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GoatFood  ·  4306 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Excuse my language, but WHAT THE HELL is going on with CISPA?

Although the Obama administration has not admitted it, there is very strong evidence that they deployed the flame virus that attacked Iranian nuclear facilities, in addition to other Middle Eastern targets.

GoatFood  ·  4329 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: On Facebook, users can no longer hide from search results

I don't know why people seem so hesitant to delete their facebook profiles. I got rid of mine two years ago (in the wake of one of their numerous privacy scandals) and haven't looked back since. I've found that I feel less stress without it, and I really don't miss it. If people want to tell me something they seek me out. I can do without the inane details of people I went to summer camp with four years ago.

GoatFood  ·  4335 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why the hell is the guardian letting this person write for them?

Got it.

GoatFood  ·  4335 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why the hell is the guardian letting this person write for them?

Looks like the article got removed. I'd be interested in seeing what it was though... I don't suppose anyone has a copy cached? Or perhaps someone would provide a synopsis?

GoatFood  ·  4343 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Most viewed Wikipedia pages by language

I really have no idea. I'm from the US, I just study Arabic. I'd certainly be interested to know though!

GoatFood  ·  4343 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Most viewed Wikipedia pages by language

For what it's worth, I can provide a translation of the Arabic.

1. Egypt 2. Mohamad Ali Bashaa - An historic Egyptian leader 3. Omar bin Khataab - Historic Muslim caliph 4. Suleiman the Magnificent - Historic leader of the Ottman Empire 5. Mohammad Morsi 6. Muhammad (The Prophet) 7. The United States 8. YouTube 9. Algeria 10. Saudi Arabia

GoatFood  ·  4351 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Steam Group

This is a great idea! I hope you guys like tf2.

GoatFood  ·  4352 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How Tarantino's Django Unchained exposes modern racism

Yeah, I had pretty high expectations for the film and they were certainly met. I especially loved the soundtrack, it was really well put together.

GoatFood  ·  4362 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 80s Punk Charlie Brown Christmas

What's the name of this song?

GoatFood  ·  4375 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Playing the 'Guess Who' game with complete strangers...

Here's a link to the original video, just so the creator gets credited.

GoatFood  ·  4384 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How to Create a Mind

I picked up this book a few days ago. I'm still working on it (not quite halfway through it) and my feelings so far are mixed. There's some really great stuff in there; the beginning covers how cognition occurs in a hierarchical, fractal-like pattern, which is mirrored by the physical structure of the brain. Kurzweil posits that the neocortex is made up of repeated units of interconnected, recursively structured "pattern recognizers," which are essentially the basic units responsible for thought. I enjoyed that part quite a bit, but I admit I've lost some interest since then. That seems to really be the crux of this book, he doesn't really posit that many new ideas. Although he does mention how these cognition strategies have been used to program 'intelligent' software like the framework for Siri, I'm really hoping he'll go into greater detail later. The New York Times had a really great, albeit very critical, review of the book. I can't seem to find it now, but it's worth a read. According to the reviewer, Kurzweil's theory about the hierarchy of the neocortex has been around since the 50s and 60s. What he's really arguing is really just a meager addition to what Jeff Hawkins posits in his book On Intelligence. I haven't read that book so I can't say, but I definitely plan to read it later. The reviewer also criticized Kurzweil for not backing up many of his points with research. I'd have to agree on this one, it definitely seems like Kurzweil asserts a lot of 'facts' without adequately supporting them. Then again, there are other times where he does show how his theory is well documented. I just wish he would be more consistent. Anyway, the book is interesting and I would recommend it, but I would encourage the reader to use a bit of skepticism and bear in mind that a lot of what Kurzweil discusses is not groundbreaking (although I am by no means an expert in this field so I am taking the New York Times review at its word). This is the first book I've read by Kurzweil, but it's intrigued me enough that I think I'll explore his other work in the future.

Sorry, this comment is private.
GoatFood  ·  4408 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Consequences of Machine Intelligence

Do you believe it's possible to effectively plan for the consequences of machine intelligence? After all, the ramifications would be so huge it's difficult to know exactly what the practical implications for society would be. Moreover, we're talking about a technology that doesn't even exist yet. We don't know what the limitations (or unforeseen possibilities) are implicit within an intelligent machine. How can we prepare ourselves for something we won't be able to understand until we build it?

GoatFood  ·  4414 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Consequences of Machine Intelligence

I believe that the consequences of machine intelligence are in some ways irrelevant, because I see machine intelligence as inevitable. I believe it is human nature to always seek for ways to do things faster, more efficiently, and with less effort. We can attribute this drive to virtually every human accomplishment. It is what brought us out of the caves, made civilization possible, capitalism, the industrial revolution, you name it. This drive is so powerful it means that if machine intelligence is possible, it is unavoidable. We will build it regardless of the consequences because we must increase production, and machine intelligence offers us a way to automate and optimize nearly any task.

GoatFood  ·  4422 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: A Jailbait Loving Perv Destroyed Amanda Todd's Life

Out of curiosity... how much info were you able to get?

GoatFood  ·  4499 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 83 million Facebook accounts are fakes and dupes
After I deleted my Facebook I realized it had been a source of stress for me. A lot of people (at least in my experience) use Facebook to ask folks like to me attend functions that I really rather wouldn't, or support some organization, or attend some charity fun run, or whatever. Plus, the majority of my 'friends' on Facebook I really could have done without. There's not a lot of point in hanging on to the people I spent two weeks at summer camp with years ago. If find that if someone really wants to contact me they will, and my social interactions are more meaningful that way.
GoatFood  ·  4501 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New Digg
Absolutely, I agree. There's dogma and then there's community. I guess my thinking was more along the lines of 'If I'm already seeing this stuff on facebook and twitter, why come to digg to see it again?'
GoatFood  ·  4501 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The New Digg
I agree, I think the fact that their voting algorithm considers facebook and twitter shares also damages the sense of community. Communities derive personality from insular thinking and like mindedness. If you invite the larger internet in unique content tends to get shoved out in favor of what is popular.
GoatFood  ·  4501 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Yahoo!'s great new email update
I'm not really sure why Yahoo would brag to its customers about this. You would think they would realize that customers don't like having their email snooped through. If I were the CEO, I would roll this out as quietly as possible. This is the kind of move that pleases companies, not people.
GoatFood  ·  4501 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Heretic: On the Benefits and Ban of LSD Research
I'm just curious about your opinion, would you support LSD legalization for research purposes only, or do you see it as something that could truly benefit the masses without significant side effects on society?
GoatFood  ·  4526 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The fastest way to send humans to Mars is to not worry about bringing them back
I would jump at the opportunity to make a one-way trip to Mars. It strikes me as one of the boldest adventures a person could take.
GoatFood  ·  4530 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Reddit Illuminati?
This should clear everything up. Nothing to get uppity about here... OP admitted it was a misunderstanding.
    I agree I jumped the gun, but the only problem I had was when syncretic removed it because he thought I was fishing for some drama instead of coming here. Sorry, but that's just the dumbest I'd heard all day. Dumber than my post. But alas, he's notorious for removing threads and flashing his green mod e-peen even when no one wanted to see it. The funny thing though, is that I had 30 upvotes on the submission and 10+ upvotes on all my comments before it got linked to /r/worstof. Then suddenly I'm in the negatives and my inbox is full of "LOL RAGE HARDER HAHA YOU MUST BE TROLLING OR JUST RETARDEDDD!1!!!" I expected more from /r/worstof. Horrible mistake.

Although all those removed comments does look rather sinister, especially given the title of the thread.

GoatFood  ·  4531 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dalton Caldwell: What Twitter could have been
Thanks mk, that's a very helpful explanation.
GoatFood  ·  4531 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Google+ creator: Don't call it a social network
I'm a little confused about how google+ actually contributes to the individual experiences of using google's other services. I used google+ for a time (during closed beta and for several months after its opening), and eventually deleted my account because no one used google+ and I eventually stopped checking it. I noticed no difference in the behavior of other google services.
GoatFood  ·  4531 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dalton Caldwell: What Twitter could have been
Could someone explain this to me in simpler terms? Perhaps I don't understand what an API is. Exactly what kind of service would Twitter have been if the API camp won?
GoatFood  ·  4532 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Case Against the University
This was an insightful read, but I'm a bit put off by their solution at the end, that the youth of America should band together and deny the cycle of accreditation by refusing higher education. Yes, it would work in theory (ignoring the larger social and economic ramifications, which would be staggering), but it is wholly impractical. As a rational individual, why should I not pursue the most advanced degrees available to me? They will allow me to make the most money, and thus serve my self interest. Of course, destroying the process of degree-inflation would probably also serve my self interest, but you know what would be even better? If I had an advanced degree but none of my peers did, because they all renounced higher education in an attempt to stop the cycle of academic inflation. Thus, the solution of a mass movement against higher education is impractical and will never happen, because it is in no one's self interest to join such a movement.
GoatFood  ·  4535 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Zombie Nero
This was weirdly reminiscent of the 'Death and Return of Superman' story arch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PlwDbSYicM

GoatFood  ·  4543 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Man Caught on Video Defacing a Picasso in Houston Museum
I like how much they anthropomorphize the painting. "It needs to rest." Guess that trip to the "hospital" must have really stressed it out. Better give it some red wine and stick it in a hot bath.
GoatFood  ·  4549 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: What every day tool do you consider indispensable that you once did not?
Could you be a little more specific? Now I feel like I'm using excel wrong.
GoatFood  ·  4597 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Insanity: CISPA Just Got Way Worse, And Then Passed On Rushed Vote
Is it possible that the bill is now so lubriciously overreaching that it could never be enacted into law? Perhaps these amendments have made CISPA unsupportable.