I'll always remember Gerry and Sylvia Anderson creations with huge fondness. The first program I can remember watching is Fireball XL5, and I've always managed to marry blondes all my life in deference to Venus.
...and Lady Penelope (voiced by Sylvia) was my puppet fantasy woman when I was 12. Come to think of it, she still is.
Like I said, it was some prediction I'd heard, IANAScientist. 'They' have succeeded in downloading less than half of a mouse's brain, so, maybe not in our lifetime, sometime down the road, downloading a person's thoughts and memories will be the reality/norm.
Hi, humble submitter here. Reading the linked article is almost always more informative than the/. 'blurb'. I saw this story and I thought readers here might not have known that Google has been gradually getting a 'piece of the action, undercuts MS's prices by more than half (per user), MS package doesn't include email (extra purchase) and other things that are in Google Apps. MS shuld be worried.
Here's a quick paste from the article:
Google Apps Challenging Microsoft in Business
By QUENTIN HARDY
Published: December 25, 2012
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SAN FRANCISCO — It has taken years, but Google seems to be cutting into Microsoft’s stronghold — businesses.
Virginie Drujon-Kippelen for The New York Times
Jim Nielsen, center, of Shaw Industries calculated that using Google instead of similar Microsoft products would cost, over seven years, about one-thirteenth Microsoft’s price.
Google’s software for businesses, Google Apps, consists of applications for document writing, collaboration, and text and video communications — all cloud-based, so that none of the software is on an office worker’s computer. Google has been promoting the idea for more than six years, and it seemed that it was going to appeal mostly to small businesses and tech start-ups.
But the notion is catching on with larger enterprises. In the last year Google has scored an impressive string of wins, including at the Swiss drug maker Hoffmann-La Roche, where over 80,000 employees use the package, and at the Interior Department, where 90,000 use it.
One big reason is price. Google charges $50 a year for each person using its product, a price that has not changed since it made its commercial debut, even though Google has added features. In 2012, for example, Google added the ability to work on a computer not connected to the Internet, as well as security and data management that comply with more stringent European standards. That made it much easier to sell the product to multinationals and companies in Europe.
Many companies that sell software over the cloud add features without raising prices, but also break from traditional industry practice by rarely offering discounts from the list price.
Microsoft’s Office suite of software, which does not include e-mail, is installed on a desktop PC or laptop. In 2013, the list price for businesses will be $400 per computer, but many companies pay half that after negotiating a volume deal.
At the same time, Microsoft has built its business on raising prices for extra features and services. The 2013 version of Office, for example, costs up to $50 more than its predecessor.
“Google is getting traction” on Microsoft, said Melissa Webster, an analyst with IDC. “Its ‘good enough’ product has become pretty good. It looks like 2013 is going to be the year for content and collaboration in the cloud.”
I think a problem is going to be proving 'who' hacked the program of the car that goes off program. Someone smart enough to hack it preumably would be smart enough to attempt to cover their tracks. Just like cutting a cars brake lines
I don't have a cite handy, but I have heard that in 20 years we'll be able to download the contents of the brain. And you thought you had to worry about google spying on us.
I'd turn it on, wait a couple minutes for it to fully boot up, connect to the router and Windows informs me an imperative, 'end of the world' update is needed.
Lessee, open laptop (also running Windows 7) press "Get Mail" in Thunderbird and start reading my email.
Time: 10 seconds from the moment I pressed the latch til the new email arrived (I just timed it).
For starters, why are turning your laptop/tablet off? haven't you heard of sleep mode?
Well, that was last year, a 'friend' sabotaged that laptop on me, only had it a month. Didn't know about Thunderbird, and I didn't leave it on because I don't like leaving appliances on when they're not being used. A tablet still doesn't have superb battery life yet, so there's still the need to conserve.
I once saw a young mom hand her expensive looking clamshell phone to her one year old daughter. Then I watched as the girl snapped it backwards and handed the 2 pieces back to the stunned mom.
I can say with certainty that the tablet revolution is just beginning. The simple truth is that a huge amount of home users don't REALLY want a PC. They think they want a PC, but they really don't. They want a machine that is cheap, gets them on Facebook, has a video/audio player, a web browser, email and Skype and is as low maintainance as possible. It's true that tablets are spectacularly bad productivity devices, they are mostly consumption devices. The thing is, the vast majority of home users are pure consumers and couldn't give 2 shits about productivity applications.
Exactly. Before my Windows7 laptop died, when I'd want to check my email on it. I'd turn it on, wait a couple minutes for it to fully boot up, connect to the router and Windows informs me an imperative, 'end of the world' update is needed. Sure, I click ok, windows is downloading..., download interrupted! Okay, this needs to be done, so I re-download..., maybe it intalls correctly, maybe it doesn't. Windows needs to reboot (sigh)... Now by this time, I've wasted 10 or 20 minutes, still haven't been able to read my email, frustration level has increased....
Today when I want to read my email, my tablet powers up in 30 seconds, another 30 seconds later I'm reading my email.
For the casual user like myself, it's a 'no-brainer', cheap-o but capable wins, hands down.
Absolutely not! Sometimes it's more important that people get where they need to and the busted tail light can be fixed next weekend.
You're right, the user needs to always have the last say of when the vehicle goes in for maintenence, and an override function to get away from any danger that might exist despite minor malfunctions.Today, if you get ticketed for a busted light, you have 24 hours or so to get it fixed, show the receipt to the traffic court judge, no fine. The ability to have a full listing of maintenence issues at your fingertips will contribute greatly to a decrease of accidents. All this will be fully implemented 20 years after driverless cars come into mainstream use, since that,ll be the transition period before full 'old school'manual vehicles get fully replaced.
A car should sense when maintenence is required and, if it's prudent to, drive itself to the repair shop.
What if I need to, say, rush my wife or kid to the hospital and I happen to not give a shit of the "check engine" light is on or one of the brake lights does not function?
A manual override function needs to be there for emergencies, and then the user would need to assume responsibility for any damage to the car, any personal/property damage, etc. We won't need auto insurance so much, though there will be a need for personal liability insurance.
A few months back I got a $99 Arnova tablet to replace a damaged $400 laptop, and since I'm not a super-user, I realize that I don't need anything larger. It has a sensitive multi-touch screen, and with a $20 powered USB hub I can plug in a $15 Logitech usb keyboard/mouse, $25 usb joystick, run a hdmi cable to my tv, plug in flawhdrives to swap files, and I'm set. The thing's powerful enough to run mame/PS1 game roms without blinking, cruise the internet, it streams netflix/YouTube, a 32gb sd card (looking at you, Google Nexus) supplements the internal 8gb memory , and I can be stick it in my pocket. I have all the apps like kindle, google maps on the go, mp3 and video player, games...
A friend uses his for his work to program in java, and even he says he doesn't 'need' his computer so much now. And these tablets will just get more capable and cheaper (and bendable?) in the coming years, until they one day (gasp!) completely replace todays standard computers.
There are going to be redundancy systems needed if a sensor is blocked, or ALL of the LEDs blow at once.
No need to. It's much simpler. The car will stop and refuse to move if it cannot see the road, for any reason. Failed headlights are just as likely as a very dense fog or a blizzard.
It is of course a pretty simple test for the machine: switch the lights on and observe the increase in brightness of the camera image. You can measure the light output of the headlights quite accurately, as long as you have an idea about the reflectivity of the road.
And I assume that they'll have infra-red cameras, sonar, weather sensors and g knows what else. It's going to need to be an almost foolproof system that will compensate for any possibilities, including manufacturer liability. Are all passengers belted in and oriented properly for safe air bag deployment, is the driver awake in case control needs to be given over, is the driver of sober mind? On the fly computer administered sobriety tests with instantaneous results? The makers will need to account for a plethora of human fallibilities, or in the beginning there'll be a slew of wrongful death and injury court cases.
It would probably be tough for the car to detect every possible problem with itself. Imagine the front of the car being covered with black paint, blocking the front lights. How would the car be able to detect that? But it could present quite a traffic hazard.
There are going to be redundancy systems needed if a sensor is blocked, or ALL of the LEDs blow at once. Some type of fail-safe that tells it to safely pull off the road and shut down. Though I can see some growing pains in this new, unproven tech. Expect some major pileups and loss of life in the beginning until all the unforseen kinks get discovered and fixed.
sorry for replying to my own post, this situation would hark back to horse and buggy days where a milkman's house would learn the route and move from place to place while the milkman delivered milk door to door, I remember seeing this happen for years. Anyway, the milkman is still responsible for the horse and cart.
If the horse goes out of control and tramples someone you can't blame the milkman for it.
The owner, he is still ultimately in charge, if he is drunk, tough
SImple analogy, if i come home drunk and start up my chainsaw and mutilate a few people, is it the chainsaw or me at fault?
Simple, but flawed, analogy, since your chainsaw is not a computer programmed to operate without human assistance. Any humans in a programmed driverless car cannot be held resposible, unless it can be shown they tampered with its programming.
To be fair, this *is* Slashdot. How do you know for sure that his chainsaw is not run by a computer program?
I'd have heard about them and would already own one, sounds cool!
Better analogy: i put a shotgun and wire it to the door. If someone opens the door the shotgun is programmed to shot him in the face. Guess who's liable for that.
Even easier analogy: electric fence. There have been cases where a thief has sucesfully sued a home owner for getting shocked with one of those.
You're not gonna be satisfied until someone's bleeding, are you?
The car should refuse to operate until the DMV signals to it that the registration is active. Now, there will be times when a person would need an override, say to escape some perceived danger that the car isn't programmed for. Then the risk is on the operator.
In some countries (EU countries) there are also laws that prohibit you to be drunk on the street or as a *passenger* of a car (as you may guess selective application of the law is required). Problem solved... I guess.
The laws will have to evolve with this new tech. Governments will need to find a newer revenue stream. I can also see taxi drivers will become obsolete soon after cars become autonomous.
does the car operate even though the owner has disabled it or chosen it not to function? no, he has ultimate control
i could start the chainsaw and put it down and it shoots across a room and maims someone, i still ultimately started it and had control to set it going, the cars are the same, it can be owner disabled, and thus under the control of the owner
Well, if the owner disables the safetys, then yes, he would be assuming the risk and hence, the liability. Otherwise it's the manufacterers responsibility. If I remove/disable the manufacters safety guard on a circular or table saw and lose a couple fingers because of it, it's my fault then, not the makers.
There would be cases where the car's owner would deserve the ticket - busted lights, missing first aid kits, no winter tires,.... So give the ticket to the car's owner, then have the manufacturer reimburse the owner if it was the fault of the 'driver'
Devil's advocate here. For insurance/liability reasons shouldn't the car refuse to operate unless it's operating with 100% safety compliance? If it does, than it would be a manufacturer that would be liable. A car should sense when maintenence is required and, if it's prudent to, drive itself to the repair shop.
The owner, he is still ultimately in charge, if he is drunk, tough
SImple analogy, if i come home drunk and start up my chainsaw and mutilate a few people, is it the chainsaw or me at fault?
Simple, but flawed, analogy, since your chainsaw is not a computer programmed to operate without human assistance. Any humans in a programmed driverless car cannot be held resposible, unless it can be shown they tampered with its programming.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, and I read in the news today that they're killing off Peter Parker in the next comic book. T'aint right, I tell ya'.
I'll always remember Gerry and Sylvia Anderson creations with huge fondness. The first program I can remember watching is Fireball XL5, and I've always managed to marry blondes all my life in deference to Venus.
...and Lady Penelope (voiced by Sylvia) was my puppet fantasy woman when I was 12. Come to think of it, she still is.
And the beat goes on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Brain_Atlas
Here's a quick paste from the article:
Google Apps Challenging Microsoft in Business By QUENTIN HARDY Published: December 25, 2012 Facebook Twitter Google+ Save E-mail Share Print Reprints SAN FRANCISCO — It has taken years, but Google seems to be cutting into Microsoft’s stronghold — businesses.
Virginie Drujon-Kippelen for The New York Times
Jim Nielsen, center, of Shaw Industries calculated that using Google instead of similar Microsoft products would cost, over seven years, about one-thirteenth Microsoft’s price.
Google’s software for businesses, Google Apps, consists of applications for document writing, collaboration, and text and video communications — all cloud-based, so that none of the software is on an office worker’s computer. Google has been promoting the idea for more than six years, and it seemed that it was going to appeal mostly to small businesses and tech start-ups.
But the notion is catching on with larger enterprises. In the last year Google has scored an impressive string of wins, including at the Swiss drug maker Hoffmann-La Roche, where over 80,000 employees use the package, and at the Interior Department, where 90,000 use it.
One big reason is price. Google charges $50 a year for each person using its product, a price that has not changed since it made its commercial debut, even though Google has added features. In 2012, for example, Google added the ability to work on a computer not connected to the Internet, as well as security and data management that comply with more stringent European standards. That made it much easier to sell the product to multinationals and companies in Europe.
Many companies that sell software over the cloud add features without raising prices, but also break from traditional industry practice by rarely offering discounts from the list price.
Microsoft’s Office suite of software, which does not include e-mail, is installed on a desktop PC or laptop. In 2013, the list price for businesses will be $400 per computer, but many companies pay half that after negotiating a volume deal.
At the same time, Microsoft has built its business on raising prices for extra features and services. The 2013 version of Office, for example, costs up to $50 more than its predecessor.
“Google is getting traction” on Microsoft, said Melissa Webster, an analyst with IDC. “Its ‘good enough’ product has become pretty good. It looks like 2013 is going to be the year for content and collaboration in the cloud.”
http://www.gizmag.com/avatar-project-2045/23454/
I think a problem is going to be proving 'who' hacked the program of the car that goes off program. Someone smart enough to hack it preumably would be smart enough to attempt to cover their tracks. Just like cutting a cars brake lines
I don't have a cite handy, but I have heard that in 20 years we'll be able to download the contents of the brain. And you thought you had to worry about google spying on us.
I'd turn it on, wait a couple minutes for it to fully boot up, connect to the router and Windows informs me an imperative, 'end of the world' update is needed.
Lessee, open laptop (also running Windows 7) press "Get Mail" in Thunderbird and start reading my email.
Time: 10 seconds from the moment I pressed the latch til the new email arrived (I just timed it).
For starters, why are turning your laptop/tablet off? haven't you heard of sleep mode?
Well, that was last year, a 'friend' sabotaged that laptop on me, only had it a month. Didn't know about Thunderbird, and I didn't leave it on because I don't like leaving appliances on when they're not being used. A tablet still doesn't have superb battery life yet, so there's still the need to conserve.
Playing games on a phone? Unlikely.
I once saw a young mom hand her expensive looking clamshell phone to her one year old daughter. Then I watched as the girl snapped it backwards and handed the 2 pieces back to the stunned mom.
I can say with certainty that the tablet revolution is just beginning. The simple truth is that a huge amount of home users don't REALLY want a PC. They think they want a PC, but they really don't. They want a machine that is cheap, gets them on Facebook, has a video/audio player, a web browser, email and Skype and is as low maintainance as possible. It's true that tablets are spectacularly bad productivity devices, they are mostly consumption devices. The thing is, the vast majority of home users are pure consumers and couldn't give 2 shits about productivity applications.
Exactly. Before my Windows7 laptop died, when I'd want to check my email on it. I'd turn it on, wait a couple minutes for it to fully boot up, connect to the router and Windows informs me an imperative, 'end of the world' update is needed. Sure, I click ok, windows is downloading..., download interrupted! Okay, this needs to be done, so I re-download..., maybe it intalls correctly, maybe it doesn't. Windows needs to reboot (sigh)... Now by this time, I've wasted 10 or 20 minutes, still haven't been able to read my email, frustration level has increased....
Today when I want to read my email, my tablet powers up in 30 seconds, another 30 seconds later I'm reading my email.
For the casual user like myself, it's a 'no-brainer', cheap-o but capable wins, hands down.
Absolutely not! Sometimes it's more important that people get where they need to and the busted tail light can be fixed next weekend.
You're right, the user needs to always have the last say of when the vehicle goes in for maintenence, and an override function to get away from any danger that might exist despite minor malfunctions .Today, if you get ticketed for a busted light, you have 24 hours or so to get it fixed, show the receipt to the traffic court judge, no fine. The ability to have a full listing of maintenence issues at your fingertips will contribute greatly to a decrease of accidents. All this will be fully implemented 20 years after driverless cars come into mainstream use, since that,ll be the transition period before full 'old school'manual vehicles get fully replaced.
A car should sense when maintenence is required and, if it's prudent to, drive itself to the repair shop.
What if I need to, say, rush my wife or kid to the hospital and I happen to not give a shit of the "check engine" light is on or one of the brake lights does not function?
A manual override function needs to be there for emergencies, and then the user would need to assume responsibility for any damage to the car, any personal/property damage, etc. We won't need auto insurance so much, though there will be a need for personal liability insurance.
A friend uses his for his work to program in java, and even he says he doesn't 'need' his computer so much now. And these tablets will just get more capable and cheaper (and bendable?) in the coming years, until they one day (gasp!) completely replace todays standard computers.
TheVerge reports monies have been exchanged, it's over Johnny... http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/24/3801146/steve-jobs-yacht-freed-after-payment-dispute-philippe-starck-resolved
There are going to be redundancy systems needed if a sensor is blocked, or ALL of the LEDs blow at once.
No need to. It's much simpler. The car will stop and refuse to move if it cannot see the road, for any reason. Failed headlights are just as likely as a very dense fog or a blizzard.
It is of course a pretty simple test for the machine: switch the lights on and observe the increase in brightness of the camera image. You can measure the light output of the headlights quite accurately, as long as you have an idea about the reflectivity of the road.
And I assume that they'll have infra-red cameras, sonar, weather sensors and g knows what else. It's going to need to be an almost foolproof system that will compensate for any possibilities, including manufacturer liability. Are all passengers belted in and oriented properly for safe air bag deployment, is the driver awake in case control needs to be given over, is the driver of sober mind? On the fly computer administered sobriety tests with instantaneous results? The makers will need to account for a plethora of human fallibilities, or in the beginning there'll be a slew of wrongful death and injury court cases.
It would probably be tough for the car to detect every possible problem with itself. Imagine the front of the car being covered with black paint, blocking the front lights. How would the car be able to detect that? But it could present quite a traffic hazard.
There are going to be redundancy systems needed if a sensor is blocked, or ALL of the LEDs blow at once. Some type of fail-safe that tells it to safely pull off the road and shut down. Though I can see some growing pains in this new, unproven tech. Expect some major pileups and loss of life in the beginning until all the unforseen kinks get discovered and fixed.
sorry for replying to my own post, this situation would hark back to horse and buggy days where a milkman's house would learn the route and move from place to place while the milkman delivered milk door to door, I remember seeing this happen for years. Anyway, the milkman is still responsible for the horse and cart.
If the horse goes out of control and tramples someone you can't blame the milkman for it.
The owner, he is still ultimately in charge, if he is drunk, tough
SImple analogy, if i come home drunk and start up my chainsaw and mutilate a few people, is it the chainsaw or me at fault?
Simple, but flawed, analogy, since your chainsaw is not a computer programmed to operate without human assistance. Any humans in a programmed driverless car cannot be held resposible, unless it can be shown they tampered with its programming.
To be fair, this *is* Slashdot. How do you know for sure that his chainsaw is not run by a computer program?
I'd have heard about them and would already own one, sounds cool!
Better analogy: i put a shotgun and wire it to the door. If someone opens the door the shotgun is programmed to shot him in the face. Guess who's liable for that.
Even easier analogy: electric fence. There have been cases where a thief has sucesfully sued a home owner for getting shocked with one of those.
You're not gonna be satisfied until someone's bleeding, are you?
What if I have expired registration, etc?
The car should refuse to operate until the DMV signals to it that the registration is active. Now, there will be times when a person would need an override, say to escape some perceived danger that the car isn't programmed for. Then the risk is on the operator.
In some countries (EU countries) there are also laws that prohibit you to be drunk on the street or as a *passenger* of a car (as you may guess selective application of the law is required). Problem solved ... I guess.
The laws will have to evolve with this new tech. Governments will need to find a newer revenue stream. I can also see taxi drivers will become obsolete soon after cars become autonomous.
the reason why the analogy works is this:
does the car operate even though the owner has disabled it or chosen it not to function? no, he has ultimate control
i could start the chainsaw and put it down and it shoots across a room and maims someone, i still ultimately started it and had control to set it going, the cars are the same, it can be owner disabled, and thus under the control of the owner
Well, if the owner disables the safetys, then yes, he would be assuming the risk and hence, the liability. Otherwise it's the manufacterers responsibility. If I remove/disable the manufacters safety guard on a circular or table saw and lose a couple fingers because of it, it's my fault then, not the makers.
There would be cases where the car's owner would deserve the ticket - busted lights, missing first aid kits, no winter tires,.... So give the ticket to the car's owner, then have the manufacturer reimburse the owner if it was the fault of the 'driver'
Devil's advocate here. For insurance/liability reasons shouldn't the car refuse to operate unless it's operating with 100% safety compliance? If it does, than it would be a manufacturer that would be liable. A car should sense when maintenence is required and, if it's prudent to, drive itself to the repair shop.
The owner, he is still ultimately in charge, if he is drunk, tough
SImple analogy, if i come home drunk and start up my chainsaw and mutilate a few people, is it the chainsaw or me at fault?
Simple, but flawed, analogy, since your chainsaw is not a computer programmed to operate without human assistance. Any humans in a programmed driverless car cannot be held resposible, unless it can be shown they tampered with its programming.