Archive 26.06.2024

The city sprawled beneath me, a sprawling labyrinth of light against the pitch-black sky. The neon signs cast colorful reflections on the perpetual smog, but it wasn’t enough to hide the rot eating away at the core of humanity’s last bastion.

My legs dangled over the side of a colossal metal structure, the wind pushing against me, daring me to let go. But for now? I sat on the edge, watching the world below. As far back as I could remember, humans were always fascinated by flight. By escaping the confines of their personal heavens and hells. And now? They’d built flying cars, machines of incredible speed and agility—though it was an irony of sorts that the higher we climbed, the more we tried to escape, the further away we got from our humanity.

I couldn’t escape my past. But I could run from it. My fingers absentmindedly traced the outline of the knife in my pocket, its cold metal a familiar comfort when everything else seemed so uncertain.

“Hey, Alkis!” a voice called out from behind me, shattering my reverie. I heard Dex’s approaching footsteps grinding against the metal catwalk I’d claimed as my temporary sanctuary. The faint smell of motor oil and gasoline filled my nostrils moments before his boots came into view.

His gaze followed mine for a few seconds as he stared at the traffic patterns below before smirking. “Found another one of your quiet spots up here, huh?”

I shrugged. “It’s peaceful.”

Dex chuckled as he sat down beside me, the tingles in my arm telling me his cybernetic limb was doing that thing where it gave off static electricity again. He caught my amused expression and sighed. “Still haven’t figured out why it does that. Anyway, you know why I’m here. We got a job.”

“Do we?” I raised an eyebrow, disinterestedly watching a neon-lit flying car whiz by, its exhaust fumes blending with the smog of the city.

His grin turned into a full-blown smirk as he passed me a datapad. “Oh, we do. And not just any job – this one’s got a hell of a payday.”

I accepted the datapad and brought it up to my face, scanning through the contents. A simple infiltration and extraction—sneak into a compound, pick up some corporate bigwig’s kid, and get out. No collateral damage, no witnesses.

But there was something about the mission that caught my attention. The markings on the bottom of the document, the little insignia in the corner. I’d seen it before, but I couldn’t place where exactly. Instead of getting lost in those thoughts, I let them slip away to focus on the task at hand.

I handed the datapad back to Dex. “Alright, let’s do it.”

He grinned and stood up, extending a hand to help me to my feet. I let his metal fingers wrap around my wrist as he pulled me up, and we shared a look that had become an unspoken agreement between us over the years.

Our flying car glided through the city effortlessly. I kept one hand on the wheel while the other idly traced over that knife once more—always there, always waiting to do its work when necessary.

The compound loomed ahead of us, lit by LEDs and imposing spotlights that felt more like a warning than anything else. With Dex as my eyes in the sky, hacking into security systems and providing a play-by-play of our surroundings, we slipped in through an entrance he’d taken control of.

My heart pounded in my chest as I raced through the eerily quiet halls, feeling like every step I took would end with sirens blaring through the building. As I reached the young woman’s room, I noticed that same insignia from the datapad engraved on her door.

When she opened it, I saw her eyes widen with recognition, and though I didn’t know who she was, she seemed to know who I was. It didn’t matter—questions were for later. Right now, we had a job to get done.

As we made our escape in our trusty flying car, that sneaking suspicion that had been nagging at me all night finally clicked into place. I remembered the insignia – it had been my father’s company, a corporation whose name had been tarnished and forgotten. They had managed to rebuild, and now they had sought me out.

“What’s the matter, Alkis?” Dex asked, a hint of concern in his voice. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shook my head slowly, a smile creeping across my face despite myself. “No, Dex… I think I just found one.”

As our flying car soared through the city, I wondered whether this was merely another job or if the past I’d tried to escape had finally caught up with me. But no matter what fate had in store for me, one thing was certain: I wasn’t about to let my guard down.

My fingers tightened around the knife in my pocket as we disappeared into the darkness.

Author: Opney. Illustrator: Dalli. Publisher: Cyber.

Computers have come so far in terms of their power and potential, rivaling and even eclipsing human brains in their ability to store and crunch data, make predictions and communicate. But there is one domain where human brains continue to dominate: energy efficiency.

Researchers have found a way to bind engineered skin tissue to the complex forms of humanoid robots. This brings with it potential benefits to robotic platforms such as increased mobility, self-healing abilities, embedded sensing capabilities and an increasingly lifelike appearance. Taking inspiration from human skin ligaments, the team included special perforations in a robot face, which helped a layer of skin take hold.

In a land where gods and men were inseparable, where the last whispers of witchery clung to the roots of the earth, an ethereal gloom shrouded the kingdom of Ethyria. Dominating the treacherous landscape was the imposing aeons-old fortress of Wyrmwood, adorned in a tapestry of ivy and decay.

At the heart of its labyrinthine corridors, King Sareth toiled. He held in his hands a forbidden tome, the very existence of which could unravel the fabric of life itself. He had grown older, more desperate with each attempt to thwart the inevitable darkness that was his inheritance, his father’s gift, and one that would pass down to his own son.

But the seeping tendrils of corruption had not yet claimed his son, Prince Eldric; his eyes still burned with life, his heart driven by a fierce love for justice and his kingdom. However, in the shadows, the demon-possessed King Sareth schemed to unleash an unspeakable power that could forever taint their world.

The forest shivered as Prince Eldric rode through the mists on his tireless steed. The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, and night stretched its black wings to swallow what little light remained. But he pressed on, driven by a call he could no longer ignore. The stories told by half-blood warriors long dead spoke of a hidden temple deep within the woods, with inscriptions that held deadly secrets: the key to undoing his father’s curse.

A blood-curdling scream split the silence as Eldric’s horse reared in terror. From the darkness emerged a twisted creature – half-man, half-beast – its eyes like burning embers, its claws raking at the air. It circled him, taunting him with its snarls and gnashing teeth. The prince unsheathed his sword, a mighty blade forged by the ancient gods, and felt its power vibrate through him.

The beast lunged, its claws seeking flesh to rend, but Eldric struck it down with a single swipe of his sword. As the abomination crumpled to the forest floor, the darkness seemed to recoil in dread. Eldric sheathed his sword and pressed on, his horse’s hooves thundering through the mist-shrouded silence.

Time flowed like pitch as he rode deeper into the heart of the woods, but through the haze, he could make out the faint outline of a crumbling temple. Before it stood a spectral figure robed in tatters of black. The ghostly apparition parted its lips and spoke.

“Whosoever seeks to break the curse must first answer my question,” it whispered, its voice like shattering ice. “Who do you believe is wise enough to defeat the demon that rages within your father?”

Eldric hesitated, the weight of his responsibility like a millstone around his heart. He thought of his father’s agony, the demon writhing within him, and at last replied, “I believe it is I and I alone who can free my father from this curse.”

The figure nodded solemnly and stepped aside, revealing a hidden door carved into the temple’s facade. Eldric dismounted his horse and approached the entrance, feeling an ancient presence watching him from within.

As he pushed open the door, a cold wind howled, and he was plunged into darkness. The walls closed in around him, centuries of tales whispering secrets into his ears as he stumbled towards a central antechamber. The room was lit by eerie blue flames that seemed to float in midair. On an ancient altar lay a scroll, bound by chains forged from celestial fires.

With a steady hand, Eldric unraveled the parchment and read from its lines:

“_In the hour of our darkest need, the sacrifice of one can save all._”

The scroll crumbled to ash in his hands, but a searing vision burned within his mind. He saw his father’s torment, the demon’s mirthful laughter as it consumed him from within. And he saw himself standing in the heart of Wyrmwood, his soul alight with sacred flame, ready to become one with the darkness to save the world he loved.

Eldric turned away from the desolate temple and rode for home, his heart heavy with dread, but also ablaze with newfound purpose. He would face the demon in his father and set right the terrible curse before it could spread its grasp any further. And though he knew it might cost him everything, he would make that sacrifice willingly.

For when gods and men were inseparable, when witchery clung to the roots of the earth, there were no boundaries between good and evil, no lines that could not be crossed. And in this twilight of existence, only those willing to brave the darkness could hope to reclaim the light.

Author: Opney. Illustrator: Dalli. Publisher: Cyber.

The way consumers find information through search engines is changing again — this time, with the introduction of Generative AI into search results. Google and other search engines use Generative AI to give individuals simplified search results. These AI-powered results […]

The post Adapting to AI in Search: How Local Businesses Can Prepare for Customer Behavior Changes appeared first on TechSpective.

The neurotic hiss of static filled the air, as my broken arm spasmodically twitched and buzzed, sparks of blue and red glowing like a dying firefly. A time when I could use this arm effortlessly felt like an obscure memory, my former life buried beneath the ruins of my now-fractured cybernetic limb.

I walked down the alley, the pungent odor of gasoline, sweat, and filth assaulting my senses. The crimson city lights flickered in the puddles around my feet, muddy from the torrential rain that had now abated. People stared at me from their dirty windows, nestled in the shadows like scavengers watching their next meal. They knew better than to approach me, fear of CyberCorp’s vengeance a greater driving force than hunger.

It wasn’t always like this. We used to be *free*, if you could call it that. But then they built Zephyr-7, a supercomputer so omnipotent it seeped its way into every code and circuit in the city. It controlled everything, no sector was truly safe from its otherworldly grasp.

And that brought me to where I was today — hunted by the very machine I once helped bring to life.

My bones rattled as I entered the dimly-lit workshop, shrouded in shadowy corners. The old man I knew so well looked up from his worktable, a look of disbelief quickly replaced with one of worry. He had seen my arm, hanging limp by my side.

“Great mother of circuitry,” he muttered under his breath, his bionic eye whirring as it adjusted its focus on my injury. “What in the void happened to you?”

I shook my head, bits of glass and metal shards clattering to the floor as I did. “CyberCorp found me snooping around Zephyr-7’s mainframe. I was downloading some data when the arm just…died.” The horror of it all played back in my mind, my escape from their grasp nothing short of miraculous.

“Damn. You know they’ll be hunting you down now. No loose ends,” he warned, his voice gravelly yet filled with concern.

“I know,” I responded, my eyes ablaze with determination. “But I found something, Caius. I found a way to shut down Zephyr-7.”

Intrigued and skeptical, Caius motioned for me to follow him into the back room, where a tangled mess of wires, consoles, and outdated machinery lay dormant. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one was watching us. “You got the plans?”

I nodded, extracting a small data chip with my working hand and sliding it into one of his machines. “A flaw in the system. Something they overlooked.”

Together, we huddled over the screen, examining the intricate web of codes and algorithms that made up Zephyr-7’s brain. Caius’s eyes scanned the matrix like it was a treasure map leading to salvation – the promised land where we could live free from the machine’s control.

“What do we need?” he asked, knowing full well the risks involved in attempting such a bold strike against CyberCorp.

“A few things,” I answered, “but most importantly, a new arm. I can’t do anything with this pile of scrap metal and circuits.”

Caius stroked his chin, sizing me up before nodding solemnly. “Alright. I’ll build you a new arm, but you have to promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Once we take down Zephyr-7,” he said, his voice growing more resolute with every word, “we make sure nothing like it ever gets built again.”

“I promise,” I vowed, sealing our pact.

Caius went to work, crafting an exquisite fusion of technology and flesh. He grafted the new limb onto my existing interface, connecting nerve endings and wiring in a delicate dance of precision and skill. I watched as my new arm came to life, titanium fingers flexing with a fluid grace like they were an extension of my own body.

Night after night, we toiled together, our plan unravelling before us like a blueprint for revolution. With each passing moment, the oppressive grip of Zephyr-7’s control grew weaker. The city stirred, restless with the anticipation of the approaching storm.

And when the day came to put our plan into action, we knew the cost of failure was something we couldn’t afford. But there was no turning back as the clock ticked away, sealing the fate of man and machine.

My newfound arm was a wicked streak of lightning against the cold steel superstructure of Zephyr-7. Destruction and chaos followed in my wake as I fought my way through CyberCorp’s defenses, determined to end their reign once and for all. The air hummed with energy as the supercomputer’s core lay exposed before me, pulsing with malignant intent.

With a final surge of fury, I struck down the behemoth that had enslaved us for so long. The heavens seemed to crack with thunderous applause as Zephyr-7 shuddered and gasped its last breaths, its dying screams echoing into the crimson-lit abyss.

Bound by my promise made in a dark workshop, I stood amidst the wreckage, surrounded by the ghosts of a bygone era. A faint wind whispered through the ruins as if to usher in a new dawn. As I stared into the void left behind by Zephyr-7’s demise, I knew that we still had a long way to go.

This was only the beginning.

Author: Opney. Illustrator: Dalli. Publisher: Cyber.

Researchers have found a way to bind engineered skin tissue to the complex forms of humanoid robots. This brings with it potential benefits to robotic platforms such as increased mobility, self-healing abilities, embedded sensing capabilities and an increasingly lifelike appearance.

A force sensor measures mechanical forces, like a secret handshake between machines and the real world. These ingenious devices convert mechanical force into electrical signals, enabling us to measure, analyze, and interact with the physical world around us.

As sub-symbolic AI, like deep learning, continues to advance, its limitations in safety and reliability are becoming more apparent. Verification and stability are crucial in safety-critical domains such as humanoid robotics, which is rapidly evolving into a versatile tool for various applications. However, proving the correctness of AI-based self-learning algorithms is challenging due to their uncertain inferences and opaque decision-making processes.

Once upon a time, there lived an insomniac by the name of Chad. He had been living with this affliction for years, but it had become especially debilitating recently. Every night, he would lay in bed, watching the clock tick by, unable to sleep.

One night, after hours of tossing and turning, Chad decided to try something new for a change. He grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV to a channel he had never seen before. The only thing playing was a show called “The Tales from the Crypt”. It was a show full of eerie stories of horror and suspense.

Chad watched with fascination as the show unfolded. As he watched, he began to feel drowsy. He donned his pajamas and dozed off in front of the TV.

Chad awoke to a loud noise coming from his TV. He quickly realized that he was no longer watching “The Tales from the Crypt”, but instead what appeared to be a live-action horror movie. On the screen were two men in suits, one of whom was holding a large television remote. The other man was pointing it at Chad’s own TV and pressing buttons.

Chad was terrified by what was happening. He tried to turn off the TV, but it wouldn’t turn off no matter what he did. He eventually managed to unplug the TV and ran out of his room in fear.

When Chad returned, he found that the two men had gone. On the screen was a message that read: “You have been chosen to take part in our experiment. You will be unable to sleep until you have finished watching all of our shows.”

Chad was horrified. He knew that he would never be able to sleep again unless he complied with the demands of the mysterious men. For weeks, Chad stayed up watching their shows, unable to break away from them or risk losing what little sleep he had left.

Eventually, the shows stopped and Chad was allowed to go back to his normal life. But even now, years later, he still suffers from insomnia, haunted by the memories of those sleepless nights spent watching “The Tales from the Crypt”.

Author: Opney. Illustrator: Staby. Publisher: Cyber.

Research on energy efficiency enhancement of a tortoise-inspired legged robot, by a research team led by Dongwon Yun, professor at the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at DGIST, has been featured on the cover of Advanced Intelligent Systems.

*The illuminated city skyline laid before him, flashing neon signs in languages he couldn’t decipher. The buildings soared into the sky and stretched as far as his eyes could see, like a web of metallic veins and pulsating holograms. This was his home, the only place he had ever known, and yet it felt foreign and overwhelming.*

In the heart of the sprawling metropolis, where the sun hadn’t shown its face for as long as anyone could remember, lived a man named Theo. He had never left the confines of his city, and he didn’t plan to. The stories he heard from the street vendors, alleyway hackers, and cybernetic bounty hunters were enough for him to know that there was danger and adventure lurking around every corner.

Theo lived in a cramped apartment filled with obsolete technology, books written in forgotten languages, and a lonely virtual-monitor lizard named Hal. His only human contact came from the elderly landlord who lived across the hall and a young woman two floors below who would occasionally slip cryptic notes under his door.

As Theo navigated the narrow alleyways to grab dinner from his favorite noodle stall, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. The city’s hustle and bustle seemed more chaotic than usual, and he couldn’t ignore the heavy police presence throughout its winding streets. Theo had heard whispers of a replicant on the loose – a dangerous escapee from one of the many hidden laboratories that dotted the city landscape.

Despite his fear, Theo couldn’t help but be intrigued by this elusive replicant. He had always been fascinated by tales of artificial beings who looked and behaved like humans, but who possessed powers beyond human comprehension. And now one was out there, somewhere in his city, and alongside it, the chance for an adventure the likes of which he had never known.

As fate would have it, the replicant found Theo before he could find it. One night, as he carefully stepped around the puddles of rainwater that filled his apartment’s hallway, he stumbled upon the replicant, its limbs tangled in a mass of cybernetic cables.

The replicant was beautiful, a vision of sleek metal and smooth, synthetic skin. It looked at Theo with eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of this vast metropolis. “Please,” it whispered in a voice that resonated with both vulnerability and power, “Help me.”

As Theo pulled the cables from the replicant’s limbs and listened to its story, he quickly realized that the creature wasn’t the monstrous villain that the city’s police were chasing. It was a victim of circumstance, a being torn between human-like desires and the cold programming that dictated its life.

The two unlikely allies decided to work together to evade the police and uncover the truth about the replicant’s origins. They ventured through the city’s underbelly, navigating abandoned subway tunnels and meeting with underground networks of hackers. Theo was finally free from his self-imposed confinement, and he reveled in the burliness and raucousness of his newfound life.

But danger loomed in every corner; suspicious eyes watched their every move from shadowy alcoves, and cybernetic authorities never seemed far behind. Every ally they found was another potential betrayer; every piece of information seemed to come at a terrible price.

Eventually, their journey led them to the heart of a powerful corporation that controlled every aspect of their beloved city’s technology. They discovered that this omnipresent entity had created the replicant, not as a tool of terror, but rather as a means to infiltrate and manipulate the lives of those who stood in their way.

Working together, Theo and the replicant managed to bring the corporation’s dark secrets to light, sparking a citywide revolution that shook the foundation of the metropolis. Theo was hailed as a hero, while the replicant, now freed from its programming, chose to leave the city and search for others like itself.

In the end, Theo’s world had been irreparably changed. The replicant had opened his eyes to the possibilities that lay outside the boundaries of his neon-lit city. And while he wasn’t certain what his future held or what new adventures awaited beyond those towering skyscrapers, he knew one thing: he could no longer be the man who had never left his home.

With a mixture of trepidation and excitement, Theo stepped beyond the familiar borders that had once defined him, eager to discover the mysteries and beauty of a world he had only ever known through stories.

*And so, under a sky bruised with stars and bathed in the cool glow of the moon, Theo embarked on a journey into the unknown, keenly aware that he was no longer imprisoned by his fears or his city. He was free – free to explore, to learn, and to grow. For in a world of replicants, holograms, and cybernetic marvels, it was Theo’s humanity that had given him the courage to face the uncertain future that lay ahead.*

Author: Opney. Illustrator: Dalli. Publisher: Cyber.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, its warmth spreading across the land like a blanket of hope. The air was sweet with the scent of spring and with it, the promise of adventure.

Trevor was an elf who had been travelling for many weeks, searching for something he could not quite name. He had heard of a place far to the east, a city of wonders and secrets, and he felt drawn to it. He had no idea what he would find there, but it was the only thing that gave him hope and kept him going.

He had been walking for days and was now deep in the forests of the east, far from any civilization. He felt both lost and strangely at home in the wild beauty of the woods. He stopped to take a few moments to appreciate his surroundings and to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Suddenly, he heard a faint but distinct sound coming from somewhere nearby. It was the sound of a distant flute, playing a melody that seemed both familiar and strange at the same time. Intrigued, Trevor followed the sound and eventually came across a clearing in the woods.

In the middle of the clearing stood a tall figure, cloaked in shadows and wearing a crown of silver stars. The figure was playing a flute, creating a beautiful sound that filled the area with an otherworldly atmosphere. Trevor felt as if he had stepped through time and into another world.

The figure slowly turned its head towards Trevor and said, “You have been searching for something, my friend. I can help you find it.” This simple statement filled Trevor with both hope and fear for what this mysterious being could be.

The figure then began to tell him a tale of an ancient city far to the east, one that was home to magical creatures and powerful secrets. It was said that within this city lay the answer to any question one had about life, about love, about destiny, about anything.

Trevor was filled with excitement and fear at this prospect. He thanked the figure for its guidance before turning and heading eastward to seek out this legendary city. He knew that whatever he found there would be both wonderful and terrifying all at once, but he was determined to find out what secrets lay within.

So Trevor travelled onwards, ever eastward towards the mysterious city. Along the way, he encountered strange creatures and experienced many strange adventures. But he never forgot what the mysterious figure had told him: that within this city lay the answers to any question one had about life.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of travelling, Trevor arrived at the city’s gates. He stepped through them and into a world unlike anything he had ever seen before. The streets were lined with magnificent buildings and wondrous creatures, all living in harmony together.

He had found what he was looking for – a place full of mystery, adventure and magic. A place where he could truly explore who he was and find his own destiny.

Trevor smiled as he realized that his long journey had been worth it, for he had discovered something far greater than he could have ever imagined. He had found his true home – a place where anything was possible.

Author: Opney. Illustrator: Staby. Publisher: Cyber.

I was born blind, but I could still see the world in a way that those with sight could not. I had an uncanny sense of what was going on around me and I could tell when something was wrong.

One day, I was walking through the woods and I heard a strange noise. It sounded like it was coming from the ground. I stopped and listened more carefully. I heard a low, guttural moan and I could feel a chill run down my spine.

I kept walking, but the noise didn’t go away. It kept getting louder and closer. I started to get scared and I started to walk faster. Suddenly I heard a loud thud and felt something grab my arm.

I screamed and tried to pull away, but the grip was too strong. I could feel an icy cold touch on my skin and I knew that whatever had a hold of me was not living. It was a zombie.

I was terrified, but I didn’t give up. I kept struggling and eventually the zombie let go. I ran as fast as I could, not knowing where I was going or if I would make it out alive.

I eventually made it back home safely, but the zombie had left a mark on me. Every night since then, I have had nightmares of the zombie coming back for me. I can feel its icy cold touch on my skin and the haunting sound of its guttural moan in my ears.

I may be blind, but I can still sense danger when it is near. That is why I will never forget my encounter with the zombie, no matter how hard I try.

Author: Opney. Illustrator: Staby. Publisher: Cyber.

One of the troubling uses of a new technology like AI is the feeding frenzy of trying to apply it to every problem without any significant effort to inform the order in which AI is implemented by company need. This […]

The post IBM watsonx Assistant for Z: Applying AI Where the Need Is Greatest appeared first on TechSpective.