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Jeopardy! Whiz Becomes Encarta Spokesman
Ant writes "BetaNews' story says Microsoft tapped Jeopardy! king Ken Jennings, who recently finished his 75-game run on the show, to become the spokesman for its Encarta product line. Jennings will embark on a nationwide media tour called 'Quiz the Whiz' that challenges news desks to stump the human encyclopedia with questions from Microsoft's Encarta Reference Library Premium 2005."
what do you call the first feedback comment on Slashdot ?
Stumper question #1: "What is Linux?" either unknown data, or grossly misrepresentive data, or simply undetailed data. Compare "Who is Bill Gates?" for maximum biasm.
this sig no verb
I felt a disturbance in the force, as if 10 thousand nerds cried out and then were silent.
"For years, I struggled with reality... but I'm happy to say I finally won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd
...that when I see the phrase 'natural fit' in a MS press release, I think of some poor bastard yet again taking it in the ass from BG?
Just a guess, but maybe they were talking about someone else?
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Yes, the draw of that huge $0 paycheck must have been really hard for him to turn down.
How priceless would it be if they got his name wrong in Encarta too.
*blinking cursor*
I'd like to see a Texas cage match between Jennings and Trebek.... winner gets Jeopardy hosting duties.
Why not give Ken his own trivia show where people try to stump him? It's not that far from what MS will have him doing.
So then I remember that episode of Keen Eddie (great show killed before it's time). The case in the episode involvs an EXTREEMLY famous man in England (fictional, of course) who had a trivia show where no one could stump him. One day he was stumped and then lost his show. He then became a bike messanger who forgot what he did with a package (this is the guy who remembers EVERYTHING). That's where he meets Keen Eddie.
Still, coincidince? Will Ken's memory start to slip untill he is attacked by a group that is trying to rob a bank because he lost their package?
If TV has taught us anything, yes!
I warned it was off-topic.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Let's see... Painfully clean-cut, Mormon, works for Microsoft... Thinks "watching me on Jeopardy! has made reading and learning seem just a little cooler"..
Actually my theory is that Bill Gates got tired of being the nerdiest guy around Redmond...
Does he know the answers, or merely the questions?
42
See if he knows the question.
God spoke to me
Answer: Starting after Star Wars Episode I, these two things are known to cause blindness, deafness and hairy palms in geeks.
Edible? Well, I don't know about the grits...
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
When chickens read Great Expectations.
How old is Mae West?
She's dead. But you're still welcome to come up and see her sometime.
Who was the last British heavyweight champion of the world?
Doesn't matter, the Irish still didn't recognize him.
How far is Winnipeg from Montreal?
It's too cold to tell now; ask again in summer.
When did Florence Nightingale die?
When her life ended.
What is the height of the Empire State Building? What was the date of General Gordon's death?
Is there a connection between the two?
What are the Thirty-Nine Steps? Come on! Answer up! What are the Thirty-Nine Steps?
Here ya go. Bring popcorn, it's great.
as is proven in this video. His mind wasn't always on trivia it seems.
Does anyone inside of the USA really give a shit about the opinion of anyone outside of the USA of the game show Jeopardy?
If Slashdot gets that interview, will we have to submit our questions in the form of answers?
I never thought I'd hear of a man making millions of dollars and then deciding to become an encyclopedia salesman.
Don't they mean "questioning 2,700 Jeopardy! answers" ???
No no no, you have it all wrong.
Me: This Slashdot post calls into doubt the possibly incorrectly phrased "answering 2,700 Jeopardy! questions".
You: What is "Don't they mean "questioning 2,700 Jeopardy! answers" ???".
I'll take Karma Bonus for four hundred, thanks!
Ironically, Microsoft also mixed up his name in the interview, referring to the trivia whiz as "Jenkins."
"Ah, ", continued Ken, "but what's really going to bake your noodle is, would they have spelled it wrong if I hadn't said anything?"