Do you know if there have been lessons learnt from chess-playing research that have been parlayed into things that touch our lives? AI seems designed for lots of ivory tower applications, but also surprising discoveries that end up in the strangest places (the way the podcast lady was talking, Kismet begat Roomba. And now I really want a damned Roomba).

What if I told you the dieticians on the other side of the computer were actually robots?

VERBAL LITTER.

I keep a food diary, and often disremember portion sizes.

I don't clean my plate, so I'd need before and after pictures. And judging by how long it can take me to eat any one thing (I've been working on this slice of cake since morning), I'd need lots of pics.

When I was tracking my food, though, I needed to map the quantities to something measurable, not just described. So photos wouldn't be that useful.

OMG I just reached out to touch the google braille.

This is a surprising new low after last night's sudoku disaster.

What if I told you the dieticians on the other side of the computer were actually robots?

Next you'll be saying that you switched my regular brewed coffee with rich, aromatic Folgers Crystals.

Chances also are, that it took a lot of time to maintain. Paper food diaries are a great end but not a great means to eating better. With your camera phone, you won't need to write down what you eat!

I thought the effort involved was one of the benefits because writing something down forces you to pay attention to it. Take away that, and the whole thing seems kind of pointless.

BWAH! But I think I missed the sudoku story.

last night's sudoku disaster

There was a sudoku disaster?

I'm thinking you're supposed to have it on your desk in case a reporter gets to your line accidentally. No?

Well, yes. But actually, we're supposed to shuffle the press off to the press office. They are just freaky because a big professional meeting is coming up soon. I'll give it to my dad and we'll laugh and laugh because these things NEVER come in on budget.

You know what's really transparent? That cough you do to cover up the fact that you're laughing at the computer screen. The guy two cubes over to whom I relayed a neighbour's TMI is doing it, and bon just made me do it with the google touching.

Next you'll be saying that you switched my regular brewed coffee with rich, aromatic Folgers Crystals.

Actually, we replaced your regular brewed coffee with rich, aromatic, intelligent nanites. They'll reprogram your taste buds so you won't notice the difference!