Inspired by the recent and effective Egyptian protests, more and more Middle Eastern countries are being consumed by rallies. Bahrain, Libya and Yemen were most prominent in the news this week, though protests are happening in numerous countries including Jordan, Tunisia, Iran, just to name a few. In many of these countries, the governments are responding to the peaceful protesters with extreme violence. In Libya, for example, the six days of political unrest has resulted in over 200 deaths, many caused by pro-government security forces. The anti-government fury has even begun to spread beyond the Mid-East. In China, plans for the “Jasmine Revolution” were unsuccessful on Saturday when less than a hundred showed up to protest, though organizers say there is more to come. There are a lot of different, complicated stories to keep track of here, and by far the easiest resource I’ve found to help keep up-to-date on this is an interactive map from CNN.
In a man versus machine Jeopardy! showdown, a computer named Watson took down two past champions. Watson, which (or who?) was created by IBM scientists over four years, ended the game with $77,147, while well-known champ Ken Jennings came in second with $24,000. Scientists at IBM say not to worry- computers aren’t quite able to take over the world yet. The win, though, is an indication of the ever-improving technology that will lead to faster and better access to information in the future. I’m imagining little mini-Watsons we can all carry in our pockets one (exam) day, although the original did cost somewhere above $30 million to create. Read More »
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