Category Archives: Technology

News about technology.

The next Step after the Reuse of Space Launch Vehicles

Leave a comment

After several failed attempts, SpaceX made history when it managed to successfully land its reusable Falcon 9 rocket booster on a (robotic) ship stationed off the Florida coast:

http://www.space.com/32517-spacex-sticks-rocket-landing-sea-dragon-launch.html^

SpaceX has been planning and trying to reuse launch vehicles for quite a few years now. This success is a milestone for reducing the cost of our ventures into space. The road towards efficient space exploration and development is, however, a long one.

Let’s think bigger. Let’s think about large space stations, asteroid mining, colonies on the Moon and Mars. Many of these projects will need an initial investment originating from Earth, probably consisting of pre-manufactured goods. As a species, we have to think long-term.

Returning the boosters back to Earth is a costly business. The immediate costs are the fuel and support operations. The long term cost is that we might deprive ourselves of an important head-start when it comes to building in outer space. This potentially has a much greater impact than the immediate costs. So should we really bother so much about returning our launch vehicles? What if we take the reuse concept one step further?

A booster is essentially a huge fuel tank coupled to a propulsion system. In the coming decades, advancements in robotics will make it increasingly feasible for us to consider asteroid mining or building large extraterrestrial habitats, either in Earth’s orbit or on other planets. Hopefully, we will soon find ways to re-use everything we struggle so hard to escape Earth’s gravity with.

Updated on May 6, 2016: SpaceX did it again^. Congratulations to them!

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/00517-NextStepAfterReuseLaunchVehicles-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’The next Step after the Reuse of Space Launch Vehicles’ desc=’After several failed attempts, SpaceX made history when it managed to successfully land its reusable Falcon 9.’]

Microsoft’s New Direction Is Not Surprising

Leave a comment

Together with its new CEO, the software giant is embracing the inevitable: transforming its users into a data product. Google is, arguably, the company that has done this with the greatest degree of success. Jealous, Microsoft ran the “Scroogled”^ smear campaign against its competitor. It dropped it in 2014, probably when somebody decided that, after all, Google’s strategy is more in tune with the times.

Two years later and Windows 10 is phoning home hundreds of time every day, even when told not to^. The company said it will provide a “fix” for this, but as the article I linked cleverly points out: as operating systems start to increasingly rely on their companies’ cloud infrastructure, especially when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, we will be forced into all sorts of privacy trade-offs.

But what worries me the most is the fact that Microsoft is moving towards transforming Windows into a closed ecosystem, emulating the model established by Apple and, later, Google. For better or for worse, Windows’ popularity has ensured that developers have a popular platform that they can deliver products on, with few intermediaries.

However, with the upcoming Universal Windows Platform, Microsoft is taking its first steps into placing itself as a leech between developers and customers, charging not only for the operating system but also taking a profit share from producers – just like pretty much all other “app stores”. If this comes to pass, it will be particularly harmful for game developers, with games being one of the most profitable products sold in the Microsoft ecosystem.

No wonder Tim Sweeney of Epic Games is upset (while Gabe Newell of Valve started a long time ago to heavily invest in the Linux ecosystem):

http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/4/11160104/tim-sweeney-microsoft-walled-garden-criticism^

In all fairness, Microsoft is making the right moves to stay profitable. Each year, there’s fewer people willing to renew their Windows licenses, so it’s no wonder that the company ponders offering updates to Windows 10 for free, while in the same time devising new ways to turn a profit. The App Store model has been implemented successfully by many companies, why should Microsoft remain behind?

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/00465-MicrosoftNewDirectionNotSurprising-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Microsoft's New Direction Is Not Surprising’ desc=’Together with its new CEO, the software giant is embracing the inevitable: transforming its users into a data product.’]

Ready or Not, Here Comes Virtual Reality!

Leave a comment

Finally, the first Virtual Reality HMD (Head Mounted Display) – the Oculus Rift – has reached retail availability. The first reviews have started pouring in – here’s a pretty good one from The Verge^. Things are pretty much as I expected, with the majority of reviews being positive and the rest being rather neutral. So far I haven’t read anything seriously bad and although this is very encouraging, it is not a surprise given the fact that all companies involved have been preparing for this launch for plenty of time.

In the meantime, VR as a technology continues to promise growth in the most unexpected of areas. For example there are these guys who propose giving HMDs to roller coaster^ riders. Combining high quality computer graphics with a roller coaster experience is indeed something that I’d love to try one day.

On the other hand, there are companies whose VR content is not exactly top notch. Take for example AltspaceVR. Even though their VR client now supports Samsung’s Gear^, the graphical quality is below what could be achieved even with the limitation of having to run on weaker, mobile graphical processors. AltspaceVR’s “games”^ are not much to look at either. I’m worried about half–baked products ruining the reception of VR. This is one of the most important technological revolutions of the past few decades and I believe a proper, polished launch is very important. Let’s not forget the debacle that was Google Glass.

Luckily, there are plenty of companies that have amazing products lined up. The Oculus launched with some really good titles such as “Eve Valkyrie”, “Elite: Dangerous” and “Lucky’s Tale”. However, I believe the best is yet to come, especially when “No Man’s Sky”^ shows up, which, I believe, is the title that will truly make VR. I hope Oculus can have its controllers ready as soon as possible. And if not, there’s always the Vive^, which will also hit retail availability very soon.

So, ready or not, VR is coming to town. I think that the companies that are at the forefront of this new technological revolution will have a lot to gain from their investment. I’m looking at you, FaceBook, Samsung, Valve, HTC and Microsoft. Plenty of big names are still missing in action, especially Google and Apple. Regarding Apple, they don’t even have decent hardware support for VR^, as recently pointed out by Oculus founder, Palmer Luckey. The coming twelve months will certainly be very, very interesting. Let’s watch and enjoy the show.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/00435-ReadyOrNotHereComesVR-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Ready or Not, Here Comes Virtual Reality!’ desc=’Finally, the first Virtual Reality HMD (Head Mounted Display) – the Oculus Rift – has reached retail availability. The first reviews have started pouring in.’]

Don’t Forget Tesla Motors

Leave a comment

What is the word “forget” doing in the same sentence as the name of this rising star in the world of automobiles? It all starts with an article I read on Wired a couple of weeks ago. The author is busy praising General Motors for beating Tesla in creating the “first true mass-market electric car”:

http://www.wired.com/2016/01/gm-electric-car-chevy-bolt-mary-barra^

The article is far from being objective. It reads like a standing ovation for GM and its CEO, with very little regard for the full picture. There are two glaring mistakes. I’ll perform a little experiment and demonstrate how easily the author of the article could have improved upon the objectivity of his work, just by adding the following two paragraphs.

We should not forget, however, Tesla’s galvanizing effect upon the entire automobile industry. Not only did the company spend hundreds of millions of dollars in research, but its designs and success have also been an inspiration for drivers everywhere. Tesla popularized the electric vehicle like no company before. It is through Tesla’s ground-breaking work that many companies can today even consider working on an electric vehicle.

The elephant in the room (pun intended), is the very size of General Motors. We’re talking here about a company that produces close to 10 million vehicles per year, and has a yearly net income of 10 billion dollars. Tesla’s output isn’t even close to a million and it has a net loss of almost 300 million dollars. So does anybody still wonder why GM can afford to beat its chest claiming they’re manufacturing the first “true mass-market electric car”?

That wasn’t so hard, was it?

To GM’s credit, the company was actually one of the first to have even attempted mass producing an electric vehicle back in the 90s (and kudos to them). Unfortunately, the EV1^ was unceremoniously dumped in a set of rather dubious circumstances that some people saw as outright sabotage by the oil industry – with GM’s cooperation.

I personally believe that the lack of public interest, a fair bit of managerial incompetence and a lack of vision were the main culprits. There’s even a documentary about all this. Here’s its Wikipedia entry, draw your own conclusions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F^

However, a long time has passed since then and Tesla’s approach is radically different from that of Big Motor. It’s a reboot of the entire scene, and that’s what’s pissing off a lot of large companies. Tesla wants to alter the supply chain, interfering with the fat paychecks and bonuses of a lot of people. And those people won’t sit quietly while this happens. They’ll buy press, invest millions into sneaky marketing and do everything in their power to see Tesla fail.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/00280-DontForgetTesla-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Don't Forget Tesla Motors’ desc=’What is the word "forget" doing in the same sentence as the name of this rising star in the world of automobiles? It all starts with an article I read on Wired a couple of weeks ago.’]

Big Corporations Go After Artificial Intelligence

2 Comments

The word “Go” in the title is not coincidental. Much earlier than expected, an AI program managed to defeat a human Go champion. Artificial Intelligence has had the upper hand in the game of Chess for more than a decade already. However, defeating humans at the game of Go requires a different kind of intelligence than it is the case with Chess.

Here’s the news report about Google having reached this important milestone in AI development: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/546066/googles-ai-masters-the-game-of-go-a-decade-earlier-than-expected/^

IBM, Google, Microsoft, FaceBook, Amazon and Apple are all pouring billions of dollars into this sort of research. So do other companies and, less advertised, so do many governments. Not to mention universities and even hobbyists. The jury is still out regarding whether strong (true) Artificial Intelligence is even achievable.

My worry is that once a corporation or government manages to succeed in this venture, the result might offer that entity an unimaginable economic and strategic advantage. Such an advantage will make nuclear weapons seem like a wet firecracker in comparison.

Some have said that AI will be our last invention, for better or for worse. That is because AI might overtake us in intelligence to such an extent that it could invent things that we cannot even begin to imagine. So the risk lies not only in the birth of true AI, but also in whatever new beings such intelligence might give birth to as it grows and learns how to play with its intelligence. All this may very well lead us to immortality or to extinction.

If you’d like to learn more about the topic, I recommend you to read this excellent two part article explaining what it’s all about. It’s quite long but it’s an interesting and pleasant read. At least skip through it, because a life-changing Artificial Intelligence development may be closer than you think.

Part 1:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html^

Part 2

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html^

I also find it quite interesting that some corporations are open sourcing their AI frameworks and tools. I have a fair amount of trust that a large economic entity or a scientific organization will be at least a bit careful about how they program the ethical aspects of an AI, if nothing else then for self-preservation purposes. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about hobbyists who might not even give a priority to such a vital concern.

Microsoft Open Sources Artificial Intelligence Toolkit:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2498435,00.asp^

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/00191-BigCorporationsGoAfterAI-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Big Corporations Go After Artificial Intelligence’ desc=’The word "Go" in the title is not coincidental. Much earlier than expected, an AI program managed to defeat a human Go champion.’]