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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."
Jeopardy! Whiz Becomes Encarta Spokesman
By Nate Mook, BetaNews
December 6, 2004, 11:00 AM
Microsoft has 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.
Jennings broke the game show record books this year and attracted a cult following by answering 2,700 Jeopardy! questions and raking in over $2.5 million in winnings. Before he takes off to Europe with his family next summer, Jennings hopes to pass on some of his passion for learning.
"It seems like a natural fit: Encarta has a long-standing commitment to furthering education, and I've had a lot of kids tell me that watching me on "Jeopardy!" has made reading and learning seem just a little cooler," Jennings told Microsoft in an interview.
Jennings also warned against relying solely on the Internet for researching information. "The Internet can be an incredible resource, but the scary thing is you never know what's out there or whether the answer you will find will be accurate. In fact, out of curiosity I searched for myself once and turned up all sorts of erroneous information," he said. "One seemingly reputable and authoritative page even had my name wrong!"
Ironically, Microsoft also mixed up his name in the interview, referring to the trivia whiz as "Jenkins."
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
Do a lot of people even use these anymore?
I figured by now, the internet would have overtaken these completely.
Right after his "loss" on the show. I still say it was a throw. Interesting marketing (and I bet it'll be successful) ploy for MS, I just wish Ken had thrown his popularity behind the open source community.
If there were a moderation, "1, Cynical", I'm sure I'd get it, but seriously ... for all of the knowledge apparently amassed by Mr Jennings, there is still a difference between trivia and knowledge. And there is a distinct whiff of one of the most vile of odors: marketing.
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?
Seriously? I thought Encarta died a long time ago. It was useful about 10 years ago, back in the days before I had net access.
Does anyone still actually use it?
Just a guess, but maybe they were talking about someone else?
Track your TV Shows with your iPhone - FREE
...but we spent so much time on your Wikipedia article!
(Seriously, look at that article... someone put waaay too much time into it.)
Alcohol and Calculus don't mix. Don't drink and derive.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
But I saw Encarta in a computer store the other day and thought... so what? With the internet now common and simple to use to find things (thanks to Google and it's forefathers), why would I want to pay for an encyclopedia on CD/DVD?
As a promotion goes, it's a good idea, except it seems like trying to sell horse & buggy carts to 1920s urbanites. It's a product that is past it's prime and will dissapear soon.
PS: Ken Jennins, works as a programmer in Utah, hired by MS. I can make a conspiracy out of that :)
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Give him a real challenge: ask him questions from Wikipedia. Encarta doesn't have half the information that Wikipedia has.
He is the perfect spokes person... i mean sheesh, he swept the "beer and wine" topic one night-- and he's a Mormon folks. He's an information sponge.
'"It seems like a natural fit: Encarta has a long-standing commitment to furthering education, and I've had a lot of kids tell me that watching me on "Jeopardy!" has made reading and learning seem just a little cooler," Jennings told Microsoft in an interview.'
http://chronicle.com/free/2000/08/2000081501t.htm
He was so cool and so smart...and then he pulls in with microsoft.....well, i guess its a good way to get a lot of money for nothing.
-- +
He must have thrown it. He got both Daily Doubles, and drew a blank on both of them. Then he answers "FedEx"? And then what's worse, that smile he has afterwards. No, subconsciously or not, he could have won it and didn't.
Of course the next thing to look into--were people betting on when he was going to lose?
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
How priceless would it be if they got his name wrong in Encarta too.
*blinking cursor*
What causes Pip in poultry?
How old is Mae West?
Who was the last British heavyweight champion of the world?
How far is Winnipeg from Montreal?
When did Florence Nightingale die?
What is the height of the Empire State Building? What was the date of General Gordon's death?
and last but not least
What are the Thirty-Nine Steps? Come on! Answer up! What are the Thirty-Nine Steps?
Any sufficiently advanced man is indistinguishable from God
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?
Sure, this will likely help Microsoft to endorse their product, using a celebrity to make it seem better, when in reality it is worse or equal to others.
But seriously, encyclopedia software is becoming outdated by online encyclopedias. It is no longer necessary to spend 20 minutes installing GB's of data, as you can just bring up a website, type in your term, and have your information right there -- and at no cost to you.
42
See if he knows the question.
God spoke to me
Jennings is a progammer. I'm sure he reads slashdot. So - how about it Ken? Where are ya?
Don't Tread on Me
What is selling your soul?
And where exactly can use his fame in the open-source community? Wikipedia is our best work yet, but no serious scholar (such as Ken) would support it as a reference source. Furthermore, Wikimedia doesn't have the dollars MS does.
Did anyone from Wikipedia even think of this? With firefox's publicity at its first release, Open Source has shown they can do this, but unless it gets on with the Cheese that appeals to most people, its going to stay as the 10%, and not the 90% that we'd like to think it deserves.
What is the 19215'th article's 7'th paragraph, 9'th word and what was it reffering to?
*recalls old 486 based ad&d games with page/paragraph/word anti-piracy.
Encarta isn't really 'fine' at all. It started out as a seriously discount paper encyclopedia, and it hasn't improved much at all. For example, take the biographical entry for Alexander Hamilton. It correctly puts a question mark next to the birt date, but then completely fails to discuss the controversy surrounding the birth date. Just recently, Wikipedia was dinged by a reviewer for exactly this sort of shallowness. Wikipedia fixed the problem the very same day the review came out.
The original paper encyclopedia Microsoft used as a source was Funk and Wagnall's New World Encyclopedia. It's not published any more. They used to be sold in supermarkets for $0.99 for the first volume, and $5 for the remaining volumes. I can't tell you how many people in the rinky dink town I grew up in had just the first volume of that encyclopedia, which they got for a buck at the grocery store. Lots of biology science papers were written on the ecology of the aardvark in those days.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
1) Get smart
2) Get on Jeopardy
3) Profit!
Obvious.
That's right. All your base.
Answer: Starting after Star Wars Episode I, these two things are known to cause blindness, deafness and hairy palms in geeks.
I'm willing to bet that Encarta is a compilation of articles and content written by other reputable sources rather than Encarta authoring its own content. I have a feeling that Encarta is about as accurate (though vauge) as any other average home encylopedia.
"You can now flame me, I am full of love,"
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.
Why did Ken Jennings - multi millionaire - decide to hook up with Microsoft to promote a less-than stellar product. Is it...
Because he really believes in it?
Because he loves the celebrity and thinks spokesperson is the next logical step in his career?
Or because Microsoft has agreed to pay all the taxes on his Jeopardy winnings?
KJ would make an excellend slashdot interview...someone shoulud work on that...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
as is proven in this video. His mind wasn't always on trivia it seems.
What is a .. Bounced Check?
Smile.
Yes, I know, the original poster was just quoting from the Thirty-Nine Steps, but I wanted to have fun anyway. And yes, I meant my last line wholeheartedly: it's a great movie. But no, even after watching it you won't know what causes Pip in poultry, sadly.
Does anyone inside of the USA really give a shit about the opinion of anyone outside of the USA of the game show Jeopardy?
In Wikipedia the "problems" is being "fixed" all the time. Though, whether there is a problem or was it fixed, or a new problem is created is highly debatable. If you take you as a reference, sure wikipedia is great, but when you take yourself as a reference and start asking real questions, wikipedia has its own problems. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love wikipedia, but I am not the type to say wikipedia is the best resource out there and everything else sucks. On the contrary, Wikipedia has to work a lot to reach the level of Encarta and others. And of course we need more credible authors' and researchers' help, not your cheap propaganda.
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.
So the media campaign is to draw attention to what, exactly? If you stump Jennings, he is knocked down a peg and you demonstrate that he was more lucky than anything in getting asked question on Jeopardy he just happened to know. Why bother with any specific education/product if success comes only from a coin flip? If you don't stump him, Encarta is knocked down a peg because he shows that he has more knowledge than what they're trying to sell and that you should probably buy another product if you want a more comprehensive reference. There is no win-win here; someone at MS should be fired for thinking up this gimmick.
Actually there are a many Mormon's (myself included) who believe in evolution...It's those fundamentalist Christians who are insistent on a literal interpretation of the Bible that can be the problem , not the Mormons (excluding Orrin Hatch he can goto Hell ;-) ).
he gained his C-level fame for winning at a difficult quiz show.
Unlike others who got their fame from losing 500lbs eating mediocre hoagies, singing so horribly everybody couldn't help but laugh, or crashing at the guest house of a murderous football player
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
Did anyone else find it just a little bit weird that Jennings lost on the same night as Jeopardy aired the episode in which every category was somehow related to Seinfeld, not to mention the final category that was actually questions (answers?) about Seinfeld, read by actors fromSeinfeld...
The tie-in was a plug for the recently-released DVDs (one week before the airing of the episode, to be exact). Most Jeopardy episodes don't contain this kind of plug... in fact not a single one comes to mind in recent history. Doesn't anyone else find this the least bit weird?
...Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
Churchill
I know the guy happens to be a Mormon, and a software engineer.
I never thought I'd hear of a man making millions of dollars and then deciding to become an encyclopedia salesman.
I'm always looking for resources for finding locations, and the web isn't that great for Atlas style maps. Anyone know if the atlas in encarta is any good? Thanks,
David
Drop "of the game show Jeopardy" from that sentance, and I think you're really on to something. ;)
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
Natalie Portman and Hot Grits? :p
(for the n00bs..)
Actually there are a many Mormon's (myself included) who believe in evolution...It's those fundamentalist Christians who are insistent on a literal interpretation of the Bible that can be the problem , not the Mormons (excluding Orrin Hatch he can goto Hell ;-) ).
Sure and lots of Catholics use birth control. All that says is that many people who are roped into a religion don't let it control their lives as much as the leaders of the religion would like it to (good for them! ). But the fact is the lords of the sacred underwear have never accepted evolution, so technically you're an heretic.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
He would just need to read the encylopedia once, then he would perfect. He probably would not even need to read most of it.
Dream jeopardy: Kim Peek vs. Ken Jennings. Kim would have to hope that his specialty areas came up.
And yes, I know Douglas Adams denied writing any jokes in base-13. Maybe he didn't, but I'm still not sure it's a coincidence. :-)
It's like "Win Ben Stein's Money" all over again, only Ken Jennings hasn't actually been an economist for decades like Stein has... he just kicked serious ass on Jeopardy.
Come to think of it, I'd love to see Pat Sajak host Jeopardy for a night (or maybe a full week!) while Alex Trebek, Ken Jennings, and Ben Stein hold the buzzers and play Jeopardy! Someone forward this idea to Sony Pictures...
on when Ken lost? I heard the audience reacted to the loss.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Ken Jennings was that annoying kid from the old Encyclopedia Britannica commercials.
I object to that article, and to the next reply.
Encarta has the best computer atlas I've ever seen, though. That's the most valuable part, and I've heard of people buying Encarta just for that atlas.
Our empire(s) are effectively only 300 years old, depending on how you look at them. Virtually all human art has been centralized in museums.
+0 funny.
If you need text styles to communicate then you don't have a message.
And that's the mentality that makes people from other countries park jet liners in your sky scrapers.
Utah ? Mormon ? Talented ? ... ORGASMO !
Go grab those torrents.
Clean-cut handsome quiz show champion goes on from record-breaking run to work for an encyclopedia company.
Does anyone else think this reeks?
(And for those who haven't heard of van Doren - look him up on Google, or watch the movie on the 50s quiz show scandals that Showtime is (by coincidence?) running this month.)
Wow. He's not as smart as I thought he was :-)
I remember when electronic encyclopedia's first came out. They actually had a lot of in depth articles. Then "multi-media" hit. Suddenly they had all those neato pictures and videos. But the articles suffered because of it. Instead of articles that told you a lot about a subject, you had ones that just skimmed it and were shorter than a newspaper column.
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
This is somewhat related - I hear that Oxford is removing the word 'gullable' from the 2006 version of the Dictionary due out in Jan.
They haven't invented a single unique thing out of Redmond or had a single independent thought in at least a decade now. They simply wait for someone to do something they can't do themselves, and they either buy them out, claim it as their own invention through patents filed after-the-fact, or they liquidate the originator into submission.
SSSM (Same Shit, Same Microsoft) here.
COWARDS!
If you disagree with me, show your sorry faces.
Don't hide behind your feckless moderator points, you Gatesian tools.
Cheap propaganda? Fuck yourself.
I never said Wikipedia, which is clearly flawed, is a great encyclopedia. Precisely, I said that Wikipedia corrected the problem with Hamilton in a day.
Now, fuck off, you have been repremanded.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
I am a Mormon too. It turns out that Mormons are the only religious group where as education increases so does religiousity. I not only believe in evolution but find it to be in line doctrinally with my church. Just because we are Christian certainly does not prevent us from seeking erudition and scientific knowledge
It seems Carly Simon had a song about Mr. Jennings . . .
I struggled for days and days and all I got was this lousy sig.