Dark Helmet: "So the combination is one, two, three, four, five? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life! The kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!" ... President Skroob: "1 2 3 4 5? That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage!"
There is no need to be rude; please keep it light.
The forces I was referring to were electrical, magnetic, and gravitational. (Yes, OK, I know there are many other forces than that. What is the opposite of frictional force?)
I did not mean to imply that light does not have a variable speed. Indeed it does; we know it travels slower through glass than through a vacuum. I am saying that perhaps it isn't coupled with time.
'Easy to figure out...' I did say "seems." And I think the concept is simple (although implementation may be really difficult). Is there more to it than looking at the known universe, looking again in 5 years, and then again in another 5 years and figure out if it has accelerated? (Aside from needing complex telescopes that can see into deep space?)
But you still left my 3 questions unanswered. Please, I really want to hear your conclusion... or at least your explanation:
1. A person's perception of time is hinged on the movement of molecules in their body? (Yes or no?) 2. Slow down electrons and molecules and you slow aging, as well as perception of time? (Yes or no?) 3. Moving an atom may affect speed of the electrons' orbit?
3's answer appears to have at least two outcomes (if you are traveling near the speed of light): If NO, then it means that at least for a part of an electron's orbit, it can travel faster than light can. If YES, then perhaps what I say is true?
I don't see how I tossed it all out. I am merely suggesting that there can be a universal clock and that time doesn't really tick differently anywhere -- only our mechanical measure of it. I am simply saying that how things age is more likely based on a function of movement's influence on their sub/atomic particles (whether that be an electron or simply how molecules interact), rather than creating a bubble of time that behaves differently from anywhere else.
If I interpret what you said correctly, you seem to indicate that the speed of light and time are locked together. I think perhaps they are not; and so light can be variable speed without time being variable.
It's like saying that a pot of water always takes 8 minutes to boil. But in the mountains, time must be elastic since water appears to take less time to boil. Well, obviously that's silly.
Could you not agree that a person's perception of time is certainly hinged on their molecular movement?
Stop (or almost stop) all the atoms in a person's body and I think the person would cease aging (or slowly age). And from their perspective, time would appear to speed up. Could you also agree to that?
Then could it not be at least possible that movement has some effect on the speed in which those sub/atomic particles move?
If you can agree to just those three things, then I suppose I have come up with an alternative to your understanding of Relativity.
And if you cannot agree, then it seems you have made it possible for electrons to move faster than light for at least half of their orbits when the atom is moving near-speed-of-light.
Incidentally, yes I am *skeptical* of a lot of established science. But all that means is that I leave room for a different possible explanation.
Consider, that in just my life time alone, I have seen science flip-flop from the notion that the universe is slowing its expansion and will one day implode on itself, to that the universe is actually speeding up its expansion and will never come back together. And that one seems like a relatively easy one to figure out!
A magical wind of aether that flows through the universe sounds like a good yarn to me. Maybe it is true; but didn't you know that Morley didn't even trust his own results of his experiments? He even built a special shed in case the aether was somehow being blocked by solid walls!
There's a lot of stuff I just can't believe as it is, simply because it seems unlikely and faddish to me. String theory is nonsensical to me. Some of the quantum theory. Anything to do with dark matter, dark energy. I'm not saying they're all wrong, I'm just saying they're at best incomplete and fatally flawed.
And some things just seem completely missing from our understanding of physics altogether; for example, every force seems to have a positive and negative... except gravity? I suppose it isn't described because it doesn't naturally occur (anywhere that we know of). Does that mean negative gravity doesn't exist?
I am not trying to attack your beliefs. But sometimes I can't discern some of this "science" as being taught any differently than religious zealotry when it is still, in fact, just theory.
I believe that the Theory of Relativity is slightly flawed.
I think that the reason time slows down the closer you get to the speed of light is simply this: You are made of atoms. Electrons whiz around the nucleus of atoms at roughly the speed of light. Well, if nothing can go faster than the speed of light, then think about what happens when the electron is on the side of the orbit that is traveling in the same direction as you -- at close to speed of light... that would put the speed of the electron over the speed of light (and that can't happen) so it maxes out. So, I think for that portion of the orbit, it has maximum speed (a speed limit, if you will) -- and from your perspective, the electron slows way down.
When it reaches the crest of the orbit, and goes back the other way, it doesn't try to make up for the difference; it just goes the speed of light relative to your velocity. So all of your atoms' electrons are oscillating (equally) from normal speed to slooooow speed, to normal speed. (Instead of sloooow speed to superfast to sloooow).
This is why it would affect your aging as well as your perception of time. Since, on the whole, your "clocks" are being slowed down (due to the electron speed limit), then also your perception of time would be sped up (that is, if you could see those events).
I think this allows for an absolute time. It is only your perception that has changed.
I think it would be similar to putting yourself into a slow stasis. To everyone else, you have become frozen. But to you, everyone else around you goes into hyper-speed. But did that change the real time in any way? No, just your perception of it.
I disagree with that. I believe it is absolutely possible to determine an order of events that occur no matter where they take place in the universe. I believe there really IS a "this exact moment in time" somewhere else, even millions of light years away. You just won't observe its events for... millions of years.
Really, all that must be done is simply to take into account the delay time for light to reach you, and subtract that amount from the time you observed the event. I can't see how it is any easier than that.
All time is really defined as "a sequence of events." And just because your clock gets messed up when it travels at the speed of light does not mean that time and events cannot be accurately measured.
If you work for the military and build web-apps, you don't get a choice between the two. (And it isn't Linux.)
Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised they even had PHP configured on their boxes at all (I thought it was only ASP at first). And a pretty up-to-date version as well.
I am not a superstar programmer (by a long shot), so I probably am not the type you are looking for...
However, I am a creative mind and I solve problems, and some of it requires programming. I guess people would call me a "generalist." I'm paid fairly well and I enjoy my job (so I'm not looking right now).
So when I'm looking for work, here's my dilemma: When I see a posting for a job, there are three things that keep me from wasting my time of even submitting a resume:
1. The company didn't print the compensation amount. (Why would I apply for a job that pays half what I make now?) Be up-front with what you pay so I know what to expect. You'll get less noise, and I'll waste less time. And don't give a range like $50K - $75K. We both know that means $50K.
2. They leave out some important details of what the job really entails. Using anecdotal examples does wonders for me.
3. They require some credential/certificate (that usually isn't even necessary) before they would even look at my resume anyway.
If companies would just say what it is they want done, how senior of a person they want doing it, and how much they are going to pay, then I could reduce your noise by either sending a resume or not.
Whew! Your summary is still too long. I got half-way through and got distracted. I don't have all day to read, ya know! Could you summarize that in 10 words or less? Just gimme the skinny.
How about for everyone who wants to be censored, Utah sends them a special "Internet On A CD" CD. That way when you get asked, "Do you have the Internet on this computer?" you can show them your CD. You don't even have to have a modem or anything to "get connected!"
So what's on the CD? All kinds of Internet stuff!
First, it would have its own personal web server serving up searches from google. Except, every time you search for something, it lists a bunch of web sites that when you click on them, says "404 not found." Or if you have FireFox, it will just wait and wait and wait and wait, but it will indicate it is waiting for "googlesyndication.com" at the bottom. You can also click on the cached version, but it will just say that "visiting this site might harm your computer." Except two sites: icanhascheezburger.com and youtube. But only a few small videos from youtube (has to fit on the CD). Everytime you do a search in youtube, it will just list all of the videos (even if they have nothing to do with your search). (Just like it is now!)
For the file sharers, it comes with a version of KaZaa. You can search for ANYTHING and it will be found. Everything you want! Music, software, pr0n even. And you don't even have to share anything. When you click to download it though, it will just slowly go a few bytes at a time... never really reaching 100%. Maybe it will crap out at 13%... maybe 99%. Who knows! (Going for reality here.)
Maybe you want to chat? So it comes with a version of mIRC... you join the IRC server, and you look for a channel... there's a channel for EVERYTHING! So you join the channel and there is a conversation going on. Maybe it's even interesting. So you want to join in and message something... but you're completely ignored. Maybe they kick you (for no reason). Isn't this how IRC really is?
What about FTP? Yeah! It comes with both a server *and* a client! And when you connect to this server, you'll find every file you've ever wanted in the past (because it will be your harddrive you're looking at).
Oh I almost forgot about email. Well, mostly you will just get simulated spam. But if you want to send email to someone you know, you can... but (since it doesn't *actually* send anything at all), it will just seem like your message got caught in their spam filter. You know, basically simulating how it all works now.
Utah could even send out updated versions every month with different youtube videos, web sites you can access, different chat people/conversations, and new files to (not) download from your KaZaa.
Well... now that the statute of limitations has passed... I suppose I can fess up...
I had a couple of... I dunno, "trojans" they'd be called now... back in 1992:
Remember the game "Lemmings?" Well, I had a copy and added my own ingredients and uploaded to a BBS. My version would look at the amount of disk space, subtract 64Kb, then make a file called DBLSPAC.BIN that size and make it hidden/system/read-only. So that left you with 64Kb of disk space -- just enough to load Win 3.1. So it could basically eat up to two gigs in a fraction of a second, leaving you wondering where your space went.
Another version I had replaced WIN.COM with its own version that just basically dropped you to a DOS prompt with an error message. So what's the first thing you'd do? DIR, right? So it would list the contents of the directory... then delete them! Meanwhile, you're changing directories and listing contents (and deleting them).
I gave up destructive crap like that when I forgot what that file did, and ran it myself (oopsie).
And I cannot believe that you and I are the only ones who have thought that... but why then is there such a lack of visible AI that takes any of that into consideration?
The other problem that also exists is the lack of the machine's ability to imagine a next logical step in a process, when the end result is not really known. Or; to realize facts that aren't explicitly given. Why is that important? Because when people speak, they do not include all the necessary facts to deduce the meaning. Perhaps the fact has already been stated in a previous sentence or paragraph. Or perhaps it's just human common knowledge. But for the correct translation, that fact might be necessary for correct translation.
I think of a time when I was trying to translate the rules for Yahtzee into Russian. I didn't even get close! (According to my real-live human translator). The translation system kept translating "points" roughly to "glasses" (spectacles). Even though I knew what it was doing, I could not come up with another word to describe the concept of "points" as it pertained to "game."
Real AI should have known that the subject was "game" and not "seeing" and been able to deduce the correct word.
And yes, culture was also a big problem -- it is a big problem in telling jokes in another language. Perhaps if you have someone who can translate well, they *might* possibly be able to translate your joke, but not usually well.
Or take a play on words: "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." In Russian, it loses all meaning.
Anyway, this is a subject of much interest to me. And I've often wondered if there were any kind of database that could assist in an AI's learning, and what it might look like (at least specifically to language).
Say what you want about any language, any database, any scripting... but I have always said: if you have decided that you want to learn that language, then first find out what its capabilities are (do your best to understand their limitations), but come up with a big project that you want to do.
That is how I learned PHP, Javascript, and SQL simultaneously. I decided I wanted a web site that was database-driven and would stream MP3's. I knew what needed to be done, but I didn't always know how. I found people's examples on PHP.net very helpful, and went off on all kinds of tangents reading "Oh, hey if you have this situation, watch out for this...."
Now I can actually do stuff without having to look up function names all the time (though I still have to occasionally).
What did it get me? Well it got me off the telephone with a nice paying job that nearly doubled my salary, and to-date I'm about the best guy I know who does this sort of stuff. (Please don't take me wrong... I know there are people far more proficient at this than me; I'm not saying I'm the best -- just better than 90% of the industry out there, and I am creating useful things.)
1. Real quick one (works in any version of Windows) Disable the screensaver, then open a command prompt. Type "PROMPT Error 144 - System Failure, System Halted" and press 'enter', CLS 'enter'. Press ALT+ENTER (for full-screen) and walk away.
2. This one worked in Win95/Win98/WinME: Download REBOOT.COM. Rename it to MOUSE.COM. Put in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Hours of fun. (They almost NEVER figured that one out.)
3. Challenge someone to fix this problem: Drag your Windows folder into another folder and shut off the machine. (Yes, it can be fixed, but not by any way you're thinking of. And XCOPY and MOVE aren't the answer.)
4. In a lab one time, I swapped all the neighbors mouses and keyboards with each other (leaving them plugged in to the correct machines). Worked better than I expected.
5. If your friend has a computer with a bootable floppy drive, download the Win 3.1 that fits on a floppy disk and leave it in the A: drive. (You could probably adapt it easily for a bootable CD.) The look on their face when they discover they now have Windows 3.1 is priceless (only temporary, of course).
6. My crowning achievement was when I was in college ca. 1994; the computer lab had the old 486s with the Novell application launcher, I suppose so they could manage licenses better. Well, one day I found that they had left the temporary shares open to the entire 2GB (instead of the 10MB they should have). So, I set to work in VBASIC carefully re-creating the colorful menu. Every detail down to the exact spec was duplicated. You couldn't tell my version apart from the real one.
Except mine had a couple of nasty habits: 1. no matter what application you would pick (usually WordPerfect 5.1), it would prompt you to put in your floppy disk and press ENTER. Then, I would write a byte, delete the byte, write a byte, delete a byte -- just to make the drive light come on... and then display on the screen: "Formatting disk... 14%... 36%... 63%...87%... FINISHED!" And then leave you back at the menu. Right around term paper time, the looks on peoples faces was priceless.
2. When the machine was idle, it just continually saved 32KB chunks to the share with random file names. Get about 10 of these going and I had brought the application server to a SCREECHING HALT. You couldn't start apps. You couldn't exit them. 300 people were dead in the water.
Toward the end of the hour I had them digging in the floors looking for cabling problems. Inadvertently, they shut off power to an entire wing, pulled the cable up, said "ah... it was missing a terminator" and turned everything back on. Funny how it works now.
Now I should point out... I have said all that to say this: I don't pull pranks like this anymore (unless it's someone who really deserves it). The reason is that now that I'm older and wiser, I realize it's hard enough to keep computers running as it is. No honor in abusing the weak.
I would like to talk to you some time about AI in translation software. After studying several languages, I cannot see how we will ever achieve automatic translators without AI. There are too many synonyms for things that you want to say; it is difficult enough to use an automatic translator to say what you meant without becoming garbled.
I believe that an automated translator must first understand the original text, parse it into an abstract idea, and then translate that to the target language (not simply source language to target language). To do that, means it must understand context. To do that, it must understand what subject we are talking about now, and understand attributes of objects in the subject (even though those attributes were not mentioned). And I'm not even bringing up the understanding of the social situation necessary for the right pronouns (such as which form of "you" and "your" you should use).
This is why we still don't have a decent Chatbot. Because a chatbot only responds to likely responses. It has no concept of the current "subject", so it consequently renders back irrelevant statements.
Hm. That's funny... my personal tests conclude that my performance is better without Vista than with it.
Running Vista is a lot like trying to run a foot race in a swimming pool while wearing balls-and-chains on your feet. And then when you get to the end, a big fat lady grabs you out of the water and sits on your chest.
See, if you had just a little bit more beefy hardware, you'd barely even feel the chains.
What they want is a giant jukebox that they control, that plays tunes at your request, but there's no way to record the audio in any way. Preferably, you wouldn't even be able to remember it so you can't whistle it. Oh and they want you to pay $1 every time you play, and they want to pay the artist only $.01 and the content provider $.01.
What am I thinking. They don't want to pay the artist or the content provider anything at all.
Slashdot Mirror
Dark Helmet: "So the combination is one, two, three, four, five? That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life! The kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!"
...
President Skroob: "1 2 3 4 5? That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage!"
There is no need to be rude; please keep it light.
The forces I was referring to were electrical, magnetic, and gravitational. (Yes, OK, I know there are many other forces than that. What is the opposite of frictional force?)
I did not mean to imply that light does not have a variable speed. Indeed it does; we know it travels slower through glass than through a vacuum. I am saying that perhaps it isn't coupled with time.
'Easy to figure out...' I did say "seems." And I think the concept is simple (although implementation may be really difficult). Is there more to it than looking at the known universe, looking again in 5 years, and then again in another 5 years and figure out if it has accelerated? (Aside from needing complex telescopes that can see into deep space?)
But you still left my 3 questions unanswered. Please, I really want to hear your conclusion... or at least your explanation:
1. A person's perception of time is hinged on the movement of molecules in their body? (Yes or no?)
2. Slow down electrons and molecules and you slow aging, as well as perception of time? (Yes or no?)
3. Moving an atom may affect speed of the electrons' orbit?
3's answer appears to have at least two outcomes (if you are traveling near the speed of light):
If NO, then it means that at least for a part of an electron's orbit, it can travel faster than light can.
If YES, then perhaps what I say is true?
Or ??
I don't see how I tossed it all out. I am merely suggesting that there can be a universal clock and that time doesn't really tick differently anywhere -- only our mechanical measure of it. I am simply saying that how things age is more likely based on a function of movement's influence on their sub/atomic particles (whether that be an electron or simply how molecules interact), rather than creating a bubble of time that behaves differently from anywhere else.
If I interpret what you said correctly, you seem to indicate that the speed of light and time are locked together. I think perhaps they are not; and so light can be variable speed without time being variable.
It's like saying that a pot of water always takes 8 minutes to boil. But in the mountains, time must be elastic since water appears to take less time to boil. Well, obviously that's silly.
Could you not agree that a person's perception of time is certainly hinged on their molecular movement?
Stop (or almost stop) all the atoms in a person's body and I think the person would cease aging (or slowly age). And from their perspective, time would appear to speed up. Could you also agree to that?
Then could it not be at least possible that movement has some effect on the speed in which those sub/atomic particles move?
If you can agree to just those three things, then I suppose I have come up with an alternative to your understanding of Relativity.
And if you cannot agree, then it seems you have made it possible for electrons to move faster than light for at least half of their orbits when the atom is moving near-speed-of-light.
Incidentally, yes I am *skeptical* of a lot of established science. But all that means is that I leave room for a different possible explanation.
Consider, that in just my life time alone, I have seen science flip-flop from the notion that the universe is slowing its expansion and will one day implode on itself, to that the universe is actually speeding up its expansion and will never come back together. And that one seems like a relatively easy one to figure out!
A magical wind of aether that flows through the universe sounds like a good yarn to me. Maybe it is true; but didn't you know that Morley didn't even trust his own results of his experiments? He even built a special shed in case the aether was somehow being blocked by solid walls!
There's a lot of stuff I just can't believe as it is, simply because it seems unlikely and faddish to me. String theory is nonsensical to me. Some of the quantum theory. Anything to do with dark matter, dark energy. I'm not saying they're all wrong, I'm just saying they're at best incomplete and fatally flawed.
And some things just seem completely missing from our understanding of physics altogether; for example, every force seems to have a positive and negative... except gravity? I suppose it isn't described because it doesn't naturally occur (anywhere that we know of). Does that mean negative gravity doesn't exist?
I am not trying to attack your beliefs. But sometimes I can't discern some of this "science" as being taught any differently than religious zealotry when it is still, in fact, just theory.
What a great "call" on the judge's part.
It was even "collect."
Classic.
OK, sine you asked.
I believe that the Theory of Relativity is slightly flawed.
I think that the reason time slows down the closer you get to the speed of light is simply this: You are made of atoms. Electrons whiz around the nucleus of atoms at roughly the speed of light. Well, if nothing can go faster than the speed of light, then think about what happens when the electron is on the side of the orbit that is traveling in the same direction as you -- at close to speed of light... that would put the speed of the electron over the speed of light (and that can't happen) so it maxes out. So, I think for that portion of the orbit, it has maximum speed (a speed limit, if you will) -- and from your perspective, the electron slows way down.
When it reaches the crest of the orbit, and goes back the other way, it doesn't try to make up for the difference; it just goes the speed of light relative to your velocity. So all of your atoms' electrons are oscillating (equally) from normal speed to slooooow speed, to normal speed. (Instead of sloooow speed to superfast to sloooow).
This is why it would affect your aging as well as your perception of time. Since, on the whole, your "clocks" are being slowed down (due to the electron speed limit), then also your perception of time would be sped up (that is, if you could see those events).
I think this allows for an absolute time. It is only your perception that has changed.
I think it would be similar to putting yourself into a slow stasis. To everyone else, you have become frozen. But to you, everyone else around you goes into hyper-speed. But did that change the real time in any way? No, just your perception of it.
But it's just an idea.
I disagree with that. I believe it is absolutely possible to determine an order of events that occur no matter where they take place in the universe. I believe there really IS a "this exact moment in time" somewhere else, even millions of light years away. You just won't observe its events for... millions of years.
Really, all that must be done is simply to take into account the delay time for light to reach you, and subtract that amount from the time you observed the event. I can't see how it is any easier than that.
All time is really defined as "a sequence of events." And just because your clock gets messed up when it travels at the speed of light does not mean that time and events cannot be accurately measured.
If you work for the military and build web-apps, you don't get a choice between the two. (And it isn't Linux.)
Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised they even had PHP configured on their boxes at all (I thought it was only ASP at first). And a pretty up-to-date version as well.
Although it was ten words, it seemed to have nothing to do with the article. :-(
I am not a superstar programmer (by a long shot), so I probably am not the type you are looking for...
However, I am a creative mind and I solve problems, and some of it requires programming. I guess people would call me a "generalist." I'm paid fairly well and I enjoy my job (so I'm not looking right now).
So when I'm looking for work, here's my dilemma: When I see a posting for a job, there are three things that keep me from wasting my time of even submitting a resume:
1. The company didn't print the compensation amount. (Why would I apply for a job that pays half what I make now?) Be up-front with what you pay so I know what to expect. You'll get less noise, and I'll waste less time. And don't give a range like $50K - $75K. We both know that means $50K.
2. They leave out some important details of what the job really entails. Using anecdotal examples does wonders for me.
3. They require some credential/certificate (that usually isn't even necessary) before they would even look at my resume anyway.
If companies would just say what it is they want done, how senior of a person they want doing it, and how much they are going to pay, then I could reduce your noise by either sending a resume or not.
Whew! Your summary is still too long. I got half-way through and got distracted. I don't have all day to read, ya know! Could you summarize that in 10 words or less? Just gimme the skinny.
"Aw, shucks... you guessed it! Now I have to stop the simulation and start over."
-God
They turk are jabs!!!
I know that in a certain Soviet Russia, you take anti-depressants.
(please laugh)
I heard that in Soviet Russia... (scratches head), wait... how exactly would it work in Soviet Russia?
Ohhh... shape CHANGING... heh heh... I read shape *charging*.
Yes, that probably is better.
Hey, I've got a new idea:
How about for everyone who wants to be censored, Utah sends them a special "Internet On A CD" CD. That way when you get asked, "Do you have the Internet on this computer?" you can show them your CD. You don't even have to have a modem or anything to "get connected!"
So what's on the CD? All kinds of Internet stuff!
First, it would have its own personal web server serving up searches from google. Except, every time you search for something, it lists a bunch of web sites that when you click on them, says "404 not found." Or if you have FireFox, it will just wait and wait and wait and wait, but it will indicate it is waiting for "googlesyndication.com" at the bottom. You can also click on the cached version, but it will just say that "visiting this site might harm your computer." Except two sites: icanhascheezburger.com and youtube. But only a few small videos from youtube (has to fit on the CD). Everytime you do a search in youtube, it will just list all of the videos (even if they have nothing to do with your search). (Just like it is now!)
For the file sharers, it comes with a version of KaZaa. You can search for ANYTHING and it will be found. Everything you want! Music, software, pr0n even. And you don't even have to share anything. When you click to download it though, it will just slowly go a few bytes at a time... never really reaching 100%. Maybe it will crap out at 13%... maybe 99%. Who knows! (Going for reality here.)
Maybe you want to chat? So it comes with a version of mIRC... you join the IRC server, and you look for a channel... there's a channel for EVERYTHING! So you join the channel and there is a conversation going on. Maybe it's even interesting. So you want to join in and message something... but you're completely ignored. Maybe they kick you (for no reason). Isn't this how IRC really is?
What about FTP? Yeah! It comes with both a server *and* a client! And when you connect to this server, you'll find every file you've ever wanted in the past (because it will be your harddrive you're looking at).
Oh I almost forgot about email. Well, mostly you will just get simulated spam. But if you want to send email to someone you know, you can... but (since it doesn't *actually* send anything at all), it will just seem like your message got caught in their spam filter. You know, basically simulating how it all works now.
Utah could even send out updated versions every month with different youtube videos, web sites you can access, different chat people/conversations, and new files to (not) download from your KaZaa.
What do you think?
Well... now that the statute of limitations has passed... I suppose I can fess up...
I had a couple of... I dunno, "trojans" they'd be called now... back in 1992:
Remember the game "Lemmings?" Well, I had a copy and added my own ingredients and uploaded to a BBS. My version would look at the amount of disk space, subtract 64Kb, then make a file called DBLSPAC.BIN that size and make it hidden/system/read-only. So that left you with 64Kb of disk space -- just enough to load Win 3.1. So it could basically eat up to two gigs in a fraction of a second, leaving you wondering where your space went.
Another version I had replaced WIN.COM with its own version that just basically dropped you to a DOS prompt with an error message. So what's the first thing you'd do? DIR, right? So it would list the contents of the directory... then delete them! Meanwhile, you're changing directories and listing contents (and deleting them).
I gave up destructive crap like that when I forgot what that file did, and ran it myself (oopsie).
Yes! I have also thought most of that as well!
And I cannot believe that you and I are the only ones who have thought that... but why then is there such a lack of visible AI that takes any of that into consideration?
The other problem that also exists is the lack of the machine's ability to imagine a next logical step in a process, when the end result is not really known. Or; to realize facts that aren't explicitly given. Why is that important? Because when people speak, they do not include all the necessary facts to deduce the meaning. Perhaps the fact has already been stated in a previous sentence or paragraph. Or perhaps it's just human common knowledge. But for the correct translation, that fact might be necessary for correct translation.
I think of a time when I was trying to translate the rules for Yahtzee into Russian. I didn't even get close! (According to my real-live human translator). The translation system kept translating "points" roughly to "glasses" (spectacles). Even though I knew what it was doing, I could not come up with another word to describe the concept of "points" as it pertained to "game."
Real AI should have known that the subject was "game" and not "seeing" and been able to deduce the correct word.
And yes, culture was also a big problem -- it is a big problem in telling jokes in another language. Perhaps if you have someone who can translate well, they *might* possibly be able to translate your joke, but not usually well.
Or take a play on words: "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." In Russian, it loses all meaning.
Anyway, this is a subject of much interest to me. And I've often wondered if there were any kind of database that could assist in an AI's learning, and what it might look like (at least specifically to language).
Cheers,
Say what you want about any language, any database, any scripting... but I have always said: if you have decided that you want to learn that language, then first find out what its capabilities are (do your best to understand their limitations), but come up with a big project that you want to do.
That is how I learned PHP, Javascript, and SQL simultaneously. I decided I wanted a web site that was database-driven and would stream MP3's. I knew what needed to be done, but I didn't always know how. I found people's examples on PHP.net very helpful, and went off on all kinds of tangents reading "Oh, hey if you have this situation, watch out for this...."
Now I can actually do stuff without having to look up function names all the time (though I still have to occasionally).
What did it get me? Well it got me off the telephone with a nice paying job that nearly doubled my salary, and to-date I'm about the best guy I know who does this sort of stuff. (Please don't take me wrong... I know there are people far more proficient at this than me; I'm not saying I'm the best -- just better than 90% of the industry out there, and I am creating useful things.)
I owe it all to that one project I decided to do.
Oh I have a few pranks I've pulled I'll share...
1. Real quick one (works in any version of Windows)
Disable the screensaver, then open a command prompt. Type "PROMPT Error 144 - System Failure, System Halted" and press 'enter', CLS 'enter'. Press ALT+ENTER (for full-screen) and walk away.
2. This one worked in Win95/Win98/WinME:
Download REBOOT.COM. Rename it to MOUSE.COM. Put in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Hours of fun. (They almost NEVER figured that one out.)
3. Challenge someone to fix this problem: Drag your Windows folder into another folder and shut off the machine. (Yes, it can be fixed, but not by any way you're thinking of. And XCOPY and MOVE aren't the answer.)
4. In a lab one time, I swapped all the neighbors mouses and keyboards with each other (leaving them plugged in to the correct machines). Worked better than I expected.
5. If your friend has a computer with a bootable floppy drive, download the Win 3.1 that fits on a floppy disk and leave it in the A: drive. (You could probably adapt it easily for a bootable CD.) The look on their face when they discover they now have Windows 3.1 is priceless (only temporary, of course).
6. My crowning achievement was when I was in college ca. 1994; the computer lab had the old 486s with the Novell application launcher, I suppose so they could manage licenses better. Well, one day I found that they had left the temporary shares open to the entire 2GB (instead of the 10MB they should have). So, I set to work in VBASIC carefully re-creating the colorful menu. Every detail down to the exact spec was duplicated. You couldn't tell my version apart from the real one.
Except mine had a couple of nasty habits: 1. no matter what application you would pick (usually WordPerfect 5.1), it would prompt you to put in your floppy disk and press ENTER. Then, I would write a byte, delete the byte, write a byte, delete a byte -- just to make the drive light come on... and then display on the screen: "Formatting disk... 14%... 36%... 63%...87%... FINISHED!" And then leave you back at the menu. Right around term paper time, the looks on peoples faces was priceless.
2. When the machine was idle, it just continually saved 32KB chunks to the share with random file names. Get about 10 of these going and I had brought the application server to a SCREECHING HALT. You couldn't start apps. You couldn't exit them. 300 people were dead in the water.
Toward the end of the hour I had them digging in the floors looking for cabling problems. Inadvertently, they shut off power to an entire wing, pulled the cable up, said "ah... it was missing a terminator" and turned everything back on. Funny how it works now.
Now I should point out... I have said all that to say this: I don't pull pranks like this anymore (unless it's someone who really deserves it). The reason is that now that I'm older and wiser, I realize it's hard enough to keep computers running as it is. No honor in abusing the weak.
I would like to talk to you some time about AI in translation software. After studying several languages, I cannot see how we will ever achieve automatic translators without AI. There are too many synonyms for things that you want to say; it is difficult enough to use an automatic translator to say what you meant without becoming garbled.
I believe that an automated translator must first understand the original text, parse it into an abstract idea, and then translate that to the target language (not simply source language to target language). To do that, means it must understand context. To do that, it must understand what subject we are talking about now, and understand attributes of objects in the subject (even though those attributes were not mentioned). And I'm not even bringing up the understanding of the social situation necessary for the right pronouns (such as which form of "you" and "your" you should use).
This is why we still don't have a decent Chatbot. Because a chatbot only responds to likely responses. It has no concept of the current "subject", so it consequently renders back irrelevant statements.
Anyway... just an idea or two.
No, it's OK. "Xenu do" was already a movie from the 80's starring Olivia Newton-John.
Hm. That's funny... my personal tests conclude that my performance is better without Vista than with it.
Running Vista is a lot like trying to run a foot race in a swimming pool while wearing balls-and-chains on your feet. And then when you get to the end, a big fat lady grabs you out of the water and sits on your chest.
See, if you had just a little bit more beefy hardware, you'd barely even feel the chains.
Oh shoot it wasn't a car analogy.
What they want is a giant jukebox that they control, that plays tunes at your request, but there's no way to record the audio in any way. Preferably, you wouldn't even be able to remember it so you can't whistle it. Oh and they want you to pay $1 every time you play, and they want to pay the artist only $.01 and the content provider $.01.
What am I thinking. They don't want to pay the artist or the content provider anything at all.