Here is an incredibly in-depth article from the New York Times about IBM’s latest articifial intelligence invention – Watson.

IBM gained fame in this supercomputer arena with their Deep Blue computer, beating world chess champion Garry Kasparov two games to one (with three draws) in a six-game match.  This was the first time a computer had ever beaten a human chess champion.  Kasparov apparently was so upset that he demanded a rematch, but IBM ended up dismantling the Deep Blue computer.

Rather than focusing on known chess moves, Watson can understand natural language, and then play competitive games of Jeopardy! by providing the correct answers (in the form of a question, mind you).  You can actually play against Watson through the IBM website (I got my butt stomped, by the way…)

Take a read of the New York Times article here.  Facebook readers can watch a video on IBM’s Watson here.

A recent article in the Vancouver Sun shows some interesting things that you can do with the new computational knowledge engine Wolfram|Alpha.

Author Chad Skelton decided to check out the statistics of his first name, “Chad”.  By inputting “chad” into the entry line, Wolfram|Alpha gives you a wealth of information.  Rather than return a series of links to webpages that may or may not be relevant to what you’re looking for, you get relevant information (that Wolfram|Alpha actually computes itself) on your request.

Now, since “Chad” is an African country, you can end up getting population, geographic, and other demographic info on the country.  But, Wolfram|Alpha also understands that “chad” is a name, a lake, a protein, and also a word (for all you Florida election fans out there…), so you can click on any of these to get that information.  Skelton found out, for instance, that the distribution of “Chad” being used as a first name peaked in about 1973 or so. 

Unfortunately, when I put in my name (“Mic”), I find that I’m either a unit of measurement (a microgram) or a constellation (Microscopium).  “Michael” is a bit easier to identify with a name, and still seems to be pretty popular, peaking between 1950 and 1980. 

You can read Skelton’s original article here, or play around yourself at Wolfram|Alpha.

According to Bloomberg, Verizon Wireless will start offering service for Apple’s popular iPhone, possibly as soon as January of 2011.

I have friends that have iPhones and talk of switching to Google Android phones in order to get Verizon service.  However, if this report is true, it could keep Apple at the top of the heap for some time.

You can read the original Bloomberg article here…

Here’s a pretty cool video showing the evolution of Apple computers, starting from the Apple II (1977).

Pretty amazing when you think about how Apple has revolutionized personal computing with the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone, and now the iPad.

Facebook users can see the video here…