different people with strong personalities,” Daniels says, “so they each have a lot invested in who’s their new boss.”

It’s so sad to know these are the final episodes of The Office with Carell; it’s still hard for me to fathom how the show will go on without him.  It’s true, the ensemble cast is terrific, but he’s the backbone of it all.  At least we can expect some grade-A stories to come out of the build up leading to the big reveal at season’s end.  I’m really rooting for Amy Ryan’s Holly Flax to scoop Michael up and they live happily ever after.

Update: With Michael Scott leaving The Office, this opens up more story opportunities for the other main characters and you can expect the import of new characters.  “We’re trying to take Steve’s departure as an opportunity to shake things up and add some new characters,” says Daniels.  One of these new characters?  They are currently casting Stanley’s never-before-seen adult daughter to fill “a recurring (and potentially series regular)” role, according to TVLine.  She will be “one of several new characters” joining the show later this season.  Daniels continues, “They’ve been playing with this dynamic for so long… you kind of know how the stories are going to go. For Michael not to take up the A story in every episode means that a lot of them are getting the A stories now.”

[Via TVLine, here & here]

Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ prequel is now ‘Prometheus’

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Back in the summer of 2007, director Ridley Scott made it official that he was on board to helm a prequel feature film to his original 1979 cult classic Alien.  What has been referred to as “The Alien prequel” since then has suddenly morphed into something new and quite original.  Today studio-backer 20th Century Fox came out and formally announced the film as Prometheus and tacked on a March 9th, 2012 release date.

While the film will contain some “Alien DNA”, says Scott, it will explore new themes.  “While Alien was indeed the jumping off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative. I couldn’t be more pleased to have found the singular tale I’d been searching for, and finally return to this genre that’s so close to my heart.”

Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek) has been working closing with Scott on the script.  “In a world flooded with prequels, sequels and reboots, I was incredibly struck by just how original Ridley’s vision was for this movie,” says Lindelof. “It’s daring, visceral and hopefully, the last thing anyone expects. When I sat in a movie theater as a kid, feet raised off the floor for fear that something might grab my ankles, I never dreamed in my wildest imagination I would one day get to collaborate with the man responsible for it. Working alongside him has been nothing short of a dream come true.”

As for casting, only Noomi Rapace has been signed on to play scientist Elizabeth Shaw and Fox says other roles “would be cast soon.”  I’m really looking forward to Prometheus.  If you recall, the three Alien sequels were helmed by different directors (James Cameron, David Fincher, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, respectively), and so I’m intrigued that Scott is so confident he can inject new life into his original creation.

[Via Deadline]

Dominic Purcell the next ‘Spartacus’?

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Season 2 of Spartacus: Blood and Sand is nearly ready to begin production.  But there is one gaping hole left to fill: finding a strong replacement for cancer-striken Andy Whitfield.  After being diagnosed with early stage Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Whitfield was forced to dropped out of the show shortly after the first season concluded.  Last week Starz president Chris Albrecht said that the network is “confident that we will find an actor who can ably step into Spartacus’ sandals.”  Though Australian actor Liam McIntyre is rumored to be the selection, the casting call is apparently still open.  Prison Break star Dominic Purcell put together a screen test tape and sent it to the show’s producers.  Want to know the spark of irony here?  It was fellow Prison Break actor Wentworth Miller who initially expressed interest in taking over the role.  If you take a look at appearances alone, Purcell fits the bill over Miller due to his more Gladiator-like physique.  Anyhow, I’ll keep my ear to the ground and follow up on this story once the producers make their final decision.  Blood and Sand is tentatively scheduled for September 2011.  And don’t forget about the prequel series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena which premieres Friday, January 21 on Starz.

[Via Deadline]

CBS renews ‘The Big Bang Theory’ through the 2013-14 season

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Hope you like The Big Bang Theory because it’s not going anywhere for a very long time.  Today CBS renewed the nerd-tastic comedy three times over, confirming its stay on the most-watched network through the 2013-2014 season.  The news comes shortly after the show was crowned primetime’s #1 scripted series in adults 18-49 and the #2 comedy among viewers for the 2009-2010 season.  The show managed to successfully transition to its new Thursday 8PM slot where it’s been averaging 13.8 million viewers, that’s up 7 percent versus the year-ago time period.

CBS Nina Tassler: “It doesn’t take a theoretical physicist to see why this show is a BIG part of our comedy future. From ratings to critical acclaim to pop culture buzz, it’s struck a chord on all levels.  The creative genius of Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and the on-camera talents of an amazing young ensemble have created a comedy that will entertain viewers for a long time.  We’re proud to partner with Warner Bros. on another highly successful, long-running comedy.”

Warner Bros. Television head Peter Roth: “We are delighted and grateful that CBS has once again rewarded The Big Bang Theory with a multiyear renewal. This is a testament to the inspired and brilliant work of the show’s entire creative team, and we look forward to continuing this highly successful partnership.”

I couldn’t be happier to know that Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Howard, and Rajesh will be sticking around for years to come.  And here’s a nice TBBT scoop for you: Jessica Walter (aka Arrested Development‘s Lucille Bluth) will guest star in an upcoming episode slated to air in February.  According to TV Line, she will play “Barbara Latham, a wealthy donor to the university whose upcoming grant to the science department may be contingent upon Leonard compromising his virtue.”

[Via Deadline]

Kiefer Sutherland transitions from ’24’ to upcoming web series ‘The Confession’

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The trials and tribulations of Jack Bauer have come to an end, so what’s next for the incredible actor who played our nation’s hero for eight years?  In a surprising move, Kiefer Sutherland has decided to test the Internet waters in an upcoming web series produced by Sutherland, Chris Young, Joseph Gomes, and Maura Mandt.  It’s called The Confession and Sutherland stars as “a hitman who has a theological discussion with a priest (played by English actor John Hurt) about why his victims deserved to die.”  The series, written and directed by Brad Mirman, was shot in New York during the snow storm last month over nine days.

Sutherland shared with EW his excitement about this new project.  The origin story: “It came about in such a different way,” Sutherland said.  “I was meeting a couple friends of mine, who wanted to introduce me to Chris Young (of Digital Broadcasting Group). I know so little about the internet, but that’s what a lot of friends do for work. Most of that stuff being produced for the internet is comedy, very much like Jackass kind of material, which is great but didn’t appeal to me. Chris started talking about wanting to do a drama, but his criteria was so different. A drama in five-minute episodes! It was one of those things, like a puzzle over the course of the lunch. It can’t be that complicated to figure out a story in five minutes, right? I couldn’t, and it frustrated the crap out of me. So I went home that night, still thinking about it, and it stayed with me for three days. I was falling asleep when I literally got this idea of a confessional.”

He thinks that creative content distributed over the Internet is the wave of the future.  “None of us were paid what we normally get paid,” Sutherland admitted. “Everybody found their own challenge in it, and that was the reason to do it. All of us believe very strongly that the internet is the future, the largest network in world, with the ability to reach a big audience.” Continue reading Kiefer Sutherland transitions from ’24’ to upcoming web series ‘The Confession’ →

FOX renews ‘Raising Hope’ early, comments on cancelled shows & Fringe’s move [Update: J.J. Abrams addresses the move, too]

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One day after ABC granted early renewals to six of its series, competitor FOX decided to show its muscle by renewing its freshman series Raising Hope.  The Greg Garcia comedy was actually the first freshman series of the year to receive a back-nine episode order, so it’s certainly fitting that today it became the first freshman program to be renewed for a second season.  Go Hope!  The laugh-out-loud family comedy is FOX’s highest-rated new series; having that Glee lead-in doesn’t hurt.  The show’s creator Garcia said, “I’m happy that the show is getting another year. But the fact that I’ve been trying to think of a funny quote for the last two hours and this is the best I could come up with makes me a little nervous about season two.”  FOX prez Kevin Reilly also shared his excitement about the continuation of Hope: “Raising Hope has emerged as a comedic standout: wickedly smart, hilarious and full of heart. Greg Garcia and his great cast have established an appointment show on Tuesday nights this season and we’re confident it’s just the beginning of great things to come.”  Raising Hope returns with new episodes Tuesday February 8 at 9PM.  If you’re not watching this show, it’s never too late to start.

Update 3: Click here to watch Hope‘s Golden Globes plea.  Greg Garcia and the cast put together this “For Your Consideration” video and sent it to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association hoping it would help their chances at landing a nomination.  It didn’t, but it’s still well worth a watch.  Let’s just say Cloris Leachman brings down the house with her wildly NSFW language. Continue reading FOX renews ‘Raising Hope’ early, comments on cancelled shows & Fringe’s move [Update: J.J. Abrams addresses the move, too] →

‘Terra Nova’ preview night lands a date, producers talk about its promise

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Mark your calendars, people.  The Steven Spielberg/Peter Chernin sci-fi drama Terra Nova will air its preview event across two nights: May 23 and May 24 at 9PM.  Just like FOX did with Glee, the network is going to preview the new show before its fall 2011 debut in attempt to generate buzz.

Refresher: Terra Nova follows Jim Shannon (played by Jason O’Mara), a man who is sent back in time to prehistoric Earth with his family in an attempt to save the human race.  At the Television Critics Association press event, the producers screened an action-packed trailer; unfortunately it did not reveal the dinosaur design since production on the pilot episode recently wrapped and the special FX have yet to be finalized.  However, many people connected to the show shared their thoughts on what to expect.  Executive producer Brannon Braga (24, FlashForward) explained, “Earth is essentially dying – most animal life is extinct. They’re hoping to re-start humanity through this time fracture they’ve discovered.”  The plan for the Shannons and over 1,000 time-travelling colonists is to re-colonize the planet in the past.  “What effect that will have on the future, they hope it’s a positive one,” said Braga.  “The characters are hoping for a second chance.”  The show will have “continuing elements of suspense…[but] at the core of this show is the Shannon family.”  Director Alex Graves (Fringe) says that Terra Nova is “not a scary show. It’s an adventure show. My kids have seen some of it and they love it.”  He continued, “You’re going to see dinosaurs you haven’t seen before.”  When asked to compare this show to groundbreaking series Lost Graves said, “It’s so made for a massively broad audience, I cannot tell you.”  Insinuating that Lost catered to a very specific audience he then noted, “Terra Nova, more than anything I’ve ever done in my life, is for everybody.”

Then Braga shared some concluding remarks about the promise of this show. “It’s just a great concept. Philosophically, it’s the closest thing to Star Trek I’ve worked on since I read that show years ago. I wanted to gravitate back to a science-fiction premise with big, humanistic ideas. ” He is compelled about the focus on “people from the distant future coming to the distant past.”

The show is being shot in Australia, so you can expect a beautiful backdrop.  After watching the teaser trailer, IGN described certain aspects of the show as having a Jurassic Park meets Aliens vibe.

Today FOX released some stills from the two-part pilot episode slated to air this May; check ’em out after the break along with some character profiles.  And if you’re interested in reading about the trailer shown at the TCAs today click the source link.

[Via IGN] Continue reading ‘Terra Nova’ preview night lands a date, producers talk about its promise →

‘Breakout Kings’ producers compare ‘Prison Break’ to their upcoming A&E series

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As you know, Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora collaborated on the 2005-2009 FOX series Prison Break and now their working together again on another fugitive-themed show called Breakout Kings.  At the Television Critics Association last week they talked about their “love [for] law-breaking.”  On teaming up with Santora for a second time, Olmstead said, “So we just wanted to kind of have fun on the show and keep on working together. So that was the main attraction for me.”  He continued, “What was attractive was not only the momentum of storytelling that you get when you have a fugitive on the run — as opposed to a dead body where there’s a little bit more time to find that person because that dead body is not going anywhere — it was also about the theme that helped kind of unlock the show for us when we’d start to first talk about it, which was everybody is running from something. And so it really kind of unlocked the characters in that we then went in and made sure that all of the characters had that thing that they were running from and towards.”

Refresher: Breakout Kings follows an unconventional partnership between the U.S. Marshals’ office and a group of convicts as they work to catch fugitives on the run.  Laz Alonzo (Avatar) and Domenick Lombardozzi (The Wire) are the veteran U.S. Marshals; their special task force is comprised of Jimmi Simpson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Malcolm Goodwin (American Gangster) and Serinda Swan (Smallville); Brooke Nevin (The 4400) is a civilian who assists the group.

Expect the villains to be terribly awful criminals.  Santora says, “It’s integral. You have to have really bad, bad guys, or there’s just no stakes from the beginning of the episode. At the same time, each week it can’t be the Son of Sam who is breaking out of prison. It would get repetitive. So it’s a challenge, and we have been so fortunate this year. The actors were just telling Matt and I how great the guest actors are that we’ve had this season on the show.”  Just last week I reported on two of the show’s guest actors: Lost’s Mark Pellegrino and Prison Break vet Robert Knepper.  Knepper will be reprising Break‘s T-Bag for a four-episode arc.  The producers were asked if we can expect other Break alum to come on as surprise guests and Santora replied, “You never say never, but we don’t want it to become a reunion show where we are constantly bringing guys back from Prison Break. And I think we can say safely of all of the bad guys on Prison Break, how are you going to top T-Bag? T-Bag is T-Bag.”  Very true. Continue reading ‘Breakout Kings’ producers compare ‘Prison Break’ to their upcoming A&E series →

iPhone comes to Verizon at long last

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The most frequently asked tech question since 2007: When will the iPhone come to Verizon? Four years and four device iterations later, Verizon and Apple have finally announced that the best smartphone has landed on the nation’s most reliable network.  The iPhone 4 is coming to Verizon Wireless.  The facts: On February 10 the iPhone 4 will be available for Verizon; $199.99 for the 16GB model, $299.99 for the 32GB variant, new two-year contract required.  It will be available to purchase VZW Stores, Apple Stores, online at their respective websites, and at Apple Authorized Resellers.  Qualified Verizon Wireless customers will have the exclusive opportunity to preorder the iPhone 4 online on February 3, ahead of general availability; if you’re currently a VZW customer check your pricing eligibility here.

The iPhone 4 and iOS 4 coming to Verizon is essentially the exact same hardware and software that’s been available on AT&T.  Here are the four differences: (1) The external antenna array has been slightly altered so that the device can properly run on Verizon’s CDMA network (as opposed to AT&T’s GSM network).  The only aesthetic change is one extra black notch located above the silent switch; note that this notch pushes down the silent switch and volume buttons just a bit, so new cases will have to be manufactured to properly fit that.  It’s too early to tell if the death grip issue has been totally resolved in the new device, but Apple’s Tim Cook is confident that “it’s going to work great.”  (2) The VZW iPhone 4 will act as a mobile WiFi hotspot for up to five devices.  Inside Settings users will have the option to switch on Personal Hotspot to share the phone’s Internet connection with other WiFi enabled devices including laptops and tablets.  This new functionality is built into iOS 4.2.5, so there is a possibility it might carry over to AT&T’s version of the phone at some point.  (3) Simultaneous voice and data is not supported on Verizon’s CDMA network, so new iPhone owners will not be able to access the Internet while making a call (or vice-versa); +1 for AT&T’s network which can simultaneously hold a voice/data connection.  (4) No global roaming support; again, advantage AT&T.  Full PR after the break.

And there you have it.  The Verizon iPhone has finally made it to fruition.  Now what should you do?  If your current contract is up and you’re due for a new phone, I advise not to purchase the VZW iPhone 4 this February. What am I crazy?  No, actually, not really.  Here’s the deal.  Every summer since 2007 Apple has shipped a new iPhone device, so you can expect iPhone 5 to be revealed in the coming months with a late June or July release. Since Apple decided to stay conservative with today’s announcement, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that the next iteration of iPhone will pack support for Verizon’s super fast 4G LTE network, among other hardware updates. You’ve waited this long for iPhone to hit Verizon; what’s another five months?  Think about it.

[Via Apple; Verizon] Continue reading iPhone comes to Verizon at long last →