Thursday 4 June 2020

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 4-6-2020: Tonga

4th June, 2020.


It’s officially the case: things are happening.

Radio Four’s Today programme has just told me that TV series, Chernobyl, has bee nominated for a BAFTA.

It’s nice to know that something I’ve seen — all five* episodes of it — is up for a gong.

It’s also nice to know something I’ve seen is up for a gong …

~≈†≈~

Something that isn’t so nice?


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You’ll notice that police car, there?

I noticed it, heading to Brentwood High Street, yesterday.

That was the third one I saw parked in the area, over the space of ten minutes.


Coming back from the High Street, I was able to confirm what the bus driver had told me, on the way up.

There was armed policemen, there: with machine guns.

That’s not something I wanted to see in my town.

~≈†≈~

Let’s move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Olga† and Debbi‡ putting in their answers: with both scoring 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 video … 

Q1) Tonga achieved independence on 4th June: in which year?
Q2) From which European country?
Q3) Tupou 6th is Tonga’s current what: Roman Catholic cardinal, King or bishop?
Q4) Nukuʻalofa is Tonga’s what: capital city, Parliament or stock market?
Q5) Finally … ?   Tonga is in which ocean: the Atlantic, Pacific or the Indian?
Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1) Today is the 3rd day of the month.   Is the number 3, odd or even?
A1) Odd.
Q2) Is 3 a prime number?
A2) Yes.
Q3) 3 to the power of 3 (3³) equals what?   (3³=?)
A3) Twenty-seven.   (27)
Q4) Three of the five Platonic solids have triangular faces.   Name one of them.
Q5) A triangle has three sides.   How many vertices — points — does a triangle have?
A5) Three.   (3)
Q6) Which Swiss chocolate bar is triangular?
A6) Toblerone.
Q7) The Tripitaka — the Three Baskets — is the sacred texts of which religion: Jainism, Sikhism or Buddhism?
A7) Buddhism.
Q8) There are three Synoptic Gospels in the Bible: name one of them.
A8) The Gospels of Matthew, Mark or Luke.
Q9) D’Anna Biers — Number Three — is played by Lucy Lawless.   In which sci-fi TV series?
Q10) Finally … ?   Three was a 1979 EP — and début release — from which Irish rock band?
A10) U2.
Here’s a thought …
“Tonga, officially Kingdom of Tonga, Tongan Fakatu‘i ‘o Tonga, also called Friendly Islands, is a country in the southwestern […] Ocean.”
From the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on Tonga.
And some Tongan Nose Flute Music …


Today’s questions will be answered in tomorrow’s Teaser.

Have a good day.




*        The ending of episode two shows us a small group of engineers being sent into the reactor’s basement: they have to open a sluice gate, which will makel one area accessible and help cool others.   It’s a suicide mission.   The men are going to a grim death from radiation poisoning.   It’s the most horrifying scene I’ve ever seen on a TV show … … 

†        Yes, I got it, Olga!   I hope the radio show went well!   I also saw The Exterminating Angel get a mention: I’ll have to look that up.   That, and The Maltese Falcon!   Sounds like everyone’s protesting.

‡        Yeah, you’re right, Debbi: United States v. Microsoft Corp, the 2001 case.   From what I understand, and can remember?   The case found them guilty of monopolistic practises: and of making Internet Explorer so tightly integrated into Windows that users couldn’t remove it … or easily use/install other browsers.   There was a similar EU case, in 2007: if I’ve understood that one correctly, it meant MS had to offer alternatives to Internet Explorer on initial setup, and could not ship Windows with Windows Media Player.
I believe the EU also investigated Microsoft’s support for the Open Document format, used by many open source productivity apps.   If I’ve understood it?   Some of what a OS does is support things that apps are doing.   (The format’s supported by the UN’s International Standards Office: unlike Microsoft’s .doc format.   That was about the same time Apple introduced .odt support into TextEdit.)

3 comments:

trev-v said...

Ah yes the lawless west side of Brentwood. It is full of drug dealers. The police station there was abandoned and relocated to the middle of the town.

Only sounds I have been hearing have been chainsaws coppicing tree in the woodland near me and early this morning the sound of a Mowing machine cutting back the brambles,bracken and other green growth on the sides of the footpath through the strip of woodland near me. As I returned from the papershop they wee using a blower to remove it from the footpaths.

A1 1970

A2 United Kingdom

A3 King

A4 capital city

A5 Pacific Ocean (As on the Eggheads quiz-show when presented with a choice of 3 oceans always go for the largest)

Olga said...

Q1) 1970 (It being a protectorate and having their own king or queen, is it supposed to be independence? I guess a tricky question)
Q2) Great Britain
Q3) King
Q4) Capital
Q5) Pacific
Tonga sounds utterly fascinating. I'm reading a book called 'Humankind' and it talks about Easter Island, and it is mindblowing, to be sure. I'm not sure when the news item I prepared is going on air (I think today), but I had more material than time, as usual. It's going to be interesting, as all the speakers had interesting things to say and they were true characters. Take care!

Debbi said...

I believe the EU has considered regulating other tech companies, like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, to name a few.

1. 1970
2. the UK
3. King
4. capital city
5. Pacific

Nose flute? That's ... interesting! :)