For an American, sometimes reading the temperature in Celsius when abroad or in a newspaper can be annoying, so I thought I'd share a simple way to quickly transfer between the two measurements. 

The mathematical relationship between the two is described by a line: F = 32 + 9/5(C).  Burning this line into your memory isn't a good use of time, but it's pretty easy to just round 9/5 up to 2 and say that F is approximately twice the C temp plus 32.  Then you're left with a little error, which isn't too bad at typical temperatures, as long as you realize that for all positive temp's you're overestimating.  For example, at C° 20 you would estimate F° 72, and the actual is 68.  For every C° 10 increase from 0, the estimate is another F° 2 above the actual F equivalent.

Celsius    Fahrenheit    Estimation Error
-10    14    -2
-8    17.6    -1.6
-6    21.2    -1.2
-4    24.8    -0.8
-2    28.4    -0.4
0    32    0
2    35.6    0.4
4    39.2    0.8
6    42.8    1.2
8    46.4    1.6
10    50    2
12    53.6    2.4
14    57.2    2.8
16    60.8    3.2
18    64.4    3.6
20    68    4
22    71.6    4.4
24    75.2    4.8
26    78.8    5.2
28    82.4    5.6
30    86    6
32    89.6    6.4
34    93.2    6.8
36    96.8    7.2
38    100.4    7.6
40    104    8

I suppose this could be construed as mental masturbation, but I enjoyed looking at this data and graphically showing something we experience twice daily.  The underlying data comes from a website run by the U.S. Navy, which defined sunrise and sunset as the time the top of the sun crosses the horizon.

The spike at March 14 and November 7 comes from the transition into and out of Daylight Savings Time, respectively.  This change decreases the range of sunrise times (5:41-7:41 AM), while exacerbating the range of sunset times (4:46-8:37 PM).

I collected data from 24 games of the original Galaga I recently played on regular Nintendo.  After each bonus round, I recorded my score as well as recording the final score of each game.  The line graph with rainbow colors below shows my scores at the end of each bonus round.   If i did not make it past the next bonus round the line goes horizontal, showing the floor for the final score of that game.

Generally, I adhered to the "double shooter" strategy.  Within the first 10 games it became clear that the double shooter strategy was dominant.  There are two reasons for this dominance: 1. double shooters make perfect scores in the bonus rounds much easier, allowing you to pick up an additional 6-7k points per bonus round; 2. shooting the buggers as they swoop yields twice as much as you get for shooting them as they sit still (see general game information below), and mass killings on the initial swoop is more likely with double shooters.

Observations from the data
Scores at a given stage in the game are highly clustered.  Every 4 levels is generally good for 35-45k points, no matter how hard you try to gain an edge.  The only significant deviations between scores at the same stage were due to making or missing the perfect score bonuses in the bonus rounds.  The gameplay advice I glean from that is intuitive- focus on survival rather than trying to incrementally push the envelope for special scoring opportunities.  This also vindicates the double shooter strategy.

General game information
Extra lives are earned at 30k, 70k, 140k, 210k, 280k, et cetera
Bonus rounds occur at level 3 and then every 4th stage: I.e. bonus stages are rounds 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27,31, et cetera

Point Values - Bugs
not swooping blue = 50
not swooping red = 80
swooping blue = 100
swooping red = 160

Point Values - Bigs
not swooping big = 150
swooping big = 400
big swooping, escorted by 1 bug = 800
big swooping, escorted by 2 bugs = 1600

As an aside, I played these games on a 13" tv with VHS capabilities for a more genuine Galaga gameplay experience.  Never let me tell you that I'm too busy for anything.

If anyone would like a copy of my data or has a counterargument, please let me know.  Also, I'm curious to see what some other players' high scores are.

 

 

2 nilla wafers glued together with fudge.  it tastes like cake.

1. imagine someone willing to do **your job** for $50 that you get paid $100 to do. -------->  :( :( :( 

2. now, imagine someone willing to do a job **for you** at $50 that would otherwise cost you $100 -------->   :) :) :)

the press and politicians often create misunderstandings by describing only 1 side of an economic issue.  our politicians and the press in general describe the US dollar vs Chinese renminbi issue only from the *labor* market perspective.  I.e. they only point out that an artificially low currency makes the low currency country's labor cheaper, which can hurt employment in the high currency country.

but what about the *stuff* market?  assuming that the renminbi is too cheap, isn't it nice having someone working for you for half price?  doesn't that free up money to go to other valuable things?  free money, baby. 

 

We enjoy the benefits of the currency arrangement every day, yet we only hear about the negatives.

people at kraft have designed superb packaging for oreo cookies.  did you know that worldwide oreo sales are over $1 billion?  now you do: http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1103982/000119312509040798/d10k.htm

further, did you know that oreo cookies were first created in 1912 in new york's chelsea?  now you kind of know, but aren't sure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreo

so good

why can't dc do this?

"On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch
mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB
and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck
speed through the heart of Paris early in the morning . The film
was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from
Porte Dauphine , through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

 No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit.

 Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was
arrested. He has never revealed the identity of the driver, and the
film went underground. If you haven't seen this before it is a
classic, if you have seen it I apologize, but it's still a classic.
Turn on your sound and enjoy."

 

 I google mapped the route. It's supposed to take 28 minutes:

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