Tag: Friendship

Klara and the Sun review: Ishiguro’s thought-provoking future for AI

Klara and the Sun by Nobel prizewinning author Kazuo Ishiguro is a fascinating tale about artificial intelligence, friendship and what it means to be human Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269338-klara-and-the-sun-review-ishiguros-thought-provoking-future-for-ai/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Has ‘The Mandalorian’ on Disney+ Redeemed the Star Wars Universe?

Today a staff writer at Salon argues “The Mandalorian” has redeemed the Star Wars universe: The Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” has been both a critical triumph and commercial success. In my judgment, it’s the most compelling live-action story in the “Star Wars” universe since 1983’s “Return of The Jedi”. To that end, the story in “The Mandalorian’s” first two seasons about…

Stephen Hawking memoir: ‘An iron man in a frail man’s facade’

Leonard Mlodinow’s book on his friendship with Stephen Hawking shows another side to the late physicist, including tales of punting in Cambridge and annoying a restaurant chef Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833030-400-stephen-hawking-memoir-an-iron-man-in-a-frail-mans-facade/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

How Bill Gates Celebrated Warren Buffett’s 90th Birthday

The seventh-wealthiest man in the world, Warren Buffett, turns 90 today. Famously the tycoon/philanthropist pledged to give away 90% of his wealth, founding with Bill and Melinda Gates “The Giving Pledge,” a campaign urging the world’s wealthiest individuals to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back. Over $1.2 trillion has now been pledged, with participants including Elon Musk, Ted…

What’s the August birthstone?

Happy birthday, August babies! Your month has 2 birthstones, peridot and sardonyx. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/august-birthstone-sardonyx-peridot…

Meet the First NASA Astronauts SpaceX Will Launch To Orbit

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are about to star in the biggest spaceflight event of the decade: launching on the inaugural flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. For years, they’ve anticipated this moment, picturing throngs of people lined up on Florida’s beaches to watch them ascend into the sky. Now,…

Pandemic Shows Why .Org Domains Are Important

The Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by the executive director of Access Now, a global organization that works to protect privacy, free expression, digital security and human rights among internet users. Now that the sale of the .org registry has been blocked, he explains why that matters. As the pandemic has shown, it has been left to civil society organizations,…

Microsoft’s Big Xbox Game Pass Bet is Starting To Pay Off

Microsoft now has 10 million subscribers to its Xbox Game Pass service, the company said during an investor call yesterday. It’s the first time Microsoft has publicly disclosed Xbox Game Pass numbers, and it’s a sign that the company’s ambitious bet on subscription gaming is starting to pay off. From a report: Microsoft has been trying to build a “Netflix for…

Man Says He’s Fallen in Love With an AI Chatbot

“Quarantine amid coronavirus could boost the nascent practice of seeking romance and friendship from artificial intelligence,” writes the Wall Street Journal. Long-time Slashdot reader Strudelkugel quotes their report: Relationships were once built face to face. Now dating happens online. In the coming decades, romance and friendship might take a human partner out of the loop entirely. Michael Acadia’s partner is an…