This is probably one of my favorite books. It covers his predictions for the next 100 years, and I gotta say, he hasn't been that far off so far.
Kurzweil argues, for one, that we will meet in the middle. Already we have technologies (though not in widespread use) to augment the brain and other organs. We've brought site to a few blind people this way. At the same time, we are understanding more about how the brain works, and computers are becoming fast enough to implement these brain processes in an electronic (non-organic) device.
As for this topic, I've done a lot of thinking about it. The big question of course, is the essense of conciousness. If a computer were built with the same mental processes and capabilities as a human mind, and a "snap shot" of a person's ("Joe" for example) memories and behaviors, etc were uploaded to the computer, and it were powered on and was insistant on being Joe, would it really be? Unfortunately, there is absolutely no way of knowing for sure. You have to decide if you want to take Joe2's word for it, or if it's just an elaborate immitation of Joe.
It is my personal belief that many of the things we consider intelligence CAN be implemented in a computer, because they are simply algorithms. Searching, pattern recognition, prediction based on observation, etc. These are all simply tools that our concious mind uses, much in the same way an arm is used to manipulate the physical world.
Even if we can mimmic those mental tools in a machine, I do not believe the actual "soul" or "conciousness" of a person can be transfered.... Sorry that was so long, I could go on for hours about this. I highly recommend reading Kurzweil's book if you like thinking about this stuff... it's very thought provoking.
Forgive me that I've forgotten the technique, if it even existed (it may have just been in a sci-fi movie)..
But I'd swear it would be possible to take a simple string of text, and modify the color values of a known image such that the diff of the image is the text of the message. The image would appear normal, as the color values would only be slightly altered.
Then you simply find a site with cute pictures of kittens to use as your cover.
You take a real picture from the net, encode your message to it, and email that picture to your contact.
Your contact then finds the original, and decodes the message from your altered picture.
If this technique already exists, please tell me what its called!
A friend and I had an idea to do this with Audio CDs back in highschool. This was before mp3s or anything like that, so we felt pretty damn cool for thinkin it up.
Explain to me the problem with allowing other people to distribute your program for you? if you ask me, torrenting shows should be encouraged.
What should be illegal is removing the commercials, then they need to find a way to track the # of people that download a show (ie: if THEY hosted the torrent).
The internet is clearly a viable way of distributing media to the masses. if they welcomed it and embraced it, they would see a lot more happy viewers, and a lot more money.
But I guess that interferes with all those contracts giving certain networks exclusive rights to broadcasting, doesn't it?
I work at Terra Soft (we make Yellow Dog). I can fill you in a bit:
I'm writing this right now on my 15" Powerbook.
Stuff that doesn't work: -Airport Extreme* (it probably won't ever)
-3d Acceleration*
-There is no Flash for PPC linux(*)
-Newer model's touchpad changed, but it will eventually be supported, probably.
-Sound (on mine at least) is kind of ghetto. No mixing, only one app can play a sound at a time.
(*) = A binary driver from the manufacturer must be provided for this to work. Except flash. There is a GPL flash plugin, but it doesn't really work.
Also, don't get a 12" Powerbook. They are much different internally than the 15, and I don't think sleep is supported. You'll also want a pcmcia slot for Wifi, since airport doesn't work.
I don't think you need a source for a comment like this.
Oil, as any physical entity, is limited in quantity.
We consume oil.
"alarm" is a subjective term, and needs no reference. I could be alarmed at how LITTLE oil we use, or how MUCH.. it either way, my/his/your perception of an alarming rate needs no reference:)
I still don't get this logic.... A spike in a generation (baby boomers) means a bigger spike (geometric growth, everyone has at least 2.5 kids, right?) in following generations.
That means there are more workers NOW (children of baby boomers) than there are baby boomers. So where's the problem?
The only problem I can see is if a generation was SMALLER than its parent generation.
But.... your ipod is in your pocket 99% of the time you're listening to music. Or in the globe box, or your backpack... etc.
And if I'm listening and say "Oh, this is a good song, what's it called anyway?" And look down at my ipod... I want to see pretty much exactly what it shows now: Song Artist Album
Not a picture of the album art, which does me no good.
I decided to test this on my 1.25GHz G4 Powerbook running Yellow Dog Linux 4.0.
-It compiled in about 2 minutes flat -The sample Freedos and Linux-Test images booted fine - In the linux-test,/proc/cpuinfo reported an 18MHz Pentium Pro (ouch) - I used qemu-img to create a 3gb disk image for testing Windows XP - I booted off a Windows XP CD, and am in progress of installing on said disk image
( qemu -cdrom/dev/cdrom -boot d winxp.img )
I ran myth for over a year... it served its purpose for a while.
I have since put XP and Beyond TV on my box. The single biggest contributing factor to dropping Myth was the lack of a standard format. I couldn't view.nuv files on any other platforms. Oh, and good luck trying to transcode something to divx, that took way way way too long.
The sitcoms (as some have debated in this thread) can be passed off as satirical, maybe. What pisses me off (and I don't think this affects ratings) is commercials. EVERY SINGLE commercial has an immasculated idiot man whining about how he can't get his clothes clean, or he can't cook, or -- get this -- he can't change his flat tire.
Then the gorgeous, confident, intelligent housewife/mom saves the day.
I don't think this is satire. This is because marketing people have the opinion (I don't know if it's true or not) that women are actually the people in a family making spending decisions. They go shopping, they balance the checkbook, etc.
You mean how the accessories page includes "Switch from PC" items like: - data transfer software - KVM switch - Office for Mac
?
but yes, I'd be suprised if they didn't put out a whole new line of commercials/ads.
Now that I can use my existing keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc, I'd get one, but instead I'll just put the $500 towards a 15" powerbook I've been drooling over.
Played it for a lot, then went hiking. From various points where I could look down over a valley, I had urges to pick up trees and throw them.
Re:Did you have to be under 15 to vote?
on
Top 50 DVDs
·
· Score: 1
But, how is the sound and video quality? Since its a TV show on DVD, I wouldn't expect much (surround sound? Wide screen?)
Also, $50 for a single season of any show is REDICULOUS. I would maybe think of paying $50 for the entire, full, complete collection of one of my favorite series.
That is my biggest pet peeve with these spyware removal tools. It's all to scare users into using their product though. Just like version number bloat...
If company A finds 3 real infections, and company B finds 600 infected files (for the same 3 infections)... which do you think the user will be more impressed with?
You mean like how if you want to run OSX, you're stuck with their overpriced (yet sexy) hardware?
SURPISE people: Apple makes its money through hardware. OSX is only there to bring in sales for the computers, and iTunes is only there to sell the iPods.
What'd he expect? Its not like they don't make it clear that the iPod and iTunes go together.
Slashdot Mirror
Amazon link
... Sorry that was so long, I could go on for hours about this. I highly recommend reading Kurzweil's book if you like thinking about this stuff... it's very thought provoking.
This is probably one of my favorite books. It covers his predictions for the next 100 years, and I gotta say, he hasn't been that far off so far.
Kurzweil argues, for one, that we will meet in the middle. Already we have technologies (though not in widespread use) to augment the brain and other organs. We've brought site to a few blind people this way. At the same time, we are understanding more about how the brain works, and computers are becoming fast enough to implement these brain processes in an electronic (non-organic) device.
As for this topic, I've done a lot of thinking about it. The big question of course, is the essense of conciousness. If a computer were built with the same mental processes and capabilities as a human mind, and a "snap shot" of a person's ("Joe" for example) memories and behaviors, etc were uploaded to the computer, and it were powered on and was insistant on being Joe, would it really be? Unfortunately, there is absolutely no way of knowing for sure. You have to decide if you want to take Joe2's word for it, or if it's just an elaborate immitation of Joe.
It is my personal belief that many of the things we consider intelligence CAN be implemented in a computer, because they are simply algorithms. Searching, pattern recognition, prediction based on observation, etc. These are all simply tools that our concious mind uses, much in the same way an arm is used to manipulate the physical world.
Even if we can mimmic those mental tools in a machine, I do not believe the actual "soul" or "conciousness" of a person can be transfered.
Forgive me that I've forgotten the technique, if it even existed (it may have just been in a sci-fi movie)..
But I'd swear it would be possible to take a simple string of text, and modify the color values of a known image such that the diff of the image is the text of the message. The image would appear normal, as the color values would only be slightly altered.
Then you simply find a site with cute pictures of kittens to use as your cover.
You take a real picture from the net, encode your message to it, and email that picture to your contact.
Your contact then finds the original, and decodes the message from your altered picture.
If this technique already exists, please tell me what its called!
A friend and I had an idea to do this with Audio CDs back in highschool. This was before mp3s or anything like that, so we felt pretty damn cool for thinkin it up.
Explain to me the problem with allowing other people to distribute your program for you? if you ask me, torrenting shows should be encouraged.
What should be illegal is removing the commercials, then they need to find a way to track the # of people that download a show (ie: if THEY hosted the torrent).
The internet is clearly a viable way of distributing media to the masses. if they welcomed it and embraced it, they would see a lot more happy viewers, and a lot more money.
But I guess that interferes with all those contracts giving certain networks exclusive rights to broadcasting, doesn't it?
I work at Terra Soft (we make Yellow Dog). I can fill you in a bit:
I'm writing this right now on my 15" Powerbook.
Stuff that doesn't work:
-Airport Extreme* (it probably won't ever)
-3d Acceleration*
-There is no Flash for PPC linux(*)
-Newer model's touchpad changed, but it will eventually be supported, probably.
-Sound (on mine at least) is kind of ghetto. No mixing, only one app can play a sound at a time.
(*) = A binary driver from the manufacturer must be provided for this to work. Except flash. There is a GPL flash plugin, but it doesn't really work.
Also, don't get a 12" Powerbook. They are much different internally than the 15, and I don't think sleep is supported. You'll also want a pcmcia slot for Wifi, since airport doesn't work.
I don't think you need a source for a comment like this.
:)
Oil, as any physical entity, is limited in quantity.
We consume oil.
"alarm" is a subjective term, and needs no reference. I could be alarmed at how LITTLE oil we use, or how MUCH.. it either way, my/his/your perception of an alarming rate needs no reference
1) Got job with YDL
2) Got ipod
3) God Powerbook (Running YDL)
I haven't switched to OSX, and probably never will.
Gasp! someone on slashdot mentioned (and apparently USES) the MSN search...
I'm disappointed... truly disappointed.
I still don't get this logic....
A spike in a generation (baby boomers) means a bigger spike (geometric growth, everyone has at least 2.5 kids, right?) in following generations.
That means there are more workers NOW (children of baby boomers) than there are baby boomers. So where's the problem?
The only problem I can see is if a generation was SMALLER than its parent generation.
But.... your ipod is in your pocket 99% of the time you're listening to music. Or in the globe box, or your backpack... etc.
And if I'm listening and say "Oh, this is a good song, what's it called anyway?" And look down at my ipod... I want to see pretty much exactly what it shows now:
Song
Artist
Album
Not a picture of the album art, which does me no good.
I'm not sure how quickly you can use the headmouse... but these games may require too fast and accurate mousing for you.
... for the PC of course.
I suggest them because I believe they can be played almost entirely (if not entirely) by mouse.
What about other Role Playing Games (RPGs) like Final Fantasy, etc.
I decided to test this on my 1.25GHz G4 Powerbook running Yellow Dog Linux 4.0.
/proc/cpuinfo reported an 18MHz Pentium Pro (ouch) /dev/cdrom -boot d winxp.img )
-It compiled in about 2 minutes flat
-The sample Freedos and Linux-Test images booted fine
- In the linux-test,
- I used qemu-img to create a 3gb disk image for testing Windows XP
- I booted off a Windows XP CD, and am in progress of installing on said disk image
( qemu -cdrom
I ran myth for over a year... it served its purpose for a while.
.nuv files on any other platforms. Oh, and good luck trying to transcode something to divx, that took way way way too long.
I have since put XP and Beyond TV on my box. The single biggest contributing factor to dropping Myth was the lack of a standard format. I couldn't view
Myth: Record to mpeg or avi!
... by flinging itself around that black hole.
Looks like Kirk was full of shit.
Now that someone brings this up...
The sitcoms (as some have debated in this thread) can be passed off as satirical, maybe. What pisses me off (and I don't think this affects ratings) is commercials. EVERY SINGLE commercial has an immasculated idiot man whining about how he can't get his clothes clean, or he can't cook, or -- get this -- he can't change his flat tire.
Then the gorgeous, confident, intelligent housewife/mom saves the day.
I don't think this is satire. This is because marketing people have the opinion (I don't know if it's true or not) that women are actually the people in a family making spending decisions. They go shopping, they balance the checkbook, etc.
I'm so sick of our (America's) culture.
7) No proft!
Except for Sony, right?
Yeah... Tuvok was hot.
:)
Oh, you mean that girl in voyager... right... yeah.. me too.
Well, I work at Terra Soft (makers of Yellow Dog Linux), and our lead developer just ordered one for himself as soon as it was announced.
:)
I imagine there will be some new chipsets and whatnot to hack the kernel for... but it *will* be supported.
Stay tuned
Oh, and I hope you have an external TV tuner, cuz that thing has 0 pci slots.
Actually I've found Windows to be pretty good about providing multiple ways to access things.
Usually anything in a context menu is also available through File, Edit, etc menus, or keyboard shortcuts.
You mean how the accessories page includes "Switch from PC" items like:
- data transfer software
- KVM switch
- Office for Mac
?
but yes, I'd be suprised if they didn't put out a whole new line of commercials/ads.
Now that I can use my existing keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc, I'd get one, but instead I'll just put the $500 towards a 15" powerbook I've been drooling over.
Gaming addictions are one thing... but I knew this kid would would never stop playing starcraft.
When I met him, he was a black belt in tae kwon do (he was korean), was in the CS program, and prettty bright.
Last I heard of him, he had dropped out, his roommates (and brother) kicked him out of the house because he never showered, cleaned, or got a job.
I had several very similar urges.
Played it for a lot, then went hiking. From various points where I could look down over a valley, I had urges to pick up trees and throw them.
But, how is the sound and video quality? Since its a TV show on DVD, I wouldn't expect much (surround sound? Wide screen?)
Also, $50 for a single season of any show is REDICULOUS. I would maybe think of paying $50 for the entire, full, complete collection of one of my favorite series.
That is my biggest pet peeve with these spyware removal tools. It's all to scare users into using their product though. Just like version number bloat...
If company A finds 3 real infections, and company B finds 600 infected files (for the same 3 infections)... which do you think the user will be more impressed with?
You must store everything as bmps or some other non compressed format....
You mean like how if you want to run OSX, you're stuck with their overpriced (yet sexy) hardware?
SURPISE people: Apple makes its money through hardware. OSX is only there to bring in sales for the computers, and iTunes is only there to sell the iPods.
What'd he expect? Its not like they don't make it clear that the iPod and iTunes go together.