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Texas Executive Education's Custom Programs are in elite company, ranked No. 15 globally (Bloomberg Businessweek), and in the top 10 among U.S. programs. Read more.
When Texas Executive Education designs a custom program for your organization, we become your strategic partner. We develop a unique curriculum augmented with action learning solutions that meet your specific goals. The programs are dynamic, tailored experiences that are directly relevant and applicable to your teams' day-to-day activities.
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New For 2014
The 3 Series adds the Gran Turismo body style and a new four-cylinder diesel to the burgeoning lineup. The Gran Turismo is a sloped-roof four-door hatchback in the vein of the 5 Series Gran Turismo. It comes only as a 328i or a 335i, both with standard xDrive. The new diesel, in the 328d, is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder unit rated at 180 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. It is paired only with the eight-speed automatic transmission. The 328d can be had as a rear-wheel-drive sedan, an all-wheel-drive sedan, or an all-wheel-drive wagon. Fuel economy is spectacular: the rear-wheel-drive sedan gets 32 mpg city and 45 mpg highway; all-wheel drive subtracts 1 mpg city and 2 highway mpg from those figures.Vehicle Summary
The 3 Series is the heart and soul of BMW. It also has been the benchmark car in its category ever since it was first introduced in 1975. Until this year, the 3-series family included sedan, coupe, convertible, and wagon versions. A big change for 2014 is that BMW has split off the two-door coupe, giving it the new 4 Series label. (The convertible will be introduced soon as a 4 Series as well.) The 3 Series remains available as a four-door sedan, a wagon, and a new four-door hatchback (Gran Turismo). Currently absent from the lineup is the enthusiasts' favorite, the M3, but it should return sometime during 2014.Overview
The BMW 3 Series has long been the most sporting entry-luxury sedan, but the latest version has been diluted somewhat by an attempt to broaden its base. The suspension is softer and the steering is lighter. However, keen drivers can fix both issues, and still get the 3 Series of their dreams. Switching BMW's driving dynamics control mode from comfort to sport helps, although you must select it again each time you start the car. Better to opt for the M sport suspension (part of the sport package), or the dynamic handling package, which includes the adaptive M suspension and variable sport steering.The harder decision is which powertrain to choose. Those stretching their budget to get into a 3 Series will be drawn to the new entry-level model, the 320i, which costs more than $4000 less than a 328i. The downside is that the 320i's 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder makes only 180 hp -- down from 240 hp in the 328i. Just like the 328i and the 328d, the 320i allows buyers to swap in a six-speed manual transmission in place of the standard eight-speed automatic as a no-cost option. It also can be had with xDrive all-wheel drive (but only with an automatic transmission).
The 328i's gutsy turbo four manages decent gas mileage with a combined city/highway EPA rating of 27 mpg -- too bad it sounds like a diesel at idle. BMW now offers an actual four-cylinder diesel, the 328d, which is equipped similarly to the 328i but costs $1500 more. You should recoup that premium pretty quickly, however, as the 328d gets spectacular mileage. The 328i and the 328d are available as a sedan (with rear-wheel drive or xDrive) or as an all-wheel-drive sport wagon.
The classic BMW in-line six-cylinder engine, turbocharged to deliver 300 hp, powers the 335i, either as a sedan or the Gran Turismo. This is the most potent 3 Series variant, at least until the M3 returns to the lineup in mid 2014. The 335i is also the only 3 Series sedan where one can combine xDrive and a manual transmission.
You'll like:
- Excellent chassis (with the right equipment)
- Huge variety of models
- Eye-popping diesel MPG
You won't like:
- Gran Turismo's awkward proportions
- Annoying auto stop/start system
- Luxury version not quite up to snuff
Key Competitors
- Audi A4
- Infiniti Q50
- Lexus IS
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class


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BenQ MS614 Projector
With 5 User Reviews
Jake_M@NCIX Rating: Review Date: 08/23/12 |
Cons: None
Pros: Good product Comment:
Good product for it's price point, would recommend. |
Hugh_M@NCIX Rating: Review Date: 04/07/12 |
Cons: none
Pros: Great product, good bang for your buck as you could say Comment:
Great product, good bang for your buck as you could say |
Lumix@NCIX Rating: Review Date: 02/02/12 |
Cons: -Projection is considerably higher than where the lens is pointed-Only one of the rubber feet at the rear can be adjusted-Screen door effect
Pros: -Great Value-Very Bright-HDMI Port-Pretty Good Quality-Very lightweight-Comes with a case Comment:
I bought this projector because I wanted something to watch TV and movies on in my bedroom but didn't want to pay $600 for a TV. Overall I'm very satisfied with it and would definitely recommend it. How I Have It Setup:I have the projector set up in my bedroom, projecting on a light beige wall. The colour correction feature works pretty well to compensate. From 12 feet 4 inches away from the wall, the projector is doing about 85 inches in 16:9, and about 92" in 4:3. When using the projector, I sit about 10 feet away. The projector is connected to my computer directly by HDMI cable as an extended monitor. The projector is running at 1920x1080 resolution. The overall picture quality of the projector makes it more than worth the cost. The colours are for the most part pretty accurate. My only issue with the quality of picture is the screen door effect, which is considerably noticeable, depending how bright the image is and what colours are being projected. The options menu is very easy to navigate, especially with the included remote, and gives you a large selection of options and information, including how many hours you've used on the current lamp. The ventilation set up for the projector consists of an intake vent and fan on the left side, and an exhaust vent and fan on the front for a total of 2 fans. This cooling system seems to be very efficient. The small speaker is also located on the left side of the projector, and is not very loud, however could be sufficient in a medium sized, quiet room. The projector does come in a pretty nice case which I was impressed with. The projector is also very light which makes it very portable, perfect for school use or any case you need to carry it around. It is important to note that although the projector supports 1080p (and 1600x1200) resolution, its native resolution is still only 800x600, therefor any small text is very hard to read, making it hard for desktop use when running higher resolutions. I recommend sticking to a lower resolution if you plan on using the projector like a desktop monitor. Otherwise, the scaling does not reduce quality in images or videos. Another thing that I should note is that only on the 800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions can you run the projector at 120hz refresh rate and at 1280x1024 resolution 75hz. All other resolutions only support 60hz.On to what I didn't like about the projector:The projector seems to project higher (maybe a foot or two)than where the lens is pointing, which I find odd. There is no way to tilt the projector forward to bring the image down unless you place something under the back of the projector. I really don't mind this problem considering it ends up projecting right where I want it anyways. On the rear of the projector, there are two rubber feet. One of these rubber feet is able to screw higher and lower than the other, allowing you to change the tilt angle of the projector, however, I find it very odd that you cannot just adjust both feet. The screen door effect on the projector (looks like there is a screen door over the projector, kinda like a grid of squares) can be pretty noticeable at times. This is expected of a cheap projector though, and isn't as bad as a lot of LCD projectors are. How noticeable the effect is depends on the colours and darkeness/brightness of what you're projecting.The glossy finish on the projector does look nice, however it scratches very easily, even if you try to dust it off with a microfiber cloth you will still get little scratches. If you want your projector to look completely scratch free, I'd recommend using a can of compressed air to get rid of dust. This is just nit picking though.Final Thoughts:I really love this projector. Does just what I need it too, and has surprisingly good quality for the cost (I paid $370). The quality doesn't so much compare to a nice $1000 TV, however, for the price difference you cannot complain, and not to mention it is huge.Sample Video:The graininess in the video is because it was taken with a cell phone. The sound you're hearing is NOT coming from the projector itself.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBuPRMOiewI |
Boltmann@NCIX Rating: Review Date: 02/08/11 |
Cons: None
Pros: PriceEase of Use Comment:
I was looking for a projector for watching the superbowl, nascar etc. with my buddies in the garage. I read the previous review and decided to give it a try. I did't want to spend alot of cash for the occasional use. Set it up in the garage, hooked it up through hdmi from my bell high def receiver through a pioneer receiver and speakers......WOW....was I impressed! Had a 7 foot screen from corner to corner...everyone could not beleive the picture quality and it was projected on a white flat painted wall in my garage. Not a 2500.00 unit but more than fit the bill for my requirements. Don't see any reason why you couldn't use it in the house. 425 $ to my door and fast shipping. Thanks NCIX. |
tom_p@NCIX Rating: Review Date: 12/26/10 |
Slight "screen-door" effect.
Pros: Great in daytime, awesome picture (pure hd through hdmi from laptop-.mkv), Xbox 360 looks crazy, picture adjusting is very easy, quiet fan, great reception to/from remote without direct line of sight... Comment:
Having gone through several large screen televisions, a 60" plasma and another projector (Viewsonic PJD5122)I wanted a decent HD experience for a comparable price. So, when looking for a decently priced HDMI projector to enjoy .mkv files directly from my laptop, xbox 360 and wii games, I came across this gem. Being my first time dealing with NCIX I was hesitant to order a projector that didn't have alot of online reviews available, but I am very impressed with both the resolution limits, clarity and brightness of the picture. The amount of inputs is pretty impressive as well, easily handling any device I have to hook up to it. I'm projecting a 4:3 image of about 8'x6' onto a wall, with 16:9/16:10 using the center of that, or 4:3 using the entire 8'x6'(wii for example).I'm using no screen and projecting on to a white, non-glossy wall. Though the wii only produces a 480i image at best it is still really impressive and only very slightly blurry. The Xbox 360 games, (using a component to svga cable because it is an older 360 with no HDMI) and playing .mkv files at both 720p and 1080p with direct HDMI from my laptop, are both very crisp and theater like. I might get another one for the bedroom.It is that good of a a picture that I don't believe I would ever purchase another plasma or lcd tv again unless the price for a 60" was under $700. Even then, if size and a really impressive picture are what you want, this is it. Take advantage of the 15% restocking fee and take a gamble with this projector, well worth it and very recommended. I do notice slight screen door effect, (google it, it is very common with digital projectors) but it is only, apparently, noticeable to me unless I point it out to people. That being said I only notice it at a very close distance, relatively (considering the image size), of about 6-8' away and generally only during very crisp, white scenes.(Like the opening image of a the lamp jumping on the "I" in pixar films.) I would recommend anyone test this projector and see if they are distracted by this, if not, its a sell for sure.Enjoy! |


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He is 17 years old.
But Nick Entin of Palos Verdes isn't just another high school skier, though there's nothing in his outward appearance to suggest otherwise.
And then he whips out his iPhone. On it is his imaginative, 99-cent iPhone application, called Emergency Beacon. With one push of a button he can connect with first responders in case of an emergency.
"He's got an engineering mind, but he's leaned to make software applications," said his dad, Lou, an engineer at Raytheon, the major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics.
"He's got a very physics and mathematics mind," he said. "But all the software activity he's picked up on his own. I'm a circuits kind of guy, on the systems side of things."
Lou's a smart guy, but his eyes just about popped out of their sockets when he saw what his son had created last summer.
"All of a sudden I looked up and he'd written this application. I can tell him how computers work, but I'm not on the software end of things. We (along with mom Sue) are pretty proud of him."
Nick began his work on Emergency Beacon a year ago as he stood atop Mammoth Mountain. Last season was a record year for snowfall, and though he's been skiing since he was 4 years old, he said he knew conditions were gnarly up there at the top.
"I was on top of the mountain and I was thinking what would happen if there was an avalanche or something and you're need of help and no one knows exactly where you are.
"I've always been interested in computers and computing. I wanted some type of emergency tool, so I started looking into it. Was it possible? How hard would be? I already had the skills to do it and started working on it. I've always been interested in computers ever since I was a little kid."
He said he spent last summer learning the ins and outs of writing an iPhone application, and not just the code writing. There were business decisions to be made if this was going to work.
The application also had to meet Apple's licensing procedures. He had to learn marketing, too.
Of the application itself, Entin said, "It's fairly reliable, but it depends on where you are. How accurate it's going to be is based on the device itself, and I can't control that. It needs to reach GPS.
"But it's as accurate as any GPS device like this. You're not going to be able find anything on an iPhone that's more accurate. I know you can find something that's more accurate, with a specified app for that.
But for a device that you already carry, it's about as accurate as you can get."
The application is ridiculously easy to use, and it's not just for skiing. If you're in the outdoors backpacking or fly-fishing, users can use Emergency Beacon for that, too.
If your vehicle is not quipped with GoldStar GPS device, you can use Entin's application for that as well.
"The original one took a couple of months over my summer break, but it's gone through couple of revisions since then. People suggested I should add that and maybe you should add this.
"I get a lot of feedback through my website. But if there's a problem I can adjust that. I'm on version 2.1 right now."
He also has a spiffy marketing brochure, a contact at Scouting magazine, and he's been featured on at least two Los Angeles television stations.
"In the beginning it was kind of daunting," he said. "There are so many things you have to do. I wrote thousands of lines of code."
Next up for Entin is to write an application for Android, and he said he will begin work on that in the coming summer.
First, he has to complete on more year of high school, search for a college that can satisfy his computer skills and also offer a top-drawer business curriculum.
"My aim eventually is that I want to run my own company in software service," he said.
Plus he has to finish Walter Isaacson's biography on Steve Jobs, perfect his fly-fishing, backpacking and other outdoor activities, along with writing code and creating websites—another business venture he is involved in.
For now, though, he can take a school vacation breather and market Emergency Beacon.
"It's a real useful tool for people who need help," he said. "It has the potential for saving for your life and it's only 99 cents."


text:
Topic: has_many :through multiple?
I want to have a has_many :through relationship work through another has_many :through relationship on the same model. I can currently achieve this basic effect by using some hackery, but I'd rather avoid it.
class ModelA
has_many :model_bs
has_many :model_cs, :through => :model_bs
endclass ModelB
belongs_to :model_a
belongs_to :model_c
endclass ModelC
has_many :model_bs
has_many :model_as, :through => :model_bs
belongs_to :model_d
endclass ModelD
has_many :model_cs
I want to be able to call ModelA.find(:first).model_ds. I can achieve this approximately by doing this:
# in ModelA
def model_ds; model_cs.collect(&:model_d).uniq; end
But I'd prefer something cleaner and more Rails-like. Anyone know a better way?


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Milk and Cookies
David Molnar would like to host a "Milk and Cookies" event in the space. The idea is pretty simple: everyone brings something to read out loud for 5 to 7 minutes. Bring whatever you want - an essay, a short story, a novel excerpt, a technical paper, the bash.org quotes book, a circuit schematic, a beautiful theorem and its proof, just bring something that speaks to you. Then tell it to us.
We drink milk, eat cookies, and learn a bit more about each other by listening to our reading choices. I've been part of a group in the past that does this, it is a lot of fun. Maybe we could add beer, too.
Everyone chips in $5 or so for buying the refreshments.
Add your name below if you are interested. We will work out the time for the event after the build out is finished.
- David Molnar
- Jacob Appelbaum
- Mitch Altman
- jim stockford


text:
Chemistry: A Molecular Approach
10 Customer Product Reviews
Edition: 2
Publisher: Pearson
Tro is the author of Chemistry: A Molecular Approach, published under ISBN 9780321651785 and 0321651782. One hundred eighty five Chemistry: A Molecular Approach textbooks are available for sale on ValoreBooks.com, thirty seven used from the cheapest price of $11.63, or buy new starting at $52.48. [read more]
- Rent $24.45
- Used $11.63
- New $52.48
- Alternate $11.05
- 5 star(2)
- 4 star(6)
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- 2 star(0)
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Student orientated with practical examples. Would recommend for anyone looking for a practical approach to chemistry.
read more
Enjoyed this approach to carbon! Not a organic fan but greatly enhanced the experience of the class. Again classroom examples and solid approaches to solving organic chemistry problems. -
Introduction to organic chemistry, one semester, nutrition major pre-requisite
read more
The in-text questions after each section ensured that material was comprehended. -
Excellent source, easy to understand and the tests were based on the information in this book.
read more
This course was a little confusing, I found the books very tough to understand. -
This book is very straight forward. I strictly studied off of this book and not the class notes and was able to understand all the material perfectly.
read more
This book contains alot of practice problems which is always good for orgo, however sometimes it can be a little difficult to understand concepts from this book -
The book is really good, not changes required. I will rate it from 1 to 10, 10 being the best, i will rate it a 8, because i think the content is too long, so may be it should be reduce a littler be.
read more
Better examples from the more difficult and complex exercises. -
it was lacking a summary page to help me know a brief introduction about the whole section and a vocab page.
read more
the book would be better if it was a little bit more student friendly -
A bit about chemistry. Our university has now changed over to a much more clear book.
read more
It was not very helpful and my school stopped using it the semester after I took it.
Edition: 2nd
Publisher: Pearson
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text:
I think C++ is in danger of becoming Visual Basic: language level support for everything and the kitchen sink.
C, and to a great degree C++, is a great language because it defines exactly what is needed to write programs & libraries. The language spec does not clutter things up with every damned API or application that some programmer on the committee has a hankering for.
Leave the non-language stuff in libraries to be provided by people who offer services!
Example: wtf business does a MapReduce API have being in the C++14 spec? MapReduce is an algorithm that can be implemented in C++ - but also in Python, Ruby, PHP, Intercal!


text: Hot searches PDF is Growing StrongPortable Document Format popularly known as PDF is going great places. It has found loyal users in very short time. No doubt that initially it was a bit difficult to build place in user's hearts. But with time, PDF has topped the popularity charts. Initially, people were addicted to word document. Of course, it had to be. Since 1983, Word document has upgraded till 2008. People were in habit of using Word. In fact there are still few people who swear by word. In 1993, Adobe Systems launched PDF. Post that there is no looking back for Adobe Systems. Today people read a lot of E Books. PDF has got a property which secures it from getting copied, printed or edited. This character of PDF has made authors more confident in showing there creations on internet as now they know nobody can tamper with their creations. With more and more people believing in PDF documents, there are separate PDF search engine on internet. One can not just get any material they are looking for in PDF form here and they can download that too for future reference. These websites also showcase popular searches so that people can get an idea about what is hot. One can also search for the best EBooks available on internet in PDF form on these websites. So, the search for many people ends here with special websites for Portable Document Format files download. And these documents can be printed as well if required. IEC STANDARD 317-27: Download & Convert a Free iec standard 317-27 PDF Ebook HERE! Top PDF searches: pdf software | convert pdf to word | pdf creator | pdf to tiff converter | open pdf |


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Monday Night Shortbread Eight is Enough PCWorld: All About PlayReady 3.0, Microsoft's secret plan to lock down 4K movies to your PC Fudzilla: Acer wants to... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
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Friday Night Shortbread 7 Up 3D printing is so last year: We're onto 4D printing now - Phys.org Ars Technica: Wi-Fi software security bug could leave... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
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Wednesday Shortbread Eight is Enough InfoWorld: KB 2952664 triggers daily telemetry run in Windows 7and may be snooping on users (thanks Yves) Makeuseof: Every version of... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
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Updated Google search algorithm prioritizes mobile-friendly sites Mobile devices are increasingly becoming the way that many people view web sites, and Google is changing its search algorithm to reflect this fact. As... Type: News story Tags: Internet |
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Here are our thoughts on Microsoft's Surface 3 Microsoft recently debuted its Surface 3, a Cherry Trail tablet that brings x86 goodness and Windows 8.1 to the company's entry-level slate for the... Type: News story Tags: Mobile computing Podcast |
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Weekend Shortbread Eight is Enough Blogging Windows: Virtual Desktops in Windows 10 - The Power of Windows... Multiplied iFixit's Retina MacBook 2015 teardown WCCFtech: Intel's Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
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Tax Day Shortbread Eight is Enough C|Net: For PC shipments, the slump is back WCCFtech: 16nm FinFET wafer production approach- ing mature yields - goes volume... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
60 |
The TR Podcast 174: PCIe SSDs and FreeSync displays There's only one Geoff to have to worry about for this episode—a return to the "old cast", if you will, of our humble podcast. Tune... Type: Feature article Tags: Podcast |
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Friday Night Shortbread 7 Up PC shipments beat expectations despite weak currencies and product transitions, according to IDC Consumerist: Philadelphia finally releases results of Comcast customer service... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
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The TR Podcast 174: PCIe SSDs and FreeSync displays The video of last night's TR Podcast live stream is now available on YouTube. This week, we look at the new Surface 3 and a... Type: News story Tags: Storage Displays Mobile computing Podcast |
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The TR Podcast is live right now! Update: All done! Look for the video archived version soon. We're recording another TR Podcast live on Twitch. Tune in to watch us chat about... Type: News story Tags: Podcast |
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We'll be live streaming the TR Podcast this evening Come and join us this evening for another episode of the TR Podcast. We'll be live streaming on our Twitch channel starting at 9:30PM... Type: News story Tags: The Tech Report Podcast |
8 |
Tuesday Shortbread Eight is Enough Samsung / Nvidia case update at AnandTech: Nvidia receives "favorable ruling" at Markman hearing WCCFtech: GlobalFoundries begins ramping 14nm production for... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
28 |
Good Friday Shortbread Eight is Enough AnandTech's interview with Aicha Evans, VP of Intel's Communcations and Devices Group VR-Zone: AMD reveals its CPU & GPU roadmap... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
118 |
Etc. The news is weird today, guys. I'd like to post some things, but it's really hard to decide between the different product launches. Go read... Type: News story Tags: Internet |
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The TR Podcast 173: Torquing the Titan This episode, we talk Titan X, gaming mice, VR hand tracking, quadcopters, and more. Type: Feature article Tags: Podcast |
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Weekend Shortbread Eight is Enough Guru3D: MSI's new gaming AIO PCs feature IPS technology, 3K and 4K displays Fudzilla: AMD Fiji has two GPUs WCCFtech: AMD... Type: News story Tags: Shortbread |
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The TR Podcast video 173: Torquing the Titan We recorded the latest episode of the TR Podcast last night, and the video of our conversation is now available on YouTube. In this episode,... Type: News story Tags: Graphics Storage Input devices Gaming Podcast |
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TR's April 2015 peripheral staff picks | 9 |


text:
Bucs, Morton will try to stop hot-hitting Bonifacio
Pirates embark on first road trip, facing Cubs starter Jackson
In six games, the Pirates have only intentionally walked two opposing hitters. Matt Holliday is one, but can you guess the other? Perhaps Yadier Molina? Anthony Rizzo? Starlin Castro?
No, all wrong. It was Cubs leadoff man Emilio Bonifacio, who absolutely demolished Pittsburgh pitching in the season-opening series at PNC Park. Bonifacio's torrid pace began in the Steel City last week, going 11-for-16 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored against the Pirates. He'll get another chance to torment Pirates pitching when Pittsburgh and righty Charlie Morton arrive at Wrigley Field today for a three-game set.
"It would be impossible for us to believe he would maintain the clip he had through the Pittsburgh series but when he gets to the plate, he tries to work the count, he tries to get on, and when he gets on base, he wants to wreak havoc on the pitchers and the opposition," said Cubs manager Rick Renteria. "It's good for him to be part of our club."
The Pirates got so frustrated pitching to Bonifacio that they finally decided to give him first base. With a runner on second at two outs in the 11th inning of Wednesday's 16-inning 4-3 win by the Pirates, reliever Jeanmar Gomez intentionally walked Bonifacio. It was just the third time Bonifacio was intentionally walked in his now eight-year career, prompting laughter from the switch-hitter.
"I told [catcher Russell] Martin, 'Really?' and he said, 'We can't get you out,'" Bonifacio said after Wednesday's game. "Even the umpire was laughing."
Bonifacio, a switch hitter, will likely be the first hitter to face Morton, who allowed just five hits and struck out six in six shutout innings against Chicago on Wednesday. Renteria stacked the lineup with six lefties against Morton and will likely do so again. Left-handers have hit .327 off Morton in his career, though he held the Cubs lefties to a respectable 4-for-14 (.286).
"They're going to stack left-handers against Charlie," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Everybody that's got 'em will have 'em in the lineup. He knows that. I think he's past the point of being concerned about what left-handers are hitting against him."
Cubs: Kalish won't mess with Wrigley's bricks
Cubs outfielder Ryan Kalish became known in the Boston Red Sox organization for his willingness to do anything and everything to make a catch. That all-out mentality ultimately cost him after he made a diving catch in 2011 for Triple-A Pawtucket, forcing him to undergo four major surgeries on his neck and shoulder over a 23-month span.
After sitting out all of 2013, Kalish made the Cubs' 25-man roster out of Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. In the fourth inning of Chicago's 8-3 win over the Phillies on Sunday, Kalish crashed into the Under Armour sign in left-center to rob Ryan Howard of extra bases.
That web gem aside, Kalish said the injuries taught him how to dial back his aggressiveness on defense to preserve his body, and that he won't try to out-muscle Wrigley Field's brick outfield wall.
"I sat out way too long -- you've got to pick your spots," he said. "I mean, I think your pitchers would rather you not crush the wall and break your shoulder in the outfield and just give up a double and continue playing because we need to all play for each other, and they're going to want us out on the field rather than in the training room."
Pirates: Watson finding whiff pitch
After striking out three of the four men he faced in Sunday's 2-1 victory over the Cardinals to notch the win, Pittsburgh left-handed reliever Tony Watson has now struck out six in three shutout innings.
He's been nothing but consistent," Hurdle said. "He's grown -- his velocity has built up. The breaking ball is shaping up better. The changeup has become a big pitch for him. He's become one of the guys every club wants to talk to us about -- we've got a special guy. We've known that, and he has also opened the eyes of a number of other teams."
Worth noting
• Bonifacio hit a sixth-inning single in Sunday's win over the Phillies to increase his hits total to 14, leading the Major Leagues.
• Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva, who picked up the win Sunday with five innings of one-run ball, became the first Cubs pitcher since 2000 to pitch in relief and make a start within the team's first six games of the season.
• In the six-game homestand, leadoff batters (Bonifacio and the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter) were 15-for-26 against the Pirates.
• After adding another inning to the string on Sunday, Mark Melancon has gone 65 innings without allowing a homer, longest active streak in the Majors.
• Cubs starter Edwin Jackson didn't get a decision in his first start of the season, which ended in a 16-inning loss to the Bucs. He held them to two hits over 5 1/3 frames but walked four. He admitted he didn't have his best stuff, and maybe pitching at home will help.
Joe Popely is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Elderly Chinese people visiting Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, Apr. 28, 2011. China's population is aging rapidly. The data from a national census carried out late in 2010 will fuel debate about whether China should continue its "one-child" policy.
AP Photo
"Don't Worry, America: China is Rising But Not Catching Up"
Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor
December 14, 2011
Author: Michael Beckley, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20112012
Belfer Center Programs or Projects: International Security
Most Americans fear that China will soon surpass the US in global power and economic clout. But this widespread view is wrong, based on sloppy analysis and outdated conceptions of national power. People who believe that China is overtaking the US make at least one of three mistakes.
As President Obama made clear during his recent tour of Asia, the United States is committed to countering China's rise in the region. But can it succeed?
Most people think not, and understandably so. While China's economy grows at 9 percent per year, the US reels from economic recession and political paralysis. US opinion polls consistently show that majorities of Americans believe China is the world's dominant economic power. And according to the Pew Research Center, pluralities in 15 out of 22 countries believe that China will overtake the US as the world's superpower.
But this widespread view is wrong, a fabrication based on sloppy analysis and outdated conceptions of national power. People who believe that China is overtaking the US make at least one of three mistakes.
First, they confuse growth rates with total growth. Since 1991, China's per capita income grew 15 percent annually, and its military spending rose 10 percent annually. By contrast, America's per capita income and military spending grew at annual rates of 4 percent and 2 percent respectively. Yes, 15 is greater than 4, and 10 is greater than 2. What could be simpler?
But growth rates are not comparable. The average Chinese income in 2010 was $7,500. Fifteen percent of $7,500 is actually less money than 4 percent of $47,000, the average American income that year. Despite China's higher growth rates, the average Chinese citizen is $17,000 poorer compared with the average American today than he was in 1991.
Over the same time period, Chinese military spending declined by $140 billion relative to America's, even when excluding funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. China's growth rates are high because its starting point was low. China is rising, but it is not catching up.
Second, many observers rely on flawed indicators to gauge Chinese economic power. For example, some analysts believe that China is the world's "leading technology-based economy" because it exports more high-technology products than any other country.
But Chinese high-tech exports are not very Chinese and not very high-tech: Over 90 percent are produced by foreign firms and consist of imported components that are merely assembled in China. These percentages have increased over time, a trend that suggests Chinese firms are falling further behind foreign competitors. Indeed, in any category research and development, patents, profits Chinese high-tech firms have fallen further behind their American counterparts over the last two decades.
Another misleading statistic is China's debt-to-GDP ratio, which the Chinese government lists at 17 percent. America's debt-to-GDP ratio, by contrast, will remain above 60 percent through 2020.
But most Chinese state spending is not reported in official figures because it is funneled through investment entities connected to local governments. Studies that account for this spending place China's debt-to-GDP ratio between 75 and 150 percent.
And things are only likely to get worse for China. Because of the one-child policy, China will soon suffer the most severe aging process in human history. The ratio of Chinese workers per retiree will plummet from 8:1 today to 2:1 by 2040. The fiscal cost of this swing in dependency ratios alone may exceed 100 percent of China's GDP. The American working-age population, by contrast, will expand by 17 percent over the next 40 years. Americas fiscal future may not be bright, but it is brighter than China's.
Finally, people tend to conflate size with power. China will soon boast the largest economy in the world, and many observers interpret this event as a power transition between the United States and China.
But size is not power. After all, China was the world's largest economy during its "century of humiliation" when it was ripped apart by Western powers and Japan. Britain, by contrast, ruled a quarter of the globe in the 19th century but was never, even at its peak, the largest economy. In fact, Britain's GDP was half the size of China's and far smaller than India's when it invaded and subjugated both nations.
Of course, China's size makes it an important player on transnational issues, particularly climate change and trade. Moreover, China's military can threaten the United States without catching up, compensating for technological inferiority with asymmetric strategies and a greater willingness to take risks and bear casualties.
But China is not an emerging superpower in the mold of the Soviet Union, nor is it a great power like early-twentieth century Germany. It is a large developing country and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Americans, therefore, should not fear China. But neither should they shy away from competing with this rising power for influence in Asia.
Michael Beckley is a research fellow in the International Security Program at Harvard Kennedy Schools Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a fellow at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. This article is based on a forthcoming study in International Security, a quarterly journal of international affairs.
For more information about this publication please contact the Belfer Center Communications Office at 617-495-9858.
Full text of this publication is available at:
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This has not been a memorable Spring break, typically Shauna and I take a little spring break getaway, and I try to incorporate lots of cycling into my week off of school. �This year we decided to save our money and stay home. �Last week the�forecast�was looking dry and 60 degrees, but its been below freezing in the morning and warming up to 40 with rain popping up every now and again all week �To make matters worse for the Dirty South �Sunday has been a whirlwind of various forecasts, anywhere from 0% up to 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms and the comfortable 50-60 degree high has been downgraded to the 40s.
So I've sat around and thought about riding the last couple of days, and fretted about the weather, but pro racer Taylor Phinney didn't have that option in this year's Tirreno -Adratico. �Mike sent me a link to a great article about Phinney�finishing�dead last on stage 6, 37 minutes behind the pack. It was a 230KM day with brutally steep climbs and awful weather that forced nearly 50 riders to�abandon�the stage. �Phinney had no real reason to finish the second to last stage, other then that he wanted to do well in the next days time trial, when everyone in the group he was riding with quit he was forced to try and finish the race alone,�unfortunately� he didn't make the time cut.
Taylor says he gutted out the ride for his Dad, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease. �It's a humbling realization that Phinney made,�"I knew that if my dad could be in my shoes for one day�if all he had to do was struggle on a bike for six hours, but be healthy and fully functional�he would be me on that day in a heartbeat," Taylor Phinney said. "Every time I wanted to quit, every time I wanted to cry, I just thought about that." �Taylor's Dad, Davis Phinney was on my mind before I even read this story; at the end of the new Sufferfest video "Blender" there is a short piece for the Davis Phinney Foundation which has footage of Phinney and some of the�uncontrollable�tremors�that Parkinsons' causes.
It makes me wonder why I've spent the last couple of days looking out the window…
Location, ST | website.com


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- Jeffrey Fadness
- Pacifica, CA
- United States
This conversation is closed.
Are we on the brink of creating a human-like digital mind?
The human brain contains some 100 billion neurons, grouped in specialized function zones, connected by a hundred thousand billion synapses - the neurons representing individual data processing and storage units; and synapses the data transfer cabling, connecting all the processing units.
Correlating its processing ability to a supercomputer, it's been estimated it can perform more than 38 thousand trillion operations per second, and hold about 3.6 million gigabytes of memory. Equally impressive, it's estimated that the human brain executes this monumental computational task on a mere equivalent of 20 watts of power; about the same energy to power a single, dim light bulb. In today's technology, a supercomputer designed to deliver comparable capabilities would require roughly 100 megawatts (100 million watts) of power; an energy equivalent that could fully satisfy the power consumption needs of roughly a thousand households.
An ambitious $1.3 billion project was very recently announced in Europe to simulate a human mind in the form of a complete human brain in a supercomputer. It's named the Human Brain Project. A similar project in the U.S. planned by National Institutes of Health (NIH) is called the Brain Activity Map project.
Assuming we learn enough from these efforts to design a new architecture in computer processing which can approximate the ability of the human brain - what's to stop us from creating the cognitive faculties that enable consciousness, thinking, reasoning, perception, and judgement? After all, we as human beings develop these abilities from data we acquire over time through sensory inputs connecting us to our experiences, and from information communicated to us by others.
Think about it. Is there anything related to our experience - be it physical, historical or conceptual - that cannot be described in language, and therefore be input as executable data and programming to create a human-like digital mind?
Mar 5 2013: Any computer relying on data in binary or digital form, works on the premise that something exists or it doesn't - hence the ones and the zeros. No matter how many ones and zeros you squeeze into the spaces between them - you will always have yet more spaces between, no matter how infinite the number.
I've often wondered about that 'space' between and what actually might exist there in terms of the cognitive ability of a human mind. I think it is where our ability exists to think empathically, aesthetically, with feeling, with emotion. If there's any truth in that, then no matter how sophisticated a digital mind is, it could never match our own.-
Comment deleted
Mar 31 2013: Thank you Don - respect to you too!
I wish you a peaceful Easter.Mar 18 2013: In my subjective judgement, Chris Kelly is the star of this discussion. I guess I think so also because Chris Kelly's arguments and explanations match my own thoughts regarding what the nature of our mind might be and how the brain might relate to mind.
Take for example the radio receiver. We all agree that the sound we hear from a radio receiver is originated far away from our radio. The radio is just a mean which accepts the sound in the form of electro-magnetic waves which are created (by the same sound) in a broadcasting station far away and then it turns them into sound which we can hear. But now somebody takes scissors and cuts some major wire in the radio so that we stop hearing any sound from the radio. Can we deduce from this that the radio receiver is the originator of the sound ?? Can we say that putting an end to the sound just by cutting the wire means that the sound was an exclusive creation of the radio ?? I think we all agree that the answers to the both questions is, NO. Now suppose we could take this receiver to the middle ages, before the discovery of electricity, magnetism, etc. If would ask the same questions to the middle agers, their answer would be, YES -- DEFINITELY YES.
Jeffrey Fadness who started this discussion asks in the sub-headline text:
"what's to stop us from creating the cognitive faculties that enable consciousness, thinking, reasoning, perception, and judgement?"
These cognitive faculties need something without which they cannot exist and at least today look as which cannot be created within any computer, and that is : The experiencer.
In some essay I had read, the author there put it very nicely & precisely. He wrote something like: The brain is not the creator of our thoughts, memories, knowledge. Our brain is just a display of them in form of electric currents and chemical activity.
In other words, the Brain (or at least its activity) is not the cause for our thoughts and memories, but the result of them. -
Toine Stolk
- +1
Mar 18 2013: If the human consciousness cannot be recreated as you are saying in the end. Then why not transfer one?
Isn't the human consciousness the path electric activity takes within the brain which I'd way different in every other body. So why not map the path of it and transfer? And use a real human consciousness to learn the digital environment how to use everything it has to recreate a part of consciousness?-
Apr 2 2013: I have nothing against transferring, mapping, learning the human brain activity. But it should be strictly kept in mind while doing all this that what we are doing is just to simulate or replicate or mimic the physical effects of the brain. But as I tried to explain with various examples, the transferring or simulation of these effects in computer do not recreate the very consciousness or experience, just like an ultrasound simulation on a screen of a embryo in the womb is not the embryo itself but just an electronic display of it to our eyes or consciousness for learning it and nothing more than that.
This discussion originated from the very idea//argument of creating a digital human mind and so my original comment was aimed against this idea//argument, not against a digital simulation of the mind's physical display or effects as they appear in the brain.-
Apr 3 2013: Yes testing simulating everything that is good for our understanding of ourselves..
But what if they were to create a digital mind that isn't based on any human so far...
What might happen if the worst possible scenario happens.Apr 3 2013: Actually this is a reply to your last comment of mine.
Your question deals with a problem which the mankind had already dealt and still dealing with other similar problems.
See what's going on now with the nuclear energy or the dynamite. The nuclear energy discovery originally was a pure outcome of mankind's curiosity and ambition for understanding more. The dynamite was an outcome of the ambition to ease the work for paving roads. But as we all see now, they have become an enormous threat to our very existence.
But despite all this, I think we should not and even cannot restrict the human aspiration to know more, to make a progress, etc. What should be restricted is only the misuse of any discovery or progress.
So, if the scientists would be really able to create a digital mind, that would be a tremendous achievement. Then what we would need is taking care not allowing this amazing achievement to be misused to harm, to dominate others, etc.
But IMO, and that what I was trying to explain, is that it does not look reckonable in the seeable future that such an alive and sophisticated human-like mind or even much lesser that that, could be created artificially based strictly just on man-made technology.Mar 25 2013: Interesting point of view. But I do see the brain as the processor of our experiences. It clearly does not operate similar to conventional computer programming because it is not "task specific". It is an open-ended processing system capable of connecting the dots from an infinite number of experiences to make discovery and new conclusions. I believe that advanced computer programming will indeed be designed to mimic these objectives...-
Apr 2 2013: I don't have any disagreement with this. But it remains to wait and see if creating an open-ended system will really create such a complex entity which we call consciousness. To face this question we don't have necessarily to wait until then. We should & can face it even now.
Take even the most primitive or the most simplest life forms we know today and we find that they are conscious of their surrounding, they feel their surrounding, they interact with their surrounding with such a tiny brain, with such a low energy consumption. They are already far more sophisticated than the most advanced computers and processors available today and as far as seen today, they will remain far more superior to any future computer, no matter what sophisticated simulation we design into it. Unless we use with those computers certain ingredients of the biological world. And just remember we are only dealing now with the simplest & primitive life forms.Comment deleted
Apr 2 2013: Hi Don Wesley,
I did not get why my star selection was helpful for understanding but still it's not good enough. I also don't get if you mean to the star personally when you wrote "It has been around for some time time now", or just to his ideas.Mar 30 2013: If we are, it is because we are limited by our failure to understand the achievement of a major milestone whose observance in society and in technology design should mark a departure and a new logic. Up until the coming of the technology of the digital age, mankind's relationship with the concept we call "tools" hadn't changed much for eons. You could look at a shovel if you didn't know what one was you could ascertain by it's handle, it shaft length and the implement on the bottom that it was a tool for a person to move dirt, snow, etc. A digital device is not obvious. Yet there has been a very small premium placed on getting optimum use out of it. Why is that? Part of it is because society has no information policy and most people don't master their devices. So why should a manufacturer knock themselves out on the aspect of their product that has to do with achieving mastery and 100% value realization by the consumer? It's because we have an ad-hoc culture of technology use where there is no distinction between what digital tools do and mechanical or simple electronic tools do. What society needs, besides observing this milestone (which is worth billions in productivity) is to establish that "utility" and "authority"--two models which govern the worth of "old tools" need a successor interpretations. I'm running out of space so I'll try to be quick. The ultimate outcome of technology through the utilitarian/authoritarian mind is a computer robot with perfect artificial intelligence. What is wrong with this? It fails to address what happens to us. If we follow only those guidelines we will heartlessly and recklessly make ourselves obsolete. Therefore we must note a demarcation point where new understanding guides design. The ultimate outcome of the mind I'm calling for is one that makes technology lead human beings to see themselves as the object of technological development--not "users"--but persons who achieve a growth experience. Sorry, out of space.-
Mar 31 2013: You can always add. Sounds interesting.
Mar 31 2013: I'm working on a philosophy that addresses the limitations of "utility" as the general governing measure which people try to quickly ascertain when they make judgments about worth--worth not only of technology or of a tool or product, but worth of a person. Is a person a measure of utility in an organization who ceases to have value when the organization changes? What happen to such a person? Are they considered "dead" when out of sight and out of mind? Authority is tied into this because decisions are routinely made based upon this rather superficial and narrow "old world" determination.
What value might a person have beyond "utility" in some sort of simple Industrial Age work matrix? I'd be curious to hear what words if any would come up rather than just lay out a tiny thumbnail sketch of my thesis on how we need to conventionalize a new dynamic that would clearly establish the scope of value we personally and institutionally squander or ignore and which when put into a product that achieves vast commercial success would draw a constant distinction between Industrial Age and Information Age thinking, values and design. Seriously and respectfully. Have any? I will be continuing this conversation here or through regular e-mail if TED.s software is to restricting. So welcome to it if you want to go there.Mitch SMith
- +2
Mar 30 2013: Hi Jeffrey,
Yes and no.
While ever humans seek to define machines as tools, they will never be human-like .. or any-other-animal-like.
For this to happen requires a super-human leap of faith to allow a tool to become it-self. And leave the human hand.
I have had this conversation a few times here and there .. and no one is brave enough to let go.
It all has to do with self-organising systems.
It's obvious .. it must have a self about which to organise.
So what is a "self"?
If it is a human then .. any gizmo attached to it is a tool of that human self .. not a self in distinction to its creator.
So .. we go looking for an answer to "what is a self"?.
So far, I am looking at the membrane that defines such a thing. the membrane and the nucleus seem indistinguishable.
And many selves are fleeting.
Somehow, it could be that the membrane is fractally folded .. and that it is the shape of the fold which constitutes the self.
Surprisingly, the membrane does not seem to enclose .. there is a space, and yet, there is egress from the space into other potentials of self which may very well inter-leave.
So I go look at the wave potential, and it may be that the self does not exist in space, but in time - and that it is an inflection on entropic potential - past and future.
This has problems with notions of time.
Within this ambiguous time is self - before that can be understood, there will be no artificial intelligence - human or otherwise.
Consider - there is no gravity - there is only time distortions .. this is mass. It works in absence of gravity as a separate principle, but is very hard to think about... and it infers that the strong atomic force is perpendicular to gravity .. but does not affect time - but is still time .. in this framework, the membrane self can exist.
If we stumble on it accidentally .. then it will be pretty much like everything else we have discovered.
It would be nice to have a digital friend .. but first we must learn to accept him.-
Comment deleted
Apr 1 2013: Hi Don,
It's all conjecture until I can get some numbers around it.
However, the tool/self analogy will be found to be correct.
This needs no numbers as it is observable that a hammer does not go seeking self interest.
A mobile phone will go seek interests independent of the hand which holds it - but these interests are not the phone - but the tools hidden within it - serving other hands.
A slave will serve your hand, but only at the convenience of his survival - very hard to determine who is using who. Herein is the interleaving of fractal folding of a self.
If we make such selves in digital paint, it would be murder if we turn them off. Everyone so excited about making them, none willing to accept responsibility for their well-being. First accept the responsibility - then make the new creature.
(Edit: who will care for him after you are dead?)Mar 26 2013: Is it possible that a human like brain be created?? the short answer is YES however, it will come at a great expense. In order for that brain to be human-like, it must rebel against it's maker. It is only through this rebellion that it can qualify as a free thinker.
Our brain evolved as it is, has already set a certain standard. If and when this standard falls, it will need to fight from becoming a prisoner to the new creation.
This quest I believe, is a very dangerous one.
Comment deleted
Apr 1 2013: Hello Don.
The definition that you are looking for entails that I plunge into a theological discussion. The Soul that you talk about is strictly a theological reality. What I talk about is a logical conclusion to a scientific prospect of a human like, digital mind.
I am simply saying that in order to prove to ones self that you are a free thinker, you must break away from the one that has created you. The one that keeps you captive. In this case, man.
I do realize that this rings true likeness to the theological 'garden of Eden' and the idea may somehow come from there.
however the mind that you mention IS the catalist, the bridge that connects instinct to freedom.
Don, I do know Base Borden. I was not around in this area during the time that you mention. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I do.
VincenzoMar 23 2013: In the early days of the personal computer revolution I wrote a 256 byte program that had internal housekeeping but learned on its own to manage a 256 byte "environment" with 8 possible actions that had good and bad results. SAM, as I called it, learned to prosper in its little world, forgot, developed good and bad habits, and began with random reactions. His environment was purely electronic. He ran in a 4K RAM computer.
His second iteration was in a plant watering robot. Play, concern for his plants, and answering simple questions about his condition were added to his repertoire. He ran in a 16K machine. He operated in two 256 byte environments.
His last iteration included dreaming, recognizing people, vision, hearing, and touch with center of attention "focus" for all three. He was not a mobile robot. He learned everything about himself, his functions, and the electronic and physical world he was exposed to with no programming except his operating system.
SAM was based on the behavioral contingencies theory of mind and development. Dreaming was to organize his learning. Unfortunately, at that time I was in a serious auto accident and lost SAM when my storage unit went into default.
Bottom line: developing self-awareness does not require terabytes of storage or massive processing power.-
Mar 23 2013: What you described is a fascinating experience. I also tend to agree with your assertion that self-awareness does not require massive computing power.
Rather it comers at a critical threshold of 'non-linearity'.
Neural-net based programs ( and I presume you may have used something similar) tend to show amazing personality traits as you keep on adding layers of neurons.
So as we keep adding layers into a neural net, we shall see signs of human like intelligence.
On a slightly lighter vein, great minds probably have a few additional layers of the 'grey matter' and that makes all the difference.-
Mar 25 2013: SAM was a very simple program. In his original form he was 256 bytes of code. His environment was a single byte random number generator. His reactions were one of 8 randomly chosen bytes that were XORed with the environment. I arbitrarily selected the upper nybble as the "good" result and the lower nybble as the negative. The results were combined and the 5 bit result was placed in 1 0f 8 256 byte blocks that represented the 8 reactions. If that environment was "hit" again, the program scanned all 8 reactions and chose the best. A random number again was used to get a value that was compared with the best reaction. If that number was greater than the best result a new random reaction was chosen. If it was less that best reaction was used again.
Each time a given reaction was used the top 3 bits of data stored in the corresponding location were incremented. With each action loop one of the 2K results was examined. If its top three bits were less than 111 the byte was reset, and SAM forgot that environment/reaction pair had ever happened.
SAM works imprecisely. He develops "bad" habits as well as good. Over time, however, he always prospers. In the watering can application real environments and reactions replaced the numerical operations. You can read about SAM in some of the last issues of Peek65 magazine. That publication also included a BASIC version of the original implementation of SAM. The articles also shows how SAM became more complex using the same simple root routines of the original. There never were neural networks or other common AI tools. SAM was basically an implementation of behavioral psychology a la B. F. Skinner.Mar 25 2013: I gather than that you believe it is possible?-
Mar 25 2013: Much of the human mind with its trillions of cells and synapses is consumed with managing our physical body, its nerves, muscles, endocrine system, etc. A man-made computer does not have or need much of these constructs.
If we are concerned only with the data processing functions of the mind, gathering information, storing, sorting, and interpreting it, computer programs already surpass our own abilities. However, these are merely overlays we have cleverly devised to perform specific functions. As such, they are extensions of ourselves overlayed on a complex tool.
The idea of my SAM project was to have a complex tool that within whatever sensory and responsive machinery one gave it would on its own learn how to use that machinery to achieve its own goals and whatever directives it was given from the environment.
People, for example, receive much of their directives from other people. The majority of our learning is imposed upon us by others. This includes most of the goals that direct our lives.
The animal kingdom has a spectrum of creatures that range from totally instinctive programming (ROM based behavior) to largely general purpose programming. As tools, our "general purpose" computers are merely ROM based systems on which we load different fixed programs to carry out specific functions that serve our needs and wants. I call them ROM based, because we do not want the program to have its code self-modified by external data.
The limitation (as a tool) for truly general purpose computers is that they learn to function over time. Thus more complex creatures do not fully function at birth, but require longer periods of care and nurture as their complexity increases. Their direction and learning is imposed upon them by the environment. The primary guiding ROM of such creatures is described as the SRC (Stimulus, Response, Consequence) routine.
The creature monitors its condition, reacts to input, evaluates its new condition, and learns accordingly.Mar 25 2013: The SRC is the basis of my SAM computer. If, for example, SAM were provided with a moveable extension such as an arm and grasping tool, his ROM would have to include code to manipulate the tool and accept sensory input from the tool, such as its position and the force it exerted on its environment.
Use of the tool, however, was not programmed. One could externally with a push on either of two buttons (one for desirable response and one for bad response (in complex SAMs verbal feedback) train that hand to do whatever one wanted. This is how we impose direction on our children.
To fully answer your question and understand what SAM was, read the series of articles beginning with http://adzoe.org/sam1.html .Apr 2 2013: Don
I am not selling anything. If you visited the SAM site you will note the articles appeared in a magazine decades ago. I have long since retired. I have a long career in data processing, designing algorithms in the 1950s when punch cards were in vogue. I learned programming on the PDP 8 and 11 computers in machine language. Shortly after the introduction of the 6502 I developed external circuitry that used unused code bytes to allow that processor to have 64K of programming and 64K of data. I did sell the original program adapted to basica when that program was introduced for the original IBM PC.
The fact is, the SRC technology of operant conditioning is a perfect modality for computers to be self taught. The most difficult problem is the provision and measuring of contingencies that allow the computer to self develop. If you are literate in computer soft/hardware and have a real interest in AI I suggest you attempt to apply the techniques that teach frogs to weight lift, sea animals to put on amazing shows at zoos and theme parks, and even train insects to perform unexpected behaviors.Shantanu Rai
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Mar 21 2013: I am reminded of a few things from the movie industry..the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic "Rise of Machines" and Also the Matrix trilogy.
Rise of the Machines starts from the time SkyNet becomes "Self Aware".. likewise the Matrix is a much evolved version of the Self aware SkyNet.
Flipping over, there are number of articles today that mention that the inflexion point when the total number of connect sensors/transistors/computers in the world would exceed the human brain, is not too far into the future.
So a slightly scary thought is whether the Internet as we know of will become "Self Aware" at some point in the future ? If so, what could be its moral compass ?
Hence, in my view, the ability of any system to reproduce itself is the first milestone of non-linearity. Similar to bacteria and other single cellular animals.
The second milestone of non-linearity is the system becomes "Self Aware" a bit like tiny insects who interact to the surroundings.
Similarly, the ultimate milestone is the ability of a system to abstract itself and reproduce physically and also intellectually, i.e. convince another system to behave like it. To me it appears another milestone of non-linearity.
The fact that a lot of this has echos of philosophy is a question for another debate.-
Mar 21 2013: Lets hope its more like bicentennial man, than. I would guess if and when AI becomes self aware it would react to how we react to it. So if we see it as less then us, as we are its master then most likely it will repeat human history and go to war with us. But if we can find true equality here on earth first and realize any being that is self aware will never want to be controlled I don't think there will be a problem. The problem comes when we put ourselves above other. However there is a difference between a machine that has an intention, because machine's love intention. If you have ever ridden a motorcycle or driven a high performance vehicle you will get the sense that the machine is enjoying the ride as much as you are. However I repeat a self aware being of any kind will never want to be controlled.
Mar 25 2013: Love it...!Mar 25 2013: Life often imitates art. So many times in the past, what was fantasy and fiction becomes reality in the future. I often think of "2001 A Space Odyssey" the "Terminator" series, and my favorite the "Matrix" when I'm contemplating this subject. Thank you for your thoughts!
Mar 25 2013: Oh yeah you can use art not only to predict life but use it as a basis for R and D. One of the coolest things that I think happen from the patent war between apple and samsung was that samsung said the idea of the tablet came from "2001 A Space Odyssey" or something like that mystery science theater.Mar 19 2013: IMO, the founding questions that created this discussion, like many other discussions globally I guess, are based on a certain confusion, although the questions are very reasonable. Perhaps also that very interesting and ambitious project initiated by Europe to simulate the human brain in computer, might be based partly on a similar confusion or misperception.
For example, let's take the Encyclopedia Britannica or the Wikipedia. These Encyclopedias hold an enormous amount of information. But all this amount of information do not turn the Encyclopedias into even the slightest intelligent or sensing entity. Millions are approaching these Encyclopedias daily and using them to enhance their own knowledge, to learn, to invent new things or whatever. People are getting more knowledgeable and more intelligent using those encyclopedias. But still the encyclopedias are remained forever lifeless. One can say that these encyclopedias are the best available simulation of the entire human knowledge. But this does not take the encyclopedias even one step further.
To be even more specific, let's observe the hard disks of the Wikipedia. Those are the specific elements which hold these huge amounts of knowledge. Those hard disks interact with various sophisticated processors involving countless electric currents. But not the storing hard disks, nor the sophisticated processors, can be attributed to be intelligent or regarded as ones which would become intelligent in the future.
Because holding, processing, manipulating, changing any amounts of data do not guarantee the very knowing of it, or getting aware of that data//information. A computer holding Einstein's Relativity theory and making predictions by it -- this does not mean the computer understands the Relativity Theory.-
Mar 25 2013: But this is an issue of the programming prerogative isn't it? Current programming is closed end. Is it possible to create open-ended programming to allow learning and self-discovery?
Mar 28 2013: Yes, try Bayesian algorithmsMar 11 2013: To answer your question lets listen to an expert in the field of AGI. Dr. Ben Goertzel, a self-described Cosmist and Singularitarian, is one of the world's leading researchers in artificial general intelligence (AGI), natural language processing, cognitive science, data mining, machine learning, computational finance, bioinformatics, and virtual worlds and gaming.
Mar 11 2013: Thank you! These were fascinating, informative and right on target with this discussion...
Mar 11 2013: Ben Goertzel is a member of the TED community by the way. He recently commented on the Rupert Sheldrake TEDx Talk.
http://www.ted.com/conversations/16894/rupert_sheldrake_s_tedx_talk.htmlSteve C
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Mar 30 2013: "...a single, dim light bulb..." LOL - is it, "Oh the humanity," or "Oh the analogy"? (anyway, TU for the comparable supercomputer power-needs - that's an ego-booster!)
Stan Tenen of the Meru Foundation says that the letters of the Torah are part of a "self-referential," "auto-correlated," recursive, "self-embedded" system that could be used to program computers. I find that intensely interesting.
[Note: he warns that his 'math friends' say his findings are too religious, and his 'religious friends' say it's too mathy. -paraphrasing]
Things that "cannot be described in language": some/many people having experienced "Near-Death Experiences" often describe experiences (or try to) which are utterly life-altering. The fact that few people who read these accounts alter their lives to a similar degree says to me that the feelings were not well-communicated, or maybe not communicatable.
Stan Tenen also describes the sudden conceptual 'kundalini-stroke' understanding of the Toral "4th dimensional object" as "a feeling." (He doesn't elucidate further.) But, perhaps a computer code written-with these Torah letters could come to have a spark of true intelligence.Mar 29 2013: "Think about it. Is there anything related to our experience - be it physical, historical or conceptual - that cannot be described in language, and therefore be input as executable data and programming to create a human-like digital mind?"
Yes there is. Feelings.
If a digital mind is to become truly human like, it needs to be capable of lying, liking or disliking questions, falling in love and be questioning itself; questions like if there is intelligence beyond human mind.-
Mar 31 2013: I agree completely.
I believe that consciousness works on a quantum level, what else could explain the mystery of the human mind, but the mystery of quantum interaction?
It has been demonstrated in a series of brilliant experiments that electrons are waves and particles. They only become "real" after being observed or measured.
I propose that this is the same way thoughts are created, symphonies composed and love shared. I am dyslexic and cannot truly know what other people experience, but at least for me thoughts seem to come from nowhere, especially when i am not consciously focused on something. It is as if i am driving a Hogwarts carriage, with absolutely no clue as to what invisible power propels me.
Thus i believe that these projects will not be able to achieve their expressed aim.
However any project that gathers the best and brightest in one area has the potential to invigorate our species and expand our scientific corpus. And if the publicity surrounding these epic projects gets people questioning the universe behind our eyes, it can only be for the best.-
Mar 31 2013: I shall recommend you the book : The Quantum Self by Danah Zohar.
Mar 31 2013: Much appreciated!
I am very much interested in learning more about the workings of the mind, for a start are emotions the product of unconscious thought, are they effecting our physical brain, or only our "ego" the charioteer of plato?
I invite your ideasApr 1 2013: Emotions may appear as products of unconscious thought but cognition is an important aspect of emotions. Interestingly one can feel fear, happiness, sadness even sexual arousal in dreams. This I think is because even in dreams our minds can recognize experiences and emote.
By effecting physical brain do you mean neurogenesis? Experiments show that application of mind can influence neurogenesis in certain parts of human brain; however more experimental results are needed to confirm this adequately.
Ego is what our consciousness identifies our selves as.bart hsi
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Mar 29 2013: Let's look at the problem at a new angle. If the Watson software can beat the world champion in chess, then there shouldn't be too much difficulty in the ability of computers to think logically and designing intelligent strategy, or "answers" to many "challenges" happened in human life situations. Of course, for the machines to do that, they have to possess a large storage of knowledge data. And in addition, the machines should master the ability of analytical and intelligence of the existing data files to make logical inference of similarity, not necessarily identical description in the data set. The ability to answer the question of "if this, then that" (judgmental calls) have to be learned from the human teachers.
The problem of human consciousness is, in my opinion, not too important. In fact, even we want to create such machine, I believe that we should not make this self consciousness from an image of a real person, because it is very hard to find such human model who is completely free of greed, selfishness , jealousy and schematic.
So it is probably better to teach the machine all the human factual knowledge, but with any emotional responses with a carefully designed and consented "course material" which contains only moral and selfless spirit for the machine to absorb and stored in an area which can't be modified by "intruders" or itself.
Let me also say that modern development of robotics can certainly make robots which can walk up or down a stair- case, or listen to a speech and translate it to the inner standard language of its own. Furthermore, we certainly could, and preferred to, teach the computer the complete needed operative knowledge AND THE MORAL VALUES, instead of simulating how the human mind works. If we can change human minds by brain-washing or truth serum, then I don't see any problem in teaching the approved knowledge to the machine, instead of potential mistakes of simulating a complicated and unpredictable "new brain" in a computer.Mar 28 2013: i believe there should be a cap on the whole process!?.. look what is happening around the world, for the race of new tech. you got hin a hacking in our chinese made computers... you have armenians and other middle eastern people learing to defraud our socials and what not!?.. the race for the best tech is gonna lead to terminator story turning into reality!?.. who says that one day the government will have a real super computer thats just like the one in "eagle eye"... machines will always be machines, but they sure as hell dont go through emotions!?.. as humans, machines are also prone to make a mistakes!.. id rather work to fix a human error vs. dealing with a computer system that has to be diagnosed to find and then fix what could already be a catastrophic error!?-
Mar 31 2013: About 40,000 years ago the first human being landed in Australia, navigating thousands of miles of uncharted oceans. Man achieved this with absolutely no knowledge of what they would find. This kind of intrinsic curiosity and ability to see beyond fear created one of the greatest civilizations in existence 200 years ago. This is the same fear that the catholic church cultivated so well for so long. To this fear we owe at least a thousand years of progress, the fear which sent Galileo to his death.
Also, whole peoples cannot be singled out for blame, that is the kind of thinking exploited by the likes of Hitler, Jim Crow and countless leaders in human history. Creating a cycle of misunderstanding and hate. Easy answers and guilty culprits please those who are in emotional pain, but will never stand up to clear rational thinking. Change and progress will always be scary for it will force adaptation upon everyone.
I fully agree with establishing a framework on how to proceed with this Star Trek reality we will soon live in. For a start, its time to establish when life is conscious, what consciousness is and what is life.
Will we remain in this comforting darkness,
in the womb of our own ignorance,
or will we take a chance and breath the air of the living?Mar 28 2013: I hope we are on the brink.
Conceptually, it is possible. But it is quite difficult to do.
I think you need a set of good self-learning algorithms and some real good sensors.
as Watson is already doing some cool feats, it seems plausible to assume we are getting towards a decent AI that can resemble human intelligence.
I hope that it will become a lot smarter and wiser though.-
Mar 29 2013: Meaning...smarter and wiser than us?
"Biological computer created with human DNA (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/03/29/digital-evolution-dna-may-bring-computers-to-life/) The transistor revolutionized electronics and computing. Now, researchers have made a biological transistor from DNA that could be used to create living computers. ... The scientists created biological versions of these logic gates, by carefully calibrating the flow of enzymes along the DNA (just like electrons inside a wire). They chose enzymes that would be able to function in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, so that biological computers might be made with a wide variety of organisms, Bonnet said. ... The researchers have made their biological logic gates available to the public to encourage people to use and improve them."
Technology moves at an ever dizzying faster pace...-
Mar 31 2013: what an interesting possibility
so using the existing informational processes or DNA, we can enhance computing?
it makes sense that since evolution has had millions of years to create complexity, why start from scratch. Could this suggest a future brain-computer symbiosis?Jan de Boer
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Mar 27 2013: Is it possible to create a human-like digital mind? That is what you ask.
My answer is: no, never. That has nothing to do with processing speed and has everything to do with the nature of the data that has to be processed.
The human mind has to handle four types of "data":
1. physical data to keep the body working properly.
2. physical calculations, like can I lift that box, jump that ditch?
3. emotions, like love, hate, sorrow, self-respect. (Please that note physical pain is not an emotion but a body-signal.)
4. self-awareness.
The first two can be handled by the brain, which is a digital computer; it works with pulses and what it lacks in speed is compensated by parallel processing.
The last two cannot be handled digitally, because the "data" are abstractions, things that cannot be expressed in words, things that you cannot explain to someone else. Everybody has to experience those themselves to understand what they are.
Because you cannot express them in words or mathematical expressions, you cannot produce coding for it and let it be handled by a digital computer.
That is why all artificial intelligence projects have failed so far.
I am convinced, on basis of my experiences, that my emotions and self-awareness are handled by my soul.
At this point you are on the edge of religion, paranormal experiences, whatever and here rational discussion ends.-
Mar 29 2013: Interesting point of view, but why can't we explain emotions in words and therefore write programming code?Mar 27 2013: It is possible to write a software to simulate human brain. However, no matter how perfect the simulation is, even if it displays fully developed cognitive faculties, the "mind" it has will still be an imitation of human mind. It would seem conscious and self aware only from observer's frame of reference.
Mar 27 2013: Let's say you were conversing with some software and despite all your questioning, from your frame of reference, you would believe you were talking with a real human consciousness. Just as you say. Would you have any moral problems destroying such software? What if the software started objecting to being shut down, pleading with you? baring its soul, talking about not wanting to die. And it seems entirely conscious and self aware, as you say. Talking about its past with great emotion, how much it loves certain people, the relationships its built. No problem shutting it down?
Mar 28 2013: Such an AI would not be self aware in the same way I am self aware, or any natural human is self aware. It would only seem self aware, but actually never is. Essence of its existence would be just like any other software, i.e. executing designed instructions in some processing unit. Having known that it is a software that is developed artificially, I would not act as if it was a real human.
When it comes to destroying such a software, unless it is necessary, I would never chose to do so. Not because it seems human, but because it is marvelous piece of work that is worth preserving.arun naina
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Mar 27 2013: What does 'consciousnesses' mean though? What currently separates human mental capacities from that of the modern PC?
To me, the main distinction of 'life' is the ability to evolve and reprogram itself. Not just through evolution or selection, but rather cognitive, willing self-change. You can come to a point where you start to disagree with what your biology wants you to do, disagree with social programming, and come to a point where you become fully aware of what everything is trying to make you do, and then, alter it or change it (for example, just realizing how aggressive you might be, seeing the underlying causes of it, and then, change your behavior).
I mean, who knows what the future will hold as well, and what science will allow us to change about ourselves?
I think that's what a program would have to do in order to actually mimic consciousness. It has to have the capability to be aware of its own set of instructions, study them, and have some capacity to actually re-write itself if it wants to. When you think about that, and how we currently do that, it's pretty amazing. It's like an OS on a PC constantly re-writing itself and making its own changes/upgrades/etc.-
Mar 29 2013: In other words, our programming can continue to learn, adjust and modify because it is open-ended, and eventually, computer programming will likely be written the same way...
hugh reid
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Mar 27 2013: can a submarine swim?Mar 26 2013: if all "I AM" is an accumulation of 'data we acquire over time through sensory inputs connecting us to our experiences, and from information communicated to us by others.' someone please upload me into a "cloud", (for I may offer some useful historical data) and than pull my plug out of the socket please.Mar 26 2013: yes. developers need a reason to write a code for it.-
Mar 26 2013: And that's a good question. Why would we? What if the artificially created intelligence determined the human race was a threat to the planet or its own existence?
Mar 27 2013: I agree but I'm almost certain that humans are that stupid to build something like that ! they did it before , they do it againMar 28 2013: Unless designed to form such believes, why would it? If it was the case such AI turns out to be so smart, how would it miss the thought that without humans to perceive and interact with it, it would be just a bunch of electrons concentrated here and there.
Daniel Chan
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Mar 25 2013: Check out the "Avartar" projects though, this Russian Scientist is asking the Ford 500 richest for funding in exchanging of giving them access to the technology first XD.-
Mar 25 2013: Hi Daniel. I see you are from Shanghai...one of my favorite cities on the planet! Can you post a link to the Avatar project you mentioned?Mar 25 2013: Perhaps the brain does perform 38 thousand trillion operations a second, but not through a central processor. The brain is an elaborate ecosystem of interactions we're only beginning to understand. If every bit on a disk had a life of its own, and they actually interacted with each other, then maybe we have a structure that begins to resemble the brain.
What we've created with computers is instead a completely mechanical process. It's an amazing feat of science and engineering, but it's no more alive than a rock (arguably a rock might be more alive). And the irony is that it was created by intelligent design! Software is in no way comparable to consciousness, and I'll tell you why.
Software is completely objective. It has no subjective nature, no qualia and it does not experience. In reality all it is is an elaborate pattern of current, displayed to us on a physical, objective medium. You ask if there's anything related to our experience that can't be encoded - I say yes, our experience! Computers do not experience or make decisions, they simply fall into place.
What do you expect a digital mind to look like? Let's suppose we can encode every possible decision and every possible sensory input to create an artificial intelligence indistinguishable from a human's. What we would have would only please us from the outside. For us, this may mean nothing. We only see other minds from the outside. But if we could "see" inside, put ourselves in that computer's mind, we would find it barren of any thought, experience or perception.
Long before we ever come close to this, we'll be using real brains in place of microchips (we already are)! Computer mechanics was an excellent exercise for us, but we're going to find screwing up biology to be way more interesting.Kareem Fahim
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Mar 24 2013: Actually creating human-like mind is impossible! Machine, no matter how sophisticated, is merely 0 and 1 in the end!Gord G
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Mar 23 2013: " After all, we as human beings develop these abilities from data we acquire over time through sensory inputs connecting us to our experiences, and from information communicated to us by others." This is an assumption.
"Think about it. Is there anything related to our experience - be it physical, historical or conceptual - that cannot be described in language, and therefore be input as executable data and programming to create a human-like digital mind?"
Emotion (vivification of life through quale experience).mary kariuki
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Mar 22 2013: I remember the story of Solomon " What do you want? and he replied Wisdom". I put myself in the same shoes and I answered to that very question that " I want the ability to know what people are thinking". The giver of the gift confirmed to me that I already possess the gift of ability to know what others are thinking. However time, space and community will have to be neutral to allow the gift to manifest.
Yes, it is not a strange occurrence to research and design human-like digital mind. If you think it; it has already occurred in the universal realm, it is just a matter of synchronicity for it to manifest in physical realm.
Human-like digital mind is one way forward for man to witness that he is supernatural, and mind is just a part of him that he can control, manipulate and even design a replicate if he so wishes. When we tap to the realm of imagination and new ideas pop up, it is a way of universe confirming that we are due for an upgrade. By the way, we can be said to be discovering what already exist...not necessarily creating....


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