Category: Useless knowledge

Information you have no need for. Ever. Usually about me, but possibly about other trivial crap in the world.

Strange units of measurement

Sometimes, I wonder who even figures out stuff like this.  And why.

Belgium

Conservationists discussing the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest often use “Belgium” as an approximate measure of how much forest is being lost annually. The area of the country of Belgium is 30,528 km².

Happy

The unit of happiness, coined by Dave Gorman in his television series Important Astrology Experiment. One Happy is equal to how much happier you feel if someone gives you a pound coin, which is equivalent to how less happy they feel upon relinquishing it.

Helen

The amount of beauty that can launch one thousand ships. Usually used as the millihelen, the amount of beauty that can launch one ship.

Named after the fictional Helen of Troy, from the Iliad. Inspired by Marlowe‘s line from the play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships…?”.

Negative values have also been observed—these, of course, are measured by the number of ships sunk or the number of clocks stopped.

Microhelens are, as one-tenth of the beauty required to motivate one sailor, sometimes given as the units for the common rating-out-of-ten scale of beauty.

There are plenty more, including coffee, jiffy, donkey-power (and hobo-power), and some that are just unfathomable.

[tags]Measurement[/tags]

Booting XP on a Mac – game over

(via Hack-a-day)

It appears that XP on a Mac has been confirmed, and “narf2006” and “blanka” have won the prize money.  A link to the download is available on that site.  I especially like the Hack-a-day response to this, though:

With this new development the only reason not to run XP on a Mac is that XP sucks

And I agree with that even though I run XP.  It’s just the best way available for me to game, still.  I need to go back to Linux, but gaming is easier on XP, and with 2 kids and a sucky job, getting into my games most easily is a high priority.

[tags]XP on Mac[/tags]

Massive monitoring of a Massively Multiplayer Gaming world

(via Schneier on security)
This is just an incredible article.  The author talks about efforts made to monitor the goings on in the virtual World of Warcraft article.

We live in a world where the technology exists that the government or other technically sophisticated group is able to monitor and analyze a substantial fraction of the communications of the world’s population, or can track their movements throughout the day, or keep tabs on their financial transactions.

And that world is called World of Warcraft.

[tags]World of Warcraft, virtual world[/tags]

Neat DNA folding tricks

Here’s what happens when you learn how to manipulate DNA molecules:

ss_060315_dna_tease.300w.jpgA computer scientist has developed a method to weave stringy DNA molecules into nanometer-scale, two-dimensional patterns ranging from smiley faces to a map of the Americas.

Experts say the “DNA origami” procedure laid out by Paul Rothemund of the California Institute of Technology could be adapted to create nano-computers, new drug delivery systems or even molecular-scale chemical factories.

[tags]DNA, folding[/tags]

42 Questions with Flagship Studios on Hellgate

(via Kotaku)

I’ve been watching Hellgate ever since reading about it last year. From some of the folks who did Diablo, it looks to be a really cool game. If you want to read an in-depth interview about the game, hit this 42 Question interview at Hellgate guru. Also, view the original thread from which this interview was put together.

4. Is there any sort of character evolution aside from the base concept of getting ph4t l3wt?

You thinking story-wise? If so, then not really. Players take on the role of character that partakes in a developing storyline, but aside from becoming an ultra powerful champion, that character will not really develop and have a mysterious back story of his or her own.

Ahhh, good. We get to stick to the action side here. I like that. Doesn’t sound like there will be too much story getting in the way. Sometimes, that’s what I want in a game, don’t you?

11. Will there be a hardcore mode?

Yes, there will be. That, at least, I can say.

This is a bleh feature to me, but I know a lot of gamers who like hardcore mode. Die, and that character is gone. I don’t have the time to get that good at the game, though.

Hit the interview and read all the questions – just like the answer to the ultimate question of the universe, there are 42.

[tags]Hellgate, Flagship Studios, gaming[/tags]

Bioware to build an MMO?

(via Joystiq)

Gamebanshee has an article up with some details on Bioware’s opening of a development office in Austin, Texas.  Word is the folks there will be working on a new massively multiplayer game (MMO).

BioWare Austin Has Already Begun Work On A Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) title; the new game will mark BioWare’s debut in the Massively Multiplayer Online space. BioWare has recruited some of the top talent in MMO and RPG development, both to manage the development efforts at BioWare Austin and to collaborate with the experienced team at BioWare Edmonton, to develop a game that combines the best of BioWare’s great past games with a compelling persistent online experience. Joining the Austin team as lead designer is James Ohlen, BioWare’s Creative Director, whose previous credits include lead or co -lead design roles on Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic(.TM), Neverwinter Nights(.TM), Baldur’s Gate(.TM) and Baldur’s Gate II(.TM). Also leading the BWA team are MMO veterans Richard Vogel and Gordon Walton. Richard Vogel Brings 15 years of experience to BioWare Austin, previously serving as VP of Product Development for Sony Online Entertainment’s Austin studio, as well as launching Ultima Online(.TM) as a senior producer at Origin. Gordon Walton Recently Served As VP, studio manager and executive producer at Sony Online Entertainment as well as VP and Executive Producer at Electronic Arts.

If you don’t recognize those names, just let me assure you that’s some big-name talent coming in to the office.  Guess I’ll have another MMO to get in to once I tire of City of Heroes.

[tags]MMO, Bioware, Austin[/tags]

Blind must pass driver’s education in Chicago

Here is an excellent case of rules taking precedence over common sense.  In Chicago, apparently, no one on the educating side thought about fixing the problem with requiring the educated to pass driver’s ed, even if they are blind or sight impaired.

Most high school students eagerly await the day they pass driver’s education class. But 16-year-old Mayra Ramirez is indifferent about it.  Ramirez is blind, yet she and dozens of other visually impaired sophomores in Chicago schools are required to pass a written rules-of-the-road exam in order to graduate — a rule they say takes time away from subjects they might actually use.

Not everyone is oblivious to the problem:

“It defies logic to require blind students to take this course,” Meta Minton, spokeswoman for the state Board of Education, told the Chicago Tribune in a Friday story.

And here’s someone showing the typical bureaucratic response (that would be lay blame on the suffering party):

“I can’t explain why up to this point no one has raised the issue and suggested a better way for visually impaired students to opt out of driver’s ed,” said Chicago schools spokesman Michael Vaughn.

In other words, it’s not *our* fault these people have to do this – they haven’t asked out of it.  Never mind that it doesn’t make any sense. 

[tags]Driver’s ed, bureaucracy[/tags]

Prepare yourself for Oblivion

(via Gamers with Jobs via Dubious Quality)

Read the entire collection of texts from Morrowind.  This is just the kind of thing you need to remind yourself everything about the history of The Elder Scrolls world.  If you’ve played the game, you probably remember how many books there are in the Morrowind world, and how much reading you can do outside of things directly related to advancing the story.  The designers at Bethesda seem to put a lot of effort into fleshing out their world.  Please don’t let it go to waste.  Head to gamesource and catch up on all the Morrowind reading you missed the first time.

[tags]Gaming, Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls, Oblivion[/tags]