Full Vote Archives

Vote #234

Question:

As we near the end of the weekend, I'm somewhat run down with an annoying cold and am facing a rather busy week. The only thing really on my mind is how long will this stupid cold last for?

Results:

2 days, 3 days, 5 days, 6 days and Longer than a week tied with 20% of the votes each from the following:

• It will be gone in the morning (0%)
• It will take a day (0%)
• 2 days (20%)
• 3 days (20%)
• 4 days (0%)
• 5 days (20%)
• 6 days (20%)
• 7 days (0%)
• Longer than a week (20%)

Analysis:

I've been accused of having “man flu”. Given all the things I've gone through recently, I hardly think it's fair to accuse me of exaggerating the effects of a cold. That said, I have to acknowledge that I've needed more love and attention for this cold than being hospitalized with stomach problems. Oddly enough, I think I've had more pain from this cold that the stomach problem as I've had the most thunderous headaches which is a new one for me.

Anyway, it seems to have gone now and I'd say it lasted 5 or 6 days, so if you guessed in that ballpark, then you're about right and can give yourself a good old pat on the back.

Vote #233

Question:

It's time to go all nostalgic. We go back to a time where men were men and computers had a DOS prompt ... oh those heady days! But can you remember those errors you used to get? In particular, did you know what the difference was between abort and fail in the “abort, retry, fail?” message that MS-DOS used to give you?

Results:

No - I just used to select one or the other was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - I know the difference between abort and fail (20%)
• No - I just used to select one or the other (60%)
• I have no idea what you're talking about (20%)

Analysis:

Not really surprised that the majority of people don't know the difference between abort and fail. The answer is that abort terminated the program whereas fail returned a fail command from the operating system back to the program making the request. Typically, this error came up when there wasn't a disk in the disk drive and the program making the request for access to the disk drive would get a fail response if you select fail. Selecting abort just ended the program and took you back to the DOS prompt. Trouble is that most programs that received a fail exited you back to the DOS prompt, so there was no real visible difference to the user between selecting abort or fail. There's an interesting article on Wikipedia if you're interested. It provides the following definitions (including ignore which was added to the abort, retry, fail message for certain errors).

• Abort (A): Terminate the operation/program and return to the system command prompt. In hindsight this was not a good idea as the program would not do any cleanup (such as completing writing of other files). "Abort" was necessary because early MSDOS did not implement "Fail". It may have remained necessary for poorly written software for which "Fail" would have caused a loop that would have repeatedly invoked the critical error handler with no other way to exit.
• Retry (R): DOS would attempt the operation again. "Retry" made sense if the user could rectify the problem. To continue the example above, if the user simply forgot to close the drive latch, they could close it, retry, and the system would continue where it left off.
• Ignore (I): Return success status to the calling program/routine, despite the failure of the operation. For instance, a disk read error could be ignored and DOS would return whatever data was in the read buffer, which might contain some of the correct data from the disk. Attempting to use results after an "Ignore" was an undefined behaviour. "Ignore" did not appear in cases where it was impossible for the data to be used; for instance, a missing disk could not be ignored because that would require DOS to construct and return some kind of file descriptor that worked in further "read" calls.
• Fail (F): Return failure status to the calling program/routine. "Fail" returned an error code to the program, similar to other errors such as file not found. The program could then gracefully recover from the problem. This option did not exist in MSDOS 2.0.

Vote #232

Question:

The other day I was walking William back home from school and was making fun or something or other. I looked at him and saw him laughing and asked what he was smirking at. What do you think his reply was?

Results:

He'd just farted was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• You Daddy because you're so funny (0%)
• Michele Bachmann's presidency campaign (0%)
• Selling 10,000 extra synchronized swimming tickets (0%)
• He'd just farted (100%)

Analysis:

Not surprisingly everyone got it right. William was rather impressed by the fact that he'd made a trumpet noise with his bottom and that it was accompanied by an appropriately bad smell. Farting is pretty much the funniest thing to a six year old.

I'm sure most of you will be thinking - like father, like son!

Vote #231

Question:

Happy New Year to everyone and welcome to 2012. A short read of some sites reveal that there is speculation the world will end on December 21st. How sad to worry about things like that, instead, I turn my attention to my part time hobby that's not quite come off yet - I've been messing around writing an App for the Android and wonder whether I'll publish one in 2012?

Results:

Yes - you will publish an Android App was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - you will publish an Android App (80%)
• No - you will continue to get distracted (20%)

Analysis:

One dissenting view, but on the whole, most people are in agreement that I'll get there at some point during the year. I'm pretty sure I will as I've completed a set of tutorials on this and read a couple of books, so it's just a matter of starting the project and plugging away at it. I think the first app will probably be quite weak, but you've got to start somewhere.

Vote #230

Question:

Once again I find myself in the hospital. Again at a time when I should be celebrating something or other. I guess the big question is will I be celebrating the new year in hospital or will I be home by then?

Results:

No - you will be back home by then was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - you will still be in the hospital (20%)
• No - you will be back home by then (80%)

Analysis:

Yeah! I was back home, but not without a try to get back into hospital. Released on December 26th, but had another trip back into ER on the 29th, but was released on the 30th without being admitted. Oh well, Happy New Year to all of you. Hope this one's a good one!!

Vote #229

Question:

I guess it's that time of year again where Santa stuffs himself down the chimney. As I reflect on the year, I wonder - have I been a good boy?

Results:

Yes - you've been a good boy and No - you've been naughty tied with 50% of the votes each from the following:

• Yes - you've been a good boy (50%)
• No - you've been naughty (50%)

Analysis:

A split decision - have a I been good or have I been bad? Well, I know I've got some presents as William has informed me that he got more presents that I did. Seems he's all about quantity. Bad news is that he informed me in hospital as that's where I'm at right now. If the fact that I've ended up back in hospital and over Christmas (as I'm writing this from the hospital now), is anything to go by, then I've probably been a bad boy somewhere along the line.

Vote #228

Question:

Looking down at my toes poking through holes, I ponder the question - will I get socks for Christmas?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (80%)
• No (20%)

Analysis:

Nearly a full house for yes. And given that at least one of the people voting is going to get me a present, I think I can look forward to warm feet in 2012.

Vote #227

Question:

Time for one of those questions that you need to think about. I actually got this one from Mythbusters, so you may have seen it. Anyway, there's a gameshow where the contestant is presented with three doors behind one of which is a prize. The contestant is asked to pick a door. The host then opens one of the remaining doors that doesn't have a prize behind it and offers the contestant the option to switch doors or stick with their original choice. Should the contestant switch doors to maximize their chance of winning?

Results:

Yes - the contestant should switch doors and It doesn't matter - the odds are the same tied with 40% of the votes each from the following:

• Yes - the contestant should switch doors (40%)
• No - the contestant should stay with their original choice (20%)
• It doesn't matter - the odds are the same (40%)

Analysis:

I thought most people would get this as it's a fairly simple problem. The correct answer is yes, you should switch. There's actually twice the possibility of being correct is you switch than if you stay with your original choice. The reason behind that is that there is a 1/3 chance you are correct with your initial choice - 3 doors and only one is correct. There is a 2/3 chance that the correct door is one of the remaining ones. You can look at the problem solution as getting a choice of 2 doors if you switch. It just happens that you know that one of them is incorrect (which you would do anyway if you were allowed to pick 2 doors). There is no resetting of the probabilities just because a door has been opened.

The interesting thing about the Mythbusters is that they tested two aspects of this problem. They did indeed test that it's statistically better to switch your choice and it did result in switching providing a winner on about a 2 to 1 basis. This was done by running the test multiple times and looking at the data, not just looking at the math behind the solution.

The second component they tested was whether or not people were more likely to switch or if they would stick with their original choice. It actually turned out that 100% of people stuck with their original choice. Psychologically, this is a great game because even if you know you are mathematically better off switching, something is telling you to keep with your original choice. Presumably the fear that you don't want to switch in case you were right with your original choice.

All this said, perhaps we should have asked how far you can shoot a cannonball.

Vote #226

Question:

I've been watching all of the Star Trek series again and I'm on Deep Space 9 at this point. There's a character in it called Morn who never speaks (although there are many references to stories he's told). Morn is Quark's best customer in the bar and has his own stool. My question - is Morn a tribute to the TV show cheers, being a play on Norm?

Results:

Yes - it is a tribute was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - it is a tribute (75%)
• No - it is not a tribute (25%)

Analysis:

It would seem that this in unconfirmed. The two minutes of research I've done reveal that there are several people out there that think Morn is a tribute to Norm Peterson from Cheers based on the fact that they have similar drinking habits, but I didn't find anything that unequivocally confirmed this. I suspect, however, that it's more than coincidence and it's likely to be a tribute.

Vote #225

Question:

So, the sister site to this one was successfully launched a week or two ago. The one based in the East Midlands. Which was the first search engine to find the new page?

Results:

Google was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Ask (0%)
• Baidu (20%)
• Bing (20%)
• Google (60%)
• Soso (0%)
• Thunderstone (0%)
• Yahoo (0%)
• Yandex (0%)

Analysis:

It was actually Yandex, a Russian search engine that hit the site first. Shortly followed by Google which, not surprisingly, seemed to be the voters favorite. Ask, Bing and Yahoo are nowhere to be seen yet. Baidu is typically all over my sites in their push to be the biggest search engine in the world ... helped by the restrictions China has on search engines external to their country.

Vote #224

Question:

There's only one question I can ask this week and I apologize to those out there that don't follow NASCAR, but this week's question is Tony Stewart or Carl Edwards?

Results:

Carl Edwards was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Carl Edwards (100%)
• Tony Stewart (0%)

Analysis:

100% of the votes for Carl Edwards and 100% of the votes wrong. Congratulations to Tony Stewart!

Vote #223

Question:

Woo hoo! First time in 11 years of living in the United States, we had trick or treaters. Karen was out looting with William, whilst I stayed at home on candy duty. Surprisingly I wasn't sat there with a hose pipe through the letterbox. Anyway, there were a lot of great costumes out there. Which of the following is your favorite Halloween costume?

Results:

iPod and Scooby-Doo tied with 40% of the votes each from the following:

• Captain Rex (Star Wars) (0%)
• Goblin (0%)
• iPod (40%)
• Osama Bin Laden (0%)
• Scarecrow (0%)
• Scooby-Doo (40%)
• Witch (20%)

Analysis:

A tie between the iPod and Scooby-Doo. I have to say, it was the iPod that was making me laugh the most - it just seemed funny to me that someone would want to dress up as an object rather than a thing. Each to their own I guess.

Vote #222

Question:

After a long time pondering this week's question, we ask how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Results:

700 pounds, A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, It might be able to chuck wood but it wouldn't be able to chuck Chuck Norris, More than you could and None tied with 20% of the votes each from the following:

• 35 cubic feet (0%)
• 700 pounds (20%)
• A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood (20%)
• It might be able to chuck wood but it wouldn't be able to chuck Chuck Norris (20%)
• More than you could (20%)
• None (20%)

Analysis:

According to Wiki Answers:

The amount of wood that woodchucks would chuck on a given day varies greatly with the individual woodchuck. According to a Wall Street Journal article, New York State wildlife expert Richard Thomas found that a woodchuck could chuck around 35 cubic feet of dirt in the course of digging a burrow. Thomas reasoned that if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he would chuck an amount equal to 700 pounds.
Some say it depends on three factors:

• The woodchuck's desire to chuck said wood.
• The woodchuck's need to chuck the aforementioned wood.
• The woodchuck's ability to chuck the wood when it is a woodchuck

Vote #221

Question:

During the big trip we just had to San Diego this weekend, William bought a snake. I asked him what the snake's name was an he replied “Bill”. This sparked a discussion about nicknames and William proclaimed that he knew Mummy's nickname. What do you think William affectionately knows his mother by?

Results:

Farty McMuffin was the clear winner with 83% of the votes from the following selection:

• Bestest Mummy Ever (17%)
• Farty McMuffin (83%)
• Magnificent Mother (0%)
• Poo Head (0%)
• Super Mom (0%)
• Super Mum (0%)
• WonderMum (0%)

Analysis:

Farty McMuffin indeed!

William proclaimed that he knew mummy's nickname and came out with Farty McMuffin. My return comment was that it all made sense. If that's what she's been eating for breakfast, it explains the breath. What a loving family we have.

Vote #220

Question:

If the kids of today are playing computer games about yesteryear, does that mean the kids of tomorrow will be playing games that involve doing something and then rushing to be the first to post it on a simulated twitter or facebook?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (80%)
• No (20%)

Analysis:

Yes, in 10+ years time, it's likely that kids will be playing virtual twitter or something like that. Perhaps playing in some virtual reality and entering the retro world to see how it was done in days gone by. Remarking on the fact that we used keyboards and touch screen devices. Things long gone by the wayside.

Vote #219

Question:

Alright, so it's off to Vegas again with Mr O to watch a bit of racing. IndyCar this time with a splash of NASCAR trucks. The big question is whether or not we'll see Uncle Jesse at the track again.

Results:

Yes - we will see Uncle Jesse was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - we will see Uncle Jesse (75%)
• No - we will not see Uncle Jesse (25%)

Analysis:

Danny Wheldon RIP.

Unfortunately, we did not see Uncle Jesse, but I'm not sure if we had whether we would have been in a good enough mood to appreciate it. A race I'll unfortunately never forget.

Vote #218

Question:

I was looking at the server log for this website and was quite surprised as to the number of hacking attempts I have on a daily basis. What country will try and hack my website the most this week?

Results:

Russia was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Czechoslovakia (0%)
• China (25%)
• India (0%)
• Korea (0%)
• Nigeria (0%)
• Philippines (25%)
• Russia (50%)
• South Africa (0%)
• United Kingdom (0%)
• United States (0%)

Analysis:

I'll give it to those that selected Russia as I think it's the closest country. The actual answer is the Ukraine. Yep, this week, we attracted the attention of those in the Ukraine. A close second was China.

Vote #217

Question:

As I continue my travels around the country, I wonder whether I'm going to end up in the right city with somewhere to stay. This week's question - has my travel been booked correctly or will I need to change it?

Results:

No - you will need to change it was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - it is correct (40%)
• No - you will need to change it (60%)

Analysis:

Technically speaking I didn't have to change anything so the majority of votes were incorrect. That said, it wasn't without a potential hiccup. I had been told that the hotel I was staying in ran a shuttle to and from the airport. It actually only runs from the hotel to the airport and not the other way (which seems odd to me as it has to go back). Anyway, you're supposed to call the hotel and they send the shuttle to you if you arrive at the airport. I went to the hotel shuttle pickup point and waited. Fortunately the shuttle had been called to pickup a flight crew that were staying at the hotel and I only waited about 5 minutes, so it all worked out fine ... thankfully.

Vote #216

Question:

Nothing immediately coming to mind again, so it's time to dig into the top ten lists. This week I came across the following list of side effects to medicine. Which of the following side effects would you like least?

Results:

Inability to distinguish between blue and green, Uncontrollable bowel movements and oily spotting, Rectal bleeding; hepatitis and herpes and Uncontrollable sexual and gambling urges tied with 25% of the votes each from the following:

• Loss of smell (0%)
• Hallucinations (0%)
• Loss of fingerprints (seriously) (0%)
• Inability to distinguish between blue and green (25%)
• Developing fully functional mammory glands (0%)
• Uncontrollable bowel movements and oily spotting (25%)
• Erection lasting more than 3 hours (0%)
• Immediate (3rd degree) sunburn (0%)
• Rectal bleeding; hepatitis and herpes (25%)
• Uncontrollable sexual and gambling urges (25%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

OK - so you're probably wondering how true these are and I'll honestly say that I haven't done any research into these - I just found them on a site. Here are the explanations:

Vasotec, used to treat congestive heart failure, can cause side effects that include a loss of senses, one of which being a loss of smell.

Chantix; Mirapex and Lariam used to quit smoking can cause hallucinations.

Xeloda, used to treat several types of cancer, can cause chronic inflammation of the palms or soles of feet. This can cause bleeding and ulcers, but the oddity is that it can cause your fingerprints to disappear.

Viagra, used for erectile dysfunction (as if you didn't know that one), can cause the user to see everything with a blue tint having the effect of not being able to distinguish between green and blue.

Propecia, used for hair loss, can cause the patient to develop fully functioning mammary glands.

Alli, used for weight loss, can cause uncontrollable bowel movements and oily spotting. I'm not 100% sure what oily spotting is, but you probably don't want to fart if you have this side effect as I believe you're going to get through a few pairs of underpants if you do. The interesting thing about this one is to reduce this side effect, you need to cut fatty food out of your diet. One assumes that a diet pill that causes you to cut out fatty food for fear of shitting yourself is probably quite effective.

Whilst we all know that Viagra can cause erections that last more than three hours, so can Zoloft which is used as an anti-depressant. Must be quite odd being depressed with a raging boner.

Levaquin, used to treat bacterial infections can make you ultra sensitive to sunlight that can give you very bad sunburn (like 3rd degree burns).

Accutane, used to treat acne, has a long list of possible side effects including Rectal bleeding, hirsutism (an overabundance of rapidly-growing hair), psychosis, crying spells (and general bouts of depression), Hepatitis, herpes (possibly), and bone-fractures.

Requip, used to treat restless leg syndrome, can cause unusual and uncommon urges including sexual and gambling.

An interesting spread of votes across the side effects with no single one being feared as the worst. Guess the whole concept of side effects is pretty worrying.

Vote #215

Question:

Well, it's 10 years since 9-11 and we can't help but think about great travesties. So, coupled with the fact that I had to go see yet another doctor this week, I contemplate the unspeakable question of my life - how many doctors have been up my bum?

Results:

13 was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• 0 (0%)
• 2 (0%)
• 5 (0%)
• 9 (0%)
• 13 (50%)
• 17 (25%)
• 21 (0%)
• 25 (0%)
• 1,067 (25%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Whilst it feels like 1,067 (thanks Mr O), the number is not quite that impressive. I believe we're up to 13 now which is still quite a large number. I'm sure I've forgotten about one or two though. Speaking of which, I do seem to keep finding the odd watch lying around the place.

If anyone's interested, the latest treatment I'm going to be having is infra red. Not entirely sure of the details and I'm sure you don't want all of them anyway, but I'm rather hoping that a side effect of this is being able to change channel on the TV by farting.

Vote #214

Question:

It's time to look ahead to the next Vegas trip. Mr O and myself will be going to watch the NASCAR trucks and the IndyCar race there in October. Coincidentally, the Excalibur hotel (where Mr O and myself generally stay) has just sent me some offers, including $20 pitchers of beer from October through February whilst playing beer pong. Will Mr O take advantage of this offer and have a game of beer pong?

Results:

No was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (33%)
• No (67%)

Analysis:

Beer pong, for those of you that don't know, is a game where you try to throw ping-pong balls into cups to make the other team drink the contents. Generally, cups are arranged in front of you in a triangle shape, so 10 cup pong would be arranged 1-2-3-4. You then throw a ping-pong ball at your opponents cup, if it lands in it, they drink it. There are several variations where the defending team may or may not be allowed to interfere with the ball as it travels towards your cup. Generally, the game is won when you eliminate your opponents cups. A better variation may be until you make your opponent throw up.

Regardless of variation, however, I seriously doubt that Mr O will be playing.

Vote #213

Question:

Seems that there's a lot of natural disasters going on. Which natural disaster would you like to be the cause of your demise?

Results:

Meteor Impact was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Avalanche (0%)
• Earthquake (0%)
• Flood (0%)
• Hurricane (0%)
• Meteor Impact (100%)
• Tornado (0%)
• Tsunami (0%)
• Volcano (0%)

Analysis:

Interesting, everyone went for the same answer - meteor impact. It's funny as I nearly didn't include this as an option as I thought everyone would pick it. I think it's got something to do with the fact that a meteor impact may do something like cause another ice age, so it would wipe out all human life. Another theory is that it's more unlikely so you may as well get wiped out by the most statistically unlikely event. Not sure why it is and I'm pretty sure most people didn't spend too long thinking about it before they voted, just going for what seemed like the right answer.

Vote #212

Question:

I came across a top 10 list on listverse.com that had the most influential arcade games. Rather than get into which one's the best, I'm simply going to ask which of the following arcade games did you like playing the most? (And yes, I dropped one from the list).

Results:

Donkey Kong, Frogger, Phoenix and Pong tied with 25% of the votes each from the following:

• Asteroids (0%)
• Donkey Kong (25%)
• Frogger (25%)
• Galaga (0%)
• Mario Bros (0%)
• Pac-Man (0%)
• Phoenix (25%)
• Pong (25%)
• Space Invaders (0%)
• None of the above (0%)

Analysis:

Donkey Kong, Frogger, Phoenix and Pong all seem to have shared the honors, so no consistent favorite. A little surprised that Space Invaders didn't feature into anyone's picks. I was tempted to select it, but in the end went for Phoenix. I know this wasn't a question on whether you agreed that these were the top 10 (or 9) most influential games, but I'm a little surprised there weren't any real classics that scrolled left to right like Defender or Scramble.

Vote #211

Question:

With all the trouble and uncertainty going on at the minute, we need to turn our attention to the economy. Will the US economy rebound next week when I get back from vacation?

Results:

No was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (20%)
• No (80%)

Analysis:

No indeed! It would appear that the economy has worsened since I got back although it's difficult to tell. The stock market's going up and down like a yo-yo and I've no idea what's going to happen to the housing market. Seems kind of arbitrary at the end of the day - I get all excited about what's going to happen and then go to work and do what I do regardless of whether the economy's good or bad. Yeah for another week of work.

Vote #210

Question:

The final leg of the holiday and the last remaining big event is the trip to my brother's boat .... that he bought off eBay. Nothing has ever gone right with anything I've done with my brother and things that have been bought online, so what's going to happen this time?

Results:

Someone will fall in, It will crash and The toilet will overflow tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Nothing (0%)
• It will sink (0%)
• You'll get arrested (0%)
• Someone will fall in (33%)
• It will crash (33%)
• The toilet will overflow (33%)

Analysis:

A tied vote and none of them correct. It was a really nice afternoon floating down the river with a couple of beers stopping at a few pubs, followed by a really nice dinner. Job's a good 'un. I have to be honest, I'm surprised that nobody fell in, however, nobody did.

Vote #209

Question:

Last week's question was whether or not I'd make it back. This week's question is targeted towards the big event - the BBQ at Luke's next Saturday. Really looking forward to this, but will the weather hold and will it go as planned?

Results:

Yes - there will not be any hitches was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - there will not be any hitches (100%)
• No - it will rain (0%)
• No - something else will happen (0%)

Analysis:

Interestingly I seem to be the only person voting and it seems I was wrong. Here was me being all optimistic and it went and rained. We did manage to get the food done just before it rained, so we lucked out a little bit and then retired to the conservatory to watch it rain without actually getting wet. I have to say it was a pretty traditional English BBQ - rain and lots of burnt. There were burnt round things, burnt long things, burnt things on burnt bones and long flat burnt things. All topped off with a couple of wasps floating round in your drinks. I've forgotten how good it used to be.

Vote #208

Question:

As I move into holiday week, I can't really seem to thing about anything else. I guess the only question is will everything go smoothly and will I end up back in the UK as planned?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (80%)
• No (20%)

Analysis:

Well, I'm here safe and sound, so I guess “yes” was the right answer. Interestingly enough, I was going to give more answers to this question including one that I'd get back OK but would be subject to a delay. I was indeed subject to a three hour delay. Also, I was taken into a back room at security and given the full rubber glove pat down. Thankfully this did not involve a cavity search, but I can tell you the check was thorough.

Vote #207

Question:

This week's vote question comes courtesy of some random site. Apparently this is a good question to ask someone who you're on a date with. If you were in a circus, what job would you have?

Results:

Clown, Knife Thrower and Plate Spinner tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Beautiful Assistant (0%)
• Clown (33%)
• Elephant Trainer (0%)
• Fire Breather (0%)
• Human Cannonball (0%)
• Knife Thrower (33%)
• Lion Tamer (0%)
• Plate Spinner (33%)
• Trapeze Artist (0%)

Analysis:

I have to admit, I may have lost some votes here depending on when the votes were cast. I had a pretty major problem with the machine running the website and had to copy the backup files over that may have been a day or two old. Anyway, little interest in this vote and the votes split between clown, knife thrower and plate spinner. I was tempted to go for the human cannonball myself, but I erred away from it in the end.

I'm not really sure I want to run away and join the circus. It's certainly not something that's on my to do list and probably not on that many others either.

Vote #206

Question:

As we bid a fond farewell to the News of the World for all the journalistic excellence they have brought us over the last however many years like .... well, I can't quite think of any, but I'm sure they must have managed to come up with something good at some point. We here at EBR continue on strong and ask the question - were you important enough to have your phone tapped by the News of the World?

Results:

No was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (20%)
• No (80%)

Analysis:

I have some important news for the person that voted “yes” - your phone was not tapped as you're not that important. I think it's safe to say that you're having delusions of grandeur. The rest of us appear to be aware of our lack of importance in the grand scheme of things. Oh well, so long News of the World!

Vote #205

Question:

One of the birds I was looking for this July 4th holiday (in Tahoe) was the white headed woodpecker (which I did get to see). Whilst looking for the woodpecker, William decided to look for his own bird. What bird was William looking for on our trip to Tahoe?

Results:

Hairy Woodpecker and Rainbow Headed Woodpecker with a Gold Penis tied with 40% of the votes each from the following:

• Anteater (0%)
• Bald Eagle (0%)
• Chickadee (0%)
• Emu (0%)
• Golden Eagle (0%)
• Hairy Woodpecker (40%)
• Mallard (0%)
• Rainbow Headed Woodpecker with a Gold Penis (40%)
• Penguin (20%)

Analysis:

Interesting .... seems there were only two votes for “rainbow headed woodpecker with a gold penis” and I know one of those was me and I assume the other Karen as this was indeed the correct answer. Whilst I was searching away for the white-headed woodpecker, William turned round and said that he hoped to find a rainbow headed woodpecker. When asked to describe the bird, he added that it would have a gold penis. Not that having a rainbow head wouldn't be sufficient a distinction to identify it alone, one would have to make sure they saw its penis to make sure a correct identification was being made.

I didn't ask what the female would look like or if it would have any distinguishing features. That said, in the bird kingdom, the females do tend to be more drab than the males.

It does beg the question as to whether people would go after stealing the eggs of such a bird if it existed or whether it would be hunted for its penis.

Vote #204

Question:

At the NASCAR race this weekend, both Karen and I bought hats to proudly display our support. Karen paid $32 for an M&M Kyle Busch hat. How much did I pay for a Target Montoya hat?

Results:

$3, $5, $11 and $42 tied with 25% of the votes each from the following:

• $3 (25%)
• $5 (25%)
• $11 (25%)
• $19 (0%)
• $25 (0%)
• $30 (0%)
• $32 (0%)
• $40 (0%)
• $42 (25%)
• $50 (0%)

Analysis:

A mixed selection of answers. I like the logic that someone employed and went for $42 for the 42 car. Sadly, the correct answer is $5. Whilst Kyle Busch was commanding a whopping $32 for his hat, Juan Pablo Montoya only demanded five bucks.

Vote #203

Question:

As we wake up this week, it's time to say Happy Birthday to Karen. Not much of a vote question there, so we'll turn our attention to the NASCAR race next weekend at Sonoma that both Karen and I will be going to. Will the race be won by a regular, one of the regulars with track experience or a ringer. Who do you think will win the race?

Results:

Kyle Busch and Someone Else tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Boris Said (0%)
• Jamie McMurray (0%)
• Jeff Gordon (0%)
• Jimmie Johnson (17%)
• Juan Pable Montoya (0%)
• Kasey Kahne (0%)
• Kyle Busch (33%)
• Marcos Ambrose (17%)
• Robbie Gordon (0%)
• Someone Else (33%)

Analysis:

Looks like “someone else” was the right answer. Big congratulations to Kurt Busch who ran a fantastic race and thoroughly deserved the win.

Vote #202

Question:

In a multiple choice test, which is the correct answer?

Results:

C - the longest answer that goes into a detailed explanation was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• A - yes (0%)
• B - no (0%)
• C - the longest answer that goes into a detailed explanation (50%)
• D - A and B (25%)
• E - none of the above (25%)

Analysis:

Yeah, it's normally the long answer that has a detailed discussion around the subject. That said, there's always a smattering of “none of the above” too.

Vote #201

Question:

Seems that this week is one of those weeks when I've got to Sunday night and have no idea of what question to ask. I sold 4 items on eBay today and I've been paid for two of them (the two smallest amounts). Will I get paid for the other two?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (100%)
• No (0%)

Analysis:

The answer was indeed yes, but it's really a “yes, but ...” I did sell all the items and collect the money. I did, however, get a note from eBay saying that one of my bids had been canceled due to the buyer being a fraud and that I should not ship anything to them. Bit of a bummer as I'd already shipped everything. Turns out that this bidder wasn't the winner, so we're all good. Good reminder not to ship unless you have physically received the payment - apparently this fraud was sending false emails to say that they'd paid, so check receipt of funds into the account you have to collect the money (normally PayPal).

Vote #200

Question:

Some weeks I struggle to come up with vote questions, but other weeks they're handed to me on a plate. Yesterday we were out walking and I asked William what he thought the speed of the fastest bird could fly. After he provided his answer, I asked Karen the same question. She started by saying that she thought it was a [blank]. What bird did Karen think flew the fastest?

Results:

Mallard, Peregrine Falcon and Emu tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Hawk (0%)
• Golden Eagle (0%)
• Mallard (33%)
• Peregrine Falcon (33%)
• Sparrow (0%)
• Wren (0%)
• Emu (33%)

Analysis:

I'm surprised that eveyone didn't guess this right. Karen did indeed think the emu is the fastest flying bird. That well know flying bird.

Vote #199

Question:

Another completely irrelevant question to most people out there. I've had to pick four dates for a firm meeting (you select four and then get allocated one of the four to attend a meeting). One of those four dates conflicts with when Mr O is coming over to watch the NASCAR trucks in Vegas and I'd like to go. I find out this week which meeting I will attend. Will I be able to go to the NASCAR trucks with Owen in October or will I have a conflict with a firm meeting?

Results:

Yes - you will get your first meeting choice and can go to the race with Owen was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - you will get your first meeting choice and can go to the race with Owen (80%)
• Yes - you will get your second meeting choice and can go to the race with Owen (20%)
• No - you will get your third meeting choice that conflicts with the race with Owen (0%)
• Yes - you will get your fourth meeting choice and can go to the race with Owen (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Unfortunately I can't actually put an answer to this question as yet as I haven't received confirmation back as to which event I will be attending. Hopefully I'll find out next week and I'll pop back to post the answer given that I know you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see where this one goes.

*************

ADDITION

I know everyone's been waiting for the update on this one ... well, I finally have it (update June 19th). I got my first pick, so I will indeed be going to the Indy and truck race with Owen. I've already purchased the tickets and put in my calendar.

Vote #198

Question:

After going through a big ordeal of signing William up for swimming lessens and arranging a sitter to pick him up from school to take him. The first sitter no showed. The next day the second showed and took him, but he wouldn't go in the pool. This week is plan B with a different swimming class, but will William go in the pool this week?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (100%)
• No (0%)

Analysis:

Yay! 100% of the votes going for yes and 100% of the voters correct. William did indeed go for a swim. In fact, he went three times last week and is looking forward to his lessons this week.

Vote #197

Question:

I'm in one of those indecisive moods - should I get a Chinese or Thai takeout tonight?

Results:

Neither - cook something and don't be so lazy was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Chinese (25%)
• Thai (25%)
• Neither - go for something different (0%)
• Neither - cook something and don't be so lazy (50%)

Analysis:

“Cook something and don't be so lazy” !! Really?? Really?? Like that's going to happen. What on earth were take aways invented for? Well, if you really want to know, I had a Thai and it was very nice. So if you're over and visiting and in the mood for a Thai, I know just the place to go - either for eat in or take out.

Vote #196

Question:

A tricky one this week as we dig into the human body and ask the all important question about ourselves ... why can't you tickle yourself?

Results:

Because the brain knows where the touch is coming from and doesn't invoke a reaction (laughing) was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• I can tickle myself (33%)
• Because it's illegal (0%)
• It would be too much fun (0%)
• It would cause too many embarrasing moments (0%)
• Because the brain knows where the touch is coming from and doesn't invoke a reaction (laughing) (67%)

Analysis:

Just to be boring, laughing when tickled is a natural reaction and is actually caused by panic. It's a response to things crawling on your skil apparently. Even when you know someone is going to tickle you, it still invokes a response as, so I've read on the internet, there is still a part of you that doesn't know if you're going to get hurt and this causes you to laugh. Not sure I follow all of this. I suggest you try for yourself - go stand in front of the mirror in the bathroom and try tickling yourself to see whether or not you can do it.

I think the person that said they can tickle themselves should video themselves and post it on YouTube.

Vote #195

Question:

Amongst many other things, I've just put in my order for tickets to various events in the 2012 Olympics. Basically, you pick what you want to go to, submit an application and then you're in a lottery. If nobody wants to go to the event you selected, then you'll get a ticket. If, however, many people have put in for a ticket then it's the luck of the draw. Will we get the tickets we ordered for the 100m final?

Results:

No was the clear winner with 71% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (29%)
• No (71%)

Analysis:

I am worried that there's a conspiracy that will keep Owen and myself away from the 100m final. I believe there's concern that we will be mistaken for the athletes and will take the limelight away from the actual competitors. Unfortunately, no may be the correct answer if that's the case.

Vote #194

Question:

Well, presumably you've all received your invitiations to the wedding by now. I think mine got lost in the post somewhere - perhaps the royals didn't know I'd moved house. Anyway, not to worry, the event will be over covered on TV. Are you going to watch the wedding on the 29th?

Results:

Yes and No tied with 40% of the votes each from the following:

• Yes (40%)
• No (40%)
• What wedding? (20%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Pretty much a split vote - I would think this is probably going to be the most watched event of the decade (and we're only just starting that). I won't be watching, but Karen is going to try. I have nothing against it, just complete lack of interest. I would imagine the extra public holiday in the UK is well received. I do wonder if the UK is going to shut down for the next week as I imaging most people will take off the days between Easter and the wedding to make a longer holiday of it. We'll just have to wait until Thanksgiving before we get our big public holiday over here in the US.

Vote #193

Question:

Unashamedly I resort once again to the top ten lists for this week's vote question. Through extensive internet research I came across a list of the top ten most bizarre things a car has been covered in. Which of the following things that a car has been covered in do you think is the most bizarre?

Results:

Chocolate, Cigarettes, Grass and Postage Stamps tied with 25% of the votes each from the following:

• Chocolate (25%)
• Cigarettes (25%)
• Coins (0%)
• Crystals (0%)
• Grass (25%)
• Musical Instruments (0%)
• Nail polish (0%)
• Postage Stamps (25%)
• Sticky Notes (0%)
• Toy Cars (0%)

Analysis:

A pretty irrelevant vote question attracting very little interest. Votes pretty evenly spread which basically means that there's a view that whatever you cover your car with, it's bizarre. I guess you should just leave your car alone.

Vote #192

Question:

We (Karen, William and myself) seem to be looking forward to the movie Cars 2. We keep hearing of various motor racing celebrities that will be doing the voice overs. Question is - will Cars 2 be as good as the original Cars movie?

Results:

They will be as good as each other was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - Cars 2 will be better (33%)
• No - the original movie will be better (0%)
• They will be as good as each other (50%)
• I don't care (17%)

Analysis:

Interesting, I wasn't expecting the response that I got, i.e. that both the movies would be as good as each other. I actually thought there would be some votes for the first one being better on the basis that sequels often don't live up to the expectations set by the originals. Just look at Matrix, for example. Anyway, that's the way the majority voted. I can live with that as I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm being quietly optimistic that the sequel will be even better than the original. I guess we'll just have to wait until July to find out.

Vote #191

Question:

I find myself in hospital, yet again. The only thing on my mind is when will I not be in hospital. What day this week will I be released from hospital?

Results:

Wednesday was the clear winner with 88% of the votes from the following selection:

• Sunday (0%)
• Monday (0%)
• Tuesday (13%)
• Wednesday (88%)
• Thursday (0%)
• Friday (0%)
• Saturday (0%)
• None (not released this week) (0%)

Analysis:

The majority were indeed correct, I was released on Wednesday. Arm is still a little swollen, but the pills seem to be doing their thing and I appear to be on the mend.

Vote #190

Question:

I seem to be spending a lot of time pondering my next phone choice, so I figured I'd reach out and get some advice and then ignore it completely. What mobile phone type would you get if you had the choice?

Results:

Android was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Android (50%)
• Blackberry (0%)
• iPhone (25%)
• Non Smartphone (25%)

Analysis:

Pretty irrelevant question as I ordered an Android the day after I set it. The Motorla Atrix 4G to be precise. Should get it on Friday all being well. Well, me being well I suppose.

Vote #189

Question:

This week's vote question is a combination of the two trips I've just done. Quite a feeble combination, but there you go. Back in the UK I watched a bit of QI, so the question is simply which of the following is quite interesting from the Phoenix/Vegas trip?

Results:

After taking a towel my towel rail proceeded to fall off and dump the remaining towels in the toilet and Chevvy Malibu's are not ideal off road vehicles - particularly for roads marked 4x4 only tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• I didn't eat a single burger on the trip or go into a burger chain restaurant (17%)
• We met someone with a thick Irish accent that was from Manchester and had never been to Ireland (17%)
• We met someone from Manchester that supported Manchester United (0%)
• After taking a towel my towel rail proceeded to fall off and dump the remaining towels in the toilet (33%)
• The only time I turned the TV on was to check out and I got an error and had to go to reception (0%)
• Chevvy Malibu's are not ideal off road vehicles - particularly for roads marked 4x4 only (33%)
• I didn't bet using any slot machine or card game (0%)
• Between 1951 and 1992, there were a total of 928 announced nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site (0%)
• People generally go to Lake Havasu to go boating (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

A two way tie between my antics with the towel rail in the bathroom and our aborted off road trip. Both were indeed quite interesting. I'm perplexed as to why I repeated the procedure of dumping my towels into the toilet several days running when a simple fix would have been to put the bog seat down. Seems my puny brain wasn't active enough first thing in the morning to remember what to do. Thankfully there were enough towels such that I had a replacement to dry myself with after soaking a couple of them. Regarding the aborted trip, we did try to get across the dirt road, but after a couple of loud bangs and scraping noises coming from the underside of the vehicle, we decided to abort and return the way we came. Given that the advice is that you can't get mobile phone reception on that road, it seemed like the safest option was to admit defeat and retreat to fight again another day.

Vote #188

Question:

In the absence of having any well thought out vote question, I present to you the discussion that Mr. O and I were having on the way to the race today (whilst stuck in traffic for a couple of hours). What's your favorite car color?

Results:

Grey/Silver was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Black (20%)
• White (0%)
• Red (0%)
• Blue (20%)
• Yellow (20%)
• Green (0%)
• Grey/Silver (40%)
• Brown (0%)
• Pink (0%)
• Purple (0%)

Analysis:

Interesting, I quite like gray/silver, but would not have picked it as my favorite. I went with Black - very boring. Anyway, gray/silver it is.

Vote #187

Question:

It's that time of the year again where I find myself with Mr O driving to a couple of NASCAR races. This year we're doing Phoenix and Vegas. As with last year, we will be having a little wager. Before each race we have to pick either Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards (Ron Hornaday for the trucks as Carl isn't in that competition). The rules are (currently and subject to change) $10 per race and there are five races. Who will win the Busch Edwards/Hornaday betting series?

Results:

Rag was the clear winner with 71% of the votes from the following selection:

• Mr O. (29%)
• Rag (71%)
• It will be a draw (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

To all those that had faith in me, thanks. I have to admit that I'm truly surprised, however, I did deliver a crushing 4-1 victory over Mr. O leaving me $30 to the good. In fact, it must be the most crushing victory dealt by anybody in this kind of championship before. If I really think about it, it has to be setting the standard for future years. Is there a way back in it for Mr. O or has he had his day. Only time will tell. In the meantime, he has a year to lick his wounds.

Vote #186

Question:

As we kick off the fantasy NASCAR game, let's see what the general predictions are. Will I win the game again? Well, what do you think - who will win the 2011 NASCAR race game?

Results:

You're the Juan that I want was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Cool Blue (0%)
• Kyle Busch ate my hamster (25%)
• Shrub (25%)
• Twiki (0%)
• Wombles (0%)
• You're the Juan that I want (50%)

Analysis:

Well, it seems as if there is faith in me to do the double. Only time will tell given this competition covers all 36 races in the season. I have a feeling that Mr O is going to push me all the way (or vice versa if he gets out in front). Then again, we could see an unexpected result. Daytona proved that's possible.

Vote #185

Question:

As we move to the first race of the season I shall open up the race game again. Next week will be the first race of the season. How many people will register for the 2011 NASCAR season race game?

Results:

6 was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• 2 (0%)
• 3 (0%)
• 4 (17%)
• 5 (17%)
• 6 (50%)
• 7 (17%)
• 8 (0%)
• 9 (0%)
• 10+ (0%)

Analysis:

The correct answer was indeed 6 which is less than last time proving that I really do know how to create things that nobody else is interested in.

Vote #184

Question:

Completely under the weather at the minute and not able think much (so nothing new there), I don't have much by way of a question. I have, however, just learnt that my dad is waiting for a putter to arrive that he bought online in an auction and suspects he has been duped. Will the putter my dad ordered turn up this week?

Results:

No - you've been had was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - the putter will come (25%)
• No - you've been had (75%)

Analysis:

It was actually a driver and not a putter. Not that it makes a difference. Anyway, the driver came as expected within the designated timeframe. Seems my dad didn't think it was going to get here as he hadn't heard anything from the seller and was automatically fearing the worst. All is well with the world again.

Vote #183

Question:

In a turmoil of morals, I find myself asking the question of whether you should be up front and honest or keep quiet and hope nobody finds out?

Results:

Depends on the probability of being found out was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Be up front and honest (40%)
• Keep quiet and hope nobody finds out (0%)
• Depends on the probability of being found out (60%)

Analysis:

Interesting - the majority of votes going for “depends on the probability of being found out” which, to me, is the same as saying that you'd keep quiet and hope that nobody found out as you're effecively saying that's what you'd do unless you were sure you were going to get caught. Anyway, there's probably too much hypothetical here as I didn't exactly specify what's at stake. I suspect the reality of the fact is that there's some kind of equation that weighs up the probability of being caught against the consequences.

Vote #182

Question:

As I get set for my holiday back to England, I have to wonder about spending 3 weeks there in February. Sunny Syston versus the San Francisco Bay Area at this time of year .... hmmmm. We're going to be there for the first three weeks of Feb and I guess the quesion is - Will William see it snow? (I don't think he's seen it actually snow before as opposed to just seeing snow on the ground).

Results:

Yes - he will see it snow was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - he will see it snow (67%)
• No - he will not see it snow (33%)

Analysis:

I'm quite impressed with the couple of folks that said no. I doubt we'll get through three weeks of Feb without seeing snow, so I think the majority will be correct, but we'll find out.

Vote #181

Question:

Falling short once again to think of a vote question, I find myself trawling through the top 10 lists of this and that. Came across a list of the top 10 British Comedy programs. I'm not hear to debate what's missing from the list, simply to ask which of the following do you like the best?

Results:

Monty Python's Flying Circus, Only Fools and Horses, Black Adder, Fawlty Towers and The Office tied with 20% of the votes each from the following:

• The IT Crowd (0%)
• Peep Show (0%)
• Mr Bean (0%)
• Monty Python's Flying Circus (20%)
• Only Fools and Horses (20%)
• The Royle Family (0%)
• The Inbetweeners (0%)
• Black Adder (20%)
• Fawlty Towers (20%)
• The Office (20%)

Analysis:

OK - about as even as it gets. So no clear winner on the favorite show. I have to say I'm somewhat torn on things like this as there's a mix of old and new shows. It's difficult to put something like the Inbetweeners in the same group as Monty Python given that you don't know if it will stand the test of time so to speak. That said, I do think it's a very good show. I happened to vote for Blackadder, probably due to it being so good in the era I grew up in. Anyway, don't think there's a bad choice.

Vote #180

Question:

Well, this week is the 180th vote question that I've set. Quite worrying in itself I think, but what does 180 mean to you?

Results:

The highest score in darts was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• The number of vote questions set on this site (0%)
• The highest score in darts (75%)
• An about turn (0%)
• A change of mind (0%)
• The number that falls between 179 and 181 (25%)
• An energy drink produced by Anheuser-Busch (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

As Mr O says - top arrows. Indeed 180 should resonate with everyone and you should immediately think of darts. And obviously the accompanying announcer that draws out the words “one hundred and eighty!”

Vote #179

Question:

Does your 2011 new year's resolution involve losing weight?

Results:

Yes and No tied with 50% of the votes each from the following:

• Yes (50%)
• No (50%)

Analysis:

I see the majority of respondents are happy remaining fat ... and quite rightly so.

Ho hmmm! Caught out by a last minute vote to tie the standings. That's the problem with writing the analysis before the time has run out for people to vote. You leave yourself open to last minute changes.

Vote #178

Question:

As we move into the new year, I guess I should ask something about resolutions or perhaps be a bit philosophical on what the new year will bring. Unfortunately, the only question on my mind right now is - do you fancy a cup of tea?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (67%)
• No (0%)
• Infinite Improbability Drive (33%)

Analysis:

Indeed. You can't go wrong with a nice hot cup of tea. Whether it's for yourself or to create an infinite improbability drive.

Vote #177

Question:

With Christmas being right around the corner, it seems appropriate to ask a festive question this week. Which do you prefer or which are you?

Results:

Naughty Girl was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Naughty Girl (100%)
• Nice Girl (0%)

Analysis:

Not entirely sure whether the lack of votes was because the question was boring or because my computer screwed up and advanced the vote one too many, so the vote wasn't actually on the vote page for most of the week. Anyway, we all know that naughty girls are the best!

Vote #176

Question:

I've been watching a few Star Trek (TNG, not that it matters) episodes and am taken by how good some of the one liners are. When Q transports the senior staff of the Enterprise to Sherwood Forrest to make Picard play out a Robin Hood saga, the camera pans to Worf in tights who shouts “Sir, I protest, I am not a merry man!” Anyway, that brings me to this week's question - which of the following is your favorite quote?

Results:

Luke, I am your father - Darth Vader and None of the above tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Beam me up, Scotty - Captain Kirk (17%)
• Do you feel lucky, punk? - Dirty Harry (0%)
• Elementary, my dear Watson - Sherlock Holmes (17%)
• Hello Clarice - Hannibal Lecter (0%)
• Luke, I am your father - Darth Vader (33%)
• Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? - Evil Queen, Snow White (0%)
• Play it again, Sam - Humphrey Bogart (0%)
• None of the above (33%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

The correct answer is, of course “none of the above” on the basis that none of these lines were actually spoken. These are all misquoted lines. The actual lines are as follows:

• Captain Kirk (closest line) - Scotty, Beam us up.
• Darth Vader - no, I am your father.
• Dirty Harry - Ah, I know what you’re thinking, punk. You’re thinking, ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve forgotten myself in all this excitement. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question, ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?
• Evil Queen (Snow White) - Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all
• Hannibal Lecter - good evening, Clarice.
• Humphrey Bogart - You played it for her, you can play it for me. When Sam tries to refuse, he replies, If she can stand it, I can. Play it!
• Sherlock Holmes - has quoted deductions as being elementary and has referred to his sidekick as my dear Watson, but never together.

Vote #175

Question:

It appears that tradition upon leaving a company is to write an email telling everyone how much you enjoyed working with them. Many people try and be funny or add something witty to these goodbye messages. Which of the following phrases would you end with in a goodbye email to work colleagues?

Results:

Boing .... said Zeberdee, So long, farewell, goodbye, auf Weidersehen, So long and thanks for all the fish and TTFN tied with 25% of the votes each from the following:

• Boing .... said Zeberdee (25%)
• Hasta la vista, baby (0%)
• Na-na-naa-na, hey hey hey, Goodbye (0%)
• See you later .... I'm off somewhere better (0%)
• So long, farewell, goodbye, auf Weidersehen (25%)
• So, five-card stud, nothing wild. And the sky's the limit. (0%)
• So long and thanks for all the fish (25%)
• Time to bounce (0%)
• TTFN (25%)

Analysis:

Random responses then. I suspect Mr O went for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy response (so long and thanks for all the fish). The thing with that one is that it's been done before and I'd think I was copying someone, otherwise it's likely something I'd go for. I quite like the Star Trek TNG one (so, five card stud, nothing wild. And the sky's the limit). I've not seem anyone do this before, however, my vote was for the magic roundabout (boing .... said Zeberdee). Kind of has a cool checking out feel to it and nobody in the US will have a clue what it actually means.

Vote #174

Question:

A traumatic experience happened earlier this week when I sat down to watch Top Gear only to find that it had been franchised out and rather than watching the TV show I'm used to, I ended up watching American Top Gear. Somehow Clarkson's wit doesn't come across. That said, it was still true to car lovers, so this week I ask the simple question, if you could have one of the following sports cars, which one would you pick?

Results:

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Ascari A10 (0%)
• Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport (75%)
• Ferrari 599xx (0%)
• Gumpert Apollo (0%)
• Jaguar XJ 220 (25%)
• Koenigsegg CCX (0%)
• McLaren F1 (0%)
• Pagani Zonda F (0%)
• Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo (0%)
• SSC Ultimate Aero TT (0%)

Analysis:

Seems like the popular vote has gone to the fastest car. I suppose that was to be expected and I think the Bugatti is an amazing car.

Vote #173

Question:

The drive for five is done. Jimmie Johnson has done it again. More importantly, however, is the fact that I won the NASCAR race game. If I ran the competition again next year, would you be interested?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (100%)
• No (0%)

Analysis:

A resounding yes from a very small number of people. Only three people responded which is less than actually took part in the competition. Regardless of the answer, I'm going to run another one next year anyway. To be honest, the season starts in February, so I'll probably set the competition up early in the year to allow people to register and to see if I can entice someone to play who doesn't know me .... but I doubt it.

Vote #172

Question:

Here's a brain teaser from Karen. If it were 2 hours later, it would be half as long until midnight as it would be if it were an hour later. What time is it now?

Results:

9 o'clock was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• 6 o'clock (0%)
• 7 o'clock (0%)
• 8 o'clock (25%)
• 9 o'clock (75%)
• 10 o'clock (0%)

Analysis:

Once you get your head around the wording of the question, this one wasn't that hard. Most of you got it right - the answer is 9 o'clock.

Vote #171

Question:

Brain teaser time to get you going. You have nine cookies. Eight are identical. The ninth is identical with the exception that it is heavier as a gold ring was baked inside it. You have a set of balance scales (the ones that allow you to put something on one side and something on the other and tell you which is heavier). What is the fewest number of times you need to use the scale to determine which cookie contains the ring?

Results:

0 was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• 0 (60%)
• 1 (20%)
• 2 (0%)
• 3 (20%)
• 4 (0%)
• 5 (0%)
• 6 (0%)
• 7 (0%)
• 8 (0%)
• 9 (0%)

Analysis:

Interesting - nobody got this one right. The correct answer is two.

Divide the cookies into three groups of three. Put two of them on either side of the scales and pick the group that is the heaviest. If they are the same, then pick the group that is not on the scales. At this point we know that the ring is in one of the three cookies in the heaviest group. Simply do the same thing again - pick two of the cookies and put one on either side of the scales. If there is a heavier one then it contains the ring. If not, the ring is in the one not on the scales.

Vote #170

Question:

Oh dear, time for one of those stupid questions. Who is bigger?

Results:

The Baby of Mr & Mrs Bigger was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Mr Bigger (33%)
• Mrs Bigger (17%)
• The Baby of Mr & Mrs Bigger (50%)

Analysis:

The majority of you got this one right. The baby is indeed a little bigger.

Vote #169

Question:

I was trying to think of something cheesy for this week's question. I guess that it's as simple then as what's your favorite?

Results:

Cheddar was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Brie (0%)
• Camembert (0%)
• Cheddar (60%)
• Double Gloucester (0%)
• Edam (20%)
• Gouda (0%)
• Monterey Jack (0%)
• Red Leicester (20%)
• Stilton (0%)
• Wensleydale (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Cheddar it is then. Seems a little boring to me, but what do I know as I'm not into those soft cheeses or French cheeses which may go some way to answering Curt's question. Parmesan probably was an oversight, but I'm limited to providing 10 choices on these votes - the limitation is that the bar graph starts to overwrite itself if I go over 10, so generally I try not to.

Oh well, 169 vote questions to date and this is the first time I've been called on not having enough options. I suppose that's pretty good going.

OK - I'm off to get some Red Leicester.

Vote #168

Question:

I guess we're all but done with changing the website now. I think I've rolled the template out to all the pages now. The one thing I've never been able to do is come up with a decent logo. I keep going back and forth with text designs and trying to be creative with some symbol or other, but it all comes out looking like fisherman dude. What do you think would work as a logo for this site?

Results:

A cock was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Simple text design (20%)
• An artistic picture (0%)
• Embedding text into a picture (0%)
• Fisherman dude (the previous logo) (20%)
• A symbol (20%)
• An animal (0%)
• A cock (40%)

Analysis:

I suppose it was to be expected. I actually voted for the simple text design, although when I was messing around on my dev system, I did go for the cock option. That's pretty much why I decided to set the question in the first place.

OK - to satisfy your desire, here's the Ferrari picture of the 599xx beating the track record on the Nürburgring. (Look to the top right of the car)

Vote #167

Question:

Looks like the Virgin spaceship has made its first flight and will be getting ready for those first customers. This is one of those things where it would be really cool to go on a flight into outer space, but you'd be scared to death when the day actually came. That said, it's an opportunity of a lifetime, but how much would you pay for the privilege of flying in outer space?

Results:

$0, $1 - $10,000, $10,000 - $50,000, $50,001 - $100,000 and $100,001 - $150,000 tied with 20% of the votes each from the following:

• $0 (20%)
• $1 - $10,000 (20%)
• $10,000 - $50,000 (20%)
• $50,001 - $100,000 (20%)
• $100,001 - $150,000 (20%)
• $150,001 - $200,000 (0%)
• Over $200,000 (0%)

Analysis:

No clear answer then. I'm intrigued as to who voted for $0 - perhaps I should have gone the other way to see how much you would have to pay this person to fly into outer space. That said, it would be brown pants time before you took the trip. Unless you're an astronaut, I'm thinking that this trip would be very dauting, but I suspect adenoline would take over given what you're about to do.

I think the actual price is somewhere around $200,000 and nobody got that high with their money, so I guess there won't be any EBR voters taking a flight into outer space anytime soon.

Vote #166

Question:

Maybe it's escaped your notice or maybe not, but I've started to revamp the website. We have a new home page and then a template that's been rolled out to a few of the smaller pages like videos, contact and site map as a few examples. We need to find out whether or not you like it. What word would you use to describe this new template?

Results:

Surprised, Sophisticated and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Surprised (33%)
• Sophisticated (33%)
• Spectacular (0%)
• Superior (0%)
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (33%)
• Sloppy (0%)
• Shit (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Mixed results, but all on the positive side. Seems there was an initial error with the graph not displaying correctly if nobody had voted. That should be fixed now, but there may be other errors around. If you notice any, please let me know. There's a good few weeks work left to convert the entire site and it's not my highest priority right now, but it'll get there. I'm finding some minor enhancement opportunities along the way, so I'm fixing them at the same time.

Vote #165

Question:

Having a complete lack of inspiration, I asked Karen for a vote question. So here it is - why did the chicken cross the road?

Results:

To follow his brother who'd already got to the other side was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• To get to the other side (0%)
• To escape Bernard Mathews (0%)
• Because he wanted to catch the bus (20%)
• To follow his brother who'd already got to the other side (60%)
• Because he couldn't find the bridge (20%)

Analysis:

Pretty resounding response that the chicken wanted to cross the road to follow his brother who had already got to the other side. Which is quite interesting as I don't think I've heard that as an answer before. Not very funny though is it. Then again, I don't suppose being chased by Bernard Mathews is that funny either.

Vote #164

Question:

So, the race game was completed in time and is up and running. The obvious question now is who will win the leage? I suspect most people will vote for themselves, but who will the people who didn't enter vote for? Let's find out with this week's question - which team will win the 2010 NASCAR Chase Race competition?

Results:

Joe Gibbs for a Win was the clear winner with 29% of the votes from the following selection:

• Buddy Bear (14%)
• Joe Gibbs for a Win (29%)
• Life, the Universe and Everything (14%)
• Look at that 'S'car go (14%)
• Splat the cat blue (14%)
• SUPERGOLFER (14%)
• Weekends too short, weeks too long (0%)
• Wombles (0%)

Analysis:

One can only guess that parental love has played into these results. I have no idea whether I'm right, but I'm going on the fact that Karen's parents team has no votes and Karen has 2 votes making her the winner. The other one with no votes is the computer generated entry. No love for the machines then.

Well, I guess we'll see whether Karen reigns supreme in about 8 weeks.

Vote #163

Question:

OK - so I'm racing against the clock here. I'm working to setup a fantassy race game for the 2010 NASCAR chase races. I haven't had a lot of time to get this ready and the chase races start next week. I want to do this properlly, so am setting up all the infrastructure that makes this repeatable and transferable to other competitions, e.g. Forumula 1. The question is - will I get the game up and running before next weekend and if so, how many people will register to play?

Results:

Yes - 2 people will register was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• No - it will not be ready (0%)
• Yes - but nobody will register to play (0%)
• Yes - 1 person will register (20%)
• Yes - 2 people will register (40%)
• Yes - 3 people will register (0%)
• Yes - 4 people will register (20%)
• Yes - 5 people will register (20%)
• Yes - 6 people will register (0%)
• Yes - 7 people will register (0%)
• Yes - 8 or more people will register (0%)

Analysis:

Well, it looks like you all underestimated the power of the competition. Actually, you didn't. You underestimated the power of my follow up email that resulted in an additional 4 entries last minute taking the total to 8. I would have accepted 7 as being the correct answer given that one of the entrants is a space I created for a random number generator. Still, I'm quite pleased as this is a good population to test this.

Vote #162

Question:

I came across an article from The Observer on the top 50 sporting things you must do before you die and a few of them seemed pretty reasonable. Which of the following on their top 10 list would you rather do?

Results:

Do the Cresta run in St Moritz (Luge) was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Watch Boca Juniors Play River Plate in Buenos Aires (20%)
• Drive the Monaco GP Circuit in your own car (20%)
• Bag a seat at Amen corner for the US Masters (0%)
• Watch a Centre Court match at Wimbledon (0%)
• Go to watch the 100-metre Olympic final (20%)
• Ski the Hahnenkamm downhill course at Kitzbuehel; Austria (0%)
• Watch a fight at Madison Square Garden (0%)
• Watch the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne cricket ground (0%)
• Take part in the world's biggest mass football match (Orkney Isles Uppies v Doonies) (0%)
• Do the Cresta run in St Moritz (Luge) (40%)

Analysis:

Interesting - a couple of dare devils amongst you wanting to do the Cresta Run on a luge. It's a little interesting in that when I set this question up, I was kind of thinking about it along the lines of what's possible. I have a really hard time believing that any of the millions of EBR subscribers out there would actually be able to make it down the Cresta Run in one piece. I rather suspect that there would be a catastrophic failure along the way resulting in the ice and snow turning a shade of claret.

Interestingly, this is the option that Karen went for and I seriously doubt she'd be able to make it to the top of the Cresta Run, let alone surviving a trip down it on a luge.....hmmm.....I feel a thought coming on.....just let me check that life insurance policy.....interesting, time to book a holiday to St Moritz.

Vote #161

Question:

Inspired by a car insurance commercial, I seem to be wondering - is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush?

Results:

Yes - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, No - a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush and No - two in the bush are worth more than a bird in the hand tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Yes - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (33%)
• No - a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush (33%)
• No - two in the bush are worth more than a bird in the hand (33%)

Analysis:

Hmm - level all the way around. I was rather hoping that we'd get conclusion on this challenging topic, but it seems the mystery will continue. Will we ever know the true value of a bird in the hand? Perhaps some mysteries like this are never meant to be solved. Where's Scooby-Doo and the gang when you need them.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to find a way to stuggle on.

Vote #160

Question:

This week we're going to ask a geography question. I hear so much about the fact that Americans only know what's going on inside their country, but does anyone else really know any better? Using a purely scientific means of ruling out anything scientific, I'm going to answer this based on this week's vote question. Karen was out with her friends in the UK and they asked where she was living. She told them California. Which of the following was the response?

Results:

I thought you were living in San Francisco was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• I thought you were living in the US (0%)
• I thought you were living in San Francisco (100%)
• Is that near Luxembourg? (0%)
• Is that just up past Leeds? (0%)

Analysis:

I think this is the first time I've asked a question and the majority of the votes have answered correctly. And not only the majority, but everyone who voted got it right. Go pat yourself on the back. Maybe get a cup of tea and take it easy for five minutes - you deserve it.

I guess the answer given is the least worrying. I quite like the idea of someone asking if it's just up past Leeds, but I don't think anyone would make that mistake.

Vote #159

Question:

It's job questioning time again and it seems I have a potentially interesting proposition. Is it worth the risk to leave the comfort of a good job to work at a startup?

Results:

Yes - it's time for a change was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• No - stay where you are (0%)
• No - dot com has been and gone - startups are a thing of the past (0%)
• Yes - it's time for a change (80%)
• Yes - just throw caution to the wind (20%)

Analysis:

If it's that obvious, why haven't any of you done it huh! ... huh!

It's always easy to spend someone else's money. Always easy to see what someone else should be doing. At this point, we'll have to wait and see. I'm too much of a boring accountant type to make a rash move, but you never know.

Vote #158

Question:

Well, it looks like we're going to put our house on the market and the dilema we're facing is that we need to sell the pool table to turn that room into a family room. I'm pretty sure selling it is going to be a problem, but I thought I'd start here - does anyone want to buy a pool table?

Results:

No was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (20%)
• No (80%)

Analysis:

Given that the single vote for yes didn't send me an email requesting details and price, I can only assume that it was somebody trying to make me feel better. The problem and reality is that nobody actually wants the pool table which kind of means we're sort of stuck with it and we need to be unstuck with it. I think there's going to be more to come on this one over the next few weeks until we can figure something out.

Vote #157

Question:

Rather interestingly, our Internet connection is down, so it's somewhat unknown as to whether this email will even go out. I'd set that as this week's vote question, but you'd kind of know how to answer given that you'd either have received the email or not. So, we need to dig a little deeper and ask something different instead. I have a friend of mine, Luke, visiting starting Thursday. I'm also hosting our intern bar-b-que on Thursday. I've got Luke an invite to the party (he has a name badge printed up), but will he attend?

Results:

Yes - because he won't have anything better to do was the clear winner with 83% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - because he's a party animal (0%)
• Yes - because he won't have anything better to do (83%)
• No - he'll just hide somewhere in the house until it's over (17%)

Analysis:

Interesting - an overwhelming response to this in favor of Luke attending on the basis that there was nothing better to do. Sadly, you were wrong (all apart from Mr O I think). He decided to go for a walk instead as that option seemed more interesting than listening to a bunch of talk about work. I think he probably made the right decision, although the BBQ turned out quite well.

Vote #156

Question:

It's getting rather late and I have to be honest, I haven't given the vote question a lot of thought. Actually, I haven't given it any thought. The only thing that's going through my mind is a saying that was used on Doctor who. So what do you think it should be - something old, something new, something borrowed, .....?

Results:

Something blue and Something smells of poo tied with 40% of the votes each from the following:

• Something blue (40%)
• Something smells of poo (40%)
• It's Doctor Who (20%)

Analysis:

Interesting choice of answers. Obviously the correct answer per the rhyme and the Doctor Who episode is “something blue”. I can only think that those of you thinking something smells of poo need to check the bottom or your shoes.

Vote #155

Question:

We took the cats to the vet this weekend in order for them to get rabies injections. We need to get a passport for them if we were to travel. Now, the passport (or documentation that you need) requires the animal to be chipped. The chip number needs to be written on the document along with the date of the injections and boosters. When we got the document, Karen started to scrutinize it to make sure it was correct and made a couple of observations. Which of the observations below did Karen make about Spock's documentation?

Results:

All of the above was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• The chip number is missing (0%)
• The cat's date of birth is incorrect (0%)
• The sex is incorrect as it says he's a feline (33%)
• All of the above (67%)

Analysis:

Yes indeed, it was all of the above. No typos in the question, but I think you all figured that out as those that didn't vote for all of the above still went for the feline comment. An easy mistake to make, but funny none-the-less.

Vote #154

Question:

It has been pointed out to me that my website is starting to look a little dated, particularly with the clipart and the bright purple banner. This has resulted in me looking at other sites for some inspiration to determine if it should be updated - either completely or in part ... but what do you think - should I update my website?

Results:

Yes - it could do with some modernization was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - it needs a major overhaul (20%)
• Yes - it could do with some modernization (60%)
• No - leave it as it is (20%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Yep, I agree. I think we could do a bit of spring cleaning so to speak. Not sure when I'm going to have time. What I think I'll do is work on the home page first as that's probably the worst page of the lot. Create a template and then get some input into what it looks like.

Vote #153

Question:

I flew to San Diego this week and on the way out, I was quite pleased when one of the security folks asked me if he could help me carry my stuff off the conveyor belt (after it had gone through the x-ray machine) so that I could gather my things and put my shoes on whilst on a seat. Very nice and very helpful I thought. Then it happened to me on the way home. Now, the cynical side of me just doesn't believe in coincidences even less so than the fact that there is more than one genuinely helpful security guard. It occurred to me that there is a possibility that someone has done a study and found that having disabled people backing up the line is slowing the whole process down and that this “help” is merely just a side effect of efficiency. What do you think - why were the airport security staff helpful to me?

Results:

For efficiency to get the handicapped out of the line was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Because they are genuinly helpful (20%)
• Because the odd one is helpful and I happened to find them (20%)
• For efficiency to get the handicapped out of the line (60%)

Analysis:

The majority of answers here falling into the skeptical category that nobody does anything genuinely helpful without some underlying reason behind it. I'll keep watching this one, but it just seems too coincidental that I had two people do the same thing in the space of a day. They certainly asked me the question in the same way around helping me that makes me think that it's at least an edict that's come down from on top that they need to be nicer even if there isn't a hidden reason around efficiency.

Now, all this said, I should probably shut up as I did find it very helpful and I would welcome this service again - regardless of the motive. So I do at least want to make sure my thanks is known to either the coincidental two people I saw or for the decision to be more helpful in general. Regardless of what's causing it, it's a good thing and it would be great to see more of it.

Vote #152

Question:

I guess we've really got to have another football question given the old world cup that's going on. I could ask who you think's going to win the competition, but I don't really care about that much anymore given that it's not going to be England. I don't have any sour grapes over the whole incident what-so-ever. I'll simply ask you to complete the following sentence as part of this week's vote. The referee's .........?

Results:

as blind as a bat was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• a decent chap (0%)
• an honest individual (0%)
• an unbiased person (0%)
• a biased person (0%)
• as blind as a bat (60%)
• a wanker (40%)

Analysis:

Interesting - I was convinced that the majority would be voting for the old favorite of “the referee's a wanker” Looks like the majority of people our there are being a little more polite. There does appear to have been a few interesting decisions that were made during the competition - the Argentinian offside against Mexico was a pretty bad one. That said, I don't think either England or Mexico have a lot to complain about. England particularly were not the better side on the day and Germany deserved to win.

I do think the competition's been interesting in its unpredictability. France and Italy's early exit. I guess the latest is the fact that there was all this talk that there could be an all South American semi-final line up and there's only one team from that continent left - Uruguay and I'm not sure many people would have predicted that they would have gone further in the competition than Brazil or Argentina.

Hope the rest of it's interesting too.

Vote #151

Question:

Well, it's father's day weekend and I find myself at the end of the NASCAR race about to head out to go and see Iron Maiden. (Can you really have a better father's day?). Anyway, I drank far too much yesterday and I'm well on the way to repeating the same today. And now it's time to pick a vote question. Let's hope you're ready for this because I haven't got a clue what I'm going to ask yet. Still struggling - I've asked Karen and William and they can't come up with anything either. Trouble is I need to leave in about 2 minutes so I need to think of something fast. Oh well, how about ... OK so there's no original thought, but what does spring to mind is the fact that I've just forked out about $50 on a squirrel proof bird feeder (a real one this time, not one I've made myself). So, will we see a squirrel on my squirrel proof bird feeder this week?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (80%)
• No (20%)

Analysis:

Huh! Well you're all wrong - there have not been any squirrels on the new feeder. Probably because this is an actual bought feeder versus a Rag special. That said, as we head into the 4th of July weekend, I do have plans to upgrade my own feeder. I really should patent the design on these. The only challenge I've got is that the last one failed miserably on account of the fact that the squirrels actually chewed through the rope and had it away with the actual feeder, so I've got to hunt for it in the garden or buy a new one.

Vote #150

Question:

It's time to continue the economic theme and figure out how to solve the world's economic crisis. As everything starts to fail, we look at which of the vultures will be successful in the slim pickings. To answer this, we simply need to know, who will inherit Gary Coleman's estate?

Results:

What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis? was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• The Ex Wife (40%)
• The Estranged Parents (0%)
• The Head of His Coroporation (0%)
• What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis? (60%)

Analysis:

I'm actually quite impressed that several of you actually decided to vote sensibly on this. I have to be honest that I really don't care one way or the other, so any analysis beyond "what you talking about Willis?" would be pretty meaningless. Thankfully that's where the majority of votes ended up anyway.

Vote #149

Question:

I guess there's really only one question to ask this week that will be resolved by next Sunday and that's simply USA or England (2010 world cup soccer if you don't know what I'm talking about)?

Results:

England was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• USA (40%)
• England (60%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Mr O did indeed point out the fatal flaw in my vote options in that I didn't allow for a draw. I did actually realize this myself before I read the comment, but didn't bother to change it. I went with the fact that the question was really looking for who you wanted to win. Well, the votes went to England, but the result was a draw.

I have to say, Green should just walk out the dressing room and keep going. I'm sure there will be those who feel sorry for him or have sympathy, but this is international football. No room for mistakes and that was about as big a mistake as they come.

Vote #148

Question:

I'm going to venture into dangerous waters. It seems that governments either through country or state are top of all the political topics, but I just can't get my head round what will happen if a country goes bankrupt. So, do you think Greece will go bankrupt?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (60%)
• No (40%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Interesting on account of the fact that I normally stay away from anything meaningful, however, this has inspired a couple of comments. I dare say that they are already bankrupt and in denial - it appears that the majority of votes have been cast in the direction of bankruptcy. I still can't get my head around what that will mean. At least not no we have a global economy and everything is interlinked. The thing is that you used to be able to devalue your currency and go through a period of hyper inflation and then everything came out all right. I guess you go bankrupt now and then start training people to run call centers or IT outsourcing given that they're two functions that seem to be trying to find the lowest cost operating model.

I also rather like the idea of hosting the Eurovision song contest as being the last straw that sends you into bankruptcy. That one's probably lost on the folks State side but funny none the less.

Vote #147

Question:

Bit late posting the vote question this week, so it's going to be a simple one - do you consider walking exercise?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (80%)
• No (20%)

Analysis:

You're all lazy, the lot of you. Walking isn't exercise, it's a simple means of getting over short distances. Exercise needs to be anaerobic - you need to push yourself to the limit, break a sweat ... not just amble round and say done. C'mon, get out there and do something serious, not just go for a walk.

Actually this started as a discussion between Karen and myself as she things walking is exercise and I don't. Guess I'm in the minority in my views, but I still think I'm right.

Vote #146

Question:

With the economy the way it is, nobody's happy and everybody's looking round for something better. So, you get lucky. You find your dream job and you get an interview. During the interview, you get a glass of water and knock it over the interviewer. Do you think you'll still get the job?

Results:

Yes - you'll still get the job was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - you'll still get the job (67%)
• No - soaking the interviewer is not a good idea (33%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Well, as I mentioned in my note, this was not a hypothetical question, it did indeed relate to my brother who accidentally spilt water during an interview. The good news is that he did get the job so hearty congratulations to him. I'm going to apply the same tactic and take a water pistol with me to my next interview.

Vote #145

Question:

This week's question is centered on Europe. Obviously a lot has been going on in the wonderful world of politics, but we'll leave that sort of discussion to other websites. Instead, we're going to focus on the big question at hand concerning my dad. He's gone to Portugal on a golf trip, but there is talk that the returning flights will be delayed due to the volcanic ash. Do you think my dad will get back from Portugal as planned?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 57% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (57%)
• No (43%)

Analysis:

Well, there were a few skeptical people out there, but the optimists held true. You'll all be happy to know that my old man returned safe and sound according to plan.

Vote #144

Question:

Well, the big release this week is Iron Man 2. What is Iron Man 2 the sequel of?

Results:

Iron Man was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Iron Man (60%)
• Maximum Overdrive (40%)

Analysis:

Not much of a question really, so apologies for that. I'm guessing that most people aren't following the connection to maximum overdrive and, to be honest, probably don't care. The link is simple - maximum overdrive is a film where the entire sound track consists of songs by AC/DC. As far as I can tell, this is also true of Iron Man 2.

Vote #143

Question:

Had an interesting revelation whilst spending the evening with a soon to be sommelier friend of mine that has resulted in this week's question. Interestingly he's decided to follow a passion rather than getting on the corporate treadmill every morning, and for that, I'm jealous. You'll have to read the post voting comments to understand the link to this week's question as it is simply - do you like sushi?

Results:

no was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• yes (33%)
• no (67%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Interestingly Curt's comment is in line with the revelation that Karen likes sushi. For years, she has been telling me that she doesn't like it, yet all of a sudden, she thinks it's great - just a matter of trying the right thing. I do, however, have to push back on the basis that I've had sushi in Japan and not just any sushi, I was being entertained, so was taken to “a good place” and it still didn't grow on me. I ate it, but it's not something I've really come round to. Then again, I don't like Marmite either.

Vote #142

Question:

You hear people saying that it's black and white. Not when they're talking about zebras, but to mean that something is clearly one or the other. But which is it - black or white?

Results:

Black was the clear winner with 83% of the votes from the following selection:

• Black (83%)
• White (17%)

Analysis:

Interesting - I guess everything is not black and white. It appears to be more black than white.

Vote #141

Question:

Well, I've just come back from a party and there was beer there, so have no creative talent whatsoever. Not that I had any before. The only thing that's been going through my mind this afternoon is how bad the weather has been and wondering what it's going to be like next weekend. The last two weekends have been gray and rainy, so, what will the weather be like next weekend (Saturday)?

Results:

Sunny was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Overcast but no rain (0%)
• Drizzle (0%)
• Heavy Rain (33%)
• Thunder Storm (0%)
• Sunny (50%)
• Blisterningly Hot (0%)
• Snow (17%)

Analysis:

Well, the voting majority was right - it has indeed been a sunny afternoon. The bad news is that I've been busy all weekend and have been stuck in front of a computer rather then enjoying the weather outdoors.

Vote #140

Question:

As we say goodbye to Easter, we wish my Mum happy birthday this week .... does the Queen send you a letter this year or is it next? OK, jesting aside, as that is not this week's question. This week we move our attention to .... well, let's sidetrack again for a short moment - I was debating on asking the question that's on top of my mind - should I get a new phone or quit my job? The battery has all but given up in my phone and I can get a new phone through work, I just don't know if I'll be around long enough to get it ... even if they overnight it. But I jest again as that would be far too important a thing to burden the voters with. Instead, we turn to the stupid again. OK - now you're read all this, hopefully your brain is wandering which is good. To do this properly, you need to read this question really, really quickly and then make your answer. Ready ... Steady .... Go....

Marie's father has five daughters:

1. Chacha
2. Cheche
3. Chichi
4. Chocho
5. ?????

What is the name of the fifth daughter?

Results:

Something else was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Chacha (0%)
• Cheche (0%)
• Chichi (0%)
• Chocho (0%)
• Chuchu (33%)
• Sally (0%)
• Sharon (0%)
• Tracey (0%)
• Kevin (0%)
• Something else (67%)

Analysis:

A look a-there, here she comes
Here comes that girl again
Wanted to date her since I don't know when
But she don't notice me when I pass
She goes with all the guys from outa my class
But that can't stop me from a-thinkin' to myself
She's sure fine lookin' man, she's something else

Yep, the answer is “Something Else”. Most of you got there, but a few of you fell into the trap of following the vowels. Put simply, the question starts “Marie's father has five daughters ....” then goes on to list four of them. Well if four are listed, then Marie herself would be the fifth, so the absolute answer is “Marie”, but that wasn't presented as an option, so “Something Else” would be the correct answer.

Vote #139

Question:

After the excitement of last week's question, back to the more mundane. Will you be getting an egg for easter?

Results:

Yes and No tied with 50% of the votes each from the following:

• Yes (50%)
• No (50%)

Analysis:

How interesting - a dead heat to a completely meaningless question. Half of us were getting eggs and the other half not. I would suggest that those not getting eggs go buy one for youself so you can join in the party.

I did get an egg. I haven't eaten it yet, but will probably munch away on it whilst I watch TV.

Vote #138

Question:

OK - hypothetical scenario time. You're in a public toilet/restroom and you need a poo. You go into the cubicle, lock the door and start to take your trousers down. Next thing you hear is “plop”. You jump up and look down to see that your mobile phone has jumped out of you pocket and landed in the bowl. What do you do?

Results:

Spend 15 minutes trying to find something to poke it out then giving up and using hand anyway was the clear winner with 71% of the votes from the following selection:

• Just leave it and walk away (0%)
• Roll up your sleeves and fish it out (14%)
• Stand there staring at it not knowing what to do (14%)
• Cry for help (0%)
• Cry (0%)
• Spend 15 minutes trying to find something to poke it out then giving up and using hand anyway (71%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

As I said in my comments during voting, the correct answer really is to just leave it and walk away, but for some strange reason I think there's something in everyone that's telling you it's a piece of your property and you need to rescue it.

I'm rather impressed with the honest answer of stand there staring at it not knowing what to do. I do wonder how long you would stand there staring at it or would this just mean it's the end of your life. All motor activity would power down and you'd go into some catatonic state.

I guess the obvious thing to say is that I hope it doesn't happen to anyone. Being truthful, I've had a near miss a couple of times. Don't really know what I was doing to have the phone leap out of my pocket, but suffice it to say that when I smoked, I've had a couple of times when my cigarettes somehow developed the acrobatic skills of a jumping spider and leapt out of my shirt pocket into the bowl. The decision of what to do is a little more easy with cigarettes ..... OK, so maybe not - true story - I dropped a packet of cigarettes in the toilet at home back in the UK, fished them out and put them on top of the radiator to try and dry them out. At least it wasn't a public toilet.

Vote #137

Question:

I'm sitting here wondering what to ask as this week's vote question and I find myself thinking about the week ahead. I guess the only question is do you think this week is going to be good or not?

Results:

No - it's going to be bad was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - it's going to be good (17%)
• No - it's going to be bad (50%)
• So so - it's not going to be good or bad - just another week (33%)

Analysis:

Hmmm. I would say the week was “so-so”. Not because it was uneventful, but rather because there were some good things that happened and some bad things that happened - all balancing out to make it so-so. Interesting the majority of the votes were for it being a bad week. Hopefully that's not a reflection of what you're facing and that it turned out to be a good one.

Vote #136

Question:

One of the last things that Mr O did whilst he was here was to help me put up a new bird feeder (with the snappy title of “The Snack Shack”). What was the first animal to feed on the bird food in the snack shack?

Results:

Squirrel was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Chestnut-backed Chickadee (0%)
• House Finch (0%)
• Ivory-billed Woodpecker (0%)
• Northern Flicker (0%)
• Plain Titmouse (20%)
• Red-breasted Nuthatch (0%)
• Scrub Jay (0%)
• Stellar's Jay (0%)
• Squirrel (80%)

Analysis:

All yee of little faith! You know, I nearly didn't put “animal” in the question and have squirrel as an option as I thought too many people may read into that. If you did, sorry, it was indeed a bird. Unfortunately not a plain titmouse, it was in fact a scrub jay, closely followed by a Stellar's jay.

Mr O witnessed the anti squirrel device in action and I'll post the footage of that video sometime. That said, the squirrel's have managed to bypass the anti squirrel device and are now happily chowing down on my nuts. All the other birds listed have been seen on the feeder with the exception of the northern flicker that has been pictured in our garden and was on the fence by the feeder, but not actually on it. And, of course, the ivory-billed woodpecker hasn't been seen on the feeder either on account of the fact that it's believed to be extinct.

Interestingly enough, Mr O's Bald Knob prevented us from potentially seeing an ivory-billed woodpecker. There have been some potential sightings of this bird in relatively recent years (2000+) one of which was near Brinkley, Arkansas. Brinkley is on the I40, a road we travelled on a lot, however, we didn't go on this stretch as we went up north to pass through Bald Knob. Apparently the whole town has woodpecker statues all over it and the local inn has been renamed to excite and accommodate all the bird watchers that the town was hoping would come once the sighting was confirmed. Sadly it hasn't been confirmed and instead of an ivory billed woodpecker, we got a photo of house with a sofa on the front of it.

Talking of photos, there was a request to get a picture of Mr O with the bird feeder. As we strive to meet the requests of both readers of this site, see below for said pictures that you can double click to enlarge.

        

Vote #135

Question:

I have to say that I've been quite taken in by the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, however, I'm not 100% sure as to which country won. The US seem to look at all medals made equal and perform a simple medal count (not because this puts them at the top, this is how they look at the summer games too). As I understand it, the UK ranks the countries based on the number of gold medals only. I seem to remember that there was a points system that allotted 3 points for a gold medal, 2 points for a silver medal and 1 point for a bronze medal. This isn't a trick question. The medal count is as follows:

Results:

Points system (3 points for gold; 2 for silver; 1 for bronze) was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Total number of medals (0%)
• Total number of gold medals only (33%)
• Points system (3 points for gold; 2 for silver; 1 for bronze) (67%)
• Other (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

I have to say that I prefer the points system as I just can't see that treating all medals as equal makes sense given that the objective is to win and get gold. There were also a few votes for only counting the gold medals - I do wonder whether this is truly what those voters believe or if it's just a vote against the US as that would mean that Canada won .... which they did .... in overtime if I remember correctly. Anyway, points system it is.

Vote #134

Question:

I'm down near L.A. with Mr. O after watching the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway in Fontana. We're then off to Vegas to watch the races there next weekend. This week's vote question is who will win the Busch/Edwards sweepstake? If you're interested, here's the very complicated rules - we picked 2 drives who are approximately equal that we knew would be racing in all three events (Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards). These are randomly assigned for the first two races for a $5 bet. If one person is winning after the first two races (i.e. $10 up) then they loser gets to choose which driver they want for the last race which has a $10 stake. If it's tied going into the last race, the drivers will again be allocated randomly. Basically, the most anyone can win is $20 and that would take two random wins and your opponent making the wrong decision. Confused?.... just pick an answer.

Results:

Rag was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Rag (75%)
• Mr. O. (25%)
• Neither - tied and you're both losers (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Many thanks for the vote of confidence, however, the majority of voters seem to be missing the simple fact that I never have and never will win anything in Las Vegas. Unfortunately two of the three races that were covered in this wager were in Las Vegas which means that I lost 2 - 1 or by $10. Interestingly Edwards was the winning driver in all three races - something that neither Mr O or myself would have predicted going into this. I did think that Edwards would win the Fontana race, but I thought Busch would win both of his home track races.

I do actually think the correct answer to this vote is that we are both losers and I base this on the actual wagers we put at the sports book. I bet on Montoya to win, given that I follow him and Mr O picked his teammate Jamie McMurray based on the fact that he's had a good start to the season and there were good odds on him. “Teammate” is probably not a term being used by these two drivers at the minute given that they took each other out on lap 93 and left Mr O and myself with two worthless betting slips ..... at least he won the $10 from me.

Vote #133

Question:

Well, NASCAR is back in full swing. Interestingly we had the Daytona 520 this year as opposed to the Daytona 383 that we saw last year. At least there was a good finish to the race even though you had to wait a very long time for it .... I wish they'd fix the pot holes on the road as quickly as they did in the race. Then again, they didn't stay fixed for very long, so maybe best leave them alone. So, to this week's question and I think I'll completely ignore everything that's going on around me, avoiding comments about the fact that Toyota weren't going to win the race as they'd get recalled before they made it to the finish line, and I will follow on from last week's vote answer with what is your favorite inanimate kitchen appliance?

Results:

Kettle was the clear winner with 33% of the votes from the following selection:

• Blender (17%)
• Crock Pot (0%)
• Electric Knife (0%)
• Fridge (17%)
• Kettle (33%)
• Microwave (17%)
• Mixer (0%)
• Oven (17%)
• Toasted Sandwich Maker (0%)
• Toaster (0%)

Analysis:

I guess there's no real analysis that can be performed here. Seems everyone likes different things which probably means that all kitchen appliances are very useful and we like all of them.

OK - who's the late voter then? I wrote this analysis yesterday thinking that nobody would be posting a late vote and then someone goes off and slots one in for "kettle" making it the winner. Well, I guess you were making yourself a cup of tea instead of voting early. At least that gives us a winner as opposed to an equal spread of voting over five different answers.

Vote #132

Question:

This week's vote question was provided to my by William. During the week we were having a discussion about various super heroes and the merits of each. I can't remember how, but the topic of halloween came up, quite possibly as William mentioned that he dressed up as Scooby-Doo for halloween one year. Anyway, let's see if you can get the answer to the question I posed him which was - what do you want to go to halloween as this year?

Results:

Scooby-Doo (again) was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Batman (0%)
• Ben 10 (0%)
• Diego (0%)
• Dora (the explorer) (0%)
• A Fridge (20%)
• Iron Man (20%)
• Pablo from The Backyardigans (0%)
• Scooby-Doo (again) (60%)
• Spiderman (0%)

Analysis:

I have to say, all good vote answers. Iron Man is his current favorite cartoon and Scooby-Doo always remains a firm favorite. Interestingly though, the fridge gets the vote. It was really bazaar, sort of surreal, like talking to Karen thinking about it. We'd been talking about Iron Man and Batman - kind of the fact that Batman's really cool, but Iron Man can fly and all that good stuff and I asked him what he'd like to go to Halloween as this year and he sort of looked round and said “the fridge with handles on the front and everything!” Took me a little by surprise, hence why I asked it as a vote question. I'm somewhat guessing that the person that answered correctly figured out the reason I was asking the question. I did toy with the idea of adding toaster to the list just make it a guessing game between inanimate kitchen object, but decided against it in the end.

Vote #131

Question:

Let's get into the mood of being American - who do you think will win the super bowl (44)?

Results:

Leicester City was the clear winner with 57% of the votes from the following selection:

• Indianapolis Colts (0%)
• New Orleans Saints (43%)
• Leicester City (57%)

Analysis:

I guess that American football is no the most popular sport amongst the people who use this site. Interestingly enough, my brother decided that he was going to take Monday off work so he could watch the superbowl (he lives in the UK and my guess is that large quantities of beer would be involved). On the other hand, I live here and decided that playing video games was more interesting. So, the voters went with my beloved Leicester City, presumably based on the fact they none of us have a clue who the other two teams are.

Anyway, to the people that voted seriously, I hope you had something riding on it as you did indeed predict correctly. Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints.

Vote #130

Question:

Once again I find myself helpless and clueless on a Sunday night. With all the big questions that are out there, the best I can do is come up with the critical decision that William had to make this evening - key lime pie, strawberry cheesecake or orange crème?

Results:

strawberry cheesecake was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• key lime pie (40%)
• strawberry cheesecake (60%)
• orange crème (0%)
• no yogurt for me thank you (0%)

Analysis:

Ooooh! This was a close one. Strawberry Cheesecake wins it by the slimest of margins with Key Lime Pie coming in a close second. It does seem rather odd to me that the flavors of yogurt have become more complex. It used to just be simple things like strawberry, raspberry, black cherry or something like that. Somebody must have decided that strawberry on its own is not good enough. No, we need strawberry cheesecake! Oh well, it's all good stuff.

Vote #129

Question:

Well, it appears that my parents extended stay in the US is at an end. I believe there is only one unanswered question that we will try to remedy now. Was it the chili cheese dog?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (67%)
• No (0%)
• Do you want fries with that? (33%)

Analysis:

Well, I have no idea whether or not it was the chili cheese dog, but something upset my stomach this Friday. I've had a weekend of feeling sorry for myself - funny how it seems to be that you fall ill on a Friday night and then get better again for Monday morning. Wouldn't want to have to take any time off work now would we.

Interestingly I didn't have fries with the chili cheese dog, but I do generally think the two go together quite well.

Vote #128

Question:

When I left the UK to come to the States back in 2001, TV in the UK kept advertising the “Trek Gate debate” trying to determine whether or not viewers preferred Star Trek to Star Gate. I feel it is time that EBR weighed in on this serious issue, but from a different perspective. On our recent trip to Costa Rica, we happened to be on a couple of bumpy flights that made me think that the inertial dampers/dampeners had gone offline. For the uneducated, inertial dampers/dampeners are used to defy the laws of physics and allow people to travel on-board star-ships and experience rapid acceleration/deceleration without being ripped apart, but they also stop the spacecraft from bouncing around. My problem is the name of the device - Star Trek refers to them as inertial dampers and Stargate calls them inertial dampeners, but which is correct?

Results:

Inertial Dampers (Star Trek) was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Inertial Dampers (Star Trek) (80%)
• Inertial Dampeners (Stargate) (20%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Unfortunately I think this question is somewhat academic. I watched “the new” Star Trek last night and Spock definitely referred to this device as an inertial dampener (after Pike asks Sulu if he's left the parking brake on, Spock asks if he's disengaged the external inertial dampener). So, the term is not necessarily different between the shows.

That said, this would imply the that current term in use is inertial dampener rather than inertial damper (which I'm sure is used in at least the original Star Trek ... and by original I mean the Shatner one). This would go against the EBR voting public who seem to prefer the term inertial damper.

I'm sure I've read or heard somewhere that the inertial damper/dampener is the most implausible device that is featured on scifi shows. Even more so than a transporter. It has something to do with the fact that it breaches the laws of physics, but I'm not the expert in these matters.

Thanks to Mr. O for his comment and his pursuit of rising damp. I do agree that his interpretation is correct, but I'm not sure it's the only valid interpretation. It certainly appears to be a widely accepted term now in other contexts.

Vote #127

Question:

By the time this vote posts I should hopefully be on vacation in Costa Rica, so it seems only fitting to have some sort of vacation question. One of the things I'm hoping to see and take pictures of are the four types of monkey that are resident in the country. The obvious question is therefore whether or not you think I'll get a picture of a jaguar?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (50%)
• No (25%)
• Spider Monkey (25%)

Analysis:

An emphatic no unfortunately. To be honest, most people laughed when I suggested it and most of the guides have never seen a jaguar. I think it's pretty similar to the fact that we live in an area with a fair amount of mountain lions, but have never seen one. I'm sure if you really set out to find one and had someone who could tell you what to look out for, you'd maybe see one, but the chances of happening on one are pretty rare.

We did, however, see a spider monkey!

Vote #126

Question:

Believe it or not, there was some method to the madness of last week's vote. Last week we asked you about the fortunes of Mr O. This week, we ask you how the O's have been for you. The O's being the years 2000 to 2010 - which brings up an interesting side question of what will the next decade be known as? It's pretty easy for the twenties through nineties and I can go with the beginning of the century being the O's, but what about 2010 through 2019? Do we have three years of nothing, then the teenage years or is there another name? Anyway, all irrelevant dribble as the question for this week and the last question we will be posing for this decade is - how was this decade for you?

Results:

Memorable was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Unbelievably memorable (17%)
• Memorable (50%)
• Average (17%)
• Poor (0%)
• So bad I'm glad it's over (17%)

Analysis:

Looks like most of the folks out there have gone for memorable. This is what I went for. One thing is that, the older you get, the shorter the time feels so it's natural to think that the earlier days of your life were longer and that you did more. There were certainly a number of very memorable events for myself - the birth of William being the most important, but I also think the decision to move to the US in 2001 was also a fairly significant and memorable event in the life of the Rag. The safari in 2007 was probably the best holiday I've been on, but then again the couple of trips to Ireland with the infamous “cheese wedge incident” in the soap box derby.

I'm not going to bore everyone to death with a list of things that happened during the O's, but suffice it to say that I could keep going on for quite some time.

Here's to the 10's or Teenage or whatever the next decade will be called, hoping it provides even more memorable events.

Vote #125

Question:

I guess there's only one thing that's been on everyone's mind these last few weeks and that's wondering about the fortunes of Mr O. He was over here in the good old US of A to watch the pool and take in a bit of gambling in Vegas. He emailed me to say that he'd won a couple of bucks in the first poker match, but I didn't receive an update after that. So, how did Mr O get on in Vegas (considering poker and slots)?

Results:

Down - all round big time loser was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Up - won on both poker and slots (0%)
• Mixed - up on poker but down on slots (33%)
• Mixed - up on slots but down on poker (0%)
• Down - all round big time loser (67%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Well, the votes are in and so is the actual result. Mr O didn't win in Vegas and the voters think he's a big time loser. I believe he's protesting his fortunes as warranting the term “big time loser” given that he was only slightly down.

I guess we'll have to see in February whether he can atone for his losses. One thing's for sure and that's the fact that Mr O won't be the biggest loser in Vegas in February as I will be there too ..... and I don't even gamble :)

Vote #124

Question:

As we get closer to the holiday season, it's time to start thinking of our families and of family values. So, what other question is there at the minute? How many mistresses do you think Tiger Woods had?

Results:

14+ was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• 0 (0%)
• 1 (0%)
• 2 (0%)
• 3 (0%)
• 5 (0%)
• 7 (33%)
• 9 (0%)
• 10 (0%)
• 12 (17%)
• 14+ (50%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Good old Tiger. Seems he's been playing a few holes he shouldn't have. And judging by some of the pictures I've seen of these girls, one could say that he's also been caught in the rough. Anyway, enough of the golf puns .... let's be festive for a minute - I heard this on the radio a few days back - “what's the difference between Tiger and Santa Claus”? Santa Claus has only got three Ho's.

Vote #123

Question:

The festive season is upon us and it's time to be jolly and happy. So, have you put up your Christmas decorations?

Results:

Yes - all done and ready to go, No - have not got round to it yet and No - because I'm not putting any up tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Yes - all done and ready to go (33%)
• No - have not got round to it yet (33%)
• No - because I'm not putting any up (33%)

Analysis:

Very even voting then. A few people are done with their decorations, a few are still in the process of doing them and a few are not going to bother. Not really sure there's a lot of analysis to do here. If you're putting up the decorations, hope you get done soon and they look good.

Vote #122

Question:

The month of November seems to have been fun packed. There were several things I did this month that I've not done for a very long time. The question is, which of the following did I do that I haven't done in 10 years?

Results:

Go to the police station was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Have sex (0%)
• Wash my car (20%)
• Go to the police station (80%)
• Get drunk (0%)
• Eat at a posh restaurant (0%)
• Go to a concert (0%)
• Go on holiday (0%)

Analysis:

Interestingly most of these things are things that I haven't done for a very long time. The correct answer is the one that the voters selected - going to the police station. Probably a pretty easy one to guess particularly as it was linked to last week's question. I had to go to the police station to have an officer sign off on my parking ticket to attest to the fact that I've now got a front license plate on my car. Now, the missed opportunity is the fact that I didn't take a photo of my car being inspected and the car next to it ... yes, I mean the one in the parking spot adjacent to the one I was in, not having a front license plate on it. I did actually point this out to the law enforcement officials and they did find it amusing, but didn't seem too concerned about it. It really does seem that the front license plate enforcement only applies to certain major cities in California. Anyway, too late to worry about it as I now have mine firmly affixed to the front of my car.

As far as the other things - sex, well, you can never get enough of this, so that always seems like it's 10 years ago. Washing my car is an interesting one as technically, this has been long over 10 years if you consider the washing bit as being something that I have to perform myself. I did take my car to the car wash the other week which is something I haven't done for about 5 years rather than 10 years. Getting drunk really doesn't factor into it as this is fairly regular. Eating at a posh restaurant is something that I've been doing recently - not by design, but rather as a matter of course. I'm sort of looking at restaurants that have Michelin stars, which doesn't necessarily by definition mean they are posh, but they generally are. I have to say that I must be either getting old or more refined (or both) as I've found these experiences rather pleasant whereas once upon a time I'd have said you need to be a ponce to enjoy it. I've recently been to a few concerts - Alice Cooper and Kiss being the latest, but I tend to go fairly frequently. I could always do with more holidays - that work thing tends to get in the way of this, but it does help pay for it. That said, we do go on holiday sort of fairly regularly and just took a mini trip to Monterey over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Vote #121

Question:

Well, I have a really burning question this week. I got a ticket this weekend for not having a front license plate on my car. There actually isn't anywhere to mount the plate, which would be a problem - I have a $100 ticket (reduced to $10 if I fix the issue). The car comes with a kit that can be installed by drilling into the front bumper (so you spend how much on a car for the design, then screw in a hideous $10 plastic thing that looks like a letter box on the front of the car).

Now, before any of you overseas think that I'm being some kind of rebel, there are only certain States that require a front license plate (California being one of them). Also, most cars don't have them once you get outside the major cities. The problem is that the Meter Maids will ticket you in the City and I park in the City quite often. What should I do?

Results:

Buy an electronic retractable one was the clear winner with 57% of the votes from the following selection:

• Drill the bumper and fit the standard one (14%)
• Buy an electronic retractable one (57%)
• Don't fit one and gable on not being ticketed again (0%)
• Buy an expensive bracket for a lower mounted one (29%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Well, most of you went with the retractable option. This was indeed my first choice, probably because it's gadgety. The problem is that further research revealed that you need to permanently display the license plate - the retractable option appears to be a favorite amongst the folks that show their cars. Makes sense - you can have the plate out on the road and then hide it away when you show your car.

The next vote was for the expensive permanent fix. Karen liked this one too, however, I read some article that questioned putting something in front of the air intake on the front of the car as it would play with the functional design of the car. I actually doubt this would have an impact unless you're driving the car flat out for a very long period of time.

So, this just left the standard $10 piece of plastic. After posting this vote I got back in touch with the dealer and they said they'd fit the standard one. I think they're supposed to anyway - something to do with it being law. Anyway, I figured that this made sense if it's the one that the manufacturer supplies with the car. I have to say, I'm not disappointed with my choice. Don't get me wrong, it looks a whole lot better without it, but if you have to put something on, this is about as good as it gets. I'll have to remember to take a photo sometime.

Vote #120

Question:

The whole world's a game or a challenge - at least it is to my son. Got to be quicker, bigger, better etc. So, this weekend he was really proud with himself and he came to me to lay claim to ...

Results:

Having done the biggest poo in the world was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Being the speediest person in the world (0%)
• Having eaten more food than anyone in the world (0%)
• Being the oldest person in the world (0%)
• Having run further than anyone in the world (0%)
• Being the biggest person in the world (0%)
• Completing the hardest jigsaw puzzle in the world (25%)
• Being the strongest person in the world (0%)
• Having done the biggest poo in the world (75%)

Analysis:

Yep, you guessed it, he did indeed proudly come out of the toilet proclaiming that he'd just done the biggest poo in the world. He then proceeded to detail the experience to me providing lots of relevant information about his feat. I'll spare you the details - you can probably figure out what he was going on about.

Interestingly (or not really), this vote was set a couple of weeks ago - if you're wondering why there was a gap in the question being presented, it was because of a small glitch on my part - I reset some of the settings on the server and the batch process that creates the weekly mail messages didn't run. Obviously it's fixed now. I didn't notice and I didn't get any complaints, so I'm figuring that most of you didn't notice either.

Vote #119

Question:

So it's Halloween (and you feel like dancing and you feel like shinning and you feel like letting loose ...) and there's really only one question to ask - trick or treat?

Results:

Trick and Treat tied with 50% of the votes each from the following:

• Trick (50%)
• Treat (50%)

Analysis:

Well, what do you know? We have a tie - half of us want to be tricked and half want the treat. For those of you wanting a trick, put your face near your computer .... no, closer .... that's it, right to the screen .... now take a big deep breath .... ha, ha, ha - I just farted. For those of you wanting a treat, try to imagine my fart coming through the computer screen fluffing up the hair on those who wanted to be tricked.

Vote #118

Question:

So, the clocks went back this weekend for some of you, but not all of us. Those of you in the UK have put the clocks back whilst over the pond, we're going to wait a week. Well, everyone in the US except for Karen is going to wait a week, anyway. For some strage reason, she argued that the clocks went back this weekend, changed hers and ended up being late for an appointment on Sunday morning. This week's question is therefore - what is your favorite color of the rainbow?

Results:

Blue was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Red (13%)
• Orange (13%)
• Yellow (0%)
• Green (0%)
• Blue (50%)
• Indigo (13%)
• Violet (13%)

Analysis:

Blue army, blue army, blue army .... That's what I like to see, you loyal Leicester City fans! I'm assuming that's why the majority of you voted for blue out there as there isn't really any other valid reason. Not one that I can think of anyway.

Vote #117

Question:

Another year and again the joys of watching screaming kids running round in circles. Billy boy's 4th birthday. So, of all the 100's of presents that he got, which one did he say he liked best (on the first time of asking which was before he had played with any of them)?

Results:

Scooby-Doo action figures with Mystery Machine was the clear winner with 33% of the votes from the following selection:

• Animal puzzle (0%)
• Batman Pyjamas (0%)
• Big cement truck (17%)
• Dinosaur Book (17%)
• Cuddly Pablo (The Backyardigans) (0%)
• Hot-Wheels cars with jump ramp (0%)
• Pirate jigsaw puzzle (17%)
• Scooby-Doo action figures with Mystery Machine (33%)
• Transformers (17%)

Analysis:

Both the vote question and reality are aligned, which I think is the first time ever. Yes, indeedy, he picked the Scooby-Doo action figures and the Mystery Machine as his favorite toy (pre getting them out of the box). Good old Hog and the powers of eBay.

Now, that said, he has changed his mind several hundred times since getting the toys out of the box. The transformers, particularly this snake truck thing seem to be getting a lot of actual play. But then again, so does everything.

I think the only thing that's confusing me is why he didn't get any socks. I'm not sure if it's just me, but he seems to have received lots of toys that are fun to play with and none of those where you watch his face turn to immediate disappointment. I was really waiting for great aunt Agatha to have sent something knitted and to watch William exuberantly open the wrapper, take a quizzical look and then throw it down and move on to the next present. But it didn't happen. Maybe at Christmas.

Vote #116

Question:

William's birthday is coming up on October 19th which is a Monday. We have his birthday party scheduled for Sunday and are now facing the dilemma as to which day we should let him open his presents. On the one hand, Sunday would be a lot more convenient and he's going to get presents from his friends, but on the other hand his birthday isn't until Monday. So, when should we let William open his presents?

Results:

Monday morning before we go to work was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Sunday morning before the party (25%)
• Sunday night after the party (25%)
• Monday morning before we go to work (50%)
• Monday after work (0%)
• Never bar humbug (0%)

Analysis:

Well, the majority of the votes went to the traditionalists. Reality, however, went to the practical. Given how early we need to get up on Monday morning, that's out of the question and I'm working in a location that's not exactly adjacent to home so am not expecting to be back anytime early. That left Sunday (today - as of writing this analysis) and we went with Sunday after the party.

Vote #115

Question:

Back to the normal realm of boring questions, I have decided to take the leap and get myself a new car. I'm currently jumping between the Dodge Challenger R/T and the Chevy Camaro SS. Which of these environmentally friendly cars do you think I should get?

Results:

Chevy Camaro SS was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Dodge Challenger R/T (25%)
• Chevy Camaro SS (50%)
• Something Else (25%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

It seems the vote went to Chevy, however, the trips out to the car dealerships this weekend have the Dodge ahead. We will have to see how this progresses over the next week or so, but I'm pretty sure that we're going to end up with a Challenger. And probably the SRT8.

Vote #114

Question:

So, here's the hypothetical situation - you're in home, your other half's gone out, you've cooked your dinner and you go to get a knife and fork out of the drawer only to find that there's nothing there, you check the dishwasher and everything's dirty (she's forgotten to turn it on ..... again ..... hypothetically). What do you do?

Results:

Fashion a means of eating using a fish slice and serving spoon was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Wash up a dirty knife and fork (0%)
• Wash up a dirty knife and fork then put the dishwasher on to clean the rest (33%)
• Throw your dinner away and go eat at a restaurant (0%)
• Fashion a means of eating using a fish slice and serving spoon (67%)

Analysis:

If there is such a thing as a correct answer, the voting public out there got this one right. Yes, fashioning a means of eating ones Chef Boyardee (tinned pasta stuff like ravioli) on toast with a fish slice and serving spoon is indeed the right way to go. I find that if you let the tomato source from your tinned speciality soak into the toast it makes it easier to cut with the makeshift utensils.

To those who said they'd do the washing up, please find yourself invited to my next party ... at least invited to the clean up of the party anyway.

Vote #113

Question:

So, I've got back to the US and have been processing the photos I took back in the UK. One of the things I noticed that birds in the UK are given generic names, such as swallow. It appears that most birds were first named in the UK so they didn't anticipate there being more than one of any species - the swallow in fact being the barn swallow. This becomes even more complicated with the cormorant as the cormorant and shag are sort of the same bird. Known in the UK as just “cormorant” or “shag”. The cormorant is known to the rest of the world as the great cormorant. Well, the rest of the world that is with the exception of Australia that prefer a black shag .... well they would, wouldn't they. Turns out there are quite a few different types of shag, some of note include the common shag (presumably found on most estates), the king and imperial shag (presumably found in more upscale locations) and there's even a spotted shag. If you can't spot it, however, there is always the heard shag (yes, I think we've all stayed in that hotel room). All of which leads me to the rather obvious question of the week - do you fancy a shag?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (75%)
• No (25%)

Analysis:

I was wondering whether or not I'd get comments on the lack of specifics around this question, most likely being whether or not the question was generic or specific to including me - or put another way, depends on who's doing the asking.

Anyway, that didn't seem to bother the majority of you - presumably not that worried who you interact with at this level. Or maybe you were all hoping that it was me doing the asking.

Boo to the neigh sayers.

Vote #112

Question:

The question I wanted to ask this week was why none of the trolleys at Heathrow go in a straight line - only problem is that I don't know any options. The one I had on the way back was so bad I had to change it half way to the terminal from the car drop off point. So, rather than asking that all important conundrum, I'll go with something a little more straight forward - I asked William what he liked most about his holiday - what do you think he said?

Results:

Riding Grandpa's lawn mower was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Grandma's cooking (0%)
• Riding Grandpa's lawn mower (50%)
• Going to the park with Grandma (0%)
• Playing hide and seek with Grandpa (0%)
• Riding the train (17%)
• Going for walks with Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy (0%)
• Running round the garden (0%)
• Watching new cartoons (0%)
• Doing puzzles with Grandma (17%)
• Playing trains with Grandpa (17%)

Analysis:

The actual answer provided by William was that he enjoyed playing hide and seek with grandpa the most. I have to admit, I would have gone for the lawn mower if I was guessing which appears to be what most people went for.

I do, however, have to add that the same question was presented to William just before writing this analysis (a week later). The answer appears to have changed. His current memory of what he enjoyed the most is playing trains with grandpa.

I don't actually think there's a wrong answer as he seemed to enjoy pretty much everything on his trip.

Vote #111

Question:

Now that I'm back in the UK and have had a couple of days to acclimatize, we've been out and about and there's only one question burning in my mind. Earlier today I saw a green woodpecker in my parents garden, but only got to take a photo of it as it flew away. What I want to know is whether or not I'm going to get a photo of the green woodpecker?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (75%)
• No (0%)
• Don't Car (25%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

In a word ... no!

I didn't even get to see the thing again let alone photograph it. I wasn't driving over there, so I guess the “don't car” typo was actually correct too (as spotted and noted in the comment).

Vote #110

Question:

Just about ready to head off home. Only one question to determine before my arrival - what should I drink for the duration of my stay?

Results:

Beer and Guinness tied with 40% of the votes each from the following:

• Beer (40%)
• Gin and Tonic (20%)
• Guinness (40%)
• Lager (0%)
• Vodka (0%)
• Whisky (0%)
• Wine (0%)

Analysis:

Interesting split between beer and Guinness. So far it's been beer, but I suppose I could sneak in a couple of pints of Guinness over the next week.

Vote #109

Question:

Well, I've got my little vacation coming up where Billy boy and I are returning to the UK for 10 days on September 2nd. Now, the big question that everyone goes through the last week before a vacation - will I get everything done at work this week that I need to before going on vacation or will I be scrambling up to the last minute next week?

Results:

No - just find someone to delegate the remaining crap to was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - you super efficient person you (0%)
• No - it's part of the law of going on vacation (33%)
• No - but you shouldn't worry about it (0%)
• No - just find someone to delegate the remaining crap to (67%)

Analysis:

Interesting. I would initially say that things are going pretty well and I don't really have anything stacked up as I prepare to leave on Tuesday. So, I'd be leaning towards the thought that yes would have been the correct answer. Somehow, reflecting on the last week, I think that you voters out there may be correct. I've probably delegated all the crap without even thinking about it. Oh well, matters not - couple more days to go then off to the airport.

Vote #108

Question:

Well, we've gone ahead and booked ourselves onto a whale watching tour next Saturday. I've never done one of these and fully intend to spend several hours being sick off the back of the boat, but it'll be cool if we get to see some wildlife. Now, every tour operator has caveats that there may not be anything when you get out there and we all have to accept that, but you can't help being optimistic. Therefore, this week's question is the one that I'm sure everyone is wondering as they embark on their trip - will we see a puffin on our whale watching tour?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (67%)
• No (0%)
• Shouldn't you be interested in the whales? (33%)

Analysis:

Good news and bad news. Good news is yes, we got to see the tufted puffin. We also saw gray whales and an interesting show put on by a humpback whale. It was kind enough to jump into the air. Now for the bad news - I can't prove any of this because my camera decided to pack up. So, you're just going to have to take my word for it.

If you're interested in where we went, you can view a map of the trip.

Vote #107

Question:

And now it's time to delve into your minds and find an answer to a most important question. This week we're going with who's your favorite monkey (or monkey type animal)?

Results:

Clyde (Every Which Way bu Loose) was the clear winner with 43% of the votes from the following selection:

• Albert (first monkey in space) (0%)
• Bubbles (Michael Jackson) (0%)
• Cheeta (Tarzan) (29%)
• Clyde (Every Which Way bu Loose) (43%)
• Curious George (0%)
• Donkey Kong (29%)
• King Kong (0%)

Analysis:

“Right turn Clyde!”

An excellent choice, but I have to admit I wasn't expecting this result. Those two films were great Clint Eastwood movies.

I went for Donkey Kong myself - lost so many hours on that game. It's a true classic.

Vote #106

Question:

Time to leave the realms of bottom speak and move back to sport with a testing question for my new found friends. Who will win the ashes?

Results:

England was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Australia (20%)
• England (60%)
• United States (20%)

Analysis:

As much as I'd like to think that the vote for the US was a misguided American thinking their country would win everything, I'm pretty sure that the voter in this instance knows that the Ashes are between England and Australian.

Interestingly enough, it looks like it's going to be close. I'm reliably informed that the series is tied one game a piece with two being drawn. It's all down to the last test. If it results in a draw then England retains the Ashes by virtue of the fact that we are the current holders. I guess we'll see.

Vote #105

Question:

Lets follow the theme that we had last week about what's nagging me as I sit hear. Rather than focus on the underwear issue, we're going to probe a little deeper. And in doing so, it begs the obvious question - what happened to preparations A through G?

Results:

They left a burning ring of fire was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Don't be silly (0%)
• The products never made the shelves (0%)
• They left a burning ring of fire (75%)
• Just hope you don't meet the test subjects for the fated preparation D (25%)

Analysis:

Indeed they did leave that burning ring of fire. Until the good old preparation H came along, there was no soothing remedy. And yes, we all need to forget the fate of the preparation D test subjects. I suppose it got rid of the hemorrhoids ... just got rid of a whole lot more (if you follow the pun).

Vote #104

Question:

As I sit here wondering what question to pose this week, there is but one thing nagging at the back of my mind. Why are my underpants up my bottom?

Results:

Because you're fat and have a fat arse and Because you're wearing Karen's nickers tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Because you're sitting funny (0%)
• That's what happens as you get old (0%)
• Because you're fat and have a fat arse (33%)
• Because underpants are badly designed these days (17%)
• Because you're wearing Karen's nickers (33%)
• You shouldn't be wearing a thong in the first place (17%)

Analysis:

So it's like that then is it? No sympathy, just go straight for the jugular. Spare no prisoners. Given that my vote was for badly designed underwear, seems like everyone else either thinks I have a weight problem or am wearing Karen's underwear.

Well, let me tell you that Karen's underwear is too loose thank you very much. And I know that ... err ... because ... you know ... I looked at the size ... yeah, I looked at the size. I haven't tried them on or anything honest.

And as for the vote that I'm wearing a thong. Well rather you have that image in your mind than me is all I can say. I think all my thongs are at the launderette.

Vote #103

Question:

Depending on whether or not you've read the last of the headbangers blog, you'll already know the subject of this week's question. I went to the Mayhem Festival over the weekend on my own, but I didn't reach out to the EBR readers to see whether there's anyone else who would have come. So, forgetting any logistical issues about what country you live in, if you were available would you have come to watch Slayer with me at the Mayhem Festival?

Results:

No was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (0%)
• No (100%)

Analysis:

No!!! What do you mean no?

You're all wrong. The lot of you. The correct answer is “yes”. How could you not want to go and see Slayer ... one thing ... and then how could you not want to go with me?

Well, I really don't know what else to say. You just don't know what your missing.

Vote #102

Question:

Wow - what an amazing weekend at Daytona for the Coke Zero 400. Shame we weren't there for that race, but there you go. Well, with that clearly in the front of mind, it's obviously time for a completely unrelated question. Before I ask it, I've grouped the answers into categories, but feel free to add a comment if you want to be more specific. What's your favorite raptor?

Results:

Owl was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Buzzard (20%)
• Eagle (0%)
• Falcon (0%)
• Harrier (0%)
• Hawk (20%)
• Kite (0%)
• Owl (40%)
• Osprey (0%)
• Vulture (20%)

Analysis:

Very interesting - I felt that eagle would win this for sure, but it didn't even muster up a single vote. Guess there's more feeling for the owl. I went with vulture as I think they're really pretty. More the traditional vultures with the stooped over necks than the vultures you see in America like the turkey vulture.

Anyway, guess I have to close by saying that this vote was a hoot!

Vote #101

Question:

So, we'll go from an obscure NASCAR question to one that can't have escaped your notice - Michael Jackson has gone to join Elvis. As you reflect on Michael Jackson's life, what are you thoughts?

Results:

Pervert that lost the plot was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Great performer that will be missed (0%)
• Pervert that lost the plot (40%)
• Sympathy for someone pressured by the media at an early age (20%)
• Haven't thought about it (0%)
• Can't make my mind up - great entertainer but the wheels fell off (20%)
• I'm forever blowing bubbles (20%)

Analysis:

Guess there's a lot of mixed feelings out there. I actually saw a similar vote on a more popular site after I'd set this question. They'd worded the options differently, but the intent was essentially the same. I think there's probably many loyal fans that ignore what he became at the end. And then there's probably many other people who can't look past the things he did at the end. Seems the vote here was that the things he did at the end overrule anything he did earlier on in his career, so that's how we'll call it - vote goes to “pervert”

Guess there's a message there - if you get famous, don't forget that you still shouldn't molest kids. Or hang them off balconies upside down. Or try to change your skin color. Or .... the list goes on. Guess the result of the vote makes sense.

Vote #100

Question:

Sorry to any non-NASCAR fans who are reading this. I've just spent the weekend at Infineon Raceway and the only thing on my mind is motor racing. I said, at the beginning of the season, that Montoya needed to win this race to make the Chase. He didn't, he came sixth, but he's currently in the Chase. The only thing I want to know - will Montoya make the 2009 NASCAR cup chase?

Results:

What's the Chase? was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (33%)
• No (17%)
• What's the Chase? (50%)

Analysis:

Guess we probably shouldn't have too many NASCAR questions as it appears that the majority of people out there don't follow the sport. I don't know whether or not Montoya will make the chase, but I think it's going to be very interesting and very close.

For those of you that don't know what the chase is, it's the last 10 races of the season that determine the winner of the cup series. You score points at each race throughout the season and the top 12 drivers qualify for the chase. I'd explain more than this, but it's one of those things where you either know more or don't care, so I'll stop now.

Time to go and watch the race at Loudon, New Hampshire.

Vote #99

Question:

I've been told I need a new diff on my car which can run up to $2,500 with parts and labor. Now, I don't think my car's worth that much money and, as far as I can tell, the only impact of the diff going is an annoying whining noise. So what should I do?

Results:

Turn your stereo up - you won't hear the problem was the clear winner with 100% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - buy a new diff (0%)
• See if you can get a reconditioned one (0%)
• Scrap the car and buy a new one (0%)
• Turn your stereo up - you won't hear the problem (100%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

It seems we have a unanimous decision - turn the stereo up! i have to say that this makes the most sense given the current situation. Seems the best thing to do is to keep the car until, literally, the wheels come off. That said, there have been a couple of recent anomalies. On the way back home from work the other day, I pressed the button to wind the window down and the door trim fell off. Whilst driving this weekend, Karen also noted that the driver seat is stuck in one position - I don't think this is a big deal as it's stuck in my position, but I could see how others may find this a bit annoying.

Vote #98

Question:

Lets turn to something we all enjoy - what's your favorite flavor of ice-cream?

Results:

Chocolate was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Cherry (0%)
• Chocolate (40%)
• Coffee (0%)
• Cookies & Cream (0%)
• Neopolitan (0%)
• Mint Choc Chip (20%)
• Strawberry (20%)
• Toffee (0%)
• Vanilla (20%)

Analysis:

I'm your ice cream man, stop me when I'm passin' by
Oh my, my, I'm your ice cream man, stop me when I'm passin' by
See now all my flavors are guaranteed to satisfy

I guess not every flavor is guaranteed to satisfy, but is seems as if chocolate is a firm favorite. Lets face it, chocolate's a firm favorite regardless of whether we're talking about ice-cream or sweet things in general.

I thought vanilla may have topped the charts here as I assume it's the most popular flavor, but what do I know?

Vote #97

Question:

Now, I know you've been around for a while and you thing that this vote is trivial, but we have the most ultimate of all questions this week. This vote will unlock the mysteries of the universe. In the game of rock, paper, scissors - what do you pick?

Results:

Scissors was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Rock (33%)
• Paper (17%)
• Scissors (50%)

Analysis:

Interesting that the most favorite pick is scissors and the least favorite is paper. Guess that's why there's no solution to this game. Still, it's a good enough way to make a decision.

Vote #96

Question:

This week's question is going back to that vacation theme. We've pretty much decided that we're going to Costa Rica for our holidays. Initially we were going to go in September, but found out that the rainy season runs from May through mid November. It seems like our best options are to go over Thanksgiving at the end of November or over Christmas in December. But what do you think - when should we go on holiday?

Results:

November and December tied with 50% of the votes each from the following:

• September (0%)
• November (50%)
• December (50%)
• Don't Go (0%)

Analysis:

Consistent approval that we should at least go on vacation. Seems like it's 50/50 between November and December. I think this is a difficult one to call as you're going to need to stay in touch. My guess at this point is November, but things could change between now and then.

Vote #95

Question:

There's no political agenda to this question, just something I was wondering - what are people using out there - PC or Mac?

Results:

PC was the clear winner with 71% of the votes from the following selection:

• PC (71%)
• Mac (14%)
• I'm hard wired into the net (0%)
• Other (14%)

Analysis:

As I said, no political agenda, just interested. It doesn't surprise me that most people are using PCs. I'm kind of stuck with the old PC - more by habit than anything else - just grown up with them I guess. I know that everyone who has a Mac says they're great - in fact, I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about a Mac. Maybe I'll try one someday.

I'm somewhat interested in what the “other” is. Probably a PDA of some description as I suppose I could have answered with that as well. Feel free to write a comment if it's different.

Vote #94

Question:

As I head out to Houston I seem to have a Van Halen song (cover I think) running round my head. I'm sure it has noting to do with Houston, but it does present this week's question - where did all the good times go?

Results:

Down the back of the sofa was the clear winner with 38% of the votes from the following selection:

• They're still here (25%)
• Somewhere other than Houston (25%)
• In Houston (0%)
• Down the back of the sofa (38%)
• They were never here (0%)
• So far away (13%)

Analysis:

The sofa gets the blame for everything. It's like it's some kind of living being that steals things - normally just the odd coin or two, but when it's feeling especially brave it goes for something like the remote control. That said, as popular as the “back of the sofa” vote was, it's not likely to be the place to find good times .... unless you have a more exciting sofa that I do anyway.

Houston wasn't too bad. All said and done, there are worse places in the world to be, but I do agree that this is probably not the place that I would go looking for good times. To those who voted for “they're still here” - good on you - denial beats everything. Obviously you haven't opened the window and noticed the big bad recession that's going on out there. Or maybe you enjoy it when times are bad. I have to say, though, that we're fortunate at the minute as we've not been hit too hard by the recession yet and we are still enjoying ourselves, so I guess we're still in the good times.

And finally to the last voting that went to “so far away” - not sure whether this is your sentiment or if you're the only other person out there that knows the lyrics to the song which does state that the good times went so far away.

I think I'll close by going back to the fact that the good times are still here. Regardless of what's happening, there's still a lot of good going on and plenty to be happy about.

Vote #93

Question:

Given the poor weather this weekend, I've spent a lot of time inside. I've been messing around with the Google Maps API (application programming interface) in order to enable me to create my own maps from trips I've been on. The latest photo page shows the fruits of my labor (which is actually a series of ripping off the work that others have done before me). Anyway, all this means that I don't have a vote question and when I asked Karen for inspiration, she asked me how many potatoes I wanted with dinner. Given that I already know the answer to this, I will ask the question - how many potatoes do I want with my dinner next Sunday?

Results:

3 and 4 tied with 40% of the votes each from the following:

• 0 (0%)
• 1 (0%)
• 2 (0%)
• 3 (40%)
• 4 (40%)
• 5 (20%)
• 6 (0%)
• 7 (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

If I'd have thought about this, I'd have realized that it was a pretty pointless question. I'm just about to head out on a trip to Houston and I don't get in until late. Dinner will consist of a sandwich in my room around midnight. Therefore 0 would have been the correct answer.

Vote #92

Question:

Desperately searching round for a vote question, it dawned on me that it would be great if I could travel back in time, then I'd have longer to think about what question to ask. And there it is for this week, do you believe in time travel?

Results:

Hold on - I'll just go and ask my future self was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (0%)
• No (0%)
• Yes - that's how we got some inventions (40%)
• No - otherwise we'd know about it (0%)
• Hold on - I'll just go and ask my future self (60%)

Analysis:

Interesting, there seems to be some kind of consensus around the possibility of time travel, whether it be due to certain inventions or the desire to have a conversation with one's future self. Starting with the former, there certainly are a large number of inventions that seem to be major breakthroughs and it's interesting to think about how the inventor came up with the idea. I suppose time travel could be one explanation for this. Aliens is also another safe bet, but having been to Roswell, I'm rather loosing faith in the possibility of aliens. Last, I guess we could just put it down to the fact that there have been some really smart people throughout the ages - which, in all probability, is the most reasonable answer.

Next to the ability to talk to one's future self. I have to say, that's kind of worrying really - they lock you away for talking to imaginary people you know. And I have to point out that it's really unlikely that time travel would be shared with anyone who reads this website. My guess is that if time travel existed, it would be entrusted to a select few people rather than being available to the masses. I don't think you or I would be at the front of the queue.

One thing I do know is that I find myself on Sunday night again with the prospect of another week of work. Time travel would be rather handy right now as I could just keep looping through the weekend. On the other hand, it's been raining all weekend so I might want to pick a different point in time.

Vote #91

Question:

In the blistering heat of the East Bay I finally got round to putting up the hummingbird feeder that I won when I went to the Mount Diablo Audubon Society meeting. After sweating heavily to get the thing setup where her indoors wanted it, I said to Karen “I'm surprised it's OK to put one of these things up in direct sunlight given that the feed is water based.” Ooops. Guess we should have read the instructions first. So this week's question - will my hummingbird feeder last in direct sunlight or will I have to move it next weekend?

Results:

No - it will need to be moved was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - it will be fine where it is (33%)
• No - it will need to be moved (50%)
• N/A - someone will creep round and steal it (17%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Seems a last minute vote came in to tip the balance in favor of “no - it will have to be moved.” Trouble is that this vote doesn't take into consideration my innate laziness and the fact that I've got better things to do at the weekend than re-position a hummingbird feeder. So, it's going to stay where it is for the time being. That isn't to say this it won't get moved in the end, but it's certainly going to stay where it is for a few weeks and, as I noted in my comment, it doesn't seem to be bothering the hummingbirds. The good thing about hummingbirds is the fact that they can't read, so they weren't able to read the instructions either, so they don't know they're not supposed to use the feeder when it's in direct sunlight.

I guess one other positive note is the fact that it hasn't been stolen yet either.

Vote #90

Question:

Well, lets fly away from birds and look at when you're going to fly away. What month are you planning to take your summer holiday?

Results:

September was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• May (17%)
• June (0%)
• July (0%)
• August (0%)
• September (67%)
• N/A - not taking a summer holiday (17%)

Analysis:

I think the results of this vote are absolutely hilarious. Technically speaking, the summer months are June, July and August - none of which got any votes at all. So nobody is taking a summer vacation if you're to apply the strict sense of the word summer. The majority of votes going to September which is a beautiful month to go away - don't you just love autumn? Or fall if you have an inclination to call it that.

Other than the person not having a summer holiday (which I suspect may be Mr O), I wish you all the best and hope you have a great time.

Vote #89

Question:

Given that all this birding is going to my head, it seems like I'll stick with that theme for another week at least. This week's question to ponder - where did barn owls sleep/nest before man built barns?

Results:

Who gives a hoot? was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Field (0%)
• Tree (20%)
• Cave (20%)
• N/A - barn owls didn't exist before barns (20%)
• Who gives a hoot? (40%)

Analysis:

What a bunch of haethens! Fancy not caring about such an important issue as this - how do you sleep at night? So, the majority of the votes went to “not giving a hoot” and the rest were mixed between trees, caves and it not being applicable as barn owls didn't exist prior to barns. I rather like this last option as it makes me thing some weird evolution took place after the invention of the barn. Still, not sure why I'm bothering with this analysis as it's clear that nobody cares given the result of the vote.

Vote #88

Question:

Given my new affiliation to the Bill Oddie posse and signing up to get mailings of bird sightings. What day of this week will I get notified of the most interesting bird?

Results:

Monday and Thursday tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Monday (33%)
• Tuesday (0%)
• Wednesday (17%)
• Thursday (33%)
• Friday (17%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Monday yielded a number of emails around the migration of painted ladies (butterflies) and the fact that golden crowned sparrow were hanging around later than normal. The latter causing some discussion that it was not in fact late. Whilst interesting, not relevant to this week's vote. There was a good email that reported sightings of a glaucus gull, rufus hummingbird, multiple swallows, Wilson's warbler and great tailed grackles. Nothing amazing, but later emails reported a burrowing owl, varied thrush, cackling and white fronted geese, and finally, a pair of wood duck. There was also another note on the great horned owl (known to his friends as GHO), but this also included a chilean flamingo amongst details of 60 species (and yes, there were sightings of bushtit).

Tuesday only saw three emails detailing sightings. One of a pied billed grebe, one of bullock's oriole, Bewick's wren, red shouldered hawk and various wood peckers. The last of pygmy nuthatch and orange crowned warbler

Have you gone to sleep yet?

Wednesday produced an interesting debate about the use of acronyms to describe birds. A topic that I think will be discussed in more detail as time passes. But for now, the merits of the sightings were Eurasian wigeon, Wilson's snipe, great horned owl, northern harrier, red-tailed hawk, marsh wrens along with Allen's hummingbird and Bullock's oriole. Another message highlighted a number of birds again, the highlight being a western kingbird.

Still with me?

Thursday was actually the day of the monthly meeting of the Audubon society which I attended. There was a fascinating presentation by the person who had seeming spent his life studying birds. Seriously - it was really interesting and I feel that I haven't done him justice as I'm struggling to remember a quarter of the facts he shared with us. The other bonus was the fact that I won a hummingbird feeder in the raffle - cool. All this is great, but what did it produce by way of informative birding messages? Well, not a lot really. Only one email that talked of Bewick's wren, blue-gray gnatcatchers, orange crowned warbler and larkspurs.

Only one more day to go. Work with me now ....

Friday and the end of the work week. Potentially another day for good insights as people make an early break for freedom after a week being chained to a desk. I know by now that you're desperate for me to give you the details, so here they are - the first message bore details of a cooper's hawk, western bluebirds, titmice and chickadees before describing another location that yielded varied thrush and a golden eagle plus several woodpeckers. Another reported a pacific-sloped flycatcher, spotted towhee and western bluebird.

So, what does all this mean? Well, it means that Monday won. I wrote a comment when I posted my vote saying that I'd picked Monday and, given that this is, to a certain extent subjective as it's down to me to decide what's the most interesting, I'm not going to give an answer that means I picked wrong am I? If you're looking for a more scientific answer, Monday produced the most emails and the most information about the widest variety of birds. It also featured a pair of wood duck (that I've yet to see) that I think are very interesting. That, plus the great horned owl that we went to see at the weekend, pretty much ties it down to Monday winning.

Vote #87

Question:

So, the economy's still down, the new government is trying different things, the old governments in other countries are trying different things ..... really makes you wonder - who's your favorite cartoon dog?

Results:

Scooby-doo and Snoopy tied with 38% of the votes each from the following:

• Brian Griffin (25%)
• Deputy Dawg (0%)
• Huckleberry Hound (0%)
• Odie (Garfield) (0%)
• Pluto (0%)
• Ren (Ren & Stimpy) (0%)
• Santa's Little Helper (0%)
• Scooby-doo (38%)
• Snoopy (38%)

Analysis:

OK - we seem to have hit the right mark with this one. I guess this tells me that I'm at the right level for the audience of this site. That said, no clear winner. I think there's a definite break between new and old. My guess is that there's a few people our there who don't know who Brian Griffin is (Karen being one of them). He's the dog out of Family Guy - just in case you didn't search to find out who he is. That said, as popular a vote Brian was, he didn't manage to win out in this contest. Joint honors go to Scooby-Doo and Snoopy. I have to say, I'm tempted to post another vote in favor of Scooby-Doo on behalf of William as he's a huge Scooby fan. I'm not going to change the votes though as I think I can live with this joint win and I think both of them are very worthy of this coveted EBR vote.

Vote #86

Question:

The road trip now seems like 100 years ago, but we keep pressing on through life - to be sure, to be sure. And on that note, we find ourselves facing St Patrick's Day. So, how do you intend to celebrate St Patrick's Day?

Results:

Not going to celebrate it was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Wear something green (0%)
• Drink Guiness (20%)
• Drink something green (0%)
• Some other way (20%)
• Not going to celebrate it (60%)

Analysis:

Well I guess that vote question fell a bit flat. Not much of a bunch of party goers are we? At least not for Paddy's day anyway. Now!

Vote #85

Question:

I guess it's the end of the line for road trip related vote questions as we're back to the daily grind. As I face the failing economy I do go back to some of the blogs written on the road trip for inspiration with this week's vote question. I think a crucial factor in turning this economy around is to determine who is your favorite A-Team character?

Results:

Howling Mad Murdock was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• John (Hannibal) Smith (20%)
• Templeton (Faceman) Peck (20%)
• Howling Mad Murdock (40%)
• B.A. Baracus (20%)

Analysis:

Pretty even spread and back to the normal lack of voting. It looks like Howling Mad Murdock has won the vote. Not quite sure what that says - maybe there's a desire to be a little mad, or maybe it's just that his character added a lot of color to the program.

Anyway, I'm off to go through the back catalog of A-Team episodes and watch them to pretend I'm living in the 80's. After that will be to watch the new movie when it comes out and to try and not be disappointed with it. The trouble is I think I'm now one of the old gits that's just going to keep going on about what bits aren't as good as they were in the original TV series.

Vote #84

Question:

As the road trip draws to a close, Mr O asked the only question I can think of asking - should we do another road trip?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 88% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (88%)
• No (13%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Yah boo to the neigh sayer! The eyes have it.

Looks like a pretty good turn out to the voting booths this week and a very positive response in favor of another road trip. My guess is that it probably won't be until next year and we need to think carefully about where it will be. We obviously need to tie it in with some sporting event or other. My initial thought was another racing trip, but I suppose there's always South Africa next year that might have a certain appeal.

I'm pretty sure something will happen. You just need a little patience whilst we decide what it will be.

Vote #83

Question:

Well, we're slowly chugging along and it appears to be taking its toll on the car. The breaks are starting to grind and the check engine light has come on. Do you think the car will make it to Vegas?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 71% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (71%)
• No (29%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

It appears that Mr O underestimated the strength of the Dodge Grand Caravan. We had more lights start to illuminate our dashboard, but it didn't stop running. I guess technically there's another day for it to break down, but I leave today so it can't leave me stranded.

The most recent light was one marked ESP / BAS. This, as best we can tell is traction control and breaking assist. I find it very hard to believe that our beast was fitted with traction control, so I can only assume that this was warning us of more break failures.

Vote #82

Question:

So, by the time this posts, we should be well on our way. Well, I say that, but there is a chance that it may rain so we could be delayed by a day as the race may be postponed. Anyway, the hope is that we'll be on the road and then what? Well, I guess the thing we're all going to be worried about is who is going to be the first person to break wind in the car on the road trip?

Results:

Hog was the clear winner with 57% of the votes from the following selection:

• Mr O (0%)
• Rag (29%)
• Hog (57%)
• Howling Mad Dad (14%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

It was indeed the Hog who was the first to “let er rip” whilst we pootled down the road. I have to say, in the grand scheme of things, there really hasn't been a lot of wind in the car.

Vote #81

Question:

Less than a week to go before I'll be in Florida ready to embark on the road trip, so it's obviously time to turn our minds to something completely different. I was out for a walk on Saturday and was watching a duck ducking under the water and it made me wonder whether a duck is called a duck because it ducks or if the word duck is called duck after a duck. So that's this week's question - is a duck called a duck because it ducks or is the word duck called duck after a duck?

Results:

I think it’s about time you went on your trip was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• The animal was named after the verb (22%)
• The verb was named after the animal (0%)
• WTF (11%)
• I think it’s about time you went on your trip (67%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Well, the good news is that it seems unanimous that I need to go on my trip and I definitely agree with that sentiment. Also, following the good news is the fact that I'm here in Florida starting my trip with the Fab 4, so at least I'm going to get to go on that trip. The bad news is that a whole five minutes of research didn't actually find anything so I have no pearls of wisdom to offer. A duck appears to be called a duck because that's what a duck is called - nothing more, nothing less.

Vote #80

Question:

Less than two weeks to go before we embark on this trip. Good news is that the underpant situation has been resolved. I don't seem to have any burning issues at this point in time, just the regular thought process on what I should take which ultimately ends in the thought that I'm going to forget something. So, do you think I'll forget something that I need to take on this trip?

Results:

Yes - you’re bound to forget something was the clear winner with 67% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - you’re bound to forget something (67%)
• No - you’re just too organized (33%)

Analysis:

Huh! Ye of little faith. I think the saddest thing is that it appears that both my parents have submitted a vote of no confidence on this issue. Well, we'll wait and see - there are a number of things that I need to remember, but I'm pretty sure I will. I guess the most important thing to remember are the tickets otherwise we're going to struggle to get into the races. Next to that it would be my wallet with credit cards and disabled parking badge. Other than that, everything could be replaced or bought along the way. I suppose phone, computer and camera would be hard to replace, but technically they could be if needed.

Guess we'll wait and see. Not like it's going to be long before I find out.

Vote #79

Question:

T minus three weeks and counting (to the Trans America Road Trip). The strategy has been signed off and endorsed by all members of the committee. The high level plan has been completed - outline of a map, initial hotel booking, Vegas hotel booking, car hire and flights. It's now down to the details, finalizing the nitty gritty to make sure you don't forget anything or leave anything to chance which brings me to my burning question for this week - should I take both pairs of underpants?

Results:

Yes - you should be prepared was the clear winner with 50% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - you should be prepared (50%)
• No - just take one and you would then have a clean pair when your return (10%)
• No - you’re on holiday - go commando style (40%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Very, very interesting indeed. I've been following this vote during the week and until the end, going commando was the clear winner. There seems to have been a few last minute votes, however, that have turned the tide in favor of me taking both pairs.

Looking on the bright side, the only outcome I didn't want was to take one pair. The reason being that I'd need to then set another question to determine whether the pair I took would be my lucky ones or the Sunday best.

So I guess I'd better pack all my undies. Shame as I was rather looking forward to hanging loose whilst on holiday.

Vote #78

Question:

Road trip round 2. Last week we looked at interesting. This week, lets be pessimistic. It's highly likely that something is going to go wrong at some point during the trip. I'm hoping it's not going to be serious and my guess is that it may be car related. So, which of the following minor car related problems do you think would have the worst effect on our road trip?

Results:

Flat tire and Doors won’t lock tied with 33% of the votes each from the following:

• Windows won’t wind down (17%)
• Windscreen wipers stop working (0%)
• Light bulb blows (0%)
• Flat tire (33%)
• Doors won’t lock (33%)
• Stone chip in windscreen (17%)
• Radio breaks (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Seems like I was the only one who spotted the fact that inoperable windows may result in a lethal build up of methane gas inside the car. Probably means I'm over thinking this somewhere. So, there was a tie for “flat tire” and “doors won't lock.” I have to agree that both of these would present a problem to us on the journey. Following my own thought processes though, I don't see that a flat tire would really be that much of a problem. The car will have a spare tire and I know that I've changed my fair share of tires in my life - maybe not at the speed of a Formula 1 pit crew, but I can get a wheel off and change. I'm pretty sure that my other three travelling buddies have also had a lot of experience changing tires - particularly when one of the other travellers is my brother that seems to change the wheels on his car every week depending on what alloy wheel bargains he can find on eBay in any one given week.

So that leaves the doors not locking. I do actually think that this would be the biggest headache of all. Given that we are going to have all of our stuff in the car at any given time when we're on the road, it's going to make it difficult to go sight seeing or do anything if we can't lock the vehicle.

Therefore, for the sake of splitting a decision, I'm going to add a casting vote to doors not locking as potentially having the worst effect on the trip of those items mentioned.

Vote #77

Question:

Well, it's confirmed - the road trip is on. Seems there will be four of us with my dad and brother joining Mr O and myself. So that means I'm probably going to be setting a number of road trip related questions particularly as we get close to having something of a route planned. To start with, a broad question - which State do you think we will have the most interesting encounter in?

Results:

New Mexico was the clear winner with 40% of the votes from the following selection:

• Alabama (20%)
• Arkansas (20%)
• Arizona (0%)
• Colorado (0%)
• Florida (0%)
• Georgia (0%)
• New Mexico (40%)
• Oaklahoma (0%)
• Tennesse (20%)
• Texas (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Not really much to write on the analysis here as I guess we're just going to have to wait and see. Seems like New Mexico has won it on the voting side and, perhaps, we'll see some aliens in Roswell - you never know.

That said, you hear all these stories about aliens “probing” humans when they abduct them. What worries me is that the use of the word “probing” is generally used for meaning they're going to stick things up your arse. Why? Why would an alien bother to travel across the galaxy just to poke something up someone's arse? I suppose that could be another vote question. Then again, given all the examinations I had during the last year, I could probably ask whether doctors are really aliens.

Anyway, enough of aliens and probing. Lets hope we see lots of things during the road trip. (And that our arses remain un-probed).

Vote #76

Question:

Last of the Christmas / New Year themed questions. If you made a new year's resolution, do you thing you'll be able to achieve it?

Results:

N/A - didn’t make a resolution was the clear winner with 80% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - I’m strong willed (20%)
• No - I’m feeble (0%)
• N/A - didn’t make a resolution (80%)

Analysis:

Guess we're all getting too old to care anymore. At least nobody made a resolution that they didn't think they would be able to keep - that would just be silly really wouldn't it? Seems the majority of us couldn't be bothered - there's always next year eh?

Vote #75

Question:

Two weeks ago I asked what you wanted for Christmas. I guess that's a start, but the real test is whether or not you got what you wanted for Christmas. So, did you get what you wanted for Christmas?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 75% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (75%)
• No (25%)

Analysis:

Pretty boring question met by a pretty lack luster response. Well, for those of you that voted, seems the majority got what they wanted for Christmas. Sorry to the person who didn't get what you wanted - my tip for next year is to set your sights really low, then you'll probably get something at least in line with what you want.

Vote #74

Question:

As we near the end of the year I find myself facing a dilema. Due to unfortunate circumstances for Mr O, the opportunity has presented itself for him to come to the US for a little longer this year. This means we have the potential to go to the Daytona 500 and then drive across country to get to the race in Las Vegas. The problem is taking the time of work so close to having taken the time off for Christmas, especially with all the shenanigans that are going on in the economy. Anyway, that leads to the very simple question to help me answer the dilemma - should I go to the Daytona 500 and do a road trip cross country with Mr O?

Results:

Yes was the clear winner with 83% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes (83%)
• No (17%)

Analysis:

Looks like the majority of votes have fallen on the yes answer and that is definitely my thought. The only problem is that yesterday saw another visit to the Emergency Room. I'll save you all the details, but it just seems I can't take a holiday without a major defect surfacing. This one was a huge infection that resulted in needing IV fluids and anti-biotics. I'm back at home now wrestling with the fever. Oh well, if I get if out of the way now then I should be OK for the trip.

Vote #73

Question:

Ho! Ho! Ho! He said excitedly and then realized he was married. Time to go back to the more trivial of vote questions and join in the festive season (particularly given the dismal failure of last week's brain teaser). What do you want most this Christmas?

Results:

To have fun was the clear winner with 57% of the votes from the following selection:

• A big/material present (0%)
• Money (0%)
• Peace on Earth (0%)
• Love/Happiness (29%)
• An end to the credit crisis (0%)
• To have fun (57%)
• Larger body part(s) (0%)
• Nothing - I don’t celebrate Christmas (14%)

Analysis:

Good news - nobody voted for the intrinsic options like the big/material present or money. And I know that Karen voted, so that means she won't be disappointed when neither of these things turn up. I'm rather hoping that she voted for nothing, then she really won't be disappointed at all, but somehow I think that honor belongs to Mr O.

I'm all for having fun - I think that's what it's all about. To those who want love/happiness - probably your best bet is to get a dog.

Vote #72

Question:

OK, so here's a brain teaser that I just came across on another site somewhere. (Just to carry on the theme of tesing one's intelligence). I ran a map program to get distances from England and it came up with the following:

America 1,800 miles
New Zealand 2,400 miles
Japan 1,200 miles
Brazil 1,400 miles

How far away does it say Argentina is?

Results:

1600 miles, 1800 miles, 1900 miles and 2000 miles tied with 25% of the votes each from the following:

• 1000 miles (0%)
• 1200 miles (0%)
• 1400 miles (0%)
• 1500 miles (0%)
• 1600 miles (25%)
• 1700 miles (0%)
• 1800 miles (25%)
• 1900 miles (25%)
• 2000 miles (25%)
• 2200 miles (0%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

Oh dear! Yet again we have failed miserably. The only thing I will say this time is that I did actually get this one right when I looked at it. That either means I'm smarter than you or just weirder than you - I'll leave you to decide that one.

First thing you need to do is forget geography. This is not a geography question. The question even states that it's a brain teaser, however I suspect that one or more of you looked at a map and tried to figure some kind of distance logic into this.

So, if it's not a geographic question, what is it? A very simple algebra question really - the answer is 2200 miles and it's calculated by assigning a value of 200 miles to a consonant and 300 miles to a vowel, hence Argentina = (5 * 200) + (4 * 300) = 2200.

From my end, I noticed that all the distances were divisible by 200. That's not relevant to the answer, but it gave me the means to figuring out how to get the answer as it got me thinking that there was some kind of assignment going on (rather than being related to geography). Next I noticed that Brazil was 200 miles more than Japan and I noticed that there was one letter difference between these two countries, so first I wondered if it was as simple as 1 letter = 200 miles. That didn't quite work, but there was obviously some sort of pattern around this and then you can see that they both have two vowels, so I thought perhaps it's the consonants that are worth 200 and working backwards you figure out that the vowels are worth 300 and then you check against the other countries to confirm your answer.

(Regardless of whether you're listening to The Proclaimers when you're trying to figure it out).

Vote #71

Question:

Karen thought that we needed to have another problem type question and I can't be bothered to think today as I'm at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, so here's the question that Karen came up with - what's the next number in the sequence 2, 7, 17, 37 ...?

Results:

77 was the clear winner with 90% of the votes from the following selection:

• 7 (0%)
• 17 (0%)
• 27 (0%)
• 37 (0%)
• 47 (0%)
• 57 (0%)
• 67 (10%)
• 77 (90%)
• 87 (0%)
• 97 (0%)

Analysis:

Well, it looks like a much better hit rate this time. Yes, the correct answer is 77 - at least that's what Karen told me and I'm assuming she knew the answer to her own problem. If anyone's wondering, the way I did it was to look at the gap between the numbers and notice that it was doubling, so the first gap is 5, the second 10 and the third 20 which presumably means the next gap would be 40. Add 40 to the last number in the sequence (37) and you get to the answer of 77.

There may be other ways to get there (including random guessing). If so, feel free to comment.

Vote #70

Question:

So, I've bought a lot of stuff online recently to furnish the new house, particularly electronic goodies like TVs and computers. Anyway, before buying these items I've gone and done my research by looking at the reviews that people have made before deciding on a product. Then looking at reviews of the various online stores in order to avoid any of the “bait and switch” merchants that are out there now. I've found that it's becoming increasingly more difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to reviews as it seems that many people seem to get disgruntled with a make and then systematically go round all the online stores and give all of that vendor's products a bad review. So, my question is simply - have you ever submitted an online review of a product?

Results:

No was the clear winner with 78% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - good reviews only (11%)
• Yes - bad reviews only (0%)
• Yes - both good and bad reviews (11%)
• No (78%)

Analysis:

What a bunch of unhelpful people we are. Can't say I blame you though as I'm amongst the many that don't provide reviews, but still expect to see one when I'm looking for a product. Time's a big factor, I just don't seem to get round to things like this. Generally, I buy a product and then use it. By the time I decide whether I think it's great or not, I'm not normally thinking about posting a review. Anyway, big thanks to those who do post the reviews as I think we all use them.

Vote #69

Question:

Given the complete failure on last week's question (make sure you check out the correct answer if you voted as everyone got it wrong) I thought I'd make this one much simpler. How do you pronounce/say tomato?

Results:

Tom-ar-to was the clear winner with 89% of the votes from the following selection:

• Tom-ar-to (89%)
• Tom-ay-to (11%)

Analysis:

I think there is a resounding UK audience to this site which is why tom-ar-to has been voted the favorite by far. The sad thing is that I have to say tom-ay-to now as nobody understands me if I say tom-ar-to. Unfortunately it's something I get to say a lot as I don't like tomatoes in their raw form so I don't like them on my sandwiches. Maybe it's because I say “no tom-ar-toes please” instead of “hold the tom-ay-toes.”

Vote #68

Question:

OK, so you've had a week of not having to think - just walk to the ballot box and vote for the next president. Well, here's a real question that's designed to make you think - lets see how smart you are. A couple have two children. One is a boy. What is the probability that the other is a boy?

Results:

50% was the clear winner with 83% of the votes from the following selection:

• 0% (0%)
• 25% (0%)
• 33% (17%)
• 50% (83%)
• 67% (0%)
• 75% (0%)
• 100% (0%)

Analysis:

Oh Dear!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!!

The thing that surprises me is that I actually posted the answer to the question, but everyone else thought they new better. Well, you didn't - you all got it wrong!

The most likely thing that you did wrong is misread the question and interpreted it as if the question read - a couple has a child which is a boy. If they had another child, what is the probability that it would be a boy? In which case the answer would be 50% as we are dealing with mutually exclusive events and this would equate to the same as coin tosses where each toss is an independent event that has a 50% probability of being heads or tails.

Now, I'm giving you a bit of a chance now to admit that you misread the question. Go back, read it again and please don't start going “so, the answer's still 50%” because it isn't.

To the answer. To answer the question, we need to understand the permutations that a couple could have with two children. We know from the coin toss analysis that we've just done that the probability of each child being a boy or girl is 50% for each. So, there are four possible scenarios that are equally likely for a couple that has two children and these are:

1 - first boy, second boy (BB)
2 - first boy, second girl (BG)
3 - first girl, second boy (GB)
4 - first girl, second girl (GG)

Now, the astute among you will already notice that there is a much higher probability of having one of each child rather than two the same - 50% probability that one is a boy and one is a girl versus only 25% probability that both are boys or both are girls. This is true and what you need to understand to see the answer. The reason being that we place no stipulation as to whether the first or the second has to be of a particular sex. To end up with BB or GG, we are being specific about each child thus reducing the probability of the outcome.

To the answer. The question presented asked what the probability that the other child be a boy if one of them is already a boy. So, if we look at the options above, we know that only options 1, 2 and 3 are viable as we know that one of the children is a boy, so option 4 (GG) is ruled out. There are therefore three equally likely possibilities for the couple. Only one of these possibilities, option 1 (BB) would mean the other child is a boy. Therefore there is only a one out of three (or 33%) probability that the other child is a boy.

The correct answer would have been 33%. If you don't believe me, simply do a search on “probability boy girl” and you'll find several sites (including Wikipedia - so it must be true) with the answer. Those that are more technical will give you the Bayesian formula to calculate this, but I didn't think it really helped the answer unless you have a basis of understanding in Bayesian analysis.

Vote #67

Question:

Last record related vote question (for a while anyway). So, as I was working my way through the collection I got to wondering - if I bought a record in the UK that was an import from the US and have now had it shipped to me in the US - what status does the record have?

Results:

Repatriate was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:

• Import (20%)
• Export (0%)
• Nothing - just a regular record now (0%)
• Repatriate (60%)
• Who Cares? (20%)

Analysis:

Probably not the most pressing question this last week. One assumes that the US election probably consumed most people's thoughts as far as voting was concerned. So congratulations go to President Elect Obama and to “repatriate” as being the two most popular votes. One won the US election and one won the more important EastBayRag vote question. It does kind of make sense that something made in the US that was shipped to the UK and now returned to the US would be considered repatriated. I'm also in favor of the “who cares” vote as it's probably not a question pondered by many. And probably won't be again.

Vote #66

Question:

As I've been sorting through my old vinyl records, I've been looking at the years that certain pieces of work were produced. It seems as if many of my favorite songs were all produced in the same year, so this week I ask - which year in the '80s was your favorite for music?

Results:

1982 was the clear winner with 33% of the votes from the following selection:

• 1980 (0%)
• 1981 (0%)
• 1982 (33%)
• 1983 (17%)
• 1984 (17%)
• 1985 (17%)
• 1986 (0%)
• 1987 (17%)
• 1988 (0%)
• 1989 (0%)

Analysis:

A fairly even spread in the voting, but 1982 wins the battle. 1982 is such a significant year for me as it's the year I went to my first concert - Iron Maiden at De Montfort Hall in Leicester. And, coincidentally, the year that Iron Maiden released “The Number of the Beast” album which is still one of my favorites. With Punk, it's also the year that The Anti-Nowhere League released their first album “We Are The League.” Many, many more great offerings were produced in this year (too many for me to mention here - because I can't be bothered). So, hats off to 1982.

Vote #65

Question:

I've been patiently working my way through my vinyl records and I noticed that Windows Media Player tells you the total time by artist that you have to play (i.e. the total length of music by each artist). So that got me to wondering which artist I have the most playing time by. Now, a couple of things come into play here - groups that I've followed, how much material that group has put out and the average length of that group's songs. (One thing I've noted is that typically the punk songs are less than 3 minutes whereas some of the heavy groups can put out a 12 minuter. I'm quite a long way from completing this, but I have put a statistics link on the RagBox page if you want to take a look and start to do some analysis. So - which artist do I have the most material for?

Results:

Iron Maiden was the clear winner with 57% of the votes from the following selection:

• AC/DC (14%)
• Black Sabbath (29%)
• G.B.H. (0%)
• Iron Maiden (57%)
• Metallica (0%)
• Motorhead (0%)
• Ozzy Osbourne (0%)
• W.A.S.P. (0%)

Analysis:

I think I could have made this a trick question as the “band” that is currently winning the longest play time in my collection is “various artists.” That said, I haven't finished digitizing all my albums and there is a possibility that it will be overtaken by Iron Maiden. So, to those of you that voted for Iron Maiden, I would say that you are correct (I'll update if anything changes).

Few things to note - I have a lot more albums by AC/DC, but their albums are much shorter than Iron Maidens, sticking to a 40/45 minute format, whereas Maiden upped the length of their productions to over an hour with several breaking the hour and ten minute mark.

Good call also on Black Sabbath. We'll see their numbers jump up during the next few days as I start adding their vinyl, but there just isn't enough to take Maiden. One thing I do note is that if I add Ozzy to Black Sabbath then this would probably be the winner. (Although that would mean that I would need to add the Bruce Dickinson to Iron Maiden).

Another interesting fact is that I had more G.B.H. songs when I wrote the question last week. Trouble is, that as a punk band, they are masters of the two minute song which, again doesn't give them enough length to take the lead.

One dark horse is going to be Kiss as I didn't realize how many of their vinyl records I have, but there still isn't enough to take the title.

As it stands Iron Maiden has it and I'm pretty sure it won't change anytime soon. If it does, I'll let you know.

Vote #64

Question:

What a week it's been. Wednesday saw the arrival of my in-laws and my old record collection (shipped from the UK). It's also William's birthday next week so plenty of scope for over planning (my contribution of which has been to make sure there's no problem getting lids off beer bottles and to make sure the TV is in working order by watching all the weekend's motor racing). Anyway, in an attempt to make sure we're ready, my father-in-law tried to have a go with the bar-b-que. I wasn't witness to it, but apparently it didn't work as intended and flames started coming out of the front of it. It's a gas bar-b-que that's built into a unit by the swimming pool (which coincidentally has broken as well - notice the theme here). I have my suspicions as to what's wrong with the bar-b, but I'm not 100% sure which is why I want to find out your thoughts - do I need to buy a new Bar-B-Que?

Results:

No - wait until next spring (we’re at the end of bar-b-que season) was the clear winner with 43% of the votes from the following selection:

• Yes - it’s broken and needs replacing (14%)
• No - it’s just a blocked gas pipe that needs cleaning (29%)
• No - because you can’t afford it when you find out your tax bill this week (14%)
• No - wait until next spring (we’re at the end of bar-b-que season) (43%)

Analysis:

Well, the good news is that the tax bill wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Still bad, but then again, is there ever a good one? Anyway, I don't have the answer to the Bar-B-Que as I've been tied up with work and converting my vinyl records to digital so I'm not really sure. That said, I am leaning towards the vote answer of not worrying about it for about a year given that we're really at the end of the Bar-B-Que season. In fact, I think that's what I'll do - wait a bit before I worry about it as I've got plenty of things to be worrying about at the minute.

Vote #63

Question:

I'm currently in the process of wrestling with my tax return. It appears that the preparers have made a bit of a meal of it and are currently suggesting that I single handedly fund the $700bn rescue package for the banks. Much as I would like to help out, I'm worried that if I give in to this request there will be untold numbers of groups concocting sob stories to get at the other billions of dollars that make up my mattress. (As obviously I'm not going to keep it in a bank at the minute). So, anyway, that got me to thinking that in this time of need that I must stay strong and draw on the force. And it is with that where I get this week's question - who is your favorite Star Wars character?

Results:

Yoda was the clear winner with 38% of the votes from the following selection:

• Luke Skywalker (0%)
• Han Solo (13%)
• Darth Vadar (13%)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi (0%)
• Leia Organa Solo (a.k.a. Princess Leia) (13%)
• Jar Jar Binks (0%)
• Yoda (38%)
• Chewbacca (13%)
• C-3PO (0%)
• R2-D2 (13%)

Pre-Result Discussion

Analysis:

I suspected that Yoda might come in the firm favorite and indeed he has. Not really sure why I include Jar Jar Binks or C-3PO in the list as neither of these really seem like lovable characters (unless you're a very small child I suppose). Whereas good old Yoda has it all including being a Jedi master. Remember “Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.”

There was a fair spread of other votes, which also doesn't surprise me. I think one of the things that makes Star Wars so successful is that there are many great characters.

Vote #62

Question:

A back to basics question. Interestingly this is a question that you're not allowed to ask in an interview. Believe it or not, when I interview people I have to complete a questionnaire and guess at the answers. It's prejudice to ask the question of the candidate, however, the government require you to track statistics on employment regarding sex and race, for example. Well, we're not interviewing anyone, so the simple question is - what sex are you?

Results:

Female was the clear winner with 44% of the votes from the following selection:

• Male (33%)
• Female (44%)
• Neither (22%)
• Not sure (0%)

Analysis:

Well, everybody's sure of what sex they are even if it's neither male or female. I actually think that the votes for “neither” were posted by females as I'm fairly sure there are more females that read this site than males. Which, at the end of the day, is what the results showed anyway. Guess I'm just not appealing to the macho side anymore.

Vote #61

Question:

Now that we've moved and I have a brand new TV system, I signed up for the sports package which means I can stay in touch with the Premier Football from back in the UK. So this week's question is going to be one about football (or soccer as it's known over here in the States). With this being such a high brow website, I thought we'd better go for something philosophical and thought provoking (not just a simple question of who do you think will win the league or something boring like that). So what should it be? Well, I'll leave it up to the fans of football who pose this question on almost a weekly basis. We need to know - who ate all the pies?

Results:

Kes my baby girl cat and Mr. O. tied with 29% of the votes each from the following:

• Me (Rag) (14%)
• Kes my baby girl cat (29%)
• Mr. O. (29%)
• Kirstie Alley (0%)
• Simple Simon (0%)
• A Dog (14%)
• Roseanne Barr (0%)
• Hurley (from Lost) (14%)

Pre-Result Discussion