Program fools humans

    Have you ever been so bored that you started a conversation with a “chatbot (聊天机器人)”? You probably discovered quickly that it wasn't much fun, because the things it says hardly ever make any sense and chatting with it doesn't provide the same kind of back-and-forth as a human conversation.

    That might have made you wonder: will a computer ever be able to talk like a human?

    That day is certainly getting closer now. A computer program named “Eugene Goostman” has successfully passed the Turing test – by fooling people into thinking it was a 13-year-old boy, reported AFP on June 9.

    While you may have never heard of the Turing test, it means a lot in the world of artificial (人工的) intelligence.

    According to USA Today, the test was first invented in 1950 by Alan Turing, a British computer expert best known for his code-breaking work during World War II. In his test, a group of human judges take turns having keyboard conversations for five minutes with two subjects – a human and a piece of computer software. If up to 30 percent of the judges fail to tell the two apart, the program is considered to have passed the test.

“If a machine is indistinguishable (无法区分的) from a human, then it could be said to be ‘thinking',” wrote Turing in his paper Computing, Machinery & Intelligence back in 1950.

    No computer had ever passed the Turing test before. But this time, Eugene Goostman, developed by two Russian scientists to simulate (模拟) a 13-year-old boy, managed to convince 33 percent of judges that it was human.

    Machines are close to “reaching the milestone of communicating with us in a way that we are comfortable with”, Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading, UK, told The Telegraph. “This brings closer the time in which robots start to play an active role in our daily lives.”

    Some people feel a bit disturbed by the news. They worry that computers will outsmart humans in the near future and take over the world. But Warwick said that it is unlikely that this will happen any time soon. After all, computers have only just learned to have a five-minute conversation, while we humans can do so much more than that.

Best Smartphone Games To Put Your Brain To Test

    I am a fan of blood shedding MMORPGs. But sometimes I play brain games. Here are four games for you that will surely put your brain to test.

    Real Chess

    Chess has been bursting brains for over 14 centuries, and this virtual variant of chess really brings a new taste. It's a 3D virtual chess that lets you play with users from all around the world.

You can chat with opponents, play with AI, get newbie tips and much more. The animations and 3D structures are really cool as well.

    Juice Cubes

    Juice Cubes is a light and colorful game full of fruity juice cubes that you need to connect to pop and clear levels. There are multiple types of challenges, powerups, and over 550+ levels to keep you addicted.

    It might seem easy at the start, but it will burst your brain when you reach higher levels.

    WordBrain 2

    A really fun word game where you need to guess words based on the number of letters provided. Each word puzzle has a theme category, such as food, human body, color, or even space.

    And you can also use hints to solve the level when you get stuck. Your vocabulary is sure to be challenged in it.

    Puzzlerama

    Puzzlerama basically joins some of the top puzzles in one single app, making it a perfect app for puzzle lovers. It lets you play popular puzzle games such as flow, jigsaw, unblock, pipes, tangram, and more. There are hundreds of levels available for each puzzle type and things get really tough as you advance.

    The game interface is also very colorful, and smooth animations make the game fun to play.

    If you live in a big city, there are many thing to drive you crazy on your daily route, and it's not just overcrowded subway trains.

    Vicky Zhao is a mainlander working in Hong Kong. For her, one thing she can't put up with is people standing on the wrong side of the escalator(自动扶梯) in subway stations. "Escalators help us move faster and save time. It isn't a place to rest," the 24-year-old says. "I often see tourists block the way with their suitcases or chatting on the escalators during rush hours. It annoys me to no end."

    Admitting she is not the patient type, Zhao says things are much better in Hong Kong than in cities on the mainland where "stand right, walk left" signs are often ignored.

    The logic behind the "stand right, walk left" escalator etiquette(礼仪) seems obvious. Even though you may want to catch your breath while you're transported up or down, you should still consider others and leave enough space for people in a hurry, so that they can run and catch the train.

    Many cities' escalators, including London's and Beijing's, use the "stand right, walk left" system to speed up the flow of people. (Australia is an exception and you should stand on the left side instead.) But some cities discourage people from moving on escalators out of safety reasons. In Hong Kong's subway stations there are regular announcements asking people to "stand still" on escalators. Even so, most people in this fast-paced city observe the "stand right, walk left" etiquette.

    But the people who stand on escalators defend themselves by telling the walkers not to be so impatient. The BBC quotes one stander as saying: "If the person is in such a rush, why not just take the stairs? Even when the escalator is packed and there's nowhere to move, I see these same people complaining about not being able to pass."

    Whatever the escalator etiquette is in the place you live or visit, do what most people are doing and always be mindful of others: leave enough space between each other, don't stay at the end of the escalator, and if someone is blocking your way, a simple "excuse me" is enough.

    In recent years, China has witnessed the growth of luxury (奢侈品) brands. In this market, Chinese consumers are now the largest spenders. It's clear that a new generation of young, materialistic people is increasingly relying on luxury brands to improve its self-image.

I am a fashionist too, at least in spirit—I love to look at clothes and shoes. But I don't understand why people spend lots of money on designer labels.

    When a young woman buys a handbag that costs two months of her salary, that's a scary thing.

    What's interesting is that scientists have found that having luxury things doesn't lead to happiness.

    Study after study has shown that although we want material things, when we get them we don't suddenly become "happy" people. In fact, a series of studies by Leaf Van Boven at the University of Colorado, US, has shown that individuals who spend money on travel and similar experiences get more pleasure than those who invest it in material things. That's because experiences are more easily combined with a person's identity. If I travel to Yunnan, that adventure affects how I think in the future. My memories become a part of me.

    Moreover, as Van Boven has observed, young people who pursue happiness through "things" are liked less by their peers. People prefer those who pursue happiness through experiences.

    It's natural to want to express yourself through your appearance. So my advice is: create a look that isn't tied to a designer label. Convey your own message. Take some lessons from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He was always in Levis jeans and a black turtleneck. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, routinely appears in hoodies and sneakers. These people, successful people, have style. You don't have to break the bank to send a message about who you are.

    Take a trip. Go out into the world. Then come back and confidently create your own signature look.

    In 1988, after being diagnosed with kidney cancer, Fenn, a high-end gallery owner, came up with a crazy plan: He would bury some of his favorite artifacts somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and then die next to them. "My desire was to hide the treasure and let my body stay there and go back to the soil," he explains.

    The contents are worth somewhere between $I million and $5 million. Then he took his treasure chest out into the Rockies and hid it.He wanted it to be found. But he wasn't going to just give it away.

    In 2010, Fenn self-published a book, The Thrill of the Chase, which includes a 24-line poem that Fenn claims contains nine clues that "will lead to my treasure."

    At first, nobody really noticed. But word spread, and the chase was on.(The book is now out of print, and copies show up on Amazon for as much as $3,200.) Fenn estimates that 350,000 people from across the globe have searched or are currently searching for his treasure. Yet nobody has found it.

    The problem with Fenn's poem is that the "clues" can be interpreted a million different ways. The "home of Brown," for instance, could be Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado, or Brown Hill in New Mexico. Or a cabin or a bear.(Don't laugh; several people have already looked.)

    "It's all in the poem," some have recently started sharing more details," and the treasure isn't in a mine, I mean, they have snakes in' em. It's between 5,000 feet and 10,200 feet above sea level. It's not in Canada or Idaho or Utah or a grave-yard."

    Why are Fenn's treasure hunters so into what seems like a ridiculous thing to do with their time? Many are quick to say that their lives have been enriched by their experiences. "It's changed us," Neitzel says. "made us more confident, and even saved our marriages. Nothing scares us anymore." They thank Fenn for giving them a reason to take a risk, for giving their lives meaning. Many claim that even if they found Fenn's chest, they wouldn't necessarily spend the money—and might even rehide the chest. Another hunter had this tantalizing insight: "I hope that I never find the treasure. The journey will be treasure enough."

    And so the hunt continues.

    An experimental cleanup device called RemoveDEBRIS has successfully cast a net around a dummy (仿真的) satellite, imitating a technique that could one day collect spaceborne garbage.

    The test, which was carried out this week, is widely believed to be the first successful demonstration of space cleanup technology, experts told CNN. And it symbolizes an early step toward solving what has already been a critical issue: junk in space.

    Millions of pieces of junk are turning around in orbit the result of 50 years of space travel and few regulations to keep space clean. At orbital speeds, even a small bit of paint crashing with a satellite can cause critical damage.

    Various companies have plans to send thousands of new satellites into low-Earth orbit, already the most crowded area.

    The RemoveDEBRIS experiment is run by a company and researchers led by the U. K.'s Surrey Space Center and includes Airbus, Airbus-owned Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and France's ArianeGroup.

    Guglielmo Aglietti, the director of Surrey Space Center, said that an operational version of the RemoveDEBRlS technology would cast a net that remains fastened to the main satellite so the debris can be dragged out of orbit. It could target large pieces of junk, including dead satellites up to 10 meters long.

    The RemoveDEBRIS satellite will conduct a few more experiments in the coming months, including testing navigation features that could help guide the satellite to a specific piece of debris.

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the success of this week's experiment was exciting, but he cautioned against "over- publicizing" it.

    There are still enormous barriers to clear before operational cleanup tasks are underway, he said, and the most discouraging is figuring out how to fund such projects.

    Aglietti, the Surrey professor who helped lead the RemoveDEBRIS project, said "The challenge will lie in persuading the relevant authorities to sponsor these tasks." Aglietti said he hopes RemoveDEBRIS will conduct a few cleanup tasks per year, targeting the largest pieces of junk in the most crowded orbits.