Thursday, April 21, 2011

Albert Einsten's Brain Teaser

I spent a good 3 hours last night doing this logic puzzle. According to Einstein, only 2% of the world's population could solve. I don't think that's true, 'cause given enough time and patience, everybody should be able to find the answer. The answer to after the jump. Enjoy!

P.S. I made a complicated--yet colorful--spread sheet for this problem. But that's not necessary.

There are 5 houses each with a different color. Their owners, each with a unique heritage, drinks a certain type of beverage, smokes a certain brand of cigarette, and keeps a certain variety of pet. None of the owners have the same variety of pet, smoke the same brand of cigarette or drink the same beverage.

Clues:
  • The Brit lives in the red house.
  • The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
  • The Dane drinks tea.
  • Looking from in front, the green house is just to the left of the white house.
  • The green house's owner drinks coffee.
  • The person who smokes Pall Malls raises birds.
  • The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
  • The man living in the center house drinks milk.
  • The Norwegian lives in the leftmost house.
  • The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
  • The man who keeps a horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
  • The owner who smokes Bluemasters also drinks beer.
  • The German smokes Prince.
  • The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
  • The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.
Who owns the pet fish?

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Reblogged: The Egg


I enjoy this little dialog. It's a nice, well-thought out interpretation of religion and the meaning of life. I bolded all the lines that I found most meaningful and enlightening in this essay and I wish to share this story with everyone.
You were on your way home when you died. 
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me. 
And that’s when you met me.
“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”
“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”
“Yup,” I said.
“I… I died?”
“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”
“More or less,” I said.
“Are you god?” You asked.
“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”
“My kids… my wife,” you said.
“What about them?”
“Will they be all right?”
“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”
You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”
“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”
“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”
“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”
All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”
You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”
“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”
“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”
“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”
I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.
“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”
“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”
“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011

It's The Game of LIFE

I recently played a Game of LIFE with a couple of friends of mine. It was my second time ever playing the game with half a decade in between the two times. I was more than a little slow. I didn't win with the most amount of money and assets that night but I wanted to recount my "life" to everybody for the heck of it.

My Life's Accomplishments (aka LIFE tiles):
  • Saved an endangered species
  • Won a Pulitzer Prize
  • Found a cure for the common cold
  • Built a better mousetrap
  • Build a new computer

My Home:  
 
Victorian home (worth $200,000)-library, parlor, servant's quarters, marble fireplace, wraparound porch

Family: One son

I ended the game with no loans and stock to my name. I had more than half a million dollars to my name. But what was my occupation? It must have been a lucrative job. I can promise you that I had a very high salary.

Find out after the jump.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

What I'm Watching: Epic Rap Battles of History!


Most of you may already know about this, but I've just discovered this and I want to share the joy with everybody else who hasn't. It's a Youtube series started by nicepeter (the same guy who co-wrote "Like It's Quidditch"). It revolves around the idea of pitting two famous figures (real or fictional) against one another in an epic rap battles. The result? Pure Awesomesauce.

Just watch and enjoy.
John Lennon vs Bill O' Reilly

Darth Vader vs Adolf Hitler