Elon Musk has a new girlfriend. The couple’s courtship appears to have started with a very nerdy in-joke concerning the so-called Roko’s Basilisk. So, today: what is Roko’s basilisk? Or, if you prefer, a nerdy concept about future AI overlords that could land you a nerdy partner.
Tag: Technology
The Science of Particle-beam Weapons
Particle-beam weapons are the bread and butter of many a science fiction arsenal. I used them in my story Hostages, and already mentioned them once when discussing particle accelerators. I thought it was time for a more in-depth look at particle-beam weapons.
Bitcoin
Everybody’s talking about Bitcoin. As an IT person, I’ve been hearing about it for years, but the rest of the world is increasingly in an uproar. So, let’s combine some technical and economic knowledge and see what it’s all about.
Neuromarketing Video Games
I was at a neuromarketing presentation two weeks ago. When I saw some of the techniques used, I was immediately reminded of video games, specifically of a video Jim Sterling did on some of the practices in video game marketing. Then I read that the Dutch gambling authority is looking into possibly classifying loot boxes in video games as gambling, as is Belgium and Hawaii. Clearly, something is up.
On Smartphone Security
This week, a weakness in the Wifi standard was revealed. This flaw was found in the standard itself, not in a device where it was just implemented wrong. That’s surprising. It means it affects just about every wifi-enabled device out there. The question now becomes: how do we make our devices safe again? I’ve ranted about IoT things before, this time I’m focusing on smartphones.