SomeBackup – Technology Blog

APPLE has apologised for selling a “deeply offensive” iPhone game that simulated shaking a baby.

The application, which appeared in Apple’s App Store on Monday and cost $US0.99 ($1.40) to download, allowed a user to violently shake an iPhone screen to make a baby stop crying.

After enough shakes, the hand-drawn baby on the screen stopped wailing and a large red “X” appeared over each eye.

Apple’s apology came one day after The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, a New York-based group which seeks to prevent brain injuries from Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), strongly condemned the Baby Shaker application, which was submitted by an outside developer called Sikalosoft.

The intuitive algorithm

Roger Penrose considered it impossible. Thinking could never imitate a computer process. He said as much in his book, The Emperor’s New Mind. But, a new book, The Intuitive Algorithm, (IA), suggested that intuition was a pattern recognition process. Intuition propelled information through many neural regions like a lightning streak. Data moved from input to output in a reported 20 milliseconds. The mind saw, recognized, interpreted and acted. In the blink of an eye. Myriad processes converted light, sound, touch and smell instantly into your nerve impulses. A dedicated region recognized those impulses as objects and events. The limbic system, another region, interpreted those events to generate emotions. A fourth region responded to those emotions with actions. The mind perceived, identified, evaluated and acted. Intuition got you off the hot stove in a fraction of a second. And it could be using a simple algorithm.

Is instant holistic evaluation impossible?

The system, with over a hundred billion neurons, processed the information from input to output in just half a second. All your knowledge was evaluated. Walter Freeman, the famous neurobiologist, defined this amazing ability. “The cognitive guys think it’s just impossible to keep throwing everything you’ve got into the computation every time. But, that is exactly what the brain does. Consciousness is about bringing your entire history to bear on your next step, your next breath, your next moment.” The mind was holistic. It evaluated all its knowledge for the next activity. How could so much information be processed so quickly? Where could such knowledge be stored?

Exponential growth of the search path

Unfortunately, the recognition of subtle patterns posed formidable problems for computers. The difficulty was an exponential growth of the recognition search path. The problems in the diagnosis of diseases was typical. Normally, many shared symptoms were presented by a multitude of diseases. For example, pain, or fever could be indicated for many diseases. Each symptom pointed to several diseases. The problem was to recognize a single pattern among many overlapping patterns. When searching for the target disease, the first selected ailment with the first presented symptom could lack the second symptom. This meant back and forth searches, which expanded exponentially as the database of diseases increased in size. That made the process absurdly long drawn – theoretically, even years of search, for extensive databases. So, in spite of their incredible speed, rapid pattern recognition on computers could never be imagined.

The Intuitive Algorithm

But, industry strength pattern recognition was feasible. IA introduced an algorithm, which could instantly recognize patterns in extended databases. The relationship of each member of the whole database was coded for each question.

(Is pain a symptom of the disease?)

Disease1Y, Disease2N, Disease3Y, Disease 4Y, Disease5N, Disease6N, Disease7Y, Disease8N, Disease9N, Disease10N, Disease11Y, Disease12Y, Disease13N, Disease14U, Disease15Y, Disease16N, Disease17Y, Disease18N, Disease19N, Disease20N, Disease21N, Disease22Y, Disease23N, Disease24N, Disease25U, Disease26N, Disease27N, Disease28U, Disease27Y, Disease30N, Disease31U, Disease32Y, Disease33Y, Disease34U, Disease35N, Disease36U, Disease37Y, Disease38Y, Disease39U, Disease40Y, Disease41Y, Disease42U, Disease43N, Disease44U, Disease45Y, Disease46N, Disease47N, Disease48Y,

(Y = Yes: N = No: U = Uncertain)

The key was to use elimination to evaluate the database, not selection. Every member of the database was individually coded for elimination in the context of each answer.

(Is pain a symptom of the disease? Answer: YES)

Disease1Y, xxxxxxN, Disease3Y, Disease4Y, xxxxxx5N, xxxxxx6N, Disease7Y, xxxxxx8N, xxxxxx9N, xxxxxx0N, Disease11Y, Disease12Y, xxxxxx13N, Disease14U, Disease15Y, xxxxxx16N, Disease17Y, xxxxxx18N, xxxxxx19N, xxxxxx20N, xxxxxx21N, Disease22Y, xxxxxx23N, xxxxxx24N, Disease25U, xxxxxx26N, xxxxxx27N, Disease28U, Disease27Y, xxxxxx30N, Disease31U, Disease32Y, Disease33Y, Disease34U, xxxxxx35N, Disease36U, Disease37Y, Disease38Y, Disease39U, Disease40Y, Disease41Y, Disease42U, xxxxxx43N, Disease 44U, Disease45Y, xxxxxx46N, xxxxxx47N, Disease 48Y,

(All “N” Diseases eliminated.)

For disease recognition, if an answer indicated a symptom, IA eliminated all diseases devoid of the symptom. Every answer eliminated, narrowing the search to reach diagnosis.

(Is pain a symptom of the disease? Answer: NO)

xxxxxx1Y, Disease2N, xxxxxx3Y, xxxxxx4Y, Disease5N, Disease6N, xxxxxx7Y, Disease8N, Disease9N, Disease10N, xxxxxx11Y, xxxxx12Y, Disease13N, Disease14U, xxxxxx15Y, Disease16N, xxxxxx17Y, Disease18N, Disease19N, Disease20N, Disease21N, xxxxxx22Y, Disease23N, Disease24N, Disease25U, Disease26N, Disease27N, Disease28U, xxxxxx27Y, Disease30N, Disease31U, xxxxxx32Y, xxxxxx33Y, Disease34U, Disease35N, Disease36U, xxxxxx37Y, xxxxxx38Y, Disease39U, xxxxxx40Y, xxxxxx41Y, Disease42U, Disease43N, Disease 44U, xxxxxx45Y, Disease46N, Disease47N, xxxxxx48Y,

(All “Y” Diseases eliminated.)

If the symptom was absent, IA eliminated all diseases which always exhibited the symptom. Diseases, which randomly presented the symptom were retained in both cases. So the process handled uncertainty – the “Maybe” answer, which normal computer programs could not handle.

(A sequence of questions narrows down to Disease29 – the answer.)

xxxxxx1Y, xxxxxx2N, xxxxxx3Y, xxxxxx4Y, xxxxxx5N, xxxxxx6N, xxxxxx7Y, xxxxxx8N, xxxxxx9N, xxxxxx10N, xxxxxx11Y, xxxxxx12Y, xxxxxx13N, xxxxxx14U, xxxxxx15Y, xxxxxx16N, xxxxxx17Y,xxxxxx18N, xxxxxx19N, xxxxxx20N, xxxxxx21N, xxxxxx22Y, xxxxxx23N, xxxxxx24N, xxxxxx25U, xxxxxx26N, xxxxxx27N, xxxxxx28U, Disease29Y, xxxxxx30N, xxxxxx31U, xxxxxx32Y, xxxxxx33Y, xxxxxx34U, xxxxxx35N, xxxxxx36U, xxxxxx37Y, xxxxxx38Y, xxxxxx39U, xxxxxx40Y, xxxxxx41Y, xxxxxx42U, xxxxxx43N, xxxxxx44U, xxxxxx45Y, xxxxxx46N, xxxxxx47N, xxxxxx48Y.

(If all diseases are eliminated, the disease is unknown.)

Instant pattern recognition

IA was proved in practice. It had powered Expert Systems acting with the speed of a simple recalculation on a spreadsheet, to recognize a disease, identify a case law or diagnose the problems of a complex machine. It was instant, holistic, and logical. If several parallel answers could be presented, as in the multiple parameters of a power plant, recognition was instant. For the mind, where millions of parameters were simultaneously presented, real time pattern recognition was practical. And elimination was the key.

Elimination = Switching off

Elimination was switching off – inhibition. Nerve cells were known to extensively inhibit the activities of other cells to highlight context. With access to millions of sensory inputs, the nervous system instantly inhibited – eliminated trillions of combinations to zero in on the right pattern. The process stoutly used “No” answers. If a patient did not have pain, thousands of possible diseases could be ignored. If a patient could just walk into the surgery, a doctor could overlook a wide range of illnesses. But, how could this process of elimination be applied to nerve cells? Where could the wealth of knowledge be stored?

Combinatorial coding

The mind received kaleidoscopic combinations of millions of sensations. Of these, smells were reported to be recognized through a combinatorial coding process, where nerve cells recognized combinations. If a nerve cell had dendritic inputs, identified as A, B, C and so on to Z, it could then fire, when it received inputs at ABC, or DEF. It recognized those combinations. The cell could identify ABC and not ABD. It would be inhibited for ABD. This recognition process was recently reported by science for olfactory neurons. In the experiment scientists reported that even slight changes in chemical structure activated different combinations of receptors. Thus, octanol smelled like oranges, but the similar compound octanoic acid smelled like sweat. A Nobel Prize acknowledged that discovery in 2004.

Galactic nerve cell memories

Combinatorial codes were extensively used by nature. The four “letters” in the genetic code – A, C, G and T – were used in combinations for the creation of a nearly infinite number of genetic sequences. IA discusses the deeper implications of this coding discovery. Animals could differentiate between millions of smells. Dogs could quickly sniff a few footprints of a person and determine accurately which way the person was walking. The animal’s nose could detect the relative odour strength difference between footprints only a few feet apart, to determine the direction of a trail. Smell was identified through remembered combinations. If a nerve cell had just 26 inputs from A to Z, it could receive millions of possible combinations of inputs. The average neuron had thousands of inputs. For IA, millions of nerve cells could give the mind galactic memories for combinations, enabling it to recognize subtle patterns in the environment. Each cell could be a single member of a database, eliminating itself (becoming inhibited) for unrecognized combinations of inputs.

Elimination the key

Elimination was the special key, which evaluated vast combinatorial memories. Medical texts reported that the mind had a hierarchy of intelligences, which performed dedicated tasks. For example, there was an association region, which recognized a pair of scissors using the context of its feel. If you injured this region, you could still feel the scissors with your eyes closed, but you would not recognize it as scissors. You still felt the context, but you would not recognize the object. So, intuition could enable nerve cells in association regions to use perception to recognize objects. Medical research reported many such recognition regions.

Serial processing

A pattern recognition algorithm, intuition enabled the finite intelligences in the minds of living things to respond holistically within the 20 millisecond time span. These intelligences acted serially. The first intelligence converted the kaleidoscopic combinations of sensory perceptions from the environment into nerve impulses. The second intelligence recognized these impulses as objects and events. The third intelligence translated the recognized events into feelings. A fourth translated feelings into intelligent drives. Fear triggered an escape drive. A deer bounded away. A bird took flight. A fish swam off. While the activities of running, flying and swimming differed, they achieved the same objective of escaping. Inherited nerve cell memories powered those drives in context.

The mind – seamless pattern recognition

Half a second for a 100 billion nerve cells to use context to eliminate irrelevance and deliver motor output. The time between the shadow and the scream. So, from input to output, the mind was a seamless pattern recognition machine, powered by the key secret of intuition – contextual elimination, from massive acquired and inherited combinatorial memories in nerve cells.

”Victory is ours”, Kutcher tweeted, describing the moment as a “changing of the guard”.

ACTOR Ashton Kutcher has become the first Twitterer to have one million followers on the popular micro-blogging website after a hotly-contested race against news network CNN.

But he could soon be challenged by newcomer Oprah Winfrey, if her early popularity is any indication. She sent her first tweet yesterday, and already has 165,000 followers.

Hosting Kutcher on her show, Winfrey typed “ASHTON IS NEXT” into a laptop to announce his interview.

That attempt was thwarted when she hit the wrong key. Her next tweet – “HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY” – was successful.

Later in the day, Kutcher cracked open a bottle of champagne as he announced his victory live on Twitter and UStreamTV moments after he passed the one million mark.

Kutcher pledged $100,000 to the Malaria No More fund if he reached the one million mark first.

If you believe what you hear in the media, there are an awful lot of viruses going around. No, I’m not talking about the make-you-sick kind of virus, though they get plenty of airtime, too. I’m talking about the kind of virus that enters via your internet connection rather than your nasal passages.

What the mainstream media often don’t tell you–at least, in most radio and television newscasts and in the crucial headlines and opening paragraphs of newspaper articles– is that many of these “viruses” are not viruses at all.

What Computer Viruses Really Are

The main reason the mainstream media always are in alarm over viruses is that they tend to call any malicious computer program a virus. In reality, there are at least eleven distinct types of malicious software, or malware, commonly affecting computers today. The most common of these are worms, Trojans, and spyware.

So, what’s the difference between computer viruses and the other types of malware? The difference is that computer viruses are just about the only ones that regularly shut down computers and cause other obvious damage. The most common of the other kinds of malware–worms, Trojans, and spyware–are usually only detectable with a special scan.

The Real Danger of Computer Viruses

If the other types of malware are so unobtrusive that they can only be detected with a special scan, then what’s to worry about? For starters, these programs are called malicious for a reason: they are designed to cause some kind of damage, if not to your computer, then to someone else’s.

Worms are most famously used to damage, destroy, or disrupt other computer networks than the one on which the host computer is located. For instance, worms have been used by website owners to shut down rival websites by sending overwhelming numbers of requests to the computer that hosts that website. Worms have also been used to send out viruses to other computers, often without infecting the host machine–after all, what would it benefit the worm to shut down its host computer?

Trojans, in turn, are often used to insert worms and other malware on your computer, even if the Trojan itself does no damage.

But even if you don’t care what happens to anyone else, you should still be concerned about one kind of malware: spyware, a kind of malware that, true to its name, collects data from your computer and sends it back to a remote host.

Most spyware is only interested in monitoring your internet usage so it can tell other programs, called adware, what advertising to popup on your computer. However, there are criminal spyware programs that steal financial data, or perform a thorough identity theft. Don’t think you have personal or financial data on your computer? Some spyware programs contain a keylogger, which is a program that copies whatever you type, usually in order to snatch passwords. Even if you keep no financial information on your computer, if you ever buy anything over the web, the keylogger would allow its owner to buy stuff using the same information you typed in to buy stuff yourself.

Why Blame the Media?

Given the danger of all these different types of malware, isn’t it a good thing that the mass media are becoming hysterical about it? And can’t they be forgiven the sloppy reporting of calling Trojans, worms, spyware, and other malware “viruses”?

No, no, no.

This is a classic case of bad reporting doing more damage than no reporting at all. In this case, the damage bad reporting has done is to promote a common myth that goes something like this: “The only malicious software is a virus. Viruses damage your computer. Therefore, if my computer is working OK, my computer has no malicious software. I only need to scan my computer for problems when there is a sign of problems.”

Thanks to this myth, many people complacently let their antivirus software go months out of date, not wanting to be bothered with scheduling an automatic update. Just as bad, many people don’t have any extra software to combat the other types of malware that may not be covered by antivirus software.

Are you looking to have professional color printing? The number of products that you can purchase from color printing professionals will amaze you. In fact, with all of the products available, you will find that an array of unique services is on offer that can assist you in a variety of endeavors.

Maybe you are looking to have professionally printed brochures for your business. Why struggle with your home printer and panic while you search for just the right kind of paper for your brochures in your local office supply store?

Instead, you can specify the type and size of brochure you desire and have your business brochures professionally printed and delivered right to your door. Of course, you will be required to specify the number of brochures you need and will be sent a proof of your brochure once it has been printed.

Perhaps you are in need of business cards. Again, professional printing could be just the thing you need. All you need to do is advise the printer what you want on your business cards, what design you like and within a few days you can be receiving your professionally printed business cards in your mailbox.

With business cards, you will have the opportunity to select different styles and layouts from a number of templates offered by the printing professional. Finally, the printing professional may require that you purchase a minimum number of cards before they agree to produce them: typically the printer sets a limit of a minimum of 500 cards, but some printers will print as few as 250 cards at a time.

If your business is in need of catalogues, again a professional printing company can help you. You can give the printer all of the specifications for the catalogue with the layout and easily have them printed in no time whatsoever.

You will be required to select the weight of paper you desire, to specify if you want black ink or colored ink, whether or not you want a glossy or matte finish, and what shipping method you prefer.

Other products that you can purchase from a professional printing company include customized stationary, postcards, greeting cards, booklets, posters, artwork, calendars, envelopes, presentation folders, statement stuffers, advertisements, flyers, CD covers, newsletters, bookmarks, note cards, door hangers, rack cards, wedding invitations and more.

Printing professionals offer a variety of services for a number of occasions. Whatever you need, check with your local printing professional to see what kind of services they offer – you may be surprised to find that they can handle your job quickly and with ease.