Quik Tip
Powered by Conduit |
Internet Scavenger Hunt #6 Answers
Here are the answers to the sixth Internet Treasure Hunt, brought to you by WebLens Search Portal. For this and other Internet Scavenger Hunt questions, see the Hunt Index.
Who said "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former"? No-one had trouble determining that it was Albert Einstein who said "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Most people searched on some combination of the key words in the sentence, or on the entire sentence itself. Only two or three used a quotation server. One person used the trick of searching on "quotations" and "search*" to quickly identify a quotations server. In Alta Vista, this technique results in 20,000 quotations pages! (In the above search term, the star (*) is a wildcard which fills in for various letter combinations. Thus, the words search, searching,or searchable might be included in the query results.)
What is the mathematical formula for the area of a circle? This one stumped more than a few of you. The correct mathematical formula for the area of a circle is Pi(R)2, where Pi is a constant with the value 3.1416... and R stands for the radius of the circle. A few of you almost caught me up by submitting another formula that works equally well (I had to test it to make sure): multiply the square of the diameter by .785398. Just goes to show that the Web can be a fountain of knowledge and learning!
What Russian composer wrote the brooding Prelude in C Sharp Minor? I thought this one would be a giveaway, and indeed most people easily confirmed that Sergei Rachmaninoff was the Russian composer who wrote the brooding but beautiful "Prelude in C Sharp Minor." I was surprised, however, to see the names Dmitri Shostakovich and Alexander Glazunov among the answers for this question. When I examined how these names had been obtained, some faulty search term logic was apparent. One person, for example, searched on the phrase C Sharp Minor. Unfortunately, several composers have written pieces in that key, including Beethoven, who wrote Piano Sonata No 14 in C Sharp Minor, and Shostakovich, who wrote Prelude And Fugue No 10 In C Sharp Minor. This is a case where it is preferable to search on the entire phrase "Prelude in C Sharp Minor," which you can do by typing double quotation marks around your search term in most search engines.
What's the name and phone number of the Wichita Chief of Police? Next to the math question, this one was the real stumper - a fact that took me by surprise. This time, erroneous answers were due more to carelessness than to flawed search logic. William (Mike) Watson is the Wichita Chief of Police, and he can be reached at 268-4158, according to the Wichita City Hall web page. I can see how a couple of you got the Police Department in Wichita Falls, Texas, but how people came up with the Kansas City Chief of Police by searching only on Wichita and Chief of Police continues to bewilder me. (The word "Wichita" is not mentioned on this page. I checked.)
What cat breed is known for its hairless appearance? This question was a giveaway. The Sphynx is, of course, the strange-looking hairless cat (it's actually covered with a fine downy fuzz). Most people determined this by searching on the phrase "hairless cats."
What Montessori school was founded in 1938 and serves the greater Boston area? Another giveaway. Most people correctly reported that it is the Kingsley Montessori School that has served the greater Boston area since 1938, a fact easily ascertained by searching on some combination of the keywords Montessori, Boston, and school.
When was talk show queen Oprah Winfrey born? I gave you this one too. Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29th, 1954. Most people searched on all or part of her name, plus the word born. Here's a handy tip to improve the quality of your search results: simply searching on the word Oprah produces 7,000 hits in Alta Vista; searching on the phrase "Oprah Winfrey" narrows this to 3,000 - not much better. Try using Alta Vista's "title" prefix to narrow your search to only those hits that have the search term in the title. In the case of this question, you would type title:Oprah for a result of only thirty hits.
What materials are traditionally used in the manufacture of the black and white stones used in the Japanese game of Go? Another no-brainer. Almost everyone correctly ascertained that the materials used in the manufacture of the black and white stones used in the Japanese game of Go are, respectively, slate and clamshell. Most searched on some combination of the words Go, game, and stones or history. If you've never played Go and you enjoy games of intellectual strategy, check it out - it's an intriguing contest that makes Chess seem like child's play.
What is the compression ratio of the Harley-Davidson 1340cc engine? This question, too, was a freebie. According to the official Harley-Davidson web site - where you can actually listen to the sounds of their various engines - the compression ratio of the 1340cc engine is 8.5:1. Most of you searched on the company name plus the word engine or the phrase compression ratio. This is another case where the use of the title prefix explained above would help you hone in more quickly on the desired result.
What is the generic name of the drug Prozac? And finally, the generic name of the controversial drug Prozac is fluoxetine HCI, a fact that almost all of you easily determined by searching on the words Prozac and generic.