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  •   almost 8 years ago

Top Level Design -- Great Problems

We face a number of great problems in the 21st Century (Global Warming, etc.). These can frighten people and afflict them with inaction. This does not have to be.

There is plenty of good science in how to get people to buy into action. There is even some new relevant science from studies of how our brains work.

The IBM Watson challenge opens up a possibility of building a rapid prototype app and testing this possibility. I have many years work on this problem under my belt and have written a top level design doc:

Buy-In for Earth Design Document
http://bigmoondig.com/Essays/BFTWatson.pdf

Unfortunately it has been years since I have written code so we need a code writer on our team. The code requirement is very small, only a few pages in Java, but the time fuse is short. A student might be able to do it.

Would any like to be the coder for an established team on the IBM Watson challenge?

Enjoy,
Tom Riley
TomRiley@WoodwareDesigns.com
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  • 6 comments

  •   •   almost 8 years ago

    Bluemix difficult to set up

    This hack requires the use of the IBM development system Bluemix. I am having great difficult setting it up.

    1. There are a great many options and the novice does not know what options to use.
    2. The tutorials do not match the current web sites. Apparently the web sites have been updated.
    3. The step-by-step instructions skip key steps that senior people probably know but junior people are clueless.

    It is very frustrating not to be able to get from square zero to square one.

    Tom Riley

  • Manager   •   almost 8 years ago

    Thanks for the reply Tom. While it is true that you need to sign up for a bluemix account to get access to the Watson API endpoints, you can then take those and use them elsewhere if you so choose, in an environment you're more comfortable with. For example AWS or Heroku. If you need help google "Watson Heroku" or a similar search and check stackoverflow there should be some helpful answers. Also, you can ping the slack channel listed on the Contest page to get help with this. And you can always ping me directly as well :)

  • Manager   •   almost 8 years ago

    Also Tom let me know if you need help putting a team together and I can reach out on your behalf.

  •   •   almost 8 years ago

    I am holding one slot for a coder on my team. Since I cannot even get Bluemix to do anything there is a real possibility that I will not have a prototype ready unless I find somebody. I could use your help.

    Long ago I wrote code. In fact, code I wrote set the record for the most repeat flights in the Space Shuttle bay at eight, all successful. (Does anybody even remember Forth?) But all that now seems like it took place in the early Pleistocene.

    Now I do top level design, but few people see the need.

    Thanks,
    Tom Riley

  •   •   almost 8 years ago

    I think what I have is a Lincoln’s Ax problem:
    ________-
    Story:

    I was walking through a swap meet and saw an old ax for sale at an adsorbent price. I asked about it. The old farmer told me that it was Lincoln’s ax, the one he split logs with. He admitted that the handle had been replace four times and the head twice, but it was still Lincoln’s ax and was priced coordinately. I walked on.
    ___________-

    Yes, I once wrote code and I even my minor record still stands, but every part of the development process has be upgraded four times since then. Now there are a hundred little got-ya’s hidden in the process.

    I did contact one code writer and got one short positive reply, but then nothing for two days. Maybe its the snow.

    Enjoy,
    Tom Riley

  •   •   almost 8 years ago

    I still cannot get the editor to work for the IBM Challenge (see below). Now there was a record snow and everybody is trapped in place. The student I hoped would write the code for our team got trapped in route, a real whiteout.

    I would appreciate any help you can provide in finding a coder not up-to-his-eyeballs (or her) in snow.

    I am making excellent progress on the Program Design Document, “Buy-In for Earth, or, Disempowering ISIS”. Not matter how good it is, it cannot be a proper contest entry without some real code.

    It was easy, they would not need us.

    Enjoy,
    Tom Riley

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