IBM has been playing a dangerous game—they've spent the last four years creating Watson, a super computer that was built for one terrifying purpose: to crush humanity at Jeopardy! Well, it wasn't actually made just for Jeopardy!, but IBM has decided to test out its giant toaster in that forum. Watson had his first test run today, defeating two of the game's most dominant champions, Ken Jennings (who holds the title for the most consecutive Jeopardy! wins) and Brad Rutter (who holds the title for the most money won on Jeopardy!), during a practice round at IBM's research headquarters in Yorktown Heights, NY. We'll see just how well the calculator does away from home turf when the three meet again for keeps on TV in February. Until then, watch some grainy footage of our robot overlord in action below: more ›

A source tells the Daily News that Senator Chuck Schumer, a Park Slope resident, had considerable difficulty voting this morning. Polling places are required to open at 6 a.m. in New York, but the source says, "They don't open the polling place until 6:10... They can't figure out how to open the machine and he is, like, screaming at the staff that he wants to vote." Another source says, "First, the site opened late. Second, the room was in a different location. Third, there were only 2 machines, and workers told him there were supposed to be 8. And 4th, the machines did not boot-up on time." Straphangers Campaign advocate Gene Russianoff also had big problems in Park Slope. more ›

Life seemed so much simpler back in the days of Don Draper. You could get back home after a long day in the office on the commuter train, which according to Mad Men was never over-crowded, and highly encouraged relaxation methods like smoking cigarettes and reading the evening paper. Or you could just drive drunk back to Ossining. Choose your own adventure! Either way, the romanticized Grand Central of yesteryear is a far cry from the nightmarish reality of today. more ›

If Terminator Salvation's bleak vision of humanity's enslavement by machines has you down, HERE Arts Center is the place to go for an antidote to Hollywood blockbuster dystopia. The machines that fill the stage in machines machines machines machines machines machines machines (which we'll henceforth refer to as "machines") are as inextricably involved in day-to-day life as the computer you're using to read this, but they're not about to become "self-aware" any time soon. They're not making existence any easier either, but that's what makes "machines" so damn entertaining: A man pouring a glass of orange juice doesn't make for compelling theater, but three men using an elaborate system of pulleys and counterweights to (somewhat successfully) pour juice makes for daffy, steampunk slapstick. more ›