Well, that teaches me for not using preview. Here's the non-HTML-formatted version (with real paragraphs!): --
I know I'm getting offtopic here, but I personally know some people who are rich, own copyrighted content, and are absolutely obsessed with controlling it. They're not people I can understand. They think that every reasonable fair use right should be carefully meted out by themselves alone, that they should be able to revoke rights to anyone at any time for any reason, that allowing a user to copy their content without explicit licensing and permission would be the start of some file-sharing apocalypse. It's not even so much about the money with them as it is the power and control.
And every time they hear about DRM being broken they want some new, better way of controlling their media.
As much as I praise EMI for their actions of late, I can't help but think the people I know represent the bulk of the **AAs. The more we prove DRM is useless to a customer that has access to the hardware and software, the more appealing "Trusted Computing" will become to the Industry. Add a nanny-state government to that and you've got a recipe for disaster.
And the "average consumer" wouldn't raise a stink about it. Even a locked-down home-phoning appliance could run Microsoft Office and QuickBooks and HALO*, so 99% of people wouldn't care. Tell them it's more "secure" and they'll buy it.
(...wait, they already play HALO on locked-down home-phoning trusted-computing appliances...)
I know I'm getting offtopic here, but I personally know some people who are rich, own copyrighted content, and are absolutely obsessed with controlling it. They're not people I can understand. They think that every reasonable fair use right should be carefully meted out by themselves alone, that they should be able to revoke rights to anyone at any time for any reason, that allowing a user to copy their content without explicit licensing and permission would be the start of some file-sharing apocalypse. It's not even so much about the money with them as it is the power and control.
And every time they hear about DRM being broken they want some new, better way of controlling their media.
As much as I praise EMI for their actions of late, I can't help but think the people I know represent the bulk of the **AAs. The more we prove DRM is useless to a customer that has access to the hardware and software, the more appealing "Trusted Computing" will become to the Industry. Add a nanny-state government to that and you've got a recipe for disaster.
And the "average consumer" wouldn't raise a stink about it. Even a locked-down home-phoning appliance could run Microsoft Office and QuickBooks and HALO*, so 99% of people wouldn't care. Tell them it's more "secure" and they'll buy it.
(...wait, they already play HALO on locked-down home-phoning trusted-computing appliances...)
It's a nice idea, but how did that gene become established in the first place? If you're the only individual in your group that sounds an alarm (and subsequently gets eaten) that's going to be one hell of a reproductive disadvantage. And as long as one of "your kind" is around the entire group benefits without needing to have the gene themselves.
Likewise, if you were a aberrant squirrel and you felt no instinctive need to alert the group to danger, wouldn't it be a genetic advantage? When you're in a group you could count on another sap to warn you; when you're alone you wouldn't alert predators.
But those bees don't procreate. They don't compete with each other in a survival-of-the-fittest sense. The hive shares genetic code and is more like a single organism than separate individuals.
"Benefiting the species" makes little sense from a Darwinian perspective. The goal is to propagate your own genes, not those of others.
10 Create web browser and email client. 20 Merge applications into single suite. 30 Steadily add programs and functionality to suite until it does everything badly. 40 Announce innovative new project to create simple, lean apps that break up bloated suite. 50 GOTO 10
The fact that a (finite) computer calculation can help determining an infinite list of representation is very nice.
Sadly, Mr. Vogan was later lynched by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn't stand was a smartass.
From Wikipedia:Sexual intercourse plays a major role in Bonobo society, being used as a greeting, a means of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation, and as favors traded by the females in exchange for food. Bonobos are the only non-human apes to have been observed engaging in all of the following sexual activities: face-to-face genital sex (most frequently female-female, then male-female and male-male), tongue kissing, and oral sex.
I have absolutely no doubt that this will be one of the first applications for humanoid robots.
In a third world militia, perhaps. But maintaining a livable environment for a modern army halfway across the globe is an expensive proposition, to say nothing of training, salaries, health care, and pensions. Humans are cheap to acquire but expensive to maintain. And as the GP said, the public won't throw leaders out of office based on machine casualties. Regardless of the cost in dollars, machines will always be politically cheaper.
The second law is valid; you're just not applying it correctly. The thermodynamic system in this example includes not only the beer cooler and its surroundings, but the sun as well. As long as the beer cooler doesn't become hotter than the sun the second law isn't violated.
It's quite possible for insulation to trap radiated heat, making objects warmer than their surroundings. Greenhouses are designed to do just that, which is why they call it the "greenhouse effect".
Re:AI Should Focus on Pattern Matching, Not Logic
on
Marvin Minsky On AI
·
· Score: 1
From the link...
Left-handed persons are thought to process information using a "visual simultaneous" method in which several threads can be processed simultaneously. Another way to view this is such: Suppose there were a thousand pieces of popcorn and one of them was colored pink. The right-handed person -- using the linear sequential processing style -- would look at the popcorn one at a time until they encountered the pink one. The left-handed person would spread out the pieces of popcorn and visually look at all of them to find the one that was pink.
You mean... everyone with two brain cells to rub together is left handed? Amazing! I've been using the wrong hand all these years! Yes, it feels so natural now! PRAISE JESUS, I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT!
If you call up the police and report that you think there's a bomb (as someone did) then they will bring in the bomb squad and they will treat it very seriously. Even if the object in question looks like (and is) a lite brite. This has been true at least the 1990s, and has probably been true as long as 'bomb squads' have existed.
The astonishing thing about this case is not that the authorities treated a lighted sign like it was a bomb. That's exactly what their job is. If you report something is a bomb, they treat it that way, whether it looks like a car, a cardboard box, a stuffed animal... or a cute LED sign giving you the finger. 911? I'd like to report a bomb at the White House, which happens to look exactly like President Bush.
we as a society have no particular need for rural residents beyond those necessary to keep our farming and recreational operations in business. Bread and Circuses?
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Well, that teaches me for not using preview. Here's the non-HTML-formatted version (with real paragraphs!):
--
I know I'm getting offtopic here, but I personally know some people who are rich, own copyrighted content, and are absolutely obsessed with controlling it. They're not people I can understand. They think that every reasonable fair use right should be carefully meted out by themselves alone, that they should be able to revoke rights to anyone at any time for any reason, that allowing a user to copy their content without explicit licensing and permission would be the start of some file-sharing apocalypse. It's not even so much about the money with them as it is the power and control.
And every time they hear about DRM being broken they want some new, better way of controlling their media.
As much as I praise EMI for their actions of late, I can't help but think the people I know represent the bulk of the **AAs. The more we prove DRM is useless to a customer that has access to the hardware and software, the more appealing "Trusted Computing" will become to the Industry. Add a nanny-state government to that and you've got a recipe for disaster.
And the "average consumer" wouldn't raise a stink about it. Even a locked-down home-phoning appliance could run Microsoft Office and QuickBooks and HALO*, so 99% of people wouldn't care. Tell them it's more "secure" and they'll buy it.
(...wait, they already play HALO on locked-down home-phoning trusted-computing appliances...)
I know I'm getting offtopic here, but I personally know some people who are rich, own copyrighted content, and are absolutely obsessed with controlling it. They're not people I can understand. They think that every reasonable fair use right should be carefully meted out by themselves alone, that they should be able to revoke rights to anyone at any time for any reason, that allowing a user to copy their content without explicit licensing and permission would be the start of some file-sharing apocalypse. It's not even so much about the money with them as it is the power and control. And every time they hear about DRM being broken they want some new, better way of controlling their media. As much as I praise EMI for their actions of late, I can't help but think the people I know represent the bulk of the **AAs. The more we prove DRM is useless to a customer that has access to the hardware and software, the more appealing "Trusted Computing" will become to the Industry. Add a nanny-state government to that and you've got a recipe for disaster. And the "average consumer" wouldn't raise a stink about it. Even a locked-down home-phoning appliance could run Microsoft Office and QuickBooks and HALO*, so 99% of people wouldn't care. Tell them it's more "secure" and they'll buy it. (...wait, they already play HALO on locked-down home-phoning trusted-computing appliances...)
When can we get that here?
It means our current president is one letter shy of being a Mormon.
It's a nice idea, but how did that gene become established in the first place? If you're the only individual in your group that sounds an alarm (and subsequently gets eaten) that's going to be one hell of a reproductive disadvantage. And as long as one of "your kind" is around the entire group benefits without needing to have the gene themselves.
Likewise, if you were a aberrant squirrel and you felt no instinctive need to alert the group to danger, wouldn't it be a genetic advantage? When you're in a group you could count on another sap to warn you; when you're alone you wouldn't alert predators.
But those bees don't procreate. They don't compete with each other in a survival-of-the-fittest sense. The hive shares genetic code and is more like a single organism than separate individuals. "Benefiting the species" makes little sense from a Darwinian perspective. The goal is to propagate your own genes, not those of others.
This has inspired me to create a ground-up 100% reimplementation of the AOL client, identical in looks and functionality. Wish me luck!
It looks as if you're trying to bash Microsoft. Would you like some help?
10 Create web browser and email client.
20 Merge applications into single suite.
30 Steadily add programs and functionality to suite until it does everything badly.
40 Announce innovative new project to create simple, lean apps that break up bloated suite.
50 GOTO 10
Sadly, Mr. Vogan was later lynched by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn't stand was a smartass.
From Wikipedia: Sexual intercourse plays a major role in Bonobo society, being used as a greeting, a means of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation, and as favors traded by the females in exchange for food. Bonobos are the only non-human apes to have been observed engaging in all of the following sexual activities: face-to-face genital sex (most frequently female-female, then male-female and male-male), tongue kissing, and oral sex.
I have absolutely no doubt that this will be one of the first applications for humanoid robots.
In a third world militia, perhaps. But maintaining a livable environment for a modern army halfway across the globe is an expensive proposition, to say nothing of training, salaries, health care, and pensions. Humans are cheap to acquire but expensive to maintain. And as the GP said, the public won't throw leaders out of office based on machine casualties. Regardless of the cost in dollars, machines will always be politically cheaper.
The second law is valid; you're just not applying it correctly. The thermodynamic system in this example includes not only the beer cooler and its surroundings, but the sun as well. As long as the beer cooler doesn't become hotter than the sun the second law isn't violated.
It's quite possible for insulation to trap radiated heat, making objects warmer than their surroundings. Greenhouses are designed to do just that, which is why they call it the "greenhouse effect".
From the link...
Left-handed persons are thought to process information using a "visual simultaneous" method in which several threads can be processed simultaneously. Another way to view this is such: Suppose there were a thousand pieces of popcorn and one of them was colored pink. The right-handed person -- using the linear sequential processing style -- would look at the popcorn one at a time until they encountered the pink one. The left-handed person would spread out the pieces of popcorn and visually look at all of them to find the one that was pink.
You mean... everyone with two brain cells to rub together is left handed? Amazing! I've been using the wrong hand all these years! Yes, it feels so natural now! PRAISE JESUS, I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT!
Okay, Jules Verne is now officially creeping me out again.
Isn't this against the Geneva conventions?
"Socrates: The only true wisdom consists of knowing you know nothing." - Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The concoction produced by a Nutrimatic dispenser, presumably.
Andre Bormanis, is that you?
We wouldn't know where to bomb.