Boston
Latest
IBM's Watson takes Harvard, MIT business students to school, drops the mic
There was a massacre in Boston the other night, and Watson had blood all over his hands. The IBM supercomputer and undisputed Jeopardy champ made a virtual appearance in Beantown this week, ostensibly as part of a symposium on the ways in which advanced analytics could reshape business. In reality, though, he only showed up to remind everyone that he's really smart. During the event, Watson squared off in a Jeopardy scrimmage against two groups of students from some of the most prestigious business schools in the world -- Harvard Business School, and MIT's Sloan School of Management. The brainiac b-schoolers (including two former Jeopardy contestants) did remarkably well for the first two rounds; Harvard managed to get within $1,800 of the machine going into Final Jeopardy, and even held the lead at one point, following a gutsy Daily Double (MIT didn't fare so well, but hey, we're all human, right?). The wheels came off, however, once the battle entered Act III, when Watson pulled away for the win. Both the computer and Team Harvard answered the final question correctly, but Watson wisely bet just enough to keep the Ivy Leaguers at bay. When the smoke cleared, Watson was left standing with $53,601, Harvard finished with $42,399 and MIT came in a distant third, with $100. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Watson wasn't even in the same building as his muggle competitors -- nor, for that matter, was he in the same state. IBM kept all of the machine's processors and memory chips at its Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. Watson had already come up with answers to the questions prior to this week's showdown, but placed wages, chose categories and buzzed in responses in real-time. According to IBM, Watson's presence wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game, which was followed by a discussion on the effects that similar technologies could have on the financial world. The most immediate impact? Bruised egos. Re-live the event at IBM's liveblog below, or find more information in the PR after the break.
Rocksmith adds Radiohead, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Black Keys; more DLC coming Nov. 15
Fret not, ye who have mastered all of the licks and diddies found in Ubisoft's Rocksmith: DLC is incoming. Today, Ubisoft has announced that select Radiohead, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Keys jams are available for download today. It's mostly what you'd expect -- well, in the case of Lynyrd Skynyrd, anyway: "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Body Snatchers" by Radiohead and "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys are available for 240 MS Points ($3) or $2.99 on PlayStation Network each. On November 15, the Rock Hits 1970's Pack makes available Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water," Boston's "More Than a Feeling" and The Allman Brothers Band's "Jessica," all of which will follow the same pricing scheme. Ubisoft promises "new music packs will be released on a regular basis." So, every two weeks then?
142 electric vehicle charging stations head to Massachusetts, Nantucket and MV not included
Things are lookin' up in New England -- particularly for those who crisscross Yawkey Way with an electric vehicle. A grand total of 142 EV charging stations are slated to hit The Bay State in the coming months, with 25 communities across the commonwealth to get gifted. Boston reports that the majority of 'em will be in "common commuter or traveler spots," places like downtown parking garages, MBTA lots, shopping malls, etc. The bulk of the boxes will be part of the ChargePoint network, and we're told that the rates for recharging will be set by "municipalities on public land and by property owners on private land," depending on where each box is planted. So, is the charging station rollout between NY and MA the new Yankees vs. Red Sox? Nah, but a techie can dream.
Vitamin Water bus-stop ad lets devices juice-up before the commute
Battery running low during the rush-hour commute? Glacéau's Vitamin Water Energy Bus Shelter by Crispin Porter & Bogusky wants to help you get charged while you're waiting to board. The new billboards feature a bottle of the vitamin / caffeine-packing drink, sporting a triple-USB port, which you can plug your devices into for some extra juice. Apparently, you'll be seeing these if your daily public-transit hustle takes you through the fine cities of Boston, New York, Chicago or Los Angeles -- we'd imagine owners of HTC's Thunderbolt will find them very useful.
Verizon's Innovation Center opens its doors to LTE product development
Not sure if you've noticed, but there's an LTE race going on and VZW's wasting no time sprinting to the lead. Despite rival AT&T's February launch of a similar R&D space in Texas, Verizon's cutting its first big red bow on the two years in the making Innovation Center. Located just outside Boston, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based labs began churning out LTE-friendly products in October of 2009, developing 30+ products to date. While most of these may never ride along the borderline blazing speeds of real-world LTE, the environment does give small startups a leg-up in a collaborative, deep-pocketed space (insert emphasis here). The research center also does double duty for the operator's bottom line, offering its Verizon Ventures group first dibs on investment opportunities -- like it did with Nomad Innovation's LiveEdge TV product. Construction on a second mobile applications-focused facility is already underway in San Francisco with its very own opening ceremony slated for late summer. We're glad to see Verizon spreading the bills to spur tech forward, but there's one major thing the carrier forgot -- an emergency room wing for all its crapware-bloated products. Official PR after the break. [Image credit via PCMag]
Massachusetts court opens up to social media and live video, Ice-T expected to cameo
This story ripped from today's headlines: the Quincy District Court, just south of Boston, Massachusetts, will now stream live video online. Dubbed OpenCourt, the experiment will also offer WiFi and encourage liveblogging and social media reporting -- all in an attempt to help the judiciary understand and accommodate new digital reporting tools. Funded with a $250,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge, it proposes a more transparent philosophy for the legal system, which has often banned cameras and restricted access. But the court won't become an open free-for-all. There will be no video for restraining order cases and those involving minors, among others, and judges can disable the video feed at any time. Said executive producer John Davidow,"The idea is to bring the courts and what goes on in the courts closer to the people so they understand how the law and the justice system work in this country." With such high-minded goals, expect viewing that's closer to C-SPAN than Law & Order.
MacTech Boot Camp revving up for Dallas, coming to Boston, LA and Chicago later this year
Our friends at the MacTech Boot Camp series of conferences for Mac consultants and IT techs are rolling right into 2011. They've got a session planned in Dallas for April 27, and then they're headed up to Boston for another event on May 18. We're told there's still room at the Dallas event, and the usual pricing has been lowered to $395, so you TUAW readers can follow this special discount link to see the show for just $295. Sessions include a packed schedule of panels and demos, lots and lots of networking, and included meals and refreshments -- if you've never been to one of these and do any consulting or IT work with Macs, they're definitely worth seeing. You can even get certified at the events -- Apple Certification Testing is taking place the day before each session, and there's also a proctor-moderated group study session included before that, so you can do some last-minute cramming with your fellow pupils. Testing for MacTech Boot Camp attendees is only $199, which is significantly cheaper than usual. Finally, early bird registration is still underway for the sessions later on this year -- the conference will be in Los Angeles on July 27, and in Chicago on August 31. If you're in either of those cities, definitely consider attending. TUAW is a media sponsor of the MacTech Boot Camp conferences.
PAX East 2011 attendance 69,500; officially becomes biggest PAX
PAX East organizers have told Joystiq that the show's attendance at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center was 69,500, making it the biggest PAX convention yet. Last year's inaugural PAX East show welcomed 52,290 revelers to the smaller Hynes Convention Center. Penny Arcade business honcho, Robert Khoo, told Big Download: "The venue we have this year is massive - it's legitimately 2-3x larger than last year's venue, so the amount of breathing room was fantastic. I didn't hear a single complaint about overcrowding. I never thought I would see the day." PAX East 2012 is scheduled for April 6-8. Start booking those hotel rooms now ... we'd be surprised if it wasn't another sold-out show.
Chiptune festival bleepin' and bloopin' at PAX East
Boston8Bit has teamed up with Magfest to bring three days of chiptune concerts to this year's PAX East. Notable chiptune artists (Animal Style and The Engadget Show's own Zen Albatross, among others) will be performing daily in PAX's "Jamspace" area daily from 11AM until 2PM EST -- we've been told the space is not full of jam, despite previous reports to the contrary. Interested parties should head to the event-within-an-event's Facebook page to confirm attendance, or simply to find additional information. The entire list of performances broken down by day can be found after the break.
We're live from PAX East, in not-so-sunny Boston
Given that so, so many of us Joystiq writers call the American Northeast our home, it shouldn't surprise you that we're in Boston en masse for the second annual PAX East. Rather than returning to the Hynes, PAX is expanding this year into the larger Boston Convention Center, though it doesn't appear to have had a huge impact on the event's ability to sell out of tickets well ahead of time. If you haven't already planned out your entire weekend with the free Conventionist App, allow us to suggest a few notable, 'Stiq-centric panels over the next few days: the second annual live Joystiq Podcast recording this evening, tomorrow morning's delicious (and free) Blueberry Muffintops Breakfast meetup, the first annual live X3F Fancast recording tomorrow evening, and two separate panels with our fearless leader, Chris Grant. Follow our Twitter accounts (listed after the break) for up to the minute info on what's going on. And if you see us, say hello! Update: We're totally soaked. If you say "hello" to us at the show, please pardon our moistness. Update 2: Actually Ben, us smart guys took a cab from the hotel, so we're dry as a popcorn fart.-Justin
Boston planning to murder potholes with your phone's accelerometer
Accelerometers in consumer electronics have already shown value far beyond their manufacturers ever intended -- but did you ever think your car's beleaguered suspension system would be the benefactor? Officials in Boston are toying around with an experimental smartphone app called Street Bump that's tuned to keep an eye out for potholes as you drive; when it detects a disturbance in the force, it makes note of the location. No word on when Bostonians will benefit from the fruits of Street Bump's labor, but the developers will be using this spring and summer's post-freeze pothole season to fine-tune the algorithm so that it can differentiate between, say, a gaping crater in the road and your poor driving skills (just kidding, we're sure you're a fine driver). [Image via Wikimedia Commons]
Zipcar adds the plug-in Prius PHEV to its fleet, probably not changing name to Zapcar
Would you like a plug-in Prius, the sort that we spent a few days with last year, back when the seasons were changing and there was only a hint of this killer winter to come? Well, too bad, because you still can't buy them. But Zipcar can, apparently, adding eight of the things to its fleet, and they're available now in Boston, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. Given the company has 8,000 total cars available your chances of securing one of these particular Priuses (Prii?) is slim, but if you score, know that they charge in just three hours on a 110 outlet, and half that if you're wired for 220, so no fancy-pants charging station is required for use.
MetroPCS brings its LTE network to Boston, Sacramento, and New York City
Regional carrier MetroPCS is ticking three more checkboxes today as it keeps pushing its ongoing LTE network rollout, and they're big ones: on top of Sacramento, they've added Boston and none other than New York City. That makes the carrier second to launch LTE in the Big Apple -- Verizon's already there -- but you can't take away from the fact that MetroPCS beat the big guys with their first live commercial markets by several months. As for hardware, it's the same as usual: the Samsung Craft dumbphone is your only option, which means that if you're looking to blaze on your notebook with a next-gen USB stick, you're still going to have to head to Verizon anyway. Follow the break for the full press release.
The Perfect Ten: The sadistic shopper's list for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
With the holiday shopping season upon us, gamers are hot for great deals and cheap entertainment. As my wife's logic goes, if something is 80% off, you buy it, even if you didn't really want it in the first place. It's the principle of the thing, an automatic 80% dose of smug satisfaction at being a savvy shopper! Not every deal should be pursued, however. Although most video games are playable for years and decades after release, not so with MMOs that have had their service shuttered. It's recently come to my attention that even though these games are completely unplayable -- rendered nothing more than a few cents' worth of a DVD and cardboard packaging -- online retailers haven't kept up with the times and keep these products on the virtual shelves long past their expiration dates. That's not to say you should avoid these products at all cost, because studies show that a large percentage of Massively readers have a sick and twisted sense of humor. What would make a better gift this Christmas than a multi-million-dollar-budget MMO that died a horrible death years before? So don't be the typical gifter who settles for a Blu-ray player or an iPod -- give a package of misery, disillusionment and broken dreams! Hit the jump for 10 items that absolutely belong in your shopping cart if you wish to be feared!
Slam Bolt Scrappers devs looking for beta testers in Boston
If you like fighting, tower defense, Bruins, Celtics, and playing video games before they're released, you're probably the perfect candidate for developer Fire Hose Games' call to arms. The studio is looking for gamers in the Boston area to beta test its genre-mashing PSN title, Slam Bolt Scrappers.
Anti-Aliased: End of line
Yeah, it's exactly what you think it is. It's one of those columns where the writer announces that she's packing up and moving out. It's a column where the writer talks about how she's been here for two years and 199 days, and has written over 1,018 posts that have included over 534,580 words. It's a column where the writer says goodbye, wishes that she wasn't moving on, but knows that she must. Guys and gals, it's been an amazing two and a half years and it has been nothing but an honor to write for all of you. I know sometimes we all disagree, and I know I say some really insane stuff that leaves people going, "Wow, she really said that aloud?" But, I'm glad that all of you still come back to discuss gaming here on my column, despite some of our disagreements. Anti-Aliased has remained one of the most popular columns here on Massively throughout these two years and I am very grateful for your readership. As I prepare to leave Massively and say goodbye, I'd like to take one final look at the MMO genre as a whole. Plus, I have a surprise announcement to make at the end! Yay surprises!
ZUG takes live-action Lemmings tribute to Boston
The very same mall we walked through to enter the inaugural PAX East this past March just saw a heavy influx of Lemmings, care of the folks at ZUG and "a few dozen" of their "closest friends." The video contains at least one water-based Lemming fatality -- you've been warned!
Boston.com launches Big Picture iPad app, where it finally feels at home
No shame in saying it -- we're huge, huge fans of Boston's 'Big Picture' blog. Regardless of the subject matter, the photographs gathered there never fail to speak to something a little deeper within our souls, and now viewing them just because a wee bit easier. The portal has today launched a new version of their 'Big Picture' app that's fully compatible with the iPad, enabling Apple tablet owners to see new photographic essays on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. Unfortunately, the app costs $2.99 (where it's free to surf on over to the website), and the current crop of reviews are less than glowing. Might we suggest waiting a tick to see if those early issues are ironed out in a subsequent release?
Sprint adds Boston, Daytona Beach and Providence to its 4G coverage map
Sprint's treating the East Coast to a shot of adrenaline-fueled mobile internet today, with Daytona Beach in Florida, Providence in Rhode Island, and Boston (you know the state, right?) all getting the green light for 4G activation. Notably, this takes the number of markets Sprint has now lit up in sexy WiMAX airwaves beyond 50 and ratchets up the states that have at least some coverage up to 21. It's also jolly good news for any residents of those three cities that were lustily eyeing the Epic or EVO 4G but felt they couldn't justify it without an actual 4G network to hook up to. [Thanks, Nick]
T-Mobile adds Boston, San Diego, Miami, others to HSPA+ live list
T-Mobile USA isn't backing down with its somewhat controversial "4G speeds" rhetoric for its rapidly-growing HSPA+ network -- and when you consider that real-world performance on it can meet or exceed what Clear and Sprint will get you in some markets on WiMAX, we can't say we blame them. Next to enjoy the 4G-esque experience from the nation's number four carrier are a few major markets -- Boston, San Diego, and Miami -- along with Erie, Pennsylvania, Fresno, Palm Springs, Richmond, Spokane, and Topeka. Though the G2 is lining up to be the carrier's first true HSPA+ smartphone, T-Mobile's quick to remind everyone that the upgrades also mean that over 15 current devices in its lineup will see some benefits as well; not "4G speeds," of course, but better than the HSPA they'd had before. See T-Mobile's full statement after the break.
