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Post AvHa5eixD9jIIABhgW by [email protected] |
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More posts by [email protected] |
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Post #AvHa5dtYIGc3ik8eZ6 by [email protected] |
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Hi all, back at my @tedium commissioned search thing. I ran into some serious w… |
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Post #AvHa5e0zqaZG5pcbAW by [email protected] |
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This one was very difficult for me, in part because it has been written about h… |
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Post #AvHa5e7jRXxIQilyfQ by [email protected] |
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So, as you may or may not be aware, one of the most popular AI models is Anthro… |
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Post #AvHa5eE73p3kkVl4c4 by [email protected] |
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Claude is a very unusual name in 2025, which makes the branding stand out. But … |
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Post #AvHa5eK8hPsd3CZt0S by [email protected] |
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In the years before the device’s invention, Shannon became known for his inte… |
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Post #AvHa5eQWJgz5MzYyx6 by [email protected] |
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Shannon was a fun guy. Despite being a bigwig at Bell Labs, he would often ride… |
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Post #AvHa5eWtvy5XgmY4tk by [email protected] |
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Shannon didn’t invent the Useless Machine, as it came to be called, but it wa… |
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Post #AvHa5ecvZYuPzTMtI8 by [email protected] |
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Minsky, a Princeton grad student who worked at Bell Labs during the summer of 1… |
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Post #AvHa5eixD9jIIABhgW by [email protected] |
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While there, Minsky developed a variety of machines—facilitated by a budding … |
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Post #AvHa5epgo77Kd3L5BQ by [email protected] |
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Sounds like a pretty great internship. During that same oral history, he descri… |
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Post #AvHa5ewmNkmwz2ekEa by [email protected] |
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But to be clear, while Minsky developed the concept, he was doing so in close a… |
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Post #AvHa5f3A01tPIpdqBE by [email protected] |
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Minsky developed the idea; Shannon, who had access to a machine shop, turned it… |
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Post #AvHa5fAFZfZ1eoxVEO by [email protected] |
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This machine likely would have gone unnoticed, if not for Arthur C. Clarke, who… |
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Post #AvHa5fGdBwfTybwbB2 by [email protected] |
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If you want to read the passage in full context, “Voice Across the Sea” is … |
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Post #AvHa5fO4kGcgLhQXmS by [email protected] |
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The piece is notable because it highlights the climate that created it. Also me… |
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Post #AvHa5fU6NrRYeOFMAq by [email protected] |
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Clarke was absolutely the right person to write about this. One sample passage: |
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Post #AvHa5faU08Y0yBES7U by [email protected] |
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Back to the Useless Machine. The simplicity of its design is such that you can … |
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Post #AvHa5fhDb5w3J4NpcO by [email protected] |
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Who was first? The answer appears to be Spencer Gifts, the famed mall chain tha… |
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Post #AvHa5fnFEgkvblCe0m by [email protected] |
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This exact device, with no changes, was sold by Captain Company in an issue of … |
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Post #AvHa5ftype8xweM1Vg by [email protected] |
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(It makes sense Spencer Gifts sold it, by the way. My Amazon search for a usele… |
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Post #AvHa5g0iQbX0HXVP0a by [email protected] |
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Spencer Gifts later sold a variant that actually made the useless device useful… |
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Post #AvHa5g762sdSbKUUxE by [email protected] |
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@ernie My uncle, the late Arnold Freed, had a novelty business, and he made a p… |
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Post #AvHa5gClhnAksv91nM by [email protected] |
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@ernie Or actually, maybe I'm misremembering and it was one of these: https… |
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Post #AvHa5gJ9K4HDCi87k0 by [email protected] |
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@dbaplanb Fascinating! I’ll take a look and see if I find anything else. What… |
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Post #AvHa5gSMlneJfIRU6i by [email protected] |
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Was there any prior art? This was the part that kind of held me up. I went a lo… |
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Post #AvHa5grtEu48wSNrtI by [email protected] |
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Munari, an Italian artist whose anti-tech POV would fit in great on Bluesky, do… |
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Post #AvHa5hITe3KiGup6Ke by [email protected] |
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There’s a book about him, in English, on Google Books, if you want to learn m… |
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Post #AvHa5hiM5q27ZAvlfU by [email protected] |
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The machine has periodically been mentioned in media, most notably making an ap… |
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Post #AvHa5i9ITfaGujXHf6 by [email protected] |
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In terms of more recent articles about the device, I recommend this NYT essay f… |
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Post #AvHa5iYowm06BtTfRg by [email protected] |
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Finally, I will note, because it’s important, that Minsky (and MIT in general… |
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Post #AvHa5iz3NEz5VFkcKm by [email protected] |
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Minsky and Shannon were essential figures in the evolution of artificial intell… |
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Post #AvHa5jPzl4XEqoM8KO by [email protected] |
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It should be noted that Mével’s interest in the Useless Machine is not as so… |
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Post #AvHa5jqEBXWEAAd5DU by [email protected] |
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Anyway, that’s the thread. Find this one an interesting topic? Want me to do … |
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Post #AvHa5squgMPm6u1G2C by [email protected] |
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@ernie I just searched again, and now that I'm not trying to get hits based… |
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Post #AvHa79n5BxI6vtpoX2 by [email protected] |
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@ernie Many years ago I had a private meeting here in L.A. with only myself, Ma… |
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Post #AvHa79tSoEOZFgouTg by [email protected] |
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@lauren Whoa, I can only imagine how that discussion went. |
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Post #AvHa7OnHPVMTSr2gQC by [email protected] |
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@ernie In all honesty the details are something of a blur now. It took place in… |
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Post #AvHa7c2e9gNUYHKdg8 by [email protected] |
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@ernie Have you ever read Edgar Allan Poe's piece on the Mechanical Turk? I… |
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Post #AvHa7c91lxTws4Jjcm by [email protected] |
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@lauren The Mechanical Turk concept has always fascinated me. |
