We can't stop playing with this 20Q (version 2), we are not getting any work done and as for answering the phone well, hey. This round thinking thingy is just an incredible game. Just answer its questions with a YES, NO, SOMETIMES or UNKOWN and it will read your mind. It really will!

The artificial intelligence behind the game is a neural-network, similar to a human brain. A brain, or neural-network, is built from neurons connected by synaptic connections. A human brain has about one hundred trillion (100,000,000,000,000) synaptic connections. The 20Q.net online version has about ten million (10,000,000), and the pocket version has about two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000). The game uses the neural-network to choose the next question as well as deciding what to guess.

The 20Q has an uncanny, some say spooky, knack of hitting the nail on the head. Amaze your friends by concealing the device about your person and pretending you are working it out for yourself.

The 20Q pocket gizmo is based on the original Animal, Vegetable or Mineral game but has been taken to a new galaxy in the 20Q.

Robin Burgener, the inventor of 20Q is based in Ontario, Canada. He began working on 20Q in 1988, with the game running on a 5/14 inch floppy disk. Until 1996 over 2000 games were played in this way, creating the basis for the larger online experiment, which has led to the launch of the pocket version.

We think pretty soon this pocket gizmo will be running the planet making great corporate and political decisions. Be afraid be very afraid!