prejudice
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Scientists created a psychopathic AI using Reddit images
There's no shortage of films and TV shows that speculate on the dark side of artificial intelligence -- 'robot goes wrong and chaos ensues' is a pretty popular Hollywood trope. Now, in a study that sounds like the plot of a movie itself, researchers have actively encouraged an AI algorithm to embrace evil by training it to become a psychopath. A psychopath called Norman.
Apple won't have to pay a patent troll $625 million after all
Patent troll VirnetX has won multiple patent lawsuits against Apple, including a recent $625 million judgement over FaceTime and VPN tech. However, it appears it overplayed its past success during that trial. After Apple appealed, federal Judge Robert Schroeder threw out the judgement and demanded a retrial. The reason? VirnetX inappropriately mentioned the previous verdict, possibly prejudicing the jury against Apple.
The Daily Grind: Are tiny races persecuted?
We've seen it across the MMO spectrum: Gnomes, Hobbits, Halflings, Dwarves, Asura, Sprites, Danny DeVito -- they're all ridiculed, mocked, and often targeted by other players driven to an inexplicable rage at the mere sight of them. Small races may be fiercely loved by a segment of the playerbase, but their presence serves to infuriate even more. So what is it about short races that drives good men and women to near-madness? Is it their tenacity at overcoming odds? Their propensity for kicking shins? Or their "ooh lookit the cute widdle fella!" adorability? It's hard to say, although this writer personally loves them. So chew on that, tallies! But that's not today's question; today's question is whether or not you think short races in MMOs have become persecuted, to an extent. Are they unfairly targeted just because of what they are, and if so, does that mean we've traded real-world prejudices for virtual ones? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Apple asks for lawsuit dismissal with 'prejudice'
Apple is asking the judge presiding over the company's lawsuit against Psystar to dismiss the cloner's antitrust lawsuit "with prejudice." IGM notes that a motion to dismiss is a very normal part of the lawsuit process. Asking to dismiss "with prejudice" is a little more severe, but not necessarily uncommon, and if the motion is granted it would make it impossible for Psystar to re-file the case in the future. "Defendant Psystar Corporation is knowingly infringing Apple's copyrights and trademarks, and inducing others to do the same. ... In an obvious attempt to divert attention from its unlawful actions, Psystar asserts deeply flawed antitrust counterclaims designed to have this Court force Apple to license its software to Psystar, a direct competitor. The Court should reject Psystar's efforts to excuse its copyright infringement, and dismiss these Counterclaims with prejudice," Apple's lawyers wrote in a court filing September 30. The next hearing in the trial is schedule for November 6, when judge William Alsup will hear the motion for dismissal. [Via ZDNet and MacsimumNews.]
With persistent worlds comes persistent racism
The promise of what virtual spaces can bring us is significant -- erasing geographic limitations on interaction with others while fostering an exchange of cultures, beliefs, and languages. To this high-minded end, millions of dollars have been spent and many thousands of hours of work have been invested into creating rich graphical settings coupled with immersive environmental soundscapes. Crisp digital communication at its finest, right?Much like the promise of the the eradication of artificial barriers to meaningful communication through the Internet, virtual worlds and online spaces in general have fallen short of expectations. It's generally not the fault of the companies or the service providers though. The fault lies with us, the users.
Officers' Quarters: When to give up
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.If you were reading WoW Insider over the weekend, you might have noticed a couple of rather depressing posts. Adam talked about when you should make the personal decision to stop raiding. Then Jennie talked about the reasons why raiding guilds break up. I might as well continue the trend, but at least I have the excuse of a reader's e-mail. Last week I addressed the problems that small guilds will face in the coming months. This week, by request, I'm going to look at larger, hardcore guilds. And I'll also examine a nasty stereotype in the community that continues to proliferate.I am in this guild for the past 2 years of my WOW experience. This is my first guild, and my only guild so far. The atmosphere was friendly when I first joined it to join my real life schoolmates, hoping to down boss and experience content together. But a couple of drama and event took place, and my friends all quit the game which they felt was taking too much of their time. The original management when I joined all left the game due to other real life commitments and burnouts from over-WOW-ed. So with a twist of fate I took over the role of Guildmaster. The other veterans in the guild has other reasons that forbid them from taking the helm. And so I begun my quest to reform the dying guild in the dying server. We are a guild with predominantly Asian players, but we welcome western players too. But apparently playing in a US server meant you always have to being abused at for being Asian. Some people just cannot differentiate Chinese Farmer and general normal Asian players. And so I have been working for the past 6 months trying to recruit new blood into the guild and keeping the raiders around. We finally managed to down Rage Winterchill only in the past 2 weeks, after the top end guild in our server's endless poaching of our raiders to warm their bench . . . And a few other core raiders announcing their quitting of the game soon. And now I feel I don't enjoy WOW the same anymore. It's no longer the same for me.
