These are from my Facebook page for the week ending August 13, 2016

August 12
"Killing an animal that for five million years has had an important role to play in nature is an act of adolescence. As long as urbanites keep their dogs and cats inside at night, coyotes pose no unique or overwhelming danger..." - NY Times

The US government is pondering requiring autonomous, self driving vehicles to incorporate in altruistic algorithm that would make life or death calculations to kill the fewest people possible in an anticipated accident. The decision could be to sacrifice the vehicle's occupants in order to save more pedestrians in jeopardy.

What about the vehicle that is built with a latest self-learning smart computer? (Named Dave?) Could this computer's brain evolve a self-preservation instinct and countermand the government's altruistic algorithm?

Stanley Kibrick here we come ... (15 years late)

Here is a supporting article from The Economist:

In his recent blog in Apple Insider, Daniel Eran Dilger explains the reality of encryption: "Real encryption means that the data is absolutely scrambled, the same way that a paper shredder absolutely obliterates documents".

Imagine a future headline: "In addition to the recently enacted law requiring all softw ...

Dateline San Diego: Wednesday, 19th of August 2015.

Today's headline: "Woman caught leaving Trader Joe's with a large wedge of Edam cheese!"

She would face criminal charges and a possible life sentence if this occurred in Russia today. Ref: "Putin gets tough on illicit cheese."

Question of the day: What is a Russian fondue? It's called "Putin on the Ritz – or the naked cracker!"