The Daily Teaser — 2-8-2014

You know, ALL of a sudden … ?

All of a sudden, I’m looking at the weekend.

A weekend that, frankly, is looking fairly quiet.

Quiet … 

With fairly little to do.

Still … ?

Still, it does mean I can get some writing done: and polish up my stock of questions.

I’ve Pages, Keynote and Numbers — Apple’s iWorks suite — for my day to day needs: but had originally used, and still do use, NeoOffice.   Back in the day when Planamesa released it for free.

Of the free office suites?   Of the free suites, it was the most Mac-like.

These days … ?   These days, it’s £20·99 on the App Store.   Which is a bit of a come-down, frankly … 

~≈Ø≈~

But let’s move on, shall we?

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

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s positronic questions, shall we?

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

Q1) 2nd August, 1932, saw the discovery of the Positron: or anti-electron.   The positron is used to make robots: according to which science fiction writer?

Q2) More to the point, which bit of those fictional robots had positrons in … ?

Q3) The positronic robots were governed by three … what … ?

Q4) Which Star Trek: The Next Generation character has a positronic brain … ?

Q5) Finally … the positronic robots we’re talking about first appeared in a story called Robbie.   Robbie was published in which year of the 1940s?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 1st August saw the opening of the (then) version of London Bridge.   In which year of the 1830s?

A1) 1831.

Q2) Who was the reigning British king who attended the opening: William 3rd, William 4th or William 5th?

A2) William 4th.

Q3) When built, the 19th Century Bridge’s predecessor had a chapel on it.   Who was that chapel dedicated to: Joan of Arc, Thomas a’Becket or Edward the Confessor?

A3) Thomas a’Becket.   (The turbulent priest, himself.)

Q4) The medieval bridge’s southern gate was used to display the severed heads of criminals, traitors and rebels: on pikes.   Which Scottish rebel’s head was first, in 1305?

A4) William Wallace’s.

Q5) The 19th Century bridge was replaced in 1967: replaced … and sold.   It’s now in Lake Havasu City.   In which US state is Lake Havasu City … ?

A5) Arizona.

Q6) The modern day London bridge was hit in 1984.   By which Royal Navy vessel: the HMS Hermione, HMS Jupiter or HMS Andromeda … ?

A6) The HMS Jupiter.

Q7) According to an old — and possibly apocryphal — tradition, Freemen of the City of London can drive what across London Bridge?

A7) Sheep.   (You’re also allowed to carry a naked sword in the City: and, if found drunk, police are obliged to get you a cab home.   That sounds like trouble …)

Q8) If you’re on London Bridge, there are two nearby London Underground stations.   One is Monument.   What’s the other?

A8) London Bridge.   Unsurprisingly … 

Q9) London Bridge is often mistaken for the bridge downstream from it.   What bridge is that … ?

A9) Tower Bridge.   (The idea that the American chap who bough London Bridge, in ’67, believing he was buying Tower Bridge, has been long debunked)

Q10) Finally … The London Bridge Experience is at which end of the Bridge: northern or southern … ?

A10) Southern.

I’ll leave you with this tune … 

And this thought …

“With regard to robots, in the early days of robots people said, ‘Oh, let’s build a robot’ and what’s the first thought? You make a robot look like a human and do human things. That’s so 1950s. We are so past that.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Enjoy your day … 

*        It’s OK: I’ve another one due up, Monday, Debbi.   Here’s hoping … !