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Submission + - Software Controlling Humans - Freelancer.com API (newscientist.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: IF YOU'VE ever joked about your boss being a robot, stop laughing, they soon could be. A web service has launched that allows software algorithms to automatically recruit, hire and pay workers to do a wide variety of tasks.

"For the last 60 years, humans have controlled software — now we're getting to the stage where software can control humans," says Matt Barrie of Australian website Freelancer.com.

The website normally provides a forum for companies wanting to outsource their work. Now it has been upgraded so that developers can write software to post job adverts on the site, take on respondents and pay them for the results without human input.

For example, a program written for a store with a large inventory could automatically recruit salespeople to sell its products and send more work the way of people that do the best job.

Because the software is doing the commissioning and assessing the results, it avoids the need for a company to hire other people to rate the work that was done.

Barrie says there are enough programmers on the site's books for it to be possible to write software that can even improve itself, by recruiting people to improve its own code.

Comment Re:err, why? (Score 1) 376

by quarrel (#28591563) Attached to: iPhone 3GS Finally Hacked

Ironically the same cannot be said fro blackberry, which is only available from Telstra.

I've had a blackberry (well, various handsets) for many years through Optus. They're also at least available through Vodafone.

Agreed on our iphone though. Not only can get them from any of the carriers, you can also just buy them outright and unlocked from Apple.

--Q
Security

Hacker Jeff Moss Sworn Into Homeland Security Advisory Council 139

Posted by Soulskill from the different-kind-of-expertise dept.
Wolfgang Kandek writes "Hacker Jeff Moss, founder of computer security conferences DEFCON and Black Hat, has been sworn in as one of the new members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) of the DHS. Moss, who goes by the handle 'the Dark Tangent' says he was surprised to be asked to join the council and that he was nominated to bring an 'outside perspective' to its meetings. He said, 'I know there is a new-found emphasis on cybersecurity, and they're looking to diversify the members and to have alternative viewpoints. I think they needed a skeptical outsider's view because that has been missing.'"

Comment Re:The real article, and what it does and doesn't (Score 3, Insightful) 509

by quarrel (#27896821) Attached to: New Pattern Found In Prime Numbers

> That leaves me thinking: what does this article tell us that we couldn't find out ourselves by ripping through some prime numbers?

Nothing?

The important thing is that they ripped through some prime numbers and did notice, and they were the first to publish what they noticed.

The world moves forward in tiny steps like this. Maybe the next mathematician gets his 'Ahuh' moment on the back of an insight like this and bang modern crypto is fucked. He might even be able to prove it for you.

--Q
The Internet

US Says Canadian Copyright As Bad As China's, Russia's 323

Posted by timothy from the but-very-courteous-just-the-same dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The US is blaming Canada in a new report that claims that Canadian copyright and intellectual property laws are as bad as those found in China and Russia. Michael Geist notes that Canadian officials have dismissed these findings in the past, arguing it 'does not recognize the Special 301 process due to its lacking of reliable and objective analysis.'" (Read more about the annual Special 301 report.)
NASA

NASA Tests Heaviest Chute Drop Ever 226

Posted by kdawson from the not-so-fast dept.
Iddo Genuth writes "NASA and the US Air Force have successfully tested a new super-chute system aimed at reclaiming reusable Ares booster rockets. On February 28, 2009 a 50,000-pound dummy rocket booster was dropped in the Arizona desert and slowed by a system of five parachutes before it crashed to the ground. The booster landed softly without any damage. This was possibly the heaviest parachute drop ever, and NASA is planning to perform even heavier drops of up to 90,000 pounds in the next few months."

Comment Grasshopper OS (Score 1) 553

by quarrel (#26762435) Attached to: Phantom OS, the 21st Century OS?

During the first year of my Phd (1996?) I worked on the networking stack of a Persisent Operating System called Grasshopper.

They throw up a lot of interesting problems from a research point of view, but I'm not sure they're ready for prime time... (and yes I realise the intervening years have started to add up!)

Pushing boundaries is good in research of course, and lots of things do end up appearing in real products even if not the in the form originally imagined.

--Q

Comment Re:21 million is 3/4 of accounts? (Score 1) 302

by quarrel (#26046409) Attached to: 21 Million German Bank Accounts For Sale

Germany. Family of 4: 2 adults and 2 children.

Me and my wife share the same bank account and have separate Maestro Cards to access it. So 1 account / 4 people.

Take that, you insensitive American.

Bite me.

As if I'm an American. You silly northern hemisphere folks and your stupid generalisations ;)

I probably am insensitive, but given how touchy you were, I don't think I needed to mention as being particularly out of the ordinary.

--Q

Comment Re:21 million is 3/4 of accounts? (Score 5, Interesting) 302

by quarrel (#26043491) Attached to: 21 Million German Bank Accounts For Sale

I had the same reaction re the number of accounts. It is small.

However, Germany isn't all that small.

So some back of the envelope calcs:

They claim 21/.75 = 28M bank accounts in Germany

It's got roughly 80M people. Assume something like 2.2 people per househould (dunno what it is in Germany), and you get 36M. You gotta figure each household has at least one. I don't know how things really work in Germany, but I assume they're like the rest of the developed world and you essentially can't function without a bank account.

Then there are businesses. Even very small businesses will run several accounts.

I think the 28M bank accounts is just bullshit. It's gotta be heaps higher.

Surely 100M wouldn't be that big a figure even?

--Q
Cellphones

How To Find a Mobile Games Publisher? 119

Posted by timothy from the take-me-away-from-all-this dept.
n01 writes "In the last few months of my spare time, I've been implementing an abstract strategy board game (that I invented) along with a decent AI. The game resembles TwixT in that it is also a connection game, and could be played without the need for a cellphone or computer. The implementation on the Java 2 Mobile Edition platform will soon be finished, with only some minor usability and sound issues to fix. While I enjoyed working on the game (actually more than on my day job as a programmer) I would still like to earn some money from selling the game, so I can work more on such projects in the future. What experiences have Slashdot readers had with selling their applications/games for mobile phones? With which publisher will I have the broadest audience and achieve the highest earnings? Would you try to publish the game both as a mobile game and a traditional board game?"

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