Saturday, September 5, 2015

A Somewhat "Rocky" Situation

In the grand scheme of things, this probably ranks way up there with watching water boil or something. But, it's annoying all the same.

Sketchers


Nike
C'mon, shoe manufacturers. Not all of us live with sidewalks and grass. Not all of us have full-time housekeepers to sweep up all the little rocks several times a day. Not all of us have the time or desire to pick out little rocky pieces before entering a building or room to avoid scratching the floor.

What's the purpose of the deep grooves?  Give me a good reason and I'll shut up. Well, probably not, but it sounded good.






Friday, September 4, 2015

Curiously Trivial? Or Is It?








Except for a long stint of playing "Duke Nukem" in the 1980s and "Scrabble" last year, I have never been very interested in computer games. But, thanks to my son and his fiance, I've somehow gotten hooked on "Trivia Crack." Not sure why, but in two months, I've advanced to Level 130 or so, whatever that means. I'm really not that interested in the awards like cards, gems or what-have-you. No, I just enjoy the challenge of answering questions in the various categories. And that's really what this blog is about.Trivia Crack-Education Version

For those of you who haven't played the game, the categories of questions are: Sports, Art, History, Geography, Science, and Entertainment. I won't go into the details of how to play because it's very simple: figuratively spin a wheel online and answer a question from whichever category the pointer lands on. If you answer correctly, you can continue going until you miss a question. For the rest of the details, you might check out the Trivia Crack site.


The questions are rated Easy to Difficult, with a choice of four answers. Here are some samples:

jordan-country-pictures-u9cmz6qo
  • What is the addictive chemical in cigarettes? Alcohol? Carbon Dioxide? Sodium? Nicotine?
  • What country did King Hussein rule? Vietnam? Canada? England? Jordan?
  • What is poi made from? Breadfruit? Taro? Rice? Potato?
  • Marcus Allen won the Heisman Trophy in 1981 while attending which college? UCLA? University of Miami?  USC? Oklahoma?
  • What kind of animal is the cartoon character, "Daffy?" Hen? Duck? Doodle Bug? Bear?
  • What is the Beaufort scale used to measure? Surf? Barometer readings? Wind intensity? Volcanic Activity? 
 

Sure, it's disappointing to answer a question wrong. But, I love Google. What's to stop me from looking up more information about those baseball stats or that rock group, to find out more about them? Nothing. I've discovered my best category is Science, but there are many chemistry and physics-based questions I have no idea how to answer. Google. How about the history of the rulers of various countries? How about which states or countries border others? Google.
                                                                                   Chemistry Tutor Online

In another blog, I might write more seriously about my thoughts on the Googlization (is that a word?) of the world. But for now, it's sufficient to use it for somewhat trivial pursuits in search of little bits of extra knowledge, perhaps just to win a game, or perhaps to expand my knowledge just a little.

 Model Rocket!

Which Reggae band helped Sean Paul launch his career? Do you know? I don't have the slightest idea.
Google.
 Sean Paul Sued By Ex-GF For $80 Mil, Did Cocaine, Erectile Dysfunction ...