The technology now exists to teach computers the meanings of words so that they can "understand" the English language in much the same way as a human.
Cognition Technologies has released a "semantic map" that can give machines a vocabulary that is 10 times larger than that of a typical American college graduate.
The firm has begun licensing the map to software creators interested in developing programs that "understand" words based on their tenses and context in a sentence - in a similar way to the human brain.
"We have taught the computer virtually all the meanings of words and phrases in the English language," Cognition chief executive Scott Jarus told AFP. "This is clearly a building block for Web 3.0, or what is known as the Semantic Web. It has taken 30 years; it is a labour of love," Jarus said.
When applied to Internet searches, semantic technology delivers results directed at what users actually seem to be looking for instead of simply matching words used to online content. For example, a semantic online search for "melancholy songs with birds" would know to link sadness in lyrics with various species of birds.
Cognition's semantic map is already used in a LexisNexis Concordance "e-discovery" software to sift through documents amassed during evidence phases of trials.
"We help them find the needle in a haystack," Jarus said.
Cognition's Caselaw program uses the technology to look through more than a half-century of US federal court decisions for legal precedents, according to the company. The semantic map is also used in a widely-used medical database.
Cognition has a handful of rivals, with each firm taking its own approach to semantic technology. In July US software giant Microsoft bought San Francisco-based Powerset, a three-year-old start-up which specialises in interpreting the intent of people's Internet searches instead of matching specific words they use. Microsoft said it planned to use Powerset technology to enhance its free Live Search service.
20 September 2008
19 September 2008
China Milk Scandal Shows Ties Between Companies, City Officials
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A week before the Beijing Olympics began on Aug. 8, officials in Shijiazhuang, China, learned that baby formula made by one of the city's biggest companies was tainted with a toxic chemical. They said nothing.
It wasn't until five weeks later that they notified the provincial government, spurring the recall of Sanlu Group Co. milk, says Andrew Ferrier, chief executive officer of Auckland- based Fonterra Cooperative Group, which owns 43 percent of Sanlu.
The scandal, now involving 22 dairies and at least four deaths, shows the extent to which local officials protect large employers to create jobs, tax revenue and momentum for their political careers, says Peter Cheung, a professor at the University of Hong Kong who studies policy making in China.
``Local governments are always watching out for their local companies, and the bigger the company, the bigger the sway they'll have,'' says Bruce McLaughlin, a Shanghai-based consultant who investigates patent infringement in China. ``We never go to the local government when we investigate a company. They're no help or they'll leak information to the company.''
Authorities have arrested 18 people in connection with the milk scandal. Sanlu Chairwoman Tian Wenhua was detained by police, fired and removed from her Communist Party post, the official Xinhua News Agency reported this week. Five Shijiazhuang city officials, including the mayor, have been fired.
Calls to Sanlu weren't returned over the past two days. Sanlu apologized to consumers and promised to recall all milk powder produced before Aug. 6, Xinhua reported Sept. 15.
1,300 Hospitalized
More than 1,300 children have been hospitalized after drinking milk formula contaminated with melamine, a toxic chemical normally used in making plastics and tanning leather.
``These companies are too disgusting,'' Li Chunling, 60, said at a Shanghai market while returning milk powder she bought for her 9-month-old grandson. ``I don't have any sense of direction anymore about what to buy. I don't trust any of these products.''
The Communist Party in June announced plans to fight corruption with increased scrutiny of state-owned companies and local officials.
``Firmly punishing and effectively preventing corruption relates to the popularity and survival of the party, and is a political task the party must fully grasp,'' the party's Central Committee said June 22.
Corruptions Costs
Corruption costs the Chinese economy as much as $86 billion a year, or 3 percent of gross domestic product, the Washington- based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in a report released last October.
In the run-up to the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics, international media featured reports about fish spiked with antibiotics and cancer-causing chemicals; chicken and duck eggs laced with a carcinogenic red dye; and frozen dumplings injected with pesticide. Melamine-laced pet food from China was blamed for killing as many as 4,000 dogs and cats in the U.S. last year.
This is the second time in four years that unsafe infant formula has killed children in China. Thirteen babies died of malnutrition in 2004 and almost 200 were hospitalized in Anhui province after drinking milk powder with no nutritional content.
Two Fuyang city officials received two-year and six-month jail terms for dereliction of duty in that case.
``I don't doubt there is corruption and collusion at the local level between governments and companies,'' says Cheung, director of the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Hong Kong. ``China needs to give more resources to regulators, and it needs more transparency.''
March Complaints
The milk scandal began in March, when Sanlu received complaints about its products, Ferrier said Sept. 17 in Auckland. At the time, tests by outside firms didn't find any melamine. Melamine can be used to disguise diluted milk because it makes protein levels appear higher than they really are.
On Aug. 2, Sanlu's board was informed that its formula was contaminated, Ferrier said. Sanlu's board includes three members from Fonterra.
Fonterra urged Sanlu to go public ``from day one,'' Ferrier said. The New Zealand company didn't speak out earlier because it wanted ``to work within the Chinese system.''
The New Zealand government was told about the contamination Sept. 5 and three days later ordered its own officials to inform authorities in Beijing, Prime Minister Helen Clark said, according to the New Zealand Press Association.
Officials in Shijiazhuang, 120 miles south of Beijing, didn't notify the Hebei provincial government until Sept. 9, provincial vice governor Yang Chongyong said this week at a briefing in Beijing. Yang's administration informed the central government a day later.
Deng Credo
Chinese government policy is driven by the 1992 credo of former leader Deng Xiaoping: ``To get rich is glorious.'' Local officials are considered for promotions based mainly on how they manage economic growth and maintain order, Cheung said.
In a nation where the World Bank says 207 million people live on about $1.25 a day, bribery is rampant. Last year, the former head of the nation's food and drug regulator was executed for accepting 6.5 million yuan ($950,000) in bribes and gifts. Six types of fake medicines were approved during his tenure, according to Xinhua.
``It's an impossible mission to keep away from poisoned food in China,'' says Lu Erjia, 31, who uses imported milk powder for her 7-month-old son. ``It is just another attack on our confidence in China's food safety.''
It wasn't until five weeks later that they notified the provincial government, spurring the recall of Sanlu Group Co. milk, says Andrew Ferrier, chief executive officer of Auckland- based Fonterra Cooperative Group, which owns 43 percent of Sanlu.
The scandal, now involving 22 dairies and at least four deaths, shows the extent to which local officials protect large employers to create jobs, tax revenue and momentum for their political careers, says Peter Cheung, a professor at the University of Hong Kong who studies policy making in China.
``Local governments are always watching out for their local companies, and the bigger the company, the bigger the sway they'll have,'' says Bruce McLaughlin, a Shanghai-based consultant who investigates patent infringement in China. ``We never go to the local government when we investigate a company. They're no help or they'll leak information to the company.''
Authorities have arrested 18 people in connection with the milk scandal. Sanlu Chairwoman Tian Wenhua was detained by police, fired and removed from her Communist Party post, the official Xinhua News Agency reported this week. Five Shijiazhuang city officials, including the mayor, have been fired.
Calls to Sanlu weren't returned over the past two days. Sanlu apologized to consumers and promised to recall all milk powder produced before Aug. 6, Xinhua reported Sept. 15.
1,300 Hospitalized
More than 1,300 children have been hospitalized after drinking milk formula contaminated with melamine, a toxic chemical normally used in making plastics and tanning leather.
``These companies are too disgusting,'' Li Chunling, 60, said at a Shanghai market while returning milk powder she bought for her 9-month-old grandson. ``I don't have any sense of direction anymore about what to buy. I don't trust any of these products.''
The Communist Party in June announced plans to fight corruption with increased scrutiny of state-owned companies and local officials.
``Firmly punishing and effectively preventing corruption relates to the popularity and survival of the party, and is a political task the party must fully grasp,'' the party's Central Committee said June 22.
Corruptions Costs
Corruption costs the Chinese economy as much as $86 billion a year, or 3 percent of gross domestic product, the Washington- based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in a report released last October.
In the run-up to the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics, international media featured reports about fish spiked with antibiotics and cancer-causing chemicals; chicken and duck eggs laced with a carcinogenic red dye; and frozen dumplings injected with pesticide. Melamine-laced pet food from China was blamed for killing as many as 4,000 dogs and cats in the U.S. last year.
This is the second time in four years that unsafe infant formula has killed children in China. Thirteen babies died of malnutrition in 2004 and almost 200 were hospitalized in Anhui province after drinking milk powder with no nutritional content.
Two Fuyang city officials received two-year and six-month jail terms for dereliction of duty in that case.
``I don't doubt there is corruption and collusion at the local level between governments and companies,'' says Cheung, director of the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Hong Kong. ``China needs to give more resources to regulators, and it needs more transparency.''
March Complaints
The milk scandal began in March, when Sanlu received complaints about its products, Ferrier said Sept. 17 in Auckland. At the time, tests by outside firms didn't find any melamine. Melamine can be used to disguise diluted milk because it makes protein levels appear higher than they really are.
On Aug. 2, Sanlu's board was informed that its formula was contaminated, Ferrier said. Sanlu's board includes three members from Fonterra.
Fonterra urged Sanlu to go public ``from day one,'' Ferrier said. The New Zealand company didn't speak out earlier because it wanted ``to work within the Chinese system.''
The New Zealand government was told about the contamination Sept. 5 and three days later ordered its own officials to inform authorities in Beijing, Prime Minister Helen Clark said, according to the New Zealand Press Association.
Officials in Shijiazhuang, 120 miles south of Beijing, didn't notify the Hebei provincial government until Sept. 9, provincial vice governor Yang Chongyong said this week at a briefing in Beijing. Yang's administration informed the central government a day later.
Deng Credo
Chinese government policy is driven by the 1992 credo of former leader Deng Xiaoping: ``To get rich is glorious.'' Local officials are considered for promotions based mainly on how they manage economic growth and maintain order, Cheung said.
In a nation where the World Bank says 207 million people live on about $1.25 a day, bribery is rampant. Last year, the former head of the nation's food and drug regulator was executed for accepting 6.5 million yuan ($950,000) in bribes and gifts. Six types of fake medicines were approved during his tenure, according to Xinhua.
``It's an impossible mission to keep away from poisoned food in China,'' says Lu Erjia, 31, who uses imported milk powder for her 7-month-old son. ``It is just another attack on our confidence in China's food safety.''
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