Young boys in Surrey and Hampshire are being urged to speak out about feeling suicidal.

Childline says government figures show the number of such deaths in 2015 was more than double that of girls.

In Surrey and Hampshire there were a combined 179 suicides in 2015, which are the most recent figures available.

The statistics show rates in girls and boys aged between 10 and 19.

The figures come as the charity urge boys to speak out about thoughts of ending their lives.

Emily Cherry from the NSPCC says it's extremely important to seek help:"When you're experiencing those depression and those dark thoughts, it can be almost like you get locked away in a prison that's your own mind.

"When you speak to somebody about it, when you reach out for support, it can be like that real unlocking and it can really help you then to put you back on the path to recovery."

"There's this terrible phrase that I hear constantly used that you should "man up" and somehow you're weaker, if you show your feelings.

"So what we really want to say there to boys and men out there is that actually, it is tough to talk but when you do, it's the right thing to do.

"You are deserving of support, the same of anyone else. You shouldn't feel guilty for speaking out about how you're feeling."

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Boys in Surrey and Hampshire urged to seek help on suicidal feelings - Eagle Radio

Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy, developed largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviorism. Its core idea is that mental states (beliefs, desires, being in pain, etc.) are constituted solely by their functional role that is, they have causal relations to other mental states, numerous sensory inputs, and behavioral outputs.[1] Functionalism is a theoretical level between the physical implementation and behavioral output.[2] Therefore, it is different from its predecessors of Cartesian dualism (advocating independent mental and physical substances) and Skinnerian behaviorism and physicalism (declaring only physical substances) because it is only concerned with the effective functions of the brain, through its organization or its "software programs".

Since mental states are identified by a functional role, they are said to be realized on multiple levels; in other words, they are able to be manifested in various systems, even perhaps computers, so long as the system performs the appropriate functions. While computers are physical devices with electronic substrate that perform computations on inputs to give outputs, so brains are physical devices with neural substrate that perform computations on inputs which produce behaviors.

An important part of some accounts of functionalism is the idea of multiple realizability. Since, according to standard functionalist theories, mental states are the corresponding functional role, mental states can be sufficiently explained without taking into account the underlying physical medium (e.g. the brain, neurons, etc.) that realizes such states; one need only take into account the higher-level functions in the cognitive system. Since mental states are not limited to a particular medium, they can be realized in multiple ways, including, theoretically, within non-biological systems, such as computers. In other words, a silicon-based machine could, in principle, have the same sort of mental life that a human being has, provided that its cognitive system realized the proper functional roles. Thus, mental states are individuated much like a valve; a valve can be made of plastic or metal or whatever material, as long as it performs the proper function (say, controlling the flow of liquid through a tube by blocking and unblocking its pathway).

However, there have been some functionalist theories that combine with the identity theory of mind, which deny multiple realizability. Such Functional Specification Theories (FSTs) (Levin, 3.4), as they are called, were most notably developed by David Lewis[3] and David Malet Armstrong.[4] According to FSTs, mental states are the particular "realizers" of the functional role, not the functional role itself. The mental state of belief, for example, just is whatever brain or neurological process that realizes the appropriate belief function. Thus, unlike standard versions of functionalism (often called Functional State Identity Theories), FSTs do not allow for the multiple realizability of mental states, because the fact that mental states are realized by brain states is essential. What often drives this view is the belief that if we were to encounter an alien race with a cognitive system composed of significantly different material from humans' (e.g., silicon-based) but performed the same functions as human mental states (e.g., they tend to yell "Yowzas!" when poked with sharp objects, etc.) then we would say that their type of mental state is perhaps similar to ours, but too different to say it's the same. For some, this may be a disadvantage to FSTs. Indeed, one of Hilary Putnam's[5][6] arguments for his version of functionalism relied on the intuition that such alien creatures would have the same mental states as humans do, and that the multiple realizability of standard functionalism makes it a better theory of mind.

The broad position of "functionalism" can be articulated in many different varieties. The first formulation of a functionalist theory of mind was put forth by Hilary Putnam.[5][6] This formulation, which is now called machine-state functionalism, or just machine functionalism, was inspired by the analogies which Putnam and others noted between the mind and the theoretical "machines" or computers capable of computing any given algorithm which were developed by Alan Turing (called Turing machines).

In non-technical terms, a Turing machine can be visualized as an indefinitely and infinitely long tape divided into rectangles (the memory) with a box-shaped scanning device that sits over and scans one component of the memory at a time. Each unit is either blank (B) or has a 1 written on it. These are the inputs to the machine. The possible outputs are:

An extremely simple example of a Turing machine which writes out the sequence '111' after scanning three blank squares and then stops as specified by the following machine table:

This table states that if the machine is in state one and scans a blank square (B), it will print a 1 and remain in state one. If it is in state one and reads a 1, it will move one square to the right and also go into state two. If it is in state two and reads a B, it will print a 1 and stay in state two. If it is in state two and reads a 1, it will move one square to the right and go into state three. If it is in state three and reads a B, it prints a 1 and remains in state three. Finally, if it is in state three and reads a 1, then it will stay in state three.

The essential point to consider here is the nature of the states of the Turing machine. Each state can be defined exclusively in terms of its relations to the other states as well as inputs and outputs. State one, for example, is simply the state in which the machine, if it reads a B, writes a 1 and stays in that state, and in which, if it reads a 1, it moves one square to the right and goes into a different state. This is the functional definition of state one; it is its causal role in the overall system. The details of how it accomplishes what it accomplishes and of its material constitution are completely irrelevant.

According to machine-state functionalism, the nature of a mental state is just like the nature of the automaton states described above. Just as state one simply is the state in which, given an input B, such and such happens, so being in pain is the state which disposes one to cry "ouch", become distracted, wonder what the cause is, and so forth.

A second form of functionalism is based on the rejection of behaviorist theories in psychology and their replacement with empirical cognitive models of the mind. This view is most closely associated with Jerry Fodor and Zenon Pylyshyn and has been labeled psychofunctionalism.

The fundamental idea of psychofunctionalism is that psychology is an irreducibly complex science and that the terms that we use to describe the entities and properties of the mind in our best psychological theories cannot be redefined in terms of simple behavioral dispositions, and further, that such a redefinition would not be desirable or salient were it achievable. Psychofunctionalists view psychology as employing the same sorts of irreducibly teleological or purposive explanations as the biological sciences. Thus, for example, the function or role of the heart is to pump blood, that of the kidney is to filter it and to maintain certain chemical balances and so onthis is what accounts for the purposes of scientific explanation and taxonomy. There may be an infinite variety of physical realizations for all of the mechanisms, but what is important is only their role in the overall biological theory. In an analogous manner, the role of mental states, such as belief and desire, is determined by the functional or causal role that is designated for them within our best scientific psychological theory. If some mental state which is postulated by folk psychology (e.g. hysteria) is determined not to have any fundamental role in cognitive psychological explanation, then that particular state may be considered not to exist . On the other hand, if it turns out that there are states which theoretical cognitive psychology posits as necessary for explanation of human behavior but which are not foreseen by ordinary folk psychological language, then these entities or states exist.

A third form of functionalism is concerned with the meanings of theoretical terms in general. This view is most closely associated with David Lewis and is often referred to as analytic functionalism or conceptual functionalism. The basic idea of analytic functionalism is that theoretical terms are implicitly defined by the theories in whose formulation they occur and not by intrinsic properties of the phonemes they comprise. In the case of ordinary language terms, such as "belief", "desire", or "hunger", the idea is that such terms get their meanings from our common-sense "folk psychological" theories about them, but that such conceptualizations are not sufficient to withstand the rigor imposed by materialistic theories of reality and causality. Such terms are subject to conceptual analyses which take something like the following form:

For example, the state of pain is caused by sitting on a tack and causes loud cries, and higher order mental states of anger and resentment directed at the careless person who left a tack lying around. These sorts of functional definitions in terms of causal roles are claimed to be analytic and a priori truths about the submental states and the (largely fictitious) propositional attitudes they describe. Hence, its proponents are known as analytic or conceptual functionalists. The essential difference between analytic and psychofunctionalism is that the latter emphasizes the importance of laboratory observation and experimentation in the determination of which mental state terms and concepts are genuine and which functional identifications may be considered to be genuinely contingent and a posteriori identities. The former, on the other hand, claims that such identities are necessary and not subject to empirical scientific investigation.

Homuncular functionalism was developed largely by Daniel Dennett and has been advocated by William Lycan. It arose in response to the challenges that Ned Block's China Brain (a.k.a. Chinese nation) and John Searle's Chinese room thought experiments presented for the more traditional forms of functionalism (see below under "Criticism"). In attempting to overcome the conceptual difficulties that arose from the idea of a nation full of Chinese people wired together, each person working as a single neuron to produce in the wired-together whole the functional mental states of an individual mind, many functionalists simply bit the bullet, so to speak, and argued that such a Chinese nation would indeed possess all of the qualitative and intentional properties of a mind; i.e. it would become a sort of systemic or collective mind with propositional attitudes and other mental characteristics. Whatever the worth of this latter hypothesis, it was immediately objected that it entailed an unacceptable sort of mind-mind supervenience: the systemic mind which somehow emerged at the higher-level must necessarily supervene on the individual minds of each individual member of the Chinese nation, to stick to Block's formulation. But this would seem to put into serious doubt, if not directly contradict, the fundamental idea of the supervenience thesis: there can be no change in the mental realm without some change in the underlying physical substratum. This can be easily seen if we label the set of mental facts that occur at the higher-level M1 and the set of mental facts that occur at the lower-level M2. Given the transitivity of supervenience, if M1 supervenes on M2, and M2 supervenes on P (physical base), then M1 and M2 both supervene on P, even though they are (allegedly) totally different sets of mental facts.

Since mind-mind supervenience seemed to have become acceptable in functionalist circles, it seemed to some that the only way to resolve the puzzle was to postulate the existence of an entire hierarchical series of mind levels (analogous to homunculi) which became less and less sophisticated in terms of functional organization and physical composition all the way down to the level of the physico-mechanical neuron or group of neurons. The homunculi at each level, on this view, have authentic mental properties but become simpler and less intelligent as one works one's way down the hierarchy.

Mechanistic functionalism, originally formulated and defended by Gualtiero Piccinini[7] and Carl Gillett[8][9] independently, augments previous functionalist accounts of mental states by maintaining that any psychological explanation must be rendered in mechanistic terms. That is, instead of mental states receiving a purely functional explanation in terms of their relations to other mental states, like those listed above, functions are seen as playing only a partthe other part being played by structures of the explanation of a given mental state.

A mechanistic explanation[10] involves decomposing a given system, in this case a mental system, into its component physical parts, their activities or functions, and their combined organizational relations.[7] On this account the mind remains a functional system, but one that is understood mechanistically. This account remains a sort of functionalism because functional relations are still essential to mental states, but it is mechanistic because the functional relations are always manifestations of concrete structuresalbeit structures understood at a certain level of abstraction. Functions are individuated and explained either in terms of the contributions they make to the given system[11] or in teleological terms. If the functions are understood in teleological terms, then they may be characterized either etiologically or non-etiologically.[12]

Mechanistic functionalism leads functionalism away from the traditional functionalist autonomy of psychology from neuroscience and towards integrating psychology and neuroscience.[13] By providing an applicable framework for merging traditional psychological models with neurological data, mechanistic functionalism may be understood as reconciling the functionalist theory of mind with neurological accounts of how the brain actually works. This is due to the fact that mechanistic explanations of function attempt to provide an account of how functional states (mental states) are physically realized through neurological mechanisms.

There is much confusion about the sort of relationship that is claimed to exist (or not exist) between the general thesis of functionalism and physicalism. It has often been claimed that functionalism somehow "disproves" or falsifies physicalism tout court (i.e. without further explanation or description). On the other hand, most philosophers of mind who are functionalists claim to be physicalistsindeed, some of them, such as David Lewis, have claimed to be strict reductionist-type physicalists.

Functionalism is fundamentally what Ned Block has called a broadly metaphysical thesis as opposed to a narrowly ontological one. That is, functionalism is not so much concerned with what there is than with what it is that characterizes a certain type of mental state, e.g. pain, as the type of state that it is. Previous attempts to answer the mind-body problem have all tried to resolve it by answering both questions: dualism says there are two substances and that mental states are characterized by their immateriality; behaviorism claimed that there was one substance and that mental states were behavioral disposition; physicalism asserted the existence of just one substance and characterized the mental states as physical states (as in "pain = C-fiber firings").

On this understanding, type physicalism can be seen as incompatible with functionalism, since it claims that what characterizes mental states (e.g. pain) is that they are physical in nature, while functionalism says that what characterizes pain is its functional/causal role and its relationship with yelling "ouch", etc. However, any weaker sort of physicalism which makes the simple ontological claim that everything that exists is made up of physical matter is perfectly compatible with functionalism. Moreover, most functionalists who are physicalists require that the properties that are quantified over in functional definitions be physical properties. Hence, they are physicalists, even though the general thesis of functionalism itself does not commit them to being so.

In the case of David Lewis, there is a distinction in the concepts of "having pain" (a rigid designator true of the same things in all possible worlds) and just "pain" (a non-rigid designator). Pain, for Lewis, stands for something like the definite description "the state with the causal role x". The referent of the description in humans is a type of brain state to be determined by science. The referent among silicon-based life forms is something else. The referent of the description among angels is some immaterial, non-physical state. For Lewis, therefore, local type-physical reductions are possible and compatible with conceptual functionalism. (See also Lewis's mad pain and Martian pain.) There seems to be some confusion between types and tokens that needs to be cleared up in the functionalist analysis.

Ned Block[14] argues against the functionalist proposal of multiple realizability, where hardware implementation is irrelevant because only the functional level is important. The "China brain" or "Chinese nation" thought experiment involves supposing that the entire nation of China systematically organizes itself to operate just like a brain, with each individual acting as a neuron. According to functionalism, so long as the people are performing the proper functional roles, with the proper causal relations between inputs and outputs, the system will be a real mind, with mental states, consciousness, and so on. However, Block argues, this is patently absurd, so there must be something wrong with the thesis of functionalism since it would allow this to be a legitimate description of a mind.

Some functionalists believe China would have qualia but that due to the size it is impossible to imagine China being conscious.[15] Indeed, it may be the case that we are constrained by our theory of mind[16] and will never be able to understand what Chinese-nation consciousness is like. Therefore, if functionalism is true either qualia will exist across all hardware or will not exist at all but are illusory.[17]

The Chinese room argument by John Searle[18] is a direct attack on the claim that thought can be represented as a set of functions. The thought experiment asserts that it is possible to mimic intelligent action without any interpretation or understanding through the use of a purely functional system. In short, Searle describes a person who only speaks English who is in a room with only Chinese symbols in baskets and a rule book in English for moving the symbols around. The person is then ordered by people outside of the room to follow the rule book for sending certain symbols out of the room when given certain symbols. Further suppose that the people outside of the room are Chinese speakers and are communicating with the person inside via the Chinese symbols. According to Searle, it would be absurd to claim that the English speaker inside knows Chinese simply based on these syntactic processes. This thought experiment attempts to show that systems which operate merely on syntactic processes (inputs and outputs, based on algorithms) cannot realize any semantics (meaning) or intentionality (aboutness). Thus, Searle attacks the idea that thought can be equated with following a set of syntactic rules; that is, functionalism is an insufficient theory of the mind.

As noted above, in connection with Block's Chinese nation, many functionalists responded to Searle's thought experiment by suggesting that there was a form of mental activity going on at a higher level than the man in the Chinese room could comprehend (the so-called "system reply"); that is, the system does know Chinese. Of course, Searle responds that there is nothing more than syntax going on at the higher-level as well, so this reply is subject to the same initial problems. Furthermore, Searle suggests the man in the room could simply memorize the rules and symbol relations. Again, though he would convincingly mimic communication, he would be aware only of the symbols and rules, not of the meaning behind them.

Another main criticism of functionalism is the inverted spectrum or inverted qualia scenario, most specifically proposed as an objection to functionalism by Ned Block.[14][19] This thought experiment involves supposing that there is a person, call her Jane, that is born with a condition which makes her see the opposite spectrum of light that is normally perceived. Unlike normal people, Jane sees the color violet as yellow, orange as blue, and so forth. So, suppose, for example, that you and Jane are looking at the same orange. While you perceive the fruit as colored orange, Jane sees it as colored blue. However, when asked what color the piece of fruit is, both you and Jane will report "orange". In fact, one can see that all of your behavioral as well as functional relations to colors will be the same. Jane will, for example, properly obey traffic signs just as any other person would, even though this involves the color perception. Therefore, the argument goes, since there can be two people who are functionally identical, yet have different mental states (differing in their qualitative or phenomenological aspects), functionalism is not robust enough to explain individual differences in qualia.[20]

David Chalmers tries to show[21] that even though mental content cannot be fully accounted for in functional terms, there is nevertheless a nomological correlation between mental states and functional states in this world. A silicon-based robot, for example, whose functional profile matched our own, would have to be fully conscious. His argument for this claim takes the form of a reductio ad absurdum. The general idea is that since it would be very unlikely for a conscious human being to experience a change in its qualia which it utterly fails to notice, mental content and functional profile appear to be inextricably bound together, at least in the human case. If the subject's qualia were to change, we would expect the subject to notice, and therefore his functional profile to follow suit. A similar argument is applied to the notion of absent qualia. In this case, Chalmers argues that it would be very unlikely for a subject to experience a fading of his qualia which he fails to notice and respond to. This, coupled with the independent assertion that a conscious being's functional profile just could be maintained, irrespective of its experiential state, leads to the conclusion that the subject of these experiments would remain fully conscious. The problem with this argument, however, as Brian G. Crabb (2005) has observed, is that it begs the central question: How could Chalmers know that functional profile can be preserved, for example while the conscious subject's brain is being supplanted with a silicon substitute, unless he already assumes that the subject's possibly changing qualia would not be a determining factor? And while changing or fading qualia in a conscious subject might force changes in its functional profile, this tells us nothing about the case of a permanently inverted or unconscious robot. A subject with inverted qualia from birth would have nothing to notice or adjust to. Similarly, an unconscious functional simulacrum of ourselves (a zombie) would have no experiential changes to notice or adjust to. Consequently, Crabb argues, Chalmers' "fading qualia" and "dancing qualia" arguments fail to establish that cases of permanently inverted or absent qualia are nomologically impossible.

A related critique of the inverted spectrum argument is that it assumes that mental states (differing in their qualitative or phenomenological aspects) can be independent of the functional relations in the brain. Thus, it begs the question of functional mental states: its assumption denies the possibility of functionalism itself, without offering any independent justification for doing so. (Functionalism says that mental states are produced by the functional relations in the brain.) This same type of problemthat there is no argument, just an antithetical assumption at their basecan also be said of both the Chinese room and the Chinese nation arguments. Notice, however, that Crabb's response to Chalmers does not commit this fallacy: His point is the more restricted observation that even if inverted or absent qualia turn out to be nomologically impossible, and it is perfectly possible that we might subsequently discover this fact by other means, Chalmers' argument fails to demonstrate that they are impossible.

The Twin Earth thought experiment, introduced by Hilary Putnam,[22] is responsible for one of the main arguments used against functionalism, although it was originally intended as an argument against semantic internalism. The thought experiment is simple and runs as follows. Imagine a Twin Earth which is identical to Earth in every way but one: water does not have the chemical structure HO, but rather some other structure, say XYZ. It is critical, however, to note that XYZ on Twin Earth is still called "water" and exhibits all the same macro-level properties that HO exhibits on Earth (i.e., XYZ is also a clear drinkable liquid that is in lakes, rivers, and so on). Since these worlds are identical in every way except in the underlying chemical structure of water, you and your Twin Earth doppelgnger see exactly the same things, meet exactly the same people, have exactly the same jobs, behave exactly the same way, and so on. In other words, since you share the same inputs, outputs, and relations between other mental states, you are functional duplicates. So, for example, you both believe that water is wet. However, the content of your mental state of believing that water is wet differs from your duplicate's because your belief is of HO, while your duplicate's is of XYZ. Therefore, so the argument goes, since two people can be functionally identical, yet have different mental states, functionalism cannot sufficiently account for all mental states.

Most defenders of functionalism initially responded to this argument by attempting to maintain a sharp distinction between internal and external content. The internal contents of propositional attitudes, for example, would consist exclusively in those aspects of them which have no relation with the external world and which bear the necessary functional/causal properties that allow for relations with other internal mental states. Since no one has yet been able to formulate a clear basis or justification for the existence of such a distinction in mental contents, however, this idea has generally been abandoned in favor of externalist causal theories of mental contents (also known as informational semantics). Such a position is represented, for example, by Jerry Fodor's account of an "asymmetric causal theory" of mental content. This view simply entails the modification of functionalism to include within its scope a very broad interpretation of input and outputs to include the objects that are the causes of mental representations in the external world.

The twin earth argument hinges on the assumption that experience with an imitation water would cause a different mental state than experience with natural water. However, since no one would notice the difference between the two waters, this assumption is likely false. Further, this basic assumption is directly antithetical to functionalism; and, thereby, the twin earth argument does not constitute a genuine argument: as this assumption entails a flat denial of functionalism itself (which would say that the two waters would not produce different mental states, because the functional relationships would remain unchanged).

Another common criticism of functionalism is that it implies a radical form of semantic holism. Block and Fodor[19] referred to this as the damn/darn problem. The difference between saying "damn" or "darn" when one smashes one's finger with a hammer can be mentally significant. But since these outputs are, according to functionalism, related to many (if not all) internal mental states, two people who experience the same pain and react with different outputs must share little (perhaps nothing) in common in any of their mental states. But this is counter-intuitive; it seems clear that two people share something significant in their mental states of being in pain if they both smash their finger with a hammer, whether or not they utter the same word when they cry out in pain.

Another possible solution to this problem is to adopt a moderate (or molecularist) form of holism. But even if this succeeds in the case of pain, in the case of beliefs and meaning, it faces the difficulty of formulating a distinction between relevant and non-relevant contents (which can be difficult to do without invoking an analytic-synthetic distinction, as many seek to avoid).

According to Ned Block, if functionalism is to avoid the chauvinism of type-physicalism, it becomes overly liberal in "ascribing mental properties to things that do not in fact have them".[14] As an example, he proposes that the economy of Bolivia might be organized such that the economic states, inputs, and outputs would be isomorphic to a person under some bizarre mapping from mental to economic variables.[14]

Hilary Putnam,[23]John Searle,[24] and others[25][26] have offered further arguments that functionalism is trivial, i.e. that the internal structures functionalism tries to discuss turn out to be present everywhere, so that either functionalism turns out to reduce to behaviorism, or to complete triviality and therefore a form of panpsychism. These arguments typically use the assumption that physics leads to a progression of unique states, and that functionalist realization is present whenever there is a mapping from the proposed set of mental states to physical states of the system. Given that the states of a physical system are always at least slightly unique, such a mapping will always exist, so any system is a mind. Formulations of functionalism which stipulate absolute requirements on interaction with external objects (external to the functional account, meaning not defined functionally) are reduced to behaviorism instead of absolute triviality, because the input-output behavior is still required.

Peter Godfrey-Smith has argued further[27] that such formulations can still be reduced to triviality if they accept a somewhat innocent-seeming additional assumption. The assumption is that adding a transducer layer, that is, an input-output system, to an object should not change whether that object has mental states. The transducer layer is restricted to producing behavior according to a simple mapping, such as a lookup table, from inputs to actions on the system, and from the state of the system to outputs. However, since the system will be in unique states at each moment and at each possible input, such a mapping will always exist so there will be a transducer layer which will produce whatever physical behavior is desired.

Godfrey-Smith believes that these problems can be addressed using causality, but that it may be necessary to posit a continuum between objects being minds and not being minds rather than an absolute distinction. Furthermore, constraining the mappings seems to require either consideration of the external behavior as in behaviorism, or discussion of the internal structure of the realization as in identity theory; and though multiple realizability does not seem to be lost, the functionalist claim of the autonomy of high-level functional description becomes questionable.[27]

The general theory of adaptive biological systems, named practopoiesis (meaning creation of actions), has been used to derive a theory that explains mental operations as an adaptive process. Much like species adapt through evolution and an organism adapts through development, the theory of anapoiesis (meaning re-creation) proposes that a thought is a process of adaptation to the immediate environment. This is performed by fast physiological machinery that can operate within a few 100s of milliseconds and relies on the mechanisms of neural adaptation. A key difference between anapoietic approach and the functional approach is that for anapoietic process much of the information needed for the mental operations is located outside the organism. If mental operations are an adaptive process, they do not juggle symbols internally (like a computer) but make guesses of what changes should be made to the nervous system and then test them against the environment.

The mechanisms of anapoiesis offer a solution to the problem of the Chinese Room posed by John Searle.

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Functionalism (philosophy of mind) - Wikipedia

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While the cellular 4G VoLTE Jio party has gone past the 100 million subscriber mark under six months and has unveiled monthly paid plans under the Jio Prime Membership scheme, Reliance Jio is now aggressively expanding its fiber-to-the-home Gigabit broadband service.

Even as Mukesh Ambani took to the stage and delivered a seismic shock to Indias communication landscape with its Jio 4G launch in September last year, one of the slides during his hour-long presentation also touched upon Jio Giga Fiber broadband deployments later in the future. The promise of that future is now upon us.

Reuters

As early as January signs of Reliance Jio making inroads in the countrys broadband market with a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network dubbed as Giga Fiber broadband started offering free services until March 31, with a 100 Mbps data speed in select residential areas of Chennai, Pune and Mumbai regions.

According to an ET report, there are only about 18 million home broadband connections in India, which is an abysmally low number compared to the nations cellular Internet penetration, and its only natural that both the top telcos in this space, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, are trying to expand their footprint -- but not without stiff competition from local rivals such as Hathway, Spectranet, Tikona and Nextra Teleservices, all around the country.

With that in mind, Reliance Jio seems to be in aggressive expansion mode, right now, conducting pilot and beta testing programs by actually wiring up homes, apartment complexes and housing societies in Mumbai, New Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. Currently, Reliance Jios offering residents free 1Gbps connection at 100Mbps speed and 100GB monthly FUP or download limit.

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Digit is reporting one of their team members based out of Tardeo, Mumbai, whos piloting the Jio Giga Fiber home broadband connection at 100Mbps speed and monthly FUP of 100GB for the next three months. As reported by Digit, the Jio agents who visited their colleagues home didnt give him a list of the company plans to choose from. Seemingly they charged him Rs. 4000, as a security deposit for the Jio Gigabit router, on a refundable basis should he choose to opt out of the service at the end of the free three month trial period.

Digit.in

Amazing speed, isnt it? Movies will download within minutes, if not seconds, and buffer will never be an issue! But what happens when all that FUP is consumed? No need to worry, the service wont disconnect completely as the Reliance Jio broadband service's speed will throttle down to 1Mbps -- still allowing you to connect and surf the Web.

Just hope and pray that Reliance Jio Giga Fiber comes to your town or city soon, they actually have a target of lighting up Jio Giga Fiber in at least 100 cities in India within 2017 itself. Also, according to sources close to the matter, readers are strongly urged to not get fooled by alleged Jio Giga Fiber broadband plans doing the rounds on the Web, as theyre all fake according to a Jio spokesperson. Once Jios Giga Fiber testing phase gets over, the company will move step one closer towards commercial launch of the service, during which time the final Jio Giga Fiber plan will be released, according to a source privy to the information.

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Jio Giga Fiber Broadband Expands Beta Testing With 100Mbps Connection & 100GB FUP - Indiatimes.com

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5G and Gigabit LTE, while not exactly the same thing depending on whose marketing department you ask, is coming. Maybe not tomorrow and maybenot until late2017 or beyond, but its definitely coming. Recently shown off by Sprint at a small event in New Orleans, the company is currently working with a prototype Snapdragon-powered Motorola device to bring Gigabit LTE to customers.

The Gigabit LTE is based on44 MIMO, 256-QAM, and three-carrier aggregation to deliver speeds in the 600Mbps range, but that was also during a high traffic NBA game at theSmoothie King arena. As you can see in the header image, the prototype Motorola device was able to reach 612Mbps down, but only a laughable 7.83Mbps upload. This low upload is likely do to the immaturity of the network tech, but once Sprint has the kinks worked out, its sure to be much higher.

Now, as for that Motorola device, lets call it what it is. This isprototype hardware with internal components that Moto has likely loaned to Sprint while they work with the Snapdragon 835 platform. Its not ahuge mystery.However, with that said, we are approaching a timeframe whenMoto leaks would begin to happen, and Moto has stated it would be on more carriers in 2017. All good things to keep in mind.

All we can say is, bring on the gigabit speeds and more 2017 flagships! Our bodies are ready.

Excerpt from:

Sprint Testing Its Gigabit LTE With Prototype Phone From Motorola - Droid Life (press release) (blog)

10:43 Thursday 09 March 2017

Come to Bills Restaurant in Horsham for your chance to support mental health charity Mind.

Danni Tresadern, 31, from Southwater is running a social media challenge for her father, Tony Cooper, who was diagnosed with Parkinsons and dementia with Lewy Bodies in 2013.

She is asking people to post a photo of their eyes on social media and make a donation to Mind, which has given invaluable support to her family.

From 10am to 2pm today, Danni and her supporters have turned an upstairs room at Bills into an eye makeup studio, with a photographer on hand.

They say your eyes are the window to your soul, she said, so I wanted to find a way people can express their inner beauty and support a worthy cause. To take part in the Minds Eye Challenge, all you have to do is take a close up picture of your eyes.

Id love to see people decorating their eyes.

It might be your most glamorous makeup routine, artistic design, words or slogans, stick-on gems or even prosthetics! Whatever means something personal to you. If youre not feeling creative then you could post the classic make-up free selfie too. Afterwards, upload the photo and share it on your social media account, along with the hashtag, #mindseyechallenge.

To donate 2 to Mind through the challenge, visit: http://www.mindseyechallenge.com/ or http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=DanniTresadern

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I have to admit I didnt expect much going into Dying: Reborn PSVR. Publisher Oasis Games previous efforts on PlayStation VR (PSVR) have ranged from the mediocre (Ace Banana)to the downright terrible (Weeping Doll and Pixel Gear), so you could forgive me for being skeptical that this would be a different story. Much to my surprise, though, I found myself starting to have a bit of fun with this cheesy B-movie style escape room game.

But, just as soon as it started, it was over.

You see, Dying: Reborn PSVR isnt the full game. Instead, its three excerpts from the first three levels of the full campaign, which does not support VR. It only takes about an hour to see through the VR content, if that. This would be fine if it was available as a free experience for PSVR owners that picked up the full game but, instead, Oasis Games has decided to charge for it, effectively making it a premium demo. If there was enough here to warrant a price then that might be less of a problem, but Dying: Reborn is sadly the same story were seeing with many early PSVR titles: too short and no depth.

Piecing together the games story is tricky when parts of it have been carved out, though the voice acting is one of its more enjoyable flaws. I know VR is in the early days akin to the original PlayStation, but that doesnt mean voice overs have to act like it. I laughed out loud listening to the dialogue, which makes Jill sandwiches sound like Shakespeare. Without the context of the entire game or even a proper ending, much of the narrative doesnt fit. You wont even see the amusing fish-headed villain thats on the front cover in the flesh, just as a silhouette through a TV screen (drinking a glass of wine, much to my delight).

Thats indicative of the entire game, too. Even sequentially; Id end one level by walking through one door and then start the next one off as if Id walked through another. I could tell sections had been cut out, for whatever reason, and I was getting an abridged version.

What is here isnt terrible, though. As far as escape room games go, I found Dying: Reborn struck a pretty nice balance between brain-teasers and progression. I was able to solve each of the games puzzles on my own (which speaks to their simplicity), though there were a few times Id find myself wandering up and down a corridor, unsure of what to do next.

While many of the challenges simply involve entering the correct number on a keypad, they still delivered in interesting ways. One was a grid that I had to select specific tiles on, for example, and it was used multiple times for different puzzles. The games never mind-bendingly clever, but there is a methodical satisfaction to progressing through the trials step-by-step, even if it never goes further than that.

Thats in spite of VR though. Though the simplistic graphics (a notable downgrade from the full game) help Dying: Reborns 3D effect, theres no real reason for the game to actually be played with a headset. The environments are largely static, with assets reused time and again, giving the whole thing a very Unity asset store feel. Though I appreciated being able to move in VR with a DualShock 4, this was far from a great example of the powerful emotions this technology can drum up.

Dying: Reborn PSVR has some fun puzzles to solve, but its far too short on substance to recommend to anyone. By carving out sections of the non-VR game, Oasis Games has created something a little like the games disturbing fish-headed protagonist; a hollow Frankensteins monster, brought to life with left overs. PSVR players deserve better.

Dying: Reborn PSVR is now available for $9.99.Read our Game Review Guidelinesfor more information on how we arrived at this score.

Tagged with: Dying: Reborn PSVR, Oasis Games, PlayStation VR

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Dying: Reborn PSVR Review Should Have Stayed Dead - UploadVR

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Attackers are widely exploiting a recently patched vulnerability in Apache Struts that allows them to remotely execute malicious code on web servers.

Apache Struts is an open-source web development framework for Java web applications. It's widely used to build corporate websites in sectors including education, government, financial services, retail and media.

On Monday, the Apache Struts developers fixed a high-impact vulnerability in the framework's Jakarta Multipart parser. Hours later, an exploit for the flaw appeared on Chinese-language websites and this was almost immediately followed by real-world attacks, according to researchers from Cisco Systems.

The vulnerability is very easy to exploit and allows attackers to execute system commands with the privileges of the user running the web server process. If the web server is configured to run as root, the system is completely compromised, but executing code as a lower-privileged user is also a serious security threat.

What's even worse is that the Java web application doesn't even need to implement file upload functionality via the Jakarta Multipart parser in order to be vulnerable. According to researchers from Qualys, the simple presence on the web server of this component, which is part of the Apache Struts framework by default, is enough to allow exploitation.

"Needless to say we think this is a high priority issue and the consequence of a successful attack is dire," said Amol Sarwate, director of Vulnerability Labs at Qualys, in a blog post.

Companies who use Apache Struts on their servers should upgrade the framework to versions 2.3.32 or 2.5.10.1 as soon as possible.

Researchers from Cisco Talos have observed "a high number of exploitation events." Some of them only execute the Linux command whoami to determine the privileges of the web server user and are probably used for initial probing. Others go further and stop the Linux firewall and then download an ELF executable that's executed on the server.

"The payloads have varied but include an IRC bouncer, a DoS bot, and a sample related to the bill gates botnet," the Talos researchers said in a blog post.

According to researchers from Spanish outfit Hack Players, Google searches indicate 35 million web applications that accept "filetype:action" uploads and a high percentage of them are likely vulnerable.

It's somewhat unusual that attacks have started so quickly after the flaw was announced and it's not yet clear whether an exploit for the vulnerability already existed in closed circles before Monday.

Users who can't immediately upgrade to the patched Struts versions can apply a workaround that consists of creating a Servlet filter for Content-Type that would discard any requests not matching multipart/form-data. Web application firewall rules to block such requests are also available from various vendors.

Lucian Constantin is an IDG News Service correspondent. He writes about information security, privacy, and data protection.

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Hackers exploit Apache Struts vulnerability to compromise corporate web servers - Network World

Duck Season is easily my favorite premise for a VR game. For anyone in the age range of about 30-45, the upcoming release from Stress Level Zero will be a giant nostalgia trip with a freakytwist.

The 1980s are in full swing and my virtual living room looks like it fits perfectly into that time period. My mom brings home a copy of the popular game Duck Season as a one day game rental, and Im going to spend all day playing it on a giant box television. Thetoy gun for the game is sitting on the floor among a heap of game cartridges and VHS tapes. Most of these are playable, so I can grab a tape or one of the cartridges and check it out.

There is a copy of the game Sinatra, for example. I stick that in the game system and I quickly recognize the startup screen for Contra with Sinatra spelled out instead. The little mini-game is reminiscent of a cross between Michael Jacksons Moonwalker and Streets of Rage. A crying Sinatra pops up whenever I die.

When I get to the Duck Season cartridge I actually go inside the television. If I turn around I can see the little boy that is me staring back through the television screen. It is a bit trippy.I pick up my shotgun and start loading shells to take out the ducks flying back and forth. Between rounds a creepy dog pops up from the brush and starts dancing. So I shoot him, just like I did that laughing mutt from the original Duck Hunt.

This might have been a mistake.

Later, when it is near midnight and I leave the game world, the lighting in that living room has darkened. Now it looks like something straight out of a childhood nightmare. If I stare at objects around the room, like the clock, the sound I hear slowly changes into a more haunting version of itself. Imagine listening to the slight ticking of a clock until it is the only thing drumming inside your skull.

The various endings are determined by the players actions, wrote Stress Level Zeros Brandon Laatsch in an email. Some elements of the sound design are driven subjectively. Focusing on them causes you to hear them how your mind might imagine them rather than how they actually sound.

My skin starts to crawl and shivers run down my spine. I pick up the toy gun off the ground will that help me here in the real world? I peek out the window nervously, turn around for fear theres something hiding behind the couch and finally focus my attention on the door open a crack just to my left.

The dog is coming for me and Im so scared.

The designers behind this world are Stress Level Zero, creators of the multiplayer shooting game Hover Junkers [Review: 7/10], and I found myself experiencing a range of emotions from laughter to straight-up fear inside a short tour of the experience at the Game Developers Conference last week. The game will feature different endings depending on what you do, including one for those that dont shoot the dog. Laatsch says everyone shoots the dog though.

Stress Level Zero is planning to release Duck Season in the coming weeks. It is coming to SteamVR-compatible headsets with tracked controllers.

Tagged with: duck hunt, Duck Season, Stress Level Zero

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Duck Hunt Meets Five Nights At Freddy's In Stress Level Zero's Next VR Game - UploadVR

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International Women's Day: Roxie Nafousi tries posting 'less-than-perfect' images BBC News Blogger and model Roxie Nafousi has 46,000 followers but says her moments of anxiety and depression are exacerbated by the pressure to look perfect on social media. In the run-up to International Women's Day we asked her to experiment by posting ... and more »

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International Women's Day: Roxie Nafousi tries posting 'less-than-perfect' images - BBC News

Arizona Sunshine is releasing a new map today for its horde mode. In horde mode, you and up to three other players must work together in order to fend off waves of the undead while managing limited ammunition and health restoring items. Since launch, Arizona Sunshine has had only one horde map that is set in a brightly lit outdoor encampment. Todays update however will take players where they hoped theyd never have to go again: back into the mine.

The mine is a level in Arizona Sunshines campaign mode that has become notorious for being the most horrifying 20-30 minutes of the entire game. The mine in the main game is pitch black with the only light source emanating from your flimsy flashlight or a few weak generatorsscattered around the map. Similarly, the new mine horde map surrounds you in darkness and makes you question what lies around every shadowy corner.

We had the chance to try the mine horde map at GDC 2017and there a few things players need to be aware of before hopping in to this gut wrenching new experience. The first is that this map is significantly larger than Arizonas original horde arena. That map was essentially a square that you could cover in a few seconds. The mine, however, is so large that youll have to actually hunt down zombies to progress through early waves rather than just letting them all come to you in a funnel.

According to the Vertigo reps at the GDC demo, exploration will be essential to succeed in this new map. Ammo and health will not simply spawn at your relatively well-illuminated starting platform. Instead, youll need to grit your teeth and march into the dark unknown if you really want to go for the gold.

I played this map with unlimited ammo and invulnerability at GDC and I was still terrifiedout of my mind. My advice to you is to bring a friend, or two, or three. Thesejet-black caves arefartoo terrifying to challenge solo.

This new map will be filling in for the promised Las Vegas DLC that was slated to release last month. According to Vertigo, that content is now being slated for late Marchinstead.

Tagged with: arizona sunshine, GDC, Vertigo Games

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New Arizona Sunshine Horde Map Takes You Back into the Mine Available Now - UploadVR

In-Depth

Windows Information Protection is among many new security features introduced in last years Windows 10 Anniversary Update release, bringing data loss prevention to the OS.

Among the numerous security improvements Microsoft added to Windows 10 last summer, administrators can now create policies in the OS aimed at reducing data leakage. Windows Information Protection (WIP) brings data loss prevention (DLP) capabilities, mobile device management (MDM) and other security tools to the OS for the first time. Microsoft added WIP, a feature known as endpoint data protection (EDP) prior to its release, with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

Any organization considering a Windows 10 migration should evaluate WIP, especially if your organization has done little to prevent data leakage.

Its no secret how easy it is for an employee to copy files onto a USB drive or to a personal online cloud service such as iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive, or even social media sites including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Despite the ease of doing so, many organizations do little to prevent it. WIP is one easy way to do so, whether you have Office 365 or an MDM tool.

WIP isnt a replacement for BitLocker disk encryption, which protects data on behalf of the user. But BitLocker doesnt stop an authorized user from intentionally or inadvertently decrypting and moving files. WIP lets administrators invoke copy and paste protection, segment personal from corporate data, provision policies, and selectively wipe corporate data. Data coming in from an enterprise network node is automatically protected by WIP. Once WIP is configured, business data can only be stored on approved devices or even within approved applications.

A Key WIP Requirement There is a catch. To create policies using WIP, administrators must use System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) or Intune, the Microsoft cloud-based management tool, available with either a standalone subscription or though the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) bundle. Microsoft claims more than 30 million EMS subscriptions, suggesting Intune is widely used, making WIP accessible to administrators rolling out the latest version of Windows 10. Using Intune, Ill describe how to create polices using the WIP capabilities and to what extent, if any, these features are unique to those deploying Windows 10.

Configuring WIP WIP is configured using policies to enable the selections that match the needs of an organization (see Figure 1).

To configure a WIP policy, complete the following steps:

Windows Store apps require publisher and product name, while desktop apps require publisher, product name, binary name and version number -- the dialog box will change depending on the item type chosen for the rule.

All of these options for desktop applications support Wild card values. For AppLocker policy files, an XML file must be specified for upload.

See original here:

Prevent Data Leakage with Windows Information Protection - Redmondmag.com

EDF ENERGY customers may be facing surprise bills after The INQUIRER discovered that some of its smart meters have been failing to send data since last November.

The problem stems from a faulty firmware drop released last November 5th, that EDF tells us has affected a 'lot' of smart meter customers.

The meter is supposed to sync with the paired electricity meter using Zigbee. This is meant to upload meter reading at regular intervals over GSM using a SIM card. However, this has been failing to pass the information on, meaning EDF is being told by customers' meters there is zero gas being used.

It is, we were told, a known problem, with no end in sight. Yet affected customers have not been proactively informed about the issue, and when we questioned yesterday why our EDF smart meter, which is designed to take the guesswork out of billing, had left us with a debit of 320 over the winter, we were told that it is the responsibility of the customer to check if payment amounts are correct.

Further, we were told that customers should be using a belt and braces approach, and continue to take meter readings. All of which completely defeats the point of smart meters for the customer.

EDF have said that they did warn customers at the time that there might be temporary errors on their display but it would not affect their bills. Alas, the problem runs deeper, and it's now March.

Although the company says that 85,000 customers were successfully updated and less than one percent failed, it hasn't given us the exact number of potentially affected customers.

We pointed out to EDF that, if their equipment was working properly, customers' direct debits would have been updated to reflect their actual usage, and therefore it had failed to provide one of the main advertised selling points of the meter scheme.

All homes in the UK are due to have smart metering by 2020 under government legislation, but the scheme has been beset by many problems, including incompatibility between meters being installed by different suppliers, leading to predictions that the target will be missed.

Unless they meet the SMETS1 standard (which current EDF meters do not by default) by changing provider, the meter may fail to function as "smart" and you will end up taking meter readings anyway. Rather as EDF customers are being advised to do now.

They told us, "We are aware that in some rare cases the meters no longer communicate with our systems. We are in the process of identifying whether there are additional actions we can take to fix this issue, and will ensure that all efforts will be taken to ensure the smart meters work as they should. This may include replacing the smart meter if necessary." adding that where a firmware drop fails, they retry sending it until it works.

In March 2016, GCHQ was forced to intervene over the poor security in smart metersleading to the new standard. IoT devices have been beset by problems of security, and although smart meters are isolated from the rest of the home, this provides even less chance of the end user detecting a fault.

The current advice we can offer is that if you're offered a smart meter, check with your provider that the models they are currently installing are SMETS1 compliant. If not, decline until they are. If you have a smart meter, check regularly online that your bill is being updated (you can opt for readings as often as twice-hourly with some companies) or if you've been given an energy meter, check that.

EDF have told us that they will be rolling out SMETS1 compliant meters later in the year, but existing smart customers won't have their meters replaced as they intend to add SMETS1 compliance via the borked firmware update (slightly ironically).

And, though it pains us to say this, we have to echo what EDF advised us. If you have a smart meter, with any supplier, don't assume it's working. For peace of mind, take manual readings twice a year and submit them, just as you did before.

Yeah, that's the rub. Not even the smart meter provider trusts them.

Some of the information in this article was given to us by EDF's customer service team who were dealing with us as customers, not journalists. We have asked EDF for a statement in our official capacity, particularly asking why it had failed to inform customers after the firmware drop borked their meters, on the cusp of the coldest part of the year.

Their initial response from a spokesperson was

"Our aim is to install a smart meter for every single customer that wants one, helping them to save energy and money.

"Unfortunately in a small number of cases, smart meters can experience problems that result in limited functionality. Where we have identified smart meters working with limited functionality, we are working to resolve these for customers as quickly as possible."

We've gone back to them as we feel that our concerns have not been fully addressed. EDF has also pointed out that our specific meter was impacted by a secondary problem as well as the upgrade drop failure, though the symptoms and outcomes are the same.

We'd also add that we've already had the meters replaced once, and that we were told by customer services that reattempting a firmware drop was a manual, not automatic process that could take up to two weeks, in deference to the official statements, and that the success rate of resends has, thus far, not been good.

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EDF smart meter borkage could lead to surprise winter fuel bills for 'many' - The INQUIRER

Asked if PlayStation 4 Update 4.50 will be releasing today (as suggested yesterday), the Ask PlayStation UKTwitter account told a user, Unfortunately we still dont have an official release yet, please keep check our official Blog for updates.

While Sony isnt saying when PS4 update 4.50 will be available, the PlayStation China website updated earlier today to say it would be out on March 7,but the postwas removed shortly afterwards. PSU managed to grab the patch notes for 4.50 though, and you can see them below (translated via Google Translate):

Keep in mind that, until 4.50 is officially released, all of the above features are subject to change.

Missing from the patch notes is Boost Mode for PlayStation 4 Pro owners, which may improve the performance of certain PS4 games that havent received a PS4 Pro compatibility patch. Sony confirmed its inclusion in 4.50 after it was discovered by beta players.

When Sony announces the launch date for update 4.50, well let you know.

[Source: PlayStation China, Ask PlayStation UK via PSU]

See the article here:

Sony Says PS4 Update 4.50 Doesn't Have a Release Date, PlayStation China Leaks the Patch Notes - PlayStation LifeStyle

In a large warehouse next to the Scottsdale Airport in Arizona, 149 patients occupy large cylinders filled with liquid nitrogen. None are alive; some are just decapitated heads. Yet to adherents of the practice called transhumanism, they arent dead either, but suspended between life and death. When the technology becomes available, the thinking goes, they will, in some shape or form, come back to life.

BOOK REVIEW To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death, by Mark OConnell (Doubleday, 256 pages).

For $200,000, you can have your own body suspended there or if you opt to have only your brain preserved, the cost is $80,000. The facility in Scottsdale, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, is one of three cryopreservation sites in the United States. (A fourth is in Russia.)

What if technology could set us free from our own mortal bodies? If there were a way to expand our mental and physical beings beyond the limitations we were born with? If we could harness science to morph our flesh and bones into a machinelike state?

In the transhumanist school of thought, these are not far out propositions. They are our future.

To adherents of the practice called transhumanism, they arent dead either, but suspended between life and death.

The history, plight, and future of transhumanism are examined in Mark OConnells first book, To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death. OConnell, a Slate book columnist and staff writer for the literary website The Millions, defines transhumanism as a total emancipation from biology itself. In this thoughtful and readable book, he aims to understand the motivations of those who are guided by the belief that technology will enable humans to transcend the human condition.

In an attempt to explore what it means to think of ourselves as machines, OConnell takes readers on an all-encompassing tour, meeting artificial intelligence researchers, philosophers, brain-uploading scientists, roboticists with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and grinders (people who implant cybernetic devices into their own skin). He closes with his travels on the immortality bus with Zoltan Istvan, a transhumanist author and entrepreneur who ran for president in 2016 on the Transhumanist Party ticket. (He didnt make a dent in the election, but he claimed that winning was not the point he wanted to bring awareness to the concept of conquering death with technology, as he reported to Inverse). OConnell touches on concepts like the singularity the moment when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence along with mind uploading, life extension, and space colonization. He writes in an agreeable, conversational tone, offering his opinions, doubts, and fears along the way.

OConnell makes it clear that he does not fit into the subcultures he observes: In no sense was I among my people. In no sense was this my world. As a self-proclaimed interloper, he connects directly with readers who may know next to nothing about AI, but worry about its implications. Often he closes these sections with reflections about his own uneasy relationship with machines: The effects of technology on my own life were something about which I was profoundly ambivalent; for all I had gained in convenience and connectedness, I was increasingly aware of the extent to which my movements in the world were mediated and circumscribed by corporations whose only real interest was in reducing the lives of human beings to data, as a means to further reducing us to profit.

The flip side of creating machinelike humans is creating humanlike machines, and OConnell is equally fascinated by the astounding but fraught recent strides in artificial intelligence. He visits the Machine Intelligence Research Institute in Berkeley, California, to understand why AI safety has become a pressing issue. While the existential dangers of AI may seem a far-off concern, they are a preoccupation for many Silicon Valley elites, with billions in research funding from tech icons like Elon Musk and giants like Facebook and Microsoft. OConnell observes the DARPA robotics challenge to see just how far robots have evolved, what they are capable of, and what their creators envision for the future.

If transhumanism is the core subject of this book, OConnells explorations of artificial superintelligence and high-tech robotics come off as somewhat confusing detours. Transhumanism, it should be stressed, is one subset of AI not the other way around. Nick Bostrom, one of the most vocal proponents of investing in research to develop safe AI, would likely distance himself from transhumanism, as would many computer scientists and traditional AI researchers. Even within transhumanist thought, there are divides. OConnell does not fully investigate them.

Who are you when your body is part or all machine? If you could choose immortality, would you?

OConnell tries to understand the extreme branches of transhumanism that would turn brains and bodies into virtual machines. But not all transhumanists go so far. Theres a spectrum, and some of the most pressing ethical and scientific dilemmas may lie within it. What does it mean to be half human, half machine, for instance? If we could live longer by using technology to replace parts of our aging, dying bodies, would we? What about fixing certain parts of the brain with artificial replacements? Where is the line? What about the concept of Google Glass, the failed tool intended to literally attach to our line of vision, giving us intelligence in real time? These questions are current and relevant, and it would have been interesting to see OConnell engage them in more depth.

OConnell plays into the presumed fears of readers. While he is sympathetic to the pursuit of a post-human condition, he displays his own doubts. He occupies a safe space, an us versus them world in which they are misguided or outside the bounds of normal society. It is easier to look askance at Istvans extremely problematic idea of implanting microchips in Syrian refugees, to track their whereabouts and whether they are contributing to society, than to explore whether you might choose to have a nonfunctioning piece of your body artificially replaced. It would have been riskier for OConnell to dig into his own thoughts in this murky space. To resist the temptation to highlight the strangeness of his characters. To wrestle not with why they arrived at their conclusions, but with whether there are merits to these ideas. Or to let the characters speak solely for themselves. Many of these people are highly intelligent, capable, and influential; they deserve due respect for philosophies that lie outside what many consider normal.

To Be a Machine raises deep religious and philosophical questions. What does it mean to be human? Who are you when your body is part or all machine? If you could choose immortality, would you?

As OConnell himself admits, he wound up substantially more confused after writing this book. Many readers will likely experience the same mystification. But perhaps thats the point.

Hope Reese is a staff writer for TechRepublic, a division of CBS Interactive. She covers the intersection of technology and society, focusing on AI, robotics, and driverless cars.

Original post:

You're Dead? No Problem - Undark Magazine

Developed by Epic Games and with a budget that nearly matched the original Gears of War, Robo Recall [Review: 7.5/10] is probably the Oculus Rifts biggest exclusive so far. But a new mod is making sure HTC Vive owners dont miss out.

You may well have heard of CrossVR before. Hes one of the developers behind Revive, a hack that allows Vive owners to play games available on Oculus Home, including exclusive Rift content funded by Oculus itself. It caused quite a stir last year when Oculus released a Home update that unintentionally blocked its access, then quickly backpedalled when it opened up further security concerns.

But CrossVR isnt bringing Robo Recall to Vive using that program. Instead, hes utilising the games mod support for a new release that hes labelled RoboRevive. The mod uses SteamVRs Unreal Egnine plugin.

You can download the mod from GitHub where youll also find detailed instructions to installing it. The modder notes that the Vives control scheme is not perfect, likely due to the differences in buttons between the Oculus Touch controllers that Robo Recall was designed for and the Vive wands HTCs headset uses. Keep in mind that this is simply a foundation that the developer hopes others will build upon to make the game much more compatible with Vive.

Its taken less than a week for modders to get Robo Recall up and running on Vive; the first-person shooter enjoyed a surprise launch last Wednesday for free. Still, its arrival is well timed, as others have already implemented a mod that adjusts the game to better suit 360 degree play. Currently the game is designed for 180 degree Rift setups with two sensors, constantly getting players to face forwards, but this mod changes the game so players can teleport and end up facing the intended direction.

Epic Games is also working on an official fix for this, due to launch later this month.

Tagged with: Epic Games, htc vive, oculus rift, robo recall

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Robo Recall Vive Support Added With RoboRevive Mod - UploadVR

Saving lives globally with a computer science degree while sitting in Boston is Gitika Srivastava, and there are many who can vouch for her. How is Srivastava doing it?

Srivastava the founder and creator for Navya, a web portal that brings together India's best oncologists on one platform for patients and their families seeking expert opinion. Since its launch, the website has helped people from over 22 countries, including those from South East Asia and Africa.

Navya's operations are based in India's IT city Bengaluru, and has oncologists on board from across the world. The clinical informatics and patient services organisation helps cancer patients get an expert opinion on cancer diagnosis and decide the treatment option best for them, taking their location into consideration.

The web portal was founded in 2010 by Srivastava, inspired from a personal experience. "In 2007 someone close to me was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, I spent most of my waking hours researching for treatment options. Living in Boston, I realised I was extremely privileged as I had access to technology and several experts. I couldn't help but think of the many people across the world who didn't have this kind of access. I wanted to do something about that," she said.

Considering her background in computer science, Srivastava and her friend, Dr Naresh Ramarajan realised that technology and informatics was the way to go, she says.

"We wanted to take Dr Badwe's (Dr Rajendra Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Centre) mind from one centre in Mumbai across the world. We wanted to see if we could build a system that can think like an oncologist," says Srivastava.

Anyone can register on Navya, which is a non-profit. For Rs 6,500, they get you an e-consult you need, and the team hopes to bring down this cost soon, as more people use it. The fee is waived for those with a BPL (below poverty line) card, Srivastava tells us. All you have to do is upload your reports and the queries. An analytical system devised by the Navya team organises the reports submitted by patients or their caregivers, which are then sent to top oncologists for an opinion.

It takes as little as a few hours to a maximum of three days for the entire process without the patient having to leave home, as Goa's Panaji resident Cheryl D'souza recently learned. The 27-year-old and her family were under extreme stress when they were informed by the doctor that her mother had cancer but the doctors couldn't confirm if it was stomach cancer or ovarian.

"We took a few opinions, and ordered a repeat preview biopsy which would take another 14 days," Cheryl said. Time was of the essence since her mother's cancer was already stage IV, and not in a condition to travel to consult doctors. Cheryl then turned to Navya. "This happened in November 2016. I uploaded my mother's reports on the website. An hour later a person from the firm called me and asked me a few questions. The next morning I received a report from a medical oncology expert at Tata Memorial Centre confirming that the reports were consistent with ovarian cancer. They also gave me the treatment options," she said. Cheryl's mother was advised to proceed with chemotherapy in Goa.

Navya tied up with the National Cancer Grid (NCG), a Tata Memorial Centre initiative spearheaded by Dr CS Pramesh, a surgical oncologist. NCG connects 96 cancer hospitals and research centres, and now patients can have access to them via navya.care

At the doctor's end, who are on board as consultants with Navya, the patient's reports appear on an app, and the doctors respond in little as 24 hours.

Srivastava says, "Navya is an expert system which uses technology and data to make intelligent treatment decisions for the patient. We have patients who can't afford certain treatments or can't travel to certain places so the options given to them are customised to their needs. Patient preference is a big part of the process."

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Now, consult the best cancer experts in the world - Daily News & Analysis

As festival line ups across the country fill up quickly, new Irish artists are being offered the chance to play at the quickest growing event of the summer, BARE in the Woods in Portarlington.

Taking place at Garryhinch Woods on the Laois Offaly border on June 9-11, BARE in the Woods has already announced hip hop legends House of Pain and Mike Skinner with more headline acts due to be released imminently.

In the meantime, BARE17 is directing new Irish artists to download the Mobstar app and upload an entry for an opportunity to play this years festival.

Mobstar is the first and largest open network of authentic music talent that will allow users and fans to immediately discover, share, engage, follow and directly support their favourite rising talent.

Already, Heroes in Hiding, Craic Appeal, Mind Riot, Scoops, Chasing Abbey, Buniscionn, Wolves of Youth, Exiles, The Revellions, Emma Jai, The Kilo 1977, Dreaming of Jupiter, Montreal State, Not Monsters, Gemma Bradley and Quangodelic have been chosen to play BARE17 through the Mobstar app.

The quality of the acts that have entered through Mobstar so far have been amazingly good. We still have slots to fill over the three-day event, so we are encouraging anyone who would like to find out what its like to play a great Irish festival to download the app and get involved, said Festival organiser, Peter Dunne.

The festival has expanded to a three day event this year.

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Local bands can get a chance to perform at Bare in the Woods - Leinster Express

Narindervir Singh, an Indian national in New Zealand fell victim to a racist attack last week that he captured on video as evidence. The incident happened in Auckland where a native racially abused Singh and asked him to go back to his country, a media report said on Monday.

Narindervir Singh/Facebook Live Video

Singh filmed the entire tirade from inside his vehicle after the two men got involved in an incident of road rage.

"I gave him a space...that lady gave me the finger. He was driving that car (pointing to a white Holden) and now he's trying to threaten me, giving me bad names," Singh can be heard saying in the video which he live-streamed onto Facebook.

Narindervir Singh/Facebook Live Video

As soon as Singh told the native that he was uploading the video onto Facebook, the abuser got more riled up and swore at Singh asking him to go back to his country.

Before the situation escalated, the abuser had been tail-gating Singh who had simply moved aside to let him pass. But the man stopped his car and hurled derogatory remarks at Singh about Punjabi people, calling them "faggots".

And it didn't end there. As Singh started driving off, the abuser pulled down his pants and flashed his bottoms at Singh.

"It really shocked me and after he (left), I was really shaken.I don't know what to do, it really hurts my heart...The first thing in my mind was that he might hurt me with some weapon," Singh toldNewshub.

The horrific episode didn't end there. When Singh pulled over on a side-street, the white Holden driver stopped and began his racist rant all over again.

A complaint has been filed with the police and investigation is underway.

With inputs from TOI

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Indian Man Racially Attacked In New Zealand By A Native Who Asked Him To Go Back To His Country - Indiatimes.com

From cursory field clearing process to bewildered farmers, inadequate kerosene to half-finished burning of the affected plots, there are just too many gaps in the suspected control symptoms of wheat blast mission that the Bengal government has undertaken in a war footing mode.

Wheat blast is a deadly disease caused by fungus Magnaporthe oryzae. Symptoms similar to this disease that wrecked havoc in April 2016 in Bangladesh (forcing authorities to destroy standing crops on nearly 20,000 hectares) showed up in two districts of Bengal Nadia and Murshidabad. Alarm bells rang in Bengal and Delhi and the Mamata Banerjee government ordered destruction and burning of the wheat on about 1,000 hectare in these districts on an emergency basis.

Central government officers visited Bengal and held meetings with us. There is no other way than to burn the crops. Primarily the symptoms look like what blast. We have to contain it because it will be devastating if it spreads. We have pressed in men and materials at the villages. However, it is a huge exercise and some shortcomings may be there. We are trying our best, said Purnendu Bose, state agriculture minister.

A farmer in Nadia shows the remains of his field after government officials set fire . Part of the crop remained unburnt. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

But a visit to some of the affected fields of Chapra blocks of Nadia district on Saturday by HT team exposed quite a few gaps resulting in some of the affected crops remaining untouched.

Read: Deadly wheat blast symptoms enters India through the Bangladesh border, Bengal govt burning crops on war footing

There seems to be fewer agriculture personnel in the districts who can ensure a fool-proof destruction of each and every strand of the wheat crop. They were visiting the fields, since morning but they dont have enough machines to fell the crops and burn them.

The government employees want the farmers to take the initiative to destroy their harvest. But they were suffering from the shock of the disease and the resultant financial loss. The government has announced a compensation, but it is not adequate to cover our loss. Moreover, we have no idea when the money will be paid to us, said Sixty-year-old Dulal Sheikh of Sonpukur village in Chapra Block in Nadia, situated barely 8 kms away from the Bangladesh border.

Bengal government has deployed combined harvester machines to clear the fields. But the numbers of such machines are far less than needed. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

They set fire to my field. But a lot of it remains. How will I clear all of it? Who will pay for it? I have already lost the crop, said Dulal Sheikh. The administration is offering Rs 50,375 as compensation for crop destroyed of per hectare.

The scene was the same at Sonpukur, Hatikhola, Mohotpur, Sikra and other villages in Nadia near the Indo-Bangladesh border.

On Saturday, a harvester machine felled more than half the crop on his 12.5 cottah field. But the machine has many fields to work on Saturday was the deadline set by the government for destruction of the crops and has to leave.

The government officials present at the spot set fire to the crops, but they had to leave even if half the crop was not burnt. As the HT team found out, merely setting fire to the crop could not ensure their destruction only the crop ripe for harvest would burn, while the unripe green ones would not.

Goverment officer speaking to villagers in Nadia. There is a need for more officers on the ground to cover all the affected villages. (Subhankar Chakraborty/HT PHOTO)

There were unexpected hurdles.

There is not even sufficient kerosene needed to effectively burn the entire crop. The unripe ones dont burn properly and remain. We are therefore seeking the help of the farmers, said an officer on conditions of anonymity.

At some areas authorities are asking farmers to cut the crop and burn it themselves, making a visit later.

The ramifications can be dangerous. Agri experts conceded that if the fungus crosses the borders of Bengal to reach the wheat basket in the Hindi heartland, the effects can be disastrous.

The record books, however, are unlikely to show these gaps. Government officers are recording the culling and burning process taking a few snaps of the field, the farmers and uploading the information along with the coordinates of the plot on a government website at the end of the day.

Read: Ground Zero: Farmers stare helplessly as govt race against time to contain spread of wheat blast like symptoms

In some fields the fungus, however, may continue to thrive and spread. The disease was first identified in 1985 in Brazil, and thereafter it spread to Bolivia and Paraguay. Last year it spread in six districts of Bangladesh.

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Mind the gap: burn and destroy mission in Bengal fields leaves a few questions - Hindustan Times