By STEVE ALEXANDER, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Meet your doctor's new assistant: He listens well, asks a few questions and reads 100 million pages per second.

Or at least that's the vision IBM has for Watson, its computer system that in February bested two human champions to win the "Jeopardy!" TV show -- a challenge that required encyclopedic knowledge and split-second answers.

They're building the future at IBM in Rochester, Minn. -- and her name is Mira.

Mira is an IBM supercomputer worth an estimated $50 million, and when she makes her debut next year, IBM says she may be the most powerful computer in the world.

Travel industry watchers say a struggle is brewing for control of air travel reservations, and that travel websites and even some travel agents are already feeling the effects.

Now you can ping your friends to get together at a restaurant or bar. Or just shout at them.

They can find you through the global-positioning system (GPS) chips in your smart phone if you've logged on to the Foursquare social network and "checked in" at a local business location. On Foursquare, a ping is a brief "I'm here" message, while a shout is a text message.

Is a free chat room for singles a bargain for romance or a telecom scheme to bilk Qwest?

Qwest Communications alleges in a new Minneapolis U.S. District Court lawsuit that it's a scheme. Qwest, a 14-state regional telephone company based in Denver, is suing Tekstar Communications of Perham, Minn., for alleged unfair competition.

Is a free chat room for singles a bargain for romance or a telecom scheme to bilk Qwest?

Qwest Communications alleges in a new Minneapolis U.S. District Court lawsuit that it's a scheme. Qwest, a 14-state regional telephone company based in Denver, is suing Tekstar Communications of Perham, Minn., for alleged unfair competition.

Google's latest brainchild, Google Wave, is all the rage among bleeding-edge technology enthusiasts. But some corporate information technology executives say that while they're intrigued by Wave -- a replacement for e-mail, the most widely used of all Internet services -- they're not ready to adopt it.

Laura French of Roseville, Minn., claims that she's "terrified of technology." But she enjoys watching TV and movies on her laptop computer so much that she dropped her premium satellite TV channels.
Grant Edwards of Minneapolis says he's watching broadcast TV a little less now that he can watch online video on his living room TV by using a $99 set-top box.

Digital signs are popping up on billboards, at gas pumps, at the Mall of America -- and a group of Twin Cities companies selling software that remotely controls the digital signs is hoping to cash in on the new advertising medium.

Kirk Litynski likes his cell phone so much that he disconnected his household telephone -- permanently."I never miss a call anymore," said Litynski, 39, who ditched his land line five months ago. "The cell phone makes me more accessible to people, and as a result, I spend a lot more time on the phone."