mstrcat - Slashdot User

Comment I worry more about lightning strikes. (Score 1) 560

by mstrcat on Tuesday October 27, 2009 @04:34PM (#29888717) Attached to: Laptop Fires On Airplanes

Just a bit of statical analysis:
30,000 flights/day * 365.25 days/year*10 years = 110 million flights.
22 laptop fires
1 in 5 million odds of having your flight involved.

Apparently someone decided that they needed some press coverage, as I'm not buying it as a credible hazard.

Comment Who gave out the data? (Score 2, Interesting) 116

by mstrcat on Sunday August 02, 2009 @12:47AM (#28914135) Attached to: IBM Uses Call-Detail Records To Identify "Friends"

I'd be interested to know what telecom gave the researchers the data. If I'd been a customer of that company, I sure wouldn't any longer. I think I'll switch cell phone companies and phone numbers, just to become part of the churners.

Submission + - Book Review: The Book of General Ignorance

Submitted by

paulmac84

on Friday January 12, 2007 @01:36AM

paulmac84 writes: ""The Book of General Ignorance" is a spin-off of the BBC comedy show QI, a show which prides itself on being intellectual and educational as well as funny. While I don't have BBC where I live, I do try to catch it whenever I can. The basic idea behind the show is that accepted wisdom is regularly incorrect, and that people in general are far more ignorant than they believe.

Hosted by the erudite Stephen Fry and backed up the less erudite, but equally comedic Alan Davies, QI stands out from the usual quiz based comedy shows.

Being a fan of the show, and of Stephen Fry, I was quite looking forward to this book. My first disappointment was, when on opening the book, I discovered that although it is advertised with his name, Stephen Fry provided the foreword only. Although more than competently written by the shows producers, John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, it still lacks the wit and style that only Stephen Fry can provide.

Once I got over my initial disappointment, I was eager to dive in and explore my own ignorance. And I was quite surprised at the depths I plumbed. Over the course of 230 questions and with meticulous research, the authors provide the correct answers to questions I had long ago been taught in school.

For example, if I were to ask "Who was the first President of The United States", the answer would be? George Washington of course. And that we are told by the authors is incorrect. The actual answer is Peyton Randolph, the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled. It was under Randolph that the Continental Army was created, with George Washington as its Commander-in-Chief. In fact, there would be 13 more Presidents before George Washington.

Each question posed initially seems to offer a straightforward and obvious answer, but if you've watched QI on the BBC, you'll know that the obvious answer is always the wrong one. In most cases the authors try to give a little back story to the question, give the correct answer and go on to explain how the misunderstanding arose.

The Book of General Ignorance continues in this vein throughout, and while some of the answers are not earth shattering, and would be known by a large percentage of the population, there is a wealth of knowledge contained between it's covers. With never more than a couple of pages devoted to each answer, you won't get an in-depth study of any particular topic, but you will get enough to whet your appetite.

As the TV show is broadcast on the BBC, and aimed primarily at a UK audience, there are one or two questions that do not seem to offer an obvious answer, but nonetheless, you will be enlightened.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and for anyone interested in their own ignorance, I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

Rating: 8/ 10

The Book of General Ignorance. ISBN: 0-571-23368-6

Blurb: "A comprehensive and humiliating catalogue of all the misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings in 'common knowledge', which will make you wonder why anyone bothers to go to school.""

Slashdot Top Deals