I have to argue with andrewdoane on R2-D2 not belonging at #1. Clearly the coolest movie robot of all time! Johnny 5 is OK, but all of the other entries on the list should be fembots from Austin Powers. Ah, the days before Brittney Spears went mental...
I can't imagine the psychological damage to that guy's daughter and their children. I can't help but hope that his stay in jail is similar to what he put her through.
Justin - I found Afghanistan the exact same way. Must be the Physicist in me memorizing as little as possible and deriving the rest...
Honestly, there are a few countries I would get wrong in Eastern Europe and several in Asia (especially the countries along the border of Russia). Unfortunately, that probably still puts me in the "above average" American category. Hopefully I'm wrong though. :)
I missed the language one. I rationalized that there were probably many different languages across the middle east. I'm always happy to learn something new!
Sadly, I know inner-city Philadelphia middle-school teachers who have had to convince their students that Philadelphia is not a state, and that Pennsylvania is not the capital city of the US. Jens poses a good question: how do we change it? Unfortunately, we might be in decent shape if geography was the only subject where students are behind.
Wow, this would be really obnoxious. I envision being out enjoying a baseball game on a Saturday afternoon, enjoying my $25 hot dog, and being forced to look at a Under Armor or Pepsi logo in the sky for two hours.
Maybe I can sue for royalties if Apple constantly casts a shadow over my pool.
It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where they can't get the smell out of the car. I have this mental picture of this guy trading in his car and some unfortunate person buying it only to get a nasty surprise after parking in the sun.
This is a good example of what I love about Neatorama. I don't know where you find all the physics simulations, but they are great! Keep them coming!
I did my graduate work in dynamics (vibration emphasis), so I can tell you that programming something like this is non-trivial. There are a lot of short cuts that could have gotten the basic points across, but they took the time to make it really physically meaningful.
Honestly, there are a few countries I would get wrong in Eastern Europe and several in Asia (especially the countries along the border of Russia). Unfortunately, that probably still puts me in the "above average" American category. Hopefully I'm wrong though. :)
Sadly, I know inner-city Philadelphia middle-school teachers who have had to convince their students that Philadelphia is not a state, and that Pennsylvania is not the capital city of the US. Jens poses a good question: how do we change it? Unfortunately, we might be in decent shape if geography was the only subject where students are behind.
Maybe I can sue for royalties if Apple constantly casts a shadow over my pool.
It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where they can't get the smell out of the car. I have this mental picture of this guy trading in his car and some unfortunate person buying it only to get a nasty surprise after parking in the sun.
I did my graduate work in dynamics (vibration emphasis), so I can tell you that programming something like this is non-trivial. There are a lot of short cuts that could have gotten the basic points across, but they took the time to make it really physically meaningful.