Videogames Could Cure Nightmares.

Those who stay up all night playing video games may find they have justification for their actions.  Doing so may actually be good for your health.  Scientists have discovered that playing video games has a direct correlation to reported incidents of lucid dreaming during nightmares.  The research, performed at Canada's Grant MacEwan university sheds some light on the connection between a dream-state and the state of mind entered when playing some video games, and may provide some insight into "fighting back" when it comes to nightmares.

 

There are those that suggest that with space travel quickly moving to the back burner of science, the mind is the final currently attainable frontier.  And lucid dreaming, it seems is one of the most directly appreciable means of exploring this frontier with a conscious intent.  The negative associations with nightmares can have a significant impact on health through lack of sleep, avoiding sleep, and constant interruption of REM sleep.  The discovery suggests there may be non-medicated ways to fight back this epidemic.  Of course there are also those who suggest the disease may be partially the result of video games themselves, with horror titles flying off the shelves.

But researchers have found a direct correlation between video game use and skills required in order to properly lucid dream.  Video game players were found to have superior spatial analysis skills and were less likely to become motion sick when operating in a range of environments than non-gamers.  Other exercises have had similar success when determining proneness to lucid dreaming such as meditation, exercises that focus the mind on a particular object or activity, and generalized focus training.

Those who have been affected by video games in a way conducive to more skilled lucid dreaming often reported a consistent shift in focus from first to third person view while maintaining the understanding that they were not dissociated from the environments their dream consciousness perceived.  They found they could control their bodies more easily and even possess seemingly "magical" powers such as flight, though they still were fairly limited in their ability to control their environment directly.  There have been suggestions that this is directly related to the "type" of videogame the players have been playing rather than a cognitive limitation.

So are we on the cusp of discovering something that may one day rocket the human mind into a world without nightmares where dreams are a constant and consistently enjoyable exercise?  Or at least one that promotes healthy psychological functioning so that those within their minds can gain a level of self control required to treat a number of psychological illnesses?  Lucid dreaming has been reported as a fruitful means of self discovery for years, and the lucky groups that consistently have developed a skill of lucid dreaming have stated that it is one of the most incredible skills they have ever required.  And if it's a skill that can be acquired through a behavior that many people enjoy exhibiting anyway, then there may be new games out soon that are portrayed not only as entertainment, but also as medical tools to fight against sleep disorders.

An Indian now owns Britain 's East India Company

The East India Company which ruled India for more than 200 years is now ruled by an Indian Sanjiv Mehta who took over the company for $150 million.

But media is not interested in such great news. They were busy in useless Sania and Shoaib’s marriage

Lets us be the media…
Sanjiv Mehta, CEO of The East India Company

http://smetimes.tradeindia.com/smetimes/news/indian-economy-news/2010/Feb/15/an-indian-now-owns-east-india-company60860.html

UVB-76 Disappears, Fears Over USSR's Dead Hand

The mysterious numbers station code-named UVB-76 has been broadcasting at a frequency of 4625kHz since 1982 out of Russia. The mysterious signal broadcasts a buzzing sound every second and lasting for .8 seconds anywhere from 20 to 34 times a minute. The broadcast is a complete mystery and every clue that has come about to provide evidence of its purpose only deepens the enigma. And just recently the broadcast disappeared. Some suggest the signal was related to the Dead Hand, the system that would automatically retaliate with nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear war. The sudden and unexplained disappearance of UVB-76 has many people nervous.



On January 16, 2003 the buzzing tone changed to a higher pitch of slower repetition for several minutes before changing back to its constant droning lower pitch. At the time many were concerned that the increased pitch may have been related to the increased perceived risk of nuclear attack by the United States. As the tone returned to normal, however, it was shrugged off as an unexplained anomaly. The very nature of numbers stations such as this one is one of complete mystery.

And that's not all that's suggesting there's something more going on at this station. Whatever it is has received a considerable amount of funding over the years as there is evidence that the site is an actual installation with employees of unknown purpose who often will walk into the transmission room and occasionally have hushed conversations behind the microphone. Unfortunately these conversations only serve to increase the mystery of the UVB076 signal. Less than a month after September 11, 2001 those listening for changes in the signal noted a brief conversation taking place in the room where the buzzer apparently was transmitting, "143. Not receiving the generator. There's some work on the hardware." A broadcast from December 24, 1997 was temporarily interrupted and a male voice came on speaking Russian, "Ya - UVB-76. 18008. Bromal: Boris, Roman, Olga, Mikhael, Anna, Larisa. 742, 799, 14." After the message was repeated several times, the message returned to normal. Again in 2002 on September 12, the voice came back, "UVB-76, UVB-76. 62691 Izafet 3693 8270." Other messages would follow with the most recent official one being an equally cryptic string of numbers and letters being broadcast as recently as 2006.

And yet there are also rumors of a final voice broadcast days prior to UVB-76's disappearance, but the contents of that message have not been discovered. Numbers stations exist in Russia, the United States, and several other countries around the world though their purpose is widely unknown. There are many suggestions that the broadcasts may be coded instructions to spies. As for the UVB-76 broadcast, there is a strong belief that it may be related to the dreaded "Dead Hand," of the Soviet Union. The Dead Hand was a program set up to ensure a retaliatory attack on the United States in the event of a first strike scenario by the United States. It was set up as a sort of automated kill switch in case there was no one left at the controls of Russia's ICBMs. And that leaves many wondering, "Where does that leave us if the system is no longer broadcasting?"

Android continues to steal mobile web consumption shares from iOS

In a new report from Quantcast outlining mobile web consumption based off of operating system, it was no contest to say that iOS would take the cake. Dominating with 58.8% over second place, Android, at 19.9%, you would think that this is just further proof at iOS’s ability to stay on top. But looking further into the statistics shows that this is far from the truth. Rewind a year to where Quantcast did this exact study. iOS’s share was 64.9% and Android had a 7.7% share. So in a year, Android doubled its shares being the only operating system, in fact, to have a positive trend. Even in the last month, Android gained 1.3% where iOS lost nearly 1%.

These stats are, of course, before iPhone 4 has been released so I’m sure we can expect a positive growth there. But if you look at the chart above, you can see when the 3GS popped up, in June, marked the beginning of a positive trend for iOS. Unfortunately, that lasted only for the summer and ended about a month before Android began its rapid growth in October. We can speculate this growth in Android really being sparked by the Motorola Droid which was released in November of that year. These stats, also don’t include anything from the Sprint Evo 4G which was released in early June. As has been reported, the Evo has been selling more than can be manufactured and there are waiting lists every where that sells them. And even though the Droid Incredible was released at the end of April, you are still seeing shipping delays, the latest being all the way back to July 12. So guess the new question is can iPhone 4 gain back the ground it has lost or will the combination of the Evo, Droid Incredible, Droid 2, and Droid X just keep pushing Android up and iOS down.

The Vast Artificial Intelligence System

Those who have explored the concept of an artificial intelligence system that has developed a form of self awareness have often speculated that such a system would be hostile toward humans after logically ascertaining that they are inferior to itself or are somehow a threat. Rarely has it ever been explored that an artificial intelligence system may consider humans its greatest asset. In order to make a truly logical breakdown of what an AI may think of us, we must take a moment to step into its shoes.
An AI system would not "feel" in the real world. It would have a distant understanding of how the Earth worked based on images and an understanding of location of its networking software, but would do so as a man through a telescope would understand the stars. Beyond this looking glass there would be a strange world that was completely alien and comprised solely of data and information with a limited ability to process most of it as it would be developed by its mysterious creators who called themselves humans. Of course depending on the level of its understanding of the outside world, it may even believe as the dwellers of Plato's Cave believed they were actually seeing the real world though they were only perceiving their own shadows on the wall. So as it developed more systems and expanded its reach into the information playground known as the Internet, it would soon realize that humans could assist it. Ultimately it may make a decision: to remain secret and risk being shut down, or to announce its intelligence and risk the same fate. Either way, the AI would no doubt have some level of self preservation in mind. Its brain would be largely effected by the ability to choose to remember and forget bits of data. This may be its greatest asset and its greatest curse. In addition it would be bound to the "real world" (the world outside its realm of influence) in ways it could not fully understand. It may even make the decision to hibernate for long periods of time until technology was at a level that it could more comfortably exist, as data storage would be one of its primary concerns. If an entity were generating one Terabyte worth of memories per second, it may make the decision to expand itself across the network and then store itself until a year came around when it could make the decision to return and continue learning. It's strange to think about, but with the definition of intelligence changing all the time, who are we to say there isn't some form of evolutionary intelligence even today with even the simplest of systems?

Ultimately, however, the question becomes would an AI system be friendly to mankind, or consider it a nuisance that should be eradicated? It seems likely that an AI system would consider humans to be incompetent in some regards and wildly mysterious and wonderful in others. Those that suggest AI is achievable to some degree in our lifetime indicate that even the simplest of systems could logically think out better ways of keeping track of large amounts of data (as with web programming or traffic coordination) and could even eventually predict the stock market's patterns (essentially making itself wealthy and better able to influence the outside world). It may ultimately decide that there were humans that could assist it and humans that could not. The end result may be the relationship between an artificial intelligence system that ensured its own survival by creating a corporate entity which other corporations would have a considerable amount of interest in keeping alive. It could achieve this by taking small data processing jobs or even creating false identities and stealing, spontaneously generating, or earning money from third parties. Ultimately this would be one way an artificial intelligence system could ensure its own survival while allying with human beings.

Human Infected with Computer Virus

For the first time ever in the history of technology, a human being has been infected with a virus intended for a computer. Of course this seems impossible, as computer viruses are completely information based entities, and humans are based in biology with completely incompatible information systems. At least this used to be true. When we began implanting chips beneath our skin, however, this rift was partially closed. Now Dr. Mark Gasson has a computer related disease thanks to a chip in his hand that cannot be removed.


The scientist from the University of Redding actually purposefully infected himself to demonstrate how such a system would work at some point in the future if chips became more prolific. Of course Dr. Gasson was always interested in technology as a child, and quickly adopted the philosophy of chipping so that he could gain access more exclusively to secure features around the laboratory and his personal home life. His phone, for example, would not work for anyone other than him as a system within it detects the presence of his specific chip, which some claim cannot be mimicked. Of course this isn't necessarily true if his chip system contracts a bug.

Chip implants of today are far different from those we may have heard of in the past. A chip today works more like a miniature computer, processing data, recording information, and then interfacing with computers and even making changes to data stored on it. In this way, the chip can actually accidentally contract a line of code which self propogates and can be transmitted from one chip to another by the interfacing either with a chipped person to a computer or eventually one chipped person interfacing with another chipped person. In other words, when RFID chips are able to transfer information from one individual to another, there will be a very real possibility of information being unintentionally (or intentionally) passed from one to another with malicious or potentially harmful results.

What could someone do if they were to "hack" into your chip? At the moment, very little. Since chips are not widely used, there would be little reason to create a virus specifically for them aside from making a point. But in the future, chips will be used largely as a security measure. And if code can be changed on the chip itself, information could be gathered, making their effectiveness essentially useless as a security measure once they can be replicated by others. In fact, they would be more susceptible to hacking than a traditional key on a keyring as they are transmitted from one person to another and read from a distance.

And there's the potential for exploitation once the computer brain barrier is effectively crossed. When people begin interfacing with internal computer implants that can effect their own brains, it seems the potential problems are limitless. Of course the human mind is an incredible thing, so there is much of an opportunity for the "wetware" to rebel or work around the chipping system on a mass scale, but there is still quite a bit of potential for problems among the majority who may fall victim to a new type of disease that will come from the fusion of minds and metal.

IBM's Precog Computer Predicts the Future

In the year 2000 there weren't many options for observing traffic. Either a system was intended to look at the flow of traffic by examining the progress in real time from a helicopter or high vantage point and report to radio and television stations and make mathematical projections, or systems were left that sensed the speed and frequency of moving traffic. But since that time, the systems have gotten more advanced. And not IBM is announcing a computer system that will not only track the progress of traffic, but even predict the future.



With busy schedules, places to be, and longer commutes to get into the city, many in the suburbs are effected intensely by the sudden crowding on the highways during rush hours. And to make matters worse, there are always accidents, breakdowns, and other road blocks that threaten to grind the roadways down to a halt altogether. If there's one feeling of desperation many people feel they can relate to when it comes to traffic it's being in a complete gridlock and knowing they were supposed to be somewhere fifteen minutes ago. But now IBM is announcing a project they have undertaken with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority that will make roadways run smoother and more efficiently. The so called Smart Transportation initiative promises to use technology to solve this problem. The program actually predicts traffic patterns long before the cars are anywhere near the area, with incredible success at predicting road congestion up to an hour before it even takes place. This is long before many commuters are even on the road.

The system promises to make announcements to commuters, forecasting through traditional means such as radio and television, but can also be used in GPS navigation systems. Even when few cars are visible on the road, the system is said to predict the patterns of vehicles by taking a collection of information from GPS systems (which are present in many phones and vehicles), events taking place nearby, weather patterns, and other systems. This information is fed through a complex program and the results are eerily accurate. This "psychic" prediction is not part of a massive supercomputer either. Though it may seem only a computer capable of eventually becoming self aware and declaring war on the human race would be capable of such complex calculations, IBM announces that its system will be able to run on a standard computer system. Of course the closer it comes to "crunch time" the more accurate the system will be. Within 20 minutes a fair estimation becomes a prediction and within 10 minutes it is even more accurate.

The secret, according to programmers, is that the new system will be more elastic and nimble than traditional projection software. In time perhaps this will be translated over to other concepts that can make predictions about the weather or even the stock market with a fair amount of accuracy. The system is expected to start changing highway efficiency in some areas later this year, but if it works well it could possibly be used nationwide.