A few weeks ago, my team and I were invited to compete in the US National Finals for the Microsoft Imagine Cup in Washington D.C. This was the culmination of a blistering year of hard coding, business development, and scientific research that had been spent to create a mobile application called Mobilife. In short, we had adapted existing technology to provide users with supplemental diagnostic information to assist in diagnosing vascular diseases (such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, sickle cell disease, etc.). The team tag line explains it all: take a picture, save a life.

The purpose behind the Imagine Cup Competition is straightforward enough - create technologies to address the UN Millennium Development goals, such as increasing environmental sustainability and reducing child mortality rates. Lofty goals for a student-only competition, but you would be impressed at some of the ideas out there. A team out of San Jose State University, for example, developed a software suite that models the carbon footprint and electrical consumption of computer systems as a function of their workload and the components. The quality of work and sheer brilliance of those competing really showcased the potential of our generation.

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The reality of being an artist, with few exceptions, involves having a day job, something that pays the rent and, most importantly, buys the stuff -- paint, guitar strings, reeds, canvas, whatever -- that makes the self-expression you live for possible. For too many, the day job is a generally uninspiring affair that entails some manner of serving, teaching, or selling out.

Not so for Jon Herington, whose recent CD Shine (Shine Shine) has just been released. He hit the day job jackpot over 11 years ago when he landed, as he describes it, "the best gig in the world," as guitarist for jazz-rock legends Steely Dan. Anyone who knows Steely Dan's music, shaped with intense perfectionism by principals Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, understands that "best" is in no way synonymous with "easy." Start with the complexity of their compositions and arrangements, plus an uncompromising demand for excellence from their players; add to that the fact that many of Steely Dan's classics are practically defined by the signature solos of a veritable pantheon of modern guitarists; and it's clear that Herington is charged with a task that would be daunting to most musicians.

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It all started with a toast at my wedding. My mother-in-law, who is extraordinarily shy, shocked our 200 friends and family when she held up her white-gloved hand, and it began to speak. Her lips didn't move, so it really looked like the white-gloved hand was delivering a toast. And it did so with humor, charm and grace. I know how hard it is for her to address a crowd in public. So for her to stand in front of all our friends and family, and move us to tears with essentially a sock puppet, well, this began my adventure into the world of ventriloquism.

It turns out ventriloquism is rising in popularity across America. It's hard to miss ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, whose YouTube channel views are in the hundreds of millions, and his "A Very Special Christmas Special" became Comedy Central's highest-rated comedy special ever. Jay Johnson, who starred as a ventriloquist in the '70's hit TV series Soap, recently won a Tony award for his autobiographical Broadway show, The Two and Only. Miss Arkansas and Miss America runner-up Elyse Eady's yodeling 'vent' act earned her an appearance on Letterman.

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Fashion Week seems to have softened Elisabeth Hasselbeck's opinion of Michelle Obama. At the Milly show on Tuesday, "The View" co-host, with daughter Grace on her lap, raved to HollywoodLife.com: "I love Michelle's style....I've seen her on a number of ocassions and she knocks it out of the park. I think she's such a fantastically strong fortunate woman and she dresses in a way I think many women like to dress. She's confident, she feels comfortable in her clothing, she's feminine, and beautiful. I think she really understands who she is."

That's quite a change in tone from 2008, when Hasselbeck took a jab Michelle Obama during a Cindy McCain event. She assessed the difference between the two candidates' wives based on their appearances on "The View": "Cindy came into our hair and makeup room, fresh as can be, and unlike another wife of a political candidate who shall remain nameless, she didn't come with a list of topics that we weren't allowed to touch. Nope, that's because she has nothing to hide."

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