Thousands Calling For Apology To Founder Of Computer Science

Gizmodo Australia / BBC ^ | 1 Sept., 2009 | By Joanna Stern

[steve-b]

Yep, that’s how they had computer-guided cannons and codebreaking in the Civil War, yessirree bob!

[Nathan Zachary]

Or, you can consider the The Abacus as the first ‘digital’ computer.

[steve-b]

Trying to educate a troll is like, to recall an earlier example, a monkey screeching at his reflection in a mirror.

[Nathan Zachary]

Awww, are you gay Steve? Upset that your gay guy was NOT a father of anything except rectal cancer?

[Mojave]

I didn’t realize you were screeching, since you weren’t using all caps this time.

[TomOnTheRun]

I figured you couldn't explain yourself

The Turing test is this - a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with one human and one machine Both man and machine are trying to appear human. If the judge cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test. Very simple.

Monkeys looking in a mirror never figure out that it is actually themselves that they’re looking at.

But many can in fact discern that different. That's the so-what. The comparison doesn't work on many levels.

[MrB]

It really would be preferable to refer to people’s accomplishments without having to identify where they prefer to rub their jubblies.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

He presented a paper on 19 February 1946, which was the first detailed design of a stored-program computer. The first working model was built from his plans. He also developed the first organized theory of digital computing. Turing machines are - to this day - the central object of study in theory of computation.

Thanks for stating this clearly and succinctly. Folks who question Turing's place in computer science are either unaware of his work or kidding themselves.

[Mojave]

Sorry, the fairy missed the pier.

Careful. You'll upset his groupies.

[Notary Sojac]

Sounds like you are suggesting there is "straight science" and "gay science". I think the world's been there, or something like it, already.

[TomOnTheRun]

Trying to educate a troll is like, to recall an earlier example, a monkey screeching at his reflection in a mirror.

You are very correct. It's not for his sake that I respond.

[trisham]

lol, yeah an apolgy will make this corpse feel better.

********************

Exactly. So what is the real agenda here?

[Lancey Howard]

Vacuum tubes are great for amplification. Not so great for switching. Transistors are great for switching. Not so great for amplification.

I always found it interesting that the UNIVACs were built with vacuum tubes even though by that time (1951) we had already successfuly reverse-engineered the transistor from the Roswell crash.

[Nathan Zachary]

The only troll there is around here is U, as this is not the first time you've chosen to begin your contribution to a thread with personal attacks.

Butt, now I know why...

[TomOnTheRun]

Exactly. So what is the real agenda here?

Apologies are USUALLY for something that was thought to be proper and correct at the time that is now considered to be bad/unhealthy/oppressive/etc. For some it is not sufficient that chemical castrations have stopped - they want to hear the state say that they won't egange in it again and that it is now known to have been wrong to begin with.

[Question Liberal Authority]

There’s a Smash Mouth song called “I’m Sorry About Your Penis” which seems oddly appropriate.

[Mojave]

If the judge cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test.

An intelligence test. Actual sentience does not exist by virtue of an external observer's belief in it, any more than another real monkey exists in the mirror's reflection.

But many can in fact discern that different. That's the so-what.

Again, so what? You're chasing your non sequitur around in a circle.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Careful. You'll upset his groupies."

Seems I already have.

[steve-b]

Institutions should be forced to acknowledge their errors, thus reducing the chance that they will be repeated. Duh.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

Apology? To someone who is dead? Madness.