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Who Is MacKenzie Bezos?

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By Jonah Engel Bromwich and Alexandra Alter -- nytimes.com -- -- In her 25 years of marriage to Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Bezos has been a loyal ambassador for Amazon, the company that made her and her husband the richest couple in the world. She was an integral part of its origin story, driving to Seattle in 1994 while Mr. Bezos sat in the passenger seat, working on the nascent company’s business plan. She was Amazon’s first accountant and was involved in its transformation from a small online bookseller to the e-commerce behemoth it is today, the second company in American history to be valued at over a trillion dollars. Ms. Bezos, 48, is a novelist. But Amazon has defined her public image almost wholly. The announcement this week that she and her husband would be getting a divorce may soon change that. A statement signed “Jeff & MacKenzie,” which was first posted to Mr. Bezos’s Twitter account, read: “After a period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends.” The couple, who have four children, wrote that they see “wonderful futures ahead, as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursuing ventures and adventures.”

Over the last few decades, as Amazon grew, Ms. Bezos appeared with her husband at some high-profile events, including Vanity Fair’s Oscar parties and the Golden Globes; in 2012, she was a host of the Met Gala. (Amazon also underwrote the event.) But for the most part, Ms. Bezos has guarded her privacy, preferring to focus on writing and her children. She could not be reached for comment on this article. She has made infrequent forays into the public eye to promote her books and to defend her husband’s company. In 2013, she posted a scathing one-star review on Amazon of “The Everything Store,” a book about Amazon by Brad Stone, to say it was plagued by “numerous factual inaccuracies” and “full of techniques which stretch the boundaries of non-fiction.” (Mr. Stone is a veteran technology reporter. Michiko Kakutani, reviewing his book for The New York Times, said he told “this story of disruptive innovation with authority and verve, and lots of well-informed reporting.”) Little is known about Ms. Bezos, a private woman who may be awarded one of the largest divorce settlements to date. “The Book Worm” MacKenzie Tuttle, an aspiring novelist, met her husband at D. E. Shaw, a New York hedge fund where Mr. Bezos, a computer scientist by training, had become a senior vice president. She told Vogue that she took the position of administrative assistant to pay the bills while she worked on her novels, but she soon found herself enamored with the laugh of the man who worked in the next office over. As Ms. Bezos put it in a 2013 interview with Charlie Rose: “It was love at first listen.”

Machine learning provides insight into the human brain

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Thomas Yeo

by physicsworld.com --A research collaboration headed up at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has successfully employed machine learning to investigate the cellular architecture of the human brain. The approach uses functional MRI (fMRI) data to automatically estimate brain parameters, enabling neuroscientists to infer the cellular properties of different brain regions without having to surgically probe the brain. The researchers say that their technique could potentially be used to assess treatment of neurological disorders or develop new therapies (Science Advances 10.1126/sciadv.aat7854). “The underlying pathways of many diseases occur at the cellular level, and many pharmaceuticals operate at the microscale level,” explains team leader Thomas Yeo. “To know what really happens at the innermost levels of the human brain, it is crucial for us to develop methods that can delve into the depths of the brain non-invasively.” Currently, most human brain studies employ non-invasive approaches such as MRI, which limits examination of the brain at a cellular level. To bridge this gap between non-invasive imaging and cellular insight, researchers around the world have used biophysical brain models to simulate brain activity. However, many of these models rely on overly simplistic assumptions, such as assuming that all brain regions have the same cellular properties, which is known to be incorrect.

Yeo and his team, working with researchers from Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universitat Barcelona and UMC Utrecht, analysed imaging data from 452 participants of the Human Connectome Project. In contrast to previous modelling work, they allowed each brain region to have distinct cellular properties and exploited machine learning algorithms to automatically estimate the model parameters. “Our approach achieves a much better fit with real data,” says first author Peng Wang. “Furthermore, we discovered that the micro-scale model parameters estimated by the machine learning algorithm reflect how the brain processes information.”

The researchers found that brain regions involved in sensory perception, such as vision, hearing and touch, exhibited cellular properties opposite to those from brain regions involved in internal thought and memories. The spatial pattern of the human brain’s cellular architecture closely reflects how the brain hierarchically processes information from the surroundings. This form of hierarchical processing is a key feature of both the human brain and recent advances in artificial intelligence. “Our study suggests that the processing hierarchy of the brain is supported by micro-scale differentiation among its regions, which may provide further clues for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence,” says Yeo. Moving forward, the NUS researchers plan to apply their approach to examine the brain data of individual participants, to better understand how individual variation in the brain’s cellular architecture may relate to differences in cognitive abilities. They hope that these latest results will provide a step towards the development of individualized treatment plans with specific drugs or brain stimulation strategies.

Lebanese director’s film scores a BAFTA nomination

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middleeastmonitor.com --Congratulations are in order for Nadine Labaki. It’s been announced that the Lebanese director’s Capharnaüm is up for another prestigious award. The politically-charged film, which already took home the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize, has just been nominated for the Best Film Not in the English Language at the 2019 BAFTA Awards, set to take place on February 10, 2019. Capharnaüm will compete against films including Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War, and Marcello Fonte’s Dogman. Congratulations are in order for Nadine Labaki. It’s been announced that the Lebanese director’s Capharnaüm is up for another prestigious award. The politically-charged film, which already took home the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize, has just been nominated for the Best Film Not in the English Language at the 2019 BAFTA Awards, set to take place on February 10, 2019.

Capharnaüm will compete against films including Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Cold War, and Marcello Fonte’s Dogman. “And another one!” wrote Labaki on Instagram. “We’re extremely proud to announce that #Capharnaum is nominated for a @BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for such an immense honor.” The nomination marks Labaki’s first-ever nod for a BAFTA Award. It’s also Lebanon’s first nomination. In fact, Labaki is the third Arab director to ever be recognized at the annual BAFTA ceremony, alongside Morocco’s Ismaël Ferroukhi who earned a nomination for Le Grand Voyage in 2005, and Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour, who received a nod for Wadjda in 2013.

Capharnaüm tells the story of a neglected 12-year-old boy in Beirut, who takes his parents to court for giving him life in a world of pain and suffering. It received a 15-minute standing ovation following its premiere at Cannes in May. Labaki, who made her directorial debut with 2007’s critically acclaimed Caramel (in which she also played the lead role), is also hotly tipped to enter the Oscars race with Capharnaüm, with nominations set to be announced on January 22. “Making movies is what I’m good at,” the director told Vogue Arabia during her cover interview this October. “Cinema is the means through which I can best express myself. I use it to limit the effects of the destruction all around us and to assume my responsibility as a member of this society but also as an artist. I believe equally in the importance of the artist’s commitment to defend her society’s causes as I believe in cinema’s ability to effect change.” The politically-charged film has so far received nominations for the Golden Globe Awards (it lost to Roma) and the Critics’ Choice Awards, set to take place on Sunday, January 13, 2019.

Lebanese Minister Says ‘Definitely’ No Plans to Restructure Debt

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by Donna-Abu-Nasr -- bloomberg -- Lebanon’s caretaker economy minister said there are no plans to restructure debt after the finance minister was quoted as saying the move was being studied. “There’s definitely no restructuring for debt,” Raed Khoury said Thursday in a phone interview. “Bondholders and depositors are extremely safe.” Lebanese dollar bonds due 2028 plummeted after Al-Akhbar newspaper cited Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil as saying planned fiscal reforms include a debt overhaul. Yields jumped the most since the notes were issued in 2015. The minister didn’t immediately respond to questions sent by Bloomberg.

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani also said he isn’t aware of any “tangible potential decisions” to restructure the country’s debt. "These are merely thoughts, but they require a full cabinet discussion and agreement around the budget," Hasbani said. "No one should be reacting to individual ideas before they even get translated into comprehensive plans” that will need cabinet approval, he said.

Political turmoil and sluggish economic growth are prompting questions on how long Lebanon can avoid a financial meltdown that would further destabilize an area rattled by war in Syria and tension between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon is one of the world’s most indebted countries, with the debt to output issue at 153 percent in 2018. "There is no need for panic,” Khoury said. “The government is committed to pay its debt forever and not only for this year. It has the means to do that.” Khoury also said: "The ballooning of the debt definitely is something unhealthy and it’s a great pressure on our budget" "The servicing of the debt is becoming more than a third of the government budget” "The central bank has enough money to defend the Lebanese pound on one hand, and it has enough foreign reserves to give any bank in Lebanon which needs any liquidity in the future. This means our monetary system is controlled and it is safe" “We have to rethink our trade policies and agreements because what’s giving us a burden on our economy is the trade deficit. It’s about $16 billion-$17 billion negative” “The finance minister didn’t mean to cause panic and his words can be interpreted in different ways”

Lebanese Speaker Proposes Postponing Arab Economic Summit in Beirut

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by aawsat.com -- Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri proposed on Wednesday the postponement of the upcoming Arab League economic summit in Beirut later this month because of Lebanon’s ongoing failure to form a new government. Berri also asserted "again the necessity of having Syria participate in such a summit", lawmakers from his parliamentary bloc quoted him as saying at a meeting. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership seven years ago after the government crackdown on mass protests against regime leader Bashar Assad. Some Arab states, including ones that had backed opposition factions, are now seeking to reconcile with Assad's state, which has recovered most of the country with Russian and Iranian help, reported Reuters. Last month, the United Arab Emirates re-opened its embassy in Damascus and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir became the first Arab head of state to visit since the conflict began. For Syria to be reinstated, the League must reach a consensus. Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said on Tuesday Damascus must take several steps before it can return to the League, including making political progress in defunct UN peace talks. "When this happens, we can talk about the matter. At this time, there is nothing new qualifying it," he said.

Assad's Lebanese allies, including Berri and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighting alongside the Syrian regime, have ramped up calls for Syria to join the summit. The issue remains very divisive in Lebanon with many blocs opposing the normalization of ties with Damascus. The Lebanese presidency seemed to be pressing ahead with plans to host the summit in Beirut, inviting journalists on Wednesday to apply for accreditation in time. The lack of a government has caused particular concern because Lebanon faces both structural economic problems and regional instability. The International Monetary Fund has stressed the importance of Lebanon putting its debt on a sustainable footing, while bond yields and the cost of insuring against Lebanese sovereign debt have shown signs of stress in recent months.

Experts’ take on Lebanese economic problems

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By Tina Abou Rizk (Jounieh) bytheeast.com -- -- In order to deal with its economic problems, Lebanon needs to first address corruption and the lack of transparency, think the leading economists following a “damning report” of McKinsey. The said report, released by the “Ministry of Economy”, fills “1,200” pages warning the government of a “crippling political stalemate” grip, whereby claiming an economic collapse in the country. Amid the economic problems in Lebanon, one particular figure causes disturbance, whereby revealing that the Lebanese spend an extra 50% time than what’s “needed on congested roads”, while only fifteen percent of the roads are “in good condition”. Furthermore, the report also mentions that the Lebanese infrastructure is ranked “113th out of 137 countries”. The Head of External Relations at the “Dubai International Financial Center” as well as the ex-chief economist, Dr. Nasser Saidi stated: “These numbers come from a variety of sources like the World Bank and others, so these have been assessed by various international parties”. “What’s more important is the cost of this in terms of productivity and income, because when you spend time on the road you aren’t producing anything, so congestion costs are very large in terms of both loss of business opportunities, lost income and lost productivity.”

However, economic problems are also linked with the country’s electricity quality, for Lebanon stands as the “world’s fourth-worst quality of electricity”, as a fellow associate from the “Chatham House”, Nadim Shehadi, said: “Electricity in Lebanon is just more expensive, but everyone has 24-hour electricity if they can afford it”. “If you measure electricity supply by state provision then it’s the worst in the world, but if you measure it by what’s available to people, it’s not so bad. There are sometimes indicators that have to take into account the fact that Lebanon is a mixture of private sector, illegal activity and government sector, and sometimes illegal activity compensates for the government sector.”

Why Big Data And Machine Learning Are Important In Our Society

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by Terence Mills, forbes.com -- The singularity is near, or maybe we're already in it. Whatever the case is, machine learning and big data will have a tremendous influence on our society. The machine minds are coming online, and you had better learn to adapt if you want to succeed. But what are big data and machine learning? Keep reading to find out.

Big Data And Machine Learning

Computers have certain capacities. They have a memory to store information. They have computational power, with some machines performing more "flops" per second than others. What happens when these machines face such a large amount of data that traditional techniques of analysis start to fail? That's the world of big data, and it's a world we're living in now.

The Last Polymath

Thomas Young was a physicist who lived from 1773-1829 in London. According to Andrew Robinson in his book The Last Man Who Knew Everything, Young was the world's last true polymath. You might be a smart person, but we know in our modern world that you have to be a specialist to survive. No one is a jack-of-all-trades anymore.The world has become too complex for humans to even try to know everything. That's what big data is: It's the realization that there exist piles of data where traditional human methods of analysis fail. The world is too complicated for the human mind to make sense of every part of it. This presents a serious challenge and a tremendous opportunity for enterprising people who can apply automate techniques to help solve problems. A simple example is the stock market. You can look at all sorts of information about the stock market, and once in a while you might come up with a good trade, but you can't possibly keep up with computerized trading platforms that execute thousands of trades per second. It's just too much information for your mind to process. You need a computerized solution to take in all the information that is relevant to the problem.

Why Is Machine Learning Important?