New Developments Archives

Category: New Developments

AI Machine Has Same IQ As Four-Year-Old Child

Posted on October 8, 2015 in Artificial Intelligence, Better Ways, Coding, Ideas, New Developments, Programming, Technology

Artificial Intelligence (AI) machines can already do several remarkable things: they are far better than humans at performing complex calculations, and they’re pretty good at playing chess. Researchers have once again tested the limits of AI by putting one of the world’s most intelligent AI machines through its paces with an IQ test, and the results are in: it has the same IQ as an average four-year-old child, as reported by MIT Technology Review.

Measuring intelligence through an IQ test is thought to be the best way to determine the intellectual capacity of people from a huge range of human cultures. A team of researchers, led by Stellan Ohlsson at the University of Illinois, decided to apply this concept to an intelligence outside of any normal human culture: an AI machine developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The intelligent machine, dubbed ConceptNet 4, was given a verbal reasoning examination calibrated for four-year-old children. Known as the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, it calculates a child’s IQ by asking a selection of questions from five categories. The vocabulary category contains questions such as “What is a cat?”. The information category asks questions such as “Where can you find a tiger?”, and the word reasoning section asks the child to identify an object after being given three clues as to its identity. The comprehension category tests the child’s ability to understand the motivation behind actions, such as querying why people say hello or shake hands. Finally, the similarities category asks the child to understand the link between two objects, such as “Rain and snow are both made of _ ?” After modifying ConceptNet 4’s programming to be able to deal with the questions it was going to be asked, the researchers gave it the same IQ test. The answers it gave were strongly linked to how it dealt with the language in the question, so more straightforward, concrete questions were handled well. Consequently, it did very well in the vocabulary and similarities segments, while doing averagely in the information question. When concepts with inherent meaning or intent had to be handled, however, it dropped the ball. For example, when asked “why do people shake hands?” it interpreted the question as asking “what is the reason people’s hands shake?”. As a result, it decided that people shake hands because they are having an epileptic fit. As you can imagine, the AI scored poorly on the comprehension questions. It also fared disastrously in the word reasoning category, giving truly bizarre answers unlike any child would ever use. When given the clues “This animal has a mane if it is male, it lives in Africa, and it is a yellowish-brown cat,” its five most common answers were “dog,” “cat,” “home,” “creature,” and “farm.” As Ohlsson told MIT Technology Review, “if the clues say it is a cat, then types of cat are the only alternatives to be considered,” so this kind of misstep is currently inexplicable. All categories considered, the AI’s measured verbal IQ was indeed that of an intellectually-average four-year-old child taking the same test. Stephen Hawking recently told BBC News he thought that artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to the extinction of humankind. Although this is entirely plausible, AI clearly has a long way to go to get to the point where it can stage a robot uprising. by Robin Andrews - October 7, 2015

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Category: New Developments

5 Things Not To Forget About Local SEO

Posted on August 12, 2015 in Better Ways, New Developments, SEO, Trend Information, Web Developmemt, WordPress

Local search engine optimization (SEO) can be tricky. Not only do you have to do all the customary SEO stuff, but then you have to do a new layer of complex SEO activities. Most tech-savvy local-business owners have a decent idea of how to do local SEO, but diving to a deeper level can get confusing.

For example, most people think that in order to have successful local SEO, you must have directory listings. This is true — to a point. First, though, you have to make sure that several other things are in order. (Directory listings don’t come first in local SEO.)

Then you have to make sure that you’re getting listed with the right local directories. Also, you have to know how and where to find the local directories that are unique to your geographical area. Plus, you have to ensure that you are optimizing for your geospecific hyperlocal neighborhood, not just the general location of your business.

Like I said, things can get confusing.

In order to address some of these major issues, I’ve explained the top five things that most people forget about local SEO. If you want local search traffic, you need to make sure that you go through each of the five issues in this article. What you’re about to read could be a huge boon for your local SEO.

1. Accuracy and consistency in online listings.

The most important component of local SEO is a trinity of information known as the NAP. NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone number. Some people call it the NAP+W, adding in the Website for good measure. Any local optimizer knows this much. So far, so good.

What can get confusing, though, is the accuracy and consistency of this information.

A ConstantContact survey revealed some discouraging trends among SMBs. While 85 percent of small businesses say that it’s important for them to be found on local search apps and directories, only half of these businesses have ever updated their online listings! Fifty percent of these businesses know they have inaccurate listings, but 70 percent say that they just don’t have the time to update them at all!

This is bad news. The No. 1 negative local ranking factor, according to Moz, is a “listing detected at false business location.” The third biggest negative ranking factor is a mismatched NAP. Ouch. Inaccuracies like these will kill your local SEO.

Clearly, small and local businesses are facing a severe challenge when it comes to getting local listings. Let me break this down into two specific areas — accuracy and consistency, and why they matter so much.

Accuracy of NAP

Local search engines use the NAP as a measuring stick of accuracy for a business’s existence. In order for the local search engine or directory to validate the presence of your local business, it must make sure that every point of data aligns perfectly.

So, for example, if your business name is Charlie’s Killer Crepes, and you accidentally type Charlies’ Killer Crepes (a misplaced apostrophe) in your citation, then the directory might register your business inaccurately.

Think about it. If it’s just a matter of creating listings, then there could be a lot of confusion between businesses. How many “cupcake” boutiques are in New York City? Or how many “Financial Services” institutions are in Manhattan? In order for a business to be legitimate, it has to have all three of these pieces of information — name, address, and phone — and they all have to correspond in every citation across the local landscape.

Consistency of NAP

The other issue to keep in mind is consistency.The NAP must be consistent across all the local directories, mentions, citations, and listings.

Moz puts it this way:

Consistent NAP information is essential to getting more citations and improving search engine rankings.

The information on Yelp must be consistent with the information on Google+, which must be consistent with the information on Foursquare, which must be consistent with the Local Small Business Association, and on and on.

This is probably the most challenging feature for a company wanting local rank. Why? Because business information changes. One day, your business might decide to change its name a little bit, or to switch to an 800 number. Or you might move to a different location.

How do you prevent your local SEO from tanking due to lack of consistency?

It’s not easy. In order to make sure that every local citation is consistent, you can either hire someone to track down every citation and change it, or you can do it yourself.

All of local SEO begins here — with the obvious NAP. But it goes further, with the not-so-obvious issues of accuracy and consistency. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

•Has my business ever changed names? (Name)
•Has my business ever changed locations? (Address)
•Has my business ever changed phone numbers? (Phone)
If your answer to any of these questions is “yes,” you may want to embark on some local SEO citation remediation. Track down every one of your local citations, and make sure they are accurate and consistent.

2. All the other valuable information in directory listings.

It’s easy to get listed in local directories. It’s noteasy to fill out these local directories to their maximum potential.

Creating a local listing is time-consuming and tedious. But that’s exactly what a local business must do if it wants to rank. This is where we get into one of the oft-overlooked features of local SEO. These directories should be filled out with as much information as possible.

A study from the Local Search Association/Burke Inc. revealed that when consumers search for a local listing, they want to see the following information:

This is why it’s important to fill out those directories as completely as possible. Every added citation gives you a little local SEO uptick. The more complete you make that online listing, the better you’ll do for customers who actually look at your entry. They want information — lots of it.

3. Building full-fledged social-media accounts.

A local business can thrive on local SEO without even having a website. It’s true. Local SEO has come so far and has dominated so much of search that having a conventional website is not required for local SEO success.

In the 2013 Local Search Ranking Factor survey by Moz, they placed the importance of a locally-optimized website at 18.8 percent, calling it “on-page signals.” All the other slices of this pie graph do not depend on a website. (I would argue that the power of “link signals,” in the absence of a website, be directed to place pages or other local listings.) In other words, everything but that measly 18 percent is the power of local SEO, sans website.

Does a website help? Sure, of course. I recommend it. But for local SEO, it’s the local factors that matter most.

This leads me to the point that many businesses miss: Your customers are using your place page or social-media page as your de facto website.

Instead of visiting your website, many customers choose instead to check you out on Facebook, UrbanSpoon, Yelp or TripAdvisor. At least on Urbanspoon, they can see a star rating, or a review.

With a simple query, I can find out everything that I want to know:

Where did all that information come from? It did not come from the website, because this particular establishment doesn’t even have a complete website. All they have is locally-optimized accounts on every meaningful local listing.

If I’m checking out Vicoletto, I want a review. Do I want to read about a dreamy buratta? Heck yes.

With the recent rollout of the new Google My Business platform, local search experts are insisting more loudly than ever that it’s important to fill out all your information as completely as possible. As Greg Gifford wrote in Search Engine Land, “The Google My Business update is the biggest merchant-facing update Google has ever released for local businesses.” And now, you need to make sure that your business lives as prominently as ever on this massive local SEO tool.

4. Begging for reviews.

The good thing about local search is that it’s mostly under your control.

You create your local listings, optimize your Google My Business page, pimp out your Facebook account and do all the other things that bump you to the top of local search results.

There is one thing that you can’t completelycontrol. Reviews. You can’t force users to post their review on Foursquare or Yelp or give you a five-star rating on Google+. But you can encourage them to do it.

There are plenty of ways to motivate users to give reviews. In exchange, you can provide them with free drinks, a shout-out on Facebook, discounts, props — whatever. At the very least remind them to leave a review. Post a sign on the counter or the door so they can leave a review. Put a QR code on the table or menu allowing them to scan and review. Have your service personnel ask for reviews at checkout. Place a kiosk in the lobby for them to leave a review. Sometimes, all people need is a little nudge.

Reviews are so essential for local search optimization that it’s worth it to go the extra effort and beg for these things (in a tasteful way, of course). Why does this matter? Because of local SEO.

Google consistently delivers local results that favor establishments with higher reviews.

In the query above, “restaurant in san francisco,” the first two carousel results feature the restaurants with the highest reviews. Notice that they don’t necessarily have the mostreviews — just the highest.

5. Honing in on hyperlocal SEO.

This final issue is still in its infancy. Google has indicated that they are using or testing a “neighborhood algorithm.”

Local neighborhoods are hard to fit into a search engine algorithm. They lack boundaries and clearly-defined names. Thus, the moniker “informal space” has come to characterize regions. Locals may call an area something different from what appears on a formal map. It can be tricky to rank for local SEO in a neighborhood that has a name different from its official map designation.

This is where the power of a website comes into play. By optimizing your company website with neighborhood terminology, you can make strides in local searches that target the informal space of your neighborhood while also ranking in the official algorithm-selected region.

There are things that you can do to optimize your business for the possible neighborhood algorithm from a strictly local optimization perspective.

Andrew Shotland, in his Search Engine Land article, provides these step-by-step instructions:

•Add your neighborhood name as a descriptor at the end of your business name on your Google My Business page (e.g., “Cabo Grill East Side”).
•Add your neighborhood name to the description on your Google My Business page.
•Add your neighborhood name in text to your website (if you have one).
•Add your neighborhood name to title tags on your website.
•Make sure Google Maps has your neighborhood defined correctly. If not, go into Google MapMaker and submit an update.
•Add your neighborhood to all of your local citation profiles.
As hyperlocal search evolves, it will become more and more important to make the biggest local impact in the smallest geographical area.

Conclusion

All the conventional SEO techniques and enhancements receive a complete makeover when viewed in the light of local SEO. A local business depends on local SEO.

As part of the CTA on my personal website, I use a local-specific subheading. Every user that visits my page will see a message that is customized to their specific geographic region. When I implemented this feature, my conversions shot up. This tells me that local-business owners want to be successful in their geographicarea. The only way to achieve this kind of success is through good local SEO.

Contributor Neil Patel

Local Seo, SEO Tips

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Category: New Developments

The Top 6 Tech Skills you’ll Need in 2105

Posted on May 7, 2015 in Coding, Data Management, Ideas, Mobile, New Developments, Programming, Technology, UX Design

IMAGE: Getty Images

To stay relevant, you must master the skills behind this year’s hottest technology trends

We’re not big on setting resolutions only in January at Pluralsight. We believe it’s important to strive for excellence year-round, rather than just once a year. That said, there’s value in using the year’s starter months to reassess your current skill sets and identify areas for improvement, growth, and learning.

Technology is one area that no one in any industry can afford to grow complacent about–tech is changing so quickly that skills you mastered last year may already be outdated. In such a quickly evolving industry, information decays at a rate of 30 percent a year, according to Research in Labor Economics, rendering nearly a third of last year’s tech-related knowledge irrelevant.

But don’t panic–there’s a solution. Staying up-to-date with emergent technologies and trends–as well as the skills needed to master them–will help you offset the lightning-fast pace of skills disruption and keep you ahead of the curve. Continuous learning is the key to maintaining an ongoing competitive advantage, both for individuals and organizations.

On that note, here are the top six tech skills that Pluralsight has identified as not just “nice-to-know,” but “need to know,” in 2015:

1. Coding.

As I’ve written recently, coding is the number-one skill in demand today worldwide. Although coding and computer science are still marginalized in the K-12 education system, it’s clear that the ability to code has become as important as other basic forms of literacy like reading and math. Fortunately, no matter what your age or current comfort level with technology, there are ways to pick up intro coding skills–and many of them are free. Start with Code School, which provides interactive learn-to-code challenges along with entertaining video instruction, or Hour of Code, which offers a free one-hour coding tutorial that’s available in over 30 languages.

2. Big data.

According to Forbes, big data will continue to grow in 2015, due in part to the rise of the Internet of Things, which has the power to embed technology in practically anything. As ever-larger volumes of data are created, it’s vital to know how to collect and analyze that data–particularly when it’s related to customer preferences and business processes. No matter what industry you’re in, you’ll miss out on key marketing and decision-making opportunities by ignoring big data. You can brush up on big data concepts, technologies, and vendors with these courses.

3. Cloud computing.

TechRadar reported this month that 2015 will be the year that the cloud becomes the “new normal.” The reason, writes Mark Barrenechea, CEO of OpenText, is that costs can be slashed as much as 90 percent through digitization of information-intensive processes. Barrenechea predicts that by year-end, we’ll see “a world of hybrid deployments in which some information and applications reside in the cloud and the remainder resides on-premise.” Learning to utilize the cloud’s flexible power can improve everything from your data security to your collaboration ability. Learn cloud-computing basics with this hour-long online course, which you can view in full with a free trial from Pluralsight, or try this free intro course on the topic from ALISON.

4. Mobile.

As Six Dimensions states, “If you don’t have a mobile strategy, you don’t have a future strategy.” This has never been truer than in 2015, the year in which The Guardian predicts an increasing number of companies will learn how to mobilize their revenue-generating processes, like making purchases and depositing checks. This is also the year that we’ll hit critical mass with the fusion of mobile and cloud computing, according to Forbes. That means many more centrally coordinated apps will be usable on multiple devices. Here’s a list of beginner-level courses related to mobile technology from Pluralsight, as well as options for mobile apps courses from Lynda.com.

5. Data visualization.

Data keeps multiplying, which means whatever message you hope to communicate online must find increasingly creative ways to break through the noise. That’s where data visualization comes in, which involves using a visual representation of the data to discover new information and breakthroughs. Creative Bloq notes that this technique can reveal details that poring through dry data can’t. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a web designer or developer to create compelling infographics. Here’s a list of 10 free tools you can use to visually enhance your data.

6. UX design skills.

User experience (UX) designers consider the end user’s ease of use, efficiency, and general experience of interfacing with a system (such as a website or application). Smashing Magazine notes that while user experience has long been important, it has become more so recently in relation to the diverse ways that users can now access websites, including mobile and apps. “The more complex the system, the more involved will the planning and architecture have to be for it,” writes Jacob Gube. But it’s not just professional designers who can benefit from understanding UX design–anyone can. Check out this animated video from UXmastery on “How to Get Started in UX Design.”

These six tech trends are reshaping the way businesses in every industry function internally and connect with their customers. Get smart in these areas, and you won’t have to worry about being left behind–at least not this year.

Coding Skills, Data, Mobile, Programming, UX Design

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Category: New Developments

Solar Roadways

Posted on March 21, 2015 in Better Ways, Helping Humanity, New Developments, Technology

Almost a Reality?

In April 2014, Solar Roadways started a crowdfunding drive at Indiegogo to raise money so they can get the product into production. In May, it was extended by another 30 days. The campaign raised 2.2 million dollars, exceeding its target of 1 million dollars.^[9] The drive became Indiegogo’s most popular campaign ever in terms of the number of backers it has attracted.^[10] The success was attributed in part to a Tweet made by George Takei, who played Sulu on Star Trek, due to his more than 8 million followers.^[11]^[12] One of the Brusaws’ videos went viral, with nearly 15 million views as of June 2014.Suppose we made a section of road out of this material and housed solar cells to collect energy, which could pay for the cost of the panel, thereby creating a road that would pay for itself over time. What if we added LEDs to “paint” the road lines from beneath, lighting up the road for safer night time driving? What if we added a heating element in the surface (like the defrosting wire in the rear window of our cars) to prevent snow/ice accumulation in northern climates? The ideas and possibilities just continued to roll in and the Solar Roadway project was born.

See more information about this groundbreaking project here: http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml

To Contribute to the Indiegogo Fund and help this project become a reality Click Here:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways

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Category: New Developments

The Fusion of People Technology and Vision

Posted on March 4, 2015 in Ideas, New Developments, Technology, Welcome

Our vision is the fusion of people, and technology

with ideas.

Fusion iT has a solid vision of the merging of technologies and people. Ideas make the world spin faster, with the majority of great ideas becoming a reality in the last century alone it is fair to say that fusion of technology & people will not decline or slow down, only speed up and allow us to make bigger and more significant advancements. We can not even fathom the advancements that will come in the next 30 years, but we do know they will change the way we live, work and play in ways that will enhance our lives to a degree of staggering mind states. Fusion iT will be there to help the transformation and bring people and their ideas, closer with technology.

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