SPOILER ALERT.
Seriously, I shouldn’t have to write this anymore, but I’ll still do it until the end of the month just in case.
Baking a Birthday Cake: The Metalcore Edition [Video]
After teaching us a basic Shepard’s Pie recipe, the adorable Linzey Rae is back, and this time, she prepares a delicious birthday cake! Check it out!
Google Computer Masters Board Game Go
A Google computer has handily beaten a leading champion at the board game Go. It’s arguably a far more impressive AI achievement than computers prevailing at chess.
The game of Go appears on the surface to be simple, involving placing black or white pieces on a grid in an attempt to capture opposing pieces by surrounding them. The problem is that at any one moment, the number of legal moves available will usually far outnumber those in any given chess position.
This means assessing numerous options (and in turn the most likely exchange) of moves that will follow, something that is arguably more suited to the multitasking human brain than a computer processor that works in series rather than parallel. It’s also a particular challenge just to assess whether a player is in a strong position thanks to the ease with which pieces can go from being offensive weapons to being captured.
Google notes that the number of possible layouts of stones is more than the number of atoms in the universe and “more than a googol times larger than chess.”
It’s developed a system called Alpha Go, which tries to improve on standard artificial intelligence in a couple of ways. Firstly, it uses a neural network that simulates the way the brain can use connections between neurons to effectively create a “tree” of possible combinations of moves and outcomes and identify the best move to make next.
Secondly, it learns from games and develops strategies: in effect, shortcuts and “rules of thumb” that allow it to better target the range of possible moves to consider.
Eventually Google put the system to the test against some rival AI systems, which proved successful when it won 499 out of 500 games. Google then challenged European champion human player Fan Hui, with Alpha Go sweeping a five game series. According to Google, that’s the first time a computer has beaten a professional-level human player.
PSA: Deadpool on Testicular Cancer Checks [Video]
Don’t forget, geeks, do it once a month after getting out of the bath or shower.
Gotta love Deadpool.
A Comic About Saying Goodbye
Far Cry Primal PS4 Gameplay – First Hour Highlights
If you guys are anything like me, you cannot wait to sink your sabertooth fangs into Far Cry: Primal. The newest chapter of this amazing series now sees us chasing woolly mammoths and training tigers to fight alongside us.
For those of you as pumped up as I am about Primal, here are some of the best details from the first hour of gameplay, via PlaystationAccess.
Tags: far cry, far cry primal, gameplay, Games
Robots Hate Us: Hoverboard Fails and People Vs. Technology
Hey, get off your hoverboard self-balancing board. First thing, those are not hoverboards. They have wheels. Second thing, NO ONE looks cool on one… except for this guy. Third thing, well, they burst into flames. And in the worst case scenario, you end up looking like one of these people.
And what self respecting human wants that?
Tags: fails, funny, hoverboard, jackasses
A Robot With the Heart of a Man [Comic]
9 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Labyrinth!
We’ve all got David Bowie on our minds and what better way is there for us to honor his memory than to explore trivia for the film Labyrinth!
[CineFix]
Uber Tells Drunk Passengers To Bop It… Twist It… Pass It
Uber is hoping kids’ toy Bop It can help pacify intoxicated passengers. Its one of several tech solutions the company is trying out.
The Bop It toy is being trialled in some Uber driver cars in Charlotte, North Carolina. For those who’ve not had the pleasure, it’s a stick-like device that has a variety of buttons and levers to press, pull or twist in response to increasingly faster audible commands.
The theory is that it should provide just enough of a mental and physical challenge (particularly to somebody worse for wear) to distract riders from being abusive or otherwise unpleasant to drivers. The seemingly obvious alternative of banning drunk riders is not ideal as Uber quite openly targets its services at people who’ve either gone out drinking because they know they can get a ride home, or folk who’ve had a few unplanned beverages and need an alternative to drunk driving.
Cars in Seattle are testing an even lower-tech idea: putting mirrors on the back of the driver seats so that people riding in the back can see their own reflection, the idea being a psychological trick to make intoxicated riders be more self-aware and thus more likely to hold off from behaving obnoxiously.
Seattle is also playing host to another experiment to make it easier to identify an Uber vehicle (which doesn’t necessarily have any clear identifying logos) in the dark. It’s simply a lighting strip on the windshield that can glow in several colors. The rider chooses a color upon booking the vehicle and the strip will then light up in the chosen color upon arrival.
The company is also trialling a nationwide program to use smartphone data to investigate reports of bad driving. It says that if a rider complains about measures such as overly-fast acceleration or hard breaking, it will look at the phone’s gyrometer, accelerometer and GPS data. (It appears the data will come from the driver’s phone rather than the customers, though this isn’t confirmed.) Uber will then either follow up with the driver or remove a low customer rating depending on whether the data backs up the complaint.