A stupid laptop (ACER Aspire 5315)

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Working on upgrading an old 2008 laptop for someone from Vista to (also) run Linux, I ran into the most silly issue. Unlike “normal” laptops, the ACER Aspire 5315 does not control its CPU fan through its BIOS (ACPI) – the fan does run on startup, but stops as soon as you start an operating system. Vista then controls it again through a driver. So in a nutshell, unless you have something specifically controlling the fan, it doesn’t run. Obviously this makes the processor heat up considerably within a fairly short space of time (10 minutes or so) and causes the laptop to shut down (thermal protection).

It’s merely a hurdle and not a hindrance for installing Linux – it has a tool to handle this stuff, which needs to be installed and enabled before proceeding with the rest of the installation process.

My main point of this post is just calling out “how stupid” of ACER to design a laptop like this. It really doesn’t help at all. There are standard ways of doing this, and they just ignored it for this particular laptop. Other ACER laptops do things the standard way. Sigh.

Cybersleuths Uncover 5-Year Spy Operation | Wired.com

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http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/01/red-october-spy-campaign/all/

An advanced and well-orchestrated computer spy operation that targeted diplomats and governments for at least five years has been uncovered by security researchers in Russia. Focused on targets in Eastern Europe, the campaign appears to be aimed at gathering classified information and geopolitical intelligence.

And US govt is fussed about Wikileaks. My goodness do they have their priorities wrong. For instance, the insecurity of devices, operating systems and applications (mainly of US design) is staggering. But the response is consistently typical: they prosecute rather than deal with the underlying problem.

Home made CT Scanner | HackADay

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http://hackaday.com/2013/01/09/ben-krasnow-builds-a-ct-scanner/

After building a homebrew x-ray backscatter imager, Ben Krasnow realised he had nearly all the components to build his own CT scanner, able to make a 3D model of the inside of a frozen chicken.
[Uses Arduino as well.]

IBM taught Watson to swear

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http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/30064-ibm-accidentally-taught-watson-to-swear

IBM hit a snag when it was trying to train its Watson supercomputer to understand Internet slang. Brown said he tried to teach Watson the Urban Dictionary which included Internet abbreviations.

The problem was that Watson couldn’t distinguish between polite language and swearing. Apparently it picked up some bad habits from reading Wikipedia and started using terms like “bullshit” in an answer to a researcher’s query.

And the problem is?

“He said that the trial proves just how thorny it will be to get artificial intelligence to communicate naturally.” – does he mean speaking with magic inclusion of beeps for American listeners, and censorship on access to data/information? Seems hardly natural to me.

If the Watson computer used the word “bullshit” in a sentence with correct grammar, that’s bloody (!) brilliant and quite natural. Equalling Billy Connolly’s expert use of profanity is no easy feat. Whether it’s appropriate in a specific context is an entirely different matter. But that’s an issue for additional learning, not removal of dictionary from the active vocab. To me, exclusion of this vocabulary also seems like a potential means to identify computers, thereby making them fail a Turing test. right?

Santa shot – critical but stable – recovery expected

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N.P.P. – 19 December 2012

The big man in red and white is down, critically shot while on his annual rounds, according to information released only moments ago. Doctors say Mr Claus, commonly known as Santa, is now resting in a stable condition after undergoing hours of complex life-saving surgery.

Police are still trying to determine the exact flow of last night’s tragic events, but it appears that when the well-known anthropomorphic personification entered a house via the usual route, he was confronted by the house owner and subsequently shot at close range with a firearm.

Authorities are unwilling to divulge the exact location of the shooting, but have confirmed it was somewhere in the United States and that the shooter is cooperating with the investigations, as are the elves that accompanied Mr Claus on the fateful trip. A related statement contained a quote from the shooter, apparently a father of three: “I don’t know how to explain this to my children. It was an accident, I was just trying to keep my family safe.”

During a brief restricted press conference, Mrs Claus expressed her shock. She noted that “[…] throughout our centuries of work, nothing like this has ever happened. Of course, we’ve had near misses with little children around the house spotting my husband at work, but never has he or any of his team encountered any threat or violence. It’s simply dreadful. It’s a miracle he wasn’t killed.”

In a truly professional manner but still clearly emotional, Mrs Claus added: “Naturally the usual Christmas preparations will proceed, auxiliary elves have been drafted in to cope with the additional workload.”

To prevent noise and crowds from hindering Santa’s recovery, the good old man’s location is being kept under wraps. Wishing well cards and letters will be picked up by elves, ensuring they will get to their intended recipient.

There remain a number of pressing but wholly unanswered questions at this stage. Will it be feasible for Mr Claus to continue his charitable operation in the United States, considering the now obvious risks related to his work? Will his insurance be willing to cover him and the elves? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, children and adults alike will be relieved to know that Santa, barring any complications, is expected to make a full recovery from this ordeal. He might have a few words to say about it, too.