Sunday, April 07, 2019

Orchid


17 comments:

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    1. I don't think it's apples and apples to suggest that we should allow self-driving cars to be imperfect BECAUSE we allow 16 year olds to drive. A human being has a powerful will to live. A machine does not.

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    2. Several months ago I was on a panel at a science fiction convention that addressed the topic, "Should Self-aware AIs Be Given Citizenship." What we mostly talked about was, "If a machine claims to be self-aware, is there any way to tell it really is?" And the conclusion was that every possible criterion we or the audience could think of had exceptions. "The future is going to be messy."

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    3. listener ~~ If I'm going to be on the highway -- and, unfortunately, I can't see any alternative for the foreseeable future -- I want to safest driver possible. And we both know that humans are fallible and make mistakes -- mistakes that kill not only them but their passengers. Self-driving cars should be better. Much better. I don't know enough to be sure, but I get the feeling they already are. Not that this is setting a very high bar.

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  2. Just voted in DFA's pulse poll, selecting Sanders (1), Warren (2) and Buttigieg (3).

    Other Democracy for America members voted for:

    Bernie Sanders 46%
    Elizabeth Warren 11%
    Joe Biden 8%
    Pete Buttigieg 8%
    Mike Gravel 7%

    I was surprised to see Mike Gravel.

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  3. Guy walks into a bar and says, "I've got the greatest Trump joke!"

    A man comes forward and replies, "Now, wait a minute. I'm a trump supporter, and I happen to own this bar. You see my best customer over there? He's a trump supporter. You see my wife in the back doing the books? She's a trump supporter. You see my 275 pound bouncer at the door? He's a trump supporter. Now tell me something. Knowing all this, do you still want to tell this trump joke?"

    "Well," answered the guy, indignantly, "not if I have to explain it FOUR TIMES!"

    Susan Davidson

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  4. Nielsen at DHS is out. She was supposedly not planning on resigning when she went to her 5 o’clock meeting.
    DHS was a bad idea that is not getting any better.

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    1. I always hated the term "Homeland" that seemed to begin with Bush. It always struck too near Hitler's "Fatherland" for my comfort.

      Susan Davidson

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  5. Can Kamala Harris Win? [Click] A long read, but I think it is worthwhile.

    First quarter fundraising totals reported so far:
    Sanders: $18.2 million from 525,000 donors
    Harris: $12 million from 138,000 donors
    O’Rourke: $9.4 million from 218,000 contributions
    Buttigieg: $7 million from 158,550 donors
    Booker: $5.1 million from unstated number of donors
    Yang: $1.7 million from 80,000 donors

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    Replies
    1. Note the large difference in number of donors between first and second place. Seems to me, that tells the whole story.

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  6. Replies
    1. Holy ham hocks, Batman! Remind me not to eat pork from now on.

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  7. Poultry already does, Cat. Beef is due to follow, maybe by June. Guess there's still tuna fish.

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  8. Our great grandmothers knew to cook meat thoroughly...

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