Counting things

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11:00 am December 3rd, 2008

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			Counting things - shadows of echoes of memories of songs


	Counting things
	fivemack muses on the comparative numbers of mice, humans, rabbits, cows and wildebeeste, reminding me of a pub conversation recently in which the question of how many Magdalen deer you'd have to kill in order to feed all Magdalen's students was hotly debated[]. This led to me asking AQA "How many venison steaks would you get from one adult deer?", to which they responded: "An adult deer weighs 115-135lbs. Half of that is bones and hide. There's 1 cubic ft of lean venison. It yields 30-40 steaks, depending on their size." So I just thought I'd share that knowledge with the internet. Yes, I am procrastinating. [] for "hotly debated" read "amicably discussed over a post-theatre beer". Tags: aqa, cows, mice, procrastination, rabbits, steak, venison, wildebeeste

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	From: aardvark179	Date: December 3rd, 2008 12:11 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I saw a rather amusing version of that debate which was roughly, "When the US economy completely collapses (as it is doomed to do any day now) what proportion of the population could survive by abandoning the cities and taking up hunting."

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	From: addedentry	Date: December 3rd, 2008 01:02 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I am disappointed (but not surprised) that the 'live feed' of questions asked at 118118 repeats itself - specifically, 'where was lenny kravitz born'.

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	From: j4	Date: December 3rd, 2008 01:19 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Wow, that's seriously addictive.

I've just seen a repeated question too: "Who would in a fight, ross allen or barney the dinosaur" [sic]. Their reply is that they think Barney would win, because he is a dinosaur.

The lower-case "thx" after every answer is incredibly annoying.

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	From: covertmusic	Date: December 3rd, 2008 02:01 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Part of me wants to hook it up to Twitter because, well, self-evidently everything in the Universe wants to be hooked up to Twitter. The information eschaton must be immantenized!

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	From: j4	Date: December 3rd, 2008 01:32 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I think it may just be filling in with old questions if not enough are coming through. I've seen "What is the lotus sex position" and "how was kfc created", "Is Mick hucknell webbs real father" and "were can I see ducks in sheffield" three times each now. I have just used the free question to ask them if it's really live or if they re-use old questions.

Their answers are rubbish compared to AQA, though. e.g.:

Q: What time is caledonian uni open until on a saturday
A: UNIVERSITIES
GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY - MAIN NUMBER
T: 0141 331 3000 thx

Q: what does it mean if your pregnant and dream its a boy
A: A baby boy in a dream always represents a new energy entering your life, a new beginning. thx

Q: What is in a lethal injection
A: Meaning to inject a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the explicit purpose of causing death. thx

Q: How many sausages does ìt take to fill the leaning tower of pizza
A: It depends on how long are the sausages and what kind they are. Thanks, Your 118 Team

Though this made me laugh:

Q: I REALi like that fish
A: The 118 Team thinks that it would be better to forget the past & start again by buying a new one. thx

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	From: sea_bright	Date: December 3rd, 2008 01:52 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I've just seen the following answer in response to a question about train fare:

A: The cheapest available fare for 1 adult from Yeovil to London on Saturday 29 November 2008 is 10.00 GBP. thx

So either
(a) They are giving their customers information that won't actually be any use
(b) They have discovered the secret of TIME TRAVEL
or (c) They are recycling old questions

I would like to think it was (b), but I suspect (c) is more probable.

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	From: j4	Date: December 3rd, 2008 01:57 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Hrm. Yes.

Though it's possible that (d) the question was live, but they're recycling old answers (which AQA do as well -- they have a big database of past answers) and forgot to change "is" to "was" (which given the spelling/grammar of some of the other answers wouldn't surprise me). I mean, "The cheapest fare the last time we checked [on Sat 29th November] was 10.00" wouldn't be an unreasonable answer.

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	From: emperor	Date: December 3rd, 2008 02:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	mmm...bambi

Depends on species of deer, shirley?

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