Autonomous Weapons Are Bad. MmmKay?

Today there's an article on Engadget that talks about hopes to legalize armed, autonomous robots on the battlefield. I find this very disturbing. Aside from the obvious concerns of inappropriate killing, I strongly believe there's a limit to what we should automate. Let's assume that it's unlikely that a sufficiently complex circuit will eventually and spontaneously become self aware (though I believe that is possible). I think we all know how likely it is that a mischievous or malevolent genius can and would hack into a network of killing machines to achieve his own agenda.

Here's an idea. What if we started applying our considerable talents to figuring out ways to settle differences without killing anyone?

Bob Thompson: Professional Customer

I was joking with the waitresses at a restaurant I frequent that I should introduce myself as "professional customer." Today was unusually busy for an ordinary winter day. I don't personally understand why it's as slow as it is in the winter. I guess people associate bar-b-q with summer time.

I've become friends with the owners and employees by virtue of the frequency of my visits, and all will gather at my table to chit-chat whenever they have the time. On busy days that amounts to whispering over their shoulders as they walk briskly past my table-each expressing anger or frustration with the other. I find it amusing, as long as they don't hurt each other. I'm like the reverse bartender.

Very Scary

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/20/first_brain_controlled_video_gaming_headset_unveiled_/

Hopefully this will be used for enabling technology. I feel strongly that we need to be careful about how far we advance technology. Computer chips, artificial intelligence, genetic engineering... Let's face facts. We don't know what we're doing, or what the consequences are. It's quite possible to end up in a Frankenstein, Matrix, or Terminator scenario as the technology approaches biological complexity.

Ode to Internet

The internet is like a stream of consciousness, but its not your consciousness, and it's less like a stream than a bog that you wade out into then get stuck.

Show Me Your Desktop

The power of the internet. I was reading Sarah Meyers' blog, who wrote about an interview she gave for someone else's blog, the topic of which was, "Show Me Your Desktop." Sarah asked for readers to post theirs. Here's mine.

This is my personal computer. The applications I use daily are Firefox. Yep, that's it. Boring. I use it to connect to my various emails, voicemails, calendars, chatters, etc. Top among those are GMail/Calendar, Yahoo! Mail, Meebo, and CommuniKate for business voice mail, email, and web conferencing.

I am a computer systems engineer, so at work I use Outlook, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Word, Visio, Excel, Access, Microsoft Management Console with a long list of snap-ins, and VMWare to build test environments.