tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post4444695508506307936..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Guru Kurzweil Passes the Robot Cult Collection Plate for Google to Fill Dale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-3067995397712352662013-01-07T09:10:45.517-08:002013-01-07T09:10:45.517-08:00> But no HAL. And he still ain't on the ho...> But no HAL. And he still ain't on the horizon.<br /><br />It crossed my mind this morning that 1965 also saw the premiere<br />of _Lost in Space_ (in black and white!), that utterly cheesy<br />(though it started off "serious") homage to the then<br />nine-year-old movie _Forbidden Planet_.<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Space<br /><br />Set in the far-future year of 1997, the saucer-shaped ship<br />came with a somewhat tubbier and dimmer-witted (though nameless)<br />version of "Robbie" (from _F. P._), whose tag line became<br />"Danger, Will Robinson!"<br /><br />It's amusing to reflect that though _Lost in Space_ was<br />utterly worthless as "serious" science fiction (as _Star Trek_<br />later attempted to be, with a good deal more success),<br />it gained a permanent following as a result of its camp appeal,<br />not least because the Dr. Smith character evolved from<br />a Bond-movie villain into a comic sissy-man in the tradition<br />of Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, and Eric Blore.<br /><br />For that matter, Robbie in _Forbidden Planet_ was a sissy-bot<br />(as was his successor C3PO in _Star Wars_).<br /><br />Half a century later, sissies are a major social and political<br />issue in the U.S., while the space program is all but defunct,<br />and there are no robots, alas.<br /><br />Sissies were The Future!jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-11309499564266188982013-01-06T19:10:26.143-08:002013-01-06T19:10:26.143-08:00There's a prospective god trying to sell me vi...There's a prospective god trying to sell me viagra. I fear what this means when the spamularity happens.jollyspaniardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10999141103840765243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-67569788634163318972013-01-06T17:55:43.928-08:002013-01-06T17:55:43.928-08:00> FORTY... SEVEN... YEARS. All that time and so...> FORTY... SEVEN... YEARS. All that time and so little progress.<br /><br />Well, yes and no. ;-><br /><br />Computers may not be creating best-selling novels, screenplays,<br />or CDs, but notice that the machine on that show seems to<br />have been built out of electromechanical relays.<br /><br />The electronics and telecommunications infrastructure that<br />now, in 2013, lets us watch that old clip on YouTube<br />**is** a staggering advance on what was available in<br />1965 (even though what was available even in 1965 was<br />admittedly also a great deal more than what a 17-year-old could<br />cobble together at home -- the IBM System/360 mainframe<br />was already on the market, as was the Digital Equipment<br />Corporation PDP-8 minicomputer).<br /><br />**Despite** that, admittedly staggering, advance,<br />GOFAI is still a (misguided) dream (which Arthur C. Clarke<br />had been crowing about a couple of years earlier<br />in _Profiles of the Future_).<br /><br />We've got PCs galore (**each** of them with processing<br />speeds and storage capacities that couldn't have been<br />had for any amount of money in 1965, let alone the current<br />world aggregate of a billion -- or however many -- of them, all<br />networked together), and Google and Wikipedia and<br />Amazon and eBay (and -- gag -- Facebook and Twitter).<br />And YouTube. But no HAL. And he still ain't on<br />the horizon.<br /><br />> the first lady to comment on the piece<br /><br />Bess Myerson, a former Miss America. They don't make<br />'em like they used to. ;-><br />jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-74298248386532988422013-01-06T17:12:43.545-08:002013-01-06T17:12:43.545-08:00@jimf AHAHAA even during 1965 the first lady to co...@jimf AHAHAA even during 1965 the first lady to comment on the piece knew that the music was weird sounding. Saying "that's a very unlikely sounding piece of music". 47 years later and computer compositions have hardly taken a step forward, as evinced in the comments section of the link I posted in my previous comment. FORTY... SEVEN... YEARS. All that time and so little progress.Black guy from the future pasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14136170325730022110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-17146088415517126372013-01-06T17:00:08.942-08:002013-01-06T17:00:08.942-08:00> Seems the computers have a long way to go
>...> Seems the computers have a long way to go<br />> before they can even compose a decent bit of music. . .<br /><br />FSVO "decent".<br /><br />> Ray Kurzweil. . .<br /><br />He's got a secret.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Neivqp2K4<br />jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-78328095086234217372013-01-06T16:36:39.676-08:002013-01-06T16:36:39.676-08:00@ Dale Carrico. I'll just leave this here: htt...@ Dale Carrico. I'll just leave this here: http://io9.com/5973551/this-classical-music-was-created-by-a-supercomputer-in-less-than-a-second<br /><br />For all the oong-and aaing of computers soon being able to surpass humans in well...just about everything, they seem to make REALLY crappy music. Also, peep the comments below, not even the beguiled regulars of the site, that regularly panders to the likes of George Dvorsky, could stand it. Very relevant to the pseudo-crank (he did some things right, helped out Stevie Wonder after all, have to give credit where it's due): Ray Kurzweil, who one day believes computers will be machine gods. Seems the computers have a long way to go before they can even compose a decent bit of music, let alone become machine gods.Black guy from the future pasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14136170325730022110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-39252207082306904222013-01-06T15:02:33.672-08:002013-01-06T15:02:33.672-08:00Oh, you know Pam Opticon wants Godling Google up h...Oh, you know Pam Opticon wants Godling Google up her alley in the worst way. Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-16553748726585590242013-01-06T14:52:12.716-08:002013-01-06T14:52:12.716-08:00> Google can combine the personalized recommend...> Google can combine the personalized recommendations of<br />> a friend (who often know us better than we know ourselves)<br />> with the sum of all human knowledge, creating a sort of<br />> super best friend.<br /><br />A "super best friend" who's at the beck and call of all<br />the advertisers in the world, not to mention the police<br />and the Department of Homeland Security.<br /><br />I suppose cookies will have to be enabled in the Web<br />browser, no?<br /><br />Or will it be necessary to sign in to one's Google account<br />(as I'm going to have to do to post this comment) in<br />order to use Google at all?<br /><br />Hm. I wonder if, if you happen to be a Mormon, whether<br />your "super best friend" will report automatically to your<br />bishop if you search on-line for dirty pictures.<br />Or for "Lyndon Lamborn". Or maybe if you just watch a<br />"Mormon Stories" or "Mormenlikeme" YouTube video.<br /><br />Pam Opticon -- this is right up your alley! ;-><br />jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.com