" First of all, it is a free browser, they have no obligation to fix anything."
Ergo no sense of responsibility to the end user. Ergo the end user has to put up, shut up, or fix it him/herself. Wow, that is sure different from Microsoft's approach.
So, at a time of heightened awareness/paranoia of potential terrorist threats, some fellows get pinched as they good-naturedly map out a government security system. And they are surprised at the official reaction? Is joke, yes?
The article takes pains to point out all the worries there are. What was not mentioned was:
a) computers don't tire - so expect more consistent grading on punctuation, grammar, etc. for the first paper and the last;
b) computers don't hate - some students are smart but behaviourally challenged which prejudices graders. Now they can be assessed fairly on the quality of their work not their attitude (or perceived attitude).
c) computers can spot plagiarism - rather more easily than humans. Especially tired overworked humans.
d) computers can keep ahead of cheats - unless a student has access to the grader, it would be a long time to come up with a scheme to fool it. As the system evolves over time it could presumably always be a step ahead.
It can only be a good thing as we get humans out of the grading loop. Of course, the brown-nosers will have a hard time of it. Sucking up to a computer?
Third largest super computer and for what? Entertainment. I don't know, it just seems like a skewed sense of priorities. Cancer research, fusion research, any number of possible alternative uses come to mind.
The article spoke of drawing additional computing power from other sources (à la grid computing). I didn't see a mention of it offering any computer power to anyone during their business "troughs".
Accuracy can be degraded with a single GPS. Differential GPS has one stationary receiver with a known position. It monitors the error of the GPS signal and transmits the error to other receivers in the vicinity. Consequently even DoD's Selective Availability Error can be overcome. Read more here.
So it would be way more efficient to put in a little differential GPS receiver than to try and do some of the image processing suggested in the article... which has to be good only if you're near a landmark or something. The article downplays the magnitude of the recognition problem signigicantly.
Debrief or not, one would have expected some mention on the Scaled Composites homepage that the test had taken place. The last announcement came out the same day. No doubt they got the licence but maybe the rest is just a hoax by someone to shake up the competition.
... to participate in the patent process? Specifically, could you get the info posted on/. into the hands of the appropriate examiner? After seeing these stories so frequently over the years it seems that the examiners could use some guidance.
When the laser scanners were coming out, everybody was saying, retailers are going to collect information about what you buy. And none of that happened.
Uh... yes they do collect information about what you buy. Furthermore, they use the information to lay a map of where you've been in the store. The information so gathered is then used to identify the optimal placement of products for exposure. And how is this collated to you? Via your credit/debit card number. The stats collected are sufficient to determine attributes such as, say, probable gender to the credit card even if they couldn't gather it from your name, etc. Frequency of purchases, location of purchases, dates of purchases, all come together to make a very accurate picture of the individual let alone the population. Dude, Walmart is one of the biggest employers of data miners in the world! Where have you been?
In fact, all the existing electronic conveniences have made tracking you so easy that it is foolish to think anything new will compromise you further. You are compromised. Face it and proceed from that fundamental assumption.
Know what's hilarious: people will agonize over the release of minor personal info electronically and yet they will happily fill out written contest forms requesting far more intrusive info such as age, address, phone #, email, and numeracy level. How's that last one? The little math problem you have to do for some contests provides a small insight into your eduction level!
If we wanted to build a bona fide organic human brain, yes we would need to quantify not only the brain's elemental composition but also how it functions. You are right in that it clearly seems beyond our reach to do that.
But AI isn't about building an organic brain. It simply seeks to replicate the output on a particular level i.e. not at the neuronal level but at the behavioural level say. To achieve the latter do we need to understand the deep functioning of the brain? There seems to be no compelling reason. And fundamentally, AI has to work with the materials available i.e. silicon and metal and our concept of logic. Organic systems evolved to suit their medium. We can't (at the moment) use that medium so we can only expect to have to find an alternative means to the same end. Sort of like fixed wings and airfoils vice flapping wings of bone and feathers.
As for the "trickery and deterministic patterns", that's human arrogance at work. How do you know that that isn't all there is to it? You don't. There is such a problem with the definition of intelligence that it actually makes benchmarking quite... impossible. Do a Google search on the topic.
What is particularly nice to see is that the "oragutan" has learned over a long time period. It still mystifies me why we expect to achieve learning in short time frames (see all the arguments about how neural networks take too long to train). A human child using the most sophisticated natural computer (the brain) still takes years to grasp all the basic elements needed for survival. Heck, the Darwin awards show that decades is often not sufficient for adequate human learning.
... e.g. kiddie porn? If it were there would be a very tangible benefit. Unfortunately, there would also be very tangible lawsuits and the criminal lawyers would have a field day.
Simply take a vocal sample of the person of interest. Now think your words and with a little quick signal processing out comes the voice of the person of interest speaking your words. Fun at parties and for police mounting "sting" operations. Possibly could render recorded conversations inadmissible as evidence.
.... was the fate of Shannon. He is the father/creator of information theory which he shared with the world in a brilliant paper. He was afflicted by Alzheimer's disease, and he spent his last few years in a Massachusetts nursing home.
Why doesn't the coalition go further and really wire the country. Wifi, cell phones, and cheap, cheap, cheap computers. Get the country on line in a big way. Heck, get them hooked on it.
On the plus side, you get all the advantages of digital media including media/government information dissemination, and the warm and cosy that people get by being able to get in touch with one another.
On the down side you might think that it would help the rebel types BUT if they adopt the 'net for communications and organization, they can be very easily monitored. Picture RIAA but against rebels vice downloaders.
Hey, the country is rebuilding its infrastructure. Why not give them a leap ahead to win their hearts and minds?
There are a number of these out there. However on the Knoppix forums there have been several calls for a Knoppix that will do FW and routing as well as all the other apps. This doesn't seem to be getting answered.
Will this FreeBSD live allow the setting up of a FW and internet sharing?
Are there any live CD's that are not exclusively FW/router but rather full-fledged OS and apps with an easily configured FW/router ability?
... because if Microsoft ever decides to make products for Linux, OSS will find itself relegated to the backwaters again. If a market develops that is large enough (because of all these cities switching to Linux) MS will be in like a dirty shirt... and since they know how to design GUI's (if not software) and address the needs of common users (however misguided), it will be all up with OSS hopes of breaking the MS stranglehold.
Here on/. years ago there was an article about Japanese researchers controlling cockroach movement with implants stimulating its brain. Perhaps now they could control bigger life forms....
NASA: "Look Spirit, your brother's already in his crater. Why can't you be more like him?"
Spirit: "Opportunity, this. Opportunity, that. You're always taking his side. At least I'm not like Beagle. Did you ever think of that?"
NASA: "Well that's enough out of you! Beagle isn't our problem, you are. And you could learn a thing or two from Opportunity. So you just get a move on and think about what I've said!"
Spirit: [grumbling and moving off at a snail's pace] Hey, 89 feet! Look at me, I'm just like Opportunity. Hey, 90 feet! Look at..."
About My Sig: So much commentary on that sig of mine (yours being the latest). All offer clarification of a process that is only postulated via inaccurate models (which the authors of those models will hasten to admit). " One of the projected effects of global warming..." indeed! The mind reels at the blind faith that motivates such comments.
About Coral: explain the link between the warm water corals and the malarial mosquitoes. Explain what in their environment is causing such a migration and explain why that environment is changing. What will be interesting is at what point you draw in "science by consensus" a la global warming, as in, "it is generally believed". You are quite close with "it appears likely" i.e. "we guess". Interesting food for thought: there is a very sparse mosquito population on southern Vancouver Island. Funny... warm current gives warm climate, lots of still water, forests... you would certainly guess there should be lots. Except the cycle of wet/dry weather is out of sync with that of the mosquito's reproductive cycle. What other effects aren't obvious to us?
Show the science. Explain. Give proof. If you don't have that, then its just another religious belief. Right up there with my gawd is better than your gawd.
... by a long shot. This concept first surfaced somewhere in the late seventies. The principle is correct however the implementation is problematic. The device needs to be in proximity to the larva or else acoustic levels have to be high enough that they do affect other insects, fish, etc. As I recall, the intitial experiments worked fine in an aquarium where acoustic properties were ideal for the purpose of concentrating the acoustic energy. (Note: after the blast the larvae keep rising to the surface with all appearance of normal breathing patterns, they just can't breath when they get there.) Not an issue for the storm drain and industrial setting. In the wetland scenario however the method is very inefficient (due to small area coverage) which means a lot of wasted resources (fuel) and disruption (vehicular traffic, etc) just getting the acoustic devices in place.
Now if in fact this was buggy code, and if Software Engineers are in fact part of the engineering profession, then a professional body should be taking the engineer(s) to task. This would be the same thing that would take place in the event that a civil engineer signed off on faulty building plans. But smart money says no software "engineer" will get nailed.
A look at the software industry will show this to be the norm. And that is why there is such a problem with having people claiming the title of "software engineer". "Engineer" doesn't just mean having the technical savvy, it also means having a responsibility to the public for the use of that knowledge and being beholden to a professional body charged with ensuring you are held accountable.
... he'll be able to detect the jerk who's trying to pass him, and really floor it.
Just seems like all these improvements just make people overly confident and hence reckless. Want safety? Hard wire vehicles to limit max speeds to 50.
Slashdot Mirror
" First of all, it is a free browser, they have no obligation to fix anything."
Ergo no sense of responsibility to the end user. Ergo the end user has to put up, shut up, or fix it him/herself. Wow, that is sure different from Microsoft's approach.
So, at a time of heightened awareness/paranoia of potential terrorist threats, some fellows get pinched as they good-naturedly map out a government security system. And they are surprised at the official reaction? Is joke, yes?
The article takes pains to point out all the worries there are. What was not mentioned was:
a) computers don't tire - so expect more consistent grading on punctuation, grammar, etc. for the first paper and the last;
b) computers don't hate - some students are smart but behaviourally challenged which prejudices graders. Now they can be assessed fairly on the quality of their work not their attitude (or perceived attitude).
c) computers can spot plagiarism - rather more easily than humans. Especially tired overworked humans.
d) computers can keep ahead of cheats - unless a student has access to the grader, it would be a long time to come up with a scheme to fool it. As the system evolves over time it could presumably always be a step ahead.
It can only be a good thing as we get humans out of the grading loop. Of course, the brown-nosers will have a hard time of it. Sucking up to a computer?
... umm, cooler.... really. For example, Winnipeg.
Third largest super computer and for what? Entertainment. I don't know, it just seems like a skewed sense of priorities. Cancer research, fusion research, any number of possible alternative uses come to mind.
The article spoke of drawing additional computing power from other sources (à la grid computing). I didn't see a mention of it offering any computer power to anyone during their business "troughs".
Accuracy can be degraded with a single GPS. Differential GPS has one stationary receiver with a known position. It monitors the error of the GPS signal and transmits the error to other receivers in the vicinity. Consequently even DoD's Selective Availability Error can be overcome. Read more here.
... which has to be good only if you're near a landmark or something. The article downplays the magnitude of the recognition problem signigicantly.
So it would be way more efficient to put in a little differential GPS receiver than to try and do some of the image processing suggested in the article
Debrief or not, one would have expected some mention on the Scaled Composites homepage that the test had taken place. The last announcement came out the same day. No doubt they got the licence but maybe the rest is just a hoax by someone to shake up the competition.
... to participate in the patent process? Specifically, could you get the info posted on /. into the hands of the appropriate examiner? After seeing these stories so frequently over the years it seems that the examiners could use some guidance.
When the laser scanners were coming out, everybody was saying, retailers are going to collect information about what you buy. And none of that happened.
... yes they do collect information about what you buy. Furthermore, they use the information to lay a map of where you've been in the store. The information so gathered is then used to identify the optimal placement of products for exposure. And how is this collated to you? Via your credit/debit card number. The stats collected are sufficient to determine attributes such as, say, probable gender to the credit card even if they couldn't gather it from your name, etc. Frequency of purchases, location of purchases, dates of purchases, all come together to make a very accurate picture of the individual let alone the population. Dude, Walmart is one of the biggest employers of data miners in the world! Where have you been?
Uh
In fact, all the existing electronic conveniences have made tracking you so easy that it is foolish to think anything new will compromise you further. You are compromised. Face it and proceed from that fundamental assumption.
Know what's hilarious: people will agonize over the release of minor personal info electronically and yet they will happily fill out written contest forms requesting far more intrusive info such as age, address, phone #, email, and numeracy level. How's that last one? The little math problem you have to do for some contests provides a small insight into your eduction level!
If we wanted to build a bona fide organic human brain, yes we would need to quantify not only the brain's elemental composition but also how it functions. You are right in that it clearly seems beyond our reach to do that.
... impossible. Do a Google search on the topic.
But AI isn't about building an organic brain. It simply seeks to replicate the output on a particular level i.e. not at the neuronal level but at the behavioural level say. To achieve the latter do we need to understand the deep functioning of the brain? There seems to be no compelling reason. And fundamentally, AI has to work with the materials available i.e. silicon and metal and our concept of logic. Organic systems evolved to suit their medium. We can't (at the moment) use that medium so we can only expect to have to find an alternative means to the same end. Sort of like fixed wings and airfoils vice flapping wings of bone and feathers.
As for the "trickery and deterministic patterns", that's human arrogance at work. How do you know that that isn't all there is to it? You don't. There is such a problem with the definition of intelligence that it actually makes benchmarking quite
What is particularly nice to see is that the "oragutan" has learned over a long time period. It still mystifies me why we expect to achieve learning in short time frames (see all the arguments about how neural networks take too long to train). A human child using the most sophisticated natural computer (the brain) still takes years to grasp all the basic elements needed for survival. Heck, the Darwin awards show that decades is often not sufficient for adequate human learning.
... e.g. kiddie porn? If it were there would be a very tangible benefit. Unfortunately, there would also be very tangible lawsuits and the criminal lawyers would have a field day.
... that hi tech is rocket science.
Simply take a vocal sample of the person of interest. Now think your words and with a little quick signal processing out comes the voice of the person of interest speaking your words. Fun at parties and for police mounting "sting" operations. Possibly could render recorded conversations inadmissible as evidence.
.... was the fate of Shannon. He is the father/creator of information theory which he shared with the world in a brilliant paper. He was afflicted by Alzheimer's disease, and he spent his last few years in a Massachusetts nursing home.
Why doesn't the coalition go further and really wire the country. Wifi, cell phones, and cheap, cheap, cheap computers. Get the country on line in a big way. Heck, get them hooked on it.
On the plus side, you get all the advantages of digital media including media/government information dissemination, and the warm and cosy that people get by being able to get in touch with one another.
On the down side you might think that it would help the rebel types BUT if they adopt the 'net for communications and organization, they can be very easily monitored. Picture RIAA but against rebels vice downloaders.
Hey, the country is rebuilding its infrastructure. Why not give them a leap ahead to win their hearts and minds?
I'm currently looking for calculus books in French geared towards students going for degrees in business, psychology, etc.
There are a number of these out there. However on the Knoppix forums there have been several calls for a Knoppix that will do FW and routing as well as all the other apps. This doesn't seem to be getting answered.
Will this FreeBSD live allow the setting up of a FW and internet sharing?
Are there any live CD's that are not exclusively FW/router but rather full-fledged OS and apps with an easily configured FW/router ability?
... because if Microsoft ever decides to make products for Linux, OSS will find itself relegated to the backwaters again. If a market develops that is large enough (because of all these cities switching to Linux) MS will be in like a dirty shirt ... and since they know how to design GUI's (if not software) and address the needs of common users (however misguided), it will be all up with OSS hopes of breaking the MS stranglehold.
Here on /. years ago there was an article about Japanese researchers controlling cockroach movement with implants stimulating its brain. Perhaps now they could control bigger life forms ....
NASA: "Look Spirit, your brother's already in his crater. Why can't you be more like him?"
..."
Spirit: "Opportunity, this. Opportunity, that. You're always taking his side. At least I'm not like Beagle. Did you ever think of that?"
NASA: "Well that's enough out of you! Beagle isn't our problem, you are. And you could learn a thing or two from Opportunity. So you just get a move on and think about what I've said!"
Spirit: [grumbling and moving off at a snail's pace] Hey, 89 feet! Look at me, I'm just like Opportunity. Hey, 90 feet! Look at
NASA: "We heard that!"
About My Sig: So much commentary on that sig of mine (yours being the latest). All offer clarification of a process that is only postulated via inaccurate models (which the authors of those models will hasten to admit). " One of the projected effects of global warming ..." indeed! The mind reels at the blind faith that motivates such comments.
... warm current gives warm climate, lots of still water, forests ... you would certainly guess there should be lots. Except the cycle of wet/dry weather is out of sync with that of the mosquito's reproductive cycle. What other effects aren't obvious to us?
About Coral: explain the link between the warm water corals and the malarial mosquitoes. Explain what in their environment is causing such a migration and explain why that environment is changing. What will be interesting is at what point you draw in "science by consensus" a la global warming, as in, "it is generally believed". You are quite close with "it appears likely" i.e. "we guess". Interesting food for thought: there is a very sparse mosquito population on southern Vancouver Island. Funny
Show the science. Explain. Give proof. If you don't have that, then its just another religious belief. Right up there with my gawd is better than your gawd.
... by a long shot. This concept first surfaced somewhere in the late seventies. The principle is correct however the implementation is problematic. The device needs to be in proximity to the larva or else acoustic levels have to be high enough that they do affect other insects, fish, etc. As I recall, the intitial experiments worked fine in an aquarium where acoustic properties were ideal for the purpose of concentrating the acoustic energy. (Note: after the blast the larvae keep rising to the surface with all appearance of normal breathing patterns, they just can't breath when they get there.) Not an issue for the storm drain and industrial setting. In the wetland scenario however the method is very inefficient (due to small area coverage) which means a lot of wasted resources (fuel) and disruption (vehicular traffic, etc) just getting the acoustic devices in place.
Now if in fact this was buggy code, and if Software Engineers are in fact part of the engineering profession, then a professional body should be taking the engineer(s) to task. This would be the same thing that would take place in the event that a civil engineer signed off on faulty building plans. But smart money says no software "engineer" will get nailed.
A look at the software industry will show this to be the norm. And that is why there is such a problem with having people claiming the title of "software engineer". "Engineer" doesn't just mean having the technical savvy, it also means having a responsibility to the public for the use of that knowledge and being beholden to a professional body charged with ensuring you are held accountable.
... he'll be able to detect the jerk who's trying to pass him, and really floor it.
Just seems like all these improvements just make people overly confident and hence reckless. Want safety? Hard wire vehicles to limit max speeds to 50.
It's Friday and you're on /. Fair bet the Friday productivity can't be blown much more.