February 20, 2011

KEN JENNINGS TALKS ABOUT LOSING TO WATSON, BEING HUMAN AFTER ALL

In a piece for Slate titled “My Puny Human Brain,” former-Jeopardy-greatest Ken Jennings talks briefly through his experience playing against IBM’s Watson. If you were hoping for some sour grapes, you won’t find it here, but Ken gives a great insight into what it feels like to be an underdog human up against a PR darling supercomputer. “Watson has lots in common with a top-ranked human Jeopardy! player: It’s very smart, very fast, speaks in an uneven monotone, and has never known the touch of a woman.” Ken wraps it up on an uplifting, humans-are-going-to-be-alright-after-all note, and we seem to have something in our eye… Ken Jennings talks about losing to Watson, being human after all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | source Slate | Email this | Comments
February 18, 2011

UTTERLY RIDICULOUS ACTION SCENE FROM BOLLYWOOD ‘TERMINATOR’ KNOCKOFF

Shared by Daniel haha what the hell The insane epicness of this movie cannot possibly be overstated. And somehow, the fact that it’s overdubbed in Russian makes it just that much more awesome. It’s called Robot, and if you get a copy, send it to me. Immediately. Update: the full movie is here on YouTube (all 2+ hours of it), with English captions! VIA [ Laughing Squid ]
February 18, 2011

TED ROUNDUP: HEATHER KNIGHT AND CYNTHIA BREAZEAL TALK ROBOT COMEDY AND INTERACTIVITY

Watch these two TED Talks from robot researchers Heather Knight and Cynthia Breazeal, on interactive robot comedy and why we don’t have robots in our homes yet
February 13, 2011

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February 12, 2011

A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT

This thread is a mess, filled with too many analogies and lofty idealistic rhetoric that is appropriate to the dramatic circumstances but fail to help us think clearly through them. Forget this consciousness stuff, it isn’t helping. Let us start again. On the one hand, we have Uglycat arguing that we are experiencing a fundamental shift in social organization, a shift made possible by the democratizaton of incredibly powerful networked technologies. On the other hand, we have Petey’s much more moderate claim in the main Revolution thread: Petey posted: – social media played some unknown but presumably nontrivial role in both a) spreading the word about the self-immolations among sympathetic citizens and b) facilitating the organization of collective action protests I think everyone will agree with Petey about the nontrivial role of social media and internet organization. The operative question in this thread is what substantial role these new technologies have played, and does this represent a fundamental shift in the narrative, or is this just a continuation of old themes in slightly new packaging. I think the key to understanding this is being specific about what would count as a ‘fundamental’ shift. I’m going to point to Deep Hurting’s latest comic to give a sense of what fundamental means in this context. Ignore Deep Hurting’s political comment for a second, and just think about the appropriation of the famous painting of Lady Liberty in the throes of revolution, holding a smartphone in her outstretched hand. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the protestors today is their use of these social devices. It is a badge of self-identification, it distinguishes and marks off as unique the revolutions currrently underway from those in the past. The causes are the same (liberty), but the defenders of that cause are equipped differently. In […]
February 12, 2011

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February 10, 2011

AHUMANRIGHT.ORG PLANS TO BUY SATELLITE AND PROVIDE FREE INTERNET ACCESS FOR ENTIRE WORLD

Shared by Daniel ht becca
January 24, 2011

A SOFTER WORLD: 633

January 24, 2011

AUTONOMOUS QUADROTOR TEAMS MAY BUILD YOUR NEXT HOUSE

Back in July, we wrote about how UPenn’s GRASP Lab had taught their quadrotors to work together to grasp and move things. The next step, it seems, is teaching the quadrotors to work together to grasp and move things and actually build buildings. The video above shows a team of quadrotors cooperating to construct the framework of a (rather small) building. The building’s structure is held together with magnets, and the quadrotors are able to verify that the alignment is correct by attempting to wiggle the structural components around, which is pretty cool. It’s fun to speculate about how this technology might grow out of the lab into the real world… To build actual buldings, you’d either need much bigger quadrotors (which is possible), lots of small quadrotors cooperating in big pieces (also possible), or buildings built out of much smaller components (which might be the way to go). The quadrotors probably wouldn’t be able to do all the work, but they have the potential to make construction projects significantly more efficient. [ GRASP ]
January 24, 2011

X-RHEX: RHEX GETS AN UPGRADE

It looks like that desert testing we wrote about in May of last year has paid off, and UPenn’s KodLab has developed a new version of their RHex wheeled/legged robot called X-RHex. X-RHex is about the same size and weight as RHex, but it’s stronger, more durable, and has as longer run time of up to two hours. It’s also got a couple mil-spec rails mounted on top along with standardized electrical connections, which could be just for convenience or could be because X-RHex has a probable military future, or both. X-RHex doesn’t seem as capable of the speeds exhibited by other leg/wheel hybrid robots such as Whegs, but its strength is in its adaptability and the way it can make it through basically any sort of terrain, even things that would challenge conventional wheeled or tracked robots. [ X-RHex ]
January 22, 2011

WINDORO THE WINDOW-CLEANING ROBOT – BOING BOING

December 15, 2010

STUMBLES PREVENT ROBO-SPRINTER FROM SPREADING ABJECT ‘TERMINATOR’ TERROR

The T-1000 shape-shifter robot in ‘Terminator 2’ serves as a terrifying upgrade over its Arnold predecessor. But, that intimidation doesn’t arise from its morphing capabilities, because the robot truly horrifies us when it breaks into — with those disturbing swinging arms — an emotionless, unflinching sprint. Well, finally, an engineer has decided real robots should possess those same stupefying skills. MIT scientist Ryuma Niiyama is developing a running robot, simply named ‘Athlete,’ that employs seven complex muscle systems. The artificial muscles, which mimic human sets like the gluteus maximus and the hamstring, power prosthetic blades similar to those utilized by amputee athletes. Embedded sensors and inertial measurement units monitor the bot’s orientation, so that it — conceivably — can maintain a steady, sickening sprint. Continue reading Stumbles Prevent Robo-Sprinter From Spreading Abject ‘Terminator’ Terror Stumbles Prevent Robo-Sprinter From Spreading Abject ‘Terminator’ Terror originally appeared on Switched on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
March 30, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM GOOGLE

This is pretty awesome. Plug these equations into your search bar. Google originally shared this post: sqrt(x*x+y*y)+3*cos(sqrt(x*x+y*y))+5 from -20 to 20 sin(5.5x)*cos(5*y)+x*x+1 x is from -1 to 1, y is from -1 to 1, z is from 0.1 to 2.8 tanh(y(y^4+5x^4-10(x^2)(y^2))/(x^2+y^2)^4)
March 30, 2012

BELOW IS A REPOST OF MY FINAL COMMENT IN…

Below is a repost of my final comment in this thread: https://plus.google.com/115633934578783827271/posts/fzQHDwgtLSE __ +Alex Schleber Thanks for helping me find my community, its definitely appreciated. I agree without hesitation about the need for deep #systemhacking . And undoubtedly, there are thousands of minor system hacks that are waiting to be exploited for building a better world within the existing infrastructure, and that possibly will result in some genuine social change. +Jennifer Pahlka‘s amazing TED talk that went around a few weeks ago is, I think, a slightly less nihilistic call to hack the system than the Cult of Done, but the two approaches compliment and reinforce each other well. https://plus.google.com/u/0/117828903900236363024/posts/1XLMigFwWZz But these are just minor hacks, patchwork fixes on a broken and sinking system. Latching onto that system is a losing prospect, and relying on these hacks is fundamentally unsustainable. There is only one system hack that matters, and it is the hack where we all agree collectively to stop using money as a means of organizing ourselves. Transitioning off money as a form of social organization is precisely how we overcome the industrial age economies that we have used to organize ourselves for the last few hundred years and fully transition into the digital age. At +Occupy Wall Street the #freegan groups hacked the system and got things done by visiting all the businesses around Zuccotti Park late at night and asking for the food they would otherwise throw away. +Starbucks Coffee was particularly generous with their garbage, siphoning bags of perfectly edible baked goods that fed dozens of people. These are the kinds of system hacks that actually generate change, but they aren’t the sort that are going to attract the dollars of a venture capitalist. These are the system hacks that the homeless communities have known for […]
March 30, 2012

“THE BLIND JUGGLING MACHINES CAN JUGGLE…

“The Blind Juggling Machines can juggle balls without seeing them, and without catching them. Most of them, in fact, can juggle balls without any sensory feedback, such as sound or contact; this is achieved by exploiting the dynamics of these machines to achieve stable ball trajectories. This is very much in contrast to how most human beings would perform the same task: we would use our eyes to determine where to put our hands, for example.” http://raffaello.name/dynamic-works/juggling-machines http://vimeo.com/30373506
March 30, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM ALEX SCHLEBER

The chicest of all favelas: The Cult of Done. I’m just catching up, excuse the archiving. No shame being part of the long tail. Alex Schleber originally shared this post: *Public Service Announcement: We’re at 42 / 366 = 11.5% of your year have already expired.* Good reminder from the Cult Of Done Manifesto: “…12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.” So I guess that makes G+ the “ghost of Done” too…!? Food for thought. Bre Pettis | I Make Things – Bre Pettis Blog – The Cult of Done Manifesto Dear Members of the Cult of Done,. I present to you a manifesto of done. This was written in collaboration with Kio Stark in 20 minutes because we only had 20 minutes to get it done. The Cult of Done …
March 30, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM BRAD SNOWDER

As I’ve discussed with +Jon Lawhead before, the neutrino results are a good opportunity to take stock of the way science handles its PR outfit. I was worried for a bit that we’d just chalk the whole thing up to normal science without thinking critically about how the announcement went down, so I’m glad to see them take responsibility for their mistakes, Brad Snowder originally shared this post: Two leaders of “Faster-Than-Light” Neutrino Team Resign On the morning of September 22, 2011, OPERA spokesperson Antonio Ereditato announced to the world that members of the OPERA experiment had observed neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light.
March 30, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM AZIMUTH

Azimuth originally shared this post: A paper on networks, systems biology and medicine: “Proceeding from a topological description of these networks to an appreciation of their role in defining human disease requires recognition of a few important organizing principles derived from network theory. In brief, any network can be viewed as a collection of linked nodes, the distribution of which can range from random to highly clustered. Biological networks are not random collections of nodes and links, but evolve as clustered collections of genes, regulatory RNAs, proteins, or metabolites. Biological and pathobiological networks are scale-free; contain few highly connected nodes (hubs) and bottlenecks (nodes that link different highly connected clusters to each other, gaining, as a result, high ‘betweenness centrality’; manifest the small-world effect and disassortativity (highly connected nodes, or hubs, typically avoid linking to one another); and contain motifs with predictable functional consequences (feedback loops, oscillators, etc.). All of the biological networks relevant to disease manifest these properties, as well, which gives us a starting point from which to begin to identify those subnetworks or modules that are responsible for a specific pathobiological process or a specific disease.” Of course we should expect some of the general principles here may apply in ecology and elsewhere, too! http://www.barabasilab.com/pubs/CCNR-ALB_Publications/201111-00_WIREs-SysBiology/201111-00_WIREs-SysBiology.pdf
March 30, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM ALEXANDER KRUEL

Alexander Kruel originally shared this post: “In 2010, Cornell researchers Michael Schmidt and Hod Lipson published a groundbreaking paper in “Science” titled, “Distilling Free-Form Natural Laws from Experimental Data”. The premise was simple, and it essentially boiled down to the question, “can we algorithmically extract models to fit our data?”” Automated science, deep data and the paradox of information – O’Reilly Radar Bradley Voytek:
March 29, 2012

AXELROD’S EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION TO #COMPLEXITY…

Axelrod’s excellent introduction to #complexity as it pertains to the #socialsciences . I took the Standing Ovation Problem article from this collection, and there are easily a dozen more open in tabs on my browser opened from this page that I can’t wait to go through. http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/abmread.htm It is unfortunate that they chose the acronym ABM, because Latour’s Actor Network Theory is so much more fun. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor%E2%80%93network_theory On-Line Guide for Newcomers to ABM (Axelrod and Tesfatsion) On-Line Guide for Newcomers to. Agent-Based Modeling in the Social Sciences. Robert Axelrod and Leigh Tesfatsion. Last Updated: 19 February 2012. Site Maintained By: Leigh Tesfatsion: Professor of Eco…
March 29, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM KYLE BROOM

kyle broom originally shared this post: “There is no simple formula for the relationship of art to justice. But I do know that art–in my own case the art of poetry–means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage. ” Hot Ink Adrienne Rich Refuses to Accept National Medal. Hot Ink is the Pacific Northwest’s premiere online magazine of thought and writing. Daily essays about current books, magazines, press, pop culture, and…
March 29, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM BRUCE HEAD

Bruce Head originally shared this post: “With no central planner or decider, both brains and bee hives can resolve their inner differences to commit to single courses of action. To watch a group of bees is to see a frenzy of different interests coalesce into a single, clear thought. This is analogous to neurons in the brain, which must reach a consensus on how to achieve a behavioral goal by positioning the body in space. Bees in a hive must do something similar when deciding where to move the superorganism that is the swarm … The remarkable unifying theme in all of these systems is how an aggregate swarm intelligence is built from just a few kinds of simple, local interactions between agents. Both neurons and bees are presumably unaware of how their impulses and signals transcend the individual, and lay the substrate for a grander, collective intelligence.” You Have a Hive Mind: Scientific American There is a deep connection between the way your brain and a swarm of bees arrives at a decision
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