Testy Area 51 (1 Viewer)

[Steve Christou]

If you've seen 'Terminator' then you'll be excused for getting slightly nervous about this...A "super computer" has duped humans into thinking it was a 13-year-old boy to become the first machine to pass the "iconic" Turing Test, experts have said.Five machines were tested at the Royal Society in central London to see if they could fool people into thinking they were humans during text-based conversations.The test was devised in 1950 by computer science pioneer and Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing, who said that if a machine was indistinguishable from a human, then it was "thinking".No computer had ever previously passed the Turing Test, which requires 30% of human interrogators to be duped during a series of five-minute keyboard conversations, organisers from the University of Reading said.But "Eugene Goostman", a computer programme developed to simulate a 13-year-old boy, managed to convince 33% of the judges that it was human, the university said.Professor Kevin Warwick, from the University of Reading, said: "In the field of artificial intelligence there is no more iconic and controversial milestone than the Turing Test."It is fitting that such an important landmark has been reached at the Royal Society in London, the home of British science and the scene of many great advances in human understanding over the centuries. This milestone will go down in history as one of the most exciting."

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/08/eugene-goostman-supercomputer-turing-test_n_5468393.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

 

[Elizabeth S]

I saw Edge of Tomorrow this past weekend. It was OK. I liked the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt combo, but it was ultimately rather formulaic.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I saw Edge of Tomorrow this past weekend. It was OK. I liked the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt combo, but it was ultimately rather formulaic.

Are you kidding, Elizabeth?!? It was "brillant!"

 

[Steve Christou]

Mike is that your new 4D Ultra-Smart Widescreen Holographic TV on display there? I keep forgetting that new TVs have internet on board, I've had my 3D TV for nearly 2 years and I think I've only used the internet twice on it. I much prefer using a mouse and keyboard to a cumbersome remote control, I know there are special remotes for TV internet but I didn't get one.

I'm still planning to see Edge of Tomorrow, hopefully next week. Hard to believe a big expensive sci-fi action film starring Tom Cruise failing to open at no.1 at the US box office, it didn't even open in second place. Oh how the mighty have fallen! Cruise is still popular in other countries, that might cheer him up a bit. Number one movie was a tearjerker I'd never heard of until I saw it listed at box office mojo, I don't even recognize any of the names in it.

I saw The Grand Budapest Hotel a few days ago, it wasn't hilarious but I enjoyed it, a quirky film full of quirky actors directed by quirkmeister Wes Anderson. The film has flashbacks within flashbacks and each in a different aspect ratio, the 80's flashback is in 1.85, the 60's flashback in 2.35 and the 30's flashback in the nearly square 1:37 ratio. Unluckily the majority of the film is set in the 30's so all the action is 'boxed' in. I'm so glad movies got into widescreen by the 1950's.

Jeff Goldblum and friend in The Grand Budapest Hotel.

 

[Elizabeth S]

Haha, well I do love what you were watching on TV at the time.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just hope whoever's responsible has been sacked!

That's actually not the internet, Steve...but my Time-Warner cable service DVR paused on the offending phrase.

I had NEVER used the internet connected to my TV either until a few months ago when I got a subscription service to be able to watch any US baseball game. It was a gift from my kids which has been extremely useful (and much enjoyed) during my lengthy recuperation at home. I'm still not back to work full-time yet.

I am going to blind buy Grand Budapest Hotel. Me and Wes Anderson are rather hit-and-miss. But I liked Moonrise Kingdom and methinks he is starting to become a little more mainstream accessible.

 

[Steve Christou]

[ramble mode on] Mike, one of my favorite credit sequences. I saw Holy Grail at the cinema would you believe, yes I'm that old, and I distinctly remember a point in the film where an 'intermission' card pops up for a few seconds, people started getting up and than they quickly sat down again it was hilarious. I was just a wee lad btw. I used to skip school and slip into the cinema where I would spend most of the day watching the same two films over and over until it was time to go home. Lots of double bills back then. I remember seeing John Huston's The Bible at the cinema on a re-release in the 70's, it bored the hell out of me but I stuck with it hoping there will be more flashes of nudity. Fun times. [ramble mode off]

If you liked Moonrise Kingdom I think you'll enjoy Grand Budapest Hotel though it is darker and violent, Willem Dafoe plays a psycho killer.

 

[Parker Clack]

I watched Holy Grail at the theater with about 10 other people in the audience. I was laughing out loud
and they were all sitting there looking at me wondering WTF I was laughing at. The opening scroll is a riot.
Got to love the cheesy Intermission organ music.



I used to ride my bike to the local 4 plex on the weekend and watch movie after movie from early morning
until closing time. I saw a lot of great films that way which I probably wouldn't have gone to see otherwise.
Those were some great times.

Mike: You reminded me that I need to get to watching 24: Live Another Day. With that title I have been
expecting Daniel Craig to do a cameo at some point.

 

[Steve Christou]

Parker, I'm pretty sure the intermission mid way thru Holy Grail lasted just a few seconds, unless I'm thinking of a different movie. I remember people getting up and than having to quickly sit down again. Maybe it was a Mel Brooks movie?

I have about 7 episodes of 24 on my hard drive waiting to be viewed. And three seasons of Game of Thrones to catch up with, I wasn't that crazy about the first season.

 

[Ruz-El]

I believe "Strange Brew" has a fake intermission that had people up then rushing back to their seats.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I believe "Strange Brew" has a fake intermission that had people up then rushing back to their seats.

No fake intermission in the Strange Brew that I know......

 

[Mike Frezon]

You guys should enjoy this new season of 24.

Well, not sure about Steve. His hometown is going to get blown to smithereens!

I think this season is one really fun time! Of course, binge-watching Jack Bauer is probably more fun than waiting a week between episodes.

 

[Steve Christou]

Mike, it's become fashionable to blow up or wreck London, see GI Joe 2, Fantastic Four 2, Star Trek 2, Thor 2 and V for Vendetta.

Russ, I saw Strange Brew a long time ago but can't remember it much, wait I think Christopher Lee or Vincent Price was in it? My memory's like a sieve.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well I'm doing better than Porsche today. They couldn't get their #20 car to win Le Mans, but I was able to pull the tranny on the Boxster. The cheap Harbor Freight tranny jack did yeoman service today.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Your car gave birth to that...thing?!?

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

That "thing" my dear Monsieur Frezon is a Porsche 5 speed transaxle, combining the functions of a transmission and a differential. Junkyard prices for a good used one are in the $5K range. So far I haven't broken anything expensive tearing the Boxster apart.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Oui, oui. Zee transaxle is tres fantastique!

==============

By the way, do you know why the French only eat one egg for breakfast?

Spoiler

Because in France...one egg is "un oeuf."

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Parisians that fall into the river are insane.

 

[Ruz-El]

Russ, I saw Strange Brew a long time ago but can't remember it much, wait I think Christopher Lee or Vincent Price was in it? My memory's like a sieve.

Max Von Sydow as Brewmeister Smith.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just read that von Sydow is going to be in the new Star Wars movie!

By the way, I think that's at least the second time I've told that French joke in this thread. Maybe the third. It's one of my absolute favorite jokes. Which doesn't say much for me...