This is Jeopardy! [UPDATE]

This… is… Jeopardy! [UPDATE] Jeans Final Jeopardy Category: European Place Names Clue: This countrys name comes from the Greek meaning a single house, perhaps because there was only one temple in the area The answer (question) is at the bottom of this blog entry. You may have caught this news item earlier this week: Computer Program to Take On Jeopardy! YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. â€" This highly successful television quiz show is the latest challenge for artificial intelligence. What is Jeopardy? That is correct. I.B.M. plans to announce Monday that it is in the final stages of completing a computer program to compete against human Jeopardy! contestants. If the program beats the humans, the field of artificial intelligence will have made a leap forward. [read more] About the same time, I got a call from an MIT senior who is going to be on Jeopardy! tonight. Pretty cool. Tonight, Jiaqi (Jean) Cui 09 will appear on Jeopardy. Heres more about Jean from an email she sent me, explicitly for blogging purposes: About me: I am a senior who is majoring in 21E: Humanities and Engineering (History and Computer Science). ¬â€ For this major, I have to take 7 classes in a 21-Humanities field (History also requires a thesis, which for me is on American Foreign Policy) and 6 classes in an Engineering field. ¬â€ I am a member of MITs Quiz Bowl team (I have done Quiz Bowl since ninth grade, and I was Captain of my high school varsity team.) ¬â€ I am heavily involved in MITs Association of International Relations and Model United Nations (AIRMUN), whose newly elected President is Chris Su, an MIT blogger. ¬â€ I have won an award at a Model United Nations conference, and in AIRMUN, I have been a Head Delegate, Publicity Chair, and Secretary. ¬â€ Last year, as Head Delegate, I led the MIT team to the World Model United Nations Conference (WorldMUN) in Puebla, Mexico. On a different note, I have taught Latin at Splash! since sophomore year at MIT. ¬â€ On April 30, you can watch the interview with Al ex Trebek to hear me talk about teaching Latin. ¬â€ I have also been involved in other activities that I havent listed. About my Jeopardy! experience: The Jeopardy! audition process first involves an on-line test. ¬â€ There are 50 questions, and you have I think 15 seconds to answer each question. ¬â€ If you pass the on-line test, you might be invited to an in-person audition. ¬â€ At the audition, you take a written 50 question test, play a short mock game against two other people auditioning, and get interviewed. ¬â€ If you are selected to be on Jeopardy!, you will receive a phone call. ¬â€ For the adult show, you usually given about 3-4 weeks notice before your tape date. ¬â€ I got The Call in January and taped in February. Taping happens at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. The day of taping, I congregated in the first floor lobby of the hotel Jeopardy! recommended and waited with other contestants for the shuttle to the studio. ¬â€ When everyone got to the studio, Maggie Speak, the very friendly, energetic, and awesome Contestant Producer, went over the rules and whats going to happen that day. ¬â€ We also had our make-up done and went over our Hometown Howdies. Then, we did some rehearsal play on the actual set. ¬â€ We practised our buzzing. On Jeopardy!, you cant buzz until Alex Trebek is done reading or you get locked out for a part of a second. ¬â€ There are lights on the left and right sides of the gameboard that go on when Alex finishes. ¬â€ We also practised with practice questions. After rehearsals, it was time to play for real! ¬â€ The returning champion got podium number 1, and one of the Contestant Coordinators randomly drew the names of the two opponents who would face the champion. ¬â€ These three players got their make-up retouched and had microphones attached. ¬â€ After that, all three taped their Hometown Howdies. ¬â€ Soon, the taping of the game began. Everyone who was still waiting to play watched. ¬â€ After the first show is finished, the champion went back to the Green Room, changed clothes, and he/she and two new contestants get their make-up retouched for game two. ¬â€ Jeopardy! usually tapes five games a day, three before lunch and two after lunch. Jean told me that she could answer any question I had about her experience, except for the result. For that, I have to wait until tonight, where shell be facing a returning champion whose 6-day winnings total $121,302. Good luck, Jean! [UPDATE: Jean knocked off the returning champion, thanks to a thrilling last-minute Daily Double!] As I was preparing to blog this, I actually felt a little bad. Not because Jean isnt awesome (she is!) but because one of my friends on campus actually appeared on Jeopardy! earlier this year, and I knew about it, and didnt blog it. Of course, this was at a time when I was preparing to be out of the country for a month and was too busy to eat, let alone properly blog. But I felt guilty for a long time after (to this day!). So, to (hopefully) make it up to Anjali, heres a much-belated blog mention. Senior Gets A Second Shot at Jeopardy! On September 9, 1999, a nine-year-old Anjali Tripathi 09 appeared on the children’s edition of Jeopardy! She had been featured in a promotion for the show saying, I studied all my life for this. Then, in second place at the end of the second round of this famous quiz show, she lost the show after incorrectly answering the final Jeopardy! question. Tripathi won a consolation prize of a computer and a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Flash forward nine years to September 17, 2008: Tripathi appeared on the show again in a reunion episode and stood, once again, in second place heading into the final round. She faced the prompt, It’s 277 miles long, it’s up to 18 miles wide, it’s 6 million years old at a given time temps. within it can vary by 25 degrees. Her answer, What is the Grand Canyon, won her both first place and $25,000. [read more] Anjali was also named a Marshall Scholar this year, and shes involved with the awesome new MIT Solar Car, so Im not actually sure being on Jeopardy! even cracks her top three coolest things of 2008-09. Now that Ive made it up to Anjali, and talked about Jean, Im feeling a bit better, but the blog entry wouldnt be complete yet without mention of Vibin 11 (from The Tech): THIS IS JEOPARDY! â€" Vibin A. Kundukulam 11 (bottom-right) watches himself on Jeopardy! while dozens of other students cheer him on in the packed Burton 5 floor lounge in Burton-Conner House on Thursday evening. Kundukulam ended the show in second place, taking home the standard prize of $2000. So, that about does it Enjoy tonights episode of Jeopardy! Jiaqi (Jean) Cui 09 Anjali Tripathi 09 Vibin Kundukulam 11 Jeans Final Jeopardy Category: European Place Names Clue: This countrys name comes from the Greek meaning a single house, perhaps because there was only one temple in the area Correct question: What is Monaco?