A quiz about Davis
Reposted from my older blog that is about to disappear.
The following is a quiz about Davis that I made for a party where we said goodbye to some close friends who are leaving Davis after living here for the last six years. I think 12 was the highest score out of 20. If you use the internet, then you are cheating! Answers are included at the bottom of the post.
Scroll down to see the answers.
The Answers
All answers were taken from http://daviswiki.org so I make no claims as to their actual veracity (c) Andy Jones
2) Which of these roads does not exist on campus:
4) Prior to prohibition, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Davis tried banning the sale of alcohol within a 3 mile radius of campus. This was to prevent the ‘corruption’ of young farming students. They succeeded in getting the state legislature to enact this ban in 1911. When was this ban finally lifted:
5) In 1994 a woman was found guilty of violating Davis’ infamous noise ordinance. What activity was she doing that caused her neighbor resort to calling the police?
6) The name ‘Davis’ wasn’t the first name for our town. It became known as Davis in 1907…what was it known as before that?
8) In 2007, a customer was accidentally overcharged for the Pita that they had bought at Pita Pit. How much was the customers credit card charged with?
9) On 21st July this year, a woman robbed a bank in Davis. However, she then ran into a problem when she tried making her getaway. What happened?
10) In 1984 the Davis City Council declared the city to be a what?
11) After the toad tunnel was built what problem affected the toads that tried using it?
12) The Davis Police Department produce and distribute trading cards featuring what?
13) Picture round. What is the name of this sculpture which can be found on the UC Davis campus
14) Every March 1st, Davis Farmer’s market observes what important day?
15) What is the Social Sciences and Humanities Building on the UC Davis campus better known as?
16) David Pyles, is a post-doc in the UC Davis Biometeorology program but how is he better known?
17) In 1870, what was the approximate population of Davis?
18) In July 2003 what was found in a dumpster at Slatter’s Court Mobile Home Park on Olive Drive?
19) Which country keeps it’s diplomatic mission to the California State Government of California based in Davis?
20) In 2006, someone erected an April Fool’s Day sign in Davis that proclaimed that *what* was coming to Davis soon?
Please do not read this
Reposted from my older blog that is about to disappear.
This is a test, a little psychological play thing. I’m just curious as to how many people will proceed with reading this even though I have (kindly) asked that you refrain from doing so. Most people will come across a link to this blog post from Twitter or App.net and therefore will see nothing more than the following text: ‘Please don’t read this’ along with a shortened web link.
And yet…and yet you are here, reading these very words which I asked you not to read. You disregarded my instructions and if you are still reading this then you have thrown caution to the wind and are willing to risk the possible destruction of your computer in order to see what I had to say (have you people never heard of clickjacking?). From a psychological viewpoint, you might be interested to know that you are now a victim of my (successful) attempt at using the Pique Technique.
Of course it is entirely possible that the brave souls who have clicked on the link to arrive here actually know me (at least in a virtual way) and therefore trust that I would not do something so malicious as to cause them (or their computer/internet device) any harm. However, who is to say that I am not a sleeper agent that has been recently ‘activated’ to carry out a mission of inflicting chaos and mayhem on an unsuspecting world?
Okay folks, here is your final test. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you will find three words waiting for you. However, I strongly suggest with all of the urgency that I can muster, that you DO NOT READ THOSE THREE WORDS! I can take no liability for what damage, psychological or otherwise, may arise from the reading of those three words. These three words have been carefully chosen for their potential to cause grave offense and so I will end this post by once again urging you that you should not, under any circumstances, scroll down to the bottom of this post to read those three words.
Moist muffin flaps.
Why I deleted my Facebook account
Reposted from my older blog that is about to disappear. Originally posted May, 2010.
The next big set of problems with facebook came with the succession of poorly implemented design & policy changes. I’m not opposed to change but I think that even facebook will admit to having rushed through changes without properly explaining in advance what was going to happen. This seems to a recurring feature and one might depict the facebook development cycle like so:
10 rival social networking sites that may spell the end of Facebook
- Farcebook - people recount hilarious episodes of their crazy lives
- Acebook - Veterans of aerial combat recount their tales of dogfights in the sky
- Faceliftbook - exactly the same content as facebook, but with a new, younger look
- Twofacebook - sign up to praise your friends (and then bitch about them when they log off)
- Plaicebook - where people write their own recipes that feature everyone’s favorite fish
- Facecook - only for people who resemble TV chefs
- Macebook - people hook up to discuss their experiences with tear gas
- Faceoffbook - each week two site members pair up to battle to death in unarmed combat
- Visage de livre - Facebook for French people
- Face2facebook - people actually leave the computer behind and meet people in real life (not sure if this one will ever catch on)
Reposted from my older blog that is about to disappear.
My Life Revisited — Part 4: 1979
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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s SuperNod! Brandon Routh eat your heart out. One year after my last primary school fancy dress contest (when I entered as a matchbox), it was time to go for something a little more dramatic. My mum did great work in stitching together a very impressive Superman logo and making a cape. The rest of the costume was as follows:
- Blue polo neck top (turtle neck if you are of a USA persuasion). These seemed to be a lot more popular when I was younger. Can’t remember the last time I wore one.
- A pair of blue girls tights (I felt very awkward about wearing these)
- Red swimming trunks
- Red wellies (or rain boots if you prefer). These were borrowed from my neighbour’s sister as I recall
I remember that I kept the cape for several years after this which was great for an instant Superman effect. The Man of Steel was very popular around that time (the original Christopher Reeve Superman film had come out the previous summer), and such popularity ensured there was another Superman entrant in the fancy dress contest. I think I won a prize for my costume, though I think that they were fairly generous in giving out lots of prizes. I don't think you actually received anything at all, just the honour of being chosen as a winner.
My hair was still quite blonde at the time, and I would still be sporting the ‘pudding bowl’ haircut style for a few more years to come. Note that I'm standing on our 'crazy paving' patio. This seemed to be all the rage in the 70's though it's not particularly crazy by most definitions of the word. I bet it was invented by people who realised that there was a market for people who couldn't afford to buy paving stones that are all the same shape. And speaking of irregularly shaped, cheaper versions of things...do people remember buying bags of broken biscuits at the supermarket?
My Life Revisited — Part 3: 1978
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This picture might look a bit strange so I’ll explain as best I can. The picture was taken during a birthday party at my house. It would have been my 7th birthday. Check out the lovely patterned curtains, and the general overpowering presence of the colour brown in the furniture and carpet. Brown was big in the 70’s!
I’m sitting on the far end of the couch, wearing the green safari outfit which I just loved (this wasn’t a fancy dress costume by the way). The dapper looking gentleman on my left was my neighbour — and is still my good friend —Tony. He doesn’t wear the tie so much these days though. The next guy has faded from my memory and I would be pushed to even hazard a guess at his name. Sititng next to him is Mark who lived a few doors down the road from me. He had also made an effort to smarten up for the party, well at least he had shiny brown shoes on. The kid nearest to the camera is another old friend, Kevin. We were best buddies for quite a few years and used to both be hugely into Star Wars (well wasn’t everyone back then?).
The strange facial expressions that we all seem to be adopting in the picture is because there was, off to the right of the picture, a magician! It was unbelievably cool to have my very own magician perform for me at my party. I think he was getting us all to blow at something that he was holding. I could be completely wrong, he may have just asked us to make silly faces for his own amusement.
Every seven year old should have a magician perform at a birthday party. You’re at the age where it is easy to be astounded by relatively simple acts of magic. I was very into magic for the next 10 years or so of my life, probably because of this birthday party