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swpKO: The Next Generation #13
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swp
Feb 27, 2014, 1:08:40 AM2/27/14
to
This contest is now open to Peter Smyth and Russ S.
There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers and will
only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the first question.
***
#13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african elephant?***
tie breaker #1
***
#14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
***
tie breaker #2
***
#15. What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar?
***
You have 24 hours from the time of this posting to submit your answers.
swp
There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers and will
only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the first question.
***
#13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african elephant?***
tie breaker #1
***
#14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
***
tie breaker #2
***
#15. What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar?
***
You have 24 hours from the time of this posting to submit your answers.
swp
Peter Smyth
Feb 27, 2014, 3:50:34 AM2/27/14
to
swp wrote:
> This contest is now open to Peter Smyth and Russ S.
>
> There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers
> and will only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the
> first question.
>
> ***
> #13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african
> elephant?***
660
> This contest is now open to Peter Smyth and Russ S.
>
> There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers
> and will only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the
> first question.
>
> ***
> #13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african
> elephant?***
> tie breaker #1
> ***
> #14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
> ***
1752
> ***
> #14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
> ***
> tie breaker #2
> ***
> #15. What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar?
> ***
1752
> ***
> #15. What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar?
> ***
> You have 24 hours from the time of this posting to submit your
> answers.
Peter Smyth
> answers.
Russ
Feb 27, 2014, 5:49:38 AM2/27/14
to
On Wed, 26 Feb 2014 22:08:40 -0800 (PST), swp
<Stephen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>This contest is now open to Peter Smyth and Russ S.
>
>There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers and will
>only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the first question.
>
>***
>#13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african elephant?***
>
730 days
<Stephen...@gmail.com> wrote:
>This contest is now open to Peter Smyth and Russ S.
>
>There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers and will
>only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the first question.
>
>***
>#13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african elephant?***
>
>tie breaker #1
>***
>#14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
>***
>
>tie breaker #2
>***
>#15. What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar?
>***
>
>You have 24 hours from the time of this posting to submit your answers.
>
>swp
swp
Feb 27, 2014, 11:57:28 AM2/27/14
to
On Thursday, February 27, 2014 1:08:40 AM UTC-5, swp wrote:
> This contest is now open to Peter Smyth and Russ S.
>
> There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers and will
> only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the first question.
>
> ***
> #13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african elephant?
> ***
640 *** Correct Answer ***
> This contest is now open to Peter Smyth and Russ S.
>
> There are 3 questions listed here, the 2nd and 3rd are tie breakers and will
> only count if both entrants get the correct answer on the first question.
>
> ***
> #13. On average, how many days is the gestation period for an african elephant?
> ***
660 Peter Smyth
730 Russ S (interestingly enough, this is the longest gestation time known)
> tie breaker #1
> ***
> #14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
> ***
4701 Russ S
4712 *** Correct Answer ***
but, it doesn't count.
> tie breaker #2
> ***
> #15. What year is it in the Ethiopian calendar?
> ***
2006 *** Correct Answer ***
3456 Russ S
The interesting part about this, to me at least, is that all of the other
calendars are off from each other by thousands of years. But this one is only
off by 8 years.
However, these last 2 questions were moot.
So it is my pleasure to announce that the winner of the swpKO: The Next Generation
contest is none other than Peter Smyth!! Congratulations young man! Well done.
Thank you to all who participated. I am contemplating holding another, but
want to try something slightly different. We've done it before, dare we do it
again? Everyone submits a single question to the moderator (aka me) and I then
randomize them and put them out one at a time as the rounds. The questions
need to have either a discrete date or numeric answer, of course.
I'll accept entries for the next week as emails to stephen...@gmail.com
and start the contest on Friday, March 7th, 2014.
swp
Erland Sommarskog
Feb 27, 2014, 3:19:39 PM2/27/14
to
swp (Stephen...@gmail.com) writes:
>> tie breaker #1
>> ***
>> #14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
>> ***
>
> 1752 Peter Smyth (only off by ~3 millenia)
> 4701 Russ S
> 4712 *** Correct Answer ***
I'd say that the correct answer is 103. Or at least it is a correct
>> tie breaker #1
>> ***
>> #14. What year is it in the Chinese calendar?
>> ***
>
> 1752 Peter Smyth (only off by ~3 millenia)
> 4701 Russ S
> 4712 *** Correct Answer ***
answer.
> The interesting part about this, to me at least, is that all of the
> other calendars are off from each other by thousands of years. But this
> one is only off by 8 years.
two calendars that are off by zero years from each other.
--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esq...@sommarskog.se
Mark Brader
Feb 28, 2014, 12:20:55 AM2/28/14
to
Side comment: when swpKO appears with only one number in the subject
line, it makes me want to read it as the contest number, not the
round number.
Stephen Perry:
with words like "Call for questions" in the subject line.
Second, you need to come up with some rules.
* Is the contest only open to people who have submitted questions?
* What happens to an entrant on the round where their own question
comes up? If there are N entrants and the only questions are
the N that they submitted, then this is certain to happen on the
first round. You might choose to write one question, as moderator,
and use it for the first round; but it could happen again on any --
potentially ALL -- of the subsequent rounds.
* If it helps, consider that the random sequence of questions doesn't
need to be fully determined at the start of the contest -- they could
be chosen dynamically depending on who is left in. But this doesn't
avoid the issue in my previous bullet point.
* Ideally, contestants should know before writing their questions whether
there is a chance that they will be answering their own question.
If so, they'll know that they would disadvantage themselves if they
picked one whose answer they only know approximately (as I did
with some questions in my KOs), and indeed, am about to do here.
Here's my question for swpKO3: The Search for Spock.
Of all the well-known units of distance that don't include a scale
prefix like giga-, the longest is the parsec. How long is a parsec
in kilometers? Scoring will be by ratio, i.e. an answer 2 times the
correct length is considered closer than one 1/4 of the correct length.
Answer in the next message, in case you want to try it for fun, but for
no points. :-)
--
Mark Brader "Look, sir, we can't just do nothing."
Toronto "Why not? It's usually best."
m...@vex.net -- Lawrence of Arabia
My text in this article is in the public domain.
line, it makes me want to read it as the contest number, not the
round number.
Stephen Perry:
> Everyone submits a single question to the moderator (aka me) and I then
> randomize them and put them out one at a time as the rounds.
>
> randomize them and put them out one at a time as the rounds.
>
> I'll accept entries for the next week as emails to stephen...@gmail.com
> and start the contest on Friday, March 7th, 2014.
First, you need to post this in a new thread for the new contest,
> and start the contest on Friday, March 7th, 2014.
with words like "Call for questions" in the subject line.
Second, you need to come up with some rules.
* Is the contest only open to people who have submitted questions?
* What happens to an entrant on the round where their own question
comes up? If there are N entrants and the only questions are
the N that they submitted, then this is certain to happen on the
first round. You might choose to write one question, as moderator,
and use it for the first round; but it could happen again on any --
potentially ALL -- of the subsequent rounds.
* If it helps, consider that the random sequence of questions doesn't
need to be fully determined at the start of the contest -- they could
be chosen dynamically depending on who is left in. But this doesn't
avoid the issue in my previous bullet point.
* Ideally, contestants should know before writing their questions whether
there is a chance that they will be answering their own question.
If so, they'll know that they would disadvantage themselves if they
picked one whose answer they only know approximately (as I did
with some questions in my KOs), and indeed, am about to do here.
Here's my question for swpKO3: The Search for Spock.
Of all the well-known units of distance that don't include a scale
prefix like giga-, the longest is the parsec. How long is a parsec
in kilometers? Scoring will be by ratio, i.e. an answer 2 times the
correct length is considered closer than one 1/4 of the correct length.
Answer in the next message, in case you want to try it for fun, but for
no points. :-)
--
Mark Brader "Look, sir, we can't just do nothing."
Toronto "Why not? It's usually best."
m...@vex.net -- Lawrence of Arabia
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Mark Brader
Feb 28, 2014, 12:24:02 AM2/28/14
to
Mark Brader:
intending to post a followup. So much for *that* question. Still, if
anyone besides Stephen wants to try my question, I'll wait 24 hours before
posting the answer here.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Perhaps I should have done the posting and sleeping
m...@vex.net | in the other order." --Peter Duncanson
> Here's my question for swpKO3: The Search for Spock.
Oh sheesh, I typed F instead of R, and then mindlessly confirmed that I was
intending to post a followup. So much for *that* question. Still, if
anyone besides Stephen wants to try my question, I'll wait 24 hours before
posting the answer here.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Perhaps I should have done the posting and sleeping
m...@vex.net | in the other order." --Peter Duncanson
Dan Tilque
Feb 28, 2014, 6:24:09 AM2/28/14
to
Mark Brader wrote:
>
> * What happens to an entrant on the round where their own question
> comes up? If there are N entrants and the only questions are
> the N that they submitted, then this is certain to happen on the
> first round. You might choose to write one question, as moderator,
> and use it for the first round; but it could happen again on any --
> potentially ALL -- of the subsequent rounds.
One way to avoid this is not to randomize the questions. Instead, the
>
> * What happens to an entrant on the round where their own question
> comes up? If there are N entrants and the only questions are
> the N that they submitted, then this is certain to happen on the
> first round. You might choose to write one question, as moderator,
> and use it for the first round; but it could happen again on any --
> potentially ALL -- of the subsequent rounds.
moderator asks one of his own in the first round, and then the question
submitted by whoever was eliminated in round N in round N+1.
This gives me an idea. We could have a rotating knock out. One person
submits a question for the first round. The person eliminated in each
round asks in the next round. But everyone, including the initial
questioner, can still participate in all rounds. That is, you're only
knocked out for one round, and for that round, you get to ask the
question. The idea is still to go the longest without being knocked out,
but that could be dozens of rounds.
This could go on indefinitely, so we'd have to have some kind of rule
about participants who have to be away from the net for a while
(vacation or whatever).
>
> Here's my question for swpKO3: The Search for Spock.
>
> Of all the well-known units of distance that don't include a scale
> prefix like giga-, the longest is the parsec. How long is a parsec
> in kilometers? Scoring will be by ratio, i.e. an answer 2 times the
> correct length is considered closer than one 1/4 of the correct length.
simple multiplication will get you close. You could get closer by
knowing there are just under 300,000 km in a light second and then
multiplying by the number of seconds in a year. This is what I'd do, but
I'm not going to bother to do all that arithmetic right now.
--
Dan Tilque
PS As for the next RQ, I'm still working on it but it's slow going. If
the anyone who tied me in the last RQ has one ready that he really wants
to post, I'd be willing to let him go instead. Except Stephen; he posts
too many RQs already.
David B
Feb 28, 2014, 8:17:09 AM2/28/14
to
"Dan Tilque" <dti...@frontier.com> wrote in message
news:<leprkd$hdr$1...@dont-email.me>...
regular questions. :o)
D
news:<leprkd$hdr$1...@dont-email.me>...
> Mark Brader wrote:
> This gives me an idea. We could have a rotating knock out. One person
> submits a question for the first round. The person eliminated in each
> round asks in the next round. But everyone, including the initial
> questioner, can still participate in all rounds. That is, you're only
> knocked out for one round, and for that round, you get to ask the
> question. The idea is still to go the longest without being knocked out,
> but that could be dozens of rounds.
>
> This could go on indefinitely, so we'd have to have some kind of rule
> about participants who have to be away from the net for a while (vacation
> or whatever).
>
That sounds like a good idea. It gives the likes of me a chance to set
> This gives me an idea. We could have a rotating knock out. One person
> submits a question for the first round. The person eliminated in each
> round asks in the next round. But everyone, including the initial
> questioner, can still participate in all rounds. That is, you're only
> knocked out for one round, and for that round, you get to ask the
> question. The idea is still to go the longest without being knocked out,
> but that could be dozens of rounds.
>
> This could go on indefinitely, so we'd have to have some kind of rule
> about participants who have to be away from the net for a while (vacation
> or whatever).
>
regular questions. :o)
D
calvin
Feb 28, 2014, 9:32:44 PM2/28/14
to
On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 21:24:09 +1000, Dan Tilque <dti...@frontier.com>
wrote:
> Mark Brader wrote:
>
>> * What happens to an entrant on the round where their own question
>> comes up? If there are N entrants and the only questions are
>> the N that they submitted, then this is certain to happen on the
>> first round. You might choose to write one question, as moderator,
>> and use it for the first round; but it could happen again on any --
>> potentially ALL -- of the subsequent rounds.
>
> One way to avoid this is not to randomize the questions. Instead, the
> moderator asks one of his own in the first round, and then the question
> submitted by whoever was eliminated in round N in round N+1.
Bingo! That's a great idea (and possibly what Stephen already had in
mind).
--
cheers,
calvin
wrote:
> Mark Brader wrote:
>
>> * What happens to an entrant on the round where their own question
>> comes up? If there are N entrants and the only questions are
>> the N that they submitted, then this is certain to happen on the
>> first round. You might choose to write one question, as moderator,
>> and use it for the first round; but it could happen again on any --
>> potentially ALL -- of the subsequent rounds.
>
> One way to avoid this is not to randomize the questions. Instead, the
> moderator asks one of his own in the first round, and then the question
> submitted by whoever was eliminated in round N in round N+1.
mind).
--
cheers,
calvin
swp
Feb 28, 2014, 11:35:50 PM2/28/14
to
I've already posted in another thread.
swp
Mark Brader
Mar 1, 2014, 12:44:31 AM3/1/14
to
I (Mark Brader) accidentally posted:
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "The E-Mail of the species is more deadly
m...@vex.net | than the Mail." -- Peter Neumann
> Of all the well-known units of distance that don't include a scale
> prefix like giga-, the longest is the parsec. How long is a parsec
> in kilometers?
It's 30,856,780,000,000 km, according to Russ Rowlett's web site.
> prefix like giga-, the longest is the parsec. How long is a parsec
> in kilometers?
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "The E-Mail of the species is more deadly
m...@vex.net | than the Mail." -- Peter Neumann
Dan Blum
Feb 28, 2014, 10:57:38 AM2/28/14
to
Mark Brader <m...@vex.net> wrote:
> Here's my question for swpKO3: The Search for Spock.
> Of all the well-known units of distance that don't include a scale
> prefix like giga-, the longest is the parsec. How long is a parsec
> in kilometers? Scoring will be by ratio, i.e. an answer 2 times the
> correct length is considered closer than one 1/4 of the correct length.
> Answer in the next message, in case you want to try it for fun, but for
> no points. :-)
3.12x10^13
> Here's my question for swpKO3: The Search for Spock.
> Of all the well-known units of distance that don't include a scale
> prefix like giga-, the longest is the parsec. How long is a parsec
> in kilometers? Scoring will be by ratio, i.e. an answer 2 times the
> correct length is considered closer than one 1/4 of the correct length.
> Answer in the next message, in case you want to try it for fun, but for
> no points. :-)
--
_______________________________________________________________________
Dan Blum to...@panix.com
"I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't just made it up."
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