100 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year 276
An anonymous reader wrote to mention a BBC list of 100 topical pieces of information that they've reported on over the course of 2005. While some of them are very Brit-specific ("16. The London borough of Westminster has an average of 20 pieces of chewing gum for every square metre of pavement."), there are some interesting, touching, and humorous stories in there. "20. The Queen has never been on a computer, she told Bill Gates as she awarded him an honorary knighthood. 32. 'Restaurant' is the most mis-spelled word in search engines. 65. Actor James Doohan, who played Scotty, had a hand in creating the Klingon language that was used in the movies, and which Shakespeare plays were subsequently translated into."
Hmmph. (Score:5, Interesting)
"41. Tactically, the best Monopoly properties to buy are the orange ones: Vine Street, Marlborough Street and Bow Street."
I believe they're called New York, Tennessee Avenue and St. James Place. And this is just common sense - their relationship with jail, and the fact that they're on the end of a row (More bang for buck, house/hotel wise, and a 6,8, or 9 after jail yields a hit), makes them ideal.
"43. The spiciness of sauces is measured in Scoville Units."
What does this have to do with '05? I've known that for a long time.
"61. You can bet on your own death."
That's a safe bet - but what do I get once my win has been confirmed?
Meanwhile, others are just best LEFT OUT:
"67. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex."
"11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed."
"78. One in 18 people has a third nipple."
Thanks for the list, BBC.
Bananas too (Score:3, Interesting)
Funny, but pretty much the same goes for bananas. They are considered fruits, as they really are vegetables (and africans consider them as such, according to what I heard)
It's an issue of which "we" (Score:1, Interesting)
"Each week the Magazine picks out snippets from the news, and compiles them into 10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week. Here's an end of year almanac."
It's just a neat little piece where the writers of the Magazine get together and list the most interesting things they learned while doing their jobs as reporters.
Re:#39 (Score:1, Interesting)
I worry sometimes that these demographics are easily swayed by the flashiest advertisement on tv, and in fact rely on little else, but I find it inarguable that the tactic does indeed draw more voters, if of somewhat lesser political savvy.
First-born (Score:1, Interesting)
So, what about only children?
Queen's Computer (Score:3, Interesting)
I take her word for it, no computer in Buckingham Palace.
Grandmotherly types (like the Queen) tend to say things like that. Basically, they want to make you look good. I'll bet Bill Gates felt 10 feet tall after she said that.
In this day and age of new discoveries, etc. grandmothers have lots of material. Anyone ever had their grandmother say, "Who would ever have thought of such a thing!" concerning some new technology.
Having said that, here is a link to a report [royal.gov.uk] that says the Queen apparently knows how to email school children, having set a record for the largest group email the Queen has ever sent.
The Queen does not really touch the computer though, she has it done...
But, did anyone see that picture of Pope John Paul II on his laptop?
They took it down after he died, but he was supposedly answering email when the picture was taken. The top of the laptop had the papal crest, if that is what it is called.
Here is a link [theworkofgod.org]to a statement from 1989 by John Paul II that has some sections concerning computers. What a great guy he was, we all miss him. Goodbye, 2005!
The Queen's story doesn't add up (Score:2, Interesting)
The fact that freaked me out most is that british members of parliament share communal hairbrushes. That's just so very very strange.
#7 = Duh (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hmmph. (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting how well that "common sense" works out, huh?
This site [tkcs-collins.com] has all the long-term probabilities (I've always thought it would be an interesting exercise to come up with the markov chain representing the board and try to duplicate the results myself, but haven't yet done it) and a number of other statistics. If you really want to play Monopoly well, instead of just for fun, you should study these charts. They can help guide you in how much and where you should invest.
If you don't want to look, the first few most common squares for finishing your turn are:
1. In Jail (this is separate from just visiting, so really there are 41 squares on the board)
2. Illinois
3. Go
Now here's where things start to get messy, and change depending on whether you try to stay in jail for as long as possible (good late in the game) or pay immediately (good eanly in the game). So the ranks are expressed as short term rank/long term rank
4. New York Ave/B&O RR
5. B&O RR/Free Parking
(If you stay in jail for as long as possible, your chances of landing on NY diminish drastically because it's 9 spaces from jail, so if you get out through doubles you can't land on it except by geting boxcars then the move back three chance card.)
6. Reading RR/Tenessee Ave
7. Tenessee Ave/New York Ave
8. Pennsylvania RR/Reading RR
(I find it interesting that reading is less-commonly landed on than B&O in either starategy despite the chance card leading right to it. I think the explanation is B&O's location 15 spaces from jail, plus the location of the chance card 12 spaces from jail and the go to nearest railroad card. The go to nearest railroad card doesn't help Reading much because to get it to advance to Reading you need to hit the chance after short line, which is soon after go to jail and has nothing going in its favor except the advance to nearest utility to go to Water Works then getting an 8. (But there is only one chance square that will send you to WW as opposed to 2 that will send you to electric company.)
9. Free Parking/St. James Place
10. Kentucky/Water Works
(Though WW being higher than EC here seems to contradict my earlier analysis.)
Re:The universally understood equal sign (Score:2, Interesting)
Those languages don't allow for context-dependent meanings. That may be important for some parsers (the language is no longer context free) and it increases readability. Plus it's harder to handle if you have an interactive mode since you really no longer know what the user wants.
Who wants to have an assignment prior to a condition for equality?
Because then can be turned into which is both faster to write and easier to understand (C is now equivalent to the expression A == B). Plus it's easier to prove.