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Comment Re: Blame and cost shifting (Score 1, Offtopic) 99

But Trump has already done the same thing with multiple companies (e.g., Intel) "for the people", and he wants to do the same thing with the AI companies (see the article). Do you think Trump is a communist too? If not, how would you classify Trump on the political spectrum. That's a genuine question - I'm curious how people that hate Bernie's beliefs put Trump on the political scale. By the way, Bernie is a Democratic Socialist, not a communist. There's a huge difference. It's worth reading about.
The Courts

Who To Sue When a Robot Loses Your Fortune (bloomberg.com) 201

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: It all started over lunch at a Dubai restaurant on March 19, 2017. It was the first time 45-year-old Li, met Costa, the 49-year-old Italian who's often known by peers in the industry as "Captain Magic." During their meal, Costa described a robot hedge fund his company London-based Tyndaris Investments would soon offer to manage money entirely using AI, or artificial intelligence. Developed by Austria-based AI company 42.cx, the supercomputer named K1 would comb through online sources like real-time news and social media to gauge investor sentiment and make predictions on US stock futures. It would then send instructions to a broker to execute trades, adjusting its strategy over time based on what it had learned.

The idea of a fully automated money manager inspired Li instantly. He met Costa for dinner three days later, saying in an email beforehand that the AI fund "is exactly my kind of thing." Over the following months, Costa shared simulations with Li showing K1 making double-digit returns, although the two now dispute the thoroughness of the back-testing. Li eventually let K1 manage $2.5bn -- $250m of his own cash and the rest leverage from Citigroup. The plan was to double that over time. But Li's affection for K1 waned almost as soon as the computer started trading in late 2017. By February 2018, it was regularly losing money, including over $20m in a single day -- Feb. 14 -- due to a stop-loss order Li's lawyers argue wouldn't have been triggered if K1 was as sophisticated as Costa led him to believe.

Comment He is a true American hero (Score 2) 860

by ottott (#43956441) Attached to: NSA WhistleBlower Outs Himself
This man is a true American hero. He found an injustice, and he is taking a stand - even despite potentially horrible consequences to himself and his family. Regardless of how you view his actions, he is a shining example of the American spirit -- strong and deeply committed to democracy. We should all be proud to have men and women like this in our country. Home of the free. Land of the brave. Let no one forget how long and hard we have fought for these ideals.
Science

Submission + - 'Smart Fingertips' Pave Way for Virtual Sensations (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Imagine feeling like you’re lifting a 50-kilogram weight just by pulling at thin air. That’s just one of the possible applications of new "smart fingertips" created by a team of nanoengineers. The electronic fingers mold to the shape of the hand, and so far the researchers have shown that they can transmit electric signals to the skin. The team hopes to one day incorporate the devices into a smart glove that creates virtual sensations, fooling the brain into feeling everything from texture to temperature.
Security

Submission + - Blizzard Says Battle.net Has Been Hacked (hardwarecanucks.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Blizzard announced today that its Battle.net service was compromised. The company is urging users to change their login information immediately. Blizzard is stressing that payment information was not compromised.
Earth

An Animal That Lives Without Oxygen 166

Posted by timothy from the besides-me dept.
Julie188 writes "Scientists have found the first multicellular animals that apparently live entirely without oxygen. The creatures reside deep in one of the harshest environments on earth: the Mediterranean Ocean's L'Atalante basin, which contains salt brine so dense that it doesn't mix with the oxygen-containing waters above."
Space

Submission + - Space Elevator followup: Michael J. Laine rebuttal (tropicalcoder.com)

Submitted by
TropicalCoder
TropicalCoder writes: "On June 3rd, I ran across an article about LiftPort, a group of companies dedicated to building the LiftPort Space Elevator, and shared it on Slashdot. This provoked over 200 comments, the vast majority of which were negative about the feasibility of such an undertaking. At one point during the discussion, LiftPort founder Michael J. Laine personally entered the discussion, but for the most part remained invisible since he hadn't logged in. I responded to his comment that if he would like a chance to rebut the criticisms, he should contact me and I would undertake to interview him and post the resulting story on Slashdot.

Michael called me long distance via cell phone that very day from his back yard near Seattle, and spoke with me for over an hour. It was a very interesting conversation. Michael came across as a rather sober, likeable fellow, not at all like the crackpot image one would conjure up from reading many of the Slashdot comments. He was clearly wounded by the stinging criticisms in the Slashdot discussion, and I couldn't help emphasizing with him. Here was man who had put his money where his mouth was, risking everything on his dream, perhaps suffering his darkest hour, and enduring ridicule on top of that.

At no point during the conversation did I get any impression of a huckster who would sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, something that I was on the lookout for. It was clear to me that he sincerely believes in what he is doing. Whether he succeeds in the end or not, I would prefer to call him a "visionary". After all, for every great visionary you can recall from history, there must have been a thousand others who tried and failed, but are no less visionary because of that. The jury is still out on LiftPort, and rumours of their death would be premature. They continue their research, and as I write are preparing for the "Tethered Towers" demo on Thursday, 28th of June.

At the end of the conversation it was agreed that I would summarize the Slashdot discussion for him and offer him an opportunity for point by point rebuttal. I completed this summary, (in which many Slashdot readers will recognize their own words), and sent it off to him the next day. He acknowledged receipt of this and promised an answer shortly. A few weeks passed, and I imagined that he must have decided in the end that the criticisms were so severe, perhaps it would be best just to try to forget it. It was such a surprise to me when a thoroughly detailed response arrived in my mail box today, demonstrating that the people at LiftPort at least are still convinced that building a space elevator is possible.

Space elevator themes have been celebrated in science fiction and many Slashdot readers have shared the dream, only to become disillusioned with the apparent pending demise of LiftPort. After reading LiftPort's rebuttal to Slashdot critics, do any of you now feel your pessimism somewhat dispelled?"
Robotics

Chairbot Walks You Around While You Sit 241

Posted by samzenpus from the stop-using-your-legs-like-a-sucker dept.
Gary writes "What do you get when you combine a robot and a chair? The Hubo FX-1 chairbot, of course. In what is perhaps my favorite robot design yet, this giant chair with legs looks like it came out of some ridiculous 80's sci-fi movie or something, but it's very, very real. HUBO FX-1 is two meters in height, and weighs 150 kg. The person sitting can control the robot easily using the built in joystick. Each ankle has a 3-axis force/torque sensor which measures the normal force and 2 moments. Each foot has an inclination sensor which measures the angle of the slope. Also, the rate gyro and the inclination sensor of the body allow the device to stabilize itself."

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Credit ... is the only enduring testimonial to man's confidence in man. -- James Blish

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