The Coincidence Hydra!
I will have to establish the background here. At present I am listening to The Reith Lectures, which are an institution established by the BBC, where a prominent scientist delivers a series of lectures about science ideas and how they apply to the future. This year it was Professor Stuart Russell, previously a computer scientist and currently founder of the <deep breath> Center* For Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California's Berkeley campus.
Beautiful Berkeley
- and -
Stu
Ol' Stu is not at all po-faced or dry - Conrad suspects that one of the criteria for being selected for the Reith Lectures is that you are entertaining - and has some witty shots. At one point he referenced the novel "Erewhon" by Samuel Butler, which Conrad has heard of yet never read. I believed it to be a product of the seventeenth century Enlightenment. WRONG! It was published in 1872 and is a satire of Victorian society, concerning a fictional country that has banned all machines for fear of the danger that they might run amuk. Art!
<lazily nicks the Wikipedia picture>
Ten minutes later Conrad realises what Frank Herbert meant when he wrote of the 'Butlerian Jihad' in "Dune", and both Ol' Stu and I pronounced "the Butlerian Jihad" at the same time, which is where the Coincidence Hydra comes in. I fear it not, for I have my armoured underwear to protect my nethers, hah!
Briefly put, the BJ's drive was to destroy all machines that thought in a manner that resembled a human being, along the lines of "Thou shalt not create a machine in the image of a human mind". Art!
Classic Bruce Pennington cover
The theme of this first lecture was the possibility of human civilisation making it's biggest ever step by creating what Stu calls "General Artificial Intelligence", because although AI is around at present, it works only in an extremely narrow fashion. A one-trick pony, if you like, except it can work that trick a million times faster than humans without making any mistakes. Stu is also looking at the possibility of this biggest step also being the last, because then the machines take over and Skynet rules the barren radioactive wasteland that used to be Planet Earth. Art!
The future is - well, it's not very orange, that's for sure.
How a super-AI would behave and function is a very moot question, and there are entities and organisations working on this problem now, which is reassuring. Leaving planning until a super-AI comes into being would be leaving it a little late. Your Humble Scribe is about to cue up the second lecture, about AI and warfare. Should be interesting and alarming at the same time, to judge by previous content!
Even if they try to look cute.
Motley, we need Colin Furze to come up with an Electro-Magnetic Pulse Cannon - get him on the phone, won't you?
From The Terrifying To The Sublime
If you want to know what's at stake should Ol' Stu get it wrong, then please see below. Art!
No source given
This is another shot of the unusual and unsettling thermal inversions that took place in Caledonia a short while ago (five days, I went and checked). This one is described as being at the Quinang range in Sutherland, and yon chap's position looks extremely unsafe. Don't fall!
Combining Horror And Nature
If you can call the supernatural 'nature'. For Lo! another instalment of "Tormentor" arrives. Once again, this is NOT the usual frothy nonsense we purvey here, even if I've edited out the swearing.
In what had become almost
expected, the front door bell rang as he defrosted a ready meal in the
microwave. Not taking a chance, he
carried a chef’s knife with him into the porch and opened the door whilst
standing well back from it.
‘Mister McMahon?’ said Detective
Sergeant Oswald, looking at the knife.
‘I should charge you lot rent,’
complained Louis, stamping back into the lounge. ‘What now?’
They explained that they’d come
in connection with the attack he’d suffered earlier that afternoon. A statement had already been taken from the
Telling what happened meant
admitting the punching, hitting and chasing of the previous day.
‘The boy you assaulted is not
going to press charges, Mister McMahon.
All the same, I am going to issue you with a Final Warning.’
Louis looked inappropriately
unenlightened. The other detective, a
newer model with eagerness and intensity written on his face, enlarged on a
“Final Warning”.
‘It isn’t a criminal
conviction. It does mean that any other
offence you may commit in future will not be treated leniently, and you will
need to declare it until it expires.’
‘What about the bald b****** who
beat me with a bat?’ asked Louis.
Jennifer’s shade popped into view from her place in the kitchen.
‘Nice alliteration!’ she beamed.
Louis turned back to the two
policemen, who looked at him curiously, wondering why he’d expressed alarm
about his kitchen.
‘Sorry, I was heating a ready
meal when you came in. Can I just check
it’s not burnt?’
He opened and shut the microwave
oven door, glaring at Jennifer and mouthing “be quiet!” at her.
‘Oh, don’t worry, they can’t hear
me. So long as I don’t interact with any
material object they won’t know I’m here,’ she said airily.
Conrad is unsure if the Final Warning is still extant, since this was written a good few years ago and the law may have changed. It has a habit of doing that.
Gordon The Warden And Don
Conrad has just finished watching "The Invisibles", another episode of "The Outer Limits", about alien parasites Trying To Take Over The World**, just by proxy, since they use enslaved numans as surrogates. It stars Don Gordon, who you will probably recognise as That Guy From That Film Or Television Show. Art!
He's a big, bluff chap, who looks like someone you'd not like to meet in a dark alley, with a deceptively soft voice. This episode of TOL is one of the highest-rated of both seasons, and with good reason, as neither we nor his character know whom to trust. I shan't spoil with any further details.
Who else crops up in the episode? Why, none other than George MacReady, who you will immediately recognise. Art!
 |
| The sinister General Hayes |
Of course he pops up on "Batman" as the avuncular Commissioner Gordon, another Gordon, and is of course - obviously! - one of the evil possessed human slaves. Art!
I defy you, Coincidence Hydra!
Finally -
It being Christmas Day I guess I can post The Haul, most of which were actually opened when Darling Daughter came up to visit, since she'd not be here on the big day itself. Art!
Your Humble Scribe is going to leave explaining what these are until tomorrow, because he's only going to be posting a single blog post today, and that's that, because although it's Saturday it's also Christmas Day and I can take a day off if I feel like it. You don't approve? Once again, whose blog is it?
I think that will do for today, Vulnavia!
* We will allow the incorrect South Canadian spelling to stand. But just this once.
** I think it has to be capitalised, don't you?
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