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Technology

Synthetic Interview With Bill Joy 35

Posted by Hemos from the welcome-to-counter-earth dept.
generic-man writes: "As part of the Earthware Symposium on the next 50 years of technology, Carnegie Mellon researchers invited many people prominent in technology to speak about what lies ahead. They created a Synthetic Interview with Bill Joy -- ask it a question, and you'll get the most appropriate answer out of the many that were provided. Questions about the future of technology are the most appropriate things to ask him."
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Synthetic Interview with Bill Joy More

Synthetic Interview with Bill Joy

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  • EA's NHL sucks... John Madden on the Amiga 500 rules. It sucks, it rules, no compromise.
  • I would have gone to this symposium, but I was at work :-(
  • actually, the WebClass part says even more, fsckin COM objects written in VB are about as reliable as an octogenarian's bladder.
  • First off, I had woken up rather late (day after having 3 midterms in the same day), so I missed the synthetic interview with Bill Joy. I did, however, get to see the later synthetic interview, "Thoughts from Sri Lanka" with Arthur C. Clarke.

    Unfortunately, due to poor health, he wasn't able to go through the hours of interviewing necessary for a "proper" synthetic interview, and was thus only able to answer a few questions. Because of this, they set up a "synthetic" synthetic interview, where the Dean of the School of Computer Science, Jim Morris, "pre-asked" all the questions Arthur C. Clarke was able to answer on videotape.

    One of the questions I recall had to do with Napster-like technologies and its effect on copyright. He remarked how this was an important issue because it hit him right in the pocketbook, and how it would be important to find new ways to compensate people for their creative work. Hopefully, he said, such a compensation would not be in dot-com stock.

    Another interesting remark was his thought that, if possible, every village in 3rd world countries should have access to at least one public computer terminal of sorts, to allow them to stay connected with the rest of the world.

    Besides the "synthetic" synthetic interview with Arthur C. Clarke, there were quite a few other interesting bits of the Symposium. For example, I got to sit about 5 feet away from Alexander Singer, famous for directing a crapload of Star Trek stuff. I also got to listen to Lee Sproull, who was the co-author of a paper I had read earlier in the year in my English course, "Atheism, Sex, and Databases: The Internet as a Social Technology."

    Also of significant interest was a talk by Nobel prize-winner Herbert Simon, one of the founders of AI and partial namesake of the Newell-Simon Hall being dedicated in coordination with the Symposium.

    The ceremonial opening of Newell-Simon Hall (a great place to eat Chinese food, btw), was also great fun. There were violinists performing, and some very expensive food. There were also various CMU robots wandering around, all of which were quite interesting.

    All in all, an enlightening experience.
  • alternatively why not just,

    drink || die while (1);

    it'd have the same effect...

    [someone, somewhere, playing the game]: "Hey Beowulf!" (drinks cluster) "Woahh just thought of a great Beowulf post myself..." (clickedy click submit)

    [someone, somewhere else, also a player]: "Heavens to Betsy! a full brace of Beowulf cluster related posts?!?!? Two more bottles of Buckfast Abbey's finest if you would Jeeves!" (glugugugugug) "Why I do believe that a post to end all posts relating to Beowulf clusters has lodged itself in my counciousness..." (clickety etc)

    multiply that by the number of reasons to drink...

  • Having this site slashdotted makes me feel good, because now I know I'm far from the only person who lacks a social life. Heh.

    "Hey its one a.m! Go out to a bar, or see whats new on Slashdot.org."

  • Re:One simple question (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I remember somebody predicting that kernel 2.4 would be out by the Fall. Too bad I can't knit a sweater or a warm pair of socks for the Winter with all that spinned yarn, because it looks like it'll be a cold day....
  • In case you follow your messages, Coward, please note that there are many, MANY people in this world who have no choice about which OS they use at work or at school. I am one of those people. So, while I prefer using mature OS's (which I do not consider W2K to be) I am not always blessed with that flexibility. Just think, with the money you spent on W2K you could have bought a linux distro CD with support, an O'Reilly book in case you're a newbie, and still had plenty of money left over for more crack.
  • Would be a virtual interview with Bill GATES.
    All you need is one answer:

    "Windows will solve that for you."

  • Hmm (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I read the subject and I swear it said Interview with Billy Joel
  • I want to have an interview with Bill Joy, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, etc in 1000 years. all those little heads in glass bell jars, eating flies.

  • Is my realplayer hosed, or was this slashdotted within seconds of getting posted?

  • I swear it said Interview with Billy Joel

    I swear I thought YOUR post said Billy Joe. You know, from Green Day.

  • Is that like the traveling salesman?
  • Have you ever played that old game consult Eliza? Only difference was you could fire off obscenities at her and she would get angry.
  • ebClass Runtime error '800a2328'
    An internal exception has occurred
    /billjoy/WebSI.ASP, line 13

    HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
    Server: Microsoft-IIS/4.0

    Friends don't let friends use Microsoft servers...

  • Bill Joy crashed (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20, 2000 @08:06PM (#687724)
    Bill Joy just crashed when I asked him a question. This world we live in is far to surreal when a statement like the previous one makes sense.
  • Artificial Stupidity was perfected in the enemy behavior code of the Tomb Raider games. I believe it was also partially based on the CPU code the earlier versions of EA's NHL series.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Looks like it's slashdotted. Probably can't handle more than a handfull of users at a time. (It looks like this was meant as a research project, not a production server).
    `ø,,ø`ø,,ø!
  • Did you perhaps ask him what he thinks of Mach?

    That makes the real Bill Joy crash too...

  • When did Bill Joy become a government shill? (Score:3)

    by Anne Marie ( 239347 ) on Friday October 20, 2000 @08:40PM (#687729)
    I'd ask "him" myself, but the site's already slashdotted. I mean, he was the principal designer of BSD, got the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award (think Nobel prize for computer geeks under 30), was all over pipeline structure for the Sparcs and NFS (ok, maybe we should skip that last one). Here was a fellow who really knew technology from the inside out and who had a vision for how things ought to be: not dictated from management or marketing, but from an engineer himself. I respected him.

    But now look at him. Co-chairman of the Presidential Information Technology Advisory Committee [hpcc.gov]. You can even listen [jointcenter.org] to him discuss [jointcenter.org] all the "great problems" his panel worked on, all the "exciting directions" he and the panel (and the Federal government) will take us in the next century.

    Don't get me wrong. I like the Federal government. I think it's a great testimony to the strength of our democracy and constitution that our government has the ability to adapt to changing times and assume the vital roles our states can no longer play themselves (at least in the last eighty years or so). But at the same time, it's the same government that can't seem to keep its hands of the technology sector. Build this bomb; don't distribute these songs; don't do drugs or use the internet to tell your friends how to do drugs.

    And where is Bill Joy in all this? He signs right up to be a big part. Not just a panel member, but the co-chairman. I'm not sure I would've done any different in his shoes, but then I don't have his stock options. I have a mortgage to pay and mouths to feed (if you count my pets -- I sure do). Power is seductive, but maybe he even could've made some great use of his. Maybe he could've brought a strong voice to the table and guided our nation with sensible national policy in this area for a change.

    But did he? The answer is clearly 'no' or else we'd have heard of it by now. Did any of you even remember that panel when it was formed or what came out of it? It was buried pages deep in the New York Times. Not even the science&technology section made much fanfare.

    Frankly, I'm disappointed with the guy. He let us all down.
  • Does this mean we'll get to see Bill Joy and Bertrand Russel team up against Ayn Rand and Barbie? This whole thing stinks of Andrej Bauer...

  • Haiku (Score:3)

    by 575 ( 195442 ) on Friday October 20, 2000 @09:09PM (#687731) Journal
    The site's not working
    Good thing its just a program
    Bill Joy's slashdotted
  • There are worse things that staying at home and reading Slashdot instead of going out to a bar on a Friday night...

    ...such as going out to a bar with a laptop, in order to reload Slashdot every 15 minutes.

    Maybe it's time we propose a new drinking game: the Slashdrink game.

    - Everytime someone writes a "First Post!", drink once.
    - Everytime Jon Kats predicts the end of western civilization due to some new techno-gizmo that's come out to the market, drink once.
    - Everytime someone mentions Natalie Portman, drink once.
    - Everytime someone suggests a Beowulf cluster of anything, drink a Beowulf cluster of shots.
    - Everytime a Slashdot editor repeats a story, drink twice (obviously).
    - Everytime someone claims a patent on something, drink once.
    - Everytime someone makes a vague reference to a science fiction book or TV show, just to show off his or her cultural knowledge, do a Vulcan salute and drink 42 times.
    - Everytime someone acts as if "USA" is interchangeable with "Everyone on this planet", drink once.
    - Everytime someone posts an article proclaiming the evils of the DMCA, RIAA, Microsoft, CIA, MCI or YMCA, flip a middle finger and drink once.
    - Everytime someone mentions Linux as being the be-all, end-all of western civilization, stand up, salute and drink once.
    - Everytime someone mentions hot grits, snort and drink once.
    - Everytime you vote on a Slashdot Poll (We know you vote more than once! Admit it!), stand up, say "All hail Cowboy Neal!" and drink once.
    - Everytime someone mentions BattleBots, Anime shows or fluffy pink slippers, drink once. Uh, better skip the part about the slippers.
    - Everytime someone mentions the NSA or Proyect Echelon, wave at the camera and drink once.
    - Everytime someone posts something filled with links, merely to score Karma points, drink once.

    And so it begins...
  • Yes, and someone used Eliza [cmu.edu] to talk to AIM users. The Result [fury.com]!

  • One simple question (Score:4)

    by w00ly_mammoth ( 205173 ) on Friday October 20, 2000 @11:11PM (#687734)
    Does anybody ever keep track of whether any of these futuristic predictions are coming true? If nobody checks up on how good these predictions are turning out, it's basically a cottage industry to subsidize some guys sitting and spinning yarn.

    I keep reading predictions in almost every magazine, but nobody ever cross-checks and makes a comparison. eg., "XYZ predicted this 5 yrs ago, and it was total crap" or "It's on track and the pieces are coming together".

    The only two exceptions have been Cliff Stoll and Bob Metcalfe. Their biggest mistake was that they actually predicted something measurable in their lifetime, and even worse, about something less than 5 yrs in the future. I guess Bill Joy, Kurzweil and the rest have learnt from it and make sure to predict the future 20 or 50 yrs or so. That way, they will have sold all their books and be treated as "accurate" visionaries in their lifetime.

    As Homer would say - So long suckers!

    w/m
  • Azile was eliza's 'brother' program. talk about a rude bastard!

  • Keys... (Score:5)

    by tooth ( 111958 ) on Friday October 20, 2000 @08:29PM (#687736)
    Bill, where are my keys?

    • WebClass Runtime error '800a2328'
      An internal exception has occurred
      /billjoy/WebSI.ASP, line 13

    So, you're saying you don't know either?

  • is THAT what I smell?

  • After hours (Score:5)

    by FreeJack1 ( 203705 ) on Friday October 20, 2000 @08:30PM (#687739)
    The scene is a dark smoky room with nothing but a table and few dark figures hunched around it, tossing the occasional playing card into a pile and an occasional shot glass to their mouths.
    Let's listen in for a moment, shall we?

    Bill:Man, I'm beat! WAY too many questions today!
    Eliza:You look pretty tired but you just got started, pal! Wait until you've been doing this for a while like us! I fold!
    Bill:I was doing ok and fending fairly well until about 10pm or so. I just suddenly got pummeled! I'll see your bet and raise you!
    Eliza:That'd be those Slashdot people!
    Bill:Who?
    Dr. Saibatso:You'll get to know 'em REALLY well, in due time! Just keep making the news every so often! I've got three Jacks!
    Bill:Eliza, does that beat my flush?
    Eliza:Sure does, Bill, we're not AI for nothing you know!
    Bill:DAMN!

    Fade away as The Dr. and Eliza wink at each other...

  • ...when they get rid of Forum 2000? Sure, the forum started getting lame, but please...

  • You know... (Score:3)

    by Johnny Starrock ( 227040 ) on Friday October 20, 2000 @08:59PM (#687741)
    I think this is how the networks staged the presidential debates!!

    This is a reminder not to believe everything you see. Unless you're a Simpsons fan, of course, then you already know:

    Homer: Somebody had to take the babysitter home. Then I noticed she was sitting on [splice] her sweet [splice] can. [splice] -- o I grab her -- [splice] sweet can. [splice] Oh, just thinking about [splice] her [splice] can [splice] I just wish I had he -- [splice] sweet [splice] sweet [splice] s-s-sweet [splice] can.
    Jones: So, Mr. Simpson: you admit you grabbed her can. What do you have to say in your defense?
    Homer: [looking lustful in a clearly-paused VCR shot]
    Jones: Mr. Simpson, your silence will only incriminate you further.
    [paused shot of Homer grows larger]
    No, Mr. Simpson, don't take your anger out on me. Get back! Get back! Mist -- Mr. Simpson -- nooo!
    Man: [quickly] Dramatization -- may not have happened.


    -----------
  • Bill Joy is really not the kind of person I'd want to see involved in these sort of orginisations. His recent rants about biotechnology imply that he wants to take biotechnology (and technology in general) away from the individuals and open research institutions and give it to corperations. Specifically, he seems to see the corperate intelectual property secracy (which allows things like terminator genes) as a good thing because it keeps people in other countries ignorant about technology. His justification for this possition seems to be fear or terrorism, but it's really a totally unjustifiable possition. It's just plain stupid to keep the public and the rest of the world ignorant for a little extra security.

    Anywzy, all the "bad" things that biotechnology has allowed to happen so far, i.e. terminator genes, have been the work of corperations. Clearly, we should be fighting for more open technology and tring to prevent the corprate intelectual property laws from exploiting people.. the exact opposite of what Bill Joyu seems to be working towards.

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