Archive for December, 2014
Google’s Intelligence Designer
December 3rd, 2014Via: MIT Technology Review: But Hassabis sounds more excited when he talks about going beyond just tweaking the algorithms behind today’s products. He dreams of creating “AI scientists” that could do things like generate and test new hypotheses about disease in the lab. When prodded, he also says that DeepMind’s software could also be useful […]
We Need to Talk about Sandy Hook
December 3rd, 2014Via: Independent Media Solidarity:
Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Mankind
December 2nd, 2014Via: BBC: Prof Stephen Hawking, one of Britain’s pre-eminent scientists, has said that efforts to create thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence. He told the BBC:”The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” His warning came in response to a question about a revamp of the […]
Electricity Infrastructure in Detroit “Beyond Salvage”
December 2nd, 2014Via: Mlive: When a major U.S. city’s government loses power to its schools, fire stations, government buildings and sporting arenas because it’s operating on an antiquated power grid that it can’t afford to update, it’s national news, Detroit proved Tuesday. Media across the nation covered the power outage that selectively impacted municipal buildings in Detroit, […]
As Oil Prices Plunge, Wide-Ranging Effects for Consumers and the Global Economy
December 2nd, 2014Via: Washington Post: Tumbling oil prices are draining hundreds of billions of dollars from the coffers of oil-rich exporters and oil companies and injecting a much-needed boost for ailing economies in Europe and Japan — and for American consumers at the start of the peak shopping season. The result could be one of the biggest […]
Total U.S. Debt Rises Over $18 Trillion; Up 70% Under Barack Obama
December 2nd, 2014Via: ZeroHedge: Last week, total US debt was a meager $17,963,753,617,957.26. Two days later, as updated today, on Black Friday, total outstanding US public debt just hit a new historic level which probably would be better associated with a red color: as of the last work day of November, total US public debt just surpassed […]
U.S. Navy Pushes Solar Energy Storage Solution
December 1st, 2014Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. Via: CleanTechnica: We just got wind of a major new oil industry campaign to tear down California’s clean energy rules, but we’re thinking these guys are going to be outflanked by the shockingly rapid growth of the energy storage sector. Case in point: the Navy Mobile […]
INCENSER
December 1st, 2014Via: Electrospaces: Recently disclosed documents show that the NSA’s fourth-largest cable tapping program, codenamed INCENSER, pulls its data from just one single source: a submarine fiber optic cable linking Asia with Europe. Until now, it was only known that INCENSER was a sub-program of WINDSTOP and that it collected some 14 billion pieces of internet […]
Hackers With Wall Street Savvy Stealing M&A Data
December 1st, 2014Via: Bloomberg: Hackers with Wall Street expertise have stolen merger-and-acquisition information from more than 80 companies for more than a year, according to security consultants who shared their findings with law enforcement. A group dubbed FIN4 by researchers at FireEye Inc. (FEYE) has been tricking executives, lawyers and consultants into providing access to confidential data […]
