"The best science joke on the Internet", as Penny calls it, was written and posted online by author Kevin L. Schwartz before it went viral and reached George Smoot. Many of Schwartz's writings are available on Facebook.
When Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) meet Alicia (Valerie Azlynn) for the first time, the dialogue between the three is analogous to that when Sheldon and Leonard first met Penny (Kaley Cuoco) in the pilot: repetitive "hellos" and Leonard's redundant explanation. Leonard even becomes infatuated with Alicia as he did with Penny.
Howard lives in Altadena.