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User: muhula

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  1. Re: Dark Mirror - Metal Head on Boston Dynamics Is Gearing Up To Produce Thousands of Robot Dogs (fortune.com) · · Score: 1

    It wasn't AI. The original script for the ending showed that a family man was controlling the dog from the comfort of their home office.

    The first draft, though, afforded us a glimpse behind the curtain. "Originally, we also showed a human operator operating the dog robot from across the ocean at his house," Brooker told Entertainment Weekly.

    "There was a bit I liked, where he leaves the [control unit] while the robot is watching her while she's up in the tree and he goes and gives his kids a bath. But it felt a bit weird and too on-the-nose. It kind of felt superfluous. We deliberately pared it back."

  2. it was able to predict the outcome of untested reactions with more than 80-percent accuracy

    The skeptic in me wonders if 80% of the combinations had no reaction

  3. This is silly on Future Firefighters May Be Guided By "Robots On Reins" · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They don't need a guide dog... too slow, hard to maintain, and move around. An infrared HUD would be perfect for this

  4. Re:Good grief... on Bill Nye Disses "Regular" Software Writers' Science Knowledge · · Score: 2

    Giving the entire US an F in science reminds me of the Doomsday clock (a few minutes from the world's destruction!!). Making these sort of statements is just hyperbole intended to grab attention. Saying these sort of things immediately drops the speaker's credibility.

  5. Java/algorithm knowledge is a proxy on Ask Slashdot: Are General Engineering Skills Undervalued In Web Development? · · Score: 1

    I'm guilty of interviewing by asking (almost exclusively) language questions, CS theory, and programming small functions.

    Knowing any language well correlates with a person who hones their craft and continually improves.

    Solving problems with optimal algorithms correlates with with someone who can think through complex problems.

    For me, asking about previous experience isn't as valuable because it can't be verified on the spot. So it boils down to: "show me your skills" vs "tell me about your skills".

  6. Relevant questions.. on Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you a hot magnet company? (well known pre-IPO) Are you paying above market value?

    My guess is that the best devs have already been scooped up, and the ones interviewing are comfortable enough where they are

  7. Everybody should get reading glasses on Ask Slashdot: Are Progressive Glasses a Mistake For Computer Users? · · Score: 1

    The standard recommendation to reduce eye fatigue when using a computer screen is to stare off into the distance every so often. By using reading glasses, and with the right diopter, you can let your eyes focus as if looking into the distance while still focusing on your screen.

    This has notably reduced eye fatigue for me.

    If you wear contacts or don't need any correction, I recommend getting +1.5 diopter reading glasses if you sit a couple feet from your monitor, and less if you sit further. To test it out, go to a drugstore, pick some text that is the same distance as your monitor. Let your eyes relax as if staring off in the distance, and pick the diopter which gives the sharpest text

    If you have glasses already, you can order a new pair and add 1.5 to your existing prescription. You can order online without a prescription (I used Zenni optical)

  8. Re:Don't be passive, DO something on Ask Slashdot: Dealing With Electronics-Induced Inattentiveness? · · Score: 4, Informative

    I stumbled upon a solution while taking an online course... watching the lecture at 2x speed helped me focus.

    It turns out that watching a lecture in real time allows me to get bored and I end up doing a context switch. Perhaps distraction isn't the problem, but in this age, we've learned to process information more quickly.

  9. "Are you pregnant?" on Whole Organ Grown In Animal For First Time · · Score: 1

    "No... just, you know, growing a new liver and heart in mah belly"

  10. Re:"free" solar energy on Scott Adams's Plan For Building Giant Energy-Generating Pyramids · · Score: 3, Interesting

    (sorry, lost formatting)

    Let's math:

    Assuming that the miles high pyramid uses free sun power to melt sand and we only need PV to power lifting the glass blocks

    The great pyramid of giza is 455' tall and has 10^12 joules of potential energy (http://what-if.xkcd.com/95/)
    A 2 mile high pyramid with the same dimensions is about 12x taller
    If you scale up the pyramid by 12, that's 12^4x more energy (http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=428636)
    12^4*10^12 joules=2e16 joules = 5e9 kWh
    Wholesale price of electricity is 5 cents per kWh
    5e9 kWh * .05 dollars/kWh = 250,000,000 dollars

    This could easily triple depending on motor losses and other energy costs. So you could make your giant pyramid with "free" energy or you could sell the energy on the open market for almost a billion dollars

  11. "free" solar energy on Scott Adams's Plan For Building Giant Energy-Generating Pyramids · · Score: 1

    Let's math: Assuming that the miles high pyramid uses free sun power to melt sand and we only need PV to power lifting the glass blocks The great pyramid of giza is 455' tall and has 10^12 joules of potential energy (http://what-if.xkcd.com/95/) A 2 mile high pyramid with the same dimensions is about 12x taller if you scale up the pyramid by 12, that's 12^4x more energy (using this formula: http://www.physicsforums.com/s...) 12^4*10^12 joules=2e16 joules = 5e9 kWh wholesale price of electricity is 5 cents per kWh 5e9 kWh * .05 dollars/kWh = 250,000,000 dollars This could easily triple depending on motor losses and other energy costs. So you could make your giant pyramid with "free" energy or you could sell the energy on the open market for almost a billion dollars

  12. Code reviewing a spreadsheet on Why You Shouldn't Use Spreadsheets For Important Work · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the inability to code review spreadsheets was a real issue, it wouldn't be too hard to convert spreadsheet functions into a functional language. For non-programmers, a spreadsheet lowers the barrier to entry. This allows people to do something useful and productive who couldn't do so otherwise. That's a good thing.

  13. Viruses without common antibodies... on Measles Virus Puts Woman's Cancer Into Remission · · Score: 2

    It's interesting that the treatment is hypothesized to have failed for people who already had measles antibodies. Perhaps the "extinct" viruses the CDC keeps around might be good for engineering future treatments.

  14. It's no coincidence that the hood was black on Land Rover Demos "Transparent Hood" · · Score: 1

    With a light colored hood, the heads up display during the day would be washed out.

    I imagine that cars with this technology would benefit from a matte black hood, making future cars look like modders with carbon fiber hoods. Next, we'll see some technology that requires a huge spoiler :)

  15. Re:Isn't the upshot the same? on FWD.us Wants More H-1B Visas, But 50% Go To Offshore Firms · · Score: 2

    +5 insightful? 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of workers to roles? While it would be fun to feed into the frenzy going on in this message board, that means for every job, there are 1 or 2 unemployed people... 50-66% unemployment And before you say that they're just underemployed, I've interviewed hundreds of candidates and the vast majority can't do simple aspects of the job (in my case, it was to write code). So, no, you're dead wrong and the people who modded you just have some sort of agenda or lack critical thinking

  16. Re:Downsides to Austin on Austin Has Highest Salaries For Tech Workers, After Factoring In Cost of Living · · Score: 1

    Exactly, let's factor in the cost of my time sitting in traffic. If you assume 1 extra hour round trip at 1.5x pay, $100k turns in to $84k for the time you're actually at work and $16k for sitting in traffic. Until self driving cars come along, you'll be staring at the truck in front of you for a non-trivial portion of your life

  17. GDP growth != more jobs created on Is Traffic Congestion Growing Three Times As Fast As Economy? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The great recession of 2009 became the justification of many companies to lay off workers despite healthy revenue and increasing profits. While this may contribute to the GDP, it doesn't do much for employment.

  18. What is this really? on DARPA Funds Research Into a Network-Based Interpretation of Dreams · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This study doesn't have to do with dreams so much as word association. If you think that multiple cultures having similar dream interpretation reinforces anything about what the dreams actually mean, you'd be a bit misled

  19. Re:Wrong fundamental assumption on Microsoft's New Smart Bra Could Stop You From Over Eating · · Score: 2

    You're missing the point of the GP post. Yes, if you eat more calories, you're going to get fatter than if you didn't. But his point is this: why are some people constantly hungry when they eat the same amount of food that fills another person? What in the environment is changing that is causing various groups of research animals (across different species) to increase their weight over the years? According to this paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3081766/, the odds of this trend happening by chance is 1.2 × 10^7.

  20. Re:This has existed a long time on Scientists Boost the "Will To Persevere" With Current To the Brain · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Except that will to persevere and pleasure are two distinctly different things.

  21. Loopholes abound on Should the US Copy Switzerland and Consider a 'Maximum Wage' Ratio? · · Score: 1

    Let's say I'm a CEO. Anyone below the 20:1 salary ratio gets "outsourced" to a different company sharing the same parent company.

  22. Adrenaline on Flies See the World In Slo-Mo, Say Researchers · · Score: 1

    Moments before a car accident, things seem to slow down and reaction times increase... because adrenaline would increase your metabolic rate

  23. What's more important - velocity or acceleration? on Ask Slashdot: Is Tech Talent More Important Than Skill? · · Score: 2

    It depends on how much talent versus how much skill. You COULD just calculate the area under the curve to get total value...

  24. Re:Good luck with that on AI System Invents New Card Games (For Humans) · · Score: 1

    Before you start with righteous indignation, maybe you could try playing the game created by this specific algorithm? It seems like it might be fun. Any takers?

  25. Re:Avoid CFL mistakes on A Tale of Two Tests: Why Energy Star LED Light Bulbs Are a Rare Breed · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Exactly -- I'm looking for a consistent quality ACROSS brands. Certification should mean that el cheapo brand performs well, and that I don't need to do my own test to see which brands work better or to pay more for a more expensive brand because it might work better