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Cryptocurrency Transactions in India Are Growing Amidst the Regulatory Uncertainty – Coin Idol

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Jul 30, 2020 at 13:09 // News

Cryptocurrency transaction volume in India is growing. The countrys digital currency sector has been developing swiftly despite the countrywide lockdown and the Covid-19 plague.

The cryptocurrency industry in India is displaying momentous growth with many digital currency exchanges registering a 10X increase in trading volumes and a considerable increase in new customers.

The Covid-19 pandemic devastated the economy, locked up the citizens in their homes but still they continued to use cryptocurrencies on a large scale and the crypto market remained very lively. Bitcoin, the original crypto, has captured a lions share of market shares, followed by Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are also gradually penetrating the domestic digital currency market.

However, the growth of the industry within the country has seen difficulties as the Reserve Bank of India demonstrated outright hostility. The institution officially banned them because they lack intrinsic value, investors are not protected 100%, and the transactions are difficult to trace.

But now the RBI seems to become less hostile to cryptocurrency-related businesses after its ban on tokens was quashed by the Supreme Court. As per the report by CoinIidol, a world blockchain news outlet, the move has attracted more exchanges and businesses into the country hence increasing the number of transactions in the country.

The growth has attracted a forest of multinational cryptocurrency exchanges (trading over 1315 crypto), such as Paxful, Unocoin, Zebpay, Giottus, Coinswitch, Colodax, BitBNS, CoinDCX, WazirX, BuyUcoin, etc., and other blockchain businesses into the country. This has led to the growth and development of several local digital currency exchange platforms as well as trade markets for the domestic population.

Despite regulatory uncertainty and scrutiny imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, the BTC fever is getting stronger, with more than 2,800 customers selling and buying BTC day-to-day and the trading volume surging about $20 billion annually.

While the government policy concerning cryptoassets is still in the cooking mode, several crypto businesses are trying to adopt the know-your-customer (KYC) policy to reduce the major trading risks. The digital currency exchange platforms operating within the country have also created a foundation known as Digital Asset and Blockchain Foundation of India (DABFI) that will be making decisions on the exchanges position on different subjects and concerns like hard forks.

Generally, India demonstrates the trend typical of many developing countries with high levels of unbanked population. In such conditions, people tend to seek alternative ways of payment that would allow for their inclusion in international finance. That explains the flourishing of the cryptocurrency industry even despite complications caused by the RBI. Moreover, the industry is expected to grow even further as the demand for digital solutions has increased.

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Cryptocurrency Transactions in India Are Growing Amidst the Regulatory Uncertainty - Coin Idol

Harvard Law Professor Analyzes Hingham Firefighters’ Refusal To Remove So-Called ‘Thin Blue Line’ Flags From Trucks – wgbh.org

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Firefighters in Hingham, Mass., are continuing to display a version of the American flag black and white with a blue stripe on their fire trucks. The firefighters say it's there to show support for the police, but their bosses say it's an inappropriate political statement and it has to come down. All Things Considered host Arun Rath spoke with Noah Feldman, a professor of law at Harvard Law School, on Wednesday about the controversy. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Arun Rath: And first, to give people some background, because in case you're not familiar, this flag that has the blue stripe in it, the supporters say that it's supposed to show support for the police. Right now in our current context, its also come up as is being shown in opposition to Black Lives Matter and that movement. And there were apparently some complaints from some citizens in Hingham along those lines. It sounds like it might be established law, but give us the foundation here.

First, do employers have the right to limit these kind of political displays in the workplace? And does it make a difference if we're talking about a private business or, say, the firefighters?

Noah Feldman: Well, first of all, it can make a difference. Certainly, a private employer can decide what flag will be displayed in the workplace. But that's because a private employer is also not governed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Government is a different matter. Government is governed by the First Amendment, and government can't limit citizens' free speech. So that's why this becomes sort of interesting and even a little bit complicated from a constitutional perspective.

The thing to keep in mind here is that if private citizens who were serving the government wanted to speak on their own, they would have some capacity to do so without being told what to say by the government. But because in this case, the flags that they're flying are on firetrucks, which are government property, it's almost certainly the case under existing law that if the town's executive say you have to take the flags down, that they are obligated to take the flags down.

Rath: And is there precedent in case law that supports that from the past?

Feldman: In general, the precedent here is a principle called government speech. The government is entitled, when it's speaking through its official channels, to say whatever it wants. It can express any point of view that it chooses. It can promote a view. It can argue against a view. The government can run public service announcements telling you to go out to vote. The government can have a holiday called Columbus Day, which some people don't like because, you know, [what was] originally intended to say nice things about Italian Americans is now construed by some to be, you know, papering over of a history of invasion and imperialism and even genocide. But the government is still entitled to do it.

And similarly, the government can decide what messages will or won't be conveyed on its property, including its firetrucks. So that's the general principle here.

Rath: And is there total clarity when it comes to saying what counts as political speech? It may be clear in a case like this, but are there other displays that would be considered nonpolitical and therefore, OK?

Feldman: Well, here it does get a little bit trickier because, you know, if the town of Hingham suddenly wanted to fly flags from its firetruck saying 'Vote Democrat' or 'Vote Republican,' it could be the case that it would be crossing a line that's very well established in American politics namely, that local governments and the federal government are not supposed to themselves express preferences that are partisan political. So that that would be a circumstance which might be relevant.

But broadly speaking, there isn't, other than a town policy here, a general constitutional principle that says that a town or a city couldn't say something that was political in its own right. So, you know, having Columbus Day is political. The state of Massachusetts does it. And that's OK. So what's going on here is that in Hingham, the town says it has a policy of not allowing political speech. But it doesn't have to have that policy to be able to choose what flag it flies.

Arun: Well, I was going to ask about that, because we've seen it in other areas where local governments are actually endorsing, even promoting political speech I think of New York City, where the city painted Black Lives Matter in front of Trump Tower. But that's OK because that's their policy?

Feldman: Exactly. That's their policy. And that's what they want to express.

Now, what Hingham says is that they have a written policy that says no political speech. And I suppose if the firefighters wanted to go to court and challenge an order for them to take down the flags, what their best argument would be would be to say, 'Well, you say that this is a political policy, a policy of no political speech. But this isn't political speech.' And then ask the court to determine the meaning of Hinghams policies. That would be different from a constitutional argument. It would just be saying, 'Hey, we don't think you're applying your own policy correctly.'

Rath: And where could this potentially go legally from here? Could the firefighters union challenge this policy?

Feldman: You know, I suppose they could. The firefighters don't have an individual right to fly any flags that they want from the firetrucks. And so far as I can tell, at least in the news stories that I've read, they haven't asserted that they have such a right. On the other hand, they have said, 'Well, gee, none of us have found it in our hearts to take down the flag.' So they're engaged right now in a kind of, I would say, gentle civil disobedience with respect to these flags.

If they were really pushed, I suppose they could go to court and ask the court to say that the town was not correctly enforcing its own policy. I think a court would be pretty skeptical of that because in general, courts like to be deferential to government officials who are reasonably enforcing their own policy. And I think they probably would say that a flag with a message is almost inherently something political and therefore up to the town to determine whether or not they can fly or not.

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Harvard Law Professor Analyzes Hingham Firefighters' Refusal To Remove So-Called 'Thin Blue Line' Flags From Trucks - wgbh.org

Decoding Practical Problems and Business Implications of Machine Learning – Analytics Insight

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Machine learning typically is used to solve a host of diverse problems within an organization, extracting predictive knowledge from both structured and unstructured data and using them to deliver value. The technology has already made its way into different aspects of a business ranging from finding data patterns to detect anomalies and making recommendations. Machine learning helps organizations gain a competitive edge by processing a voluminous amount of data and applying complex computations.

With machine learning, companies can develop better applications according to their business requirements. This technology is mainly designed to make everything programmatic. Applications of machine learning have the potential to drive business outcomes that can extensively affect a companys bottom line. The rapid evolution of new techniques in recent years has further expanded the machine learning application to nearly boundless possibilities.

Industries relying on massive volumes of data are significantly leveraging machine learning techniques to process their data and to build models, strategize, and plan.

While implementing the effective application of machine learning enables businesses to grow, gain competitive advantage and prepare for the future, there are some key practical issues in machine learning and their business implications organizations must consider.

As machine learning significantly relies on data, the occurrence of noisy data can considerably impact any information prediction. Generally, data from a dataset carries extraneous and meaningless information which can significantly affect data analysis, clustering and association analysis. Having a lack of quality data can also restrain the capabilities of building ML models. In order to cope with quality data and noise, businesses need to apply better and effective machine learning strategies through data cleansing and overall processing of data.

There is no doubt that the development of machine learning has made it possible to learn directly from data rather than human knowledge with a strong emphasis on accuracy. However, the lack of the ability to explain or present data in understandable terms to a human, often called interpretability, is one of the biggest issues in machine learning. The introduction of possible biases in data has also led to ethical and legal issues with ML models. Theinterpretabilitylevels in the field of machine learning and algorithms may significantly vary. Some methods are human-compatible as they are highly interpretable, while some are too complex to apprehend, thus require ad-hoc methods to gain an interpretation.

In the context of supervised machine learning, an imbalanced dataset often involves two or more classes. There is an imbalance among labels in the training data in several real-world datasets. This imbalance in a dataset has the potential to affect the choice of learning, the process of selecting algorithms, model evaluation and verification. The models can even suffer large biases, and the learning will not be effective if the right techniques are not employed properly. ML algorithms can generate insufficient classifiers when faced with imbalanced datasets. When trying to resolve certain business challenges with imbalanced data sets, the classifiers produced by standard ML algorithms might not deliver precise outcomes.

Thus, to address imbalanced datasets requires strategies like enhancing classification algorithms or balancing classes in the training data before providing the data as input to machine learning algorithms.

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Vivek Kumar is the President of Consumer Revenue at UpGrad, an online education platform providing industry oriented programs in collaboration with world-class institutes, some of which are MICA, IIIT Bangalore, BITS and various industry leaders which include MakeMyTrip, Ola, Flipkart to name a few. He has 19 years of experience in diversified industries like Consumer goods, Media, Technology Products and Ed-ucation Services. He has been leading businesses & multi-cultural teams with a consistent record of market-beating performance and building brand leadership. His previous engagement has been with Manipal Global Education services as Sr General Manager, Education Services (Digital Transformation Strategy & Global Expansion).

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Deep Learning is Coming to Hockey – Last Word on Hockey

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Analytics have been transforming how we watch hockey. The revolution is just beginning. Statisticians and quantitative experts have led the way. Their impact has changed how we discuss and watch hockey.Analytics have been influential. Deep learning will be disruptive.

Advances in computing and understanding of complex relationships will massively alter the sporting landscape. Hockey will not be immune.

Every decision point is potentially affected. This will lead to impacts on and off the ice. Whoever gets there first will have an enormous competitive advantage. Think Moneyball, but with a team that maybe doesnt lose in the playoffs.

Our technology is getting smarter. Deep Learning (also known as machine learning) is coming to many aspects of life. The basic idea is using a computer to analyze complex interactions to come to conclusions. We have seen the concept applied to medicine with great results. The worlds greatest GO player has left the game after realizing the robots cant be beat. Team sports will be conquered next.

High-end computers can do mathematical calculations we humans can only dream of. This is the basis of how it can work.

Machine learning is an application of Artificial Intelligence (AI.) The focus is providing data to computers, which then learn and improve with experience. These machines arent programmed in the traditional sense, rather they are developed by allowing computers to access data and learn from it themselves.

Like in the outside world, the impacts for sports are numerous. There are many potential applications for deep learning. A look at the call for papers for the 2020 Machine Learning and Data Mining for Sports Analytics conference shows what this world is working on.Expected topics include items such as:

A quick glance at the topics demonstrates the field is getting into increasingly complex issues. This has the potential to reshape coaching, management, and player development.

There is good data and bad data. Like the larger debate about analytics, the availability and value of information is of concern. The sheer number of variables in the chaotic environment on the ice makes the analysis complex. Stop and go sports like baseball and football are easier to analyze as the statistics tend to be more clear cut.

All numbers arent created equal. The issue of inconsistent stat keepers will slow progress down. A shot or a hit in one arena may not be the same in the next. Stats also become less reliable away from professional leagues, and so a close look at the numbers going in are needed to produce accuracy. Quantitative analysis is wonderful, but critical analysis to ensure accuracy is needed. In science speak, you need to operationalize things properly.

The complexity of hockey will make adopting deep learning difficult. It will be one of the last sports to truly be able to take advantage of it. There are many ways it will affect the game for fans, players, and teams. The complexity problem will be overcome.

Whos going to win? Can statistics help us understand the answer? Apparently, yes.

Predicting results has been a primary focus of deep learning applied to sports. The first tests have focused on predicting results. The potential of figuring out whos going to win, and how to efficiently bet would be lucrative for outsiders. Like in other sports, this is the first area where deep learning is likely to come.

It has been a long road, but expert pundits are falling. In the early days of deep learning, the experts at prediction on tv were better. This is changing. Back in 2003, early attempts computers were not able to beat expert pundits at prediction. Recently, a deep learning machine (75% accuracy) was able to beat the ESPN teams 63% accuracy over the same time. This is just the first step.

Football experts were the first to fall. Machine learning will change the game well beyond that. They have the ability to be early adopters in the field. Particularly as the NFL has so much money, they are likely to continue to be the league to watch for the effects of deep learning.

That said, this is spreading. It has been applied to the English Premier League and many other sports. When it arrives in the hockey world, it will change how teams manage their decision making at all levels. From who to sign as a free agent, to who to trade for, and even lineup decisions night to night. The applications are limited only to the availability of the data.

While hockey is chaotic and numbers are inconsistent, this problem can be lessened. Stathletes seem likely to be the people who do it. Hockey is well aware of the name Chayhka already. Meghan is the one to watch in this case. She was one of 3 co-founders of the company along with brother John and Neil Lane.

What they do:

Using proprietary video tracking software, Stathletes pulls together thousands of performance metrics per game and compiles analytics related to each player and team. These analytics can provide baseline benchmarking, player comparisons, line matching, and player and team performance trends. Stathletes currently tracks data in 22 leagues worldwide and sells data to a wide variety of clients, including the National Hockey League (NHL). Via FedDev

If they are using machine learning, it is not clear. If not, it seems inevitable that they will. Meghan Chayka currently works with an expert in machine learning at the TD Management Data and Analytics Lab at Rotman (business school) at University of Toronto. Seems likely they can benefit each other, and would know this. (This may be part of the reason why Arizona seems peeved at Chayka currently. They may have just become a data have not.)

Stathletes and other groups are gaining knowledge and information. They will improve as they go. The NHL is open to this, its coming.

Machine learning has arrived. As the ability to obtain information improves, it will coincide with further developments and whats to come. If you are able to follow, Neil Lane (current Stathletes CEO) is to speak at the University of Waterloo on what sports managers can learn from analytics. This should be enlightening.

Embedded items will be key. Chips and sensors in various hockey items are coming. Jerseys and pucks will be transmitting the information. Learning computers will put it together.

The impacts will be numerous. Coaches, players, agents, and teams will have considerably more knowledge. This changes decision making. Training. Diet. Trades. Penalty Kill lineups. The possibilities are endless.

Deep learning will lead to hockey having more knowledge of all aspects. If people like Pierre McGuire hate analytics now, just wait for whats to come.

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Coronavirus lockdown tightened in Greater Manchester and parts of north | ITV News – ITV News

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People from different households in Greater Manchester, parts of East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire are banned from meeting each other indoors from midnight tonight as part of immediate action to keep people safe, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted a list of the areas in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and East Lancashire where households are now banned from meeting each other indoors from midnight tonight.

He tweeted: "We're constantly looking at the latest data on the spread of coronavirus, and unfortunately we've seen an increasing rate of transmission in parts of Northern England.

"We've been working with local leaders across the region, and today I chaired a meeting of the Local Action Gold Committee. Based on the data, we decided that in Greater Manchester, parts of West Yorkshire & East Lancashire we need to take immediate action to keep people safe.

"The spread is largely due to households meeting and not abiding to social distancing. So from midnight tonight, people from different households will not be allowed to meet each other indoors in these areas.

"We take this action with a heavy heart, but we can see increasing rates of covid across Europe and are determined to do whatever is neccessary to keep people safe."

Speaking to the media, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "We're constantly vigilant and we've been looking at the data and unfortunately we've seen across parts of Northern England an increase in the number of cases of coronavirus.

"So today I held a meeting of the Government's Gold Committee and working with local leaders including for instance Andy Burnham the mayor of Greater Manchester, we've decided that we need to action across Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and parts of West Yorkshire.

"So from midnight tonight (Friday) we are banning households meeting up indoors."

Matt Hancock said "households gathering and not abiding by the social distancing rules" was a reason for the stricter rules.

He told the media: "We take this action with a heavy heart but unfortunately it's necessary because we've seen that households meeting up and a lack of social distancing is one of the causes of this rising rate of coronavirus and we'll do whatever is necessary to keep the country safe."

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: "Over recent days, there has been a marked change in the picture across Greater Manchester with regard to the spread of Covid-19.

"We have gone from a falling rate of cases in nearly all of our boroughs last week to a rising rate in nine out of 10 affecting communities across a much wider geography. In Rochdale, the one borough where cases have fallen, they are still too high.

"We have always said that we will remain vigilant and be ready to respond quickly should the need arise. In line with that approach, I have agreed with the Health Secretary that it is right to act on the precautionary principle and introduce modest measures now to bring down the rate of new infections.

"I ask all Greater Manchester residents - young and old alike - to protect each other by observing these new requirements. They will be reviewed weekly; meaning the more we stick to them, the quicker they will be removed.

"This is a place which prides itself on looking out for each other. We now need to be true to that by not acting selfishly and keeping the health of others in mind at all times."

MP for Oldham, in Greater Manchester, and shadow transport minister Jim McMahon said there needs to be more clarity over what the Government is doing to support those in areas affected by new lockdown restrictions.

He tweeted: "On the face of it, for Oldham borough residents this is the same restriction announced already this week, replicated in further areas.

"As well as publishing a list, I'm sure all of us would welcome the Government adding what more they will do to support us, jobs and our economy."

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said the decision to ban households in Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and West Yorkshire from meeting indoors is the "right" one.

She tweeted: "The UK government is right to act quickly if they think the situation warrants it.

"But this is a sharp reminder that the threat of this virus is still very real. Please abide by the all #FACTS advice and stay safe."

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Coronavirus lockdown tightened in Greater Manchester and parts of north | ITV News - ITV News

LGBTQ Advocates React to Trump’s Ridiculous "Delay the Election" Tweet – NewNowNext

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by Sam Manzella 3h ago

President Trump has suggested delaying the presidential election in November, an absurd, incredibly out-of-line proposal that literally no one thinks is feasible.

In a tweet issued this Thursday, July 30, Trump boldly and baselessly declared that universal mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic would result in the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history.

It will be a great embarrassment to the USA, he added. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???

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Never mind that even his staunchest allies from the GOP have rejected his idea (and that tweets do not a policy make). As The New York Times reports, Trump doesnt even have the power to universally change the date of an election. Only Congress could make a decision of that caliber.

As NewNowNext has reported at length, Trump will most likely face off against Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden in November. The former VP has already scored an endorsement from HRC and launched a new initiative aimed at LGBTQ voters.

In a media statement, HRC president Alphonso David denounced Trumps poorly received suggestion as a strategy to distract us from his failed response to COVID-19 and boost his own failing campaign:

The President is losing the election because of his cruelty, incompetence, and corruption. There appear to be no limits to his efforts to propagate lies about the safety of this election He has repeatedly contradicted medical experts and science, and has taken us backwards as a nation. If the President is worried about conducting the election during a pandemic, he should support the $3.6 billion in the Heroes Act to help states and local governments implement vote-by-mail and other expanded options for voting. He should be helping ensure every American can vote safely in November, rather than continuing to advance misinformation and to undermine our democracy.

Queer activists and politicians chimed in on Twitter, too:

Trumps nonsensical tweets will come as no surprise to anyone whos followed his administrations vehemently anti-LGBTQ track record. In the summer of 2017, the president issued a series of now-infamous tweets stating he would be banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

After years of legal battles contesting its validity, the trans military ban actually came into fruition in 2019. LGBTQ advocates are still fighting tirelessly to protect the rights of transgender Americans in its shadow. All this to say, even if it the presidents tweet was just a cruel joke, were taking its implications seriously.

Brooklyn-based writer and editor. Probably drinking iced coffee or getting tattooed.

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MIT Using Artificial Intelligence to Help Put an End to the COVID-19 Pandemic – SciTechDaily

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C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute awards $5.4 million to top researchers to steer how society responds to the pandemic.

Artificial intelligence has the power to help put an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only can techniques of machine learning and natural language processing be used to track and report Covid-19 infection rates, but other AI techniques can also be used to make smarter decisions about everything from when states should reopen to how vaccines are designed. Now, MIT researchers working on seven groundbreaking projects on Covid-19 will be funded to more rapidly develop and apply novel AI techniques to improve medical response and slow the pandemic spread.

Earlier this year, the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (C3.ai DTI) formed, with the goal of attracting the worlds leading scientists to join in a coordinated and innovative effort to advance the digital transformation of businesses, governments, and society. The consortium is dedicated to accelerating advances in research and combining machine learning, artificial intelligence, internet of things, ethics, and public policy for enhancing societal outcomes. MIT, under the auspices of the School of Engineering, joined the C3.ai DTI consortium, along with C3.ai, Microsoft Corporation, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of California at Berkeley, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University, and, most recently, Stanford University.

The initial call for project proposals aimed to embrace the challenge of abating the spread of Covid-19 and advance the knowledge, science, and technologies for mitigating the impact of pandemics using AI. Out of a total of 200 research proposals, 26 projects were selected and awarded $5.4 million to continue AI research to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 in the areas of medicine, urban planning, and public policy.

The first round of grant recipients was recently announced, and among them are five projects led by MIT researchers from across the Institute: Saurabh Amin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering; Dimitris Bertsimas, the Boeing Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management; Munther Dahleh, the William A. Coolidge Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society; David Gifford, professor of biological engineering and of electrical engineering and computer science; and Asu Ozdaglar, the MathWorks Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and deputy dean of academics for MIT Schwarzman College of Computing.

We are proud to be a part of this consortium, and to collaborate with peers across higher education, industry, and health care to collectively combat the current pandemic, and to mitigate risk associated with future pandemics, says Anantha P. Chandrakasan, dean of the School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. We are so honored to have the opportunity to accelerate critical Covid-19 research through resources and expertise provided by the C3.ai DTI.

Additionally, three MIT researchers will collaborate with principal investigators from other institutions on projects blending health and machine learning. Regina Barzilay, the Delta Electronics Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Tommi Jaakkola, the Thomas Siebel Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, join Ziv Bar-Joseph from Carnegie Mellon University for a project using machine learning to seek treatment for Covid-19. Aleksander Mdry, professor of computer science in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, joins Sendhil Mullainathan of the University of Chicago for a project using machine learning to support emergency triage of pulmonary collapse due to Covid-19 on the basis of X-rays.

Bertsimass project develops automated, interpretable, and scalable decision-making systems based on machine learning and artificial intelligence to support clinical practices and public policies as they respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. When it comes to reopening the economy while containing the spread of the pandemic, Ozdaglars research provides quantitative analyses of targeted interventions for different groups that will guide policies calibrated to different risk levels and interaction patterns. Amin is investigating the design of actionable information and effective intervention strategies to support safe mobilization of economic activity and reopening of mobility services in urban systems. Dahlehs research innovatively uses machine learning to determine how to safeguard schools and universities against the outbreak. Gifford was awarded funding for his project that uses machine learning to develop more informed vaccine designs with improved population coverage, and to develop models of Covid-19 disease severity using individual genotypes.

The enthusiastic support of the distinguished MIT research community is making a huge contribution to the rapidstart and significant progress of the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, says Thomas Siebel, chair and CEO of C3.ai. It is a privilege to be working with such an accomplished team.

The following projects are the MIT recipients of the inaugural C3.ai DTI Awards:

Pandemic Resilient Urban Mobility: Learning Spatiotemporal Models for Testing, Contact Tracing, and Reopening Decisions Saurabh Amin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Patrick Jaillet, the Dugald C. Jackson Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Effective Cocktail Treatments for SARS-CoV-2 Based on Modeling Lung Single Cell Response Data Regina Barzilay, the Delta Electronics Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Tommi Jaakkola, the Thomas Siebel Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Principal investigator: Ziv Bar-Joseph of Carnegie Mellon University)

Toward Analytics-Based Clinical and Policy Decision Support to Respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic Dimitris Bertsimas, the Boeing Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management and associate dean for business analytics; and Alexandre Jacquillat, assistant professor of operations research and statistics

Reinforcement Learning to Safeguard Schools and Universities Against the Covid-19 Outbreak Munther Dahleh, the William A. Coolidge Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society; and Peko Hosoi, the Neil and Jane Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering and associate dean of engineering

Machine Learning-Based Vaccine Design and HLA Based Risk Prediction for Viral Infections David Gifford, professor of biological engineering and of electrical engineering and computer science

Machine Learning Support for Emergency Triage of Pulmonary Collapse in Covid-19 Aleksander Mdry, professor of computer science in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Principal investigator: Sendhil Mullainathan of the University of Chicago)

Targeted Interventions in Networked and Multi-Risk SIR Models: How to Unlock the Economy During a Pandemic Asu Ozdaglar, the MathWorks Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, department head of electrical engineering and computer science, and deputy dean of academics for MIT Schwarzman College of Computing; and Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor

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MIT Using Artificial Intelligence to Help Put an End to the COVID-19 Pandemic - SciTechDaily

Who would sell Holocaust-themed face masks? This guy. – Forward

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Image by holocaustfacemasks.com

A face mask for sale at https://www.holocaustfacemasks.com/.

(JTA) The face masks arent subtle: One is emblazoned with the famous photo of a Jewish mother and child, their hands raised, at Nazi gunpoint. Another shows an unmistakable image of a concentration camp crematorium.

The product description below the mother-and-child mask reads: Another bold image that gets the point across without being overly offensive. It sells for $12.44.

Those masks, and others like them, are sold online at HolocaustFaceMasks.com. Other products on the site feature photos from Nazi rallies or a Japanese internment camp in the United States. A T-shirt sold on the site shows three pictures in numerical order: first, a generic face mask; second, a photo of Jews lining up to enter a ghetto; third, a photo of a Nazi concentration camp.

You probably get the point. But in case you dont, the websites founder explained his objective on the homepage. Our goal here is to provide a reminder of what can happen when millions of people follow seemingly innocent orders and rules, the site says. In the times of the [H]olocaust people may not have had such a recent example of evil to keep them vigilant and weary [sic] of evil to come. We do.

Despite the product description, the idea of comparing a public health mandate to the genocide of 6 million people seemed pretty offensive to me as it has to people in the many places where such comparisons have been made. (A Minnesota GOP official resigned just this week after posting a meme to that effect.)

So I emailed the address on the website, hoping to find out who was behind it and whether that person had considered that the products he is peddling might be seen as hurtful or even anti-Semitic.

The sites founder responded quickly. Identifying himself as Tyler Kozdron, he told me that he believes requiring face masks could lead to something like the Holocaust or even more sinister. And he doesnt feel bad about saying so.

I chose holocaust images because I couldnt think of a better group of images to express the feeling of having everything taken away, and I guess some people really just dont get it because they havent felt that feeling yet in their lives, Kozdron wrote to me. Or maybe they just cannot equate having to wear a mask with that feeling, but I do.

In the subsequent emails we exchanged, Kozdron was reluctant to tell me much about himself, due to what he called the endless death threats I am receiving. But he did share that he is 28, the descendant of Polish immigrants who came to the United States just before World War II, and a former gas station worker somewhere in the U.S. His experience working at the gas station during the pandemic, he said, convinced him that measures in the U.S. to prevent COVID-19 are fundamentally unserious, because many of the rules at his workplace did not make sense to him and did not seem to him to be effective.

So, he wrote, he got to thinking, well what if this IS part of something much bigger. I have read a lot about the holocaust, I understand how people can be manipulated. And for me personally, something just is not right here.

As of Tuesday night, Kozdron said he had sold fewer than 10 masks. Public health officials like those at the CDC strongly recommend wearing masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Anti-Semitism watchdogs are pretty united in asserting that comparing the Holocaust to events that are not genocide is an unacceptable trivialization of the tragedy, and theyve had multiple opportunities to press the point amid a wave of face mask-Nazi comparisons in recent months. On July 5, Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, tweeted, To compare COVID-19 rules to the slaughter of millions in the Holocaust is disgusting, wrong and has no place in our society.

This is the first time hes done anything like this, Kozdron said. And given the experience hes had, he probably wont do it again. But hes not apologizing. He doesnt think hes trivializing the Holocaust. He thinks, in fact, that hes un-trivializing it by bringing it back into conscious awareness in this specific context.

You know who he thinks is trivializing the Holocaust? Jews.

It appears to me that there are a lot of Jewish people out there that want to keep the Holocaust as some kind of virtue pedestal for them to raise a knee on when they want an opportunity in their own lives to talk down to somebody else without fear of retaliation or interrogation, he wrote, echoing an anti-Semitic stereotype that Jews invoke the Holocaust to shield themselves from criticism. If you asked me, I would say Jews who constantly use the event to embolden whatever they might have to say, is what really trivializes the holocaust.

He did write that if an actual survivor emailed him and asked him to take down the site, he would. That apparently has not happened.

Meanwhile, he seems pretty disappointed in Jews, who, he wrote, of all people, can be so blind to what is happening in the world today.

Then again, he added, the stereotypical rumors would say that Jewish people are directing the societal change.

The post Who would sell Holocaust-themed face masks? This guy. appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Who would sell Holocaust-themed face masks? This guy.

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Who would sell Holocaust-themed face masks? This guy. - Forward

Is Cryptocurrency Here to Stay This Time? – Benzinga

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As bitcoin passes $10,000 for the first time in months, the conversation around crypto is heating up again. The biggest crypto haters are now getting in on the action, most famously JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Ether, the Pepsi to bitcoins Coca-Cola, came into its own as a separate, distinct and viable long term investment. Many investors are beginning to view cryptocurrency as more than a short term speculation play or a portfolio hedge. There is evidence that the major cryptocurrencies are being used as a play against the falling U.S. dollar. News of Bitcoins new highs came at around the same time as headlines of dollar debasement

During the first mania in December 2017, bitcoin peaked at almost $20,000. Total market capitalization tripled from approximately $250 billion to $750 billion and barged into the mainstream public consciousness. Unfortunately for some traders, the market sold off just as quickly as it had pumped itself up.

The total market cap for the crypto market

Professional analysts dont believe that crypto will give back its gains so quickly this time. I tend to agree. The major difference between 2017 and 2020 is cryptos ease of access. When I first bought crypto circa 2015, it was a real David Hasselhoff. The exchange I used, Coinbase, was clunky, slow and illiquid. I was so frustrated with my experience there that I immediately moved my crypto into a private wallet and didnt buy again for a time.

Moving my coins into an off exchange wallet was an experience as well. I remember downloading the entire blockchain to my computer because there were few trustworthy light wallets, and even less information actually explaining what that meant. I bought a separate computer just for my bitcoin. I tried my best to learn hashes and forks. I remember thinking I was a financial genius for being able to capture and claim my Bitcoin Cash. It was a challenge for me!

Today, Coinbase is a much better experience than I remember, and so are many other exchanges. I now have three wallets that are not only easy to use, but are actually fun to use. Fees have been reduced. Trading coins against each other is more like a video game. It is easy to switch coins. You can move in real time, fast enough to catch short term moves. I can basically trade my crypto just like I trade my securities.

Whats more, the establishment has bought in. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) now offers futures contracts on bitcoin. Banks fought for and received the right to hold crypto quite recently. Pop singer Akon is building an entire city in Senegal based around his own coin, the Akoin. Megacompanies like Facebook and countries like Russia are now trying to create crypto rather than kill it. Regardless of which coins pass the test of time, digital currency has legs. It is here to stay. All the market has to do is attract people in.

When it comes to easy access in the crypto market, few platforms give you an easier time than eToro. eToro deals in contracts for differences (CFDs) that serve as proxies for top cryptocurrencies. Whats the difference? When you buy or sell a CFD, you actually never own the crypto. But since the price of the contract is tagged to the price of the coin, you do benefit from good trades and suffer losses for bad ones.

So what are the benefits of trading CFDs rather than real crypto?

First, you are trading on a highly liquid platform with easy entries and exits. Many crypto exchanges suffer from illiquidity and volatile price shifts. You also gain the safety of trading within the auspices of a regulated broker. eToro is regulated through many well known financial authorities including the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the UKs Financial Conduct Authority and holds as Australian Financial Services License.

Second, you dont have to worry about actually buying crypto, which can still be a hassle. Governments are doing their best to regulate crypto, and they are clamping down on the exchanges the onboard ramps. As a result, you have to go through a bureaucracy of sorts to legitimately enter the market. You lose your anonymity, which was the first major advantage of using crypto in the first place.

Third, you can easily trade crypto using leverage. Your limit on eToro is 2X when you trade cryptocurrencies.

As it was in 2017, bitcoin is the number one performing asset class in 2020. This time, society may actually be ready to embrace it. If you are looking for a quick way to get in the market without learning all of the nuances of crypto, eToro CFDs can help.

2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Is Cryptocurrency Here to Stay This Time? - Benzinga

Cryptocurrency Market Update: Grayscale crypto fund hits $5.1 billion, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple in the green again – FXStreet

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The cryptocurrency market is once again experiencing volatility after a period with minimal price movements, especially for Bitcoin and Ethereum. Along with the spiking prices, various parameters are also seeing incredible actions such as the Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts volume which hit a new record high as reported in Cryptocurrency Market News earlier.

Grayscale, a leading fund manager in the United States has also recorded a massive growth in less than two weeks. The assets under management (AUM) surged by over $1 billion to hit $5.1 billion as reported by Grayscale on July 28.

According to the AUM table, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust leads with $4.3 billion. Grayscale Ethereum Trust comes second with $581 million following a $127 million increase. On the other hand, Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust more than doubled in value from $6 million to $12.8 million. The fund manager also added $12.7 million to the Ethereum Classic Fund while the Litecoin Trust saw a $6.7 million increase. On the flip side, the Stellar Lumens Trust experienced a $100,000 drop to stand at $0.5 million.

Bitcoin is back to trading above $11,000 after confirming support at $10,800. All indicators are back to sending bullish signals starting with the RSIs as it continues to hold in the overbought region. The MACD is also moving higher within the positive region in addition to the positive divergence. In other words, Bitcoin is not only going to contain gains above $11,000 but also trend higher towards $10,400 resistance.

Ethereum has already started working on the triangle breakout discussed during the Asian hours on Wednesday. After dropping to confirm support at $312, ETH has made a comeback above $320. It is trading at $324 following a triangle breakout that if supported by the right volume could pave the way for gains past $340.

Ripple is among the biggest gainers of the day following a breakout that topped $0.24. The cryptoassets rally seems to have delayed but it finally materialized as XRP overcame key hurdles at $0.22, $0.23 and the most recent $0.24.

At the moment, bulls are struggling with containing gains above $0.24 while XRP dances at $0.2403. The RSI and MACD clearly show that upward movement has lost traction. Therefore, holding defending $0.24 is key to averting losses that could even retest $0.23.

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Grayscale crypto fund hits $5.1 billion, Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple in the green again - FXStreet


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