I'm not going to explain Su Doku. I would feel silly. If you don't know what it is, read up on it somewhere else. Pick up a newspaper, perhaps. The possibilities are endless. Just don't bother carrying on until you know what it is. Lovely.
Anyway, the point is that I feel duty-bound to offer up a speedy link to the Su DoKube, a classy 3D version of said number-placing puzzle which allows you not only to view and solve it in a shiny computery manner, but also to print it out and do some fun cutting and sticking so as to solve it on paper. Or on funky card, if you're a rich bugger.
Speaking of rich buggers, it's shareware, so don't expect anything overly awesome without forking over your hard-earned to the mysterious creator, who naturally I have no personal acquaintance with whatsoever. Honest.
(You're quite welcome, Andrew.)
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Poetry In Arrest
Let's lay aside, for now, the value of getting a class of A-level English literature to write their own rough facsimille of First World War poetry. For all I know, it may have been shown to be of definite value and to allow us to better the techniques and works of the poets we're studying, though I can't say I'm too confident of it. Anyway, whether or not we actually gained anything from today's hour, I have one little question that I'm hoping someone can answer for me. Well, I say that, in truth I just want to moan and an exasperated question seemed the best way.
What on Earth put the idea in my normally very good literature teacher's head that the best way to write poetry in a small group?
Now, anyone who has ever tried to produce a piece of writing in a group knows how much of a trial it is. Every sentence, if not every word, must be passed individually, everyone is loath to put something forward lest it get shot down in flames, and nobody is every wholly satisfied with the end result. The whole thing just ends up taking longer and producing a poorer result than if it's written by an individual - and that's just with any old knockabout cereal-competition tie-breaker. Try something as complex and niggly as poetry and you've got a recipe for half an hour of awkward silence until a couple of people desperately hammer out a few rubbish lines and roughly stitch them together just so the group has something to show for their time.
In the end, we spent half an hour in awkward silence, at which point a couple of us desperately hammered out a few rubbish lines and roughly stitched them together just so the group had something to show for our time.
What on Earth put the idea in my normally very good literature teacher's head that the best way to write poetry in a small group?
Now, anyone who has ever tried to produce a piece of writing in a group knows how much of a trial it is. Every sentence, if not every word, must be passed individually, everyone is loath to put something forward lest it get shot down in flames, and nobody is every wholly satisfied with the end result. The whole thing just ends up taking longer and producing a poorer result than if it's written by an individual - and that's just with any old knockabout cereal-competition tie-breaker. Try something as complex and niggly as poetry and you've got a recipe for half an hour of awkward silence until a couple of people desperately hammer out a few rubbish lines and roughly stitch them together just so the group has something to show for their time.
In the end, we spent half an hour in awkward silence, at which point a couple of us desperately hammered out a few rubbish lines and roughly stitched them together just so the group had something to show for our time.
Sounds Like An Exciting New Album
Not only does the strange information sheet thing about Christina Aguilera ask its readers "Wanna get the juice facts about Christina?", it also features, by way of telling illustration, a Coke logo, a bowl of soup, a slice of pie, a hot dog, and salt and pepper grinders.
I'm sure there must be some kind of in-joke here, but I can't for the life of me think what it might be.
I'm sure there must be some kind of in-joke here, but I can't for the life of me think what it might be.
The Chemistry Of Bruce
In my chemisty textbook today: a small sqaure of what apeared to be low-grade recycled paper, folded neatly into quarters with parallel creases running down it, headed with, in a very neat hand, "Bruce Springsteen".
As if that is't perplexing enough, this doesn't seem like the writing of anyone I know, so presumably this has been here all year and I've never before noticed.
Scary.
As if that is't perplexing enough, this doesn't seem like the writing of anyone I know, so presumably this has been here all year and I've never before noticed.
Scary.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
The Complete Guide To The Bottle Inversion Game
1. On a player's turn, he or she must invert the bottle.
2. It will become apparent who is the winner.
2. It will become apparent who is the winner.
Friday, July 08, 2005
No, Really, They're Not Trying To Scare You Off
A sign in a Cambridge University college, under a stone arch:
"Visitors are warned that there is a deep pool in the Fellows' Garden and the children must, therefore, be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times."
Apparently this wasn't scary enough, so they'd stuck an extra bit on the bottom:
"Also there are beehives and flying bees."
"Visitors are warned that there is a deep pool in the Fellows' Garden and the children must, therefore, be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times."
Apparently this wasn't scary enough, so they'd stuck an extra bit on the bottom:
"Also there are beehives and flying bees."
Friday, July 01, 2005
Last Man Not Standing
I have created a wonderful thing.
Everyone knows that it's tremendous fun to stage an impromptu race, say, to the end of the road, or to the chip shop, or to anywhere that happens to be in the direction that you and your companions are walking in. But sometimes, of course, that isn't possible. Perhaps you're stood still, or you're in a small room, or you have shoes on that would make running dangerous. In these situations, there is one phrase which can be your saviour.
"Race you horizontal!"
The rules, of course, are simple. Once the race is agreed upon, the first person to become horizontal is the winner.
You're quite welcome.
Everyone knows that it's tremendous fun to stage an impromptu race, say, to the end of the road, or to the chip shop, or to anywhere that happens to be in the direction that you and your companions are walking in. But sometimes, of course, that isn't possible. Perhaps you're stood still, or you're in a small room, or you have shoes on that would make running dangerous. In these situations, there is one phrase which can be your saviour.
"Race you horizontal!"
The rules, of course, are simple. Once the race is agreed upon, the first person to become horizontal is the winner.
You're quite welcome.
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