klog

I was thinking about the Earth on the way to work today. Here are a few puzzles I compiled on the way:

1. you are standing an the north pole. you travel 8000 miles south, then 8000 miles east, then 8000 miles south again. How far are you from the north pole?
2. you are standing on the north pole. you travel 3 miles east, then 4 miles south. how far are you from the north pole?
3. you are standing on the north pole. you travel 3 miles south, then 4 miles east. how far are you from the north pole?

try to guess the answers - they’re not as obvious as they seem.

of course, I suspect that anyone that reads my blog has already guessed the answers…

you probably think it’s very easy, don’t you!

here’re the answers for those people that didn’t figure them out:

1. trick question. you cannot travel 16000 miles south because the circumference of the earth between the two poles is only 24860 miles, meaning that the maximum distance you can travel south 12430 miles.
2. trick question. when standing on the north pole, you cannot travel east or west, as they’re one dimensional at that point (no, turning around is not traveling).
3. not a trick question, but also not obvious. the first answer to pop into someone’s head would be 5 miles (via Pythagoras), but you need to remember that the Earth is not flat - if you are 3 miles south, you could travel a million miles east and still be 3 miles south. The answer is 3 miles.

Just noticed this on ebay.

Some joker in Donnybrook is trying to sell Radio 1, apparently - for the knock-down price of 1 euro

A call to Irish speakers (you know who you are) - what are your favourite examples of Béarlachas? Add them here!.

An example I have not added is the wonderful “Ná bí ag thónáil timpeall” - what a fantastic fscking up of the language!