Most Recently Added Most commentedBy Title | A-Z

Ask Ray | Driving blind

December 19, 2010

blind driver challenge

Hi Ray,

I will be attending a gathering of National Federation of the Blind leaders in Daytona, Florida, on the evening before the Blind Driver Challenge event early on Saturday, Jan. 29 before the start of the Rolex 24 Race.

This high-profile event will be the first public demonstration of a blind person driving a vehicle without any form of guidance provided by another person. Obviously… read more

comic | Devotion to duty

February 23, 2010

© xkcd webcomics

Source: xkcd webcomics

Galileo was wrong. The church was right!

September 13, 2010

galileo

Source: Galileo Was Wrong conference website — September 23, 2010

An actual conference — not a spoof.  — Ed.

Documentary from Motherboard | Singularity of Ray Kurzweil

February 16, 2011

motherboard logo

Motherboard | Ray Kurzweil tells us about his vision of the Singularity — a point around 2045 when computers will acquire full-blown artificial intelligence and technology will infuse itself with biology. His theories have all sorts of supporters, detractors, and critics, but do you even remember what life was like before three-year-olds had cell phones and you actually had to remember facts instead of relying on the internet?

That

read more

Related:
Motherboard: Exploring the Culture of Technology website

Google announces plan to destroy all information it can’t index

August 31, 2005

Source: The Onion — August 31, 2005

Executives at Google announced Monday Google Purge, the latest step in their expansion effort: a far-reaching plan to destroy all the information it is unable to index.

“A year ago, Google offered to scan every book on the planet for its Google Print project. Now, they are promising to burn the rest,” John Battelle wrote in his widely read “Searchblog.” “Thanks to Google Purge, you’ll never have to worry… read more

The Providence Phoenix | Experimental band Yeasayer’s Odd Blood inspired by Kurzweil’s vision of human-machine intelligence

April 29, 2010

yeasayer odd blood

Source: The Providence Phoenix — February 9, 2010 | Jonathan Donaldson

Yeasayer have created a decadent, densely produced mess of a second album. Like other bands trying to do art rock in 2010, they confront us with the irony that their world of genre-melding futurism (a/k/a Brooklyn) can sound dated from the moment you get off the plane.

This aside, Odd Blood is a sprawling trip through Yeasayer’s uniquely rhythmic takes on rock and roll, art rock, R&B, electronic,… read more

Large Hadron Collider rap

March 10, 2011

LHC

This is pretty clever. Brought to you courtesy of AlpineKat via YouTube who writes: “Images came from Particle Physics UK, Space.com, the Institute of Physics, NASA, Symmetry, Marvel, Einstein Online, and Physics World. Stock footage is CERN’s. They’ll have a lot of data to sort — 15 million GB per year, actually. Want to get involved and donate your computer’s downtime? Visit

read more

Related:
U.S. at the Large Hadron Collider
LHC at home

Every breath you take, every move you make …

September 19, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

breath_detector

Those University of Utah engineers who built wireless networks that see through walls are now taking it a step further: detecting if surgery patients, adults with sleep apnea, and babies at risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have stopped breathing.

This thing freaks me out a bit. Think what Homeland Security could do with it. The idea of being surrounded by tiny microwave ovens… read more

book review | Mind as Machine: A History of Cognitive Science

December 10, 2007

mind_as_machine

Source: American Scientist — February 2008

In Mind as Machine: A History of Cognitive Science, Margaret A. Boden’s goal, she says, is to show how cognitive scientists have tried to find computational or informational answers to frequently asked questions about the mind — “what it is, what it does, how it works, how it evolved, and how it’s even possible.”

How do our brains generate consciousness? Are animals or newborn babies conscious? Can machines… read more

comic | Science Montage

February 23, 2010

© xkcd webcomics

Source: xkcd webcomics

Synthespianism and anthropomorphization of computer graphics

October 2, 2002 by Diana Walczak

The anthropomorphization of computer graphics has been a classiccase of exponential growth powered by technology, art, commerceand culture. Funding for military and aerospace applications likenuclear weapons design, weather prediction and flight simulationpaid for much of the initial heavy lifting required to build thefoundation of the computer graphics industry during the 1960′s andearly 1970′s.

As the sophistication of graphics software marched forward andthe cost of computing slid downward, the annual… read more

Are ‘net neutrality’ rules a fed takeover of the Internet or a sell-out?

December 23, 2010 by Amara D. Angelica

internet_map

“The Federal Communications Commission’s new ‘net neutrality’ rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote [Monday, Dec. 20], represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal activist groups and foundations,” says Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund. “The losers are likely to be consumers who will see innovation and investment chilled by regulations that treat the Internet like a public utility.

“There’s little evidence… read more

China Telecom to launch telecom services in Europe; U.S. next

January 12, 2012 by Giulio Prisco

China-Telecom

China Telecom is reportedly launching mobile services in the U.K., the first time a Chinese telecom operator has launched MVNO services outside China (an MVNO is a mobile operator that sells services directly to its customers but does not own any of the infrastructure), according to China Tech News.

The service will target Chinese residents and visitors in the UK, starting in the first quarter of 2012.… read more

Yorkshire Evening Post | Title track from Foals’ new album, Total Life Forever, inspired by futurist Ray Kurzweil

April 29, 2010

foals album

Source: Yorkshire Evening Post — April 29, 2010 | Duncan Seaman

“I don’t think it was a conscious decision to change any of our sounds, more that we have progressed as a band,” explains bass player Walter Gervers of Foals’ new album Total Life Forever. “Our tastes have changed. What we were trying to create was a record with more space and more freedom than the first time.”

The album’s title track was inspired by Raymond Kurzweil, the… read more

The Onion | Disney Lab unveils its latest line of genetically engineered child stars

October 21, 2010

Source: The Onion — September 16, 2008

The Onion | Disney claims its latest batch of child stars is so lifelike, you’ll barely be able to tell they have no souls.

Related:
Onion News Network

close and return to Home