two things regarding cold temperatures
Both stolen, because I have no originality whatsoever today, from lawtalkers.
First, from Ironweed comes the story of idiots who don't understand math. While this isn't really an uncommon situation, the twist in this particular story is that the idots in question aren't Americans. LOTTERY scratchcard has been withdrawn from sale by Camelot - because players couldn't understand it.
The Cool Cash game - launched on Monday - was taken out of shops yesterday after some players failed to grasp whether or not they had won.
To qualify for a prize, users had to scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card. As the game had a winter theme, the temperature was usually below freezing.
But the concept of comparing negative numbers proved too difficult for some. Camelot received dozens of complaints on the first day from players who could not understand how, for example, -5 is higher than -6.
. . .
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't.
"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it.
"I think Camelot are giving people the wrong impression - the card doesn't say to look for a colder or warmer temperature, it says to look for a higher or lower number. Six is a lower number than 8. Imagine how many people have been misled."
This gives us all an opportunity to laugh dirisively at the Brits. No American lottery company would ever assume such mathmatical acumen from its players.
Second, from fringey regarding the WGA strike in LA. For point of reference, fringey lives in LA and can speak authoritatively on the relative temperatures there. The New York Times offers this chilling tale of life on the picket line. Fringey offers emphasis. At NBC’s main campus in Burbank, Calif., there were more reporters from local radio and TV stations than there were writers at 9 a.m. A dozen writers trudged silently in a circle at the network’s main gate, which is located in the shadow of Stage 11, home to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Why wasn’t anybody chanting union slogans or even, for that matter, talking to one another? As writers, why didn’t they come equipped with witty sound bites?
“Because nobody has done this before,” said Joe Medeiros, head writer for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” adding that “picketing is not something that we know anything about.”
A sharply different scene was unfolding down the street at Walt Disney Studios. Led by a strike captain armed with a bullhorn, about 60 pickets greeted executives arriving at the studio’s primary gate with a boisterous display of solidarity. “Union!” the strike captain shouted. “Power!” the writers responded.
Walking the line were writer-producers from some of the biggest hits on television. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the lead writers and show runners on “Lost” on ABC, marched in front of Greg Berlanti, the writer and producer of “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Brothers and Sisters” and the upcoming “Eli Stone,” all on ABC. Nearby were writers from “Reaper,” a new comedy on the CW network, and “Kyle XY,” a drama on ABC Family.
Despite the gung-ho attitude, it was immediately clear that Burbank is not Detroit. When the strike captain took a break from his bullhorn, half of the picketing writers at Disney started pecking at their BlackBerries.
Over at Warner Brothers, which is the largest producer of television programs, several of the 50 or so pickets shivered in their red T-shirts and complained about the abnormally chilly morning. (It was about 60 degrees.)
The suffering that they endure!
First, from Ironweed comes the story of idiots who don't understand math. While this isn't really an uncommon situation, the twist in this particular story is that the idots in question aren't Americans. LOTTERY scratchcard has been withdrawn from sale by Camelot - because players couldn't understand it.
The Cool Cash game - launched on Monday - was taken out of shops yesterday after some players failed to grasp whether or not they had won.
To qualify for a prize, users had to scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card. As the game had a winter theme, the temperature was usually below freezing.
But the concept of comparing negative numbers proved too difficult for some. Camelot received dozens of complaints on the first day from players who could not understand how, for example, -5 is higher than -6.
. . .
"On one of my cards it said I had to find temperatures lower than -8. The numbers I uncovered were -6 and -7 so I thought I had won, and so did the woman in the shop. But when she scanned the card the machine said I hadn't.
"I phoned Camelot and they fobbed me off with some story that -6 is higher - not lower - than -8 but I'm not having it.
"I think Camelot are giving people the wrong impression - the card doesn't say to look for a colder or warmer temperature, it says to look for a higher or lower number. Six is a lower number than 8. Imagine how many people have been misled."
This gives us all an opportunity to laugh dirisively at the Brits. No American lottery company would ever assume such mathmatical acumen from its players.
Second, from fringey regarding the WGA strike in LA. For point of reference, fringey lives in LA and can speak authoritatively on the relative temperatures there. The New York Times offers this chilling tale of life on the picket line. Fringey offers emphasis. At NBC’s main campus in Burbank, Calif., there were more reporters from local radio and TV stations than there were writers at 9 a.m. A dozen writers trudged silently in a circle at the network’s main gate, which is located in the shadow of Stage 11, home to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Why wasn’t anybody chanting union slogans or even, for that matter, talking to one another? As writers, why didn’t they come equipped with witty sound bites?
“Because nobody has done this before,” said Joe Medeiros, head writer for “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” adding that “picketing is not something that we know anything about.”
A sharply different scene was unfolding down the street at Walt Disney Studios. Led by a strike captain armed with a bullhorn, about 60 pickets greeted executives arriving at the studio’s primary gate with a boisterous display of solidarity. “Union!” the strike captain shouted. “Power!” the writers responded.
Walking the line were writer-producers from some of the biggest hits on television. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the lead writers and show runners on “Lost” on ABC, marched in front of Greg Berlanti, the writer and producer of “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Brothers and Sisters” and the upcoming “Eli Stone,” all on ABC. Nearby were writers from “Reaper,” a new comedy on the CW network, and “Kyle XY,” a drama on ABC Family.
Despite the gung-ho attitude, it was immediately clear that Burbank is not Detroit. When the strike captain took a break from his bullhorn, half of the picketing writers at Disney started pecking at their BlackBerries.
Over at Warner Brothers, which is the largest producer of television programs, several of the 50 or so pickets shivered in their red T-shirts and complained about the abnormally chilly morning. (It was about 60 degrees.)
The suffering that they endure!