Watson's performance on Jeopardy makes waves in the computer-tech world. The system performed incredibly well with only minor slip-ups. Watson did indeed beat his human competitors in round one of the three scheduled. 
The computer system has been a project that has had input from all over the world but some of it's origins can even be traced back to Ottawa, Ontario. If you missed the original article describing Watson, click here --> IBMWatson on Jeopardy TONIGHT!.
There are still two rounds to go before we know for sure if Watson will mop the floor with human minds, but one thing is for sure... Computer science and artificial intelligence will never be the same again!

Cheers to quantum leaps forward in tech!
-D-

Sometimes people just can't be knocked down...even when they have only a leg to stand on.
Cheers to taking it in stride; the world needs more people who are made of awesome!

-D-

It's a fresh test of a brand new kind of computing. Computer giant IBM has developed possibly one of the most amazing computers on Earth! No it's not going to be put in a satellite to orbit the planet, nor will it be in a robot of any kind; it's a Jeopardy contestant!
So that doesn't sound like the most awesome computer ever, but I swear it is. This computer will practice many interesting functions from voice recognition to remembering order and board structure, to decision making and best of all scanning a logical database for answers, or questions rather, for Trebek's approval. 

The show is set to air tonight, so be sure to catch Watson in all his glory. If you, however, are still not convinced this isn't just a way for IBM to show off... consider this next video a demonstration in what Watson means for all of our futures.

Can a computer "learn", can they be trained to analyse and answer questions from data sources? Imagine the functionality of a Watcon-esque Google search capable of scanning millions of data sets to find you just what you asked... and it goes so far beyond this; from medical applications to business analysis to social interactions. IBM reasserts their dominance on the market of ideas by computer human codes and "reading" our existence.

Cheers to analytics technology and the future of computer science!
-D-

Just leaving a quick message to apologize for the sparse postings this weekend. It is indeed the anniversary of my birth Today and I've been AFK for a bit. I'm enjoying my 694 252 371st second on Earth and celebrating my roughly 3 342 084 000km's traveled on this merry-go-round of a planet. So remember, you guys are still awesome and I'll be back with more non-sense for you on Monday!
Cheers to the continued support from over 300 visitors daily and reaching a record 1000 weekly readers :) Thanks guys!
-D-

Not only is this company incredibly awesome for producing these wines, but they even have one of the greatest wine-websites I've ever stumbled upon. Absolutely awesome wines, I can't wait to grab a bottle of the Cab Franc myself!

-D-
[WinesOfSubstance] 

Well it's been a learning experience and I think we've finally found what it is that the world likes. The readers of this blog are mostly Canadians (not all, but for the sake of argument...most are liberal Canadians) and because of this I understand why the idea of telling everyone what's great about the world isn't really a hit. (Ok, it's a hit so far for about 100 unique people to sign on each day and read...but in internet speak...not a hit!) Being born in Canada is like having already won the lotto. We've got pretty sweet lives at the worst of times, and at the best, we're the envy of the world. There is just so much awesome happening each and every day in/around the Great White North, and because of that, it's just not that interesting to read.

So from here forward the blog is officially being dedicated to a whole different kind of awesome. The sort of awesome that's inspired the Canadian way for over a century! That's right, we're going Super-Sarcastic-WTH-Are-The-Crazy-Canucks-Up-To-Now Insane! The stories from here on out are going to be mostly focused on little bits of...well they are still awesome, just in a slightly skewed way.

Don't understand what I mean... well I will sum it up with this picture:

Some of you got this one a lot quicker than I thought you would. The photo is indeed of a human eye up close (up very close!)


This picture is one of many amazing ones taken by Suren Manvelyan with a regular, macro-lens-sporting digital SLR camera. These amazing pictures aren't of distorted, weird, damaged or even diseased eyes. They a simply regular human eyes.


Check out the collection of amazing photography by clicking here and see just how amazing the world around us really is when we stop to take a closer look. 


Cheers to all who made a guess. Some of you were spot-on, other's left answers that worried me... but all of the guesses were fun to read :) so thanks for them.


-D-

It's amazing what sorts of things we can perceive in this world if we just open our eyes. Recently a friend of mine has told me that she might be changing her career goals to a different field of study. I took to Google the next day looking up interesting facts about the field and I came across a photographer who worked along-side those who studied this.

Now many of you know that I have a lot of friends in weird places. I have friends who study bees, some who study rocks, others in biology and sociology... but what is it that we're looking at here.


I can give you a simple hint which is that we've all seen one of these before (you've undoubtedly seen a couple if you've seen any at all.) There is a very good chance that if you're reading this blog you've made use of one or two of these to do it... so what is it that we're looking at here? Come back tomorrow and find out what the WTFriday image really is!


Cheers to letting your imagination stray, but don't stray too far for this one... it's closer than you think! Leave a comment bellow of what you think you're looking at!


-D-

This, and many other incredible images available from Yann Arthus-Bertrand by clicking here!
Above: Neighborhoods in Copenhagen give us an interesting perspective on what "Suburbs" really are.


Cheers to the world, and how little we know about it!
-D-

Apple will give it to you for a fee; Microsoft will barely do it at all... but here comes Google who will do it better, for free...and seemingly just to rub it in!

Cheers to innovation through competition!

-D-