Journal Stargoat's Journal: Stupid Google 5
A Google A Day
Tom and Bob were cousins from Virginia who served at the Battle of Gettysburg in the 36th Infantry and fought bravely in the cavalry. Yet they were thrown in prison not for a crime, but because of who they were. In what prison did they land?
Google Game Answer:
How to find the answer: Search [Civil War cousins +Tom +Bob soldiers 36th Infantry] to find that the cousins in question were Mary and Mollie Bell from Virginia, who served in both the cavalry and the 36th Infantry Division. Adding the plus sign in front of Tom's and Bob's names ensures that the Google search will include those words and will not include any synonyms. Search [Mollie Bell prison] to find that the cousins were held for two weeks in Castle Thunder, a notorious prison in Virginia.
According to all the orders of battle I found regarding Gettysburg, there was no 36th Infantry Division. There was a 36th Infantry Virginia Battalion, which is not a Division, but is in fact much smaller than a division. Google = fails
Division? (Score:2)
I don't see any references to the 36th Infantry Division among the top hits when I run that query. Most of the hits just say 36th Virginia Infantry, with no designation. From what I recall, most Civil War units identified by number/state are regiments or battalions, while brigades, divisions, and corps tend to be identified by the name of their commander. I could be wrong about that, though - I'm just depending on memory (rather than Google).
I would like to quote for you Mr Babbage (Score:1)
On two occasions I have been asked,—"Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
—Charles Babbage
It's an algorithm, not artificial intelligence with unlimited factual knowledge. What exactly did you expect?
Re: (Score:2)
It's actually contributed by a human. In this case, Fred Delventhal, Google Certified Teacher. One weeps for the future.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Stupid humans [slashgear.com]...