I'll take "Reasons the World Is Screwed" for $200, Alex.

Well, the first part of a historical Jeopardy! match between IBM's Watson supercomputer and puny humans Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter has just finished, and I must say, I'm impressed. It didn't turn out to be the curbstomp many expected, but Watson sure gave his human opponents a run for their money.
Depending on how the rest of the 3-day series turns out, this could be an important milestone in the development in human-level AI. This could have implications for the future of search engines: imagine a search engine that can handle questions in plain English when you have no clue what the answer to your question is. Once they iron out some of the kinks, that is....

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

RPG Disclaimer Collection at The Escapist

Those of you who are children of the 80s like me may remember the anti-D&D crusades some Religious Right types pursued. People were claming that RPGs were somehow connected with the occult, violence, suicide, you name it. In response to this, some RPG manufacturers put disclaimers in their products. Bill Walton of The Escapist has taken the time to compile some of the more interesting of these and is currently posting them on his blog. Most of them are something on the lines of "This is just a game, we do not in any way condone the occult, etc,", but a few are more noteworthy. For instance, Over the Edge First Edition required its GM to repeat its disclaimer before and after every gaming session (which must've gotten tedious after awhile). My personal favorite would have to be from Mage: the Sorceror's Crusade - it's quick and to the point:

"Yes, it's a game.
No, it's not Satanic.
Don't kill anyone.
Get a life.
Thank you."

You can see the complete collection at The Escapist Blog.

Carnivorous Potatoes?

Well, not exactly.

However, it does seem that the humble spud (and its close relative, the petunia) have sticky hairs on their leaves that trap and kill insects that might otherwise feed on it. When these insects fall to the ground and decompose, they provide food for the plant.

Think about that the next time you're eating French fries.

I wish I was this lucky....

I had to talk about this since I'm such a Civil War buff....

A farmer in Pennsylvania found a Civil War medal while tilling a turnip field. The medal, valued at about $1000, apparently belonged to a soldier who lived in the area. The farmer gave it to his mother, who in turn wanted to turn it in to the wife of the soldier's grandson, who died a few years ago. So far, the woman hasn't been able to attend the church she and the farmer's mother attend, so the current plans are to donate it to a local veterans' museum.

I'm not sure what I would do if I was in such a situation. I would probably try to donate it to some museum or another where all could see it, but the thought of having it reurned to its rightful owners is too much to resist.

Like I said, it's just too bad I can't turn up stuff like this when I'm gardening.