March 28, 2012

I WOKE UP THIS MORNING TO FIND THAT THE…

I woke up this morning to find that the robot video I shared last night has been +1’d or shared over 100 times in total, easily the most successful post that has appeared in my stream. Totally awesome, and a great opportunity to watch Ripples at work. https://plus.google.com/ripple/details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6b4ZZQkcNEo&context=z13edndznrbkfxkcf23oynlafpmds3ac1 If you haven’t been obsessing over Ripples already, the data analysis it offers is amazing! It even offers a timeline so you can see exactly how these memes spread across the G+ network. Does anyone have a favorite Ripples graph for fast spreading content? The KONY 2012 videos are an obvious choice. There were two videos that went around, one on YouTube and one on Vimeo: https://plus.google.com/ripple/details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DY4MnpzG5Sqc https://plus.google.com/ripple/details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F37119711 Notice that in both cases, the videos seem to spread much more by people sharing the video uniquely, instead of just resharing the posts of others. Pretty impressive for a video that spread so quickly! Notice also that in order to get reshared, you don’t have to be the first to publish the content, or even close the first. You just need a strong network of followers: notice the Shepard Fairey circle for the Vimeo video is pretty late to the game, but still commands a fairly large circle. Any other interesting Ripple graphs? Google+ Ripples youtube.com – Sand Flea is an 11-lb robot with one trick up its sleeve: Normally it drives like an RC car, but when it needs to it can jump 30 feet into the air. … The ripple diagram shows this post…
March 28, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM MALTE UBL

Malte Ubl originally shared this post: #meme #alanturing
March 28, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM JONATHAN LANGDALE

Jonathan Langdale originally shared this post: Complexity & Chaos, order through fluctuation “…how is choice made? There’s always pure chance, especially in physical systems. And there may also be outside influences. In social systems, these may be human intentions as well. So, at a bifurcation point, a small random fluctuation in the state or structure of a system is magnified and made permanent.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Prigogine “Self-Organization is the process where a structure of pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning.” This might be something I listen to when I go to sleep, I’ll keep it my watch later list. >But the dude that made the playlist put it out of order, which kinda sucks. I’m probably going to be too lazy to make my own. < +Jon Lawhead ordered this into a playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F3AAFB03A09E5D0 >http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD205992E2126AF83&feature=plcp (over 2hr long, out of order)< This part 9 is 7m long and pretty interesting. .
March 28, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM LOUIS GRAY

Louis Gray originally shared this post: Nearly every day, I see Google’s self-driving cars on the perimeter of our Mountain View campus. I haven’t yet set foot in one. But a man named Steve Mahan got to drive one. See his experience in this video and see why this innovation is special.
March 27, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM MICHAEL WU

Michael Wu originally shared this post: Did you know that Klout Doesn’t Really Measure Influence http://mashable.com/2012/03/23/klout-influence/ Klout Doesn’t Really Measure Influence [STUDY] A study about digital influence says Klout and other social media measurement tools don’t define how users influence their networks.
March 27, 2012

BOSTON DYNAMICS HAS ANOTHER AWESOME ROBOT…

Boston Dynamics has another awesome robot video on YouTube! “Sand Flea is an 11-lb robot with one trick up its sleeve: Normally it drives like an RC car, but when it needs to it can jump 30 feet into the air. An onboard stabilization system keeps it oriented during flight to improve the view from the video uplink and to control landings. Current development of Sand Flea is funded by the The US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force. For more information visit www.BostonDynamics.com.” http://youtu.be/6b4ZZQkcNEo Their collection of bots gets more impressive by the day. Other Boston Dynamics videos below: BigDog Overview (Updated March 2010) PETMAN Prototype DARPA Cheetah Sets Speed Record for Legged Robots Thanks for the tip +Kirk Fisher!
March 27, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM DONNA MURDOCH

Donna Murdoch originally shared this post: This slideshare is worth a look – lots of things we’ve already heard from the +NMC and Horizon Reports but still really well done. The End of Teaching As We Know It. | Edudemic Topics: adoption, edtech, facebook, future, slideshare, teaching, upgrades · Tweet · Tweet. What is the future of teaching? What about education in general? Many schools and universities around the wo…
March 27, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM KIMBERLY HAYWORTH

“So this was back when the only “computers” were people doing math by hand. It was also back when machines were single-function. “Reprogramming” required a screwdriver. To think the kinds of thoughts Turing was thinking, you had to be either a genius or a psychic.” Kimberly Hayworth originally shared this post: Radiolab Podcast Articles – The Turing Problem 100 years ago this year, the man who first conceived of the computer age was born. His name was Alan Turing. He was also a math genius, a hero of World War II and he is widely considered to be the fat…
March 27, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM MATT UEBEL

“”Using this form of cell-to-cell communication, colonies of billions or trillions of bacteria can literally reach a consensus on actions that impact people,” Onuchic explained. “Bacteria that previously existed harmlessly on the skin, for instance, may exchange chemical signals and reach a consensus that their numbers are large enough to start an infection. Likewise, bacteria may decide to band together into communities called biofilms that make numerous chronic diseases difficult to treat — urinary tract infections, for instance, cystic fibrosis and endocarditis.”” The article also mentions “quorum-sensing peptides”. A quick check online reveals the following: http://www.lib.ku.ac.th/html2/dmdocuments/QUORUM%20SENSING%20IN%20BACTERIA.pdf “Quorum sensing is the regulation of gene expression in response to ?uctuations in cell-population density. Quorum sensing bacteria produce and release chemical signal molecules called autoinducers that increase in concentration as a function of cell density. The detection of a minimal threshold stimulatory concentration of an autoinducer leads to an alteration in gene expression.” It occurs to me that this is a good check on the use of the term “biologically-inspired models”. The appeal of the term seems to drop out, given that our biological models themselves are described in terms familiar from social structures at higher levels of organization. Note: I was involved in debates over quorum at every Occupy I participated in. I hate quorum. Matt Uebel originally shared this post: Bacteria use chat to play the ‘Prisoner’s Dilemma’ game in deciding their fate When faced with life-or-death situations, bacteria ? and maybe even human cells ? use an extremely sophisticated version of “game theory” to consider their options and decide upon the best course of action, scientists reported here today. In a presentation at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) they said microbes “play” a version of the classic “Prisoner’s Dilemma” game.
March 27, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM MILOS JANATA

#consensus #selforganization MILOS JANATA originally shared this post: Would you behave similar to the person in the video? Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people. It is the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink
March 27, 2012

“A PREFERENTIAL ATTACHMENT PROCESS IS AN…

“A preferential attachment process is an urn process in which additional balls are added continuously to the system and are distributed among the urns as an increasing function of the number of balls the urns already have. In the most commonly studied examples, the number of urns also increases continuously, although this is not a necessary condition for preferential attachment and examples have been studied with constant or even decreasing numbers of urns.” Welp, guess I found the model I was looking for. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferential_attachment Preferential attachment – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A preferential attachment process is any of a class of processes in which some quantity, typically some form of wealth or credit, is distributed among a number of individuals or objects according to h…
March 27, 2012

RESHARED POST FROM POST-SAPIENS, LES ÊTRES…

Lots of really good links in the post discussing Digital Economies. Post-Sapiens, les êtres technologiques originally shared this post: When Open Innovation leads to Collective Intelligence | Desinfoxica As far as we consider the Open Innovation and Collective Intelligence correlation, there is a common supposition that Collective Intelligence assumption culminates into Open Innovation initiatives, un…
March 8, 2008

I CANNOT RESIST

So this was posted by D&D regular greatn after Tuesday: It’s basically this. Hillary Clinton is Freiza. After Goku(Obama), together with help from Piccolo(Edwards) was able to defeat her(Iowa), she revealed her final true form and was too powerful for the two of them(New Hampshire). As last ditch effort Goku used the Spirit Bomb(Nevada) and barely defeated Frieza, or so he though but Frieza was still alive. A bunch of minor characters were then killed off, including Krillin(Kucinich). Goku got so angry he went Super Saiyan(Super Tuesday), and began to outfight Frieza. His power level was off the charts(everything post Super Tuesday). Then Frieza decided if she couldn’t win nobody could(scorched earth campaign), and threw her most powerful blast at the planet Namek(Democratic party), ensuring its destruction because Frieza can breath in space and Goku could not. Goku continued to defeat her though(Wisconsin), and Frieza decided to unleash her full 100% power(today). Gan Goku the Super Saiyan defeat Frieza and save the planet Namek? History tells us yes. Howard Dean back on Earth will gather the dragon balls and wish the planet Namek(Democratic party) back. Obama will make it back to Earth in time for the general elections, though Hillary will return in some Cyborg form… to be destroyed by Mitt Romney’s son from the future? Basically, that’s how it is. I resisted posting it immediately then. But then the music video came out.
March 10, 2008

THE INTERNET IS USED MORE THAN EXPERTS

Information Searches That Solve Problems (Pew Internet & American Life Project)) There are several major findings in this report. One is this: For help with a variety of common problems, more people turn to the internet than consult experts or family members to provide information and resources. In a national phone survey, respondents were asked whether they had encountered 10 possible problems in the previous two years, all of which had a potential connection to the government or government-provided information. Those who had dealt with the problems were asked where they went for help and the internet topped the list: # 58% of those who had recently experienced one of those problems said they used the internet (at home, work, a public library or some other place) to get help. # 53% said they turned to professionals such as doctors, lawyers or financial experts. # 45% said they sought out friends and family members for advice and help. # 36% said they consulted newspapers and magazines. # 34% said they directly contacted a government office or agency. # 16% said they consulted television and radio. # 13% said they went to the public library.
March 12, 2008

PRIVATE LANGUAGE ARGUMENT

thx Steve
March 14, 2008

UNCANNY VALLEY

The phenomenon can be explained by the notion that, if an entity is sufficiently non-humanlike, then the humanlike characteristics will tend to stand out and be noticed easily, generating empathy. On the other hand, if the entity is “almost human”, then the non-human characteristics will be the ones that stand out, leading to a feeling of “strangeness” in the human viewer. In sum, a robot stuck inside the uncanny valley is no longer being judged by the standards of a robot doing a good job at pretending to be human; but is instead being judged by the standards of a human doing a terrible job at acting like a normal person. Another possibility is that affected individuals and corpses exhibit many visual anomalies similar to the ones seen in humanoid robots and so elicit the same alarm and revulsion. The reaction may become worse with robots since there is no overt reason for it to occur, whereas distaste for the sight of a corpse is a feeling easy to understand. It is possible that the Uncanny Valley effect evolved as a means of instinctively identifying and ostracizing human individuals carrying illnesses or mental problems that might render interaction (specifically breeding and long-term care) detrimental to the group. |link|
March 17, 2008

HOLY ICE COW

Big Dog is back with a new video. This is almost two years since we last saw him, and in that time its developed better ice legs than me. Thanks Bil!l
March 22, 2008

STUPID ROBOT ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: GEREDE EDITION

People prefer robots that do small talk To find out how quickly domestic robots should respond to their owners’ requests, Toshiyuki Shiwa and colleagues at the ATR laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, asked 38 students to give orders such as “take out the trash” to a robot, which took between zero and 5 seconds to respond. The students liked delays of no more than 1 second best, with 2 seconds being their limit. However, when the robot took longer, impatient students were assuaged if it filled the time with words such as “well” or “er”. “When the robot used conversational fillers to buy time until it could respond, people didn’t notice the delay,” |link via|
March 23, 2008

BOTJUNKIE

New to the blogroll is the terrifically awesome robot blog BotJunkie. Here’s a survey of the kinds of awesome vids they post: I love automatic sorters: Its hard for us to really appreciate the kind of sophistication required to get a machine to do this kind of complicated sorting with arbitrarily sized, randomly distributed objects. Its a hard computational task, and these things are speedy as hell. CMI (Canine machine interaction) Robot on a swing Another uncanny valley clip
March 24, 2008

RX: FACEBOOK, TWICE A DAY

Blogging’s Good For Your Health Bloggers reported a greater sense of belonging to a group of like-minded people and feeling more confident they could rely on others for help. All respondents, whether or not they blogged, reported feeling less anxious, depressed and stressed after two months of online social networking. thanks jg
March 24, 2008

STUPID ROBOT ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: ANTI-ROBOT BIAS EDITION

Avid reader and well-known giant Chas sent me the following link: Killer robot shoots man dead on driveway AN 81-year-old man has shot himself dead with an elaborate suicide robot built using plans downloaded from the internet. He spent hours searching the internet for a way to kill himself, downloaded what he needed and then built a complex machine that would remotely fire a gun. He set the device up in his driveway about 7am yesterday, placed himself in front of it and set it in motion. The full article, which is barely a dozen sentences long, comes accompanied with a handy bullet point list for the morbid reader on the go: * Man gets plans for suicide robot on web * Man builds robot; robot shoots man dead But wait. How is this at all about robots? It just sounds like a machine built to automatically fire a gun from a distance. Oh hay, look at the source: AN 81-year-old Gold Coast man built, and yesterday used, an intricate suicide machine to remotely shoot himself, after downloading the plans from the internet. So we are now at a point in society where we are willing to call any old machine a robot to sex the story up. Meanwhile we are dragging the good name of robots through the mud. And for what?!?!
March 31, 2008

STUPID ROBOT ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: CYBORG EDITION

Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact – and it’s the plague of our 24/7 age Millions apparently suffer from “no mobile phobia” which has been given the name nomophobia. Experts say nomophobia could affect up to 53 per cent of mobile phone users, with 48 per cent of women and 58 per cent of men questioned admitting to experiencing feelings of anxiety when they run out of battery or credit, lose their phone or have no network coverage. editor’s note: nomo– a combining form meaning “custom,” “law,” used in the formation of compound words: nomology. [Origin: < Gk nomo-, comb. form of nómos law, custom; akin to némein to manage, control] Thanks Ian
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