Our tiny autonomous killer drone future

stoweboyd:

jkottke:

The very beginning of Attack of the Killer Robots by Sarah Topol features this quote by Stuart Russell, a Berkeley computer science professor. It is terrifying:

A very, very small quadcopter, one inch in diameter can carry a one- or two-gram shaped charge. You can order them from a drone manufacturer in China. You can program the code to say: “Here are thousands of photographs of the kinds of things I want to target.” A one-gram shaped charge can punch a hole in nine millimeters of steel, so presumably you can also punch a hole in someone’s head. You can fit about three million of those in a semi-tractor-trailer. You can drive up I-95 with three trucks and have 10 million weapons attacking New York City. They don’t have to be very effective, only 5 or 10% of them have to find the target.

There will be manufacturers producing millions of these weapons that people will be able to buy just like you can buy guns now, except millions of guns don’t matter unless you have a million soldiers. You need only three guys to write the program and launch them. So you can just imagine that in many parts of the world humans will be hunted. They will be cowering underground in shelters and devising techniques so that they don’t get detected. This is the ever-present cloud of lethal autonomous weapons.

They could be here in two to three years.

Who needs a hug?

Where’s Magnus, Robot Killer, when you need him?

Humans suck.

Why do I have so little faith that anything would be done?

Oh no – they ARE talking about yesterday’s Beyonce’s performance at MTV awards in this tiny crammed room, and about sports afterwards. And ask my opinion. And as usual I have nothing to offer.
The unmissable tabloid covers outside the subway is the extent of my knowledge, which I awkwardly share (yes, I’ve seen them).

I would be happy to talk to them about the soft robot octopus they just developed and speculate about the causes for ridiculous drug prices in this country. But maybe I should just go have my lunch outside on my own instead.

mypsychology:

25 Napping Facts Every College Student Should Know

  1. It makes you smarter
    According
    to Dr. Matthew Walker of the University of California, napping for as
    little as one hour resets your short-term memory and helps you learn
    facts more easily after you wake up.
  2. Abandon all-nighters
    Foregoing
    sleep by cramming all night reduces your ability to retain information
    by up to 40%. If you can, mix in a nap somewhere to refresh your
    hippocampus.
  3. It doesn’t mean what you think
    If
    you know you have to pull an all-nighter, try a “prophylactic nap.”
    It’s a short nap in advance of expected sleep deprivation that will help
    you stay alert for up to 10 hours afterwards.
  4. You can’t avoid that down period after lunch by not eating
    Human
    bodies naturally go through two phases of deep tiredness, one between
    2-4 a.m. and between 1-3 p.m. Skipping lunch won’t help this period of
    diminished alertness and coordination.
  5. Pick the right time
    After
    lunch in the early afternoon your body naturally gets tired. This is
    the best time to take a brief nap, as it’s early enough to not mess with
    your nighttime sleep.
  6. Hour naps are great
    A
    60-minute nap improves alertness for 10 hours, although with naps over
    45 minutes you risk what’s known as “sleep inertia,” that groggy feeling
    that may last for half an hour or more.
  7. But short naps are best
    For
    healthy young adults, naps as short as 20, 10, or even 2 minutes can be
    all you need to get the mental benefits of sleep, without risking
    grogginess.
  8. Drink coffee first
    The
    way this works is you drink a cup of coffee right before taking your
    20-minute or half-hour nap, which is precisely how long caffeine takes
    to kick in. That way when you wake up, you’re not only refreshed, but
    ready to go.
  9. The NASA nap
    A
    little group called NASA discovered that just a 26-minute nap increases
    performance by 34% and alertness by 54%. Pilots take advantage of NASA
    naps while planes are on autopilot.
  10. Can’t sleep? Don’t stress
    Even
    if you can’t fall asleep for a nap, just laying down and resting has
    benefits. Studies have found resting results in lowered blood pressure,
    which even some college kids have to worry about if they are genetically
    predisposed to high blood pressure.
  11. Napping may save your life
    A
    multi-year Greek study found napping at least three times per week for
    at least 30 minutes resulted in a 37% lower death rate due to heart
    problems.
  12. More nap benefits for the brain
    Not only will napping improve your alertness, it will also help your decision-making, creativity, and sensory perception.
  13. But wait, there’s more
    Studies
    have found napping raises your stamina 11%, increases ability to stay
    asleep all night by 12%, and lowers the time required to fall asleep by
    14%.
  14. The ultimate nap
    According
    to Dr. Sara Mednick, the best nap occurs when REM sleep is in
    proportion to slow-wave sleep. Use her patented Take A Nap Nap Wheel to
    calculate what time of day you can nap to the max.
  15. Fight the Freshman 15
    Research
    shows that women who sleep five hours at night are 32% more likely to
    experience major weight gain than those sleeping seven hours. A two-hour
    nap isn’t feasible for many, but napping is a good way to make up for
    at least some lost night sleep.
  16. If it was good enough for them…
    Presidents
    JFK and Bill Clinton used to nap every day to help ease the heavy
    burden of ruling the free world. Of course, they also had other
    relaxation methods, but we won’t get into those.
  17. Do like the Romans do
    In
    ancient Rome, everyone, including children, retreated for a 2 or 3-hour
    nap after lunch. No doubt this is the reason the Roman empire lasted
    over 1,000 years
  18. Don’t wait too long
    The
    latest you want to wake up from a nap is five hours before bedtime,
    otherwise you risk not being able to fall asleep at night.
  19. Sugar is not a good substitute for a nap
    When
    we are tired, we instinctively reach for foods with a high glycemic
    index, but after the initial energy wears off, we’re left more tired
    than we were before.
  20. It’s a good way to catch up
    If
    it takes you less than five minutes to fall asleep at night, you are
    sleep deprived. If you never can seem to get to bed earlier at night, a
    mid-day nap is a great way to catch up on sleep.
  21. Underclassmen need more sleep
    Freshmen
    and sophomores who are still in your teens: you need up to 10 hours of
    sleep to feel rested. So odds are, you are sleep-deprived.
  22. You’ll have to leave the party sooner
    After
    one school-week of not getting enough sleep, three alcoholic drinks
    will affect you the same way six would when you are fully rested.
  23. Don’t drive drowsy
    Don’t
    be afraid to take advantage of an “emergency nap” on the side of the
    road in your car. Every year, as many as 100,000 traffic fatalities are
    caused by sleepy people behind the wheel.
  24. The Einstein Method
    If
    you are concerned about sleeping too long, do what Albert Einstein
    regularly did: hold a pencil while you’re drifting off, so when you fall
    asleep, the pencil dropping will wake you up. (We do not guarantee you
    will wake up with a 180 IQ.)
  25. Missing sleep is worse at your age
    For people ages 18 to 24, sleep deprivation impairs performance more significantly than in other age brackets.

Source: Somewhere on Tumblr

Robert Shiller, Today’s Inequality Could Easily Become Tomorrow’s Catastrophe

stoweboyd:

Along with nine other economists, I contributed to a project that engaged in really long-term forecasting. The results appeared in a book edited by Ignacio Palacios-Huerta of the London School of Economics: “In 100 Years: Leading Economists Predict the Future,” (M.I.T., 2013). None of us expressed optimism that inequality would be corrected in the future, and none of us ventured that any major economic policy was likely to counteract recent trends.

For example, Angus Deaton of Princeton, commenting on what he called the “grotesque expansions in inequality of the past 30 years,” gave a pessimistic prediction: “Those who are doing well will organize to protect what they have, including in ways that benefit them at the expense of the majority. ” And Robert M. Solow of M.I.T. said, “We are not good at large-scale redistribution of income.” Both Professor Deaton and Professor Solow are fellow Nobel laureates.

No one seems to have an effective plan to deal with the possibility of much more severe inequality, should it develop. In the disturbing book “Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation,” (Oxford, 1983) Amartya Sen, a Harvard professor, documented an extraordinary thing: In each of four devastating famines in different parts of the world, there was enough food to keep everyone alive. The problem in each case was that the food was not shared adequately. Systems of privilege and entitlement permitted hoarding of food by people of status whose lives went on much as usual, except that they had to brush off starving beggars and would occasionally see dead bodies on the street.

Inequality is as dangerous as climate change, and they are both capable of ending our civilization.

Robert Shiller, Today’s Inequality Could Easily Become Tomorrow’s Catastrophe

Meant to post this here: my own very unscientific tips for stretching money in an expensive city that I learned from being broke in the past.
Maybe some of my followers could find them useful. Feel free to add or comment. It assumes that one already has a place to live, with roommates, of course.

Books and information: libraries are wonderful. They have free ebooks too! And good for quiet study and work space with free internet without the urge to buy coffee at a coffee shop. They will help you do your taxes for free.
Most importantly, librarians are an excellent resource for just about anything. When we came to this country, the local library was the first place we were taken to.

Furniture and electronics:
Figure out when the curbside pickup is. Pray to garbage gods. When they grant your wish, don’t forget to sanctify your find with garbage-gods holy water – Lysol. Also, look near college dorms at the end of the school year. Tons of great stuff that rich kids discard.

Clothing: second hand shops, of course, preferably In poor neighborhoods, so they would not sell overpriced “vintage” stuff. Also, garage/tag sales in rich neighborhoods. Sign up for yahoo groups for wealthy neighborhoods you’re interested in. Nearly free furniture can be found here too.

Food: see if there is a food coop in your area. Markups are minimal, and the food is healthy and fresh. In return, you have to work there sometimes. Also, immigrant neighborhoods. It is incredible how much cheaper the food is in Bangladeshi and Turkish and Polish owned stores here.
Make your own food and bring it to work for lunch.
Drink tap water instead of beverages. Clean tap water is a vastly underappreciated first world achievement.
In a pinch: instant ramen. It saved Japan from hunger after the war, and it can save you.
Grow some greens, like basil in a pot in a sunny spot. It can last a whole year and makes food more interesting.

Art (this is why you tolerate this ridiculous city, right?): galleries are usually free, and in some cities museums are, too. NYC has a free NYC Id program that allows for free membership in many city museums. Learn about free outdoor concerts and theater that your city has. Check your local equivalent of brokelyn.com

Going out with friends: avoid it, unless they are paying. You can have just as good of a time at home or playing board games. Sometimes it’s important though. If you must drink alcohol, bring alcohol in a flask and surreptitiously make your own cocktails with the cheap juice or coke you ordered from the barkeep. If you forgot your alcohol, stick to cranberry juice and pretend you’re religious or headachy. You are there for the company, not to get wasted.

Side jobs: if you have the time, taskrabbit and local neighborhood bulletin boards are good ways for quick side projects. Pet sitting, dog walking, painting, temp office work, and babysitting, and senior-people care could bring some extra money to help out. Make sure you collect references to expand your client base. Also, teach what you know via Brooklynbrainery.com or your local equivalent

Managing cash flow: in U.S. only: get a Fidelity Cash Management account. It is free, you can deposit checks with your phone, and they refund ATM fees everywhere! The only downside is that they won’t lend you money because it’s not a bank – fidelity is a stock-trading service. But you don’t have to trade any stocks.
To borrow money, find a local credit union. There might be one affiliated with your school or neighborhood. They are just like a bank but they are not out to make money for shareholders and so they won’t be greedy. If you are not sure, you’d be surprised what your librarian might know about options in your area. Just ask.
Find out if you could be eligible for any government programs. Look on your local government website. Check your local elected representative’s office. In the U.S. they always have them in your neighborhood – you can just come in and talk to their staff – they sometimes have free education events like that. I’m sure it works similarly in all other liberal democracies. It could be food or housing subsidy, or free or reduced healthcare. Safety net exists for all of us, so take advantage of it if you must.

If you are really strapped for cash, ask your parents and friends. If that’s not an option, ask your credit union or, ahem, bank. If not, use your credit card – but only if you know you can pay it back. When you get your check, pay back the highest interest debt (credit card!) first – as soon as you can. Each day accrues ever increasing interest! Pay back the banks before you pay back friends. They will understand.
For school loans, check out government deferment programs. Google it or ask your librarian. But only trust .gov websites as well as known media websites like Forbes.

Haircuts:
Salonapprentice and Craigslist has listings for well trained people who would gladly cut your hair for free either as a part of their advanced and supervised training or to accrue experience hours they need to graduate to their next level.

Networking and meeting people and finding serendipity:
meetup.com is incredible for just about anything. Also, couchsurfing.com . There are travelers in your area who are just as curious and broke as you are.

Never stop learning about this city…

Our days of camping out on the grass being over, I thought I’d go and get us a spot in the park with a table for our tiny birthday party, and that 8am should be sufficiently early on a Saturday morning.

Not in this place…

Advance parties, all burly men, arrive as soon as the park opens, and bring supplies. They cordon off all areas that have tables for their exclusive use.

They have so much stuff that it doesn’t fit in their SUVs and they have to rent Uhaul trucks! They have tents and folding chairs and generators and boxes and boxes of food.
Then their giant families arrive.

Onto the burnt out grass we go, just need to clear away the dog poop and plastic trash from the previous picnickers. We’ll improvise a box as a table for L’s little cake. Another reminder of how every resource is increasingly scarce in this city. Anyone who has any money leaves to their or their parents’ summer cottages or beach houses, and the poor people are left in the city to fight it out with each other.

It’s fine. There are more of them, and they planned better, and even if I did get here earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to keep it – their muscles are bigger.

But why do they have to come to this beautiful place and blast their music so loudly that it fills the entire park reverberating off Olmsted’s carefully planned topography. What’s wrong with cicadas and birds? Isn’t being with nature the whole point of coming here?