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Robotics

Submission + - A History Of Man Vs. Robot (ibtimes.com)

gabbo529 writes: Watson, the IBM supercomputer robot, isn't the first of its kind to take on humans in a game they invented. Over the years, plenty of robots have competed against humans in various games from Jeopardy! to poker. Here are just a few examples of man vs. robot.
Java

Submission + - Sun Java is the most vulnerable plug-in (net-security.org) 1

dinscott writes: Wondering how secure your browser is? Research show that browsers and plug-ins are frequently outdated and easily attackable. To make things worse, malware authors adapt quickly and most of their new attacks are against browser plug-ins.

The problem is that people might remember to update the browser, but forget to do the same with the plug-ins — and they are not typically updated by the browser itself. And while everybody knows about the hackers' predilection for targeting Adobe Flash, data shows that Sun Java is by far the most vulnerable plug-in installed in browsers.

Comment Re:It's good to have allies (Score 1) 987

You are correct entirely! The factory in Littleton now makes components for such things and for stuff that is top secret. Just because the factory makes components that can be used for making such weapons and does other stuff that is classified, does not mean they make anything at all. This is just like the damned liberals trying to say that selling a 'model' of a machine gun is almost the same as selling the machine gun. Just because the same mail order company sells parts and tools that could be used to make the model functional is no reason to say they are essentially selling machine guns. Did I mention that they also have instructions for the conversion available? Decent hard working business men make components that can be used on ICBM's because that is what they love to do. It is a blessing that they are so well rewarded by our military while they do what they love to do so well. Moore is so full of it. Wiki leaks proves that messengers deserve to be shot while important decision makers need to be rewarded for making tough and merciless decisions. I don't trust Michael Moore any more that I would trust George Bailey, both of them are mean and have anger issues. Mr. Potter is someone we can depend on however. Michael Moore clearly has issues, and often shows compassion. If there is one thing we all know, it is the fact that compassion is a code word for communism. Oh, and did I forget to mention that I am not a crank? Sorry, my bad.
Transportation

Just One Out of 16 Hybrids Pays Back In Gas Savings 762

thecarchik writes with this snippet from GreenCarReports: "One of the criticisms of hybrid cars has historically been that there's no payback, especially given the cheap gasoline prices in the US. The extra money you spend on a hybrid isn't returned in gas savings, say critics. Well, that may be true, especially when regular gasoline is averaging $2.77 a gallon this week. But as we often point out, most people don't buy hybrids for payback — they buy them to make a statement about wanting to drive green. Nevertheless, a Canadian study has now looked at the question of hybrid payback in a country whose gasoline is more expensive than ours (roughly $3.70 per gallon this week), with surprising results. The British Columbia Automobile Association projected the fuel costs of 16 hybrids over five years against their purchase price and financing fees. In a study released in late July, only a single one of the 16 hybrids cost less to buy and run than its gasoline counterpart." The one car that would save you money, according the study, is the Mercedes S400 Hybrid sedan — and it will only cost you $105,000.
Idle

Submission + - Weaponizing Mozart (sott.net)

cyberfringe writes: Bringing the fictional authoritarian police behavior of "A Clockwork Orange" ( http://zi.pe/iVi ) to reality, classical music is being used increasingly in Great Britain as a tool for social control and a deterrent to "bad behaviour". A school district "subjects" badly behaving children to hours of Mozart in "special detention" isolations. Unsurprisingly, some of these youth now find classical music unbearable. Recorded classical music is blared through speakers at bus stops, outside stores, train stations and elsewhere to drive away loitering youth. Apparently it works. Detentions are down, graffiti is reduced, and naughty youth flee because classical music now is "repugnant" instead of providing an intellectual and emotional opportunity to experience one of humanity's greatest arts.

Comment Re:The moral question is thus proposed; (Score 1) 184

Oh, Goody. Thank you, Mad Gods of Slashdot, for granting me the opportunity to pedantically explain a weak joke. Alan Turing proposed a simple test to judge intelligence. If a device could fool someone into thinking it was intelligent, then it might be intelligent. Along with this test, was the ethical question of how we should treat an intelligent or potentially intelligent device. If a device is intelligent, is unplugging it morally questionable? If we grant that a market is intelligent, this may also imply that a market is capable of being evil. It also may imply that destroying a market is evil. Since markets tend to feed on and even on occasion destroy or assimilate other markets, a market being intelligent might well define a market as not only being evil in effect, but as being personally evil.

Comment Re:I love to be the first to say this... (Score 2, Informative) 787

It takes a great State like Utah to stand out amidst such gleaming examples. I must admit that South Carolina was looking pretty impressive, with the registry of subversives, but if the registration comes with a frame-able certificate, it might be a moneymaker! http://rawstory.com/2010/02/south-carolinas-subversive-activities-registration-act-force/ Texas can hold it's own though. Since the Texas Pledge of Allegiance does not say much more than that Texas is indivisible, it is a spectacular example. Considering that Texas is the only State that actually is divisible.

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