Brooders

This book is a blur of “maybe, could be, might happen future technology”.

It’s hard to describe the book. And as I write this, it’s been quite a few months since i’ve actually read it.

I think some of the ideas in the book were quite interesting. Take for example the idea of Computers playing chess. Years ago, people said that computers would never beat a person playing chess. However, with good enough algorithms and processing power this does not hold true.

I guess the interesting point here, is that if a computer program can do better than 95% of people (or more) then that’s probably good AI.

Secondly, if I remember correctly from the book, that often we might not see patterns that exist. And that possibly, machines may be able to see some of them better than people through basic statistical analysis. This comes down to “are our thought processes really unique? or are they algorithms some people have refined over their life?”

I found the book quite thought provoking. How much of what we do is reacting to our environment? Are some thought processes just heuristics which can be reproduced?

One concept that came out of this book which I find interesting .. if one task / though process can be emulated in software better than x per cent of people is that intelligence? (e.g. software can determine fraud with a 90 % success rate).

Overall I though the book was well worth the read. I actually intend on reading it again.

Rating: 8/10

Following on from “Sid La La Mac” on my Youtube Cyberpunk searching, I came across a cyberpunk looking movie trailer called “Narcosys”.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-S8nmBRAyw

There are heaps of shots of Melbourne (Australia) in various flying car sequences, including the west gate bridge and the casino with the flaming gas pillars.

I am kinda interested .. looks pretty B grade though.

I will have to suggest this for review over at Cyberpunkreview.com as it’s not on his list.

So, here’s a quick synopsis from Eztakes:

Inspired by The Matrix, Cyber Punk, Manga, Raves and Video Games NARCOSYS, a super-sophisticated film with stunning visual effects, takes you to a horrific place in the not too distant future, 2018 A.D. The all-powerful IT Corporation has enslaved the population by means of mass produced pharmaceuticals and the introduction of a virus in the street drug supply to eliminate competition, unaware and unconcerned with what the effects of the virus are. ITco. forces apprehended criminal, Matrix. to infiltrate a deadly gang of cyber-punks in search of uncontaminated drugs. It s a race against time in a place where violence and psychosis are an everyday occurrence and drugs are the currency of choice. Welcome to ITco. Business as usual, everything must go. No exit for the paranoid.

Some of the other reviews on IMDB and elsewhere from the Eztakes page were not so good, but .. you can buy a copy from Amazon for around $3 USD ! Might be worth a look.

I was cruising youtube for cyberpunk vids. It’s not a genre that gets updated that much on youtube.

However, I did find a bizarro music video called “SID LA LA MAC”

Youtube link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tj33MP5AEH4

It’s cyberpunk in the way that some people describe “Second Life” as cyberpunk.