Word: block
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...expert system -- that is, a computer program that emulates the reasoning and procedures of an expert in a specialized field. The tic-tac-toe program relies on the judgment of seven internal "experts" in playing the game. For instance, WIN looks only for winning moves. DEFEND acts to block wins by its opponent, and DECIDE weighs the recommendations of the other six and dictates the moves. On the computer screen each of the experts has its own tic-tac-toe board. Their recommended moves are color-coded. Red denotes urgency: when the machine's opponent is one square away from...
Maybe it is time to open our bags, to stop taking the fatal risk of mistrust. We do not know each other well enough, and this is our common misfortune. The Iron Curtain is in ruins, but enough of its remnants remain standing to block our vision. We see each other through newspapers, which unfortunately are not transparent...
Rubbia's triumph, says Taubes, did not change his tactics. In 1984 the physicist announced evidence that seemed to suggest two more discoveries. The first was that of the top quark, a basic building block of matter that is predicted by theory but that other scientists believe still remains undiscovered. In the second, his team's experiments picked up the signs of what would become known as monojets; Rubbia boldly theorized that the monojets might signal a hitherto undetected particle. If so, Rubbia would have his second Nobel-class discovery within two years. A discovery of this importance...
...group that ultimately defeated past attempts at reform, most recently those of Nikita Khrushchev and former Premier Alexei Kosygin. Today many top bureaucratic posts are still held by people who were appointed in the Brezhnev era. Often they simply do not want change and are in a position to block Gorbachev's reforms. In a speech last July in Vladivostok, the Soviet leader said acidly, "Those who attempt to suppress the fresh voice, the just voice, according to old standards and attitudes, need...
Life will get more serious, and soon. After last week's triumph, Lacroix received substantial offers of backing for his own house, and the temptation to have one's personal logo -- Saint Laurent's initials or Chanel's stark block letters -- is very strong. He will be moving before long into the ready- to-wear field. That means that Lacroix must design two additional collections a year and execute them with restrictions on fabric and detail in order to produce reasonably priced clothes. But the master of folly is not fazed. "I believe it can be done," he says. "Ready...