Just back from WWDC17 and I have this takeaway: leave the creating/training/designing/refining machine learning models to the academics and companies with deep pockets. You're not going to catch up with the PhDs that have a head start on you, especially without a unique authentic problem at hand that nobody else is working on yet. Instead, USE the models that exist. Maybe train 'em with new/different data if you feel compelled, but mainly learn what models exist (natural language processing? Sentiment analysis? Image recognition? Speech recognition? Real-time identification of objects in video?). Learn how to use those models to solve the problems you're working with, or another team is dealing with, or that isn't even being considered for technology and humans are still doing it. The PhDs will keep creating new and better building blocks, just like we started out with basic web tools and now we have WebRTC. Our jobs will be to apply them. And that requires a lot less linear algebra. I think we can all say amen to that.

This is the same government that can barely pass a budget, dissolve bypartisan bickering, handle voting rights laws, take care of veterans, fix corporate tax loopholes, and much much more....

Do you people honestly think they are capable of spying on you? Give up on trying to get your 15sec of fame and go back to society.

I'm appauled at how many people forget that their friends and neighbors are possibly government employees and they will sit here and trash it.

Of course it could be the alternative and foreign nation states are posting inciteful information here in retaliation for us protecting our interests, trying to subvert readers against the country that defends their freedom to eat cheetos at 3am while playing minecraft.

So, installing malicious software means your information can be accessed? SHOCKING.

This is why I regard the basic principle of natural selection as almost a logical tautology. It is so essentially true that it can't even be described as a scientific theory, almost a logical law like 1 + 1 = 2 (strictly speaking that is a definition, but I'm sure you understand).

Yeah, I don't see any aurochs around these days. The thing is there are not many large vertebrate species compared to something like beetles. So losing hundreds of vertebrate species is a big deal.

And I'm sure Russia will have absolutely no influence over what Snowden is working so hard to bring us too!

This article itself points out that they look the same, it is the genetics that is different. On other worlds there would be strange solutions to niches but there would also be some oddly similar species as well. If you look back at the history of mammals, forgetting the understandable fascination with dinos, you will see that there have been many different kinds of mammals but certain forms are roughly similar: herbivores, large (very large) grazers, carnivores, tree dwelling. Not always but quite often there are similarities. On an alien world given similar situations then some similar forms are likely to evolve. However, sometimes a new environment may arise that creates new opportunities, if they are unique to a particular world then the creatures may not resemble anything we are familiar with. For example, the evolution of grasses and flowering plants. Some things would be universal: vision using light (IR to UV approximately), two eyes, smell sense, nervous system, some kind of brain though it may be more distributed, herbivores vs carnivores, etc. Life being Life however, there is always the opportunity for surprises.

No. I think he is correct. The only real conspiracy theory with big pharma is that they are companies and only want to make money. They aren't in it for altruistic reasons. Natural cures are irrelevant to them unless they can extract and patent any active component. The US FDA also has a government mandated conspiracy to forbid people to peddle 'cures' if they haven't been fully tested whatever their actual merits. This isn't rocket science. Did you actually read what he/she said?

Aspirin [wikipedia.org] a man made synthetic compound mimicking the pain relieving properties of willow bark?

Willow bark does not relieve pain. It has anti-inflammatory properties just as aspirin does, but not pain relief. The addition of the acetyl group artificially produced the pain relief effects.

Come on, you know it makes more sense. Bwahahaha!

Although I am tempted to agree with you I cannot. There are some topics where insider information is invaluable but identifiable posts would likely cause repercussions for the poster. We still need that. Anonymous Cowards on this topic are just that, cowards, but I don't see how we can get rid of them without getting rid of the more useful aspects of that role.

BTW, "OFF TOPIC" ... which fuckwit moderated that?

I was getting kind of bored with the old looking slashdot. Been using it for what ... crap, has it been 15 years? IT people should like new environments, as long as they are functional and don't remove options. I welcome the new beta, though being beta I will constructively criticise it. If it is a dead dog then I will reluctantly go back to Classic. But let's see what happens.

Dan Ariely. He talked about this at one point. What people want is not what management thinks.

I think slashdot must be one of the few places where Poe's Law does not apply, or as much. Funny, but accurate.