Monday, January 8, 2007

Researchers Use Wikipedia To Make Computers Smarter. Using Wikipedia, Technion researchers have developed a way to give computers knowledge of the world to help them "think smarter," making common sense and broad-based connections between topics just as the human mind does. The new method will help... [KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News] 6:45:54 PM      Google It!.

Second Life Open Sources Client. An anonymous reader writes "Just noticed that Second Life released their client under the GPL today, and that they're up to 2.4 million users. Article says that 15% of users contribute scripted objects."[Slashdot] -- this is a really big deal because it will enable game consoles to be powerful secondlife educational platforms with stunning realistic 3D graphics.  The upshot of this opening up will allow secondlife to become the marketing venue of choice for new games as well as the home of game historical sites.  The biggest benefit will be the portability and power afforded by the gaming platforms to put a "face" and "place" to the ethereal internet.  The other potential is for one of the open source players to build a firefox plugin for secondlife client so that the browser can truly become the virtual desktop even if it is hosted on the network and streams content to the "thin client" (wifi phone).  Over a few years of development time the static media (TV) can become simply the backdrop for interaction in secondlife clients.  Hopefully a few daring educational institutions will push the secondlife envelope with personalized clients optimized for knowledge transfer and multicultural communication. -- the reason why this open source development will have legs is because secondlife has already embraced the issue of economic exchange and sustainability.  I personally like the browser plugin vision because it enables a smoother transition for non-gamers into the virtual economy with personal agents/avatars and open pathways to the internet and on-demand media. -- BL 6:44:34 PM      Google It!.