May 12, 2016

Machines Won’t Replace Us, They’ll Force Us to Evolve

Something big is happening in design and engineering.

For all of human history, we have created tools that help us do what we want to do — faster, better, cheaper. But we have always had to direct those tools; tell them exactly what to do for us to achieve our goals. This hasn’t changed from the time of stone tools (which we had to wield with our hands) to modern digital design tools (which we wield with the click of the mouse).

If an architect designing a house wants to move a wall, she has to first imagine all the possible alternatives of that wall’s placement that will serve her design. Once she has parsed through the possibilities in her mind, she will make a decision and manually move that wall in her CAD drawing. Naturally, she can only imagine a certain number of possibilities, and many alternatives might be completely lost because she didn’t imagine them.

This is how we’ve been designing things for most of history: first, you have an idea in your mind, then you draw it. But in recent years a new era of design has been creeping into the picture: generative design.

http://singularityhub.com/2016/05/05/machines-wont-replace-us-theyll-force-us-to-evolve/

May 12, 2016

These Five Exponential Trends Are Accelerating Robotics

If you've been staying on top of artificial intelligence news lately, you may know that the games of chess and Go were two of the grand challenges for AI. But do you know what the equivalent is for robotics? It's table tennis. Just think about how the game requires razor sharp perception and movement, a tall order for a machine.

As entertaining as human vs. robot games can be, what they actually demonstrate is much more important. They test the technology's readiness for practical applications in the real world—like self-driving cars that can navigate around unexpected people in a street.

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Hod Lipson, professor of engineering and director of Columbia University’s Creative Machine Labs

Though we used to think of robots as clunky machines for repetitive factory tasks, a slew of new technologies are making robots faster, stronger, cheaper, and even perceptive, so that they can understand and engage with their surrounding environments. Consider Boston Dynamic’s Atlas Robot, which can walk through snow, move boxes, endure a hefty blow with a hockey stick by an aggressive colleague, and even regain its feet when knocked down. Not too long ago, such tasks were unthinkable for a robot.

At the Exponential Manufacturing conference, robotics expert and director of Columbia University’s Creative Machine Labs, Hod Lipson, examined five exponential trends shaping and accelerating the future of the robotics industry.

More Here:
http://singularityhub.com/2016/05/11/five-exponential-trends-are-accelerating-robotics/?utm_content=bufferfdc59&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

May 11, 2016

Charles Koch: 'Possible' Clinton could be better than GOP nominee

Washington (CNN)Oil tycoon and conservative mega-donor Charles Koch had kind words for both Bill and Hillary Clinton in an interview Sunday, saying there was an outside chance he could support her in November.

"We would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric. Let me put it that way," he said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. "But on some of the Republican candidates we would -- before we could support them, we'd have to believe their actions will be quite different than the rhetoric we've heard so far."

Earlier in the interview, Koch said Bill Clinton was better than George W. Bush on issues of economic growth and government spending but did not offer a full-throated endorsement of either Clinton.
READ: Without winning strategy, GOP donors stay on sidelines
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/24/politics/charles-koch-hillary-clinton-2016/

May 11, 2016

Musical Break-time from the primaries.

May 10, 2016

Get in shape for the Election! Hand Exercises for voting!

May 10, 2016

Musical Break-time. Something Patriotic for the Election Season.

May 7, 2016

I'm do have something going for me at least.

May 7, 2016

The Election problem summed up.

May 6, 2016

Would A Trump Presidency mean the Death of Reality TV?

Would we have a Trump Channel? All Trump all the Time (More than MSNBC even)


We could have the the Ivana Trump First Lady show modeling various presidential jewelry and nothing else.

Would we get the First Mistress show? For after hours watching on Playboy channel and the hostess would change weekly.

Would Howard Stern be Press Secretary?

United States Poet Laureate Kanye West?

Surgeon General: Dr Phil

May 6, 2016

A Musical Breaktime from the Primaries. "Chamak Cello"

From the Indian Sci Fi Movie "Ra One" Think a singing and dancing Tony Stark...

"Chamak Cello" Means "Sizzling Siren" in Indian