Conversations on Vietnam Development
lexology_If you’re reading this, the chances are that you will have come across the concept of Artificial Intelligence in your prior researches. Like most issues “du jour“, a lot has been written on the topic which falls into two categories – material either presupposes a level of prior computer- science based knowledge or; more commonly is thinly disguised salesware which doesn’t convey a lot.
Tiếp tục đọc “Artificial Intelligence: The Real Legal Issues”
New report ranks 137 countries at Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India
Washington, D.C. – As the demand for data-driven research on how to strengthen entrepreneurship support programs increase, the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index, which evaluates the health of entrepreneurship in 137 countries, was unveiled at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, India, as part of a policy panel discussion. Tiếp tục đọc “New Index Shows Increase in Entrepreneurship Could Add $7 Trillion to Global Economy”
technologyreview_With so much excitement about progress in artificial intelligence, you may wonder why intelligent machines aren’t already running our lives.
Key advances have the capacity to dazzle the public, policymakers, and investors into believing that human-level machine intelligence may be just around the corner. But a new report (PDF), which tries to gauge actual progress being made, attests that this is far from true. The findings may help inform the discussion over how AI will affect the economy and jobs in the coming years.
“There’s no question there have been a number of breakthroughs in recent years,” says Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and one of the authors of the report. “But it’s also clear we are a long way from artificial general intelligence.”
Brynjolfsson points to remarkable advances in image classification and voice recognition. But computers trained to perform these tasks cannot do much else, and they cannot adapt if the nature of the task changes slightly or if they see something completely unfamiliar.
The report is part of an ongoing effort, called the AI Index, to quantify progress in artificial intelligence and identify areas where more is still needed. The other authors are Yoav Shoham, a professor at Stanford; Raymond Perrault, a researcher at SRI; Jack Clark, director of policy at OpenAI; and Calvin LeGassick, project manager for the AI Index.
Tiếp tục đọc “Progress in AI isn’t as Impressive as You Might Think”
English: Studies: Casinos bring jobs, but also crime, bankruptcy, and even suicide
Bang Maryland đang xem xét đề xuất cho phép các trò chơi tại 5 sòng bạc của tiểu bang, và phê duyệt đề nghị xây sòng bạc thứ sáu tại hạt Prince George, gần DC. Đề xuất được chào mời như là một cách để tài trợ cho giáo dục – quỹ mà nó tạo ra sẽ được phân bổ – và trớ trêu thay, sự phản đối nó chủ yếu được tài trợ bởi các chủ của sòng bạc đối thủ. Nhưng các nghiên cứu kinh tế về sòng bạc cho thấy rằng cộng đồng cần phải thận trọng với các sòng bạc. Tiếp tục đọc “Mở sòng bạc casino, thêm việc làm Nhưng cũng tạo ra tội phạm, gây phá sản và thậm chí tự tử – Nghiên cứu đã chỉ ra”
AFP / HOANG DINH NAMThe global fast food chain received a warm welcome in Hanoi as hungry diners crammed into the two-storey eatery for a first taste of the Golden ArchesAFP_Global burger behemoth McDonald’s opened its first branch on Saturday in the historic heart of communist Hanoi, a conservative city renowned for its traditional — and cheap — Vietnamese staples beloved by food-obsessed locals.
Hungry customers lined up for Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets at the Vietnamese capital’s first location overlooking the tree-lined Hoan Kiem lake, which draws millions of tourists annually to see French-era colonial buildings and sample street-food favourites like pho noodle soup and banh mi sandwiches.
The restaurant is the first outside of the southern commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City, where 16 branches have opened since McDonald’s first came to Vietnam in 2014 to much fanfare, especially among the rapidly-growing middle class and American-obsessed youth. Tiếp tục đọc “Communist Hanoi gets its first McDonald’s”
tuoitre.vn_Việc tăng 6,08% giá điện được đánh giá là phù hợp trong bối cảnh nhu cầu đầu tư ngành điện tăng cao.
Buổi họp báo về tăng giá điện do Bộ Công thương tổ chức chiều 1-12 trở nên nóng hơn khi hàng loạt câu hỏi của báo chí đặt ra về tính hợp lý, cơ sở của việc tăng giá điện 6,08% cũng như đề nghị làm rõ các khoản lỗ, chênh lệch tỉ giá…
Tăng giá để xử lý lỗ tỉ giá
Tại buổi họp báo, ông Võ Quang Lâm, phó tổng giám đốc Tập đoàn Điện lực Việt Nam (EVN), chỉ cho biết khoản lỗ tỉ giá sẽ được phân bổ dần dần nhằm giảm bớt áp lực tăng giá điện, nhưng không giải trình cụ thể khoản lỗ gần 600 tỉ đồng xuất phát do đâu.
Cũng theo ông Lâm, việc tăng giá điện sẽ tác động đến chỉ số giá tiêu dùng là 0,1% và tăng trưởng GDP là 0,166% trong năm 2018.
Đại diện của Kiểm toán Deloitte giải thích thêm về khoản chênh lệch tỉ giá lên tới 9.500 tỉ đồng là do EVN phải vay vốn nước ngoài để đầu tư nhà máy nên phát sinh chênh lệch tỉ giá, dù điều hành tỉ giá của Ngân hàng Nhà nước đã khá ổn định.
Theo vị này, nếu khoản lỗ chênh lệch tỉ giá được phân bổ ngay vào giá thành, chắc chắn tình hình sản xuất kinh doanh chung sẽ bị lỗ, nhưng quan điểm điều hành của Chính phủ là chưa phân bổ tỉ giá vào giá thành để giảm áp lực tăng giá.
Ông Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, cục trưởng Cục Điều tiết điện lực, cũng cho rằng theo chỉ đạo của Chính phủ, khoản lỗ tỉ giá sẽ chỉ được hạch toán một phần hoặc giãn ra đưa vào giá thành để tránh tạo áp lực đến việc tăng giá bán lẻ điện.
Do đó, đợt điều chỉnh giá điện lần này chỉ đưa một phần vào khâu truyền tải điện, khâu phát điện… Cũng theo ông Tuấn, EVN đã tiết kiệm 1.266 tỉ đồng chi phí thường xuyên, giảm giá thành trong khâu truyền tải điện, chi phí sửa chữa lớn tiết kiệm 5%, tốc độ tăng lương thấp hơn năng suất lao động…
vnexpress.net_A new report has revealed a series of health and workplace violations at Samsung plants in Vietnam, but the South Korean tech giant has categorically rejected the claims.
The study, which was released early this month, reported “serious” labor code violations at an industrial giant that is one of the leading investors and employers in the country.
45 female workers reported extreme fatigue, fainting and dizziness at work, and said that miscarriages were extremely common, according to the study by the Hanoi-based Research Center for Gender, Family and Environment in Development (CGFED) and IPEN, a global network of environment and health NGOs.
They also said that workers, including pregnant women, were required to stand for the entire 8-12 hour shifts or face a pay cut. They had limited breaks and had to ask to use the restroom.
Many are rostered on alternating day and night shift shifts, regardless of weekends, they said.
Workers said they had experienced problems with their eyesight, nose bleeds and stomach aches, as well as joint and leg pains.
No workers have received copies of their contracts, which is mandatory under Vietnamese labor laws, according to the report.
Samsung Electronics operates two cellphone plants in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen in northern Vietnam, which produce around half of all the cellphones that Samsung supplies to the global market.
The plants, which had 149,000 staff as of the end of April, made $36 billion last year, accounting for 68 percent of all revenue from the countrys electronics industry, which is the highest grossing sector in Vietnam.
Joe DiGangi, IPENs Senior Science and Technical Advisor, said that the study is important because the lives and rights of workers in the electronics industry in Vietnam have been “neglected”.
“Companies make a lot of money in Vietnam, but their profit rests on the tired shoulders of the female-majority workforce,” he said.
Tiếp tục đọc “Samsung dismisses labor abuse claims in Vietnam”
An international consortium of energy companies has presented its plans to develop a 6 gigawatt (GW) solar and wind hybrid project in Western Australia, designed to export clean energy to Indonesia through subsea cables.
Western Australia is set to take advantage of its significant solar and wind resources to export renewable energy to Indonesia, contributing significantly to the country’s clean energy future and energy security through reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels.
The proposed project is called Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) and is another mega energy project which underlines the significant opportunities that domestic renewable resources can provide for countries to become the ‘new’ energy exporters.
The hybrid power plant would be spread over 14,000 square km in flat desert land on the north-west coast of Australia.
It would comprise approximately 1,200 wind turbines supplied by Vestas, and 10 million solar panels with an aggregated capacity of 6GW – enough electricity to power more than 7 million households. Tiếp tục đọc “Australia in plans to export colossal amounts of wind and solar energy to Southeast Asia”
Mikaela Weisse, , , , and –
Global Forest Watch released new satellite-based data showing how forests around the world changed in the year 2015. The data, produced through the analysis of roughly a million satellite images by the University of Maryland and Google, measures the death or removal of trees at least 5 meters tall within 30×30 meter areas. This can capture any number of sustainable or unsustainable activities, from the clearing of natural forests to the harvest of tree plantations, but when analyzed appropriately with other contextual data and information can serve as a proxy for deforestation (typically defined as the permanent conversion of forest land for another use). Tiếp tục đọc “Global Tree Cover Loss Remains High. Emerging Patterns Reveal Shifting Contributors.”
Tôi bắt đầu công việc phát hiện ra bê bối liên quan đến lãng phí nguồn thực phẩm toàn cầu khi lên 15 tuổi Tôi đã mua một số lợn. Tôi sống ở vùng Sussex. Và bắt đầu cho chúng ăn bằng cái cách truyền thống nhất và thân thiện với môi trường nhất. Tôi đến phòng ăn ở trường và nói rằng, “Hãy đưa con thức ăn thừa mà bạn bè con đã bỏ đi.” Tôi đến chỗ người bán bánh mì gần nhà và xin những ổ bánh mì cũ. Tôi cũng đến chỗ người bán rau và cả người nông dân những người đã vứt bỏ khoai tây bởi vìchúng xấu hoặc có kích cỡ không phù hợp để bán ở siêu thị. Điều này thật tuyệt vời. Những chú lợn của tôi đã biến sự lãng phí đó thành miếng thịt ngon. Tôi đã bán miếng thịt lợn ấy cho phụ huynh của bạn bè ở trường và kiếm thêm một tí thu nhập cho tiền tiêu vặt hàng tháng.
Tiếp tục đọc “Global food waste scandal – Bê bối lãng phí thức ăn toàn cầu”
October 24, 2017
Tri Nguyen, CEO of MimosaTEK, was born and raised in Dalat, a city in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam, where the land is mountainous and fertile. He grew up surrounded by local farmers who planted a rich variety of products — from bell peppers and flowers to coffee and bananas. Tri moved to Ho Chi Minh City to work in the information technology sector as a young man, but when the opportunity came, he decided to return to his roots and start a strawberry farm with his friends in Dalat.
Tri turned to the local farmers to learn everything he could about growing strawberries. But he kept hearing something that didn’t seem right: The farmers instructed him to irrigate until water dripped out of the soil when he picked it up in his hands.
Tri did some research that confirmed his instincts: The farmers didn’t need to be using that much water. But when he told his neighbors, they insisted on continuing to overwater their crops. It was how they were taught and how they had farmed all their lives.
“I realized then that the farmers based their decisions on experiences instead of scientific data,” says Tri.
Smallholder and family farmers in Dalat water their crops based on what they see and feel. They don’t consult data on the weather or rainfall because they were never taught to do so. This is leading to excessive irrigation, which can stunt growth or kill crops, and deplete limited groundwater. Furthermore, Vietnam is still recovering from its strongest-ever drought, and every drop counts. Many of Dalat’s farmers are already suffering from water shortages. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam’s Homegrown System for Saving Water”
DW_The European Union is deciding about the future of glyphosate — a controversial herbicide that may be linked with cancer. DW offers an overview on the most important points of the debate.
Despite warnings over potential risks to human health and the environment, farmers around the world are dependent on chemical giant Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup. Active ingredient: glyphosate.
In June 2016, European Union member states delayed a final decision on renewal for the weed killer, instead extending the license for 18 months. In October and November 2017, the European Commission again pushed back a vote on the issue.
The European Commission must make a decision, as the current license is due to expire on December 15. Although the European Commission on Food Safety had been pushing for a 10-year renewal of the license for glyphosate, this has been pedaled back to a five-year renewal. Tiếp tục đọc “Glyphosate: The key points in an endless debate”
CVD 