Search found 476 matches
- Sat Apr 18, 2020 6:12 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Questions you've always wanted answered
- Replies: 1615
- Views: 705498
Re: Questions you've always wanted answered
Why are some football transfer fees undisclosed? What's the big secret? Do you reckon it's because the fee was less than or more than you'd expect, or could it be either depending on the player? What could possibly be the harm in disclosing any fee other than the disgust at the obscenity of transfe...
- Sat Apr 18, 2020 5:55 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Questions you've always wanted answered
- Replies: 1615
- Views: 705498
Re: Questions you've always wanted answered
Why isn't wearing helmets in cars a thing like it is on bikes (pedal and motor)? The risk of head injury might not be as high, and it would be annoying, but the risk still exists. Literally no-one ever talks about this. Rally drivers wear helmets. But presumably the marginal benefit is so low that ...
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 2:43 pm
- Forum: Games and Puzzles
- Topic: Weird maze/puzzle thing on BBC Micro emulator
- Replies: 19
- Views: 22325
Re: Weird maze/puzzle thing on BBC Micro emulator
Just solved it. Also felt a bit 'meh' about the solution, but might also be annoyance at myself seeing what was happening quite quickly but not following it up til I'd spent a lot of time trying some methods that led nowhere.
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:37 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: What TV programmes have you been watching lately?
- Replies: 773
- Views: 648688
Re: What TV programmes have you been watching lately?
Was it just one phone call? I was sure someone said something about several phone calls at one point, but I might have got the wrong end of the stick. The article above hints at it being just one phone call, but I do recall something about several phone calls. Was that to Adrian Pollock's pagers ma...
- Fri Apr 17, 2020 10:59 am
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: What TV programmes have you been watching lately?
- Replies: 773
- Views: 648688
Re: What TV programmes have you been watching lately?
Quiz has now finished, and if I thought Ep2 was a little loose with the truth, Ep3 was flat out lying at points. - The suggestion that Celador added the coughs to the tapes is unfounded and ridiculous. The coughs were turned up for the trial , not as the original cut. Isn't the tape used at the tri...
- Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:21 am
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: When Countdown episodes run out
- Replies: 80
- Views: 29673
Re: When Countdown episodes run out
I like this.
- Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:49 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: C4C/apto/Countdown Dreams
- Replies: 759
- Views: 461676
Re: C4C/apto/Countdown Dreams
From about a week ago. I'm walking on the street, and then remember I'm expecting a call so go into a public phone box, where Damian Eadie calls and tells me there's going to be a special series of Countdown filmed and do I want in. Of course I say yes, but Damian is a bit rushed and I don't hear an...
- Wed Mar 04, 2020 11:56 pm
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: Is COUNTDOWN worthy of respect as a game?
- Replies: 21
- Views: 10471
Re: Is COUNTDOWN worthy of respect as a game?
First: I'm genuinely hurt you didn't consider my performances to be works of art! When it comes to classing certain games or sports as more artful than others, there seems to be a relationship between 'level of artistry' and 'ability of humans over computers', tying in with definition of art as 'the...
- Wed Feb 26, 2020 4:04 pm
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: You Are The Ref
- Replies: 355
- Views: 164366
Re: You Are The Ref
With a pen, I might be concerned about dropping it or missing the table. You just need an easy, not-too-rigid stance. Being more relaxed will help your reaction speed.
- Thu Feb 20, 2020 8:36 pm
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: You Are The Ref
- Replies: 355
- Views: 164366
Re: You Are The Ref
1. (c) they've given a valid answer, plus there's some precedent for this 2. (b) 3. This is a tough one. I first thought (b), but now I am leaning more towards (c), provided that (i) I've been giving 5 sec warnings in previous rounds, so it's reasonable to expect I'd do the same for the conundrum an...
- Tue Feb 18, 2020 2:02 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Monday 3rd February 2020 (Series 82, Prelim 22)
- Replies: 6
- Views: 3834
Re: Spoilers for Monday 3rd February 2020 (Series 82, Prelim 22)
Susie managed to misread the definition of POUNDAL . "A unit of force equal to that required to give a mass of one pound an acceleration of one foot per second." Which is of course nonsense. A foot per second is a unit of speed, not acceleration. Maybe she saw the end of the definition wh...
- Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:51 am
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: Poll: The strongest series? [S01-S81]
- Replies: 18
- Views: 7742
Re: Poll: The strongest series? [S01-S81]
S69 is clearly the strongest by some distance. S61 is, imo, the second strongest, having 3 exceptional players. And I'd make the claim that my own (S54)
is the strongest pre-Apterous, but would now barely make the top 10.
is the strongest pre-Apterous, but would now barely make the top 10.
- Tue Jan 14, 2020 5:37 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Questions you've always wanted answered
- Replies: 1615
- Views: 705498
Re: Questions you've always wanted answered
Also quizmasters. On Pointless Richard Osman says things like "teams in the 2018-19 Champions League" and I have no idea what that means. I know the names of some football teams, so I could have a wild guess, but I have no idea whether I'm meant to be guessing local or national teams or w...
- Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:57 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: How many countries have you been to?
- Replies: 172
- Views: 94919
Re: How many countries have you been to?
I did do Iceland and Japan, and also India and China. Including just airports, you can add Qatar, UAE and South Korea.
- Fri Dec 20, 2019 2:27 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Friday 20th December 2019 (Series 81, GRAND FINAL)
- Replies: 11
- Views: 5297
- Wed Dec 18, 2019 3:36 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Who would you like to lead the labour Party
- Replies: 30
- Views: 13892
Re: Who would you like to lead the labour Party
Yes. On a superficial level. But there is still the question of why Tory remainers were less likely to change their voting habits than Labour leavers. It's not enough to say it's just because. And I do think that must come partly down to how Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party were seen generally. N...
- Wed Dec 18, 2019 12:00 am
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Who would you like to lead the labour Party
- Replies: 30
- Views: 13892
Re: Who would you like to lead the labour Party
Equally, given that a majority of Labour's 2017 vote base (and a bigger majority of their MPs and members) were Remain voters, it takes a lot of faith to imagine that the leadership could have fobbed off all calls for a second referendum without an unmanageable backlash. Of course, with perfect pol...
- Mon Dec 16, 2019 4:08 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Monday 16th December 2019 (Series 81, QF3)
- Replies: 5
- Views: 2757
Re: Spoilers for Monday 16th December 2019 (Series 81, QF3)
EULACHON in round 8
- Fri Dec 13, 2019 2:34 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Friday 13th December 2019 (Series 81, QF2)
- Replies: 3
- Views: 2167
Re: Spoilers for Friday 13th December 2019 (Series 81, QF2)
MUCOSAE and ATTORNEY.
- Thu Dec 12, 2019 4:59 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 12th December 2019 (Series 81, QF1)
- Replies: 5
- Views: 3238
Re: Spoilers for Thursday 12th December 2019 (Series 81, QF1)
There was also MONACTINE in one round.
- Wed Dec 11, 2019 3:25 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 11th December (Series 81, Prelim 117)
- Replies: 6
- Views: 4238
Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 11th December (Series 81, Prelim 117)
His best performance so far IMO, getting a 'letters max' (I think) with an instant conundrum, and only two tricky numbers games eluding him.
- Tue Dec 10, 2019 9:23 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Alex Rivers
- Replies: 21
- Views: 8553
Re: Alex Rivers
Almost certainly. His c4c profile shows his age to be 50 matching the 49 when the article was written, and Cheriton is a suburb of Folkestone.
- Tue Dec 10, 2019 1:04 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Alex Rivers
- Replies: 21
- Views: 8553
Re: Alex Rivers
Unfortunately, not far from the truth:
This disappearance in 2010 likely coincides with his first jail term.
https://www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone ... rs-205130/Matthew Green wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2010 5:44 pm I exposed him as a paedophile and he fucked off back to his bedsit.
This disappearance in 2010 likely coincides with his first jail term.
- Tue Dec 03, 2019 11:01 am
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Politics in General
- Replies: 1645
- Views: 1765241
Re: Politics in General
I don't think 75% is such a crazy marginal tax rate, but 50k is too early for it to kick in - in some places it's barely above the median income. The £20,000 threshold from the 70s translates into around £150k today. And while people do respond to more than financial incentive, they are disproportio...
- Wed Nov 13, 2019 2:39 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Yahoo groups are closing soon
- Replies: 7
- Views: 4469
Re: Yahoo groups are closing soon
That's a bit shit. How would you archive a Yahoo group anyway other than by saving each post individually? I used https://www.httrack.com/ to download everything from gevincountdown (it just does it page by page). I don't have my old Yahoo account so someone else would need to do that. You did mana...
- Wed Nov 13, 2019 1:04 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Events
- Topic: FOCAL Finals -- Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, 23 November 2019
- Replies: 37
- Views: 26060
Re: FOCAL Finals -- Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, 23 November 2019
Just name, position, total points and number of events played would do.FOCAL Countdown wrote: ↑Wed Nov 13, 2019 7:56 am Conor - What data would be of most interest in a bitesize table?
- Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:23 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Events
- Topic: FOCAL Finals -- Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, 23 November 2019
- Replies: 37
- Views: 26060
Re: FOCAL Finals -- Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, 23 November 2019
All of the Top 8 have accepted our invitation to take part in the Finals, and confirmed that they will be joining us. What's the easiest way to see the current standings? I usually find it as an excel file linked to from the recap of the latest event, but it would be nice to have it more accessible...
- Thu Oct 31, 2019 12:40 am
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers For Wednesday 30th October 2019
- Replies: 13
- Views: 7085
Re: Spoilers for 30th October 2019
Was INTWINES in that round iirc.
- Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:12 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Yahoo groups are closing soon
- Replies: 7
- Views: 4469
Re: Yahoo groups are closing soon
I used https://www.httrack.com/ to download everything from gevincountdown (it just does it page by page). I don't have my old Yahoo account so someone else would need to do that.Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 8:46 pm That's a bit shit. How would you archive a Yahoo group anyway other than by saving each post individually?
- Tue Aug 27, 2019 6:34 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Questions you've always wanted answered
- Replies: 1615
- Views: 705498
Re: Questions you've always wanted answered
Obviously I haven't always wanted this question answered but: I'm no cricket fan anyway, but how do people (both players and fans) motivate themselves to really give a shit about the Ashes almost immediately after winning the World Cup? Aside from the history and rivalry, the difference between the...
- Thu Jul 11, 2019 7:51 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: How many countries have you been to?
- Replies: 172
- Views: 94919
Re: How many countries have you been to?
UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Czech Rep, Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, America, Croatia, Bosnia, Brazil, Italy, Greece, Switzerland and Russia now. Iceland shortly and at least Japan later in the year. US states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania...
- Thu Jun 27, 2019 9:42 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: What TV programmes have you been watching lately?
- Replies: 773
- Views: 648688
Re: What TV programmes have you been watching lately?
Black Mirror (series 5) - always good, though nothing really groundbreaking this series
White Gold (series 2) - fun watch, good characters
The Sopranos - exceptional show. Been waiting years to properly watch this.
I am also re-watching Bojack Horseman. Such a relatable show.
White Gold (series 2) - fun watch, good characters
The Sopranos - exceptional show. Been waiting years to properly watch this.
I am also re-watching Bojack Horseman. Such a relatable show.
- Tue May 28, 2019 12:43 am
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: So, who will be the founding member of Countdown's "1000 CLUB"?
- Replies: 129
- Views: 91118
- Sun May 26, 2019 11:52 am
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: Ask Graeme?
- Replies: 1741
- Views: 746162
Re: Ask Graeme?
Found a couple recorded as 30s ( http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4419 and this wonderfully ironic entry http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_761 ) Also a couple of 29.75s ( http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5293 and http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5326 ) and a 29.9 after an incorrect 29s buzz ( http:/...
- Fri May 24, 2019 5:30 pm
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: Ask Graeme?
- Replies: 1741
- Views: 746162
Re: Ask Graeme?
What’s the latest (correct) conundrum solve there’s ever been on the show? The latest I can recall is Mark Tournoff’s PARTRIDGE on 27 seconds in the S52 final, but surely there have been even later ones. I’d also sub-categorize this into solves where the opponent buzzed in already (and so someone ma...
- Fri May 24, 2019 10:14 am
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 23rd May 2019 (Series 80, Prelim 87)
- Replies: 24
- Views: 10463
Re: Spoilers for Thursday 23rd May 2019 (Series 80, Prelim 87)
My memory is a bit hazy of it, but from what I recall both of our buzzers did something and there was a bit of confusion as to who got there first (though me and the crew seemed to generally agree it was her)...she answered incorrectly and they decided to redo the entire conundrum for some reason t...
- Wed May 22, 2019 1:39 pm
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: Negative picking
- Replies: 20
- Views: 13967
Re: Negative picking
Well, I'd say you've got to question why someone would not be picking in order to win. Though at Co-Events, aggregate points also make a difference, so in a Lincoln-style game I can understand a bit of the frustration towards negative picking: you might spot all the words and still have your chances...
- Fri May 03, 2019 6:03 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: People you shouldn't trust
- Replies: 921
- Views: 462867
Re: People you shouldn't trust
Jeanne Calment?
- Fri May 03, 2019 6:00 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Was Jeanne Calment a fraud?
- Replies: 70
- Views: 29463
Re: Was Jeanne Calment a fraud?
Using statistics can help with your own probabilistic acceptance of Calment's case (e.g. maybe based on the evidence you'd be 95% sure she's genuine but you think she's enough of an outlier that you'd revise it down to 80%) but will not provide a conclusive answer on its own. There are too few data ...
- Thu May 02, 2019 12:30 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Was Jeanne Calment a fraud?
- Replies: 70
- Views: 29463
Re: Was Jeanne Calment a fraud?
I don't think the argument that she was a fraud amounts to much. Statistically it's of course very unlikely that any individual person will reach 122, but we're looking for the probability of one person out the several billion candidates making it to 122, and that's much harder to answer. It's often...
- Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:03 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: What films have you watched lately?
- Replies: 432
- Views: 283772
Re: What films have you watched lately?
Point Break - about time I’d watched it, and good to watch on a plane to California. Scratched an itch; oh to be young and free again. The Conjuring - trope-heavy but well made and just a bit scary at times The Nun - the above’s prequel or sequel or something. Complete garbage. Can you ever forgive ...
- Wed Dec 19, 2018 3:28 pm
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 19th December 2018 (Series 79, SF 1)
- Replies: 5
- Views: 3138
Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 19th December 2018 (Series 79, SF 1)
Grandame in r1 and Padanda in a later round. Good contest today!
- Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:42 am
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: How much do you weigh?
- Replies: 70
- Views: 50480
Re: How much do you weigh?
Yes. But now I weigh 10st again, so looking better for next year.
- Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:55 pm
- Forum: Games and Puzzles
- Topic: Change one letter of a film title to make a funny one
- Replies: 63
- Views: 47847
Re: Change one letter of a film title to make a funny one
Jews II
American Pig
Schindler’s Lust
Fappy Gilmore
American Pig
Schindler’s Lust
Fappy Gilmore
- Thu Mar 29, 2018 9:46 pm
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: So, who will be the founding member of Countdown's "1000 CLUB"?
- Replies: 129
- Views: 91118
Re: So, who will be the founding member of Countdown's "1000 CLUB"?
won't happen If you wanna put your money where your mouth is, €10 says it happens before S80, and €100 says it happens before the end of the year 2020. :) It is interesting reading back over this thread more than 7 months later... here are a few things that stand out:- 1. Of the known Apterites we ...
- Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:19 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: How much do you weigh?
- Replies: 70
- Views: 50480
Re: How much do you weigh?
Aren't they just buttons?Mark Deeks wrote: ↑Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:46 pm Actually, at the top there, can I see that it's got two USB ports? Maybe it truly is multipurose after all.
I weigh 11st. Trying to get it down to 10 by COLIN.
- Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:22 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: What films have you watched lately?
- Replies: 432
- Views: 283772
Re: What films have you watched lately?
Watched "Ted" earlier on Channel 4 (actually Channel 4+1, I got in too late to catch the start on normal C4). Now, I've seen it before and remember enjoying it a lot (of which more later), but I was never sure how much of that was because it was any good, or funny, or whatever. I'm pretty...
- Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:57 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: How many countries have you been to?
- Replies: 172
- Views: 94919
- Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:57 pm
- Forum: Other game shows
- Topic: The New Crystal Maze
- Replies: 11
- Views: 17298
Re: The New Crystal Maze
Good essay. They've made those games harder as well - you have to get two out of three, when Mumsie would have been happy with just one (content warning: wrong aspect ratio). For the new maths game, the Jailer puzzle in the Medieval zone, it looks like they're still tinkering with the format. In mos...
- Mon Sep 25, 2017 11:08 pm
- Forum: Games and Puzzles
- Topic: Do you know what you know?
- Replies: 13
- Views: 15104
Re: Do you know what you know?
Mean confidence: 75.60% Actual percent correct: 70.00% Mean confidence on correct answers: 78.57% Mean confidence on incorrect answers: 68.67% 35 correct out of 50 questions answered (70.00%) 8 correct out of 15 questions answered with low (50 or 60%) confidence (53.33%) 14 correct out of 20 questi...
- Thu Aug 10, 2017 6:36 am
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: Best 9 of all time
- Replies: 17
- Views: 16736
Re: Best 9 of all time
Would also go for MYOGLOBIN. Also impressed by POTBOILER (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_3792) and DESPERADO (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4030).
- Tue Apr 18, 2017 6:45 am
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Football grounds you've been to
- Replies: 57
- Views: 49483
Re: Football grounds you've been to
Kenilworth Road (Luton - many times) Stamford Bridge (Chelsea vs Southampton) Old Trafford (Man Utd vs Everton) Estádio António Coimbra da Mota (Estoril Praia vs Sporting da Covilhã) Stade de France (France vs Iceland) Amsterdam ArenA (Netherlands vs France) Maracanã (Flamengo vs Coritiba) San Siro ...
- Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:50 am
- Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
- Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 30 March 2017 (Series 76, Prelim 58)
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3551
Re: Spoilers for Thursday 30 March 2017 (Series 76, Prelim 58)
Bateleur for 8.Johnny Canuck wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2017 3:43 pm MINIATED as a beater in the DEVIANT/INVITED round. Also PICADOR and BLEATER as alternates to PARODIC and REVALUE.
- Sat Jan 07, 2017 1:50 am
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: People you shouldn't trust
- Replies: 921
- Views: 462867
Re: People you shouldn't trust
Language needn't prioritize concision over clarity (IMHO). Being sometimes tautological is just how we naturally communicate, and you are not clever for pointing out potential redundancies in people's writing.
- Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:00 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Who would be the biggest deaths?
- Replies: 236
- Views: 53699
Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?
I guess if we was talking about musician deaths of the last forty years on impact and shock then IMHO 1. John Lennon 2. Elvis 3. Michael Jackson 4. David Bowie 5 George Harrison 6. Marvin Gaye 7. Prince 8 Frank Sinatra 9. Freddie Mercury 10. George Michael Kurt Cobain the big omission there. I woul...
- Sat Dec 24, 2016 2:48 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: How would you rank the celebratory days of the year?
- Replies: 17
- Views: 8441
Re: How would you rank the celebratory days of the year?
New Year : one of the few events to be more fun as an adult, certainly because it's socially acceptable to get totally hammered. The calling relatives and friends thing after midnight can be annoying when you're already quite drunk. The expection of 'Omg what are your new years plans?!?!?!' is also...
- Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:21 am
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Who would be the biggest deaths?
- Replies: 236
- Views: 53699
Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?
Leonard Cohen is another one who wasn't mentioned here.
- Sat Dec 10, 2016 3:18 am
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: So, who will be the founding member of Countdown's "1000 CLUB"?
- Replies: 129
- Views: 91118
- Wed Nov 30, 2016 9:41 am
- Forum: Countdown - General
- Topic: Is this the oldest ever Countdown related forum topic?
- Replies: 9
- Views: 4726
Re: Is this the oldest ever Countdown related forum topic?
Was thinking a website downloader tool such as https://www.httrack.com/ could be used.
- Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:40 pm
- Forum: Off-topic
- Topic: Who would be the biggest deaths?
- Replies: 236
- Views: 53699
Re: Who would be the biggest deaths?
As it's the second half of the year, Castro is perhaps the first octochamp of a new series. And he's looking like the favourite in a much weaker series. I'd also have Alan Rickman comfortably ahead of Victoria Wood. He might even only be behind Ali, Bowie and Prince. He was much more famous internat...