Submission + - 7 basic science discoveries that changed the world (nature.com)
Futurepower(R) writes: Our scientific understanding is advancing very rapidly.
Comment Re:Offline Appliances (Score 1) 140
I just run Home Assistant with a ZigBee network. ZigBee is just completely offline and it works great. It's a mesh network too.
For other things, I run ESPHome which is a platform built on top of ESP8266/ESP32 MCUs to make "smart devices" very easily. my "smart floodlights" are just cheap floodlights with a ESP8266 and a relay. They're connected to wi-fi and I can turn them off and on remotely, for example, to turn the outside lights when i hear a noise at night
My camera system is ESP32-CAM boards. Under $5 will give you XGA resolution at around 15fps. Wi-Fi only but it's good enough for my needs. Any camera system I get has to support offline mode. Ideally with RTSP.
Submission + - Here Come the Robot Swarms (wsj.com)
fjo3 writes: Forget teaching robots to think like humans. A field called swarm robotics is taking inspiration from ants, bees and even slime molds—simple creatures that achieve remarkable feats through collective intelligence.
Unlike traditional robots that take orders from a central computer, swarm robots work like ant colonies. No single robot is in charge, but the swarm accomplishes complex tasks through simple interactions between neighbors. Each robot interacts only with those nearby, sometimes communicating with sounds or chemical signals in particles they release.
Unlike traditional robots that take orders from a central computer, swarm robots work like ant colonies. No single robot is in charge, but the swarm accomplishes complex tasks through simple interactions between neighbors. Each robot interacts only with those nearby, sometimes communicating with sounds or chemical signals in particles they release.
Comment Scientific research is moving ahead very fast. (Score 1) 7
Scientific research is rapidly improving our lives and our understanding.
AI, "Artificial Intelligence", is rapidly advancing in the normal way. Many mistakes are found in the initial methods.
We have, in many areas of Physics, a limited understanding of the world around us. This research is one example of improvement.
AI, "Artificial Intelligence", is rapidly advancing in the normal way. Many mistakes are found in the initial methods.
We have, in many areas of Physics, a limited understanding of the world around us. This research is one example of improvement.
Submission + - Mathematical proof debunks the idea that the universe is a computer simulation (phys.org)
alternative_right writes: Today's cutting-edge theory—quantum gravity—suggests that even space and time aren't fundamental. They emerge from something deeper: pure information.
This information exists in what physicists call a Platonic realm—a mathematical foundation more real than the physical universe we experience. It's from this realm that space and time themselves emerge.
"The fundamental laws of physics cannot be contained within space and time, because they generate them. It has long been hoped, however, that a truly fundamental theory of everything could eventually describe all physical phenomena through computations grounded in these laws. Yet we have demonstrated that this is not possible. A complete and consistent description of reality requires something deeper—a form of understanding known as non-algorithmic understanding."
This information exists in what physicists call a Platonic realm—a mathematical foundation more real than the physical universe we experience. It's from this realm that space and time themselves emerge.
"The fundamental laws of physics cannot be contained within space and time, because they generate them. It has long been hoped, however, that a truly fundamental theory of everything could eventually describe all physical phenomena through computations grounded in these laws. Yet we have demonstrated that this is not possible. A complete and consistent description of reality requires something deeper—a form of understanding known as non-algorithmic understanding."
Comment Re:Typescript is great (Score 1) 37
Why would anyone use "bare javascript" instead of TS is beyond me.
A couple years ago some high profile libraries ditched TS and moved to bare JS because it was "holding them back". But then again, idiots developing JS libraries love to break API compatibility completely in every major release. And not like "yeah let's rename this argument because my OCD prevents me from being productive if i see this name).
No like, "let's completely rewrite the codebase and make a fundamentally different product, but call it a new version".
I'm looking at you, "React Router"
Comment Re:Never a good sign (Score 2) 38
Various fucking NATION STATES have been contemplating this for decades.
And now it turns out a startup in america will do it with VC money.
What China (and before it, Japan) have tried with infinite government money, and failed, a startup will do it with VC money.
Submission + - Urgent warning to Gmail users as 183 MILLION passwords are stolen in data breach (dailymail.co.uk)
schwit1 writes: Gmail users have been urged to check their accounts after it was revealed that more than 183 million passwords were stolen in a data breach.
Australian cyber expert Troy Hunt, who revealed the incident, called it a 'vast corpus' of breached data, which totals 3.5 terrabytes.
Australian cyber expert Troy Hunt, who revealed the incident, called it a 'vast corpus' of breached data, which totals 3.5 terrabytes.
Comment What is allowed is healthy. (Score 2) 20
"Organic" means there is a specific list of SUBSTANCES that are allowed. This is the list:
National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances
What is allowed seems sensible, judging from the detailed explanations.
National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances
What is allowed seems sensible, judging from the detailed explanations.
Submission + - Japanese convenience stores are hiring robots run by workers in the Philippines
John.Banister writes: Teleoperated robot workers are here! No more worries about immigrants taking jobs, as the jobs themselves can be exported. Anything that isn't done by the cheapest labor can be exported to where the skilled labor is cheap. And, what better way to train AI replacements than the encoded stimulus and response of teleoperation?
Comment Robots will advance enormously in 10 years. (Score 1) 61
The science of AI, Artificial Intelligence, is rapidly advancing. The "Intelligence" is NOT "Artificial".
The speed of advancement is partly because AI reduces company expenses.
The speed of advancement is partly because AI reduces company expenses.
Comment Re:Why? (Score 1) 99
No. It's because you were figuring things out and making terrible decisions 50 years ago. None of you really knew what you were doing. You just called IBM support and had them do things for you, or did what the manual said.
The fact that systems can't be upgraded and have to run in layer after layer of emulation is proof that you did a poor job building a maintainable system. You never changed the program to run on a new system. You always had IBM to save you from doing it by having companies pay them more and more.
Comment Re:Like debugging Java or C# is any easier (Score 4, Insightful) 99
Yes. Definitely. Without a doubt.
The problem with these old COBOL systems is that they have decades of patches one on top of another, and very little formal testing. These systems were made in a time long before "modern good practices" were established. They work because the business requirements are straightforward and change very little. And the things they do are relatively simple. The barrier to entry is extremely high. COBOL is not taught anymore, and even if you learn COBOL on your own in Linux, in real life it won't be a Linux OS. It'll probably be several layers of proprietary IBM VM emulation, with Linux running AS/400 running AIX. And on top of that, you have whatever customizations this particular user made. You're a slave of what someone that wasn't necessarily a "wizard" decided 40 years ago.
With a more "modern" language, COBOL can make use of modern "good practices", especially automated testing and such.
the "jump frameworks every couple of years to whatever is trendy" is out of place when you are mentioning Java and C#. Both are well-established languages and have been stable for literally decades now. Java and C# (actually
The problem isn't the language, but all of the things that come around it. Using a modern language would, if anything, let you ditch the expensive IBM support contracts for mainframe hardware (and maybe switch to slightly less expensive support contracts for regular hardware)
Comment Eventually, less work for humans will be excellent (Score 1) 61
Quoting the story: "Human-only work is forecast to drop 27% over the next five years."
Robots will eventually be excellent for all of us. Most things we buy will cost less.
Maybe we will have 4-day or 3-day work weeks.
Humans will not be doing extremely boring jobs.
Robots will eventually be excellent for all of us. Most things we buy will cost less.
Maybe we will have 4-day or 3-day work weeks.
Humans will not be doing extremely boring jobs.
Comment Re:Yet pointy hairs... (Score 2) 56
if anything, it's more vulnerable than on-prem because on-prem very often uses "bad practices" that end up saving you.
For example, it's good practice to have DNS names for everything. Lazy sysadmins will just hardcode IPs instead
But hey, you're immune to DNS failing you if you do this...
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