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,