h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

<<i went to school with bono, edge and larry.

Amazing coincidence!

I went to school with Curly, Mo and Larry!

'Whhhhhhhyyyyy I outta......

that is not a useless fact. it is useful for other poor unfortunates, that might see it as an amusing and witty comment deserving of something other than a slap... when in fact it's not.

Ducks run faster when the weather is warm (from one of Wodehouse's memoirs I think).

Ants, when drunk, always keel over to the right.

The Atlantic hurricane season is officially over today.

So, in celebration here's a useless hurricane fact.

The first masculine name given to a tropical storm was "Bud".

Caffeine works on spiders.

how does it work on spiders....
keeps 'em pep?
helps them not fall asleep at the wheel after a long day?

Nope, it just creates a really bad web.

http://www.trinity.edu/jdunn/spiderdrugs.htm

I wonder if the researchers were on drugs when they came up with the idea.

I think that's worthy of an Ig Nobel prize.

If the universe was left alone for long enough everything would turn to iron

George Washington died the last hour of the last day of the last week of the last month of the last year of the 18th century.....or so i heard

Try these

It's illegal in Alabama to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

It is against the law to whale hunt in Oklahoma

And in Utah. But I already said that one. Probably also said that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the exact same day, 50 years TO the day since the "birth" of the United States of America.

it's not illegal, but highly inadvisable to stand practically nekked in your mothers kitchen while trying to figure out where the water is leaking into the scullery. . yes she has a scullery. and it's got a leak.
but now i have the flu

The sensitivity of photographic film depends (among other things, obviously) on the diet of the animal that is killed and boiled down to provide the gelatin for the emulsion. The very fastest films are made from the faces of cows that have eaten clover.

Wow. I've got a degree in photography and I never even considered where the gelatin comes from.

I did once miss this question in a game of trivial pursuit.


"What is the number of rows of sprocket holes in the average roll of 35mm film."

I gave it some thought... "There are 8 holes per frame on each edge so that's 16... what's average? Call it a 24 exp roll so that's 384 + 3 leader frames another 48 plus the tail which has one edge longer... so I'll guess another 40 or so that's 472... Plus the other end to the spool... round up to 500 for an even number"

The answer? ...

2

Great question. I think I'd probably have fallen for it myself.

It's like the old question: How many grooves on a record? The answer is 2 - 1 on each side.

Mad Magazine would often include thin insert 45 rpm records. Some of these featured surprise endings to the novelty songs. They did this by recording 4 different tracks on separate grooves. Depending on exactly where you placed the stylus you'd get alternate endings.

Did they tell you about the difference between graininess and granularity, Count Zero?

Did they explain psychophysical research?

Have you heard about the amazing career of Edwin Mees?

I have lots of useless facts about photography, if you're interested.

it's 'oldies but goodies day'!

whats the difference between light and hard...??


you can sleep with the light on .

babooom