"Na.am badalale ki ka.am sudharat naa.hi "


Pu.La.Deshpande - in Pestankaka

A Question of Fun Art.8

Gaston Glock


Gaston Glock - is the founder of Glock GmbH, the makers of handguns recommended by 90% of the US police force. The standard 18 round,24-ounce, 500 $ gun became so popular with the US police authorities, that when it came on the market in 1985 - it was snapped up by the dozens. The police forces were already combating growing terrorism, violence and petty robberies during that time and were eager to keep pace with the better-equipped, well-armed criminals. It's main competitor, the heavier and more complex .45 caliber Smith & Wesson was more expensive, and bulkier. Also since most of the mere 34 parts (except the carbon steel barrel) were made of a polymer, the gun had lesser recoil and was therefore much easier to handle. It soon became extremely popular with major police forces across he States including NYPD, US Special Forces, The FBI and other major anti-terrorist squads all around the world.

However, this incredible success story had its twists and turns. The story begins in Glock's country of birth - Austria. He was engaged in producing plastic grenade shells and also manufacturing plastic curtain-rod rings. He happened to overhear a certain comment by a few officers in the Austrian army about the inadequacy of their guns. Immediately Glock offered to make them one. They laughed away at him, but that made him even more determined to complete his mission. He got down to work in his basement every night and built the gun from scratch. Probably his greatest advantage was his total ignorance about gun making and his relative knowledge of polymer science. He built one of the simplest, lightest semi-automatics around. A mere 34 part Glock became so popular, than in 1983 he received an order for 25,000 guns. A man so determined, that he tested his prototypes with his left hand so that if his gun blew up - he could still draw blueprints with his right hand - was finally on the road to success. Two years later, eager to expand and attracted by nearby Luxembourg as a tax haven Glock met a certain Charles Ewert by chance - a man who was to change his life - and almost end it. Ewert, claiming he had international contacts se up many phony companies to which a large part of Glock's earnings were diverted. He opened various offices in Hong Kong and most importantly was responsible for Glock Inc. Glock's US subsidiary - it's most important company. Glock once said to his family that if anything happened to him they should go to Ewert.

Then one day Glock received a phone call from an employee Ewert had fired - telling him that there was something fishy about the way Ewert was operating. Glock immediately dismissed the idea as a clear case of a disgruntled employee's ire against his former employer. However just to put his mind to rest, he called a meeting with Ewert in Luxembourg. That's when - at Ewert's suggestion he stopped to have a look at a car parked near the road. A masked man leaped from behind and struck him with a rubber hammer. Ewert ran away from the scene. Glock struggling for his life managed to summon all his energy and hit back at the man - who later collapsed in a heap at the powerful man's blow. It was later discovered that the man was a French relation of Ewert. Ewert was later charged with attempted murder, and allegations of large misappropriation of funds and fraud. His case is still in the courts in Luxembourg but if found guilty he could face upto 30 years imprisonment.

They say 'You don't mess with Gaston Glock'. Now in his 70s Glock GmbH is still very much a one-man company. His son says that at the company he is his 'father's slave'. He is also known to be extremely private, one of his favourite pastimes being flying his Cessna wherever he travels. He had fought vehemently against the gun protection act that Clinton proposed, as it would have adversely affected his business. He has also fought against the frequent use of 'Glock' by rappers as he fears it will become a generic term for handguns.

Certainly having a violent and indeed colourful story a lot of Gaston Glock's past is shrouded in mystery. His incredible fight for his life on that fateful day in Luxembourg, his hugely public spat with Charles Ewert and the countless court lawsuits by him and indeed against him stand testimony to that. But one thing seems sure - until this man is at the helm, Glock GmbH will always be at the top of the list when it comes to choosing a handgun.

Some links

Glock webite
Glock FAQ
Frank Boosman's Blog

X - Am
I know it's that time of the year when most of you would be saying X-Mas rather than exam, but p(c?)IET decided to have exams postponed, so here i am - not going to Mood I - and sitting at home just saying to myself - you must study sometime,

Till i am free of this moral obligation,

Cheers,
Abhishek

Public Notice

issued by : (as per aai rules) My parents

We hereby proclaim that our son is an adult (atleast by law) and we are not responsible for any future misconduct on his part. And by the way - happy b'day.

PS:Abhishek says : atleast i can be a member of inquizitive now(i.e. without faking your age)
Cheers,

Children

I peeped out of my window
To see an alarming thing
Two extremely charged-up children
Were very fiercely fighting

My heart pained, On seeing
This very alarming thing
To see such young noble children fighting
Is not a heart-warming thing.

Shouting and screaming,
Seemingly out of their wits!
They seemed to be tearing,
Each other to bits

I couldn’t bear the trauma
And shut my painful window,
I thought I hadn’t seen it
The fighting, and the power show

Next day on my walk,
And what do I see
The two same children
Playing together with glee

I looked at the heavens
And flashed an inward smile
I applauded Him on making , children
In such a beautiful style !

A 7th Std. Abhishek

Baithe Baithe kya kare,
Karna hai kuch kaam,
EEE ke circuit suljhaye
Ya Taylor/McLaurin ko kare salaam !

Cheers,

Blogroll

Some long awaited additions to the roll,
Nikhil K , Siddharth Dani, Kunal T. and ex-PIET quizzing don Arka
Cheers,

A Question of Fun             Art.7

Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882 - 1945) is popularly known as the rocket man. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1882 he was always fascinated with everything pyrotechnic. Sticks of TNT, explosives, or small firecrackers or rockets fascinated him as much, as today's kids love their PS2s. He schooled at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and later became a professor at Clark University, teaching physics, for nearly 29 years.

At that time it was believed that propelling anything in space was technically impossible because there was no air to push against. However Goddard in his paper titled "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes" was able to prove that if you built a big enough rocket, with enough power then it would be possible to reach the moon. He was much ridiculed for his efforts in the media and was even quoted in the papers as "Professor Goddard, lacked the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." after he proposed the idea of space propulsion. Enraged, Goddard intensified his efforts to prove the editors wrong and went into a shell of his own private research from which he never fully recovered because it wasn't until after his demise that his technologies were proved to be correct and could be applied practically.

Goddard proved first that space flight was possible even with the absence of air. Later he realized that if he had any chance of reaching space, gun powders and other such chemical concoctions would have to be replaced by much more powerful fuels. He conceived the use of Liquid fuel like hydrogen which when mixed with liquid oxygen to act as a propellant fuel for the rockets. In fact this is the technology that still powers today's rockets. Thirdly he realized that a single stage rocket would be impossible to get in space and conceived multistage rockets. He was awarded patents for his ideas of liquid propellants and multistage rockets in 1914. Probably during this period the only commercial success that he had was the development of the "Bazooka" done for U.S. Army Signal Corps and Ordinance Department, in the Magnetic Lab (now Skull Tomb) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, at Clark University, and later at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. By 1917 he started receiving financial assistance to sustain his work from the Smithsonian Institution. Later he was to receive a lot of research funds due to the efforts of Charles Lindbergh. It was during the 1920's and the 30's that he did the bulk of his work. Much ridicule came his way, as his failed rocket experiments were difficult to hide from public eye, as they had to be performed in the open. This is probably best highlighted by this hilarious headline in a local paper " MOON ROCKET MISSES TARGET BY 238,799 1/2 MILES."

However his first major breakthrough came in 1926 when Goddard successfully launched a 10-ft rocket he called Nell from his aunt Effie's farm. That flight which lasted for 2.5 seconds launching the rocket at 60 M.P.H. was as historic in the history of modern rocketry as the Wright brothers' 12 sec flight at Kitty Hawk. That 41ft climb was the first stepping stone in Goddard's flight to success. Though in the initial stages his work went largely unnoticed in America, The German Rocket Society, formed in 1927 took considerable interest in his work. His work basically outlined what was to be the famous German V-2 ballistic missile. He indigenously developed all the technology required for flight including liquid propellant driven pumps, steering units, and gyroscopic control. It was in the month of March 1937 that he achieved an altitude of 9000 feet that was to be his highest flight. Even in World War II, Goddard services were used by the U.S. Navy to the development of practical jet assisted takeoff (JATO) and liquid propellant rocket motors capable of variable thrust. He died on August 10,1945, four days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.

Robert.H.Goddard was a man who had both the creative genius to think beyond the obvious and the technical brilliance to bring these wonderful ideas into reality. He not only thought of what was then considered impossible, but also carried on with his research in the face of much public humiliation and ultimately succeeded. All the honour that he got, though belated, was richly deserved. The Congress issued a Gold medal in his name in 1959 and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland was named after him.

From that cloud of smoke from a powder rocket fired in the basement of the physics building in Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1907 as a kid, to the first 2.5 second flight on that the afternoon of March 16 in 1926, to the dizzying height of 9000 feet he achieved in 1937 Goddard's journey was truly remarkable. His genius is an inspiration for all engineers in today's 'Space Age' that would have been quite impossible without the creative genius called Robert.H.Goddard.

Additional Info :
NASA entry
TIME magazine

Cheers,
Abhishek

Snippets of PIET

My first month at PIET has been quite hectic, thus contributing to the neglect of this blog. However my teachers have taken over the content creation for this article. Here are a few masterstrokes.

Deshpande V.L.
* Now I will take attendance, pls. say 'Yes Sir' or 'No Sir'

* Please students, don't perform mischief, don't perform mischief. Last year 10 boys were expelled for performing mischief - out of which five were girls.

'Director' Ghatol

* I don't say PIET is the best college. There are colleges like IITs and there are other colleges. PIET is somewhere in between. But students we have something that no college in the world has, (long pause...) The Mula river!

Our Maths Teacher - Mrs. Kavishwar

* How can you say that 'x' is negative. If it had been '-x' then it would have been negative.

Our Physics Sir - Mr. Kamble

* Now students for extra knowledge on the subject of semiconductors, please write down the name of the website -
www.google.com


Such is the wonderful life at PIET - never missed FC esp. with regard to the teachers.

Cheers,
Abhishek

FE or F.Y.B.Tech is really taking is toll,

So much work so little time - is it always the case or are these the signs of PIET different from erstwhile COEP,

Anyways weekends are here and a little time for some good stuff !!

Branching Out

Yesterday was faced with the quite difficult task of choosing between Comp. and Mech, I never really wanted to do ENTC so having a choice betn my 2 fav. branches was difficult. I absolutely love computers and have been programming since 5th std. albeit in QBASIC. Anyways i chose to stick with my first love (with due apologies to scooty owners) and take CS. Anyways i hope that means i may have Ramanand as an alumni teacher. Also i hope that i will enjoy my years at PIET,

Cheers,
Abhishek

(AD)Mission Accomplished !!

Finally after an admission procedure which lasted for about 3 months the allotment list have been annouced for FE admissions. I have managed to get PIET(formerly COEP)
So thats one very important job done. Hope to start college soon, maybe by the first week of sep. We are expected to pay by next week. Then maybe a second list. So Sep. is a good guess.

******

Inquizzition posters were finalized and printed. Thus AnAstAsiA Arts(a company whose founder, chairman, clerk, cleaner etc etc is me) gets its first credit though last years poster was also designed by the same company. Therefore that's one major work done and expect FC Quest ppl swarming around ur institution and putting up the posters. A copy of the poster will soon be put up here. So watch this space.


******


Quizzing League News :

It has been decied by general opinion that the league will be executed on a test basis this year. That means that only a certain amount of ppl.(read regular BC quizzers) will be included. However invitations will soon be sent and then a list will be drawn up. This has to be finalized before InqV as that will be the first event under this programme.

******

On a personal note t'day i'm feeling really good for getting in to COEP nay PIET. Hope to have four fulfilling and enriching experience for four years. There are about 4-5 friends who have also got through, so hope i enjoy my time with all of them. Also am looking forward to be a member of the boat club. Do we get to row etc etc. i think that would be quite interesting. Also looking forward to help organize chakravyuh and witness the grand treat that is the regatta. Also most imp looking forward to loitering on the lawns of BC as ppl shoot of questions every saturday at BCQC. That i admit has me smiling from ear to ear. So with lots to look forward to here's signing off !

Cheers,

TESTING SYSTEM FOR QUIZZES

Some time back I had thought of creating a simulator for testing various systems. Following is a general outline of the testing method to be used.
(Just for reference for the non-quizzing readers I have included a general discussion of the types of scoring systems used. Quizzers may skip.)

Detailed description of the three scoring systems :

1. Direct and Passing(D&P)

In this round the total number of questions per round is equal to total number of teams.(This point is common to all the systems) Every team gets one direct question and on account of that teams not knowing/passing the question passes till each team has either got it wrong or till one of the teams gets it right. There is usually a discrepancy regarding the scoring. i.e. 10 & 10 or 10 & 5. Now in this simulator there will be an input window regarding the points for direct and the points for passed. We should be able to key in this value.

2. Infinite Rebound(IR)

In this system also total number of questions per round is equal to total number of teams. However the first question is asked the first team. Then the question passes till someone gets it right or till we come back to the original team. If no one gets it right then the next team to the one that attempted the previous question gets the question on direct. However if someone gets it right then the next team gets the next direct question. Each team gets 10 points for a correct answer. Rounds do not matter in this system and therefore the order does no get set to the first team after the end of each round.

3. Centaurian Scoring System(CSS)

(PS:I quote from an article that I had written)

"....... The total no of direct attempts by each team is noted down. Once a question is answered or attempted by each and every person and there comes a time for the next question then the team with the least no of direct questions should be posed the next question. Following is some sample data

DIRECT ATTEMPTS TABLE

A B C D
. .

(where the dots represent no of direct attempts)

Consider following case. Direct Q to A - no one gets it. Therefore every team gets an attempt. Now B,C,D all have min no of direct Q answered. Then we go by alphabetical or round order(clockwise/anticlockwise)Then B gets direct Q. C answers correctly. Therefore as C & D both have min no of direct questions the order is decided by no of attempted questions(i.e. D gets next question).

ATTEMPTED QUESTIONS TABLE

A B C D
. . . .
. .
(where the dots represent no of direct & indirect attempts)

Now when D gets direct question suppose A answers it. Then according to above rule as C is the team with lowest no of direct attempts it should get the next question instead of B as in the case of IR. What we do is that we fill up the gaps in the table so that each team gets the same no of direct questions. ...."

So basically we check if the no. of direct attempts remain the same, if all the teams have the same no, of direct attempts then we check if the total no of indirect attempts is also same, if all is same then we proceed according to clockwise/anti-clockwise as usual. If not then the team with the least no of direct questions gets the next questions and if the teams have equal no of direct questions then the team with least no. of attempted questions gets the next question. Rounds do not matter in this system and therefore the order does no get set to the first team after the end of each round.

4. WRITTEN ELIMINATION

In this system each team is asked each question. They get equal points and the one with max. no of correct answers wins.

OTHER IMPORTANT PARAMETERS :

When the no of teams are selected then each team is given a IQ no. i.e. basically this no indicates the probability of their answering a particular question. Now this quotient will be a whole number between 1 and 5 and the program will give us an option to either enter these or randomly generate. Now if the particular round is a specialty round then the program will generate separate set of IQ no. for each team just for that round.(it should be noted that this no should lie in the threshold of plus-minus 2. i.e if the team has a general IQno of 3 then the possible assigned values should be between 1 and 5 for this speciality round. However IQ no. should be within the limits of 1 and 5.)

Now the program gives us an option to input difficulty level of the quiz. This number will be between 0 and 4.The lower the difficulty no, the tougher the quiz. If the difficulty no is set to then the probability of answering each question by a team is given by the formula ;

PROBABILITY = (DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF QUESTION + IQ no of team)/10

That means if the difficulty no. is 3 and the team IQ no is 4 then the probability of answering the question is 7/10. Max probability is when a team with IQ no 5 gets the easiest difficulty of 4 then the probability of answering is 90%.

However it must be noted that the difficulty no is not a whole number while IQ no is a whole number. Also the Question difficulty no for each question must be randomly generated. However it must be plus-minus 'consistency number' of the quiz. The consistency no is a number between 0 and 1 and so if the consistency no if .5 and the quiz difficulty no entered as 2 then difficulty of each question must be a random no generated between 1.5 and 2.5 . Using these rules the program generates the probability of a team answering a question and using this it says whether the team gets the question right or wrong.

This probability number remains the same for every question-team combination. i.e. if for a particular case in IR and CSS systems the same question is asked to same team then their probability of answering it should remain the same irrespective of the method of scoring. This is very IMPORTANT point, and if not implemented will make the system extremely unfair. That is if a particular team gives a certain answer right, then that team should get it right irrespective of the method of scoring.

CONCERNING SPECIALITY ROUNDS

There are some rounds in a quiz for specialties i.e. sport etc. Now the teams aptitude changes for such rounds and teams that are damn good at general quizzing may be damn dumb at a particular specialty or vice versa. Therefore for such round the IQ no. is to be regenerated however it must remain plus-minus 2 of the general IQ no as mentioned before.However this number should never exceed 5 or be below 1. The number of specialty rounds is taken and a different IQ no is generated for each specialty round.

FAIRNESS QUOTIENT :

Written elims are the fairest way to conduct a quiz however it is not practically possible to have written quizzes. The fairness quotient is generated for each method of scoring. It is defined

(points got in a particular system)/(points got in written elimination.) X 100

Major Inputs ;

Number of teams
Number of questions
No of rounds
No of specialty rounds
IQ no of Teams in definite order.
Difficulty Level of quiz
Consistency no of the quiz
Scoring system for D&P
There should an option to rearrange the order of teams.
(each input wherever possible should have the option of randomly generating the value)

Major Outputs ;

Detailed round by round scoring with each system with the round no. and specialty if any
Total final scores
Ranks
Number of direct and indirect questions each team attempted
Number of direct and indirect questions each team got right
Fairness quotient of each system
IQ no of each team


That's all folks. Just something to get your brains racking and thinking again. After long time do I write a technical article. Pls. feel free to point out mistakes and additions if necessary. I plan to implement the sim. as soon as I have the necessary coding/programming skills, which will I suppose take some time. Anyways, till then -

Adios & Cheers,

(note : just finished reading PAPILLON, absolutely amazing, fabulous, must read. )

SNAP QUIZ

Connect
Santiago, San Antonio, Conception, Trinidad, and Victoria.

Pls. try answering without google search.

Not many Indians know of Lou Gehrig. Probably those who have followed the life of Stephen 'Black Hole' Hawking might have heard the name probably in a different context. If one remembers Hawking has been struck with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) or motor neurone disease. This is also called as Gehrig's Disease. That's what had this name in the back of my mind.

It was when reading something about Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth that I happened to chance upon the name of Gehrig and to my surprise I learnt that he played baseball. In fact Gehrig held the record for the most number of consecutive games played till Cal Ripken, Jr. broke it in 1995. Gehrig's consecutive game streak of 2,130 games did not come easily. He played well every day despite a broken thumb, a broken toe and back spasms. Later in his career Gehrig's hands were X-rayed, and doctors were able to spot 17 different fractures that had "healed" while Gehrig continued to play. His endurance and strength earned him the nickname "Iron Horse."

Gehrig was born on June 19, 1903 in New York City. The son of German immigrants, Gehrig was the only one of four children to survive. His mother, Christina, worked tirelessly, cooking, cleaning houses and taking in laundry to make ends meet. His father, Heinrich, often had trouble finding work and had poor health. In 1921 he went to Columbia on a football scholarship to pursue a degree in engineering. Before his first semester began, New York Giants manager John McGraw advised him to play summer professional baseball under an assumed name, Henry Lewis, in a different college - Hartford. "Everyone does it," McGraw explained, even though the illegal ball playing could have jeopardized Gehrig's collegiate sports career. Gehrig was discovered after playing a dozen games for Hartford in the Eastern League. As a result, he was banned from intercollegiate sports during his freshman year.

Yankee manager Miller Huggins petitioned McGraw to permit Gehrig to replace the ailing Wally Pipp on the Yanks' roster for the World Series. McGraw, always looking for an edge, exercised his prerogative and refused. The Yankees won the World Series that year anyway. After a full season at Hartford, became a Yankee for good in 1925. Once he replaced Wally Pipp at first base, Gehrig didn't leave the playing field for over 13 years.

Ruth and Gehrig dominated baseball in 1927 in a way two players had never done before. Ruth hit 60 home runs (breaking his own record of 59) and Gehrig hit 47, the second best. In that season Ruth not being eligible for the MVP as he had won o before, it went to Gehrig. By 1932 Ruth's dominance was slipping and Lou stepped right into his shoes. On June 3, 1932, Gehrig became the fist American Leaguer to hit four home runs in a game.

During an off season trip to Japan, the two stars had a massive fight apparently about some comment that Gehrig's mother made about how Ruth's daughter dressed. After that they didn't talk for 6 years. Though being in New York and playing for the Yankees, Gehrig was never much in the news as Ruth eclipsed him. It was though that after the exit of Ruth, Lou would be in the limelight, but then came the talismanic Joe DiMaggio. These two hit a combination like Babe and Gehrig had done some time ago and the Yankees won 4 consecutive World Series.

On May 2 1939 the game announcer intoned, "Ladies and gentlemen, Lou Gehrig's consecutive streak of 2,130 games played has ended. He was diagnosed with ALS and realized that he couldn't play baseball ever .Gehrig was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame that December. On June 2, 1941, Lou Gehrig succumbed to ALS and baseball lost a great player. Gehrig was cremated and his ashes were buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York. Actor Edward Hermann was hired to play Gehrig in a TV movie later. He is best described by saying that he was the ever popular, ever smiling superhero. He was somewhere in between the average and the extra-ordinary. He was as they say - "The Iron Horse'.

Lou Gehrig might not be known to Indians as we rarely follow baseball. However he has become immortal the world over unfortunately because of that fateful disease, which carries his name. He was that that kind of person had he lived in another age that babe Ruth and DiMaggio, would have become a superstar and to some extent he was. His personality can best be rounded of by this affable quote on being asked about playing in Ruth's shadow

"It's a pretty big shadow. It gives me lots of room to spread myself."

for more info see : lougehrig.com

Update

Hi, ppl just coming back from a vacation,
will be back blogging soon,

Cheers,
Abhishek

PUNE QUIZZING LEAGUE

All those who wish to take part in Pune Quizzing league, please register urself as the registrations are now open. Please click here to register.

The final rules etc will be put up shorty. tentatively the quiz league starts with Inquizzition. Those quizzing wishing to participate please post expression of interest on PQC.

Thanks,
Abhishek

Are u Doped

Just found this excellent website(which i think might be quite famous also). Called Straight Dope their motto is fighting ignorance since 1973. What takes the cake is the sub heading - Its taking longer than we thought. Since i thought the objectives match i thought i will drop a ref here. I thinkCecil does a great job !

Are u Doped

Just found this excellent website(which i think might be quite famous also). Called Straight Dope their motto is fighting ignorance since 1973. What takes the cake is the sub heading - Its taking longer than we thought. Since i thought the objectives match i thought i will drop a ref here. I thinkCecil does a great job !

New blogs coming thich and fast. Varun Datar needs a plumber here for his new blog.(to know why click here)We really are giving blogger some business aren't we.Also to note new additions to links col. As for dearth in recent posts blam BSNL for that. Big problems with NET connection and everytime i dial 1957 internet helpline, some wierd music starts up and after sometime a ghati accented english speaking lady tells me that no agent is still available, without telling ,e first that an agent is not available. Then an UK accented lady tells me to call after some time. And i though BSNL had improved !!

CHANAKSHA UPDATE
Hi, ppl had gone on a small vacation to Mumbai, and have just finished filing my forms for engineering CET etc ect and verifying details after 5 gruesome hours. Ashish just tells me that CHANAKSHA will be held in FC amphi in the last week of this month. It is a school quiz meant to educate about college quizzing what is trivia etc ect. I is being backed by indian express and i will divulge more details after taking permission from Ashish jee. Anyways wait with bated breath for o quizzing extravaganza that hopes to give FUNDAMENTAL a tough time. Any suggestions welcome,

Cheers,
Abhishek

Hi something bad happened to my blog,
just testing if everything's OK

Welcome one more member in the blogging fraternity - our dear FC co-ordinator Kunal Sawardekar (confiscate all the [V]'s ) starts blogging
here

Something that every indian and every person interested in Hindu Mythology should know. The inescapable, all pervading Vishnu and his ten Avataars.

Matsya Avataar
(Matsya = fish)

Matsya,( the Fish incarnation), is the first manifestation of Vishnu. When the earth was flooded in a deluge this incarnation saved humanity from the flood. While Brahmma fell asleep, at the end of the Kalpayuga, the asura Hayagriva intended to take advantage of the situation and steal from Brahma, the Vedas. But Vishnu spies this demon in the act, and to retrieve the Vedas, took the form of a fish. Then Vishnu, in the form of Matsya, directs the rishi Satyavrata to collect herbs, seeds and animals, to gather together the seven rishis (or saptarishis), and to wait. At the beginning of the Pralayaa (great Deluge) the gigantic fish defeated the asura, restored the Vedas to Brahmma; the rain poured down relentlessly, the ocean began to swell and the waves began engulfing the earth, then, a boat appeared where Satyavrata was waiting. When the rishis, with the animals and the seeds were boarded, the boat was fastened to the fish's fin. Using Vasuki, king of the serpents as their guide through the stormy sea, they sailed through the night to Brahmma. Thus Vishnu saved the mankind from dissolution.


Koorma
(Koorma = Tortoise)

Koorma, ( the Tortoise), was used for support to mount Mandara, as a churn dasher, when the devas and the asuras churned the heavenly ocean of milk (Samudramanthana) to obtain Amrita.
Following Pralayaa - the Deluge at the beginning of the present Kalpayuga, the Gods lost immortality. So they decided to go to Vishnu. Vishnu suggested that they make peace with the asura (demons) enemies and cousins of the devas (gods), to work together to obtain the Amrita-the nectar of immortality by churning the ocean of milk in heaven. Then he transformed himself into a tortoise and plunged into the ocean. The devas cast all kinds of plants and herbs into the ocean of milk. Garuda carries mount Mandara on his back and brings it to the center of the ocean of milk to use as a churn. Vasuki, the king of the serpents, was used as rope for turning it. The devas pull from one side and on the other the asuras pulled, churning the ocean of milk. The churning first threw up Visha (or Halahala) - the poison. Shiva absorbs the poison by swallowing it, and the churning resumed. Many precious things rose up. In the end emerged the jar containing Amrita-Soma (the nectar of immortality). Suddenly the asuras, dishonoring their agreement, take possession of this jar all for themselves. So Vishnu takes on the form of Mohini, a celestial princess whose beauty was considered matchless and approaches the asuras. Intoxicated and distracted by her beauty, they forget about the jar of Amrita and surround the beautiful woman. Meanwhile the devas manage to take possession of the jar of Amrita and the they alone drank the nectar of immortality, not a drop was left to the asuras.


Varaaha Avataar
(Varaaha = Boar)

Varaaha, (the Boar), is the allegory of the re-establishment of the world after Pralayaa-theDeluge. At the begining of the Kalpa, Prithvi (the Earth) lies on the ocean-bed, Vishnu wishing to lift her up, took the form of a boar and plunged into the primeval waters then lifted Bhoomidevi (the Mother Earth) onto his tusks and raised her to the surface. Before doing this, Varaaha defeated the evil asura Hiranyaksha.


Narasimha Avataar
(Nara = Man; Simha = Lion)

Narashima (the Man-lion) , is the fourth incarnation of Vishnu. It was believed that the evil asura king Hiranyakashipu, Hiranyaksha's elder brother, had been blessed with a boon from Brahma. He had been granted that he could not be killed by either man or beast, during the day or at night, indoors or outdoors, on earth or in the sky. The asura, being aware of own virtual immortality, conquered heaven and earth, and there were no limits to Hiranyakashipu's impudence and insolence. He subjected his son Prahlada, a devout worshipper of Vishnu, to a long and cruel persecution. All this because his son revered Vishnu instead of his own father. One fateful day, when the asura was going to slay Prahlada, Vishnu emerged from a pillar in the palace in the form of Narasimha to protect his devotee. When Narashima (neither man nor beast) attacked the asura, it was the twilight (neither day nor night), he dragged Hiranyakashipu under the arch of the doorway (neither indoors nor outdoors), where he threw the asura on his own lap (neither on earth nor in the sky), and killed him like a lion kills its prey!


Vaamana Avataar
(Vaamana = dwarf)

During the Tretayuga Vishnu descended upon the earth to grant a boon to Aditi (mother of the devas or the Gods ) who asked for the protection of her sons. The last of the devas had been defeated by asuras, and now King Bali (Prahlada's grandson) who was an asura, ruled over the tree worlds. Vishnu assumed the role of Aditi's son and changed his form to that of Vaamana (a dwarf brahmin). Then he appeared where king Bali was performing a sacrifice. As per Hindu religion, a king performing any ceremonial sacrifice has to appease the brahmins that preside and grant them their wishes. When it was Vaamana's turn to be granted a wish, he requested Bali to donate to him a strip of land as long as three his strides. Bali, acting in opposition to his guru's advice, who realized that Vaamana was none other than Vishnu, consented to the dwarf brahmin's humble demand. After all, how much land would three strides of a dwarf mean? As Vaamana lifted his foot for the first stride, suddenly he grew and with him grew his strides. With the first he covered the entire earth, with the second the heavens, and the third on Bali's head. Thus giving back to the devas ownership of the earth and the heaven.
This avatar is also worshipped as Trivikrama, and Ulagalanda-Peruma.


Parashurama
(Parashu = Axe Plow)


Parashurama (Rama of the axe plow), the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born a brahmin but had been blessed with extraordinary physical power uncharacteristic of brahmins. Outraged by king Arjuna and his son Kritaveeryarjuna, who first stole Kamadhenu and then killed his father Jamdaagni ,Parashurama swore to destroy the whole Kshatriya clan. Vishnu as Parashurama, in the course of a war which lasted 21 years, went on to destroy all the Kshatriyas, thus he accomplished the task for which he had come to the earth. But he never killed Kshatriyas that had wives for he had vowed not to widow any woman and he never killed women. Thus two of the most important Kshatriya dynasties of Hinduism were spared. These were the dynasties of Raja Dasharatha (Lord Rama's father) the king of Ayodhya and Raja Janaka (Sita's father), the king of Mithila. Parshurama even challenged Rama for a duel because he had dared to break the bow of Shiva while winning her in a Swayamvar.Legend states that on their journey returning from Mithila to Ayodhya Rama's cavalcade was interrupted by none other that Parashurama. He had been tutored in the art and skill of archery by Lord Shiva himself, and here was Rama who had broken Shiva's bow and to add to his anger he was a Kshatriya boy! So he challenges Lord Rama to a dual. Both are such good fighters that neither can overpower the other.....suddenly their eyes lock and Parashurama realizes that Lord Rama is none other than Vishnu Himself! It was time for his incarnation to come to an end and so he retires to the deep forest for the rest of his life. Parashurama is considered immortal and is believed to be living in that forest to this day!



Rama Avataar
Lord Rama or Ramachandra, is the most important Avatar. Together, with Lord Krishna he represents the peak of the historic incarnations and by him is defined the ideal character of Indian people. He is known as Maryada Purushottama and is the embodiment of virtue and righteousness.
He is Vishnu descended upon earth to conquer all the Indian peninsula, including Sri Lanka, under the Bharatvansha (the dynasty of Bharata) rule. Lord Rama is one of the most adored and revered gods in India. He was born in the north Indian city of Ayodhya (a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh) and is popularly depicted holding a bow (Kodanda) and arrow indicating his readiness to destroy evil. His story forms the epic Ramayana. He is perfect in every aspect; the perfect man, the perfect brother, the perfect king, etc. and the obedient son. Commonly he is pictured in a family, with his wife Sita, brother Lakshmana and his most ardent devotee Hanumana (the Monkey God).


Krishna Avataar
(Krishna = Dark as in complexion)

Krishna, the eighth Avatar of Vishnu, descended upon the earth at the end of the Dwapara Yuga. A portentous baby, playful boy, Gopis (cowherd-girls) beloved, strong leader, and then Divine Charioteer of Arjuna in the "Bhagavadgita". His body and face are blue, the color of the endless ocean and infinite space. He is often depicted holding a flute in his hands (Murlidhar) as cowherds do and almost always wears a peacock feather in his hair. Lord Krishna is one of the most worshipped deities in the Hindu faith. He is known for his bravery in destroying evil powers. The Lord is usually remembered and worshipped as Radha-Krishna. The couple symbolizes the eternal love between man and God.
His death marks the beginning of Kaliyuga. He is Vishnu descended upon this earth for the deliverance of the Gita, to show the path to Hindus and explain the philosophical significance of being a Hindu.


Buddha
(Buddha = become aware/regain consciousness)

According to the Dashavataara, Buddha, the ninth avataar was born a Kshyatriya prince. Siddhartha Gautama was the name of this prince born in the kingdom of Lumbini (what is today in Southern Nepal). Deeply disillusioned by the cycle of birth, death and rebirth and all that is human life which inevitably leads to suffering, loss, and pain, he renounced his royal heritage and his life of a prince and traveled to the east. As he sat under a tree one day, he recognized that all of the world's problems begin with a fundamental ignorance (avidya) and understood that because of the fact of constant change even things that seem to provide happiness--such as wealth, fame, power, sex, relationships--are in fact sources of suffering (duhkha).

At dawn the following morning, he had attained enlightenment and had become a "buddha," a term derived from the Sanskrit root word budh, meaning to wake up or to regain consciousness. He was now fully awakened from the sleep of ignorance in which most beings spend life after life. At first he thought to remain under the tree and pass away without revealing what he had understood, since he knew that the teachings of an awakened being are subtle and difficult for ordinary beings to comprehend. As he sat there in blissful contemplation, however, the god Brahma came to him, bowed down before him, and begged him to teach others.

For forty years he preached his ideals and gained wide disciples and followers all around the world. According to his biography, he died in a grove of trees near the town of Vaishali at the age of eighty.


Kalki

Kalki is the next Avatar of Vishnu. He is yet to appear and when he does He will appear, riding his white horse and wielding a shiny sword, at the end of the Kaliyuga, the dark age through which we are passing. This is considered to be the age of suffering, darkness and doom. His task will be to end the evil and restore the Dharma. Thus will begin a new cycle, again will start the Satyayuga or the age of truth and righteousness.

A QUESTION OF FUN

Sorry for long time no post. Anyways i have a vaild excuse dear shri pasalkar who is the head of Govt Tech Education decided to slap the 12th board exams in the face saying that there will be an entrance exam for engineering.(I kinda like the idea coz there is no time for ppl to mug up, also no problem if handwriting is bad all the blah blah about presentation etc. Also no luck involved - i hope. Anyways finishes on Sunday 27th. WIll be back with a bang,
TIll then,

Keep Blogging
Abhishek

Online Message Board

HI, ppl there were many suggestions that we should have a quizzing msg boards similar to the FC one. I have registered for s similar on and the address is pqc.proboards15.com. Basically PQC stands for pune quizing circle/club etc. I also am looking for interested admin guys and moderators. Also need ideas to develop the site further. So please mail me at cheerfulguy@gmail.com and tell me of your willingness. Lets see if we can progress this idea further.

Cheers,
Abhishek

SOME LOGOS THAT I HAVE BEEN DESIGNING FOR CHANAKSHA 2004 which is on the cards. Ceck them out and pls feedback.

Another one i like

Normal EYE - Aksha means eye doesn't it

HAVE NAMED THE FIRST ONE 'The Flaming Eye'

PROBABLE LOGOS FOR CHANAKSHA -

Hi guys,
Diverting from the purpose of this blog - but just to inform all of ya that my 12th std. results were out aani "mi paas zhalo aahe". Just for details group 96.6% and aggregate 92%. Descent enough for the amount of work i had put it,

Anyways(i know that is gramattical incorrect), back to serious business nect time.
Cheers, -- Abhishek

Guys unveiling the log for crossStyx - figuring out a way to add it to the template

Logo

INTRODUCING COLLEGE QUIZZING TO SCHOOL CHILDREN: (PART I)

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As the date for the organization of QUEST's much awaited 'college quiz for schools' draws nearer i draw myself to think about the pre-requisites and the points to be taken into consideration as regards the setting of the quiz with respect to scoring, question setting and so many small nuances that can be included to make this quiz much more successful in achieving its objectives. It would be very unfortunate that if in the logistical details the big picture (read objectives) of the quiz are forgotten. Hence this effort to jot down what all can be done in achieving this objective.

For the uninitiated QUEST is organizing a quiz aimed at introducing college level quizzing to school children i.e. 9th /10th std. students who are soon going to be in the college scene. It is going be called "Chanaksha" and will be held around 2nd/3rd week of July. Following are a few of the points that can be included in this quiz to help in achieving this goal:

Scoring System:Well since the norm is IR in college quizzing, undoubtedly this should be the system in this quiz. There have been a few arguments that school children will not 'understand' it. I think now that we are all supposedly 'grown up' we should make the mistake that some of our elders made that of under rating school children. I also think that a general consensus has been reached on this issue. However this method should be properly explained to the audience, maybe when the checking of the papers is going on.

Team Names:
Definite yes! Give them examples, tell them what team names are, tell them how they are supposed to be. While registering we can ask them to think of something beforehand instead of telling them at the last moment. This should definitely be done. Maybe 3 excellent team names from the innumerable good ones that we have should be put up somewhere in the hall. Maybe a poster comprising what makes a good name, and etc etc should be put up somewhere.

Connects:
Again a definite yes, i don't know if the QM is going to include connects but i think it should definitely be done but albeit in a small way. There shouldn't be a barrage of connects nor should there be a special connect round. They can be slipped in between, as regular questions, and maybe even a picture connect should be included. This will help a long way.

Familiarizing Trivia:
School children don't know what trivia is. Quizzing is thought of to be rattling away already known facts rather than working out questions etc etc. The concept of workable questions needs to be introduced. I think a good way of doing this will be through the quizmaster himself. There are going be some really workable questions and therefore if no one gets it right the QM should explain the process of working out a question. Not every time but at least once this should be done.

Round Formats:
I think the concept of Rapid Fire must be done away with. Rounds might be content based or format based. This is left to the discretion of the QM and really does not matter. I personally prefer content-based rounds like sports, music etc.

CONCLUDING PART NEXT TIME

Sorry guys for the recent lack of posts,
The dry up has been due my being extremely busy rather than a dry up in my well of ideas, - so expect something good by the weekend as the master will get some time to come and appease his audience !!!

PS : How long a minute is depends on which side of the toilet door u are !!

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INVITING BUDDING PROGRAMMERS
I know a lot of you guys there are involved in computers/ programming etc. I have a project here regarding testing various quizzing models etc etc. I have written all the specific requirements which are basically too long and are probably deviating from the interests of a lot of my readers.

Anyway please mail me at : cheerfulguy@rediffmail.com immediately if any of you is interested in developing this idea forward and i will mail all of you my proposal. Let me assure you this is not another KBC but it is a serious program regarding testing of various quizzing models. All you guys have to do is put my ideas into code to make it to work. This can be developed further and can be used as an idea for your college projects etc. So be quick and mail me !!

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|| A Question of Fun ||
Art.4
As i celebrate the crossing of the hundred hits on my blog (not to mention searching franctically for that absconding scoundrel who was my hundredth eyeball - we two hundreth actually unless i had some one-eyed donkey also.) we pay a tribute to one of the founding fathers of compting, computing morality and of course philosophy. This 'enigmatic' persona has continued to haunt historians for a long time for his brilliance , eccentricity, and gayness.
Anyways this excellent article from the annals of the WWW is excellent in content as well as conciseness. As they say Enjoy !!

"
Alan Turing's short and extraordinary life has attracted wide interest. It has inspired his mother's memoir (E. S. Turing 1959), a detailed biography (Hodges 1983), a play and television film (Whitemore 1986), and various other works of fiction and art.
There are many reasons for this interest, but one is that in every sphere of his life and work he made unexpected connections between apparently unrelated areas. His central contribution to science and philosophy came through his treating the subject of symbolic logic as a new branch of applied mathematics, giving it a physical and engineering content. Though a shy, boyish, man, he had a pivotal role in world history through his role in Second World War cryptology. Though the founder of the dominant technology of the twentieth century, he variously impressed, charmed or disturbed people with his unworldly innocence and his dislike of moral or intellectual compromise.

Alan Mathison Turing was born in London, 23 June 1912, to upper-middle-class British parents. His schooling was of a traditional kind, dominated by the British imperial system, but from earliest life his fascination with the scientific impulse — expressed by him as finding the ‘commonest in nature’ — found him at odds with authority. His scepticism, and disrespect for worldly values, were never tamed and became ever more confidently eccentric. His moody humour swung between gloom and vivacity. His life was also notable as that of a gay man with strong emotions and a growing insistence on his identity.

His first true home was at King's College, Cambridge University, noted for its progressive intellectual life centred on J. M. Keynes. Turing studied mathematics with increasing distinction and was elected a Fellow of the college in 1935. This appointment was followed by a remarkable and sudden début in an area where he was an unknown figure: that of mathematical logic. The paper "On Computable Numbers…" (Turing 1936-7) was his first and perhaps greatest triumph. It gave a definition of computation and an absolute limitation on what computation could achieve, which makes it the founding work of modern computer science. It led him to Princeton for more advanced work in logic and other branches of mathematics. He had the opportunity to remain in the United States, but chose to return to Britain in 1938, and was immediately recruited for the British communications war.

From 1939 to 1945 Turing was almost totally engaged in the mastery of the German enciphering machine, Enigma, and other cryptological investigations at now-famous Bletchley Park, the British government's wartime communications headquarters. Turing made a unique logical contribution to the decryption of the Enigma and became the chief scientific figure, with a particular responsibility for reading the U-boat communications. As such he became a top-level figure in Anglo-American liaison, and also gained exposure to the most advanced electronic technology of the day.

Combining his ideas from mathematical logic, his experience in cryptology, and some practical electronic knowledge, his ambition, at the end of the war in Europe, was to create an electronic computer in the full modern sense. His plans, commissioned by the National Physical Laboratory, London, were overshadowed by the more powerfully supported American projects. Turing also laboured under the disadvantage that his wartime achievements remained totally secret. His ideas led the field in 1946, but this was little recognised. Frustrated in his work, he emerged as a powerful marathon runner, and almost qualified for the British team in the 1948 Olympic games.

Turing's motivations were scientific rather than industrial or commercial, and he soon returned to the theoretical limitations of computation, this time focussing on the comparison of the power of computation and the power of the human brain. His contention was that the computer, when properly programmed, could rival the brain. It founded the ‘Artifical Intelligence’ program of coming decades.

In 1948 he moved to Manchester University, where he partly fulfilled the expectations placed upon him to plan software for the pioneer computer development there, but still remained a free-ranging thinker. It was here that his famous 1950 paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," (Turing 1950b) was written. In 1951 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his 1936 achievement, yet at the same time he was striking into entirely new territory with a mathematical theory of biological morphogenesis (Turing 1952).

This work was interrupted by Alan Turing's arrest in February 1952 for his sexual affair with a young Manchester man, and he was obliged, to escape imprisonment, to undergo the injection of oestrogen intended to negate his sexual drive. He was disqualified from continuing secret cryptological work. His general libertarian attitude was enhanced rather than suppressed by the criminal trial, and his intellectual individuality also remained as lively as ever. While remaining formally a Reader in the Theory of Computing, he not only embarked on more ambitious applications of his biological theory, but advanced new ideas for fundamental physics.

For this reason his death, on 7 June 1954, at his home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, came as a general surprise. In hindsight it is obvious that Turing's unique status in Anglo-American secret communication work meant that there were pressures on him of which his contemporaries were unaware; there was certainly another ‘security’ conflict with government in 1953 (Hodges 1983, p. 483). Some commentators, e.g. Dawson (1985), have argued that assassination should not be ruled out. But he had spoken of suicide, and his death, which was by cyanide poisoning, was most likely by his own hand, contrived so as to allow those who wished to do so to believe it a result of his penchant for chemistry experiments. The symbolism of its dramatic element — a partly eaten apple — has continued to haunt the intellectual Eden from which Alan Turing was expelled.
"

Thus ends an insight into one of the greatest philosophcal minds of the 20th century - A.M.Turing.

NOTE : Small well known trivia, Apple Computers logo of an half eaten apple has been derived from the incident of Turing's death.

MODIFIED PUNE QUIZZING LEAGUE FRAMEWORK

Well after some deliberations with Salil and a few others and a few after thoughts, i have decided to present the final,general and toned down version of my idea for a quizzing league in Pune. The general and major difficulties with my earlier proposal were
a)what if partners are changed
b)money needed to be paid ??
c)Difficulty in attending
d)ppl getting rewarded just for turning up

Now i see points a) and d) as important points that need to be resolved. As for people not able to attend all the quizzes, i re iterate that this system will be used only for MAJOR quizzes and i have brought down the number to eight quizzes only. So i don't see a problem with that as these people can atleast try and attend these quizzes. A tentative list will include ;

a)Inquizzition
b)BG Joshi (AIT)
c)BJ Quiz
d)Chakravyuh
e)VIT quiz (which one pls notify me and tell which when where ?)
f) Shyam Bhat quiz
g)AFMC quizzes

I might have missed a few quizzes and there might be some important ones coming up newly. Anyways i will be floating a sort of official application for membership of Pune Quizzing Circuit soon after some discussion.

Modified Scoring System :

After taking into consideration the faults of the previous scoring system main modifications include ,

1) Only those getting half the cut off points will be considered for point addition. This ensures that just turning up will not guarantee u points.

2) As for the teams thing, viz. partner changing i accept that is a major problem. The solution is that points are maintained for individual players and not for teams though they may compete as teams. Now for example A & B and C&D form a team for a quiz. The first team comes 1st and the other does not get any points. Then both A and B get the specified points while C and D get nothing. Now if in the next quiz A and D team up and get say 10 points then - these 10 points are added to A's previous total and D in total gets 10 points. I think is a very acceptable system.

The rest of the scoring system remains as it is that is:
____________________________________________________________________________
SCORING SYSTEM -

in ELIMINATIONS :

Points in Elims = 10 X (Score in Elims + (10 - rank) for all teams qualified for the final).

i.e if a team scores 15 points in the elims and comes 2nd overall thereby qualifying for the finals then they get a score of 10 x (15 + (10 - 2)) = 230 points.

if a team scores 9 points in the elims and does not qualify for the finals then they get only 90 points.

in FINALS :

Number of points = (Number of Correct answers X 20) + bonus points as following :

1st 50 points
2nd 40 points
3rd 30 points
4th 20 points
____________________________________________________________________________|
NOTE - another important change to be noted is that instead of score in finals - we get total number of correct answers X 20 (not 10). This ensures that even if IR is not followed(very very unlikely) then also we score via IR.

The individual tile and the team title will be decide as previously stated. However one imp. change to the team title is that instead of the top two teams - the scores of the top three players will be noted for the final score.

REGARDING THE BOARD :

The board might be toned down to two members only but the board will have a panel of 5 observers. These will ensure that atleast two of them is present at each specified event to oversee proceedings, to note down scores and other formalities. These observers will see the standard of the quiz and rate them and suggest improvements. They might also visit quizzes whose membership will be considered for the next year.

The board will be totally honourary and quizzers will not have to pay to take part. But they will have to register. There might be a small fee that night have to be paid by the member quizzes so that out of this money at the end of the year we can reward the best quizzers, team and the best organized quizzes. There might not be cash prizes for the winners as this will be a totally voluntary exercise, but i think the praise itself will be enough.

The member quizzes will have to register with the board and will have to follow certain guidelines like allowing the observers to the see scores of individuals in elims etc. These rules remain same as previous.

The year ending quiz event remains a dream for me and lets see as the season goes on if we can make it a reality

As for the website where to host the scores and table i think a message board like the fergie one will do, - so that's where all this will be put up.

Cheers,
Abhishek
FC Quiz Society (someone remember the name ?)

NOTE for ppl:

This idea presented below of having a quiz boards may require a lot of planning etc,

However it can be toned down by someone just keeping all the results and all the scores of ppl at the quizzes and then formalize the results,
Anyways check it out, i seriously think with a little bit of organization it might work !

PROPOSAL FOR A PUNE QUIZZING LEAGUE


Was just reading something about quizzing leagues somewhere. When i heard of the idea of a league - an idea developed in my mind, but when i proceeded to actually read the details i found that it was radically different from the actual idea that i had in my mind. However my actual idea can be actually tweaked a litle bit here and there to actually fit the Pune Quizzing Circuit as i like to call it . We have number of quizzes round the year and some most of the teams coming are common to all the quizzes. Some quizzes have a rotating audience which comes to only a particular quiz, but say 15 teams do try and make it to every quiz. It is for these teams that this idea of quizzing league will be extremely important/useful.

Now my idea is influenced by the Formula1 scoring system to some extent. There is a concept of College/Company (equivalent to teams) and teams(equivalent to drivers).Following is an exact description.

SCORING SYSTEM -

in ELIMINATIONS :

Points in Elims = 10 X (Score in Elims + (10 - rank) for all teams qualified for the final).

i.e if a team scores 15 points in the elims and comes 2nd overall thereby qualifying for the finals then they get a score of 10 x (15 + (10 - 2)) = 230 points.

if a team scores 9 points in the elims and does not qualify for the finals then they get only 90 points.

Ambiguity no 1: What if two teams gets equal rank and both qualify :
Then both get equal number of championship points.

Ambiguity no 2 : What if two teams get equal points and only one qualifies via a tie breaker:
Then the team which does not go through does not get the bonus points for qualifying for the finals.

in FINALS :

Number of points = Score in the final + bonus points as following :

1st 50 points
2nd 40 points
3rd 30 points
4th 20 points

Now if the winner is decided via a tie break - then both the teams get equal no of base points and different number of bonus points. Now if two teams are tied on 4th place and since there is no need to resolve a tie breaker the total number of points they get will remain equal.

INDIVIDUAL TITLE :

The teams which gets maximum amount of champioship points at the end of a season will be declared the winner with subsequent runners-up etc.

TEAM TITLE :

For calculating the total points of a particular institution the top two teams of that instituion will be chosen and their points will be added up to decide the best team score. That institution willbe given the winners title.

PUNE QUIZZING CIRCUIT(PCQ) BOARD :

A certain board of avid quizzers will be chosen most probably comprising of 5 members. This board will have a Chairman and Chief Scorer. It will be sole jurisdiction of the Chairman to resolve any disputes or for the interpretation of rules. All disputes regarding the scoring pattern etc will be resolved by the chief scorer. This committee shall be divided into two parts. One comprising of the Chairman and the Secretary. This legislative committee will look after all the rules/regulations interpretations etc. etc. The other will be the executive committee consisting of the Chief Scorer, Scorer and Administrative Officer(AO). The Chief Scorer and the Scorer will have the responsibility of documenting all the results and preparing tables, scores and announcing results. In case of any ambiguity they will consult the Chairman for any interpretation of rules.It will be the duty of the AO to ensure that all the participants get a regular update of their positions and if possible to maintain an online document of the same. It will be his duty to notify changes in itenerary and to look after the finances of the board.

All the teams will register with the Board before the start of the quizzing circuit with all necessary information. Teams will be allowed to join the league at any time during the season.

The board can try and have an observer present at all the quizzes to rank the quizzes, in terms of organization etc. etc.

Qualifying Quizzes :

It must be noted that it will not be possible to accomodate all the quizzes to be a part of the Quizzing circuit. It would be much better if we had a list of reputed quizzes say about 12 in number which will be members of this league. Various institutions can be asked to organize one event a year(as most already do ). Therefore it can pre-released before the start of the year and an itenerary can be drawn up of all the participating quizzes and approx. dates.
This will lend a sort of formalization to various quizzes.

RULES FOR PARTICIPATING QUIZZES :

The PCQ Board will prepare a timetable of events, and a list of participating institutions. The following rules must be followed by participating institutions.

1. They must make available the scores and ranks of atleast the participating teams in the elims.

2. They must make available the final scores of all the teams to the Board.

3. They must fix an approx. date of their event and notify the board of any change whatsoever.

The participating quizzes must ensure that their quiz is of a particular standard. They must ensure that the whole process is fair and every effort must be made to ensure the best standard possible.

The board reserves the right to add new rules and regulations for participating teams and reserves the right to add/expel new quizzes etc from the itinerary.


YEAR ENDING QUIZZING NITE / AFTERNOON

At the end of the quizzing season the Board can organize a final quizzing nite/afternoon. This will be for declaring the winners of the individual and the team titles. The Board will also give suggestions regarding the organizing of various quizzes and will suggest improvements. The Board may also give a Best Organized Quiz of the Year to a particular quiz.

On this quizzing siesta on the last day the board will organize a quiz on its own behalf. This may be in a different format to the normal for eg. knock out etc. Lots of fun things can be done before end on season on this last day.

FINANCES :

Every participating team will pay a pre decided amount to the Board. Also the participating teams must pay a pre-decided amount to the board to be a part of the quizzing circuit. The members of the board may have the right to be paid a certain honourarium for their invaluable services.The Board fund will be utilized for the organization of the finalquiz. All the relevant logistics regarding finaces will have to be discussed in person.

CONCLUSION

This is a general idea and a final draft can be drawn once a general consensus is reached. I think this is extremely feasible idea provided all of us co-operate. We can have a website of the PCQ on which this league can perform. This can spawn a number of other ideas. We can have fictional betting on the teams, fantasy leagues, fantasy teams, etc etc. I see some problems like team changing will not be possible as in i cannot team up with person A in one quiz and person B in another quiz. However the number of plusses are huge, this will ensure a general regular attendance at various quizzes - loyalty will be increased, people will be encouraged for organizing quizzes well.There will be direct competition amongst quizzes and those a part of this circuit will get a reputed name. Suppose someone is organizing a quiz for the first time he will do it properly hoping that next time they might be included in the circuit. Also suppose i am coming 5th in a particular quiz then i will not give up, as in there will still be something to play for. Competitiveness will increase and the element of fun will be enormous. Hoping that next year this league will be a reality ---

Cheers,
Abhishek
FC Quiz Society - QUEST (did anyone know it had a name!!)

A Question of Fun Art.3

I thought that we all know a lot about Einstein, here comes a collection of some anecdotes/trivia that i came across regarding the great Einstein, Hope you enjoy it !

Late talker
As he was a late talker, his parents were worried. At last, at the supper table one night, he broke his silence to say, "The soup is too hot." Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said a word before. Albert replied, "Because up to now everything was in order."

Best proof of relativity
After Einstein had gone to exile, a book was published in which a hundred Nazi professors lent their names in condemning his theory of relativity. Einstein was unconcerned. "If I were wrong," he said, "one would have been enough."

Boys and girls
Einstein once said that it would be hard to teach in a co-ed college since guys would be looking on girls and not listening to the teacher. Others objected that they would be listening to HIM very attentively, forgetting about any girls. "But such guys won't be worth teaching," replied the great man.

Chaplin and Einstein
Charlie Chaplin had invited Albert Einstein to the premiere of City Lights. When the public cheered them both, Chaplin remarked: "They cheer me because they all understand me, and they cheer you because no one understand you.

Einstein's second greatest contribution
His second greatest contribution, Einstein said, was that when he was cooking soup and also wanted a soft-boiled egg he would add the egg to the soup and thereby have one less pot to wash.

Einstein's driver
The story is that Einstein's driver used to sit at the back of the hall during each of his lectures, and after a period of time, remarked to Einstein that he could probably give the lecture himself, having heard it many times. So at the next stop on the tour, Pennsylvania State University, Einstein and the driver switched places, with Einstein sitting at the back, in driver's uniform. The driver gave the lecture, flawlessly. At the end, a member of the audience asked a detailed question about some of the subject matter, upon which the lecturer replied, "Well, the answer to that question is quite simple, I bet that my driver, sitting up at the back there, could answer it..."


Uncertainty Principle

Einstein and Bohr had great arguments over the Uncertainty principle. Some quotes regarding the same,

1. "God does not play dice." -- Albert Einstein (in a letter to Max Born, 1926)

2. "Who are you to tell God what to do?" -- Niels Bohr

3. "God not only plays dice, but sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." -- Stephen Hawking (Nature, 1975)

Hope all of ya enjoyed this scientific quest into the trivial side of a great scientific mind.

A Question of Fun Art.3

I thought that we all know a lot about Einstein, here comes a collection of some anecdotes/trivia that i came across regarding the great Einstein, Hope you enjoy it !

Late talker
As he was a late talker, his parents were worried. At last, at the supper table one night, he broke his silence to say, "The soup is too hot." Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said a word before. Albert replied, "Because up to now everything was in order."

Best proof of relativity
After Einstein had gone to exile, a book was published in which a hundred Nazi professors lent their names in condemning his theory of relativity. Einstein was unconcerned. "If I were wrong," he said, "one would have been enough."

Boys and girls
Einstein once said that it would be hard to teach in a co-ed college since guys would be looking on girls and not listening to the teacher. Others objected that they would be listening to HIM very attentively, forgetting about any girls. "But such guys won't be worth teaching," replied the great man.

Chaplin and Einstein
Charlie Chaplin had invited Albert Einstein to the premiere of City Lights. When the public cheered them both, Chaplin remarked: "They cheer me because they all understand me, and they cheer you because no one understand you.

Einstein's second greatest contribution
His second greatest contribution, Einstein said, was that when he was cooking soup and also wanted a soft-boiled egg he would add the egg to the soup and thereby have one less pot to wash.

Einstein's driver
The story is that Einstein's driver used to sit at the back of the hall during each of his lectures, and after a period of time, remarked to Einstein that he could probably give the lecture himself, having heard it many times. So at the next stop on the tour, Pennsylvania State University, Einstein and the driver switched places, with Einstein sitting at the back, in driver's uniform. The driver gave the lecture, flawlessly. At the end, a member of the audience asked a detailed question about some of the subject matter, upon which the lecturer replied, "Well, the answer to that question is quite simple, I bet that my driver, sitting up at the back there, could answer it..."


Uncertainty Principle

Einstein and Bohr had great arguments over the Uncertainty principle. Some quotes regarding the same,

1. "God does not play dice." -- Albert Einstein (in a letter to Max Born, 1926)

2. "Who are you to tell God what to do?" -- Niels Bohr

3. "God not only plays dice, but sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." -- Stephen Hawking (Nature, 1975)

Hope all of ya enjoyed this scientific quest into the trivial side of a great scientific mind.
Cheers

ERRATA

This is with respect to the HARRY POTTER quiz. I had erroneously stated that JKR wrote the names of the houses on a travelling bag. I correct that she wrote it on an AIRPLANE SICK BAG.
Sorry guys - misconception sorted

PPL pls check out the answers to the HARRY POTTER QUIZ that was published on these pages a few days ago. Hope you enjoyed it. If you did i might come up with new ones on diff subjects.

A Question of Fun Art.2

Moving on to something more contemporary than greek myth here we have an excellent write up on Alcatraz prison, something which has inspired a lot of quizzers. Read on for more :


An icon of power and strength, Alcatraz has become the single most recognizable symbol of American society. Situated in the San Francisco Bay, one can't help but be drawn to the rocky shore, the dark walls, and the lone light tower sanding cold against a picturesque sunset imagining what it would have been like to be incarcerated in one of the world's most infamous prisons.

Discovered in 1775 by the Spanish explorer Juan Miguel de Ayala, La Isla de los Alcatraces was little more than a rock inhabited by a group of pelicans from which the island bears its name (Alcatraces meaning pelicans in Spanish). However, in 1847 the US government began to look at it as much more. Strategically placed at the mouth of the San Francisco Bay it was the perfect site for a military fort. By 1853 a state of the art military fortress was protecting the Western United States against foreign infiltration. In 1861, with outbreak of the Civil War, Alcatraz began receiving its first military prisoners. However, it wasn't until 1898 and the Spanish- American War that the isolation of the island that made it an impregnable military installation also made it an inescapable prison. During this war the prisoner population jumped from 26 to 450. That number spiked again as civil prisoners were transferred from city jails after the famous 1906 earthquake. With the island becoming more and more a prison and less and less a military fort, a cell house was built in 1912. This is generally felt to be the point at which the fort perishes and "The Rock" is born.
"The Rock" however, was little more than a minimum-security resort. Many prisoners worked as servants and maids for the many families that were required to live on the island. A few were even commissioned to baby sit young children who lived on the island. Flowers and shrubs were imported to help beautify the rocky island. Many inmates, because of this, were allowed their own private gardens. In the 1920's prisoners were allowed to build a baseball field on which different inmate teams played in their own uniforms. On Friday nights hundreds of people would come from the mainland to see the exciting "Alcatraz Fights" which pitted two inmates against each other in a boxing-type match.
With the rise of organized crime in the 1930's Alcatraz went through some dramatic changes. The deteriorating cell house was refurbished with electronically controlled cell doors, metal detectors, gun galleries which allowed guards an elevated view of the entire cell house, permanently mounted tear gas canisters in the ceiling of the dining hall, and tool proof bars. New cells nicked named "Strip" cells and "The Hole" were built to house those inmates who required complete isolation. A strict silence rule was instituted and those who violated it could be put in isolation for up to eight days. The once merry days of baseball games and gardening were over.
In 1963, due to the exorbent cost of running an island prison, Alcatraz was officially closed. Arguments quickly arose over what to do with the eyesore that the prison had become. In 1969 a group of Native American Indians claimed the island as their own. However, they soon ran into the same problems that the U.S. government had, namely the cost of importing food, water, and fuel. 1971 saw the island go up in flames, badly damaging the lighthouse and many of the houses that used to house the cell guards and their families. The last remaining Indians were removed after this fire. Once again faced with the cost of maintaining the island facility, the U.S. government decided to make Alcatraz part of the newly opened Golden Gate Park. Today the island attracts over a million visitors a year, more than making up the operation costs of the island.
Through the life of the fort turn prison turn tourist site, Alcatraz has experienced countless changes. From flower gardens to isolation cells, this small, rocky island that once only supported pelicans has seen it all. However, through all the changing inmates and wardens, through all of the construction and destruction, through all of the fluctuating social attitudes and opinions, Alcatraz has retained one thing. Its walls have never ceased to capture hold of the onlooker's wonder and amazement, drawing forth that all-important feeling of awe. That small island on the mouth of the Bay is and always will be known as "The Rock".


TRIVIA

1.Discovered in 1775 by the Spanish explorer Juan Miguel de Ayala, La Isla de los Alcatraces was little more than a rock inhabited by a group of pelicans from which the island bears its name (Alcatraces meaning pelicans in Spanish).

2.New cells nicked named "Strip" cells and "The Hole" were built to house those inmates

3. On Friday nights hundreds of people would come from the mainland to see the exciting "Alcatraz Fights" which pitted two inmates against each other in a boxing-type match.

A paper on Necessities of Conducting a FAIR quiz.(main round only)

4. Scope of Questions & 5.Setting a quiz

I feel that the scope of questions is heavily influenced by the quiz setter's personal likings and therefore tends to be biased on few particular sets of subjects. I do not say that this is an error as such and no one is to be blamed. Also if the setter goes out of the way to set a question which he thinks must be included, but since he himself does not have any in depth knowledge of it, then many a times the quality of the question is compromised.

(for eg: if someone is setting a sports quiz and is damn good at say cricket,football,basketball but does not know a lot of golf. If he makes it a point to include a question on golf then he might end up setting a sitter in golf and thus lower the quality of the quiz --- that someone once happened to be me :-) )

Also heavily biased questions give an unfair advantage to teams having the same liking as the setter. Thus evenly distributed topics are desired.

To achieve this aim it is absolutely necessary therefore that a consortium of people set the quiz. There are some disadvantages in this method notably that the quality of questioning is compromised(i.e some questions really good some not so, inconsistent quality). However if the group is carefully chosen with certain factors like,
a)different areas of personal interest b)good camraderie c)two people handling the same topic(acts like a cross check) d)some final authority / combined discussion on including a question. e)not too large

The last point i feel is not followed and is the major reason for inconsistencies. The question setting must be preferably done together. If this is not possible then atleast the finalization of quiz question must be done together.Many times the QM may say A will set the sports round, B will set the music round ....This must be avoided and a general discussion must be held before finalizing the questions. This is absolutely necessary to ensure equal quality. Also it is important that the QM is comfortable with the question.(However i feel that a the actual quiz must be done by 1 person only, no two QMs)

The actual process of setting a quiz takes a lot of time and should ideally be started quite early and by the time the headaches of other on the ground factors troubles the organizers i.e sponsorship etc. the questions should be
ready. Last minute scrambling for questions lowers the quality of many a quizzes and even though the intention is noble it is not translated into reality. Therefore one must give a fair bit of time to set the questions and therefore ensure the quality of the quiz (notable example INQUIZZITION '03)

Thus i have tried to discuss in brief a few issue regarding necessities/factors of conducting/organizing/setting a fair quiz.A short point to note is that the above text is only a guideline and are i feel the general rules regarding setting a fair quiz. Also it may give us a few points regarding what might make a quiz unfair. So strictly adhering to them in all respects is not possible in the true sense. These are only general guidelines and my thoughts on the issue.A fruitful discussion may lead us to conclude a general summary and modifications if any.

Cheers,

A paper on Necessities of Conducting a FAIR quiz.(main round only)

I)QUIZ - MASTER :

I feel that in general discussions on improving fairness in quizzes the most important factor, i.e. with regards to quizmaster has been neglected. Therefore I take it upon myself to chalk out general as well as finer details that are necessary and must be followed by quizmaster.

a)The quizmaster must have a complete knowledge of topics at hand, he should be able to comment on questions/answers from his personal experience. He should be able to solve disputes and in general must be a step ahead of the contestants. This is not possible in the general sense esp. when we have all the sirs among our contestants. However whenever a quizmaster is setting questions for a quiz, he can make sure that he knows a little if not more about the history/background of the question. This is esp. Not possible when the questions are pilfered/dhapped and a def. attempt must be made by the quizmaster and his team of people setting the question to come up with original questions. This is a huge step in ensuring the quality of a quiz and ensuring the knowledgability of the QM.

b) The quizmaster will not at any time drop hints regarding the question/answer if an answer given by the team is incorrect/imprecise. Comments like 'way off the mark' are giving a hint to other teams and unfair to the teams who have already answered.

c) The quizmaster should not disclose at anytime if an answer given by the team, is partly correct. Now this put forth a very pretty problem, what does the QM say then ? If he says that the answer is not correct other teams are misguided and therefore that is not fair. If the QM says that "I will came back to you" then that tells other teams that at least a part of the answer is correct. That also is unfair. Now a good policy to adopt is to move on to the next team if the answer given by the team is unacceptable/partly precise. This method should be adopted even when the question is not contential. Therefore the general rule is to never say that an answer is not correct, but just to move on to the next team. However I personally feel that a certain bit of discretion is to be adopted by the QM and ensure that whatever his comments are he does not give an unfair advantage to other teams. It is as important for quizzing to be fun as it is for it to be fair. Therefore if the QM can pass some funny comments without being unfair then he should do so. I would even stick out my neck and say that the QM can sacrifice a little bit of fair play for the purpose of humour.

4) Audience Factor: Though many people feel that a quiz should give max importance to the quizzers I strongly disagree. I feel it is the audience that matters and the audience that must be catered through. I feel a giant leap in this respect is using proper audio-video aids like a projector and microphones. These are essential if a large audience has to enjoy a quiz. Also this greatly benefits the quizzers as the QM does not have to repeat long questions and the mikes help other participants to listen to other people's answers. A QM must make the answers clear. He must understand that the audience is not at as high a plane as the participants and must before starting the quiz get a pulse of the audience. He MUST at all times repeat the perfect answers clearly even if a participant has given a right answer. There is no greater frustration that listening to questions and not getting the answers. He must be clear at all times and make sure he is understandable to the audience.


II) SCORING SYSTEMS

There have been considerable discussions on the format of scoring, and which system is better. There has been considerable discussions regarding the various formats like IR, D&P and some of the new ones that have been proposed.

Therefore while discussing which format is good I would like to give my own parameters which I feel should be incorporated to make a quizzing system good.

1.No of Attempts must remain same :
There is universal agreement that the total no. of questions attempted should remain the same. This is I feel the most important parameter with regards to a quizzing pattern and must be around a particular constant value for all the participants.

2.No. of Direct Questions must remain same.

This is , I feel the most contentious issue with regards to setting, proposing a new format. Following are the cases when/how the number of direct questions becomes most important.
a)When a sitter is asked (notably the only case when the team to whom the question is asked direct gets an advantage)

b)When a PMQ is asked (not so important and I never intended to make an issue out of it. Never myself felt that if a quizzing system does not take this into account it is not good)

*note: PMQs are popular misconception questions, to which obvious answers are actually wrong.

c)Now sometimes teams know the answers but they think on the wrong lines and thereby do not get the answer. This I feel is fair and they should not get any points for thinking on the wrong lines. However if they get to hear other peoples answers who have thought on the right lines (but do not have enough knowledge) then they might get the correct answer which they might have not got if they had been asked the question in direct.

d)Now a major event is when multiple answers are solicited for a particular question, notably in connects and while asking the names of certain people. Now ideally full marks should be awarded to teams that know the whole answer. If this team had got the direct then they would have scored full points. Now if another team before them gets half the answer, then even though this team in question knows the full answer from the start they get only half the points.

*note: a suggestion that is implemented is that the quizmaster does not disclose his comments if the answer is right or wrong. Our esteemed quizmaster 'Sir' Brijesh did this notably in Shyam Bhat Quiz '04. However still when one team answered half the question right and another team got the full question right he split the points between the teams.(I think it was some question about ENIGMA etc..)Personally don't know why he did that because it is assumed that one team did not benefit from another team.

3. Round reversal :
Mathematically a good way of accounting for errors is not by getting rid of them but my negating them. This method works especially in the D&P system, where some teams suffer from a very brilliant team ahead of them and these very famous problems in D&P. Anyway this is also implemented in IR sometimes and I feel is necessary in any scoring/passing system.


There might be some points, which I might have missed out. I would like to know if there are any other things that are necessary. The process of pointing out points is not at all over with this paper and I am still trying to identify points which I may I have left out.

There are a many other factors like SETTING A QUIZ(order of questions et al), SCOPE OF QUESTIONS(i.e. topics) etc. I will try and address these issues in concluding part of this article.

Here my friends comes a speciality quiz, that i myself and i am sure many of you will enjoy. Co-written in association with my cousin Shaunak(who by the way is a walking talking pottermaniac). A set of 20 questions to enthrall you and wait for the answers next week. If you get all twenty you may post it to me before 5th of April at cheerfulguy@rediffmail.com
(prefer if you guys do not refer the books and send it to me straight away)
So here goes,

1.Gordic, Helga, Rowena, and ______. Complete the blank and give me the connection.
:Salazaar - these are the first names of the house founders.

2. Phineas Nigellus, Armando Dippet, Everard,Dilys,_________(Complete the blank and give me the connection).
Dumbledore These are the Hogwarts headmasters.

3. There are only two links on the first page of official website for the Harry potter website. What do these two links say ?
The two links say : (for) MUGGLES and (for) witches and wizards

4.Complete the following address by which the first letter to Harry addressed ?

To,
Mr. H.Potter
__________________
4 Privet Drive,
_________________
Surrey.
:The Cupboard Under The Stairs,Little Whinging

5. What is the maiden name of Mrs.Petunia Dursley ?
Evans (remember Lily Evans and she is the sister of aunt petunia)

6.Name the model of the Weasely's car which Harry and Ron manage to fly ?
Ford Anglia

7. If you were angry at someone you would send a Howler. What would you send someone if you were happy?
You would send an Owler.

8. Connect servants flesh, enemy's blood and father's bones ?
These are the three things needed by Lord Voldemort.

9. What is the password to work the Marauders's Map ?(additional pat on the back for the person who gives password to conceal it)
For working it : I solemly swear i am upto no good
to conceal : mischief managed

10. Give me the password to the Slytherin common room? (simple and sweet eh!)
Good trivia : the password is Pure Blood

11. What significant piece of literature is written on a particular travelling bag that JKR carried on one of her continental flights ?
She actually worked out the names of the four houses Griffindyor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw on her travelling bag.

12. Connect Miranda Goshawk, Bathilda Bagshot, Adalbert Waffling , Phylida Spore, Emerick Switch ....
These are the authors of the books first tears need to go to Hogwarts

13. What is the significance of a quaint unused shop called "Purge & Dowse Ltd."(which had chipped dummies in its windows modelling fashions which were atleast 10 years out of date).
This is the entrance to St. Mungos' Hospital ...

14. Give me one word for 'Flight of Evil' .
Voldemort.

15. Why are the French supposedly very angry with JKR ?
(courtesy Ulka) Apparently she has named all the villians in french(she herself was a french teacher)

16. Which shop would you go to, if you wanted to buy robes ?
Madam Malkins'

17. If Daniel Radcliffe plays the role of Potter in the movies who plays the role of Hermione ?
Emma Watson

18. What is kept in Vault No. 713 in the Gringotts's Bank ?(turkey of the quiz)
The Philosophers Stone

19. Connect feed the chickens, you are late, make tea, mortal peril, home ....
These are the various title on Mrs. Weasleys special Clock.
20. What are the only pets allowed at Hogwarts ?
Owls, Toads and Cats