Defining Popular Links

10/24/2005

As more people start using del.icio.us, the popular links zeitgeist is becoming more volatile. Typically, a top link in the morning is a top link in the evening. Recently, the top links have changed been changing positions every few hours or so. Just thinking of it makes me wonder What would happen if the del.icio.us user population doubled? Would the popular links section still be relevant? On the topic of compiling this list, I think del.icio.us should add a weekly and monthly popular zeitgeist. It would provide a good recap and settle what "was" a popular link. So we'll know what's popular today by waiting for a recap 5 days from now. Confusing times ahead or not?

DARPA Grand Challenge 2005

10/11/2005

I was at a mixer earlier this year and met an individual who was working on an entry for the DARPA Grand challenge. We talked about C/C++ and various algorithmic decisions that he and his team had decided on. It was interesting to hear how they were building a system with HIGHLY RESPONSIVE (I cannot emphasize this any further) pattern recognition. Geeky but normal by my standards. Well, this weekend five robotic cars completed the challenge - note, the challenge was never completed by a single car before!

Anyways, a blog that I'm addicted to, Cognitive Daily, has a great post about how babies frame and group patterns. The final point struck a chord:

Eventually robots will be able to drive trucks through the desert, but it will have taken much more than two years to accomplish - and hundreds of other human problems, such as understanding language, creating art, and feeling true love, will remain unsolved.

As humans, we develop our skills and memory so much faster than machines. Is this discrepancy based on hardware (brain vs. processor / nervous system vs. motherboard), or software (mind vs. operating system)?