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debbye on Sep 22, 2007

wow …

nickpixel on Sep 22, 2007

Capgras Syndrome? If not, it sounds like it. People who suffer from it think they're surrounded by impersonators or doubles.

gswd on Sep 22, 2007

I would agree with nick, based on the article synopsis I found on Google.

williamlief on Sep 22, 2007

Wow, that went way faster than I expected. I will need to come up with harder questions. 1 point for Nickpixel.

SpasticNate on Sep 22, 2007

Dementia.

manon1165 on Sep 22, 2007

It's Still Rock n Roll to Me

williamlief on Sep 22, 2007

Augh! Why are you people so intelligent? Manon got it right.

renbot on Sep 22, 2007

"If not for the light in the midnight sea"

October 11 is my 21st birthday! :) WHOO.

beneton on Sep 22, 2007

"If every soul does not wish to see"

marcelofigueroa on Sep 22, 2007

Stellar
Lanterns of the lost, the lonely, the left behind.
Forlorn, abandoned, ignored by mankind.
Alone they twinkle and gleam,
The tombstones of what might have been.
Once bright and shining,
Now naught but a cruel reminding.
Yet; how empty, barren, bleak, our skies would be
Without their subtle presence, that glows forever, eternally

manon1165 on Sep 22, 2007

relinquished promise, vacated hope, they cease.

iqon on Sep 22, 2007

burned out giants, supernova fading burst, a requiem for thee.

williamlief on Sep 23, 2007

It is now 7! I have decided, in my arbitrary manner, that I like Renbots line, "If not for the lights in the midnight sea," the best.
If you are curious, this was my ending to the poem.

Lanterns of the lost, the lonely, the left behind.
Forlorn, abandoned, ignored by mankind.
Alone they twinkle and gleam,
The tombstones of what might have been.
Once bright and shining,
Now naught but a cruel reminding.
Yet; how empty, barren, bleak, our skies would be
Without these testaments to life's cruel fee.

I have been debating between the use of life's and death's at the end, at the moment I like life's better, but who knows which one I will prefer tomorrow.
Look for challenge 4 soon.

sloan on Sep 23, 2007

"I like turtles"

I know this would probably cinch it but unfortunately I will have to give my first place to someone who has Amsterdam high seas.

thank you and good night

renbot on Sep 23, 2007

Linderman? Also, I cannot believe I won! :) Yay!

Also, I think life is probably more appropriate since you don't really pay for death (metaphorically speaking, of course).

nickpixel on Sep 23, 2007

Cohen the Barbarian?

Coyote on Sep 23, 2007

V for Vendetta

williamlief on Sep 24, 2007

Nickpixel has pulled into first place with two victories! I sincerely hope you didn't google search the answer : )
Ill try and post challenge 5 in the next hour or so.

williamlief on Sep 24, 2007

Actually there is a much better answer, if anyone posts it before I manage to come up with a fifth challenge I will give them the point instead.
I probably won't get another challenge posted before tomorrow morning, so there is plenty of time to wrack your brains!

Cattya on Sep 24, 2007

Maybe Cohen the Barbarian's daughter, Conina :-?

(It's Conina in spanish, but I'm not sure if it's the same name in english).

Pero on Sep 24, 2007

Simon Templar also known as The Saint?

gswd on Sep 24, 2007

I'm thinking that it was the little girl that could find people and tell you where they were on a map. She was the "device" that they all went to New York to destroy, and Mohinder was trying to find the "cure" to why her ability wasn't working.

williamlief on Sep 24, 2007

I still haven't seen the answer I am looking for, but I also haven't been able to come up with a new question that can't be easily google searched. So the point is still up for grabs.

Jen on Sep 24, 2007

Last Hero: John Wayne ?

nickpixel on Sep 24, 2007

william, I didn't google it but would have if I didn't find the clue in your profile. I had never heard of Terry Pratchett until I checked your profile for clues. Went to Amazon, entered his name and guess what the first result was :) After reading what google has on the book (and looking at the illustrations), it seems like it would be a very good read but many of the Amazon reviewers seem to think it wouldn't be worth it without first reading other books in the Discworld series. Since I've already got multiple books in queue, I don't think I'll get around to starting a series anytime soon. I'm not trying to break any rules so, if there are any, please include them when you post the challenges.

Since no one else has posted it yet, it seems from the few pages I've been able to get my hands on that Leonard of Quirm is as important to the plot as Cohen so that would be my only other guess. I got a chuckle out of the da Vinci-esque diagrams on 100-101 that include cup holders.

williamlief on Sep 24, 2007

Don't worry about it Nick, I doesn't seem like any one has read the book recently, or they would've figured out the better answer, which is actually Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson (I think I spelled it correctly). But I don't think The Last Hero would be an enjoyable read unless you have read several books in the series. Actually I think that's true about any book in the Discworld series, the first couple are really weird, and then things start to make sense and you realize how amazing the books are.
Anyway I think the contest is no fun if people just go to google.com and search "The Last Hero" or key phrases from the capgras case. Then the winner is just the person who reads the question first. You put a bunch of effort into figuring out the question, which I appreciate, and so I'm giving you the point, putting you in first place!
Now I need to figure out a fifth question.

renbot on Sep 24, 2007

Hmm, the townspeople's warning? It depends on how widespread we're talking I guess, but maybe when the birds fly through the chimney? Or, I guess if you get law enforcement involved, when the sheriff investigates the death of the farmer? If not that, then when the birds attack all of the kids at school, I would think.

williamlief on Sep 24, 2007

You need to think earlier Renbot, remember, you don't see this scene in the movie...

renbot on Sep 24, 2007

Dang it, I wish I had the movie with me so I could rewatch it. :( I don't have it with me at school!

williamlief on Sep 24, 2007

Watching movies during school? That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all...

renbot on Sep 24, 2007

Yeah, I wish I could actually do that. I meant I don't have it with me at college.

marcelofigueroa on Sep 24, 2007

The noise that the birds started to make outside Hitchcock's study after his lecture about them?

(at the end of the movie trailer when the woman enters screaming 'They're coming, they're coming!')

Here's the Movie Trailer

Marcelo :op

nickpixel on Sep 24, 2007

This is kind of tricky...

At first I thought there was a part at the very beginning where there were a bunch of birds in the sky but only the main blonde seemed to care. Plus, she was still in the city at that point.

Then, the first attack (IMO) was when the blonde was in the boat and the seagull attacked her. The lawyer thought it was weird but that was seen on screen so it also doesn't fit the clue.

The only thing that I can think of that happened early (before all the attacks) that had anyone else thinking something was wrong was when the older lady (I think it's the lawyers mom) is talking to someone about her chickens not eating. She seemed scared when she heard someone else's chickens weren't eating either. Even though this doesn't seem to qualify as an attack, it's my best guess.

marcelofigueroa on Sep 24, 2007

...I think you just nailed another one :op...

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

Sorry, Nick, you haven't found the answer yet. It's really obscure, and if you haven't seen the movie lately you almost definitely won't remember.

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

Oh, and Marcelo didn't have the answer either

Pero on Sep 25, 2007

The first attack took place on a pier when Melanie is about to see Mitch.

JBVisions on Sep 25, 2007

The town residents were in the Diner discussing an incident (which happened in 1961?) where birds became violent. It was put down to them eating dodgy shellfish.

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

Yay! JBVisions figured it out! A boat skipper or something says that a seagull nearly took someone's arm off.

renbot on Sep 25, 2007

When do you think you'll post the 6th challenge?

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

As soon as I can think of one : )
Sometime tonight probably.

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

question six posted

nickpixel on Sep 25, 2007

Is this a trick question? I didn't think he died in the Iliad. My answer is he doesn't.

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

OK, that was way too easy a question. Now I have to come up with another one...

renbot on Sep 25, 2007

Wouldn't the integral be equal to infinty, since the limit as h approaches zero means the function approaches infinity? I haven't had calculus in years, so I'm not positive...

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

nope.

jwhitmire on Sep 25, 2007

42 (I have a knack for these things)

marcelofigueroa on Sep 25, 2007

The answer is: x^3 - 12*x + C

Marcelo :op

renbot on Sep 25, 2007

Dang!! Beaten. :(

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

That was an easy question for anyone whos taken calc... A point for Marcelo! Nice try Renbot, you were close.
Ugh, now I need to come up with another question, maybe Ill make it a real calculus problem : )

renbot on Sep 25, 2007

Um, I guess it depends on what religious beliefs you subscribe to? You could say The Big Guy Upstairs...

Or you could possibly say Stanislav Petrov. (See this article: http://maltastar.com/pages/msfullart.asp?an=15214)

marcelofigueroa on Sep 25, 2007

To Mother Heart?

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

nope and nope, the question was inspired by a previous post in this thread, but that is the only (and rather obvious) hint Im giving.

joshthejest on Sep 25, 2007

I would say that the human race owes it's biggest debt to the planet. It is the one thing that the human race interacts with universally.

marcelofigueroa on Sep 25, 2007

To the abandoned people (the "left behind")?

chook on Sep 25, 2007

Life (?)

nickpixel on Sep 25, 2007

Ah, you're talking about jwhitmire's funny comment referring to The Hitchhiker's Guide. If so then I believe the Golgafrinchans is the correct answer or, more specifically, the Golgafrinchan rejects.

williamlief on Sep 25, 2007

Ah, I've heard one very close answer, but as of yet no cigars. Sorry folks, and keep trying. By the way, the answer is more flippant than serious.

MacManX on Sep 26, 2007

Your avatar is looking for 74472_large..png . Does the original file have two dots in the filename? If so, you might want to fix that. If not, try uploading your avatar in JPEG format.

There was an issue with PNG avatars several months ago, but I don't remember exactly what that was, or if it was fixed.

renbot on Sep 26, 2007

The mice?

nickpixel on Sep 26, 2007

If my answer was the very close one then I think you got it Renbot. That would've been my guess (I guess I should've gotten up earlier this morning). If it's one of the other answers that is very close then I'm stumped.

williamlief on Sep 26, 2007

I can almost, almost give you a cigar. But not yet...

nickpixel on Sep 26, 2007

Ok then how about Deep Thought? Without the answer of 42 the mice wouldn't have needed to create the Earth to find the question that 42 answers.

renbot on Sep 26, 2007

But without the mice, Deep Thought never would have been created...

danielsemper on Sep 26, 2007

Arthur Dent, because he killed the mouse.

danielsemper on Sep 26, 2007

If not: Slartibartfast, the designer of planets.

Jen on Sep 26, 2007

The mice were programmers transformed who built Deep Thought, so my guess will be programmers. Their names Frankie and Benjy(materialized) or Lunkwill and Fook.

I was going to say Carrot in the above too, but I didn't think it could have been that easy. x.x I wish I had now.

williamlief on Sep 26, 2007

Oh my, everyone is so very close, but no one is there. Humanity owes our CONTINUED existence to these creatures. I hope that hint wasn't too obvious.

renbot on Sep 26, 2007

The dolphins?

nickpixel on Sep 26, 2007

Not trying to step on danielsemper's toes but is it the Magratheans?

williamlief on Sep 26, 2007

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone finally got it right!!!! I was beginning to lose hope.
The answer is was looking for was THE DOLPHINS.
When Earth is destroyed to build a hyper spatial bypass, it is the dolphins who put together a petition to save the humans. We owe the little guys big time.
I'll post challenge nine when I think of it.

chook on Sep 26, 2007

Well, where to begin....

off your rocker; off your trolley; off the show;

nuts; loopy; loony; barking; bonkers;

(as a psychologist in a secure mental health unit, surely I can win this one!!!!!!!)

(thanks MacManX, I will look into it)

chook on Sep 26, 2007

off your chump; barmy; fruity;

williamlief on Sep 26, 2007

hey Chook gets the point! Now for the second half of the question, what am I referencing?

chook on Sep 26, 2007

Hmmm, if it's not monty's fish skit, then I am out. Which would mean Off your Chump is the answer you are looking for

williamlief on Sep 26, 2007

whoa! you get double points. It was Monty Pythons Fish License Skit just like you said.

chook on Sep 26, 2007

Hooray! Double points!!! Bit of work experience helping out there.

zelda013 on Sep 27, 2007

hey williamlief ! i am enjoying reading this blog although i am never in time to participate, but could you leave the questions in the main post please to make it easier to follow along ? i think most of the challenges are posted / answered while i am sleeping, and it's not always easy trying to figure out what the question was from the guesses, although i suppose guessing the questions based on the answers could be considered an alternate challenge...

(oh, and too bad i missed the fish licence question ! i would have gotten that for sure, it's one of my favorite mp sketches ever.)

williamlief on Sep 27, 2007

Sorry I wasn't able to post a tenth challenge last night, but I have rather large calc exam in a little while, so I decided to spend my time studying for it. Hopefully I will figure out the tenth question by sometime tonight.
@zelda, ok, I will start leaving the questions up when they have been answered.

zelda013 on Sep 27, 2007

thanks !

zelda013 on Sep 27, 2007

oh, and do you remember what the fish licence question was ? just curious...

renbot on Sep 27, 2007

He asked about what phrases could be used to describe someone as not having all of their sanity, and then what that phrase was from.

zelda013 on Sep 27, 2007

thanks renbot !

SuperLlamel on Sep 27, 2007

Wow, cool idea!

renbot on Sep 27, 2007

Nathan Petrelli

williamlief on Sep 27, 2007

bah weak question, that was too easy. Anybody else think he's handing out the death notices?
And now I need to come up with another question.

renbot on Sep 27, 2007

I don't know; he seems to be the only connection right now between the two people who got death notices, so it would make sense to think that I guess.

nickpixel on Sep 27, 2007

Did you notice you typed "who was it that bumped into Hiro"? No one :)

I wasn't feeling the first episode but they'll probably get better as they develop the season. How long had this question been posted? I'm gonna need to start checking this thread more often.

williamlief on Sep 27, 2007

The question was up for maybe five minutes before being answered, and my bad about the Hiro/Ando mix up. Now I need to come up with yet another question.

richardm on Sep 28, 2007

Can't I just send you the set?

renbot on Sep 28, 2007

Ok, well, it really depends on things SHE likes. Is she a fan of going out to "party"? If she is, then she might enjoy a night out at a club of some sort, although if you are 16 it might be difficult for you to get into one.

There are a few things 18 year-olds can do, including, but not limited to: vote, buy lottery tickets, buy cigarettes, buy pronography, you can be charged as an adult, girls can get into most night clubs. SO, it might be fun for her to buy her first lottery ticket, or as a gag, buy some cigarettes or something. Something one of my friends did was buy a pack of cigarettes, throw the cigarettes away, and put rolls of dollar bills inside in their place as a gift. We all thought it was pretty funny. The same kid also made a fake pornography magazine.

For more serious gifts, let her know that you are excited and happy and over joyed that she is alive! Celebrate HER (you should do this every birthday, by the way)! So, pile on the romantic stuff: take her out to dinner (with her friends, if that's what she wants), give her flowers/candy just because, take her somewhere FUN if that's what she wants to do. Basically, let her run the show, but pay for her and dote on her. If you know a lot of her friends, have a little surprise party for her or something.

And that's all I've got right now. I'm trying to think of all the things that made my birthday exciting. Some of it might be excessive, but I think it's better to do more than to do less. :)

marcelofigueroa on Sep 28, 2007

If you guys are the romantic kind of couple I'd suggest something like this:

1.- Arrange with her a day (or some hours) that she'll reserve as a special time with you. Get her excited with the idea that something very special will happen.

2.- Make a list of around 5 special places for you as a couple (natural enviroments, public buildings, parks, even lockers!). Make sure that she knows those places very well and that it's easy to go from one place to another (on foot).

3.- Hide clues in those places that lead her from one place to another, leave her small significative presents (pictures, letters, wathever) that se can go collecting as she follows this circuit. You can leave special messages or some large posters so she realizes that you took some real time setting it all up. IMPORTANT: make sure that your clues wont get stolen or something like that.

5.- Arrange an appointment with her on the first place so she finds the first clue. If you don't manage to get her excited about the game with the first clue then everything will be spoiled.

6.- Follow her all the time from a secure distance so she doesn't gets lost somewhere in between; if she does, send her a message or call her to correct her, but keeping the mistery.

7.- Set the last clue to lead her to somewhere where you'll be expecting her (be there on time, of course) and telling her that you have something important to say to her.

8.- Wait for her with some flowers, and when she asks you for what you have to say to her tell her whatever you feel to say :o)

9.- Take her (with her tremendous smile and presents along) to a special date with you.

That's it. Marcelo.

KatieK on Sep 28, 2007

1. Ask her what she wants.
2. Ask her friends / sister / mother what she wants.
3. Nintendo DS. (Sorry if that's not an option for budgetary reasons, but I had to round out my list.)
:)

jflint on Sep 28, 2007

A ring/necklace with her birthstone in it?

danielsemper on Sep 28, 2007

Give her a new Little Ponnie plush, the big one that is shown in the Transformers Movie, in the pool scene.

marcelofigueroa on Sep 29, 2007

So, what's gonna be? :op

williamlief on Sep 30, 2007

Sorry I haven't been able to access IB for a couple of days due to stupid stuff. Anyway, I like Danielsemper's suggestion the best, although I was really hoping to get more ideas. Anyway, look for the next challenge in a few minutes.

chook on Sep 30, 2007

You must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest... WITH... A HERRING!

marcelofigueroa on Sep 30, 2007

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

Albert Einstein :o)

williamlief on Sep 30, 2007

Oh, you must attribute your quotes otherwise I won't count it, even if is a really obvious quote like the herring one.

renbot on Oct 01, 2007

"Don't patronize me, I invtented physics!" -- "Isaac Newton", from an episode of Star Trek (YouTube clip)

My serious favorite quote:
"The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom." -- William Blake

fdev on Oct 01, 2007

'Who are you and how did you get in here?' 'I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.'
- Leslie Nielsen

Just saw it the other day and thought it's funny... :P

danielsemper on Oct 01, 2007

I have 2 favourite geek quotes (but if you just want to consider 1 quote, consider my first one):

1. "Computer games don't affect kids. I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills, and listening to repetitive electronic music."

- Marcus Brigstocke

2. "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

- Bill Gates

nickpixel on Oct 01, 2007

As danielsemper previously said, if we're only allowed one, take the first:

"When the government's boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence." -- Gary Lloyd

"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner." -- James Bovard

"The best government is that which governs least." -- Henry David Thoreau

ElleDee on Oct 02, 2007

Again, as mentioned, if only allowed 1, take the first:

"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too." -- Voltaire

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe

and kudos nickpixel, but you know this one has always been one of my favs:

"Giving power and money to the government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." -- P.J. O'Rourke

Liquix on Oct 02, 2007

Take the first if only one allowed

"When it's a question of money, everybody is of the same religion." - Voltaire

"Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save." - Will Rogers

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." - Oscar Wilde

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

I pick "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." -Oscar Wilde
Submitted by Liquix. Ill post another, final, challenge sometime in the next day or so. Stay tuned.

chook on Oct 02, 2007

The last one!!! Already?!?!? This has been too much fun (even if it is hard to get in quickly enough with an answer).

If there is just one challenge remaining, then it is out of Renbot and Nickpixel. Unless I indeed got a bonus pt for challenge #9, in which case I could tie with those two.

Exciting!

danielsemper on Oct 02, 2007

If there is just one more last challenge, there is no chance for me to win or have 3 points

It will be match just between Renbot and Nick.

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

Whoa SuperLlamel thanks for making the point scoreboard, but Chook actually earned two points on one question. And to keep the competition alive, I have decided that this will not be the last question.

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

I have rescinded the question. Sorry Folks.

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

King Akhenaten, I think?

We had to read that book for a class I took a while back...

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

Yeah, I am reading that book right now, sorry Renbot you would've earned the point, but just after posting the question I realized that google searching Dweller in Truth gave the answer immediately. Anyway, I am going to come up with another question soon.

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

Aw, darn it! :(

SuperLlamel on Oct 02, 2007

Whoops! Thanks for fixing my placing errors. I noticed them right after I posted. :P

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

All of those words are found in the titles of books written by Robert A. Heinlein?

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

Renbot gets one point, but why did I choose those books in particular, and which books are they?

SuperLlamel on Oct 02, 2007

LeaderBoard

1. Renbot 4 (#3, #8, #10, #13)
2. NickPixel 3 (#1, #4, #6)
3. Chook 2 (#9)
T4. Danielsemper 1 (#11)
T4. Liquix 1 (#12)
T4. Manon1165 1 (#2)
T4. JBVisions 1 (#5)
T4. Marcelofigueroa 1 (#7)

And deleted old ones.

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

Well, the books are Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Double Star. And um, they all won Hugo awards?

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

Good job Renbot, Heinlein is the only author to be honored with four Hugo awards. Out of curiosity have you read all of those books? Personally I haven't read Double Star yet but I have read, and love, the other three.

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

Oh, now Renbot has 5 points.

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

No, I haven't read all the books but my friend has been trying to get me to read them for a while now. Currently, I'm too busy with school to have much time for reading (hopefully, this will change in a few days), but I have Starship Troopers sitting on my desk right now. :)

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

MAKING CHALLENGES IS HARD?

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

Good grief Renbot. Did you take part in Macheist by any chance? And you got it right.

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

No, I didn't take part in Macheist. Seems like I should though!

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

How did you decrypt the message so quickly?

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

The first part was obviously morse code, but I was hoping the second bit would trick people up. Apparently you recognized the Rot 13 right away though.

renbot on Oct 02, 2007

Well, I didn't recognize it right away, actually. At first, I was thinking that the cipher involved switching the letters of the alphabet around, so Z=A, Y=B, etc. When that didn't work, I tried the ROT-13 cipher, since that's the only other one I could think of to use. :)

williamlief on Oct 02, 2007

I should've used rot 47...

chook on Oct 02, 2007

Leave my computer for five minutes, and look how much I miss....!

Hopefully the last challenge is worth 5pts - then I'm still in with a chance!!!