Comment Re:That's it... we're dead (Score 1) 521
No, the only vested interest a robot will have is what we have programmed into it.
That's a bit naive, isn't it? Have you ever used a recent piece of software? Did it always do what it was supposed to do and nothing else? I guess we can all stop patching our computers after all.
Comment Re:Really?? (Score 1) 64
Comment Re:Sounds good to me (Score 1) 374
[...] Because we have seen how effective the EU is at stuff like that (like... regulating browser packaging?)
I could be mistaken, but I think that the US legal system failed to deliver more than a firm slap on the wrist for microsoft, while we have indeed not yet seen how effective the EU is at stuff like that.
Comment Re:VMWare was always a doomed business. (Score 1) 218
It's also free without a Windows Server 2008 license. Link
Single Neuron Wired To Muscle Un-Paralyzes Monkeys 180
GalaticGrub writes "A pair of paralyzed monkeys regained the ability to move their arms after researchers wired individual neurons to the monkeys' arm muscles. A team of researchers at the University of Washington temporarily paralyzed each monkey's arm, then rerouted brain signals from a single neuron in the motor cortex around the blocked nerve pathway via a computer. When the neuron fired above a certain rate, the computer translated the signal into a jolt of electricity to the arm muscle, causing it to contract. The monkeys practiced moving their arms by playing a video game."
Submission + - Genetically Engineered Maize Is Toxic
gandracu writes: It appears that a variety of Genetically Engineered maze produced by Monsanto is toxic for the liver and kidneys. What's worse, Monsanto knew about it, but tried to conceal the facts in its own publications. Greenpeace had to fight in court to obtain the incriminatory data and had it analyzed by a team of experts. MON863, the variety of GE maze in question, has been authorised for markets in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, the Phillipines, and USA, besides the EU. Here is a link[PDF] to Greenpeace's brief on the study, and here is their account[PDF] of how the story was unearthed.
Submission + - Microsoft move could be the end of the JPEG
jcatcw writes: "Microsoft Corp. will submit a new photo format to an international standards organization. The format, HD Photo (formerly known as Windows Media Photo), can accommodate lossless and lossy compression. Microsoft claims that adjustments can be made to color balance and exposure settings that won't discard or truncate data that occurs with other bit-map formats."
Submission + - Microsoft's HD Photo spec: Review at your own risk
PetManimal writes: "Microsoft is preparing to submit its HD Photo standard as a replacement for the JPEG standard. Microsoft claims the new HD Photo standard can potentially display higher-quality photos that take up just half the storage space of an equivalent JPEG image. Unfortunately, it's not easy to actually read the HD spec — Microsoft forces users to agree to a legal document before downloading the spec. The agreement states that users cannot duplicate any part of the spec and Microsoft can "commercialize your feedback"."
