facial recognition - Facebook

Facebook considers adding profile photos to facial recognition

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc is considering incorporating most of its 1 billion-plus members' profile photos into its growing facial recognition database, expanding the scope of the social network's controversial technology.

The possible move, which Facebook revealed in an update to its data use policy on Thursday, is intended to improve the performance of its "Tag Suggest" feature. The feature uses facial recognition technology to speed up the process of labeling or "tagging" friends and acquaintances who appear in photos posted on the network.

The technology currently automatically identifies faces in newly uploaded photos by comparing them only to previous snapshots in which users were tagged. Facebook users can choose to remove tags identifying them in photos posted by others on the site.

The changes would come at a time when Facebook and other Internet companies' privacy practices are under scrutiny, following the revelations of a U.S. government electronic surveillance program.

Facebook, Google Inc and other companies have insisted that they have never participated in any program giving the government direct access to their computer servers and that they only provide information in response to specific requests, after careful review and as required by law.

Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan said that adding members' public profile photos would give users better control over their personal information, by making it easier to identify posted photos in which they appear.

"Our goal is to facilitate tagging so that people know when there are photos of them on our service," Egan said.

She stressed that Facebook users uncomfortable with facial recognition technology will still be able to "opt out" of the Tag Suggest feature altogether, in which case the person's public profile photo would not be included in the facial recognition database.

Facial recognition technology has been a sensitive issue for technology companies, raising concerns among some privacy advocates and government officials. Tag Suggest, which the company introduced in 2011, is not available in Europe due to concerns raised by regulators there.

Google's social network, Google+, also employs similar technology, but requires user consent. And it has banned third-party software makers from using facial recognition technology in apps designed for its Glass wearable computer.

Egan said Facebook was not currently using facial recognition technology for any other features, but that could change.

"Can I say that we will never use facial recognition technology for any other purposes? Absolutely not," Egan said. But, she noted, "if we decided to use it in different ways we will continue to provide people transparency about that and we will continue to provide control."

Facebook also amended its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities on Thursday, adding and tweaking the language so that members under 18 years of age are deemed to have affirmed that a parent or legal guardian has agreed to allow marketers to use some of their personal information in ads.

The language was the result of a recent court-approved legal settlement regarding its "sponsored stories" ads.

Current News: PM's statement on the current economic situation

Economic growth slides to 4.4% in Q1, lowest in four years

New Delhi: Pulled down by a drop in mining and manufacturing output, economic growth in the April-June quarter slid to 4.4 percent, prompting industry to demand coordinated action by the government and the RBI to boost the economy.

Growth was at the slowest pace since the 2008 financial crisis, with all but one of the eight sectors registering a lower rate of expansion or contraction.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 5.4 percent in the April-June quarter of the last fiscal. On a sequential basis, the growth rate declined from 4.8 percent in the January-March period of 2012-13.

"The GDP figures for first quarter clearly show that the economy continues to be in the throes of a slowdown," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said. "A coordinated effort from the government and the RBI is required to ensure that this vicious cycle is broken."

The biggest drag on growth came from mining and quarrying, which contracted by 2.8 percent in the April-June quarter against a 0.4 percent growth in the same period of the last fiscal, according to data released today by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

Contraction in the manufacturing sector widened to 1.2 percent from 1 percent a year earlier.

Other sectors, including construction, power generation, hotels and transport, showed a marked deceleration in growth.

Farm sector output expanded by 2.7 percent compared with 2.9 percent in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

A Deloitte expert said quarterly GDP may not look up in the near future unless structural deficiencies in the industry sector are addressed and indicated that the numbers could have been worse.

"US recovery has partially helped prop up services as we are seeing from the finance, insurance and business sector," said Anis Chakravarty, senior director at Deloitte in India.

The growth rate in the services sector, including financing, insurance and real estate, stood at 8.9 percent against 9.3 percent in same quarter of 2012-13.

Growth in electricity, gas and water supply was 3.7 percent compared with 6.2 percent.

The construction sector expanded 2.8 percent as against 7 percent in the year-ago period.

The trade, hotels, transport and communications segment grew at 3.9 percent against 6.1 percent.

Only the community social and personal services sector registered a higher growth of 9.4 percent compared with 8.9 percent.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, speaking in Parliament today before the GDP data was released, exuded confidence that growth in the current fiscal will rise to 5.5 percent, up from a decade's low of 5 percent in 2012-13. He said even though growth has slowed down in recent quarters, it is expected to pick up.

The government top brass is hopeful that the GDP numbers would be better in the coming quarters of the current fiscal.

"We were aware that the growth rate has been slowing down. We never felt that in the first quarter there was much sign of an improvement...It is in the second half of the year that we might see an improvement," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

According to Ahluwalia, improvement in the second quarter of this fiscal would be "mainly because of the number of steps that have been taken in the last two or three months."

Commenting on the data, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said, "Growth in the second quarter will improve and growth in the third and fourth quarters would be better." 
1

Google Doodle:Claud Debussy's 151st birthday marked by an animated Google doodle

Claud Debussy's 151st birthday marked by an animated Google doodle

Claud Debussy's 151st birth anniversary has been marked by an animated Google doodle. A French music composer, Debussy was known to be one of the most prolific figures associated with impressionist music.

Google's animated doodle presents a moonlit riverside scene set to the tunes of Clair de lune (3rd movement from Suite bergamasque) or Moonlight, one of Debussy's best music pieces. The moonlight riverside scene features a star studded sky, flickering streets lights and chimney smoke rising to the tunes of the piece, in addition to a windmill, boats, cycles, cars and balloons.

The scene moves forward to depict rain falling on the river and concludes with two different boats crossing paths and the rowers sharing a red coloured umbrella.

Claude Debussy was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in France on 22 August 1862. He started taking piano lessons in Cannes at the age of seven, where he had moved with his mother during the Franco-Prussian war. Debussy entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1872, where he spent 11 years.

In 1884 Debussy received the Prix de Rome honour for his composition L'enfant prodigue, and a scholarship to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, that featured a four-year residence at the Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome, to pursue his studies, further. However, he found the the atmosphere at Villa Medici stifling, and left within a year, though he did compose four pieces that were sent to the Academy including the symphonic ode Zuleima, Printemps, the cantata La damoiselle élue and the Fantaisie.

Following the period, Debussy got influenced by German composer Richard Wagner, who had died in 1883. His influence is evident in some of Debussy's pieces including La damoiselle élue and Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire.

Some of his major works include Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune, Pelleas et Melisande, Suite Bergamasque,  La Cathedrale Engloutie and La Mer.

Debussy died of colon cancer in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris on 25 March 1918 at the age of 55.

read more at ndtv.com

GATE 2014 - latest pattern

GATE 2014 new pattern:

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all India examination conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science and seven IITs (IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee) for the National Coordination Board- GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), and Government of India.

 The GATE score of a candidate replicates a relative performance level in a particular paper in the exam across several years which are used for admissions to post-graduate engineering programmes (M.E., M.Tech, and direct Ph.D) in Indian higher education institutes with financial assistance provided by MHRD and other Govt agencies.

Candidates qualified in GATE with Bachelor’s degree in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Pharmacy or Master’s degree in any branches of Science/ Computer Application/Mathematics/Statistics/are eligible for Master/Doctoral programmes in Engineering/Architecture/ Technology/Pharmacy in related branches of science.

GATE is an all India examination that mainly analysis a complete understanding of various undergraduate subjects in engineering and technology.

GATE 2014 new pattern :

Examinations for all the 21 papers will be held through an online computer-based test (CBT), during forenoon and afternoon on alternate weekends between 1st February 2014 and 2nd March 2014.

For some of the papers in GATE 2014, examination will take place in multiple sessions.

Important Dates for Gate 2014:

2nd September 2013  ::   GATE online applicant interface (website)

3rd October 2013        :: Closing date for submitting online application

10th October 2013   ::  Closing date for the receipt of printed version of online application at the respective zonal GATE offices

Last date for request of change of city will be announced later.

Availability of admit card regarding  online application interface will be announced later.

Date of GATE 2014 result declaration on online applicant interface will be announced later.

online purchase just by using log-in details of facebook

 online purchase just by using log-in details of facebook:

The product is still to be tested and its slated to begin next month.

Facebook is planning to roll out a service that will allow you to make online purchases through your mobile devices just by using your Facebook log-in details.
AllThingsD reported that the service would allow any online shopper to make purchases on partnering e-commerce mobile apps without entering billing information. The shopper however needs to provide credit card information to Facebook.
The world’s largest social networking company will simplify online shopping for users. The users do not have to enter their credit card details each time and can shop with just their Facebook log-in details.
The product is still to be tested and the testing will begin in the next month or so.
According to the report, JackThreads, a shopping site for young men, is the pilot partner and they will conduct the initial testing.
If the product is successfully tested it would also potentially give Facebook keen insight into the shopping habits and preferences of the users.
This pilot system could give competition to PayPal which pioneers e-commerce right now.
Associated Press reported that spokeswoman Tera Randall said in an e-mailed statement that Facebook has a "great relationship with PayPal, and this product is simply to test how we can help our app partners provide a more simple commerce experience."
The test, she added, won't involve moving payment processing "away from an app's current payments provider, such as PayPal."
If this service does see the light of the day then Facebook would indeed earn big in mobile commerce. It will also help the company collect useful data about its customers.

Airtel - ‘Re 1 Entertainment Store’

Airtel launches ‘Re 1 Entertainment Store’

After tasting the success with its Re 1 video downloads’ campaign launched in April, Airtel on Friday rolled out yet another initiative allowing its subscribers to download a host of services including music, games, videos and photos for  Re 1 through Re 1 Entertainment Store’.

While lowering the 2G data rates recently, Airtel had said that it was meant to boost data usage in the country. Through Re 1 Entertainment Store the company again seems to be working on the same logic by “encouraging the mobile internet experience among first-time users”.
For this the Airtel mobile customers need to dial 56789 from their phones to visit the ‘Re 1 Entertainment Store’ and get started. “The store is compatible with over 5,500 mobile devices including feature phones”, Airtel said.

Airtel has offered one day special customized mobile internet packs with 3MB of Data bundled for access to Facebook, Yahoo mail, Twitter and LinkedIn direct links.
It is also offering news from over 60 newspapers in 11 languages for access to news updates direct link.

Airtel had launched Re 1 video downloads’ campaign through TV commercials which were received well by the masses.

International News: 100,000 people apply to go to Mars and not return

More than 100,000 people have applied for a one-way trip to Mars, as a part of the ambitious multi-billion dollar project that aims to colonise the Red planet starting in 2022.

While it remains questionable how humans would be able to survive on Mars, it has not stopped a whopping number of people from signing up for The Mars One project.

"There is also a very large number of people who are still working on their profile, so either they have decided not to pay the application fee, or they are still making their video or they're still filling out the questionnaire or their resume. So the people that you can see on-line are only the ones that have finished and who have set their profiles as public," said Bas Lansdorp, Mars One CEO and co-founder.

Lansdorp did not specify how many have paid the fees, completed their profiles and configured them as private. 

The application process specifies anyone 18 or older may apply, but the fee depends on a user's nationality. For US citizens, the application fee is $38, 'CNN' reported. 

The company said it sets the price based on the gross domestic product per capita of each nation.

"We wanted it to be high enough for people to have to really think about it and low enough for anyone to be able to afford it," Lansdorp said.

As far as the first crew is concerned, the mission will cost $6 billion, Lansdorp said

read more at http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/100-000-people-apply-to-go-to-mars-and-not-return-404202

PGECET - PGEC Web Counseling Schedule 2013 j-14

PGECET - PGEC Web Counseling Schedule 2013-14

The AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) has announced notification for GPAT and PGECET 2013 admission counseling. Those qualified in GPAT and PGECET can participate in the counseling as per the schedule given below. Seats in ME/ M.Tech / M.Arch / M. Pharmacy / Pharm.D (PB) will be filled through PGEC / PGECET Web Counseling.

The seats remain vacant after allotment to GATE and GPAT qualified candidates will be filled through PGECET 2013 qualified candidates. The counseling will commence from 1 August 2013. Entry of web options will start from 3 August 2013. Following is the detailed schedule of counseling:

Read more: http://www.apcollegeadmissions.com/2013/07/pgecet-pgec-web-counseling-schedule.html#ixzz2avfMVGMW

Top 10 Dental Colleges across India

The following is the list of Top 10 Dental Colleges across India (In no particular Order)

 

	Maulana Azad Inst. of Dental Sciences – Delhi Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Mirdard Marg, New Delhi -110002
	Manipal College of Dental Sciences – Manipal SH 25A, Near KMC Hospital, Manipal, Udupi, Karnataka-576104
	Government Dental College – Mumbai Y-10, 155 Government Colony, Bandra (E) Mumbai-51
	Nair Hospital Dental College – Mumbai Nair Dental College, A.L. Nair Road, Mumbai Central Mumbai, Maharashtra–400008
	Government Dental College – Bangalore Government Dental College & Research Institute Fort, Bangalore- 560002
	King George's Medical University – Lucknow Erstwhile Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, Chowk, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – 226003
	PG Institute of Dental Sciences – Rohtak Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences Rohtak, HR 124001
	SDM College of Dental Sciences – Dharwad SDM College of Dental Sciences & Hospital Sattur, Dharwad – 580 009
	Bapuji Dental College & Hospital – Davangere Bapuji Dental College & Hospital Post Box No.326. DAVANGERE – 577004
	SRM Dental College – Chennai Ramapuram, Chennai, TamilNadu-600089