About a year ago, I read this book. It's very interesting, and the arguments put forth in it contradict the possibility of simulating the human brain in the way IBM intends.
While it is true that Moore's Law suggests we will soon have the processing power of the human brain, that doesn't mean we will soon have AI on our hands. If we built this computer and fed into it a "Hello World" program written in Pascal, it isn't going to suddenly become self-aware.
We only have one type of working brain, so it would make sense to replicate this in every way possible in order to create a simulated intelligence. However, this has a great deal of complexity that we neither have the bioloical knowledge to understand nor the technical knowledge to emulate. Literally millions of neurons are connected inside us, forming cortical maps and working at different levels of awareness, from the lower, barely perceptible levels (reflex actions), to the higher, seemingly conscious, levels (deciding whether to order toast or a bagel for brunch).
Anyone who's interested in AI (or indeed the operation of the human brain) should read Steve Grand's book. It is highly enlightening, and very thought-provoking.
This New Scientist article suggests we may live in a simulated reality, similar to described in this thread.
If memory serves (I'm not a NS subscriber, so I can't actually read the article now), the argument goes "If intelligent life evolves in a Universe, sooner or later it will have the technological capacity to simuate a Universe. Now, they will inevitably model their own Universe. Since they want to see events relevant to them, they will run time faster than their own Universe. Consequently, in a very short period of their time, there is another intelligent species in the simulated Universe, simulating their Universe, with time running faster. Very quickly, you have an infinite progression of simulation Universes."
I must admit, I didn't think simulating a Universe, thus providing the conditions for such a series of events, would be possible anywhere near my lifetime. But if the tech is developing already..
The next step is to get them to report the news unbiasedly
The Beeb isn't biased. For every flagrantly left-leaning stance they take, there's also one to the right.
For example, it only took 1 news cycle for rolling news channel BBC News 24 to drop the key points of Galloway's address to the Washington representatives before they started simply saying that Galloway "denied" charges against him. Bit of a cut, n'est pas? Surely anyone watching that would think to themselves "of course he did" What's more, they were quick to stop reporting Galloway's line that he'd seen Saddam the same number of times as Rumsfelt, but only Rumsfelt sold him weapons. Presumably, this pretty key section of the speech was cut to bring the BBC into line with the Washington Post/Fox News.
Like all mainstream media, the BBC struggles to give a full, well-rounded view of events. It must be nigh-on impossible to present a report completely free of bias. However, since the BBC is not really too dependant on commercial funds, and employs newscasters and reporters from across the political spectrum, it does a far better job than some other "news" outlets.
Most people who had experiance with the Borg are all Borg.;)
Archer had experience with the Borg, didn't he? Why not have crewman Daniels bring him to the future, to defend Earth against them! I've always thought Archer was a great captain.
I think my geek license has jus been revoked. I must be new here.
There are similar systems in America, and across Europe. However, these systems hit problems when confronted by "conservative parenting". Conservative (not necessarily politically conservative) parents don't want to be put through the difficulty of actually supervising their kids or anything. They never had these games when they were kids, and hence don't see the need for them.
What's more, they see that some games contain nasty things such as guns and violence. We can't have kids experiencing these things. The only possibility available is to ban these games. Forget all the adults who actually enjoy playing games.
All that is really happening here is people are frightened of things they don't understand.
Perhaps they were thinking "we have a virtual monopoly in desktop software, most average users trust Microsoft products and it is almost guaranteed we'll have a monopoly in the portable devices market. Let's capitalize on this by making some money". All MS' decisions make sense when they end with
I think Sunbird is the name for the seperate calendar. Lightning is the calendar integrated into Thunderbird.
I used Sunbird for a while, then gave up upon realising it was more convenient to use a pencil and paper. However, if it was brought into the mail sending environment, that would possibly make it more useful, as people will be able to check when they are free when planning a meeting etc. I look forward to seeing how this project turns out...
I think Jackson loves his current publicity. Dancing on cars seems to counter-indicate your implication thst he is a scared, shamed man.
Your point is valid, thouhgh. If the news was leaked that MicroSoft rapes chickens at the dead of night and then tears MacOS developers apart with a pick-axe, I'm sure the phrase "No publicity is bad publicity" would lose some of its poignancy.
Here, however, the publicity MS is getting won't do it any long-term harm. Either those who already despise MS' business practices will continue to despise them, or those who don't care (read: "money-making enterprises") will continue to not care.
And, for the record, I really doubt this'll happen. MicroSoft aren't about to withdraw years of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt in order to make a relatively insignificant purchase.
I've always thought the most serious viruses should have a EULA. Once people realise that they'd still have all their files if they'd just read a few paragraphs of text before the virus was installed, they might pay a bit more attention to the notices they are agreeing to on a regular basis.
Are you worried that you're still not doing everything you should to keep it safe and running at optimal performance? If your answer is "Yes," then Windows OneCare(TM) is for you. Windows OneCare is built specifically for people who don't have the time or technical expertise necessary to secure and manage a computer on a daily basis.
And people tell me MacOS is aimed at retards.
When will people learn that a computer is a powerful tool, and you need to familiarise yourself with it before clicking on that dodgy link offering "free screensavers"?
I'm told that MS is thinking of charging a subscription for OneCare (feel free to flame me if I'm wrong). If they manage to pull it off, I think I'll lose my faith in humanity.
Um... because you have it on the top of every/. post you make? I'm actually surprised at how little SPAM I get through GMail. I have used hotmail and yahoo as free accounts before and they're spammed to high heaven.
I've just done a national (albeit non-compulsory) so-called "key skills" test here in the UK.
Far from being a school thing, this is a test for college students.
Easy enough, you might think. However, I ran into difficulties, finding I might not be able to pass, as I'd typed the files as a ".sxw" file, not a Word.doc.
Furthermore, there is a possibility in my upcoming A level computing exam, if I write an answer in Linux terminology rather than Windows I won't get the marks. Similarly, mark schemes have discriminated against those who write code in, say, Python instead of BASIC or Pascal.
I fully support schools converting to Linux, in whole or in part. However, the higher echelons of education need to adapt to catch up with these primary schools.
You hit the nail on the head there. People look at the box of Office ReallyGood edition and see that it has hundreds of new features. What the box does not do is explain what they are.
Some are absolutely pointless, others just plain useless and yet more are extra Paper Clip animations.
I use OOo on my Windows partition as well as my Linux partition, and I have to say I prefer it to Office, not just because its open source. Points have been made above that it doesn't render MS Word documents correctly. I think this is an interesting parallel to Firefox; Firefox doesn't render some IE-optimized pages that well, but it is still the better browser, and its share of the market it still growing.
I think the example from the Telegraph is a very good parallel.
For a start, it only appeals to the most fundamentalist Muslims. Muslims who believe in, you know, the teachings of the Qu'ran would no doubt be appalled by the ideas portreyed within it.
Personally, I can see no attraction in any religious game except to either consolidate one's own beliefs or convert the infidels.
Its one thing to have a Christian character within a game, but to 'Glorifying God Through Interactive Media' seems a bit extreme.
I'm all for people's individual right to believe whatever the hell they want to, but to impress their belief systems on others is irrefutably horrible.
Let's assume for one moment that time travel is possible, and that's its discovered by people at some indeterminate point in the future (or past...
).
Obviously time travellers don't interact with us. I haven't seen Hitler be assassinated recently...
So either time travellers have some code of ethics that prevents them from changing history, or the Government heavily regulates time travel, or for some other reason interaction is impossible.
Whatever, no-one will turn up to this party. Sounds like a lot of parties at MIT.
Slashdot Mirror
While it is true that Moore's Law suggests we will soon have the processing power of the human brain, that doesn't mean we will soon have AI on our hands. If we built this computer and fed into it a "Hello World" program written in Pascal, it isn't going to suddenly become self-aware.
We only have one type of working brain, so it would make sense to replicate this in every way possible in order to create a simulated intelligence. However, this has a great deal of complexity that we neither have the bioloical knowledge to understand nor the technical knowledge to emulate. Literally millions of neurons are connected inside us, forming cortical maps and working at different levels of awareness, from the lower, barely perceptible levels (reflex actions), to the higher, seemingly conscious, levels (deciding whether to order toast or a bagel for brunch).
Anyone who's interested in AI (or indeed the operation of the human brain) should read Steve Grand's book. It is highly enlightening, and very thought-provoking.
If memory serves (I'm not a NS subscriber, so I can't actually read the article now), the argument goes "If intelligent life evolves in a Universe, sooner or later it will have the technological capacity to simuate a Universe. Now, they will inevitably model their own Universe. Since they want to see events relevant to them, they will run time faster than their own Universe. Consequently, in a very short period of their time, there is another intelligent species in the simulated Universe, simulating their Universe, with time running faster. Very quickly, you have an infinite progression of simulation Universes."
I must admit, I didn't think simulating a Universe, thus providing the conditions for such a series of events, would be possible anywhere near my lifetime. But if the tech is developing already..
The Beeb isn't biased. For every flagrantly left-leaning stance they take, there's also one to the right.
For example, it only took 1 news cycle for rolling news channel BBC News 24 to drop the key points of Galloway's address to the Washington representatives before they started simply saying that Galloway "denied" charges against him. Bit of a cut, n'est pas? Surely anyone watching that would think to themselves "of course he did" What's more, they were quick to stop reporting Galloway's line that he'd seen Saddam the same number of times as Rumsfelt, but only Rumsfelt sold him weapons. Presumably, this pretty key section of the speech was cut to bring the BBC into line with the Washington Post/Fox News.
Like all mainstream media, the BBC struggles to give a full, well-rounded view of events. It must be nigh-on impossible to present a report completely free of bias. However, since the BBC is not really too dependant on commercial funds, and employs newscasters and reporters from across the political spectrum, it does a far better job than some other "news" outlets.
Yes. If they're Victorian Cockney shoe-shiners. With a pragmatic attitude.
Yes, because there have been a lot of anti-Google posts on Slashdot recently. I think you might be onto something.
Archer had experience with the Borg, didn't he? Why not have crewman Daniels bring him to the future, to defend Earth against them! I've always thought Archer was a great captain.
I think my geek license has jus been revoked. I must be new here.
What's more, they see that some games contain nasty things such as guns and violence. We can't have kids experiencing these things. The only possibility available is to ban these games. Forget all the adults who actually enjoy playing games.
All that is really happening here is people are frightened of things they don't understand.
You missed my favourite thing about windows. They're great for throwing XP boxes out of.
4) PROFIT!!!
When its time for "free" something?
Yes. In comparison to the US, we do have a perfectly clean reputation for democratic justice: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1140590, 00.html
The fragmentation of UNIX in the 1900's? Gosh, the history of UNIX is longer and more fascinating than I'd ever imagined! We're not in Kansas anymore.
I used Sunbird for a while, then gave up upon realising it was more convenient to use a pencil and paper. However, if it was brought into the mail sending environment, that would possibly make it more useful, as people will be able to check when they are free when planning a meeting etc. I look forward to seeing how this project turns out...
Your point is valid, thouhgh. If the news was leaked that MicroSoft rapes chickens at the dead of night and then tears MacOS developers apart with a pick-axe, I'm sure the phrase "No publicity is bad publicity" would lose some of its poignancy.
Here, however, the publicity MS is getting won't do it any long-term harm. Either those who already despise MS' business practices will continue to despise them, or those who don't care (read: "money-making enterprises") will continue to not care.
And, for the record, I really doubt this'll happen. MicroSoft aren't about to withdraw years of Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt in order to make a relatively insignificant purchase.
I've always thought the most serious viruses should have a EULA. Once people realise that they'd still have all their files if they'd just read a few paragraphs of text before the virus was installed, they might pay a bit more attention to the notices they are agreeing to on a regular basis.
And people tell me MacOS is aimed at retards.
When will people learn that a computer is a powerful tool, and you need to familiarise yourself with it before clicking on that dodgy link offering "free screensavers"?
I'm told that MS is thinking of charging a subscription for OneCare (feel free to flame me if I'm wrong). If they manage to pull it off, I think I'll lose my faith in humanity.
Office mobile... because paper clips should be able to piss you off no matter where you are.
Um... because you have it on the top of every /. post you make? I'm actually surprised at how little SPAM I get through GMail. I have used hotmail and yahoo as free accounts before and they're spammed to high heaven.
Far from being a school thing, this is a test for college students.
Easy enough, you might think. However, I ran into difficulties, finding I might not be able to pass, as I'd typed the files as a ".sxw" file, not a Word .doc.
Furthermore, there is a possibility in my upcoming A level computing exam, if I write an answer in Linux terminology rather than Windows I won't get the marks. Similarly, mark schemes have discriminated against those who write code in, say, Python instead of BASIC or Pascal.
I fully support schools converting to Linux, in whole or in part. However, the higher echelons of education need to adapt to catch up with these primary schools.
You hit the nail on the head there. People look at the box of Office ReallyGood edition and see that it has hundreds of new features. What the box does not do is explain what they are.
Some are absolutely pointless, others just plain useless and yet more are extra Paper Clip animations.
I use OOo on my Windows partition as well as my Linux partition, and I have to say I prefer it to Office, not just because its open source. Points have been made above that it doesn't render MS Word documents correctly. I think this is an interesting parallel to Firefox; Firefox doesn't render some IE-optimized pages that well, but it is still the better browser, and its share of the market it still growing.
The most comrehensive list of such arguments I can find is here: http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/GodProof.htm. Enjoy!
I think the example from the Telegraph is a very good parallel.
For a start, it only appeals to the most fundamentalist Muslims. Muslims who believe in, you know, the teachings of the Qu'ran would no doubt be appalled by the ideas portreyed within it.
Personally, I can see no attraction in any religious game except to either consolidate one's own beliefs or convert the infidels.
Its one thing to have a Christian character within a game, but to 'Glorifying God Through Interactive Media' seems a bit extreme.
I'm all for people's individual right to believe whatever the hell they want to, but to impress their belief systems on others is irrefutably horrible.
How about a Muslim themed game? Or a game based on Judaism? Sikhism? Buddhism? No?
Let's assume for one moment that time travel is possible, and that's its discovered by people at some indeterminate point in the future (or past... ). Obviously time travellers don't interact with us. I haven't seen Hitler be assassinated recently... So either time travellers have some code of ethics that prevents them from changing history, or the Government heavily regulates time travel, or for some other reason interaction is impossible. Whatever, no-one will turn up to this party. Sounds like a lot of parties at MIT.
Oh yeah. Oh well