A Foggy Day at Lake Willastein

By Troy Pousardien
January/February 2017
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Google Reveals Their Secret to High-Performance Machine Learning
Google has made quite a few advancements
(1) in the field of machine
learning, with one of it’s more recent endeavors
being capable of beating a professional
human player at Go, (2) a game notorious for being very difficult
to build computer opponents for. They accomplished
this by using what’s called “neural networks,” a computer
model that allows machines to dynamically form associations
between arbitrary concepts in a way similar to our
own brains. This allowed the machine to determine moves
more like a human would, and was what allowed it to beat
its human opponent.
That kind of machine learning requires a lot of processing
power, and is what led Google to develop what it’s
calling its “Tensor Processing Unit.” Much like how a video
card is optimized for graphics processing, and a sound card
is optimized for audio processing, this “TPU” is optimized
for machine learning applications, and reportedly outperforms
any other commercially available hardware in
that regard.
It is interesting to speculate what Google now plans
to use these for. They have said that they already use these
TPUs to improve their search engine’s results, as well as “the
accuracy and quality of our maps and navigation” in Google
Street View, but many of the announcements in their recent
Google I/O conference seems to reveal quite a few more applications
(3) that would be relying on this new technology.
As unique and interesting as many of these applications
may seem, however, their data-mining potential is also
somewhat worrying, and something worth considering
before you put an always-listening microphone connected
directly to Google into your own home. (4)
Quick Tip: How to See Which Files Are Taking Up So Much Space On My Hard Drive
I had a caller ask me this week why her hard drive is
so full. I was able to remote in and find out exactly what the
problem was. Her son had downloaded some large video
and game files and had drastically reduced her hard drive
space. How would she have known where these large files
were located? I’ll show you how.
There are two easy methods you can use to get a visual
indicator of where these large files are. Windows 10
now features a new Disk Storage application which will
show you. For those who don’t have Windows 10, you can
use Spacemonger to easily scan and find large files. In fact,
Spacemonger has a better graphical representation of
where these files are.
For Windows 10, simply go to Start/System/Storage,
and double-click your hard drive (typically the C: drive).
From there, you’ll be able to double-click each section to
open the files and manually
delete them.
The other method of
graphically locating large files
is with Spacemonger (link to
an older, portable version of
Spacemonger), which will
work on Windows XP, Vista,
7, 8, and 10. Spacemonger is
an .exe file that does not have
to be installed, but rather
will run from any location,
which makes it nice since it
can even run portably from a
USB drive. Once opened, you
select which drive you want
to scan and it will graphically show you all your files and
free space on that drive. From there, you’ll be able to quickly
open files or folders and delete them as needed.
Another good alternative to Spacemonger is the newer
WinDirStat, which works in a similar way (albeit with an
arguably clunkier UI).
Watch my short video to see more! (5) MM
Referred Links
(1) http://go.greendragonpc.com/1eq
(2) http://go.greendragonpc.com/1er
(3) http://go.greendragonpc.com/1es
(4) http://go.greendragonpc.com/1et
(5) http://go.greendragonpc.com/1eu
T
roy Pousardien owns and operates
Green Dragon Technology in
NLR. Working on computers since 1990 and
holding a B.S. in Information Technology, Troy
is ready to take on your computer challenges.
Got a tech question, email Troy at techtips@
greendragonpc.com.
Valerie had let herself go. Where she
had gone was a place of monotony
and longing. As she sat at her computer,
curser blinking for the next keystroke,
she thought back to her high school days. Val,
the Valedictorian, everyone used to say. She
had been voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by
her class. Looking at her life she had accomplished
plenty; a rewarding career in adolescent
psychology, a relatively happy family, and
a design magazine featured home. Valerie’s
life lacked for nothing. Alas, Val sat at her desk
racking her brain for optimistic things to say in
the class reunion speech she had been asked
to give.
A Heart Full of Empty
By Michae Orfanos
Thirty years had passed since the bright
shining teen graduated so full of herself, ready
to take on the world. The thing is, the world
has a way of eroding the vast colorful horizon
at the beginning of our lives. At this point in
her life, Valerie found herself locked in a windowless
world of beige. She wouldn’t describe
herself as unhappy as much as completely bereft
of joy. A general numbness had set in that
blanketed Val’s heart. Years passed by without
distinction. Each holiday was similar to
the last; family, food… check, and check. The
same withheld grievances no one talked about
sat at the table like a regular dinner guest. It
wasn’t like Valerie didn’t want to enjoy the
holidays, but her heart just wasn’t in it. Once
as she decked the Christmas tree a bubble of
emotion punctuated with tears took her by
surprise. “I don’t want to be here”, she said out
loud choked by the words. The thought of going
through the motions of buying gifts, cooking
a meal, avoiding controversies, and pretending
to be content was unbearable. It hit
her like a sudden gust of wind, and just as instantly
the feeling subsided. Looking around
to make sure no one overheard her outburst,
Val quickly wiped her eyes and continued
placing ornaments. She owed it to her family
to construct the appearance of Christmas
cheer, but inside she longed to hit the road.
Destination unknown.
Val had been born with a restless spirit
that kept her moving in her single years.
Some had questioned her satisfaction with
life then, but for Val moving somewhere new
was a way of getting to know herself. She
learned about her likes and dislikes by the
context of a new location. Some places she
liked more than others, and some she didn’t
fit in at all. As it turned out, Valerie settled in
a place that wasn’t as hospitable as she would
like, but the roots she laid were deep and
fixed. She had cultivated a strong reputation
as a valued children’s therapist. Her children
were growing towards their own futures with
hopeful eyes wide open. Her relationships
were sturdy. Everything she created was
successful, and had become a heavy anchor
keeping her in place. She loved and was
loved in return, but inside her heart, love had
begun to feel like a buoy floating in a pool of
obligations.
Valerie sipped her tea as she sat staring
at her computer, hoping for inspiration
to take over. She, so far, couldn’t come up
with anything to say that didn’t sound corny
or stale. Had Val the
Valedictorian become
that mundane? She
decided to channel
the spirit of a long list
of interesting writers
and moved from tea
to bourbon. Settling
back into her desk she began to type any
words that popped into her head. “Lifetime,
soften, kind, bold, give, more”. The last two
words came into sharp focus. Give more; it
seemed to counter how she felt, which was
hollow. Val didn’t feel like she had much inside
to give, but if she was around the back
turn of life there wasn’t that much time left to
shine. Valerie began to sit up straighter in her
chair and type with a vengeance.
“Here we are together to celebrate all the
accomplishments we have achieved since high
school, she began. Some of us are departed,
and the rest of us are here, grayer and wiser than
we once were. We have all made contributions
to our families, our jobs, our friends, and maybe
feel like we are at a stopping point. Someone
once told me that as long as you are still learning
you will grow as a person. I think that’s true,
and I would like to add that as long as you give
you will also grow. At this point in our lives, it’s
time to look for more. This isn’t time to rest on
our laurels. It is time for more. Do more. Give
more. Love more. Be more.”
Valerie smiled knowingly at the computer
screen. This challenge was her own call
to action. She decided it was time for finding
where her joy lie. Unsure where to begin,
Val considered being more for herself a good
place to start.
The end. MM
ichae Orfanos lives in Maumelle
M with her family and three dogs.
She has settled here after living in New York and
Los Angeles, and working in the entertainment
industry. After growing up in Arkansas and then
living in the big city, Maumelle is a perfect place to
raise her family and write stories.
www.MauMag.com
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