Google teaches computers regret - google is again pushing the envelope, this time in the field of AI
Chinese Space Program confounded by X-Prize - the capitalist model of privatising the space program seems to be paying dividends.
Robotic jet fighter passes two test flights - the first truly robotic war machine, no pilot, no remote control... it does it's own thing... does this sound like skynet to anyone else?
Crowd-sourced choir sings over the internet - such a cool thing!! 2000 people from around the world all pulled together into a single choir.
NASA gives out funding to private space firms - more on the private space industry... I want to holiday in earth orbit... how cool would that be?
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
50 Years of human space flight
This week celebrates the 50th aniversary of human travel in space. 50 Years ago Yuri Gagarin became the first man to leave earth's atmosphere. That was a huge accivement then, and even in today's scope it is truly epic. We are no longer bound exclusively to the planet on which we grew. It's probably the biggest step in the evolution of humanity since we discovered how to use tools.
But in the years since then, we seem to have lost our will to explore space in person. Sure, we're sending out a lot of robots into the universe... but we're retiring the Space Shuttle and NASA is seeing massive budget cuts. It's expensive to send people into space, keep them alive and them bring them back safely... but does it really count as exploration if we're not the ones doing it?
I think we're missing an opportunity here: Space exploration has the potential to act as a unifying force for humanity, to bring us all together for a common goal. The International Space Station is a good example of this, but in an environment of shrinking budgets and little political will, I'm worried that programs like this will become a thing of the past.
Thankfully the Chinese (it's always the Chinese) are still spending a lot of money on space exploration, and they may be the new leaders in humanities efforts to touch the stars.
On another note: There's a poll over on the right hand side of the page... I think it would be interesting to get your feedback on some stuff, so please check it out ^^. Thanks for reading, and please share this with your friends/family/imaginary friends.
-Odd
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space." - Douglas Adams
But in the years since then, we seem to have lost our will to explore space in person. Sure, we're sending out a lot of robots into the universe... but we're retiring the Space Shuttle and NASA is seeing massive budget cuts. It's expensive to send people into space, keep them alive and them bring them back safely... but does it really count as exploration if we're not the ones doing it?
I think we're missing an opportunity here: Space exploration has the potential to act as a unifying force for humanity, to bring us all together for a common goal. The International Space Station is a good example of this, but in an environment of shrinking budgets and little political will, I'm worried that programs like this will become a thing of the past.
Thankfully the Chinese (it's always the Chinese) are still spending a lot of money on space exploration, and they may be the new leaders in humanities efforts to touch the stars.
On another note: There's a poll over on the right hand side of the page... I think it would be interesting to get your feedback on some stuff, so please check it out ^^. Thanks for reading, and please share this with your friends/family/imaginary friends.
-Odd
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space." - Douglas Adams
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Robot Wars
As some of you might have read in the news last week, China is scheduled to overtake the US in science in two years. This is a major shift and will certainly speed China's assumption of the top spot on the international stage.
Scientific advancement is possibly the single greatest factor for a countries prosperity, with relatively tiny countries like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan punching far above their weight because they have such a strong technical nature. So how could we emulate that drive in this country?
I think the biggest challenge is to get children interested in science, technology and engineering... and this shouldn't be too hard: science is cool!
My suggestion would be to have a South African series of Robot Wars. Probably drawing the competitors mostly from our universities. With RC being such a mainstream hobby, most of the materials and circutry required and readibly (and mostly cost effecitvely) available. Having something like this as a field trip would certainly encourage students to concentrate on their maths and science marks, which can only benefit our economy.
My favorite Robot Wars competior has to be Razor:
This guy is incredible... once, it even took out one of the house robots!!! Sugoi!
So, someone, please ... steal this idea... ^^
Another cool thing about the far east becoming the world's technology leader? Chances are that we'll end up with giant robots... I love giant robots!
-Odd
Living here in Jersey, fighting villains from afar/ You've gotta find first gear in your giant robot car / *You* dig giant robots / *I* dig giant robots / *We* dig giant robots / *Chicks* dig giant robots / Nice.
Scientific advancement is possibly the single greatest factor for a countries prosperity, with relatively tiny countries like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan punching far above their weight because they have such a strong technical nature. So how could we emulate that drive in this country?
I think the biggest challenge is to get children interested in science, technology and engineering... and this shouldn't be too hard: science is cool!
My suggestion would be to have a South African series of Robot Wars. Probably drawing the competitors mostly from our universities. With RC being such a mainstream hobby, most of the materials and circutry required and readibly (and mostly cost effecitvely) available. Having something like this as a field trip would certainly encourage students to concentrate on their maths and science marks, which can only benefit our economy.
My favorite Robot Wars competior has to be Razor:
This guy is incredible... once, it even took out one of the house robots!!! Sugoi!
So, someone, please ... steal this idea... ^^
Another cool thing about the far east becoming the world's technology leader? Chances are that we'll end up with giant robots... I love giant robots!
-Odd
Living here in Jersey, fighting villains from afar/ You've gotta find first gear in your giant robot car / *You* dig giant robots / *I* dig giant robots / *We* dig giant robots / *Chicks* dig giant robots / Nice.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
In The News:
New surveillance robot, and it knows how to hide - these little UAVs are getting smarter and smarter
Rome's Air Force super computer made out of PS3s - 1,716 PS3s linked into a massive super computer for image processing.
Artificial leaf may be a breakthrough in solar energy - another step closer to a viable energy alternative.
Nanotech implant checks for Cancer and heart attacks - where can I buy mine?
China to overtake the US in science in two years - a lot sooner than commentators thought... this should be a wake up call for the western world.
Rome's Air Force super computer made out of PS3s - 1,716 PS3s linked into a massive super computer for image processing.
Artificial leaf may be a breakthrough in solar energy - another step closer to a viable energy alternative.
Nanotech implant checks for Cancer and heart attacks - where can I buy mine?
China to overtake the US in science in two years - a lot sooner than commentators thought... this should be a wake up call for the western world.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Leapfrog Technologies
Looking at how the successful emerging economies (read China) are doing things, I can't help but think that South Africa is missing a trick.
Leapfrogging (in terms of national policy and technology) is the process of adopting next generation technologies instead of implementing those that are currently being used by the developed world. This process would include initiatives such as renewable energy projects, and emphasis on computing and robotics programs.
China's making a big push to use these "leapfrog" technologies to get an edge over the US, and as we're soon to become part of B.R.I.C.(S), we should be following suit, yes? That would make sense? ... but no... we're still building coal based power stations, and looking to the west and Europe for our business models.
I think this is a major oversight by our "leaders", and stems from simple short-sightedness. 50-100 years from now, South Africans will be looking at the new global economic powerhouses (China, Japan, South Korea), and wondering where our development went wrong...
-Odd
"To be thrown upon one's own resources, is to be cast into the very lap of fortune; for our faculties then undergo a development and display an energy of which they were previously unsusceptible" -Benjamin Franklin
Leapfrogging (in terms of national policy and technology) is the process of adopting next generation technologies instead of implementing those that are currently being used by the developed world. This process would include initiatives such as renewable energy projects, and emphasis on computing and robotics programs.
China's making a big push to use these "leapfrog" technologies to get an edge over the US, and as we're soon to become part of B.R.I.C.(S), we should be following suit, yes? That would make sense? ... but no... we're still building coal based power stations, and looking to the west and Europe for our business models.
I think this is a major oversight by our "leaders", and stems from simple short-sightedness. 50-100 years from now, South Africans will be looking at the new global economic powerhouses (China, Japan, South Korea), and wondering where our development went wrong...
-Odd
"To be thrown upon one's own resources, is to be cast into the very lap of fortune; for our faculties then undergo a development and display an energy of which they were previously unsusceptible" -Benjamin Franklin
In the News
Urinal video games - .... WTF? seriously? .... actually... that could be pretty cool
First photos taken of China's new stealth fighter - yet another of America's biggest military advantages is no more
Tampa airport shuts down due to change in magnetic poles - They had to shut down the airport in order to re-mark the runway... starting to worry yet?
Wireless car-jacking - hackers to start stealing cars?
New 'non-lethal' laser designed to deter pirates - I do so love stories about laser guns :D
First photos taken of China's new stealth fighter - yet another of America's biggest military advantages is no more
Tampa airport shuts down due to change in magnetic poles - They had to shut down the airport in order to re-mark the runway... starting to worry yet?
Wireless car-jacking - hackers to start stealing cars?
New 'non-lethal' laser designed to deter pirates - I do so love stories about laser guns :D
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
The Censorship Trend
We all know about how the Chinese government censors the Internet, and the problems it has caused for Google and by extension the US government. Only a terrible dictatorship like the Chinese could possibly want to filter the Internet, right? WRONG! It could be that they're the only ones who can pull it off.
Australia has been trying to push through a similar filtering scheme (although they probably won't stop words like freedom and democracy), but they've been forced todelay the implementation.
This should make us all wonder about our governments and what they have in mind for us. If they didn't tell us that they were filtering our Internet access, would we even notice?
In the News:
Japanese Consortium Projects a Humanoid Robot On the Moon By 2015 - That's just 5 years away.
Robots In Space - NASA has plans for a space robot... And they're calling it R2... I'm seriously geeking out... it's so cool!!!
FDA Approves Vaccine For Prostate Cancer - Not 100% effective... but it's certainly a start
More Energy in Less Space with New Ultracapasitor - power is always the biggest problem for small devices, this should help.
NASA Announces Wednesday Media Teleconference About Search For Extraterrestrial Life - wish I could attend ^^
UK Docs Perform First Remote-Control Heart Surgery - early days still... but it's a fully successful test of a technology that will let the top specialists to save lives all over the world.
Whew... just made it.... almost didn't get a post out this week... it's been hectic at work (despite the public holiday). But I did make it, and you're reading it... so it's all good ^^ Have a great weekend.
-Odd
Instrumental
WebComics vs. WebManga
You might not realise it, but there has been a debate raging around certain nodes of the internet. Namely: what is the difference between WebComics and WebManga. There have been panels about this at numerous conventions, blogs and rants by cartoonists, writers and fans... so what's it all about?
WebComics seem to follow a more western style, both in artwork and composition, something like the Sunday newspaper cartoons: each strip has a limited number of panels (usually 3 or 4), is usually self contained (doesn't have a story-line that must be read to understand the comic) and will most often provide one joke per strip. Some examples of WebComics would be ThreePanelSoul, MacHall, RealLife and AppleGeeks.
WebManga, on the other hand, follows more of a Japanese theme, with Manga-inspiredartwork and a complex story line. This is where it gets a little confusing, because if we want to avoid a third category called WebGraphicNovels, we must add the comics with a western drawing style and complex stories to the WebManga group. Examples are stuff like MegaTokyo, the Order of the Stick or ErfWorld.
So that's my definition: WebComics are a joke a strip, while WebManga have more complicated stories... but that's just my two cents, what do you think?
In the News:
Iceland Volcano's Ash Grounds European Air Travel - I'm sure you all know about this... it's insane what a huge effect it's had.... there are dinosaur extinction theories that start remarkably like this.
Using Your Thought-Controlled iPhone to Dial Home - sugoi!!!! told you it was coming.
China hackers stole key Google program - Google's single authentication code was stolen... supposedly by Chinese hackers... they've changed the code, but it's still a massive worry for your privacy.
Fatal Flaw Discovered In Invisibility Cloaks - aw... :( that sucks.
SETI To Release Data To the Public - the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence tries crowd-sourcing... cool ^^
And there you have it, another week, another post. Tune in next week: Same geek time, same geek place.
-Odd
"You know what they call a quarter-pounder in France?"
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
On violent protests and censorship
This week has seen a continuation of what seems to be a national theme for those of us in South Africa: the violent protest. The latest has come from students down in Durban, protesting for better bus transport and food at the university, but my personal favorite was a couple years ago when a group protesting against poor public transport burned trains and buses... it's utterly fantastic... I find that I'm simply not able to grasp the mentality that would be capable of such dark humor.
At first I thought that a stronger police action was needed. Break up unregistered protests before they turn violent, deny protest permits to groups or organisations that have a history of violence and come down HARD on anyone who does get violent. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well... maybe not.
Violence, as Asmiov wrote, is the last refuge of the incompetent, but sometimes it may be necessary. It can be argued that for a long time in South Africa it was necessary, and so it will take a long time to filter out of out society. What worries me is that it's the youth that is getting violent... far more violent than their preceding generation, this has to be a failure of education... which imperils our fragile outlook for the future.
On the other hand, we have the case of Google vs China. The search mega-corporation has finally stood up the dictatorial state, redirecting all users in China to the unfiltered search of their Hong Kong site. China has since censored these results, blocking searches or results as suits them. Did the Chinese students embark on a violent protest to reclaim their right to information (which, personally i think is far more important than an earlier bus ride or easy access to sandwiches)? No... there has been, as far as I can see, zero reaction from the Chinese public.
There must exist some reasonable middle ground somewhere between the mob ruled chaos and the Orwellian government control, but how do we judge? And once we've found the blueprint for such a prefect society, we need to introduce it to the single greatest problem facing good governance..... people.
In the news:
First Flight For SpaceShip Two - Virgin Galactic's new spaceship did it's first atmospheric test flight on Monday... we're getting close to the fabled commercial space flight.
Does This Headline Know You're Reading It? - the building of Text 2.0, where whatever you're reading can tell where you're looking and add video, sound, translation or explanation as needed. It also raises some question about how much we really want our computers to know. Cool article.
Has Emily Howell Passed the Musical Turning Test? - WOW!!!!!! you have to read this, and listen to the music! An AI computer program that creates wholely original, beautiful music!
NASA Mars Rover Getting Smarter as it Gets Older - a great application of AI.
To Mars and back -- as real as it gets - a group of astronoughts do a full scale simulation of a mars mission.
Hey... I managed to post before friday, Woot! I haven't done much work on the Necromunda board, and my internet connection at home is down (thank you telkom), so I haven't been playing wow.... missing my gorgeous lady.
-Odd
The three laws of journalism are:
1) Inform the public of matters of public import.
2) Entertain the audience, when it does not interfere with the first law.
2) Sneak in puns when it does not interfere with the first two laws, unless it's a really good one.
-Mat Boyd (http://www.threepanelsoul.com/)
Monday, 29 November 2010
Damn you Google!!!!
I was recently the victim of a hack... both my old google account and my World of Warcraft account were hacked. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be tech-savvy... so what did I learn from this whole experience? Three things, really:
1. Blizzard have much better customer service than Google - it's true... their online help forms were easy to find, easy to use and let me provide enough information for the person on the other end. Google on the other hand have been shocking... I doubt I'll ever get my other account back.
2. Keep your security features up to date - If you're using a Google account then you really need to attach your cellphone number to it, have a backup email account linked to it and change your passwords REGULARLY.
3. Don't keep all your eggs in one basket - everything I did was linked to my old Gmail account... so now that I have been locked out of it, I have to start my blog from scratch. Joy. So I'm now using wordpress (as you can see). It seems that splitting up my digital content should make it a little more robust security wise.
I know you've all been gushing to your friends about how awesome this blog is (you have been, right?), so please send them an update pointing to this new address: http://oddthoughtsblog.wordpress.com.
I'm going to be fiddeling with it for a while, trying to get it to look how I like it... but the post schedule should be back to normal now. This week's news is scarce, as I've been busy with trying to get my accounts back... expect regular posts and links from next week.
China's New Drones Raise Eyebrows - China has pulled a fast one on the US, announcing a range of UAV's at least as good (probably better) than the current US crop.
Privative – Noun
That which depends on, or of which the essence is, the absence of something else.
e.g. Darkness, Cold, Death
There you have it. I'll hopefully be transferring the old posts to this new blog in due time and we'll be back up and running in no time. Please tell everyone about the move, and post a comment if you've got something to say.
-Odd
"Don't find fault, find a remedy." -Henry Ford
1. Blizzard have much better customer service than Google - it's true... their online help forms were easy to find, easy to use and let me provide enough information for the person on the other end. Google on the other hand have been shocking... I doubt I'll ever get my other account back.
2. Keep your security features up to date - If you're using a Google account then you really need to attach your cellphone number to it, have a backup email account linked to it and change your passwords REGULARLY.
3. Don't keep all your eggs in one basket - everything I did was linked to my old Gmail account... so now that I have been locked out of it, I have to start my blog from scratch. Joy. So I'm now using wordpress (as you can see). It seems that splitting up my digital content should make it a little more robust security wise.
I know you've all been gushing to your friends about how awesome this blog is (you have been, right?), so please send them an update pointing to this new address: http://oddthoughtsblog.wordpress.com.
I'm going to be fiddeling with it for a while, trying to get it to look how I like it... but the post schedule should be back to normal now. This week's news is scarce, as I've been busy with trying to get my accounts back... expect regular posts and links from next week.
In the News:
China's New Drones Raise Eyebrows - China has pulled a fast one on the US, announcing a range of UAV's at least as good (probably better) than the current US crop.
Word of the Week
Privative – Noun
That which depends on, or of which the essence is, the absence of something else.
e.g. Darkness, Cold, Death
There you have it. I'll hopefully be transferring the old posts to this new blog in due time and we'll be back up and running in no time. Please tell everyone about the move, and post a comment if you've got something to say.
-Odd
"Don't find fault, find a remedy." -Henry Ford
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