Attribute: Computer Image: a Borg Cube-ship with the Microsoft Logo
Slogan: "Who do we want to assimilate today"
Power: 4
The only card in the deck with 5 arrows out (2 on either side, 1 on botton). Microsoft, if controlled by the Network or the Bavarian Illuminati, is +10 to control any computer group If controlled by the Servants of Cthulhu, +20 to destroy any computer group
When discussing AI, especially when combining it with self-replicating machines, several questions/comments emerge.
OK, so the computer is artificially intelligent. But is it smarter ?? (i.e. more adaptable, able to produce insights, or able to produce useful results from systems that don't model well mathematically)
I recall a book, late 70's/early 80's, by James Hogan, called "The Two Faces of Tomorrow". It started with a problem-solving computer being asked to help remove a small hill on the Moon, as the on-site crew lacked the equipment to remove it (forgot the basic reason). However, lacking, for want of a better word, "Common Sense", it removed the hill. ..by arranging a mass-driver-launched ore packet to impact on the site, "excavating" it meteor-fashion. Sort of like burning down a house to rid it of fleas: the technique is effective, but tends to have far too many unwanted side-effects. Hence the question: if the computer is Artificially Intelligent, does it also have a Articifical Experience Base to base solution evaluation criteria on ???
Number of computing-capable units only gives a brain, whether it be wetware or hardware, a certain information-processing capability. It's the software that really makes the difference.
So, to steal from Red Dwarf, it doesn't matter if the computer has an IQ of 6000, if it doesn't have the overall programming to effectively interface with the external universe...
. ..So 98 foot tides would be quite possible. But what, then, is holding up the ice shell ?? Unless they're claiming that the shell moves, at least for the most part, as a unit, and only excessive stresses would cause fractures, etc... Still, it'd be nice to put a probe in long-term orbit around Europa....
. ..increased intelligence is a worthy goal. I guess the REAL questions are:
How easy is it to insert the gene ? (i.e. can you write it in with an administered retrovirus, can you distribute that retrovirus in a stable, preferably shelf-stable form, and how cheap/expensive will it be to do so ?)
Does the gene work in humans, and if so, how well ??? After all, if it doesn't work in people, then it's merely spinning wheels as far as we're concerned. (Side question: what has the Human Genome Project learned about this gene ???)
Are there any bad side effects ??? Increased intelligence may be a wonderful thing, but in ANY system, you can't change just one thing. And if it results in, say, a higher chance of mental illness or cancer or something, chances are that it won't be used. ..
. . to my order cancellation and promise not to shop them again was as follows. ..
Subject: Your Amazon.com Order (#002-3707664-6651414) Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 12:04:01 -0700 (PDT) From: orders@amazon.com To: "Keith A. Glass"
Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.
I am sorry if our new Purchase Circles feature has confused you. Please understand that this feature provides only anonymous demographic examples of customer ordering patterns at a mass level; for example, many customers who live in Los Angeles have bought X title, or many customers who work for Microsoft Inc have bought Y title.
I assure you that your own personal order history is never, and has never been, revealed. Your customer privacy was never, and never will be, violated.
For more information about our Purchase Circles feature, click on the link below:
You see, I just had a several-hundred dollar book order on hold with Amazon, waiting on the last book to come into print in a week or two. Amazon just got sent a cancellation notice for the order, and it told them that "Product Circles" was the reason why. To add insult to injury, I included the identical order from www.BM.com. I'm actually curious to see their reaction. . .
Anti-matter propulsion-variant of the old "Orion" propulsion-by-nuclear-explosion system. This presupposes that we can manufacture and store sufficient amounts of Antimatter. But it does give us a drive capable of putting men out in the stars.
Remember Quantum Teleportation, a month or three ago ???. Assuming we master the not-inconsequential trick of maintaining structure and function during transport, this may actually be the one that works. ..
Send information, not people. This one requires lots of electronics and/or nanotechnology. Why ship people to Tau Ceti ?? Build them on-site. Alternately, clone and in-vitro them, then teach the resultant kids via robotics and advanced AI (Note: James Hogan suggested this idea in a novel, 10-15 years ago...). This is a one-way, colonization-trip concept. ..
Just a few concepts, none of which seem more than a century away. . .
This is for US types only, can't comment on Canada, UK, or elsewhere. . .
If you're young,single and basically healthy, instead of a "comprehensive" health plan, get a "catastrophic" policy, that pays all expenses over a given amount, say $1000.00 or $5,000.00. And THEN get a disability income policy. Reason ??? Your most likely problem is going to be an accident of some sort. You can live with colds and flu, there's very little the docs can do about it. You'll have to absorb minor medical costs, but for the most part, a decent medical cabinet, stocked up at the local Wal-Mart or K-Mart, will cover 99% of your problems. Your real worry is a major accident or injury that lays you up for a while: that's why you want a catastrophic policy and disability income (it's tax-free, so set your disability income level at about 60-70% of your current salary or expected income. ..)
If you're older, have medical problems, or are married and/or have children, you're best bet is to find a group to get into for coverage. IEEE and NASE have been mentioned. You also might want to look at paying to get into your spouse's coverage (and in some areas, domestic partner's coverage)
That, in a nutshell, is my best advice. Mind you, the vast number of insurance agents are lowlifes, ranking with lawyers, bureaucrats, reporters, and politicians at the shallow end of the gene pool. They will attempt to also sell you life, home, auto, and whatever. Only buy what you came in for: turn down any subsequent "service" calls. Tell them : don't call me, I'll call you. And remind them that if they bother you, you can go down the street to company X. And do so, if they keep bothering you after that. . .
Depends. Would you also make reverse cybersquatting illegal ??: You know, you have a domain, and somebody else wants it. The classic case is the "People Eating Tasty Animals" site, the original "peta.org". Then, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" decided THEY wanted PETA.ORG, and NSI put the domain on hold. ..
Jon hit on something, right at the end there. Mixing Medicine and Politics. If the First Amendment protects so-called "medically harmful media" as free expression, then doesn't that imply the individual right to harm oneself ??? Which, in turn, leads to no tobacco, booze, or gun lawsuits: harming yourself would BE a protected activity. . . Just throwing up a trial thought balloon. . .
Wah (walkindude50@NOexcite.comSPAM.PLEA.SE)writes... Unfortunately the political power of the/. populace is next to nil (lots of college students and computer geeks all of which are too *busy* to vote on a regular basis). . .
Too busy to VOTE ?? Sorry, friend, but if you're too busy to vote, then you're too busy to bitch about the results of not voting. Vote absentee if you have to: the lack of voting brings us things like the CDA, Senior Citizens bleeding us dry, and UCITA. . .
Oddly enough. . .(was:if its any consolation...)
on
Linux in the Military
·
· Score: 1
Friend . ..
I first LEARNED about Linux, AND Slashdot, working for the Air Force on the 4th floor of "C" Ring in the Pentagon. And that was well over a year ago: closer to two years ago. . . .
To be technically correct, it was General Jack ***T.*** Ripper, USAF, so the Army wouldn't be involved. But in that case, wouldn't they require the General Purity Of Essence License, not the GPL ???
Alas, you seem to have forgotten something. Code is code, and politics are politics. You stated that Linux and guns don't mix: I refuted that. In fact, I know quite a few Linux enthusiasts who are also gun enthusiasts.
My point is this, and I've said it elsewhere: the relationship between Linux/Open Source and ANY political ideology is purely coincidental. Accepting the GPL does not forever bind you to a particular viewpoint on any other issue than GPL'ed software. It is, after all, the GNU Public License, not the GNU Political Lockdown. . .
Does anyone else get the sense of conflicting ideologies between the open-source/free software community and what the military is here for?
No. Should we ?? Last time I checked, at least in the Western Nations, the military was there to protect us from people who decide that they have a better right to our land, property, and people than the citizens of those nations do.
Militaries protect national interests. Free software has no concern for national interests, it's international, it's about the freedom of mankind, not the slaughter of innocents.
Friend, Free software has NO interests whatsoever. It's about good, solid code, that can be modified easily, and is freely available. Anything more than that is spin. Linux, despite its' merits, will not bring world peace, end hunger and disease, or even cut back waxy yellow buildup. And if the taxpayers get better value for their hard-earned tax dollar by any part of the Government using Linux, that's great, and in fact adds even more evidence that Linux and Open Source is not a fad, but a solid way of assuring reliable systems.
I may be sounding like a pinko here, and yes, more linux boxes out there == good thing, but, something doesn't feel right about the technology we've created to help further the rights of men might be used to take those rights away.
Methinks you've got some issues here that have little, if anything, to do with Linux, and more to do with your politics and/or ideology. Code is a tool, which is by itself, neutral. Only people can put a tool to good use or to evil use. . .
. . ..of an "open source" -type solution, by having thousands of talented hackers hit the site, without the open-source responsibility of releasing source code and handing out the software for free. This one is a new low for Microsoft hypocrisy. . .
You're thinking about the "Mars Direct" project, headed by Robert Zubrin.
It's similar in approach to the Artemis Project, but at last hearing, wasn't a commercial venture. Still, I'd pony up cash for pay-per-view of a manned Mars landing, and I'd bet a lot of fellow geeks would as well...
p.s. the columbine kids (victims, shooters, and otherwise) were not old enough to read a lot of the literature that shapes the morality of a person.
Hmm. . . but the Congresscritters WANT to feed them morality based on a book that includes incest, masturbation, and ritualized cannibalism. ..
Even Hemingway is only for seniors.
Where'd YOU go to school ?? I had Hemingway in 9th grade. Of course, I was more interested in hacking into the county HP-2000C back then. ..
My point ??? Somebody's "outstanding Literature" that "teaches morality" is another's anathema. Why can't everyone get taught that individuality is not just a right, but something to be strived for. ..instead of mindless following of [insert your favorite hated group here]
The muscle and leg flexes, also known as the "M-1" manuever, start being useful at around 3G's. Much beyond 5G's, anti-acceleration garments, better known as "fast pants", automatically inflate to cut off circulation to the legs and lower abdomen.
Reclining also helps: the lower the vertical distance between the brain and the heart, the higher G-resistance a given person has. Physical strength also helps: fighter pilots and WSO's are encouraged to pump iron, and encouraged NOT to run: an ectomorphic body shape/type also handles G's better than a tall, thin endomorphic type. .
Given all that, I wouldn't want to put a coaster out there with more than a sustained 2.5-3G's for any period, and bursts not more than 4.5G's: more and you risk injuring people who just aren't in shape for it. . .
Hmm. .. Give us a century or two. Build a "Beanstalk"-type Space elevator structure, Surface to Geosynchronous Orbit, with a balancing mass out beyond GeoSynch. . . And use THAT, in an evacuated tube, as the biggest drop for a roller-coaster in the Solar System. ..say, a 85 degree drop, from 10 miles up. . ..
. ..port BO2K to Linux: jazz up the interface, remove all references to cDC. ..then release it as a Remote Administration tool, just like SMS, etc. After getting reviews, accolades, etc., THEN reveal that it's a BO2K variant. . . After all, MS-DOS was once a hacker-built tool, too. ..until Bill et al bought it, and built an empire on it. . .
Slashdot Mirror
Alignment: Straight, Criminal, Corporate
Attribute: Computer Image: a Borg Cube-ship with the Microsoft Logo
Slogan: "Who do we want to assimilate today"
Power: 4
The only card in the deck with 5 arrows out (2 on either side, 1 on botton). Microsoft, if controlled by the Network or the Bavarian Illuminati, is +10 to control any computer group If controlled by the Servants of Cthulhu, +20 to destroy any computer group
When discussing AI, especially when combining it with self-replicating machines, several questions/comments emerge.
.by arranging a mass-driver-launched ore packet to impact on the site, "excavating" it meteor-fashion. Sort of like burning down a house to rid it of fleas: the technique is effective, but tends to have far too many unwanted side-effects. Hence the question: if the computer is Artificially Intelligent, does it also have a Articifical Experience Base to base solution evaluation criteria on ???
OK, so the computer is artificially intelligent. But is it smarter ?? (i.e. more adaptable, able to produce insights, or able to produce useful results from systems that don't model well mathematically)
I recall a book, late 70's/early 80's, by James Hogan, called "The Two Faces of Tomorrow". It started with a problem-solving computer being asked to help remove a small hill on the Moon, as the on-site crew lacked the equipment to remove it (forgot the basic reason). However, lacking, for want of a better word, "Common Sense", it removed the hill. .
Number of computing-capable units only gives a brain, whether it be wetware or hardware, a certain information-processing capability. It's the software that really makes the difference.
So, to steal from Red Dwarf, it doesn't matter if the computer has an IQ of 6000, if it doesn't have the overall programming to effectively interface with the external universe...
. . .So 98 foot tides would be quite possible.
But what, then, is holding up the ice shell ?? Unless they're claiming that the shell moves, at least for the most part, as a unit, and only excessive stresses would cause fractures, etc...
Still, it'd be nice to put a probe in long-term orbit around Europa....
I think so, Brain, but I can't get the kernel to compile under WinNT....
[diving for cover]
Subject: Your Amazon.com Order (#002-3707664-6651414)
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 12:04:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: orders@amazon.com
To: "Keith A. Glass"
Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.
I am sorry if our new Purchase Circles feature has confused you. Please understand that this feature provides only anonymous demographic examples of customer ordering patterns at a mass level; for example, many customers who live in Los Angeles have bought X title, or many customers who work for Microsoft Inc have bought Y title.
I assure you that your own personal order history is never, and has never been, revealed. Your customer privacy was never, and never will be, violated.
For more information about our Purchase Circles feature, click on the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/community/ community.html/ref=gw_ro_pc_m_2/002-3707 664-6651414
As you requested, I've cancelled the following item from order #002-9474870-5405829:
[Rest of message snipped]
Looks like, so far, they don't care.
Sounds like, Yahoo/Geocities all over again...
You see, I just had a several-hundred dollar book order on hold with Amazon, waiting on the last book to come into print in a week or two.
Amazon just got sent a cancellation notice for the order, and it told them that "Product Circles" was the reason why. To add insult to injury, I included the identical order from www.BM.com.
I'm actually curious to see their reaction. . .
Just a few concepts, none of which seem more than a century away. . .
Caveat
This is for US types only, can't comment on Canada, UK, or elsewhere. . .
- If you're young,single and basically healthy, instead of a "comprehensive" health plan, get a "catastrophic" policy, that pays all expenses over a given amount, say $1000.00 or $5,000.00. And THEN get a disability income policy. Reason ??? Your most likely problem is going to be an accident of some sort. You can live with colds and flu, there's very little the docs can do about it. You'll have to absorb minor medical costs, but for the most part, a decent medical cabinet, stocked up at the local Wal-Mart or K-Mart, will cover 99% of your problems. Your real worry is a major accident or injury that lays you up for a while: that's why you want a catastrophic policy and disability income (it's tax-free, so set your disability income level at about 60-70% of your current salary or expected income. .
.) - If you're older, have medical problems, or are married and/or have children, you're best bet is to find a group to get into for coverage. IEEE and NASE have been mentioned. You also might want to look at paying to get into your spouse's coverage (and in some areas, domestic partner's coverage)
That, in a nutshell, is my best advice. Mind you, the vast number of insurance agents are lowlifes, ranking with lawyers, bureaucrats, reporters, and politicians at the shallow end of the gene pool. They will attempt to also sell you life, home, auto, and whatever. Only buy what you came in for: turn down any subsequent "service" calls. Tell them : don't call me, I'll call you. And remind them that if they bother you, you can go down the street to company X. And do so, if they keep bothering you after that. . .Depends. Would you also make reverse cybersquatting illegal ??: You know, you have a domain, and somebody else wants it. The classic case is the "People Eating Tasty Animals" site, the original "peta.org". Then, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" decided THEY wanted PETA.ORG, and NSI put the domain on hold. . .
So, before complaining about Cybersquatters, check out The Domain Name Rights Coalition for the flip side of the argument. . . .
Jon hit on something, right at the end there. Mixing Medicine and Politics. If the First Amendment protects so-called "medically harmful media" as free expression, then doesn't that imply the individual right to harm oneself ??? Which, in turn, leads to no tobacco, booze, or gun lawsuits: harming yourself would BE a protected activity. . .
Just throwing up a trial thought balloon. . .
Wah (walkindude50@NOexcite.comSPAM.PLEA.SE)writes... /. populace is next to nil (lots of college students and computer geeks all of which are too *busy* to vote on a regular basis). . .
Unfortunately the political power of the
Too busy to VOTE ?? Sorry, friend, but if you're too busy to vote, then you're too busy to bitch about the results of not voting. Vote absentee if you have to: the lack of voting brings us things like the CDA, Senior Citizens bleeding us dry, and UCITA. . .
I first LEARNED about Linux, AND Slashdot, working for the Air Force on the 4th floor of "C" Ring in the Pentagon. And that was well over a year ago: closer to two years ago. . . .
Yes, I know, I'm being silly again. . .
My point is this, and I've said it elsewhere: the relationship between Linux/Open Source and ANY political ideology is purely coincidental. Accepting the GPL does not forever bind you to a particular viewpoint on any other issue than GPL'ed software. It is, after all, the GNU Public License, not the GNU Political Lockdown. . .
Methinks ESR would disagree with you on that one...
Does anyone else get the sense of conflicting ideologies between the open-source/free software community and what the military is here for?
No. Should we ?? Last time I checked, at least in the Western Nations, the military was there to protect us from people who decide that they have a better right to our land, property, and people than the citizens of those nations do.
Militaries protect national interests. Free software has no concern for national interests, it's international, it's about the freedom of mankind, not the slaughter of innocents.
Friend, Free software has NO interests whatsoever. It's about good, solid code, that can be modified easily, and is freely available. Anything more than that is spin. Linux, despite its' merits, will not bring world peace, end hunger and disease, or even cut back waxy yellow buildup. And if the taxpayers get better value for their hard-earned tax dollar by any part of the Government using Linux, that's great, and in fact adds even more evidence that Linux and Open Source is not a fad, but a solid way of assuring reliable systems.
I may be sounding like a pinko here, and yes, more linux boxes out there == good thing, but, something doesn't feel right about the technology we've created to help further the rights of men might be used to take those rights away.
Methinks you've got some issues here that have little, if anything, to do with Linux, and more to do with your politics and/or ideology. Code is a tool, which is by itself, neutral. Only people can put a tool to good use or to evil use. . .
[I hate to bring up 1980's Grade-B movies, but. . .]
Why not start producing C herry 2000's ????
. . . .of an "open source" -type solution, by having thousands of talented hackers hit the site, without the open-source responsibility of releasing source code and handing out the software for free.
This one is a new low for Microsoft hypocrisy. . .
It's similar in approach to the Artemis Project, but at last hearing, wasn't a commercial venture. Still, I'd pony up cash for pay-per-view of a manned Mars landing, and I'd bet a lot of fellow geeks would as well...
Your point ???
p.s. the columbine kids (victims, shooters, and otherwise) were not old enough to read a lot of the literature that shapes the morality of a person.
Hmm. . . but the Congresscritters WANT to feed them morality based on a book that includes incest, masturbation, and ritualized cannibalism. . .
Even Hemingway is only for seniors.
Where'd YOU go to school ?? I had Hemingway in 9th grade. Of course, I was more interested in hacking into the county HP-2000C back then. . .
My point ??? Somebody's "outstanding Literature" that "teaches morality" is another's anathema. Why can't everyone get taught that individuality is not just a right, but something to be strived for. . .instead of mindless following of [insert your favorite hated group here]
(speaking as former USAF Aviator)
The muscle and leg flexes, also known as the "M-1" manuever, start being useful at around 3G's. Much beyond 5G's, anti-acceleration garments, better known as "fast pants", automatically inflate to cut off circulation to the legs and lower abdomen.
Reclining also helps: the lower the vertical distance between the brain and the heart, the higher G-resistance a given person has. Physical strength also helps: fighter pilots and WSO's are encouraged to pump iron, and encouraged NOT to run: an ectomorphic body shape/type also handles G's better than a tall, thin endomorphic type. .
Given all that, I wouldn't want to put a coaster out there with more than a sustained 2.5-3G's for any period, and bursts not more than 4.5G's: more and you risk injuring people who just aren't in shape for it. . .
Hmm. . . .say, a 85 degree drop, from 10 miles up. . . .
Give us a century or two. Build a "Beanstalk"-type Space elevator structure, Surface to Geosynchronous Orbit, with a balancing mass out beyond GeoSynch. . . And use THAT, in an evacuated tube, as the biggest drop for a roller-coaster in the Solar System. .
For the Kiddie Coaster. . .
. . .port BO2K to Linux: jazz up the interface, remove all references to cDC. . .then release it as a Remote Administration tool, just like SMS, etc. After getting reviews, accolades, etc., THEN reveal that it's a BO2K variant. . . .until Bill et al bought it, and built an empire on it. . .
After all, MS-DOS was once a hacker-built tool, too. .