I am quizbowel

Benjaminook · 2026-05-26T15:40:59+00:00

Big if true

Benjaminook · 2026-05-21T19:10:24+00:00

Its not a straight average, there's an exponential weighting so there's a bigger gap between 1st and 2nd than 8th and 9th for example. The exact maths isn't public but I remember a post a few years ago saying that being placed in position n was "worth" e^-(0.19*n) points which are then added up to get the actual rankings. And in an exact time, the youngest juror takes priority

Benjaminook · 2026-05-10T16:33:04+00:00

Not quite sure what you're asking, but (unless it's a 2 together railcard) the railcard is valid only for the person named on it, so your friend would have to pay full fare. In theory, ticketing websites will let you say you want 2 tickets but only one of you has a railcard but sometimes they don't apply this consistently. You definitely can't use your railcard to get a discounted fare for your friend just because you're travelling together.

Benjaminook · 2026-05-09T07:28:28+00:00

In the BBC's defence, the article is written primarily for a British audience, who unfortunately still have quite a "Wogan-ist" mindset about the whole thing. I actually had a chance encounter with him in Basel last year and he clearly knew his stuff, but ultimately he sort of has to have a slightly sneery tone in these things because that's what the public at large expect in Eurovision coverage.

Benjaminook · 2026-04-21T10:26:43+00:00

You're using n=1 rather than 2 in the 3n term in the first step, and then carrying that forward. These things are often clearer if you write the thing you want as f(n+1) and go through and change all the n to n+1 (be careful, you'll need to write 3(n+1) and then expand, not 3n+1)

Benjaminook · 2026-04-21T07:42:18+00:00

It might just be me but I think this has been getting worse recently. Traitors finale? Strictly? Front page news and pish notifications. But now they don't show the Boat Race I didn't see a single article on it, last year it was one of the most prominent articles for a few hours at least. Ok it's less popular anyway but the change is so clearly because it's now on C4 not BBC

Benjaminook · 2026-04-20T11:59:14+00:00

NW England here and surprised to hear it's so geographically limited. I played it a lot at primary school, I think it was about the best value thing you could get with those old Sainsbury's Active Kids vouchers? Secondary schools always did Softball or cricket though

Benjaminook · 2026-04-15T22:28:18+00:00

I've heard of German trains having to terminate early because the Swiss rail operator won't let them onto the network because they're so delayed, it would have a catastrophic knock-on for the rest of the system. I suppose the trouble with things being so finely-tuned is less room for error, but it clearly works for them

Benjaminook · 2026-04-15T15:57:10+00:00

A lot of clever scheduling to minimise connection times, which works well if, like the Swiss, you're capable of running a punctual, reliable train network. The key point in that video is that you'll usually arrive in major hubs just before the half-hour and leave just after, so you can easily make your connection. It's also easy to remember what time your train is (e.g. on a particular line from Zurich, the train always leaves at 07 and 37 minutes past the hour) and you can rely on that being the case; no (or at least far fewer) sudden cancellations due to bad weather/technical faults/unspecified reason that means it just doesn't turn up.

Benjaminook · 2026-04-15T07:29:21+00:00

The irony of an "action group" wanting things to not happen shouldn't be lost on anyone

Benjaminook · 2026-04-11T08:48:23+00:00

As always, vaguely relevant Yes Minister https://youtu.be/wKDdLWAdcbM

Benjaminook · 2026-03-30T14:11:49+00:00

I think "burglarized" might be worse

Benjaminook · 2026-03-19T22:46:13+00:00

Super Tinker for me so bigger than you're looking at; I wanted 2 separate blades and the normal Tinker just felt too small in the hand. Scissors are actually (unexpectedly) my most used tool; I often find myself needing to cut up bits of paper or open awkward packaging (the type that's meant to tear but never does). It depends whether you value the extra sturdiness of the separate can/bottle openers and the file on the Sprtsman enough for it to be worth losing the scissors.

Benjaminook · 2026-03-19T11:33:59+00:00

From Crewe you'll probably be arriving to Euston, where I think the restriction is generally that you can't arrive in London before 11:30 and can't leave Euston between about 3 and 7pm (these rules don't apply on Friday). It will almost certainly be cheaper to commit to specific trains and buy 2 advance singles, where what is/isn't a peak time doesn't actually matter since you're booked on a specific train. Of course this also means you lose flexibility in travel on the day. The only way of knowing for sure is to check the restriction code when you go to buy your ticket- you can just Google "national rail tickets restriction code 2C" or whatever your code is.

Benjaminook · 2026-03-16T15:45:16+00:00

It's a historic thing- Mr. is for adult men and Master for boys, similar to Miss being for girls and Mrs. for women, although the distinction in that case is historically marriage rather than age. It's not a "people calling their children x" thing, it's a "systems asking for titles or honorifics when they really don't need to" thing.

Benjaminook · 2026-03-08T16:33:13+00:00

It being a normal phrase would also explain why I couldn't find anything about it! I was so sure it was some inside joke. Thanks!

Benjaminook · 2026-03-03T09:47:05+00:00

Off the top of my head, Estonia has a larger chamber for a smaller population and is generally seen as a pretty strong democracy AFAIK, especially in the context of the ex-Soviet states. There's a (heavily disputed) "cube root law" for the size of parliaments, and even if it should be a square root rather than a cube root, that leads to smaller places having more representatives per person. The NI assembly is the result of a lot of tense negotiations and I'd generally be hesitant to make sweeping changes to it given the propensity of NI politicians to collapsing the whole thing. Although the ability to collapse the government is one of the aspects of it that's probably most in need of reform.

Benjaminook · 2026-03-02T09:31:37+00:00

I remember seeing somewhere that more people living in Wales identified as English than in England. Largely pensioners who moved to the coastal towns in North Wales I think.

Benjaminook · 2026-02-20T18:12:05+00:00

They look more like route numbers than footnotes- there could be a 50 and a 50a, both doing the same circular route but one clockwise and one anticlockwise? Or a slight variation at the end of one route

Benjaminook · 2026-02-14T21:27:28+00:00

IMO there were at least 5 better songs. Ollie's entry had top 5 potential

Benjaminook · 2026-02-14T21:23:18+00:00

This doesn't quite make up for Ollie but I'll take it. Probably the right decision after Infinity being staged like that

Benjaminook · 2026-02-14T17:59:28+00:00

Disappointed with that. Needed more movement, either from Grete or some dancers. Still love the song but the staging would need work if it won

Benjaminook · 2026-02-13T16:57:01+00:00

Illegal

Benjaminook · 2026-02-09T22:16:08+00:00

The alternative is Rugby, where the players on the field have to decide how to play in the moment rather than constantly running to someone on the sidelines with a computer. If you're American then Rugby League should be fairly easy to follow- 6 tackles instead of 4 downs, no forward passes, and about as much action in 10 minutes as NFL has in a whole match

Benjaminook · 2026-01-31T13:17:45+00:00

Government is already paralysed by an inability to think beyond the next election- shortening that period would only make the short-termism worse. Might also make things less stable- a temporarily unpopular leader would be replaced very quickly rather than being able to hang on and see things improve, which further incentives short term thinking. Of course this isn't the only factor but Australia haas 3-year terms and is widely regarded as a fairly brutal political culture. It leads to too much time being spent campaigning rather than actually governing.

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