Navy finally catches up with "Real Genius" style weapons

and they are sending them to the gulf

 "a prototype shipboard laser will be deployed on a converted amphibious transport and docking ship in the persian gulf, where iranian fast-attack boats have harassed american warships and where the government in tehran is building remotely piloted aircraft carrying surveillance pods and, some day potentially, rockets."

 you should click the link to see their video of how it works, but it's pretty much like this. \/

looks like someone's getting an A.

how great was the 5th grade?

our students designed slides to talk about their personal growth. i think they are rad. 

Some growth isn't quite as quantifiable

shut. it. down.

That, my friends, is exactly what you think it is. Taco bell will soon be offering tacos made with Doritos instead of a standard taco shell. They will be called Doritos Tacos Locos or #doritostacoslocos.

Who's coming with me? 

how is this a first?

stanford folks really are smart.

Geniuses

The Macarthur Fellows have been announced! Mostly it's a snooze-fest except for one of my favorite NPR hosts: Jad Abumrad! Congrats! Listen to Radiolab podcasts here, and read about the other genius fellows here. $500,000 over five years to spend as he sees fit. Maybe get some new shirts... Sucks to be Robert Krulwich, amiright?

i wish i had thought of that

you know that thought you have when you hear about something so genius and so simple that you wish you had thought of it? well i had just had that thought when i came across the blog kim jong-il looking at things
via

gchatz w/ john

"great minds" edition

john: have you ever done a punch list for a project?

they're very strange to me
me: no i havent
john: the real reason for it is to verify that the work was done correctly, nothing is forgotten, broken, done more cheaply than specified, etc.
but then you also get to be a perfectionist
me: yes
john: like, if you don't like how the caulking looks in a bathroom, you can put that on the list, and then the contractor has to redo it to your satisfaction
me: it seems like it would be a real power trip
john: exactly
i just put on my list "paint on door hinges"
me: love that
john: and i remember it's like one drop
but i was like, get that drop off!
idk, it's silly
i doubt anyone will actually fix all this shit
me: right
john: excuse me! excuse me! there's a drop of paint on this hinge. feeyux it! what do you think this is? a bus stop? a homeless shelter?
me: ctm

then....at the same instant:
john: this is not a state run mental hospital, it's a professional office environment!
me: a home for the feeble-minded? you think only retards are going to inhabit this space? that must be what you think. you painted the hinges, ffs.
john: get it right!
me: omg!
john: we did it!

me: yeah!

commence robot takeover.

watson the jeopardy robot is ready, and he recently did some practice rounds against ken jennings and another jeopardy champion. guess what: he won. easily.

the official rounds will air february 14, 15, and 16, and worldwide panic is scheduled to begin on february 17.

jeopardy news!

This February, the show will televise a man vs. machine tournament involving Ken Jennings and a quiz robot. (via)

set your DVRs! thx john!

keekerz speakerz

genius news.

jicydak, i just started watching the wire on dvd. every wednesday, lillywhitefish and i (and sometimes g.animalz, too. if attendees were vowels, she would be the Y.) have wire wednesdays, during which i try to power through as many episodes as possible before lilly falls asleep on the couch (last week, we made it through .5). joel started with us when he was visiting, and now he's also watching them at home. we just finished season one, but he's probably farther along.

we all love the show, so you can imagine my delight to hear this morning that its creator, david simon, was just awarded a macarthur genius grant!

David Simon, creator of the HBO television series "The Wire," is among 23 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants" - news that left him with what he described as "a vague sense of guilt."

The $500,000 grants were announced Tuesday by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The money, paid quarterly over five years, comes with no strings, allowing winners unfettered freedom to pursue their creativity.

Simon's guilt stemmed from already being amply funded in an industry that's "a little bit recession-proof," he said. Still, the award's prestige will go far with network executives. While critically acclaimed, Simon's dissection of urban problems in "The Wire" and more recently "Treme" hasn't yet scored Emmys or high Nielsen ratings.

"It makes it easier to go into the room with the network and argue against doing the usual thing in television," Simon said. His next pitch? The history of the CIA since World War II and a housing desegregation fight in Yonkers are two subjects inspiring him now. "Not all these things have the best possible commercial outlook," he said. (via)

RIP wallace!! (spoiler alert retroactive!)

LOLsoccer

oh haiye. i'm in first place. (c2e.)

i knew it wasn't just me

so many layers.

The patient was only slightly injured when he limped into a hospital in the northwest New Mexico city of Farmington. The only problem was, he was a dog.

When the automatic doors at San Juan Regional Medical Centre's emergency room slid open Saturday night, the pooch walked in, blood on his nose and paw, and a puncture hole in one leg, according to The Daily Times newspaper.

Animal control officer Robin Loev responded to a call from the hospital and suspects the puncture wound was from the bite of another dog.

Loev says the German shepherd mix appeared to be intelligent and calm - and knew enough to go to the right place.

The animal was taken to the Farmington Animal Shelter and claimed by its owner. (via)

best commercials on television.

her name is kylie. and she's a genius. just like me!


bigger. bigger! aaaaand click.

tiny hints of genius

"new york is the new detroit."
-john

;(

thank goodness!

The family of physicist Stephen Hawking expects him to recover fully from a chest infection that has left him hospitalized, Cambridge University said Tuesday. (msnbc)

uh oh...

stephen hawking's not doing too well....