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

There are 10 kinds of people, those who think that stupid binary joke is still funny and those who don't.

It is statistically harder to get into The Ringling Brothers School of Clowning than it is to get into Harvard Law School.

But Mr. X, it *is* funny...

There are 10 kind of people in this world:

those who understand and like binary jokes, those who understand and don't like binary jokes, those who don't understand binary jokes, those who don't care about binary jokes, those who like telling "there are x kind of people" jokes, those who never remember these jokes, those who don't tell such jokes because all they know are Monty Python quotes, those who link to http://xkcd.com/953/ when they see a binary joke, those who slip a "there are two kind of people" quote from "the good, the bad and the ugly", and those who take "there are 10 kind of people" seriously.

Yep. And it´s very fitting that "the good, the bad and the ugly" was a German/Italian Western movie.

Lighted Christmas ornaments were perhaps inspired by the second century pagan practice of placing human sacrifices in large wicker baskets, suspending them from a tree, and setting fire to the basket

Do you have any proof of that one?

While it's quite likely that druids did practice human sacrifice (despite what the wishy-washy tree huggers like to think) the wicker man (not basket. That, I suspect, is a modern misinterpretation) is thought to be sensationalist propaganda invented during Caesar's conquest of Gaul.

In fact, it's quite likely that the Christmas tree was an entirely Mediaeval invention rather than something specifically borrowed from pagan traditions. Very few, if any, records of pre-Christian festivals that involve stepping plastic baubles and untangling fairy lights exist.

In the US today is 12/12/2011 where as in the rest of the world it's 12/12/2011.

Here in the UK, at just after quarter past 4 in the afternoon, it will be 16:15:14 13/12/11.

PP

Not today it wasn't

Oh b*gg*r.

It will tomorrow though.

PP

That countdown is funny because the previous poster,
Baron Grimm used to be known as Count Zero.
He works for NASA. Get it, Count... Zero!


~jwf~

PS:
Maybe after 11 years here it's time to ASK
if there is any danger in actually getting
to know a bit about other researchers
and not just take them all at anonymous
face value.

Well, those who are inclined to be open about themselves here already are.

I hasten to add that is an entirely subjective
reflection Mr PP. It was in no way meant to be
a criticism of your Useless Fact that today sees
16;15;14;13;12;11 which in itself is a very worthy
fact that will have me watching my watch all day.

~jwf~

>> inclined to be open about themselves <<

Just keep it in your pants, eh.
Sheesh.

~jwf~

16;15;14;13;12;11

Missed it.

Blast!

PP

Next year we get a

07:08:09 10:11:12

And a

12:12:12 12:12:12

Surely I have something better to do!

PP

As long as you don´t claim those numbers mean that you´re the Messiah.

Seconds are called that because they are the second division of an hour by sixty (secunda pars minuta or second diminished part).


Also, Hillary Clinton was president of the Fabian Fan Club in high school.