Comment Re:Good, we are not going extinct just yet (Score 1) 71
Very interesting. And yes, we were talking a different language. 8-)
But the axes, that we used, are orthogonal to the ones listed in the article. So the systems are independent.
Comment Re:Good, we are not going extinct just yet (Score 1) 71
Lawful Good might be just as harmful, if it makes mistakes.
And yes, computer programs -can- make mistakes. Just in case some think not... 8-}
Comment Yes! (Score 1) 18
About damn time... 8-)
Comment Re:Mod this... (Score 1) 211
Great example of the kind of crap you don't get on Blue Sky - people armchair diagnosing you with autism.
I wasn't armchair diagnosing you. I was insulting you and your general lack of humour and inability to understand the term edgelord.
Now that's the way, be clear and don't assume other people will understand subtlety. 8-)
Comment Re:No, of course not (Score 1) 95
To paraphrase an old saying:
Adding an AI to a late software project will only make it later.
Also, when working with an AI, you are depending on the work of a "three year old child".
Comment Re:LOL (Score 1) 82
Does your empty server have 300k people logged in right now playing? No this is like a carefully calculated move to find a server empty enough for you to get the top frag on. Eve Online is still very active and I'm amazed this worked.
It's probably a bit like real life. My bin is full of shareholder voting forms that I've never bothered to open assuming someone else will.
This stuff does happen in real life, but the corp usually covers it up to prevent drop in the share prices...
Comment Re:How well did it work at night? (Score 1) 49
I complained because to make it into something that can run a computer, as the headline suggests, they need to improve it by a factor of two hundred million times.
To do the experiment, to prove the concept, they only need a few cells. So that sounds about right.
Comment Re:How well did it work at night? (Score 1) 49
Experiments are usually done on small scale. It sounds like you are complaining because they did an experiment instead of a manufacturing run.
Best to do things a step at a time, that way the disasters are much smaller... 8-)
Submission + - The story behind the creation of GIF at CompuServe in 1987 (fastcompany.com)
harrymcc writes: Steve Wilhite, who died on March 14 of complications from COVID-19, is well remembered as the creator of the GIF image file format. But the details behind his invention—which dates to CompuServe in 1987 and still rules the web—are not so widely known. Over at Fast Company, I talked to Wilhite’s colleague Alexander Trevor, who initiated the GIF project, about what the company was trying to accomplish—and why Wilhite should be remembered for much more than one pervasive graphics format.
Submission + - Twitter transformed science communication during the pandemic. Will it last? (science.org)
sciencehabit writes: In January 2020, some 2 months before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus pandemic a global emergency, a tweet appeared on virologist Benhur Lee’s smartphone. It linked to a website, virological.org, where scientists had just posted the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2. Lee, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, quickly shared the tweet with his followers, along with the words “Here we go” and an animation of planes taking off. Within days, the pharmaceutical firm Moderna and the U.S. National Institutes of Health had announced plans to develop what just 10 months later proved to be an effective vaccine, based on the sequence that codes for the virus’ spike protein.
In an earlier age, it might have taken days or longer for such useful DNA data to reach interested scientists via a Table of Contents alert from a journal. But the rise of Twitter and other social media platforms enabled users like Lee to spread the word about the SARS-CoV-2 sequence within hours, sparking global conversations and accelerating efforts to develop vaccines and treatments.
It was an early sign of how the pandemic prompted many scientists—and the public—to turn to social media to share and learn about hot new findings. COVID-19 “changed the game” because the threat “immediately connects with the public, [so] there’s a much bigger natural audience” for information about pandemic science than for most areas of research, says Michael Thelwall, a data scientist at the University of Wolverhampton, City Campus, who studies social media. In particular, Twitter has become a go-to resource for anyone trying to make sense of the torrent of pandemic studies—and for those intent on quickly pushing back against misinformation.
But the pandemic has also helped demonstrate the limitations of social media. It can be difficult, for example, for scientists to be heard over the cacophony of messages on Twitter—some 500 million each day. And although some scientists have used the platform to elevate their online presence, that has rarely translated into concrete professional rewards. Eventually the sizable Twitter followings some have built during the pandemic may fade. And in the meantime, some have suffered from their digital fame, attracting harsh personal attacks and threats of violence. Despite such challenges, many researchers believe that—like it or not—the pandemic has forever altered how certain scientists communicate with each other and the public.
In an earlier age, it might have taken days or longer for such useful DNA data to reach interested scientists via a Table of Contents alert from a journal. But the rise of Twitter and other social media platforms enabled users like Lee to spread the word about the SARS-CoV-2 sequence within hours, sparking global conversations and accelerating efforts to develop vaccines and treatments.
It was an early sign of how the pandemic prompted many scientists—and the public—to turn to social media to share and learn about hot new findings. COVID-19 “changed the game” because the threat “immediately connects with the public, [so] there’s a much bigger natural audience” for information about pandemic science than for most areas of research, says Michael Thelwall, a data scientist at the University of Wolverhampton, City Campus, who studies social media. In particular, Twitter has become a go-to resource for anyone trying to make sense of the torrent of pandemic studies—and for those intent on quickly pushing back against misinformation.
But the pandemic has also helped demonstrate the limitations of social media. It can be difficult, for example, for scientists to be heard over the cacophony of messages on Twitter—some 500 million each day. And although some scientists have used the platform to elevate their online presence, that has rarely translated into concrete professional rewards. Eventually the sizable Twitter followings some have built during the pandemic may fade. And in the meantime, some have suffered from their digital fame, attracting harsh personal attacks and threats of violence. Despite such challenges, many researchers believe that—like it or not—the pandemic has forever altered how certain scientists communicate with each other and the public.
Submission + - Researchers discover new (intermediate and tetragonal) form of ice -- Ice-VIIt (phys.org)
fahrbot-bot writes: UNLV researchers have discovered a new form of ice, redefining the properties of water at high pressures.
Solid water, or ice, is like many other materials in that it can form different solid materials based on variable temperature and pressure conditions, like carbon forming diamond or graphite. However, water is exceptional in this aspect as there are at least 20 solid forms of ice known to us.
A team of scientists working in UNLV's Nevada Extreme Conditions Lab pioneered a new method for measuring the properties of water under high pressure. The water sample was first squeezed between the tips of two opposite-facing diamonds—freezing into several jumbled ice crystals. The ice was then subjected to a laser-heating technique that temporarily melted it before it quickly re-formed into a powder-like collection of tiny crystals.
By incrementally raising the pressure, and periodically blasting it with the laser beam, the team observed the water ice make the transition from a known cubic phase, Ice-VII, to the newly discovered intermediate, and tetragonal, phase, Ice-VIIt, before settling into another known phase, Ice-X.
Solid water, or ice, is like many other materials in that it can form different solid materials based on variable temperature and pressure conditions, like carbon forming diamond or graphite. However, water is exceptional in this aspect as there are at least 20 solid forms of ice known to us.
A team of scientists working in UNLV's Nevada Extreme Conditions Lab pioneered a new method for measuring the properties of water under high pressure. The water sample was first squeezed between the tips of two opposite-facing diamonds—freezing into several jumbled ice crystals. The ice was then subjected to a laser-heating technique that temporarily melted it before it quickly re-formed into a powder-like collection of tiny crystals.
By incrementally raising the pressure, and periodically blasting it with the laser beam, the team observed the water ice make the transition from a known cubic phase, Ice-VII, to the newly discovered intermediate, and tetragonal, phase, Ice-VIIt, before settling into another known phase, Ice-X.
Submission + - SPAM: Elon Musk's Starlink helping Ukraine to win the drone war
schwit1 writes: Drone teams in the field, sometimes in badly connected rural areas, are able to use Starlink to connect them to targeters and intelligence on their battlefield database. They can direct the drones to drop anti-tank munitions, sometimes flying up silently to Russian forces at night as they sleep in their vehicles.
PD-1 unmanned aerial vehicles, which have a wingspan of 10ft and are fitted with infrared sensors, are also used to collect information on Russian troop movements.
The Ukrainian drone unit uses a sophisticated system called "Delta" which has been built over recent years with help from Western advisers and can be accessed from basic laptops.
It includes “situational awareness” software which creates an interactive map, incorporating imagery from drones, satellites, sensors and human intelligence so the enemy can be tracked. Delta is said to be compatible with Nato systems, and to have been tested in the Sea Breeze military exercise in the Black Sea last year, which involved the US, Ukraine and 30 other nations.
Now the drone squads face increasing danger as the Russians try to track them, and they have to move frequently. Drones are proving so effective that the Pentagon feels supplying Ukraine with aircraft is not necessary. Instead, it is now sending more lethal Switchblades — so-called “kamikaze drones” — which were designed for US special forces, can be carried in a backpack and can destroy a tank.
As Ukraine's internet is inevitably degraded, Starlink will be an alternative. General James Dickinson, commander of US Space Command, told the Senate armed services committee: "What we’re seeing with Elon Musk and the Starlink capabilities is really showing us what a megaconstellation, or a proliferated architecture, can provide in terms of redundancy and capability."
Link to Original Source
PD-1 unmanned aerial vehicles, which have a wingspan of 10ft and are fitted with infrared sensors, are also used to collect information on Russian troop movements.
The Ukrainian drone unit uses a sophisticated system called "Delta" which has been built over recent years with help from Western advisers and can be accessed from basic laptops.
It includes “situational awareness” software which creates an interactive map, incorporating imagery from drones, satellites, sensors and human intelligence so the enemy can be tracked. Delta is said to be compatible with Nato systems, and to have been tested in the Sea Breeze military exercise in the Black Sea last year, which involved the US, Ukraine and 30 other nations.
Now the drone squads face increasing danger as the Russians try to track them, and they have to move frequently. Drones are proving so effective that the Pentagon feels supplying Ukraine with aircraft is not necessary. Instead, it is now sending more lethal Switchblades — so-called “kamikaze drones” — which were designed for US special forces, can be carried in a backpack and can destroy a tank.
As Ukraine's internet is inevitably degraded, Starlink will be an alternative. General James Dickinson, commander of US Space Command, told the Senate armed services committee: "What we’re seeing with Elon Musk and the Starlink capabilities is really showing us what a megaconstellation, or a proliferated architecture, can provide in terms of redundancy and capability."
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Tech Casualties of War: Open Source and the Cloud
theodp writes: In On the Weaponisation of Open Source, Gerald Benischke examines how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has spilled over into areas of software development, with some unintended consequences. In particular, Benischke looks at the decision by MongoDB to cut off services in Russia, the destructive change in a node library that deleted files on Russian IPs, and even a change in the code/licence in a community terraform module to assert that Putin is a 'dickhead.'
Benischke concludes, "My problem is that this weaponisation is killing off trust. I think the temptation of using open source projects as weapons against Russia should be resisted because it sets a dangerous precedent and may ultimately set back the open source movement and push organisations back into seeking refuge in commercial software with all its opaqueness and obscurity. It's not about sitting on the fence or taking sides in a war. It's about what open source has achieved over the last 30 years and I think that's now at risk of become collateral damage."
Meanwhile, the war is also being fought on the Cloud front, with Microsoft halting all new sales in Russia. In fact, all of the major U.S. cloud providers have stepped back from doing business in Russia. "You basically have Russia becoming a commercial pariah," explained economist Mary Lovely. "Pretty much no company, no multinational, wants to be caught on the wrong side of U.S. and Western sanctions."
Benischke concludes, "My problem is that this weaponisation is killing off trust. I think the temptation of using open source projects as weapons against Russia should be resisted because it sets a dangerous precedent and may ultimately set back the open source movement and push organisations back into seeking refuge in commercial software with all its opaqueness and obscurity. It's not about sitting on the fence or taking sides in a war. It's about what open source has achieved over the last 30 years and I think that's now at risk of become collateral damage."
Meanwhile, the war is also being fought on the Cloud front, with Microsoft halting all new sales in Russia. In fact, all of the major U.S. cloud providers have stepped back from doing business in Russia. "You basically have Russia becoming a commercial pariah," explained economist Mary Lovely. "Pretty much no company, no multinational, wants to be caught on the wrong side of U.S. and Western sanctions."
Submission + - Linux Random Number Generator Sees Major Improvements (zx2c4.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Linux kernel's random number generator has seen its first set of major improvements in over a decade, improving everything from the cryptography to the interface used. Not only does it finally retire SHA-1 (in favor of BLAKE2s), but it also at long last unites `/dev/random` and `/dev/urandom`, finally ending years of Slashdot banter and debate:
The most significant outward-facing change is that
/dev/random and /dev/urandom are now exactly the same thing, with no differences between them at all, thanks to their unification in random: block in /dev/urandom. This removes a significant age-old crypto footgun, already accomplished by other operating systems eons ago. [...] The upshot is that every Internet message board disagreement on /dev/random versus /dev/urandom has now been resolved by making everybody simultaneously right! Now, for the first time, these are both the right choice to make, in addition to getrandom(0); they all return the same bytes with the same semantics. There are only right choices.
Comment Re:I don't see the problem. (Score 1) 96
... Which raises the question of "if you can't read the information contained in a structure, but someone else could, does that information exist?" I rather think that it does, otherwise mineralogy exams couldn't exist, and each specimen would be different for each student examining it.
Yes, it does exist. Otherwise you could erase the printing on a page, just by closing your eyes! 8-)
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Computers will not be perfected until they can compute how much more than the estimate the job will cost.
