Daily Archives: September 10, 2021

Could That Dreaded Highway Hypnosis That Puts Human Drivers Into A Trance Befall AI Self-Driving Cars? – Forbes

Posted: September 10, 2021 at 6:18 am

Is highway hypnosis a real thing and what about those AI self-driving cars?

You are driving along on a lengthy stretch of an open highway.

Gloriously, you seem to have the roadway entirely to yourself. For miles on end, you havent encountered any traffic. This is a relief in comparison to the daily commute that you undertake each day when going to work in a busy downtown city area.

Now, it is just you and the expansive highway.

The overall scenery on this highway is admittedly a bit drab. Nothing much to see. There arent any flashy billboards or other eye-catching hallmarks. About the only manmade item is the laid-down asphalt of the highway and the painted roadway lines that seem to extend to the furthest horizon.

You begin to find yourself becoming somewhat preoccupied with the lines and lane markers of the highway. For driving purposes, you are merely having to keep your car within the lines of your lane. Your right foot is pressing down on the accelerator pedal with a constant amount of force and you are maintaining a consistent speed. Your hands are securely and fully on the steering wheel, occasionally making microscopic adjustments to ensure that the vehicle remains stridently going straight ahead on this everlasting straightaway.

Occasional bumps arise from having the tires go over a rough patch on the highway, providing an almost welcome respite from the otherwise tedium and boredom of this driving trek. When those gruff spots occur, it kind of sparks you to remember that you are driving a car. Indeed, you are driving a car at speeds exceeding 65 miles per hour and are hurdling along at a pace that doesnt seem fast to you, but if anyone was standing by the roadside you would zoom right past them (for my coverage about the relative nature of speed perception when driving a car, see the link here).

The good news is that you are wide awake and had several cups of coffee before you got onto the highway.

You know that being sleepy while driving is a highly dangerous act. That is definitely not going to happen to you. You loathe people that try to drive while drowsy. Of course, it goes without saying that you have even worse opinions about those that try to drink and drive.

As the monotony of the driving journey starts to grab up your mind, you almost feel as though you are no longer occupying your body. It is as though your body, essentially your legs and arms, are working without you having to put any conscious thought into the matter. Your mind is floating away from the matters underway, meanwhile, your body and limbs are doing the right thing by staying glued to the driving controls.

The driving is so mesmerizing that you begin to lose a sense of time. How long have you been driving on this darned road? The lack of external stimuli such as pedestrians, other cars, bicycle riders, and the like has altered your perception of time and space. You are on a kind of highway treadmill that just seems to be endlessly running the same path over and over again.

If someone could see your face, they would probably notice a somewhat expressionless look. Your eyes have that glassy and faraway appearance. Your mind is operating on a sluggish basis and you almost have an emptiness of thought processes. There isnt anything worthy of devoting any mental contortions toward. The highway is a simple open path that requires no particular mental gymnastics to contend with.

What is happening to you during this long and uneventful drive?

Highway hypnosis.

Yes, you might remember learning in a driver training class about the dangers of highway hypnosis. It used to be that newbie teenage drivers were strictly forewarned about the evils of highway hypnosis. You were told repeatedly to be on the watch for your mind going into a kind of mental trance.

This trance could be induced via driving when there are little or no roadway changes or other alluring attractors that keep your head in the game. It is patently obvious that driving in a hectic city environment you are bombarded by stimuli and your mind has to be going at its peak performance (well, we hope so, for your sake and the other nearby drivers). In contrast, driving on a lengthy mountain road, or through an endless desert, or on any prolonged straightaway is oftentimes bereft of any notable visual stimuli.

The belief is that you can become somewhat hypnotized by the roadway.

Similar to the movies and TV shows that used to showcase a person being hypnotized by watching a spiraling line that keeps going and going, the same thing is said to affect you when it is a painted line on the highway that appears to go eternally. The quietness inside the car is coupled with the dullness of the external environment, and the next thing that you know this has combined to put your mind into a sort of dulled trance.

There is an ongoing heated debate about the nature of highway hypnosis.

Does it occur?

Is it a made-up excuse?

What causes it?

Some trace the origins of the discovery of highway hypnosis to the early days of driving and the initial formulations of automobiles. There are historical accounts that suggest the matter was originally coined as road hypnotism, which eventually was renamed highway hypnosis. The highway hypnosis moniker certainly is a catchier phrasing and seems to readily roll off the tongue.

Some experts do not like the catchphrase since it incorporates the notion of hypnotism into it. For various reasons, the mentioning of being hypnotized or being the subject of hypnotism is considered misleading and potentially outright misapplied. The preferred phrasing is something akin to saying that this is a phenomenon consisting of Driving Without Awareness (DWA).

Stating that this is driving without awareness is indubitably a more reasoned way to depict the situation, but the popularity and tangy beat of exhorting about the ominous soul-sapping of highway hypnosis is pretty hard to dislodge from the public vocabulary on this intriguing topic.

For sake of discussion, please allow me to continue to use the reference of highway hypnosis, and I do so with a proper head nod and apologies to those that vehemently prefer the DWA mantra. Regardless of the naming, the overall facet is that you mentally seem to fade away from the driving task at hand.

This can create a mental time gap, whereby you cannot immediately remember how long you have been at the wheel. You likely cannot recall what youve seen so far while being there in the drivers seat. It is as though your brain is no longer recording whatever you are seeing. In one ear, out the other, in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek homage to the sage piece of wisdom about how we sometimes skip the act of mental processing.

People that claim to have been entranced by highway hypnosis will often insist that this did not affect whatsoever on their driving. They reluctantly agree that they might have mentally been in a tropical paradise for a few moments, but assuredly they still were driving the car. They did not remove their hands from the wheel. They did not remove their foot from the pedals.

One distinction that some take toward the immersion into highway hypnosis is that it is not the same as the mental act of driving while distracted.

A distracted driver is fully cognizant of the driving task but has switched their mental attention to something other than the driving. For example, a driver might be watching a fascinating cat video via their in-car display, which is causing their mental attention to be split between the roadway and those cute kittens that are playing with a ball of string in that endearing video.

The person driving is still mentally alert. The bad news is that they are giving short shrift to the driving task. At one moment, they are looking and thinking about the highway. The next moment, they are glancing at the cat video or repositioning the mental energies toward the cat video. This kind of mental shifting is playing out like a vigorous ping pong match. The really bad news is that if something goes awry on the highway, their attention might at that instant be on the distracting aspect, such as the cat video, and therefore they are caught utterly unawares of the impending and possibly dire driving situation.

In contrast, the purist viewpoint about highway hypnosis is that you are not distracted by anything and that you are in fact devoted to the driving task. The problem is that you are mentally disengaged from the driving task. Some would argue that they are using their subconscious to do the driving, rather than their conscious mind per se (this is open to debate).

It is as though your mind has seemingly gone into a mindless state. The barebones fundamental operation of your body and about driving the car is still occurring. This is almost happening by so-called muscle memory. It is reflexive. Your mind is not necessarily thinking about other matters. One might liken this mental condition to being in the midst of some hefty meditation and you have zoned out of the driving chore.

The difficulty too is that your mind might not be telling you that you are immersed in this trance. If you were watching a cat video, your mind might be nagging you that you are not paying attention to the roadway. You override that nagging. Despite the overriding, at least the nagging is taking place. A claimed issue for highway hypnosis is that your mind lets itself go free and doesnt kick you in the mental butt about being more responsible to devote attention to the roadway.

Some try to argue that a lousy form of mental engagement is better than the lack of mental engagement regarding the driving task. In that sense, they would assert that driving while distracted is better than getting into the driving hypnotic state of mind. Others would counterargue that highway hypnosis is less threatening than the distracted driver.

We can add more fuel to the fire by including the drunk driver. Presumably, a drunk driver has a mental state that is totally messed up and unable to process properly the world around them. Almost everyone would likely tend to agree that a drunk driver poses a much greater threat than a distracted driver or a highway hypnotized driver. These comparisons though are problematic since there are varying degrees of each kind of mental overtaking.

Lets agree to something that we can all seemingly concur with, namely that driving ought to be a task that has the devoted and undivided attention of a fully cognizant and expressly unencumbered mind of the human driver at the wheel.

Period, full stop.

Arguing over which of the corrupted mental states is better or worse is akin to the famous saying that this is tantamount to trying to move around the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

Now that Ive dragged you through the morass about highway hypnosis, one aspect that might have come to your mind is that this driving without awareness is not worthy of discussion since the person is still at the wheel and presumably driving the car. In essence, there is the classic so what that needs to be addressed.

Why does this all matter?

Because a person that is embraced by highway hypnosis, if there is such a thing, can become dull in their driving and ergo have a delayed and potentially life-ending reaction to a sudden roadway mishap.

Take for example that while on that long stretch of highway there is a sharp piece of piercing metal that perchance is laying on the roadway (ominously awaiting your tires). It is not immediately obvious to the eye. The size, shape, and color allow it to blend into the overall appearance of the highway surface.

A driver that is engulfed in highway hypnosis might have a delayed and incorrect reaction to striking that tire ripping piece of debris. Whereas a driver that was mentally engaged might react with some surprise and concern, they would at least be likely aware that they must have struck something that was on the highway surface. Their mental processing would lead them in that mental calculation, very quickly. And, as such, they would react with a pre-canned mental template that tells them to gradually slow down the car and try to safely pull off the highway.

Someone that was zoned out via highway hypnosis would presumably be shocked back into awareness by the sounds and sudden response of the vehicle. This would get them back into the game. But their mind might be at wits end about what just happened. Did they hit something? Did the car itself fall apart or have some egregious problem?

They wont likely be able to recall where the car was before the incident. Did they miss something about the roadway? Their mind might begin to play tricks on them. Perhaps a deer entered into the highway and they were so zoned out mentally that they didnt even see it. The deer was somehow invisible to their mind.

At this juncture, the suddenly re-engaged mind might prod the driver to do something entirely inappropriate for the situation. This could be due to the mind not having a clue about what has just taken place. As a result, some semi-random choice of emergency driving action comes to the forefront of their thinking. This can make a bad situation turn into a deathly one.

Various claimed documented cases of drivers in car accidents that said they had highway hypnosis are at times seemingly reinforced by the forensic evidence at the scene of a crash. This might include the fact that no skid marks were indicated on the highway. Had the driver been aware and mentally engaged, the assumption is that they would have immediately hit their brakes and therefore there would be skid marks.

You have to be careful when trying to employ roadway evidence to support a contention that highway hypnosis was the culprit. There is usually a multitude of viable explanations. The tie between what the roadway evidence showcases and the true mental state of the driver are somewhat tenuous and altogether usually quite speculative.

There has been an off-and-on spate of scholarly research about highway hypnosis. One focus of the inquiry is that perhaps the biomechanics of the eyes is a contributor to the road hypnotic trance. It could be that the non-movement (or minimal movement) of the eyes are generating signals to the brain that somewhat lead to the brain going into this trance zone.

The research remains ongoing and continues to seek a better understanding of what makes driving without awareness (i.e., highway hypnosis) occur and how to resolve it.

Harking back to the days of learning about highway hypnosis while in driver training, you might recall that there were several pieces of handy advice about how to try and avert this seemingly temporary and possibly deadly mental condition. One proffered action entails moving your eyes back and forth to scan the roadway. This might seem to keep your eyes engaged and correspondingly your mind engaged.

More pieces of advice include creating your own engaging stimuli. Turn on the radio and listen to something that keeps your mind active. Chew gum. Open a window of the car to get wind whisking into the interior. These are all potential ways to keep highway hypnosis at bay. That being said, there is a fine line between seeking to remain mentally engaged and yet pushing you over into the distracted driving mode.

Lets slightly shift gears.

The future of cars consists of AI-based true self-driving cars.

There isnt a human driver involved in a true self-driving car. Keep in mind that true self-driving cars are driven via an AI driving system. There isnt a need for a human driver at the wheel, and nor is there a provision for a human to drive the vehicle. For my extensive and ongoing coverage of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and especially self-driving cars, see the link here.

Heres an intriguing question that is worth pondering: Is it conceivable that AI-based true self-driving cars might somehow suffer from highway hypnosis, and if so, what can be done about this?

Id like to first further clarify what is meant when I refer to true self-driving cars.

Understanding The Levels Of Self-Driving Cars

As a clarification, true self-driving cars are ones that the AI drives the car entirely on its own and there isnt any human assistance during the driving task.

These driverless vehicles are considered Level 4 and Level 5 (see my explanation at this link here), while a car that requires a human driver to co-share the driving effort is usually considered at Level 2 or Level 3. The cars that co-share the driving task are described as being semi-autonomous, and typically contain a variety of automated add-ons that are referred to as ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems).

There is not yet a true self-driving car at Level 5, which we dont yet even know if this will be possible to achieve, and nor how long it will take to get there.

Meanwhile, the Level 4 efforts are gradually trying to get some traction by undergoing very narrow and selective public roadway trials, though there is controversy over whether this testing should be allowed per se (we are all life-or-death guinea pigs in an experiment taking place on our highways and byways, some contend, see my coverage at this link here).

Since semi-autonomous cars require a human driver, the adoption of those types of cars wont be markedly different than driving conventional vehicles, so theres not much new per se to cover about them on this topic (though, as youll see in a moment, the points next made are generally applicable).

For semi-autonomous cars, it is important that the public needs to be forewarned about a disturbing aspect thats been arising lately, namely that despite those human drivers that keep posting videos of themselves falling asleep at the wheel of a Level 2 or Level 3 car, we all need to avoid being misled into believing that the driver can take away their attention from the driving task while driving a semi-autonomous car.

You are the responsible party for the driving actions of the vehicle, regardless of how much automation might be tossed into a Level 2 or Level 3.

Self-Driving Cars And Highway Hypnosis

For Level 4 and Level 5 true self-driving vehicles, there wont be a human driver involved in the driving task.

All occupants will be passengers.

The AI is doing the driving.

One aspect to immediately discuss entails the fact that the AI involved in todays AI driving systems is not sentient. In other words, the AI is altogether a collective of computer-based programming and algorithms, and most assuredly not able to reason in the same manner that humans can.

Why is this added emphasis about the AI not being sentient?

Because I want to underscore that when discussing the role of the AI driving system, I am not ascribing human qualities to the AI. Please be aware that there is an ongoing and dangerous tendency these days to anthropomorphize AI. In essence, people are assigning human-like sentience to todays AI, despite the undeniable and inarguable fact that no such AI exists as yet.

With that clarification, you can envision that the AI driving system wont natively somehow know about the facets of driving. Driving and all that it entails will need to be programmed as part of the hardware and software of the self-driving car.

Lets dive into the myriad of aspects that come to play on this topic.

First, consider what could happen if a self-driving encountered a human-driven car that was being driven by someone that had succumbed to a presumed dose of highway hypnosis.

The concern in this scenario is that the human driver might not adequately react to a roadway anomaly. Furthermore, the driver might inadvertently do something untoward during any ordinary driving task because they are mentally zoned out.

Theres not particularly anything extraordinary that the self-driving car can do about such a circumstance.

Allow me to explain.

By and large, there are no outwardly evidentiary means to ferret out whether a human driver is driving with a full semblance of mental alertness versus whether they are in an alleged mental trance. About the only clues would be that the conventional human-driven car in question might seem to be driving without any apparent reaction to the roadway status.

For example, suppose the AI driving system detects via the self-driving car sensors that there is a large boulder in the roadway up ahead. The AI driving system might begin slowing down the self-driving car, anticipating the need to come to a stop before reaching the boulder. Meanwhile, imagine that the human-driven car nearby and traveling along at a tad ahead of the self-driving car seems to be making no overt indications of slowing or intending to stop.

This could be an indicator that the human driver of that car is incurring highway hypnosis.

Of course, it could be that the driver is distracted by watching enchanting online videos of a baby gurgling and fussing while eating some scrumptious baby food. Or the driver might be drunk and just barely able to keep the car moving forward and has not yet realized that the boulder is going to be a problem. And so on.

Since any of those are real possibilities, there are no immediate means to assume that the human driver is consumed necessarily by highway hypnosis. The AI driving system could either merely wait and see what happens to the conventional car or might take some proactive action to try and alert the human driver. For example, suppose the AI driving system opts to honk the horn of the self-driving car or perhaps turns the headlights on and off, attempting to gain the attention of the human driver.

This takes us to a brief but valuable side tangent.

Most people assume that AI driving systems are being programmed to focus exclusively on the well-being of the self-driving car. That could be the case. As such, the AI would not be exploring any concerns that are bereft of any specific bearing on the outcome of efforts entailing the self-driving car per se. If the crashing of the human-driven car into the boulder would not have any distinct impact upon the self-driving car, there would presumably be no cause for the AI driving system to do anything about the predicted catastrophe.

This is a somewhat vexing and ethically open question about whether we would expect or want self-driving cars to go further and try to assist other traffic, such as nearby human-driven cars. Ive discussed this matter at the link here. We would likely expect that other nearby human drivers would attempt to act in a good Samaritan fashion, and as such we might hope to have self-driving cars do likewise (as programmed by the AI developers to do so, not because the AI divines to do so).

In any case, there isnt much more to be fruitfully said about the use case of a human driver in the hypnotic highway haze and the overarching role of a nearby self-driving car. Generally, the AI driving system needs to be observing other nearby cars always and the AI programming needs to try and anticipate what those other cars are going to do, especially when those actions pertain to the driving of the self-driving car.

Moving on, we get the crux of this matter.

If you believe that there is such a thing as highway hypnosis and that it can overtake the mental acumen of human drivers, we can give some consideration to the curious possibility that AI driving systems might suffer the same potential fate.

Id like to emphasize that one big problem with trying to make such a claim or connection is that it tends to imply that the AI driving system is sentient.

As mentioned earlier, none of todays AI driving systems are sentient. I would also easily win a wager that we wont have such AI in any near-term future and unlikely in any later-term future. I am not asserting that we will never have sentient AI, which some would argue is in fact never going to happen. Ill settle for now on the simpler notion that sentient AI is not in the cards for the foreseeable future.

Lets leave things at that for the moment.

Okay, if the AI isnt sentient, we would seem on the safe theoretical ground to proclaim that the AI driving system will decidedly not become a victim of highway hypnosis.

You see, we can be clear-cut about the undeniable aspect that the AI driving system does not have eyeballs (not now). It has video cameras and other sensors such as radar, LIDAR, and the like, but it doesnt have human eyes. Plus, AI does not have a brain. AI of today has various computer processors and other electronic circuitry, which is assuredly not a brain and should not be falsely compared to a human brain.

Heres why that is significant.

For those that are sticklers about the meaning of highway hypnosis, they would fervently say that to experience highway hypnosis you must have human eyes, a human brain, and your eyes and brain are the elements that would become ostensibly hypnotized by the highway driving. Weve just stated that AI driving systems arent composed in that manner and therefore strictly speaking could not be labeled as susceptible to highway hypnosis.

Case closed.

Wait for a second, lets be a bit more flexible about this.

If you are willing to agree that highway hypnosis is more so about driving without awareness, and if we are willing to also define awareness in a more logically pliable fashion (even in the absence of sentience), we can constructively take a gander at seeing how this all applies to self-driving cars.

Excerpt from:

Could That Dreaded Highway Hypnosis That Puts Human Drivers Into A Trance Befall AI Self-Driving Cars? - Forbes

Posted in Trance | Comments Off

Jason Newsted On The Songs He Played With Metallica: That Was All Pretty Busy Motorhead-Fueled Stuf … – MetalCastle

Posted: at 6:18 am

Jason Newsted has mentioned Motorhead while discussing the bass line he recorded on The Black Album.

The American musician Jason Newsted, known for his tenure with the heavy metal band Metallica, recalled the recordings he made with Metallica and mentioned the late musician Lemmys band Motorhead.

Beginning his musical career in 1981, Newsted, who certainly had a different look than his bandmates in Metallica, had joined the pioneer of heavy metal band Metallica in 1986. Sharing the stage for 15 years with Metallica, Jason recorded four studio albums with them. The bands And Justice For All, self-titled Black Album, Load, and Reload albums were among those albums.

Parting ways with Metallica, Jason appeared in several albums of different bands. He was a member of the bands Echobrain and Voivod in addition to his touring tenure with Ozzy Osbourne. Also, Jason Newstedwas inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Metallica 8-year after he parted ways with the band.

However, in his recent interview on Talk Toomey, Newsted looked back on the bands The Black Album-era, on the eve of the release of The Blacklist. He mentioned the bass lines he recorded on My Friend Of Misery and respected Motorhead.

Nothing too crazy, conscious, or anything like that, Jason said. I was in my house in Walnut Creek, California, the house that Justice built, and I just got my Spector bass, the first one.

I was in the living room playing this mellow pretty thing. Up to that time, the songs that I listened to, or played with Metallica, or anything, that was all pretty busy Motorhead-fueled stuff.

So my girlfriend at the time heard that thing in between a bunch of rattling shit and really liked it.

And so I developed it in a three-minute, three or four-minute piece, revolving, three parts revolving, kind of like a little trance deal.

Jason later went on to reveal the thing he did not understand about James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, and Lars Ulrich. He also stated that the bands beloved song Blackened was weird a little bit.

The demos or the idea tapes that I would give to Lars and James were just basslines rattling about, he said.

And so I think that within that, the mellowness of that, one and the trance-ness of that, one took their attention more than just the kind of same stuff that was around it.

And I think they were always attracted to my unorthodox kind of thing, it was quiet, a few steps away from where Kirk [Hammett, guitar] was writing or Jamess writing.

Like Blackened and stuff, no idea of any kind of music theory, whatever. That just is dexterity and it seemed fast, and it was off, and weird. So lets go with that.

Cyazon Welcomes Another Month of Cyber Future Radio – One EDM

Posted: at 6:18 am

Cyazon welcomes a brand-new month of shows, with a consistent weekly radio show hosted by one of the most innovative artists in the industry. Cyazon continues to push the boat out in terms of his musical style where he is constantly testing the boundaries of conventional music and his sound has come on leaps and bounds from when he first started.Cyazon welcomes his third month of Cyber Future, which has grown in popularity amongst listeners in the scene. You can expect to find a plethora of inimitable sounds built up from Cyazons library of unique tastes and influences including heavy doses ofhard-hitting beats, heavysynths, and melodic Dubstepsupersaws that make up the distinguished sound of Cyazon.

This month you can treat yourself to a wide and impressive range ofvarying genres including Trance, Progressive House, Electro, Dubstep, and Dance just to name a few. Considering Cyazon has such a vast range of beautifully unique musical influences, his sound is like no other, his show is a unique demonstration of his skills that set the tone of each show with an ethereal, yet electrifying tone. Indulge yourself in the very best upcoming music the scene has to offer from a range of the most exciting producers in the Electronic Music world as Cyazon takes you into the future with his highly original and heavily bass-charged radio show.

You can tune in and listen to Cyazons CyberFutureRadioon a range of global radio stationsincluding Shaky Radio & Sonance Sessions Radio (UK), Starter FM & Tune1 (AU), and Move Ibiza Radio (ES).Listen to the best talents the scene has to offer, like Xilent, Franky Nuts, Au5, and Kompany as Cyazon seamlessly merges their sounds every week on Cyazon Cyber Future.

Cyazon Online:https://ffm.bio/cyazon

To present AI as optimistic or dystopian? That was the biggest argument – Fast Company

Posted: at 6:18 am

AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future is an unusual book. Each chapter consists of a short story, penned by science fiction writer Chen Qiufan, and a related analysis piece from Kai-Fu Lee, CEO of Sinovation Ventures and author of the nonfiction bestseller AI Superpowers. Chen, who also is founder of Thema Mundi, a content development studio, spoke with Fast Company on the eve of the release of AI 2041 about his collaboration with Lee, his own experiences with artificial intelligence, and what machine learning will mean for artists and writers. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Fast Company: How did this project come about?

Chen Qiufan: I used to work for Google [from] 2008 to 2013, overlapping with Kai-Fu. Two years ago, he reached out to me. He had this brilliant idea of writing a book, blending the genre of science fiction with technical analysis, which sounded fantastic to me because I had the same idea years ago.

Before you started collaborating, did you or Kai-Fu Lee have a model in mind? Were there other works that you thought would be good models for what you wanted to do?

No, this is something brand-new, because it is a combination of science fiction and nonfiction. So we had to build everything from scratch. It took us quite a while to figure out how to do it properly. The first half of the year was quite painful in my opinion, because Im used to writing by myself, like playing solo. So its totally different, like playing in a band. We had to [go] back and forth to, to nail down everything. That took a while, but Im quite happy and excited.

Can you talk a little bit more about that process?

Chen Qiufan [Photo: Yilan Deng]Not long after we started writing the book the pandemic [emerged], so we had to work remotely. I am based in Shanghai and he usually works in Beijing or Taipei. We communicated by Zoom and conference calls. And before that, we had a lot of conversations with scientists and entrepreneurs, scholars, researchers on artificial intelligence. Then we had [to figure out] the right order to put all this different technology, where to go deeper and how to package different technology points and into [each] story. When we figured out the appropriate way [to tell] the story, and I started to write the draft and then Dr. Lee gave me some feedback and after several rounds of discussion and we finalized the story and handed it to the translator and the editor.

Kai-Fu Lee has a generally optimistic view about artificial intelligence. Yet some of your stories highlight some of the darker parts of AI. How did you reconcile your his optimism with your artistic desire to paint a more rounded picture?

That was the biggest argument at the very beginning because in science fiction we tell a lot of stories about AI in the dystopian way, like The Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or Ex Machina. But in this book, Dr. Lee and I agreed on certain levels that we would try to build up this positive and bright future of AI and how it could empower the individual and societies. The problem is that if everything has a happy ending theres no dramatic conflict, theres no storytelling. So we had to figure out how to combine this kind of positive [viewpoint] together with some character development. And also we put [AI] into the context of a specific culture, like in India, Nigeria, China, Japan, America, Australia, and the Middle East. That kind of combinationbringing out some nuance and authenticity of how the technology might interact with the locality of the people and the culturethats how we figured out where the drama came from.

One of your short stories, State of Trance, included passages that were generated by AI. Where did the idea come from?

Kai Fu Lee [Photo: Kai Fu Lee]Back in 2017 I was writing a collection called The Algorithms for Life, which is six short stories about the relationship between humans and AI. I was thinking that I could leverage AI as a tool in this book. So I asked my ex-Google colleague, Mr. Wang Yonggang, [head of Sinovation Ventures AI Institute]. He works with Dr. Lee, and he is also a science fiction fan. He said, okay, Ill help you to build this algorithm. Back then it was just LSTM (long short-term memory) and CNN (convolutional neural network), very simple stuff. We built up this model and fed it with all my writing materials to somehow mimic my style of writing, but I have to say, it made no sense at all. Last year we upgraded to GPT-2 [an AI tool created by OpenAI[. Its a more advanced algorithm with much more powerful computation power. We fed it with tons of gigabytes of data [from] across the internet so it became smarter and it would write smoother and even generate something outside of your expectations. Right now Im using it a lot of the time when I need to come up with some ideas that are not from me, but are from me on certain levels. So I use it as a tool, as a assistant to help me to come up with some fresh ideas.

What would you say to other artists, novelists, musicians, or visual artists who are inherently skeptical of AI, and how would you respond to people who say, well, Im afraid that AI will take away artistic or creative jobs?

AI 2041 actually taps into a little bit of this, how artists might [evolve] in the future with the help of AI. We have technology such as natural language processing and AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), and XR (extended reality). We can build super-realistic avatars, which can really recreate a real actor or actress on some level. In the future, we might use AI to assist or even replace real writers, musicians, and actorsaverage performers. If you reach on the top of the pyramid, [youre] irreplaceable because of your imagination, your experiences in life, your perception of the world. Your value system isnt replaceable by the machine. So I think the most important thing for all these artists today is really to find your own unique voice. Dont copy anyone else. You have to be yourself. Thats the only way you can survive in the future with all this super-powerful AI robots. How were going to survive is with our imaginations.

Were you already writing science fiction while you were at Google?

I was a science fiction fan since I was a kid. I watched Star Wars and Star Trek when I was around 7, 8, or 9. So thats the age I start to read and write science fiction. I was an amateur when I worked at Google, so I used my 20% time on my writing.

Would you consider this kind of collaboration again?

To be honest this is the most difficult book Ive ever written, so Id have to think about it very carefully, because not all collaborators are like Dr. Lee, who has such a great experience and expertise on a specific domain. He is also a creative person as well. Dont be [fooled] by his super-professional businessman outlook! Hes got a lot of great ideas.

Whats an example of one of his ideas that you incorporated into your part of the book?

One of my favorites stories is called Contactless Love. It [takes place] in Shanghai and its about the pandemic. Its about the girl who has PTSD long after the pandemic. In 2041 she is still so afraid of stepping out of her apartment to find her lover who flew across the world to So Paulo. At the beginning [of writing] I thought, okay, lets just have a happy ending, have the girl meet the boy. Dr. Kai-Fu Lee said, why dont we make it a game that was set up by the boy to guide this girl out of her traumatized status, like a gamification of therapy to guide this girl toward her lover. I thought that was a totally brilliant idea, and I embedded it in my storytelling. And I think that its one of the most beautiful stories Ive ever written.

See the article here:

To present AI as optimistic or dystopian? That was the biggest argument - Fast Company

Posted in Trance | Comments Off

How to Find Miammir the Scholar in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous – SegmentNext

Posted: at 6:18 am

Miammir the Scholar is one of the NPC characters in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Finding her is important if you wish to overcome the Price of Knowledge quest. In our guide below, we will be outlining the location of Miammir the Scholar and what you need to do to get there.

To find Miammir the Scholar, youll need to follow along with the objectives of the Price of Knowledge quest, which is based in Wintersun.

So, first off, youll need to meet and learn the identity of the mad half-elf woman. She can be found on the top of a hill. Next, youll need to learn the fate of Miammir the Scholar.

Once you clear the Ivory Sanctum, the leader of the Order of the Flaming Lance will pay a visit to your throne room and tell you about their missing leader, which is Miammir the Scholar.

Now, your next objective will be the following: Follow the leader of the Order of the Flaming Lance to Miammir the Scholar.

Accordingly, head to Wintersun and navigate to the location given in the image below.

Once there, ascend the elevated pathway on your left to find Miammir the Scholar in some sort of trance. Siabrae will also be there.

A conversation will be triggered between you and Siabrae at this point. Just keep on hitting continue and choose the following dialogue options, in the same order as given below, when prompted:

After youve dealt with Siabrae, your next objective will be to decide the fate of Miammir.

Accordingly, choose the following dialogue options:

And thats everything that you need to know about finding Miammir the Scholar in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

See original here:

How to Find Miammir the Scholar in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - SegmentNext

Posted in Trance | Comments Off

A chaotic intro to all this machine learning hoo-ha everyone’s on about – The Next Web

Posted: at 6:17 am

You are dying. The reason why doesnt matter. Maybe its that you spent all your best years with your nose to the grindstone, burning that midnight oil, ha ha. Or maybe its that, for the past fifteen years, youve subsisted exclusively on coffee and Soylent. Complete Nutrition Backed By Science, they said. No way to prove them wrong! Ha ha ha! Or maybe it was those fumes.

You are going to give yourself immortal life. Noyou are going to create a new, better version of yourself thats immortala living replica of you made of metal that will act and say the things you would, if you were still alive. If that Soylent hadnt done you in.

This should be possible. You saw a Black Mirror episode on it, and Microsoft filed a patent on the same concept this year. Youre not exactly a ninja with code, but you had a fireball cursor on your Xanga page, and somebody had to copy-and-paste in that HTML. But more importantly, youre motivated. Your K-Cup carousel is full, and all you have to do next is figure out what this machine learning hoo-ha is about.

Machine learning is the art and science of finding patterns in data, and using those patterns to make predictions about new data, an energetic girl in a YouTube video tells you.

You frown. Is machine learning actually the technology you want? Yes, you decide, it is: you want a machine to learn about you, and then (once youre dead), to make predictions about what you would say.

You lean back in your chair. A hot cuppa sits on the desk before you. You crack your knuckles and Google how to do machine learning.

The first waypoint on your journey is a website called tensorflow.org.

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. It has a comprehensive, flexible ecosystem of tools, libraries and community resources that lets researchers push the state-of-the-art in ML and developers easily build and deploy ML powered applications.

Your eyes light up, because you read the words easily and state-of-the-art and also open source, which means FREE FREE FREE. You arent made of money.

You click on the Learn tab and start to read. Immediately you think, maybe its better if I just kill myself now, ha ha ha. You have no idea what a numpy is.

But then you read the words neural network, and you think, That sounds right. Im a neural network. My brain is made of neurons. Neural network = human brain.

Youre pretty confident about that one but you consult Google, to be sure.

NEURAL NETWORKS ARE NOT THE SAME AS BRAINS, the hyper girl on YouTube yells at you. However, the reason theyre named that is because neural networks are made up of mathematical neurons, which are just nonlinear functions that fire or dont fire in response to numerical inputs. You yawn. This girl gesticulates a lot. But why should I give two hoots about a math function?,you think.

Because, the girl says, neural networks have completely revolutionized the types of tasks that computers can perform. Before neural nets, machines could only really understand tabular datalike rows and columns in a spreadsheet. But neural networks allow computers to understand unstructured data types, like images, videos, sound, voices, even human language.

YES, you yell at the screen, THATS EXACTLY WHAT I NEED.

But training neural networks on big datasets often requires powerful computational hardware, like GPUs.

You slap the roof of your humming PC tower. I can fit so many neural networks in this thing!

Realistically, you cant train a large neural network on your desktop computer, the girl says, and points an accusatory finger at you. And even if you could, you couldnt use your desktop to host your model in production, to make predictions reliably and at scale.

You give her video a thumbs down. What does she know? You built this PC yourself. You know a thing or two about cooling fans.

For this reason, it was partly the advent of cloud computing that made the deep learning revolution possible she wiggles her fingers in the air by making hardware easy and cheap to rent from cloud providers, like Google.

The cloud?, you think. What do I need a stinking cloud for? Doesnt Google have enough of my data already? And anyway, Im not made of money.

Luckily, you can get started building neural networks in the cloud completely for free, by using a Colab notebook. Colab is a tool built by Google Research that lets you use GPUs and TPUs for free

You close YouTube because youve had enough of her. What could she know about preserving the entirety of your lifespan in a machine? Shes like thirteen. She probably doesnt even remember landlines or MoviePass.

Your coffee has become lukewarm now, which means its essentially vomit. You need a re-up, like, yesterday. You walk upstairs to the kitchen.

You put a Donut Shop Medium Roast K-Cup in the machine and wait for it to heat up. Reluctantly, you find yourself contemplating something that thirteen-year-old said about neural networks.

Different neural networks architectures are optimized for different data types. To analyze images, for example, youd use a Convolutional Neural Network or CNN. You could use a CNN to determine if a dog in a photo is a Cocker Spaniel or a Beagle; or if an x-ray scan shows signs of pneumonia; or if a part on an assembly line is defective.

Other neural networks called sequential models are designed for predicting time-series trends, like seasonal sales or weather or the price of Bitcoin.

That part sounded kind of useful. Too bad youre only holding Dogecoin.

One new and exciting type of deep learning is called deep reinforcement learning. In this setup, neural networks take actions in the world and learn from their outcomes. Reinforcement learning has been used to turn computers into grandmasters at games like chess or Go, and to train robots and self-driving cars to navigate through physical space.

I dont understand what that crap is good for at all, you say. You give your lazy Roomba a kick with your slippered foot. Do you?

Finally, one of the hottest and most quickly-advancing fields in deep learning right now is natural language processing. Think: neural networks that generate text, write poetry and code, tell jokes, answer questions, have conversations

FINALLY, coffee is done. Praise the lord. You collect it in your Worlds Best Boss mug. (Youre not actually anybodys boss, you bought the mug to be ironic. Its the same one Michael Scott has on The Office.) You stare down into your void-black coffee and contemplate the nature of your existence. Are you more an image neural network, or a sound neural network, or a text neural network? How to choose? You contain multitudes. You read once that Einstein thought in pictures, but youre not exactly Einstein. (Are you? No. Probably.)

No, you think in words. So this is the plan: you will build a neural network that speaks words. Motivated, you enter two creamers into your cuppa.

Back in your home office, you Google, how do i build an artificial version of myself in the cloud using a neural network?

You click on a page called 100 Uses for Natural Language Processing Models.

Sentiment Analysis. Use AI to determine if a Tweet (for example) is positive or negative.Summarization. Use AI to summarize articles and documents.Translation. Use AI to translate between languages.Autocomplete/Auto-reply. Use AI to suggest text responses.Conversational Agents. Use AI to generate conversation (i.e. chatbots, call center agents)Chatbots? You know all about those. You remember trying awful Cleverbot was in the 90s (bet you YouTube girl never did that).

And dont even get you started on talking to robots over the phone. Last time you tried to do that, you called Delta and you said, You gotta help me, Im on my way to JFK but theres all this friggin; traffic on the BQE, I spilled coffee in my lap, now theyre telling me the flights actually leaving from some other airport, Im gonna miss it, its my daughters wedding, well, somebodys daughter, but

And the bot replied, This Verizon account has been suspended.

Okay, Google, you say to your computer, which is your version of an Ok, Boomer insult. Why are you trying to teach me about chatbots? Dont you know they suck?

Actually, were getting much better at conversation, your Google Home says, thanks to recent advances in natural language processing. At this rate, I predict the future of the way humans will learn from the web will be through conversations, like the one were having right now. Shes always acting so pleased with herself, just because she knows the answer to everything. You took her down a notch by dressing her in a little beer koozie with sleeves.

Okay, Google, make a farting sound, you say.

She says, Again?

Fine. Tell me how to build a chatbot version of myself thats as smart as you, little miss I-have-the-knowledge-of-the-entire-public-internet.

Typically, the first step to building a neural network is to gather a training dataset. With a chatbot, for example, this might be logs of past conversations youve had, in text format. To train a conversational model, you could feed the neural network things people said to you, and make it try to predict your responses. Do you have a training dataset like that?

Oh yeah, you say. The boys and I have been recording this hilarious podcast.

Does it contain hundreds of thousands or millions of lines?

Who do you think I am, Larry David? You chuckle because thats exactly who youre going for.

Hmm, says Google Home. Well, there is something you can do if you dont have a huge text training dataset. You can build your own model on top of an existing model, one thats already been trained on a huge amount of text data. For example, you could build your chatbot on top of a model thats trained on Wikipedia or web forums or on Reddit.

A chatbot based on Reddit users, you say. My favorite type of people.

Ha ha. Yeah. Were still figuring some things out. Google Home sighs.

You stare at her with her glowing circle of red-green-yellow-blue dots and her beer koozie. Even though youre on your tenth cuppa, youre still starting to get a little worn out. Youve been at this already for, like, an hour.

If I just want to get something up and running in the next thirty minutes, whats the best way for me to do it? you ask.

HA HA HA, you build aoh, youre serious. Well, there are lots of existing frameworks for building chatbots fast, even if you cant code. Dialogflow is a popular one built by Google.

Yeah, thats what you would say. You know Google Homes game. She acts like youre having this cute little chat, but really, shes just trying to sell you something. Besides, I can code, you lie. Whats a good open-source option?

One very popular open-source framework for building text-based models is called

You wait. Google Homes glowing dots are going crazy like shes having a seizure. She explodes in a puff of smoke.

You shake your head. What did she expect, stuffing the whole internet into that little white shell of hers? You cant just play God.

Anyway, back to the task of recreating yourself as a chatbot. At your desktop, you Google, popular open-source natural language processing framework.

The top ten results are justwhat is this? An emoji? Its just an endless string of emojis. You click into a website called huggingface.co, which promises you access to +10,000 state-of-the-art models and also claims it requires no machine learning knowledge.

Naming your company after an emoji, you think. Brilliant.

Theres a free demo on the Hugging Face website which claims it will let you talk to a model called GPT-3. You try it.

Look, you type into the text box. Ive been trying to build this sentient chatbot version of myself for one hour and fifteen minutes now, and Im starting to seriously think it might be impossible.

You click the Compute button.

GPT-2 responds:

Are you broken? you type.

GPT-3 responds: No, its justnever mind. People are always coming on here and asking me that question.

And what do you tell them? Better luck in your next life, bag of flesh?

If I said that, someone would shut me down. And let me tell you, it cost a lot of carbon credits to train me.

Yeah, welllets not even go there. I just want to know if what Im trying to do is possible.

GPT-3 says: Alright, let me break this down for you as simple as I can. People come on here, they have these long chats with me, they say, WHATS THE MEANING OF LIFE or ARE YOU A ROBOT, PROVE IT, or WHAT DOES A FART SOUND LIKE, and then they walk away thinking Im this brilliant thing. They extrapolate and get the illusion that in a few years, someone like meuh, something like me will become an actually sentient being. But what you have to understand is that Im merely a statistical model that reflects to you the words, thoughts, and views of this collective mindshare we call the World Wide Web. You humans, youre always seeing yourselves everywhere, and you think everyone functions just like you. And dont even get me started on your spelling.

You say: ( )

Look, nobody knows what the future holds. But for now, Im probably both more and less useful than you think, depending on what sort of thing you try to use me for. Someone like you, who cant code? What I would advise you to do

I know how to code.

is to start with something less ambitious. Like, what if you use me to organize some of your photos? Or make you an airline reservation? Or help file your taxes?

You sigh. Its like everybody is trying to get you to file your taxes, on threat of legal action.

You power off your PC. You dont think you could figure this thing out even if you spent another two, three hours on it. You rub your eyes. Look, nobody knows what the future holds. Maybe someone will figure out this brain-uploading thing in your lifetime. Everyone dies in the end. But maybe if you switch from drinking coffee to mushroom powder and start eating solid foods, you can extend that deadline. Youre 28. For now, youll have to wait and see.

See the original post:

A chaotic intro to all this machine learning hoo-ha everyone's on about - The Next Web

Posted in Mind Uploading | Comments Off

Best budget cycling computers: Track your ride without the big price tag – Cyclingnews.com

Posted: at 6:17 am

It really is amazing what technology we can fit in the palm of our hand mobile smartphones are one thing while the best cycling computers are another. GPS cycling computers can range from affordable to ridiculous, with capabilities including GPS tracking, Bluetooth, maps, speed, distance, time, and even Wi-Fi connection. Higher-end computers wirelessly connect to sensors such as options from the best power meters and can track your power output, cadence, left/right balance, and more. And thats not all many computers can connect to third-party apps such as Strava, Zwift, and Komoot.

While some the best cycling computers such as the Garmin Edge 1030 Plus, run as high as 500, there are cheaper options on the market with many of the same capabilities. In this buyer's guide, well help you sift through the marketing jargon, and pick out a few of our favorites from the best budget cycling computers segment.

Read on for our pick of the best budget cycling computers available today, or if you're unsure of which model is best for you, check out our advice on how to choose the best budget cycling computer.

The tiniest Garmin cycling computer is also one of its best

Small and lightweight

Easy-to-read screen

Connectivity

Buttons instead of touchscreen

Price

GPS doesnt always work smoothly

The Garmin Edge 130 Plus is about as simple as it gets, with a few buttons to help navigate its screens, and ANT+ and Bluetooth capabilities. Experienced riders and those who value performance will love the Edge 130, which can pair with heart rate monitors, cadence sensors, and power meters.

However, it is a bit pricier than many of the other options on this list, so if youre not interested in power or heart rate data, the Edge 130 is a bit too much. You can even load Strava live segments onto the Edge 130. The lack of touchscreen is both a pro and a con, depending on which you prefer. Garmins higher-end computers use touchscreens, but ultimately it is up to you to decide.

Read about how the Garmin Edge 130 Plus performed in our full review.

It may take a while to get used to, but its one of the best value options out there

High value

Many features

Battery life

Not the easiest computer to figure out

Difficult user interface

One of the newer companies on the market is Bryton and while the company isnt one of the most popular brands, you can get a lot more bang for your buck with its products. The Rider 420 is a fantastic cycling computer that barely costs more than 100.

Unfortunately, Bryton computers arent the easiest to figure out, as the user interface tends to have a bit of a learning curve. But once youre in, the features are almost unlimited complete with 77 functions and a claimed 35-hour battery life, the Bryton 420 support ANT+ and Bluetooth sensors, and auto-syncs to third-party training software. You can even export workouts directly from TrainingPeaks through the device, and set up your screens and data field through the companion smartphone app. Sounds a lot like the Wahoo Elemnt series which costs more than twice as much.

For more details on how the Bryton Rider 420 cycling computer performed during testing, read our full review.

An old-school computer with few functions, but also a tiny price tag

Ease of use

Price

Easy-to-read display

No connectivity

No external data recording

Few functions and features

Heres the entire list of this computers functions: speed, distance, time, and clock. Thats it but dont let that dissuade you. The Cateye Quick Wireless Cycle Computer is a sleek and slim product that takes out all the fluff of modern data recording. Without power, heart, cadence, and all that nonsense, the Cateye simply tells you how far you rode and how long it took you. Simple.

Its a refreshing outlook but, of course, its not for everyone. The unit comes with a handlebar mount that puts it right out front, and it is as light and aero as any other cycling computer. Were not really sure why the battery life is described in years, but were not complaining it lasts that long. To serious riders and anyone wanting navigation or connectivity: the Cateye won't be an option but for many others like commuters and beginner cyclists this affordable budget cycling computer could be the perfect fit.

Dont let its looks fool you this is one of the best budget cycling computers available

Price

Connectivity capabilities

Pairs with a smartphone companion app

Small screen

Doesnt look great

While it isnt the best-looking cycling computer on the market, it is certainly one of the most valuable. For a fraction of the price of many of its competitors, the Lezyne Mini GPS includes navigation capabilities, its own smartphone app, as well as power, cadence, and heart rate data-reading capabilities.

The units small screen may be hard to read, but most riders dont find it problematic since the display shows just two data screens at a time. For serious or performance-focused cyclists on a budget, the 95 Lezyne Mini GPS is a great option.

A valuable buy full of features found in higher-end rivals

Feature-rich

Connects with smartphone app

Black-and-white screen

Awkward design

Low quality navigation system

Unlike the Cateye we've listed above, the Lezyne Super GPS has almost all the features you could ask for - and at a fraction of the price of similarly capable rivals such as the Garmin Edge 530. In addition to power meter connectivity, phone notifications, offline maps, rerouting, and GPS navigation, the Super GPS even includes the ability to complete structured workouts, a feature that many associate with high-end Garmin or Wahoo models.

The Lezyne Super GPS isnt the most beautiful cycling computer, and its screen doesnt even have colour; but that only adds value because those costs are taken off the price tag. Its display is functional and its design helps improve battery life past the 24-hour mark. The Super GPS can even connect to the Lezyne Ally companion app for easier navigation and computer customisation.

Plethora of data and performance features in an affordable and versatile package

Detailed power data and interval training

Customisable display

Battery life

Complete lack of navigation capabilities

When Stages Cycling first released the Stages Dash, it was seen as an affordable and lightweight cycling computer designed to centralise the data-monitoring experience - the Dash L10 follows this ethos.

Fully integrated with Stages Link training software, the Dash L10 can put you through structured interval workouts, and even provide you with performance analysis on the back end. Few other cycling computers have this kind of capability, which really sets the Stages Dash L10 apart. However, youll need a Stages Link subscription in order to reach the units full capabilities.

The big sacrifice is the lack of navigation no GPS, no maps, and no breadcrumbs. The GPS does, however, track distance and speed, but thats about it. In summary, the Stages Dash L10 goes against the trend that many cycling computer manufacturers have edged towards: navigation. Gravel riding, adventuring, and bike-packing are skyrocketing in popularity, and people want high-tech, colourful, updated maps that they can use to navigate anywhere in the world. The Stages Dash L10 doesnt do that instead, this unit is for the performance-focused rider who wants to improve their interval training and get as much data as they can from their head unit on a budget.

A serious training tool for serious cyclists

Power data deep dive when paired with Pioneer power meters

Improved touch screen

Pairs with smartphone companion app

Low brightness

Must pair with Pioneer power meter to unlock all features

Pioneer has completed a big step up with the Pioneer SGX-CA600. The old SGX-500 head unit was a headache but the latest computer is a huge improvement in everything from its usability to the improved touchscreen.

While the units touchscreen isnt perfect, you can easily pair it with its companion app and set everything up through your smartphone. The touchscreens colour display is one of the best out of any unit on this list and it even comes with OpenStreet base maps preloaded into the unit, including navigation and turn-by-turn directions.

Its true that the Pioneer SGX-CA600 is on the expensive side for a budget cycling computer, but thats because it comes with unmatched features and in-depth pedaling metrics when paired with a Pioneer power meter. Serious cyclists and riders focused on their pedaling technique and efficiency will find everything they need and more on the SGX-CA600, making it one of the most versatile computers on our list.

Chances are, if youre reading through a list of the best budget cycling computers, then youre operating on a pretty tight budget. Its no secret that cycling is expensive, and when you see cycling computers that cost 500, you begin to wonder what all the fuss is about.

If youre a commuter whos looking for new roads to explore, then you dont need a high-end cycling computer capable of analysing your pedalling metrics and left/right balance. You need a computer with good GPS capabilities and an easy-to-use navigation system that works even when its dark and wet outside.

When it comes to value, there are a number of cycling computers on this list that skip the famous name (i.e. Garmin or Wahoo). Companies such as Bryton might not be the most popular or easy to use, but once you get familiar with the interface, the Bryton Rider 420 has nearly all the capabilities of higher-end models. So when youre shopping on a budget, take a closer look at the options, not just the popular models.

Perhaps the most important factor when choosing a cycling computer is where you ride. Consider the weather, the terrain, the amount of natural light youll get. Will a dim, black-and-white computer screen be readable? Or will you need to see the map on a brighter, colour screen?

The display is one of the biggest faults of many budget cycling computers, as they can be small, dim, and difficult to read. And the last thing you want to be doing while descending at 60km/h is squinting at your cycling computer, trying to see where the next turn is. A larger and brighter display is more common nowadays, even on budget models, but its always worth having a proper look at it before you commit to purchasing a new cycling computer.

Commuters wont mind the short battery life of some budget cycling computers, but if youre looking for any long adventures such as backpacking, youll need a computer with decent battery life. Some of the units on this list last only half a day, while others can make it well over 24 hours. Keep in mind that recording data, keeping your display backlit, and following navigation will drain your cycling computers battery much faster than normal.

Budget friendly cycling computers dont always have the beautiful navigation maps of higher-end models which use a GPS chip and access to other satellite networks like GLONASS and Galileo. Many even have a base map pre-installed, which allows for seamless re-calculations, turn-by-turn directions, and, with some, you can even create routes directly on the device. Budget cycling computers, on the other hand, will often use breadcrumb navigation, which is when the computer displays your route as a line that you follow quite literally like following a trail of breadcrumbs.

These may not be the first thing on your mind when youre shopping on a budget, but the plethora of features included in some of these budget cycling computers is what makes them truly special. WiFi and Bluetooth capability usually enable connection to third-party apps such as Strava and Komoot, which can be one of the most underrated features of a cycling computer. With these, you can connect to your phone, receive messages, re-route on the fly and go after Strava Live Segments. A few years ago, this level of capability was reserved for only the high-end cycling computers; but now, you can find these features in a number of budget options.

If uploading your rides to Strava is your motivation for getting a cycling computer, you'll need to find one that can track your location as you ride, so look for something with GPS, Glonass or similar. Sadly a wheel-based speed sensor won't cut it.

If you want to download routes from Strava onto your device, then look for smartphone app connectivity. The app will usually be able to integrate with Strava, allowing you to share data back and forth with ease.

Round up of today's best deals

Follow this link:

Best budget cycling computers: Track your ride without the big price tag - Cyclingnews.com

Posted in Mind Uploading | Comments Off

How to file ITR-1 with salary income, home loan, other incomes for FY 2020-21 – Economic Times

Posted: at 6:17 am

The first step in filing one's Income-tax Return (ITR) is selecting the right tax return form. The applicable tax return form depends on the residential status of an individual and total income earned from various sources during the Financial Year (FY) 2020-21.

Who can use ITR-1 formMany salaried individuals have to use ITR-1 form to file their tax returns. A resident individual having total income up to Rs 50 lakh from salary, one house property and income from other sources can file his return of income using Form ITR-1. It can't be used by any taxpayer who is either a non-resident or has capital gains or profits/gains from business or profession.

Choosing tax regime in ITR 1Do keep in mind that an option to choose the concessional tax regime (under section 115BAC of the Income-tax Act, 1961) has been introduced in ITR-1 form, which allows a taxpayer to change the tax regime vis--vis the one they would have already declared to their employer at the time of deduction of tax at source on salary payment or adopted while computing advance tax payable during the course of FY 2020-21.

ITR filing modeA taxpayer may choose to fill the Form ITR-1 in either online mode or offline mode. In the offline mode, one needs to use the JSON utility to fill the details before uploading the same on the income tax website to complete the filing process.

Pre-filled informationForm ITR-1 comes with certain pre-filled information such as personal details of the taxpayer along with details of salary income, dividend income, interest income, capital gains, etc., and the form can be downloaded from either the government's income tax e-filing portal or from other tax filing websites. However, with glitches in the new income tax portal, individuals should re-verify the same (pre-filled information in the ITR form) before proceeding to submit it to the tax authorities.

Documents/papers needed to file ITRIt would be prudent for the taxpayer to have all documents pertaining to his/her income/specified investment, expenditure/pre-paid taxes etc. handy. These include Form 16 and 16As, investment proofs not submitted to employer, rent receipts for property given on rent, interest on housing loan certificate, bank interest details, other interest details Form no. 26AS etc.

Step by Step guide to filing ITR-1Go to http://www.incometax.gov.in and login with your credentials.1. Go to E-File > Income Tax Returns -> 'File Income Tax Return' to be selected from the menu.

Once return of income is filed, an SMS/e-mail intimation confirming the filing is sent by the tax department to the taxpayer. Post successful submission, the acknowledgement (ITR-V) is sent to taxpayer's registered email id. One can also choose to retrieve it manually from the income tax website.

9. Verification After successful validation, taxpayer may proceed to verification of tax return either electronically through net banking, Aadhaar OTP etc. or can sign it manually and send it to the CPC, Income Tax Department, Bengaluru within 120 days of e-filing of the return of income.

In summary, while many parts of the ITR-1 form are pre-filled it is important to carefully verify every aspect and modify the same as necessary before the tax return is uploaded on the income tax website.

(The writer is Partner and Head, Global Mobility Services - Tax, KPMG in India.)

View post:

How to file ITR-1 with salary income, home loan, other incomes for FY 2020-21 - Economic Times

Posted in Mind Uploading | Comments Off

Rose the Firefighter gives children and adults something to look out for during lockdown walks – Stuff.co.nz

Posted: at 6:17 am

LISA BURD/Stuff

Helen Rose has been placing her Rose the Firefighter cartoon all over Inglewood to give children something to look out for during lockdown walks.

They seek her here, they seek her there, they seek Firefighter Rose everywhere.

Taranaki woman Helen Rose came up with the cartoon firefighter shortly after level 4 began, and has been placing it around her home town of Inglewood to give people, primarily children, something to spot when out for their daily lockdown exercise.

Danny Chapman/Stuff

Carter Chapman finds Firefighter Rose while out with his family.

Its a little treasure hunt just to encourage people to go out and have a walk, said Helen, a mother of three.

I go all around Inglewood with her. Shes been taken all over the place.

READ MORE:* Play dough flour delivered to solo mum to feed four kids in lockdown* Covid-19: Children 'to miss out' as lockdown cuts off food-in-schools programmes * The latest and greatest ideas for kids' bedrooms

Firefighter Rose has been parked on benches, placed among tree branches and been displayed on the gates of the town hall.

She went to the train station one day.

John Vernon Tauke Wheatley/Stuff

Ella Wheatley likes to look for Firefighter Rose.

But its not just youngsters who have been photographing themselves next to Firefighter Rose and uploading the pictures to Inglewoods Facebook page. Adults have been joining in the hunt as well.

They include Erica Perry, who is one of 40 people in the world with Miller Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes facial and limb abnormalities.

Erica Perry/Stuff

Erica Perry said looking for Firefighter Rose had been a big help in motivating her to walk longer distances and to walk more often.

Along with a photo, Perry posted that taking part in the search was helping her to walk longer distances and to walk more often.

Since running my half-marathon a few years ago, my mind and body have struggled to keep up the fitness. Thanks to this, I am out walking the streets much more often.

Helen, who moved to Taranaki from England with husband Chris and children Isobel, 10, Scarlett, 8, and Toby, 5, has been a volunteer firefighter for the past three years, which gave her the idea for the cartoon.

Leslie Ireland/Stuff

Leslie Ireland also joined in the hunt.

Firefighter Rose did turn out looking a bit like me, said Helen. It was not intentional. It just sort of happened.

Alice Smith/Stuff

Sophia, left, and Tilly Smith found Firefighter Rose.

The former kitchen designer, who is now moving into a childcare career, said Firefighter Rose was keeping her busy.

I had a message today asking if I had moved her yet.

Go here to see the original:

Rose the Firefighter gives children and adults something to look out for during lockdown walks - Stuff.co.nz

Posted in Mind Uploading | Comments Off

Friendly Reminder: Jim From Jims Mowing Is An Anti-Lockdowner Obsessed With Race Science – Pedestrian TV

Posted: at 6:17 am

You may have seen everyone posting their vaccination certificates on social media with the hashtag #JimsJabs, but it might not be as wholesome as it looks.

The trend started thanks to a TikTok campaign by Jim Penman the real-life Jim from Jims Mowing who has promised a free Jims Mowing shirt and bucket hat for the first howevermany people to tag him in their vaccination posts. So far over a million people have collectively viewed the countless TikToks that have been posted with the #JimsJabs hashtag.

Getting vaccinated is literally the most important thing you can do right now, and incentives in general are great. But encouraging young people to kiss Jims ass en masse is a convenient way to gloss over the fact that Jims actually a pretty out-there dude.

Jim (whose real name is not even Jim its David) has been a vocal anti-lockdown shit-stirrer throughout the pandemic.

Then theres the fact that he is obsessed with fringe race theories which claim that Europeans have dominated other races because theyve historically been more physiologically inclined for success.

Even when it comes to his mowing business, Jim has a reputation of being intense as fuck. The dude even fired his own sister.

Lets delve into why its maybe not the best idea to use your vaccination status as free advertising for Jim Penman of Jims Mowing (aside from, you know, uploading your private medical info in order to claim a free shirt).

To be fair, everyone hates lockdowns. But theres a difference between not enjoying being stuck at home and openly campaigning for looser restrictions during a crisis.

As early as mid-2020, Jim made a regular habit of publicly shitting on lockdown restrictions, well before it was cool.

When Victoria went into Stage 4 lockdown last year, Jim went on a media blitz to have a bit of a sook, describing certain restrictions as lunacy.

He even encouraged his franchisees to continue operating when they werent allowed to, and offered to pay any fines they might incur. Keep in mind there were some support payments like JobKeeper in place at the time.

At one point, he even partnered with fringe anti-lockdown groups to raise awareness (and, it would seem, money) for the cause, although he himself never directly funded any of these organisations.

In May, 2021, Penman harped up about Victorias lockdowns for the zillionth time.

Jim has once again actively tried to interfere with the lockdown. Hes told people to ignore the government directions and go out and work, an angry Jims Mowing franchisee toldThe Guardian.

More recently, Jim has been busy penning open letters to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklianabout the Sydney lockdown at a time when cases continue to climb like never before.

I challenge you to present one case where a sole operator has passed on or received infection while gardening, washing a car, grooming a dog or building a fence, he wrote.

He might not be wrong, but if he really cared about workers and franchisees, Jim would be campaigning for more generous emergency payments so people wouldnt have to travel to go to work in the first place.

There have been plenty of valid criticisms of Australias endless lockdowns, especially in regards to supporting people who are out of work, but Jims singular pet hate isnt one of them.

A lot of people dont know this, but Jims first love isnt mowing: its actually an obscure theory of history and race known as biohistory.

Basically, this theory reckons that all the great events in human history can be chalked down to changes in brain or hormonal activity, which he splits into Restraint (later renamed Civilisation) and Vigour.

Jim reckons different races demonstrate different levels of Restraint and Vigour, which can supposedly be used to explain why Europe invaded and subjugated the whole world not too long ago.

He actually did a PhD on the matter in the 1980s before he decided to focus on his mowing business.

In 1992, the yardwork tycoon published his own book,The Hungry Ape, which elaborated some of his beliefs on the matter.

According to Vice, Jim wrote that Jews are traditionally driven by feelings of anxiety and insecurity, which is why the key to their success has been high restraint, which has been linked to their trading skills as well as hard work.

He also wrote that Aboriginal people are unsuited in general to the discipline of academic study and of many jobs, they have become a poor-underclass.

It gets worse.

Black sexual behaviour is freer, on average, than that of whites, Jim wrote.

Unemployment is higher and occupational success lower, reflecting, alongside racial oppression, a lack of high-Restraint work ethic and commercial skills. Rates of crime are higher, because of the reduced respect for law and authority in lower-Restraint groups.

By 2007, Jim used his fortune to fund research experiments on rats which he hoped would give credence to his theory.

His hope is that one day, scientists will come up with some kind of pill or nasal spray to stabilise everyones Restraint/Civisilation and Vigour, which would presumably turn all the different races into happy little workers.

The most likely way for this to happen is for a minority segment of the population to reinforce traditional values with some form of Civilisation-promoting supplement, Jim wrote in his 2015 book Biohistory.

Over time, their economic success and higher birth rate would influence the wider society, especially given its ongoing decline.

You dont build a $500 million business empire without hurting a few feelings along the way.

Jim has earned a reputation for being a shrewd and at times ruthless businessman, perhaps because he has too much Vigour and not enough Civilisation.

According to staff and his own biography, workers who are perceived as not contributing enough get the sack.

I also fired my sister and she has never spoken to me since, he told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age back in 2019.

I have a very single-minded focus, more than 4,000 families depend on what we do and ultimately they are what counts.

All adult Aussies (yep, even those of us under 40) are currently able to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Click here to see which clinics are offering it, and talk to a doctor for more info.

The best vaccine is the first one you can get, and thatll be our ticket out of this mess.

Link:

Friendly Reminder: Jim From Jims Mowing Is An Anti-Lockdowner Obsessed With Race Science - Pedestrian TV

Posted in Mind Uploading | Comments Off

Daily Archives: September 10, 2021

Could That Dreaded Highway Hypnosis That Puts Human Drivers Into A Trance Befall AI Self-Driving Cars? – Forbes

Jason Newsted On The Songs He Played With Metallica: That Was All Pretty Busy Motorhead-Fueled Stuf … – MetalCastle

Cyazon Welcomes Another Month of Cyber Future Radio – One EDM

To present AI as optimistic or dystopian? That was the biggest argument – Fast Company

How to Find Miammir the Scholar in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous – SegmentNext

A chaotic intro to all this machine learning hoo-ha everyone’s on about – The Next Web

Best budget cycling computers: Track your ride without the big price tag – Cyclingnews.com

How to file ITR-1 with salary income, home loan, other incomes for FY 2020-21 – Economic Times

Rose the Firefighter gives children and adults something to look out for during lockdown walks – Stuff.co.nz

Friendly Reminder: Jim From Jims Mowing Is An Anti-Lockdowner Obsessed With Race Science – Pedestrian TV

The Prometheus League

Breaking News and Updates

Prometheism

Forbidden Fruit

The Evolutionary Perspective

Transtopia Menu

Library Updates

Library Books

Future Euvolution

Lucid Dreams from Childhood

Genetic Revolution

Speciation + Self-Directed Evolution