Autonomous Vehicle Law Passes In Nevada: Driverless Cars Could Hit The Road In 2012

Nevada just passed a law that could let self-driving cars on the road as soon as March 1, 2012. The new legislation directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to "adopt regulations authorizing the operation of autonomous vehicles on highways within the State of Nevada."

According to the law, an "autonomous vehicle" is one that uses "artificial intelligence, sensors and global positioning system coordinates to drive itself without the active intervention of a human operator." The law asks the DMV to create a driver's license endorsement for such vehicles.

According to the law, an "autonomous vehicle" is one that uses "artificial intelligence, sensors and global positioning system coordinates to drive itself without the active intervention of a human operator." The law asks the DMV to create a driver's license endorsement for such vehicles.

Self-driving cars have been tested by Google, and recently, by Volkswagen. The autonomous VW uses a "Temporary Autopilot" program that can control the car using a radar system, laser scanner and ultrasonic sensors to determine its position in relation to other cars, to slow down near curves in the road, and more.

While the law may seem like a whiff of the future, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll see cars careening around on their own anytime soon. Rather, the law asks that the DMV design regulations that will help determine how such cars can be approved and used.

Google has been a major proponent of the self-driving car, saying that it believes such vehicles could cut road accidents in half. The company has already tested out their automated cars on the streets of California, logging over 140,000 miles. And, according to The New York Times, Google has been lobbying in Nevada for the passage of this very law.

Steven Levy's book "In The Plex" describes how current Google CEO Larry Page once wanted to enter the stage at the CES tech conference in Las Vegas while sitting on the roof of a self-driving car named Stanley. He didn't get his wish then, but it looks like he might now

Can Robots Learn to Learn? | The Rundown News Blog | PBS NewsHour | PBS

Can Robots Learn to Learn? | The Rundown News Blog | PBS NewsHour | PBS

High-precision robots available in kit form

High-precision robots available in kit form: "In practice, “plates” equipped with motors that give them from one to three degrees of freedom are mounted on a cube 10 cm wide. According to their type and disposition, they can allow up to six degrees of freedom (three translational and three for rotation) to a point situated at one of the angles of the cube, on which a tool can be fitted"

Intro. to Machine Vision by Microscan

Intro. to Machine Vision by Microscan

Artificial Intelligences Fight for World Dominion…in Ms. Pac-Man (video) | Singularity Hub

Artificial Intelligences Fight for World Dominion…in Ms. Pac-Man (video) | Singularity Hub: "Ms. Pac-Man vs. Ghosts is a unique reminder that ultimate competition won’t be between man and machine but between ever more incredible forms of artificial intelligence."

Make: Online | Excellent MicroRAX/Linxmotion Robot Legs

Make: Online | Excellent MicroRAX/Linxmotion Robot Legs: "I made this biped with the intention of building a full body. I merged MicroRax parts with the lynxmotion parts, a little bit of hacking and cheating was necessary to get everything to fit together nicely. At this point my goal is to shift weight to one leg and try to lift the other."

Where I write: Daniel H. Wilson and the revolt of the robots | OregonLive.com

Where I write: Daniel H. Wilson and the revolt of the robots | OregonLive.com: "Wilson thinks all this stuff is getting weird. He loves it, but he just wants to get the word out about robots. They're great. We couldn't live without them. But don't turn your back on them."

Five Balls at a Time – This Juggling Robot Can Handle It (video) | Singularity Hub

Five Balls at a Time – This Juggling Robot Can Handle It (video) | Singularity Hub

DISCERN Artificial Neural Network - How to Build a Schizophrenic Computer - Popular Mechanics

DISCERN Artificial Neural Network - How to Build a Schizophrenic Computer - Popular Mechanics

Observations: Artificial Intelligence: If at First You Don't Succeed...

Observations: Artificial Intelligence: If at First You Don't Succeed...: "Okay, there has been some progress: things like Deep Blue, Watson, MobilEye, among others. But the consensus was that new 'curiosity-driven basic research' is needed and that AI-related computer science should be integrated with neuroscience and the cognitive sciences, with specialized concentrations in areas like vision, planning, language and social intelligence. 'I believe that 50 years later it is the time to try again,' Poggio said."

A robot missionary | The Brothers Brick | LEGO Blog

A robot missionary | The Brothers Brick | LEGO Blog: "While a glance shows an old church, a closer look reveals a lone robot tending the sanctuary. The creation is titled “The life of Brother Robotius, last space missionary."

MIT Creates The One Video Game You'll Be Thrilled To See Your Kid Get Hooked On | Fast Company

MIT Creates The One Video Game You'll Be Thrilled To See Your Kid Get Hooked On | Fast Company: "games are making all kinds of staid or serious things sexy and downright fun now, from business training to dusty libraries to human rights to health care. Gamification is certainly a trend, and MIT has some pleasing numbers to show for their game thus far--but will it be a lasting one?"

The State Of Our Robot Overlords, On The Day Skynet Becomes Self-Aware | Fast Company

The State Of Our Robot Overlords, On The Day Skynet Becomes Self-Aware | Fast Company: "'The Skynet missile defense system goes online April 19th 2011, declares war on mankind, and triggers a nuclear apocalypse two days later.'"

RoboCup German Open - Did You See That? - Photos - SI.com

RoboCup German Open - Did You See That? - Photos - SI.com: "RoboCup German Open
The future of the beautiful game was on display in Magdeburg, Germany where Darmstadt University of Technology (pink) edged the Free University of Berlin to qualify for the Robosoccer World Cup in Istanbul. Rumor has it that struggling Arsenal of the Premier League has pitched lucrative contract offers at these two booters, who go by the names Gort and Lea."

With IBM's Watson on 'Jeopardy!,' how trivial is trivia?

With IBM's Watson on 'Jeopardy!,' how trivial is trivia?: "'I don't think we want to outsource our thinking to any machine,' Jennings said. 'I don't remember phone numbers anymore because my cellphone does, can't figure out what time of day it is by looking at the sun, but thinking and recall and analysis - these things are too central.'"Rutter, at least, isn't sweating. " 'Jeopardy!' will still have humans for a long time to come," he said. "Until we have implants in our brains."

robot warriors lower the barriers to warfare, potentially making nations more trigger-happy and leading to a new technological arms race.

“Wars will be started very easily and with minimal costs” as automation increases, predicted Wendell Wallach, a scholar at the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and chairman of its technology and ethics study group.

Civilians will be at greater risk, people in Mr. Wallach’s camp argue, because of the challenges in distinguishing between fighters and innocent bystanders. That job is maddeningly difficult for human beings on the ground. It only becomes more difficult when a device is remotely operated.

This problem has already arisen with Predator aircraft, which find their targets with the aid of soldiers on the ground but are operated from the United States. Because civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan have died as a result of collateral damage or mistaken identities, Predators have generated international opposition and prompted accusations of war crimes.

Benoît B. Mandelbrot, a maverick mathematician who developed the field of fractal geometry and applied it to physics, biology, finance and many other fields, died on Thursday in Cambridge, Mass. He was 85.

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Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press
Benoît B. Mandelbrot, left, and James A. Yorke, sharing a Japan Prize in 2003 for their pioneering work in chaos theory.
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Wolfgang Beyer
Graphic representations of the Mandelbrot set have been implanted in popular culture, gracing T-shirts and album covers.

TechGenie

TechGenie

Case No 20100531871070 for Computer ID W100340320
I just bought an acer aspire one.
The webcam comes on. pictures can be taken. There are no controls for video however. The video works fine. I can watch myself. The last tech was going to download an applet, but I wasn't on this machine. I was on another one. So what do you think?

Harold Jarche » Complexity and Collaboration

Harold Jarche » Complexity and Collaboration: "Posted on April 16th, 2010 by Harold Jarche

Some of the things I learned on Twitter this past week:

@jonathanfields: “The day you say “that SOB stole my idea” is the day you need to face your own inability to execute.” via @moehlert

@barbarosa1: “There are an increasing number of world problems that can’t be solved by hierarchy. Collaboration is the only chance for a solution.” via @sifowler

@timkastelle Nice post from @EskoKilpi: Complexity. The new world between chance and choice

The Internet changes the patterns of connectivity and makes possible new enriching variety in interaction. The changed dynamics we experience every day through social media have the very characteristics of the edge of chaos.

The sciences of complexity change our perspective and thinking. Perhaps, as a result we should, especially in management, focus more attention on what we are doing than what we should be doing. Following the thinking presented by the most advanced scientific researchers, the important question to answer is not what should happen in the future, but what is happening now?"

What will the net do to institutions in the next 10 years? - Boing Boing

What will the net do to institutions in the next 10 years? - Boing Boing

Clay Shirky, Esther Dyson, Doc Searls, Nicholas Carr, Susan Crawford, David Clark, Jamais Cascio, Peter Norvig, Craig Newmark, Hal Varian, Howard Rheingold, Andreas Kluth, Jeff Jarvis, Andy Oram, Kevin Werbach, David Sifry, Dan Gillmor, Marc Rotenberg, Stowe Boyd, John Pike, Andrew Nachison, Anthony Townsend, Ethan Zuckerman, Tom Wolzien, Stephen Downes, Rebecca MacKinnon, Jim Warren, Sandra Brahman, Barry Wellman, Seth Finkelstein, Jerry Berman, Tiffany Shlain, and Stewart Baker