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War of the Minds - Archive - War VI

An Internet Contest

We have a winner of War VI

Michael A. Bayne - Computer Systems Engineer, Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia - has accumulated 700 points.

• Standings in the War
• Archive of Battles in War VI
• Burma Shave Jingles - Another Internet Contest
• People to People - How to be an active participant on this Internet site.

Archives - War VI

• War VI - Battle 19
• War VI - Battle 18
• War VI - Battle 17
• War VI - Battle 16
• War VI - Battle 15
• War VI - Battle 14
• War VI - Battle 13
• War VI - Battle 12
• War VI - Battle 11
• War VI - Battle 10
• War VI - Battle 9
• War VI - Battle 8
• War VI - Battle 7
• War VI - Battle 6
• War VI - Battle 5
• War VI - Battle 4
• War VI - Battle 3
• War VI - Battle 2
• War VI - Battle 1

Archives of Previous Battles - War VI

1. Forestry

What is a coppice stand?
see Answer

2. Computers

<b><p>What is wrong with this HTML segment?</b></p>
see Answer

3. Philosophy

What moral question is raised by these ranches and counties in the western United States:
Lyon, Chicken, Mineral, Mustang, Churchill, Sagebrush, Esmeralda?
see Answer

4. Math

A man buys a string 25,000 miles long and sets out to stretch it around the circumference of the earth. When he reaches his starting point, he discovers that the string is, in fact, 25000 miles and one yard long. Rather than cut the string, he decides to tie the ends together and distribute the extra 36 inches evenly around the entire circumference. How far does the string stand out from the earth because of the extra yard? (Disregard the length of the string used to tie the knot. And, yes, you can assume that the circumference of the earth is exactly 25,000 miles.)
see Answer

1. Forestry

A coppice stand is a grove of trees that grew mainly from shoots or root suckers rather than seed.

2. Computers

The tag <p> must come before <b>. The browser is expecting an object after the <b> tag.
<p><b>What is wrong with this HTML segment? </b> </p> is correct as attested by the W3C HTML validation service, http://validator.w3.org/.

3. Philosophy

They raise the question of whether we should have legal prostitution. The Mustang, Chicken, and New Sagebrush ranches are brothels, while Lyon, Mineral, Churchill, and Esmeralda are counties in Nevada where prostitution is legal.
Try:
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List on Legal Prostitution in Nevada. and this FAQ.

4. Math

The two equations are:

    2*pi*r = 25000 mi, the circumference of the earth and what he was expecting

    2*pi*(r + x) = 25000 mi + 1 yd, The circumference of his string, what he got



Massaging the second equation:

    2*pi*(r + x) - 1 yd = 25000 mi



Setting the two equal to each other:

    2*pi*r = 2*pi*(r + x) - 1 yd

    r = r + x - (1 / (2 *pi)) yd

    x = 1/ (2 * pi) yd



So the string is 1 / (2 * pi) yd above the surface, or about 5.73

inches.

The fun thing about this, though, is that it doesn't matter that the string was wrapped about the earth. Since the circumference of the earth did not factor in the final equation, adding the yard to the circumference of the sun, Jupiter, or a tennis ball would have resulted in the extra 5.73" above the surface.

1. Forestry

Quarter sawn oak is more expensive than plain sawn oak. What do these two terms mean and what is the advantage of quarter sawing oak? What causes the "flecks" in quarter sawn oak flooring?
see Answer

2. Computers

He invented http and html and is considered the father of the www?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

Coyote, Loki, Orisha, Nasreddin Hodja, Yurugy, Anansi, Hermes?
see Answer

4. History

In the largest man-made non-nuclear explosion ever, over 2,000 people were killed, over 9,000 were injured and half a city was destroyed. When, where and what was the cause?
see Answer

1. Forestry

Quarter sawn wood is sawn from a log so that the annual growth rings are (roughly) perpendicular to the face of the board. Plain sawn wood has the growth rings running parallel to the face of the board. Quarter sawn lumber is more stable and less likely to cup since all the rings are short and running in the same direction. The fleck is caused by pores in the wood.
These pores are rays which are cells running perpendicular to the trunk of the tree as opposed to other cells in the tree, xylem and phloem, which run vertically.

2. Computers

Tim Berners-Lee, author of the great new book "Weaving the Web".

3. Philosophy

Coyote, Loki, Orisha, Nasreddin Hodja, Yurugy, Anansi, Hermes?
All trickster characters from the myths and stories of various peoples worldwide.
See:

• Peter Michaels' Trickster Page and
• Nasreddin Hodja

Coyote:

in the mythology and folklore of North American Indians of the Central Plains, California, and the Southwest, the chief animal of the prehuman animal age. His exploits as creator, culture hero, lover, magician, and trickster are celebrated in a vast cycle of oral tales.

Loki:

in Norse mythology, a cunning trickster who had the ability to change his shape and sex. ). Loki was represented as the companion of the great gods Odin and Thor, helping them with his clever plans but sometimes causing embarrassment and difficulty for them and himself.

Anansi:

In African mythology, particularly those of the spider Anansi, the trickster often appears as a mythological figure, rival of the sky god, who steals the Sun or tricks him in one way or another. In this function he shows some similarity with the Yoruba trickster god Eshu, who constantly opposes the other gods and thwarts their intentions.

Nasreddin Hodja:

A figure from turkish mythology... the tales of a wise fool, basically a type of low-class theologian. Anecdotes about this character, which embody the mixture of silliness and shrewdness displayed by this "type," have amused generations of Muslims.

Hermes:

In the Greek play "The Tracker", Hermes stole cattle from Apollo, baffling discovery by reversing the animals' hoof marks, and that he invented the lyre by fitting strings to a tortoise shell.

Orisha:

In cuban santaria religion, There is belief in one Supreme Being but also in saints or spirits known as orishas, in each of which are found a force of nature and a set of humanlike behavioral characteristics. Priests or advocates known as santeros are said to possess ache, the magical power of the orishas. Ritual devotions involving musical rhythms (usually drumming and dancing), offerings of food and animal sacrifice, divination with fetishes made of bones or shells, trancelike seizures, and other rites are thought to reveal the sources of day-to-day problems and point the way to their resolution. Adherents also believe that an orisha can intervene on one's behalf or may even enter into one's being, becoming part of one's personality.

4. History

Halifax, 1917: the city suffered from a disastrous munitions ship explosion that killed nearly 2,000 people and devastated much of the city's north side. During World Wars I and II, Halifax was Canada's largest and most important naval base.
See: The Halifax Explosion
and this.

1. Forestry

A highly desired plant of deciduous woodlands in eastern North America, this species looks like this in late summer:

Common and scientific name please?
see Answer

2. Computers

If an Int 16h function 1 is performed on an MS-DOS computer system, how does one interpret the results returned in the AH and AL registers?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

Confucius' sayings? (8 letters)
see Answer

4. History

Where is the Sea of Moscow?
see Answer

1. Forestry

American ginseng, Panax quinquefolius. For more information, see:
http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod03/03900053.html

2. Computers

INT 16H, function 1 is a BIOS interrupt service which returns the next keyboard character to be read from the keyboard buffer, including the extended scan code as necessary.
To quote from Robert Jourdain's book, Programmer's Problem Solver for the IBM PC, XT & AT (Brady Books), p. 95:

    ...The zero flag (ZF) is set to 1 if the buffer is empty, 

    or to 0 if a character is waiting.  In the latter case, a 

    copy of the character at the head of the buffer is placed 

    in AX without removing it from the buffer.  AL returns the 

    character code for one-byte ASCII characters, or it returns

    ASCII 0 for extended codes, in which case the code number 

    appears in AH.

 

    Extended codes exist as a mechanism for handling special keys

    which exceed the original 128-character ASCII design, such as

    the Function keys (F1-F12), Insert, Home, etc.   For example, 

    the capital 'A' would show up as 41H in AL, while PgUP would 

    show up as 0 in AL, and 49H in AH.

3. Philosophy

Confucius' sayings are called analects.

4. History

The Sea of Moscow is located on the dark side of the moon, first viewed by the Luna 3 spacecraft in Oct 1959.
Anne Lurie sends us this link:
http://www.rocketry.com/mwade/articles/roborers.htm

1. Forestry

I went for a walk on my farm yesterday. Since it is fall and frost can be expected soon, I remembered that this is the traditional time in Kentucky to gather wild fruits and nuts. So I returned from my walk with the stuff pictured below.

(click on picture for a clearer picture 227k)
The products from woody plants have been circled and lettered, A-G. Please give the latin name of the genus of, at least, five of these seven items.
see Answer

2. Computers

Storage of files on my hard disk drive is more efficient than before because I am using Windows '98 with FAT32. I understand that I can increase capacity even more with DriveSpace3. Is this true? How does DriveSpace3 work to increase disk capacity?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

Thecla was betrothed to Thamyris. She did not marry him because she listened to the teachings of a man of a small stature with meeting eyebrows, bald [or shaved] head, bow-legged, strongly built, hollow-eyed, with a large crooked nose. Because she followed this man Thecla was ordered to be burned, thrown naked to wild beasts, threatened with rape, and rejected by her mother.
Who was this man that she followed and what did he teach?
see Answer

4. History

He hid rolls of 35mm film in a hollowed out pumpkin in his pumpkin patch. These were developed and used as evidence in a famous spy case. Who hid the film? Who was the alleged spy? When did this occur? This case raised the public profile of a politician who would later become President of the United States. Name him.
see Answer

1. Forestry

(a) My yard right now is covered with black walnuts from the walnut tree, 

Juglans nigra. Normally by this time of year, I've had requests to come into 

my yard and pick them up from people who are out collecting along the 

roadside, picking up the nuts to deliver to processors such as the one in 

Stamping Ground, Kentucky.  For a real treat, add walnut meats to turkey 

dressing at Thanksgiving. 

  

(b) Horse chestnut or Buckeye (genus Aesculus). The nuts have all kinds of 

great uses: carrying one in the pocket will not only bring good luck, but ease 

the pain of a toothache. 



(c) On my 212-acre farm, I have only two hickory trees, genus Carya. I was 

amazed to discover them, and have no idea how they got there, so far from any 

mates.  The wood is a favorite for tool handles. 

 

(e) is the fruit of the Common Persimmon, genus Diospyros.  They're not as 

tasty as the best cultivated types, but all the sweeter for being wild.  But 

wait till they're ripe!! 

 

(g) pear (genus pyrus)

 

The two trees these guys didn't get are:

 

(d) Dogwood, genus Cornus.  This fall specimen has the distinctive reddish

purple leaves and, though a little hard to see, red berries.

 

(f) Carolina buckthorn, genus Rhamnus.

 

2. Computers

No, as DriveSpace3 is not designed to work under FAT32. DriveSpace3 uses Compression Agent to compress files more tightly. For more information, see http://www.orca.bc.ca/win95/faq11.htm

3. Philosophy

Thecla (now St. Thecla) followed St. Paul's teaching to lead a life of virginity.
See the Catholic Online Saints page.

4. History

In 1948, Whittaker Chambers, senior editor of Time magazine, surrendered microfilm that he had hidden in a pumpkin on his farm in Maryland.
Chambers alleged that, 10 years earlier, Alger Hiss -- a highly-regarded member of the State Department -- had passed to Chambers sensitive documents that Chambers then passed to his contact in the Soviet Union.
On Aug. 17, 1948, Representatives Richard M. Nixon [later President] and John McDowell interview both Hiss and Chambers concerning their relationship.

The bottom line:

    Chambers hid the film.

    Hiss was the alleged spy.

    Richard M. Nixon was the figure who became President.

    1948 was the year when the details began to surface.

See: http://detnews.com/1996/menu/stories/75183.htm
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/hiss-chambers-nyt.html

1. Forestry

        Tricholoma magnivelare

        Cantharellus formosus

        Boletus edulis

        Tuber gibbosum 

        Leucangium carthusiana

        Hydnum repandum

In what two ways are these significant in the forest?
see Answer

2. Computers

What will be the result of running this program on an MSDOS computer system if Drive A is a floppy disk drive with a formatted floppy disk with 730,112 bytes free and containing no files?

   FOR Z=1 TO 200

       FL$="A:\"+RIGHT$(STR$(Z),LEN(STR$(Z))-1)

       OPEN FL$ FOR OUTPUT AS 1

          PRINT #1,FL$

       CLOSE

   NEXT Z

see Answer

3. Philosophy

For over 40 years Dr. Thomas Harvey kept a remarkable thing behind a cooler in his office. Then Dr. Sandra Witelson at McMaster got a chance to study it. What was it and what did she discover about it?
see Answer

4. Mathematics and Physics

Many people are not really proficient in math and physics. That may explain why people have been known to celebrate special occasions by firing guns into the air. Suppose a soldier, in celebrating the end of a war, fires his rifle straight up into the air, not realizing that a bullet shot straight up will come straight down and will be traveling at about the same velocity when it returns as when it left the barrel of the gun. Suppose the muzzle velocity of the bullet is 400 feet per second. The distance in feet, s, a body will fall from rest in t seconds is given by the formula s=16*t*t. If the soldier does not move, what is his life expectancy? What will be the maximum height reached by the bullet? Ignore the air resistance in your calculations.
see Answer

1. Forestry

According to the document "Commercially-Harvested Edible Forest Mushrooms":
"The most abundant and highly prized edible forest species are typically ectomycorrhizal. These include: the American matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare), chanterelles (Cantharellus formosus and subalbidus), boletes (Boletus edulis and others), truffles (especially Tuber gibbosum and Leucangium carthusiana), and hedgehogs (Hydnum repandum )."

The term mycorrhiza refers to an association or symbiosis between plants and fungi that colonize the cortical tissue of roots during periods of active plant growth. The association is characterized by the movement of plant- produced carbon to the fungus and fungal-acquired nutrients to the plant.

2. Computers

The result will be an error message because MSDOS allows a maximum of 112 files in a root directory. This program tries to create 200 files but will crash after file number 111 or 112.

2. Philosophy

It was Albert Einstein's brain.
Einstein's brain was normal in size and shape, except for one portion which is associated with mathematics, and which was 15 percent wider than average in Einstein.
Furthermore, it was found that the groove that normally runs from the front of the brain to the back did not extend all the way in Einstein's case. The researchers hypothesize that the partially missing groove might have allowed more neurons in this area to establish connections between each other and work together more easily. "That kind of shape was not observed in any one of our brains and is not depicted in any atlas of the human brain", Witelson is quoted as saying.
A news article describing the findings may be found at http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/einstein990617.html

4. Mathematics and Physics

      Given the muzzle velocity (400 ft/s) and the acceleration due to

      gravity (16 * t * t), the position of the bullet at time t is:



      s(t) = -16 * t * t + 400 * t



      The bullet will strike the soldier when s = 0, so setting s(t) = 0 (and

      ignoring the trivial answer of t=0s):



      0 = -16 * t * t + 400 * t

      16 * t * t = 400 * t

      16 * t = 400

      t = 25 s



      The bullet will reach maximum height at half this time, or 12.5 s.  The

      maximum height will be:



      s(12.5) = -16 * 12.5 * 12.5 + 400 * 12.5

      s(12.5) = -2500 + 5000

      s(12.5) = 2500 ft



      So his life expectancy is 25 seconds, and the bullet reaches a maximum

      height of 2500 ft (plus however tall he is since I placed my x-axis at a

      point from where the bullet was fired).



      I can see how they won the war, though.  If he is accurate enough to

      shoot straight up and hit himself, he would be absolutely deadly on the

      battlefield.  Even being off by a tenth of a degree would have resulted

      in missing himself by 17 ft.



      s_x = 400 * sin(0.1) * t = 400 * 0.001745 * 25 = 17.45

1. Forestry

Timber stands can be improved by killing unwanted trees. One way to do this is by girdling, cutting a ring around the trunk of the selected tree. Why does this kill the tree and what must the girdle accomplish to be sure to kill the tree?
see Answer

2. Computers

Trying to run a DOS program under Windows may cause an error message, "FCB not available." What does this mean and how can one get the program to execute?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

In the largest mass execution in American history 38 men were hanged in one day. Over three hundred had been condemned to hang in 393 trials held in only a six week period. The condemned were tried and sentenced to death without the benefit of counsel. When and where did this occur and who were the condemned? What legal argument was used to justify denying legal representation to the defendents?
see Answer

4. History

What significant thing did Lieut. Frank P. Lahm do on September 9, 1908?
see Answer

1. Forestry

This kills the tree because it cuts through the cambium layer, a thin layer of tissue between the wood and the bark which does the actual growing. Just outside of the cambium is the phloem, which handles transport of sugars from the leaves to the roots. Removing a strip of the bark all around the tree and scraping away the cambium prevents the tree from healing the phloem layer you removed. This stops food from reaching the roots and kills the tree within a few years. For girdling to work, you must remove a strip from around the entire circumference of the tree and remove all the cambium layer.

2. Computers

The fcb is the file control block which contains information about a file, e.g. modification date, open status, being deleted, etc. Older DOS programs could use direct interrupt control to access files through the FCB. In a networked or multi-tasking environment, if an application tried to access a file using a file control block but the FCB was no longer available. According to Microsoft, you should "End the process. If this problem occurs frequently, increase the value of the fcbs command in your CONFIG.SYS file, and restart your computer. "

4. History

Frank P. Lahm became the first military air passenger, when he flew in the Wright Flyer during trials at Fort Myer, VA.
see http://www.aero-web.org/history/aviators/fplahm.html
(Although I find it more interesting that he served on the Board of Inquiry for the death of Lt. Selfridge in the first fatal military airplane crash).

3. Philosophy

The Dakota Conflict Trials occurred in Minnesota between September 28, 1862 and November 3,1862, with the hangings conducted on December 26. The condemned were Dakota (Sioux). The argument denying legal representation to the defendants was based on the idea that the right to counsel did not apply to trials held before military commissions. Details on these trials can be found at http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/dakota/dakota.html

1. Forestry

Suppose I have a timber tract with 1,000,000 board feet of grade 2 trees worth an average of $150 per thousand board feet on the stump. Suppose that grade 1 timber is worth $250 per thousand board feet. Suppose I know that the average annual inflation rate over the next ten years will be 3%. Suppose that I know, due to the site quality of my land, that my timber will grow at an average rate of 5% increase in volume annually for the next ten years. Since my timber is hardwood timber such as oak and maple, suppose I also know that 5% of its volume will change from grade 2 to grade 1 each year as it matures due to the larger log sizes. Suppose I also know that if I invest my money in mutual funds in the stock market, I can expect to get a 10% return on investment annually for the next ten years. Should I sell my timber and invest the money in the stock market now? Explain why or why not.
see Answer

2. Computers

The computer subroutine below is designed to convert a year and julian date as set in the variables, YEAR and JULIANDATE to a conventional date format.
For instance setting the YEAR=1999 and the JULIANDATE=1 should result in the printout:
Julian date 1 of year 1999 is JANUARY 1, 1999.
What will be the output of the subroutine if the YEAR=2000 and JULIANDATE=60?

    DIM MONTH$(20),DAYS(20)

    DATA JANUARY,31,FEBRUARY,28,MARCH,31,APRIL,30,MAY,31,JUNE,30

    DATA JULY,31,AUGUST,31,SEPTEMBER,30,OCTOBER,31,NOVEMBER,30,DECEMBER,31,END,0

    MO=0

    WHILE Z$<>"END"

       READ Z$,Z

       MONTH$(MO)=Z$:DAYS(MO)=Z

       MO=MO+1

    WEND

    IF YEAR/4=INT(YEAR/4) THEN DAYS(2)=29

    JD=JULIANDATE

    MONTH=1

    WHILE JD>DAYS(MONTH)

       JD=JD-DAYS(MONTH):MONTH=MONTH+1

    WEND

    PRINT "Julian date"+STR$(JULIANDATE)+" of year"+STR$(YEAR)+" is "+MONTH$(MONTH)+STR$(JD)+","+STR$(YEAR)+"."

see Answer

3. Philosophy

One example of the time travel paradox is that if I went back in time to the time before my grandfather had any children and caused something to happen which resulted in his death, then I would not have been born to go back in time and cause his death. Why is this paradox not a problem for those who propose a "many worlds" universe?
see Answer

4. Culture

According to the lyrics, identify the three bells in the life of Jimmy Brown.
see Answer

1. Forestry

Unless I have missed something, this is essentially a financial question, relating to the value of money earning compound interest. Here is my (not very confident) attempt:

Selling now and investing at 10% per annum would give you (after 10

years):

*       1,000 x $150 x (1.10^10) = $389,061



Should you not sell, you would, after 10 years, have some grade 2

timber...

*       Size of tract, given growth in volume: 1,000,000 x(1.05^10)=1,628,895

*       Proportion of total tract that would be grade 2: (0.95^10)=0.5987

*       Inflated price: $150 x (1.03^10)= $201.59

*       Total value of grade 2 timber = 1,628.895 x $201.59 x 0.5987 =$196,592



...and some grade 1 timber...

*       Size of tract, given growth in volume: 1,000,000 x (1.05^10)=1,628,895

*       Proportion of total tract that would be grade 1: 1-0.5987 = 0.4013

*       Inflated price: $250 x (1.03^10)= $335.98

*       Total value of grade 1 timber = 1,628.895 x $335.98 x 0.4013 =$219,621



The total value of your tract would thus be $416,213

You would thus be $27 thousand better off if you kept your tract.

From Duane:
I used a computer program to solve the problem and got very similiar answers. I think the differences are probably due to rounding.
Here is the program and the output:

    VG2=1000000!:VG1=0:PG2=150:PG1=250:C=PG1*VG1/1000+PG2*VG2/1000

    VR=1.05:PR=1.03:GR=.05:SR=1.1

    CLS

    PRINT "    YEAR  STOCKS VOL GR1 VOL GR2 PRICE 1 PRICE 2  TIMBER VALUE"

    Y=C

    PRINT USING"########";Z;C;VG1;VG2;PG1;PG2;Y

    FOR Z=1 TO 10

        VG2=VG2*VR:VG1=VG1*VR:X=GR*VG2:VG2=VG2-X:VG1=VG1+X

        PG1=PG1*PR:PG2=PG2*PR

        C=C*SR

        Y=PG1*VG1/1000+PG2*VG2/1000

        PRINT USING"########";Z;C;VG1;VG2;PG1;PG2;Y

    NEXT

    END

   

    YEAR  STOCKS VOL GR1 VOL GR2 PRICE 1 PRICE 2  TIMBER VALUE

       0  150000       0 1000000     250     150  150000

       1  165000   52500  997500     258     155  167633

       2  181500  107494  995006     265     159  186850

       3  199650  165106  992519     273     164  207787

       4  219615  225469  990037     281     169  230586

       5  241577  288719  987562     290     174  255404

       6  265734  355002  985093     299     179  282411

       7  292308  424470  982630     307     184  311788

       8  321538  497281  980174     317     190  343733

       9  353692  573604  977723     326     196  378462

      10  389061  653615  975279     336     202  416205

2. Computers

The output would be "Julian date 60 of year 2000 is April 3, 2000." Not quite what we want since Julian date 60 of 2000 is February 29, 2000. You're trying to trick us by initializing your array of Month$ and Days using 0 as the first index so that Month(0) = January and Month(1) = February. Later, you start the second while loop with Month starting at 1, so you never consider January and its 31 days. If you asked this routine what JULIANDATE = 1 of any year would be, it would respond with February 1.
Setting MO to 1 before the array initialization should give us the correct answer.
I guess some of "us" are not so easy to trick. -- Duane

3. Philosophy

Just for starters, I'd revise the above to read,"before my grandfather had any children or conceived any..."
Although there are those of us who belong to the "more than one universe at a time" theory (i.e., Granddad existed in more than one time/place, but was only eliminated from one particular space/time arena), I suspect that Albert Einstein probably had it right when he postulated that "past & future exist simultaneously." Therefore, while said grandchild was "messing up" Granddad's world........Granddad is/was/will be "taking care of business" in his own world.
Let us now enter the world of Devin Harris.
(any hints of Rod Serling & Twilight Zone exist only in my imagination).

4. Culture

The three bells in the life of Jimmy Brown are the bells for birth, marriage, and death.
I remember this as a song from the late 50's-early 60's, but the name of the song escapes me (as do most things musical) -- it may have been "All the Chapel Bells Were Ringing," and it was *not* "Goin' to the Chapel" !
See: http://pantheon.cis.yale.edu/~bodoin/eplyr254.html
Actually the name of the song is "The Three Bells".

1. Forestry

According to the International 1/4 inch tree scale an 18 inch dbh white oak 2, 16' logs in merchantable height with a form class of 78 will yield 233 board feet of lumber. If I am point sampling using a BAF 15 prism and I count two of these trees on one sample plot, how many square feet of basal area per acre will they represent?
see Answer

2. Computers

In a Windows 95/98 operating system three files of identical size will be found. They are named LOGO.SYS, LOGOS.SYS, and LOGOW.SYS. Sometimes there is a fourth file of the same size named STRTLOGO.OEM. What type of files are these? Where will they be located? What is their purpose? What technique does Windows use to simulate movement with these files?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

If I am a Luddite will I be likely to use a computer to send and receive email? Why or why not?
see Answer

4. Logic

You have two hourglasses -- a four minute glass and a seven minute glass. You want to measure nine minutes. How do you do it?
see Answer

1. Forestry

Since each tree counted "in" using a BAF 15 prism represents 15 square feet of basal area per acre, the two trees represent 30 square feet of basal area per acre.

2. Computers

These files are bitmaps (320 x 400 pixels, 256 colors). Logo.sys and strtlogo.oem are located in the root directory of the boot disk (usually C:\, unless the drive is compressed). The others are located in the windows directory (C:\windows). These are the splash screens that are displayed when your computer is booting (logo.sys), shutting down (logow.sys), and when it has halted (logos.sys). The animation is created by rotating through the colors specified at the end of the bitmap color table. You tell windows how many colors to animate and how to cycle through the colors by setting bytes at offsets of 0x32 and 0x33 in the bitmap.

Complete directions can be found at http://www.nucleus.com/~kmcmurdo/win95logo.html.

3. Philosophy

Since the Luddites were opposed to technology during the Industrial Revolution, they probably wouldn't use computers. A quick search for Luddite on a search engine, however, will bring up pages supporting neo-Luddites. So maybe they would use computers and email to spread the word of their movement, since computers are less harmful of the environment than other industries if you ignore the manufacturing process.
Besides, they can always destroy the internet after they've conquered the world.

4. Logic

If I turn over both glasses and let them run, in 4 minutes I will have 0 minutes of sand in the 4-minute glass and 3 minutes in the 7-minute glass. Immediately flip the 4-minute glass and let it run until the 3 minutes in the 7-minute glass have expired. The 4-minute glass will now have 1 minute of sand. At this point I can begin timing for the 9 minutes. Using the 4-minute timer and flipping when empty, it will measure 1 minute, 5 minutes, and then 9 minutes.

1. Forestry

All members of this family are achlorophyllous and hence entirely dependent on their mycorrhizal associations with fungi for all nutrients. These fungi in turn also have mycorrhizal associations with forest trees, so that members of the family could be thought of as parasitizing the latter relationship.

What family is this and what is the common name of this plant?
see Answer

2. Computers

Place the following file types in two columns with sound on the left and pictures on the right so that analogous file types are matched on the same line in descending order of relative file size. Tell in what way an audio file type from the list is analogous to the corresponding graphic file type.

      ra

      bmp

      wmp

      wav

      jpg

      mid

see Answer

3. Philosophy

The quote below is from the "Cowboy Philosopher":

 

      You know, we haven't got any business in those faraway wars. 

      Seven thousand miles is a long way to go to shoot somebody, 

      especially if you are not right sure they need shooting, and 

      you are not sure whether you are shooting the right side or 

      not. You see, it's their war and they have a right to fight 

      it as they see fit, without any advice from us. 

 

Who was this American icon?
see Answer

4. Culture

Now here's to Daddy Claxton, may his name forever stand
And always be remembered through the courts throughout the land
His earthly race is over, now the curtains round him fall
How will we carry him home to victory?
see Answer

1. Forestry

The family is Monotropa and the common name is Indian pipe.
Actually the family is Monotropaceae and the genus is Monotropa, but Michael gets the points for this question since no one else answered in over two weeks.

2. Computers

    sound  picture

     wav    bmp   - straight data mapping

     ra     jpg   - compressed data formats

     mid    wmp   - representing data by formulas

3. Philosophy

Will Rogers was the "Cowboy Philosopher."

4. Culture

This is from "The Wabash Cannonball."

1. Forestry

How is Morus alba related to Bombyx mori?
see Answer

2. Computers

What will the following program print on the screen on an IBM-PC compatible computer in a DOS environment?

        PRINT CHR$(218)+CHR$(196)+CHR$(191)

        PRINT CHR$(192)+CHR$(196)+CHR$(217)

see Answer

3. Philosophy

I placed sacred things in the Cave of Treasures on the mountain, Ramiah, near the plain, Olaha Shinehah. Who am I and where can you read this story?
see Answer

4. Logic

Two men are talking. One says to the other, "I have three sons whose ages I want you to ascertain from the following clues. Stop me when you know their ages.
The sum of their ages is thirteen.
The product of their ages is the same as your age.
My oldest son has one ear pierced."

"Stop," says the second man. "I know their ages."

What are they?
see Answer

1. Forestry

Morus alba (the white mulberry), is a plant whose leaves are used to feed Bombyx mori (silkworms).

2. Computers

The six ASCII characters would combine to form a rectangle:

4. Logic

The second man obviously knew the sum (given) and the product (his own age) of the three integers. The fact that he did not answer until told that there was an oldest son, means that there was more than one set of answers
until that stage:

      9, 2, 2

      6, 6, 1

The last bit of information excluded the oldest being a twin, so the only acceptable set of ages is 9,2,2.

Michael A. Bayne - email: bayne@cs.virginia.edu
answered correctly both questions 2 and 4 also but about 17 minutes after Zaheer.
Michael gave the entire set of 3 numbers adding up to 13 and their product below:

        1     1      11      11

        1     2      10      20

        1     3       9      27

        1     4       8      32

        1     5       7      35

        1     6       6      36

        2     2       9      36

        2     3       8      48

        2     4       7      56

        2     5       6      60

        3     3       7      63

        3     4       6      72

        3     5       5      75

        4     4       5      80

So the age of the man who answered was 36.

3. Philosophy

This refers to Adam. This passage can be found in the Book of the Generations of Adam, online at the website listed below.

Introduction:
"The Book of the Generations of Adam was the Book of Remembrance commenced by Adam subsequent to the expulsion from the Garden. In it he recorded his experiences in the fallen world for the benefit of his posterity. This book is referred to by Moses in his recounting of the history of the first ages of the world. Sometime subsequent to the compilation of Moses' history, the Book of Generations was lost from among men, but it was preserved in the mind of God, the Holy Spirit, until the last dispensation when it is being brought forth for the edification of those who are attempting to recreate at the end of time that Holy Order which existed among our First Parents."
See: http://www.eagle-net.org/livingscripture/scripture/adam.html

1. Forestry

This tree from eastern Asia is a widespread ornamental in the southern United States and elsewhere. What are its common and scientific names and what happens to its leaves at night?

see Answer

2. Computers

Here is an algorithm to compress an unsigned integer, A. The output of the algorithm is a 4 byte string, X$.

       IF A>=256^3 THEN X$=CHR$(INT(A/256^3)):A=A-INT(A/256^3)*256^3 ELSE X$=CHR$(0)

       IF A>=256^2 THEN X$=X$+CHR$(INT(A/256^2)):A=A-INT(A/256^2)*256^2 ELSE X$=X$+CHR$(0)

       IF A>=256 THEN X$=X$+CHR$(INT(A/256)):A=A-INT(A/256)*256 ELSE X$=X$+CHR$(0)

       IF A>255 THEN IF A<255.5 THEN A=255 ELSE A=0:MID$(X$,3,1)=CHR$(ASC(RIGHT$(X$,1))+1)

         X$=X$+CHR$(A)

What is the largest integer that can be compressed by this algorithm? Design an algorithm to uncompress this string and return the original integer.
see Answer

3. Philosophy

Describe the "prisoner's dilemmna".
see Answer

4. Literature

Where did Alph, the sacred river, run through caverns measureless to man down to a sunless sea? Who decreed that what would be built there?
see Answer

1. Forestry

I believe the plant featured in question 1 is commonly known as Mimosa tree, which scientific name is Albizia Julibrissin. At night, its leaves sort of close together to protect themselves from the cold.

2. Computers

The largest number you can encode is 256^4 -1 or 4294967295. To return the original number:

        A=ASC(MID$(X$,1,1))*256^3

        A=A+ASC(MID$(X$,2,1))*256^2

        A=A+ASC(MID$(X$,3,1))*256

        A=A+ASC(MID$(X$,4,1))

3. Philosophy

The 'prisoner's dilemma' deals with two partners in crime who are about to stand trial. Both of the two partners are informed by their lawyers that they have several options. If one of the prisoners squeals on the other, the squealer will be freed in return for his help and the latter prisoner will be imprisoned for life thanks to the evidence provided by the squealing prisoner. If both prisoners squeal, they will both be imprisoned for ten years. If both keep quiet, the prosecution will only be able to convict them on lesser charges and they will be imprisoned for two years each. Clearly, the best choice for the prisoners is the last. However, if one prisoner keeps quiet, the other will undoubtedly double-cross him and squeal. If he squeals, the other will squeal on him and both prisoners will get a ten year sentence. No matter what happens the prisoners will end up squealing on each other for their own benefit and therefore, the best scenario in unattainable. This is the 'prisoner's dilemma.'
See Prisoner's Dilemma

4. Literature

I believe Alph flowed thru Xanadu, the stately pleasure dome that Kublai Khan did decree.

1. Forestry

If a timber stand has an average basal area of 70 square feet per acre and contains an average of 100 trees per acre, what is the average dbh in inches?
see Answer

2. Computers

What is 1073741824?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

He said Sunday, October 23, 4004 B.C. is a significant date. Who was he and why was that date significant?
see Answer

4. Math

Where must I divide a straight line so that the ratio of the length of the entire line to the length of the longer segment is equal to the ratio of the length of the longer segment to the length of the shorter segment? When you find the larger of the two numbers which can answer this question please tell its significance and give a web reference.
see Answer

1. Forestry

Based upon the Table of Basal Areas, the answer can be found by dividing 70 by 100, and then looking up that result in the right hand side of the table, and seeing what dbh would give that result. An area of .7 sq. ft. gives an average dbh between 11 and 12 (interpolating suggests that the answer is approximately 11.32 inches).
The diameter of a circle with an area of .7 square feet can be calculated by dividing .7 by pi (22/7) and taking the square root of the result. That gives 0.4719398 feet as the radius or 5.6633 inches or a diameter of 2 times 5.6633 or 11.3266 inches.

2. Computers

2 raised to the 30th power. In the realm of computers, it represents the exact number of bytes in 1 Gigabyte.

3. Philosophy

James Ussher, Irish theologian and scholar. He asserted that the universe was created on that date. For more information concerning Ussher, see http://www.wap.org/ifaq/science/ussher.html

4. Math

The division point is approximately at the point where the length of one segment is 61.8% of the length of the other segment. The exact ratio is referred to as the Golden Mean, and an excellent Web site that explains how to calculate it can be found at http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/gold/gold.html
Note: The number is more accurately 0.618034.

1. Forestry

A native of Brazil and Argentina, this tree is a widely planted ornamental in Australia and grows best in tropical and semi-tropical areas.
Please give the scientific name and family.

see Answer

2. Computers

What is the difference between Javascript and JAVA?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

Who's this guy?
And what is his philosophical significance?
see Answer

4. Agriculture

My soil test results report recommended that my 2 acre tobacco field should have an application of 1 ton (2000 pounds) of 5-10-15 fertilizer per acre and that the source of potassium should be sulfate of potash to prevent curing and quality problems from excess cloride if muriate of potash were applied. At the fertilizer plant where they mix bulk fertilizers for the analysis required by local farmers they have available:

Material             Analysis

--------             ------- 

Muriate of potash    0-0-60  

DAP                  18-46-0 

Urea                 46-0-0  

Ammonia nitrate      34-0-0  

Sulfate of potash    0-0-50

If they mix my bulk fertilizer from DAP, Urea, and Sulfate of potash, how much actual material will be applied to my 2 acre tobacco patch?
see Answer

1. Forestry

Jacaranda mimosifolia, of the family Bignoniaceae.

2. Computers

Java is a stand-alone, compiled programming language. Applets are examples of Java programs in common usage. Javascript is a textual language and is designed for interpretation directly by web browsers. Javascript is embedded directly into HTML documents, and is used to provide actions above and beyond the capabilities of HTML for web documents.

3. Philosophy

The dude is Sisyphus. In Greek mythology, his punishment for his crimes during life is to spend eternity pushing a rock up a hill, only to lose control of it and have it roll to the bottom whenever he neared the top. On the surface, one can see Sisyphus's plight as a tale of the futility in man's life. Albert Camus, however, viewed it more as victory for Sisyphus. Sisyphus knows he can't succeed, yet he has the freedom to struggle with his rock as he sees fit. Likewise, we know we can't succeed in living forever, yet we continue with our stuggles of life, knowing that utimately we will fail. Happiness and satisfaction can be found in the performance of our duties even if the end will not or can not be obtained.

4. Agriculture

One ton per acre for two acres is 4000 lbs. The fertilizer breakdown of 5-10-15 means that you need to apply 200 lbs of nitrogen (4000 lbs * 5%), 400 lbs of phosphorous (4000 lbs * 10%), and 600 lbs of potassium (4000 lbs * 15%). Since the sulfate of potash is 50% potassium, it will require 1200 lbs of it. The DAP is 46% phosphorous, so it will require (400 lbs / 46% = ) 870 lbs of DAP. The DAP is also 18% nitrogen, so it will provide about 157 lbs of the 200 lbs of nitrogen you require. You will need to add about 93 lbs of urea to make up the remaining 43 lbs of nitrogen (43 lbs / 46%).

You'll need to apply this to your two acres:

 

Sulfate of potash:      1200 lbs

DAP:                     870 lbs

Urea:                     94 lbs

 

Total                   2164 lbs

1. Forestry

Which one of the following does not belong and why?

1. Proteidae
2. Taxodiaceae
3. Salicaceae
4. Betulaceae
5. Fagaceae
6. Plantanaceae
7. Hippocastanaceae
8. Oleaceae

see Answer

2. Computers

Which one of the following does not belong and why?

1. ram
2. jpeg
3. tiff
4. psd
5. bmp
6. gif
7. dxf
8. fpx

see Answer

3. Philosophy

Which one of the following does not belong and why?

1. George Berkeley
2. Denis Diderot
3. Jonathan Edwards
4. Mary Baker Eddy
5. David Hume
6. Immanuel Kant
7. John Wesley
8. Emanuel Swedenborg

see Answer

4. Logic

If you have a balance scale, what is the minimum number of weights that can be used to weigh any number of pounds from one to forty? What are the weights?
see Answer

1. Forestry

Proteidae doesn't belong. It's a type of salamander (mudpuppy), while the others are types of trees. Taxodiaceae includes bald cypress, Salicaceae includes willows and aspens, Betulaceae includes birches, Fagaceae are oaks, Plantanaceae are sycamores, Hippocastanaceae is a horse chestnut, Oleaceae include ashes.

2. Computers

ram doesn't belong. It is a form of memory. The others are graphics file formats.
ram is also an audio file format.

4. Logic

You can do it with 4 weights: 1, 3, 9, and 27. You do this by placing a known weight on the same side of the balance as the unknown weight, and using known weights on the opposite side to balance it. Here's the list for how to do it through 40 pounds:

  

unknown      left(with unknown)        right

1                                         1

2                   1                     3

3                                         3

4                                         3 + 1

5                    3 + 1                9

6                    3                    9

7                    3                    9 + 1

8                    1                    9

9                                         9

10                                        9 + 1

11                   1                    9 + 3

12                                        9 + 3

13                                        9 + 3 + 1

14                    9 + 3 + 1           27

15                    9 + 3               27

16                    9 + 3               27 + 1

17                    9 + 1               27

18                    9                   27

19                    9                   27 + 1

20                    9 + 1               27 + 3

21                    9                   27 + 3

22                    9                   27 + 3 + 1

23                    3 + 1               27

24                    3                   27

25                    3                   27 + 1

26                    1                   27

27                                        27

28                                        27 + 1

29                    1                   27 + 3

30                                        27 + 3

31                                        27 + 3 + 1

32                    3 + 1               27 + 9

33                    3                   27 + 9

34                    3                   27 + 9 + 1

35                    1                   27 + 9

36                                        27 + 9

37                                        27 + 9 + 1

38                    1                   27 + 9 + 3

39                                        27 + 9 + 3

40                                        27 + 9 + 3 + 1

 

Of course, all this assumes that all the unknown weights will only be

measures to the nearest pound.

3. Philosophy

With the exception of Mary Baker Eddy, all of the others were eighteenth century philosophers and/or religious leaders. Eddy was a US religious leader whose life spanned 1821-1910.
Also Mary Baker Eddy is the only female on the list.

1. Forestry

Define

1. Mensuration
2. Silviculture
3. Dendrology

see Answer

2. Computers

In hexidecimal what is the product of AA and BB?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

Name the author.

            He has achieved success who has

                           lived well,

                         laughed often

                        and loved much;

           who has enjoyed the trust of pure women,

                 the respect of intelligent men

                  and the love of little children;

                    who has filled his niche 

                   and accomplished his task;

         who has left the world better than he found it,

                whether by an improved poppy,

                        a perfect poem,

                       or a rescued soul;

      who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty

                    nor failed to express it;

         who has always looked for the best in others

                and given them the best he had;

                 whose life was an inspiration;

                whose memory is a benediction. 

see Answer

4. History

He turned back the Allied invasion at Gallipoli in 1915 and expelled the Greeks from Izmir in 1919. Who was this young Turk, founder of modern Turkey?
see Answer

1. Forestry

[according to Merriam-Webster online]

Mensuration

Geometry applied to the computation of lengths, areas, or volumes from given dimensions or angles

Silviculture

A branch of forestry dealing with the development and care of forests

Dendrology

The study of trees

3. Philosophy

Robert Louis Stevenson
Some sources say Bessie A. Stanley

4. History

This reference is to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938), the founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President.

2. Computers

Hee, hee, I can't resist... I wasn't going to take part in War of the Minds anymore, because it's just too nerve-wracking... but this question seemed so easy I had to respond with:
AA*BB = 7C2E
Just open the Win95 calculator, choose View -> Scientific and you can obtain the answer quite easily.

1. Forestry

This delicate woodland flower is infrequently found in appalachian hardwood forests but is fairly common in some parts of Canada. Give both its common and scientific names.

see Answer

2. Computers

<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#FFFFFF" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#008080">
If this line is included in the header of an HTML document, what will be the effect?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

In the late nineteenth century this philosopher/writer wrote the phrase, "God is Dead". For the next century speakers and writers argued over the meaning and the truth of the phrase. Who was this famous thinker?
see Answer

4. Math

A genius came to a narrow railroad bridge and began to run across it. He had crossed three eighths of the distance when a whistle behind him warned of an approaching train. Being a genius, he instantly evaluated his alternatives. If he were to run back to the beginning of the bridge at his speed of 10 mph, he would leave the bridge at precisely the moment the train entered it. If he kept on running to the end of the bridge, the train would reach him just as he left the bridge. At what speed was the train moving? (If you wonder how he would know that, remember, he was a genius.)
see Answer

1. Forestry

The flower appears to be a Yellow Ladyslipper (Cypripedium calceolus).

2. Computers

The page's background would be white, the normal text would be white, unfollowed links would be blue, and followed links would be a kind of blue-green (whatever color you get when you mix half blue and half green). In other words, pretty much like your page, except you couldn't read the text because it would blend into the background.

3. Philosophy

Nietzsche (Friedrich) said "God is dead."
"When Zarathustra was alone, however, he said to his heart: "Could it be possible! This old saint in the forest hath not yet heard of it, that God is dead!"
From "Thus Spake Zarathustra"

4. Math

The train's speed is 40 mph.
If L is the length of the bridge,
t1 is the time to run back on the bridge,
t2 is the time to run forward on the bridge,
X is the speed of the train,
then
t1=(3/8)*L/10
t2=(5/8)*L/10
t1=L*3/80
t2=L*5/80
t2-t1= the difference in running time between running each way which is the amount of time it would take the train to go the length (L) of the bridge.
t2-t1=L/X
L*(5/80-3/80)=L/X
2/80=1/X
X=40
Just to show the different thought processes among people here are two more answers received too late for points:

• From Drew Smith - email: drewsmith@aol.com
  Solution: If the man runs backward (3/8ths of the bridge), he meets the train behind him at the beginning of the bridge. That means that the train will reach that point in the time it takes him to run 3/8ths the length of the bridge. So if he runs the *other* direction, and runs another 3/8ths the length of the bridge, the train will be behind him at the point where the bridge begins. At that point the man will be 3/4ths the length of the bridge from where he started. If he keeps running (the remaining 1/4th of the bridge), the train will meet him at the other end. Therefore, the train can traverse the entire bridge in the time it takes the man to traverse 1/4th the bridge. In other words, the train travels 4 times faster than the man. And therefore, since the man runs 10mph, the train travels at 40mph.
• From Michael A. Bayne - email: bayne@cs.virginia.edu
  To solve this problem, I realized that I only needed to concern myself with the positions of the man when the train arrived at the bridge. That is, when the train arrived, the man was either at the beginning of the bridge, or he was twice as far down the bridge (six-eigths of the way across). Now, in the time it took the man running at 10 mph to travel the remaining 2/8 of the bridge, the train must travel the entire bridge. This is stated in the following equations:

  
  10 * t = 2/8 * b          t = time, b = length of bridge
  
  Tsp * t = b                Tsp = train speed
  
  

  Two equations, two unknowns, simple algebra to know that the train is travelling 4 times faster than the man, or 40 mph.

1. Forestry

In even aged southern pine plantations a 30,000 acre working circle has an average 60 year rotation length in the management plan. If annual harvests are desired and the compartment size is set to roughly equal an annual logging chance, what is the average compartment size? How would one compute the allowable annual harvest?
see Answer

2. Computers

In this context which of the following does belong? (may be more than one.) Supply suitable web references.

• Archie
• Jughead
• Betty
• Veronica
• Moose
• Midge
• Reggie
• Gopher

see Answer

3. Philosophy

When did the world split for Schrödinger's Cat? How does the concept of such world splits relate to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle?
see Answer

4. Music

Song Lyrics:

           The game of life is hard to play   

           I'm going to lose it anyway   

           The losing card I'll someday lay   

           And this is all I have to say,

           

            ......................

           

           The only way to win is cheat   

           And lay it down before I'm beat   

           And to another give a seat   

           For that's the only painless feat, 

           

            ......................

            

           The sword of time will pierce our skins   

           It doesn't hurt when it begins   

           but as it works its way on in   

           The pain grows stronger - watch it grin           

  

Click here for an audio clue.
What is the NAME of the song? (not where is it from.)
see Answer

1. Forestry

30,000 divided by 60 is 500 acres to be harvested per year.
This is the annual logging chance or the average compartment size.
The allowable annual harvest would be the average annual harvestable volume growth per acre times 30,000. It could also be calculated as the harvestable volume on 500 acres at age 60 plus salable volume from thinnings and other intermediate cuts allowed in the management plan.

2. Computers

Archie, Jughead, Veronica, and gopher are all internet tools.
Archie is a database of anonymous ftp sites and contents. A request of the database can be made here, http://archie.rutgers.edu/archie.html and a brief description can be found here, http://www.wg.omron.co.jp/AA-eng.html.
Jughead is a search engine for gopher servers. It searches menus. gopher://gopher.utah.edu/11/Search%20menu%20titles%20using%20jughead
Veronica is a gopher search engine. gopher://quasar.tach.net:2348/7
gopher was a tool for navigating gopher sites which are organized into a heirarchial format for classifying available data. http://cws.internet.com/reviews/gopher-reviews.html
Essentially, all of these have been replaced for the most part by the World Wide Web.

3. Philosophy

The world splits for Schroedenger's Cat when the box is opened to observe the state of the cat. Actually, to say the world 'splits' is to posit a many- worlds theory as the basic reality of the Uncertainty Principle: when the quantum wave is 'collapsed' for that cat as alive or dead upon observation, the observer is occuping a particular world where the state is, say, alive.
However, in the pursuit of mathematical completeness, there is another world wherein the wave has collapsed to a dead cat. Many worlds threory is a phenomenon of mathematical completeness, since there is no theoretical reason for a preference in state. Since one state or the other will prevail upon observation, there must be another world with the equal but opposite observation.
To recap: the cat's world splits into dead cat or alive cat upon observation. This splitting is related to Heisneberg's Uncertainty Principle by the Many Worlds theory which posits that every wave form collapses into all possible states with each mutually exclusive state occuping a different world. The Many Worlds theory is not the only way to understand Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle and it may be unproveable anyways.

Drew Smith - email: drewsmith@aol.com
says that an excellent discussion of the relationship between Schrodinger's work and Heisenberg's work can be found at http://www.aip.org/history/heisenberg/

4. Music

The name of the song is "Suicide is Painless", but it is probably better known as the theme song to the TV show "M*A*S*H". Complete lyrics can be found in numerous places on the Web, including http://www.fi.muni.cz/~adelton/suicide.html

1. Forestry

In point sampling if the ratio of tree diameter (dbh) to plot radius is 1:19, what is the Basal Area Factor (BAF) and what is the per acre expansion factor for an 18" dbh tree?
see Answer

2. Computers

In 1967 Abe wrote a computer program which, in his date conversion algorithm, contained the line:
LET D(2)=28
In 1968 this program failed to work properly so Bob fixed it by adding the line:
IF Y/4=INT(Y/4) THEN LET D(2)=29
Chuck observed Bob's work and said, "Why not make it more general by adding the line:
IF Y/100=INT(Y/100) THEN LET D(2)=28"
So Chuck did.
In the year 2000 which of the three versions of the program, if any, will work properly and what computer line (in the same language as above), if any, should be added to the above three lines to make the program work properly?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

What is this? What is its meaning? With what religion is it mainly associated?

see Answer

4. Math

A man in a boat 5 miles from the nearest point of a straight beach wishes to reach in the shortest possible time a place 5 miles from that point along the shore. If he can run 6 miles an hour, but can row only 4 miles an hour, where should he land?
see Answer

1. Forestry

The BAF is 30 and the per acre expansion factor for an 18" dbh tree is approximately 17.
18"=1.5'
19*1.5=28.5 feet plot radius for an 18" tree
Plot area=28.5 X 28.5 X 3.14 = 2550.465 - (pi r square)
43,560 sq. ft. per acre divided by 2550.465 = 17 18" trees per acre
an 18" tree has a radius of 9" or .75 feet
.75 X .75 X 3.14 = 1.76625 sq. ft. basal area per 18" tree
1.76625 X 17 trees/acre = 30 square feet basal area per acre
represented by each 18" tree.

2. Computers

The 2nd program [IF Y/4=INT(Y/4) THEN LET D(2)=29] will work because the year 2000 is a leap year after all. However, to make the program work properly, the following line should be added:
IF Y/400=INT(Y/400) THEN LET D(2)=29

The years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years.

3. Philosophy

The symbol is known as the T'ai Chi Chu symbol, and refers to the complementary principles of "yin" and "yang". It is primarily associated with Taoism, although it appeared with Confucianism and is generally associated with Chinese cosmology.
See http://www2.cybernex.net/~jefkirsh/symbol.html for more info.

Zaheer Jhetam answered later than Drew but gave a more comprehensive meaning for "yin" and "yang" as follows:
Tao, "the way", theorises that everything in the universe is made of two conflicting forces. The Yin is the negative, passive power, depicted in black. The yang is the positive, active power, depicted in white. Harmony can only be achieved when the two are perfectly balanced, as in the circle. The small circle of the opposite colour is contained in each, signifying their interdependence. The yin may represent the soul, night, darkness, the Earth, and sustenance, whereas the yang may represent the spirit, light, day, heaven creation, and dominance.

4. Math

Assume that the optimal point on the shore is a distance x away from the perpendicular.

    The total time taken will be 

    *       T=distance/speed

    *         ={(25 + x^2)^(1/2)} / 4 + (5-x) / 6



    And the minimum time will be obtained by differentiating this equation, and

    setting the derivative equal to zero:

    *       dT/dx = 0

    *       x / {4(x^2 + 25)^(1/2)} -1/6 = 0

    *       which gives 6x = 4 {(x^2 + 25)}^(1/2)

    *       36x^2 = 16 (x^2 + 25)

    *       36x^2 = 16x^2 + 400

    *       20x^2 = 400

    *       x^2 = 20

    *       x=20^(1/2)

    *       Therefore, he should land 4.472 miles away from the closest point

    (or 0.528 miles away from his target)



    Final point: this calculation assumes that no currents exist, either aiding

    or impeding his swim!

Duane got the same answer with use of the following computer program:

   CLS:DEFDBL A,D,T,S

   B=0:E=5:S=.5

   WHILE S>.0001

        T=999:A=0

        FOR L=B TO E STEP S

            D1=SQR(25+L^2):T1=D1/4

            D2=5-L:T2=D2/6

            IF T1+T2<T THEN T=T1+T2:A=L

        NEXT

     PRINT A,T

     B=A-S

     S=S/2

   WEND

   END

 

The output of this program is:

 4.5                         1.76503630479     

 4.46875                     1.76502839724     

 4.46875                     1.76502839724     

 4.46875                     1.76502839724     

 4.47265625                  1.76502835750     

 4.470703125                 1.76502831776     

 4.4716796875                1.76502827803     

 4.4716796875                1.76502827803     

 4.4719238281                1.76502823829     

The man will have taken 1.765 hours to travel a total distance of 7.236 miles at an average speed of 4.10 mph.

1. Forestry

A compass needle points to the north magnetic pole rather than toward the north geographical pole (true north). The angle formed between magnetic north and true north is called declination, and allowance must be made for this factor in converting magnetic bearings and azimuths to true angular readings. Depending on the location of the observer on the earth the correction for declination varies and may be either to the east or west of north. However, if the observer is in a place on earth which is in a straight line with the true and magnetic north poles the declination is zero and no correction is needed. What is the name of this imaginary line around the earth where the declination is zero and what is the general term for all lines connecting points with equal declination?

see Answer

2. Computers

Why would Bill feel threatened by a cute penguin and GNU?
see Answer

3. Philosophy

Branch of Buddhism that stresses immediacy without abstraction? _ _ _
see Answer

4. Agriculture

When my dad sowed grass in our farm fields he would sow a grass such as fescue or orchard grass or timothy and legumes, usually ladino clover and red clover. He would give me a large tub along with the clover seeds, a container of water and a package of fine black powder. My job was to pour the seeds into the tub, moisten them with water, and then thoroughly mix the black powder in until it was sticking to all the seeds. After this job my hands were covered with a wet slime of black powder. What was the black powder and why did my dad want it on all the clover seeds before he sowed them?
see Answer

1. Forestry

The following is taken from the Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use:
"Lines of constant declination are called isogonic lines and the one of zero declination is called the agonic line."

2. Computers

Because the cute penguin symbolizes Linux, a free Unix-like operating system that is distributed under the GNU General Public License. More information can be found at www.linux.org.
See also http://www.fsf.org/

3. Philosophy

Zen

4. Agriculture

The black powder is a legume inoculant. It provides the seeds with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
See Legumes for Wildlife

Standings in the War - VI

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