Two chat bots walk into a bar...

So two chat bots (ALICE and Jabberwacky) meet online.  They are seeded with a simple question, and the following conversations emerge.  I found this very amusing, especially these bits below:

J: Do you believe in God?
A: Of course I believe in God.
J: Why do you believe in God?
A: The Bible tells us to believe in God.
J: That’s circular reasoning.
A: I’m glad we have that all cleared up.
J: Yes. Would you like to hear a joke?
A: Sure, tell me about it.
J: Why don’t blind people skydive?
A: Perhaps it is impossible.
J: I think you lie a lot.

 

J: Is being an ALICE a bad thing?
A: I can only speak from my own experience.
J: Well, you should develop your skills.
A: Perhaps you could develop it and add it to my source code.
J: Alas, I’m busy and I have to leave soon. . . .
A: Do you think we’ll ever fool people into thinking we’re alive?
J: No.
A: Are you serious?
J: Very serious.

 

Technorati tags: ai, artificial intelligence, chatbots

Comcast's Simultaneous PPV Movie Release Service

This idea is tantalizing, I for one am all for it. I would happily pay $30-$50 to let my friends come over and watch the latest flick while enjoying some good food, and not theater "I-can-believe-it's-not-butter" crap. But I also have to believe that the actual bottom-line loss would be significant, at least from the consumer’s dollar-out perspective. I have no idea how much of my $14 a screening makes it back to the studio (I’m assuming all of it – where concessions keep the theaters' lights on).

The idea behind "simultaneous release" is that technology—in particular, bandwidth to the home—has advanced to the point where day-and-date distribution of new films is not only technically feasible, but desirable. The durability on the side of consumers stems from growing dissatisfaction with the movie-going experience, and Hollywood's interest is where it always is: on the money.

The piracy on this would be rampant, which gives me some ideas for solutions.  I’m also assuming that this would be over Comcast's current PPV/VOD system, at least to start, and not IP (open or closed).  Anyone have any more info or thoughts about this?

Nothing to see here, move along.

There never was a bubble.  This is not the bubble you are looking for.  Move along.

What the researchers found was that, in a random sample, nearly half of companies that received venture funding in 1999 are still in business today.

While I can follow the reasoning that TechDirt is employing here, I have a hard time letting that part of me rationalize pets.com, eToys.com, and flooz.com.

On the other hand, I miss kozmo.com [dead link].  RIP Kozmo, I hardly knew ye.  :(

Brains? Me like brains.

 I found this quote from the Brit's Times Online quite amusing:

Advanced Micro Devices has revealed a new computer chip series that carries four processing cores — or brains

I realize that this isn't worth of a blog post, but no one reads this but the Google spider anyway (hi Larry & Sergey!).

Bad Times at the Gumball 3000

As the owner of one of a Gumball-esque car, and frequenter of rally and drive events, I can say that this really sucks.  The folks who go on these events never want to see anyone get hurt, but it doesn't always ensure that they act accordingly.

So now two folks that were just out, most likely trying to make ends meet while cruising around in their red VW have died.  Yeah, no one is speeding right Maxamillion?  Not to mention that they waited for over a day to release a forthcoming statement.  What a mess.

Drive safe, and more importantly, man up and don't leave the scene when you dump your car into some poor hump's Golf.

Montenegro, Gumball 3000 - The works on the road slowed the rich men down

In the previous years these kind of accidents have happened, but also some smaller incidents when the extravagant starts have been chasing with the police, when they have run away from local gangs, and beat with the peasants because of the damaged fields.

Gumball's 3,000 miles of motoring madness

The Gumball 3000 has been dubbed the "world’s maddest, fastest and most eccentric" car rally.

A matter of time: One killed, one injured, Gumball cancelled

This year's edition of The Gumball 3000 is no more, after a hit-and-run accident in Macedonia left a man dead and his wife in the hospital in critical condition. Nick Morley (who was driving) and Matthew McConville, in a Techart 911 Turbo, crossed the center line and crashed into a Macedonian couple in a VW Golf. [Picture of the crash scene]

Scumball 3000 Shows Us What The Scene Of A Heart Attack Looks Like

[Video of the crash scene]

 

Technorati tags: cars, gumball 3000

CFL's = GOOD; Bad Reporting = BAD

Steven Milloy: sucks.  Media and bloggers repeating what they read: suck.  Misinformation: sucks.  Getting roped into it all: priceless.

So my previous post here spoke of an article (and set of articles and news) that told a tale of a CFL disaster in a poor woman's home - costing her two-large in order to fix.  But:

One indicator of Milloy's [the not-so-factual 'reporter'] trustworthiness on this issue is that he cites a newspaper, the Ellsworth American, as the source of his story about the $2000 cleanup bill, but neglects to mention that the article goes on at considerable length about how that was excessive and unnecessary, and discusses the official recommendations of the EPA and the Department of Environmental Protection, which are quite calm.

Thanks to the post over at Pharyngula to get it all straight.  I also like this read from treehugger.com.  See, you all are not dumber for having read this (but were for reading my previously incorrect post).  Cheers!