Category: News

– Thanks to his business acumen, poster boy looks, and relentless activism for freedom of the internet, Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian has become one of the most high-profile residents ofBrooklyn.

A startup based in Armenia and San Francisco named 1AI Solutions has recently launched a working AI-based version of Alexis Ohanian named Avedis Ohanian.

1AI Solutions studied five years of Alexis Ohanian’s cognitive processes to accurately reproduce his decision-making process and speech habits. Additionally they used 3-D printing to replicate the body of Alexis Ohanian, infusing it with their proprietary Artificial Intelligence engine.

The reason? Pure necessity.

“There’s a lack of qualified IT professionals here in Armenia“, said Dr. J.P. Hagopian, the CEO of 1AI Solutions. “We need to hire people, but we simply can’t find enough good candidates. At some point our HR manager said that we should clone one of the high-performing Silicon Valley guys. She was kidding, but the idea stuck.”

When Dr. Hagopian decided to focus his team’s efforts on developing an Artificial Intelligence program that could mirror Alexis Ohanian’s cognitive processes, things got serious.  Through a combination of algorithmic neuroscience, stand alone software and computer aided design, 1Ai-solutions will mass produce the future IT professionals of the world.

“Ohanian is very vocal about a number of issues”, said Dr. Hagopian. “It made things easier for us: we were able to aggregate data from his time at Reddit, his investments, his Ted Talks and social media profile to get a better idea of how he thinks, and how his ideas shape the way he acts.”

Avedis 1.0 has been performing better than expected in early Turing tests.  The team led by Dr. Hagopian is confident that future versions will have full cognitive abilities and natural language capabilities.

To see Avedis Ohanian in action, visit the 1AI Solutions

Henrikh Mkhitarya has addressed a message to everyone at Borussia Dortmund after signing for Manchester United:

Liebe fans,
Dear friends,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Borussia Dortmund – from the administration, to the coaching staff and of course all the amazing fans – for the love and support you have given me in the past seasons. I will never forget the moments we shared together on and off the pitch over the last three years and I feel truly privileged to have represented such a great club and a great city.

Photo: Reuters

 

Two Russian footballers have been punished by their respective clubs for being filmed celebrating at a lavish Monte Carlo party after the Russian national team had crashed out of the European Championships.

A video of Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev drinking champagne costing $500 a bottle whilst Russia’s national anthem played in the background appeared on Instagram, the TASS news agency reported Tuesday.

Reports claimed that the two men spent 250 thousand euros ($277,000) on champagne.

Kokorin, a player with Zenit St. Petersburg, was demoted to the club’s second team and fined a “substantial amount,” TASS reported.

Pavel Mamaev was also fined by his club Krasnodar and demoted to the club’s youth team.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has called a lavish Monaco party attended by members of the Russian national team “a shameless display of conceit.”

“Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a fantastic player,” Manchester United boss Jose Mourinh  told United’s official website.

“Henrikh is a real team player with great skill, vision and also has a good eye for goal,”  Mourinho said.

“I am delighted he has chosen to sign for United.

“I believe he will make an impact on the team very quickly as his style of play is suited to the Premier League.

“We are all looking forward to working with him,” the coach said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today Herbert Salber, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia.

The interlocutors discussed the steps towards implementation of the agreements reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits on Nagorno Karabakh.

Minister Nalbandian stressed the importance of unconditional implementation of the agreements in order to further the peace process.

Herbert Salber noted, in turn, that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement and reiterated the EU support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

“It’s an honour for me to be the first Armenian in the Premier League,” Henrikh Mkhitaryan said in an interview with Manchester United TV.
Mkhitaryan said he is “very proud” to sign for Manchester United, adding: “This move is a dream come true for me.

“I am excited to play for a club with such an illustrious history and hope to be part of it for a long time.

“I thank the trust the club and Jose Mourinho have put in me.

“Finally, I believe playing for such a great club honours my father’s memory, and the inspiration and drive he gave to me when I was young.”

“A Dream come true!” Mkhitaryan wrote on Facebook.

‘I am very proud and excited to join Manchester United, a club which I have always admired for its great history and amazing fans. Can’t wait to work with the coach and my new teammates!” the Armenian international added.

Armenia is ranked 56th among 39 countries in the published by the World Economic Forum today.

According to the report, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Israel, Singapore, the Netherlands and the United States are leading the world when it comes to generating economic impact from investments in information and communications technologies (ICT).

The Global Information Technology Report 2016 features the latest iteration of the Networked Readiness Index, which assesses the factors, policies and institutions that enable a country to fully leverage information and communication technologies (ICTs) for increased competitiveness and well-being.

Armenia’s neighbors in the region are placed as follows: Georgia 58th, Turkey – 48th, Azerbaijan 53rd, Iran – 92nd.

Armenia’s partners in the Eurasian Economic Union Russia and Kazakhstan are placed 41th and 39^th respectively, Kyrgyzstan is 95^th.

Manchester United has announced that Henrikh Mkhitaryan has completed his transfer from Borussia Dortmund. Henrikh joins on a four-year contract with the option to extend for a further year.

Mkhitaryan, 27, made 140 appearances and scored 41 goals for Borussia Dortmund after joining them in 2013. Last season he scored 23 goals and registered an impressive 32 assists across all competitions. Henrikh was voted Bundesliga Player of the Season for 2015/16 in a poll of his fellow professionals, and he was named in the Team of the Season following votes by the players’ union in Germany, VDV.

The midfielder is Armenia’s all-time top scorer, with 19 goals in 59 appearances since his international debut in January 2007. Henrikh captains his national team and has received the Armenian Footballer of the Year award on five occasions.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan said: “I am very proud to join Manchester United, this move is a dream come true for me. I am excited to play for a club with such an illustrious history and hope to be part of it for a long time. I thank the trust the club and Jose Mourinho have put in me. Finally, I believe playing for such a great club honours my father’s memory, and the inspiration and drive he gave to me when I was young.”

José Mourinho said: “Henrikh is a very talented footballer who has been in such prolific form for both his club and his country. He is a real team player with great skill, vision and also has a good eye for goal. I am delighted he has chosen to sign for United. I believe he will make an impact on the team very quickly as his style of play is suited to the Premier League. We are all looking forward to working with him.”

The x ranks Armenia 67th among 133 countries in the world.

The Index is produced by the U.S.-based nonprofit Social Progress Imperative, and is based on the work of leading economists.

It measures how well countries perform delivering social goods to their people, including education, health and wellness, housing, opportunity, personal rights, personal safety and tolerance. It compiles its scores based on more than 50 indicators.

Finland tops the ranking followed by Canada and Denmark.

In the Basic Human Needs Dimension, Armenia performs best on Water and Sanitation and has most opportunity to improve on the Personal Safety component. In the Foundations of Wellbeing Dimension, Armenia scores highest on Access to Basic Knowledge but lags on the Health and Wellness component. In the Opportunity Dimension, Armenia is strongest on Personal Freedom and Choice and has the most room to improve on Personal Rights.

Armenia’s neighbors in the region are placed as follows: Georgia 54th, Turkey – 58th, Azerbaijan 77th, Iran – 93rd.

Armenia’s partners in the Eurasian Economic union Belarus and Russia are placed 66th and 75th respectively, Kazakhstan is 76th, Kyrgyzstan is 79th.

Photo: BBC

 

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told U.S. President George W. Bush eight months before the 2003 invasion of Iraq “I will be with you, whatever”, and relied on flawed intelligence and legal advice to go to war, a seven-year inquiry concluded on Wednesday, reports.

It strongly criticized Blair on a range of issues, saying the threat posed by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s supposed weapons of mass destruction had been over-hyped and the planning for the aftermath of war had been inadequate.

Blair responded that he had taken the decision to go to war “in good faith”, that he still believed it was better to remove Saddam, and that he did not see that action as the cause of terrorism today, in the Middle East or elsewhere.

“The intelligence assessments made at the time of going to war turned out to be wrong. The aftermath turned out to be more hostile, protracted and bloody than ever we imagined,” the former prime minister told reporters.

“For all of this, I express more sorrow, regret and apology than you will ever know.”

The only Labour prime minister to win three general elections, Blair was in office for 10 years until 2007 and was hugely popular in his heyday, but Iraq has severely tarnished his reputation and legacy.

Responding to questions from journalists, Mr Blair says passionately while gesticulating with his arms that some people talk “as if I don’t care about the loss of life”, according to .

But he says: “I had to decide are more people going to suffer, are more people going to die if we leave this dictator in power.”

Asked whether he would apologise to the families of the British servicemen and women who lost their lives, Mr Blair says: “I can look the nation in the eye and say I did not mislead this country.. I made the decision in good faith on information I had at the time, and can say it is better we took the decision.”