The Daily Teaser — 26-12-2014

You know, I think I had a very good Christmas Day, in case you’re curious: I’m just helping yours went as well.

Personally … ?

Bless ’em, my family picked me up all sorts of things for me: including a Mac compatible external optical drive, capable of reading of reading Blu-ray discs.

~≈Œ≈~

Handily … ?   Handily, it works: I’ve managed to pick up a beta version of MakeMKV *— along with the free license key — that allows me to convert the content of a Blu-ray into a .mkv file which can then be ripped with Handbrake, as normal.

One thing that DID get me … ?   Was what my nephew, Jude got given.

Bless him, he got one of those marble run things: it’s a collection of tubes and pipes you can put together, and then roll marbles.

We had great fun doing that.

And I think I’ve a confession to make.

I think I want one … 

~≈Œ≈~

But let’s move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi† — feeling Christmassy — putting in her answers: and bagging ten out of ten.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?   Here they are, along with the How To, License and Teaser …

Q1) 26th December sees Australia hold the Boxing Day Test.   In which sport?

Q2) 26th December, 1925, saw Turkey adopt what: its constitution, the Gregorian calendar or democratic elections?

Q3) 26th December, 1970, saw the death of British Olympian, Lillian Board: of Cancer.   She’d won a silver in the 1968 Olympics in what: the 200 meters, the 400 meters or the 400 meters hurdles?

Q4) 26th December, 1860, saw the first ever inter-club game of football — or soccer — played.   Name either of the clubs involved.

Q5) Finally … 26th December, 1898, saw Marie and Pierre Curie announce their discovery of Radium.   What’s Radium’s atomic number?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 25th December marks the birth of Jesus: central figure of Christianity.   His birth is mentioned in two of the New Testament’s four Gospels.   Name either.

A1) The Gospels of Luke and Matthew.

Q2) Believers will tell you that Jesus was born in Bethlehem: in Judea.   The town’s now in which Palestinian controlled territory?

A2) The West Bank.

Q3) Jesus was visited by Three Wise Men.   The Wise Men are also called the three Kings: and what else?

A3) The Magi.

Q4) Name any of the gifts the Wise Men brought.

A4) Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.   (Noted historian, Josephus, tells us the gifts were purchased in Tesco.   Many OTHER historians tell us Josephus was a bit … you know … unreliable.)

Q5) The Wise Men were guided to Bethlehem by the what of Bethlehem: stone, star or steer?

A5) The Star of Bethlehem.

Q6) According to the Bible, the Wise Men were — on finding Jesus’s birthplace — supposed to report to whom?

A6) The then King: Herod The Great.

Q7) That latter figure carried out what, on hearing reports of the birth: the Massacre of the Innocents, the Massacre of the Firstborn or the Massacre of the Infants?

A7) The Massacre of the Innocents.

Q8) One Gospel gives us a detailed story of Jesus’ birth: and includes the birth of John the whom?

A8) Baptist.

Q9) In that same Gospel, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is told of his birth: by which angel?

A9) Gabriel.   (Gabriel is also said to have appeared to the Jewish prophet, Daniel: and to have revealed the Koran to Muhammed.   Even handed … )

Q10) Finally … After Jesus’s birth, his family flee to safety: in which country?

A10) Egypt.

I’ll leave you with Edge of the Earth, written by Jared Leto … 

And this thought …

“I used to like to break into other people’s houses and sit in their rooms.   I found it very comforting to be in someone’s empty house.”

Jared Leto born 26th December, 1971.

Enjoy your day.

*        MakeMKV is free: at least, thus far.   I’ve used it, already, on a blu-ray copy of Deep Breath, Peter Capaldi’s first episode as the Doctor.   The interface isn’t perfect: frankly, HandBrake’s a lot better.   But the app does the job: transcoding the disc in roughly an hour.   I’ve yet to check the resulting m4v — at ~3gb, roughly six times bigger than the version I ripped from the broadcast DVD recording  — file with my Apple TV: but believe it will work well, as it seems to be using the same codecs, and in the same resolution, as a hi-def movie rented from iTunes.

†        I hope the day went well for you and Rick, Debbi!   Oh … Jude thought last night’s Dr Who was scary!   (Oh … and that Marble run thing someone got him … ?   I WANT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!)