Humans

I watched the cracking first episode of Channel 4’s new Sunday nighter which explores the ideas of machine intelligence. The action is low-key, but the premise is as fascinating as it is chilling: If machines become sentient then are they people, and should they be treated as such? I’d probably say yes, but a few of the characters portrayed in Humans clearly disagree.

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It’s not a new idea, and we’ve had a spate of similar movies recently (AI way back in 2001; I, Robot; Ex-Machina; Chappie; Her), but Humans is set in a present-day United Kingdom so it hits much closer to home.

Gripping stuff and well worth looking out for.

Help for dyslexic writers

I’m a bit of a font nut, so I often spend valuable writing time chasing around the web for new fonts to try out. What I tend to look for is something neat and clear that’ll allow me to work for extended periods without eyestrain. So far, the best font I’ve come across for this is Microsoft Consolas, a font designed for people who need to work for extended periods without eyestrain: programmers. I should take more breaks really, but sometimes you’re so focussed . . . Anyway, I’ve been happy with Consolas for years, but I may be about to make a change.
A few months ago, a dyslexic friend of mine said I should take a look at the Andika font.
Andika is a free font (still under development) geared towards teaching literacy to young children. The letter forms are clear, distinct and evenly-spaced, all which makes it very comfortable to read on a decent screen. It has excellent support for non-western character sets and, if I didn’t mention it before, it happens to be free. (Though if you use it then I’m sure they’d appreciate a small donation.)