Monday, June 08, 2009

short bits of odd news

Did you notice this special google logo on Saturday?


The 25-year anniversary of Tetris was being celebrated. Has anyone older than 20 and maybe younger than 60 NOT played Tetris at least once?

One of the odd titles held by Tetris is "Longest Prison Sentence for Playing a Video Game". A British passenger was jailed for four months for playing Tetris on his cell phone while on a flight to Manchester, England. He refused to stop playing after being repeatedly warned by the cabin staff.

This is interesting to me because of my participation in a FAA study on Transmitting Portable Electronic Devices aboard aircraft. It's too bad the passenger's mobile phone didn't have an "airplane safe" mode switch. I don't know the details of the case but if he was operating the device below cruise altitude (10,000 ft) then he should be punished.

One more related point - Today in 2009 there are two companies providing mobile phone service for a number of non-US airlines. The two companies are OnAir and Aeromobile. They provide special equipment on-board the plane and the phone use is restricted to only cruise altitude phase of flight.

Here's a link to the BBC article about the Tetris crime.



-- Some other bits of news from the Brits --

Britain’s Supreme Court of Judicature has answered a question that has long puzzled late-night dorm-room snackers: What, exactly, is a Pringle?

They have ruled that a Pringle is a potato crisp (or chip here in the US). To avoid a tax the maker Procter & Gamble argued they are “savory snacks.” They lost. NY Times story

----
Important street name change -
(update your address books !!)
Butt Hole Road, Conisbrough, is now Archers Way, Conisbrough.

A Doncaster Council spokesman said: "I can confirm that Butt Hole Road was changed to Archers Way on April 22.


Butt Hole sign
Picture from publicenergy

5 comments:

Fantastic Forrest said...

Butt Hole Road. That is totally awesome. How was that EVER appropriate?

Bill Lisleman said...

@FF - yes I thought it was strange enough to post a note about it. I don't know much more about it. Let's just say I've never been DOWN that road.

Fantastic Forrest said...

So I did a little research. I learned Butt Hole Road is believed to have been named after a communal water butt that was originally in the area. One newspaper noted the name change with the headline "Residents Scratch Butt Hole Road."

Heh.

Bill Lisleman said...

@FF LOL - does that research make you a Butt Hole researcher? Actually, communal water butt sounds bad in today's world.

Fantastic Forrest said...

You're as bad as my children, who continuously joke about exploring Uranus.

Honestly!

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