AI Set to Replace Journalists

Posted on October 23, 2011 by DrQuickbeam

In the a recent RadioLab episode called Talking To Machines cognitive scientist Dr. Robert Epstein of Harvard describes how he started looking for a date online and found the most interesting and communicative responses to be coming from what was apparently a woman in Russia. After exchanging emails with her for months, he discovers to his surprise that it was only a chatbot all along. The AI behind the chatbot has come a long way since the simple one liners of old IRC bots, and soon they may be replacing human writers for some applications—- like autoworkers on a Ford line.

“WISCONSIN appears to be in the driver’s seat en route to a win, as it leads 51-10 after the third quarter. Wisconsin added to its lead when Russell Wilson found Jacob Pedersen for an eight-yard touchdown to make the score 44-3 …”

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Colbert: Anonymous Crushes HBGary

Posted on October 21, 2011 by DrQuickbeam

You may remember a few months back when Aaron Barr, CEO of computer security firm HBGary, tried to finger some of the key members of hacker collective Anonymous and got burned. Colbert lays out the context for that little drama as being part of a coverup by Bank of America involving the Justice Department and Wikileaks while at the same time lampooning everyone like a ninja. Check out the video and see for yourself.

[UPDATE]

On a related note, members of Anonymous have just claimed responsibility for taking down more than 40 underground childpr0n websites and releasing over 1500 user names to the public. Is Anonymous branching out in their mission or its it just a few members deciding to take the Robin Hood act to the next level?

Web Has Unexpected Effect on Journalism

Posted on March 17, 2008 by billycuts

The Internet has profoundly changed journalism, but not necessarily in ways that were predicted even a few years ago, a study on the industry released Sunday found.

It was believed at one point that the Net would democratize the media, offering many new voices, stories and perspectives. Yet the news agenda actually seems to be narrowing, with many Web sites primarily packaging news that is produced elsewhere, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s annual State of the News Media report.

Two stories – the war in Iraq and the 2008 presidential election campaign – represented more than a quarter of the stories in newspapers, on television and online last year, the project found.

Take away Iraq, Iran and Pakistan, and news from all of the other countries in the world combined filled up less than 6 percent of the American news hole, the project said.

Wired

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Electric Kool-Aid Talkshow with Tom Snyder

Posted on June 4, 2007 by billycuts

Jerry Garcia and Ken Kesey on the The Tomorrow Show

Life in 2025

Posted on May 18, 2007 by DrQuickbeam

In this Discovery Channel documentary, we get a prediction of what life could be like in the year 2025, thanks to technological advancements that are happening today. This 5 part docu-drama delves into wearable computers, immersive telecom, intelligent homes, emotive AI, robots, genetics, clean energy, entertainment, and education.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Read the full post "Life in 2025" (61 words, estimated 15 secs reading time)

The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism by Hakim Bey

Posted on April 12, 2007 by DrQuickbeam

Read the full post "The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism by Hakim Bey" (13787 words and 1 image, estimated 55:09 mins reading time)

What Are the Public Health Effects of Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising?

Posted on April 11, 2006 by DrQuickbeam

FEC: Blogs Are Just As Much “Press” As Everyone Else

Posted on November 21, 2005 by DrQuickbeam

This morning, the Federal Election Commission unanimously approved Advisory Opinion 2005-16, agreeing that the Fired Up! sites were entitled to the same press exception from campaign finance laws as are the New York Times, National Review and Sean Hannity.

The AO states in relevant part:

Fired Up qualifies as a press entity. Its websites are both available to the general public and are the online equivalent of a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication as described in the Act and Commission regulations.

—-

The Commission concludes that the costs Fired Up incurs in covering or carrying news stories, commentary, or editorials on its websites are encompassed by the press exception, and therefore do not constitute “expenditures” or “contributions” under the Act and Commission regulations.

This is a major victory for Internet free speech advocates.

FiredUp!

Top 100 Public Intellectuals

Posted on October 3, 2005 by horatioalgernon

Prospect and Foreign Policy’s list of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals is, of course, hugely dominated by the west and above all America. Thirty years ago Europe would still have been in contention and Marxists and Freudians would have been far more visible. Could this list in fact mark the end of the age of the great public intellectual?

Prospect Magazine

Vote for your favorite public intellectual! Who’s the nerd prom king?

TV for Nerds, by Nerds

Posted on September 8, 2005 by DrQuickbeam

NerdTV identifies its target audience with its very name and with its format: It’s not available over the air but rather through a free internet download.

The tech-focused interview show, created by pundit and PBS host Robert X. Cringely, is meant to be unlike anything on regular TV or elsewhere on the internet, where video tends to come in short clips.

Among the names lined up for coming weeks are former Sun Microsystems guru Bill Joy, Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak, computing pioneer Doug Engelbart and Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt.

Wired

Read the full post "TV for Nerds, by Nerds" (548 words, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Justices won’t reinstate liberal media ownership rules

Posted on June 13, 2005 by DrQuickbeam

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals from broadcast and newspaper groups that sought to restore government rules that would have eased restrictions on media ownership.

Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that threw out the Federal Communications Commission regulations as unjustified.

USA Today

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10 Steps to More Democratic Media

Posted on May 23, 2005 by DrQuickbeam

1. Call for less, not more, media consolidation: The bland homogeneity of commercial radio?dominated by Clear Channel, Infinity, et al?may soon be coming to TV sets and newsstands near you as media conglomerates seek to further consolidate their ownership of media outlets. Fox, NBC, Sinclair, and others are asking Congress to rewrite the Telecommunications Act, sweeping away limits on the number of media outlets they can control. You can join with Free Press, Common Cause, Mediachannel, Reclaim the Media, Media Tank, Media Alliance, and others opposing media consolidation (find contact information in the Resource Guide that follows).

Read the full post "10 Steps to More Democratic Media" (815 words, estimated 3:16 mins reading time)

Nerdshit

Category Archives: Media