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IBM

IBM's Patent To "Capture Expert Knowledge" With Games 97

Posted by Soulskill
from the also-known-as-theorycrafting dept.
theodp writes "Robert X. Cringely offers his take on IBM's patent-pending way to suck knowledge out of experts and inject it into younger, stronger, cheaper employees, possibly even in other countries. IBM's 'Platform for Capturing Knowledge' relies on immersive 3-D gaming environments to transfer expert knowledge held by employees 'aged 50 and older' to 18-25 year-old trainees, even those who find manuals 'difficult to read and understand.' It jibes nicely with an IBM White Paper (PDF) that advises CIOs to deal with Baby Boomers by 'investing in global resources from geographies with a lower average age for IT workers, such as India or China.' While Cringely isn't surprised that Big Blue's anyone-can-manage-anything, anyone-should-be-able-to-perform-any-job culture would spawn such an 'invention,' he can't help but wonder: When you get rid of the real experts, who is going to figure out the new stuff?"

Comment: Re:Provable? (Score 2, Informative) 517

by bramez (#29050367) Attached to: World's First Formally-Proven OS Kernel

only if you want to prove it automatically. this proof is constructed by hand, with some automatical steps in between, and then *verified* automatically. to manage the complexity of the proof, the proof is done in a more abstract formal specification language , then refined two times (haskel, C) . the correctness of the refinements are formally proven by the Isabelle system.

Comment: Re:Godel's Incompleteness Theorem? (Score 2, Interesting) 517

by bramez (#29050259) Attached to: World's First Formally-Proven OS Kernel

you dont have to "get around Godel's Incompleteness Theorem". (from wikipedia:): "Any effectively generated theory capable of expressing elementary arithmetic cannot be both consistent and complete. In particular, for any consistent, effectively generated formal theory that proves certain basic arithmetic truths, there is an arithmetical statement that is true, but not provable in the theory". it says "a statement" not "every statement". So, you can make formal theories where a lot of statements are provable, including a large class of computer programs.

Security

Hackers' Next Target — Your Brain? 295

Posted by ScuttleMonkey
from the true-tongue-in-cheek dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Wired reports that as neural devices become more complicated — and go wireless — some scientists say the risks of 'brain hacking' should be taken seriously. '"Neural devices are innovating at an extremely rapid rate and hold tremendous promise for the future," said computer security expert Tadayoshi Kohno of the University of Washington. "But if we don't start paying attention to security, we're worried that we might find ourselves in five or 10 years saying we've made a big mistake."' For example, the next generation of implantable devices to control prosthetic limbs will likely include wireless controls that allow physicians to remotely adjust settings on the machine. If neural engineers don't build in security features such as encryption and access control, an attacker could hijack the device and take over the robotic limb." Relatedly, several users have written to tell us that science may be closer to the science fiction "mind wipe" than previously thought. Put this all together and I welcome the next step in social networking; letting the cloud drive my limbs around town via a live webcam and then wiping the memory from my brain. Who has MyLimb.com parked and is willing to deal?
Image

Slashdot's Disagree Mail 135

Posted by samzenpus
from the they-keep-coming dept.
This installment of Disagree Mail highlights a man's concern about illegal cloning in the Hollywood community, a guy who is sick of US imperialism and his low karma, and an example of the kind of people you don't want as roommates in college. Read below to find out just how crazy, angry and irresponsible it gets.
Space

Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth 235

Posted by Soulskill
from the no-cake-jokes-allowed dept.
MaxwellEdison writes "Scientists have discovered evidence of magnetic portals connecting the Earth and the Sun every 8 minutes. 'Several speakers at the Workshop have outlined how FTEs form: On the dayside of Earth (the side closest to the sun), Earth's magnetic field presses against the sun's magnetic field. Approximately every eight minutes, the two fields briefly merge or "reconnect," forming a portal through which particles can flow. The portal takes the form of a magnetic cylinder about as wide as Earth. The European Space Agency's fleet of four Cluster spacecraft and NASA's five THEMIS probes have flown through and surrounded these cylinders, measuring their dimensions and sensing the particles that shoot through.'"

Old timer, n.: One who remembers when charity was a virtue and not an organization.

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