CMU prof. on 'NOVA' tonight

Normal 0 Pittsburgher Luis von Ahn gets profiled by "NOVA Science Now." (PBS)PBS's "NOVA Science Now," hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, returns tonight at 8 on WQED with multiple stories, including a profile of Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor Luis  von Ahn, the 30-year-old mind behind those words you type in when registering on Web sites so the computer can verify you're a human and not a computer spambot.

Von Ahn has been profiled plenty of times before, including in the Post-Gazette, but "NOVA Science Now" does a nice job of getting behind the creation to show us what makes the creator tick. He's a fan of TV ("Dexter," "Heroes," "Fringe" and "Weeds") and video games, but he also likes to pace and come up with ideas, "the vast majority are completely idiotic," but at least he's thinking, something too many of us have precious little time to do anymore.

***

Sharon Eberson has welcome news in the POPi blog for "Star Wars" fans who have been awaiting word on George Lucas' upcoming live-action "Star Wars" TV series.


Posted Jun 30 2009, 12:14 AM by Rob Owen