Posts by Inventor of the Marmite Laser

Hi. I'm Clippy

It looks like you're tying something down. Would you like me to tell you how to get knotted?

If you think you've found a goldmine

Watch out for the shaft

"Basically, what we are finding is that people hate AI"

In other news, creatures of a ursine persuasion are understood to defecate in areas of arboreal vegetation.

Double the fun

An AI enabled 3D TV with a built in videodisc player.

So it's still

1) Get AI

2) Profit

respecting users preference

Microsoft has heard of that.

I had a try at a VR experience a couple of years back, with a trip to the War of the worlds immersive experience.

The thing was a number of set pieces in different rooms, each dramatising key points in the story. There was some fairly good live action scenarios, with special theatrical effects, alternating with VR headset pieces.

Memorably, a boat trip out into the Thames estuary was VR. One sat in a slightly wobbly wooden "boat" that rocked as the headset showed the trip out onto the water and a martian fighting machine striding in. The effect was completed by getting a light spray of water while wearing the headset. It was surprisingly effective. But only the one time round. It's not a thing one would be getting into every other day.

I've been giving serious consideration to getting away from Gmail but the prospect of sheer ballache put me right off. This, however. is beginning to look like the straw that broke the camels back.

What's a good, basic email service that includes decent spam filtering? I'm not really up to running my own server though.

Ladies and Gentlemen. The Baconator

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baconator

Isaac Asimov created the famous Three Laws of Robotics as ethical guidelines for fictional robots. They are:

---

First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Zeroth Law (Later Addition): A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm (supersedes the other three laws).

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I'm wondering whether something like that needs to be fundamentally built into AI offerings.

Mai I be the first to wish everyone a happy Easter

Once again, it's

1) get AI

2) profit

Simple innit?

Back in the early 1190s I was working with a small industrial instrumentation outfit. Muggins here was frequently called upon the prepare exhibition equipment and help man the stand during the show or whatever. This one time we were offered space at a trade show in Norway.

The idea was that I'd organise an hotel and a hire van. I'd load up the kit and drive from Luton to Newcastle on Tyne for the ferry to Stavanger. Our rep would fly out from Birmingham and join me for the show, which was over 3 days. He'd fly straight back, while I'd have a few days at leisure till the return ferry.

Then said rep pointed out a couple of things: Living in Norway was bloody expensive, plus he had a significant family event scheduled just before and wasn't keen on leaving his missus behind so soon, so he has a plan.

He'd pay the extra for his missus to go and they'd stay for a week. In the meanwhile I would book a minibus with a couple of back seats taken out for the kit instead of a van, and make sure it had a tow ball. I'd book for me, my wife and the kids in the minibus plus our caravan. I'd book us into a campsite that was about 20 mins walk from the exhibition hall. We'd stock the van with food, have a family holiday and the firm would be several hundred quid better off.

It was hard work, especially for my missus but it was a great free break.for us all.

The mission was an unqualified success. Lithospheric braking worked perfectly.

Many years sinceupon, I was working as a test bench engineer. A colleague, not renowned for a subtle approach, was struggling with an oscilloscope, proving a particularly recalcitrant fault.

I could see a convenient chunk of wire on a nearby desk - someone's not-yet cleared up offcut. It was a match for the look of his scope probe lead. I snipped off a 6 inch length, folded it into me palm and wandered over, as if being helpful.

"Aha", says I. "You're picking up a lot of crud and hum on that probe aren't you?"

He looked at me blankly.

"I can sort all that pickup. Here-"

In one smooth move I picked up his side cutters with my right hand and the scope probe lead with my left, dexterously deploying a loop of the scrap cable.

"This'll sort it." I said and snipped the loop of cable, apparently to his (very expensive) probe.

The open-mouthed look of "but, but, but - you can't do that " was priceless.

Don't let AI agents near your credit card EVER

TFTFY