Mean machines
Grok Headline matches for Mean machines
Gambling Machines Much Safer Than
Electronic Voting Machines
Gambling Machines Much Safer Than
Electronic Voting Machines
06/14/2004 03:33 AMIt appears that making sure gambling is fair is much more important
than making sure our elections are fair. One of the defenses pulled
out by those who want to keep going with existing electronic voting
machines is that no one seems to complain about electronic gambling
machines. Perhaps that's because
electronic gambling
machines are held to a much higher standard than electronic voting
machines. This NY Times editorial lists six different ways in which
gambling machines in Nevada are under much more scrutiny than
electronic voting machines. These include things like the fact that
the state requires copies of the source code of all electronic
gambling software, as well as their stringent licensing procedure for
any company that wishes to sell electronic gambling machines.
Employees of any such company have to go through background checks to
make sure they have no criminal record. Considering that Diebold had
convict
ed felons involved with their electronic voting systems - you
wonder if a similar licensing procedure might make sense for voting
machines as well.
2 mln fax machines and combo machines
were sold in the US in 2004
2 mln fax machines and combo machines
were sold in the US in 2004
03/27/2005 05:50 AMZDNet Mar 27 2005 10:35AM GMT
Voting Machines Vs. Slot Machines
Voting Machines Vs. Slot Machines
12/04/2003 01:10 PMSlashdot Dec 4 2003 12:50PM ET
How many Google machines
How many Google machines
05/03/2004 02:23 AMGoogle's bajillion servers. Everywhere I've worked, they never have
enough servers. Apart from Time Out, I guess. They had enough. Oh yeah
.. How many systems does Google have? ..
Quote
tnl.net/blog/entry/How_many_Google_machines
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site | 5 links
Speaking machines!
Speaking machines!
01/04/2004 01:14 PM A brief
history of speech synthesis : an interesting read, with photos and
sound samples!
Rise of the Machines
Rise of the Machines
04/09/2004 04:01 PMConn Hallinan, an "analyst" for Foreign Policy in Focus, a
liberal/left-wing
think tank, has written a strange agitprop
piece on military robotics. In it he explains that the DARPA Grand
Challenge and military robots in general are a "coldly calculated"
conservative plot masterminded by Bush, a "powerful circle of arms
manufactures", and an "empire-minded group of politicians" to develop
"Frankenstein
killing machines" that target civilians. His article also appears
in the Asia Times
online with an amusing illustration that adds to the humor.
"How many Google machines"
"How many Google machines"
05/03/2004 09:24 AMSegways May Become War Machines
Segways May Become War Machines
12/02/2003 06:32 AMA Pentagon program drafts inventor Dean Kamen's self-balancing
scooters, hoping to create an army of battlefield helpers capable of
transporting injured troops and hauling soldiers' gear.
Inferior machines
Inferior machines
11/12/2003 10:24 PM
Les
Orchard: I see that Mark Pilgrim has posted a picture of
himself as a kid, working at an Apple //e. Based on what I wrote
this past Summer about being Newly Digital in 1983, I would guess
that around the same time I was working on a Commodore 64, and I
would have teased him in a relentlessly geeky way about his clearly
inferior machine.
Bah. In 1983, I was working on a
3033. (16 MB RAM, 4.7
MIPs).
Of course, this probably could have been replaced with a
Palm Pilot Tungsten W...
Better Answering Machines
Better Answering Machines
12/05/2003 02:11 AMMy old faithful answering machine is a dinosaur and I had to re-record
my message on it this morning for...
Rage Against the Machines
Rage Against the Machines
12/25/2004 04:45 PMSlashdot Dec 24 2004 7:37PM GMT
How Many Google Machines, Really?
How Many Google Machines, Really?
05/02/2004 12:51 PMWhen machines breed
When machines breed
08/12/2004 09:23 AMEvolvable hardware -- gadgets that design themselves -- can get the
job done, even if humans have no idea how they do it.
Sex Machines At Work
Sex Machines At Work
08/29/2004 03:57 PM
Xeni Jardin:
Online photo gallery with
portraits of garage-geek inventors of "sex machines" -- and the people
who use them -- shot by photographer Timothy Archibold. I hatehatehate
the site's 1.5MB gorilla Flash interface, and I hate that I can't copy
and paste some of the project notes for you here in text. But the
images and the subject matter they detail (online communities that
connect people who imagine, build, and use these machines) are
fascinating. At left: "Scott at his kitchen table, Sex Machines
Unlimited."
Link
(NSFW). (
Thanks, alfie)
Getting Misty Over Old Machines
Getting Misty Over Old Machines
08/19/2004 03:21 PMYou ever get sentimental over an old computer? One that you just
can't throw away?
Back in 1998, I worked part-time at Best Buy so Annie and I could
pay cash for our wedding the next summer. That Christmas season was
the year a complete PC system (computer, monitor, printer) broke the
$1,000 barrier.
I still remember the doors opening on Sunday mornings to a throng
people nearly drooling at the prospect of a system for $999. You used
to have to hold up the weekly flier, point to a package, and say,
"Everyone who wants this, go over there, and, " — pointing at a
different one — "everyone who wants this, come over here." It
was crazy.
Anyway, sometime during that job, someone returned a Compaq
Presario 4508 mini-tower, and I persuaded the inventory guy to let me
buy it as-is for $200. The box said it was 200 MHz, but BIOS told me
233. It had 24MB of RAM, but only 1MB of video memory, so I dropped
$20 on a used 4MB video card, taking up one of the two PCI slots in
the process. The hard drive was a monstrous 4.3GB.
That computer served me well for almost four years. I managed to
cram 48MB of memory in it — the most it would take (the case
design was so poor that adding memory was a 30-minute operation). It
ran Windows 95 for all those years until I got a new machine (a 1 GHz
Athlon, which I still use today) and I put Linux on it briefly. I
remember installing Office 2000, then having to uninstall it because
it was just too slow.
About three years ago, I passed the computer on to my
mother-in-law. She's one of those folks who does two things: surfs
the Web and sends email. In that capacity, the little machine has
worked great, until now.
I think it's finally started to die. The hard drive cycles
endlessly, and every once in a while it reboots to Safe Mode, a
phenomenon I can only attribute to some obscure bit of hardware going
to pieces so that it doesn't respond correctly on reboot. I have it
running Windows 98 SE, stripped down to virtually nothing. Everything
that can be removed has been, but it's still using 10MB more memory
than it has immediately after rebooting.
I'm going to start looking for another machine for my
mother-in-law, but I just can't bear to throw the old Presario away.
It's chugged along for seven years now, and enabled the sending and
receiving of countless baby pictures. I'm a little sentimental about
the old bird, and I think I'll just store it away in the basement for
a while in the hopes that my wife never finds it and sells it at a
garage sale one day.
Click here to comment on this entry
Will Perspex Machines Lead to AI?
Will Perspex Machines Lead to AI?
02/05/2005 09:44 PMAccording to a University of
Reading press release, Dr. James
Anderson of Reading's Department
of Computer Science has developed a new way to write computer
programs. Instead of code, he uses a geometrical structure that he
calls
a perspective simplex or Perspex. A Perspex exists in Perspex space
and,
it is claimed, can do anything a computer program written as
instructions of code can do. The developer alleges the Pespex
"provides one solution to the centuries-old problem of how mind
arises in physical bodies" and
"provides a model that is
accurate
enough for a robot to use to describe its own mind and body". Dr.
Anderson details his invention in "The Book of
Paragon" which provides a detailed
explanation of the Perspex Machine (PDF format). Meanwhile, the
University website has further information under the more mundane name
of
"New
Artificial Neuron" and includes the bizarre statement "In theory,
perspex neurons could process an infinitely long program and thereby
become omniscient, but, in practice, physical limitations force them
to
work only with finite programs".
Distributed State Machines
Distributed State Machines
03/14/2005 05:06 PMState machines are a fundamental concept in computer science.
The
concept is simple: sequentially feed a series of inputs, in a
particular
order, to a black box in order to obtain a desired result. ...
Right-Click, add Machines to a
Collection!
Right-Click, add Machines to a
Collection!
07/29/2004 08:21 PMen gets pwned by the god of virtual
machines
en gets pwned by the god of virtual
machines
12/18/2003 08:01 AM55 operating systems on a Powerbook ..
Seite
kernelthread.com/mac/vpc
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site | 7 links
Next News: Rise of the machines
Next News: Rise of the machines
04/22/2004 02:41 PMUS News Apr 22 2004 7:11PM GMT
Rise of the (sewing) machines
Rise of the (sewing) machines
09/22/2004 10:52 PMSympatico Sep 23 2004 2:48AM GMT
Vending Machines of Japan
Vending Machines of Japan
04/30/2004 11:54 AM
Vending Machines
of Japan PhotoMann recently decided to 'collect' images of unique
vending machines found in Japan. They are everywhere. Estimates
suggest there are 5.6 million vending machines which works out to be
one for every 20 people in Japan. Sales from vending machines in 2000
totaled $56 billion! The most common are drink and cigarette machines
followed by machines with pornography
Legal Rights for Machines
Legal Rights for Machines
12/27/2004 03:29 PMA new LegalAffairs.org
article calls for discussion on the topic of granting
legal rights to machines. While this is old hat to science fiction
readers, real world lawyers are only begining to realize the problems
of
denying rights to intelligent machines that other intelligent
creatures have. The article describes a mock trial held last year by
the
International Bar Association in San Francisco in which the plaintiff,
BINA48, an
intelligent machine, asked for legal representation when it learned
that the corporation it was owned by had plans to shut it down. With
animal cruelty laws on the books protecting creatures much less
intelligent than itself, it reasoned that it should have the standing
to
argue for its rights in court. Typically for today's court system the
jury sided overwhelmingly with the plaintiff but the judge overruled
the
jury and set aside their verdict. A complete
transcript of the trial can be found online.
Sexing Up Green Machines
Sexing Up Green Machines
11/04/2003 06:05 PMtechtv Nov 4 2003 5:31PM ET
am3 Anime Vending Machines
am3 Anime Vending Machines
07/08/2004 08:44 AM
Thanks to Tyler
and Mohammed and everybody else that sent in pictures of these am3
Anime Vending machines for the Advance Movie player. I'm fairly sure
that eh one of the left (the Pokemon-branded one) is the newer model,
while the one on the right is the older, less full-featured model that
has been out for a while. I love that in an all-digital machine,
they've somehow still found it necessary to incorporate a giant crank
dial on the front.
Look - am3?GBA [Watch.Impress]
Look - Product
Page
Related
am3 Sets Up Anime Vending Machines
for Game Boy Advance [Gizmodo]
Machines of Loving Grace
Machines of Loving Grace
11/04/2003 12:06 PMMachines of Loving Grace, an early to mid 90s Industrial Rock group,
makes their appearance on the iTMS. First up is their last release...
China had first complex machines
China had first complex machines
06/10/2004 05:56 PMCraftsmen in ancient China were using complex machines to work
jewellery long before such devices are traditionally thought to have
been invented.
Print on the old RISO machines
Print on the old RISO machines
04/15/2004 11:43 AMIf you are using an old RISOgraph with OS 9 because the company that
makes RISO claims that the old printers will not work with the new
drivers, don't upgrade to their new $30,000 printer just yet. Instead,
use the old RISO w...
Rise of the Machines at Toyota
Rise of the Machines at Toyota
01/06/2005 03:21 PMForget low-cost labor. Toyota's testing no-cost labor in Japan.
Botnet with 10,000 Machines Shut Down
Botnet with 10,000 Machines Shut Down
09/10/2004 11:53 PM"Vending Machines of Japan"
"Vending Machines of Japan"
05/06/2004 09:52 PMSteamboy Rages Against Machines
Steamboy Rages Against Machines
03/22/2005 05:13 PMAnime legend Katsuhiro Otomo explores the corrupting power of science
in Steamboy, a sci-fi fable set in Victorian England. The ambitious
animated film is a gorgeous action movie, though ultimately
overwhelmed by its own machinery. By Jason Silverman.
Fla. vote machines flawed
Fla. vote machines flawed
06/14/2004 06:15 PMUSA Today Jun 14 2004 9:54PM GMT
Japanese vending-machines
Japanese vending-machines
05/05/2004 12:52 PM
Great page with photos and notes on vending machines that can be found
in and around Tokyo.
Link
(
Thanks, Infospigot!)
'Remove' school vending machines
'Remove' school vending machines
04/22/2004 06:47 PMMachines selling crisps and fizzy drinks should be taken out of
schools, parents say.
California Bans All E-Voting Machines
California Bans All E-Voting Machines
04/30/2004 07:15 PMWe knew that California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley understood
the real issues involved with complaints concerning electronic voting
machines. After all, he was the one last year who said that all
electronic voting machines in California
should
have a paper trail. Now, following a recommendation last week
concerning
problem
s with the way Diebold managed their e-voting machines, Shelley
has gone even beyond the recommendations to say that
all
electronic voting machines will be banned from the state, unless
they implement a certifiable paper trail or put in place a specific
list of 23 security measures. At the end of the article, he also
appears to indicate that he's asking the state Attorney General to
file charges against Diebold for
knowin
gly breaking the law.
Compare The Software Inventory of Two
Machines
Compare The Software Inventory of Two
Machines
08/27/2004 01:58 PMDiebold voting machines vulnerability
Diebold voting machines vulnerability
08/31/2004 08:20 AM
Cory Doctorow:
Diebold's voting machines have a stunning security defect:
Manipulation technique found in the Diebold central tabulator -- 1,000
of these systems are in place, and they count up to two million votes
at a time.
By entering a 2-digit code in a hidden location, a second set of votes
is created. This set of votes can be changed, so that it no longer
matches the correct votes. The voting system will then read the totals
from the bogus vote set. It takes only seconds to change the votes,
and to date not a single location in the U.S. has implemented security
measures to fully mitigate the risks.
This program is not "stupidity" or sloppiness. It was designed and
tested over a series of a dozen version adjustments.
Link
(
Thanks, Michael!)
E-Voting Machines Get Official Thumbs
Down
E-Voting Machines Get Official Thumbs
Down
04/22/2004 06:53 PMAP: California Panel: Don't use Diebold
touch-screen voting machines . By an 8-0 vote, the state's
Voting Systems and Procedures Panel recommended that Shelley cease the
use of the machines, saying that Texas-based Diebold has performed
poorly in California and its machines malfunctioned in the state's
March 2 primary election, turning away many voters in San Diego
County.
Okay, now we're getting somewhere.
The evidence has been building steadily against Diebold, and now an
important panel has advised the state to hold an irresponsible
company's feet to the fire. But there's a much bigger issue to
consider: Are
any of the voting-machine companies' black
boxes to be trusted?
The answer is No. Maybe these things work right, but maybe they don't.
We can't afford to take this kind of a chance with our elections.
California -- and every other state -- should insist that these
machines not be used until they have a voter-verifiable paper trail.
That's the only way to restore even a tiny bit of trust to a broken
system.
Better yet, we should move to systems like the one developed by the
Open Voting
Consortium, which is developing a system that is a) open; b) runs
on cheap hardware; and c) can be verified to prevent improper election
results from fraud or coding mistakes.
Let's fix this mess, soon. Meanwhile, a cheer to the California panel
that has told Diebold what needed to be said.
Grok Description matches for Mean machines
GrokA matches for Mean machines
Mean machines
