Newspaper car on the Square

When I first saw the black car with white messages parked at the Square, it was mid-October. The perp appeared to be a Mr. Bill, who was claiming "victray at the Grand Canyon." Hmm.

Then just the other day, I came across a vehicle with another set of messages: "Walking backward from Los Angeles to New York City; need your support." The style looked familiar, but I wasn't convinced until tonight, when I cross-checked the telephone number. Yep, one and the same.

I sure hope that Mr. Bill or Ace or Gene or whoever gets that web site up, so that I finally know what this car is all about. Don't tell me to call that number -- t'would take all the fun out of my speculations!

Games in the Name of Science: I avoid computer games; haven't the time. Or, rather, I have an addictive personality -- and I'm afraid of spiraling down that bottomless hole. However, a recent article in New Scientist promotes science research projects that wear the veneer of games to make them catch the interest of computer users. There's Galaxy Zoo, where you classify images of distant galaxies; Foldit, a challenge to play with protein structures; Games With a Purpose, to help train computer vision and AI systems; another is Google's image labeler (which I have played). Maybe you can take a chance with your time. In a spare moment, of course.