Soon, ‘neurotic’ robots that think like humans

Washington: Scientists are programming robots to be more ‘neurotic’ in order to help them make smarter, human-like decisions.

Jeff Krichmar, professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine is experimenting with building neurotic robots that exhibit signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder, just like humans, or are afraid of open spaces.

He is doing this by making a robot act like a mouse in a cage.

«We’re trying to make the robot brain more like human brain. The brain has incredibly flexibility and adaptability. If you look at any artificial system, it’s far more brittle than biology,» Krichmar said.

«If you put a rodent in a room that is open and unfamiliar, it will hug the walls,» Krichmar said.

«It will hide until it becomes comfortable, then it will move across the room. It will wait until it feels comfortable. We did that with a robot and made it so it was so anxious it would never cross the room,» he said.

Krichmar’s team uses a rodent model and varying levels of dopamine and serotonin, the two brain hormones that control pleasure centers and well-being, ‘Discovery News’ reported. The effects of the chemicals on the rodent are then replicated in the robot’s software, Krichmar said.

«We’re mimicking the action of the chemicals with equations,» he said.

«We are doing mathematical models of brain or cognitive system, then putting that in software and it becomes the controller for the robot,» he added.

Krichmar believes that making a robot exhibit fear or caution might help make it better decisions. A search-and-rescue drone, for example, might stay put during foul weather instead of taking a risk to complete its mission.

The research was presented at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Hong Kong.

Nine ‘Dead’ As Ukrainian Helicopter Shot Down

Dmytro Tymchuk, a military analyst, said the helicopter had been brought down by a missile fired from a shoulder-held launcher.

He confirmed nine people had been killed, according to preliminary information.

Vladimir Putin says a seven-day cease-fire is not enough
The incident took place just hours after pro-Russian separatists announced a ceasefire until June 27.

That matched a week-long truce by government forces which has been ordered by President Petro Poroshenko.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the week-long ceasefire should be extended and accompanied by talks between the government and the rebels.

During a trip to Vienna, Mr Putin said that the seven-day ceasefire was not enough.

Earlier, in a surprising turnabout, Mr Putin asked politicians to revoke a resolution allowing him to invade Ukraine.

Kiev immediately hailed the move as Mr Putin’s «first practical step» towards helping defuse the crisis.

The surprise reversal from the Kremlin comes amid the threat of tougher Western sanctions against Moscow.

It could help spur fragile peace initiatives to end fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The town of Slaviansk has been controlled by separatists since April and on May 30 rebels there brought down a military helicopter killing 14 servicemen.

Apple Fitness Smartwatch ‘Due In Autumn’

Apple is reportedly planning to launch this autumn its hotly anticipated smartwatch which tracks health and fitness.

Multiple versions of the devices will be launched later this year as the company tries to keep pace with rivals Google and Samsung, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It cited unnamed sources who said the watch will feature 10 sensors, including ones to track health and fitness.

Last month Apple showed off a new app called Health which will be part of its iOS8 mobile software.

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear was released in September last year
Because it did not introduce its own device to collect the data needed to power the app, it fuelled speculation it would unveil a device at a later date.

Production may begin within two months, the report said, at Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computer.

Customers will have the option of a range of screen sizes – however exact specifications are still being finalised.

The source said Apple expects to ship 50 million units within the first year of the product’s release.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has promised to enter new product categories over the coming months and years.

He is under pressure, too; it is understood that Google it set for a summer smartwatch launch, while Samsung released its Galaxy Gear watch in September last year.

Hundreds Of Kids Smuggle Drugs Into School

Hundreds of children are bringing drugs, including class A substances, into UK schools every year.

Figures obtained by Sky News show more than 1,000 pupils have been caught carrying drugs in schools over the past three years.

Among those pupils, 27 were found with class A drugs.

Some 93 pupils were charged with drugs offences, including six at primary school.

The figures come from 32 of the UK’s 44 police forces but do not include some of the country’s largest, including the Met and Greater Manchester.

Campaigners are concerned drug use among children is a problem that is being ignored.

Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder of charity Kids Company, which works with children from deprived backgrounds, said: «A lot of (children) are born into households where their parents are prolifically abusing substances.

«What we’re seeing now is that eight and nine year olds are beginning to smoke weed and skunk and then they go on to harder stuff.

«Unfortunately, in a lot of neighbourhoods, children see the drug trade as a completely legitimate way of making a living.

«It’s become so familiar and in a way it’s become so normalised because children are completely surrounded by adults who are using.»

One 18-year-old who was addicted to cannabis for three years said drug use had been common among children her age.

Jade Clement, from Poole, Dorset, who now campaigns for the charity Fixers, said: «I always had a friend that I was smoking with. We constantly had to lie, tell our parents we were going to the cinema or swimming – anything like that so we could get a tenner.

«I was meant to be in school … (but) if I had weed left over from the night before then I wasn’t going in.

«I couldn’t be bothered. It didn’t interest me (and) the only reason I went in was so I could plan (to take drugs) with my friends … that’s all school was really about.»

The Government says drugs have ‘no place whatsoever in the classroom’
Schools in affluent areas say they are equally concerned about the likelihood their pupils will be exposed to drug use.

At The Hall, a prestigious independent school in north London, former addicts are invited to speak to pupils to warn them about the dangers of drug use.

Thirteen-year-old student Callum said: «It’s quite daunting that I’ll be offered drugs in the next three to five years. It leads me to think, ‘What will I say? Will I be pressured?'»

The Government said banned items like alcohol and drugs have «no place whatsoever in the classroom».

A Department for Education spokesman said: «We’ve introduced a range of powers for teachers to ensure discipline, behaviour and safety are maintained.

«Teachers can now search a pupil without consent when they suspect they may be in possession of a prohibited item.

«Changes to the system mean a school’s decision to exclude a pupil cannot be reversed by an appeals panel.

«Our guidance also makes clear that teachers can use force to remove disruptive pupils from the classroom when necessary.»

The Jihadists Want a Petro State of Their Own, Too

The smoke rising from the Iraqi city of Baiji—so dark and thick that it’s visible from U.S. weather satellites—is evidence of one thing: The jihadist conflict engulfing Iraq is fueled by oil. Home to Iraq’s largest petroleum refinery, Baiji continues to be contested between forces loyal to the Baghdad government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Propelled by their successes in the civil war in neighboring Syria, the jihadist guerrillas have now seized some of Iraq’s largest cities—targeting and occupying a number of key oil fields and refineries. Without them, they know an Islamic state—perhaps even the long dreamed-of caliphate—cannot come into being.

In Syria and in Iraq, oil is what helps keep the jihadist machine running. It powers not only the pickup trucks the ISIL fighters drive into battle but also the helicopters, Humvees, and tanks they captured after their dramatic June 9 conquest of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. It buys them more weapons. Distributed free of charge or sold at a discount to locals, it also buys sympathy, loyalty, and new recruits. It pays the monthly salaries—reportedly as much as $500—of many ISIL fighters, says Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, “more than any other fighting group inside
Gaining access to oil for themselves and denying it to their enemies has been part of the ISIL strategy. In Iraq the jihadists, assisted by other militant groups, forced a key pipeline delivering oil to Turkey to become inoperative in March after repeated attacks. But not before they managed to siphon off a significant amount of crude. A week before training their sights on Baiji, about 150 miles north of Baghdad, the insurgents tried to march on Iraq’s fourth-largest oil field, in Kirkuk. They were repelled by Kurdish troops, who entered the area on the heels of fleeing Iraqi government forces.

STORY: Iraqi Kurds Closer to Petro State of Their Own
In northern Syria, where ISIL controls several petroleum fields, the group has turned into a major oil producer, selling fuel to local consumers, to the regime of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad that it is fighting, as well as to black marketers. At some wells the oil is refined on-site, often using crude and potentially toxic methods, and smuggled to nearby Turkey, where it’s sold. The system in place when I visited the border area last fall was primitive but effective. Near Kusakli, a Turkish village, waves of smugglers, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, would race down from the hills on the Syrian side of the border hauling jerrycans filled with fuel, undeterred by warning shots fired by Turkish patrols. At night, middlemen would arrive in Kusakli by truck and collect the gasoline, by then stored in the villagers’ courtyards. In May the Turkish government erected a 10-foot concrete wall in the area to prevent crossings, but smuggling has continued along other parts of the border. It has also become more sophisticated. The Turks reported on several occasions this year that smugglers have taken to laying plastic pipelines to pump the fuel directly into Turkey.

The jihadist economy is financed by more than these rough-and-ready petroleum sales. It also depends on extortion, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, and, to a limited extent, donations. Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government has blamed Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia for bankrolling ISIL. But most experts believe that the bulk of the jihadists’ income comes not from abroad but from their own activities. “Gulf donors,” says Zelin, “if they are willing to give to actual terrorist organizations, they’re giving to Jabhat al-Nusra [another Islamist group fighting the Syrian government], because many of them see ISIL as too radical, too extreme.” Private donations to ISIL, he says, “pale in comparison” with self-financing.

It is difficult to estimate the ISIL’s assets. In e-mailed comments, Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, speaks of “hundreds of millions of dollars.” Revenue from oil sales, he says, is “impossible to accurately calculate, but [it will] certainly amount to significant sums of money.” An Iraqi official quoted in a recent Guardian piece puts ISIL’s wealth at more than $2 billion, higher than any other terror group in the world. Last week the militants walked away with an estimated $430 million after an armed raid on Mosul’s central bank.

List of most viewed YouTube videos

Rank Video name Artist Views
(as of June 16, 2014) Uploaded Notes
1. «Gangnam Style» Psy 2,016,585,005 July 15, 2012 [A]
2. «Baby» Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris 1,048,450,740 February 19, 2010 [B]
3. «On the Floor» Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull 760,777,661 March 3, 2011
4. «Charlie Bit My Finger – Again!» Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr 725,122,233 May 22, 2007 [C]
5. «Love the Way You Lie» Eminem featuring Rihanna 705,951,002 August 5, 2010
6. «Party Rock Anthem» LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock 699,329,584 March 8, 2011
7. «Gentleman» Psy 697,546,883 April 13, 2013 [D]
8. «Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)» Shakira featuring Freshlyground 684,717,178 June 4, 2010 [E]
9. «Wrecking Ball» Miley Cyrus 667,237,579 September 9, 2013
10. «Bad Romance» Lady Gaga 589,325,948 November 23, 2009 [F]
11. «Ai Se Eu Te Pego» Michel Teló 573,531,161 July 25, 2011
12. «Danza Kuduro» Don Omar featuring Lucenzo 560,199,830 August 25, 2010 [G]
13. «Call Me Maybe» Carly Rae Jepsen 557,436,040 March 1, 2012
14. «Thrift Shop» Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz 542,890,500 August 27, 2012
15. «Roar» Katy Perry 532,712,532 September 5, 2013
16. «What Makes You Beautiful» One Direction 527,348,054 August 19, 2011
17. «Not Afraid» Eminem 518,475,232 June 4, 2010
18. «Somebody That I Used to Know» Gotye featuring Kimbra 517,062,259 July 22, 2011
19. «Rolling in the Deep» Adele 509,016,621 November 30, 2010
20. «The Lazy Song» Bruno Mars 507,290,586 April 15, 2011
21. «Rain Over Me» Pitbull featuring Marc Anthony 488,129,138 July 22, 2011
22. «Oppa Is Just My Style» Psy featuring Hyuna 487,405,583 August 14, 2012
23. «Firework» Katy Perry 454,006,075 October 28, 2010
24. «Diamonds» Rihanna 443,721,832 November 8, 2012
25. «The Gummy Bear Song» Gummibär 438,546,522 October 9, 2007 [H]
26. «Never Say Never» Justin Bieber featuring Jaden Smith 427,839,812 May 27, 2010
27. «The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)» Ylvis 421,558,386 September 3, 2013
28. «Super Bass» Nicki Minaj 412,929,708 May 5, 2011
29. «We Can’t Stop» Miley Cyrus 412,871,204 June 19, 2013
30. «Just the Way You Are» Bruno Mars 412,611,519 September 8, 2010

A «Gangnam Style» surpassed «Baby» in November 2012;[3] first video to reach 1 billion views on December 21, 2012.[4] first video to be viewed 2 billion times On May 31, 2014.[5]
B «Baby» surpassed the priorly top-ranked «Bad Romance» in July 2010;[6] second video to hit 1 billion views on February 24, 2014
C «Charlie…» is a non-music viral video; surpassed «Evolution of Dance» to become number 1 in October 2009[7]
D «Gentleman» is the most watched in a single day (38 million views on April 14, 2013)[8]
E «Waka Waka…» was the official 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem
F «Bad Romance» surpassed «Charlie Bit My Finger» to the top spot on April 2010[9]
G The «Danza Kudro» upload is not viewable globally due to YouTube regional restrictions in certain countries
H Long English version of «The Gummy Bear Song»
References

Videotrine. «The most viewed videos on Youtube in the World of all time». YouTube, Dailymotion. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
Sources that refer to previous cases of view count manipulation of YouTube videos include:
Sanneh, Kelefa (May 18, 2006). «How ‘Groundhog Day’ Became an Overnight YouTube Sensation». The New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Greenberg, Dan Ackerman (November 22, 2007). «The Secret Strategies Behind Many «Viral» Videos». TechCrunch. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Ingram, Mathew (June 23, 2008). «Avril is an anagram for «viral»». The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Wortham, Jenna (June 24, 2008). «Cheating Fans Give Avril Lavigne a YouTube Lift». Wired. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
«Lavigne Fans Cheat For Youtube Views». CMR Times. June 27, 2008. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Fashion Gossip (July 18, 2008). «Avril Cheats and YouTube Supports It?». Fashion.ie Gossip. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Bryant, Steve (July 23, 2008). «YouTube Says Autoplays Don’t Count». GigaOM. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Bryant, Steve (July 24, 2008). «Imaginary Bitches Recipient of Imaginary Views?». GigaOM. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Doctorow, Cory (December 23, 2012). «YouTube confiscates 2 billion views from Universal and Sony». Boing Boing. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
Kosner, Anthony Wing (November 24, 2012). «PSY’s Gangnam Style Tops Bieber’s Baby To Become Most Viewed YouTube Video Ever». Forbes. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
Gruger, William. «PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ Video Hits 1 Billion Views, Unprecedented Milestone». Billboard. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/psys-gangnam-style-hits-billion-youtube-views-23939116
Kaufman, Gil (July 16, 2010). «Justin Bieber Beats Lady Gaga In YouTube Video Popularity — For Now …». MTV. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
Chittenden, Maurice (November 1, 2009). «Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr: Web Gets Taste for Biting Baby». The Times. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
YouTube Trends Blog
Dybwad, Barb (April 14, 2010). «Lady Gaga’s «Bad Romance» Takes Over #1 Most Viewe