Let’s face it, fad or not, companies are starting to ask themselves how they could possibly use machine learning and AI technologies in their organization. Many are being lured by the promise of profits by discovering winning patterns with algorithms that will enable solid predictions… The reality is that most technology and business professionals do not have sufficient understanding of how machine learning works and where it can be applied.  For a lot of firms, the focus still tends to be on small-scale changes instead of focusing on what really matters…tackling their approach to machine learning.

In the recent Wall Street Journal article, Machine Learning at Scale Remains Elusive for Many Firms, Steven Norton captures interesting comments from the industry’s data science experts. In the article, he quotes panelists from the MIT Digital Economy Conference in NYC, on businesses current practices with AI and machine learning. All agree on the fact that, for all the talk of Machine Learning and AI’s potential in the enterprise, many firms aren’t yet equipped to take advantage of it fully.

Panelist,  Michael Chui, partner at McKinsey Global Institute states that “If a company just mechanically says OK, I’ll automate this little activity here and this little activity there, rather than re-thinking the entire process and how it can be enabled by technology, they usually get very little value out of it. “Few companies have deployed these technologies in a core business process or at scale.”

Panelist, Hilary Mason, general manager at Cloudera Inc., had this to say, “With very few exceptions, every company we work with wants to start with a cost-savings application of automation.” “Most organizations are not set up to do this well.”

Memory management is always a priority in pretty much any programming language you would want to use. In the lower level languages such as C, there are a number of functions which help you manage the memory your application uses, but they are not the easiest to use. Some of the more modern programming languages such as Python, Ruby, Perl, and of course the subject of this article, Javascript all have a built in feature called garbage collection.

Garbage collection essentially means that the languages compiler will automatically free the memory being occupied by unused variables and objects, but there is no telling when this could occur. It is purely down to the compiler to decide when the garbage collection process should be initiated.

A whole new world was thrown wide open with the advent of the concept of open source. The biggest advantage of open source projects is the easy availability of the source code and also the rights to tweak it or modify the code as we deem fit.

Listed below are some top open source projects that are making waves with their innovative ideas at this moment.

ProjectLibre

Project Libre is the open source replacement of Microsoft Project. It was one among the top 10 open source projects of 2013. With over 6 million downloads; it has most certainly captured the imagination of people around the world. Details of project Libre could be found at http://www.projectlibre.org/ . Project Libre has separate release for mainframes. It also has a web based version which further increases its overall appeal. One of the main advantages is that it has a list of tasks that can be tracked to closure. It can also be used in conjunction with LibreOffice to provide a great set of tools to the team leaders.

Diaspora

Viruses, trojans, and other malicious programs are everywhere. There's always a new threat to your computer's security, and many of these threats invade your computer without you even knowing. Most viruses aren't going to loudly announce themselves, so it's important to know the hidden ways in which your computer can become infected.


Infected Files from Other Computers

Whether you're borrowing someone's flash drive or grabbing a file from their computer, your computer can become infected if the file or device you're using already contains a virus, trojan, or other form of malware.

This is a very common issue, and you won't even know there's a problem most of the time. For example, if your computer is connected to other devices on a network, and you decide to pull an important file off of another computer on the network, your computer will become infected if the file you took has a virus attached to it.

Also, if you forgot your flash drive, and you need to use your friend or coworker's device for the day, then even plugging the device into your computer can cause the infection in the flash drive to be transmitted.


Downloading Legitimate Programs

Another way your computer can be secretly infected is when you download a legitimate program and run it. There are numerous legitimate programs on the internet that can help you in many ways. The programs themselves could be infected, though.

Also, one of the most common ways your computer can become infected is when you don't read the fine print before you download a program. Some of them may insist that you install another small program in addition to the one you initially chose. The boxes that you are supposed to click to give your consent may already be clicked.

This small extra program is the one that may carry an infection that will spread to your computer when you run the main program. You may get a lot of good use out of the legitimate program, but the virus attached to the extra hidden program can cause you a lot of trouble.


Using Vulnerable Applications

Security is a serious matter. If even one of the applications you use on your computer is vulnerable to becoming hacked or infected, then your entire computer is at risk and could become secretly infected. Anything from PDF viewing applications to your operating system can become infected if you don't download the latest security patches and keep everything up-to-date.


Not Using Antivirus Software

Antivirus software can protect your computer from a number of viruses, trojans, and other problems. Your computer can become infected in a number of ways, so you need to have good antivirus software to provide strong protection from hidden attacks.


Viruses, trojans, and other malware can infect your computer in a variety of hidden ways. To prevent infection and problems, you need to be careful about what you download, and you should keep your applications secure. Also, find reliable antivirus software to help.

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