Tag: edmonton

Edmonton Notes for April 29, 2018

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

Downtown Edmonton
Downtown Edmonton

Upcoming Events

Urban Barn
Urban Barn, photo by Kurt Bauschardt

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Edmonton is a world leader in the science of artificial intelligence

Though he works in perhaps the most hyped field of science there is, Dr. Richard Sutton comes across as remarkably grounded. I heard him described at the 2018 AccelerateAB conference on Tuesday as “the Wayne Gretzky of artificial intelligence” and he’s often called a global pioneer in the field of AI. Sutton has spent 40 years researching AI and literally wrote the textbook on Reinforcement Learning. But he spent the first part of his closing keynote discussing the tension between ambition and humility. “It’s good to be ambitious,” he told the audience tentatively. “I’m keen on the idea of Alberta being a pioneer in AI.” But he tempered that by discussing the risk of ambition turning to arrogance and affecting the work of a scientist.

AccelerateAB

“I think you should say whatever strong thing is true,” he said. Then: “Edmonton is a world leader in the science of AI.”

Sutton made sure to highlight the word “science” and noted that we fall behind when it comes to the application of AI. And of course, he backed up his claim with sources, citing DeepMind’s decision to open an international AI research office here at the University of Alberta, and pointing to the csrankings.org site which ranks the U of A at #2 in the world for artificial intelligence and machine learning.

So how did Edmonton come to be such a leader?

It started with Jonathan Schaeffer’s work in the 1990s on Chinook, the first computer program to win the world champion title in checkers. The U of A’s growing expertise in game AI helped to attract a number of AI/ML professors and funding from the provincial and federal governments throughout the early 2000s. Edmonton’s rise to AI prominence was cemented with DeepMind’s recent decision to locate here.

Sutton showed the following timeline to help illustrate Edmonton’s path to AI-science leadership:

AccelerateAB

Sutton then outlined some of the key advances that have happened in the field of artificial intelligence over the last seven years:

  • IBM’s Watson beats the best human plays of Jeopardy! (2011)
  • Deep neural networks greatly improve the state of the art in speech recognition, computer vision, and natural language processing (2012-)
  • Self-driving cars becomes a plausible reality (2013-)
  • DeepMind’s DQN learns to play Atari games at the human level, from pixels, with no game-specific knowledge (~2014)
  • University of Alberta program solves Limit Poker (2015) and then defeats professional players at No-limit Poker (2017)
  • DeepMind’s AlphaGo defeats legendary Go player Lee Sedol (2016) and world champion Ke Jie (2017), vastly improving over all previous programs
  • DeepMind’s AlphaZero decisively defeats the world’s best programs in Go, chess, and shogi (Chinese chess), with no prior knowledge other than the rules of each game

Though the research taking place here in Edmonton and elsewhere has helped to make all of that possible, “the deep learning algorithms are essentially unchanged since the 1980s,” Sutton told the audience. The difference, is cheaper computation and larger datasets (which are enabled by cheaper computation). He showed a chart illustrating Ray Kurzweil’s Law of Accelerating Returns to make the point that it is the relentless decrease in the price of computing that has really made AI practical.

“AI is the core of a second industrial revolution,” Sutton told the crowd. If the first industrial revolution was about physical power, this one is all about computational power. As it gets cheaper, we use more of it. “AI is not like other sciences,” he explained. That’s because of Moore’s Law, the doubling of transistors in integrated circuits every two years or so. “It feels slow,” he remarked, and I found myself thinking that only in a room of tech entrepreneurs would you see so many nodding heads. “But it is inevitable.”

Given this context, Sutton had some things to say about the future of the field:

  • “Methods that scale with computation are the future of AI,” he said. That means learning and search, and he specifically called out prediction learning as being scalable.
  • “Current models are learned, but they don’t learn.” He cited speech recognition as an example of this.
  • “General purpose methods are better than those that rely on human insight.”
  • “Planning with a learned model of a limited domain” is a key challenge he sounded excited about.
  • “The next big frontier is learning how the world works, truly understanding the world.”
  • He spoke positively about “intelligence augmentation”, perhaps as a way to allay fears about strong AI.

Recognizing the room was largely full of entrepreneurs, Sutton finished his talk by declaring that “every company needs an AI strategy.”

I really enjoyed the talk and was happy to hear Sutton’s take on Edmonton and AI. It’s a story that more people should know about. You can find out more about Edmonton’s AI pedigree at Edmonton.AI, a community-driven group with the goal of creating 100 AI and ML companies and projects.

If you’re looking for more on AI to read, I recommend Wait But Why’s series: here is part 1 and part 2.

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #293

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

  • Bob Layton has been appointed to the Western Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. On its website, WAB describes the Hall of Fame award as the “most prestigious award given to a Canadian broadcaster.”
  • Catherine Griwkowsky has left Postmedia after 10 years and will be starting with The Star Edmonton on May 1. “Leaving was an excruciating decision,” she tweeted.
  • Kieran Leavitt is leaving The Star Halifax to join The Star Edmonton as a full-time reporter. “Thank you to everyone I’ve worked with and those that have let me tell their stories”, he tweeted.
  • The 2018 RTDNA Canada Award winners were announced yesterday. Global Edmonton took home seven RTDNA Awards, four of which were “for coverage of the chaotic attack that saw a police officer stabbed and pedestrians struck by a U-Haul in the downtown core.” CBC Edmonton won three, and CTV Edmonton won one.
  • Edmonton’s Geoff Stickle, who retired from Global Edmonton back in February, was honored with the RTDNA Lifetime Achievement Award in the Prairie Region.
  • CKUA’s Spring Fundraiser is on now and you can donate until April 29. So far they have raised 32% of the $700,000 goal.
  • From Stacey Brotzel, here are some memories from the 21st anniversary of the launch of A-Channel.
  • Edmonton’s newest publisher is StoryFix Media, from Christopher Webster, Gareth Higgins, Claire Tunney, and Arthur Lee. Christopher’s first book, called New Horizons, is now available. Later this summer, the company plans to release a mobile game called The Pulse: “In a dark town not on any map, a woman awakes in a strange motel. With no memory of who she is or how she got there, she will rely on YOUR judgement and quick-thinking to navigate untold dangers, learn the secret of her identity, and the truth behind a mysterious pulse that seems to be the cause of it all.”
  • Brittney is calling on local media folks to “give people a heads-up when you include their tweets on-air/in stories”.
  • After three years and 57 episodes, this is the final episode of The Expats Podcast. Host Adam Rozenhart will be sharing “in a few months what I’ll be doing next!”
  • Here is the latest Alberta Podcast Network Roundup.
  • Karen Unland spoke to David Papp at Mtek Digital about how “podcasts are very powerful way to intimately reach a captive audience.”
  • SCTV came to Edmonton in 1980. Comedian Dave Thomas spoke to CBC about the move to Edmonton. “It wasn’t so much that the cast wasn’t thrilled about going to Edmonton,” Thomas said when asked about the move from Toronto. “I think some of the people just didn’t take it that seriously at first.”
  • Janet French spoke about being a reporter on career day at Grandview Heights school! Start them young!
  • The deadline to apply for one of Postmedia’s summer internships is Wednesday, April 25 at midnight.
  • Representatives from the Canada Media Fund were in Edmonton today to encourage more applications from our city. The not-for-profit “delivers $352 million in funding annually to support the Canadian television and digital media industries.”

Standing up for Alberta jobs and Canada’s economy 88485
Standing up for Alberta jobs and Canada’s economy, photo by Premier of Alberta

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

  • BNN Bloomberg will launch on Monday, April 30. It’s a partnership between Bell Media and Bloomberg Media Group. “BNN Bloomberg will begin simulcasting with CTV from 5-5:30 a.m. MT in the Calgary and Edmonton markets.”
  • CBS All Access is now available in Canada for $5.99 per month. “The subscription offers access to more than 7,500 on-demand episodes, including full current seasons of CBS shows, entire past seasons of current shows and full seasons of some classic shows.”
  • From CANADALAND: What’s The New York Times Doing In Canada?
  • It seemed that James Comey was absolutely everywhere last week, from TV to radio to podcasts, promoting his new book. ABC News posted the full transcript of his 5 hour interview with George Stephanopoulos, then so did MSNBC. “But in the age of so-called fake news, is the release of full transcripts happening because journalists feel compelled to prove their credibility? Or to defend themselves from criticism for what did make it to air?”

Follow Edmonton media news using the hashtag #yegmedia and be sure to check out Mediagazer for the latest media news from elsewhere. You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here. If you have a tip or suggestion for future updates, let me know.

At Taproot Edmonton we’re working hard to ensure that local journalism has a future in our city. Join us to be part of the movement.

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Edmonton Notes for April 22, 2018

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

105th
105th, photo by Kurt Bauschardt

Upcoming Events

Funicular Elevator

Thanks for reading! Want to support my blog? Buy me a coffee!

Recap: Edmonton’s HealthHack Competition

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to help judge the City of Edmonton’s HealthHack Competition. Connected to Edmonton’s Smart Cities Challenge, the competition invited citizens to propose innovative approaches to improve the four health indicators of mental health, physical health, social health, and economic health. Nearly 40 proposals were submitted, and a previous round of judging (that I was not involved in) narrowed that down to the top 5, who were invited to spend a month working on a prototype which they demoed at the event yesterday.

HealthHack Competition

These were the top 5 teams who presented a prototype:

Buddy Benches
Submitted by Troy Pavlek

“The City of Edmonton started the work on reducing social isolation with our buddy bench program, now I propose to take that simple act of saying “hello” online as well and make it easier and more persistent to connect with those around you. By connecting physical locations in Edmonton to a persistent online community we can reduce social isolation, improve mental health and get people out in the community.”

Cannabis Ecosystem
Submitted by Joe Dang and Reed Sutton

“With the legalization of recreational cannabis throughout Canada rapidly approaching, there is a significant lack of data regarding its use and effect on various aspects of health. By leveraging blockchain technology, Edmonton has the opportunity to shape a new national ecosystem surrounding healthy cannabis consumption and regulation, while simultaneously generating open and transparent data that will have global implications.”

Fitness App for Non-Athletes
Submitted by Dr. PJ Rawlek, K. DeZutter, N. Twal, C. Nicole, E. Barbaric and B. Poetz

“The current problem with the thousands of fitness app technologies is they’re designed to compete for that market of those 15% of Canadians, the highly motivated, exercise-experienced. Alternatively, the GoGet.Fit solution is designed to specifically target that 85%, the under-serviced mostly apprehensive exercise-naĂŻve population. This solution will provide solid evidence-based strategies early-on to support the pursuit of a healthier active lifestyle and will optimize success through providing valued support from a professional team – their healthcare provider networked with a community-based exercise specialist.”

Urban Design/Mental Health App
Submitted by Fahim Hassan, Rokib S A, Mohib Khan and Hamman Samuel

“Develop an interactive web application that will collect geo-coded Twitter data, analyze the text and link it with socio-economic data. The insight will help planners and policy makers to improve urban design and achieve mental health outcomes.”

Wheelchair Accessibility Tracker
Submitted by Martin Ferguson-Pell

“We wish to make significant modifications to a research prototype to enable us to improve accessibility and provide information to wheelchair users about the physical effort needed to propel a wheelchair in our built environments (summer and winter).”

Thoughts on the competition

Picking a winner from those proposals was not easy! We scored each prototype on three criteria: health impact, innovation, and completeness. After each presentation, we had a few minutes to ask questions of the presenters. Everyone did such a good job of describing their prototype and fielding our queries.

HealthHack Competition
Members of the winning teams

Congratulations to Martin Ferguson-Pell, who took home the grand prize of $5,000 for his “Fitbit for wheelchairs”. While there could be advantages to trip planning using the data that the device collects, I actually think it would be more impactful to map areas of the city and use that to improve infrastructure and design. Pushing around a stroller these past couple of months has made it clear just how difficult it can be to traverse our city sidewalks, so I can’t even imagine what it must be like for wheelchair users. Apparently 75% of wheelchair users report shoulder issues, so anything we can do to make the ride smoother would have a big impact.

I love the premise behind GoGet.Fit: that most existing fitness apps and technologies are targeted toward people who are already active. The other 85% of the population needs some help, or we’re all going to pay for it via increased healthcare costs. Rather than just count steps using a Fitbit, GoGet.Fit connects you with professionals (doctors, nurses, fitness instructors, etc.) so that they can take a more active role in ensuring that you get active! They already have hundreds of users, and have conducted a successful pilot with a PCN.

Troy’s presentation for extending buddy benches into the digital realm was very engaging. Using NFC to quickly connect you to a community of people who have physically been where you are is a great idea. A little like checking in on Foursquare used to be, I guess.

The “Urban Design/Mental Health App” was a neat use of Twitter data, and is something I have often thought about. What can we learn from geotagged tweets that could help us improve the way we build our city?

I’ll admit that a bunch of red flags went up for me on the Cannabis Ecosystem prototype. Blockchain and cannabis? Talk about going after buzzwords! That said, the application of blockchain technology to safely collect and share data on cannabis use is intriguing, and the system they presented seems to be very well thought out. I look forward to seeing how they take it forward!

This being the first year that the City has held the HealthHack competition, they opened it to everyone, which means we ended up with an interesting mix of both existing and brand new projects. We struggled with that as judges. In future years, breaking proposals into two categories would be a good way to allow for both while making the judging a little more fair.

Well done to the finalists and indeed to everyone who submitted a proposal!

Health Innovation in Edmonton

Though they share a similar objective – innovation in healthcare – the HealthHack competition should not be confused with Hacking Health, an event that first happened in Edmonton back in 2013. That said, both events help bring the vision that Mayor Don Iveson first shared in 2016 of “positioning Edmonton as a world class health innovation city” to life. It’s exciting to see some real on-the-ground activity!

HealthHack Competition

Why Edmonton as a health city?

“The Edmonton ecosystem has a range of assets in the health innovation space. This includes Canada’s largest integrated health system and a readiness to diversify the economy; researchers and entrepreneurs who have created and will create new products, devices and system innovations; and a willingness to take risks in order to drive growth.”

You can learn more about the Health City Initiative here.

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #292

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

  • As promised, Metro Edmonton became The Star Edmonton on Tuesday, April 10. I am a little surprised at how all-in they went with the Star branding!
  • The Edmonton Examiner has shifted its publication day from Wednesday to Thursday. As noted by Jeff Samsonow, the website hasn’t been updated in a few weeks, and the last tweet from the Examiner was sent on March 9. Managing Editor Dave Breakenridge told me that “due to staff changes our focus shifted solely to the print edition for the last couple of issues, but there will be a revived online presence in the coming weeks.”
  • This news is a month old now, but possibly related: Doug Johnson moved from Postmedia (specifically the Examiner) to take on the position of Front & Dish Editor at Vue Weekly.
  • Bryn Griffiths, who was with Newcap since December 2012, has been “downsized” out of the company. “Enjoyed my time at K97 but time to re-assess and re-invent,” he tweeted. “Done it before. Will do it again.”
  • K97’s new morning show debuted this morning. The all new Terry Evans Show features Pete Potipcoe, who spent the last four years in Fort MacMurray.
  • There’s an A Channel Edmonton Reunion scheduled for Saturday, April 21 at the Edmonton Public Library downtown.
  • Global Edmonton’s wardrobe sale over the weekend raised $12,000 for the Terra Centre, an increase of $3,000 over last year’s total.
  • Kenneth Whyte, former president of Rogers Publishing Ltd. and past editor of Maclean’s and the National Post, is launching a new publishing company called The Sutherland House. Ken started his journalism career at the Sherwood Park News and joined the Alberta Report in 1984.
  • The Journal has won a lot of fans online recently for its weather-related headlines. Headlines like “You’re cold, I’m cold, everything is cold” and “It’s snowing again. Here’s a picture of a dog.” Check them out here.
  • Here is the 20th Alberta Podcast Network Roundup! The next Edmonton Podcasting Meetup is scheduled for Saturday, April 21 at Variant Edition Comics & Culture.
  • For 3-4 weeks back in 1973, while the Edmonton Journal went through a newsprint shortage, 630 CHED kept the comics alive via the radio.
  • Hope to see you on May 5 at CKUA for PodSummit!

Premier Rachel Notley addresses cabinet 88223
Premier Rachel Notley addresses cabinet, photo by Premier of Alberta

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

Follow Edmonton media news using the hashtag #yegmedia and be sure to check out Mediagazer for the latest media news from elsewhere. You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here. If you have a tip or suggestion for future updates, let me know.

At Taproot Edmonton we’re working hard to ensure that local journalism has a future in our city. Join us to be part of the movement.

Thanks for reading! Want to support my blog? Buy me a coffee!

Edmonton Notes for April 15, 2018

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

Two Second Headways
Two Second Headways, photo by Kurt Bauschardt

Upcoming Events

  • I hope to see you at City Hall on Monday afternoon for the City of Edmonton’s HealthHack Prototype event! It runs from 2-4pm.
  • The 110th Edmonton Kiwanis Music Festival kicks off on Monday and runs through the end of the month.
  • Head over to the Shaw Conference Centre on Tuesday from 10-4pm for the Edmonton Career Fair & Training Expo.
  • The families of four Edmonton-area Humboldt Broncos players will host a public Celebration of the lives of Jaxon Joseph, Logan Hunter, Parker Tobin and Stephen Wack at 1:00 PM MT on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at Rogers Place. You can get free tickets here.
  • The City is hosting two public engagement sessions this week on proposed grass and yard waste collection changes, on Wednesday at the Mill Woods Senior and Multicultural Centre and on Thursday at the Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre.
  • The Sexual Exploitation Working Group is hosting a lunch & learn on Thursday at MacEwan University. Wear orange to support the 2018 Sexual Exploitation Week of Awareness.
  • Rapid Fire Theatre’s Bonfire Festival continues on Thursday and Friday at the Citadel.
  • Friday is 4/20. One of the events taking place that day to celebrate is 420 FEST at Union Hall.
  • The Edmonton Cottage Life & Cabin Show takes place at the Edmonton Expo Centre from Friday to Sunday.
  • Chantal Kreviazuk is performing at the Winspear Centre on Saturday evening.
  • Saturday is Lay Day Edmonton, a free opportunity to “tour the Edmonton Law Courts, view mock trials featuring the Ghostbusters, the Cat in the Hat, Mario & friends, and Superman, and receive legal consultations and information from our volunteer lawyers.”
  • This year’s Spring Edmonton Woman’s Show takes place at the Edmonton Expo Centre on Saturday and Sunday.
  • Save the date! AccelerateAB is taking place at the Shaw Conference Centre on Tuesday, April 24.

Spring Thaw & Rocks
Spring Thaw

Thanks for reading! Want to support my blog? Buy me a coffee!

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #291

PodSummit 2018 is coming up here in Edmonton on May 5 at CKUA! The event features a great lineup of speakers, including Karen Unland, Roger Kingkade, Rob Greenlee, and many more. Tickets are $150 and the event is already 60% sold out. Or you can win your way in, as I have one ticket to give away! Simply leave a comment below (using a valid email address) telling me what your favorite podcast is, and you’ll be entered to win. I’ll draw one name at random on Sunday, April 15, and the event organizers will be in touch with your ticket. Hope to see you at PodSummit!

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

PodSummit
PodSummit 2018 takes place in Edmonton on May 5

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

Want to read great stories about Edmonton? Or maybe you’d like to write them? Join Taproot Edmonton and help us ensure that local journalism has a future in our city.

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

Edmonton Notes for April 8, 2018

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

Sunday Afternoon
Sunday Afternoon, photo by Kurt Bauschardt

Upcoming Events

Projects to build prosperous communities
Projects to build prosperous communities, photo by Government of Alberta

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #290

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

  • Goodbye Metro Edmonton, hello StarMetro Edmonton/TheStar Edmonton. Torstar has “doubled the size of our Metro Edmonton newsroom” and will be relaunching/rebranding on April 10. The newspaper will now be called StarMetro Edmonton, and the website will be TheStar Edmonton, a new local hub on thestar.com. The company is promising a much bigger focus on investigations. Alex Boyd will serve as the StarMetro Edmonton Bureau Chief and tweeted “we’re still committed to Edmonton, we’re just gaining a bit more muscle.”
  • The Globe and Mail reports that Torstar is hiring 20 reporters to add to the 15 currently located in Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton.
  • The Edmonton Sun launched in Edmonton forty years ago today. “Despite an ad in the first Edmonton Sun from our competition, the Edmonton Journal, wishing us “a nice visit to the city,” it has been an extended stay.”
  • Looks like changes are underway at 92.5 Fresh Radio. They are changing up the morning show with details to be announced “soon”. Previous hosts Dani and Jay had their last show on March 27 as did evening show host Amanda Propp.
  • Bollywood is For Lovers, the podcast by locals Matt Bowes and Erin Fraser, was featured in an article on TheHindu.com. “What these two unlikely Bollywood devotees represent is a wider cultural movement: non-Indians from around the globe are not only discovering Indian cinema but also creating platforms to celebrate, discuss and champion it through blogs, podcasts and YouTube.”
  • Graham Hicks has the story behind the $258 million sale of Edmonton-based CCI Thermal to an American company, and its connection to Allarcom via Harold Roozen, “the right-hand man, and then son-in-law, of the late, great Edmonton entrepreneur Dr. Charles Allard.”
  • A number of local radio stations and media personalities have been nominated in the 2018 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards. The winners will be announced on May 10.
  • Grant Ainsley wrote an ode to the old police scanner. “Police services, fire departments and paramedic units across Alberta will soon receive more privacy, because new technology will allow traditional police scanners to go silent, at least for the ears of the media.”
  • Here is the latest Alberta Podcast Network Roundup.
  • Paula Kirman is renewing her push to raise $5,000 for Radical Citizen Media. She recently hit 1,000 subscribers on YouTube.
  • The Mark Spector Golf Classic, which has raised $568,000 in four years, is coming up on July 25.

2018_03_24USPORTSCurling (71)
Photo by Don Voaklander

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

Want to read great stories about Edmonton? Or maybe you’d like to write them? Join Taproot Edmonton and help us ensure that local journalism has a future in our city.

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.