Friday, July 6, 2012

Proof that pegasi exist.


Pegasus I saw in Africa when I was a teenager

Jeopardy wagers that don't make sense

So I was watching Jeopardy last night and half-way through it was looking awesome, all three scores almost tied.  But then in Double-Jeopardy things started to get weird.

It started with a couple of odd answers.  Obvious responses that nobody got and a couple of responses that not only were wrong, they really didn’t match the category.  Finally it got down to the last two questions and the scores were (approximately) 12,600, 10,000, and 7,200.

The guy in last place has control and picks the second to last answer… nobody has the question for it.  Since the guy in last place picked it he automatically is gets to pick again and there is only one answer left for 2,000… and it’s a daily double.

I’m thinking this is great for the guy in last place because he can make it a true daily double and go into Final Jeopardy in the lead.  His wager… “1,000 please Alex.”  What?  A 1,000 dollars is possibly the worst thing he could bet.  If he’s right he still goes into the Final Jeopardy in last place and has to rely on BOTH of the other contestants blowing their answers AND betting large, and if he’s wrong he goes into Final Jeopardy with an amount that can’t touch the leader if the leader doesn’t even wager.  And he blows his response.

So we go into final Jeopardy with 12,600, 10,000 and 6,200.

Mr. Third place bets… 1,000.  Really?  Really?  Are you even playing this game anymore?  You strategy all night has been to just hope everyone else is a bigger idiot than you?   He gets the Question right (Only 58% of this state’s population is licensed to drive – What is New York) and goes up to 7,200.

Second place guy wagers 2,401 just enough so if he’s right and if third place had doubled his bank he will beat him by a dollar.  He gets is right and goes up to 12,401

Mrs. First place has already won by virtue of the other two players playing hoping she is loses rather than actually trying to... you know... win.  She does get her answer right. Her wager?  100.00  ONLY 100.00.  If the second place guy had SNEEZED while writing his 4 in 2,401 so it looked more like 2,901 he would have won.

Still gave me an interesting dream last night.  I was playing Jeopardy and went into Final Jeopardy in the lead with 9,500.  I got the question right but lost because I only wagered 1,735.  Still I left with a stage with a sly smile.  The Final Jeopardy answer?  “Leonardo of Pisa’s famous group of numbers.”

If your going to lose when you don't have to, at least do it with some style.


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Frog in hailstone

I love posts where the comments surpass the original post in humor.
On the Reddit boards a user named Sordidkitteh posted a picture of a hailstone with a frog in the middle of it.

Another user, named Ploddle asked "How" and a third user, ForgettableUsername answered, starting a string of comments from various other users that had me laughing to tears.

Here is the original picture:

HOW?
This is actually a pretty well-understood phenomenon.
Small droplets of supercooled water freeze when they come into contact with airborne frogs within a cumulonimbus cloud. Due to the strong updrafts within the cloud, the hailstone may be subject to multiple ascents and descents through high humidity layers, each causing more supercooled water to freeze onto the surface of the frog, giving the hailstone its distinctive layered look. Eventually, the added weight from the layers of frozen water cause the frog to become too heavy for the vertical updraft to support, and it falls to the ground.
You've glossed over the whole "airborne frogs" part.
I'm sorry if I was unclear; I tend to get carried off on tangents.
The hailstone simply forms around the frog as it's in the air, causing it to fall out of the cloud. It's essentially the same way normal hail forms.
HOW DO FROGS GET IN THE SKY?
That's a bit like asking 'how do fish get into the Atlantic?' isn't it? Either they're born there or they migrate to it, depending on the species of frog and the time of year. I won't bore you with the details.
You're telling us frogs are born in or migrate to... the sky?
Well, yes, obviously. That's how biology works. You shouldn't need a herpetologist to tell you that if you observe a population of frogs in any given region, it stands to reason that either they are from that region or they migrated to it at some point.
i hate you
Oh really? I have the utmost respect for you, personally and professionally. But that's ok, you're entitled to your opinion.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Zombie survival ball

Kiss of Death

Memento Mori sculpture from Barcelon'a Poblenou cemetary

The ephitaph bears part of a poem by Jacint Verdaguer:
"And his young heart can not help'
in his veins the blood stops and freezes
and encouragement lost faith embraces
fall felling the kiss of death."

Spherical Aircraft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pF0uLnMoQZA