Weedology

After late-night TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel cracked jokes about Humboldt State University's marijuana research program, the Northern California school invited him to deliver its commencement address. "We figure you owe us," the school's president and student-body president wrote in a letter to Kimmel. "Humboldt State provided you with just over three minutes of pretty good material."

Kimmel hasn't yet replied -- perhaps because he's waiting for a better offer from the governors of Washington and Colorado.

Enhanced interrogation measures

Movie director Kathryn Bigelow was snubbed by the Academy Awards on Thursday when she failed to garner a Best Director nomination for "Zero Dark Thirty," the film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Bigelow was said to be so angry that she waterboarded the Oscar she won in 2010 for "The Hurt Locker."

There's an app for that

General Motors and Ford have invited software developers to create apps that will run on the automakers' onboard computer systems.

The Buzz already has a great idea for a car app: "Black Tape 1.0," which hides the "Check Engine" light after you skip a dozen scheduled oil changes.

-- Mark Carlson, Herald staff