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Archive for the ‘policy’ category: Page 63

Jan 31, 2017

When the Mother of Invention Is a Machine, Who Gets Credit?

Posted by in categories: computing, economics, food, policy

What do the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush, about a thousand musical compositions and even a few recent food recipes all have in common?

They were invented by computers, but you won’t find a nonhuman credited with any of these creations on U.S. patents. One patent attorney would like to see that changed.

Ryan Abbott is petitioning to address what he sees as more than a quirk in current laws but a fundamental flaw in policy that could have wide-ranging implications in areas of patent jurisprudence, economics and beyond if his proposals are adopted.

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Jan 28, 2017

Republican Congressmen Order DARPA to Halt Construction of Space Robots

Posted by in categories: government, policy, robotics/AI, satellites, space

Republican members of Congress are now ordering DARPA to end their work on Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites. Why are they ordering them to stop? Because, according to National Space Policy guidelines, DARPA might be conducting operations that are potentially discouraging similar research in the private sector. Hmmmm :-(.


Republican congressmen orders DARPA to stop their work for in-space satellite services; DARPA refuses. — B.J. Murphy for Serious Wonder.

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Jan 28, 2017

Lawmakers Call For Halt To DARPA Program: Robots Repairing Satellites

Posted by in categories: government, policy, robotics/AI, satellites

WASHINGTON: Three influential House lawmakers have asked DARPA in a Jan. 25 letter to review a robotic space repair program to see if it violates the National Space Policy by competing with private-sector efforts and to put the program on hold until the review is complete. The National Space Policy requires “that the government not build or buy systems that “preclude, discourage or compete” with commercial systems. Orbital ATK is building a system it believes competes directly with the DARPA initiative, known as Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites.

It’s an intriguing program. DARPA’s goal is to develop robotic systems that can fix damaged satellites 22,000 miles up. In the words of the program web page, it would be designed to “make house calls in space.”

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Jan 23, 2017

China’s Growing Ambitions in Space

Posted by in categories: policy, space

While Trump works to set out a new policy for NASA, China is set to conduct a record number of launches this year.

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Jan 19, 2017

The Government Must Take on a Bigger Role in Shaping the Development of AI

Posted by in categories: government, policy, robotics/AI, transportation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is in its crucial developmental stages and the government doesn’t seem to be to keen on shaping the way forward, according to experts during a senate inquiry into the dawn of AI.

The senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, under the helm of Texas Senator (R) Ted Cruz, convened November 30 to discuss the state of AI research and development, and its policy effects and implications on commerce. According to experts present at the hearing, the government isn’t doing much to provide guidelines and directions on AI research.

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Dec 22, 2016

Sidney Drell, Stanford theoretical physicist and national security expert, dies at 90

Posted by in categories: military, physics, policy, security

RIP dear friend.


A giant in the worlds of both academia and policy, Drell died Wednesday, Dec. 21, at his home in Palo Alto. He was 90 years old.

“An accomplished physicist, his contributions to improve national and international security made our world a better place,” said Tom Gilligan, director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford in a statement. “We are especially grateful for Sid’s relentless dedication to eliminating the threat posed by nuclear weapons and know that his important work will continue to frame the issue.”

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Dec 14, 2016

Trump to meet tech firms including Apple, Facebook and Google

Posted by in categories: business, employment, mobile phones, policy, robotics/AI

New article on immigration and AI in The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/14/donald-tr…automation #future


All of this could be under threat if we are to take some of the comments the Trump campaign made in the run-up to the election at face value. The outspoken candidate claimed that Mark Zuckerberg’s push for specialist H1B visas (the main visa used to hire foreign talent to tech companies) was a threat to jobs for American women and minorities. Meanwhile, Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon suggested that Asians have too much power in Silicon Valley.

About a dozen members of Silicon Valley’s elite – including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg – will meet with Trump in New York. The meeting is likely to provide an opportunity for them to highlight their concerns and priorities with the incoming administration.

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Dec 3, 2016

Microsoft, Intel, IBM and Other Tech Companies Are Repelling China’s Cybersecurity Rules

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, policy

A new strict cyber security policy sees US tech companies in a stand-off with the Chinese authorities.

By Sead Fadilpasic

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Dec 1, 2016

Thanks To ‘Fight For $15’ Minimum Wage, McDonald’s Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide

Posted by in categories: business, economics, employment, policy, robotics/AI

Technological unemployment speeding up, and the elite types as always trying to get the poor and middle class to go at each others throats, rather than address the elephant charging at both of them, that robots and AI are coming for all the jobs in under 10 years now.


Other states are also learning the same basic economic lesson: Customers have a limit to what they will pay for service. Voters in Washington, Colorado, Maine and Arizona voted to raise minimum wages on Election Day, convinced of the policy’s merits after millions of dollars were spent by union advocates. In the immediate aftermath, family-owned restaurants, coffee shops and even childcare providers have struggled to absorb the coming cost increase—with parents paying the cost through steeper childcare bills, and employees paying the cost through reduced shift hours or none at all.

The out-of-state labor groups who funded these initiatives aren’t shedding tears over the consequences. Like their Soviet-era predecessors who foolishly thought they could centrally manage prices and business operations to fit an idealistic worldview, economic reality keeps ruining the model of all gain and no pain. This brings me to my last correct prediction, which is that the Fight for $15 was always more a creation of the left-wing Service Employees International Union (SEIU) rather than a legitimate grassroots effort. Reuters reported last year that, based on federal filings, the SEIU had spent anywhere from $24 million to $50 million on the its Fight for $15 campaign, and the number has surely increased since then.

Continue reading “Thanks To ‘Fight For $15’ Minimum Wage, McDonald’s Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide” »

Nov 20, 2016

In Opinion: ‘Dead is gone forever:’ The need for cryonics policy

Posted by in categories: cryonics, life extension, policy, transhumanism

Check out my latest story for Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/dead-gone-forever-need-cryonics-policy-523030 #transhumanism #cryonics


The case of a 14-year-old UK girl whose body was preserved after death highlights the need for governments to take cryonics seriously.

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