The Daily Teaser — 28-2-2014

:ZCfo wjqufiowgdyu … 

He says … !

I have to confess, it is WAY too early in the morning, to be this early in the morning … !

You remember me mentioning that I’d successfully received funding to attend a computer literacy course … ?

The moeny came through, yesterday: which means I now have the cash to get to the course.

At 9·30 in Basildon.

I’m up this early to get the bus.

And have one question … 

Could you pass me a really STRONG cuppa, please … ?

I need CAFFEINE … !!!!!

~≈Î≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: along with wondering why bad guys in US TV have English accents† and bagging nine out of ten.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video … 

Q1) 28th February, 1883, saw the first vaudeville theatre open in Boston.   What’s the nearest British equivalent to vaudeville: burlesque or music hall … ?

Q2) In a non leap year, 28th February is the last day of the month.   What’s the last day of February, in a leap year … ?

Q3) 28th February, 2013, saw Pope Benedict 16th’s resignation take effect.   He was the first pope to resign since which year of the 15th Century … ?

Q4) 28th February, 1820, saw the birth of illustrator, Sir John Tenniel.   Best known for his work on the works of Lewis Carroll, which satirical magazine did he draw cartoons for … ?

Q5) Finally … 28th February, 1940, saw the first televised basketball game: broadcast from Madison Square Gardens.   Name either of the teams, playing that game.

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 27th February saw Abraham Lincoln make the speech that bagged him the US presidency.   In which year of the 1860s was this … ?

A1) 1860.

Q2) In which US city was this: Chicago, Seattle or New York … ?

A2) New York.

Q3) When first elected, which US president was he: the 15th, 16th or 17th … ?

A3) 16th.

Q4) In which year was he elected President for the second time … ?

A4) 1864.

Q5) Which US party did Lincoln represent: Democrat or Republican … ?

A5) Republican.

Q6) In which year was his assassination … ?

A6) 1865.

Q7) In which Illinois town is Lincoln buried … ?

A7) Springfield.

Q8) How many Oscar nominations did Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln received … ?

A8) 11.

Q9) More to the point, who plays the President, in that film … ?

A9) Daniel Day-Lewis.

Q10) In which 2012 film is President Lincoln played by Benjamin Walker … ?

A10) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’.

As today sees the birthday of B52’s founder, Cindy Wilson, we have an excuse to sing about musical shellfish … 

And with this thought from Zero Mostel …

“And they always manage to hang you for having an interpretation. Isn’t [the theater] where your imagination should flower? Why must it always be dull as shit?”

Zero Mostel, February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977

Enjoy your day.

*        Sorry about That, Debbi: but I’m going to have to verify the one it won, if that’s ok … ?   And yes, contacting me is fine: but here’s the comment I left you, on yesterday’s teaser …

Those are USUALLY pretty good, I’m told, the 121 training.

Of course you can discuss it: whether I’ll be much help, I don’t know, although I’ll try.   

But there’s a question or two: when you say ‘didn’t transfer over as well as they should’, what exactly do you mean … ?   I’m ASSUMING you mean you’ve lost some photos in the transfer … ?   (If the photos look like they’ve lost quality, that’s probably down to how OS X renders photos: the better the photo in the first place, the better it’ll look.)

QUITE what could’ve happened there, I’m not too sure.   The last time I transferred photos — from my old G4 to Bruce, the Mini I’ve currently got — I did the transfer myself.   I put all the photos on to a couple of blank DVDs, and, when I set up Bruce, dragged them from the DVDs, into the iPhoto library.

The same with the few songs I had in my iTunes library: I lost one or two in the process: but nothing irreplaceable.

These days, it’s all a bit different.   My iPhoto library is on my external hard drive: all I’d have to do to transfer them over is plug the drive into the new machine.

I haven’t yet: but I could ALSO do the same with my iTunes Library.

The few films and TV show episode I bought through iTunes are stored on Apples iCloud service: I can access them anywhere I choose.

From where I’m sitting, though … ?   I would have — in your shoes — transferred the lot to an external thumb drive, then copied them over onto my new machine.THAT way, any that didn’t copy … ?   I could copy them, again and retry.

JUST so I know, though: what EXACTLY happened with your old machine … ?

The reason I ask is that — if you still have it — I’d still switch it on, work out which photos and songs didn’t make over: then copy them from your old machine to a flash drive, and plug the flash drive into your new Mac.   You should be able to copy them into your iTunes and iPhoto library.   (As an extra thought … ?   Anything you’ve purchased from iTunes should still be available, through iCloud.   Any you originally imported from CD, won’t be, though: you may need to re-import them.)

†        Oh, I think that’s good old fashioned US history, Debbie.   The USA famously fought a war of independence against an incredibly evil, bloated, corrupt, deprived, oppressive empire: the British empire.   I think that’s left its mark.   Anytime the USA needs a baddie in a film‡ or TV show … ?   He’s got an English accent and a red coat … 

‡        Oh, Star Wars is a classic, there, Debbi: the baddies, bar Darth Vader, all have English accents.   And as he was turned bad by the Emperor, he doesn’t count.   (I also think it’s why the US generally prefers coffee to tea: the Boston Tea Party … )

The Daily Teaser — 27-2-2014: Abe Lincoln

Hmmm … 

That’s … mildly annoying … 

You’ve possibly worked out I’ve been following the rebooted The Tomorrow People, haven’t you … ?

It’s rather fun, it has to be said.

Although the series has just introduced a new villain, only known as … THE FOUNDER: which is suitably pretentious.

Oh … The chap’s got an faux English accent … 

OK, I can understand why US tv shows do that: give baddies English accents.

But I always find it mildly irritating.

But let’s move on, shall we?

~≈◊≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: and bagging ten out of ten.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s Teaser, shall we?

Hear they are, along with the How To, License and video …

Q1) 27th February saw Abraham Lincoln make the speech that bagged him the US presidency.   In which year of the 1860s was this … ?

Q2) In which US city was this: Chicago, Seattle or New York … ?

Q3) When first elected, which US president was he: the 15th, 16th or 17th … ?

Q4) In which year was he elected President for the second time … ?

Q5) Which US party did Lincoln represent: Democrat or Republican … ?

Q6) In which year was his assassination … ?

Q7) In which Illinois town is Lincoln buried … ?

Q8) How many Oscar nominations did Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln received … ?

Q9) More to the point, who plays the President, in that film … ?

Q10) In which 2012 film is President Lincoln played by Benjamin Walker … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 26th February said Napoleon Bonaparte escape his prison: on which Mediterranean island?

A1) Elba.

Q2) In which year was this … ?

A2) 1815.

Q3) Napoleon was the emperor of whom … ?

A3) The French.   (Rather than of France.   In doing so, Bonaparte was trying to emphasize his introduction of a whole new political system: one different to the regime of the Kings of France.)

Q4) Who gave Napoleon that title: the French National Assembly, the French Senate or the then French president … ?

A4) The French Senate.

Q5) Napoleon was crowned as Emperor: in which French city?

A5) Paris: in Notre Dame, to be exact.

Q6) Napoleon introduced a body of civil law to his country, during his reign, called the Code civil des français.   How is it known in English … ?

A6) The Napoleonic Code.

Q7) Famously — and disastrously — Napoleon tried invading which East European empire, in 1812?

A7) The Empire of Russia.

Q8) At which battle was Napoleon finally defeated, and overthrown?

A8) The Battle of Waterloo.

Q9) Which Anglo-Irish general led the British forces at that battle … ?

A9) Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.   (If you ever hear anyone in the UK talk about the Duke of Wellington, this is, usually, the chap they’re talking about.)

Q10) Finally … Napoleon spent the last years of his life, in prison, on which Atlantic island … ?

A10) Saint Helena.

I’ll leave you with Decatur, which gives Mr Lincoln a mention … 

And this thought …

“What I do say is, that if we would supplant the opinions and policy of our fathers in any case, we should do so upon evidence so conclusive, and argument so clear, that even their great authority, fairly considered and weighed, cannot stand”

Abraham Lincoln.

Have a good day …

*        Oh, Debbi, you DO know you’ve a built in webcam, at the top of your machine … ?   It’s what Apple are currently calling a FaceTime camera: you can make free calls to people with camera equipped Macs and iOS devices.   You can Also record yourself.   Open up Quicktime X†: then click the File menu and click on New Movie Recording.   You’ll be able to record a video of yourself!

You can then use iMovie to edit it down.

†        It’s in Applications.

The Death Of Lee Rigby

You know, news has broken of the sentencing of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby, last year.

Michael Adebolajo, 29 was sentenced to life — with no chance of parole — whilst his fellow accursed, Michael Adebowale, 22, was given a minimum of forty-five years.

In a statement, afterwards, Lee Rigby’s family said “We feel that no other sentence would have been acceptable.”

~≈®≈~

Personally, I’m glad to hear that: both the families reaction and the sentencing.

What didn’t please me … ?

Was the demonstrations by both the British National Party, and the English Defence League.

Both of which called for the restoration of the death sentence and it’s application to the killers.

I hate to sound picky here … … … 

No, wait: I do want to be picky, here: and to throw around an accusation or two.

You see, both the BNP and the EDL are far-right groups of a sort I’ve long felt to be extremely objectionable.

And feel that — what ever other merits or arguments the case may have — they are jumping on the Lee Rigby bandwagon for their own ends.

They are, I believe, as representative of England and Britain in much the same way that Adebolajo and Adebowale are of Islam, or the Afro-Caribbean community.

Not very.

~≈®≈~

I should also add that I watched BBC News reporter Jane Peel giving her report on the sentencing whilst the EDL/BNP thugs stood behind her chanting “JUSTICE FOR LEE”: very ignorant of the statement the family were giving, where they welcomed the sentence.

Handy an ‘unjust’ sentence, if it were the victim’s family were satisfied with.

There’s also the small fact of WHO was demonstrating.

Both the EDL and the BNP are notoriously right-wing.   My personal belief is that — had the killers been of European descent or the victim an Afro-carribean member of  Britain’s armed forces — neither of these groups would have turned out to protest.

They are racist: and using this sentencing to promote their views.

On top of THAT … ?

On top of that, there’s also the calls the protestors were making for the restoration of the death sentence: and its application to the killers.

If I’ve understood the killers actions correctly, on that day, one thing they were bound and determined to do was end up dead.

As martyrs.

I do not see why British justice should give the likes of Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale the heroic deaths they believe such a martyrdom would bring them.

NOR do I see why British justice should give in to the likes of the BNP or EDL — latter day Nazis that they are — in handing out the kind of justice the far right feels all others — apart from those they approve of — deserve.

To do either would turn British courts into a travesty.

The Brentwood Gazette’s Weekly Teaser — 26-2-2014: Jazzed Up

Oh, now THAT’S something … 

I’ve just worked out the the version of the BBC iPlayer on my iPod — a 4th generation iPod touch — can stream to my new Apple TV.

Happy days!

It means if I miss anything on TV, I can stream stuff from the BBC’s site.

That’s good: and a HELL of a saving on blank DVDs … !

Ahem … !

~≈Á≈~

At any rate, it’s Wednesday: which means that it’s time for the Gazette’s Weekly Teaser.

Here’s this weeks, covered by the usual Creative Commons License*

Q1) 26th February saw the very first Jazz record, recorded: by the ‘Original Dixieland Jass Band’.   Which US city did they come from: New York, New Orleans or North Amityville … ?

Q2) One of the two songs on that single was called ‘Livery Stable … ’ what?

Q3) The flip side was called the ‘Original Dixieland …’ what: one-step, two-step or quick-step?

Q4) The company that recorded the record — the Victor Talking Machine Company — shared its logo, a dog listening to an old record player, with HMV in the UK.   What was the dog called: Nipper, Bonzo or Rosie … ?

Q5) Jazz is supposed to have originated in the area of New Orleans called Storyville.   Storyville was what: the New Orleans’ Docklands, red light area or financial district?

Q6) Which notably large-nosed comedian was one of the Original Dixieland Jass Band’s early fans … ?

Q7) The band also recorded a ragtime piece that’s since become a Jazz standard: and named for which stripy big cat … ?

Q8) Jazz also has roots in the marches held in New Orleans what: weddings, baptisms or funerals?

Q9) New Orleans was also the birthplace of jazzman, singer and trumpeter, Satchmo: better known, of course, as who … ?

Q10) Finally … which Miles Davis album is considered the best selling Jazz album of all time … ?

Here’s last weeks questions and answers …

Questions.

Q1) 19th February saw the patenting of the phonograph: by which American inventor … ?

Q2) More to the point, in which year of the 1870s … ?

Q3) What shape were those early phonographs: cylindrical, spherical or ovoid?

Q4) The original test phonograms were covered in what: wax, tinfoil or Bakelite … ?

Q5) By 1925, disc shaped records — or gramophones — were gaining popularity.   Those gramophones went at how many revolutions per minute: 78, 45 or 33⅓ … ?

Q6) What was the diameter — in inches — of those records: 7”, 10” or 12” … ?

Q7) Early record were made from shellac.   Later ones, from roughly the 1960s onwards, were made from PVC: which stood for poly-vinyl … what … ?

Q8) All these records were analogue, of course.   These days, modern musical recordings are what: digital, analogue or composite … ?

Q9) Which Dire Straits album was the first — on a major label — to sell extremely well, on CD?

Q10) Most modern songs are in the digital format known as ‘MP3’: what does the ‘MP’ stand for … ?

Answers.

A1) Thomas Edison.

A2) 1878.

A3) Cylindrical.

A4) Tinfoil.   (Bakelite, or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, to give it its technical name, wasn’t developed until 1907.)

A5) 78 rpm.

A6) 10”.   (That, the rotation speed, and the space between the grooves are what generally limited those early recorded songs to roughly three minutes.)

A7) Chloride.

A8) Digital.

A9) Brothers In Arms.

A10) Moving picture.

Enjoy those: I’ll see you later … 

*        Regulars will know already, but for newcomers … all it means is that you’re free to copy, use, alter and build on each of my quizzes: including the Teasers, Gazette Teasers and the Friday Question Sets.   All I ask in return is that you give me an original authors credit on your event’s flyers or posters, or on the night: and, if you republish them, give me an original authors credit AND republish under the same license.   A link back to the site — and to the Gazette’s, if that’s where you’ve found these — would be appreciated.

The Daily Teaser — 26-2-2014: The Prisoner

Right … 

It’s Wednesday: and I’ve been and got up early.

As you’ve possible worked out, by now, I’m jobhunting: Wednesday is the day I have to sign on.

Both to receive any financial help, and help in finding a job.

Frankly … ?

My new adviser seems both Gung-ho: but reasonably personable.   Which does help.

As does the fact she’s arranged for an ECDL course: hopefully something will come of that.

Here’s hoping!

~≈Â≈~

But let’s get a move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: and bagging six out of six.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s Prisonesque questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video … 

Q1) 26th February said Napoleon Bonaparte escape his prison: on which Mediterranean island?

Q2) In which year was this … ?

Q3) Napoleon was the emperor of whom … ?

Q4) Who gave Napoleon that title: the French National Assembly, the French Senate or the then French president … ?

Q5) Napoleon was crowned as Emperor: in which French city?

Q6) Napoleon introduced a body of civil law to his country, during his reign, called the Code civil des français.   How is it known in English … ?

Q7) Famously — and disastrously — Napoleon tried invading which East European empire, in 1812?

Q8) At which battle was Napoleon finally defeated, and overthrown?

Q9) Which Anglo-Irish general led the British forces at that battle … ?

Q10) Finally … Napoleon spent the last years of his life, in prison, on which Atlantic island … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 25th February saw Samuel Colt receive the official patent for his famed gun.   In which year … ?

A1) 1936.

Q2) What kind of handgun was that first Colt: a revolver, semi-automatic or machine pistol?

A2) Revolver.

Q3) 25th February, 1919, saw Oregon become the first US state to charge a gasoline tax.   How much did it charge: 1 cent per gallon, 1 cent per quart or 1 cent per pint … ?

A3) 1 cent per US gallon.

Q4) 25th February, 1982, saw the European Court of Human Rights rule that UK schools use of what, was a violation of the Human Rights Convention … ?

A4) Corporal Punishment.

Q5) 25th February, 1797, saw Colonel William Tate and his force, surrender: at the end of the last invasion of Britain.   Which small Welsh town had they landed at: Portmerion, Fishguard or Ystradgynlais … ?

A5) Fishguard.   (I, personally, am grateful: as someone who doesn’t speak Welsh, I wouldn’t even know how to START pronouncing ‘Ystradgynlais’)

Q6) Finally … 25th February, 1991, saw which military alliance disbanded … ?

A6) The Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance: or Warsaw Pact.

I’ll leave you with this interpretation of the folk song, Boney Was A Warrior … 

And this thought from Bonaparte himself …

“The word impossible is not French.”
Napoléon Bonaparte.

Enjoy your day.

*        Oh, I know EXACTLY what you mean, Debbi!   That one button mouse on my first Mac was a revelation: and they haven’t stopped since … !