Baby's (Mine) 1st Birthday Pictures | Babys First Year Blog

Top2 24 of The Most Adorable 1st Birthday Party Pics (Really)So you know that beach party I was raving about? All of those amazing ideas I had curated and was dead set on executing?

Yea.

Didn?t happen.

What did happen was a?most lovely, sweet affair, in our backyard with?most of our nearest and dearest. I?l be the first of any to proclaim the?many virtues of all that is DIY.?Especially?when it comes to anything baby, toddler, house and home related. And obviously food/drink recipes. (Hello Pinterest,?my sexy BFF).

As we?momma?s know, life in the land of baby and toddler takes on a carnivalesque hue at times. Wherein we just don?t have the time to put?Martha Stewart to shame. Which is fine, because our babies?

They. Don?t. Care.

You could stick a candle in a?McCain cake, let them roll around naked and have those who love and dote upon them the?most show up. That right there is all they need and/or know about a party in their honour being awesome. Oh, and the presents. But that bit doesn?t come until later.

I guess what I?m trying to say, is all of these grand birthday parties are really for us. The adults. And the expectation of presents, well ? that all up to us to. These little humans after all, are essentially?moulded by us. So, what?may be cute when they are younger? (Ripping open a mountain of pressies). Will be far less so when they start to demand or expect it, often skulking when they don?t get it. We?ve all heard the term, ??I?ve created a?monster?.

?Nuff said.

It should also be?mentioned that technically, Abby doesn?t turn 1 until this Thursday ? we had her grand hoopla of a party earlier to accommodate guest RSVP?s. So you?can expect to be hit with another round of epic cuteness come the actual day of her birth. Until then though,?may your ovaries (or other baby-loving parts) be tickled by these?

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    The Diva

    Looking every little bit the darling, sweet, saucy little monkey that she is.

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    The Diva's #1 Hero

    Her brother, who is equally sweet and saucy. (Also? Tubes rule. Rule I tell you).

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#the-divas-1-hero

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    Water Play

    While we didn't make it to the beach, we still had lots of water activities going on. Kiddie pool , sprinkler, water balloons (for the older kiddos) and sponges. Happy Days.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#water-play

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    Everting In The Mouth

    All the time, everyday, like gangbusters.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#everting-in-the-mouth

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    Show & Tell

    As of late she is pointing at everything, (and I mean everything, all of the everything, everywhere, it is fascinating you know). If the object of her desire is safe enough for her to fiddle with and inevitably shove in her mouth, we give it to her. Wherein she promptly lifts it up high, often shoving it up ones nose, proclaiming, 'THIS!!' Oh, the sweet victory.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#show-tell

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    The Magnificence!

    Pure, unadulterated joy. (This expression also says, 'lookit meeee! LOMG, seriously though, lookit meeeee!)

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#the-magnificence

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    Non-Stop Good Times Over Here

    She has a slight asphyxiation with opening her mouth wide, leaving it gaping, with tounge lolling at times. She's been doing it constantly. While dancing, while crawling, when she wakes up and boogies in her crib...watching herself in her closet mirrors - quite entertained by the whole show. Put on by herself. That's my girl.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#non-stop-good-times-over-here

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    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#see

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    For Full Effect

    In case I wasn't clear enough before. It would appear as though this little girl was having herself a most excellent time.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#for-full-effect

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    Roly Poly...

    Toddlers and babies. As seen here entertaining the masses.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#roly-poly

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    Tender

    A nano-second of gentle checking in from big bro, with his little sis.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#tender

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    C'mon

    You just died from cute, right?

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#cmon

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    Photo-Bomber

    Otherwise known as the Daddy. Every chance he'll get. This cute shot is of our little girl with her daycare provider whom we are very lucky to have. She is such a loving, quality friend to our babies. As are her children and her hubby. It was super cool to hang with them socially.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#photo-bomber

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    Pappa Love

    Going in for the kill. (His nose obviously).

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#pappa-love

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    Daddy's Little Girl

    Forever. Don't mess.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#daddys-little-girl

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    Daddy The Jungle-Gym

    Clearly, she's got him wrapped. And with good reason.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#daddy-the-jungle-gym

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    Oh, You Pretty (Little) Thing(s)

    David Bowie, I know you wrote that song for my girl. (Even though I really know it's all about the influences of occultist [Crowly], and Nietzsche [that famous philosopher] on us humans [and our obsolescence] in favour of the notion that aliens and teenagers should [and will] rule the world. Now ya know.)

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#oh-you-pretty-little-things

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    Perfect Score

    Just in case y'all were keeping score. Baby splits deserve a round of applause.

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    Saucin'...

    It's what she does, yo. And ever well.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#saucin

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    Ima Gonna OWN You Cake!

    That's what this look says.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#ima-gonna-own-you-cake

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    From a Distance

    Watching the foreign proceedings with intent. The theory that babies don't know much? I beg to differ. She clearly knew something amazing was about to happen and acted with baited breath at such. Because babies are genius and they know things. Mostly amazing things.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#from-a-distance

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    Cutting Time

    Divvying up a 4 tier cake? Not for the faint of heart.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#cutting-time

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    All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

    Like strawberry shortcake and so forth.

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#all-good-things-come-to-those-who-wait

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    Like a boss.

    A cake boss to be precise. Happy Day-We-Could-All- Get-Together-To-Celebrate-Your-Birthday, My Girl! (It's a cupcake for you on Thursday.)

    /babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/#like-a-boss

I?d like to extend a HUGE thank-you to our friends Cindy and Arvin Valenciano. Arv took all the fantastic pictures you just had the pleasure of viewing (and then some). Cindy is our daycare provider. She?s the bees knees!

More From Selena

18 Amazing Babywearing Images
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 24 of The Most Adorable 1st Birthday Party Pics (Really)

Source: http://blogs.babble.com/babys-first-year-blog/2012/07/24/24-of-the-most-adorable-1st-birthday-party-pics-really/

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iscoord unveils new version of is-phone ... - Unified Communications

CBR Staff Writer Published 17 July 2012

Release 9.5 can be deployed either through manual configuration via the graphical user interface or by using a provisioning server

Integrated VoIP applicatons developer iscoord has released is-phone Desktop Notes/Sametime 9.5, is an unified communication software plug-in which integrates in the IBM Lotus collaboration suite.

The new release adds enterprise telephony capabilities, Sametime presence synchronisation and instant audio/video conferencing in HD quality without the need for a media server or a connection to service provider's MCU server.

Release 9.5 features full Notes CRM database integration, HD-Video/-Audio improvements and supports multiple IBM Notes address books and LDAP-directories.

It also provides phone number look up of incoming calls, integration of notes databases (CRM) and search in multiple address books.

The new release is interoperable with all industry's standard platforms and devices such as Windows, OSX, Linux, iOS and Android.

is-phone Desktop Notes/Sametime 9.5 user features have been designed for large enterprises and can be deployed either through manual configuration via the graphical user interface or by using a provisioning server.

Source: http://unified.cbronline.com/news/iscoord-unveils-new-version-of-is-phone-desktop-notessametime-170712

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Hey

Hi! I'm not exactly new here... just have not been on in forever and have since lost my old login information. So I figured I'd reintroduce myself. The name's EspressoJunkie (EJ, if you will).

A little bit about me: As my name on here suggests, I am a bit of a coffee addict. I work at a coffee shop to feed my addiction. I recently married the love of my life. I have been role playing off and on for years, and I especially like both modern and medieval fantasy RP's. I'm looking forward to getting back into this thing!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/be1pNALq57c/viewtopic.php

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You wanted to know: who are these scientists?

For the past few days we?ve covered some of the scientists on board through their PI?s: Kay Bidle, Jack DiTullio and Rachel, Petey and Jacob, Marco Coolen and Cherel, Anna Martins, Assaf and his gang. But there are still some scientists you haven?t met yet.

Let?s go alphabetically.

Spying on Benjamin

Benjamin Bailleul is a physicist turned physical oceanographer. Like a true physicist, rather than accepting the standard oceanographic metrics ? the ways in which oceanographers measure things like photosynthesis or primary production, Benjamin is testing them. He?s wondering whether they?re rigorous enough and he?s finding out that often scientists are using one measurement ? say, for photosynthesis ? when it?s not necessarily a good representation of that process at all.

Benjamin also comes from a long tradition of extremely important Frenchmen ? his grandparents having brought artichokes and chicory to France in a time of starvation, saving many people?s lives and earning himself a golden statue in Paris. You can choose how much of that to believe, as Benjamin is also known to tell outlandish stories that are, let?s say, ?controversial? in their authenticity. It?s dangerous business to play favorites on board, but I think Benjamin might be the funniest person on the ship.

Chris Brown's patented filtering method.

Chris Brown is our token Canadian on board, although he didn?t have very many ideas about how to actually celebrate Canada Day. He?s running one of the three flow cytometers on the ship. Flow cytometry is often used in hospitals and medical settings to detect biomarkers ? things like a protein or enzyme that might indicate someone has a disease. On the ship, scientists use flow cytometers in a similar way. They can look for biomarkers of infection, but rather than human patients, they?re looking for things that signal a viral infection of Ehux.

Filipa and glider (photo by Kay Bidle)

Filipa Carvalho is a graduate student from Rutgers as well. On board, she was helping maintain and launch the gliders ? two torpedo like instruments that swim around the ocean (okay, they don?t really swim ? they are propelled) and take measurements. Gliders are becoming increasingly useful to oceanographers, as they become more autonomous and can travel further and farther on their own.

Liti is probably blaming Chris for something. Benjamin is probably instigating. They're all a happy family.

Liti Haramaty is a technician in Kay?s lab and the resident arts and crafts person on board. For the birthdays on board (4) she made little crowns from filters. For shrinking cup day, her cups were full of intricate patterns. There are glove balloons above her desk, and tie-died napkins all around her station. She also does science ? growing and manipulating Ehux in incubations on board and observing the influence of different treatments, like temperature and light.

Liti is also involved in lots of things beyond the lab, including National Moth Week ? a week honoring the butterfly?s much neglected relatives. They have events in almost every state on the country coming up, along with a few worldwide.

Christien and his microscopic friends.

Christien Laber comes from the midwest, and it?s pretty obvious ? in a good way. He?s too quiet, nice, and patient to be from anywhere else. He?s also willing to explain (over, and over, and over again) the basic science behind his research. That?s pretty cool. Christien is in charge of the optical profiling floats here. There are two of them, and they travel up and down in the water, taking readings of the optical properties at each point ? how the light is behaving, what?s reflecting it back, what?s absorbing it, that kind of thing. The idea is that if he can get a sense for which optical properties correlate with more or less Ehux, oceanographers could send out profilers beforehand to seek out and identify areas of high productivity. Coupled with satellite data, this could eliminate a lot of the guess work that cruises like ours have to endure of where to find Ehux.

Clara getting some sun.

Clara Loureiro is Ana Martin?s graduate student. We talked a little about her work in an earlier post about Ana, but more specifically, Clara is interested in bacteria that might be found in the ocean. She?s traveling along with Ana to help out on the cruise, since she has a lot of experience at sea. Once she gets to the U.S., she?ll be visiting Kay?s lab and the Rutgers department to see what they?re up to.

Brittany is the master of all filterers.

Brittany Schieler is a masters student in Kay?s lab. Originally from the Bronx, Brittany did her undergraduate degree at the University of Delware, where she worked on modeling fisheries. She didn?t love long days in front of the computer, so she switched over to phytoplankton, and now spends long days in front of her filters, filtering. Her research on board looks at a specific gas, nitric oxide (NO, not to be confused with nitrous oxide, which is laughing gas), and how it might be involved in the infection of Ehux. No one really knows what the role the gas might play in signaling within the cell, or outside of it. Brittany is trying to find out.

Kim, incognito, sampling from the CTD.

Kim Thamatrakoln is another postdoc in Kay?s lab. Like Kay, she came from Scripps Institute of Oceanography to Rutgers, but Ehux isn?t really her organism. Normally, Kim studies diatoms, and the genetics behind their photosynthesis. She?s working with Benjamin on a project that takes CTD casts every two hours, to see whether different amounts of light from the sun trigger different genes within these phytoplankton.

Kim is also on board to help with the logistics, and make sure the day-to-day science within Kay?s group happens without a hitch ? since Kay is spending much of his time organizing the broader cruise. And she?s good at that. Kim is a ?getting things done? kind of person ? she?s authoritative, organized and quick ? which I guess happens when you?re the mother of two little kids.

Everyone, and me failing at the group-shot self-timer thing.

So, there you have it, the science team. At this point, I?m amazed no one has thrown anyone else (or me) overboard, and I think we might even arrive in Iceland with the full team intact.

During this trip, I?ll be answering your questions about the science, this ship, and life onboard. Want to know how we search for plankton, why we?re here, or what the food is like? Just ask me! And if you?re wondering how I got here, check out the groups that made this adventure possible: Mind Open Media and COSEE NOW.

Previously in this series:

All Aboard: how you can be a part of our research blog
You wanted to know: what are these phytoplankton?
You wanted to know: what am I bringing to sea?
Greetings from Ponta Delgada! We set sail tomorrow.
Steaming North: how the scientists are trying to find plankton
The superstar sensor: what is a CTD?
Status Update: Day 3 at the Cyclonic Eddy
You wanted to know: what is this virus that infects the phytoplankton (Part One)
You wanted to know: what is this virus that infects the phytoplankton (Part Two)
Plankton hunting: Part art, Part science
You wanted to know: what?s the food like on board?
Wildlife watch!
Jumborizing: a brief history of the R/V Knorr
On the importance of names. Or, ?are we at the hump or the hole??
Arts and crafts day on the Knorr
On the importance of names, part two. What?s the difference between a boat and a ship?
How to stay sane on a ship in the middle of the ocean
A graphical representation of the cruise so far
You wanted to know: who are these scientists? Introducing: Kay Bidle
You wanted to know: who are these scientists? Introducing: Jack DiTullio
You wanted to know: who are these scientists? Introducing: Marco Coolen
You wanted to know: who are these scientists? Introducing: Anna Martins
Water water everywhere: a flow chart guide to the science on board
You wanted to know: who are these scientists? Introducing: Assaf Vardi
You wanted to know: who are these scientists? Introducing: Ben Van Mooy (sort of)

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0e1f1be3789f04e7ffc27518c57ff45a

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Can the Turing Test Help Us Know Whether a Machine Is Really Thinking?

Chillin? with my children in London recently, I kept a lookout for blog topics, and I found one: ?Codebreaker: Alan Turing?s Life and Legacy,? an exhibit at the city?s Science Museum. The British mathematician Turing, born exactly a century ago, laid down the theoretical foundations of computer science and helped design one of the first computers, the Automatic Computing Engine, or ACE. During World War II, he helped crack the German Enigma code, a vitally important achievement for the Allied war effort. British authorities rewarded Turing by arresting him for homosexuality in 1952 and forcing him to undergo ?chemical castration,? which involved injections of estrogen. In 1954 Turing killed himself by ingesting cyanide.

I want to focus not on Turing?s tragic demise but on one of his enduring contributions to philosophy. In his era, scientists and philosophers?as well as sci-fi writers?were already pondering whether computers were just calculating devices, like complicated abacuses, or can ?think? more or less as we humans do. In a 1950 article, ?Computing Machinery and Intelligence,? Turing proposed a simple empirical method?which he called ?the imitation game? but is now called ?the Turing test??for resolving the question. In one room is a human ?interrogator,? and in other rooms are two ?competitors,? one a human and the other a computer. The interrogator types out questions that are transmitted to the competitors. (Today, of course, voice-recognition technology has become good enough for questions to be submitted orally.) If the interrogator can?t tell which answers come from the human and which from the computer, then the computer must be thinking. Proponents of ?strong AI? argue that such a computer isn?t just mindlessly, mechanically, cranking out answers; it possesses subjective awareness, just as we do.

The philosopher John Searle presented a famous challenge to the Turing test, called the Chinese room experiment, in 1980. Searle compared a computer undergoing a Turing Test to an English-speaking man in a room who doesn?t understand Chinese but has a manual for converting Chinese questions or commands into appropriate Chinese responses. The man receives a string of Chinese characters that, unbeknownst to him, means, let?s say, ?What is your favorite color?? His manual tells him that when he receives these symbols, he should respond with another string of symbols that, again unbeknownst to him, means ?blue.? In the same way, Searle contended, computers mindlessly manipulate symbols without understanding their meaning; computers are not really thinking as we humans do.

To my mind, Searle has not rebutted the strong AI position with his thought experiment. Instead, he has merely pointed out, implicitly, how difficult it would be for a computer to pass the Turing test. A manual that could list all possible questions that can be stated in Chinese, together with plausible-sounding responses, would be almost infinitely long. How could the man possibly respond to incoming questions fast enough to convince those outside the room that he actually understands Chinese? If he pulls off this feat?perhaps by tossing in a joke, like, ?I?m a Chinese communist, so my favorite color is red!??you might reasonably conclude that he does in fact understand Chinese, even if he insists he doesn?t. You might reasonably conclude the same thing about a computer, if it can answer all your questions as rapidly and quirkily as an intelligent human individual. (The speed issue can cut both ways. As Turing pointed out, one quick way to distinguish an ordinary human from a computer would be to ask the competitors to add 34,957 to 70,764.)

Here is the more basic flaw of Searle?s argument: His argument assumes that in some cases we just know whether another creature?like the man trying to decode Chinese?is really capable of the subjective state that we call ?understanding.? But we never know for sure, because of the solipsism problem, which stems from the fact that no sentient entity has direct, first-hand access to and hence knowledge of the subjective state of any other sentient entity. As I wrote recently in a column on cats, each of us is sealed in the chamber of his subjective consciousness. I can?t be sure that you, reader, or any other human, let alone a bat or cat or iPhone or toaster oven, is truly conscious. All I can do is make reasonable assumptions based on the behavior of such entities. That is the whole point of the Turing test. To the extent that their behavior resembles mine, I grant that they?re probably conscious, because I know I?m conscious.

In his 1950 essay Turing acknowledged that, strictly speaking, the only way to be sure a machine thinks ?is to be the machine and to feel oneself thinking. One could then describe these feelings to the world, but of course no one would be justified in taking any notice. Likewise according to this view the only way to know that a man thinks is to be that particular man. It is in fact the solipsist point of view. It may be the most logical view to hold but it makes communication of ideas difficult.?

Although I reject Searle?s objection to the Turing test, I have an objection?or reservation?of my own, which comes from my observation that we humans are awfully prone to anthropomorphism, the projection of human characteristics onto non-human and even inanimate things. This tendency stems from what psychologists call our theory-of-mind capacity, our innate ability?which manifests itself in most of us by the age of three or so?to intuit the states of mind of others. The theory of mind is vital for our social development; autistics are believed to lack the capacity. But many of us have the opposite problem. Our theory-of-mind capacities are so strong that we impute human intelligence, intentions and emotions even to non-human things, like cats, cars and computers.

This phenomenon provides the subtext of the iPhone ads showing the actor John Malkovich flirting with Siri, the iPhone program. Malkovich clearly likes?I mean, really likes?Siri! He laughs at her joke! Tells her she?s funny! But she?s not real! She?s just a piece of software! Ha ha! (See this spoof of the iPhone Malkovich ?ad, in which Siri keeps telling more and more outrageous jokes to make the stone-faced Malkovich laugh.)

The Siri ad may seem silly, but our tendency to anthropomorphize machines is quite real. In her classic 1979 book about AI, Machines Who Think, Pamela McCorduck described a scene that took place in an AI lab at Stanford in the 1970s, when a visiting Russian scientist had a typed conversation with a computer program named ELIZA, which was designed to mimic a psychotherapist. ELIZA?s responses involved simply turning statements of the human patient back into leading questions. For example, if you said, ?I?m feeling a little anxious lately,? ELIZA would ask, ?Why are you feeling a little anxious lately??

The exchange at Stanford began with ELIZA asking the Russian, ?What brought you here to see me today?? The Russian replied, ?Oh, nothing much, I?m feeling a little tired, that?s all.? Before long, as McCorduck and several other scientists watched, the Russian began pouring out his heart to ELIZA, confessing his concerns for his wife and children. ?We watched in painful embarrassment,? McCorduck wrote, ?trying hard not to look, yet mesmerized all the same.? The Turing test, in other words, says more about our minds than it does about the mind?or lack thereof?of a computer. This is not to say that a computer can?t think. It is only to say that, no matter how far machines progress, we may never know what, if anything, it is like to be a machine.

Postscript: I highly recommend Turing?s 1950 essay. Check out in particular the section in which Turing discussed how extrasensory perception might complicate the Turing test.? The evidence for ESP, Turing asserted, is ?overwhelming.? ?If telepathy is admitted,? he wrote, ?it will be necessary to tighten our test up. The situation could be regarded as analogous to that which would occur if the interrogator were talking to himself and one of the competitors was listening with his ear to the wall. To put the competitors into a ?telepathy-proof room? would satisfy all requirements.? I wish telepathy were real, because it would represent a breach in our solipsistic isolation from each other. But I?m a psi skeptic.

Post Postscript: This post incorporates material that originally appeared in my 1999 book?The Undiscovered Mind. I mention this fact because of the brouhaha that has erupted over journalist Jonah Lehrer?s reuse of past writings, which some idiots have called ?self-plagiarism.? I recycle stuff all the time on this blog and elsewhere. Sometimes I mention the original source, if I think readers might like to know it, sometimes I don?t. Before the Lehrer tempest, I wouldn?t have mentioned that some material in this post appeared in a book that was published 13 years ago and that not many people read. I would have thought, Who cares? If anything, I would have worried that readers would think I was plugging old product, not upholding some lofty ethical standard. But now, apparently, in addition to everything else freelance journalists have to worry about these days?cranking out more and more words for less and less moola, as my pal Robert Wright points out?they also have to fear being accused of ?self-plagiarism? by self-appointed ethics cops. Yeesh.

Illustration credit John Liberto.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=76dcf7bbe82ab591e33e8858e6543c2a

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Williams to quit All Blacks, return to League

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sonny-bill-williams-quits-blacks-japan-stint-011258104.html

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A postcard from Mars: NASA rover sends stunning panorama

The image is a mosaic of more than 800 photos snapped over a six-month period.

By Nancy Atkinson,?Universe Today / July 6, 2012

This image, released on Thursday, is composed of 817 images taken between Dec. 2011, and May 2012, by the Mars Rover Opportunity.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ.

Enlarge

What?s a Mars rover to do when there?s not enough power to rove? Take pictures. LOTS of pictures! This wonderful new panoramic view of the Opportunity rover?s stopping place this past Mars winter, Greeley Haven, is composed of 817 images taken between Dec. 21, 2011, and May 8, 2012. It shows fresh rover tracks and the rim of an ancient impact crater, Endeavour, which awaits more explorations from Opportunity. You?ll want to click and see a bigger version of it?here.

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But to get the full effect, check out this?great interactive sphere of the panorama?put together by John O?Connor of the NASATech website!
?
The images were taken with the color camera mounted on the mast of Oppy, providing a sense of sitting on top of the rover and taking in the view. This is actually a false color image, which emphasizes the difference between the materials.

?The view provides rich geologic context for the detailed chemical and mineral work that the team did at Greeley Haven over the rover?s fifth Martian winter, as well as a spectacularly detailed view of the largest impact crater that we?ve driven to yet with either rover over the course of the mission,? said Jim Bell of Arizona State University, Tempe, Pancam lead scientist.

Opportunity has recently reached a milestone: On July 2, Opportunity reached its 3,000th Martian day, or Sol. You can read a great write-up of the accomplishment at the?Road to Endeavour blog by Stu Atkinson, which includes interviews of rover drivers Scott Maxwell and Paolo Bellutta.

Stu also compiled this mosaic close-up of a RAT (Rock Abrasion Tool) hole drilled by Oppy into a rock called ?Grasburg.?

Opportunity has recently started to take short drives coming off the long Martian winter, and the team notes in the?latest update?that the rover has been benefiting from solar array dust cleaning events, which increase the daily energy production: as of Sol 3001 (July 3, 2012), the solar array energy production was 577 watt-hours. That?s great news for future drives and the longevity of the long-lived rover, which has been on Mars since 2004. Truly, Oppy is the Energizer Bunny of rovers!

Nancy Atkinson is Universe Today's Senior Editor. She also is the host of the?NASA Lunar Science Institute podcast?and works with the?Astronomy Cast?and?365 Days of Astronomy?podcasts. Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.

Connect with Nancy on?Facebook?|?Twitter?|?Google +?|?Website

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/VuEbo_50Kp4/A-postcard-from-Mars-NASA-rover-sends-stunning-panorama

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Top Pakistani and US generals meet as analysts question the value of military talks

Gen. John Allen, commander of US troops in Afghanistan, is visiting Pakistan's military chief. Do these sorts of talks undermine America's professed goal of strengthening Pakistan's civilian government?

By Mahvish Ahmad,?Correspondent / June 27, 2012

Gen. John Allen the top US commander in Afghanistan, salutes before he observes Memorial Day on May 28.

Anja Niedringhaus/AP

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The top commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, met with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani today to urge Pakistan to crack down on militants who launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.?

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Military-to-military meetings are common between the two countries, especially as Pakistan?s military apparatus has had the power there. But as the civilian government and the courts begin to establish themselves in line with more democratic norms, some are questioning how good military-level meetings are for Pakistan?s democracy.

Amid the deterioration of US-Pakistan relations, some US officials say Washington should take a different tack and circumvent the military to talk directly to the civilian government. By negotiating primarily with the Pakistan military, the argument goes, the US inadvertently strengthens Pakistan's Army, rather than civilian rule, even as the military undermines American interests in Afghanistan.

Though the premise is correct, according to Stephen Cohen and Moseed Yusuf in an op-ed in The New York Times, circumventing the military is just as ill conceived ?as was past support for Pakistan's military dictators.?

?American attempts to actively exploit Pakistan's civil-military disconnect are likely to end up strengthening right-wing rhetoric in Pakistan, create even more space for security-centric policies, and further alienate the Pakistani people from the United States,? write Mr. Cohen and Mr. Yusuf.

The two countries have been at loggerheads ever since NATO airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and injured an additional 13 at the Salala military checkpoint close to the Afghan border in November. Pakistan retaliated by closing supply routes to ISAF forces. A 14-point parliamentary resolution requesting an apology for the Salala incident, along with more funds for use of Pakistani motorways to transport supplies, has been met with US reluctance. Reports yesterday indicate that reopening NATO supply routes would be at the top of the agenda, along with border coordination.

Pakistan's foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, is currently leading negotiations on the NATO supply routes with the US, and Kayani has referred the US to the civilian government on the question of reopening the border after the Salala incident. The military continues to define key parts of Pakistani foreign policy, but there is a public attempt to boost the civilian government. However, the seemingly similar interests in maintaining a defiant stance vis-a-vis the US comes from a broadly-shared frustration with US foreign policy toward Pakistan.

Conversations about a US decision to stop talking altogether with the military or the civilian branch of Pakistan is an indication that the US thinks of Pakistan as a clear cut division between civilian and military elites that largely disagree on their approach to the US. That assumption is wrong. But, say the analysts, maintaining relations with Pakistan's military and security agencies as well as the civilian government is essential for intelligence cooperation in the long run.

Still, if democratically minded activists within Pakistan had it their way, any cooperation with Pakistan on security matters should always go through a people's assembly.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/E5nIlcXCg0g/Top-Pakistani-and-US-generals-meet-as-analysts-question-the-value-of-military-talks

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Rep. Jackson treated for 'more serious' ailments

FILE - In this March 20, 2012 file photo, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., thanks supporters at his election night party in Chicago after his Democratic primary in the Illinois' 2nd District. A statement from Jackson's office Thursday, July 5, 2012, said that Jackson's medical condition is more serious than initially believed and he's undergoing evaluation and treatment at an in-patient medical facility. The congressman's office announced last week that he had been on medical leave for two weeks and was being treated for exhaustion. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

FILE - In this March 20, 2012 file photo, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., thanks supporters at his election night party in Chicago after his Democratic primary in the Illinois' 2nd District. A statement from Jackson's office Thursday, July 5, 2012, said that Jackson's medical condition is more serious than initially believed and he's undergoing evaluation and treatment at an in-patient medical facility. The congressman's office announced last week that he had been on medical leave for two weeks and was being treated for exhaustion. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

(AP) ? U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is being treated at an inpatient medical facility for "physical and emotional ailments" that are "more serious" than previously believed and will require extended treatment, according to a statement released by his office Thursday.

The Chicago Democrat, who faces a House ethics investigation over his ties to imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been on medical leave for three weeks for exhaustion. His office did not announce the news until last week, when it released a three-sentence statement. But no details about Jackson's whereabouts and condition had been released since then.

A Thursday statement from his office did not disclose his location or provide details of his medical condition. Messages left for his spokesmen were not immediately returned.

"Congressman Jackson's medical condition is more serious than we thought and initially believed," the statement said. "Recently, we have been made aware that he has grappled with certain physical and emotional ailments privately for a long period of time. At present, he is undergoing further evaluation and treatment at an in-patient medical facility."

The statement said Jackson, 47, will need "extended in-patient treatment as well as continuing medical treatment thereafter."

Messages left Thursday for his wife, Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, and a brother who is a professor in Chicago, were not immediately returned. Jackson's father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, did not immediately have a comment.

Congressman Jackson, who first won office in 1995, has been under intense scrutiny in recent years because of his ties to Blagojevich and an extramarital affair. Both issues have come up on the campaign trail and with voters.

Earlier this year, Jackson had to campaign harder than he has in years when he faced a credible primary challenge from former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, who made Jackson's ethical troubles a focus of her campaign.

A pending House Ethics Committee probe is considering allegations that Jackson was involved in discussions about raising money for Blagojevich's campaign in exchange for the then-governor appointing him to President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Jackson also allegedly directed a fundraiser and longtime friend, Raghuveer Nayak, to buy plane tickets for a woman described as Jackson's "social acquaintance." Jackson has since called it a personal matter that he and his wife have dealt with in private.

Nayak was arrested last month and pleaded not guilty to unrelated fraud charges involving outpatient surgery centers he owns. At Blagojevich's first corruption trial in 2010, prosecutors said another Blagojevich fundraiser was ready to testify that Jackson instructed Nayak to raise money for Blagojevich's campaign to help him secure the Senate seat. The same witness later testified that he attended a meeting with Jackson and Nayak.

Jackson never has been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.

Jackson represents Illinois' 2nd District, which includes neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side and in its south suburbs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-07-05-Jackson-Leave%20of%20Absence/id-d43fd36067144f4486fb0cf98db1653a

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