ilya187

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• Commented on Test Case
  but that Uber had turned off that part of the intel software on the car involved in the incident Serious question -- why would Uber do that? What possible gain is in turning it off?...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  Looking at Trump I wonder just how hard it would be to sell Chinese-style managed democracy as a solution. Sell to whom, exactly?...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  I can think of at least one for Solar system - OGH Duh! Although "Saturn's Children" has rather different definition of the word "robotic" than extrapolation from space programs circa 2000 would imply ;) At least two if you include...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  nobody thinks of Facebook's automatic image tagging or Siri's ability to generate music playlists as AI, "Nobody"? My Master degree is in AI (natural language processing, to be exact), and I certainly consider the above to be AI....
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  that killed the near-future space exploration stories in the 2000s (most authors couldn't pivot to an all-robotic solar system exploration reality) Only most? Did ANY author manage to do that?...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  Actually, it does make sense. A missile attempting a course correction within a light-second or so of the target would be immediately noticed and destroyed with a laser. So yes, that long slow duel is much more like indirect artillery...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  "Redemption Ark" by Alastair Reynolds has a good example of a long slow battle between two starships. Both are moving at relativistic speed but are almost motionless with respect to each other, and are several light-hours apart. Both can see...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  They probably would if you were inside one. Neat detail about "The Expanse": At the first glance it looks like yet another "space battle with sound" bad design -- explosions in vacuum which go bang, and spaceships which roar. But...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  Of course, there is still some giant biological handwave required to explain how it is that the same physical form as pertains to Earth humans has evolved all over the galaxy. Banks answered this question, indirectly. The actual question he...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  I recall only one mention of whaling in all of Song of Ice and Fire books, and the whaler was from Ibben -- an island north of Essos. But they cannot be all that rare because Tyrion mentions "an Ibbenese...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  Niven was born in 1938; he is not quite 80 yet....
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  Regarding kings trying to rob Iron Bank: Think of the other unique institution in City of Braavos. No doubt Iron Bank has some special arrangement with the Faceless Men, for just such eventuality....
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  "Why don't they seem to be concerned that they aren't going to have another harvest for years? They're all going to starve, aren't they?" My understanding is that in Westeros storing excess food for the Long Winter is such standard...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  I see. I never read "Poseidon's Wake" because I was not terribly impressed by the previous book, "On the Steel Breeze". That's part of the reason I asked specifically about the Inhibitors universe, which is much more developed than "Poseidon's...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  Also, I read your quotes phrase several times, and I have no idea what it means....
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  Which book is that?...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  What do you -- everyone here, not just allynh, -- think about Alastair Reynolds' worldbuilding? Particularly his "Inhibitors" series?...
• Commented on Why I barely read SF these days
  I am very sorry to hear it, Charlie....
• Commented on The crazy years
  There are so many little details that never got written down in the blueprints, and were kept in the heads of the builders. There were seals that did not fit unless you got Mary with the tiny fingers to lube...
• Commented on The crazy years
  Not sure why you chose 2.5 km range, but the number of people in the world who can hit anything at that distance is very very small. And weapons which can hit anything at that distance are expensive. Anyone who...
• Commented on The crazy years
  I an fairly sure Nojay was being sarcastic...
• Commented on Dude, you broke the future!
  find some place in the US (or elsewhere) that has a serious perchlorate issue Do such places actually exist on Earth?...
• Commented on Dude, you broke the future!
  I wondered about it too -- all I can tell is what Lanier said in an interview....
• Commented on Dude, you broke the future!
  I don’t see how this was a decision as such According to Jaron Lanier (see my post #107) it was a decision, in which he was personally involved. The alternative to advertising model was subscription model (you pay Google, Facebook,...
• Commented on Dude, you broke the future!
  Another thing Pigeon seems to not recognize (or to refuse recognize) is that "smartphone" != "latest and greatest". Pretty much all the "stage 2" functions can be done with a $40 smartphone if not less, which is what most parents...
• Commented on Dude, you broke the future!
  Charlie -- Few weeks ago I listened to an interview with Jaron Lanier. He said almost word for word what you just did, especially the part about "fundamentally flawed, terrible design decision back in 1995... monetizing eyeballs via advertising revenue."...
• Commented on Unforeseen Consequences and that 1929 vibe
  Are you sure it will not have the same effect as Russian dashcam videos of people very obviously throwing themselves in front of a car in order to get insurance payment? (They do not get paid, and entire world laughs...
• Commented on Unforeseen Consequences and that 1929 vibe
  time delays due to the light-speed limitation would make it a bitch of a problem to keep the records consistent between solar systems. Do you really want to wait 4 years for the electronic funds transfer to arrive in your...
• Commented on Burn The Programmer!
  True. But prior to modern communications, "us vs. them" was actually rational position. If the minority who ARE rational drops that position, it is still an improvement....
• Commented on Burn The Programmer!
  It also strikes me that, at a social scale, increased communications capabilities reduce overall trust, both through overt surveillance, and through reduced reliance on trust. (This is a hypothesis, I may well be wrong.) I think you are right --...