that is 0.009% of people die, sure it could better.
You are not thinking this through. Sure, SDCs are safer, so we can reduce fatalities. But another option, is that we could keep fatalities at their current acceptable (to you) level, and just have the SDCs drive faster. The average American spends about 300 hours per year driving. By doubling the speed, we could cut that to 150 hours. The savings would be 150 hours * 330 million people / 365 / 24 = 5.6 million years. If the average lifetime is 80 years, then this is about 70,000 lifetimes saved annually.
From a purely utilitarian perspective faster SDCs actually make more sense than safer SDCs.
Meanwhile, about 32,000 people die annually in vehicle accidents in America, about 88 per day. How many of those could be prevented if we didn't have bureaucrats trying to slow progress because it isn't perfectly safe?
Given that they force you to buy 8 channels of dreck just to get the one channel you want, it's not surprising.
Why do you care? As long as you get what you want for a price you are willing to pay, what difference does it make if you also get something else? Just ignore the extra channels. All the channels are traveling through the cable, and arriving at your house, whether you want them or not, so the marginal cost to the cable company is $0.
Sees, I just spent $33k for a dual Xeon, 512 GB, and 4 Telsa K40.
You must have an interesting use case if buying this much compute power is more cost effective than renting by the minute from AWS. Deep learning? Ray tracing???
Does public flogging even accomplish anything anymore?
A figurative flogging may not, but a literal flogging likely would. Singapore flogs criminals, with a rattan cane dipped in alcohol, and they have very low crime rates, and an incarceration rate less than a third of America's.
Not likely. Not all deceptive practices are fraud. There was probably something in the fine print of the contract that allowed them to cram. It is deceptive, and unethical, but not fraudulent.
So does that mean its ok to increase life insurance premiums and automobile insurance premiums for left-handed people?
Handedness is not a legally protected class, so yes, it is "ok" to charge them more, if by "ok" you mean legal.
What kind of statistically valid discrimination IS ok? Any?
Plenty of forms of discrimination are legal. There are only a few that are prohibited. For instance, my company refuses to hire tobacco smokers. That is perfectly legal. Smokers have no rights.
I think that AIs, by definition, cannot have bias.
No. There is nothing in the "definition" of AI that prevents bias. AIs will be biased if the training data supports the bias. For instance, if the AI looks at loan default rates, it will conclude that blacks and Hispanics are worse credit risks than whites... because they are. But discrimination in lending is still illegal even if it is supported by the facts, and even if it is determined indirectly by, say, zipcode, or given name.
I'm curious to see how they'll handle winter though...
Tesla Autopilot has driven millions of miles on snowy/icy roads. Tesla recommends that drivers engage Autopilot during snow storms because the software can handle the snow better than humans.
In the winter we tend to drive roads where it just isn't very obvious where the road even is.
This is a bigger problem for humans than for SDCs. The SDC can use GPS data, data on previous traversal of the road by itself and by other SDCs, and "landmarks" such as signs and mileage markers.
Faxes and newsletters? What century are these companies living in?
Faxes are still in daily use by government bureaucracies, and businesses that interact with the government, including lawyers and doctors. If a bank it using faxes, it is only because they are required to use faxes by some compliance checklist. So there is no way that they could switch to "Workplace" simply because it was more convenient.
I should probably short Facebook too while I'm at it.
Keep in mind that the "Slashdot consensus" was that Facebook would be out of business by 2008, that the Google IPO would tank, and that the iPhone would be dead-on-arrival.
This isn't AI, this is preloaded phrases for various situations.
Indeed. Everything mentioned in the summary is obviously scripted. Most chat-bots have hard-coded responses for things like "Do you love me?" and "Open the pod bay doors HAL." To see if a chat-bot is interesting, you need to scratch a little deeper. Charlie Rose is obviously not qualified to do that.
"Nothing" is actually a pretty good option. Incandescent bulbs are still common in the UK, while LED bulbs now cost half a pound. Variable speed DC motors, attic insulation, motion sensors on street lights, etc. often pay for themselves in a few years. There is plenty of room for reducing or shifting demand.
(noting that geothermal is actually nuclear
Only if you are a pedantic idiot. Geothermal energy is no more "nuclear" than solar, wind, wood, coal, or gas. All energy is ultimately nuclear, but that isn't what "nuclear power" means.
Now try to build a hydro or a geothermal plant in any area infested with Greens.
Most greenies that I know are pro-geothermal. Geothermal using pressurized injection can cause minor tremors, but that isn't much of a problem if they are in lightly populated rural areas.
Anyway, green opposition to dams and geothermal is weak compared to their opposition to nukes.
Slashdot Mirror
that is 0.009% of people die, sure it could better.
You are not thinking this through. Sure, SDCs are safer, so we can reduce fatalities. But another option, is that we could keep fatalities at their current acceptable (to you) level, and just have the SDCs drive faster. The average American spends about 300 hours per year driving. By doubling the speed, we could cut that to 150 hours. The savings would be 150 hours * 330 million people / 365 / 24 = 5.6 million years. If the average lifetime is 80 years, then this is about 70,000 lifetimes saved annually.
From a purely utilitarian perspective faster SDCs actually make more sense than safer SDCs.
Meanwhile, about 32,000 people die annually in vehicle accidents in America, about 88 per day. How many of those could be prevented if we didn't have bureaucrats trying to slow progress because it isn't perfectly safe?
EM simulation of millimeter wave antennas and circuits.
Cool. I envy you.
Well, I have to go. My boss wants me to slightly change the shade of blue behind our company logo on 187 webpages ...
Because we're being forced to pay for crap we don't want.
You are being forced to pay an extra $0 for something that costs the cable company $0 to provide.
Given that they force you to buy 8 channels of dreck just to get the one channel you want, it's not surprising.
Why do you care? As long as you get what you want for a price you are willing to pay, what difference does it make if you also get something else? Just ignore the extra channels. All the channels are traveling through the cable, and arriving at your house, whether you want them or not, so the marginal cost to the cable company is $0.
Sees, I just spent $33k for a dual Xeon, 512 GB, and 4 Telsa K40.
You must have an interesting use case if buying this much compute power is more cost effective than renting by the minute from AWS. Deep learning? Ray tracing???
Seriously, hacking Russia back is the dumbest way they could respond to the DNC
They don't need to hack Russia. Obama could just have the NSA hack the RNC, and release all of their emails. At least that would even things up.
Does public flogging even accomplish anything anymore?
A figurative flogging may not, but a literal flogging likely would. Singapore flogs criminals, with a rattan cane dipped in alcohol, and they have very low crime rates, and an incarceration rate less than a third of America's.
It's still fraud
Not likely. Not all deceptive practices are fraud. There was probably something in the fine print of the contract that allowed them to cram. It is deceptive, and unethical, but not fraudulent.
The more important question that should be being asked is "How much did they make from the practice of cramming?"
And since TFA doesn't answer that question, another question that should be asked is why this journalist shouldn't be fired for incompetence.
sorry, but that 8% profit margin is after the fat cats are paid.
It is after the employees, managers, and bondholders are paid, but before shareholders are paid.
Comcast had $19.269 billion in revenues last quarter... They'll earn back the $2.3 million fine in about 15 minutes and 42 seconds.
Revenue != Earnings.
So does that mean its ok to increase life insurance premiums and automobile insurance premiums for left-handed people?
Handedness is not a legally protected class, so yes, it is "ok" to charge them more, if by "ok" you mean legal.
What kind of statistically valid discrimination IS ok? Any?
Plenty of forms of discrimination are legal. There are only a few that are prohibited. For instance, my company refuses to hire tobacco smokers. That is perfectly legal. Smokers have no rights.
What if black people were more likely to default on a loan?
They are.
Would you be OK with charging black people more than white people?
No. Our society's top priority should not be maximizing profit for the financial industry.
You seem to work from the assumption that women and minorities are more likely to skip out of their bills.
You don't need to "assume" anything. You can just google the data.
Women are less likely to default on their mortgages.
Women are more likely to default on their student loans, partly because their degrees are more likely to be worthless so they earn less.
Blacks and Hispanics are more likely than whites to default on all types of loans.
Asians are less likely than whites to default.
I think that AIs, by definition, cannot have bias.
No. There is nothing in the "definition" of AI that prevents bias. AIs will be biased if the training data supports the bias. For instance, if the AI looks at loan default rates, it will conclude that blacks and Hispanics are worse credit risks than whites ... because they are. But discrimination in lending is still illegal even if it is supported by the facts, and even if it is determined indirectly by, say, zipcode, or given name.
The brick and mortar market is already at saturation.
Back in 1994, most people thought the book market was saturated.
I bet the same thing will happen that happened in the state I came from. Once the third party got 5%, ...
What state was that?
I'm curious to see how they'll handle winter though...
Tesla Autopilot has driven millions of miles on snowy/icy roads. Tesla recommends that drivers engage Autopilot during snow storms because the software can handle the snow better than humans.
In the winter we tend to drive roads where it just isn't very obvious where the road even is.
This is a bigger problem for humans than for SDCs. The SDC can use GPS data, data on previous traversal of the road by itself and by other SDCs, and "landmarks" such as signs and mileage markers.
Faxes and newsletters? What century are these companies living in?
Faxes are still in daily use by government bureaucracies, and businesses that interact with the government, including lawyers and doctors. If a bank it using faxes, it is only because they are required to use faxes by some compliance checklist. So there is no way that they could switch to "Workplace" simply because it was more convenient.
I should probably short Facebook too while I'm at it.
Keep in mind that the "Slashdot consensus" was that Facebook would be out of business by 2008, that the Google IPO would tank, and that the iPhone would be dead-on-arrival.
How is geothermal nuclear?
The heat in the earth is the result on radioactive decay, mostly from thorium, over the last few billion years.
Solar, wind, wood, coal or gas aren't, in any way.
Solar energy comes from the sun, which is powered by nuclear fusion. Wind, wood, coal and gas are just indirect forms of solar energy.
This isn't AI, this is preloaded phrases for various situations.
Indeed. Everything mentioned in the summary is obviously scripted. Most chat-bots have hard-coded responses for things like "Do you love me?" and "Open the pod bay doors HAL." To see if a chat-bot is interesting, you need to scratch a little deeper. Charlie Rose is obviously not qualified to do that.
is the press office of the KGB. Only releases information that is useful to russia.
If America didn't criminalize transparency and persecute whistleblowers, then the Russians wouldn't have a monopoly on the flow of information.
it's nuclear or nothing
"Nothing" is actually a pretty good option. Incandescent bulbs are still common in the UK, while LED bulbs now cost half a pound. Variable speed DC motors, attic insulation, motion sensors on street lights, etc. often pay for themselves in a few years. There is plenty of room for reducing or shifting demand.
(noting that geothermal is actually nuclear
Only if you are a pedantic idiot. Geothermal energy is no more "nuclear" than solar, wind, wood, coal, or gas. All energy is ultimately nuclear, but that isn't what "nuclear power" means.
Now try to build a hydro or a geothermal plant in any area infested with Greens.
Most greenies that I know are pro-geothermal. Geothermal using pressurized injection can cause minor tremors, but that isn't much of a problem if they are in lightly populated rural areas.
Anyway, green opposition to dams and geothermal is weak compared to their opposition to nukes.