Posted via email from cabezas
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
'One Small Step For {IBM}; One Giant Leap For {Watson}.' Michio Kaku / Big Think on Jeopardy! Master, Watson.
via bigthink.com
From Big Think / Michio Kaku:
http://bigthink.com/ideas/30754
What this contest showed was that, in a very specialized area, machines can do better than humans. This involves answering questions that are posed in a highly stylized way, suitable for the Jeopardy! TV program. This does not involve answering questions that are posed, off-the-cuff, by an ordinary person using colloquial, conversational English.
This narrow achievement has vast commercial implications. For example, in the future we might talk to a "robo-doc" in our wall screens, which looks just like a human, but is actually a software program. We would ask this "doctor" on our wall screen medical questions (in a special format) and it would answer, say, perhaps 95% of the common questions that humans ask a doctor. Similarly, "robo-lawyer" would answer most of the basic questions concerning the law. These software programs could vastly increase the efficiency of society and reduce health-care costs.
But there are important limitations. The key limitation facing AI is mastering something we take for granted, which is common sense. We know, for example, that:
water is wet, not dry
strings can pull, not push
sticks can push, but not pull
mothers are older than their daughters.
There is no line of mathematical logic or computer code that explains these statements. These are simple facts about our world that we learn the hard way, through experience. Unfortunately, there are probably hundreds of millions of lines of common sense necessary to simulate the common sense of, say, a five-year old child.
IBM's Watson computer, although it is a marvel of computer power, is inadequate to answer questions that involve the common sense of a child.
But what about the far future, when robots finally attain the common sense ability of a human? For more on this question, please consult my new book, Physics of the Future, out in March.
Posted via email from cabezas
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Boston.com's Chinese Year of The Rabbit Photo Gallery #China #Rabbit
From Boston.com:
Chinese New Year, 2011
The Lunar New Year, or more accurately the lunisolar new year, began February 4 and in most countries that celebrate it ushered in the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese zodiac. In China Lunar New Year is the most important date on the calendar and triggers over a month of holiday travel which is often described as the largest annual human migration in the world. Hundreds of millions tax the transport system. The new year also marks the beginning of the Spring Festival in China which continues until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day. Lunar New Year is celebrated in many countries, with many different traditions as well. Gathered here are pictures of China's travel wave and celebrations, as well as pictures from other countries' Lunar New Year observations. -- Lane Turner
Pic 1: Feng Li/Getty Images
Pic 2: China Foto Press/Getty Images
Pic 3: Philippe Lope/AFP/Getty Images
Feng Li/Getty Images
Posted via email from cabezas
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
FastCompany Breaks Down Nike's High-Tech Designed Oregon Ducks' Uniforms
How Nike's Visual Tricks Made the Oregon Ducks Look Fast (Despite Defeat)
A Nike designer speaks on the visual tricks at play in the uniforms that stole the show in last night's BCS Title Game.
Oregon suffered defeat at the hands of Cam Newton and Auburn last night in the 2011 BCS championship game. But hard as it may have been to watch the gut-wrenching loss, you probably couldn't take your eyes off the Oregon players the whole time, thanks toflashy uniforms that made Auburn look stuck in the 1950's. How'd those Oregon guys get to looking so sharp? And why did those uniforms look the way they did?
"Oregon is one of the fastest teams in the nation, and we wanted them to look fast," Todd Van Horn, Nike's top football uniform designer, tells us. (Van Horn was on his way home from the game, and his voice was more than a little hoarse.) Visually, the colorway of the uniforms is meant to bring your eyes to the fastest moving parts of the player's bodies -- the hands, and in particular the shins, which move twice as fast as the thighs do while running. The bright yellow socks, which blended seamlessly into the cleats, drew attention to that fact.
Those color contrasts are functional as well. "We hear constantly from teams and quarterbacks that having a bit more visual acuity and contrast on the field makes things easier," says Van Horn. The white jerseys and grey pants, combined with the green accents, allowed the players to stand out vividly against their Auburn opponents.
You might have also caught sight of those flashy helmets -- the swirling pattern on the outside emphasizes the fact that Nike's padding system on the thighs and shoulders contain carbon fiber plates (layered over breathable foam and a moisture wicking base). Nike worked with a company that usually applies custom graphics to cars to create the special decals applied to the helmet. Combined with the green highlights of the Oregon "O," these created a visual vibration you could probably discern on your TV last night as an almost moire pattern effect.
The final piece of visual flare is a custom font designed to make the players look, basically, meaner and more physically imposing. The numbers, are wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, thus making the player's shoulders look wider and the waist look narrower. "The artistry comes in in how we make the players look fast and look dynamic," says Van Horn.
If only that one freak tackle hadn't happened!
From FastCompany
Posted via email from cabezas