Chris sent me this link, and it’s pretty amazing! Use the anonymous login, and play 20 questions with a computer. You’ll be surprised how good it is. AI has come a long way - I’m impressed!

My dad sent me an email today asking what a blog is. I’m guessing that he heard of them as many people did through the Democratic National Convention coverage. Here’s what I told him:

The word “blog” is actually a short form of the word “web-log”, which is a website that is continually added to in chronological fashion. Some people use them as online diaries, some use them as a place to list interesting websites they’ve come across (mine is like that - www.jasonclarke.net) and some are used to start online conversations in very focused groups. The last one is most common for software developers and the like.

Basically, a blog is the latest form of a “homepage”, but the format of a blog encourages and expects content to be added to it on a regular basis. Some mainstream media types and journalists see bloggers as “wannabe journalists”, but that’s not the case at all. Blogs are almost always very partisan, very opinionated, and rarely attempt to be impartial.

I read a lot of blogs - often the most interesting stuff (particularly in high-tech) comes out in blogs weeks, months, and sometimes years before the mainstream media picks up on it.

I’m sure this description is sorely lacking, so if you have anything to add, please make use of the comments.