Did You Know

[ninemm]

Scary

[Liberty]

fascinating

[Wrightwing]

Fascinating & Scary...

[stevie_d_64]

SkyNet will become self-aware at 0126 hours, March 30th, 2009...

Too bad we do not have the phased plasma rifles in the 40 watt range yet...

We may need some of those...

[CrimsonSoul]

SkyNet will become self-aware at 0126 hours, March 30th, 2009...

Too bad we do not have the phased plasma rifles in the 40 watt range yet...

We may need some of those...

I read that and thought "Crap! It's 12:06AM omg omg where's mah gun!?!" then I thought wait... skynet may be real but terminator was only a movie... right.... guys... right?

[boomerang]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ukeHdiszZmE[/youtube]

[Frost]

The assertions about future computer power rely on exponential growth we are unlikely to be able to sustain. For example, there is a theoretical floor on the amount of energy needed to perform a calculation. For that "$1000" computer to exceed the "computational capabilities of the entire human species" without doing the math i am pretty sure the power you would need would be at least measured in gigawatts. Quantum computing could make this a reality, but it is by no means certain that it will happen in the foreseeable future.

Interesting things will happen when we manage to make a computer AI that can improve its own programming, or computers that are better at designing computer chips then we are. This could trigger a"technological singularity" then all bets really are off.

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov is an interesting exploration of a possible post technological singularity human civilization.

[Liberty]

The assertions about future computer power rely on exponential growth we are unlikely to be able to sustain. For example, there is a theoretical floor on the amount of energy needed to perform a calculation. For that "$1000" computer to exceed the "computational capabilities of the entire human species" without doing the math i am pretty sure the power you would need would be at least measured in gigawatts. Quantum computing could make this a reality, but it is by no means certain that it will happen in the foreseeable future.

Interesting things will happen when we manage to make a computer AI that can improve its own programming, or computers that are better at designing computer chips then we are. This could trigger a"technological singularity" then all bets really are off.

The Last Question by Isaac Asimov is an interesting exploration of a possible post technological singularity human civilization.

I don't find it so hard to believe. My newest computer by todays standards is an anemic 120 Gigs Hard drive 1.5 gig memory 1.5 ghz and operates at a rating of 3o watts (Acer Aspire 1), my first computer computer was an Atari 600xl with a 64k had 2 harddrives that each used more power than that . Each 18 months we continue to double the the memory and speed of our computers while the power requirements continue to drop. It was 2 years ago that Quantum computing was introduced Who knows how far this will take us.

[lunchbox]

SkyNet will become self-aware at 0126 hours, March 30th, 2009...

Too bad we do not have the phased plasma rifles in the 40 watt range yet...

We may need some of those...

WOW!!
that was today
HOLY COW!!!

Just because you have not seen a "phased plasma rifles in the 40 watt range" doesn't mean they are not out there

[bryang]

WOW!!
Mind boggling and amazing.

-geo

[Frost]

It was 2 years ago that Quantum computing was introduced Who knows how far this will take us.

As far as i know the best we have been able to do so far is 2 bits for proof of concept. The problem is that you have to "entangle" all of the bits for the really cool effects and entanglement of more then a few bits may turn out to be practically impossible. It is within the realm of possibility that we will figure it out in our lifetimes, but it also may turn out that we simply cant entangle enough bits to make them useful