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Authors: Andy McDermott
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doctorate in psychology before Pramesh even started his company! Did you assume that because I’m a woman I’m some passive and subservient adjunct to my husband?’
‘No, I think he assumed that everybody appreciates his, uh, distinctive sense of humour,’ Nina said quickly. The mayor was looking horrified that a faux pas had been committed on his watch. ‘There wasn’t any offence intended.’
Eddie nodded. ‘Yeah. If I’m trying to offend someone, I don’t muck about.’
‘Honey, not helping,’ Nina said through gritted teeth. She turned back to Vanita. ‘We’re both very sorry for any misunderstanding.’
The Indian woman maintained a tight-lipped silence, but her husband spoke up instead. ‘We accept your apology, Dr Wilde. Now, we were discussing the Talonor Codex. Are you sure the IHA would not be interested in using my company’s software to assist with the translation work?’
He wasn’t just a genius programmer, but also a determined salesman, Nina thought. ‘No, but thank you for the offer. As I said, only a few people have access to the full text for security reasons.’
‘You misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that you give it to strangers. No, I am offering the services of Qexia.’
‘I’m not a computer expert,’ Rowan said, puzzled, ‘but I don’t see how putting the text into a search engine would help with the translation.’
‘It is more than just a search tool. It is a system of analytical algorithms, a deductive computer.’ Khoil was becoming impassioned again. ‘When you use Qexia to find information on a particular subject, you see not a list, but a “cloud” of interlinked results, yes? The relative importance of each result is not decided solely by a count of its connections to other web pages, like some inferior search engines.’ He glanced at one of the Silicon Valley bigwigs, who scowled. ‘Qexia analyses each page, finds connections to other pages through deductive logic based on its profile of the user. It can apply the same principles to translation. The more data it has, the better the results. Give it all the information you have on the Atlantean language, and it will provide a full and accurate translation.’
‘Computer translations?’ said Eddie. ‘They always come out like the manual for a cheapo DVD player. “Having the insertions of disc in tray slot . . .” ’
Khoil prickled at the implied slight on his technology. ‘Qexia is much better than that.’ He faced Nina. ‘It will even make part of your profession obsolete. There will be no need to waste years piecing together scraps of data in order to find an archaeological site. Such as Atlantis.’ He gestured at the exhibits. ‘It took you how long to deduce its location? Years? Given the same data, my software could have found it in days. Perhaps even hours. Then all you would need would be strong arms to do the digging.’
Now it was Nina who bristled. ‘There’s more to archaeology than just assembling data,’ she said scathingly. ‘You need a broad base of knowledge in areas that might seem unrelated. When I worked out Atlantis’s location, I didn’t have all the facts, so I had to fill in the gaps based on my own experience - and intuition. A computer can’t do that.’
‘We’ll have to agree to disagree, then,’ said Vanita, joining Khoil. ‘I know the power of Pramesh’s software. It will change the world.’
‘So you are definitely not interested in my offer, Dr Wilde?’ Khoil asked.
‘I’m afraid not,’ said Nina. ‘If nothing else, it’d take all the fun out of the work.’
He shrugged. ‘As you wish. But I am sure the Codex will—’ He broke off at the approach of a woman holding a cell phone. She was Indian, dressed in a formal and slightly staid business suit, an employee rather than an executive. Her long dark hair was styled to cover, but couldn’t fully conceal, a scar slicing down her forehead over her right eye. ‘Yes,
‘No, I think he assumed that everybody appreciates his, uh, distinctive sense of humour,’ Nina said quickly. The mayor was looking horrified that a faux pas had been committed on his watch. ‘There wasn’t any offence intended.’
Eddie nodded. ‘Yeah. If I’m trying to offend someone, I don’t muck about.’
‘Honey, not helping,’ Nina said through gritted teeth. She turned back to Vanita. ‘We’re both very sorry for any misunderstanding.’
The Indian woman maintained a tight-lipped silence, but her husband spoke up instead. ‘We accept your apology, Dr Wilde. Now, we were discussing the Talonor Codex. Are you sure the IHA would not be interested in using my company’s software to assist with the translation work?’
He wasn’t just a genius programmer, but also a determined salesman, Nina thought. ‘No, but thank you for the offer. As I said, only a few people have access to the full text for security reasons.’
‘You misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that you give it to strangers. No, I am offering the services of Qexia.’
‘I’m not a computer expert,’ Rowan said, puzzled, ‘but I don’t see how putting the text into a search engine would help with the translation.’
‘It is more than just a search tool. It is a system of analytical algorithms, a deductive computer.’ Khoil was becoming impassioned again. ‘When you use Qexia to find information on a particular subject, you see not a list, but a “cloud” of interlinked results, yes? The relative importance of each result is not decided solely by a count of its connections to other web pages, like some inferior search engines.’ He glanced at one of the Silicon Valley bigwigs, who scowled. ‘Qexia analyses each page, finds connections to other pages through deductive logic based on its profile of the user. It can apply the same principles to translation. The more data it has, the better the results. Give it all the information you have on the Atlantean language, and it will provide a full and accurate translation.’
‘Computer translations?’ said Eddie. ‘They always come out like the manual for a cheapo DVD player. “Having the insertions of disc in tray slot . . .” ’
Khoil prickled at the implied slight on his technology. ‘Qexia is much better than that.’ He faced Nina. ‘It will even make part of your profession obsolete. There will be no need to waste years piecing together scraps of data in order to find an archaeological site. Such as Atlantis.’ He gestured at the exhibits. ‘It took you how long to deduce its location? Years? Given the same data, my software could have found it in days. Perhaps even hours. Then all you would need would be strong arms to do the digging.’
Now it was Nina who bristled. ‘There’s more to archaeology than just assembling data,’ she said scathingly. ‘You need a broad base of knowledge in areas that might seem unrelated. When I worked out Atlantis’s location, I didn’t have all the facts, so I had to fill in the gaps based on my own experience - and intuition. A computer can’t do that.’
‘We’ll have to agree to disagree, then,’ said Vanita, joining Khoil. ‘I know the power of Pramesh’s software. It will change the world.’
‘So you are definitely not interested in my offer, Dr Wilde?’ Khoil asked.
‘I’m afraid not,’ said Nina. ‘If nothing else, it’d take all the fun out of the work.’
He shrugged. ‘As you wish. But I am sure the Codex will—’ He broke off at the approach of a woman holding a cell phone. She was Indian, dressed in a formal and slightly staid business suit, an employee rather than an executive. Her long dark hair was styled to cover, but couldn’t fully conceal, a scar slicing down her forehead over her right eye. ‘Yes,
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