Geminoid-DK: possibly the creepiest android yet built - another master piece by Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro. This thing is so far down the uncanny valley that it's scary.
Printing a human kidney - a TED talk demonstration of this amazing technology... we're fast approaching the immortal tipping point.
Masdar city runs into problems - the ambitious project to build 'the city of the future' in the middle of the desert has run into funding problems during the recession.
50 000 Japanese download the Android flashlight app after disaster - mobile computing is saving lives... go google!
Death and the Powers: A robot Opera - an opera combining human and robotic performers... and it's getting good reviews.
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
In the News:
Sweden to replace stamps with SMS - great new use of existing technology.
Researchers show method to disable cellphones by SMS - as cellphones become more advanced, they become exposed to the same dangers as computers... this is worrying.
Google gives Japan a hand with People Search - Great lateral thinking here. Putting existing technology to work, helping during a time of crisis. Google FTW.
Laser scribing to create better solar cells - anything that provides clean energy (without the risk of melt-down) has to be a good thing.
Cuba sentences a US citizen for setting up Internet connections - Disturbing, yes, but not inconceivable. We've recently seen the effect that the free transfer of information over the internet has had on dictatorships.
Researchers show method to disable cellphones by SMS - as cellphones become more advanced, they become exposed to the same dangers as computers... this is worrying.
Google gives Japan a hand with People Search - Great lateral thinking here. Putting existing technology to work, helping during a time of crisis. Google FTW.
Laser scribing to create better solar cells - anything that provides clean energy (without the risk of melt-down) has to be a good thing.
Cuba sentences a US citizen for setting up Internet connections - Disturbing, yes, but not inconceivable. We've recently seen the effect that the free transfer of information over the internet has had on dictatorships.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
In The News:
Manchester airport introduces hologram staff - that's right, if you travel through Manchester airport, you can be directed, assisted and reminded of security procedures by a helpful hologram... so cool!
520 day mock Mars mission nears landing - they're doing a dry run... that must mean we're pretty close to actually going... anyone besides me want to go to Mars?
Google beats Bing at Jeopardy questions - who would win if search engines played this popular US game show? Google of course!
Egyptians find new ways to get online - with all the unrest in Egypt, the government shut down the internet... which is troubling in and of itself... but as this article shows: The flow of information is far more robust than most people think.
Fernando Torres signs for Chelsea for 50 million pounds - 50 MILLION POUNDS?! For a guy that can kick a ball around a little? As signs of the apocalypse go... in my book this one is right up there with rains of blood and the appearance of the angel of death.
520 day mock Mars mission nears landing - they're doing a dry run... that must mean we're pretty close to actually going... anyone besides me want to go to Mars?
Google beats Bing at Jeopardy questions - who would win if search engines played this popular US game show? Google of course!
Egyptians find new ways to get online - with all the unrest in Egypt, the government shut down the internet... which is troubling in and of itself... but as this article shows: The flow of information is far more robust than most people think.
Fernando Torres signs for Chelsea for 50 million pounds - 50 MILLION POUNDS?! For a guy that can kick a ball around a little? As signs of the apocalypse go... in my book this one is right up there with rains of blood and the appearance of the angel of death.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
In The News:
Meditation alters brain structure - New research provides scientific evidence of what many cultures have taken for granted for centuries: Meditation improves your brain.
Artificial retinas see well enough to balance a pencil on it's tip - a bit step to functional robots.
Apple App Store reaches 10 billion downloads - TEN BILLION! thats a lot of apps....
Android Smart-phone to be sent into space - ... this a test to check it's viability to run satellites... can you iPhone do that? didn't think so.
Computer program recognizes human emotion from conversational analysis - this should make it possible to actually have a conversation with a robot without wanting to rip it's head off.
Artificial retinas see well enough to balance a pencil on it's tip - a bit step to functional robots.
Apple App Store reaches 10 billion downloads - TEN BILLION! thats a lot of apps....
Android Smart-phone to be sent into space - ... this a test to check it's viability to run satellites... can you iPhone do that? didn't think so.
Computer program recognizes human emotion from conversational analysis - this should make it possible to actually have a conversation with a robot without wanting to rip it's head off.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Taking on the Big Boys
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Even though I joined the evil Microsoft empire (resistance if futile), I do enjoy seeing somebody... anybody... take on this multinational goliath and win. So on the off chance that you don't know about them, this week I'm going to tell you about some easy alternatives to Microsoft products.
The first Microsoft product you should replace is your web browser. Even though IE9 is a lot better than it's earlier incarnations (I'm using the beta for work and it's pretty good), it still can't hope to hold a candle to Google's Chrome bowser, which is my personal favorite. Microsoft is under serious threat in the bowser market, so if you're still using IE, trade up to chrome and be prepared to be astonished by it's silky smooth operation and lightning speed.
Next in line is your Microsoft Office suite. You've probably already paid for this (unless you're a pirate, Aarrr!), without ever considering that there might be alternatives. There are alternatives... in fact, they're free! The first stop for me would be OpenOffice, even if they've recently lost 33 of their top developers to the new solution,LibreOffice... Either way you get a free product that does the exact same things as Microsoft Office.
If downloading and configuring your office product doesn't sound like your cup of tea, why not keep your head in the clouds and use Google's office solution: Google Docs. It runs right in your web browser, so you can access your files from anywhere at any time and with broadband and mobile internet in South Africa only set to improve, it's not a bad bet at all.
So expand your thinking a little, have a look at the incredible Open Source alternatives on the 'net and stop paying 'The Man' such a huge chunk of cash... unless you're paying me to do something Microsoft related... then it's necessary.
In the News:
Electric car recharges in 6 minutes - One of the greatest drawbacks to 'green' cars is being solved.
The Pope warns against a digital world - .... well... he would... wouldn't he?
Military "Laser Beams" getting closer to mass production - so they're still so big they have to be mounted on a truck... who cares? they're Lasers!!! so cool.
NASA Survey Suggests Earth-Sized planets are common - and a good thing too, since we're close to befouling ours beyond hope of redemption.
NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Finds evidence of Subsurface water - so a colony on mars is possible... if you were offered a one-way ticket to the red planet... would you go? .... I think I would.
Kindle Allowing Chinese Unfettered Access To the Web - Awesome! go Amazon!!!!
Word of the Week:
Hypocrite (noun) -
1: A person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2: A person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
Another week, another post... Thanks to everyone who gives my random scratchings a read... I do appreciate it. If you liked it (or disliked it), post a comment with the links below.... and I nearly forgot... check out my friend's blog Business Minds. :)
-Odd
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
-Winston Churchill
The first Microsoft product you should replace is your web browser. Even though IE9 is a lot better than it's earlier incarnations (I'm using the beta for work and it's pretty good), it still can't hope to hold a candle to Google's Chrome bowser, which is my personal favorite. Microsoft is under serious threat in the bowser market, so if you're still using IE, trade up to chrome and be prepared to be astonished by it's silky smooth operation and lightning speed.
Next in line is your Microsoft Office suite. You've probably already paid for this (unless you're a pirate, Aarrr!), without ever considering that there might be alternatives. There are alternatives... in fact, they're free! The first stop for me would be OpenOffice, even if they've recently lost 33 of their top developers to the new solution,LibreOffice... Either way you get a free product that does the exact same things as Microsoft Office.
If downloading and configuring your office product doesn't sound like your cup of tea, why not keep your head in the clouds and use Google's office solution: Google Docs. It runs right in your web browser, so you can access your files from anywhere at any time and with broadband and mobile internet in South Africa only set to improve, it's not a bad bet at all.
So expand your thinking a little, have a look at the incredible Open Source alternatives on the 'net and stop paying 'The Man' such a huge chunk of cash... unless you're paying me to do something Microsoft related... then it's necessary.
In the News:
Electric car recharges in 6 minutes - One of the greatest drawbacks to 'green' cars is being solved.
The Pope warns against a digital world - .... well... he would... wouldn't he?
Military "Laser Beams" getting closer to mass production - so they're still so big they have to be mounted on a truck... who cares? they're Lasers!!! so cool.
NASA Survey Suggests Earth-Sized planets are common - and a good thing too, since we're close to befouling ours beyond hope of redemption.
NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Finds evidence of Subsurface water - so a colony on mars is possible... if you were offered a one-way ticket to the red planet... would you go? .... I think I would.
Kindle Allowing Chinese Unfettered Access To the Web - Awesome! go Amazon!!!!
Word of the Week:
Hypocrite (noun) -
1: A person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2: A person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
Another week, another post... Thanks to everyone who gives my random scratchings a read... I do appreciate it. If you liked it (or disliked it), post a comment with the links below.... and I nearly forgot... check out my friend's blog Business Minds. :)
-Odd
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
-Winston Churchill
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/)
Facing Eternity
It might not be immediately noticeable, but modern medicine has greatly increased the human life span. Sure the most drastic extension is available only to the privileged minority, but even the lower classes have benefited greatly advancements in treatment and medication.
Doctors and researchers aren't the type to just sit back, so medical science is always pushing the envelope further, developing or adapting all the cutting edge technologies from robotics to material science. What does this mean for us? Well, because the rate of technological advancement is exponential, there will come a time when treatments can stave off death long enough for the next technology to be developed, which will keep people alive until the next one, and the next, and the next. The end result? Immortality.
I'm not talking about cutting peoples heads off and getting struck by lightning, being bullet proof or completely immune to disease, but the fact is that death from aging will become (for some) a thing of the past. How we adopt these technologies is, however, a completely different question.
Any new technology always starts it's commercial life as an exclusive product. Only the richest people can afford the huge price tag associated with the cutting edge, but because capitalism runs best on the volume game, new technology quickly becomes old technology and gets cheaper and cheaper. So, we start off with a elitist class of immortals... but pretty soon everyone can afford it... then what?
Do we allow anyone and everyone to walk through the eons? It's been shown that the lower we go on the social scale, the more children we have. What happens when we've got 300, 400 years worth of fertility? The earth is already overpopulated with people that barely scrape a century of life... I doubt it can cope with an immortal population that breeds and acts as we do.
What I find exciting, worrying and scary is that the Longevity Turning Point is not as far away as you'd think... I've read articles that posit it in the next 50-100 years... thats us or our children as humanity's first immortal generation... and I, for one, don't think we're ready for it.
Don't believe me? Go ahead, Google it...
In The News:
Caltech Makes Flexible, 86% Efficient Solar Arrays - Finally! we can kick escom out the house.
Chilean Earthquake Shortened Earth's Day - not by much... but I hadn't thought it could have such a global effect.
Long-distance quantum communication - getting that much closer to reality. This is a very important technology for our plans for space travel... communication that doesn't take days, months or years to reach other planets? Brilliant.
Skinput turns your arm into a touchscreen - this is COOL! watch the video.
One in four Germans wants microchip under skin - very interesting poll done in Germany... raises all sorts of ethical/anthropological questions.
Your Personal Memory Device - brain scans, networking and data-centers could turn us all into perfect recall, telepathic cyborgs... I'd sign up.
The World's First Commercially Available Jet-pack - watch out for those Nazi's (5 points to anyone who gets this reference)
Google's Computing Power Refines Translation - getting closer to a perfect universal translator... awesome.
New Phone Allows Bosses To Snoop On Staff - whoa... I REALLY don't like this... too Orwellian for me.
Work's been heavy this week... hence the late week post... but there it is, hope you enjoyed it.
-Odd
"Who wants, To live, Forever...."
Damn you fox!!!!!
I got some terrible news this past week. News that has me contemplating serious violence against a major American TV station. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm going to give it to you straight...
DollHouse has been canceled.
That's right. Fox has canceled Joss Whedon's latest masterpiece. I really don't get it, DollHouse is the best show to be aired since... well... since FireFly (which the bloodless corporate drones also cancelled), amazingly imaginative and thought provoking Sci-Fi, challenging scripts pulled off by incredible acting by a talented and diverse cast. I suppose we should be glad that Joss was allowed to do two seasons instead of the one that FireFly managed... but i'm not!
One thing I guess we have though... if DollHouse does follow FireFly's career path, we've got a kick ass movie to look forward to in a couple years.
In the meantime, if anyone wants to sponsor a flight to the US and a couple tons of Hi-Ex.... fox hunting season is open.
In the News:
Video Game Weapons - a cool article about the real world equivalents of our favorite devices of destruction
Cell Phone Data Predicts Movement Patterns - this is a little too big brother for my comfort
Triumph of the Cyborg Composer - a computer program that composes original (and actually GOOD) classical music... brings up a lot of questions about creativity, beauty and humanity.
Saturn Moon Could Be Hospitable To Life - we might have found our first extraterrestrial colony site. AWESOME!
Copernicium Confirmed As Element 112 - time to update your periodic table of elements... I know you all have one... nerds!
Project Offset Creates Graphical Magic - CGI quality graphics rendered in real time, on a home PC... sounds too good to be true... but there it is.
Google Buzz - a little article with various comments and tips
Intelligent people have 'unnatural' preferences and values that are novel in human evolution - just to remind you... my name is Odd... as in strange.... ^^
Water replant material - a new invention for a militantly water-proof surface
Cannibal star is devouring a planet - you don't get more epic than this.
An electrifying discovery - a new material that will harvest electricity from body movement.
BlackBerry Bold Tops Radiation Ranking - told you it was a crappy phone.
Email me now to join the Fox hunting party (not joking).... hope you enjoyed the post.
-Odd
"There are three flowers in a vase. The third flower is green."
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Science Fiction and Science Fantasy, The difference.
Right, so this might be a boring topic for some, but I think it's an interesting distinction, so I'm going to talk about it anyway. People who don't read sci-fi lump whole sections of literature under that one title (often including heroic fantasy, if you can believe that), like some sort of horrible mutant chimera. In reality there are some very clear distinctions in the genre.
Science Fiction as a genre includes such gems as the works of Issac Asimov, or the new Joss Whedon show Doll House. So what categorizes these as science fiction? It's actually fairly simple: The major element in any Science Fiction story is the science. What a science fiction writer does when developing a story is to choose a particular type of technology and then extrapolate it into the future to see how people will react to it. Because the science is the major protagonist in the story, it has to be very well thought out and communicated, there is always an in depth explanation on how and why this technology works.
Science Fantasy (also sometimes called a 'space opera') on the other hand doesn't rely on science for the story's direction. This sub-genre includes epic pieces of story telling like Star Wars (personally I'm referring to IV, V and VI when I say this) and Joss Whedon's amasing FireFly. While these stories might be set in the far future, and so require space-ships and lasers and the like, these things are more incidental to the story that the writer is trying to tell and so we don't get a lot (or any) explanation of how the science works.
To simplify the difference: Science Fiction is a story about people's reactions to piece or type of technology while Science Fantasy is a story that just happens to be set in a place or time with futuristic gadgets. Both genre's are very cool and lots of fun to read (or watch), but for completely different reasons.
In the News:
Robots To Clear the Baltic Seafloor of WW-II Mines - Our metal friends helping out again
Can He Make The Dancing Hexapod Robot Happy - Another cool article on the development of AI
Is Hyperlongevity Immoral? - an interesting exploration of the ethical ramifications of our drive to immortality
Blind people use both visual and auditory cortices to hear - interesting goings on in our brains.
Scientists solve ageing puzzle - "who wants, to live, forever?"
US military to make jet fuel from algae - the jarheads are going green, it seems.
New results confirm standard neutrino theory - some results to back up quantum theory.
Google demonstrates phone that translates text - a step closer to a universal translator
Switzerland peruses violent game ban - big brother steps in against electronic mayhem... it'll sure be boring if they pull it off
Lego Robot Solves Any Rubik's Cube in 12 Seconds - this thing is COOL! check out the vids
Robot Soccer Getting Better - news from the Robot World Cup
Minority Report Interface Is Real, Hitting Mainstream Soon - awesome gadget... I want one!!!
Nanodiamonds Produce 'Game Changing Event' for MRI Imaging Sensitivity - Nano technology doing cool stuff.
Oil droplets can navigate complex maze - scientists have taught oil droplets.... teaching inanimate objects? WTF?!
So there we are... another post down. If you enjoyed it, leave a comment, follow and tell your friends. Or tell me... I'd dig to know if anyone actually reads these things. ^^
-Odd
- Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics. |
Hello, my name is Odd and I'm a bibliophile
I recently bought the 25th anniversary edition of David Gemmel's masterpiece Legend (and, being the raging geek that I am, bought one for my gorgeous girlfriend so that she has to read it too ^^), and it got my thinking on my reading habits.
I'm not a huge fan of non-fiction (besides textbooks, i don't touch it) or even real world fiction, my textual consumption consists entirely of Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction... and some people have a problem with that. It would never have crossed my mind that some would find my reading habits frivolous and wasteful, but I spend a fair amount of time reading in coffee shops and I'm often randomly accosted (usually by business types) asking why I'm wasting me time reading whichever novel I happen to be engrossed in.
Usually I just send them politely on their way... they're much to busy and self important to actually listen to any sort of rational (which begs the question, how do they have time to give me greif?), but occationally I do put down the book, set aside the caffinated ambrosia and try educate the unwashed masses.
I think that Heroic Fantasy and even more so Science Fiction are the most important genres that the combined genius of humanity produces. Heroic Fantasy (the good ones at least) open and expand the mind to a degree that non-fiction and real world fiction just can't match. It introduces us to ideas, worlds and situations that (while not physically possible in this reality) mirror, exemplify and extrapolate everything in the world around us.
Science Fiction is an even greater necessity for the modern world. Every piece of technology, scientific theory and every gadget that has integrated so seamlessly into our lives were (at very least) influenced by the work of a SciFi writer. They are the true visionaries of our age, and we can only benefit from tapping into their genius.
So, next time you're in a book store... be expansionist in your thinking: visit the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section... and if you happen to see me in a coffee shop, brain deep in a novel bigger and more complicated than a V2 rocket manual, have a thought before wrenching me back to reality to tell me I'm wasting my time.
In the News:
Europe's LHC To Run At Half-Energy Through 2011 - The LHC is still a long way from full operation.
Dune Remake Could Mean 3D Sandworms - Hope they do a good job on this one, it's one of the greatest Sci-Fi series ever written.
Patient presumed vegetative communicates via brain scan: study - I can think of nothing scarier than being stuck in my own head with no way to communicate... thankfully, science is making progress.
Stanford's robotic Audi to brave Pikes Peak without a driver (w/ Video) - Self driving cars are getting closer and closer
Carbon Based Chips May One Day Replace Silicon Transistors - A new technology that could keep Moore's Law going.
Hello Robotnaut: Nasa, GM introduce latest humanoid robot - NASA joining the race with this cool new robot.
Artificial intelligence: Can AI crack the conundrum of consciousness? - a great article on AI, how it's evolving and how it can tell us about ourselves.
Virus-Detecting "Lab On a Chip" Developed At BYU - great medical breakthroughs with nano-tech
Google Shooting For Smartphone Universal Translator - totally SciFi technology from my favorite evil corporation.
New Material Transforms Car Bodies Into Batteries - a new meta-material that could change the automotive industry and go a long way to making all our lives the little bit greener.
And there you have it, another week of looking into the excuse I call a mind. ^^ hope you enjoyed it.
-Odd
“Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil. Never back away from an enemy. Either fight or surrender. It is not enough to say I will not beevil. Evil must be fought wherever it is found.” - The Iron Code of Druss
Modern Robotics
Of all things sci-fi and techie, robots are probably the most easily explained and recognisable phenomenon. They’ve featured in numerous sci-fi books and movies, mostly as grossly overpowered machines of human extinction, but also occasionally as sensitive, thinking, feeling companions to mankind. Today, I will give you a few brief insights into how modern science is trying to realise the promises of those epic sci-fi stories.
The definition of a robot (in this case taken from Wikipedia) is anautomatically guided machine, able to do tasks on its own. Another common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own. “Automatically guided” is an important distinction, as a lot of machines that people consider to be robots are actually not.
The US military has a number of these typesofthings, but currently doesn’t have any real robots. That will soon change, with DARPA giving out a $32 million grant to the company responsible for the very (very, very) cool Big Dogrobot. This handy (fully automatic) machine is going to be used as a robotic pack mule, lugging around supplies for a troop of soldiers travelling through rough terrain. Big Dog has some really advanced movement systems, so much so that it can come across quite creepy to some people (I think it’s WAY too cool to be considered creepy, but maybe that’s just me ^^).
Thankfully, the military are not the only ones exploring Robotics in its true form, the civilian sector might actually be well ahead. South Korea in particular is making a big push to be the world leader in robotics, having made the very ambitious promise to have a robot in every home by 2020. They could even make the deadline, with awesome tech like Honda’sASIMOrobot and thismaid robot. These civilian robots are still a far cry from C3-P0, only able operate in a very limited set of environments and actions.
So the robots are coming! And with showcases like the Robotic Soccer World Cup, and constant advances in computers allowing us to evolve the software to run the robots, it’s only a matter of time.
Lots of news this week:
Twitter Developing Technology To Thwart Censorship – Twitter taking up the challenge of opposing despotic countries. Brave.
Scientists Produce Unprecedented 1 Megajoule Laser Shot, Step Towards Fusion IgnitionLevitating magnet may yield new approach to clean energy – The biggest “laser beam” built yet, Dr. Evil would approve.
Apple Ipad – various views from industry commentators.
China Is Winning Global Race To Make Clean Energy - Who would have thought?
The BCI X PRIZE: This Time It’s Inner Space - A new X-Prize being setup to advance the electronic/brain interface. Sweet.
New adhesive device could let humans walk on walls - I want to be spiderman!
Scientists Discover New Species of Tyrannosaur - Pretty cool ^^
India Objects To Google Book Settlement - Google having more problems with it’s Books program
Super Strong Metal Foam Discovered - New meta-materials are always cool
Another week, another post. Hope you found it interesting. Peace.
-Odd
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”
The Technological Singularity: A brief explanation
The phenomenon that is being called the ‘Technological Singularity’, if or when it happens, will change our lives in a drastic and fundamental way, so what is it exactly?
Scientists use the term singularity to refer to a question to which they don’t have any answers, such as what happens beyond the event horizon of black hole or the condition of the universe before the big bang. We simply don’t have the tools or knowledge to describe these things, so we copout and say that it’s unexplainable.
But technology is explainable, surely? We’re the ones who built it the first place, yes? Well… no, not really. The Technological Singularity will happen when we create a self improving computer system that is ‘smarter’ than a human, even just fractionally smarter. The system then works on itself, improving exponentially until (in a relatively short period of time) it becomes a super-intelligence, vastly more complex and powerful than a human mind. As the super-intelligence will be so far beyond us, or anything we can imagine, we simply can’t predict what sort of impact it will have on our world.
Can you imagine what sort of answers we could get out of such a system? A unifying theory of the universe, perhaps? Faster than light drive technology for our spacecraft? Unlimited clean energy? Or (knowing what we’re like) weapons capable of ever greater destruction? Will the super-intelligence even bother to talk to such limited beings as humans?
A lot of these questions cannot be answered, and others depend a lot on the environment that the singularity arises in. I think we’d all prefer that the singularity gets kicked off by a group of independent scientific researchers rather than a belligerent military and thankfully there are some people working towards that. The Singularity Institute is a forum of scientists working towards speeding up the Singularity and getting it started under peaceful conditions.
Even given the best possible scenario for the Singularity, it will still have a drastic effect on our society. A lot of people are already having problems adapting to the incredible pace of technological change, what will it be like when the Super-Intelligence puts it foot on the gas? We all need to ask ourselves if we’re ready for this, because it is coming… whether we are or not.
Options Dwindling For Mars Spirit Rover - NASA’s having serious problems getting it’s little robot friend out of a ditch… a call to AAA (alien automobile association) might be in order ^^
Wii Balance Board Gives $18,000 Medical Device a Run For Its Money – A fine example of gaming making technology more accessible to everybody. Go Nintendo!
Google Phone Could Drive Apple Into Allegiance With Microsoft – for a company with the motto “Don’t be Evil”, Google seems to be leaning towards the dark side quite a lot. First it was the whole drama over China and it’s censorship laws and now they’re pushing Apple into cooperation with the borg? Not cool, guys!
Legend – The first book written by David Gemmel is out in a 25th anniversary edition. If you haven’t read this yet, do so!
Well, there you have it… another post down. If you found it illuminating, entertaining or even just irritating, please use the link below to post a comment.
-Odd
“I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.” – Terry Pratchett.
Scientists use the term singularity to refer to a question to which they don’t have any answers, such as what happens beyond the event horizon of black hole or the condition of the universe before the big bang. We simply don’t have the tools or knowledge to describe these things, so we copout and say that it’s unexplainable.
But technology is explainable, surely? We’re the ones who built it the first place, yes? Well… no, not really. The Technological Singularity will happen when we create a self improving computer system that is ‘smarter’ than a human, even just fractionally smarter. The system then works on itself, improving exponentially until (in a relatively short period of time) it becomes a super-intelligence, vastly more complex and powerful than a human mind. As the super-intelligence will be so far beyond us, or anything we can imagine, we simply can’t predict what sort of impact it will have on our world.
Can you imagine what sort of answers we could get out of such a system? A unifying theory of the universe, perhaps? Faster than light drive technology for our spacecraft? Unlimited clean energy? Or (knowing what we’re like) weapons capable of ever greater destruction? Will the super-intelligence even bother to talk to such limited beings as humans?
A lot of these questions cannot be answered, and others depend a lot on the environment that the singularity arises in. I think we’d all prefer that the singularity gets kicked off by a group of independent scientific researchers rather than a belligerent military and thankfully there are some people working towards that. The Singularity Institute is a forum of scientists working towards speeding up the Singularity and getting it started under peaceful conditions.
Even given the best possible scenario for the Singularity, it will still have a drastic effect on our society. A lot of people are already having problems adapting to the incredible pace of technological change, what will it be like when the Super-Intelligence puts it foot on the gas? We all need to ask ourselves if we’re ready for this, because it is coming… whether we are or not.
In the news:
Options Dwindling For Mars Spirit Rover - NASA’s having serious problems getting it’s little robot friend out of a ditch… a call to AAA (alien automobile association) might be in order ^^
Wii Balance Board Gives $18,000 Medical Device a Run For Its Money – A fine example of gaming making technology more accessible to everybody. Go Nintendo!
Google Phone Could Drive Apple Into Allegiance With Microsoft – for a company with the motto “Don’t be Evil”, Google seems to be leaning towards the dark side quite a lot. First it was the whole drama over China and it’s censorship laws and now they’re pushing Apple into cooperation with the borg? Not cool, guys!
Legend – The first book written by David Gemmel is out in a 25th anniversary edition. If you haven’t read this yet, do so!
Well, there you have it… another post down. If you found it illuminating, entertaining or even just irritating, please use the link below to post a comment.
-Odd
“I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.” – Terry Pratchett.
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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