TheMightyEthan Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Speaking at an IBM event this week, the firm's chief executive Ginni Rometty made a bold prediction for the technology, saying: "in the future, every decision mankind makes, every decision, is going to be informed by a cognitive system like Watson and, as a result, our lives in this world are going to be better for it." And I'm going to refer back to the articles I linked in this comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Pretty damn cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22630243.300-worlds-first-biolimb-rat-forelimb-grown-in-the-lab.html#.VXAX-_9VhBc Researches develop lab grown rat limb, obvious hopes down the line to be able to do it for people and just sew on a new arm made from patients tissue instead of using prosthetics/bionics. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Holy crap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 I guess the main thing with that being taking and dealing with multiple queries at once, which is sort of a natural evolution of existing PA apps in existence already. Knowing all that stuff is slightly less impressive however. Most of it's stored on https://www.freebase.com/ (soon to be https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page), which Google have owned for some time (and you've likely noticed over the years an increase in "Answer Boxes" and "Knowledge boxes" popping up in searches). They're a bit of a pain for my current job, people used to like typing with short queries to get what they want, but with voice they can input much longer nuanced queries just as easily (e.g the restaurant one). It's a shit ton harder to predict for. (though as an end user it's a great. Personally my fave is for weather, but I am british) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Wow. Watching that video I gradually went from "that's pretty cool" to just watching in stunned silence. Why are British people so obsessed with knowing what the weather is? I give you a forecast: rain, always, forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlyingGerbil Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 It's not so much knowing what the weather is, it's just talking about it in general. Everyone knows about it, it affects everyone, it doesn't offend anyone, it's considered a safe, easy topic for discussion. and that sort of thing was taught here up until probably the end of the Edwardian period so it just sort of seeps in to the culture from there. To be fair it can be just as much of a joke here, so if there is an obvious lull in a conversation you could jokingly say, "so, how about that weather we're having?" or if someone said something totally awkward, you could use it in the same manner as, "more tea, vicar?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Yeah, same here with talking about the weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 It does get more interesting these days, talking with your mum online and being "so how's the weather ""Oh a storm just hit" "oh that'll be the one we just had". Also weather is hectic enough that knowing ahead of time if you want to bother with a trek out to town or not, it'll be somewhat calm and sunny moment one day and pissing down half an hour later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 Being able to park from outside will be handy. Especially as my mum doesn't seem to understand basic left/right/stop/further/ or "3 foot....2 foot...1foot.." gestures. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 "Chef Watson" is now out, lets you make recipes combining a bunch of ingredients n Watsons processing weirdness to list old and new recipes: https://www.ibmchefwatson.com/app/ Doctor Watson is the end game though, n one I'm quite looking forward to. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 http://googleresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/inceptionism-going-deeper-into-neural.html Google have beiung getting their neural network tech stuff to work on making images. Essentially almost sort of "dreaming" or "imagining" to a degree. I dunno, all kind of goes over my head, but at least when the Siruis Cybernetics corp marketing department have their backs to the wall the Louvre will be well stocked. edit: Actually going through the album what's fascinating is that our brains can actually interpret the shapes and structures that a fucking computer program has put together in an image. The computer doesn't wholly know what it's doing and producing, yet we can see the images and go "well that's a dog, that's a bird, that fish". In the original it was rivers and trees. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 So this is freaky: http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/ We've now reached the point where hackers can wireless take over a car, not just through hardwiring into the mechanics' port. Why in God's name are the critical functions connected in any way whatsoever to the car's internet connection? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 The problem is car manufacturers that aren't software companies. Back in the day you'd crash a car by "cutting the brakes" n what not, but as they make them more fancy, especially to up fuel efficiency and similar, they pump a lot of tech into the car. Have been for decades. Just now they're sticking a lot of tech in the dash now too (Nvidia sell head units to likes of Audi, it's a big reason they don't care about making console chips. There's more cars on the road than consoles in houses) which mixed with the tech in the engine and companies that only really have security guys in the IT dept to keep you out their emails, and yeah perfect little disaster. Main good part is at the article states stuff is trying to get pushed through to make it a requirement that car manufacturers do more on the security front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 I just feel like the obvious solution, that any idiot could come up with, is to isolate the computers that control the critical components from the computers that control the fun parts, and only give the internet connection to the fun parts. There's no reason your in-console entertainment system needs to be able to talk to your transmission. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 There's probably some technical reason why they'd have it all controlled by one unit. Though on something the cost of a car I doubt sticking in two microcomputers would vastly up the cost (though then again at a few hundred quid a piece they might extrapolate to more. Especially from an engineering perspective of finding the space and wiring for two computers in a car). Oh fun fact: Modern cars use a shit ton of ethernet cable. It's really fast connection and pretty standard so it's used for a lot of internal connections these days. Oh and Nvidia stuff if you want a looksy: http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-automotive.html My dad does a bunch of this stuff, like reprogramming engines n such, for his race car. Well...his mate does at least (his mate builds rally cars). It's sort of the central part of the venn diagram that is my dads car mechanic talk, and my computer talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Transparent aluminium solar panels Probably some years from actual production, and probably not as efficient. But it's a start. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140819200219.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlyingGerbil Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 I suppose if it's usable in more places it doesn't matter if it's less efficient. Especially when combined with that all important word "affordable" which I saw mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted August 8, 2015 Report Share Posted August 8, 2015 P cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted August 8, 2015 Report Share Posted August 8, 2015 That is pretty neat. I wonder if the boxes they were pushing up those inclines actually had anything in them? And as I was typing that I go to the part where where they were pushing a person in a wheelchair up an incline, so obviously it can handle some more weight. Where I'm imagining that would be especially useful is for older people who have trouble walking and live in the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33954763 Kinda cool, a "book" that has pages that filter water. It's not super flashy tech but it is pretty useful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 Scientists grow human brain (equivalent to 5-week fetus) in a lab. I'm normally on board with the progress of science, but this makes me a little uncomfortable... Not this brain specifically, but where this line of research could lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalCaveman Posted August 24, 2015 Report Share Posted August 24, 2015 "From a magnetic point of view, this device acts like a wormhole" That's pretty cool. \m/ \m/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 A conversation robot modeled off of Philip K. Dick says that when robots take over he'll remember people who were nice to him and make sure they're warm and safe inside his people zoo. http://glitch.news/2015-08-27-ai-robot-that-learns-new-words-in-real-time-tells-human-creators-it-will-keep-them-in-a-people-zoo.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Looking at their homepage I'm not sure they're a reputable source of news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.