As it turns out, I *am* computer savvy, and my first install of RedHat as a desktop machine lasted all of 2 hours. Some checkbox I unchecked (Nautilus?) left my system without a window manager. Goodbye, desktop! Everything's in the corner now, boy, and god help you figuring out what went wrong. Cue the reinstall!
I love Linux, and am very happy with it as my firewall/webserver/devbox, but my god, the desktop experience needs some work.
This may be true for some companies, but when I was working at a medium-small tech company, it was actually a really good thing. Every developer on a product had to spend some time on the backup line for tech support. This meant in practice 2-3 support calls a week, not too bad time wise. What was amazing was how quickly bugs got caught and fixed. And how focused the company became on the REAL (vs marketing-drivel-inspired) problems our customers were trying to solve.
It's certainly not a terrific one-size-fits-all solution, but as a way to hook into the actual customer base, it can't be beat.
"I am shocked that Tiscali... believes that by entering into an agreement with an unauthorized service it will promote the development of legitimate online offerings," said Jay Berman, chairman of the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a global music industry organization.
You have to love the guys protecting our musicians' rights to record, sell and distribute phonographic content! Let's here it for keeping up with the frickin' times.
I think this is exactly how it will play out in every case. It'll turn into a war of attrition, and the bad guys have many times the resources of the good guys, so the bad guys will win.
Guess it's time for all us CD-pirating scum to drain the coffers of those bad guys. I think I'll go steal 5 or 6 CD's worth of money from the RIAA right now. In a couple of weeks, they'll be broke!
Heh. You could almost make the case that games are not only not leading-edge artificial intelligence, they're proof positive that natural intelligence isn't all it's cracked up to be either, d00d.
Not only is this a brilliant way to get funding for "research" that only a 13-year-old Sims fan could love, but it's clear that they have no idea what they're talking about. A good example:
"Not only is the game development community at the forefront of PC-based visualization, it is also a leading developer of applied artificial intelligence... blah blah"
Hahahaha. As a game developer myself, I can tell you exactly how leading edge game AI is. Let's all say it together now... Table Lookups!
Woohoo. Games are games. Simulations are simulations. Games are fun, simulations are not.
These guys have pretty much aced everything they've done to date, and they're slowly but surely moving up the chipset food chain with their integrated motherboard work. I'm curious to see if they'll get involved in the race.
Oh yeah, and I'm not affiliated with/sleeping with/invested in NVidia or any of it's affiliate's, subsidiaries, secretaries... blah blah blah
Tell me how you really feel?:-) Ok, pick a less gruesome example then. I'm not a big fan myself. How about, "really going to see art in a museum teaches a hell of a lot more..."
It seems to me learning how to do things "the old fashioned way" is how we broaden our minds. A computer is a tool, and a narrow one, for interfacing with and manipulating certain types of information. As much as I love my Athlon 1800+, Photoshop is no substitute for for learning how to paint.
You exercise different parts of your brain doing different things, and much of art and engineering are built on the lessons we learned playing with clay, Lego's and blocks as children. Actually dissecting a frog teaches a hell of a lot more than using an "interactive" multimedia CD on the subject. Doing long-division by hand is the only way to really understand what that division key on the calculator really does.
Let's keep it real, folks.:-) That being said, typing classes should be mandated by law. Heheh.
That's the one.:-) Thanks, I'm going to go look it up again. Unfortunately, I recall the story hinging on a benevolent AI handling the needs-matching. But still, a cool idea for a transformative technology. I'm way into the idea of "always-on" interaction. Not point-to-point, user-driven stuff, like email/web/you-name-it, but more of a "set the state, let it run" kind of deal.
We're all still stuck in the telephone mindset. Now that we have always-on (mostly) connectivity, why not make something that uses that capability?
I love this idea, but it's hard to comment on without a little more guidance. What's the primary goal? Is it to foster technology prowess, or to build virtual communities, or education?
I'd be most interested in novel ways to have networked PDA's share info, like a peer-to-peer system. Maybe some sort of problem solving, where each person answers part of a complex question, and the correct result emerges from all the contributions?
I remember a story (by Bruce Sterling?) about a similar type of setup, where person X would advertise "I need something" and person Y would advertise "I have something", and their PDA's would notice the match and alert X and Y. There's a lot of good potential in such a system, and we haven't seen a lot of it in the real world yet.
> Some people wonder if we have got a Microsoft investment or
> contract (because I like this Microsoft technology). The answer
> is no. But I would take one if they wanted to fund my free
> software project;-) Man, I wonder what that would be like!
- Like being eaten alive by rabid hyenas
- Like being locked in a room where no one can hear you scream
- Like eating arsenic on your breakfast cereal
But thinking of all my female friends who've dated geeks, perhaps the most appropriate feeling would be... thankful.
:-)
Take notes, kids.
Re:I work in AI, and...
on
Arguing A.I.
·
· Score: 1
Um, I also have done AI-related research, and I'd like to point out that analogy is not proof. A hundred years ago, people were talking about humans as pistons and gears, and discussing how we were close to replacing people with machines. Now we hear the same thing about cpu's and ram and so forth, and people say "All we need is to find the right 80x86 architecture, plug in a lot of ram, and we have replaced people with computers!"
Which is a load of hooey. We don't, at heart, even understand the basics of what makes for intelligence. Until then, it's just muddling along waiting for enlightenment.
While it's true that IP-only companies aren't inherently flawed, the truth is valuable innovations stem from real-world problems, and the best solutions in the laboratory don't always (or often!) work in the land of fabs and mixed standards.
I'm all for concentrating on innovation, but getting your hands dirty might be the best way to do it.
Slashdot Mirror
As it turns out, I *am* computer savvy, and my first install of RedHat as a desktop machine lasted all of 2 hours. Some checkbox I unchecked (Nautilus?) left my system without a window manager. Goodbye, desktop! Everything's in the corner now, boy, and god help you figuring out what went wrong. Cue the reinstall!
I love Linux, and am very happy with it as my firewall/webserver/devbox, but my god, the desktop experience needs some work.
This may be true for some companies, but when I was working at a medium-small tech company, it was actually a really good thing. Every developer on a product had to spend some time on the backup line for tech support. This meant in practice 2-3 support calls a week, not too bad time wise. What was amazing was how quickly bugs got caught and fixed. And how focused the company became on the REAL (vs marketing-drivel-inspired) problems our customers were trying to solve.
It's certainly not a terrific one-size-fits-all solution, but as a way to hook into the actual customer base, it can't be beat.
Actually, they thaw nicely in the blinkin' hot noodles. :-)
I think this is exactly how it will play out in every case. It'll turn into a war of attrition, and the bad guys have many times the resources of the good guys, so the bad guys will win.
Guess it's time for all us CD-pirating scum to drain the coffers of those bad guys. I think I'll go steal 5 or 6 CD's worth of money from the RIAA right now. In a couple of weeks, they'll be broke!
Right? Uh...
A variation on the same that is tasty, nutritious, and 1/2 the work, which presumably makes it more kitchen-hackable:
;-)
1 box Kraft Deluxe Mac & "Cheese"
1 can light tunafish
1 packet onion soup (dried, you know)
1/2 bag frozen peas
Cook mac & cheese as normal. When adding cheese at final step, also add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly, serve and eat.
No preheating needed.
Heh. You could almost make the case that games are not only not leading-edge artificial intelligence, they're proof positive that natural intelligence isn't all it's cracked up to be either, d00d.
Not only is this a brilliant way to get funding for "research" that only a 13-year-old Sims fan could love, but it's clear that they have no idea what they're talking about. A good example:
"Not only is the game development community at the forefront of PC-based visualization, it is also a leading developer of applied artificial intelligence... blah blah"
Hahahaha. As a game developer myself, I can tell you exactly how leading edge game AI is. Let's all say it together now... Table Lookups!
Woohoo. Games are games. Simulations are simulations. Games are fun, simulations are not.
Bleh.
These guys have pretty much aced everything they've done to date, and they're slowly but surely moving up the chipset food chain with their integrated motherboard work. I'm curious to see if they'll get involved in the race.
Oh yeah, and I'm not affiliated with/sleeping with/invested in NVidia or any of it's affiliate's, subsidiaries, secretaries... blah blah blah
Quantum computing, 2007.
;)
Bet on it.
Tell me how you really feel? :-) Ok, pick a less gruesome example then. I'm not a big fan myself. How about, "really going to see art in a museum teaches a hell of a lot more..."
It seems to me learning how to do things "the old fashioned way" is how we broaden our minds. A computer is a tool, and a narrow one, for interfacing with and manipulating certain types of information. As much as I love my Athlon 1800+, Photoshop is no substitute for for learning how to paint.
:-) That being said, typing classes should be mandated by law. Heheh.
You exercise different parts of your brain doing different things, and much of art and engineering are built on the lessons we learned playing with clay, Lego's and blocks as children. Actually dissecting a frog teaches a hell of a lot more than using an "interactive" multimedia CD on the subject. Doing long-division by hand is the only way to really understand what that division key on the calculator really does.
Let's keep it real, folks.
The best kind are special hard-cover versions, or leather-bound, or signed by the author, or first run...
I once got "The Hobbit" collector's edition version as a gift (birthday, in this case) and it's still a prized possession.
Of course, my wife "leather-bound" wouldn't be too bad either.
Incoming!!!! (Ducks thrown pillow)
That's the one. :-) Thanks, I'm going to go look it up again. Unfortunately, I recall the story hinging on a benevolent AI handling the needs-matching. But still, a cool idea for a transformative technology. I'm way into the idea of "always-on" interaction. Not point-to-point, user-driven stuff, like email/web/you-name-it, but more of a "set the state, let it run" kind of deal.
We're all still stuck in the telephone mindset. Now that we have always-on (mostly) connectivity, why not make something that uses that capability?
I love this idea, but it's hard to comment on without a little more guidance. What's the primary goal? Is it to foster technology prowess, or to build virtual communities, or education?
I'd be most interested in novel ways to have networked PDA's share info, like a peer-to-peer system. Maybe some sort of problem solving, where each person answers part of a complex question, and the correct result emerges from all the contributions?
I remember a story (by Bruce Sterling?) about a similar type of setup, where person X would advertise "I need something" and person Y would advertise "I have something", and their PDA's would notice the match and alert X and Y. There's a lot of good potential in such a system, and we haven't seen a lot of it in the real world yet.
Good luck!
> Some people wonder if we have got a Microsoft investment or ;-) Man, I wonder what that would be like!
> contract (because I like this Microsoft technology). The answer
> is no. But I would take one if they wanted to fund my free
> software project
- Like being eaten alive by rabid hyenas
- Like being locked in a room where no one can hear you scream
- Like eating arsenic on your breakfast cereal
Or maybe it wouldn't be as good as all that.
I was first embarassed by this post, then amused.
But thinking of all my female friends who've dated geeks, perhaps the most appropriate feeling would be... thankful.
:-)
Take notes, kids.
Um, I also have done AI-related research, and I'd like to point out that analogy is not proof. A hundred years ago, people were talking about humans as pistons and gears, and discussing how we were close to replacing people with machines. Now we hear the same thing about cpu's and ram and so forth, and people say "All we need is to find the right 80x86 architecture, plug in a lot of ram, and we have replaced people with computers!"
Which is a load of hooey. We don't, at heart, even understand the basics of what makes for intelligence. Until then, it's just muddling along waiting for enlightenment.
While it's true that IP-only companies aren't inherently flawed, the truth is valuable innovations stem from real-world problems, and the best solutions in the laboratory don't always (or often!) work in the land of fabs and mixed standards. I'm all for concentrating on innovation, but getting your hands dirty might be the best way to do it.