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I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the method adopted by large educational institutions in the end. They won't be able to fight large corporates for very long with the limited funding they do have. It will only take a handful of large law suits to sway them towards censorship.

Not true. The universities tend to comply in a case by case basis (when some computer on the network is subpoenaed) than to restrict general access. Furthermore, there is no need to fight for anyone.

There are other problems created by peer to peer file trading, namely the increase in network utilization. In my school, they decided to charge students rather than restricting file sharing access. They began doing this in Fall 2003.

I imagine most schools would never take the restricted access approach.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the method adopted by large educational institutions in the end. They won't be able to fight large corporates for very long with the limited funding they do have. It will only take a handful of large law suits to sway them towards censorship.

Not true. The universities tend to comply in a case by case basis (when some computer on the network is subpoenaed) than to restrict general access. Furthermore, there is no need to fight for anyone.

There are other problems created by peer to peer file trading, namely the increase in network utilization. In my school, they decided to charge students rather than restricting file sharing access. They began doing this in Fall 2003.

I imagine most schools would never take the restricted access approach.

"I've got a bone to pick with Shuji Nakamura."

I hate how people keep crediting Nakamura as the sole inventor of the blue LED. Yes, he did make the first working blue LED, but Dr. Theodore Moustakas here at Boston University developed the buffer-layer process for GaN months before Nakamura.

Here's an article.

Dr. Moustakas is an awesome professor too. He loves to teach and does it well. He deserves so much more credit.

This was not meant to be funny.
Text Only Hunt the Wumpus

Methanol is only dangerous if ingested

Apple's old Knowledge Navigator... you speak to the computer, and it's all a very decked-out browser...

Here is just a couple.

The precision of your measurement will change your end result significantly. That's because coastlines are fractal. For more explanation of this principle check out this explanation of fractal coastlines.

No language can replace C until it can compile its own compiler written in itself.

Espresso
- a Java compiler written in Java.

A list of compiler and compiler tools in Java -including parser generators like JavaCC

As I recall, we have the Swedes to thank for 1st informing the world of the excessive radioactive fallout their detectors measured. It's a pity that even the reindeer in Lapland (northern Norway, Sweden & Finland) were affected as they ate grass which contained radioactive fallout. And the Lapps survive by eating reindeer.

Partial mirror if you just want to see the general idea of it (still 950k worth of text):

files.txt

I've often thought that the online gaming experience could be greatly improved by the incorporation of consistent rating system, such as the one used by the U.S. Chess Federation. It would be hopeless to walk into a room full of mixed-skill chess players and just play some pick up games. In order to have an enjoyable game, it's vital that you play someone in the same skill range as you. If the difference is too great one way or the other, one person will win with such regularity as to make the game boring. Sound familiar?

This is exactly the situation with online gaming. I am very good at some games, to the point at which I am accused of cheating. At others, I'm fair to middling. And I'm hopeless at some. All of these games would be more enjoyable for me if there were an online rating system that matched me up with players of similar skill. I've seen the fledgling effort in Warcraft III, but it doesn't seem to work very well. Why not just have a USCF-like rating system, where, if my UT2k3 rating is, say, 1643, I could get on a server for people rated 1600-1800? And for Q3, I'd be unrated, so I could get on a 0-1000 server until my performance had been logged for a while, so that the rating bot could assign me a provisional rating.

This would certainly require some effort on the part of online game developers, but the general problem of rating systems is well understood. The developers could choose to "stand on the shoulders of giants", rather than on their toes, by adopting these proven solutions into their online games, making more fun for all of us, and more sales for all of them.

Here at BU, we have this program called the Late Entry Accelerated Program LEAP where people with non-engineering degrees can get their masters. As far as I can tell, most people in LEAP start off in a few essential undergrad classes, then go pretty quickly onto the Master's track, not wasting any time.

I think our engineering program is pretty good. Our Photonics Center was just recently built (1996) so we attracted tons of exceptional professors but still have some pretty bad ones. We have some nice labs too. I think it's worth checking out, especially in a few years.

Here's the main page for our College of Engineering.

Here at BU, we have this program called the Late Entry Accelerated Program LEAP where people with non-engineering degrees can get their masters. As far as I can tell, most people in LEAP start off in a few essential undergrad classes, then go pretty quickly onto the Master's track, not wasting any time.

I think our engineering program is pretty good. Our Photonics Center was just recently built (1996) so we attracted tons of exceptional professors but still have some pretty bad ones. We have some nice labs too. I think it's worth checking out, especially in a few years.

Here's the main page for our College of Engineering.

After hearing back-and-forth about the numbers involving the million man march, finding out that there is currently no scientific method for crowd estimation, I told him he has no basis for judging how many humanoids were in any army, and his untrained eye is probably way off.

Can anyone shed light on this conversation?

The professor under whom I am writing my certification paper at law school wrote a seminal paper on fair use which was cited by the court in the sony opinion.

She made an economic argument in favor of fair use, basically outlining a test to determine, in general terms, where an economic perspective would favor (and disfavor) findings of 'fair use.'

As the 'law and economics' movement was just catching on amongst judges at the time, the paper gained a lot of notice and was cited by the court, and by many many other lower courts as well when issuing opinions dealing with fair use.

A problem arose from all this citation however, because judges lost sight of other, perfectly valid justifications for 'fair use.' An exclusively economic approach to these determinations is a perspective that largely works to the detriment of artists, writers and other creative types who make valid fair use of other copyrighted works because the conditions for permitting fair use in this analysis are few and far between. (A look at Professor Gordon's work will show that she is not at all happy with the current state of copyright.)

Nonetheless, the Sony Betamax case is an important one, one that was decided correctly by a court that at the time actually viewed copyright (properly I might add) as a constitutionally mandated balancing between the progress of arts and sciences and remuneration for authors for that progress.

On that note, support the EFF and VOTE!

cleetus

The professor under whom I am writing my certification paper at law school wrote a seminal paper on fair use which was cited by the court in the sony opinion.

She made an economic argument in favor of fair use, basically outlining a test to determine, in general terms, where an economic perspective would favor (and disfavor) findings of 'fair use.'

As the 'law and economics' movement was just catching on amongst judges at the time, the paper gained a lot of notice and was cited by the court, and by many many other lower courts as well when issuing opinions dealing with fair use.

A problem arose from all this citation however, because judges lost sight of other, perfectly valid justifications for 'fair use.' An exclusively economic approach to these determinations is a perspective that largely works to the detriment of artists, writers and other creative types who make valid fair use of other copyrighted works because the conditions for permitting fair use in this analysis are few and far between. (A look at Professor Gordon's work will show that she is not at all happy with the current state of copyright.)

Nonetheless, the Sony Betamax case is an important one, one that was decided correctly by a court that at the time actually viewed copyright (properly I might add) as a constitutionally mandated balancing between the progress of arts and sciences and remuneration for authors for that progress.

On that note, support the EFF and VOTE!

cleetus

Anyway... my undergrad was at an unknown state school, so I guarantee you I paid a whole lot less that most of the other folks. I started my entry-level job with friends who went to school in the same town as me, the only difference being they had a whole lot more debt than I did.

But I also have "name brand" masters. Cost to me? $0. How? Night school, tuition reimbursement. Not all companies have it but, but the two jobs I had both I have do (one, a huge multinational defense contractor with untold thousands of people, and two, a small ISV with about about 30 people).

I have a friend who got a full scholarship from the company we worked for, to go to school full-time to get his master's. They gave him part of his salary and he didn't have to go to work for 2 years. Part of the deal was you'd work for X more years for the company, or repay the value. But, a place hired him away and paid it off for him (yeah, late 90s, that kind of stuff happened).

There are tax implications, too. If you take classes to improve or maintain skills in your current profession, and even if you don't get reimbursed, it's all tax deductible. Why do you think employers offer it? You need to have a "current profession", obviously, in order to qualify for this.

So: go to a state school. Get a job. Go to a "name school" on your employer's dime. To be extra miserly, start at community college and transfer to the state school.

Of course, it helps to get kick-ass grades. Fumble a course in grad school and you'll find you're stuck with a whopping bill - your employer doesn't pay for lousy grades. How's that for motivation?

Yeah I'm old. But before there was all of these fancy windowing systems, there was the original UNIX multiplayer shoot-em up game hunt and the original UNIX multiplayer explore-build-techup-destroy game empire.

Hours of entertainment, barely a blip on your network, and hardly a cough on nearly any UNIX box built in the last ten years.

Maybe a nice blitz empire game....

History of the World is a great game. It got me interested in ancient history, architecture(from trying to figure out what were on the monument pieces) and non-western history in general.

Don't forget the classic that started the rule modification game craze: Cosmic Encounter. Hours and hours of complex, mind bending fun.

I am astonished neither game has been mentioned in the discussion so far. Perhaps my tastes are a bit different.

No it isn't; it has fractional dimensions. In which case, will be interesting to find out what exactly is the dimension.

But robots are getting pretty good at recognizing objects, so there is hope that while mowing the lawn they won't mutilate your pets.

Perhaps they won't mutilate your pet, but it won't be because they recognise them. Vision systems are expensive, and robotic lawnmowers don't have them. They basically have a wire delimiting the perimiter, and the wander inside. I estimated that a huge speed improvement could be had by knowing where in the map the robot is, and always trying to go someplace new (see a few things), but even that wouldn't be cheap.

Building a "sophisticated map of geometry" is impossible with current technology, and certainly isn't the way humans work. Don't you think it would be done if it was easy?

On one co-op work term one of the other students was building a mobile robot for a factory; it would bring parts from one area to another, driving using vision. It's possible, but the thing cost roughly $20k, and we were losing tons of money anyway (it was a research project too).

yeah -
a damn
shame.

Suit yourself, Hanzo. Those elite schools will pass you over for avoiding math much quicker than they will looking at your overall GPA. There is a sure-fire way to avoid that C...HARD WORK. If you aren't good in math, rather than dance around it, get some help! Tutoring and other services are usually available at Community Colleges.

According to the admissions, based on whats on their websites and documentation, a Philosophy or Liberal Arts major is not required to take calculus as a prerequisite, so why should I take it if its not required? Would it really boost me up that much ?

There is a sure-fire way to avoid that C...HARD WORK. If you aren't good in math, rather than dance around it, get some help! Tutoring and other services are usually available at Community Colleges.

I cant get tutoring because I dont have a car yet, and I dont live on campus because its community college, so this isnt an option, when I live on campus then I can get tutoring.

Perhaps you might have an undiagnosed learning disability that prevents you from "grokking" math. Again, find out about resources available to you and use them.

A learning disability is an excuse, the reason I dont get math is because math is useless, to actually suggest that someone has a learning disability because they dont get math is like me claiming anyone who cant use Linux or anyone who doesnt understand C must have a learning disability.

It is utterly impossible to get a degree, anywhere, without math. That is, unless you answer one of those many spams for U.N.I.V.E.R.S.I.T.Y D.E.G.R.E.E.S F.A.S.T. You know the ones...the ones you get in the same batch as the Nigerian Scam and "free porn passwords."

Ok, check out some of these sites, look under "philosophy" as the major, and tell me where it says you need to take calculus to get a degree in philosophy.
http://www.bu.edu/
http://www.northeastern.edu/
http://www.bc.edu/
http://www.tufts.edu/
http://www.hampshire.edu/flash/index.php
http://www.amherst.edu/
http://www.umass.edu/

Math is a prerequisite for SCIENCE degrees only. Show me where it says you MUST take math to be accepted into any of these schools for a philosophy degree? At most I'll need to take an a linear algebra class or a pre calculus class, thats it.

One class is all you must pass in order to get a degree, and I can take this class during the summer and get a C, and get my degree. So tell me why you think it would be a good idea to take it now if none of the schools say its a requirement for acceptance?

If the schools DID say its a required class for acceptance into their philosophy program, I'd take the class, but that would delay me from transfering for another semester so I dont see a point, I think instead i will transfer out of community college into one of the 4 year colleges on the list I showed you, and then take the mathclass, when I actually LIVE on campus and no longer have to worry about traveling for over 2 hours to get to school via public transportation.

Hard work can avoid a C? Actually no it cant, it depends on how good you are at what you are doing. You can work hard and get a C, or you can breeze through a class and get an A, if you are doing something you never were taught in highschool, such as say a student who comes from another country and decided to take a college level english class, theres no way in hell they'd get an A, because they never learned English before, math is the same way, its unrealistic for me to believe I can make up for 12 years of not being taught something, simply by cramming 12 years of work into one semester.

Sure I can pass with a C, but I dont think I'd truely underst

Understand, it's not that things couldn't be done this way, it's just that there isn't any need to invoke curved planks, floats, anti-gravity devices, etc., and there's no evidence of any of these. Building megalithic structures is not as hard as people think it is. Yes, it takes a lot of muscle power, but if you have that (and ancient people did), it's not that big a deal. This is not idle theorizing, either; there are people who actually go out there and try out their theories by building dolmens, giant statues, and the like (something Mr. Raina does not seem to have done). Everybody seems to have this desire to put one over on the establishment, but it's a lot easier to assume that the archaeological establishment is just a big bunch of meanies who put down your theory because it makes them look bad than it is to actually do the research yourself. And somehow these amazing new theories always seem to involve "lost knowledge", which conveniently overlooks the fact that the Egyptians wrote down and otherwise documented a ton of stuff - recipes, spells, contracts - so to assume that a major construction method was completely overlooked seems disingenuous.

This 'new' model doesn't even have a "Photon" Cannon!

This 'new' model doesn't even have a "Photon" Cannon!

See this:

David G. Durand, Palimpsest: A Data Model for Revision Control.

(MSDS sheet for MeOH.)

Admittedly, I'd be happier if they got ethanol fuel cells working. It's much less toxic, and supplies are easier to find.

frame rate != refresh rate. Here is some information for you.

Man's best friend? Author, dog owner and trainer Jon Katz says that the relationship between dogs and their owners has gone way beyond master and pet; that increasingly we're treating them as family members and human surrogates.

Katz says that in America today we give our dogs human names, they sleep on our beds, we spoil them with gifts, and turn to them more and more for emotional support, helping us through loneliness, isolation, divorce and aging.

In his latest book, "The New Work of Dogs," Katz looks at the relationships between 12 dogs and their owners in his hometown of Montclair, New Jersey, a town that he has dubbed "Dogsville, USA" to show just how much we're asking of our dogs today for attachment and emotional support.

Guests
Jon Katz, author of "A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me" and "The New Work of Dogs: Tending to Life, Love and Family"

Yes, I too would like to know if it's the same guy. I didn't hear the whole show, and don't know if that ever came up.

Actually, I read all definitions, including the two by the jargon file which were obviously the source for grinberg.net's definition of a hacker. However, if you think that much of the world is going to go by the Jargon files, you're sadly mistaken. Do you go in to a resturaunt and ask "soup-p(see section on 'Jargon Construction')?" or do you think any sane waiter/waitress will respond to this, even if they know what it means? The Jargon files, although included in dictionary.com, is not really authoritive. The Jargon files are, in definition, a dictionary of slang, and slang is considered 'informal' English because of lack of popularity vs. authority.

If you do run fibre to each location, don't forget about network design -- you don't want a neighbor to cut wire in his yard by mistake five years from now and knock half the community offline until the physical layer is repaired.

If you're not sure the optimal way to design the network topography, call your local university's systems engineering department. I'm a Ph D candidate at Boston University's Center for Information and Systems Engineering, and one of the things we research is how to design topographies for networks so that robustness is maximized while minimizing cost... something your community ought to consider.

If you do run fibre to each location, don't forget about network design -- you don't want a neighbor to cut wire in his yard by mistake five years from now and knock half the community offline until the physical layer is repaired.

If you're not sure the optimal way to design the network topography, call your local university's systems engineering department. I'm a Ph D candidate at Boston University's Center for Information and Systems Engineering, and one of the things we research is how to design topographies for networks so that robustness is maximized while minimizing cost... something your community ought to consider.

>But you probably won't need the heavy, 8-gauge stuff that's available. Most system that pump out about 150w RMS per channel should have about 12- or 14-gauge on it. Monster Cable's XP line should be more than adequate, and isn't too expensive. Anything more than that, and you should probably be looking at 8-gauge, though.

Very right, but hell, I'll prove it with science before the audiophiles get here.

A little math using our good old friend Ohm's law into an 8-Ohm speaker. To do this we need a table of accepted wire resistances or one hell of an ohm-meter.

IMHO, 18 gauge wire is overkill for 150 watts. Let's see if it is, though!

Assuming your speaker is 10 feet away from the stereo (your room isn't a concert hall, is it?) we calculate loss as such:

6.6 Ohms / 1000 feet = 0.0066 Ohms per foot = 0.066 Ohms in 10 feet.

To push 150 watts through an 8 Ohm load (speaker) we need:

I = (150 / 8) (sqrt) = 4.33 Amps.

Now, to calculate the loss to heat caused by the resistance of the cable:

P = 4.33^2 * 0.066 = 1.24 watts.

Which likely couldn't even muster a measly 1 or 2 degrees temperature change in an 18 AWG 10 ft. heatsink.

Therefore, by using the crappiest SPT-2 lamp cord you can find, you can have a fire-resistant, UL approved sound system that pumps delivers a full 99% of it's power to speakers at 150 watts. And any normal person will find 150 watts of RMS power total overkill for anything but a sub.

BTW: Don't waste your money on gold plated junk unless you live in an area that gets a lot of corrosion. Gold is a poorer conductor than copper, and therefore is a detriment to efficiency.

Personally, though, I try to use 16 gauge cable. 18 gauge tends to be too thin to be durable enough for me. Oh, and I happily push over 250 watts RMS through 16 gauge wire without even the slightest tinge of warmth on the cable.

By the way, lamp cord is usually a lot more flexible and easier to route than that horrible, unapproved crap they call "speaker cable". Which is why it usually costs a little more than the bargain basement stuff, but heck, it's worth it in reduced effort!

One day I'll print this out really nicely and stick it up next to the stereos at Best Buy/FutureShop. :-)

To say that "no one understands how the hippocampus encodes information" is to admit to not even glancing at the research literature. Physiological work dates back to the 70's, revealing mechanisms of hippocampal place cell formation and episodic (declarative) memory formation (e.g., "cognitive map" theories, O'keefe, Nadel, Dostrovsky...). There is definitely some understanding of the Hebbian-like rules (correletional activity strengthens synaptic connections.. or "neurons that fire together wire together") which are critical to the formation of autoassociative memories. Most notably, the modeling and physiology research into "spike-timing dependent plasticity" has been enormous over the last decade at least. This is the idea that the strengthening and weakening of synapses (in cortical and parahippocampal systems) depends on the interval between the firing of the presynaptic and the postsynaptic neuron.

There is also great recent literature on the role of the theta and gamma cycles in hippocampal memory formation (for modeling, see John Lisman at Brandeis, Mike Hasselmo at Boston U.; for the physiology see e.g. Matt Wilson at MIT). The general idea here is that dentate gyrus provides heteroassociative feedback to hippocampus (CA3 region, specifically) on the gamma cycle while the recurrent architecture of CA3 itself provides the autoassociative capabilities necessary for partial-pattern completion (both of which are necessary for declarative sequence learning). Hippocampal place cells (google for more info) are a form of contextual encoding which has been extensively modeled, in general, by e.g. Levy at U.Va (at whose lab I've worked the last few years.)

One of the most important hippocampal functions, though, is its role in memory consolidation, which involves a complex dialog of sorts with neocortex during slow wave sleep. The artificial hippocampus (it's hard to tell if they're replacing the entire thing or just one of the layers) would need to correctly carry out this "teachback" process (which is not understood very well at all). Long story short, even as a relatively contained system, building a silicon replacement hippocampus is not something a budding neuroprostheticist should realistically concern him/herself with.

As kennorman said, the long- and short-term plasticity of the system (i.e., how synapses and neuronal properties change with experience) is far too complex to implement in silicon. I mean, even computational modeling of the system still has a long long way to go. Every researcher has their own model with its own plasticity rules, and as far as most neurobiologists are concerned they're all wrong. Brute-forcing all of the input-output functions of the different cell types is kind of ridiculous for several reasons: 1) most of these i/o functions have been already mapped out by cell physiologists and described by linear-nonlinear models (like double-E's use), 2) the precise architecture (connectivity, topography, etc) of the hippocampal neural networks is "part" of the computation, and 3) hippocampal behavior is dependent on many external factors such as whether or not the brain is sleeping, what hormones happen to flitting around at the moment, etc. Fixed input-output functions will only isolate the behavior of the prosthetic, when it should be a civil member of the society of the brain (otherwise who knows what could go wrong?).

At least though, we actually do know a good deal about hippocampal memory formation, but it's all still just a candle in a dark room.

It's well worth checking out Mike Hasselmo's articles, and especially the review article on hippocampal models that he did with Jay McClelland (who I got the chance to meet a few weeks ago, and is the coolest/smartest guy in the field).

To say that "no one understands how the hippocampus encodes information" is to admit to not even glancing at the research literature. Physiological work dates back to the 70's, revealing mechanisms of hippocampal place cell formation and episodic (declarative) memory formation (e.g., "cognitive map" theories, O'keefe, Nadel, Dostrovsky...). There is definitely some understanding of the Hebbian-like rules (correletional activity strengthens synaptic connections.. or "neurons that fire together wire together") which are critical to the formation of autoassociative memories. Most notably, the modeling and physiology research into "spike-timing dependent plasticity" has been enormous over the last decade at least. This is the idea that the strengthening and weakening of synapses (in cortical and parahippocampal systems) depends on the interval between the firing of the presynaptic and the postsynaptic neuron.

There is also great recent literature on the role of the theta and gamma cycles in hippocampal memory formation (for modeling, see John Lisman at Brandeis, Mike Hasselmo at Boston U.; for the physiology see e.g. Matt Wilson at MIT). The general idea here is that dentate gyrus provides heteroassociative feedback to hippocampus (CA3 region, specifically) on the gamma cycle while the recurrent architecture of CA3 itself provides the autoassociative capabilities necessary for partial-pattern completion (both of which are necessary for declarative sequence learning). Hippocampal place cells (google for more info) are a form of contextual encoding which has been extensively modeled, in general, by e.g. Levy at U.Va (at whose lab I've worked the last few years.)

One of the most important hippocampal functions, though, is its role in memory consolidation, which involves a complex dialog of sorts with neocortex during slow wave sleep. The artificial hippocampus (it's hard to tell if they're replacing the entire thing or just one of the layers) would need to correctly carry out this "teachback" process (which is not understood very well at all). Long story short, even as a relatively contained system, building a silicon replacement hippocampus is not something a budding neuroprostheticist should realistically concern him/herself with.

As kennorman said, the long- and short-term plasticity of the system (i.e., how synapses and neuronal properties change with experience) is far too complex to implement in silicon. I mean, even computational modeling of the system still has a long long way to go. Every researcher has their own model with its own plasticity rules, and as far as most neurobiologists are concerned they're all wrong. Brute-forcing all of the input-output functions of the different cell types is kind of ridiculous for several reasons: 1) most of these i/o functions have been already mapped out by cell physiologists and described by linear-nonlinear models (like double-E's use), 2) the precise architecture (connectivity, topography, etc) of the hippocampal neural networks is "part" of the computation, and 3) hippocampal behavior is dependent on many external factors such as whether or not the brain is sleeping, what hormones happen to flitting around at the moment, etc. Fixed input-output functions will only isolate the behavior of the prosthetic, when it should be a civil member of the society of the brain (otherwise who knows what could go wrong?).

At least though, we actually do know a good deal about hippocampal memory formation, but it's all still just a candle in a dark room.

It's well worth checking out Mike Hasselmo's articles, and especially the review article on hippocampal models that he did with Jay McClelland (who I got the chance to meet a few weeks ago, and is the coolest/smartest guy in the field).

To say that "no one understands how the hippocampus encodes information" is to admit to not even glancing at the research literature. Physiological work dates back to the 70's, revealing mechanisms of hippocampal place cell formation and episodic (declarative) memory formation (e.g., "cognitive map" theories, O'keefe, Nadel, Dostrovsky...). There is definitely some understanding of the Hebbian-like rules (correletional activity strengthens synaptic connections.. or "neurons that fire together wire together") which are critical to the formation of autoassociative memories. Most notably, the modeling and physiology research into "spike-timing dependent plasticity" has been enormous over the last decade at least. This is the idea that the strengthening and weakening of synapses (in cortical and parahippocampal systems) depends on the interval between the firing of the presynaptic and the postsynaptic neuron.

There is also great recent literature on the role of the theta and gamma cycles in hippocampal memory formation (for modeling, see John Lisman at Brandeis, Mike Hasselmo at Boston U.; for the physiology see e.g. Matt Wilson at MIT). The general idea here is that dentate gyrus provides heteroassociative feedback to hippocampus (CA3 region, specifically) on the gamma cycle while the recurrent architecture of CA3 itself provides the autoassociative capabilities necessary for partial-pattern completion (both of which are necessary for declarative sequence learning). Hippocampal place cells (google for more info) are a form of contextual encoding which has been extensively modeled, in general, by e.g. Levy at U.Va (at whose lab I've worked the last few years.)

One of the most important hippocampal functions, though, is its role in memory consolidation, which involves a complex dialog of sorts with neocortex during slow wave sleep. The artificial hippocampus (it's hard to tell if they're replacing the entire thing or just one of the layers) would need to correctly carry out this "teachback" process (which is not understood very well at all). Long story short, even as a relatively contained system, building a silicon replacement hippocampus is not something a budding neuroprostheticist should realistically concern him/herself with.

As kennorman said, the long- and short-term plasticity of the system (i.e., how synapses and neuronal properties change with experience) is far too complex to implement in silicon. I mean, even computational modeling of the system still has a long long way to go. Every researcher has their own model with its own plasticity rules, and as far as most neurobiologists are concerned they're all wrong. Brute-forcing all of the input-output functions of the different cell types is kind of ridiculous for several reasons: 1) most of these i/o functions have been already mapped out by cell physiologists and described by linear-nonlinear models (like double-E's use), 2) the precise architecture (connectivity, topography, etc) of the hippocampal neural networks is "part" of the computation, and 3) hippocampal behavior is dependent on many external factors such as whether or not the brain is sleeping, what hormones happen to flitting around at the moment, etc. Fixed input-output functions will only isolate the behavior of the prosthetic, when it should be a civil member of the society of the brain (otherwise who knows what could go wrong?).

At least though, we actually do know a good deal about hippocampal memory formation, but it's all still just a candle in a dark room.

It's well worth checking out Mike Hasselmo's articles, and especially the review article on hippocampal models that he did with Jay McClelland (who I got the chance to meet a few weeks ago, and is the coolest/smartest guy in the field).

You think that's odd? A professor out here actually invented distinct pronounciations for car, cdr, caar, cddr, cadr all other variations which may or may not be listed here.

I thought Columbia was the one shuttle that could NOT dock with the ISS.

RIP, OV-102.

The Liquid War folks claim their game is "truly original". Isn't it pretty much directly taken from the much-older XBattle, but with the units scaled down? Or am I missing something?

Ok, here's my idea. I know it's really me daydreaming but anyway:
How about both LCD & CRT? With many video cards supporting multiple monitors, this wouldn't be too difficult. Set the LCD smack dab dead center in front of you. Put the CRT off to the side, a corner position. My CRT is already on a corner, best place to have a monitor (you can also slide the desk about a foot away from the wall and let the monitor hang). You have the best of both worlds. Make sure both monitors are the same size & the screens are at the same height, then use software gamma correction if necessary. Play games on the CRT, read on the LCD.

Stupid.

I don't like to be seen as under-qualified for a job position because my race belongs to visible-minorities. I earned the position because of my abilities ( having middle class parents certainly helps...)

Here is a good article by Professor Glenn C. Loury.

Stupid.

I don't like to be seen as under-qualified for a job position because my race belongs to visible-minorities. I earned the position because of my abilities ( having middle class parents certainly helps...)

Here is a good article by Professor Glenn C. Loury.

came out around 20th feb 2002

Guerilla News Network: The alternative news service's Creative Director, Stephen Marshall, speaks about his new "news video" that juxtaposes disparate messages to create new meanings from the news media messages that came out of 9/11.
Listen

http://archives.onpointradio.org/0202radiodiaries. asp

While we think of mass and momentum being related by speed, energy and momentum are related by FREQUENCY.

Here's some equations if you want to wrap your head around them: equations

It's been abundantly obvious for some time that several species of smart animals have language...

It's important to remember that communication != "language". Also, words != "language". They're important steps, but they're not the whole thing, which is what we have to keep in mind. Lions communicate with each other by roaring, but I don't think anyone would call that "language". Vervets have their famously different alarm calls, which have different meanings - "snake", or "eagle", or "leopard", etc., but even though they have meaning, they aren't held to be language because they have no meaning apart from their circumstances - a vervet can't use the snake call about a past snake, or a possible future snake, only about an existing and present one - and they have no syntax or grammar.

These are things that every human language has - words and syntax - and no nonhuman "language" has been shown to have both of. You can have syntax without meaning: I could create an elaborate set of rules for arranging a series of colored pegs, for example, but unless the colors mean something, you wouldn't call it "language", because it doesn't convey anything in particular. I think that's probably where whalesong falls. Birdsong, too, can have rules to it, but I've yet to hear anyone say that birds have language. Whalesong can have internal structure, but unless it can be shown that it has meaning (and I don't understand how you can say that different dialects are mutually incomprehensible when we don't even know if they have a particular meaning), then it's not a language.

Where can I find a list of the fastest computers? Is there some sort of regulating committee on this? My department just got a 256 node Beowulf cluster. Where does that fit on the list?

But of course, this is only useful if you live in East. MA.

All protons in our universe will decay in about
10^33 years from now.