HPC in the News
XSEDE Campus Champions, Stampede and Lonestar4 Supercomputers of TACC
Help Create 3D Images Deep Underground
A new work based on 3-D supercomputer simulations of earthquake data has found hidden rock structures deep under East Asia. Researchers from China, Canada, and the U.S. worked together to publish their results in March 2015 in the American Geophysical Union Journal of Geophysical Research, Solid Earth. The scientists used seismic data from 227 East Asia earthquakes during 2007-2011, which they used to image depths to about 900 kilometers, or about 560 miles below ground. Notable structures include a high velocity colossus beneath the Tibetan plateau, and a deep mantle upwelling beneath the Hangai Dome in Mongolia. The researchers say their line of work could potentially help find hidden hydrocarbon resources, and more broadly it could help explore the Earth under East Asia and the rest of the world. To read further, please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/earthquakes-reveal-deep-secrets-beneath-east-asia.
Nepal Disaster Relief Efforts to Be Aided By Glacier Researchers: Supercomputers, Terrain-Mapping Techniques Employed In Urgent Efforts
Researchers who normally use high-resolution satellite imagery to study glaciers are using their technology this week to help with disaster relief and longer-term stabilization planning efforts related to the recent earthquake in Nepal. On April 25, a violent earthquake struck central Nepal, killing more than 7,000 people and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes. The deadliest earthquake in Nepal since 1934, the tremor killed at least 19 climbers and crew on Mount Everest and reportedly produced casualties in the adjoining countries of Bangladesh, China and India. Two research teams – one at The Ohio State University and another at the University of Minnesota – are working quickly to employ Surface Extraction for TIN-based Searchspace Minimization (SETSM (link sends e-mail)) software to produce high-resolution, 3-D digital surface maps for use in the Nepali relief effort. The Ohio Supercomputer Center is providing the computing power for these data-intensive calculations. To read further, please visit https://www.osc.edu/press/nepal_disaster_relief_efforts_to_be_aided_by_glacier_researchers.
SDSC’s ‘Comet’ Supercomputer Enters Early Operations Phase
Comet, a new petascale supercomputer designed to transform advanced scientific computing by expanding access and capacity among traditional as well as non-traditional research domains, has transitioned into an early operations phase at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego.
Comet is the result of a National Science Foundation Award currently valued at $21.6 million including hardware and operating funds. The new cluster is capable of an overall peak performance of more than two petaflops, or two quadrillion operations per second. To read further, please visit http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/sdscs_comet_supercomputer_enters_early_operations_phase.
SDSC Summer Institute (SI) 2015: HPC for the Long Tail of Science- Apply Now!
August 10 – 14, 2015 – La Jollla, California
Priority Applications Due - May 29 2015, notification by June 5
Applications are being accepted for the SDSC Summer Institute (SI) 2015: HPC for the Long Tail of Science. The Summer Institute will provide a weeklong education and training program in High Performance and Data Intensive Computing. The first half of the Summer Institute will consist of plenary sessions covering essential skills including data management, running jobs on SDSC resources, reproducibility, database systems, characteristics of big data, and techniques for turning data into knowledge, software version control and making effective use of hardware. This will be followed by a series of parallel sessions that allow attendees to dive deeper into specialized material that is relevant to their research projects and covering topics in SPARK, Parallel Computing, Performance Optimization, Predictive Analytics, Scalable Data Management, Visualization, Workflow Management, GPUs/CUDA and Python for Scientific Computing. To register, please visit https://www.etouches.com/ehome/125694.
XSEDE NEWS FROM PARTNERS AND FRIENDS
UC Sa Diego Physicist Frank Würthwein Joins SDSC
University of California, San Diego Professor Frank Würthwein, an expert in high-energy particle physics and advanced computation, has joined the university’s San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) to help implement a high-capacity data cyberinfrastructure across all UC campuses. Würthwein, who joined UC San Diego as a physics professor in 2003, was recently named executive director of the Open Science Grid (OSG) project, a multi-disciplinary research partnership funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. He was OSG’s founding executive during 2005. His appointment to SDSC is effective this month.
Würthwein is no stranger to processing extremely large data sets. In 2013, he and his team used SDSC’s data-intensive Gordon supercomputer to provide auxiliary computing capacity to OSG by processing massive data sets generated by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), one of two large general-purpose particle detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near CERN, Switzerland. To read further, please visit http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/uc_san_diego_physicist_frank_wuerthwein_joins_sdsc.
Vince Betro Leaving XSEDE
Vince Betro will be leaving NICS and XSEDE. XSEDE would like to personally thank Vince for his contributions to many, many XSEDE activities, including Training, User Engagement, Outreach, and the Campus Champions program. A special thanks to Vince for leading a Training effort that has made tremendous progress in less than a year.
Call for Papers
COMSOL Conference 2015 – Call for Paper
October 7-9, 2015 – Boston, Massachusetts
Abstract Deadline – June 19, 2015
Notification Deadline – August 14, 2015
The COMSOL Conference brings together more than 2,000 engineers, researchers, and scientists worldwide, providing them with the chance to showcase their work, share innovative technologies and best practices, as well as the opportunity to interact with the makers of COMSOL Multiphysics. Presenting a poster, paper, or both at the COMSOL Conference is a unique opportunity for COMSOL Multiphysics users to achieve widespread recognition within a skilled community of engineers. Papers, presentations, and posters from the COMSOL Conference are shared with more than 165,000 engineers worldwide, providing researchers with the opportunity to showcase their work with the global engineering community. The conference focuses on advancing cross-discipline and multiphysics simulation by providing conference attendees with a multitude of hands-on sessions, networking opportunities, keynote talks from industry leaders, and over 700 user presentations. For more information, please visit http://www.comsol.com/conference2015/boston.
Upcoming Conferences, Webinars, and Seminars
2015 NASA MUREP Virtual MSI Symposium and Collaboration Videoconference
Audience: Minority Serving Institutions
May 20, 2015 - 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. EDT
NASA's Office of Education will host this virtual symposium to provide an opportunity for Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) to receive in-depth information about current NASA EONS solicitations. This discussion is offered in an effort to help strengthen collaborations between MSI’s and NASA Centers in support of open solicitations in EONS. MSI’s will have an opportunity to listen to presentations from each NASA Center on Center strengths, core competencies and education interests. This virtual session will serve as a platform to connect MSI’s with appropriate Center POC’s and raise awareness of the unique strengths of each Center. To join this symposium, follow these instructions and connect to both videoconference and teleconference number. To connect to videoconference (for slide presentations and presenter introductions) login at: https://paragon-tec.adobeconnect.com/msi-symposium/ To connect to teleconference call number Dial toll free: 1-844-467-6272 Enter participant passcode: 529064 Any questions regarding this session should be sent to Clarence.F.Jones@nasa.gov..
RAL/CSAP Seminar: Studying The Earth’s Climate from Space
May 20, 2015 – Boulder, Colorado
The vantage point of space provides an excellent way of studying the Earth’s climate by enabling observations with equivalent quality of all part of the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. Observations from satellites are now providing quantitative information about how the Earth system varies on a variety of spatial and temporal time scales, documenting longer-term evolution, and providing information that can inform prediction and enable better policy and management decisions. Satellite-based information helps improve understanding not only of how individual Earth system components (atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, biosphere, Earth surface) evolve but how they interact with each other and both contribute and respond to naturally-occurring and human induced change. For more information, please visit http://ucarconnect.ucar.edu/live?_ga=1.35140520.827280332.1431029351#.VVUL8flViko.
Smart Cyberinfrastructure for Big Data Processing
May 21, 2015 - Urbana–Champaign, Illinois
The landscape of cyberinfrastructure for research is rapidly changing. There is a move towards virtualized and programmable infrastructure. The cloud paradigm enables applications to use computing resources at different places and optimize workflows in either bringing computing to the data or the other way around. Programmable networks allow networks to be utilized in unprecedented ways to create application specific Internets. This talk presents the latest developments in the Research and Education Networks to support Big Data sciences. The speaker is Professor de Laat chairs the System and Network Engineering (SNE) laboratory in the Informatics Institute of the Faculty of Science at University of Amsterdam. For more information, please visit http://illinois.edu/calendar/detail/772/32702640.
ISC High Performance: The HPC Event
July 12-16, 2015 – Frankfurt, Germany
The steering committee has announced the program for the ISC High Performance conference. This year’s program consists of a whole range of unique topics and hand picked speakers. There is also a selection of research papers, posters, BoF sessions, tutuorials and workshops, which were submitted by the HPC community. In addition, the conference offers a comprehensive industry program for users interested in commercial HPC applications. The ISC High Performance conference is famous for its world-class program, with over 300 academia and industry leaders tackling the most important issues of supercomputing, industry innovation and new technologies. For more information, please visit http://www.isc-hpc.com/.
SC15
November 15-20, 2015 – Austin, Texas
HPC is transforming our everyday lives, as well as our not-so-ordinary ones. From nanomaterials to jet aircrafts, from medical treatments to disaster preparedness, and even the way we wash our clothes; the HPC community has transformed the world in multifaceted ways. SC15 will yet again provide a unique venue for spotlighting HPC and scientific applications, and innovations from around the world. SC15 will bring together the international supercomputing community—an unparalleled ensemble of scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, programmers, system administrators and developers—for an exceptional program of technical papers, informative tutorials, timely research posters and Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions. The SC15 Exhibition Hall will feature exhibits of the latest and greatest technologies from industry, academia and government research organizations; many of these technologies making their debut in Austin. For more information, please visit http://sc15.supercomputing.org/.
Research News From Around the World
Smartphone Video Microscope Automates Detection of Parasites in Blood: UC Berkeley Study
A research team led by UC Berkeley engineers has developed a new smartphone microscope that uses video to automatically detect and quantify infection by parasitic worms in a drop of blood. This next generation of UC Berkeley’s CellScope technology could help revive efforts to eradicate debilitating filarial diseases in Africa by providing critical information to health providers in the field. The UC Berkeley engineers teamed up with Dr. Thomas Nutman from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and collaborators from Cameroon and France to develop the device. They conducted a pilot study in Cameroon, where health officials have been battling the parasitic worm diseases onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis. The video CellScope, which uses motion instead of molecular markers or fluorescent stains to detect the movement of worms, was as accurate as conventional screening methods, the researchers found. To read more, please visit http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2015/05/06/video-cellscope-automates-detection-of-parasites/.
ORNL Demonstrates First Large-Scale Graphene Fabrication
One of the barriers to using graphene at a commercial scale could be overcome using a method demonstrated by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Graphene, a material stronger and stiffer than carbon fiber, has enormous commercial potential but has been impractical to employ on a large scale, with researchers limited to using small flakes of the material. Now, using chemical vapor deposition, a team led by ORNL’s Ivan Vlassiouk has fabricated polymer composites containing 2-inch-by-2-inch sheets of the one-atom thick hexagonally arranged carbon atoms. The findings, reported in the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, could help usher in a new era in flexible electronics and change the way this reinforcing material is viewed and ultimately used. To read more, please visit http://www.ornl.gov/ornl/news/news-releases/2015/ornl-demonstrates-first-large-scale-graphene-fabrication.
Simulating Seasons: UT Austin Researchers Use Supercomputing to Assess the Impact of Climate Change on the Country's Growing Season
Malawi, a small landlocked country in southeast Africa, is home to 13 million people and is one of the least-developed countries in the world. As a nation that relies on subsistence farming, its security is highly dependent on rain-fed agriculture, including the crops maize, rice, and sweet potatoes. Changes in rainfall patterns associated with climate change can be devastating to people living in the country, leading to food crises, famines, and loss of life. Two researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, Kerry Cook and Edward (Ned) Vizy, are dedicated to understanding how climate change and climate variability will impact Malawi and other regions throughout Africa. By running regional climate models, Cook and Vizy are examining Africa's diverse climate zones, ranging from the monsoon regions in West Africa and the Horn of Africa to the central tropics to the desert region in the north. To read further, please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/simulating-seasons.
How the Human Brain Separates the Ability to Talk and Write
While the human ability to write evolved from the ability to speak, writing and speaking are supported by entirely different parts of the brain, according to new research from Rice University, Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University. The research shows that it is possible for stroke victims who cannot speak a grammatically correct sentence to write it perfectly, and vice versa. “Modality and Morphology: What We Write May Not Be What We Say” is available online and will appear in an upcoming edition of the journal Psychological Science. The paper focuses on the relationship between written language (reading and spelling) and spoken language and whether or not written language depends on spoken language in literate adults. To read more, please visit http://news.rice.edu/2015/05/07/how-the-human-brain-separates-the-ability-to-talk-and-write-2/#sthash.WkfBuuIl.dpuf.
Educator News, Conferences, and Opportunities
Oracle Academy Announces Free Java Training for High School and community college Educators
Oracle Academy has announced it is offering free trainings to California teachers this summer, August 3 - August 7 at the Oracle Pleasanton campus. Schools with career pathways are encourage to send at least two teachers, and this is a great event for high school and community college faculty to attend together to support pathway articulation.
Oracle will provide:
- In addition to the free weeklong trainings, Oracle will provide:
- Free software licenses for participating schools.
- Discounted access to certification resources
- Access to a hosted curriculum database
- Oracle volunteer guest speakers
- Podcasts, and a Lecture series
Note: Oracle Academy is offering this training as a membership benefit. All teachers who wish to receive Oracle Academy training must first register for a member account AND THEN enroll for the training. In short:
- Step 1 - Teacher registers self and school for membership with Oracle Academ
- Step 2 - Teacher Enroll self for the In-Class Training (see event information below).
Please contact Tzel Ramos at tzel.ramos@oracle.com to register and for any questions.
George Lucas Foundation Grants $5m to MSU for Science, Math and Literacy Education
Michigan State University researchers and their partners plan to create a model for teaching elementary students science while also improving their skills in math, reading and writing. The project is funded by a five-year, $5 million grant from Lucas Education Research, a division of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. Executive Director Kristin De Vivo said the goal is to bring the benefits of project-based learning – an approach that encourages kids to explore real-world problems – to more classrooms throughout the nation. Joseph Krajcik, director of Michigan State’s CREATE for STEM Institute, will lead colleagues from MSU and University of Michigan as they design and develop materials for grades 3 and 4. Teachers working in under-resourced communities will assist in testing and enacting the new learning units with as many as 1,800 students over the five years, focusing not only on making the curriculum effective but also personally relevant in students’ lives. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. To read more, please visit http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2015/george-lucas-foundation-grants-5m-to-msu-for-science-math-and-literacy-education/?utm_campaign=standard-promo&utm_source=msuedu-news-links&utm_medium=msuhome
Great Innovative Idea- Machine Teaching
CCCBlog
Machine teaching is machine learning turned upside down: it is about finding the optimal (e.g. the smallest) training set. For example, consider a “student” who runs the Support Vector Machine learning algorithm. Imagine a teacher who wants to teach the student a specific target hyperplane in some feature space (never mind how the teacher got this hyperplane in the first place). The teacher constructs a training set D=(x1,y1) … (xn, yn), where xi is a feature vector and yi a class label, to train the student. What is the smallest training set that will make the student learn the target hyperplane? It is not hard to see that n=2 is sufficient with the two training items straddling the target hyperplane. Machine teaching mathematically formalizes this idea and generalizes it to many kinds of learning algorithms and teaching targets. Solving the machine teaching problem in general can be intricate and is an open mathematical question, though for a large family of learners the resulting bi-level optimization problem can be approximated. Machine teaching can have an impact in education, where the “student” is really a human student, and the teacher certainly has a target model (i.e. the educational goal). If we are willing to assume a cognitive learning model of the student, we can use machine teaching to reverse-engineer the optimal training data — which will be the optimal, personalized lesson for that student. To read more, please visit http://www.cccblog.org/2015/05/05/great-innovative-idea-machine-teaching/.
Student Engagement and Opportunities
Now Accepting: 2015 HBCU All-Star Program
Application Deadline - June 17, 2015
Are you a student who want to impact your HBCU Campus and community?
The White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) works to promote HBCU excellence, innovation, and sustainability. The Initiative recognizes undergraduate, graduate, and professional students for their accomplishments in scholarship, leadership, and civic engagement. To read further, please visit http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/whhbcu/files/2015/05/2015-HBCU-All-Star-Application-Form.pdf.
Be Inspired: You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don't Take
In this series, professionals share what they'd do differently — and keep the same.
If I could sit down with my 22-year-old self, I would tell her about the sign in the Lean In office that reads, “Proceed and be bold,” and I'd encourage her to wake up each morning and do just that. I would admit that boldness has its downsides, like big mistakes and really bad decisions. But I’d assure her that things will work out if she trusts her gut and does everything with gusto. I would also share the three biggest things I’ve learned to help her on her journey:
Think through big decisions but don’t overplan.
Play healthy head games with yourself.
Take time to smell the proverbial roses.
To read this wonderful article in-depth, pleas visit https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-were-22-you-miss-100-shots-dont-take-rachel-schall-thomas. Follow the stories by visiting https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/channel/careersgettingstarted?trk=prod-inf-ifiwere22-0515-cutline.
Future Engineers: 3-D Space Container Challenge for K-12 Students
Entry Deadline - August 2, 2015.
NASA and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Foundation are challenging K-12 students to create a model of a container for space using 3-D modeling software. Astronauts need containers of all kinds -- from advanced containers for studying fruit flies to simple containers for collecting Mars rocks or storing an astronaut’s food. The ability to 3-D print containers in space -- on demand -- will let humans venture farther into space. That's why we are challenging students to start designing for space now. Design entries could be for a container designed for microgravity on the International Space Station or a container designed for future astronauts on Mars! Space is a big place, but your imagination is even bigger. Multiple prizes, based on age groups, are available. For more information about the challenge and to watch an introductory video, visit http://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-challenges-students-to-design-3-d-space-containers.
Geek Girls Tech Conference
June 20, 2015 – San Diego, California
Whether you are a beginner newbie who needs hand-holding on all things computer, to the intermediate self-starter entrepreneur who needs some new tools, to you entirely tuned-in code toads looking to learn jQuery, we have it all for you! The conference is the largest Hands-On Tech Conference for Women (and Men) in the area! All skill levels welcome from beginners looking to get started to professionals looking to brush up on their skills or learn something new. From 8 to 88 years old, and everyone in between, we have something for you. To find out more, please visit http://sandiego.geekgirltechcon.com/.
Awesome Apps for Science Experiments, Storytelling, Coding and More
Every month, we review some of our favorite educational apps that have been released or updated. Below you’ll find a mixture of iOS, Android and Web-based apps.
SCRIBBLE PRESS
Scribble Press is an iPad app that lets you build and illustrate your own e-books. The app offers numerous story templates and drawing tools, guiding you through the story-writing and book layout process. The books that are written with Scribble Press can be shared with others — either via Facebook or Twitter or email. They can also be posted online on the site’s gallery, although books remain private unless shared there. (iTunes link). iOS, Free.
SQUAD
Squad is a collaborative code editor. In other words, it’s a tool designed to make it easier to share and work together on programming projects. Squad’s tools can be used by both experts and learners, and the company recently launched Squad for Education, a version designed to be used with large groups in a computer lab classroom setting. Squad supports over a dozen programming languages, including HTML, PHP, JavaScript, Python, C, and C++. Web, licensing costs depend on number of students.
For more awesome apps, please visit http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/12/30/awesome-apps-for-science-experiments-storytelling-coding-and-more/.
No-Tech Board Games That Teach Coding Skills to Young Children
Thanks in part to STEM education initiatives and the tech boom, coding in the classroom has become more ubiquitous. Computer programming tasks students to persistently work to solve problems by thinking logically. What’s more, learning how to code is a desired 21st century career skill. There are several digital games designed for kids as young as 5 that turn coding into a fun activity, such as Kodable and Scratch Jr. But some game designers are going further back to programming’s fundamentals by creating physical games that can’t be found in any app store. One tabletop game is Code Monkey Island. It features sequencing and looping statements printed on playable cards. In effect, the cards are the language; choosing correct conditional statements correctly can leads to victory. Another board game that captured imaginations, and major crowdfunding on Kickstarter, is Robot Turtles, which teaches basic coding concepts to preschoolers. Unlike other children’s games (think: Candyland, Chutes and Ladders), the mechanic of play does not rely on luck. All cards are face up and the players work together cooperatively to win. To read further, please visit http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/01/28/no-tech-board-games-that-teach-coding-skills-to-young-children/.
Alumnus Gift of Software Fosters Creativity and Learning for Students
As part of Michigan State University’s Empower Extraordinary campaign, the College of Arts and Letters has received an in-kind gift valued at more than $100,000 from CAL alumnus Peter Stougaard, a former studio executive for DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox. The gift is in the form of 4,000 software licenses for an Apple app Stougaard developed called PopBoardz, whereby users can create, organize and present ideas in the form of video, images, websites or any file type all on one screen. Stougaard, now an entrepreneur, is providing the licenses to the College of Arts and Letters to use in its classrooms as a tool to help students collaborate and present effectively. Unlike PowerPoint slides, which limit presenters to telling stories in only one way, PopBoardz is a flexible tool that is untethered to the Internet and designed for more interactive and open-ended presentations. To read more, please visit http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2015/alumnus-gift-of-software-fosters-creativity-and-learning-for-students/.
Faculty Opportunities
NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowships (EAR-PF)
Full Proposal Deadline – January 12, 2016
The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) awards Postdoctoral Fellowships to recent recipients of doctoral degrees to carry out an integrated program of independent research and education. The research and education plans of each fellowship must address scientific questions within the scope of EAR disciplines. The program supports researchers for a period of up to two years with fellowships that can be taken to the institution of their choice (including facilities abroad). The program is intended to recognize beginning investigators of significant potential, and provide them with research experience, mentorship, and training that will establish them in leadership positions in the Earth Sciences community. Because the fellowships are offered only to postdoctoral scientists early in their career, doctoral advisors are encouraged to discuss the availability of EAR postdoctoral fellowships with their graduate students early in their doctoral programs. Fellowships are awards to individuals, not institutions, and are administered by the Fellows. To read further, please visit http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15568/nsf15568.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click.
Computational Science News of Interest
Nintendo Finally Returns to Profitability
TechSpot
For the first time since 2011, gaming giant Nintendo is a profitable company. In the company's financial report for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2015, Nintendo posted net sales of 550 billion yen (around US$4.61 billion), which led to a welcome operating income of 24.8 billion yen (US$207.8 million). Nintendo, which saw 75.4 percent of their sales come from outside Japan, attributed some of their financial success in the past year to the depreciation of the yen against the US dollar. The company also saw "robust" sales of their most popular games, including Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. for both Wii U and 3DS, and Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, all of which launched during the past financial year. As for hardware, Nintendo collectively sold 8.73 million 3DS consoles, down 29% on the 12.2 million 3DSes sold last year. Wii sales were also down significantly, dropping to just 460,000 from 1.22 million the previous year. However, Nintendo did see a rise in Wii U sales, which jumped 24% to 3.38 million units in the past financial year. To read more, please visit http://www.techspot.com/news/60601-nintendo-finally-returns-profitability.html.
Social Media
IBM, Facebook Partner on Marketing Cloud Push
eWeek
IBM has teamed up with Facebook to help marketers change how they interact with consumers and improve consumers' overall experience with brands both on social networks, on their mobile devices, or even in-store. Facebook and IBM Commerce today announced that they will collaborate to provide the world's leading brands with tailored marketing capabilities that reach the right people at the right time with the right message. The companies said IBM's marketing cloud clients can now utilize Facebook’s ad capabilities such as Custom Audiences, along with IBM's deep analytics and design features, to create experiences for their customers across applications, devices and time. Using IBM's new Journey Designer, brands can create personalized customer experiences across all engagement touch points and then use Journey Analytics to gain an understanding, at an aggregate level, of how customers responded. By combining Facebook's ad technologies with IBM's Journey Analytics, brands can more accurately determine which groups of customers are among the 1.44 billion people active on Facebook and establish correlations in aggregate between their interests and interactions across multiple channels. These insights can then be brought to life through IBM's Journey Designer solution, guiding brands to deliver more compelling messages on Facebook and other mediums. To read further, please visit http://www.eweek.com/cloud/ibm-facebook-partner-on-marketing-cloud-push.html. .
How Social Media is Helping Fight Homelessness in Washington, D.C.
Mashable
It's 1:30 p.m. – three hours before a morsel of food will be served – and a crowd is already gathering outside of Miriam's Kitchen. If you didn't know it was there, you'd probably walk right by it: Located in Washington, D.C.'s Foggy Bottom neighborhood, known primarily for wandering undergrads and lush embassies, Miriam's Kitchen hides inside of the Western Presbyterian Church on Virginia Ave NW. For its patrons, however, Miriam's Kitchen might as well have an iconic marquee worthy of a five-star eatery. Every Monday, the chefs at Miriam's Kitchen gather around the loading dock in anticipation of the week's food donations, hoping for something fun to play with. The organization has several local food donors, such as Tacoma Park Farmers Market, FRESHFARM, even Costco, but their weekly offerings are, quite literally, a mixed bag. So after the pallets of produce are unloaded – on this particular Monday, those pallets included leafy Swiss chard and 14 crates of fresh apples – the scene in the kitchen bears a closer resemblance to an episode of Chopped than it does to a homeless refuge. To read more, please visit http://mashable.com/2015/05/07/social-media-fights-homelessness-washington-dc/.
