Monday, December 17, 2018

Technology is getting weird

Can the Singularity be far behind? Give me the 80's. What's going on in the Cloud these days? Now they're talking 5G. What's next on the technological horizon?

48 comments:

  1. Have you tried a robot cat ? It does all the cat things, including purring. You might want to run a cost analysis on batteries vs kitty nibbles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, Moore's Law of transister use, 'deep learning' of chips, apps upon apps, robotics, the new
    Military Space Command and 'here a cubit, there a cubit', I'm thinking the incredible advances
    in biotech (gene splicing, cloning, medical engineering etc) will be the next big breakout. Consider
    a Z-Man android: alike in avery way except needs less sleep and is immune to poison ivy. At a
    minimum you (both) could get twice as much done....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I go to the doctor and all he says is drink more water and go for a walk.

      Delete
  3. Wall Street news has me concerned. You mind driving down that way and telling them to forget their apps and algorithms and use
    their noggins?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wish you a nice Christmas, Z-Man.
    May the New Year bring a major breakdown of the Yonkers
    Traffic Cams.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The same. What's with these music stations that are morally opposed to playing Xmas songs? Maybe I don't want to hear Justin Bieber on Christmas.

      Delete
  5. Sometimes it's a mistake, sometimes deliberate deception. But it
    definitely is an entire industry

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wasn't aware of the Titanic early false story until recently and was rather amazed at the number of mainstream papers here that picked it up with fairly detailed accounts. The early telegram system can't compare with smartphones of course.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It was one of those incidents where the first responders (in this case passengers on lifeboats and passing liners picking them up in the cold dark night) reported the Titanic still afloat. As 2 hours and 40 minutes passed and out of sight of
    those reporting, the ship and remaining people sank. You know the drill: the first news is just the first news. I suspect in the age of the smart phone and on the scene videos, the event
    would have become clear much quicker. (and there would be the
    usual speculation...sabotage, pilot error, faulty welding etc.
    At least it wasn't kept under top secret wraps
    like the disaster at Slapton Sands....

    ReplyDelete
  8. A classic humdinger. Seems much or most of the American press reported the more positive spin early on with the notable exception of the Ole Gray Lady. At least one class in journalism should be devoted to this not well-known subject.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given the relative communications of that day, eg. monitoring wireless calls (ships could only contact nearby ships and was barely audible in 1912) nascent information was written in the middle of the night and the length of time for setting print was certainly not computerized, reports that very same day
      had little information...and that was over optimistic. Newspapers corrected the reports the very next day. Journalism students and journalists I am familiar with are taught and take very seriously the concept of accuracy- that's why it all goes through the editorial board. I would be surprized if that
      incident was not taught in class, among many others. There is IMO much difference between news mistakes and deliberate journalistic untruth. Consequently, I recommend that Hannity try once again to pass a college course..specifically journalism 101. Call me curmudgeon, but we should all recognize the difference between fact and opinion. Wait, I think you termed me that just a few posts back. :)

      Delete
    2. I'm not quibbling but the early press reports are fascinating. I'm glad I discovered this.

      Delete
  9. Discovery is a good hobby.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My backyard has been invaded by irritating birds : a colony of 16 about twice the size of a mourning dove. Because of surrounding
    buidings, I can't use my peacemaker Red Ryder BB gun. You know any good falconers looking for work?

    ReplyDelete
  11. As you know I recently gained about ten pounds so yesterday I went on a long walk and on the way back my left heel became painful and sore. Probably bad footwear. One issue leads to another. PCP's need to understand there's other parts of the body besides the ass.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sounds like plantar fasciitis . If it is a sharp twinge and you still have it after a few days, it practically self diagnoses. I had it about 20 years ago: hangs around for 1-2
    months and one needs to avoid long walks, take Tylenol (or any other NSAID) and double your brandy intake.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Plantar fasciitis also makes you walk with a noticeable limp,
    like Old Stumpy played by Walter Brennan in Rio Bravo. Odd, his grand daughter was a co-worker when I had the P-F limp...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sounds familiar. Had it once before so Googled it. Sounds like it and like groin pulls hangs around for awhile. Had that too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Basically the plantar fasciitis websites are telling you to avoid the activities your doctor recommended in the first place (running, jogging, long-distance walking etc.).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dr. Oz probably recommends anchovy swill followed by a warm Balkan mudbath. But, take my word, avoid any marathons for awhile.

      Delete
  16. Robots continue to displace humans. Another good job goes down the drain (so to speak)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ancient people wrote in mud and baked it, carved in stone and painted inside caves and pyramids. That's how we know about them. Us? Our stuff goes onto a cloud. Dang!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Me? I don't know how a couple cups of coffee on a cold winter's day turns into a gallon of piss.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Magic? Another couple dozen years and you will be complaining about an overgrown prostate and tiny bladder:
      a couple cups of coffee and a few drops of piss.

      Delete
  19. Regarding the earlier discussion of the Titanic, which of the
    alternative theories of her sinking do you find plausible?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah...I only recently came across the Olympic theory and talk about convoluted! So what about all those dead passengers on the Titanic what happened to them? Were they all part of the conspiracy too? As for the other theories I can't get on board them either but one wonders what does Alex Jones thinks?

      Delete
    2. I'm thinking maybe Leonard DiCaprio pulled the plug?

      Delete
  20. Conspiracy Theory F310: The early Chinese dynasty built the Great Wall of China to keep out Ancient Aliens.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I got a huge n scale railroad layout, 670 cars, 110 locomotives, desert, snow, forest, towns. The whole shebang.
    You think I need
    a couple of these ?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Quick question but is it more unpleasant to go to the DMV or to have a colonoscopy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They both take awful photos.

      Delete
    2. She made me read Line 10 of the eye chart third from the bottom. Maybe I resembled an ex.

      Delete
  23. Have you retained Guiliani to fight that traffic-cam ticket yet?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank God they're not speed cams yet ya know?

      Delete
  24. Z-Man, out on your many walks through the Yonkers wilderness, you may want to brush up on your
    defense tactics .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I read about that in the paper the other day. Probably wouldn't work with a Sasquatch.

      Delete
    2. Never know-
      According to the crew at Yonkers Ghost Investigators ….. “Important News Bulletin! There has been a Jo-Anntopithicus sighting at Untermyer Park in Yonkers! Apparently, the supposedly extinct creature has been feeding on the large deer population that roam the park for months, while hiding out in the surrounding wooded areas. Seen only briefly in this exclusive photo, it was sighted near the walled garden and heading towards the Carriage Trail. Beware!”
      Surely these have shown up periodically on the ubiquitous and notorius Yonkers traffic cams?

      Delete
    3. Some Southern guy at work says there's a law protecting Bigfoot. I'm awaiting for those late-night WWF tv commercials on poaching Sasquatch.

      Delete
  25. As if 'Ancient Aliens' isn't enough, the History Channel is sponsoring a hunt for Jesus DNA:
    "“Using the latest advances in DNA technology Oxford University geneticist, George Busby, and biblical scholar, Pastor Joe Basile, are investigating the world’s most famous holy relics including the Shroud of Turin, The Sudarium of Oviedo and the newly discovered bones of Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist.

    “Their journey takes them to holy sites around the world from Spain and Italy to Israel and the shores of the Black Sea. By extracting and analyzing samples of each of these holy relics they hope to retrieve a sample of DNA that possibly belongs to Jesus or a member of his family. They believe that if they can find a strand of Jesus’ DNA it could help identify who among us today are descendants of Jesus and provide us with new insight into the man many consider to be the most important person in history, Jesus.”

    I sort of hope they don't find DNA that is part Hebrew and part
    God, ya know?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "who among us are descendants of Jesus" Er, just how many kids did he have, again?

      Delete
    2. Every time I start to read the Book of Genesis I can't seem to plow through the genealogical stuff...and BB begat Shemp and Shemp begat Og who lived to be 759 years and...

      Delete
  26. Genesis and old age. I'm too soft hearted to chase the Jehovah Witnesses off the porch, so I end up in dialogs of sorts. They
    absolutely believe that biblical folks lived hundreds of years and I opined that they didn't even have bifocals or walkers back
    in those times. They replied that people were much healthier then, being so close to the Garden of Eden times. When asked for
    biblical proof of how healthy these octononogenerins were, they
    came up a bit short. (being retired going on 16 years and having begat a few myself, I speak from experience, ya know?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some folk fear the return of the Nephilim. I have too much else on my plate to worry about this. I get the impression some don't have enough on their plates.

      Delete
  27. Were there a pair of Sasquatches on the Ark?

    ReplyDelete