this time it is a 'hmmm interesting"
Computer scientists have now figured out how to create timelapses by pulling data from photos that people share publicly on sites like Flickr and Picasa.
[youtube]wptzVm0tngc[/youtube]

and a link to the paper
[url]http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/timelapse/[/url]

It would be interesting to see this technique applied to public officials.

The most viral sheet music in existence? Probably not, but whatever.
 

[url]https://prestonparish.wordpress.com/tag/faeries-aire-and-death-waltz/[/url]

[YOUTUBE]Dxy4n0UT82o[/YOUTUBE]

[QUOTE=chalsall;397171]NEVER put out a oil fire with water![/QUOTE][url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boilover[/url]

[url=http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/22/technology/adult-friendfinder-hacked/]Adult dating site hack exposes sexual secrets[/url] | CNN

AFF users should look at the bright side: This will likely lead to them meeting lots of new 'friends' they didn't know they had - for no extra charge. (Unless you count the ensuing blackmail, that is.) "You've got (black)mail."

[QUOTE=ewmayer;402859]"You've got (black)mail."[/QUOTE][URL]http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/how-one-us-embassy-staffer-allegedly-sextorted-hundreds-from-his-desk/[/URL]

[url]http://ww2.kqed.org/futureofyou/2015/05/26/robotic-butt-helps-medical-students-learn-professional-intimacy/[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;403021][url]http://ww2.kqed.org/futureofyou/2015/05/26/robotic-butt-helps-medical-students-learn-professional-intimacy/[/url][/QUOTE]

"Do android rumps dream of taking electric dumps?".

(Apologies to the novelistic inspiration for [i]Blade Runner[/i].)

I didn't break it. I didn't even touch it. I was only looking.
 

[url]http://phys.org/news/2015-05-quantum-theory-weirdness.html[/url]

For the first time, I see Wikipedia down today.
[QUOTE]It's not just you! [url]http://en.wikipedia.org[/url] looks down from here[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;403021]http://.../futureofyou/2015... onal-intimacy/[/QUOTE]
[thinking]Hm... wondering what if that "professional" would be spelled a bit differently, with an "a" or with a "r", what my future would be for 2015...[/thinking]

(disclaimer: this is just making fun about how the links in clear are abbreviated on mersenneforum, no action needed, we never use links in clear, we always hide them behind some "click", "here", "this", or other text)
(edit: and for sure, the other is true, every time we see a clear link, we stay on it with the mouse until the "real" link appears in tooltip, before clicking. Maybe the clear link is just a mask for some nsfw/"onal-intimacy" sites... :razz:, like [URL="http://www.orsm.net"]http://www.wikipedia.org/links[/URL])

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/26/powerpoint-should-be-banned-this-powerpoint-presentation-explains-why/]PowerPoint should be banned. This PowerPoint presentation explains why[/url] - The Washington Post

The "Gettysburg Address PPT" is classic. :)

[QUOTE=retina;403061][url]http://phys.org/news/2015-05-quantum-theory-weirdness.html[/url][/QUOTE]

[Technicality of reply perhaps more suitable for 'Science News']

I dislike misleading anthropomorphizations like the ‘at which point does the object decide [whether to act as particle or wave]?’ used here – more accurate IMO is that the observer decides for the object, via the nature of the measurement made, whose effect is to entangle the quantum object with the observers’s – i.e. the macroscopic – frame of reference.

There are - again IMO - compelling quantum-informatic arguments to the effect that the phenomenon of nonseparable (in the sense that the resulting disorder is the statistically preferred direction of the collective dynamics) 'messy' entanglement among a host of individually quantum objects is what defines the fuzzy boundary between the quantum and the macroscopic.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;403165]I dislike misleading anthropomorphizations like the ‘at which point does the object decide [whether to act as particle or wave]?’ used here – more accurate IMO is that the observer decides for the object, via the nature of the measurement made, whose effect is to entangle the quantum object with the observers’s – i.e. the macroscopic – frame of reference.

There are - again IMO - compelling quantum-informatic arguments to the effect that the phenomenon of nonseparable (in the sense that the resulting disorder is the statistically preferred direction of the collective dynamics) 'messy' entanglement among a host of individually quantum objects is what defines the fuzzy boundary between the quantum and the macroscopic.[/QUOTE]The major problem I had with the article is the use of the word "after". They never stated in whose frame of reference they were considering when the choice was made [u]after[/u] "the atom had passed through the crossroads".

[QUOTE=retina;403166]The major problem I had with the article is the use of the word "after". They never stated in whose frame of reference they were considering when the choice was made [u]after[/u] "the atom had passed through the crossroads".[/QUOTE]

And how does one even meaningfully define such a location-specific event for an object which possesses quantum nonlocality?

[QUOTE=retina;403166]The major problem I had with the article is the use of the word "after". They never stated in whose frame of reference they were considering when the choice was made [u]after[/u] "the atom had passed through the crossroads".[/QUOTE]
I understood that phrase to mean that the choice and the passage were separated by a time-like interval with the choice event being located within the future light cone of the passing event. In consequence, all observers would agree on the time ordering, at least within the purview of special relativity. I think it reasonable to assume there were no significant closed timelike curves in the vicinity.

[QUOTE=xilman;403177]I understood that phrase to mean that the choice and the passage were separated by a time-like interval with the choice event being located within the future light cone of the passing event. In consequence, all observers would agree on the time ordering, at least within the purview of special relativity. I think it reasonable to assume there were no significant closed timelike curves in the vicinity.[/QUOTE]

That argument appears to assume spatial localizability of events, though - yes or no?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;403206]That argument appears to assume spatial localizability of events, though - yes or no?[/QUOTE]Yes.

The experiment was specifically designed to test that assumption.

[url=abc7news.com/technology/rare-apple-computer-worth-$200k-left-at-milpitas-recycling-center/758159/]Recycling company searches for owner of vintage Apple 1 computer worth $200,000[/url] | abc7news.com

[URL="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2929471/emerging-technology/fab-plants-are-now-making-superfast-carbon-nanotube-memory.html"]Fab plants are now making superfast carbon nanotube memory[/URL]


[QUOTE]A new type of non-volatile memory known as Nano-RAM (NRAM) -- it's based on carbon nanotube and sports DRAM speed -- is now being produced in seven fabrication plants in various parts of the world.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]One big advantage NRAM has over traditional NAND flash is its resistance to heat. It can withstand up to 300 degrees Celsius. Nantero claims its memory can last thousands of years at 85 degrees Celcius and has been tested at 300 degrees Celsius for 10 years. Not one bit of data was lost.[/QUOTE]

so no worry about high temperature when overclocking I guess. I'd think it would be more worrying for other components.

[QUOTE=http://www.computerworld.com/article/2929471/emerging-technology/fab-plants-are-now-making-superfast-carbon-nanotube-memory.html]According to Nantero, NRAM can withstand 10[sup]12[/sup] write cycles and 10[sup]15[/sup] read cycles -- an almost infinite number.[/QUOTE]Hahahahaha. Sure, "almost" infinite. :loco:

[QUOTE=retina;403434]Hahahahaha. Sure, "almost" infinite. :loco:[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I was also reading that when the link was posted, and laughing, considering that at the speed the RAM operates (say "only 100 kilo-writings per second", in a very "conservative" way), this 10^12 means [B][U]only[/U][/B] about 2500 hours of use. HOURS, not days.
OTOH, if you intend to use it as non-volatile, and compare it with actual FLASH-es, (10^4 to 10^7 writing cycles, depending on the application, MCU, IIC-EEPROM, Flash-Disk, SSD, etc), then 10^12 [B][U]is[/U][/B] infinite... hehe.

Edit: what it will be really good for, it will reduce the booting time for your devices, and therefore the "standby consumption". This because the device will not need to be "shut down" anymore, in the sense that "shut down" means today. The non-volatile memories we use today (all enumerated above, and more) are either slow, either too expensive. So, if you want a device for which you don't lose your shirt to buy it, then you get a slow one. "Slow" means that you need to wait seconds/minutes when your device starts. To have it starting faster, you put it in different levels of "stand by" or "sleep" or "doze" etc, a state where the device keeps the stuff (running applications, peripherals, etc) in volatile memory, which is much faster, but it needs to use some power for it. The consequence is that your battery gets discharged. But your device "powers on" instantly when you need it. But it consumes battery... Well... Then we have some compromise as "hibernate", which still powers the device completely off, but saves the contents of the RAM first, on some non-volatile memory. So next time when you start the device up it saves you the time of launching all the applications (but you still have to wait the time for boot up). Having a cheap, super-fast, non-volatile memory, will help you put the device in a... "in place hibernation" state, i.e. there will be nothing to save and restore, so your device will still boot up extremely fast, it will keep your running applications and peripherals between restarts, so you don't need to waste the time reconfiguring it every time you start it, and it will in the same time, drain no power from the battery for the time it will be off.

[QUOTE=LaurV;403436]... if you intend to use it as non-volatile, and compare it with actual FLASH-es, (10^4 to 10^7 writing cycles, depending on the application, MCU, IIC-EEPROM, Flash-Disk, SSD, etc), then 10^12 [B][U]is[/U][/B] infinite... hehe[/QUOTE]The 10[sup]15[/sup] read limit is also problematic. In that respect flash is infinite, but this NRAM is "almost" nothing in comparison.

Yes, indeed. you are right here.
(no, i didn't want to approve you, i just replied to say that I edited my former post... :razz:)

We are trying to identify this cool font. Any clues?

:help:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;403467]We are trying to identify this cool font. Any clues?

:help:[/QUOTE]

Looks like 1824 Overture sans serif to me.

[spoiler]Just kidding - haven't a clue, could be Cyrillic lettering from a Russian AA missile for all I know. (Hence my Tchaikovsky reference, subbing the trailing digits in the string for the Very Bad Year For The French Army In The East.)[/spoiler]

Looks like a Yamaha bike VIN number...

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;403467]We are trying to identify this cool font. Any clues?

:help:[/QUOTE]

closest thing I've found is a type of san serif font called [URL="http://www.fontspace.com/hypefonts/crushed"]crushed[/URL]: edit: okay maybe my eye thought it saw something it didn't.

[QUOTE=science_man_88;403398][URL="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2929471/emerging-technology/fab-plants-are-now-making-superfast-carbon-nanotube-memory.html"]Fab plants are now making superfast carbon nanotube memory[/URL]






so no worry about high temperature when overclocking I guess. I'd think it would be more worrying for other components.[/QUOTE]
The problem shows up when all this carbon nanotube/fiber starts showing up in landfills in large quantities. This stuff makes plastic look like the nancyboy of long-term(thousands of years) pollution. Plus, if any of the nanotubes start floating around because of, idk, a fire hitting an owner of nanotubes house, then everybody nearby possibly gets the joy of experiencing something way worse than asbestos in their lungs.

Nanotubes have a lot of potential, good and bad. We need to be damn careful as a society how we handle the technology that's coming out.

[QUOTE=jasong;403665]The problem shows up when all this carbon nanotube/fiber starts showing up in landfills in large quantities. This stuff makes plastic look like the nancyboy of long-term(thousands of years) pollution. Plus, if any of the nanotubes start floating around because of, idk, a fire hitting an owner of nanotubes house, then everybody nearby possibly gets the joy of experiencing something way worse than asbestos in their lungs.

Nanotubes have a lot of potential, good and bad. We need to be damn careful as a society how we handle the technology that's coming out.[/QUOTE]
Please cite some sources for your claims.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;403667]Please cite some sources for your claims.[/QUOTE]It is a scary new thing not mentioned in the bible so it [i]must[/i] be evil. Bring back the horse and cart I say. All these new-fangled auto-mobiles and smarty-pants-phones should be banned also, those carbon monoxide and EM emissions ain't no good for ya all. Ya hear!

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;403667]Please cite some sources for your claims.[/QUOTE]
From Google:

[url]https://www.google.com/search?q=carbon+nanotubes+toxicity&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8[/url]

Shall I change your diaper as well? ;) :)

[QUOTE=retina;403668]It is a scary new thing not mentioned in the bible so it [i]must[/i] be evil. Bring back the horse and cart I say. All these new-fangled auto-mobiles and smarty-pants-phones should be banned also, those carbon monoxide and EM emissions ain't no good for ya all. Ya hear![/QUOTE]
Your insults are getting kind of old. Can we just stick to what's stated?

[url=www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/09/aspirational-parents-children-elite]Aspirational parents condemn their children to a desperate, joyless life[/url] | George Monbiot, [i]The Guardian[/i]

I'm sure this is not just rampant in the UK -- we see such "loving parents" in Silicon Valley quite a lot, parents whose idea of "summer fun for the young 'uns" means sending their kids to "code camp" so they can learn from an early age how to be dutiful little cubicle rats in service of the "disruptive digital economy".

And a much-needed - if after reading the Monbiot piece you are disgusted as I was - lighter take on the same subject from "America's Finest News Source":

[url=www.theonion.com/article/more-us-children-being-diagnosed-with-youthful-ten-248]More U.S. Children Being Diagnosed With Youthful Tendency Disorder[/url] | The Onion

[url]http://arstechnica.com/cars/2015/06/stunning-images-of-abandonded-soviet-space-shuttles/[/url]

[URL="http://gizmodo.com/why-mathematicians-are-hoarding-this-special-type-of-ja-1711008881"]Why Mathematicians Are Hoarding This Special Type of Japanese Chalk[/URL]
[QUOTE]This spring, an 80-year-old Japanese chalk company went out of business. Nobody, perhaps, was as sad to see the company go as mathematicians who had become obsessed with Hagoromo Fulltouch Chalk, the so-called “Rolls Royce of chalk.”

With whiteboards and now computers taking over classrooms, the company’s demise seemed to mark the end of an era.

Being neither a mathematician or a chalk artist, I heard about Hagoromo through my friend Dan, a mathematician finishing up his Ph.D. at Stanford. He recently appeared on Japanese TV special about the demise of Hagoromo Bungu Co., and a TV crew came out to Stanford to interview mathematicians about the legendary chalk. One professor described hoarding enough of the stuff to keep him in chalk for the next 15 years. Dan is in the special too, calling the end of Hagoromo “a tragedy for mathematics.”

Okay, he was obviously joking. But it is true that mathematicians are fanatics for this obscure Japanese chalk. Here you can see a long discussion online where mathematicians are hunting for Hagoromo chalk suppliers in the U.S. Satyan Devadoss, a Williams College math professor, even wrote a blog post calling it “dream chalk.” He explained:
[Quote]There have been rumors about a dream chalk, a chalk so powerful that mathematics practically writes itself; a chalk so amazing that no incorrect proof can be written using this chalk. I can finally say, after months of pursuit, that such a chalk indeed exists.[/quote][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=only_human;404153][URL="http://gizmodo.com/why-mathematicians-are-hoarding-this-special-type-of-ja-1711008881"]Why Mathematicians Are Hoarding This Special Type of Japanese Chalk[/URL][/QUOTE]

And here we thought the Cretaceous era ended 65 million years ago.

===================

[url=kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/13362/greatest-wikipedia-hoax-ever/]Behind the greatest Wikipedia hoax ever pulled[/url] | The Kernel

[URL="http://www.tampaairport.com/boy-leaves-stuffed-tiger-tpa-returns-tale-tigers-big-adventure"]Boy leaves stuffed tiger at TPA (Tampa Airport), returns to a tale of tiger's big adventure[/URL]

[QUOTE=only_human;404201][URL="http://www.tampaairport.com/boy-leaves-stuffed-tiger-tpa-returns-tale-tigers-big-adventure"]Boy leaves stuffed tiger at TPA (Tampa Airport), returns to a tale of tiger's big adventure[/URL][/QUOTE]
Hmmmm. Abandoned item at an international airport being treated with care, warmth and humour? I would have assumed that the tiger's "adventure" was a euphemism for the arrival of the bomb squad and the toy's rather explosive demise. Well, the airport staff certainly showed that they are human when the family returned, and I hope the six-year-old can't tell the difference between the tiger he left behind and the one he was presented with on his return.

Minion traps girl's foot
 

Xyzzy has been misbehaving again.

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-33185178[/url]

Samsung deliberately disabling Windows Update
 

[url]http://bsodanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/06/samsung-deliberately-disabling-windows.html[/url][quote]Rep: When you enable Windows updates, it will install the Default Drivers for all the hardware [on] laptop which may or may not work. For example if there is USB 3.0 on laptop, the ports may not work with the installation of updates. So to prevent this, SW Update tool will prevent the Windows updates.[/quote]Good on you Samsung. That is definitely the [i]right[/i] thing to do here. Don't let the users have any updates because Windows is already perfect, as we all already know.

New SI Unit: One Hitler
 

[url]http://www.reddit.com/comments/dlu96/new_si_unit_one_hitler/[/url]

[QUOTE=retina;404718][URL]http://www.reddit.com/comments/dlu96/new_si_unit_one_hitler/[/URL][/QUOTE]

OMFG.

Not yellow please. Yeah, and not blue either. Or any colour for that matter
 

[url]http://phys.org/news/2015-06-uk-youths-color-changing-condom-stis.html[/url]

Make sure you install a new air filter every two miles
 

[url]http://www.newsandlists.net/abandoned-luxury-cars-from-dubai/[/url]

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33347866"]Latest results from Google's artificial stupidity research project.[/URL]

[QUOTE=xilman;405116][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33347866"]Latest results from Google's artificial stupidity research project.[/URL][/QUOTE]
Showcase of related blunders involving face recognition software:
[URL]http://www.oddee.com/item_98248.aspx[/URL]

[URL="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/03/upshot/a-quick-puzzle-to-test-your-problem-solving.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1"]The best Online quiz you will probably ever take. [/URL]

[QUOTE=chappy;405192][URL="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/03/upshot/a-quick-puzzle-to-test-your-problem-solving.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1"]The best Online quiz you will probably ever take. [/URL][/QUOTE]
Thanks.

I think the readership of this forum will be very unrepresentative of the psychological issues which the article reveals after the rule has been guessed because many here will have been specifically trained to avoid the pitfalls.

[QUOTE=retina;404778][URL]http://www.newsandlists.net/abandoned-luxury-cars-from-dubai/[/URL][/QUOTE]

:paul: Back in the day of some crash or other, which I am too lazy to look up, Dallas was hit hard, in real estate perhaps, as well as other somewhat speculative markets, I vaguely remember. The question is:[INDENT][SIZE=4]What is the difference between a Dallas [insert wheeler-deeler of your choice],
[/SIZE][CENTER]
[SIZE=4]And a pigeon?[/SIZE]
[LEFT]

What is the difference?
[CENTER]
[SIZE=5][SPOILER][SIZE=6]The pigeon can still put a deposit on a Mercedes [/SIZE]
:jokedrum:[/SPOILER]
[/SIZE][/CENTER]


[/LEFT]
[SIZE=4]

[/SIZE][/CENTER]
[/INDENT]

[url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/05/us-usa-fireworks-maine-idUSKCN0PF0TY20150705]Maine man dies after trying to light firework on his head[/url] | Reuters

Surefire Darwin Award finalist here. I can see some slip-and-fall lawyer suing the fireworks manufacturer - or, since the mfr is likely in Asia, the local seller - for negligence for failing to include wording to the effect of "do not place firework on head to light" in the printed cautions.

[url=www.wired.com/2015/07/brainflayer-password-cracker-steals-bitcoins-brain/]Brainflayer: A Password Cracker That Steals Bitcoins From Your Brain[/url] | WIRED

Humans suck at trying to act random - whodathunkit?

[url]http://conversioncity.com[/url]

[url]http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/roof-should-not-have-been-sold-gun-1.1883839[/url]

[url=http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/when-you-give-a-tree-an-email-address/398210/]When You Give a Tree an Email Address[/url] | The Atlantic
[quote]“My dearest Ulmus,” the message began.

“As I was leaving St. Mary’s College today I was struck, not by a branch, but by your radiant beauty. You must get these messages all the time. You’re such an attractive tree.”

This is an excerpt of a letter someone wrote to a green-leaf elm, one of thousands of messages in an ongoing correspondence between the people of Melbourne, Australia, and the city’s trees.

Officials assigned the trees ID numbers and email addresses in 2013 as part of a program designed to make it easier for citizens to report problems like dangerous branches. The “unintended but positive consequence,” as the chair of Melbourne’s Environment Portfolio, Councillor Arron Wood, put it to me in an email, was that people did more than just report issues. They also wrote directly to the trees, which have received thousands of messages—everything from banal greetings and questions about current events to love letters and existential dilemmas. [/quote]
"My dear Sequoia - I don't mean to come across as needling you, but is it true you were once in trouble with the city for violating their anti-barking ordinance?"

I wonder if there were any especially naughty (or perhaps knotty?) arboreal come-ons among the mails - "the sight of your plump bulging fruits almost bursting out of their tight straining husks has prompted me to leave my wife," that sort of thing.

Sign me,
- Chloro Phil

[QUOTE=ewmayer;405772][URL="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/when-you-give-a-tree-an-email-address/398210/"]When You Give a Tree an Email Address[/URL] | The Atlantic
"My dear Sequoia - I don't mean to come across as needling you, but is it true you were once in trouble with the city for violating their anti-barking ordinance?"
I wonder if there were any especially naughty (or perhaps knotty?) arboreal come-ons among the mails - "the sight of your plump bulging fruits almost bursting out of their tight straining husks has prompted me to leave my wife," that sort of thing.
Sign me,
- Chloro Phil[/QUOTE]

Dear Phil: Go back to your wife. You've contacted an e-male. We sequoia are as straight as they come. -- vty, Jack Lumber.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;405772]When You Give a Tree an Email Address[/QUOTE]

I think that I shall never see
An e-mail lovely as a tree.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;405772][url=http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/when-you-give-a-tree-an-email-address/398210/]When You Give a Tree an Email Address[/url] | The Atlantic

"My dear Sequoia - I don't mean to come across as needling you, but is it true you were once in trouble with the city for violating their anti-barking ordinance?"

I wonder if there were any especially naughty (or perhaps knotty?) arboreal come-ons among the mails - "the sight of your plump bulging fruits almost bursting out of their tight straining husks has prompted me to leave my wife," that sort of thing.

Sign me,
- Chloro Phil[/QUOTE]
I think I may have figured out where one of the heroes in Guardians of the Galaxy came from.

[url=www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_28302284/nudist-resort-owners-charged-stealing-water]Nudist resort owners charged with stealing water[/url] | San Jose Mercury News

Such naked criminality must not stand!

[url]http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-discover-kind-particle-pentaquark-175437977.html[/url]


[QUOTE]Geneva (AFP) - Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have discovered a new kind of particle called the pentaquark, they announced Tuesday.

Physicists had theorised the existence of the pentaquark since the 1960s, but had never been able to prove it until its detection by the LHCb experiment at the LHC, the world's most powerful particle smasher.[/QUOTE]

DO you think eventually the collider will discover a Mersenne Prime?
If so, which one?

Quoting science_man_88's quote.
[quote]Geneva (AFP) - Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have discovered a new kind of particle called the pentaquark, they announced Tuesday.

Physicists had theorised the existence of the pentaquark since the 1960s, but had never been able to prove it until its detection by the LHCb experiment at the LHC, the world's most powerful particle smasher.[/quote]

I picture scientific research as an infinitely large maze with rare treasures hidden inside. Every success and non-stupid failure is progress that describes how the maze is mapped. Even failures can be good because people can then block off "dead ends."

[URL="http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/hitchhiking-robot-embarking-on-coast-to-coast-tour-across-us/ar-AAd5W2L"]Hitchhiking robot embarking on coast-to-coast tour across US[/URL]
[QUOTE]
So far, there are no signs of anything nefarious done to the robot, but there's also no proof. Its creators intentionally cast their gaze aside.

"We want to be very careful to avoid surveillance technologies with this; that's not what we're trying to do here," Smith said.

A GPS in the robot can track its location, and a camera randomly snaps photos about every 20 minutes to document its travels. But the team behind the robot seeks permission from people in the photos before posting them to social media, where hitchBOT has built a devoted fan base.

More than 30,000 people follow the robot on Twitter, and dozens have posted their own selfies with it. Researchers are culling data from social media to study how people interact with a robot that needs their help, unlike traditional robots designed to help them.

Among the chief questions researchers are asking, Zeller said, is whether robots can trust humans.

During past travels, the robot has attended a comic convention and a wedding, and it had its portrait painted in the Netherlands. It once spent a week with a heavy metal band.

The cross-country tour of Canada took 26 days, spanning more than 6,000 miles. As for the U.S. trip, researchers don't know how long it will take, or what will happen along the way.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=only_human;406148]So far, there are no signs of anything nefarious done to the robot, but there's also no proof. Its creators intentionally cast their gaze aside.[/QUOTE]

The delicate phrasing here made me immediately think of 'nefarious' activities such as described in the [url=www.metrolyrics.com/sy-borg-lyrics-frank-zappa.html]love machine[/url] (official title: "Sy Borg") segment of Frank Zappa classic [i]Joe's Garage[/i]:
[i]
This is the central scrutinizer... you have just destroyed one model xqj-37 nuclear powered pan-sexual roto-plooker and you're gonna have to pay for it! so give up, you haven't got a chance.[/i]

What [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-33614391"]a silly punt[/URL]!

[url]http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/07/ftc-accuses-id-protection-service-lifelock-of-scamming-customers-again/[/url]

[QUOTE]This is the same company whose chief executive, Todd Davis, had displayed his Social Security number in online advertising as a testament to the company's ID protection services. His identity, however, was reportedly stolen more than a dozen times.[/QUOTE]

We take a lot of pictures of weird bugs. It seems like Arkansas has a lot of them!

To identify them we use Google's image search, but sometimes this method fails us.

We photographed this bug tonight. Google failed to identify it. Any ideas?

:mike:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;406282]We take a lot of pictures of weird bugs. It seems like Arkansas has a lot of them!

To identify them we use Google's image search, but sometimes this method fails us.

We photographed this bug tonight. Google failed to identify it. Any ideas?

:mike:[/QUOTE]

Looks like the lesser of two weevils.

The famous Arkansas flying crawdad?

[QUOTE=xilman;406288]Looks like the lesser of two weevils.[/QUOTE]

Patrick O'Brian just smiled from the hereafter.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;406282]We take a lot of pictures of weird bugs. It seems like Arkansas has a lot of them!

To identify them we use Google's image search, but sometimes this method fails us.

We photographed this bug tonight. Google failed to identify it. Any ideas?

:mike:[/QUOTE]

From [url]http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-search-results.asp?display=form&Color1=Gray&Color2=Black&Legs=Insecta&Territory=Arkansas&Category=True+Bug&Action=Bugfinder[/url]

Looks like [url]http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Wheel-Bug[/url]

[QUOTE=axn;406297]Looks like [URL]http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Wheel-Bug[/URL][/QUOTE]Very cool! And scary!

:tu:

You find the strangest things at Amazon.com...
 

...When you're just poking around in random "related items" links while looking for that one extra thing-you-can-use which will push you over the $35 free shipping threshold, or get you to the "15% discount for 5 items or more" in your Subscribe & Save order. Like [url=http://www.amazon.com/Socks-Attitude-Suck-Dick-Size/dp/B0052ZC67S/ref=sr_1_10?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1437548570&sr=1-10]these men's socks[/url], for instance.

LOL @ the user reviews. But c'mon, I was hoping for at least one 1-star "these didn't work for me" review.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;406303]Very cool! And scary!

:tu:[/QUOTE]

The reference to the painful bite is accurate. As soon as I saw your picture of this dastardly bug, I immediately recalled being bitten by those as a little kid, but couldn't remember the actual name. Other than the names I and my siblings called them....which are not suitable for a prestigious forum such as this.

Norm

[url=http://idlewords.com/talks/web_design_first_100_years.htm]Web Design - The First 100 Years[/url] [using aviation to illustrate]

Witheringly funny stuff.

archive of unpublished photo of 11 september 2001 (Cheney at camp david)
This album contains photos of Vice President Cheney on September 11, 2001 including meetings in the President’s Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) and Vice President Cheney traveling to Camp David.
[url]https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/sets/72157656213196901[/url]

[QUOTE=firejuggler;406533]archive of unpublished photo of 11 september 2001 (Cheney at camp david)
This album contains photos of Vice President Cheney on September 11, 2001 including meetings in the President’s Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) and Vice President Cheney traveling to Camp David.
[URL]https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/sets/72157656213196901[/URL][/QUOTE]

I can't tell if I'm going "Hmmmmm" or retching. :ick: There is so much concentrated toxicity in those pictures.

I understand your sentiment, but it doesn't fit the " wtf " neither " funny link" category.
Should I have made a thread named " The sum of all fears"?

[QUOTE=firejuggler;406540]I understand your sentiment, but it doesn't fit the " wtf " neither " funny link" category.
Should I have made a thread named " The sum of all fears"?[/QUOTE]

The placement is fine. The subject matter would be nauseating regardless of the venue.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;406453][URL="http://idlewords.com/talks/web_design_first_100_years.htm"]Web Design - The First 100 Years[/URL] [using aviation to illustrate]

Witheringly funny stuff.[/QUOTE]
Indeed, funny and serious.

[QUOTE]We have a space station in 2014, but it's too embarrassing to talk about. Sometimes we send Canadians up there.[/QUOTE]


Almost choked on my curry. Thanks for the link!

When you gotta go ....
 

[url]http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/man-defecates-in-forest-and-starts-73-acre-wildfire/54867/[/url]

[QUOTE=petrw1;406645][url]http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/man-defecates-in-forest-and-starts-73-acre-wildfire/54867/[/url][/QUOTE]At last, a good reason to arm the bears!

[QUOTE=petrw1;406645][url]http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/man-defecates-in-forest-and-starts-73-acre-wildfire/54867/[/url][/QUOTE]

Must have been 5-Alarm Chili

[url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/26/us-usa-missouri-murder-idUSKCN0Q00TE20150726]Missouri man kills father by lying on his head to 'prove a point'[/url] | Reuters

'According to an unnamed police source, things began with the son lying to his father's face and escalated quickly.'

[Sorry, I know I should be above quipping on such tragic events, but when the ridiculousness coefficient is this great..]

[url]http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-state-of-georgia-copyright-wall-20150727-column.html[/url]

[QUOTE]The state's lawsuit, filed last week in Atlanta federal court, accuses Malamud of piracy -- and worse, of "a form of 'terrorism.'"[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;406721][url]http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-state-of-georgia-copyright-wall-20150727-column.html[/url][/QUOTE]

WoW.... just... wow...

[url]http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa/zimbabwe-cecil-the-lion-killed/[/url]

[url]http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-mexico-dispatcher-resigns-after-telling-911-caller-deal-with-it-yourself/[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;406804][url]http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/29/africa/zimbabwe-cecil-the-lion-killed/[/url]
[/QUOTE]
[STRIKE]
[URL="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/01/world/cecil-the-lion-brother-jericho-illegally-killed/"]Cecil the lion's brother, Jericho, also illegally killed in Zimbabwe, official says[/URL]
[/STRIKE]
[QUOTE][STRIKE](CNN)Jericho, the brother of slain Cecil the lion, was killed Saturday in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, a senior park official told CNN.

Jericho was gunned down by a hunter operating illegally, said Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.[/STRIKE][/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/08/01/jericho-cecil-brother-dead/30990931/"]Status of Jericho, Cecil the lion's brother, disputed[/URL]

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33748027"]Texas man injured as bullet ricochets off armadillo[/URL]

[QUOTE=xilman;407072][URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33748027"]Texas man injured as bullet ricochets off armadillo[/URL][/QUOTE]

LOL, serves him right. Not for nuthin' did the Spaniards who first (at least amongst Eurotrashes) explored the region name said critters "little armored one".

Could the identity of the man known as "Jack the Ripper", who murdered five female sex workers in London in 1888, finally be established from the exhumation of the body of his final victim? Or is this just the latest in a very long line of fruitless theories? The author of a new book has intriguing evidence that the ripper's final victim was his, the author's, great aunt, and that the ripper was her estranged husband who killed the first four as a cover for the final murder of his wife, which was his true intent.
[URL]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11771381/Jack-the-Ripper-identity-mystery-solved-in-new-book.html[/URL]

[QUOTE=Brian-E;407077]The author of a new book has intriguing evidence[/QUOTE]

Don't they all?

'Amelia Earhart's plane discovered at last!'
'Chinese sailors discovered America before Columbus!'
'I dare you to not buy this book!'

[URL="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/08/01/say-goodbye-to-the-weirdest-border-dispute-in-the-world/"]Say goodbye to the weirdest border dispute in the world[/URL]
[QUOTE]
Just after midnight Saturday, one of the most perplexing border disputes in the world officially ended. India and Bangladesh began the exchange of over 160 enclaves – small areas of sovereignty completely surrounded on all sides by another country – and in so doing ended a dispute that has lasted almost 70 years.
/.../
It's confusing, so let me spell it out: Dahala Khagrabari, the third-order enclave in question, was a part of India, surrounded by a Bangladeshi enclave, which was surrounded by an Indian enclave, which was surrounded by Bangladesh.
/.../
The strange set-up made it not only difficult for people to access state amenities, it made things as simple as a trip to the market a potential problem. In theory, someone who lived in an enclave would need a visa to enter the foreign country that surrounded the enclave. However, the only way to get that visa was to travel to a major city in the main body of their country, something that was impossible without illegally entering the foreign country.
[/QUOTE]

People can post their passports (that's the ordinary snail mail thing) to obtain visas, so it isn't really impossible. And of course now many countries do online visa applications.

[u]Application for visa[/u]
Purpose of visit: To buy milk
Duration of stay: 5 minutes
Proof of funds: See attached picture of my five dollar note

Thank you for your visa application. Please allow 3 months for processing and administration. All applications have non-refundable fees of $100 processing and $35 administration costs.

[QUOTE=retina;407088]People can post their passports (that's the ordinary snail mail thing) to obtain visas, so it isn't really impossible. And of course now many countries do online visa applications.
[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately they couldn't even get that passport first:
[URL="http://www.cracked.com/article_19925_the-5-stupidest-things-ever-done-with-borders.html"]The 5 Stupidest Things Ever Done With Borders[/URL]
[QUOTE]But none as crazy as Dahala Khagrabari, which apparently came about after the two nations suddenly signed a peace treaty after a long history of wars, freezing in place whatever territories had been captured by either side.

As ridiculous as it seems to the rest of us, the residents aren't laughing. Probably because they're stuck there for life. [B]Although they're Indian citizens, they can't leave their immediate neighborhood without passing through Bangladesh, for which they need a passport. But they can only get a passport from mainland India -- which they can't get to without passing through Bangladesh. Twice.[/B]

Likewise, for India to try to provide these people with basic amenities would be a logistical nightmare, so they don't. Without electricity or anything else we take for granted, Dahala Khagrabari is basically stuck in the Stone Age, while everyone around them modernizes. The only possible consolation is that the sliver of Bangladesh that's trapping them is in the same situation.[/QUOTE]