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Machine Learning List Vol. 2 No. 04
Machine Learning List: Vol. 2 No. 4
Friday, Feb 9, 1990
Contents:
Address database from the US Postal Service
Workshop on Approximation & Abstraction
The Machine Learning List is moderated. Contributions should be relevant to
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Date: Wed, 7 Feb 90 20:50:46 -0600
From: "Carl M. Kadie" <kadie@herodotus.cs.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Address database from the US Postal Service
[This message is forwarded from comp.ai.neural-nets -MP]
The USPS OAT has been soliciting proposals for research in Postal
automation. Specific areas of interest are described in the Postal
Service publication 'Research Interests in Automated Address Reading'.
In order to aid the selection of proposals, the Postal Service is
requesting the Offeror to demonstrate current capabilities. To that
end, they are making available on request a database entitled "United
States Postal Service Office of Advanced Technology Image Database for
Research Announcement Proposal Preparation(1989)". This database
contains 500 images distributed over machine printed, dot-matrix,
handwritten as well as cursive ADDRESSES in a 300 ppi scale,
(greyscale), as well as a 212 ppi (binary) scale.
Jonathan Hull is in charge of this distribution. Please direct inquiries to:
United States Postal Service Office of Advanced Technology
Image Database for Research Announcement Proposal Preparation (1989)
c/o
Jonathan Hull
Department of Computer Science
226 Bell Hall
State University of New York at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York 14260
(716) 636-3191
(hull@cs.buffalo.edu)
You will need to send a $200 check payable to,
University at Buffalo Foundation
Specify whether you want an 8mm(exabyte), 9-track (6250/1600) or 1/4" sun tape.
The tape will be in tar format and the datafiles will be in HIPS format.
The tape will include a description of HIPS so that you can convert
them to the format you need. The tape is roughly 30mb (files are compressed).
The other database is entitled "United States Postal Service Office of Advanced
Technology Handwritten ZIP Code Database (1987)". It contains about 2000
handwritten ZIP Codes scanned at 300 ppi. This database is NOT publicly
available. If you think you are interested in this, do not contact myself
or Jon. Please talk to:
John Tan, Technology Resource Center, (202) 646-1500
Arthur D. Little,
955 L'enfant Plaza SW,
Suite 4200
Washington, D.C. 20024-2119
Steve
Steven Tylock @ SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science (716-636-3406)
internet: tylock@cs.buffalo.edu bitnet: tylock@sunybcs.BITNET
uucp: ..!{ames,boulder,decvax,rutgers}!sunybcs!tylock
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Date: Tue 6 Feb 90 10:23:02-PST
From: Rich Keller <KELLER@PLUTO.ARC.NASA.GOV>
Subject: Workshop on Approximation & Abstraction
Automatic Generation of Approximations and Abstractions
AAAI-90 Workshop: Monday, July 30, 1990
Call for Participation
Topic of the Workshop
Approximations and abstractions are frequently used to simplify
difficult problem-solving computations. The specific approximations
or abstractions are usually supplied at the outset by human knowledge
engineers. An alternative approach seeks to automate the process of
generating useful approximations and abstractions. This approach often
starts with a computational theory or model of a problem domain. The
theory or model is then simplified by formal operations that
explicitly introduce approximations or abstractions. Such operations
sacrifice properties like accuracy, precision or scope, in order to
gain computational efficiency in return. These techniques are
potentially applicable to the wide variety of computational problems
that rely on approximations and abstractions, including
decision-making, planning, design, simulation and diagnosis, among
others.
Objectives and Format of the Workshop
A growing number of AI researchers is studying the problem of
generating approximations and/or abstractions. Despite widespread
interest in the topic, investigators working in this area have yet to
adopt a shared framework for discussing the various alternative
approaches and research issues involved. The workshop is intended to
promote such a result by emphasizing comparison of goals, techniques,
vocabularies and paradigms. The workshop will also attempt to
identify the research issues and engineering hurdles that must be
addressed to extend existing techniques to handle important
computational problems. Formal presentations will be limited to allow
ample time for panels and informal discussions.
The workshop is targeted at two overlapping communities of active
researchers: "producers" working on automatic generation of
approximations and abstractions, and "consumers" who can offer
valuable advice regarding the types of approximations and abstractions
that would be most useful to generate. Investigators from machine
learning, automatic programming and qualitative reasoning as well as
researchers interested in specific uses of approximations or
abstractions are encouraged to apply.
Submission Requirements
Persons wishing to attend the workshop should submit three copies of
a 1 - 2 page research summary including a list of relevant
publications, along with a phone number and an electronic mail address
if possible. Persons wishing to make presentations at the workshop
should submit three copies of a short paper or extended abstract, in
addition to the research summary. All submissions must be received by
April 20, 1990. Notification of acceptance or rejection will be
mailed to applicants by May 11, 1990. Camera ready copies of papers
accepted for inclusion in the working notes of the workshop will be
due on June 1, 1990.
In order to facilitate communication among participants, we
encourage authors to address the following questions in their papers
or research summaries. Questions for "producers": What is your
initial computational theory or model? How is it represented? What
class of approximations or abstractions is generated? What is their
purpose? What tradeoffs do they incorporate? What knowledge,
criteria, and mechanisms are used to control the generation process?
How might your approach be viewed as searching in a space of theories
or models? Do you prefer an alternative framework for comparing your
approach to others? What hurdles must be overcome in order to apply
your approach to important computational problems? Questions for
"consumers": What aspects of the generation process appear useful and
feasible to automate? What are good research goals and challenge
problems for this field?
Important Dates:
April 20, 1990 Submission Deadline.
May 11, 1990 Notification of Acceptance or Rejection.
June 1, 1990 Camera Ready Copies Due.
Organizing Committee:
Tom Ellman, Rutgers University
Rich Keller, NASA Ames Research Center
Jack Mostow, Rutgers University
Submissions and Inquiries:
AGAA-90 Workshop
c/o Tom Ellman
Department of Computer Science
Rutgers University
Hill Center, Busch Campus
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
ellman@cs.rutgers.edu
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END of ML-LIST 2.4
