Dependency

 Sounds about right...

For reference: ImageMagick

Summit Fighting COVID

The fastest supercomputer in the US is being used to fight COVID. Summit is in my backyard at the Oak Ridge National Lab. I was surprised by all the haters in the comments. I would think folks would want every resource possible working on a way to get us out of the pandemic. 

Inception

You can now boot a Windows 95 PC inside Minecraft and play Doom on it.

Garmin Hit by Ransomware

I couldn't upload my run this morning... turns out Garmin is dealing with a ransomware attack.

DCRainmaker has posted instructions for manually uploading data.

On-Call

Being on-call has been part of the job for as long as I can remember... first carrying pagers then alpha-numeric pagers then Nextels then Blackberries. However, I'm not sure I would have any interest in a recent job posting that included this:

"Be available as needed to rectify IT emergencies. Must answer all forms of communication immediately."

Darwin

I've been working from home and I have a new friend... a robin that insists on attacking our kitchen windows. He/she may be building a nest somewhere around the house, but he spends a lot of time flying into the windows. I've named him Darwin.

BASIC

This brings me back...

Deploy your BASIC code to our 6502 data center in just one tweet. Welcome to 8-bit cloud 😜 pic.twitter.com/ZmB1WIUx4C

— BBC Micro 🦉 bot [v2] (@bbcmicrobot) February 11, 2020

Failure Modes in Machine Learning

Interesting framework for thinking about out Machine Learning/AI can fail.

Cannonball Run

A new record... tech assisted:

But there was also a built-in Net Radar radar detector, a windshield-mount Escort Max 360 radar detector, an AL Priority laser jammer system and an aircraft collision avoidance system—a bit of gear usually used in airplanes to help them avoid hitting other airplanes.

And:

The car was equipped with brake light and taillight kill switches, and Toman had all of its flashy carbon fiber trim covered with silver vinyl, which he also used to change the appearance of the taillights. At first glance, the AMG looked more like a mid-2000s Honda Accord from the rear, not like a car that would be cruising at 160 mph or faster.

And:

For navigation and further police detection, they ran Waze—a popular traffic-avoiding and hazard-detecting app—on an iPad and an iPhone. For the GPS data they would later need to prove that they’d actually finished in the time they said they did, they ran two dash-mount Garmin GPS units and one of those GPS tags tracked by a third party. They also had a police scanner and a CB radio, each of which had a big whip antenna mounted at the back of the car.

Via Jalopnik

Music Sales by Format

A really cool animated chart of music sales by format... watch the rise and fall of 8-track, cassettes, CDs, downloads, and streaming.

CDs represented 95% of sales in 2002. Nothing else has reached that dominance (yet).

Via Tam

6G and 7G

Details here, but the fun quote:

Interestingly, researchers in China say that this vision of 6G is the end of the line in terms of major platform upgrades and that there will never be a 7G. After 6G the goal over time will be to improve the performance of the various aspects of the technologies involved. Apparently, the Chinese have never met any AT&T and Verizon marketing staff.

And 640K is all anyone will every need.

Streaming

Either you want to own physical media (CD/vinyl) or you are happy renting.

Next?

I know... it's the Star Trek era with replicators...

Human history can be divided into five distinct societies

1. Hunter gather
2. Agricultural
3. Mercantile capitalism
4. Industrial capitalism
5. Consumer capitalism

Human population, knowledge, energy use & global environmental damage increases with each transition.

What next? pic.twitter.com/iJKoePfhzM

— Mark Maslin (@ProfMarkMaslin) February 28, 2019

GarageMate

I could see this GarageMate (Bluetooth garage door opener) being very handy for bike rides and things around the neighborhood. I wonder how frequently I would wish I could open the garage door remotely from work or somewhere. At $54 and an easy install, I may give it a whirl.

Via KK Cool Tools

The Matrix

The Matrix is crazier than we all suspected...

A digital billboard in Odessa malfunctioned, in the fog. Convincing unknown numbers of motorists not only were they living in the Matrix, but it was being run on Windows 98. pic.twitter.com/a5O0Yoj0Lu

— Pádraig Belton (@PadraigBelton) February 8, 2019

A Series of Tubes

Summit is the most powerful #supercomputer in the world.

Here's a very non-scientific look at what's behind the cabinet doors. #UnscienceASupercomputer #justforfun #HPC pic.twitter.com/ecfgVJKNHp

— Oak Ridge Lab (@ORNL) February 6, 2019

The Updated OSI Model

Scarily true...

Funny Machine Learning Outcomes

A great list...

Would you like a giant list of times that ML systems learned to do the thing by hacking some bug you didn't realize your system had? Yes you would. Because it's hilarious. https://t.co/qN2FYpUy8e

— Andromeda Yelton (@ThatAndromeda) January 9, 2019

Including such instance classics:

"In an artificial life simulation where survival required energy but giving birth had no energy cost, one species evolved a sedentary lifestyle that consisted mostly of mating in order to produce new children which could be eaten (or used as mates to produce more edible children)."

Or:

"A  robotic arm trained to slide a block to a target position on a table achieves the goal by moving the table itself."

Via @ItsRobbAllen

Augmented vs. Virtual

That's not a bad way to look at it...

You can boil it down to - VR is for fun, AR is for work

— Jordan (@lead_proSapien) January 7, 2019

Learning

The modern impediment to learning is attention, not access.

— The Stoic Emperor (@TheStoicEmperor) August 4, 2018