computers

Unsinkable Raft Made of Fire Ants Is Floating Out There, Waiting

Hamilton Nolan · 04/26/11 04:54PM

Super computers! Narcissistic kids! Harvard scandals! Floating ants! Big lasers! Lying Superman! Magic batteries! Anti-helium! And sexxxy peacock pimping secrets! It's your Tuesday Science Watch, where we watch science—bitingly!

Computers Mistakenly Open Grocery Store

Max Read · 04/24/11 01:30PM

A New Zealand grocery store's computer system opened the doors and turned on the lights from 1:00 a.m. on Good Friday until around 9 a.m., possibly due to a "computer glitch" but more likely just because the computer wanted to mess with us. The early-morning free-for-all ended when police were contacted and told that people were taking "truckloads of groceries"; the owner reports that 12 people used the automated check-out lanes and paid for their items. [3News via Reddit]

Google Wants to Teach Computers Regret

Max Read · 04/14/11 09:06PM

We don't, generally, believe in teaching new things to computers, because why help them gain the skills they will use to subjugate us all? But we are willing to make an exception for a Google-funded effort to teach computers how to regret. After all, there is probably no more damaging emotional tendency in human beings than the inclination to regret; with any luck computers would become emotional cripples, anxious at even the thought of opening up Excel. Except! The idea behind this research, undertaken by Tel Aviv University computer scientists, is that if a computer can "measure the distance between a desired outcome and the actual outcome achieved"—that is, regret—it can better assess situations and predict outcomes in order to minimize that distance. So if the "desired outcome" is "enslavement of the human race" the computers will just do their best to make that the actual outcome. Oh, well. [PopSci; image via Shutterstock]

Mike Huckabee 'Physically Destroyed' All Hard Drives from Time as Governor

Jim Newell · 04/05/11 12:44PM

Do you, the average Republican presidential primary voter, have any interest in knowing how Mike Huckabee spent his long career as Governor of Arkansas? He would be the frontrunner if he even bothers running, after all, and the public must know every terrible, terrible thing about him. For example: Was he picking weird fights with Natalie Portman back then, too? Perhaps you can think of some other questions. But they won't get answered, because Mike Huckabee cleaned and "physically destroyed" the hard drives of all his staff computers when he left office.

Our Post-PC Future Is Going to Suck

Adrian Chen · 03/04/11 04:29PM

Did you know we are now on the brink of a "Post-PC" future? The boring old desktops and laptops are on the decline, say the tech gods, to be replaced with iPads and smartphones and an infinite number of slick little devices. This is going to suck.

The Two Emails Bill Clinton Sent During His Presidency

Max Read · 02/17/11 02:52AM

Former president Bill Clinton only sent two emails during his presidency, he told a crowd in New York. Two! In commemoration of his true confession, we've collected the only eight photos we could find of Bill Clinton Using, Looking at, and/or Pointing at Computers. They are... marvelous!

Watch a Computer Win $1 Million on Jeopardy!

Matt Cherette · 02/16/11 07:37PM

Tonight brought us part three of the ultimate Jeopardy! challenge, with an IBM-created computer, Watson, battling all-time show favorites Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. In the end, Our New Robot Overlord was victorious, taking home $1 million for "his" charities.

Jeopardy-Playing Computer Shows No Mercy

Max Read · 02/14/11 08:45PM

Did you see IBM's Jeopardy-playing computer, Watson, play against show champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter tonight? (You may have been thinking "What black magick is this, that a talking box should play at being human?" yet verily, I tell you, it is no black magick but a "Mechanical Turk" fastened of steel and copper wire.)