The artificial intelligence research division of one internet giant (with other rival concerns not far behind) has developed a tandem neural-network that’s able to best human champions at the ancient strategy game Go.
Meaning the encircling game in Chinese, its goal is to capture more territory on the board than one’s opponent, AI experts once believed that a machine could never excel to human competence as unlike checkers and chess, where computers can use their bullying calculating speeds to forecast out all possible moves and outwit its challengers, the go game-board has more combinations than atoms in the known Universe (incidentally, I’ve started to wonder what that means, really, as I trust it’s more than just some clichรฉ and represents some exponential threshold, but does it take into account the Universe that’s mostly dark energy or the amount of stuff that ought to be there be that cannot be directly observed…) so brute force calculations are not a practical option for even the fastest computers. Human players—and there are grand-masters of go, which is quite sophisticated and challenging despite deceptively simple rules of engagement, began to lose their edge once a dual bit of programming was introduced that asset values and policies in a segregated fashion and apply those judgments in the same way as its competition. What do you think of this enterprise? Does it make for sore-losers?
Thursday 28 January 2016
the encircling game or alphago
yankeedom or upper caucasia
Given that the datelines from America betray a strong polarization, it is easy to dismiss and class all demographics into one of two categories—usually along political ideologies.
With a respectful aversion to over- simplification, gerry- mandering and gentrification, author and journalist Colin Woodward presents a really intriguing ethnographic picture of the North American continent divided into eleven nations. The boundaries of these cultural identities cleave sometimes to regional dialects but there’s quite a bit of interesting undercurrent buoying up these geographic divides. Do you agree with how Woodward parses the States? Do you think such rifts remain to make these distinctions relevant? Given that Florida has heaped on disappointment in with elections past (and seems to be classed as an outlier on Woodward’s map), perhaps Bugs has the right campaign strategy for ensuring it’s not contested another toss-up.
charta visa
catagories: ๐, ๐, foreign policy
moving on up or shabby sheik
The intrepid real estate broker Miss Cellania, scouting for Neatorama, spotted this amazingly hot property in this furnished time-capsule in Chicago. The original owners lovingly decorated the penthouse but left it virtually untouched since 1972—even leaving cleaning and cosmetic products of that year’s vintage. One can also take a simulated tour. I wonder how long it will stay on the market, and I hope its new occupants, who are certain to be hailed as thrift-store royals, continue the curation.Wednesday 27 January 2016
6x6
dress the flesh: the rise of the plant-butcher, via Kottke’s quick-links
three is a magic number: the creative talent behind “Schoolhouse Rock!”
linear b: excellent, freshly available image and textual library of the Voynich Manuscript and Codex Seraphinia
neural handshake: meet the neurosurgeon who tried to hack his brain and nearly lost his mind
the genlteman’s recreation in four parts: seventeenth century common dog names included Ranter and Jollyboy
chicken dance festival: a creative and award-winning re-imaging of The Shining is classified under the genre of cinegraffiti