Clipmarks | rmowery's Artificial Intelligence collection

Computer with AI Cited for Unlicensed Practice of Law

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:24:42 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Monday, 5 March 2007

AI Cited for Unlicensed Practice of Law

A web-based "expert system" that helped users prepare bankruptcy filings for a fee made too many decisions to be considered a clerical tool, an appeals court said last week, ruling that the software was effectively practicing law without a license.

At issue were two websites maintained by entrepreneur Henry Ihejirika -- Ziinet.com and 700law.com -- which offered automated bankruptcy assistance. That sounded good to consumer Jayson Reynoso, who paid $219 for 60 days of access to the "Ziinet Bankruptcy Engine," described on the websites like this:

Ziinet is an expert system and knows the law. Unlike most bankruptcy programs which are little more than customized word processors the Ziinet engine is an expert system. It knows bankruptcy laws right down to those applicable to the state in which you live. Now you no longer need to spend weeks studying bankruptcy laws.

Tags: ai, expert system, law, technology

Calls of the wild: More than 80,000 sound and video recordings of animals now available to public on

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 19:42:54 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Since mankind is killing off the animal kingdom, I suppose this will be a good archive to have in case we want to see nature sometime in the future.

Clip Source: www.news.cornell.edu

Calls of the wild: More than 80,000 sound and video recordings of animals now available to public online

For decades, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has shared the remarkable sounds of birds and other animals with the public through audio guides featuring recordings hand-picked from the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds' vast collection. Now anyone can explore the archive's holdings on his or her own. For the first time, more than 65,000 sound clips and some 18,000 video clips of birds and other animals are accessible for no charge at the Macaulay Library's Web site.

"We've long dreamed of swinging the doors to the archive open. Technology and dedicated work by our staff are, at last, making this a realization," said Greg Budney, acting director of the Macaulay Library. "That's important to our core mission in education and scientific research."

Tags: animal sounds, recoding, birds, wildlife, animals

Experts Fear Future Will be Like Sci-Fi Movies

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:29:25 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Will be or already is happening?

Clip Source: slashdot.org

"In the year 2020, Luddite terrorists attack technology infrastructure and artificial intelligences dominate earth! Or at least that's what 700 experts predict in the latest poll conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (pdf). Is the future really going to be like a science fiction movie? Ars Technica provides a humorous overview of the survey results. From the article: 'Are these scenarios really indicative of future trends? Given the prevalence of many of these concepts in science fiction content, it is obvious that the ideas themselves are at least relevant enough to warrant consideration. That said, the nature of the survey and the way that the scenarios are presented makes the entire thing seem less plausible. In looking at classic science fiction films of the past, from Blade Runner to Soylent Green, one realizes that few of them really predict with any accuracy the world we live in today. Culture and technology can change in radically unpredictable ways, and today's experts may lack the foresight to perceive the future with the clarity of Hari Seldon.'"

Experts Fear Future Will be Like Sci-Fi Movies

Tags: future, technology, predictions, sci-fi

BitTorrent Simulator: How and Why BitTorrent works

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 01:02:02 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: torrentfreak.com

BitTorrent Simulator: How and Why BitTorrent works

BitTorrent is a great protocol to distribute large files. One of it’s main advantages is that every downloader starts sharing right away, even without having a full copy of the file.

Other key features of BitTorrent are:

Rarest piece first: sending the rarest piece first to ensure its availability in the swarm

Tit-for-tat sharing: what you give is what you get

The BitTorrent simulator is a nice graphical representation of how and why BitTorrent works.

via p2pblog

Tags: bit torrent, torrent simulators, swarm technology, swarms