The weekend and my attempt to give my readers the stories that the MSM refuses to give you…..
First, the weather in the UK is melting the people…..LA is melting from drought and a heat wave….here in Mississippi we are averaging about 100+ daily…..but that is about average.
Robots and AI….have you seen the Terminator series? SkyNet and its robots take over the world and start eliminating the humans….cool right?
But what do you know about robots and AI?
Let me help…..
Who would win in the ultimate robo deathmatch? A T-800, C3PO, or The Iron Giant? It’s a trick question—these robots are all fictional and this would never happen. But robots are a very real part of the modern world, in everything from car factories to vacuum cleaners. Let’s take a look at a few misconceptions about robots, adapted from an episode of Misconceptions on YouTube.
1. Misconception: Robotics and AI are the same thing.
These two fields often get lumped together. While the Venn diagram definitely features plenty of overlap, there are important distinctions.
Robotics involves the study and design of machines that can carry out tasks. According to NASA, “Robotics is the study of robots. Robots are machines that can be used to do jobs. Some robots can do work by themselves. Other robots must always have a person telling them what to do.”
Basically, they’re finely tuned machines that help assemble cars or your operate your Roomba. Robots aren’t necessarily humanoid in design—any robot that resembles a human should probably be considered an android. And, while we’re on the subject, a cyborg is different from an android. A cyborg is an organism, often a human being, with robotic enhancements.
Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, is a term that “is frequently applied to the project of developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience,” according to Britannica. AI is coding and programming. Think Watson, the supercomputer who crushes opponents on Jeopardy!, or even Siri on your iPhone.
In the middle of that Venn diagram, however, is Sophia. This social robot with AI functionality, designed by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, was named the first Innovation Champion by the UN Development Programme. She also has Saudi citizenship. She can hold conversations, make realistic facial expressions, and casually drop eerie quips. When asked if humans should be scared of robots, Sophia responded, “Someone said ‘we have nothing to fear but itself.’ What did he know?” Yikes.
Many relatively simple robots are now being designed to incorporate elements of artificial intelligence. But calling a basic robot vacuum—which is still designed to do one task, over and over—artificially intelligent is pushing it.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/robot-misconceptions
Are you worried about all our mass shootings?
Then worry more! A new version of the semi-auto weapon will hit the market….
The gun company that made the AR-15-style rifle used to kill 49 people at an Orlando nightclub in 2016 and another four at an Indiana mall this month is now gearing up to mass-produce an even more lethal weapon of war for the civilian market.
SIG Sauer’s new MCX-SPEAR fires bullets with twice the kinetic energy of those from an AR-15. That means double the horrifying force that mangled the victims of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and left one youngster essentially decapitated.
“It’ll shoot through almost all of the bulletproof vests that are worn by law enforcement in the county right now,” said Ryan Busse, a former firearms company executive who is now a senior policy analyst with the Giffords Law Center and author of Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America.
The MCX-SPEAR is the civilian version of the U.S. Army’s NGSW-R (Next Generation Squad Weapon-Rifle), which was created with the express purpose of tearing through enemy body armor.
“This is a weapon that could defeat any body armor, any planned body armor that we know of in the future,” then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told the Army Times in 2019. “This is a weapon that can go out at ranges that are unknown today.”
Milley had in mind the body armor worn by Russian and Chinese troops. The Army just shrugged when asked this week whether the same could apply to that worn by cops.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/sig-sauers-mcx-spear-can-turbocharge-mass-shooters
Do you think that there are child labor laws?
There is but not in Alabama in appears…..
A subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co has used child labor at a plant that supplies parts for the Korean carmaker’s assembly line in nearby Montgomery, Alabama, according to area police, the family of three underage workers, and eight former and current employees of the factory.
Underage workers, in some cases as young as 12, have recently worked at a metal stamping plant operated by SMART Alabama LLC, these people said. SMART, listed by Hyundai in corporate filings as a majority-owned unit, supplies parts for some of the most popular cars and SUVs built by the automaker in Montgomery, its flagship U.S. assembly plant.
1/4A Hyundai auto plant is seen from inside a Greyhound bus outside of Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., August 13, 2008. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
LUVERNE, Alabama, July 22 (Reuters) – A subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co has used child labor at a plant that supplies parts for the Korean carmaker’s assembly line in nearby Montgomery, Alabama, according to area police, the family of three underage workers, and eight former and current employees of the factory.
Underage workers, in some cases as young as 12, have recently worked at a metal stamping plant operated by SMART Alabama LLC, these people said. SMART, listed by Hyundai in corporate filings as a majority-owned unit, supplies parts for some of the most popular cars and SUVs built by the automaker in Montgomery, its flagship U.S. assembly plant.
In a statement sent after Reuters first published its findings on Friday, Hyundai (005380.KS) said it “does not tolerate illegal employment practices at any Hyundai entity. We have policies and procedures in place that require compliance with all local, state and federal laws.” It didn’t answer detailed questions from Reuters about the findings.
Inflation, especially in food, is hitting us all hard….so I try to find ways to stretch the food budget a bit further….
Do you like shrimp?
If so you could be wasting a valuable by-product…..
When it comes to eating animals, most white Americans seem to favor muscle and flesh over innards, heads, tails, tendons, and anything that isn’t, well, muscle and flesh. That’s too bad, because those are some of the best bits with the most flavor, particularly in the case of shrimp.
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-eat-shrimp-tails-and-heads-and-why-you-should-1849179239
I cannot say this is good for I do not eat seafood of any sort….so if you try it let us know the outcome.
In closing here is a good parody of the 06 January hearings….
There is the worthless news for this Saturday…..enjoy.
Have a great Saturday…be well and be safe…..
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“lego ergo scribo”
In Saner Thought 