Robo-Ratatouille

A video appeared on SCIAM about a robot controlled by bundles of brain cells taken from lab rats. Days are not far when similar robots using human neurons will become a reality.

This reminds me of a test devised by Alan Turing, called the Turing Test.



The Turing test is a proposal for a test of a machine's ability to demonstrate intelligence.

According to the Turing test: a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with one human and one machine, each of which try to appear human; if the judge cannot reliably tell which is which, then the machine is said to pass the test. (Wikipedia)


I really wonder how Mr. Turing would have reacted to these recent developments. This Robo-Rat will further strengthen his argument about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine consciousness. His main argument was about whether a machine could be considered conscious. If a machine is developed based on similar approach having an advanced control system based on human neurons and if a human is unable to differentiate it from another human, then it will pass the Turing Test.

Artificial Intelligence efforts invested in 70s didn't fructify mainly because the scientists failed to understand the complex human brain systems and operations, which they tried to replicate using artificial neurons. The current approach of building over a already complex biological neuron network would be much easier and fruitful then to start from the very basic cell level.

I hope these efforts are channeled towards productive development of these artificial machines with intelligence and emotions. That day Turing Test will become a reality and will no more be just a subject of academic interest.

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Cows Tend to Face North-South

Strange but true as reported by the SCIAM, and also by the telegraph.
It even got slashdotted.

So, for your next expedition, don't forget to take the mooing pal along with you and sing the song.

Moo all the way and back home safe.
Moo for a glass of milk.
Moo for directions whenever lost.
Moo for one and for all.
Moo is the way for lost traveler.

Moooooooooo... :)

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The iPhone you've been waiting for

Finally, the price and launch date have been announced for the much awaited iPhone 3G.
I got a mail today from Vodafone with the price quote and release date.

"The iPhone 3G will be available in India from August 22, 2008.
It will be available in 8GB & 16GB models, priced at Rs 31,000 and Rs 36,100 respectively."

The same iPhone in US comes at a price of $199 for 8GB & $299 for 16GB. These phones have been subsidized by AT&T in US and they compensate for the subsidy through the monthly rental plans with a contract for two year period. Telcos in India claim that the phone call per minute charges in US is around 25 cents whereas in India it's 2 cents. So, it was clear from the day one that iPhones in India won't be subsidized considering the low cost margin for telcos.

The iPhone 3G is ready for 3G network, which can provide ubiquitous broadband speed network for internet and other value services. We need to wait until next year to benefit from the features of this phone as it will take at least year for 3G network to become operational in India.

I thought of doing an analysis on alternatives available in the market.

Before starting the analysis, I would suggest you to ask yourself three questions mentioned below:

First question which comes to my mind is "Why do we need an iPhone ?" .... easy answer .... "awesomeness quotient is very high, and high will power is required to ignore such product".

Next is "Are you willing to sacrifice features owing to its awesomeness ?" ... again a trivial answer ... "We are Apple fans, don't try to brainwash us with those extra features available in other junk boxes.

Final question "Are you aware that there are other alternatives available at the same price ?" ... "who cares"... :)...

Well if you have answered all these questions correctly then you are destined to own an iPhone and I would suggest you to not to read this blog any further. All I can say is RDF(Reality Distortion Field) has engulfed another human.

Alternatives available are "Nokia N96", "Android/HTC dream phone", "HTC touch/windows mobile" etc. in the smart phone segment.

Again if you looking for something which has a better awesomeness quotient, then I regret to tell you that there are none.

If you are one of those who wants to use iPhone as a MID(Mobile Internet Device) then probably there are others which you can bank on to provide better experience.

I believe market in coming years will be more mobile centric than today. With ubiquitous network and high speed internet, it will lead to an era of MIDs.

Here is a video depicting futuristic world of MIDs.



This experience is something which none of these smart phones can provide.
Only thing missing for these MIDs is the ubiquitous internet network in India at a cheaper rate.
So, once the network is ready, these devices will have a bigger audience to cater to.

Other alternatives include Eee PC from ASUS (cute little laptop) with 7 hours of battery life.

I feel MIDs are the way forward. With a larger screen size and processing power, they will provide a mobile internet experience like never before and much better when compared to the costly smart phones.

Damn these rumor mills, We need to start all over again - Apple Developers

Apple products have a huge fan following, and these people are willing to any thing to be the first to become a proud owner of Apple gizmos. I recently came across an article where an Apple fan discussed his predicament as to whether to change his house to have a better signal reception on iPhone. There are many other crazy reports all over the Internet.

The very beginning or foundation which led to the development of the iPhone is stated to be on the basis of rumor mills. I pity all the Apple developers who must be hating these RMS (Rumor Mills) as these RMS excite Apple's messiah (Steve Jobs) and ultimately makes all these developers to work round the clock to make these rumors a reality. These RMS don't just come up with story but also a picture of how the new gizmo will look like. So this puts further pressure on design engineers to make something which looks better than the ones made by these RMS.

I recently came across a blog about iPhone Nano. So another one from RMS, this is for the iPhone lovers who cannot afford the high pricey one (without any contact). This new stuff is called iPhone nano and its for the people who will be contented with owning a stripped down iPhone. Along with the photo, this time RMS have also given the stipulated time of its release.

So all I can say is God help these developers, as by now Jobs would have already seen these articles. All the best to all those working in Cupertino for the new prototype. I hope to see something new this December :).

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