Displaying Vote Archives 60 to 70
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(Created on 21st September 2008)
Vote #61
Question:
Now that we've moved and I have a brand new TV system, I signed up for the sports package which means I can stay in touch with the Premier Football from back in the UK. So this week's question is going to be one about football (or soccer as it's known over here in the States). With this being such a high brow website, I thought we'd better go for something philosophical and thought provoking (not just a simple question of who do you think will win the league or something boring like that). So what should it be? Well, I'll leave it up to the fans of football who pose this question on almost a weekly basis. We need to know - who ate all the pies?
Results:
Kes my baby girl cat and Mr. O. tied with 29% of the votes each from the following:
- Me (Rag) (14%)
- Kes my baby girl cat (29%)
- Mr. O. (29%)
- Kirstie Alley (0%)
- Simple Simon (0%)
- A Dog (14%)
- Roseanne Barr (0%)
- Hurley (from Lost) (14%)
Pre-Result Discussion
04:21:03
22nd September 2008
Analysis:
An interesting spread of voting. I think technically, the votes for “a dog” can be considered correct. Apparently in the 2007 World pie eating championships (held in Wigan), a dog manged to get into the fridge the night before and eat all the pies. This isn't a competition about volume, apparently, it's a sprint race to see who can eat a pie the fastest and the pie has to be made to exact specifications. Don't believe me, check out this BBC article.
So to those that aren't quite sure about the question, this is a football chant. Typically, when the opposing team has a player who's piled on the pounds, the fans chant (to the theme of knees up mother brown):
Who ate all the pies?
Who ate all the pies?
You fat bastard!
You fat bastard!
You ate all the pies.
A very high brow song, but generally one that even the most intellectually challenged football fan can remember.
So, back to the results - it appears to be a tie between Mr. O. and my cat Kes. Interestingly, my cat Kes has been rather exuberant with her eating since we've moved house and I've definitely noticed her growing larger. That said, I don't recall her actually eating any pies, whereas I'm pretty sure our very own Mr. O. has enjoyed many a pie.
(Created on 28th September 2008)
Vote #62
Question:
A back to basics question. Interestingly this is a question that you're not allowed to ask in an interview. Believe it or not, when I interview people I have to complete a questionnaire and guess at the answers. It's prejudice to ask the question of the candidate, however, the government require you to track statistics on employment regarding sex and race, for example. Well, we're not interviewing anyone, so the simple question is - what sex are you?
Results:
Female was the clear winner with 44% of the votes from the following selection:
- Male (33%)
- Female (44%)
- Neither (22%)
- Not sure (0%)
Analysis:
Well, everybody's sure of what sex they are even if it's neither male or female. I actually think that the votes for “neither” were posted by females as I'm fairly sure there are more females that read this site than males. Which, at the end of the day, is what the results showed anyway. Guess I'm just not appealing to the macho side anymore.
(Created on 5th October 2008)
Vote #63
Question:
I'm currently in the process of wrestling with my tax return. It appears that the preparers have made a bit of a meal of it and are currently suggesting that I single handedly fund the $700bn rescue package for the banks. Much as I would like to help out, I'm worried that if I give in to this request there will be untold numbers of groups concocting sob stories to get at the other billions of dollars that make up my mattress. (As obviously I'm not going to keep it in a bank at the minute). So, anyway, that got me to thinking that in this time of need that I must stay strong and draw on the force. And it is with that where I get this week's question - who is your favorite Star Wars character?
Results:
Yoda was the clear winner with 38% of the votes from the following selection:
- Luke Skywalker (0%)
- Han Solo (13%)
- Darth Vadar (13%)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (0%)
- Leia Organa Solo (a.k.a. Princess Leia) (13%)
- Jar Jar Binks (0%)
- Yoda (38%)
- Chewbacca (13%)
- C-3PO (0%)
- R2-D2 (13%)
Pre-Result Discussion
17:55:56
5th October 2008
Analysis:
I suspected that Yoda might come in the firm favorite and indeed he has. Not really sure why I include Jar Jar Binks or C-3PO in the list as neither of these really seem like lovable characters (unless you're a very small child I suppose). Whereas good old Yoda has it all including being a Jedi master. Remember “Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.”
There was a fair spread of other votes, which also doesn't surprise me. I think one of the things that makes Star Wars so successful is that there are many great characters.
(Created on 12th October 2008)
Vote #64
Question:
What a week it's been. Wednesday saw the arrival of my in-laws and my old record collection (shipped from the UK). It's also William's birthday next week so plenty of scope for over planning (my contribution of which has been to make sure there's no problem getting lids off beer bottles and to make sure the TV is in working order by watching all the weekend's motor racing). Anyway, in an attempt to make sure we're ready, my father-in-law tried to have a go with the bar-b-que. I wasn't witness to it, but apparently it didn't work as intended and flames started coming out of the front of it. It's a gas bar-b-que that's built into a unit by the swimming pool (which coincidentally has broken as well - notice the theme here). I have my suspicions as to what's wrong with the bar-b, but I'm not 100% sure which is why I want to find out your thoughts - do I need to buy a new Bar-B-Que?
Results:
No - wait until next spring (we’re at the end of bar-b-que season) was the clear winner with 43% of the votes from the following selection:
- Yes - it’s broken and needs replacing (14%)
- No - it’s just a blocked gas pipe that needs cleaning (29%)
- No - because you can’t afford it when you find out your tax bill this week (14%)
- No - wait until next spring (we’re at the end of bar-b-que season) (43%)
Analysis:
Well, the good news is that the tax bill wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Still bad, but then again, is there ever a good one? Anyway, I don't have the answer to the Bar-B-Que as I've been tied up with work and converting my vinyl records to digital so I'm not really sure. That said, I am leaning towards the vote answer of not worrying about it for about a year given that we're really at the end of the Bar-B-Que season. In fact, I think that's what I'll do - wait a bit before I worry about it as I've got plenty of things to be worrying about at the minute.
(Created on 19th October 2008)
Vote #65
Question:
I've been patiently working my way through my vinyl records and I noticed that Windows Media Player tells you the total time by artist that you have to play (i.e. the total length of music by each artist). So that got me to wondering which artist I have the most playing time by. Now, a couple of things come into play here - groups that I've followed, how much material that group has put out and the average length of that group's songs. (One thing I've noted is that typically the punk songs are less than 3 minutes whereas some of the heavy groups can put out a 12 minuter. I'm quite a long way from completing this, but I have put a statistics link on the RagBox page if you want to take a look and start to do some analysis (Edit - RagBox removed from site). So - which artist do I have the most material for?
Results:
Iron Maiden was the clear winner with 57% of the votes from the following selection:
- AC/DC (14%)
- Black Sabbath (29%)
- G.B.H. (0%)
- Iron Maiden (57%)
- Metallica (0%)
- Motorhead (0%)
- Ozzy Osbourne (0%)
- W.A.S.P. (0%)
Analysis:
I think I could have made this a trick question as the “band” that is currently winning the longest play time in my collection is “various artists.” That said, I haven't finished digitizing all my albums and there is a possibility that it will be overtaken by Iron Maiden. So, to those of you that voted for Iron Maiden, I would say that you are correct (I'll update if anything changes).
Few things to note - I have a lot more albums by AC/DC, but their albums are much shorter than Iron Maidens, sticking to a 40/45 minute format, whereas Maiden upped the length of their productions to over an hour with several breaking the hour and ten minute mark.
Good call also on Black Sabbath. We'll see their numbers jump up during the next few days as I start adding their vinyl, but there just isn't enough to take Maiden. One thing I do note is that if I add Ozzy to Black Sabbath then this would probably be the winner. (Although that would mean that I would need to add the Bruce Dickinson to Iron Maiden).
Another interesting fact is that I had more G.B.H. songs when I wrote the question last week. Trouble is, that as a punk band, they are masters of the two minute song which, again doesn't give them enough length to take the lead.
One dark horse is going to be Kiss as I didn't realize how many of their vinyl records I have, but there still isn't enough to take the title.
As it stands Iron Maiden has it and I'm pretty sure it won't change anytime soon. If it does, I'll let you know.
(Created on 26th October 2008)
Vote #66
Question:
As I've been sorting through my old vinyl records, I've been looking at the years that certain pieces of work were produced. It seems as if many of my favorite songs were all produced in the same year, so this week I ask - which year in the '80s was your favorite for music?
Results:
1982 was the clear winner with 33% of the votes from the following selection:
- 1980 (0%)
- 1981 (0%)
- 1982 (33%)
- 1983 (17%)
- 1984 (17%)
- 1985 (17%)
- 1986 (0%)
- 1987 (17%)
- 1988 (0%)
- 1989 (0%)
Analysis:
A fairly even spread in the voting, but 1982 wins the battle. 1982 is such a significant year for me as it's the year I went to my first concert - Iron Maiden at De Montfort Hall in Leicester. And, coincidentally, the year that Iron Maiden released “The Number of the Beast” album which is still one of my favorites. With Punk, it's also the year that The Anti-Nowhere League released their first album “We Are The League.” Many, many more great offerings were produced in this year (too many for me to mention here - because I can't be bothered). So, hats off to 1982.
(Created on 2nd November 2008)
Vote #67
Question:
Last record related vote question (for a while anyway). So, as I was working my way through the collection I got to wondering - if I bought a record in the UK that was an import from the US and have now had it shipped to me in the US - what status does the record have?
Results:
Repatriate was the clear winner with 60% of the votes from the following selection:
- Import (20%)
- Export (0%)
- Nothing - just a regular record now (0%)
- Repatriate (60%)
- Who Cares? (20%)
Analysis:
Probably not the most pressing question this last week. One assumes that the US election probably consumed most people's thoughts as far as voting was concerned. So congratulations go to President Elect Obama and to “repatriate” as being the two most popular votes. One won the US election and one won the more important EastBayRag vote question. It does kind of make sense that something made in the US that was shipped to the UK and now returned to the US would be considered repatriated. I'm also in favor of the “who cares” vote as it's probably not a question pondered by many. And probably won't be again.
(Created on 9th November 2008)
Vote #68
Question:
OK, so you've had a week of not having to think - just walk to the ballot box and vote for the next president. Well, here's a real question that's designed to make you think - lets see how smart you are. A couple have two children. One is a boy. What is the probability that the other is a boy?
Results:
50% was the clear winner with 83% of the votes from the following selection:
- 0% (0%)
- 25% (0%)
- 33% (17%)
- 50% (83%)
- 67% (0%)
- 75% (0%)
- 100% (0%)
Analysis:
Oh Dear!
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!!
The thing that surprises me is that I actually posted the answer to the question, but everyone else thought they new better. Well, you didn't - you all got it wrong!
The most likely thing that you did wrong is misread the question and interpreted it as if the question read - a couple has a child which is a boy. If they had another child, what is the probability that it would be a boy? In which case the answer would be 50% as we are dealing with mutually exclusive events and this would equate to the same as coin tosses where each toss is an independent event that has a 50% probability of being heads or tails.
Now, I'm giving you a bit of a chance now to admit that you misread the question. Go back, read it again and please don't start going “so, the answer's still 50%” because it isn't.
To the answer. To answer the question, we need to understand the permutations that a couple could have with two children. We know from the coin toss analysis that we've just done that the probability of each child being a boy or girl is 50% for each. So, there are four possible scenarios that are equally likely for a couple that has two children and these are:
1 - first boy, second boy (BB)
2 - first boy, second girl (BG)
3 - first girl, second boy (GB)
4 - first girl, second girl (GG)
Now, the astute among you will already notice that there is a much higher probability of having one of each child rather than two the same - 50% probability that one is a boy and one is a girl versus only 25% probability that both are boys or both are girls. This is true and what you need to understand to see the answer. The reason being that we place no stipulation as to whether the first or the second has to be of a particular sex. To end up with BB or GG, we are being specific about each child thus reducing the probability of the outcome.
To the answer. The question presented asked what the probability that the other child be a boy if one of them is already a boy. So, if we look at the options above, we know that only options 1, 2 and 3 are viable as we know that one of the children is a boy, so option 4 (GG) is ruled out. There are therefore three equally likely possibilities for the couple. Only one of these possibilities, option 1 (BB) would mean the other child is a boy. Therefore there is only a one out of three (or 33%) probability that the other child is a boy.
The correct answer would have been 33%. If you don't believe me, simply do a search on “probability boy girl” and you'll find several sites (including Wikipedia - so it must be true) with the answer. Those that are more technical will give you the Bayesian formula to calculate this, but I didn't think it really helped the answer unless you have a basis of understanding in Bayesian analysis.
(Created on 16th November 2008)
Vote #69
Question:
Given the complete failure on last week's question (make sure you check out the correct answer if you voted as everyone got it wrong) I thought I'd make this one much simpler. How do you pronounce/say tomato?
Results:
Tom-ar-to was the clear winner with 89% of the votes from the following selection:
- Tom-ar-to (89%)
- Tom-ay-to (11%)
Analysis:
I think there is a resounding UK audience to this site which is why tom-ar-to has been voted the favorite by far. The sad thing is that I have to say tom-ay-to now as nobody understands me if I say tom-ar-to. Unfortunately it's something I get to say a lot as I don't like tomatoes in their raw form so I don't like them on my sandwiches. Maybe it's because I say “no tom-ar-toes please” instead of “hold the tom-ay-toes.”
(Created on 23rd November 2008)
Vote #70
Question:
So, I've bought a lot of stuff online recently to furnish the new house, particularly electronic goodies like TVs and computers. Anyway, before buying these items I've gone and done my research by looking at the reviews that people have made before deciding on a product. Then looking at reviews of the various online stores in order to avoid any of the “bait and switch” merchants that are out there now. I've found that it's becoming increasingly more difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to reviews as it seems that many people seem to get disgruntled with a make and then systematically go round all the online stores and give all of that vendor's products a bad review. So, my question is simply - have you ever submitted an online review of a product?
Results:
No was the clear winner with 78% of the votes from the following selection:
- Yes - good reviews only (11%)
- Yes - bad reviews only (0%)
- Yes - both good and bad reviews (11%)
- No (78%)
Analysis:
What a bunch of unhelpful people we are. Can't say I blame you though as I'm amongst the many that don't provide reviews, but still expect to see one when I'm looking for a product. Time's a big factor, I just don't seem to get round to things like this. Generally, I buy a product and then use it. By the time I decide whether I think it's great or not, I'm not normally thinking about posting a review. Anyway, big thanks to those who do post the reviews as I think we all use them.
21:09:52
21st September 2008