tech
Curious tech and technology from the realm of science and science fiction.
Screen Reader Usage: Part 3
Welcome to another article in the series dealing with screen reader usage for the blind and visually impaired. This time, I would like to cover how someone who can't see can use a screen reader to browse the internet. When I was growing up, the process was far easier; we dialed in with a text browser and everything just worked. Links were numbered and we would simply press the number corresponding with the particular link we wanted to browse. With Windows, that whole system changed. That was the beginning of what we call browse mode or MSAA mode, which is now widely used. I would like to discuss how this works.
By Jared Rimer9 years ago in Futurism
A History of Gravitational Waves
14th September 2015. A 4 kilometer long arm forming part of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) changed its length by one ten-thousandth the width of a proton, due to a distortion in spacetime, disturbing a laser beam housed inside. Computers immediately detected the mind bendingly miniscule change, sending an automatically generated email containing the observed data to a postdoctoral researcher by the name of Marco Drago working in the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover, Germany. Marco’s job was to monitor LIGO readings examined the data to rule out any error or “dummy signal” used for testing purposes. Within a few days news of the detection had been leaked to the world astrophysics community and after the observation had been definitively confirmed an official press conference on the 11th of February 2016 revealed to the world the first observation of a gravitational wave on earth by LIGO.
By Devon Keogh9 years ago in Futurism
Alex The Inventor-Chapter 17
Read Chapters 1 - 16 at: Deep Sky Stories Chapter 17 (Part 1) - The First Hello Elizabeth Faraway led Alex into the little kitchen where he saw something resting on the table. It was a little square computer screen on a folding stand and, at first glance, it could easily have been mistaken for a tabletop picture frame."Come sit down," Elizabeth said and she pulled up a chair for him. Sitting down beside her son, Mrs. Faraway brought the small silver screen up close and then lightly touched the glass.There was a momentary blink and flicker as the tiny screen reset itself, then a face appeared behind the glass. The person belonging to the face seemed to be in the middle of talking to someone else but then was interrupted by a faint voice that sounded like Miss Vee‘s. She was talking urgently and there were faint explosions in the background.Alex couldn't understand much of what she said but he thought he heard his name mentioned once. Suddenly the man's face changed drastically and a look of deep sadness and guilt showed clearly in his eyes. He looked away for a few moments, perhaps trying to gather the nerve to continue talking, but finally, he got control of himself and looked up again, straight back through the glass and into Alex's eyes.
By G.F. Brynn9 years ago in Futurism
Millennials Are Aliens and They Are Alienated
The Millennial generation has so much choice, so many life chances and so much technology at the finger tips, they have become the object of hate and ridicule from previous generations. The stereotypical Millennial survives on little more than Wi-Fi and coffee-infused youthful energy. But above all else, Millennials are dependent on social media and their smartphones.
By Phillip Woodford9 years ago in Futurism
Should We Be Careful With the Development of Artificial Intelligence?
The short answer would be yes. But let me start out by asking you a question. Have you ever seen Terminator? Doesn’t have to be all of them, just one of the movies. The thought might have struck you, “Will robots conquer the world?” While AI and today's technology can be quite controversial to talk about, we need to do more than just talking about it… We need facts, easy to understand facts that can be explained by and to every “non-tech” person.
By Ben Tearzz9 years ago in Futurism
A Thinking Person's Artificial Intelligence
Over the past decade, artificial intelligence migrated from computer geeks' workshops to something many people encounter in their everyday lives, but not without fears of its effects. Last year, the Pew Research Center assembled a panel of more than 1,300 experts, polled on the impact of increasing our reliance on algorithms—mathematical models underpinning artificial intelligence that aid in making decisions and completing tasks—and whose responses were boiled down into a set of themes.
By Alan Kotok9 years ago in Futurism
Interview With Dr. Louis Rosenberg, Founder Of Unanimous A.I.
It's rather fitting that Dr. Louis Rosenberg, an individual wholly dedicated to preparing humans for the immediate and distant future, is featured in a project titled Year Million, National Geographic Channel's six-part documentary series that explores and postulates on the future of humanity; on what it will be like to be human one million years into the future.
By Futurism Staff9 years ago in Futurism
Can Better Data Head Off Environmental Disasters?
Do you live within 200 yards of an oil or gas pipe? More than 60% of Americans do, but no one—not public agencies, not commercial customers, and not even the energy companies that own the pipes—could tell you exactly where defects in those pipes are. As that infrastructure ages far beyond its intended lifespan, the costs of maintaining and servicing pipelines pose a $68 billion headache for the industry and a ticking time bomb for the public.
By Rob Salkowitz9 years ago in Futurism
Alex The Inventor-Chapter 16
Read Chapters 1 - 15 at: Deep Sky Stories Chapter 16 - Luss Power and Big Ben's Last Rumble Big Ben rumbled up to the scene of the battle just in time as Dart and Jade were forced to fly lower, with wings unfolded, and battle on as best they could. They flitted and dodged about, firing madly as their Bubble-Shields glowed dangerously from multiple hits. A swarm of the cat-sized Flies soon surrounded Ben but he continued on despite taking several stinging hits from their Shock-Bolt Guns.Within seconds, the huge, lumbering robot became the target for a hail of tiny missiles and jolting high-voltage assaults. Huddled inside the tiny driver's compartment, Alex and Rainah cringed as each projectile clanged and rattled off old Ben's shuddering iron body.
By G.F. Brynn9 years ago in Futurism
The Wickedness of A.I.
Like with most things in life “There's no rose without a thorn”, in other words, there are going to be some negative points to this tale, and they don't exactly sound very reassuring, quite the contrary. Some of these have even been the target of works of fiction, TV series, games, podcasts, you name it, it has been done; movies like The Matrix, The Terminator, AI, 2001 space odyssey, and the movie adaptation of Marvel's Avengers (where the main villain is a being of "evil" artificial intelligence). Almost every apocalyptic scenario, every "machine turn on the humans that created them" scenario has been covered one way or another. These works of fiction can to some extent be seen as cautionary tales to what may come if ethics and caution are put aside.
By Tomás Brandão9 years ago in Futurism
