Day: November 18, 2006

• “A satellite orbiting Earth is learning to think for itself. This artificial intelligence offers a powerful new way to study Earth, and it may prove useful on other planets, too.” [Link, via Cynical-C]
• “Researchers at NEC System Technologies and Mie University have designed a robot that can taste — an electromechanical sommelier able to identify dozens of different wines, cheeses and hors d’oeuvres….When a reporter’s hand was placed against the robot’s taste sensor, it was identified as prosciutto. A cameraman was mistaken for bacon.” [Link, via Neatorama]
• “Scientists have used computer software to come up with what they say is the perfect comedy face….They said soft and feminine features, typified by Ricky Gervais, were more likely to make people laugh.” [Link, via TV Squad]

I see you’ll be getting an award in Las Vegas this week, at “The Comedy Festival” for HBO. Do you plan to gamble during your stay?

I tell jokes for a living. That is a gamble.

But here’s the kicker: Faulkner, the Pulitzer and Nobel prize-winning writer of “As I Lay Dying,” “Light in August,” and “Absalom! Absalom!,” had harvested his astonishing talent to write … a vampire film.