An IBM computer dubbed Watson has tied with human competition on the US quiz show Jeopardy! on the first day of the contest. The machine, named after IBM's former President Thomas Watson is said to be even more evolved than Deep Blue, the IBM chess-playing supercomputer that beat world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. Watson was able to show off its knowledge of the Beatles, correctly answering a question about Hey Jude. It also gave correct responses to clues about the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo and US Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps. But Watson also made some errors, coming up with the wrong Latin word for "terminal" and repeating another contestant's mistake because it cannot interact with other players. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8325138/Computer-ties-with-human-in-first-round-of-Jeopardy-quiz-show.html

George Shearing, the British piano virtuoso who overcame blindness to become a worldwide jazz star, and whose composition “Lullaby of Birdland” became an enduring jazz standard, died February 14 in Manhattan. He was 91. In 1949, just two years after Mr. Shearing immigrated to the United States, his recording of “September in the Rain” became an international hit. Its success established him as a hot property on the jazz nightclub and concert circuit. The Shearing sound—which had the harmonic complexity of bebop but eschewed bebop’s ferocious energy—was built on the unusual instrumentation of vibraphone, guitar, piano, bass and drums. To get the “full block sound” he wanted, he had the vibraphone double what his right hand played and the guitar double the left. Shortly after breaking up the group in 1978, Mr. Shearing said, “There won’t be another quintet unless Standard Oil or Frank Sinatra want it.” Standard Oil never asked, but in 1981 Mr. Shearing reassembled the quintet for a Boston engagement and a series of Carnegie Hall concerts as Mr. Sinatra’s opening act. In 1996 he was invested as an officer in the Order of the British Empire, and 11 years later he was knighted. “I don’t know why I’m getting this honor,” he said shortly after learning of his knighthood. “I’ve just been doing what I love to do.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/arts/music/15shearing.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

On February 22, when the Supreme Court returns from its midwinter break and hears arguments in two criminal cases, it will have been five years since Justice Clarence Thomas has spoken during a court argument. If he is true to form, Justice Thomas will spend the arguments as he always does: leaning back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, rubbing his eyes, whispering to Justice Stephen G. Breyer, consulting papers and looking a little irritated and a little bored. He will ask no questions. In the past 40 years, no other justice has gone an entire term, much less five, without speaking at least once during arguments, according to Timothy R. Johnson, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/us/13thomas.html?_r=1

The Airedale Terrier, also known as the Waterside Terrier, the Yorkshire, the Bingley Terrier, the Warfedale Terrier, the Broken-haired Terrier and the Working Terrier, is a hardy, water-loving dog that is the largest of all terriers. Its name comes from a small otter-river, the Aire, in northern England. http://www.petwave.com/Dogs/Dog-Breed-Center/Terrier-Group/Airedale-Terrier/Overview.aspx Personal note: Some of my ancestors lived near the Aire in Bingley, and the house, dating back to the 14th century, still stands. http://www.ravenroyd.com/index_files/About.htm

As the main access route to a region that was named after the original inhabitants' descriptive names Alyeska ("the Great Land") and Yukon ("The Great River"), the Alaska Highway offers a unique, never-to-be-forgotten experience for those who come prepared to look and listen carefully. Built in 1942 as a military access road, the highway stands as a tribute to the determination and resourcefulness of the tens of thousands of men and women who have worked on it, not only during the construction, but through the constant upgrading of the highway, and the maintenance that has, often against enormous odds, kept it open year-round since it was built. Called the Alaska Military Highway at first, it then became the Alaska-Canada Highway, which was shortened to Alcan before being finally replaced by Alaska Highway, the name by which it is officially known today. To the people who built it, though, it was simply The Road. For 8 months, the lives of 18,000 men and women were dominated by The Road, and for most, it would remain one of the highlights of their lives. http://explorenorth.com/library/roads/alcan-signs.html

The expression 'alive and kicking' was coined in the late 18th/early 19th century and is still widely used today. The earliest citation of 'alive and kicking' that I can find in print is from 1801, in the anonymous, (and by anonymous, at that date, we can certainly assume female, author of the travelogue Farther excursions of the observant pedestrian, 1801. In this the narrator is interviewing a 'crab-boy', who observes: "I left them [the crabs] all alive and kicking, your honour, when I came to church." http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/alive-and-kicking.html

The phrase all together refers to people or things gathered in one place. The adverb altogether means "entirely" or "wholly." http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/altogether.htm

A few weeks before summer vacation in 2005, Douglas StanWiens, a high school teacher in Boise, Idaho, gave his students an assignment: Research the history of a local building. StanWiens hoped the project would keep his students engaged after finishing their advanced placement tests in U.S. history. He didn't imagine that his idea would grow into the Boise Architecture Project, a collaboration among hundreds of students from three area high schools and one fourth-grade class. Students have now researched and published the histories of more than 200 buildings, led historic house tours, attended civic meetings about preservation, even protested the demolition of the Cole and Franklin elementary schools. "Given the opportunity, students participate in architectural history and preservation, and do it willingly and gladly," StanWiens says. According to Kelly Waldo, a senior at Timberline High School, the city-wide project inspired her to consider studying architecture in college and introduced her to the wealth of styles—Art Deco, Egyptian Revival, Modern—in Boise. "A lot of these buildings have a historical value that shouldn't be overlooked," Waldo says. "I've realized that Boise is a pretty cool town." http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2011/january-february/stanwiens.html

The Federalists, as a rule, were advocates of a strong central government. They were somewhat pessimistic about human nature and believed that the government must resist the passions of the general public. One of the government's prime functions was to maintain order. The Federalists tended to place their faith in the talents of a small governing elite. Since many Federalists were large landowners, bankers and businessmen, they favored the government's efforts to encourage and protect American industry In foreign affairs the Federalists supported the British, with whom they had strong trade ties, and opposed the French, who at the time were convulsed by the French Revolution. George Washington would have resented having any party label attached to his name, but he was philosophically aligned with the Federalists. John Adams' administration marked the end of Federalist control of the presidency with Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800 ushering in an era of Democratic-Republicans. Rufus King was the last Federalist presidential candidate in 1816. In time the basic tenets of Federalism would triumph in the United States, but not until the dawning of the Industrial Age. There is some confusion over the use of the term federalist since its meaning changed sharply over a very short period of time. The original "Federalists" were supporters of the ratification of the Constitution in the years between 1787 and 1790. Those who had strong objections to the new document were labeled the “Anti-Federalists.” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h445.html

Bread salads reach high art in the Mediterranean. Stale bread is a great ally for the cook. I grew up in a family where soup was never served without chunks of stale bread beside it. Sometimes the pieces were rubbed with garlic and moistened with olive oil, sometimes they were just plain.
Weeknight Kitchen February 9, 2011

Q: Why is snow white?
A: Snow is made of ice crystals and, up close, the individual crystals look clear, like glass. A pile of snow crystals looks white for the same reason a pile of crushed glass looks white. Light is partially reflected by an ice surface, as it is from a glass surface. With a lot of partially reflecting surfaces, the light bounces around and eventually scatters back out. Since all colors are scattered roughly equally well, the snow bank appears white. California Institute of Technology. http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2011/Feb/JU/ar_JU_021411.asp?d=021411,2011,Feb,14&c=c_13