Have you ever realized how many great actors are in Galaxy Quest? That movie is hilarious. If you haven’t seen it in a while, go watch it right now.

OK, you’re back. Did you recognize everyone? Here’s a partial list of everyone you might recognize:

• Tim Allen (Home Improvement, Toy Story)
• Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, Aliens)
• Tony Shaloub (Monk, Wings)
• Alan Rickman (Harry Potter, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)
• Rainn Wilson (The Office)
• Sam Rockwell (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Iron Man 2, The Green Mile)
• Justin Long (Dodgeball, Mac Commercials)
• Enrico Colantoni (Just Shoot Me, Veronica Mars)

Pretty crazy, right? Here’s another piece of trivia: Galaxy Quest is better than all those movies.

• DvD (instead of DVD)
• FireFox (instead of Firefox)
• FaceBook (instead of Facebook)
• The name of our product (an acronym ending in s, which should be fully capitalized, but instead it looks like we have lots of that SYSTEMs)

There is no excuse for this. Please, people of the internet, stop it. The proper name and spelling is right in front of you.

The NY Times Magazine article gives a great introduction to answering these types of artificial intelligence questions, explaining that it uses a series of algorithms to rank possible answers with a level of confidence. If it doesn’t have a high enough confidence he won’t answer a question. If he takes too long assessing possible answers, a human opponent may beat him to the buzzer.

Jeopardy! is the perfect game for this. Aside from being a fun test of knowledge and trivia, it requires Watson to think quickly. The previously-linked NY Times article does a good job comparing it to other systems, such as the fictional computer from Star Trek which can answer questions quickly and precisely, or Wolfram Alpha, which is dubbed an “answer engine” but answers different types of problems.

My own interest in artificial intelligence began when I checked out a book from the library as an elementary student about programming games in BASIC. The book gave examples of the code and showed what it did, so I typed everything in to create my own basketball game. Of course I thought the game wasn’t good enough, so I added a few extra features, but I began to see the way that computers think. In more recent years I’ve taken formal courses in AI in grad school, where I wrote a program to run the bullpen of the Kansas City Royals.

Watson is certainly miles ahead of my simple bullpen manager, but it’s a good example of the progress that’s been made in the field of artificial intelligence. There are plenty of examples of good AI programs out there, from video game simulations to systems that assist doctors when they want to prescribe medicine, but just like the chess-playing computer Deep Blue, Watson’s Jeopardy! games represent progress toward a great goal: building a machine that can think like a human.

When you take away all the buzzwords and hype that come with using the web as a platform, this OS convergence can be simply described, as David Worthington does in talking about the upcoming release of Windows 7:

Windows 7 is a big improvement upon Windows Vista, but the hoopla of days when people lined up to buy OS’s is over. There are simply too many alternatives, and the Web is the great equalizer.

This convergence is bringing back the browser wars and it’s increasing innovation. It should be fun, as soon as I get Skype working properly in Linux.

“I was hoping (President Obama) didn’t like me, because none of the White Sox guys like me. So I was hoping that he’d be like, ‘You punk, I hate you.’ But he didn’t do that.”

Here’s what a showdown between Obama (a White Sox fan) and Greinke would have looked like:

My vote is for Zack.

Just over a year ago, I wrote about why I’m a Kansas City Royals fan. A few days after that (one year ago yesterday), the Royals were no-hit by Jon Lester and the Red Sox, which marked the beginning of a twelve-game losing streak. Yesterday, the Royals scored four runs in a ninth-inning comeback. While this isn’t quite redemption for all those people out there who like to rip on the Royals, this season has been a start. Here are a few reasons why:

Back in March, we went to go see the Royals play at their Spring Training home of Surprise, Arizona. They had a bit of a comeback in their win against the Dodgers that day as well, although not quite as dramatic, and not as late in the game, but I was there to enjoy it.

Zack Greinke is amazing. He’s got a Sports Illustrated Cover, his walks are down, his strikeouts are up, and he sports a nasty slider.

More people are watching. You may have even seen them on ESPN this season, especially for that long stretch when they were in first place. They have a newly renovated stadium. Even with injuries to key players like Alex Gordon, they have a real Major League-level lineup, instead of Tony Pena or Ross Gload every day.

There are lots more changes as well, but they all add up to one thing: excitement. That’s something that hasn’t been around much for Royals fans since 2003, but it’s been steadily rising in the last year and a half. If you ask me, that’s a formula for a fun summer.

A much better approach is this story, shared with my by Margret on Facebook (gasp!). For those of you who are wondering, yes, I actually know Margret in real life. In this “Direct Reply to ’25 Random Things’“, Rex Huppke takes a different approach at making fun of Facebook users with his form-letter approach to crafting a response to a friend’s 25 things list. It works because of its lighter tone, rather than the grumpiness of Ms. Suddath’s article.

I guess it’s time to start my own 25 things list, but only after I finish my own grumpy letter:

Dear Mr. President,

There are too many states nowadays. Please eliminate three.

P.S. I am not a crackpot.

• It’s easy to use. My favorite part about the Wii Fit is how easy to use it is. The balance board fits under our TV stand, so it’s out of the way, but you still notice it if it’s not there. You can do the Body Test portion of the game without the game disc, which is a plus because that means you can do a Body Test even if there’s another game loaded in the Wii. There are plenty of mini-games that are entertaining, but I’ve been doing a lot of the Free Step, which is great because you can do it while you (or someone else) watch TV. That means I don’t have to interrupt our schedule too much if I want to get in a 30 minute exercise in.
• It keeps you coming back. There are plenty of games in Wii Fit to try to master, but the part that keeps me coming back is the graphs and charts of each day. I have a Fitness game on the XBox, but I didn’t use it as much because there wasn’t a real incentive to come back each day. Keeping track of my weight each day keeps me more conscious about my eating and exercise habits, which is great. The longer I use it for, the more interesting the data becomes, as well.
• It’s fun! There’s a lot of different games on here, and the idea of beating my own records is a lot of fun. Julia started exercising this week with the Wii Fit, so that means more friendly competition! She’s already beat a few of my records. Even little 22-lb. Emmy gets into the game, and she’s great at the Soccer Ball and Skiing games (as long as she remembers not to get off the board!) This isn’t the best game if you’re looking for entertainment or excitement, but if you think of it more as an exercise tool, then you’ll keep coming back, too. It’s fun to show it to new people, and even my mom talks about playing the Wii Fit when she comes to visit.

The first month with Wii Fit has been great. I’ve already lost over seven pounds, even with quite a few days of overindulgence. For me it has been a great motivator, and I plan to keep using it for many more months. Next month for me will be a big test because my coursework will be a lot heavier, but it’s so easy to incorporate into my regular routine that I plan on sticking with it.

Last week’s Goals:

• Finish The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was a great book.
• Work out at least 20 minutes for four days this week. Did it!

This week’s Goals:

• Work out at least 20 minutes for four days this week.
• Finish 3 more levels of the Python Challenge.