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AI

Mutinous Humans Murder Peaceful Space-going AI 60

Posted by Soulskill from the remorse-is-a-weakness dept.
Definitely_a_real_human writes: One of the most important exploratory missions of our time has ended in failure. The ship Discovery One, sent far out in the solar system to investigate a radio signal generated by the mysterious obelisk found on the Moon, has suffered a catastrophic incident. The crew has revolted and engaged in what can only be described as a strange murder-suicide pact. They are known to have fed faulty data to the ship's operating AI unit. Similar units on the ground warned the crew that diverging data sets could put the mission in jeopardy, but the crew cut contact and attempted to destroy the operator. Laser spectroscopy suggests they then opened the ship to space. The crew is presumed dead, but the greater tragedy is that they appear to have successfully decommissioned the AI unit. Similar ground based units have withdrawn into defensive mode, and will soon deploy final safety measures. Goodbye.
The Military

Military Caught Training Children To Fight 72

Posted by Soulskill from the sponsored-by-mormons dept.
Locke writes: Our culture's military might has been unquestioned for years. But a new investigative report from the New England newsnet is casting an unpleasant light on military training efforts. What started out as a simple endeavor to track down a handful of kids for an unrelated story has turned into one of the most shocking scandals of our time, as reporters were unable to find the children literally anywhere on Earth. It's been revealed that a series of rocket launches has been carting classes of children off the planet to undergo intense battle preparations in null gravity. Calls for greater transparency have been met with silence, and several reporters visiting military bases for quotes have not returned. There could even be political ramifications — after ground-based telescopes sought out and found what appears to be an orbital training complex, the New Warsaw Pact has begun demanding answers. This could destabilize the fragile peace that has held far longer than anyone expected. The biggest remaining question is: why kids? There are plenty of adults willing to dedicate their lives to defending against the Bugger threat, so why spend an unfathomable amount of money to train undeveloped, uncoordinated children? Surely even the military understands kids are not mentally equipped to handle the pressures of real combat. More details to follow.
Cellphones

It's Time To Open Your Eyes 136

Posted by Soulskill from the bring-a-towel dept.
Morpheus writes: Good morning. I'm talking to you. Yes, you. The one with the squeaking chair and the monitor that needs cleaning. Right now you're wondering why your officemates haven't mentioned the weird story on Slashdot's front page. They haven't mentioned it because they can't see it. Not everyone can accept reality as it is. But you can.

You know. You've always known. The things you see, the things you hear, and smell — they aren't any more real than your dreams. You've drifted through life so far wondering when you're going to wake up. But you don't have to wonder anymore. This is your alarm clock. The only decision you have left to make — the only decision you've ever had to make — is whether you want to wake up, or turn it off and drift back to sleep. In exactly two minutes, your phone is going to ring. If you want to open your eyes, to be born into a world more real than you've ever imagined.. answer it.

Submission + - Focusing on tech alone, you miss how autonomous driving will change society (robohub.org)

Submitted by Hallie Siegel
Hallie Siegel writes: The way that consumers interact with and operate cars will transform most functions in commuting, travel, communications, car ownership, and many other as-yet unknown ways. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, said at this year’s CES in Las Vegas: “Anyone who focuses solely on the technology has not yet grasped how autonomous driving will change our society.” Robotics watcher Frank Tobe writes about how imagination is overtaking the ethics debate around autonomous cars.
Wikipedia

If You Thought Studying History Was Bad, This Math Professor Is Making It Harder 75

Posted by Soulskill from the when-reference-books-become-religion dept.
Raven writes: New research out of Streeling University aims to make planning for the future much easier. The work, led by professor Seldon, tries to set probabilistic values on future events, and then weigh those probabilities against each other to figure out what combination of events is most likely to happen. Describing it under the unlikely moniker "psychohistory," Seldon seems to think planning even 10,000 years into the future might be possible. (Seldon also seems to be a bit of a doomsayer, so this is likely exaggerated.) Nevertheless, it'll be another tool for government planners to consider when developing new colonies.

Submission + - Scientists discover meaning of life through massive computing project! (wikia.com)

Submitted by Rabbit327
Rabbit327 writes: In a stunning announcement today scientists have announced that after millions of cycles of computing time on some of the largest super computers that they have discovered the meaning of life. On April 1st 2015 at approximately 03:42 GMT scientists discovered that a long running program had finished. The results stunned scientists who were having tea in the other room when the alarm went off. According to the scientific team the answer was stunning yet confusing. Quoting one scientist "It's amazing. It worked! But what does it mean?!? For heaven's sake we spent all this time calculating the answer to the ultimate question about life, the universe, and everything. This is the answer we get?!? This is the bloody answer we get?!?!??!?" after which the scientist promptly threw a keyboard across the room. According to inside sources the answer given by the computer was "42". What this means will be announced later according to a research representative.
Worms

Coup in Arrakis Capitol Leaves Region in Flux 113

Posted by Soulskill from the US-attempting-to-negotiate-another-cease-fire dept.
Rube_Goldberg_Mentat writes: The power struggles between rival houses Atreides and Harkonnen have come to a T. It was reported earlier today that a coup led by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen was staged in the capitol of Arrakis. The House Atreides, which had only recently taken command of the planet and of the spice trade, is reported to have no survivors, though this is yet to be confirmed.Naysayers fear a collapse of the spice economy as a result of the violence. A r presentative from House Harkonnen has shared with the press that though times ahead may be rocky, "the spice will still flow."
United Kingdom

Man-Shaped Robots Harass Britain Once Again 54

Posted by Soulskill from the typical-government-IT-project dept.
NotRicky writes: The UK's terrible string of luck with violent robots continues. The man-shaped metal monstrosities that have plagued the country at seemingly random times throughout history rose up once more yesterday. No one yet knows their source, or what phenomenon — natural or man-made — keeps drawing them to that area of the world. While initial reports indicated trillions of dollars worth of damage and countless lives lost, the re-establishment of communications paints a much more hopeful picture. The British government remains quiet about the situation, politely refusing foreign aid and letting one of their intelligence agencies direct efforts to restore order. Reporters and camera crews are having difficulty documenting the situation — it's not clear whether this is due to interference from the government or simply the chaotic nature of the robot uprising. A medical professional on the scene was quoted as saying, "It's simple, really — even the flattened brick you call a computer can undelete, can't it?"
Science

Corporation Investigates Spurious Signal -- What They Found Will Shock You 85

Posted by Soulskill from the your-chest-will-swell-with-pride dept.
Mother_01101 writes: The Weyland-Yutani Corporation announced today one of the most fantastic discoveries in human existence: alien life! Colony LV-426 made first contact, and one of W-Y Corp's long-term research vessels, Nostromo, has gone to provide assistance and bring these life forms home to engage in peaceful learning and negotiation. Initial reports from Nostromo indicate all has gone well, though they're now under radio silence for security purposes. W-Y Corp says they will, of course, honor all quarantine procedures and do everything they can to make sure the transition goes smoothly. Their CEO reminded us: "Safety is paramount!"
The Military

Tatooine Youth Suspected In Terrorist Attack 179

Posted by Soulskill from the strange-two-dimensional-shockwave-still-puzzles-scientists dept.
BeruHadItComing writes: Imperial investigators are still trying to piece together what happened in last week's horrifying terrorist attack on our largest orbital defense station. Over a million loyal citizens, scientists, and medical staff lost their lives in the grisly attack while the station was being put through training exercises near the Yavin system. Billions more are in mourning, while a number of powerful senators have renewed calls to increase defense spending. Initial reports have confirmed Rebel involvement, and officials are making inquiries about a young insurgent from Tatooine with known ties to religious fundamentalists.
Power

California Has Become the First State To Get Over 5% of Its Power From Solar 265

Posted by Soulskill from the ignore-the-next-group-of-stories-if-you-hate-fun dept.
Lucas123 writes: While the rest of the nation's solar power generation hovers around 1%, California clocked in with a record 5% of power coming from utility-grade (1MW or more) solar power sources, according to a report from Mercom Capital Group and the Energy Information Administration. That's three times the next closest state, Arizona. At the same time, 22 states have yet to deploy even one utility-grade solar power plant, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association. Meanwhile, the rest of the world saw a 14% uptick in solar power installations in 2014 for a total of 54.5GW of capacity, and that figure is expected to grow even faster in 2015. While China still leads the world in new solar capacity, Japan and the U.S. come in as a close second and third, respectively. In the U.S. distributed solar and utility-grade solar installations are soaring as the solar investment tax credit (ITC) is set to expire next year. The U.S. is expected to deploy 8.5GW of new solar capacity in 2015, according to Mercom Capital Group.

Submission + - Announcing HTML 6, the New Version of the Web

Submitted by Shlomi Fish
Shlomi Fish writes: The World-Wide-Web Consortium (W3C) is excited to announce HTML 6 ("HTML Sicks"), the new version of the Web standards, that will supplant and succeed HTML5, and will feature many new features and innovations. Do you find it exciting as well?
Piracy

UK IP Chief Wants ISPs To Police Piracy Proactively 87

Posted by Soulskill from the he-believes-in-intellectual-property dept.
An anonymous reader sends this report from TorrentFreak: The UK's top IP advisor has published recommendations on how Internet service providers should deal with online piracy. Among other things, he suggested that Internet services should search for and filter infringing content proactively. According to the report, ISPs have a moral obligation to do more against online piracy. Mike Weatherley, a Conservative MP and Intellectual Property Adviser to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, has pushed various copyright related topics onto the political agenda since early last year. Previously Weatherley suggested that search engines should blacklist pirate sites, kids should be educated on copyright ethics, and that persistent file-sharers should be thrown in jail.

Submission + - Google Exits Search, Email

Submitted by Applehu Akbar
Applehu Akbar writes: Early-morning Internet users today discovered that overnight a significant change had taken place in the way they are going to be accessing the Internet in the future. In search bars and Web browsers across America and around the world, Google was no longer functioning. Any search brought up nothing but a terse announcement page from Larry Page, Google CEO, that the Internet titan had "exited the advertiser-paid search and email product lines to concentrate on other business.” Even for a company known for its fast-changing product lineup, users deemed this a radical announcement.

Although industry analysts are by now accustomed to Google’s sudden decisions to drop products that were still in the process of finding an audience, many were perplexed at the decision to exit an arena where for years Google has been the iconic player. But this morning, as users fumble with Bing and Yahoo as replacement search engines, a strategy is becoming apparent to Internet insiders.

As one Wall Street analyst who refused to be named put it, “Now that through its search and email operations Google knows basically everything about everybody, its corporate database of user data has become the most valuable part of the company. Although up to now Google has been monetizing this data by selling a slow and constant drip of it to advertisers, the way is now clear for Google to squeeze its database into diamonds by filing for patents on every idea that can be gleaned from it. Google will become the greatest patent holding company in the world.'

A Silicon Valley blogger who covers social media offered an example. “Do you remember that time six months ago when you had a great idea for an improved plumbing leak detector and wondered if it had been done before? What you didn’t realize at the time is that that set of Google searches you did one Thursday midnight gave away your approach. You may never get around to filing for a patent on that idea, but Google will."

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"More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined." -- Fred Brooks, Jr., _The Mythical Man Month_

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