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Hello everyone,

Like derFunkenstein, I received a copy of The Witcher 3 with my GTX 970*, and I think that one of you would make much better use than I will.

Similar rules as before, but instead, I would like to be educated. Post something interesting that the general population may not know (nothing personal, please...we don't need to know what weird birth defects you have...unless said defects are both rare and interesting). Don't make it too long or too in depth. You may score extra points for humorous or generally entertaining information, but if I fall asleep while trying to read a Wikipedia article, you will score far fewer points**. I will be keeping an eye on this thread as the week goes on, and I will try to let you know if I am already aware of your cute little fact. For example, I already know that "factoids" are not necessarily fact, just like "planetoids" are not considered planets (although they might look like one). That will give you a chance to dig up something better...and you might need that because I already know a lot of useless information...

Same as before, the code can be reclaimed at redeem.geforce.com, the Retail value is $59.99, and I will not be including a 1099 for tax purposes, so keep that in mind if you win.

The contest runs from as soon as you read this post until I get home from work on Friday, May 15 (2015). That should give you plenty of time to whip up something interesting. I won't end the contest before 3PM CDT (Chicago time), but it could run later if I have a busy day at work, and I will signal the end with a post.

Good luck and have fun!

*Yes, I did get a key for Arkham Knight, but that is mine as has already been redeemed

**I'm not actually going to be counting up points.

Did you know? The term "bug" existed way before computers were invented. However, the first case of a bug being reported in a computer is a fun one: after they discovered an error in the system, operators from the Harvard Mark II computer found out that a dead moth was trapped in a relay.They kept it with a note that says: "First actual case of bug being found". Fun fact, the Smithsonian has the original log book in which the moth was attached with the note, however it is not on display... well there goes my vacation plans... :/

tonychabs wrote:

Did you know? The term "bug" existed way before computers were invented. However, the first case of a bug being reported in a computer is a fun one: after they discovered an error in the system, operators from the Harvard Mark II computer found out that a dead moth was trapped in a relay.They kept it with a note that says: "First actual case of bug being found". Fun fact, the Smithsonian has the original log book in which the moth was attached with the note, however it is not on display... well there goes my vacation plans... :/

Her name was Grace Hopper, she rose to the rank of Rear Admiral in the US Navy, and she passed away in 1992. She was a giant of the early computing world. She wrote a compiler from scratch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

A poster on G+ had an interesting series about a largely forgotten medieval Middle Eastern religion called Sabianism, which is not only obscure but had a later unrelated group claim its name to escape persecution:
https://plus.google.com/+AndreasSchou/posts/APTcdkxp37Y
https://plus.google.com/+AndreasSchou/posts/BaSBAsZ4NLA

and another post about the Yezidi, who are honest-to-$DEITY Satan worshippers, but it's not so simple:
https://plus.google.com/+AndreasSchou/posts/AMJBF2f4U7d

Captain Ned wrote:

tonychabs wrote:

Did you know? The term "bug" existed way before computers were invented. However, the first case of a bug being reported in a computer is a fun one: after they discovered an error in the system, operators from the Harvard Mark II computer found out that a dead moth was trapped in a relay.They kept it with a note that says: "First actual case of bug being found". Fun fact, the Smithsonian has the original log book in which the moth was attached with the note, however it is not on display... well there goes my vacation plans... :/

Her name was Grace Hopper, she rose to the rank of Rear Admiral in the US Navy, and she passed away in 1992. She was a giant of the early computing world. She wrote a compiler from scratch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper

Yes, I knew of Grace Hopper. In fact, there are many women involved in major scientific and technological advancements that often get looked over. For example, Margaret Hamilton was the lead software engineer for Project Apollo.

Yes, I knew of Grace Hopper. In fact, there are many women involved in major scientific and technological advancements that often get looked over. For example, Margaret Hamilton was the lead software engineer for Project Apollo.

Another interesting woman (especially these days with quantum science and the string theory) is Emmy Noether, who was basically a pioneer in modern mathematics and created abstract algebra. She has her own theorem, Noether's Theorem, which yields fundamental laws such as conservation of energy and momentum, laws that we still use today to study black holes. Every major scientist and mathematician consider her as the most important woman in the history of mathematics, and even Einstein cited her in his work. She even has her own adjective, "Noetharian", which describes objects satisfying chain conditions ( which is kind of a complicated topic, I couldn't explain any further since I'm no mathematician).

It's surprising she doesn't get any more recognition for her work, I would consider her as important as Einstein for what she brought to science...Oh well, some people ought to remain in the shadow of others.

I'll give you something simple that not everyone knows: Rainbows are a full circle and it's possible to see them from a plane.

And thanks for the giveaway man! I'm a big fan of the books. GL everyone

I've been out of gaming for years, but recently got a new video card and am slowly trying to get back into the swing.
http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/13384 ... nce-skyrim
Witcher 3 sounds like a great game, and according to them - it's the best role playing game since Skyrim. I'd love to give it a try.

In other unrelated news, IP over Avian Carriers (RFC1149) is an actual standard for using birds to send IP packets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2549 (an improved revision, offering Quality of Service) LOL

Witcher 3 sounds like a great game, and according to them - it's the best role playing game since Skyrim. I'd love to give it a try.

It definitely lived up to its hype, if we consider the reviews. Its lowest score is 8/10, and gamespot gave it a solid 10, which is extremely rare. I'm really excited to see the PC reviews next.

Beer can have its flavor tampered, and can go "bad" through a process called oxidation.

Oxidation can be accelerated from heat and motion, which is plentiful during the shipping process.

This is why imported beer can taste different from its fresh state.

Dark glass is also important in preserving the taste of beer, to reduce the amount of UV light penetration.

http://www.professorbeer.com/articles/o ... _beer.html

So beer gets that rusty flavor honestly?

WHAT ABOUT BIRTH DEFECTS THAT AREN'T RARE AT ALL, BUT WE'RE JUST DISCOVERING HOW MUCH THEY SUCK? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylenet ... _reductase
this one is very interesting, and may affect up to 40% of the north american population. Might be the reason that heart problems are the number one killer. Fascinating!

Kind of an interesting geeky thing that I didn't know about until recently... When the Atari Jaguar sales failed and the warehouses had lots of extra parts they sold the Atari Jaguar outer shells or molds for the shells to a Dental instrument company. They painted the shells white and put their guts in them and now you can find them hanging on the walls in many dental offices.

http://www.fromthedpad.com/wp-content/u ... Dental.jpg

(I won derFunkenstein's Witcher 3 key, so this is only a virtual entry)


Alice Cooper's famous "biting head off a chicken" story is both false and much, much more interesting than you'd think. You can hear it straight from the ugly guy's mouth in the Metal Evolution documentary series. Allow me to paraphrase him.

At that point in time, the band had little money to perform their theather-music with, so they had to improvise with whatever they had at hand. So in this show somewhere, out of the blue and by no intervention of their own, a live chicken shows up on stage. Alice, having apparently always been a city boy, is slightly befuddled at the presence of a chicken, so he thinks it's kinda neat and picks it up.

Now, another interesting factoid: the first row of that show was reserved for disabled people in wheelchairs.

At one point, the man thinks "it's a bird, so it must fly" and throws the chicken out, which then probably gracefully performed a few Immelman's and split-s's and then predictably goes dowsn only after a few meters. Straight into the first row. The members of audience in question, possessing considerable upper body strength, witness the arrival of an animal sacrifice with amusement and then proceed to semi-fight over it, tearing it apart in the process. And thus the legend was born.

Meanwhile, the crazy shock rocker is thinking that some people really have a few loose screws.

Got one more day to go, folks!

Somewhat Simplified:

When you put a magnet into a magnetic field it will tend to align itself along the magnetic field.
This is how a compass works, but it is also used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Hydrogen nuclei (protons) act as tiny magnets, so when you put them into a realllllly strong magnetic field, they will align themselves in the direction of the field. They will also start spinning around this axis (like a spinning top) at a frequency in the MHz range (other nuclei will also align/spin, but at other frequencies). If you then expose them to a radio signal of that same frequency, they will gain energy, which is later released as another radio signal. This second radio signal then gives you information about the tissues containing Hydrogen nuclei (Water, Fat, ...). Things will behave differently depending on the other things the nuclei are connected to (Water also has Oxygen, Fat has Carbon chains, ...), so different kinds of tissues will look different in the image.


So, what essentially happens when you get an MRI is that Hydrogen nuclei (which are part of most of the molecules in your body) are yanked around to face in the same direction, and made to spin around several million times per second. After this, your body is turned into a radio transmitter.

The weird thing? As far as we know, this is harmless.

And the contest is closed! I will announce the winner soon-ish.

This was fun, good luck to everyone!

Okay guys, a winner is selected: bthylafh will be receiving the Witcher 3 key!

There was a lot of cool information in the thread, but presenting a religion that I did not know about has to be the most interesting. It was made even more interesting when I remembered that Sabian is also a cymbal company based in Canada, although the name similarity is completely coincidence.

Congratulations!

Thanks!

congrats

2d-17h left, can't wait