IBM today announced that Joanne Wright, Vice President Supply Chain has been selected to speak at the upcoming Supply Chain Summit Conference, which takes place in Chicago on June 14-16.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) presentó IBM Spectrum Storage, una nueva oferta de software de almacenamiento diseñada para cambiar la economía del almacenamiento mediante una capa de software inteligente. El nuevo software IBM crea una “huella de datos” eficiente que dinámicamente almacena cada bit de información a costo óptimo, maximizando rendimiento y garantizando la seguridad.

IBM anunció dos nuevas soluciones de almacenamiento empresarial completamente basadas en tecnología flash, las cuales ofrecen avanzada eficiencia e incremento en desempeño, así como una sobresaliente confiabilidad para ayudar a reducir costos, y acelerar infraestructuras y aplicaciones con manejo intensivo de datos.

Este año IBM cumple 90 años de ser un jugador clave en el progreso de México, impulsando a diferentes generaciones a través de la transformación de industrias y profesiones, e impactando el panorama económico, académico y social del país gracias a la estrecha colaboración con todos los actores de la sociedad.

IBM es y ha sido un jugador clave en el progreso de México, liderando en el transcurso de 90 años a diferentes generaciones a través de la transformación de industrias y profesiones, e impactando el panorama económico, académico y social del país gracias a la estrecha colaboración con todos los actores de la sociedad.

IBM anuncia el lanzamiento de IBM Cloud Private, una plataforma de software creada para los clientes que requieren la flexibilidad y capacidad de una nube pública en un ambiente privado. IBM Cloud Private transforma los sistemas de TI (Tecnologías de la Información) en un ambiente de nube flexible para crear un puente hasta las nubes públicas y acelerar el desarrollo de aplicativos.

La enfermedad de Parkinson es un trastorno neurológico degenerativo crónico que afecta a una de cada 100 personas mayores de 60 años. Se estima que más de 5 millones de personas en el mundo tienen Parkinson y el número está aumentando con la población actual que envejece.

MineHub Technologies e IBM anunciaron hoy una colaboración para utilizar la tecnología blockchain con el objetivo de mejorar la eficiencia operativa, logística, financiamiento y reducir los costos en la cadena de suministro de concentrados minerales de alto valor, desde la mina hasta el comprador final.

General Motors e IBM anunciaron el día de hoy una alianza para unir el poder de OnStar e IBM Watson para crear OnStar Go, la primera plataforma de movilidad cognitiva de la industria automovilística. A inicios del 2017, se espera que OnStar de a millones de conductores de GM la habilidad de conectarse e interactuar con sus marcas favoritas. La plataforma entregará contenido personalizado por medio del tablero y otros canales digitales soportados por el entorno OnStar Go para sacarle el mejor provecho al tiempo que se pasa en el carro.

Durante la cumbre Business Connect 2017 en la Ciudad de México, IBM presentó a la Transformación Digital como una de las áreas de mayor crecimiento para los negocios en 2017 y mostró cómo las soluciones cognitivas (de analítica avanzada, de nube, de engagement), están transformando la forma en la que trabajamos y vivimos.

L’entité Sécurité d’IBM (NYSE: IBM) a annoncé aujourd'hui les résultats de son étude annuelle sur l'impact financier des violations de données sur les organisations. Selon le rapport, le coût d'une violation de données a augmenté de 12 % au cours des cinq dernières années et coûte désormais 3,92 millions de dollars en moyenne. Ces dépenses croissantes sont représentatives de l'impact financier pluriannuel des violations, de la réglementation accrue et du processus complexe de résolution des attaques criminelles .

Les deux sociétés s'unissent afin de redéfinir le travail quotidien de millions de personnes

La nouvelle plateforme URights s’appuie sur les solutions analytiques et cloud d’IBM pour mieux valoriser les droits des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique

Des avancées technologiques qui permettent d'accroître encore le leadership du mainframe et en font le système incontournable pour traiter les données critiques des entreprises

IBM Australia (NYSE: IBM) has been awarded a multimillion dollar contract with NBN Co Limited to implement and manage the core business and operational support systems required to operate Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

Watson matched tumor board treatment recommendations in up to 96% of cases;reduced clinical trial screening time by 78%, studies find. Prostate cancer is latest add to Watson for Oncology; the tech will be available to support 80 percent of the incidence of cancer by year-end. Nine new adopters of Watson oncology offerings around the globe expands Watson's reach to 55 organizations worldwide.

At Gamicon , I was introduced to Sentient, from Renegade Game Studios. My friend Katie was manning the session and teaching interested attendees how to play, so with her encouragement, my husband Chris and I sat down and gave it a try.

It was love at first play for me. That probably sounds a bit odd to those who know the game and who know me well because I often emphasize that theming is really important for me and Sentient’s theme is wholly unremarkable. Something about acquiring and programming bots …blah blah blah… but the theme quickly fades from memory as I begin to play and am pulled into the logic puzzle that is at the core of the game. Do you remember those logic puzzles wherein a group of friends go to a movie and a few facts are laid out about each person and where they sat and you have to figure out the precise order of their seating across the row of seats in the theatre? Sentient  feels a lot like that, but with beautiful pastel colors and striking custom dice and it taught me that I’m not as wedded to theme as I thought. If a designer presents a compelling enough game, I’m willing to let a poor theme slide.

Sentient  is played over three rounds, which flow pretty quickly for all but the most deliberating players. I frequently suffer from analysis paralysis and didn’t find myself getting too hung up on decision making. In each round, players must select bots (cards) from an available pool of 4 to add to their network (individual player boards). Players take turns selecting their bots, as dictated by turn order, and prior to selecting bots, all players roll their custom dice and add the dice to their network (each die is placed into the network on top of the square the matches the color of the rolled die).

Each bot provides a condition for network placement, that if met, scores victory points at the end of the round. These conditions are mathematical and relate to the numbers on the dice on either side of the bot position in the network. Once the network is evaluated at the end of a round and points are scored, the bots in a player’s network are taken out of the network and placed into a pile on the side of their network; they will come into play for end game scoring. For example, one bot specifies this condition,  <—EVEN ODD—> ,  which means that when the network is evaluated, the die to the left of the bot in the network must be an even number and the die to the right of the bot in the network must be odd.

Here’s where the game gets tricky – bots cause an immediate effect on the network when placed; they can force an adjustment of the dice to the left and right of the bot’s placement. Adjustment possibilities are +1, –1, or no change. This means that even if you have some of your bots already perfectly placed in your network, ensuring that they meet the conditions specified, the dice they are evaluated against could change in value as the round progresses, upsetting your glorious plans for victory. There is an option to block one or both of the adjustment effects of a bot when placed using assistant tokens distributed at the beginning of the game, but doing so greatly handicaps your ability to score crucial victory points through the investor multiplier mechanism (IMM) at the end of the game. What is the IMM? Well, Sentient  implements an area control game that is conducted simultaneously in conjunction with bot placement. When a bot is selected from the market, the selecting player places one of their 4 agent tokens plus as many of their assistant tokens as they choose above the market space where the bot was taken from.

In this way, the player is competing to dominate the play areas above the market board with their influence (each agent and assistant token provides one influence). At the end of the round, the player with the most influence surrounding each investor token above the marketplace gains that investor token. These tokens are then used as victory point multipliers at the end of the game – each investor token provides 1 victory point for each bot of matching type (color) that the owning player has in their collection at the end of the game. 

I love puzzling out which of the 4 bots I should select on my turn. I evaluate each bot carefully, noting its type (color) and whether that could be useful to me based on the investor tokens I already have.

I also have to consider the point values each bot could bring – my favorite are the bots that specify a die value and offer 7 points if BOTH the die to the left and right of the bot in your network have that value. Finally, I need to survey the investor tokens up for grabs above the marketplace to decide if there are any I must prioritize, either because they help me or because they would help my opponent too much if I don‘t grab them first. If there are, I might need to take a bot I like a little less and figure out how to successfully plug it into my network in order to place influence next to the investor token I want. Note that there’s also an option to select none of the bots and send them all to the discard pile; each player must choose this option at least once during each round. If you’re not happy with any of your choices, it’s a good time to use that option.

Another thing I enjoy about Sentient  is that it doesn’t have a lot of player interaction. I am competing against my opponents to build the best network, but other than swiping a bot or investor token they might want, there isn’t any take-that element to the game. I like take-that games as long as they are light strategy and high luck, but it really stinks in a heavy strategy game to have someone screw you over and render impossible your well planned optimal path to victory. I much prefer the “I do my thing over here and you do your thing over there and we see who did a better thing in the end” style of strategy games.

Sentient  is designed by J. Alex Kevern, with artwork by Anita Osburn, Chris Ostrowski, and Gordon Tucker. As I alluded to previously, the artwork is lovely, with a futuristic vibe and soft color palette. I’ve got at least one other game in my collection designed by Kevern – ArtSee - and I really like it as well, so I’m going to make some time upcoming to check out his other games (he has 9 games released according to BoardGameGeek.com). I’m trying to get better at paying attention to the designers behind the games. I am realizing that game designers, just like great film directors, establish a pattern of style and technical mechanisms in their work,  and so if I really enjoy a game by a designer, it’s likely I will like their other games as well.

The components for Sentient  seem to be well made and I adore the custom dice. There are wooden and cardboard tokens as well as 60 large cards used in play.

The cards are probably the weak point in overall component quality; ours are starting to bend and wear quite a bit. I’d suggest sleeving them for regular use, using standard Tarot card sized sleeves. The rulebook is very easy to follow, grammatically correct, and laid out well.

I haven’t played Sentient  yet with our kids (10 year old boys and a 14 year old daughter), but it feels like it would be a good fit for them as well.  The guidelines on the box list ages 12 and up but I think 10 and up is a better guideline. It’s a solid family game, that plays in less than hour, without any objectionable content. And of course, the bonus is that it helps youngsters improve their logical thinking skills. 

 Strategy Tip: If playing against just 1 other player, it’s ok to pick out a few of the bots it would be nice to have and mentally work out optimum placement in your network of those bots to ensure the dice values are adjusted, if necessary, to score points for all the bots. If all goes well, and your opponent doesn’t select the bots you want most, you can stick to your original plan or select the new bot your opponent reveals at the end of their turn. This strategy does not work nearly as well in a 3 or 4 player game, as by the time your turn comes around again it is likely any bots you had your eye on will be gone. In games with more than 2 players, you need to be much more flexible in what bots you put into your network and perhaps focus more on the area control aspect of the game. 

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Publisher: Renegade Game Studios
Players: 2-4
Actual Playing Time (vs the guideline on the box): About 40 minutes per game
Game type: dice rolling, set collection, card drafting, area control, math
Rating:

Jenni’s rating scale:
OUI: I would play this game again; this game is ok. I probably would not buy this game myself but I would play it with those who own it and if someone gave it to me I would keep it.
OUI OUI: I would play this game again; this game is good. I would buy this game.
OUI OUI OUI: I LOVE THIS GAME. I MUST HAVE THIS GAME.
NON: I would not play this game again. I would return this game or give it away if it was given to me.

  

 My kindle has arrived BRAND NEW!!! My old one was sent away... to the depths of despair, and I am pleasantly disappointed in the ending of my book.  I'm sitting here ready for the football game to start and I can smell the pizza my husband thought would be a "great idea" to make.  I haven't had the time to exercise in almost a week. Although my eating is still on key, I feel bloated... fatter if possible.  I've done the math, and in order for me to swim the five miles I plan on in October, I have to do the following ASAP.

Mondays - Swim minimum 80 laps
Tuesdays - Strength training , Swim 80 laps
Wednesdays - OFF
Thursdays - Strength training, swim 80 laps
Fridays - Swim 80 laps
Saturdays - OFF
Sundays - Strength training, swim 80 laps

WOE IS ME! In order for my school schedule to not co-inside with my work-out schedule I will have to plan in advance.  I am currently taking 4 classes this semester, all of which are history classes.  That can only mean one thing:  mass amounts of reading and papers at the same....time.....

Advancement toward my goal at this point in time is vital, I must use my young age to my advantage and endure no social life as well as sleep... who needs either anyways?

Crap.... haha...... keep me strong friends... I'm going to need it, as well as my gym membership I so am looking forward to getting by the end of this month.  I miss swimming.

xoxo

Also drawn for the tour show. And also animated, though that was done by the excellent Chris Lincé, not by me.

And indeed not in Salford. Because in Salford, the computer that we run the show on froze at the start of the Kirates sketch, and Simon and I had to stick our heads round the back cloth and do it live. Whilst in the middle of changing into our red trousers...

Zaměstnaní rodiče mají od dubna nově nárok na ošetřovné ve výši 80 procent denního vyměřovacího základu. Důvod zvýšení je jasný. Původních 60 procent většině rodin na pokrytí nákladů na provoz domácnosti nevystačilo. Potvrzuje to i případ paní Anny.

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