Archive for the 'Rise of the Machines' Category
Will Robots Replace Rent-a-Cops?
August 31st, 2013Via: Motherboard: Has a fear of robotics ever kept anyone from robbing banks? I’m not talking about the surveillance systems, laser-armed tripwires, noisy alarms, or automated locks on the doors. I’m talking about actual robots—an evolution of the ROOMBA Vacuum cleaner, but with legs, not cute, and definitely not something you want to rob. Now, […]
Nissan: Multiple Autonomous Drive Vehicle Models Available by 2020
August 28th, 2013Via: Nissan: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that the company will be ready with multiple, commercially-viable Autonomous Drive vehicles by 2020. Nissan announced that the company’s engineers have been carrying out intensive research on the technology for years, alongside teams from the world’s top universities, including MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Carnegie Mellon and the University […]
Australia: Giant Robotic Mining Trucks Haul Iron Ore
August 24th, 2013😯 Via: Medium: In the dusty red earth of Western Australia, robot trucks haul iron ore. The trucks themselves weigh about 500 tons when loaded—they are truly massive. They operate more or less on their own, navigating mining roads connecting the sprawling Pilbara iron mines with a guidance system provided by global positioning satellites, radars […]
‘Either Write the Software that Eats the World, or Be Eaten’
August 24th, 2013Via: TechCrunch: Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe everything will be fine. Maybe the “widening gap between rich and poor” is temporary. Maybe the steady growth in the proportion of jobs that are part-time and/or low-paid will soon reverse. Or maybe the idea that all the homeless need are old laptops and a few JavaScript textbooks is […]
DARPA Wants a Synthetic Neocortex
August 23rd, 2013Via: Network World: The military’s advanced research group recently put out a call, or Request For information, on how it could develop systems that go beyond machine learning, Bayesian techniques, and graphical technology to solve “extraordinarily difficult recognition problems in real-time.” Current systems offer partial solutions to this problem, but are limited in their ability […]
X-47B Lands on U.S. Aircraft Carrier
August 14th, 2013Via: Wired: The Navy’s X-47B drone completed its newest round of tests off the Virginia shore last week, making it the first pilotless unmanned jet in history to land aboard a moving aircraft carrier — one of aviation’s most challenging maneuvers. The Navy heralded the achievement as the future of warfare. “It isn’t very often […]
Democracy Now On Amazon and Jeff Bezos
August 14th, 2013Disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with Amazon. The Democracy Now discussion below contains some legitimate gripes about Amazon, which I’ve covered on here in the past. The most disturbing thing about Amazon (to me) is their work with CIA to build the agency’s new cloud computing infrastructure (news circa March 2013). That’s bad. But […]
‘The Era of Ubiquitous Listening Dawns’
August 13th, 2013Via: MIT Technology Review: The Moto X, the new smartphone from Google’s Motorola Mobility, might be remembered best someday for helping to usher in the era of ubiquitous listening. Unlike earlier phones, the Moto X includes two low-power chips whose only function is to process data from a microphone and other sensors—without tapping the main […]
Clean Green Surveillance Drone
August 13th, 2013Via: Wired: A new small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) boasts something no other has been able to do thus far: continuous flight for 9 hours and all on the clean energy of solar power. AeroVironment‘s 13-pound Puma AE can be assembled and hand-launched in minutes and requires no infrastructure for launch or landing, making them […]
Google Searches Result in Visit from Joint Terrorism Task Force
August 2nd, 2013Any lawyers who click through are likely to experience grand mal seizures when they read about how the suspect dealt with this bogus fishing expedition. Suspect: Invited Joint Terrorism Task Force (mainly FBI, but could actually include people from a variety of agencies) inside his house. Suspect: Consented to a search of his house. Suspect: […]
