Got auto updated onto my PC just now. It has tabs whose sizes and alignments changes when you drag them towards the edges of your screen.
I run Vista, and what I just described was being touted as one of Windows 7’s awesome features.
Take that, Microsoft!
As an ardent Sci-fi guy, i’d read about the concept of Technological Singularity (called other things in other places) a few times in the past. Did a quick recap today. Here goes, for posterity!
Technological Singularity is the event which will occur when we build intelligent machines capable of building machines more intelligent than themselves. It helps to think of it this way, in broad conceptual terms. If a machine could invent a machine more intelligent than itself, such a machine could invent one even more intelligent and so forth, growing in an exponential manner. This will lead, eventually, into the creation of a Super Intelligence.
There are many things which suggest that we are fast approaching the singularity (should I call it ‘The Singularity’?). We are already beating Moore’s law, which stated that we would double the number of transistors on a chip every 18 months. Media is cheaper than ever, and becoming cheaper at astonishing speeds. 2TB Hard Disks?? Come On!!
From buying PCs with 400 MB disks, to buying 4 GB SD cards, which fit in my cell phone, took 10 years. Estimates show, that in the next ten years, we will have postage stamp size storage, which will be able to store every movie ever made! Chew on that for while.
And the computers are getting better and better at mimicking the brain. Futurists say that by 2029, artificial intelligences will be able to pass the Turing Test. Essentially, this means that for all practical purposes, such an intelligence would be indistinguishable from a human intelligence! How far till the Singularity from there?
It may seem too fantastic to be real, but so did handheld computers, mapping the genome, thought controlled machines and so many other things which are very much a reality today.
Which begs the question: How will we adapt? What about the organizations which define our society? Businesses, universities, religion?
See you in the future :)
If anyone needed proof about my Geekiness. Had to prepare some very structured documents for work. Needed to take a brain dump, so i used xMind. This is about half complete. This makes me a happy man :)
As always, i still maintain that i’m one of the luckiest people I know :). Read an interesting article today about how being Lucky is a skill which can be learnt.
The article is from 6 years back, got it on Hacker News today. It lists three easy techniques to maximize good fortune. More like three observations about lucky people:
- Lucky people tend to respect hunches, intuition etc. Funny, coz this is what my twitter bio reads: “I overanalyze small decisions and take big decisions on an impulse… works for me!”
- Lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives
- Lucky people tend to see positives even in their misfortunes
And a bonus fourth point (from me):
- Fortunate people tend to acknowledge that they are, indeed, fortunate.
Good read, that article. Wonder what its doing in the technology section of the telegraph though!
*As part of my endeavour to make the world a better place :)*
Two steps:
- Go at times when the saloon will be almost empty (Wednesday afternoon, Saturday early evening… that kind of a thing)
- Be nice to the guy who is going to cut you hair
I went to ‘Famous’ Hair Cutting saloon the other day, followed (my own) great advice and got treated like a prince!
Examples of being treated like a prince:
- Cold cloth on face (usually reserved for when you take the head massage)
- Choice of shaving cream (what??!! The guy actually asked me Old Spice or Gillette. Lolz)
- After the barbaric practice of rubbing bloody alum on my scarred face, i got an ice cube rubbed on my face. (Seriously!)
First time I tipped someone at the barbers!
From this post on Reddit:
“You can’t reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into”
“Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.” (lolz)
“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” - Bertrand Russell
“The plural of anecdote is not data.” (majorlolz)
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain (the undisputed)
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” Mark Twain (strikes again!)
“A man without a god is like a fish without a bicycle.” (death by laughter)
“Give credit where credit is due” - Anon (get it?)
I’ve turned over a new ‘leaf’. Started drinking Green Tea, no sugar, no milk. Supposed to be Uber healthy!
New Facebook Inbox crashes FF. I close FF, but the process still runs. #Zombie #FAIL
(via palahniukandchocolate)
Friends gone for a Hukka + Booze party to Borivali. Had work so didn’t join them (wanna keep tomorrow free at least for some time). But now every 10 minutes I keep thinking ‘Damn! I wonder what they’re doing!’
‘Damn! I wonder what they’re doing!’
I should be making that presentation. And that blog post!
*poof*
