A July 8th special report on gambling in The Economist examined one of the most up and coming poker players of the century, and advised readers to “bet on the bot.” This player, named Polaris, is in fact a computer program designed by the University of Alberta’s Computer Poker Research Group (CPRG), of which Computing Sciences professor and Cybera Board Member Dr. Jonathan Schaeffer is a contributor.
Dr. Schaeffer’s research into how to crack games of chance, made a huge breakthrough in 2007, when his research team published an article in Science magazine with the bold title “Checkers Is Solved.” Using a computer program to crunch through the 500 billion possible positions on a checkerboard, Dr. Schaeffer and his colleagues proved that computer programs could indeed beat their human opponents in games of strategy and chance.
To read The Economist article “Bet on the Bot,” click here.
News
GeoChronos principal investigator, Dr Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa, began his five-year term as the Faculty of Science Associate Dean International/Graduate Studies at the University of Alberta on July 1. In this new role, Dr Sanchez-Azofeifa is responsible for matters relating to international activities and graduate studies at the Faculty level.
“I am looking forward to the challenges and opportunities this position offers and the many potential benefits to Faculty of Science,” said Dr Sanchez-Azofeifa.
In addition to this new appointment, Dr Sanchez-Azofeifa continues his work with the Cybera Pilot Project GeoChronos, which is a set of collaboration and management tools that enable earth observation researchers to integrate, analyze, visualize and share data and scientific applications through an online portal.
The research and analysis the portal supports is helping earth observation scientists develop a better understanding of the impacts of climate change, biodiversity, and environmental disturbances.
For more information about Dr. Sanchez-Azofeifa's work with GeoChronos, click here.
Calgary, AB (June 29, 2010) – Calgary’s information and communication technology (ICT) sector is about to become a little more environmentally friendly. This morning Cybera, with national partners CANARIE and the GreenStar Network (GSN) Project, connected a rooftop solar-powered datacenter to Canada’s first “green” powered internet network.
Over the next few months, the GSN Project will connect five different nodes across Canada, each powered by renewable energy sources as they store and transfer research data for pilot user groups. The Calgary node, managed by Cybera, will draw more than 230 watts of power from eight solar panels installed on roof space donated by Calgary Technologies Inc. in the Alastair Ross Technology Centre.
“Cybera is proud to participate in this collaboration of forward-thinking industry, university and government agency groups to usher in a new era of powering information technology using sustainable and “green” energy sources,” said Robin Winsor, Cybera President and CEO.
To read the full press release, click here.
Cybera is proud to launch the Calgary node of the GreenStar Network project, funded through CANARIE's Green IT Program, and invites you to join our celebratory launch. Five nodes will be located across the country, each powered by a form of "green" energy. Calgary's node, which is solar-powered, is located on the roof of the Alastair Ross Technology Centre. Join us as we connect to the GreenStar Network and kick off a new era of powering ICT resources through renewable energy.
PLEASE RSVP
Tuesday, June 29
10:00 am
Alastair Ross Technology Centre, Upper Level
3553 - 31 Street NW
Guest speakers will include:
Robin Winsor, President and CEO of Cybera
Jim Roche, President and CEO of CANARIE
Michel Savoie, Lead, GreenStar Network Infrastructure Working Group
To read more about the GreenStar Network and this event, click here.
International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada (ISTPCanada), the Department of Science and Technology (DST)/ Global Innovation and Technology Alliance or GITA (India), and the Department of Biotechnology or DBT (India) are hosting three Calls for Proposals (CFP) for Partnership Development Activities (PDAs) between Canada and India.
The Calls invite university researchers, technology experts and industry leaders to propose PDAs (such as scientific seminars, conferences, symposia and workshops) that will help forge new research and technology development partnerships between Canadian and Indian innovators, and aim to stimulate R&D or business collaboration that increases the competitiveness of both countries.
Deadline for application is August 2, 2010. To read the full press release, and for more information, click here.
Virtualized GIS Provides Users with Secure, Scalable and Easy-to-Deploy System for Spatial Data Visualization and Analysis
(Calgary, AB., June 4, 2010) – Cybera, in partnership with ESRI Canada, has developed a virtual system that enables ESRI’s leading enterprise geographic information systems (GIS) to be deployed in the cloud computing environment. The system was demonstrated at the recent GeoCanada 2010, the preeminent conference for Earth Science professionals in Canada.
“We are committed to leveraging emerging technologies to provide our users with cost-effective, secure and easy-to-deploy options for using ESRI GIS,” said James Wickson, Vice President of Sales and Professional Services, ESRI Canada. “Cybera’s expertise in cloud computing has helped us to demonstrate the ability of ESRI technology to scale and manage geographic information on a Web-accessible platform. This successful demonstration provides a glimpse of what’s to come in GIS service delivery.”
Cloud computing enables systems and applications, commonly maintained off premises, to be delivered on demand as services via the Internet. During the conference, up to 500 users were able to simultaneously access and interact with digital maps of Canada using ESRI’s server architecture, which Cybera transitioned to a virtualized environment. This was achieved by accessing database engines and web servers running on an HP cluster at the University of Calgary.
“Cybera’s participation in this project demonstrates the use of cloud technologies to provide exciting new approaches to GIS services,” says Patrick Mann, Chief Technology Officer at Cybera. “In deploying GIS on the cloud, users can gain access to the numerous benefits from these two technologies.”
To read the full press release, click here.
