paul-francis-harrison [launchpad.net]

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• Commented on Crib sheet: Singularity Sky
  Machine learning has always been kinda disappointing, and will probably continue to be disappointing even as it gradually warms up to human equivalent capabilities, like a magician when you know the trick. However, computations can give surprising results, see: Mandelbrot...
• Commented on The Anthropic Stupidity Hypothesis
  Maybe we're close to what's physically possible, intelligence-wise. From here on out it looks pretty much like humans, smart fast healthy humans. There's no further qualitative leap in intelligence available. No, too comforting, we need a gesture to the macabre...
• Commented on The Anthropic Stupidity Hypothesis
  The human species is not intelligent, intelligence is not something that species do. Human individuals have some level of intelligence. Even a group of humans larger than a small number is not well characterized as intelligent, its behaviour bears only...
• Commented on Women in SF and Fantasy
  Right, so imagining a fantastical future in which vat-grown mycoprotein can be bought at your local supermarket (and using this fantasy as an arms-length proxy for the real question of how to write female characters in a historical context). Say...
• Commented on Women in SF and Fantasy
  Just want to note that Greg Egan's treatment of this topic in his Orthogonal series impresses me. Using fantasy to distort/turn up the dial on the commonplace until it becomes visible, horrific. I think it works because the viewpoint characters...
• Commented on What are the big issues of 2013 going to be?
  (whistles and tries to look innocent) So, um, there's a mob called D-Wave that will sell you a 128 qubit quantum adiabatic computer if you have the cash for it. Ten to one it quietly fizzles, but if they're onto...
• Commented on What are the big issues of 2013 going to be?
  I'm sorry, this topic is a trigger when it comes to the uncomfortable peace people come to with the world. Maybe that's why India has gone so long as a society without confronting it, and why we've not confronted other...
• Commented on What are the big issues of 2013 going to be?
  I'd like to address Charlie's point about the India rape protests, from a tangent. So I think I've worked out why I like reading Charlie Stross and Peter Watt's books. It's the dark background, the cold and uncaring universe. Anything...
• Commented on Science & Technology, Working Together
  Visit your local hackerspace, I guarantee they are doing cool things....
• Commented on The ticking clock, stopped
  Not sure if this would encourage me to find time to learn Category Theory, or make me put it off indefinitely....
• Commented on 2512
  Good old wagon train to Mars. Not going to happen, not going to be remotely like that. First set up a complete bioindustrial complex. Then send people. The people just need to pack enough sandwiches to get to Mars, then...
• Commented on National Talk About Something Else Day
  Just ABS plastic. I suspect a plastic-wood composite would clog the extrusion nozzle, especially at the printing resolution I need. If I want to be a bit old-fashioned, I can CNC-mill from wood....
• Commented on National Talk About Something Else Day
  Found someone at the hackerspace to print my shawm on their frankenprinter, and now I'm blasting the neighbours medieval style. Someone has to live the dream!...