genetic-programming.org and genetic-programming.com:  John Koza's sites for academic work and commercialization of GP:  "Genetic programming (GP) is an automated method for creating a working computer program from a high-level problem statement of a problem. Genetic programming starts from a high-level statement of “what needs to be done” and automatically creates a computer program to solve the problem.  There are now 36 instances where genetic programming has automatically produced a result that is competitive with human performance, including  15 instances where genetic programming has created an entity that either infringes or duplicates the functionality of a previously patented 20th-century invention, 6 instances where genetic programming has done the same with respect to a 21st-centry invention, and 2 instances where genetic programming has created a patentable new invention."  10:25:40 AM    

Imagination Engines, Inc.: "IEI's bleeding edge neural network technology represents "AI's best bet" at creating human level intelligence in machines. "  The principle is to introduce noise in a rigid rule-based neural network. This noise disrupts the connections and helps generating new ideas.  Inventions include the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush and some industrial materials.  There's an uncritical article from his local paper, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "The machine that invents."  The company website and FAQ lists several applications, many military or intelligence.

Stephen Thaler's words make him sounds like a bit of spacer.  But he does have a grid vision: "I am actively proposing and developing what can only be called a true world brain, wherein the TCP/IP nodes of the Internet are converted to neurons, forming a global neural network cascade that can then introspect on human-originated content. In this system, [the] numbers of interconnects exceeds that of the human brain.."

Also, it does self-improvement:  "Probably the most noteworthy accomplishment of the Creativity Machine Paradigm was the invention of a new neural network scheme called the “Self-Training Artificial Neural Network Object” (STANNO), a totally autonomous self-learning system that may clone itself ad infinitum to produce swarms of independent neural networks that may exhaust all potential discoveries within a targeted database. In this case, we have a prime example of a neural system inventing another neural system."  (Once again, thanks for the tip, Roland.)

  10:07:57 AM    

EarthBrowser: "EarthBrowser is a three dimensional model of the earth with constantly updating live information. Exploring the earth is fun and easy with a point and click interface that lets you rotate and zoom to any desired location."  Customizable too.  Pretty nifty.  12:25:23 AM