We welcome your letters, questions and desperate pleas for help in this uncaring world. As always, e-mail WBXylo at Gmail.com. And don’t about e-mailing me with puzzle problems; I won’t yell at you.
Coincidence
Oftentimes events coincide. As human beings, it is natural for us to put meaning behind such things. Recently in his Scientific American column, Michael Shermer wrote about this phenomenon. To paraphrase, people are pattern finding machines. We are rewarded for finding a proper pattern, but not necessarily punished for finding a pattern which is merely a delusion.
These false patterns can often lead to irrational beliefs, superstitions, and the ever popular conspiracy theories.
As an aside, I would have to say that my favorite conspiracy theory was put forth by a fellow named Jim Garrison. Garrison claimed that John F. Kennedy assassination was the result of a right-wing, homosexual thrill killing. The homosexuals in question included Jack “Pinkie” Ruby, Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, and the married with two children Lee Harvey Oswald.
But such theories are not limited to events as important as political assassinations. Let’s speak hypothetically.
Let’s say that an extremely popular TV show kills off two characters in one episode.
It just so happens that the actresses that play these two characters were involved together in a DUI scandal.
Now for some, it seems definite that these ladies got drunk becauce they found out that they were getting killed off.
For others it seems definite that they got killed off because of the scandal.
But there is always the distinct possibility that each already knew the arcs for her respective character and had jobs booked around getting killed off. And it could also be a possible that actresses joining an established show at the same time mighthang out together.
Or is that just nutty?
Quote of the Week
When God made the arse, he didn’t say, ‘Hey, it’s just your basic hinge, let’s knock off early.’ He said, ‘Behold ye angels, I have created the arse. Throughout the ages to come, men and women shall grab hold of these, and shout my name!
– Jeff Murdock (“Coupling”)
Puzzle (difficulty: Dare I say, balls hard)
Decode the following as a sentence:
1 0 0 2 0 4 1 8 0
Last Week’s Puzzle
(Difficulty = Meh)
An object which weighs 1 lb on Earth weighs 16 pounds on planet Krypton.
If Superman is 110 Kilograms on Earth, what is his mass on Krypton?
ANSWER: Ah the old mass versus weight trick. While Superman’s weight would be affected by a change in gravity, his mass would not be. Mass is, after all, a measure of the amount of matter in an object.
Eric S. gets credit for providing an freakishly detailed answer to this question:
If Superman has a mass of 110 kg on Earth, he would have a mass of 110kg on Krypton. The pound is the Imperial unit of force/weight, not
mass. The Imperial unit of mass is the slug. By saying that a certain
Mister Kent from Smallville, KS “weighs” 242 pounds, it is more accurate
to say that he has a mass of 7.56 slugs, and in Earth’s gravity, he
exerts a force on the planetary body of 242 slug-ft/s^2, a.k.a. pounds.
On Krypton, he would exert a force of 3872 slug-ft/s^2. The metric
equivalent of the pound is, of course, the newton. On Earth, The Big
Red S would exert a force of (“weigh”) 1078N and on Krypton, 17248N.
