Hsieh Forbes Column: Would You Trust A Computer To Knock You Out?

My latest in Forbes: "Would You Trust A Computer To Knock You Out?"

Changing Tech Dominance

The Economist has a nice interactive chart showing how tech dominance has shifted over the years.  (Via Maximizing Progress.)

One Person's Junk Is Another Person's Treasure

"Woman drops off old Apple computer worth $200,000 at Silicon Valley recycling centre"

Li-Ion Battery Tips

"8 Essential Tips To Keep Your Phone's Battery Healthy". (Via H.R.)

New Cool Stuff From Google

"All the Cool Stuff Google Just Announced, Ranked by Coolness"

The Unrealized Vision Of Google Glass

"Lost Explorers: The unrealized vision of Google Glass"

Expensive Wine Is For Suckers

"Expensive wine is for suckers. This video shows why."

Router Placement

"The best place to put your router, according to physics"

Deep Learning Update

"New 'deep learning' technique enables robot mastery of skills via trial and error"

Why The Oldest Person In The World Keeps Dying

"Why The Oldest Person In The World Keeps Dying". (Via Marginal Revolution.)

AI Safety Update

Wired: "This Artificial Intelligence Pioneer Has a Few Concerns"

Absorbing PC Games

"These 20 deep, absorbing PC games will eat days of your life"

Thoughts Can Fuel Some Deadly Brain Cancers

NPR: "Thoughts Can Fuel Some Deadly Brain Cancers". ** shudder **

10 Ways Domestic Cats and Big Cats Are Similar

"10 Ways Domestic Cats and Big Cats Are Similar"

Computing Power Over Time

"The Trillion Fold Increase In Computing Power, Visualized". (Via H.R.)

Question Of The Day

Question of the day from Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok:

"Should the Minimum Wage be called the 'Robot Employment Act'?"

Watson Update

Interesting update on what IBM's Watson has been doing.

From GMSV:

Now, IBM tells New York Magazine, Watson has been “applied in 75 industries in 17 countries, and tens of thousands of people are using its applications in their own work.” Watson has written a recipe book, is working as a Wall Street analyst, been trained in molecular biology, and dabbled in oil exploration. One company is reportedly using Watson to create a dinosaur toy that talks and responds to its owner.

Greaseless Bearings

"New Greaseless Bearings Spin With 10 Times Less Friction"

Salary Negotiation Tactics

"You are almost certainly starting salary negotiations wrong"

Light Posting

Admin note: Again, posting may be irregular for the rest of this week due to external obligations.

"Living" Concrete

CNN: "The 'living concrete' that can heal itself"

Hollywood Linguist

"How the Languages in Game of Thrones, Defiance, and Thor Were Created"

Moore's Law Turns 50

NYT has a nice interview with Gordon Moore: "Moore's Law Turns 50".

It's amazing the progress we've made in that time. Plus I liked this tidbit at the end:

“The importance of the Internet surprised me,” said Moore. “It looked like it was going to be just another minor communications network that solved certain problems. I didn’t realize it was going to open up a whole universe of new opportunities, and it certainly has. I wish I had predicted that.”

Wolfram Image ID

"Wolfram's New AI Will Try to Identify Any Image You Give It".

Eventually, something like this will make radiologists like me obsolete. (Via H.R.)

Future of Humanity Institute

"Meet the people out to stop humanity from destroying itself"

Immune Privilege

"How Viruses Hide Inside Your Eyeballs, Even When You're Not Sick". (Via H.R.)

Giant Hologram?

Is our universe a giant hologram?

1977 Article On Apple Computer

This 1977 article may be the first news article written about Apple Computer, at Kilobaud magazine.

Not Aliens, Just Someone Reheating Their Lunch

"Mystery radio signals that baffled astronomers for years came from the staff microwave"

More Health Benefits Of Coffee

NYT: "More Consensus on Coffee’s Benefits Than You Might Think"

Emotion Detecting Eyeglasses

WSJ: "Microsoft Awarded Patent for Emotion Detecting Eyeglasses"

[Off Topic] Hsieh Forbes Column: FDA Vs. Free Speech

[Off topic] My latest Forbes column appeared last Friday: "Drug Company Amarin Stands Up For Free Speech Against FDA".

Humans Still (Barely) Better Than Robots At Poker

"Poker Pros Win Man vs. Machine Showdown - But Not by Much".

Alex Tabarrok also notes:

The computer bluffed and bet against the best poker players the world has ever known and over 80,000 hands the humans were not able to discover an exploitable flaw in the computer’s strategy.  Thus, a significant win for the computer.  Moreover, the computers will get better at a faster pace than the humans.

Self-Driving Semi Truck

"The Very First Self-Driving Semi Truck Has Hit the Road"

1690s Advice Column Questions

"The Questions People Asked Advice Columnists in the 1690s"

Tim Urban Talks With Elon Musk

Fun interview with Elon Musk by Tim Urban of WaitButWhy.

Tech Support Tales

"'In The Shower Eating Cherries' and More Tales of Nightmare IT Calls"

Uber for Doctor Housecalls

NYT: "An Uber for Doctor Housecalls". (Via H.R.)

Words The English Language Needs

"Fantastic words with no easy translation in other languages".

My favorite:

Tretår (Swedish): On its own, “tår” means a cup of coffee and “patår”  is a refill, so “tretår” is a second refill, or a “threefill.

Cloaking Update

"We've Just Developed a Portable Cloaking Device"

Steerable Bullets

"Watch DARPA's magic bullets change course to hit moving targets"

Beautiful Antarctica

"This Stunning Drone Footage Will Convince You Antarctica’s the Most Gorgeous Place on Earth"

Antarctica from Kalle Ljung on Vimeo.

Cat Language

"Your Cat Is Trying to Talk to You"

How To Control Someone Else's Arm With Your Brain

Greg Gage: How to control someone else's arm with your brain". (Via H.R.)

Every Question In Every Q&A Session Ever

"Every Question In Every Q&A Session Ever"