Thursday, October 26, 2017

Well Said, Lord Vader


(Bits&Pieces.us)

A Different Kinf Of See Food


(Bits&Pieces.us)

These Are Legit Concerns

13 reasons why we're not ready for our motoring future

2. The world's unpredictable

Maarten Sierhuis, director of the Nissan Research Centre, said: 'Reasoning and learning is not simple. From the raw data, we need to perceive the world and understand the obstacles. It's hard [for a machine] to distinguish a human standing still from a lamppost. Then the system needs to predict what the object will do next and what every other object will do.'

Real-world driving involves quick decision making that would require some extremely sophisticated programming. For instance, going through a red light because you've been waved through by a roadworker or a policeman. 'When you drive, how many times do you break the law in traffic? More often than you think.'

Drawing on his experience working with NASA, he believes that you need to keep humans in the loop, supervised by something like air traffic control.

3. Tech can't stop it raining

When it comes to self-driving, there's no hiding place. Either it works or it doesn't. And sensors don't always work. If your car has a reversing camera, you'll know how its performance is reduced by rain or dirt. And poor weather is no friend of digital radio reception. Daimler's Wilko Stark admits: 'Autonomous cars are highly weather dependent. In snow, it doesn't really work.'

10. It's all hugely expensive

For existing car manufacturers, there's going to be a period when they're simultaneously refining their current line-ups of petrol and diesel cars and developing hybrids and full electric cars.

Some visions of the future would also require a lot of road resurfacing, and the installation of charging points at workplaces, in shopping centre car parks, at filling stations and for domestic use. Expect more toll roads and congestion charges. And in-car advertising will be HUGE once cars can drive themselves.

12. We keep buying stuff

Amazon and other online retailers have increased the number of van journeys: in 2016, up by 3.8% to 78.2 billion miles in the UK. The other great users of white vans – plumbers, plasterers, electricians – are also thriving. In both cases, they need to get to your front door, without delay.

The future isn't just about commuting, shopping and leisure use.

13. Car sharing is easier said than done

The case for car sharing is compelling: most cars stand idle most of the time. But implementing it is far from simple. There are two routes: pairing drivers with passengers – a modern form of hitchhiking – and pairing unused cars with carless drivers.

Complete list (CarMagazine.co.uk)

I Disagree With #1 On This List

The 20 Best TV Spin-off Series of All Time, Ranked 

The best of TV's follow-up shows, from "Angel" to "Xena."

2. “The Simpsons

  •  “The Simpsons”
  • Fox
It’s been 30 years since Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie first appeared as interstitials on “The Tracey Ullman Show.” The origins story of “The Simpsons” is now the stuff of legend: “Tracey Ullman” executive producer James L. Brooks recruited Matt Groening to turn his “Life in Hell” comic strip into interstitials; instead, Groening came up with the Simpsons family, based on his own family (and named after most of them). After three seasons on “Tracey Ullman,” a series was attempted — starting with an animated Christmas special in 1989.

Now entering Season 29, the show is close to surpassing “Gunsmoke” (which ended its run with 635 episodes) as the primetime scripted show with the most episodes in history. “I can’t believe how many people who work on the show have been working on the show for as long as they have,” creator Matt Groening said this summer at San Diego Comic-Con. “It’s gratifying to be able to continue to tell stories and come up with new jokes — and repeat some old ones.”


14. “A Different World”

  • “A Different World”
  • NBC TV/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
Unfortunately, the sexual assault legacy of Bill Cosby now tarnishes both “The Cosby Show” and its spinoff, “A Different World.” But setting that aside, “A Different World” remains a unique and groundbreaking sitcom, set inside a world never before mined in comedy: a fictional historically black college. “A Different World” also tackled issues that “The Cosby Show” didn’t, such as HIV/AIDS and race. The show followed Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) as she moved from New York to Virginia’s Hillman College, where her dormmates included Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis), Whitney (Jasmine Guy) and Maggie (Marisa Tomei). Bonet left the show after Season 1 because she was pregnant, while Tomei also departed. Producer Debbie Allen refocused the show around the remaining characters (including fan favorite Dwayne Wayne, played by Kadeem Hardison), while bringing in several new ones, giving the show a much more relevant, culturally significant take. “A Different World” ended its run in 1993 after 145 episodes.

19. “The Facts of Life”

  • “The Facts of Life”
  • NBC-TV/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have… a “Diff’rent Strokes” spinoff that in some ways surpassed the original. Sure, “Diff’rent Strokes” featured very special moments: Kimberly getting kidnapped, Mr. Drummond losing his memory, Gordon Jump being creepy with Dudley and Kimberly (again!) discover her hair turning green. But things never really evolved on that show. “The Facts of Life” was all about the young women of Eastland School growing up and learning, well, the facts of life. The show’s first season started out too crowded (with original cast members including Molly Ringwald), but by Season 2, the focus had switched to the core quartet: Blair (Lisa Whelchel), Tootie (Kim Fields), Natalie (Mindy Cohn) and Jo (Nancy McKeon). Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae), previously the Drummonds’ housekeeper, was there to share sage wisdom. Eventually the action shifted, as the girls graduated, to Mrs. Garrett’s Peekskill food boutique (and later, novelty store). When Rae departed, Cloris Leachman joined the cast, which also even later included George Clooney. By the time the show ended in 1988, 209 episodes had aired — and those young women had grown up.

Complete list (IndieWire.com)

Higher Education, The OG Ponzi Scheme

How School Trains Us To Fail In The Real World

Instead of learning critical life skills on how to manage money, how to negotiate, or how to communicate, kids are mostly taught to memorize information.

School is an unsuitable learning environment for many jobs

For those that say school is not the place to impart wisdom to youngsters, but to prepare them for the workplace, I hear ya, but sorry. You just walked into a nasty trap with that point of view. If school is to prepare us for a career, then why is it that it’s absolutely horrible at accomplishing that?

College claims to be the safe, sure way for a great career (it’s not)

Some may think that employers love to train employees their way, but I think the truth is more often a “plug and play” preference. Would you rather hire someone who has proven they can do the job well, or someone who has a piece of paper that says they “might be a good employee, after training of course?” It hurts to be rejected on the basis of limited experience, but it’s an employer’s market out there, and businesses tend to play it safe when they can.

(Medium.com)