What on earth is going on in Kenya? Since the beginning of civilization, governments have struggled with the same issues: crime, tax collection, war, welfare-distribution and over-population among a host of other recurring problems.
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In the nation where the Obama family took root, the government has come to near paralysis over the last few months due to political in-fighting between rival coalitions represented by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
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As neither the two heads of state nor their political backers can seemingly find common ground on policy, politics and all hopes for reform have been put on hold - leaving Kenyans frustrated and confused. If, however, the leaders of the G-10 (a coalition of women's groups) are able to get their way, Kenyan males are about to become far more frustrated than their female counterparts.
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Rather than picketing outside a government building in Nairobi or starting a letter writing campaign, the G-10 has called on all Kenyan women to impose sexual sanctions on their husbands and boyfriends in order to force male citizens to take action and break the deadlock in government. The organization claims to also be ready to pay off prostitutes to preclude any attempts to get around the ban. While unique to the 21st century, the idea of denying intimacy to males to achieve a political objective is as old as Ancient Greece.
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In 411BC, a play entitled Lysistrata was performed in front of an enraptured audience. Composed by 'The Father of (Greek) Comedy', Aristophanes (446BC-386BC), the story revolves around the character Lysistrata and her attempt to convince the women of Greece to pressure their warrior husbands into ending the Peloponnesian War (Athens v. Sparta) through sexual abstention. When men came to their senses and ended the conflict, they would then - and only then - be rewarded with nights of uninterrupted romance. Relegated to subordinate status in Greek society, Lysistrata wanted to prove that women possessed significant means to alter the political landscape. Of course, Lysistrata was only a work of comedic fiction.
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Twenty-five centuries later, Lysistrata has assumed the form of millions of Kenyan women. Unlike the character in Aristophanes' play, she is quite real as a collective movement in Kenya. Even the Prime Minister's wife, Ida Odinga, has endorsed the unorthodox political tactic publicly.
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Are 'Lysistratan Sanctions' poised to become a widely used tool of political coercion around the world? Many incredulous eyes are waiting for the outcome in Kenya. If successful, the world of the 21st century will be unlike any other - and certainly less populated than the last one.
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(Picture: Aristophanes)
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J Roquen
A Blog That Covers And Collects News Reports And Information On Artificial Intelligence, Robots, And Super Computers.
Chase Armitage confirmado en 'Las Reliquias de la Muerte'!
Chase Armitage el corredor libre y acrobático a sido confirmado como Snatcher en Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte. También ha realizado trabajos en la edición, artes marciales Directivo y de una serie de televisión y comerciales. Videos de su trabajo puede verse en su sitio web antes mencionado. Fotos de Chase puede verse aquí.
Fuente: OC
Chris Rankin regresa con Percy Weasley para 'Las Reliquias'!.
Stacey Castro Media, informa que el actor Chris Rankin quien interpreta a Percy Weasley en las películas de Harry Potter, informó que Chris volverá a interpretar su rol para Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte.
Actor británico Chris Rankin regresará con su papel de Percy Weasley en la nueva entrega de la Warner Bros "Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte".
Nuevas camisetas de Dumbledore, Luna y Draco!
Hottopic.com a dado a conocer tres nuevas camisetas de Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy y de Albus Dumbledore de Harry Potter y el Misterio del Príncipe.
Fuente: SS
Meet Ember, The Littlest Warbot
From Popsci.com:
iRobot's lovable fighting machine can be toted in your pocket.
iRobot's multipurpose PackBot has helped lead the way among war-bots, disabling improvised explosives and carrying out recon missions for snipers. But soon paperback-sized robots such as the Ember prototype could join their larger cousins on the battlefield.
Ember's strength rests with numbers and disposability -- one soldier could theoretically carry around several of the bots and place them to create a networked mobile swarm. Each robot might carry several radios and sensors that make up a small part of the larger wireless network envisioned in the Army's now-gutted Future Combat Systems.
Read more ....
Video: Nuevo trailer del videojuego de 'El Misterio del Príncipe'! incluye wallpapers!
Un nuevo trailer del videojuego de Harry Potter y el Misterio del Príncipe se a dado a conocer, incluye nuevas escenas (los cuáles son considerados spoiler ya que revelan cierta parte de la película). El trailer lo puedes ver aquí.
Boleto de oro escondido en el pack de las películas de 'Harry Potter' para visitar el set de 'Las Reliquias'!
Cuando el pack de las películas de la Harry Potter (desde la piedra filosofal hasta la orden del fénix) llegue hasta las estanterías el próximo mes, un afortunado se encontrará con el boleto de oro, el cuál lo hará ganador de un paseo durante 1 semana para visitar los Estudios Leavesden en pleno rodaje de 'Harry Potter y las Reliquias de la Muerte'.
El premio incluye (además de la visita) una increíble reunión con el elenco y con todo el equipo de producción, donde podrá visitar el departamento de decoración, de accesorios, cabello y maquillaje y mucho más!
Pero por otra parte también hay dos premios mas en caso de que no resultes ser el afortunado ganador porque también hay para el segundo lugar un sistema de entretenimiento doméstico de DVD y un cuadro con el crecimiento de Harry durante los años. Para el tercer lugar hay 30 paquetes que incluyen un casco de Quidditch, la formación y una camiseta.
Fecha del lanzamiento de la banda sonora de 'Harry Potter y el Misterio del Príncipe'!.
A principios de mes nos informó sobre el lanzamiento de la banda sonora de Harry Potter y el Misterio del Príncipe que se llevaría a cabo el 7 de julio. La fecha se a retrasado hasta el 14 de Julio un día antes luego del estreno de la película. Por otra parte la portada también a cambiado, puedes verla aquí.
Puedes pre-ordenar la banda sonora aquí y aquí.
Fuente: TLC
Air Force Looks For ‘Core Algorithms’ Of Human Thought
From The Danger Room:
The Defense Department is continuing its push to reduce human thought and human action to a few lines of code. The latest effort comes from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, which is looking to build “mathematical or computational models of human attention, memory, categorization, reasoning, problem solving, learning and motivation, and decision making.” The ultimate goal, according to a recent request for research proposals, is to “elucidate core computational algorithms of the mind and brain.” Good luck with that, guys.
Read more ....
The Defense Department is continuing its push to reduce human thought and human action to a few lines of code. The latest effort comes from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, which is looking to build “mathematical or computational models of human attention, memory, categorization, reasoning, problem solving, learning and motivation, and decision making.” The ultimate goal, according to a recent request for research proposals, is to “elucidate core computational algorithms of the mind and brain.” Good luck with that, guys.
Read more ....
The Impact of Computing : 78% More per Year, v2.0
From The Futurist:
Anyone who follows technology is familar with Moore's Law and its many variations, and has come to expect the price of computing power to halve every 18 months. But many people don't see the true long-term impact of this beyond the need to upgrade their computer every three or four years. To not internalize this more deeply is to miss investment opportunities, grossly mispredict the future, and be utterly unprepared for massive, sweeping changes to human society. Hence, it is time to update the first version of this all-important article that was written on February 21, 2006.
Read more ....
Duty With Honor: The US Merchant Marine
Do you remember 'Uncle Jesse' (Denver Pyle) from the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard? Question: What does he and Carroll O'Connor (Archie Bunker on All In The Family), renowned Olympian Jim Thorpe and iconic beatnik Jack Kerouac have in common? The answer: all of them served as United States Merchant Mariners.
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On Memorial Day in the United States this year (25 May), Americans will rightly pay respect to all who have served to defend the nation and promote democracy around the world. While images of marine landings, army troop movements, naval battles and air force raids will fill thoughts and conversations across the country, the brave sacrifices of the men and women of the United States Merchant Marine will unfortunately receive little attention.
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Although privateers acting to run supplies, arms and/or passengers over contested waters have moulded the nation's history since its 'discovery' by Europeans more than 500 years ago, the Merchant Marine only began to take formal shape after passage of the Jones Act in 1920. One of the stipulations of the legislation, mandating that the hybrid fleet of government and privately chartered ships be American owned and operated, was repeated in the more expansive Merchant Marine Act of 1936. Sensing a need to enhance the protection of American trade vessels from potential attacks by threatening nations (i.e. Germany and Japan), Franklin Roosevelt, a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, wisely reorganized the Merchant Marine.
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After the brazen Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941, the Merchant Marine became a fully instrumental component of Allied support during the terrible Second World War. Behind the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy (6 June 1944), hundreds of US Merchant Marine ships straddled off the coast containing the equipment needed to secure victory over Nazi Germany. On the other side of the world, the Merchant Marine crossed the Pacific Ocean to supply the Army and the Marines in their struggle against the Japanese Empire. At the conclusion of the war, more than 8,000 merchant mariners had been killed in action.
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Forty-three years later, in 1988, President Reagan awarded members of the Merchant Marine 'veteran status'. It was long overdue. While the Merchant Marine remains an auxiliary force to the Navy except as needed in wartime, the contributions of merchant mariners are no less significant than any other branch of service.
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On this Memorial Day, Americans should pay tribute to the dedicated citizens that comprise the United States Merchant Marine and the cadets at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. Due to their sacrifices and duty with honor, the world is a better and safer place.
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(Picture: The United States Merchant Marine Academy Seal)
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J Roquen
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On Memorial Day in the United States this year (25 May), Americans will rightly pay respect to all who have served to defend the nation and promote democracy around the world. While images of marine landings, army troop movements, naval battles and air force raids will fill thoughts and conversations across the country, the brave sacrifices of the men and women of the United States Merchant Marine will unfortunately receive little attention.
.
Although privateers acting to run supplies, arms and/or passengers over contested waters have moulded the nation's history since its 'discovery' by Europeans more than 500 years ago, the Merchant Marine only began to take formal shape after passage of the Jones Act in 1920. One of the stipulations of the legislation, mandating that the hybrid fleet of government and privately chartered ships be American owned and operated, was repeated in the more expansive Merchant Marine Act of 1936. Sensing a need to enhance the protection of American trade vessels from potential attacks by threatening nations (i.e. Germany and Japan), Franklin Roosevelt, a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, wisely reorganized the Merchant Marine.
.
After the brazen Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941, the Merchant Marine became a fully instrumental component of Allied support during the terrible Second World War. Behind the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy (6 June 1944), hundreds of US Merchant Marine ships straddled off the coast containing the equipment needed to secure victory over Nazi Germany. On the other side of the world, the Merchant Marine crossed the Pacific Ocean to supply the Army and the Marines in their struggle against the Japanese Empire. At the conclusion of the war, more than 8,000 merchant mariners had been killed in action.
.
Forty-three years later, in 1988, President Reagan awarded members of the Merchant Marine 'veteran status'. It was long overdue. While the Merchant Marine remains an auxiliary force to the Navy except as needed in wartime, the contributions of merchant mariners are no less significant than any other branch of service.
.
On this Memorial Day, Americans should pay tribute to the dedicated citizens that comprise the United States Merchant Marine and the cadets at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. Due to their sacrifices and duty with honor, the world is a better and safer place.
.
(Picture: The United States Merchant Marine Academy Seal)
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J Roquen
As Scientific Data Accumulates, Volume Can Overwhelm Understanding
From Seed Magazine:
In a recent article in Science, Cornell professor Hod Lipson and graduate student Michael Schmidt described a new computer system that can discover scientific laws. At first glance, it looks like a fulfillment of the dreams of “computational scientific discovery,” a small field at the intersection of philosophy and artificial intelligence (AI) that seeks to reverse-engineer scientific imagination and create a computer as skilled as we are at constructing theories. But if you look closer, it turns out that the system’s success at analyzing large, complicated data sets, formulating initial theories, and discarding trivial patterns in favor of interesting ones comes not from imitating people, but from allowing a very different kind of intelligence to grow in silico — one that doesn’t compete with humans, but works with us.
Read more ....
In a recent article in Science, Cornell professor Hod Lipson and graduate student Michael Schmidt described a new computer system that can discover scientific laws. At first glance, it looks like a fulfillment of the dreams of “computational scientific discovery,” a small field at the intersection of philosophy and artificial intelligence (AI) that seeks to reverse-engineer scientific imagination and create a computer as skilled as we are at constructing theories. But if you look closer, it turns out that the system’s success at analyzing large, complicated data sets, formulating initial theories, and discarding trivial patterns in favor of interesting ones comes not from imitating people, but from allowing a very different kind of intelligence to grow in silico — one that doesn’t compete with humans, but works with us.
Read more ....
Rutgers Attempts Robot Atlantic Crossing
From Slashdot:
"Rutgers University students and staff launched a Slocum glider AUV in an attempt to be the first such vehicle to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Progress so far is good, but it will be a long 6- to 9-month journey. Status as well as other information can be tracked here. Media links can be found in the lower left section of page, among images, and storyline blogs."
And Google Earth fans can track the vehicle's progress, too.
Read more ....
"Rutgers University students and staff launched a Slocum glider AUV in an attempt to be the first such vehicle to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Progress so far is good, but it will be a long 6- to 9-month journey. Status as well as other information can be tracked here. Media links can be found in the lower left section of page, among images, and storyline blogs."
And Google Earth fans can track the vehicle's progress, too.
Read more ....
Real Soldiers Love Their Robot Brethren
Concept art shows a human resistance fighter facing off against a Hydrobot from the movie "Terminator Salvation." Credit: Warner Bros.
From Live Science:
Human warriors have long spoken of the bonds forged in combat and of becoming a "band of brothers." The fact that some of those fellow soldiers are made of metal has not discouraged human feelings toward them.
Thousands of robots now fight with humans on modern battlefields that resemble scenes from science fiction movies such as "Terminator Salvation." But the real world poses a more complex situation than humans versus robots, and has added new twists to the psychology of war.
Read more ....
New Evolutionary Computing Developments Optimize Complex Problem Solving
From Science Daily:
ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — A group of researchers from the Department of Computer Systems Architecture and Technology (DATSI) at the UPM's School of Computing has for several years been working, in partnership with Madrid's Supercomputing and Visualization Centre (CeSViMa), on the design and implementation of an evolutionary computing platform capable of integrating classical and new techniques to together optimize complex problem solving.
The platform is based on evolutionary algorithms that optimize the search for solutions to complex scientific and engineering problems. These results are applicable to many fields, like molecular chemistry, materials resistance, robotics or games theory.
Read more ....
ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — A group of researchers from the Department of Computer Systems Architecture and Technology (DATSI) at the UPM's School of Computing has for several years been working, in partnership with Madrid's Supercomputing and Visualization Centre (CeSViMa), on the design and implementation of an evolutionary computing platform capable of integrating classical and new techniques to together optimize complex problem solving.
The platform is based on evolutionary algorithms that optimize the search for solutions to complex scientific and engineering problems. These results are applicable to many fields, like molecular chemistry, materials resistance, robotics or games theory.
Read more ....
Why 'Terminator' Is So Creepy
The movie "Terminator Salvation" tells of the human resistance struggling to defeat Skynet and its robot army. Credit: Warner Bros.
From Live Science:
Hollywood and robotics researchers have long struggled with the "uncanny valley," where a movie character or robot falls into the unsettling gap between human and not-quite-human. One psychologist likes to demonstrate this by holding up a plastic baby doll and asking audiences if they think it's alive. They say no.
Then she takes out a saw and starts cutting the doll's head off, but quickly stops upon seeing the uncomfortable audience reactions.
"I think that part of their brain is thinking the doll is alive, and you can't shut that off," said Thalia Wheatley, a psychologist at Dartmouth College.
Similar sensations abound in the movie "Terminator Salvation," which tells the story of the artificial intelligence Skynet and its army of robots threatening to wipe out humanity in 2018. The uncanny twist comes when Skynet begins disturbing experiments that combine human flesh with robotic strength.
Scientists have begun to understand what happens in the human brain when it encounters the uncanny valley. And like the post-apocalyptic future of "Terminator," it's not pretty — a murky landscape where conflict rages upon confronting a challenge to our human identity.
Read more ....
A & E opens tomorrow...
The Children's Emergency Department is having its grand opening (well, sort of) at 2am tomorrow, and our work is featured on the front page of the Derbyshire Telegraph ... http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/cut-wait-times-new-e/article-1003229-detail/article.html
We're very excited about the prospect of the public seeing our work for the first time and would like to wish all staff and patients a very successful and stress-free move. I wonder who will be the first to find the Dr. Who Seagull in the X ray..?
Video: iRobot Rolls Out One-Pound Machine, Ready to Swarm
From The Danger Room:
iRobot has built over 2,000 machines for the military. Most of ‘em are 50 pounds plus, and more than three feet long. But, lately, the company has been working on an itty-bitty version of its Packbot reconnaissance machine — one that weighs less than a pound, and is about the size of a paperback book.
The idea is for a soldier to dispatch a swarm of these “Ember” bots to scout out a possibly-hostile building, instead of sending a single, large Packbot. Once inside, the Embers would set up an ad-hoc wireless network, and then autonomously scurry around the floor (kind of like iRobot’s Roomba vaccum cleaning automaton). Tiny flippers will help them vault over objects. Cameras will beam the scene back to the G.I.
Read more ....
Free Aung San Suu Kyi
The plight of Aung San Suu Kyi may not be a household topic of conversation in the West, but she symbolizes the hope of millions around the world. On Monday (5/18), a trial will convene on the question of whether or not her detention ought to be extended past 27 May.
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Since 1990, the ruling junta of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has kept Suu Kyi incarcerated in a state prison (currently) or under house arrest for most of the last nineteen years - severely limiting her mobility and denying her any communication with the outside world. Her crime? She was chosen to become Prime Minister of Burma in free and fair elections on a platform of peace, prosperity and democracy.
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Upon winning the election, the autocratic elite moved to cancel the election results and quash political opposition through mass arrests and political intimidation. As a result, the 63 year-old University of London PhD and Nobel Peace Prize recipient became a prisoner in her own home. While Suu Kyi has suffered, the people of Myanmar have endured even more hardship. As squalor rather than economic opportunity has defined existence for much of the population over the last two decades, their corrupt rulers have simultaneously managed to attract billions of dollars from China for oil and natural gas infrastructure projects. More than $2.5 billion has poured into the country from Beijing since last year alone.
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President Obama rightly extended US sanctions against Myanmar a few days ago, but the State Department needs to use its leverage to dissuade China from continuing to prop up the egregious regime in Rangoon. As the US is dependent on China to fund its borrowing through the purchase of treasury bills, however, Hillary Clinton may have little or no negotiating power - and that is the current and overarching tragedy of US diplomacy today.
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Although Suu Kyi will likely face additional years of detention from trumped up charges, the world must nevertheless unceasingly demand with one loud voice: 'Free Aung San Suu Kyi'.
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For her oppression is our oppression, and her hope, our hope.
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(Picture: Aung San Suu Kyi)
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J Roquen
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Since 1990, the ruling junta of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) has kept Suu Kyi incarcerated in a state prison (currently) or under house arrest for most of the last nineteen years - severely limiting her mobility and denying her any communication with the outside world. Her crime? She was chosen to become Prime Minister of Burma in free and fair elections on a platform of peace, prosperity and democracy.
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Upon winning the election, the autocratic elite moved to cancel the election results and quash political opposition through mass arrests and political intimidation. As a result, the 63 year-old University of London PhD and Nobel Peace Prize recipient became a prisoner in her own home. While Suu Kyi has suffered, the people of Myanmar have endured even more hardship. As squalor rather than economic opportunity has defined existence for much of the population over the last two decades, their corrupt rulers have simultaneously managed to attract billions of dollars from China for oil and natural gas infrastructure projects. More than $2.5 billion has poured into the country from Beijing since last year alone.
.
President Obama rightly extended US sanctions against Myanmar a few days ago, but the State Department needs to use its leverage to dissuade China from continuing to prop up the egregious regime in Rangoon. As the US is dependent on China to fund its borrowing through the purchase of treasury bills, however, Hillary Clinton may have little or no negotiating power - and that is the current and overarching tragedy of US diplomacy today.
.
Although Suu Kyi will likely face additional years of detention from trumped up charges, the world must nevertheless unceasingly demand with one loud voice: 'Free Aung San Suu Kyi'.
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For her oppression is our oppression, and her hope, our hope.
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(Picture: Aung San Suu Kyi)
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J Roquen
'Chemical Robots' Swarm Together
From The BBC:
In a pair of small laboratories in Prague, a swarm of tens of millions of robots is being prepared, to be set loose en masse.
It is only fitting that here, in the town where the word robot was coined by author Karel Capek, the next generation of robotics should be envisioned.
But these won't be typical robots with gears and motors; they will instead be made of carefully designed chemical shells-within-shells, with receptors on their surface.
Instead of software and processors to guide them, their instructions will be written into the chemistry of their constituent parts. They are chemical robots, or as the 1.6m euro project's title has it, chobots.
Read more ....