This follows on from last month’s post, in which we discussed the possibility of a future Shazam for People service and extends it to the concept of a ‘universal tracking system’ or real-world Marauder’s Map …
So, just how feasible is it?
Category Archives: Computer Science
A Real “Marauder’s Map”?
The ‘Prof on a Train’ Game
The Shazam for People discussion revisited as an article, ‘Identity Voyeurism‘, in September 2015’s British Computer Society (BCS) IT Now Magazine, made all the more relevant by recent breaches of personal privacy …
There’s more than one type of identity ‘crisis’. Conventional identity ‘theft’ is one thing but what of identity ‘voyeurism’? How much of ‘us’ is ‘in the shop window’ anyway? Are we in control? What are the risks? And where’s it heading?
The next time you’re on public transport, try playing the ‘Prof on a Train’ (PoaT) game. (It doesn’t really have to be a train or an academic but it’s a good example to work with.) Take a look at the person opposite you. Armed only with your senses, intelligence, intuition and an Internet connection, how much can you find out about them?
Well, if they’re quietly dozing in the corner, unremarkably dressed, with no distinguishing features whatsoever, you’ll probably lose. However, any activity at all or any visible clues might give you a chance. Are they doing, reading, saying or wearing anything? Who’s with them? Are they easier to identify? Where did they get on and do you know where they’re going? Anything odd? Here’s the basic strategy, on which PoaT is based:
They’re reading an academic paper on a certain subject (X) and you know where they got on (Y). A quick look at the photos on the ‘Department of X’ webpage for the ‘University of Y’ might be enough.
Clear as Maths!
This post follows on (loosely) from a previous discussion on maths and computing and asks what it really means to ‘prove’ something in each discipline.
An apocryphal story has an Oxbridge maths don lecturing to a group of undergraduates … After some time completely filling a huge blackboard with heavy calculus – with accompanying commentary, he turns to the class and casually notes, “So then, it’s clear that …” (the exact claim isn’t important). As he turns to resume his chalk-work, a particularly bold student enquires, “Excuse me, Professor; but is that really ‘clear’?” The don steps back and surveys his work; studying the entire board from top-left to bottom-right, with numerous head and eye movements to-and-fro – even some pointing – to cross-check various parts with each other. After a full five minutes of silent contemplation, he turns back to the students, smiles, announces, “Yes!”, and carries on as before.
So who’s defining ‘clear’ here?
Do Wizards Believe in Magic?
A more-than-somewhat oblique look at the issues of trying to define machine ‘intelligence’
Two hobbits are sat in a tavern in a quiet backwater of The Shire. After a prolonged silence devoted to the appreciation of their mugs of Bucktooth’s Old Tawny, one turns lazily to the other and mumbles …
“I see the Rollyberry Magic Man’s been caught out once and for all!”
“How’s that?” asks the other.
“Those acorns he was making appear out of thin air … Turned out he had them stuffed up his sleeves all along.”
“So, he’s a fake then?”
“S’pose so. Doesn’t surprise me though. I always had my suspicions about that bloke. Old Bill Gamwise reckons, when he made that fire appear from nowhere, he had a contraption made out of flints in his pocket.”
“Hmm, so probably all the magic he’s done has been phoney then?”
“Yep, reckon so … “
A further period of ‘reflection’ follows … Eventually …
“So, do you think there really IS any magic then?”
Under the lamp
Turing's Radiator 