JAIR FARM

THE DREAM AND THE REALITY

compiled by Dee Finney

updated 10-23-02 and 10-24-02
updated 10-28-02, 10-30-02
updated - 1-31-07

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

A.I.

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EZEKIEL 9

1: He - The man whom he had seen upon the throne. Them - Those whom God hath appointed to destroy the city:
perhaps angels. Every man - Every one; 'tis an Hebrew idiom. Each of these had a weapon proper for that kind
of destruction which he was to effect; and so, some to slay with the sword, another with the pestilence, another
with famine. In his hand - Denoting both expedition in, and strength for the work.

2: And - As soon as the command was given, the ministers of God's displeasure appear. Men - In appearance
and vision they were men, and the prophet calls them as he saw them. The north - Insinuating whence their
destruction should come. One man - Not a companion, but as one of authority over them. With linen - A
garment proper to the priesthood. They - All the seven.

3: The glory - The glorious brightness, such as sometimes appeared above the cherubim in the most holy place.
Gone up - Departing from the place he had so long dwelt in. He was - Wont to sit and appear. Threshold - Of the
temple, in token of his sudden departure from the Jews, because of their sins.

4: That sigh - Out of grief for other mens sins and sorrows. Cry - Who dare openly bewail the abominations of
this wicked city, and so bear their testimony against it.

5: The others - The six slaughter - men.

6: At my sanctuary - There are the great sinners, and the abominable sins which have brought this on them.

7: And slew - The slaughter also was in vision.

8: Was left - Left alone, now both the sealer, and the slayers were gone.

-- HAL 9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey

HAL steers the Discovery spacecraft toward Jupiter,
maintains the life support systems, and plays a wicked
game of chess,
Later, we discover that HAL can even
read lips
.

We come to wonder whether HAL is more like a human
than a machine. Is its artificial intelligence really
artificial? Even one of the astronauts admits he's not
sure whether HAL's emotional responses to the
interview questions are genuine or just part of the
programming.

But what about HAL? Is it possible that someday the
computer will decide that the humans are no longer
necessary?

At some point it's possible that an artificial intelligence
system on board a future spacecraft could decide that it
knows even better than what its human instructors told it

and it could completely change the plans.

"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."

10-19-02 - DREAM - My husband was acting mysterious. He never liked playing the lottery, then all of a sudden he came home and showed me that he was playing the Illinois lottery and had bought 3 tickets in Chicago. The numbers were 1, 2, and 3.

I was laying in bed and he had to go somewhere by himself, so he brought the baby in and lay him on the bed with me. It was Bill, (William), our youngest child.  

(William means 'resolute protector', but WILL means 'Do what thou wilt, shall be the whole of the Law. Love under WILL'. This is from Aleistor Crowley) )

Bill crawled up to me, and I held in my arms, and we cuddled together and went to sleep.

The next day, we went for a  ride in the car.  This was the second time we had been to this place.

One thing we noticed on the way, that was strange, was that all the farms on the way there, had shreds of light blue plastic, windblown, and caught in the field crops and in the bushes and trees.  I wondered where that was from.  The season was fall because the corn had all been harvested already.

When we got to the farm, they had as many kids as we did, and similar ages to my own, except their youngest was about a head taller than my youngest. When Bill stood up, he came to her shoulder and the two of them went off to play. We had 5 boys and a girl, and they had all girls.

I walked around the farm yard a bit, while the men were at the top of the next hill nearby, shooting at birds as they flew over. The birds might have been ducks. I saw outlined on the hill - 6 men with rifles.

Down in the farmyard where I was, there was a small water fountain.

.

.

.

I saw a seagull fly down to get a drink, which was odd because we weren't near the ocean or Lake Michigan, though there was a large man-made pond nearby.

.

.

.

.

But as soon as the seagull landed in the water fountain, it was chased off a young moose .

There was a variety of otherwise wild and domesticated animals, like deer, emu, llamas , bulls, cows, and other animals that were large and that made me afraid of them to be so close to them.

They also had a variety of dogs, which didn't chase the animals - They all got along fine.

But I was afraid of the large animals and decided I didn't want to be outside alone with them, so I started calling for Bill. And not finding him outside, I went into the house, still calling Bill's name.

The house was strange. It had a huge concrete basement where I found my boys running around and playing and a set of concrete steps, which I went up and discovered that when I unlocked and opened the outside 3 doors, I was looking out the door into a city scene. That felt very strange, so I quickly closed the 3 doors, but left them unlocked, except the inner-most door latched itself.  I went back down the stairs where I was again back in the country.

I found Bill outside in the yard with the dogs and animals and unfortunately I stepped into a large deep mud puddle with my left foot, up to my knee, so I had to go back into the house and clean up.

The women were beginning to make dinner and made everything from scratch from the farm, so I offered to peel potatoes, and they accepted my offer gladly.

The oldest daughter was scraping carrots. These were huge orange carrots about 1 foot or more long. There must have been 1/2 a bushel of them cleaned already.

She went to the freezer to get something and the handle was broken so she used a carrot to jam it into the broken latch and opened the freezer door. I wondered why they didn't get the latch fixed because it had been that way the last time we had been here as well.

When dinner was over, we all got int the car to drive home. That's when I saw the sign at the intersection - 'JAIR FARM', and then I saw the business card with the owners name - 'MAJORSTAR OVERLORD'.

MORE AND MORE CONNECTIONS TO THE MARYLAND SNIPER

10-22-02 - From an e-mail of a reader friend Marion, comes this information:

Found this portion of your dream very interesting:

>>>One thing we noticed on the way, that was strange, was that all the farms on the way there, had shreds of light blue plastic, windblown, and caught in the field crops and in the bushes and trees. I wondered where that was from. The season was fall because the corn had all been harvested already. <<<

Did you know that this phenomenon of "shreds of light blue plastic" is common in Israel?? The source of the plastic is from the banana plantations where the bananas, once fertilized, are covered with blue plastic to discourage certain insect infestations and provide thermal screening. Once the bananas mature and are ready for picking, the plastic covers are ripped off and the result is that you'll see these shreds of windblown blue plastic littering the countryside and even the alleys and buildings in Jerusalem.

See: http://www.israel.nl/ambassade/agritech/greenhouses.html

Thanks to a great reader.

This same reader sent a link to this page:

From: http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/jair.html

Jair - Meaning: enlightener

(1.) The son of Segub. He was brought up with his mother in Gilead, where he had possessions (1 Chr. 2:22). He distinguished himself in an expedition against Bashan, and settled in the part of Argob on the borders of Gilead. The small towns taken by him there are called Havoth-jair, i.e., "Jair's villages" (Num. 32:41; Deut. 3:14; Josh. 13:30).

(2.) The eighth judge of Israel, which he ruled for twenty-two years. His opulence is described in Judg. 10:3-5. He had thirty sons, each riding on "ass colts." They had possession of thirty of the sixty cities (1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chr. 2:23) which formed the ancient Havoth-jair.

(3.) A Benjamite, the father of Mordecai, Esther's uncle (Esther 2:5).

(4.) The father of Elhanan, who slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath (1 Chr. 20:5).

NOTE: This same reader found other clues that connect the French marksman to this dream as well as the other dreams I had about the sniper.

The Chicago lottery connection was interesting.  The French marksman was supposed to go to Chicago, then to Canada - was the third place Maryland?

See the sniper page: SNIPER

After the arrest of the two suspects in Maryland, John Williams and John Malvo, more and more connections are being found:

FROM: the "discoverjamaica" website:

>>>Turn north and drive through banana fields with fruit swathed in blue plastic on your way to BATH FOUNTAIN & MINERAL SPA. (Eastern Banana Co. Ltd., a partnership between the government and Jamaica Banana Producers Ltd, has 2319 acres under hi-tech banana cultivation. After a lot of teething pains, arising from experimental tissue-culture planting material supplied by United Fruit Co. Ltd., not to mention Hurricane Gilbert, Eastern Banana has established itself as the largest exporter of bananas on the island.<<<<<

Also, Williams/Muhammad - a convert to Islam, had trained and did target shooting at Camp Ground Zero - thought to be a training place for police and security - they do take foreign security people. All trainees are reported to the F.B.I.

Next of course is that part of your dream which relates to "WILLIAM" - your know by now that the older of the suspects was named "Williams".

The Chicago Connection!

Just in case you missed it in the deluge of info coming out about the sniper......just a few moments ago I heard a reporter on Fox saying that Williams aka Muhammed converted to Islam 17 years ago when he joined a "CHICAGO CELL"!

Another Bingo for Dee!

Then, when I saw tapes this morning of the rifle range in Alabama known as "ground zero" I was immediately struck by the image of your 6 militants in camouflage shooting rifles!

Of course the "MOOSE" would represent "Chief Moose" who's become more or less the official spokesman for the DC area law enforcement people.

Then there's your curious reference that the soldiers might have been shooting at "ducks". I'm not sure of the context but I distinctly heard some commentary this morning about a "duck in a noose" relating to the suspects!

One more thing that stuck me was your use of a picture of 2 males (that might conceivably represent a father-son relationship) on that JAIR dream page!


Date: 10/25/2002

From: Marion

To: Dee777

Hi Dee:

I think I'm suffering from CDAD (compulsive dream-analysis disorder) because I keep going back to your dream to see if there are other clues that were overlooked. At first I couldn't make any sense whatsoever of the "carrot" sequence, until last nite, after learning more about the sniper's background,

I had a "eureka!" moment just before I fell off to sleep.

Here's the dream sequence:

<<<<The oldest daughter was scraping carrots. These were huge orange carrots about 1 foot or more long. There must have been 1/2 a bushel of them cleaned already. >>>>

"The oldest daughter" - don't you think she represents a powerful female figure? Usually a family's oldest daughter is charged with more responsibility that her younger sisters? And what is she doing? "Scraping carrots". (Scraping=abrasive, hurtful, irritating, harming?)

Do you think the "carrot" is a symbol for something else? Could it possibly be a phallic symbol? Apparently according to media reports the sniper has had "woman" trouble all his life. He was brought up by an aunt (where was his mother?).

He's been married and divorced several times with one of his wives taking out a restraining order on him. She's also kept his own natural children away from him. I'm sure in his mind she has deprived him of his parental rights.

If you agree that the carrot is a phallic symbol for manhood, then look at what the "powerful woman" does to it (after scraping it!):

>>>She went to the freezer to get something and the handle was broken so she used a carrot to jam it into the broken latch and opened the freezer door. I wondered why they didn't get the latch fixed because it had been that way the last time we had been here as well. >>>>

I'm getting a mental picture here of what might be going through this man's psyche and it gives me the shivers! Here's some of my associations of the elements in this dream sequence:

"a huge concrete basement" = hidden, secret, underneath, foundation = subconscious?

"but left them unlocked, except the inner-most door latched itself." - again the theme of secrecy, subconsciousness

"carrot" = root vegetable = "root of the problem"?

"She went to the freezer" - frigidity, coldness

"handle was broken" - is the phallic symbolism redundant here?

"she used a carrot to jam it" = the woman committed a violent act against the "carrot"? Does this image represent his innermost feeling of emasculation?

Does he see this woman (symbolizing all the powerful women in his life) as having destroyed his "manhood"? If you go back in your dream you'll note a phrase that seems to bear this out:

<<<<When Bill stood up, he came to her shoulder>>>

He didn't "measure up" did he? He was clearly inferior to "HER".

Thought I'd just share these few thoughts for now.


From Dee

I was listening to the news last night when "Moose" made the odd statement about the duck in the noose, and I immediately thought of the dream on Jair Farm where the shooters were shooting at 'ducks'.

Interestingly, I seem to recall that 'shooting ducks' is what people do at carnivals when they are practicing sharpshooting. Another connection to what this guy was doing.

NOTE: Another friend sent me the strange message that Moose gave in anagram form:

some anagrams of 'duck in a noose'

on a kin so cued

A sick neon Duo

Sin duo on Cake (which refers to another dream I had about the sniiper)

CIA Nuked soon

Dee

MORE DREAMS ABOUT THE SNIPER:

MY PERSONAL CONNECTION TO THE CASE

by Dee Finney

Subj: Insights by dreams

Date: 10/22/2002

I'm getting lots of insights by dreams as well as while I'm watching the news.

I've been getting information in the dreams even before it happens.

For example today, I woke up from a dream about two minutes before the shooting actually occurred.

In the dream, I was in a park, and took some white 'cake' to the dumpster that two older white women had only partially eaten. In the dumpster area, was a black man who was serving chocolate cake to black kids. (the victim today was a black bus driver) They said they didn't want white cake, but I pushed their black cake back a bit with the white cake, and then I noticed that the cake was divided into squares - one square in the second row was labeled SNIPER, and a group of squares in the front row of the white cake were each labeled SHOOTER. I then had an instant vision - on each square of white cake, a man's head popped up and each head had an army green mottled bandana folded and wrapped around their foreheads.

I woke up at the instant, feeling a panicky feeling that I had to run to the TV and turn it on and watch the shooting. I woke from the dream at 2:50 a.m. PST. (that's 5:50 EST) There was nothing on the news right then, but about quarter past the hour, CNN announced that the call had come in to the cops at 5:56 a.m. EST. (about 6 min. after I woke up)

They showed the bus that the victim was shot on. Though I didn't know right away that he was black - I was certain that he was.

Yesterday, I dreamed that there were two letters received, one with a zip code of 20080 (Wash. D.C. area) and it was correlated to Germany - which felt like NAZI to me. The other letter was labeled as GEORGIA. (It's possible that someone in the shooter's group is from Georgia) Otherwise, it pointed to the intersection where the bus was parked, which was GEORGIA Ave.

The day before that, I dreamed that I was on a farm called JAIR FARM, and it was run by a man named Majorstar Overlord.

JAIR stands for Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research.

On this farm were 6 shooters on a hill, and in the valley where I was, there was a water fountain. There was a seagull flying in and it was chased off the fountain by a moose (without a large rack on its head) .

Perhaps one of the men is named Segal, and Moose , of course is the cop in charge of the sniper task force.

In the dream I got scared of the large animals so I ran through the house and went up some concrete steps and there was a door to the outside and saw I was actually in the city, so I closed the door and went back downstairs -

We left the farm then, and thats where I saw a large sign at the entrance to the farm. It said JAIR FARM, and I was handed a business card with the owners name. Majorstar Overlord.

What is really weird is that back in May, I did a web page about D-Day being expected again, and titled the page, OPERATION OVERLORD - That's what they called, the Normany Invasion . Coincidence? I may have written about D-Day, but the scenario sure fits what is going on now - though the killing of our people is a bit slower than what happened on D-Day.

It's kind of spooky - that's for sure.

Dee

We'll see how this comes out.

SEE: SNIPER - THE FRENCH CONNECTION - INCLUDES THE NEWS OF THE SNIPER CAPTURE

SEE SERIAL KILLERS

Sniper's odd 'duck in noose' from fable?

From the National Desk

Published 10/24/2002 3:54 AM

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2002  (UPI) -- The esoteric and cryptic phrase "like a duck in a noose" that was quoted Wednesday night on behalf of the elusive Washington sniper may not have been an original expression but rather a reference to an old fable.

The story "The Rabbit, the Otter, and Duck Hunting" revolves around a boastful little rabbit that lassos a hapless duck, but the duck eventually triumphantly escapes from the snare and gets the best of his foe, and the rabbit ends up eating his own fur for perpetuity.

The sniper's efforts to apparently "control" the Montgomery County police chief in having him read the bizarre quote could have been a cruel attempt to humiliate him in a puerile manner since the duck gets the better of the rabbit in an obvious way.

The obscure phrase was contained in the third communication from the ghostly sniper received by a law enforcement task force based in Montgomery County. The county's police chief, Charles Moose, read the quote aloud during the latter half of a nationally televised news conference.

"The second portion of this briefing is a message," said Moose, after a short pause.

"You asked us to say, 'We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose,'" Moose said, swallowing hard. "We understand that hearing us say this is important to you."

Then Moose asked the media to carry the message "accurately and often." He refused to answer any questions, gave the sniper contact information, and left the public and the media to speculate on what the quote meant and how it related to the shooting spree that has claimed 10 lives and injured three others.

The image of a duck trapped in a noose may have come from a story that is posted at various Internet sites. The story's origins are not clear, however it could be interpreted as the sniper, in the metaphoric form of the duck, escaping from the proverbial police noose.

In one version of the fable, the rabbit stealthily wades out into a river to capture a duck for dinner.

"He quickly fastened his noose around the neck of the closest duck," the story goes. "Startled, the duck began to struggle to get away and finally took off on his wings and dragged the rabbit out of the water after him."

"Now it was the rabbits turn to be startled. And boy was he. He held on to the noose and was taken high into the air. Higher and higher he went. All of a sudden, he lost his grip on the noose and down he fell into the middle of an old hollow Sycamore tree without a hole in the bottom to get out."

Some versions of the story end with the rabbit eventually getting out of the Sycamore stump while others leave him trapped in it. All, however, concede that the rabbit was reduced to consuming his own fur in order to survive.

"He stayed in there so long that he had to start eating his own fur," the story says, "as rabbits still do to this day when they are starved."

(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles)

Copyright © 2002 United Press International

A dreamer friend of mine sent me this dream he had just yesterday:

A Strange Farm 10/17/2002 10:21 AM

I went back to sleep and had a dream. I was on a strange farm. There were animals here the likes of which I have never seen but there were strange looking pig like creatures there and animals that looked like mules and other things I couldn’t tell you what they were.

I then found myself in a tunnel trying to find a way out. I found a path upward toward the surface and had to literally dig and push my way through the things blocking the shaft in order to get out. When I stuck my head out of the hole the first thing I saw was that I was in a pin with these strange animals and they had taken notice of me. They started toward me and I realized they might be hostile. I tried to back into the shaft the way I had come to avoid them but other things had fallen into the path blocking my exit. I jumped out and flew over the animals turned and flew away.

I crossed several large barnyard lots passed between quite a few big barns and over many strange animals. I realized this farm was huge. Finally I was getting tired and could see the edge of the last lot and landed in the second to the last pin and began walking. When I realized there were a few animals hiding there in the shadows I just ran to the fence and climbed into the next pen. There were no animals in this pin so I walked through it and climbed the fence on the far side into a grassy field.

I came upon someone standing as if guarding some strange structure. They greeted me like a friend. I looked into this hole and saw another guard standing just inside the doorway to a very strange structure that was mostly under the ground. Then a woman showed up and went into this thing holding onto handholds along the walls since there was no level floor in it that I could see. It was some kind of strange looking chamber. I think it may have been made of concrete. It looked like some kind of vortex generator or accelerator of some kind. Like a strange looking wind tunnel maybe.

EOD

Brian Smith

Didn't I say the little croc went under a fence then turned around and put his head back under the fence then fell asleep and that's how I caught him?

They said these two guys fell asleep at a rest stop and that's how they got caught. They think they may very well be the snipers.

Concerning the dreams. The little cock lay down and went to sleep and that's when they got him. Evidently that's how they caught these two men who they say are the snipers. Judging by their names I would say they are Muslims and terrorists but I have yet to see them on TV or to know much more about them.

Responding to thoughts and concepts that say our own government is shooting at us in order to gain support for a war effort.

I don't think the American government is attacking it's own people but at times in certain situations they do treat us like the enemy. They spend our money on things they tell us don't even exist and we know it does yet they practically open the doors to these secret projects to the Russian's.

I agree that if enough American's die that eventually they will give the President all the authority he needs to go after who ever he tells us is the main trouble makers. But he all ready has the authority to go after Iraq again so there's no need in killing any more American's to get the war under way.

I also know the Muslim terrorists are very happy to kill anyone who isn't a Muslim. I also know they would kill 100 of their own people just to get at 2 or 3 Americans. This is a religion of hate toward anyone who is not of their radical religion. I have seen interviews with Muslim immigrants who said they would be happy to "kill as many American's as it takes" and would be happy to die for what they believe in because they knew they would get 70 virgins in the next life. Would they be so bold if they knew Mohammed wrote that into their so called holy book for the soul purpose of deceiving them?

So I know our government doesn't need to attack it's own people all it has to do is set back and do as little as possible and American's die at the hands of the enemy. That's not to say the American government hasn't let the devil in through the front door though because they have. They literally allow the enemy to walk into our country and walk among us. Yes they are responsible for a great deal of what is going on now against American's but I do not believe they planed it. I do believe the American people would hold certain people in high places responsible so yes I do believe they have some things they don't want us to know about .

God bless.

...Bryon

.
October 30, 2002

Psychic Made Stunning Sniper Predictions

NewsMax rarely discusses paranormal things, and we give short shrift to such out-of-this-world wisdom - even if CNN’s Larry King has mainstreamed psychics.

True, most psychics are quacks or frauds who like to make big after-the-fact claims and cash in on their fame.

But one apparently isn’t.  Her name is Elizabeth Baron. A self-described "spiritualist" from Charleston, S.C., Baron offered a series of stunning insights into the recent sniper attacks around Washington. Some of them were recorded on radio before the snipers were captured, making her claims more than credible.

Soon after the spree killings began on Oct. 2, Baron claimed that there was indeed an Islamic connection to the killings.

She also said – contrary to the many "profilers" spouting off – that the killings were being conducted by more than one individual. She stated that a group of as many as five individuals were involved, although all did not do the killings themselves. Baron also insists that an unidentified woman is involved.

Interestingly, Baron may have had a premonition of the attacks in April of this year. At that time she faxed a letter to a friend close to the FBI, indicating that Maryland was in danger and needed to be protected.

Days before the shooting of the man at the Ponderosa steak house in Ashland, Va., Baron said she had received the message, "They will surrender in Richmond."

Ashland is a suburb of Richmond. According to press reports police have said that they almost captured Muhammad and Malvo at a pay phone in Richmond soon after the Ashland shooting.

Baron believes that the shooting in the Richmond area gave the police the evidence and clues they needed to help solve the case.

On Oct. 21, Baron said she began intense prayer to help her define the killer. She penciled a sketch of a very young man she believed was black or Hispanic.  She received another message: The man is with another man and they are driving a blue car.

All of that sounds rather fantastic and fabricated. It might have been dismissed as such had it not been recorded for posterity on a national radio program.

On Tuesday, Oct. 22, Baron was an early morning guest on Phil Paleologos’ morning talk radio show "American Breakfast," broadcast on Cable Radio Network.

Paleologos told NewsMax he remains in awe of Baron’s prediction and revelations two days before the arrest of Muhammad and Malvo, before anyone even knew who was doing these killings.

"She came on my show and said, 'The Feds are on a wild goose chase; there is no white van involved, there is a blue car,'" Paleologos recalled, adding that Baron also made clear the killings involved a group and not one person.

"But she was really emphatic about this blue vehicle," Paleologos said, who noted that the only talk at the time had been of a white van.

When news broke late Wednesday night into Thursday morning that Muhammad and Malvo were suspects and may be driving a blue Caprice - one they were later captured in – Paleologos was stunned.

The next day, he called Baron and played her on-air interview from days before, and congratulated her.

Paleologos says in all of his years on radio, Baron is the only person he has interviewed who he believes has true spiritual, psychic abilities.

"She has a gift. It's a blessing to have this, to help solve these cases and right wrongs," Paleologos told NewsMax. He said she is different in many ways from other psychics, and that she is not motivated by fame or fortune.

Baron, the mother of seven children, is the widow of a former Chicago-area police chief.

Baron has been issuing warnings about Islamic terrorism for several years. Since 1996, she has been saying that several nations, including Iraq and Iran, were helping plan a major terrorist attack in lower Manhattan, specifically noting the New York Stock Exchange and the World Trade Center as targets.

In recent months, Baron says she has received some warnings about President Bush and Vice President Cheney, which she has passed on to federal authorities. She wouldn’t disclose the full details of these revelations publicly.

On another matter, asked if Steve Hatfill had anything to do with the anthrax attacks, she said, "It’s an absolute lie." Still, she added, the FBI is trying to find something on him to justify its investigation and actions against him.

All Rights Reserved © NewsMax.com

WHO ARE THE 6 SLAYERS - SLAUGHTER-MEN?  LISTED BELOW

1 & 2 - JOHN ALLEN WILLIAMS/MUHAMMAD AND JOHN MALVO SEE: SNIPERS
3?  Witnesses are saying there had to be a third man at the shooting in Alabama that Williams/Muhammad and Malvo were involved in because Williams and Malvo had hand guns, and the person shot to death was killed by the same rifle as the snipers used in Maryland. Who was the third person?

3  Student held in Oklahoma shootings

Two killed, eight wounded in rampage

Sunday, October 27, 2002

Daniel Fears allegedly killed two people and wounded eight in a shooting rampage Saturday.

SALLISAW, Oklahoma (CNN) -- A high school student is in custody Sunday after he allegedly went on a shooting spree across eastern Oklahoma, killing two people and injuring eight others -- including a 2-year-old girl, authorities said.

The rampage began Saturday after neighbors confronted Daniel Fears, 18, about his reckless driving, according to Kym Koch, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

As he approached his home Saturday afternoon, Fears nearly ran over his next-door neighbors' grandchildren, who were playing in the street, according to neighbors.

A man who lived across the street yelled at Fears to be careful.

"They exchanged words. The neighbor said, 'Hey, slow down. You almost hit this kid,' " according to Koch.

After Fears went inside his house, the man relayed the incident to Fears' next-door neighbors. The grandmother of the children knocked on Fears' door, but he did not answer.

Fears then appeared with a .20-gauge pellet gun, shot and injured his neighbor across the street, fatally shot the grandmother and shot and injured her husband, Koch said.

The grandfather was listed in fair condition early Sunday after being transferred to a hospital in Fort Smith, Arkansas, according to the nursing supervisor. The other neighbor's condition was not clear.

One of the kids who had been playing, a 2-year-old girl, was hit by a stray bullet and injured. She was treated and released from a local hospital.

Fears then went to a car dealership in Sallisaw -- 30 miles from the state's border with Arkansas -- where he shot and wounded a salesman and fatally shot a female customer, Koch said.

The salesman was listed in fair condition early Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for Muskogee Regional Medical Center in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Then, traveling east on U.S. Highway 64, the teen shot randomly at cars and shot two people shopping for statuary on the side of the road, injuring both of them, according to authorities.

Two of the victims were shot at this car dealership in Sallisaw, Oklahoma.

Koch said the suspect continued on and shot a truck driver in Gans, Oklahoma. The victim, who was treated and released, said he thought he had been hit by a rock when the pellet shattered his passenger window.

About this time, officers spotted Fears and began chasing him.

The 18-year-old fired at but missed a police officer in Muldrow, Oklahoma, about 10 miles east of Sallisaw, Koch said.

He opened fire on a woman walking alongside U.S. 64 with her 5-year-old and pushing her toddler in a stroller, Koch said. The mother was hit and injured, but the children were not injured, Koch said.

Fears blew through a police road block and then crossed lanes into westbound traffic near Roland, Oklahoma, where he lost control of his vehicle and ended up in a ditch.

Around 6:30 p.m. local time, he surrendered to police and was taken to jail in Sallisaw, Koch said.

"We're processing his vehicle and talking to the various victims if they are able to talk at this point," she said.

Most of those hurt were taken to Sequoyah Memorial Hospital in Sallisaw with injuries that weren't life-threatening, according to a hospital spokesman.

4  U.S. diplomat killed in Jordan

Monday, October 28, 2002

A forensic expert dusts for fingerprints on the car of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley.

The Jordanian information minister says that an American diplomat was shot and killed outside his residence in Amman, Jordan. (October 28)

AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- A U.S. diplomat was shot dead Monday by an unknown assailant near his home in Amman, Jordan's information minister said.

The Information Ministry said the masked gunman opened fire as Laurence Foley, an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development, was leaving for the U.S. Embassy, striking him with six bullets as he was getting into his car.

Later, police officials said that seven or eight bullets had been fired from a single weapon. The slaying occurred about 7:20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. EST).

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and U.S. officials said they did not know whether terrorism was involved.

"I believe the wife of the diplomat informed the authorities," Information Minister Mohammed al-Adwan said. "Unfortunately, she is under shock right now. Authorities have not been able to talk to her in detail about this."

The agency's Web site lists Foley as USAID/Jordan executive officer.

In addition to his wife, Foley, who was said to be in his 50s, is survived by three children and a number of grandchildren, according to the USAID office in Amman.

State Department officials said security would be beefed up around the U.S. Embassy in Amman, the residences of U.S. diplomats and schools attended by American children.

A security official stands guard at the diplomat's house in Amman.

The U.S. Embassy in Jordan said it was working closely with Jordanian officials to investigate the shooting.

"All of us in the American community convey our condolences to the Foley family on the death of such a warm and loving man," a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Amman said. "We are outraged by this incomprehensible act."

The embassy statement called on Americans in Jordan to remain vigilant in light of the attack.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is an independent agency that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States, according to its Web site.

"Amman is usually a very secure city," al-Adwan said. "We give priority to all diplomatic missions, especially the United States mission in Jordan.

"We are fairly certain that we will catch the perpetrators and will [bring] them to justice."

Jordan is a major Middle Eastern ally of the United States.

State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report.

5  Four dead at Arizona nursing school

Monday, October 28, 2002

Tucson SWAT officers set up a command post outside the nursing school.

TUCSON, Arizona (CNN) -- A gunman believed to be a student shot to death two professors and a third person before apparently killing himself Monday at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, police and university officials said.

The building where the shootings occurred was swept for explosives afterward because of concern that the gunman might have had a bomb, authorities said.

Tucson Police Chief Richard Miranda would not say what, if anything, police found in the sweep. In a statement on the Internet, the university said two professors -- who witnesses said were women -- were shot. The fourth victim was found in the building during a search, police Sgt. Marco Borboa said. The victim was not identified.

Miranda said the gunman was among the victims, and the university Web site said he may have died from a self-inflicted wound.

Miranda said police learned Monday morning that the suspect had threatened to bomb the building in the last few weeks. He didn't say from where the information came.

The chief also said a bomb-sniffing dog had a reaction to the suspect's car, which was parked in a lot outside the college, and when police found a backpack under the body of the gunman, they suspected it might contain an explosive device.

Police are confident that the gunman acted alone, he added.

"I am personally comfortable that there is no further risk," university President Peter Likins said. "It's an intensely personal tragedy and trauma."

A witness said a student angry over being barred from midterm exams entered a classroom where exams were being given and began shooting with a handgun. Police would not confirm that it was a student.

The witness said the gunman fired at one professor as a number of students ran out of the classroom, then fired at a second professor. The gunman, he said, then allowed the rest of the students in the room to leave.

A witness taking the test on the fourth floor of the building said she heard about 15 gunshots. It was "really scary," she said. "It was silent while he was shooting our teachers. I was afraid that I was going to get shot."

University spokeswoman Lisa Wakefield said that the college and surrounding buildings were evacuated after the shootings at 8:40 a.m. (10:40 a.m. EST). In addition to the College of Nursing, other buildings closed included the College of Pharmacy, Life Sciences North and Basic Sciences, police said.

The University Medical Center was locked down, and emergency cases were being diverted to other hospitals, a spokeswoman said. Visitors were barred, but she said employees were able to go in and out.

Police said people who fled the college after the shootings were gathering at a nearby alumni center, where counseling was available.

6  NEW YORK (Oct. 31, 2002) - Jam Master Jay, a founding member of the pioneering rap trio Run DMC, was shot and killed at his recording studio near the New York neighborhood where he grew up, police said.

Two men were buzzed into the second-floor studio shortly before shots were fired inside its lounge at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, police said. As of early Thursday, police had made no arrests.

The 37-year-old disc jockey, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was shot once in the head in the studio's lounge and died at the scene, said Detective Robert Price, a police spokesman.

Urieco Rincon, 25, who was not a member of Run DMC, was shot in the leg, police said. About five other people in the studio at the time were not hurt.

``Rest In Peace Jam Master,'' Run DMC's official Web site read early Thursday, underneath a picture of Mizell.

Mizell served as the platinum-selling group's disc jockey, providing background for singers Joseph Simmons, better known as Run, and Darryl McDaniels, better known as DMC.

The group is widely credited with helping bring hip-hop into music's mainstream, including the group's smash collaboration with Aerosmith on the 1980s standard ``Walk This Way'' and hits like ``My Adidas'' and ``It's Tricky.''

``We always knew rap was for everyone,'' Mizell said in a 2001 interview with MTV. ``Anyone could rap over all kinds of music.''

Mizell is the latest in a line of hip-hop artists to fall victim to violence. Rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur were murdered within seven months of each other in 1996 and 1997 - crimes that some believe were the result of an East Coast-West Coast rap war.

But Run DMC and their songs were never about violence. The group promoted education and unity.

In 1986, the trio said they were outraged by the rise of fatal gang violence in the Los Angeles area. They called for a day of peace between warring street gangs.

``This is the first town where you feel the gangs from the minute you step into town to the time you leave,'' Mizell said at the time.

Mizell's friends and fans gathered near the studio, located above a restaurant and a check-cashing business. The crowd included many people from the Hollis section of Queens, where the members of Run DMC grew up.

``They're the best. They're the pioneers in hip hop,'' said Arlene Clark, 39, who grew up in the same neighborhood. ``They took it to the highest level it could go.''

Chuck D, the founder of the hip-hop group Public Enemy, blamed record companies and the advertising for perpetuating ``a climate of violence'' in the rap industry. ``When it comes to us, we're disposable commodities,'' he said.

Doctor Dre, a New York radio station DJ who had been friends with Mizell since the mid-1980s, said, ``This is not a person who went out looking for trouble. ... He's known as a person that builds, that creates and is trying to make the right things happen.''

Leslie Bell, 33, said the band members often let local musicians record for free at the studio, and had remained in Queens to give back to the community.

``He is one great man,'' said Bell. ``As they say, the good always die young.''

Publicist Tracy Miller said Mizell and McDaniels had planned to perform in Washington, D.C., on Thursday at a Washington Wizards basketball game. Mizell had performed on Tuesday in Alabama, she said.

Mizell was married and had three children, she said.

Run DMC released a greatest-hits album earlier this year. In 2001, the rappers produced ``Crown Royal,'' breaking an eight-year silence.

10/31/02 05:28 EST

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.

.

ROBOT:  A mechanical man: a more than humanly efficient automaton.

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

Artificial Intelligence

There are two approaches to artificial intelligence, or AI. You can try to build another consciousness, which is difficult and would, if successful, pose all sorts of philosophical questions. Or you can try to get machines to interact with humans by working on vision, speech recognition, learning and language. This is difficult too but it doesn't raise the philosophical questions.

Claude Sammut: "Artificial Intelligence has really two sides to it. One is the scientific side where we use computers as a tool for trying to understand what intelligence is. The other side is more in engineering where we don’t really want to try to imitate human intelligence rather we want to try to build clever computers that in a sense augment our intelligence.

There’s lots of different ways of doing learning and it’s one of the fundamental aspects of intelligence. Like we couldn’t be anything near as intelligent as we are if we weren’t able to learn through our entire lives. Learning has been used very successfully in a lot of particular applications like working through big databases and finding patterns and that kind of stuff. Where we still have to do a lot of work is the kind of learning that we do, which is incremental, that is we learn a little bit you know as a kid we learn a few facts and we build on that, we build on that through our entire lives."

Will computers ever "know" more than humans?

In the sense that computers can retain more information than we can, one could say that they already "know" more. Perhaps the real question is, Will they ever be able to "think" better than we do? Or—a scarier scenario—will they be able to fool us into thinking they are smarter than we are? AI is a complex field that encompasses any combination of computer science, philosophy, psychology and logic and can smudge the lines between learning and creativity. But no longer is AI confined to Hollywood's overactive imaginations. In fact, AI has probably already started playing somewhere in the real world near you

About AAAI

Founded in 1979, the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, www.aaai.org, is a nonprofit scientific membership society devoted to advancing the science and practice of AI. Its mission is to:

(1) advance the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying intelligent thought and behavior,
(2) facilitate their embodiment in machines,
(3) serve as an information resource for research planners and funders concerning trends in AI, and for the general public, and
(4) improve the training of the current and the coming generation of AI researchers and practitioners.

Basic Questions on A.I.

History of A.I.

Emotion and A.I.

Navy Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence - Research Projects

Beavis and Butthead - Looking for Artificial Intelligence

Computational Neuroethology  - What's This?

Computational neuroethology (CN) is the study of a systems behavior within an environment. It is concerned with the modeling of the behavior of these systems, as well as their neural substrates (which is what neuroehtology is concerned with). CN systems percieve their environments directly. i.e. they are not stored in some global database that was created through human input. They work in a "closed-loop" environment, free from outside interactions. Their actions are solely based on what they conclude from the state of their environment and as well as their prior actions. For example, if we wish to simulate a robot in a closed-loop environment, then it must act not based on whatever semantics or clues that could be provided from a human, but simply from the changes (or the state) of the environment that it is in.

CN systems learn neurally and evolve genetically. They are adaptive, and act based on the circumstances that they face in their environment. The drawback with CN systems are that they require enormous computational resources. However, many CN advocators insist that much more can be gained from building complex models of simple animals (systems) then from building simple models of complex animals (which is the traditional, and more direct approach). Following this idea, the ultimate goal of AI is to create a human being. Yet to accomplish this, we must first create a baby, not a full-grown adult.

Early in the  17th century, Descartes proposed that bodies of animals are nothing more than complex machines. Many other 17th century thinkers offered variations and elaborations of Cartesian mechanism.

Hobbes published The Leviathan, containing a material and combinatorial theory of thinking.

The 18th century saw a profusion of mechanical toys, including the celebrated mechanical duck of Vaucanson and von Kempelen's phony mechanical chess player, The Turk (1769).

Mary Shelley published the story of Frankenstein's monster (1818).

In order to create intelligent beings, we have to look at how intelligent thought itself evolved. First came the lower animals, the small scuttling creatures that were perfectly able to function in their environment without much brainpower.

Then came the higher animals with more ‘developed’ brains capable of learning, memory and anticipation. Only when living creatures were capable of functioning and surviving in the real world were they able to then proceed to more complex tasks.

The theory follows that artificial intelligence should be less about fitting the body to the brain and more about fitting the brain to the body.

If something can adapt, it must be guided by some form of emotion. Yet, emotion goes beyond the motivation to include a feeling that can be present throughout our physical body, feeling that cannot be experienced by automatons.

When it comes to the missing link between man and machine, we are missing the point. Perhaps there is a form of mathematical logic that could explain the essence of life, but which remains beyond our knowledge.

by Rodney Brooks in a recent interview for the New Scientist

Climbing the social ladder

Another of Brooks’ creations is Kismet - a robot that can respond to social cues. In the future, scientists are looking at having a machine that can respond to the blink of an eye or the lift of a finger in helping severely disabled people around the house. There is even a robot that can help diagnose autism in children by interacting with them socially and then analysing the results. Robots, unlike humans, have unlimited patience and a totally unbiased approach to different people ­ perhaps robots will be the therapists of the future.

One of these robot predators on display at the Magna Centre, UK escaped! It was eventually found roaming the streets in search of a meal…

But being social does not always mean being nice. A two year experiment unveiled this February, involved a bizarre robotic cat and mouse game designed to mimic natural predator-prey dynamics.

A fleet of robotic predators were programmed to seek out ‘prey’ in order to receive their next energy boost. The equally mechanical prey, meanwhile, were programmed to graze on special light sources while constantly keeping a look out for approaching predators. The result was a progression of more and more complex hunting strategies and sneaky escape routines as the robots accumulated experience.

Until now, programmers have been struggling to reduce everything their robot needs to know into a set of non-ambiguous, utterly precise statements. If we can create machines that learn and create novel pathways on their own accord, then we have created a new species that can confront the problems of our unpredictable world.

Darwin goes digital  ...and this is exactly what the pioneers of evolutionary robotics are aiming to do, in creating machines that quite literally evolve themselves.

The theory is simple; create a population of robot prototypes, evaluate and compare their ability to perform a certain task, select the most successful individuals, use their electronic genes to create the next generation and so on. The amazing thing is that humans are not even needed, the omnipotent selector is a computer, and the evolving designs are virtual.

So far, these digitally bred robots are not exactly performing blindingly impressive feats. There is a flock that can crawl across a table top and another that can distinguish between a square and a triangle. The important thing here not what they do, but the fact that they have been digitally bred to do it. If evolutionary robotics continues to be a success, we could even send the necessary building blocks out into space and let them get on with it

Robo Evolution

The Role of the Body

The most obvious difference between man and other animals is his mind, his ability to accumulate knowledge and pass it on to his descendants. Yet many of man's highly developed abilities can be completely switched off by the sheer terror of a single aching tooth. This also applies for other strong feelings like hatred, grief or pain in general. They can make people act against their better knowledge and their principles - these being higher developed parts of the mind. This leads to a conclusion that is obvious from looking at the ancestry of man: the vital functions rule over everything else. Man has not been built to wear digital watches (as Douglas Addams states), but he is the winner of a game that is as old as life itself: Evolution. If people were able to simply ignore hunger, they would starve to death; if they would have to control their lungs consciously, they would sooner or later suffocate. Vital functions must have priority over everything else. Considering this, it is not surprising that many of our expressions involve basic needs, like 'being hungry for love', 'being tired of something', 'being fed up', 'having a bleeding heart', 'saving someone's skin'. This is also an example for what was said in the last paragraph: The main reference point is oneself, this is of course also true for strong emotions that are on a less 'basic' level.

Additionally, most (if not all) emotions are accompanied by physical symptoms, such as the production of hormones, shivering, gnashing of teeth or goose-pimples.

The point I want to make here is that the human body plays an important role in all intellectual processes, since they are mere subordinates of its needs in order to stay alive. It is therefore short-sighted (another example!) to try to build artificial minds not only without any body, but also without even the concept of a body. How should an artificial mind ever be able to understand tiredness, excitment, happiness or fear without ever having felt it? And by feeling, I mean the physical symptoms, and the intellectual processes that accompany the fear of injury or death, for example. A body-less mind can never understand that, und thus will never be able to understand humans, let alone act like one. This is the second deficiency.

From: http://www.kosara.net/thoughts/ai.html

ROBOTIC ANIMALS

FROM:  http://www.cfgrower.com/peepsbiz/july/robotic.html

by Diana Barnum

LEEDS, OH – Wouldn’t it be great if your farm made money for you even if you worked full time doing something else?

Leeds Farm does.

A topic at the second annual New England Farmers’ Direct Marketing Conference & Trade Show this year was, “Quest for $80,000 in Sales from Eight Weeks of Activity,” by Rob Leeds. He shared his ideas, progress and future plans for his 12-year-old agtourism-based, 80-acre farm that features pumpkin fields, a sorghum maze, barnyard, hayrides, a play area, a robotics area and a log cabin. Both Rob and his wife, Christy, are full-time agents for the Ohio State University (OSU) Cooperative Extension.

“Children love the goat walk,” said Rob Leeds, OSU agent in Delaware, OH. “They enjoy placing a handful of feed into a can attached to a wire and pulley system. Then they pull the can to the top of a mound to make the goats climb the goat walk And they love our robotic deer in the woods.”

With the help of friends, Rob created deer and placed them within his 20 wooded acres where scenes are set up for a hayride similar to Cedarpoint’s train ride. Wildlife officers helped him design a historic town and as visitors pass through, they spot robotic animals. Coyotes, a fort, squirrels and a trader’s cabin are in the works.

“It’s traditional, educational,” said Leeds. “Children get cards to follow that identify trees and animals along the trail.”

Other farm and marketing activities include 20 acres of pumpkins, Indian corn, gourds and winter squash for seasonal purchasing, 20 acres of traditional soybean, wheat, corn rotation, a pasture for cattle and a popular play area for children 13 and under. A horse barn with inside and outside operations offers a trike-track, go carts with handles for parents to push and a pumpkin sling-shot.

Mazes

Leeds’ mazes are a big hit, too. Visitors pay $2 to enter and can uncover hidden locations for a chance to win a pizza. Some 3,000 people came through Leeds’ two mazes the past year and 5,000 the year before.

Leeds uses sorghum Sudan grass cross for their maze. It grows back a little better compared to corn, and quicker, an advantage if mistakes are made in designing the maze. He mows five-foot wide paths and plants between 15-19 pounds of grass seed per acre.

Dave Scheidierer from Integrated Ag Service in Milford Center, OH helps. He mounts GPS (Global Positioning System) software on an all terrain vehicle (ATV) early in the spring that aligns the different lines to coordinates in the field. Leeds follows the tracks of the ATV with a lawn mower, creating the maze. He mows fiv5-foot aisles, keeping them a minimum of 10 feet apart. He also creates a straw bale maze with 1,200 bales.

Mentor

Rob Leeds hosts panel discussions on mazes at national meetings for the Ohio Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Dan Kamburoff and his wife Julia operate a year round farm market in Kent, OH that sells farm-raised produce, lawn and garden supplies, feed and pet needs, Christmas trees, pumpkins, tomatoes, mulch and topsoil.

Wanting to add entertainment farming as a means for added income, Kamburoff said he was inspired to build a maze after listening to Leeds speak at one of the DMA national meetings. After taking pages of notes, he returned home and chose Sudan grass for his maize, as Leeds suggested. Kamburoff designed his maize on graph paper, inserting a pumpkin field between the maze and an observation tower. He also constructed two smaller sunflower mazes for school tour groups and is considering a petting zoo.

Leeds offered advice to growers: plan ahead and be creative for a successful maze. His 2.5- to 3-acre mazes fit their market and operations and targets young families. As soon as grass starts to grow, lay out the pathway.

For more information about added-value activities, contact Rob Leeds at the Delaware County Extension Office, 560 Sunbury Road Suite 5, Delaware, OH 43015-8692. Call (740) 368-1925, or fax inquiries to: (740) 363-9143.

Robot Pets

ROBOTIC RATS CONTROVERSY

FROM;  http://www.hsus.org/ace/14114

When researchers at the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center recently announced that they could direct the movements of a rat, much like a child controls a toy truck, they knew their experiment would generate controversy. After all, even one of their own researchers called it "sort of creepy."

The reviews are indeed pouring in from across the country, even overseas, and the critics are concerned not only about the ethics of controlling another species, but also about future applications of this technology. Could it be used, Big Brother-style, to control human behavior, consumer spending, or even worker productivity?

A little background: The remote-controlled rat, dubbed "roborat," grew out of Downstate Medical Center's research into developing technology that would allow paralyzed people to regain control of their limbs. First reported in the scientific journal Nature, the researchers successfully "trained" the rats in a figure-eight-shaped maze for approximately ten days before directing the animals to navigate a number of obstacles, including, ramps, ladders, pipes, and trees—all activities that rats are normally reluctant to do.

The researchers accomplished this by implanting electrodes in the rat's brain, and transmitting signals to the electrodes from a laptop computer as far away as 1,500 feet. The research team implanted three electrodes into the animal's brain: one touching the medial forebrain bundle (MFB), which generates a feeling of happiness or reward, and the other two stimulating the rat's whisker bundles on either side of the nose. By triggering one of the whisker implants and then stimulating the rat's "reward center," scientists were able to direct the animal to turn in one direction or the other and then move forward.

The scientists believe that equipping rats with this technology will have a number of potential applications. Unlike traditional robots which have limited maneuverability, roborats could actually crawl into tight spaces to locate victims trapped under rubble after a natural disaster. The animals could also prove useful in land-mine detection and even spying operations. And the technology itself, scientists say, may one day be applicable to neural prosthesis—the use of electronics to bridge nervous system gaps caused by strokes and spinal injuries.

But others are saying, "not so fast." There are lots of ethical questions left unanswered, many coming from the animal protection community which feels the technology is demeaning to animals. What's more, animal welfare activists believe the technology causes pain and distress to the animals, regardless of how "happy" the present-day rats are said to be when released from their cages and directed by remote computer.

"This could be just the beginning of a trend to use technology to turn animals into little more than animated robots," says Martin Stephens, The HSUS's vice president of animal research issues. "If that happens on a wide enough scale, it could debase our view of animals and change the nature of our relationships with them."

Stephens' comments are echoed by Gill Langley of the Dr. Hadwen Trust in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, which funds alternatives to animal research. "It's appalling," Langley told New Scientist on May 4, 2002, "and yet another example of how the human species instrumentalizes other species."

Several critics worry about the leap from rodent to human, which may not seem as far fetched as it sounds. A review of the scientific literature indicates that robotic research is now being performed in nonhuman primates.

"Today scientists can get a rat to turn right or left by hitting a computer key that activates electrodes implanted in the animal's brain," wrote The Boston Globe in a May 5 editorial. "Tomorrow there may be a brain chip for human beings—inserted the way a pacemaker or cochlear implant is now—that might help a person control an artificial arm or leg as well as simulating feeling in the limb.

"But what if some future implant, billed as a medical miracle, were also secretly encoded to direct thought, getting a person to think like Big Brother, or to work harder for managers at corporate control, or to follow the orders of Mephistopheles?" the editorial continued. "What if Madison Avenue got a piece of the supposed beneficial chip to direct the consumer to buy the expensive spread or the new cereal?"

The Tulsa World raised similar concerns in a May 12 editorial: "If a chip could control all these things, it could also control a person's desires. What big corporation wouldn't like to have a staff of chip-induced drones to make more widgets and like doing it?"

It would seem, given the flood of portentous words, that people fear the very thing they want to do to rats: control their every move.

 
ANIMAL FARM - GEORGE ORWELL

FROM:  http://www.k-1.com/Orwell/animf.htm

Animal Farm was first published in 1945. Animal Farm is a satire on Stalinism and the Russian revolution. As Russia was an allied of England in 1945, Orwell had a hard time publishing it.

Summary

The story takes place on a farm somewhere in England. The story is told by an all-knowing narrator in the third person. The action of this novel starts when the oldest pig on the farm, Old Major, calls all animals to a secret meeting. He tells them about his dream of a revolution against the cruel Mr. Jones. Three days later Major dies, but the speech gives the more intelligent animals a new outlook on life. The pigs, who are considered the most intelligent animals, instruct the other ones. During the period of preparation two pigs can distinguish themselves, Napoleon and Snowball. Napoleon is big, and although he isn't a good speaker, he can assert himself. Snowball is a better speaker, he has a lot of ideas and he is very vivid. Together with another pig called Squealer, who is a very good speaker, they work out the theory of "Animalism". The rebellion starts some months later,when Mr Jones comes home drunken one night , and forgets to feed the animals. They break out of the barns and run to the house, where the food is stored. When Mr Jones recognises this he takes out his shotgun, but it is to late for him, all the animals fall over him and drive him off the farm. The animals destroy all whips nose rings, reins, and all other instruments that have been used to suppress them. The same day the animals celebrate their victory with an extra ration of food. The pigs made up the seven commandments, and they writte them above the door of the big barn.

They run thus:

1.: Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

2.: Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings is a friend.

3.: No animal shall wear clothes.

4.: No animal shall sleep in a bed.

5.: No animal shall drink alcohol.

6.: No animal shall kill another animal.

7.: All animals are equal.

The animals also agree that no animal shall ever enter the farmhouse, and that no animal shall have contact with humans. This commandments are summarised in the simple phrase: "Four legs good, two legs bad". After some time Jones comes back with some other men from the village to recapture the farm. The animals fight brave, and they manage to defend the farm. Snowball and Boxer receive medals of honour for defending the farm so bravely. Also Napoleon who had not fought at all takes a medal. This is the reason why the two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, often argue. When Snowball presents his idea to build a windmill, to produce electricity to the other animals, Napoleon calls nine strong dogs. The dogs drive Snowball from the farm, and Napoleon explains that Snowball was in fact co-operating with Mr Jones. He also explains that Snowball in reality never had a medal of honour, that Snowball was always trying to cover up that he was fighting at the side of Mr Jones. The animals then start building the windmill, and as time passes on the working-time goes up, whereas the food ration declined. Although the "common" animals have not enough food, the pigs grow fatter and fatter. They tell the other animals that they need more food, for they are managing the whole farm. Some time later the pigs explain to the other animals that they have to trade with the neighbour farms. The common animals are very upset, because after the revolution, there has been a resolution that no animal shall make trade with a human. But the pigs ensured that there never has been such a resolution, and that this was an evil lie of Snowball. Short after this decision the pigs move to the farm house. The other animals remember that there has been a commandment that forbids sleeping in beds, and so they go to the big barn to look at the commandments. When they arrive there they can't believe their eyes, the 4th commandment has been changed to: "No animal shall sleep in bed with sheets". And the other commandments were also changed: "No animal shall kill another animal without reason", or "No animal shall drink alcohol in excess". Some months there is a heavy storm which destroys the windmill, that is nearly finished. Napoleon accuses Snowball of destroying the mill, and he promises a reward to the animal who gets Snowball. The rebuilding of the mill takes two years. Again Jones attacks the farm, and although the animals defend it, the windmill is once again destroyed. The pigs decide to rebuild the mill again, and they cut down the food ration to a minimum. Some day Boxer breaks down. He is sold to a butcher, whereas Napoleon tells the pigs that Boxer has been brought to a hospital where he has died. Three years later the mill was finally completed. During this time Napoleon deepens the relations with the neighbour farm, and one day Napoleon even invites the owners of this farm for an inspection. They sit inside the farmhouse and celebrate the efficiency of his farm, where the animals work very hard with the minimum of food. During this celebration all the other animals meet at the window of the farm, and when they look inside they can't distinguish between man and animal.

Talking computers coming

This may become a reality sooner than we think, according to Jack Dunietz, a hi-tech entrepreneur and president of an Israeli-based company called Artificial Intelligence (Ai).

His team of scientists have designed a computer program based on a set of behavioural algorithms that enable the computer to learn language the same way humans do, starting from scratch.

Within 10 years, says Mr Dunietz, we will see the next technological revolution - computers that can converse naturally with humans.

"The PC revolution of the 1980s and the internet revolution of the 1990s were mere precursors of a big wave about to hit us - the user interface revolution," he says.

Just over one year ago saw the birth of baby Hal, a computer program named after the intelligent computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The person Hal calls "mummy" is Anat Treister-Goren, a neurolinguist who has been training Hal to take his first steps in language acquisition. The two talk on a daily basis, sometimes for hours at a time.

Ms Treister-Goren guides Hal through a virtual reality made up of typical examples from a child's world, like playing with a ball or visits to the zoo.

Reward and punishment

Hal learns to communicate correctly through a system of reward and punishment.

Wrong responses, which Hal has been programmed to avoid, are highlighted on the keyboard by Ms Treister-Goren.

I tried to call Hal 'it' at the beginning. But as our communication deepened, I found it harder and harder. I'm attached to him. You just can't help it

Anat Treister-Goren, neurolinguist

Correct responses are praised and nurtured. To the delight of all those working on the project, Hal has already passed a test in which it fooled experts into believing it was a human - an adaptation of the famous Turing test for the equivalent of a 15-month-old child.

To date, the computer's language skills mirror those of an 18-month-old toddler.

Hal's vocabulary has now grown to an impressive block of words and he is capable of stringing words into intelligible phrases.

A language expert who recently examined transcripts of conversations between Ms Treister-Goren and Hal concluded that the program displayed all the normal trappings of an 18-month-old child.

Babbling baby

Baby Hal babbles away about going to the park and enjoys bedtime stories like Are You My Mother? or Peter Rabbit. Like many toddlers, it knows that monkeys eat bananas.

It has the same potential for danger as genetic engineering or nuclear power

Jack Dunietz, Ai president

Proudly discussing Hal's advances, Ms Treister-Goren throws an affectionate glance in the direction of the computer and refers to her protege as "he".

"I tried to call Hal 'it' at the beginning. But as our communication deepened, I found it harder and harder. Yes, I'm attached to him. You just can't help it," she says.

Every few months, computer experts adjust the software algorithms in order to upgrade Hal's performance abilities.

Potential danger

Eventually, Ai hope to bring Hal up to the linguistic level of a human adult. Communicating through a keyboard will be replaced by a voice recognition system.

According to Mr Dunietz, by the year 2010, computers like Hal will become part of our lives, talking naturally with humans and fulfilling voice-controlled functions such as switchboard management or schedule planning.

He is willing to entertain the possibility that computers like Hal could pose a potential danger to the world, if misused.

"I don't think that Kubrick's Hal is impossible. It could happen. It has the same potential for danger as genetic engineering or nuclear power," he says.

THE DANGERS OF A.I.

FROM: http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~meg3c/tcc200r/genetic/bdapp.htm

The new potential for computers to learn and discover autonomously raises new questions about the security of humans in computing. According to Gregory Paul, in the past "humans could never program a computers to be smarter and more capable than themselves."14 This served as "sort of a mythical safety check on how far computers could go relative to their primitive maker." With computers learning on their own, there is no safety check to stop them "from soaring beyond human capacities

Genetic programming research is also being applied toward less humanitarian goals by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space. Currently, Brian Howley is working with a program that can figure out how to maneuver a spacecraft to a desired position and orientation in space. Amazingly, it can perform this task within two percent of the theoretical minimum time and ten percent faster than solutions given by experts in the field. This research being conducted at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space could easily be applied to missile navigation in addition to its current use in rocket and spacecraft navigation. The fact that genetic programming could prove highly effective in missile firing, navigation, and defense systems could pose certain dangers in the future.

This danger from an autonomous program gaining access to missile systems was the basis for the film, Terminator 2. Engineers created an advanced computer chip with the ability to independently increase it own intelligence. According to Thomas Ray, when its creators threatened to shut it down, the self-aware "sky-net" system retaliated with one of its "peripheral devices: nuclear weapons."

Even without access to physical peripheral devices, there are dangers posed by rapidly advancing artificial intelligence and genetic programming, in particular. It is likely that genetic programming will be applied to the creation of destructive computer viruses. Viruses, by definition, are any program capable of reproducing. Currently, there are strains of "super viruses" that have the ability to randomly mutate and then flourish in the presence of antiviral software.24 Combining mutating, reproducing viruses with genetic programming could produce the next generation of super viruses that would be difficult to overcome using standard antiviral means. Haynes has warned that "our control over computers has been challenged further by the emergence of viruses with the ability to mutate." Loss of vital systems could even threaten human life in extreme cases. If viruses were able to infect air traffic control systems or computers running medical apparatuses in hospitals, there could be very dire consequences.

Genetic programming, because it utilizes evolution and natural selection, has some unique dangers. According to Thomas Ray, the process of evolution is an extremely selfish one and each evolving species will generally insure its own survival at all costs without regard for other species. If reproducing genetic programs were to gain access to major networks and then evolve mechanisms for combating our attempts to stop them, they could destroy our vital computer infrastructure. In order to address the major dangers of genetically programmed artificial intelligence, Ray has suggested two important safety precautions. Programs utilizing evolutionary techniques should kept securely in "digital aquariums" without access to networks or the Internet. This precaution of isolating the evolutionary system becomes more essential as self-replicating technology is extended to include hardware or wetware. Wetware consists of circuit boards with the ability to change their wiring under software control. The second main precaution is for researchers to exercise good judgement when giving autonomous computers access to peripheral devices. Placing a peripheral device, like a nuclear missile, under the control of a "sky-net" type computer system could prove extremely dangerous in the future.

Stephen Hawking Warns Of 'Terminator'-Style Menace Sept. 5, 2001

Stephen Hawking warns that machines could take over the world.

By David M. Ewalt

Nobody took Arnold Schwarzenegger seriously when he showed us the dangers of artificial intelligence in the "Terminator" movies. Likewise Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix"--you thought that was just a cool kung fu flick, didn't you? But now no less a respected source than Stephen Hawking is sounding a warning about humankind being overrun by computers.

"In contrast with our intellect, computers double their performance every 18 months," warned the genius physicist in a recent interview with the German newsmagazine Focus. "So the danger is real that they could develop intelligence and take over the world." Hawking, the wheelchair-bound author of the best-selling book "A Brief History Of Time," serves as the Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, a post once held by Isaac Newton.

But don't panic just yet--there's still hope for mankind. To prevent a "Terminator"-style standoff against the machines, Hawking advises us to improve our intelligence through genetic engineering, or perhaps by wiring ourselves to the computers directly. Said Hawking, "We must develop as quickly as possible technologies that make possible a direct connection between brain and computer, so that artificial brains contribute to human intelligence rather than opposing it."

[Editor's note:

The expert - who actually worked on the project to make androids for the government says that this next article is nothing compared to the real thing:

The Discover Interview: Marvin Minsky

The legendary pioneer of artificial intelligence ponders the brain, bashes neuroscience, and lays out a plan for superhuman robot servants. By Susan Kruglinski

DISCOVER Vol. 28 No. 01 | January 2007

Marvin Minsky straddles the worlds of science and sci-fi. The MIT professor and artificial intelligence guru has influenced everyone from Isaac Asimov to the digital chess champ Deep Blue to computer movie star HAL of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He may be known around campus as "Old Man Minsky," but the scientist is just as active in AI research today as he was when he helped pioneer the field as a young man in the 1950s.

Although educated in mathematics, Minsky has always thought in terms of mind and machine. For his dissertation at Princeton University in the 1950s, he analyzed a "learning machine," meant to simulate the brain's neural networks, that he had constructed as an undergrad. In his early career he was also an influential inventor, creating the first confocal scanning microscope, a version of which is now standard in labs worldwide. In 1959 Minsky cofounded the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT, where he designed and built robotic hands that could "feel" and "see" and manipulate objects, a watershed in the field.

Throughout, Minsky has written philosophically on the subject of AI, culminating in the 1985 book Society of Mind, which summarizes his theory of how the mind works. He postulates that the complex phenomenon of thinking can be broken down into simple, specialized processes that work together like individuals in a society. His latest book, The Emotion Machine, continues ideas begun in Society of Mind, reflecting twenty-some additional years of thought. It is a blueprint for a thinking machine that Minsky would like to build—an artificial intelligence that can reflect on itself—taking us a step forward into a future that may seem as if out of an Asimov story.

What are your latest ideas about the mind, as set out in The Emotion Machine?

The theme of the book is that humans are uniquely resourceful because they have several ways to do everything. If you think about something, you might think about it in terms of language, or in logical terms, or in terms of diagrams, pictures, or structures. If one method doesn't work, you can quickly switch to another. That's why we're so good at dealing with so many situations. Animals can't imagine what the room would look like if you change that couch from black to red. But a person has ways of constructing mental images or sentences or bits of logic.

Neuroscientists' quest to understand consciousness is a hot topic right now, yet you often pose things via psychology, which seems to be taken less seriously. Are you behind the curve?

I don't see neuroscience as serious. What they have are nutty little theories, and they do elaborate experiments to confirm them and don't know what to do if they don't work. This book presents a very elaborate theory of consciousness. Consciousness is a word that confuses possibly 16 different processes. Most neurologists think everything is either conscious or not. But even Freud had several grades of consciousness. When you talk to neuroscientists, they seem so unsophisticated; they major in biology and know about potassium and calcium channels, but they don't have sophisticated psychological ideas. Neuroscientists should be asking: What phenomenon should I try to explain? Can I make a theory of it? Then, can I design an experiment to see if one of those theories is better than the others? If you don't have two theories, then you can't do an experiment. And they usually don't even have one.

So as you see it, artificial intelligence is the lens through which to look at the mind and unlock the secrets of how it works?

Yes, through the lens of building a simulation. If a theory is very simple, you can use mathematics to predict what it'll do. If it's very complicated, you have to do a simulation. It seems to me that for anything as complicated as the mind or brain, the only way to test a theory is to simulate it and see what it does. One problem is that often researchers won't tell us what a simulation didn't do. Right now the most popular approach in artificial intelligence is making probabilistic models. The researchers say, "Oh, we got our machine to recognize handwritten characters with a reliability of 79 percent." They don't tell us what didn't work.

Neuroscientists like Oliver Sacks and V. S. Ramachandran study people who have brain injuries; to them, what is not happening in the brain is more informative than what is happening. Is that similar to what you're saying?

Yes. In fact, those are just about the two best thinkers in that field. Antonio Damasio is pretty good, but Ramachandran and Sacks are more sophisticated than most. They consider alternative theories instead of trying to prove one particular theory.

Is there other work in neuroscience or AI that interests you?

Very little. There are 20,000 or 30,000 people working on neuronetworks, and there are 40,000 or 50,000 people working on statistical predictors. There are several thousand people trying to get logical systems to do commonsense thinking, but as far as I know, almost none of them can do much reasoning by analogy. This is important because the way people solve problems is first by having an enormous amount of commonsense knowledge, like maybe 50 million little anecdotes or entries, and then having some unknown system for finding among those 50 million old stories the 5 or 10 that seem most relevant to the situation. This is reasoning by analogy. I know of only three or four people looking at this, but they're not well-known because they don't make grandiose claims of looking for a theory of everything.

Can artificial intelligence have human-style common sense?

There are several large-scale projects exploring that issue. There's the one that Douglas Lenat in Texas has been pursuing since 1984. He has a couple of million items of commonsense knowledge, such as "People live in houses" or "When it rains, you get wet," which are very carefully classified. But what we don't have are the right kind of answers to questions that a 3-year-old child would be filled with. So we're trying to collect those now. If you ask a childlike question like, "Why, when it rains, would somebody want to stay dry?" it's con

What is the value in creating an artificial intelligence that thinks like a 3-year-old?

The history of AI is sort of funny because the first real accomplishments were beautiful things, like a machine that could do proofs in logic or do well in a calculus course. But then we started to try to make machines that could answer questions about the simple kinds of stories that are in a first-grade reader book. There's no machine today that can do that. So AI researchers looked primarily at problems that people called hard, like playing chess, but they didn't get very far on problems people found easy. It's a sort of backwards evolution. I expect with our commonsense reasoning systems we'll start to make progress pretty soon if we can get funding for it. One problem is people are very skeptical about this kind of work.

Usually AI refers to an exploration of the utilitarian uses of the brain, like understanding speech or solving problems. Yet so much of what humans do isn't clearly utilitarian, like watching TV, fantasizing, or joking. Why is all that behavior necessary?

Watching sports is my favorite. Pleasure, like pain, is thought of as being a sort of simple, absolute, innate, basic thing, but as far as I can see, pleasure is a piece of machinery for turning off various parts of the brain. It's like sleep. I suspect that pleasure is mainly used to turn off parts of the brain so you can keep fresh the memories of things you're trying to learn. It protects the short-term memory buffers. That's one theory of pleasure. However, it has a bug, which is, if you gain control of it, you'll keep doing it: If you can control your pleasure center, then you can turn off your brain. That's a very serious bug, and it causes addiction. That's what I think the football fans are doing—and the pop music fans and the television watchers, and so forth. They're suppressing their regular goals and doing something else. It can be a very serious bug, as we're starting to see in the young people who play computer games until they get fat.

Many people feel that the field of AI went bust in the 1980s after failing to deliver on its early promise. Do you agree?

Well, no. What happened is that it ran out of high-level thinkers. Nowadays everyone in this field is pushing some kind of logical deduction system, genetic algorithm system, statistical inference system, or a neural network—none of which are making much progress because they're fairly simple. When you build one, it'll do some things and not others. We need to recognize that a neural network can't do logical reasoning because, for example, if it calculates probabilities, it can't understand what those numbers really mean. And we haven't been able to get research support to build something entirely different, because government agencies want you to say exactly what you'll do each month of your contract. It's not like the old days when the National Science Foundation could fund people rather than proposals.

Why has the landscape changed for funding scientific research?

Funders want practical applications. There is no respect for basic science. In the 1960s General Electric had a great research laboratory; Bell Telephone's lab was legendary. I worked there one summer, and they said they wouldn't work on anything that would take less than 40 years to execute. CBS Laboratories, Stanford Research Lab—there were many great laboratories in the country, and there are none now.

The Emotion Machine reads like a book about understanding the human mind, but isn't your real intent to fabricate it?

The book is actually a plan for how to build a machine. I'd like to be able to hire a team of programmers to create the Emotion Machine architecture that's described in the book—a machine that can switch between all the different kinds of thinking I discuss. Nobody's ever built a system that either has or acquires knowledge about thinking itself, so that it can get better at problem solving over time. If I could get five good programmers, I think I could build it in three to five years.

It sounds like you could make a very smart computer, but is your ultimate goal to actually reproduce a human being?

Or better. We humans are not the end of evolution, so if we can make a machine that's as smart as a person, we can probably also make one that's much smarter. There's no point in making just another person. You want to make one that can do things we can't.

To what purpose?

Well, the birthrate is going down, but the population is still going up. Then we're going to have old people, and we'll need smart people to do their housework, and take care of things and grow the vegetables. So we need smart robots. There are also problems we can't solve. What if the sun dies out or we destroy the planet? Why not make better physicists, engineers, or mathematicians? We may need to be the architects of our own future. If we don't, our culture could disappear.

Has science fiction influenced your work?

It's about the only thing I read. General fiction is pretty much about ways that people get into problems and screw their lives up. Science fiction is about everything else.

What did you do as consultant on 2001: A Space Odyssey?

I didn't consult about the plot but about what the [HAL 9000] computer would look like. They had a very fancy computer with all sorts of colored labels and so forth. Stanley Kubrick said, "What do you think of that?" I said, "It's very beautiful." And he said, "What do you really think?" I said, "Oh, I think this computer would actually just be lots of little black boxes, because the computer would know what's in them by sending signals through its pins." So he scrapped the whole set and made the simpler one, which is more beautiful. He wanted everything technological to be plausible. But he wouldn't tell me what HAL would do.

If we developed the perfect artificial brain, what would be the difference between that and the real thing?

Well, it wouldn't die. Some people believe that you should die, and some people think dying is a nuisance. I'm one of the latter. So I think we should get rid of death.


Discover explores the future of wireless in a roundtable with Minsky and other technological visionaries.

The future may belong to self-assembling robots that look nothing like humans.

fusing to a computer, because people don't want to get wet when it rains but they do when they take a shower.

 

Robot Mimic real Creatures

Insects provide model for how to teach robots to learn

From Animals to Animats

Hungry Robots

Cybertoys

Gene-Driven Robots or God-Designed Special Beings?

Programming nature into robots

FROM: http://www.iit.nrc.ca/

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