An electronic Don Juan

More proof computer nerds have always had trouble getting women: The world’s first computer was used to generate love poetry, Telegraph.co.uk reported Mar. 10.

In 1952, desperate to test the capabilities of Mark 1, ‘the Baby’ (the computer built at Manchester University), a scientist named Christopher Strachey devised a software program by entering hundreds of romantic verbs and nouns into the new machine. Mark 1 sifted through the database to create a stream of light-hearted verse.

Strachey and his team would print off the computer’s best efforts and use them to try and pick up girls. Just kidding — they posted them on a notice board in their office.

David Ward, a German computer ‘archaeologist,’ unearthed the program while researching Strachey’s papers at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Oodles of doodles

A scientist in England has found that doodling helps keep the brain on task, NPR.org reported Mar. 12.

Jackie Andrade, a professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth, recently published a study on doodling in Applied Cognitive Psychology. The function of doodling, she found, is to provide just enough cognitive stimulation during an otherwise boring task to prevent the mind from taking the more radical step of totally opting out of the situation and running off into a fantasy world.

Andrade tested her theory by playing a long, boring tape of a telephone message to a collection of people, only half of whom had been given a doodling task. After the tape ended she quizzed them and found that the doodlers remembered about 29 per cent more information than the nondoodlers.

R.I.P., Las Vegas art museum

Who goes to Las Vegas for the museums? You guessed it: no one. Apparently not even people who live there go to museums. The Las Vegas Sun reported recently that the Las Vegas Art Museum closed indefinitely last month because it was broke. After 59 years, there was no endowment, no public funding and little community involvement.

Its four-level, 55,000-square-foot building opened in 2003 and houses 1,900 works, including modern art, contemporary art and landscape photos of the American West.

Colbert to conquer space?

Call it a giant leap for comedian Stephen Colbert, whose name is leading an online NASA poll to get a new room in the international space station named after him.

CBC.ca reported that he’s beating “Serenity” by just over 16,000 votes. Other American rooms on the space station are called things like “Unity,” “Harmony” and “Destiny.” Clearly, Colbert’s name would be in perfect company.

According to the contest rules, “voting results are not binding on NASA and NASA reserves the right to ultimately select a name” in keeping with its best interests.

CBC.ca also reported that last September, “Comedy Central said it will digitize the comedian’s DNA” and send it to the International Space Station’s “Immortality Drive” which contains human DNA, a history of humanity’s greatest achievements and some personal messages.

Chris Brown pulls out of Kids’ Choice Awards

Kids’ Choice Awards? Whatever happened to the Teen Choice Awards? Wasn’t that young enough? Why should kids get their own award show? They have parents to make decisions for them — after all, they certainly don’t need Chris Brown’s influence.

Most recently Brown has drawn attention for his arrest after he allegedly attacked his girlfriend, Rihanna. The now infamous pop star has removed his name from the Kids’ Choice Awards voting ballots.

According to CBC.ca, Brown had been nominated for favourite male singer and favourite song for Kiss Kiss at the Mar. 28 awards show on Nickelodeon.

Published in Volume 63, Number 24 of The Uniter (March 19, 2009)