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Robotics

By 2045 'The Top Species Will No Longer Be Humans,' and That Could Be a Problem 564

schwit1 (797399) writes Louis Del Monte estimates that machine intelligence will exceed the world's combined human intelligence by 2045. ... "By the end of this century most of the human race will have become cyborgs. The allure will be immortality. Machines will make breakthroughs in medical technology, most of the human race will have more leisure time, and we'll think we've never had it better. The concern I'm raising is that the machines will view us as an unpredictable and dangerous species." Machines will become self-conscious and have the capabilities to protect themselves. They "might view us the same way we view harmful insects." Humans are a species that "is unstable, creates wars, has weapons to wipe out the world twice over, and makes computer viruses." Hardly an appealing roommate."

Comment Re:I wish I could do this! (Score 1) 117

That's right. We can't forget the invariable dipping that must come later. I get such pleas in emails from various PACs every single day.

"We've accomplished so much, but we must have your continued support to keep going! Send us even MOAR MONEEZ!"

If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and acts like a duck, guess what...

Comment Re:I wish I could do this! (Score 2) 117

Are you kidding me? It's called the MAYDAY PAC.

MAYDAY, as in, "OMG this is an emergency! You have to do this or people are going to DIE!"

The very name of the thing is designed to elicit an unnecessary sense of urgency and an irrational emotional state in order to extract money.

It's classic self-serving political behavior.

Comment I wish I could do this! (Score -1, Redundant) 117

Man, I'd love to get $12M from a bunch of suckers on the promise of making government better.

This sounds just like any other congressional campaign or something. It's the same tired crap we hear every couple of years.

"Things are BROKEN! If you don't pay me to fix them, children will starve and women will be forced to have babies they don't want!"

Comment Re:What we need... (Score 1) 235

I've seen that in races before. Cat-5 morons are so amped up on caffeine, 5-hour energy, and race-day adrenaline that they become violent neanderthals.

Bicycling is not what it used to be. I quit racing two decades ago because of the devolution of cycling. Today's hyper-competitive yuppies have ruined the sport.

Back in the 80's, I could race and everyone would talk to each other and we were all friends out on the road having a good time being competitive with character and integrity. I did a lot of racing out in Colorado, and you could be competitive, but also count on the other riders looking out for you. If you saw another rider in distress, you'd at least put a hand out and ask if they were okay. Riders competed, but they also cared about eachothers' wellbeing.

Something happened in the 90s. I'm not sure what it was, but people started getting nasty. Racing was no longer a sport - it was personal. The younger guys HATED you. You were not their friend. They were there to BEAT YOU, and not to have a good time. It was War, but one in which they simply did not understand that a 30 year old rider with 10 or 15 years of racing experience was going to shellac a 20 year old hot head in a race every single time, as had been done to them a decade before. That generation was not taught, or did not learn, that the 30 year old rider was a mentor, teacher, and friend - not a sworn enemy to be defeated.

That was when I said "fuck it" and stopped racing. About 10 years after that, in the 2000's when Mr. Dope-head started winning Tours de France, it got even worse and the "every ride is a race" mentality filtered down to the group rides, charity rides, and basically any time two riders met on the road under any given circumstances. I rode with three or four guys in my age group on a regular basis, and we always did our best to avoid other riders as much as possible.

Maybe it's just because I'm getting older, or maybe it's because the younger generations are not being taught how to be human beings with empathy and compassion for other living things. Indeed it seems like today's young people are a bunch of violent, maladjusted, narcissistic sociopaths to me, whether on a bike or not.

Comment Re:Flash? (Score 1) 235

A flashing light is more attention-getting than a steady one. The whole point of the rear blinky is to draw attention to yourself so drivers are aware of your presence.

Also, the batteries last a whole lot longer.

Privacy

Privacy Oversight Board Gives NSA Surveillance a Pass 170

An anonymous reader writes There's an independent agency within the U.S. government called the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Their job is to weigh the benefits of government actions — like stopping terrorist threats — against violations of citizens' rights that may result from those actions. As you might expect, the NSA scandal landed squarely in their laps, and they've compiled a report evaluating the surveillance methods. As the cynical among you might also expect, the Oversight Board gave the NSA a pass, saying that while their methods were "close to the line of constitutional reasonableness," they were used for good reason. In the completely non-binding 191-page report (PDF), they said, "With regard to the NSA's acquisition of 'about' communications [metadata], the Board concludes that the practice is largely an inevitable byproduct of the government's efforts to comprehensively acquire communications that are sent to or from its targets. Because of the manner in which the NSA conducts upstream collection, and the limits of its current technology, the NSA cannot completely eliminate 'about' communications from its collection without also eliminating a significant portion of the 'to/from' communications that it seeks."
Open Source

Automotive Grade Linux Released For Open Source Cars 88

Mcusanelli writes: The Linux Foundation and its partners have released the first version of Automotive Grade Linux, the open source platform for use inside connected cars. "AGL is building the industry’s only fully open automotive platform, allowing automakers to leverage a growing software stack based on Linux while retaining the ability to create their own branded user experience. Standardizing on a single platform means the industry can rapidly innovate where it counts to create a safe and reliable connected car experience. Open collaboration within the AGL community means support for multi-architectures and features to bolster the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) experience." Further details and source code are available from the official website.

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