1950: The Turing Test Alan Turing, an English mathematician and logician, advocated the theory that eventually computers could be created that would be capable of human thought. To cut through the long philosophical debate about exactly how to define thinking he proposed the "imitation game" (1950), now known as Turing test. His test consisted of a person asking questions via keyboard to both a person and an intelligent machine within a fixed time frame. After a series of tests the computers success at "thinking" could be measured by its probability of being misidentified as the human subject. Still today Turing's papers on the subject are widely acknowledged as the foundation of research in artificial intelligence.

TEXTBLOCK 1/2 // URL: http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611663/100438659354

Examples of Mainly Corporate Funded Think Tanks: Brookings Institution With a budget of US$ 23 million and assets worth US$ 192 million the Brookings Institution, based in Washington D.C., in 1998 was funded by: Corporate and private donations (38 %), endowment (30 %), revenue from conferences and seminars (18 %), sales of publications (9 %), government support (2 %). Among the 138 corporate donors are: Bell Atlantic, Citibank, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, NationsBank, Exxon, Chevron, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Dupont, Mobil and Lockheed Martin, and the foundations of companies like American Express, Travelers, AT&T and McDonnell Douglas. A few media conglomerates, like Time Warner and the Washington Post Co.. Contributions of individual donors include executives from Visa, Procter and Gamble, BankAmerica and U.S. Airways.

TEXTBLOCK 2/2 // URL: http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611704/100438658213

Avatar Traditionally, an avatar is a mythical figure half man half god. In Hindu mythology, avatars are the form that deities assume when they descend on earth. Greek and Roman mythologies also contain avatars in animal form or half animal, half man. In virtual space, the word avatar refers to a "virtual identity" that a user can construct for him / herself, e.g. in a chat-room. Avatars have also been a preferred object of media art.

INDEXCARD, 1/2

Mobil One of the largest of American holding companies, primarily engaged in petroleum operations but having major interests in chemical products and retailing. It was formed in 1976 to be the parent company in the merger of Mobil Oil Corporation and Marcor Inc. Mobil Oil Corporation carries on a full range of petroleum operations from exploration to marketing, with major production in the Gulf of Mexico, California, the Atlantic coast, the Alaskan North Slope, the North Sea, and Saudi Arabia. Headquarters for Mobil Corporation (and Mobil Oil Corporation) are in Fairfax, Va.

INDEXCARD, 2/2