The Daily Teaser — 21-11-2011

Now, that’s … strange … that really is.

Did I ever tell you I used to play role-playing-games, back in the day … ?

Well, I did.

And one of the favourites was the deeply hysterical Paranoia.

Why I mention it, is because I had the name of Greg Costikyan, one of the game’s designers, floating around my head this morning, when I woke up.

Damned if I know why.

I’ll probably ask the nearest brain specialist, then VERY next chance I get … !

Lets get moving on, shall we … ?

Yes, lets …

‹‹•››

Yesterday’s Teaser saw both Debbi and a welcomed back Nina* putting in their answers: with both bagging 6 out of 6º.

Lets see how they — and you — do with todays questions, shall we? Hear they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video …

Q1) 21st November, 1272, saw who become King of England … ?

Q2) That king was ALSO as ‘The Hammer of the’ … whom … ?

Q3) Moving on … 21st, 1918, saw Estonia adopt its flag: name the three colours on that flag.

Q4) 21st November, 1985, saw the end of the Geneva Summit, between the USA and the USSR: in which country is Geneva?

Q5) 21st November, 1905, saw the first publication of Einstein’s paper, ‘Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?’: which famed equation did this give rise to … ?

Q6) And finally … 21st November, 1916, saw the sinking of the HMHS Britannic: what does HMHS stand for … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 20th November, 1975, saw the death of General Franco: what was his full Spanish name … ?

A1) Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde: Francisco Franco y Bahamonde, if he was feeling generous.

Q2) More to the point, what was the name of the Fascist political party he led … ?

A2) The Spanish Phalanx of the Assemblies of the National Syndicalist Offensive: or Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista, FE de las JONS, in Spanish. Or more simply as the Falange.

Q3) Moving on … 20th November, 1992, saw fire blaze through which English castle … ?

A3) Windsor Castle.

Q4) More to the point, in which English county is that castle … ?

A4) Berkshire.

Q5) 20th November, 1945, saw the start of the Nuremberg war crimes trials: how many senior Nazi’s were put on trial?

A5) 24, according to Wikipedia, and 20, according to the BBC.

Q6) 20th November, 2008, saw the US Dow Jones Industrial Average reach it’s lowest point since which year … ?

A6) 1998.

Q7) And finally … 20th November, 1990, saw who fail to get an outright majority in the first round of a leadership election … ?

A7) Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

Enjoy those, everyone: I’ll see you later …

After I’ve left you with a tune from birthday boy, Coleman Hawkins …

* Nina, did I tell you about Bruce’s Dong … ? He’s got his Dong back: I’ll let Debbi fill in the details, shall I … ?

º With twist, Debbi: the BBC telling us the Trials had 20 defendants, and the Wikipedia article about them naming all 24 defendants …

The Daily Teaser — 20-11-2011

Hmm …

Well, that’s Bruce officially sorted for the moment!

You probably remember me telling you about the problem, over the past couple of days, with the assorted sounds coming from my Mac Mini?

And how, on being rebooted yesterday, Bruce was USUALLY silent.

Well, thankfully, that seems to have been solved.

It was — as regular readers will know — remarkably silent, yesterday.

Until I managed to hit the Mute button, which turned the speakers backer on … !

Phew!

Bruce HAS his Dong back … !

»»⩶««

But let’s get moving on, shall we … ?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi — all on her ownsome — putting in her answers: and — along with keeping a straight face about Bruce’s Dong — managing to bag 5 out of 5.

Lets see how she — and you — do with today’s questions, shall we? Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video …

Q1) 20th November, 1975, saw the death of General Franco: what was his full Spanish name … ?

Q2) More to the point, what was the name of the Fascist political party he led … ?

Q3) Moving on … 20th November, 1992, saw fire blaze through which English castle … ?

Q4) More to the point, in which English county is that castle … ?

Q5) 20th November, 1945, saw the start of the Nuremberg war crimes trials: how many senior Nazi’s were put on trial?

Q6) 20th November, 2008, saw the US Dow Jones Industrial Average reach it’s lowest point since which year … ?

Q7) And finally … 20th November, 1990, saw who fail to get an outright majority in the first round of a leadership election … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 19th November, 1863, saw President Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address: in which US state is Gettysburg … ?

A1) Pennsylvania.

Q2) 19th November, 1911, saw two ships wrecked on the Doom Bar sand-bank: in which English county is the Doom Bar … ?

A2) Cornwall.

Q3) More to the point, it was placed where it is — according to legend — by the mermaid of where … ?

A3) Padstowe.

Q4) 19th November, 1959, saw Ford announce they were discontinuing what model of car: the Edsel, the Cortina or the Escort … ?

A4) The Edsel. (Can’t THINK why it was so unpopular, that’s REALLY funky looking … )

Q5) And finally … 19th November, 1994, saw Britain have its first lottery draw in roughly 130 years: what’s the name of the company who run Britain’s lottery?

A5) Camelot.

Enjoy those, everyone: I’ll catch you later …

The Daily Teaser — 19-11-2011

Hmmmm …

You know I think I’m going to have to double check the external speaker set I’ve got plugged into Bruce, I really will.

After last night’s* little sound incident … ?

I think I may want to keep an eye on that!

I don’t know about you, but the fact he’s not actually saying anything is very frustrating … !

After all … ?

He’s the only stereo I’ve got …

Let’s get moving on, shall we?

Yes, lets … !

»»⧭««

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi — all on her ownsome — putting in her answers: and, along with mentioning about the J. Lyons chain, and the the People’s Temple went in for Apostolic Socialism, ALSO managed to bag 6 out of 6.

Lets see how she — and you — manage to do with today’s questions, shall we? Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video …

Q1) 19th November, 1863, saw President Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address: in which US state is Gettysburg … ?

Q2) 19th November, 1911, saw two ships wrecked on the Doom Bar sand-bank: in which English county is the Doom Bar … ?

Q3) More to the point, it was placed where it is — according to legend — by the mermaid of where … ?

Q4) 19th November, 1959, saw Ford announce they were discontinuing what model of car: the Edsel, the Cortina or the Escort … ?

Q5) And finally … 19th November, 1994, saw Britain have its first lottery draw in roughly 130 years: what’s the name of the company who run Britain’s lottery?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 18th November, saw over 900 people die in the Jonestown Massacre: in which South American country was Jonestown?

A1) Guyana.

Q2) This was notoriously led by the Reverend Jim Jones: what was the name of the cult that he led?

A2) The People’s Temple.

Q3) 18th November, 2002 saw a UN Weapons inspection team arrive where?

A3) Iraq.

Q4) More to the point, who was the team led by … ?

A4) Swedish diplomat, Hans Martin Blix.

Q5) In the Hollywood wedding of the year, 18th November, 2000, saw Michæl Douglas get married to whom … ?

A5) Welsh actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Q6) And finally … 18th November, 1961, saw President John F. Kennedy send 18, 000 military advisers to where … ?

A6) South Vietnam.

Enjoy those, everyone: I’ll catch you later …

* Possibly the only time I can use the line, “Bruce Has Lost His Dong”, with a straight face.

PHEW!

And I seriously MEAN that … !

PHEW … !

I almost had a moment of brief panic, there.

No, tell a lie …

I DID have a moment of brief panic, there … !

Mostly where I gave Bruce — my much loved Mac Mini — a hoovering.

Well …

A clean out, I should say.

Basically … ?

I powered him down, disconnected the monitor, the external hard drive, the external optical drive, and the keyboard, and flash memory sticks.

Then used three expired iTunes cards and a palette knife to top the cover off, so I could give the air-vents a going over.

The problems seemingly started when I’d reassembled Bruce, reconnected everything, and powered up.

There was no Dong.

No start up sound, in other words.

And once I’d got into my user account?

The little loudspeaker icon in the menu bar — the volume control, in other words — was greyed out.

The system was UTTERLY silent. And a check through Bruce’s System Profiler — the software utility on every Mac, that tells you, me and the nearest Technical Support person what your Mac is capable of — showed me the Mini had no on-board audio capabilities.

Which I knew was drivel.

»»⩶««

Thankfully … ?

I’m ALSO glad I kept the original Install discs — the OS X version of the Restore discs that come with a Windoze PC.

I can’t swear to if a Windoze based PC has this — it should, if it doesn’t — But the install discs that come with every new Mac have a set of software routines on them called “Apple Hardware Test.”

All I have to do in this sort of situation … ?

Is pop the relevant disc into the DVD drive.

Restart my Mac.

And MAKE SURE I’M HOLDING DOWN THE D KEY WHILE BRUCE IS RESTARTING.

Right at the moment … ?

I’m RATHER grateful I kept those original Leopard install discs that Bruce came with.

You see, each version of the test … ?

Is specific to the model … !

Can you do me a HUGE favour, at this point … ?

Remind me NOT to lose them … !