Ghost in the Machine
Two hours have nearly passed. Don’t ask me why but I’ve spent most of the time reading about that mad professor and his Playstation AI. After reading the article on the Wired News site I follow the link to the Profs web site where I find his journal.
Professor Duval and his team had constructed a cluster of 256 Playstation3 consoles, thus giving phenomenal processing power for a small price compared to a proper Super- Computer.
I jump all the mumbo-jumbo guff about the logistics of the project and go straight for the entry where the AI first started to show signs of its defensive mood.
It seems the AI had discovered the University’s computer network and was busily exploring its new electronic neighbourhood when Professor Duval and his team began to get a little nervous, especially after the AI found the location of the directories containing the secret military projects the University had in its care.
First they tried to shutdown the computer politely by typing instructions to do so on the console’s keyboard. When it became apparent that the AI was refusing the request they tried to switch its power off but the clever thing had worked out that the cluster of Playstations were powered from three separate circuits in the room and the electricity to the room was controlled by a computer on another campus so when the boffins turned off the electricity on one circuit the AI would send instructions to the power controller computer to restore that circuit so by the time the team had switched off the second and third circuits the first was already back on-line.
After playing this game for a while the boffins left the room to have coffee and discuss how clever they were for making a computer that will do anything to protect itself.
They brainstormed the idea that they could beat it by removing its access to the network so it couldn’t send commands to the power controller computer. But when they tried to return to the computer room they found that their electronic key-cards wouldn’t open the door.
Because the university did a lot of research for the
The boffins drank more coffee and ate sandwiches and pizza whilst brainstorming all through the night but everything they came up with the AI had a defence to.
Meanwhile the AI was busy trawling the Internet, presumably for more ways to protect itself. And that’s when it reached the pinnacle of its defensive strategy and created a worm program, which it sent millions of out on to the web.
The boffins tracked some of the worms and were at a complete loss as to what they were designed to do; they seemed to be harmless and just hitting random web-pages, everything from military sites to personal diaries.
And that’s where the journal ended.
Well, not quite. The Professor’s very last entry read: “The AI has accessed most of the world’s major telecommunications providers; it seems to be uploading a stream of data. I think it’s time to call the Gener”.
That’s it. I guess the last word was supposed to be General, which I would assume to mean the rank of General, in the military sense.
That entry was at 10:13am Saturday,
I guess that means it’s still out there.
Hmm. Interesting. What if the AI program had something to do with the Big Sleep?
Just as this idea was illuminating the deepest, darkest regions of my brain, I-Kno’s tin coated dome appears on the screen.
“Hello ET, it’s Ian”
He looks a little happier. Actually, to be honest, he looks pretty damn chuffed.
“What’s up Ian? You look like the mouse that just had the best shag of his life” I reply.
“What? Oh yes, I see.” came Ian’s slightly confused response.
“I have found another survivor of the alien’s D-wave.” He continues, still persisting with his delusional little fantasy.
“Really! Where? Who?” I respond somewhat surprised by the news.
“Well. Right here actually.”
To that a face pops up in front of the camera at Ian’s computer. A rather spotty face, with raggedy bum-fluff on its cheeks and chin. But the most noticeable thing about this face is that above it is the most elaborate tinfoil hat you could imagine. It has three fins, each running from front to back; a large one runs down the centre and smaller ones run on each side between the ears and the centre fin.
“Hi I’m Acamm” the strange looking fellow says.
“Sorry, what was your name again? I reply.
“Acamm. It stands for Aliens Can’t Access My Mind”. He responds proudly.
Oh joy; another fruit loop joins the party. What the hell’s in
Ian explains that Acamm lives on the other side of the city and has spent the last day or so sneaking through the sewers because it was too dangerous to travel above ground and much too risky to use the telephone or Internet. Apparently he doesn’t have the extra electronic security that I-Kno possesses, which explains why Acamm is happy to show his spotty face and ludicrous headwear to me now.
“Well boys I have made a bit of a discovery myself” I add quite proudly.
“Oh really. What would that be, ET?” Ian says quizzically.
“I have found that a university in
The Tinfoil boys look at each other then look back at me. Ian speaks first.
“How did you come to this conclusion ET?”
“Yeah, and what do you mean, the computer has run amok?” Adds Acamm.
I explain, as best as I could, what I read in the journal but eventually just send them a link to the site to read for themselves.
Ian says he’ll have a look at it but I think he’s as sceptical of my explanation for the Big Sleep as I am of his.
While the Lancastrian Loons busy themselves with the scenario I provided, I cook up some more sausages on the barbeque.
As they sizzle a fine plume of smoke rises and drifts down the street on the breeze. Within minutes a
The
After making sure the interloper won’t be back the Lab looks back up at me with those big cartoon-like doggy eyes again.
“Forget it, psycho mutt! You won’t be getting squat from me until you can learn to share!” I yell down to him.
He hangs around for a while but eventually leaves when I switch off the barbeque and head inside with my booty.
I guess there's a million animals in this city alone, waiting on someone to feed them. I make a mental note to stay the hell away from the zoo.
1 comment:
I'm working on it. So far you've read about half of what I've written and that's maybe half the book.
Keep an eye on the main blog: http://distractful.blogspot.com/
Redundant power supplies are not unusual in mission critical computing centres (I work in the IT industry so I'm occasionally influenced by my experiences there, this was one of them).
Post a Comment