Surely this is the engineering equivalent of child porn...
Ah, you mean a mostly artificially manufactured boogie-man, the mere mention of which instantly trumps any reasoned debate? Then yes, it probably is that.
I don't really get your "encouragement" argument, though. Do you really think some totalitarian dictator of a god-forsaken country is going to roll out of bed one morning, see this, and go "Whelp, time to start a 20 year plutonium enrichment program"?
This information is nothing new to anyone with any kind of semblance of the resources necessary to make any use of it.
I rant about this in just about every AI-related thread (probably gets pretty annoying, actually), but it's a lost cause - this is Slashdot, we'll swallow whole just about any PR puff piece on "AI", as long as it's got some science-fictiony pseudo-science. I don't mean the research itself, rather the aggrandizement of it into something it most definitely isn't. Why, for example, did the guy spend half the time talking about holodecks? In what manner, has this research brought us closer to holodecks?
So yeah, as far as we are concerned, AI is essentially a solved problem - all we need is a bit more hardware to create human-level intelligence. Why? Because articles like these equate a chatbot to a four-year-old and we can't seem to tell the difference, either.
No, there were people who seriously thought that Flash would replace HTML, and its attendant technologies, as the primary means of content representation on the web.
But much of computer interface HAS changed, quite a bit.
I took them to mean that we still click boxes with a mouse and type with a keyboard. Admittedly I haven't bothered RTFAing, as I was expecting a bunch of tripe.
There's also the tiny problem that the devices that would most benefit from voice commands (ie mobile devices) are specifically designed to be used in situations where voice commands are impractical (ie in public).
Take a look around you in a coffee shop or on the subway one day - now imagine that everyone with a crackberry or PDA is constantly yelling at said crackberry or PDA to overcome ambient noise.
I seriously doubt we'll see significant improvements in mobile UI until direct brain interfaces get here, which might be a while.
I've wondered for a long time why the computer interface hasn't changed from 20 years ago
Because it works.
Whereas all the attempts at shifting the paradigms to an extension of your soul (or whatever), just result in unusable exercises in masturbation (and not the kind the internet was invented for).
Remember how Flash was going to be the future of the web? Yeah.
It's not the cheapest way to hook up to the internet, but my combination all-you-can-talk phone, basic television, and 20/5 internet is $105/year (and that's not an introductory rate), so it's not bad.
Um, less than $9 a month for phone, TV and freaking 20/5 fibre is "not bad"? If that's a typo and you meant "month" - hell, I still pay more than that just for a lousy 6/768 DSL connection.
I'm pretty sure any "counterfeiting" being done in any substantially large quantity is done like this making them identical to the real McCoy thus rendering the locking feature inert.
Well, yeah, if I'm understanding this correctly, that's the idea here - they want Company A to be the only ones who can unlock the chips, so the extra ones would be useless to the Chinese fab (and anyone they sell them to).
Still unlikely to work, but the scenario you describe is exactly what they are targeting.
Huh, so Thrace, Gaeta, Tyrol, Dualla, and Baltar are all place-names - I'm thinking that after running through a couple of the glorifying Greek/Roman roots (Agathon, Valerii, Kara, etc) the writers were just throwing a dart at some old maps:)
(I guess a case could be made for Starbuck's personality jibing pretty well with the Greek perception of Thrace).
It's kinda funny that Saul Tigh was apparently originally named Paul Tigh - guess he's an anti-apostle (if that's a thing).
Only 33% of the world population is Christian. 20% of the world population practices Islam. 33% is still a minority.
So, by your logic, if only the adherents of a certain faith will recognize images important to that faith, something recognized by all Christians would be the most recognizable, right? Since only 20%, the next most popular sect, could tell a mihrab from a mimbar?
More importantly, how fucking hard is it to see the difference between "most iconic" and "one of the most iconic"?
I get it, you are really trying for that whole overly eager multiculturalism thing, where you try to show all sorts of cultural humility by assuming no one else knows anything about the world - it's cute, really. But, just trust me on this, a lot of people would recognize The Last Supper, including just about every single English-speaking person in the world.
Keep in mind the majority of the world is of Muslim faith. Just because you're of the opinion that it's the most iconic image in the world doesn't make it fact. Your comment actually comes of as a sign of ignorance.
a) About a third of the world population is Christian, about a fifth is Muslim, just FYI.
b) It's an image instantly recognizable to any of the major monotheistic religions, not just Christians. Not to mention anyone living in a Western country.
c) Being recognized by well over half (conservatively) the world population certainly makes it one of the most iconic images.
d) See how "it's the most iconic image in the world" isn't what I said? It's fun to argue with people when you can just put words in their mouth.
e) Answering in list form seems kinda dickish now...
Slashdot Mirror
I believe that the DDR (former East Germany) holds the record with something like 30% of the population keeping tabs on the rest.
I think it was closer to "only" 1 in 50 that were Stasi informants. Still, a 100 times higher ratio than the Soviet Union.
Will Wikileaks always know what is harmless and what is not?
Of course not. So, who is it that will always know what is harmless and what isn't?
It worries me that the Geek so easily trusts and defends an arbitrary power wielded in secret by one of his own.
This has nothing to do with "trust", The Geek just tends to disagree that some other entity is entitled to arbitrarily curtail such "powers".
Surely this is the engineering equivalent of child porn...
Ah, you mean a mostly artificially manufactured boogie-man, the mere mention of which instantly trumps any reasoned debate? Then yes, it probably is that.
I don't really get your "encouragement" argument, though. Do you really think some totalitarian dictator of a god-forsaken country is going to roll out of bed one morning, see this, and go "Whelp, time to start a 20 year plutonium enrichment program"?
This information is nothing new to anyone with any kind of semblance of the resources necessary to make any use of it.
Then you could actually see that the bright object in the SE sky in the morning really is Venus, etc.
There's already plenty of software to do that: http://www.stellarium.org/
Oh come on, it's a chatbot not an AI.
I rant about this in just about every AI-related thread (probably gets pretty annoying, actually), but it's a lost cause - this is Slashdot, we'll swallow whole just about any PR puff piece on "AI", as long as it's got some science-fictiony pseudo-science. I don't mean the research itself, rather the aggrandizement of it into something it most definitely isn't. Why, for example, did the guy spend half the time talking about holodecks? In what manner, has this research brought us closer to holodecks?
So yeah, as far as we are concerned, AI is essentially a solved problem - all we need is a bit more hardware to create human-level intelligence. Why? Because articles like these equate a chatbot to a four-year-old and we can't seem to tell the difference, either.
$250 to carry around half an album. Genius! You really had to be a gimmick fan to be an early adopter for mp3 players.
This has got to be new - laughing at early adopters a decade later, when the technology has proven insanely popular.
No, there were people who seriously thought that Flash would replace HTML, and its attendant technologies, as the primary means of content representation on the web.
Is "pasted" the new "pwned" or something?
Damn kids, can never understand what they are trying to say.
But much of computer interface HAS changed, quite a bit.
I took them to mean that we still click boxes with a mouse and type with a keyboard. Admittedly I haven't bothered RTFAing, as I was expecting a bunch of tripe.
There are people alive right now that when they were born, germs were unknown
:)
Holy crap, there are people running around who are over 330 years old? Man, those guys have lived
At no time in history has information advanced so much in so short a time.
Actually, with a few notable exceptions, this has been true of any time in history. But yeah, there's a difference in degree.
There's also the tiny problem that the devices that would most benefit from voice commands (ie mobile devices) are specifically designed to be used in situations where voice commands are impractical (ie in public).
Take a look around you in a coffee shop or on the subway one day - now imagine that everyone with a crackberry or PDA is constantly yelling at said crackberry or PDA to overcome ambient noise.
I seriously doubt we'll see significant improvements in mobile UI until direct brain interfaces get here, which might be a while.
I've wondered for a long time why the computer interface hasn't changed from 20 years ago
Because it works.
Whereas all the attempts at shifting the paradigms to an extension of your soul (or whatever), just result in unusable exercises in masturbation (and not the kind the internet was invented for).
Remember how Flash was going to be the future of the web? Yeah.
It's not the cheapest way to hook up to the internet, but my combination all-you-can-talk phone, basic television, and 20/5 internet is $105/year (and that's not an introductory rate), so it's not bad.
Um, less than $9 a month for phone, TV and freaking 20/5 fibre is "not bad"? If that's a typo and you meant "month" - hell, I still pay more than that just for a lousy 6/768 DSL connection.
Take a few thousand cheap USB keys, fill them with american media
Yeah, American media always solves everything.
I'm pretty sure any "counterfeiting" being done in any substantially large quantity is done like this making them identical to the real McCoy thus rendering the locking feature inert.
Well, yeah, if I'm understanding this correctly, that's the idea here - they want Company A to be the only ones who can unlock the chips, so the extra ones would be useless to the Chinese fab (and anyone they sell them to).
Still unlikely to work, but the scenario you describe is exactly what they are targeting.
You see, we Westerners think of the old Soviet-era Eastern Europe as a windswept expanse of cold, grey concrete buildings
I'm from around there, so trust me when I say: it is.
Or better yet four in total at least?
So that if one leaves, you still have a threesome?
Wait fifty years, modify some humans using nanotech so they're Transhuman
I have a better idea: do it now, send Ray Kurzweil. Everybody wins!
What if the guy's a huge jerk?
Huh, so Thrace, Gaeta, Tyrol, Dualla, and Baltar are all place-names - I'm thinking that after running through a couple of the glorifying Greek/Roman roots (Agathon, Valerii, Kara, etc) the writers were just throwing a dart at some old maps :)
(I guess a case could be made for Starbuck's personality jibing pretty well with the Greek perception of Thrace).
It's kinda funny that Saul Tigh was apparently originally named Paul Tigh - guess he's an anti-apostle (if that's a thing).
Firefox 2 is one of the most standards compliant browsers around.
:)
Given that there's like 3 browsers, isn't "one of" not all that impressive?
Bring on your "I use Browser Foo as do almost 17 other people, you Insensitive Clod"!
you're able to watch it in a higher quality (in terms of audio and video)
Damn, and I thought that parameter would make the videos funnier.
Only 33% of the world population is Christian. 20% of the world population practices Islam. 33% is still a minority.
So, by your logic, if only the adherents of a certain faith will recognize images important to that faith, something recognized by all Christians would be the most recognizable, right? Since only 20%, the next most popular sect, could tell a mihrab from a mimbar?
More importantly, how fucking hard is it to see the difference between "most iconic" and "one of the most iconic"?
I get it, you are really trying for that whole overly eager multiculturalism thing, where you try to show all sorts of cultural humility by assuming no one else knows anything about the world - it's cute, really. But, just trust me on this, a lot of people would recognize The Last Supper, including just about every single English-speaking person in the world.
Keep in mind the majority of the world is of Muslim faith. Just because you're of the opinion that it's the most iconic image in the world doesn't make it fact. Your comment actually comes of as a sign of ignorance.
a) About a third of the world population is Christian, about a fifth is Muslim, just FYI.
b) It's an image instantly recognizable to any of the major monotheistic religions, not just Christians. Not to mention anyone living in a Western country.
c) Being recognized by well over half (conservatively) the world population certainly makes it one of the most iconic images.
d) See how "it's the most iconic image in the world" isn't what I said? It's fun to argue with people when you can just put words in their mouth.
e) Answering in list form seems kinda dickish now...
I find that the middle part of every season tends to get boring, extremely boring, to be honest; and that's been true since the first season.
The beginning and end parts have been worth it though (and especially the movie - the movie kicked ass!).