This coming year being my last in high school, I have to start thinking about university. This is just one less application to worry about. Why is it that I want to do Computer Science again?
Why is it that we're so obsessed with "chatbot" AI?
I hope that most (preferably all) of you know that every brain on earth is made up of neurons. Those little suckers are capable of quite a bit of work, and as such, the more neurons an animal has, the more intelligent it is. SIZE MATTERS. Those little suckers are so well-adapted to intelligence that it turns out that the only promising developments in AI happen to be in simulating them--neural networks. Now, we humans happen to have an average of 100 billion neurons in our brains. A significant portion of the left hemisphere of the brain is devoted entirely to speech. (Ever wonder why most people are right handed? A highly developed left hemisphere means a more dexterous right side of the body; hence a natural propensity toward right-handedness. I'm a leftie, though.)
We haven't gotten to the point where we can simulate the functionality of brains of "stupid" animals, not even insects (though I'm no expert so I could be wrong). I'm willing to bet that even a common housefly has better visual processing than any AI visual processing we have to offer. Why is it, then, that we are so concentrated on speech? We have a reasonable understanding of how the brain works, and I can guarantee you that it is NOT by compiling a list of common words and phrases.
It's taken us 100 billion neurons to get this far. It's difficult to simulate 100 billion of anything, let alone little processing units. Why do we let ourselves be discouraged by failing step #29387564 when we haven't even completed step #1? Intelligence requires a brain, and a brain requires neurons. Artificial intelligence requires an artificial brain, and an artificial brain requires artificial neurons.
If you think a brain can operate without neurons, please show me one.
I used a high resolution version of the original M16 image (the pillars) as my desktop background for a looooong time. This just takes the fun out of it:(
"Vandalism is vandalism" doesn't really fit this situation. If the students feel compelled to do something like this about a problem like rape, vandalism should be the least of the campus police's worries. Instead of putting the culprits to justice, perhaps they should be wondering just exactly what drove the students to perform such acts in the first place.
The article says the claims come from Dr. Carol Stoker of Nasa's Ames Research Center. This is Nasa, so I wouldn't be so quick to shoot down these extraordinary claims. Nasa sent real men to the moon. It's not like they're claiming to have developed an anti-gravity device.
There's no such thing as the "Holy Grail of Ergonomic Keyboards". Reason: every hand is different, so you have to make sure you choose appropriately (size DOES matter). Just walk into a store that has keyboards on display (most stores should do this), go to the keyboard aisle, and start typing. Choose what feels best. Money != comfort. Brand name != comfort. Personally, I've got some cheap $30 or $40 something (Canadian) keyboard, and my wrists have never felt better.
I used to live in Newfoundland, in St. John's (well actually Mount Pearl, but unless you've heard of it you can just call it St. John's, since it's more like a sub-section of the city). Knowing the mentality of the people there, it is very likely that this was some sort of practical joke. No, really. We Newfoundlanders are like that.
Yes, I am a somewhat technical person, and that's why I'm asking. I know what buffer overflow is, and the zlib issue is not it. This may be an issue, but surely something that doesn't require this much coverage or worrying.
And yet again, it is being reported that this zlib issue is leaving a "hefty" portion of systems vulnerable to attack. Forgive my ignorance, but how? In the previous discussion on the topic, I read some posts that sort of explained a possible risk that might occur if there's a full moon and the lighting is just right.
So I ask you: what? From what I've heard the worst that could happen is your system could crash. I hardly see that as any sort of real issue, since programs like to do that all the time.
In theory,.NET is great. Microsoft is supposedly doing this to make development much easier. In theory, that is.
Personally, I think the idea of having a common environment is great--one source, one binary. Now, obviously this will never replace the old source + native binary combo altogether, but it will surely gain support in areas where speed and memory aren't critical (and with the relatively low cost of modern computers, it's going to become more and more common).
The problem, though, is that if we move to a common platform, it has to be a standardized and accepted platfrom..NET is Microsoft.NET, not OUR.NET. As long as someone (be it Microsoft or otherwise) tries to push a "proprietary standard" (two contradicting terms, I am sure), such a "standard" can only divide the development community.
I was interested in whether my old Hotmail account still exists (I used it briefly when I moved and had no ISP of my own), so I tried to use my old name and password. I was redirected to the Passport website, which told me my browser (Mozilla) was unsupported. Last time I checked, Mozilla supported enough features to allow me to log into other websites. What gives?
I've read several comments here regarding hijacking. Supposing this is a terrorist attack, it is very unlikely that they would even consider hijacking. With all of the new security measures in place, such a hijacking would be nearly impossible.
I've read reports that an engine fell out. If this is true, sabotage is what we should worry about. If these terrorists were smart enough to plan the September 11 attacks years in advance, then we should assume they are smart enough to have people working at airports all over the US.
At this point we can only hope that this is not a terrorist attack. If terrorism is the cause (for example, by means of sabotage, as I've suggested), then this may raise even more security issues than the WTC attacks.
Counter-Strike may be much more popular, but optimizing drivers for it would be a waste of time and resources. The technology is *old*. It's quite possible to achieve triple digit framerates on a Voodoo3 or TNT2 (provided you don't try to run it at 1600x1200).
I plan on buying a new video card very soon, and it will probably be a Radeon 8500 ($350 Canadian vs. $650 for a Geforce3). I like the fact that the current drivers do provide increased performance for Quake 3, but I would be much happier if it applied to all games using Quake 3 technology (ALICE!!--I think this issue is addressed in the article).
Things like this make me glad I'm Canadian. Although we're supposed to spell things the way the Brits do, we're close enough to the US that nobody cares. Go Canada!
I's the b'y 'o buil's the boat
on
Reviews:Shrek
·
· Score: 3
I'm a Newfie, and I'd love to see someone imitate our accent.:P
I dropped the accent when I moved away a couple of years ago, but I'm still quite fluent in Newfenese. Just for the sake of enlightenment, here are the most common rules of Newfenese:
The accent is a combination of English, Scottish, and Portuguese.
The "th" sound becomes "t"
Pronunciation of the "h" sound is optional; it is accepted practice to add a preceeding "h" sound to words beginning with vowels.
The sound formed by the last letter in a word is usually dropped.
All non-essential syllables are dropped.
If a sound is difficult to produce, it is accepted practice to replace it with a sound that it similar, but easier to produce.
Pronouns: a man is "he", a woman is "she" or "it", a small child is "it", and it is "she".
Grammar and general English rules can be ignored for the most part, as long as what you say is understood.
Ok, some examples (Newfie version is spelled as it is pronounced):
English: I am the man who builds the boat.
Newfie: Ize duh bye ooh bills duh boat.
English: It's a fine day for sailing, isn't it?
Newfie: Tis uh fine day fer sailin, iddin it?
Engrish: All your base are belong to us.
Newfie: All yer base is belong tus.
English: How's the weather?
Newfie: Ows duh wetter?
English: Young people today have no respect for their elders.
Newfie: Ye youngsters dedays got no respeck fer oh peepo.
Slashdot Mirror
This coming year being my last in high school, I have to start thinking about university. This is just one less application to worry about. Why is it that I want to do Computer Science again?
Why is it that we're so obsessed with "chatbot" AI?
I hope that most (preferably all) of you know that every brain on earth is made up of neurons. Those little suckers are capable of quite a bit of work, and as such, the more neurons an animal has, the more intelligent it is. SIZE MATTERS. Those little suckers are so well-adapted to intelligence that it turns out that the only promising developments in AI happen to be in simulating them--neural networks. Now, we humans happen to have an average of 100 billion neurons in our brains. A significant portion of the left hemisphere of the brain is devoted entirely to speech. (Ever wonder why most people are right handed? A highly developed left hemisphere means a more dexterous right side of the body; hence a natural propensity toward right-handedness. I'm a leftie, though.)
We haven't gotten to the point where we can simulate the functionality of brains of "stupid" animals, not even insects (though I'm no expert so I could be wrong). I'm willing to bet that even a common housefly has better visual processing than any AI visual processing we have to offer. Why is it, then, that we are so concentrated on speech? We have a reasonable understanding of how the brain works, and I can guarantee you that it is NOT by compiling a list of common words and phrases.
It's taken us 100 billion neurons to get this far. It's difficult to simulate 100 billion of anything, let alone little processing units. Why do we let ourselves be discouraged by failing step #29387564 when we haven't even completed step #1? Intelligence requires a brain, and a brain requires neurons. Artificial intelligence requires an artificial brain, and an artificial brain requires artificial neurons.
If you think a brain can operate without neurons, please show me one.
I used a high resolution version of the original M16 image (the pillars) as my desktop background for a looooong time. This just takes the fun out of it :(
"Vandalism is vandalism" doesn't really fit this situation. If the students feel compelled to do something like this about a problem like rape, vandalism should be the least of the campus police's worries. Instead of putting the culprits to justice, perhaps they should be wondering just exactly what drove the students to perform such acts in the first place.
What I want to know is why the university police made such a big deal about anti-rape "vandalism".
The article says the claims come from Dr. Carol Stoker of Nasa's Ames Research Center. This is Nasa, so I wouldn't be so quick to shoot down these extraordinary claims. Nasa sent real men to the moon. It's not like they're claiming to have developed an anti-gravity device.
As long as this doesn't prevent me from continuing to download 15-year-old Transformers episodes, I don't care.
There's no such thing as the "Holy Grail of Ergonomic Keyboards". Reason: every hand is different, so you have to make sure you choose appropriately (size DOES matter). Just walk into a store that has keyboards on display (most stores should do this), go to the keyboard aisle, and start typing. Choose what feels best. Money != comfort. Brand name != comfort. Personally, I've got some cheap $30 or $40 something (Canadian) keyboard, and my wrists have never felt better.
I used to live in Newfoundland, in St. John's (well actually Mount Pearl, but unless you've heard of it you can just call it St. John's, since it's more like a sub-section of the city). Knowing the mentality of the people there, it is very likely that this was some sort of practical joke. No, really. We Newfoundlanders are like that.
Yes, I am a somewhat technical person, and that's why I'm asking. I know what buffer overflow is, and the zlib issue is not it. This may be an issue, but surely something that doesn't require this much coverage or worrying.
And yet again, it is being reported that this zlib issue is leaving a "hefty" portion of systems vulnerable to attack. Forgive my ignorance, but how? In the previous discussion on the topic, I read some posts that sort of explained a possible risk that might occur if there's a full moon and the lighting is just right.
So I ask you: what? From what I've heard the worst that could happen is your system could crash. I hardly see that as any sort of real issue, since programs like to do that all the time.
In theory, .NET is great. Microsoft is supposedly doing this to make development much easier. In theory, that is.
.NET is Microsoft .NET, not OUR .NET. As long as someone (be it Microsoft or otherwise) tries to push a "proprietary standard" (two contradicting terms, I am sure), such a "standard" can only divide the development community.
Personally, I think the idea of having a common environment is great--one source, one binary. Now, obviously this will never replace the old source + native binary combo altogether, but it will surely gain support in areas where speed and memory aren't critical (and with the relatively low cost of modern computers, it's going to become more and more common).
The problem, though, is that if we move to a common platform, it has to be a standardized and accepted platfrom.
Ambition is as much a vice as it is a virtue.
They want Microsoft to SELL a stripped down version of Windows. Microsoft doesn't SELL Windows 98 anymore. You lose.
I was interested in whether my old Hotmail account still exists (I used it briefly when I moved and had no ISP of my own), so I tried to use my old name and password. I was redirected to the Passport website, which told me my browser (Mozilla) was unsupported. Last time I checked, Mozilla supported enough features to allow me to log into other websites. What gives?
I've read several comments here regarding hijacking. Supposing this is a terrorist attack, it is very unlikely that they would even consider hijacking. With all of the new security measures in place, such a hijacking would be nearly impossible.
I've read reports that an engine fell out. If this is true, sabotage is what we should worry about. If these terrorists were smart enough to plan the September 11 attacks years in advance, then we should assume they are smart enough to have people working at airports all over the US.
At this point we can only hope that this is not a terrorist attack. If terrorism is the cause (for example, by means of sabotage, as I've suggested), then this may raise even more security issues than the WTC attacks.
:(
Counter-Strike may be much more popular, but optimizing drivers for it would be a waste of time and resources. The technology is *old*. It's quite possible to achieve triple digit framerates on a Voodoo3 or TNT2 (provided you don't try to run it at 1600x1200).
I plan on buying a new video card very soon, and it will probably be a Radeon 8500 ($350 Canadian vs. $650 for a Geforce3). I like the fact that the current drivers do provide increased performance for Quake 3, but I would be much happier if it applied to all games using Quake 3 technology (ALICE!!--I think this issue is addressed in the article).
Things like this make me glad I'm Canadian. Although we're supposed to spell things the way the Brits do, we're close enough to the US that nobody cares. Go Canada!
I dropped the accent when I moved away a couple of years ago, but I'm still quite fluent in Newfenese. Just for the sake of enlightenment, here are the most common rules of Newfenese:
Ok, some examples (Newfie version is spelled as it is pronounced):
English: I am the man who builds the boat.
Newfie: Ize duh bye ooh bills duh boat.
English: It's a fine day for sailing, isn't it?
Newfie: Tis uh fine day fer sailin, iddin it?
Engrish: All your base are belong to us.
Newfie: All yer base is belong tus.
English: How's the weather?
Newfie: Ows duh wetter?
English: Young people today have no respect for their elders.
Newfie: Ye youngsters dedays got no respeck fer oh peepo.
English: Ok, I'm done ranting.
Newfie: Ok, Ize done rant in.