DailyDirt: Help Me, Software, You're Our Only Hope...
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Everyone relies on software nowadays -- sometimes without even realizing it. But when an entire airline shuts down due to a computer outage, our dependence on technology becomes obvious. (And Skynet is simply reminding us who is really in charge.) Here are a few links on software projects that humans might want to keep an eye on.- Wouldn't it be nice if there was software that could make sure that other software was crash-proof? Who cares who watches the watchers... [url]
- David Brin has suggested that computer algorithms could make US tax code much simpler. However, Brin's proposal sounds like a software version of Utilitarianism -- with a way to exact taxes but without a calculus for fairness. [url]
- The world's best chess software has been caught cheating (because its human author copied from open source chess programs). Sorry, Rybka, the International Computer Games Association (ICGA) says you can't play anymore. [url]
- To discover more interesting software-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]
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Filed Under: chess, david brin, rybka, skynet, software
Companies: international computer games association
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The headline makes it sound as if the chess program cheated. It's claimed that the author of the program cheated by using code from other chess programs. The program itself doesn't cheat.
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Sore losers. He built a better chess program.
If he did just simply use their code, then he should give credit, lose his current winnings and be disqualified, but since nobody is allowed to look at it, we can't know for sure. That's certainly not a justification to call him a cheat and take away his winnings retroactively. That's just being petty. "We think you're plagiarizing, but we can't prove it; so we'll just judge you with ambiguous evidence instead." People can be so possessive of ideas and, when threatened, will act indignantly towards those that come to similar discoveries independently.
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Re: Sore losers. He built a better chess program.
It seems like the author has the option of revealing his source code to the contest judges.. but isn't doing so. Maybe Rajlick didn't plagiarize -- but if he didn't, then revealing his source code would certainly put these accusations to rest, no?
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I find xkcd is often right about these things:
http://xkcd.com/463/
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Re:
Apparently techdirt doesn't like some characters.
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My problem with proof of correctness...
result = (a + b) / 2
is correct. And then you run the program and it works, until a year later someone sets a and b to very large values, and the program crashes (or returns a negative value). That's why I prefer testing to proofs, even though I agree that proofs are theoretically better.
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Re: Re: Sore losers. He built a better chess program.
They merely suspect he was cheating and want to breach his privacy to find the evidence that they obviously don't have to support that accusation. They're assuming guilt and demanding he prove his innocence. Since he didn't comply, they automatically assume he cheated and responded as such. We may be a country that believes in "innocent until proven guilty" when it applies to criminal law, but we are very much still of the mentality of "guilty until proven innocent" outside of a courtroom. That's just sad.
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Re: My problem with proof of correctness...
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Re: Re: Re: Sore losers. He built a better chess program.
He entered a contest with a prize... I'd expect the judges to be able to view his source code as part of the rules, but maybe that wasn't explicitly stated. In any case, a non-disclosure agreement would solve this problem by allowing only a limited number of people to see his code to verify the absence of plagiarism.
On the other hand, I do agree that it seems wrong for the judges to award a prize and then try to take it back without solid justification.
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