2015

The About page on the OpenAI website

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At the end of last week the opening of the project OpenAI was announced. It’s a nonprofit company with the purpose of conducting research in artificial intelligence for the benefit of all humanity, without the constraints caused by the need to obtain a financial gain. This isn’t yet another project which soon may fall into oblivion because it’s supported by funding for approximately one billion dollars and involves entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors.

Harbinger of the Storm by Aliette de Bodard

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The novel “Harbinger of the Storm” by Aliette de Bodard was published for the first time in 2011. It’s the second in the “Obsidian And Blood” series and follows “Servant Of The Underworld”.

The Aztec empire is in a moment of crisis. The death of the Emperor begins not only the delicate process of choosing his successor but also a period of precarious balance among the powers that keep the empire alive. That’s because the Emperor has a major role thanks to his relationship with the gods.

The balance is made even more precarious when the High Priest of the Dead Acatl discovers that in the imperial palace a brutal murder was committed using a magic invocation. It’s just the beginning of a series of attacks against the court because Ceyaxochitl, one of the most powerful women of the empire, gets poisoned and there’s the suspicion of the Emperor’s widow’s involvement.

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Google published a series of results obtained with the D-Wave 2X quantum computer, a system purchased to use it together with NASA. The fuss came from the fact that tests showed performance a hundred million times greater than those of a traditional processor. The problem is that these results are achieved only for specific operations ending up adding new controversy around these systems.

Ada Lovelace portrait (1840)

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Augusta Ada Byron, this is her birth name, was born on December 10, 1815, the only legitimate child of the poet Byron. Her parents split shortly after her birth and because of the lack of interest for her by her father it was her mother Anne Isabella who took care of her. The woman had received a high level education in various subjects and, in fear that her daughter would follow in her father’s footsteps, encouraged her to study mathematics.

The Squares of the City by John Brunner (Italian edition)

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The novel “The Squares of the City” by John Brunner was published for the first time in 1965.

Boyd Haklyut went to Ciudad de Vados, the capital city of a South American nation, where he was hired as an expert in urban planning. The city has seen considerable growth over the years and this made it chaotic. Haklyut was instructed to find the necessary solutions to improve the flux of city traffic.

When Haklyut arrives in Ciudad de Vados, he realizes that there are many more problems than he expected. He knew he would find a nation not exactly democratic but didn’t think he’d end up in the middle of a power struggle. Doing his job becomes more and more difficult as the contenders face off move after move.