Week 3 - Tute

So for this weeks tute I have to find the answer to some questions without the use of google or wikipedia, not to hard... I hope, here I go:

Question:

1. What is the weight of the world’s biggest machine? How much did it cost to build?

What I found was the biggest machine is a rotating shovel called the 'Bagger 288' built in Germany in 1998 at a cost of $100 million and weighing in at 45 500 ton. Now that's big!

sites accessed 10/08/2010

http://www.wonderhowto.com/wonderment/worlds-biggest-machine-0113869/

www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Trencher.htm

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF-c5Tn-Xhk

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Ozzy Osborne?

For this question I went all Gen Y and looked Ozzy up on twitter.

(http://twitter.com/OfficialOzzy, 10/08/2010)

3. When and what was the first example of global digital communication?

4. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Melbourne?

I found this question super easy. I'm a pro when it comes to cheap travel! I have managed to travel quite a bit around the globe and never use a travel agent. Anywho I found the cheapest one way ticket was with Tiger Airways leaving Wednesday at 9.45pm at $58.95.

(http://booking.tigerairways.com/skylights/cgi-bin/skylights.cgi, 10/08/2010)

5. Who is Hatsune Miku? What company does she belong to? What is her birthday?

Okay, this one was a little difficult. I found that Hatsune Miku is a vocaloid which is a program developed by Yamaha in Japan to synthesize the vocals in a song. With Japans obsession with anime Hatsune Miku has taken on a full persona and cult following. Despite this the birth date was the hardest to find but I did. According to one site I found Hatsune Miku's birthday is the 31th August (2007) but I also found the the release date for Hatsune Miku was the 17th August 2007.


(http://kyourankyodai.com/2009/08/31/happy-2nd-birthday-hatsune-miku-san/, http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/miku-hatsune-vocaloid, 10/08/2010)

6. Find a live webcam in Antarctica. Find a place to stay in Antarctica.

You would think this would be hard to find being such an inhospitable place but no. The Australian government and many other governments have stations in Antarctica all with webcams. The Australian Antarctic Devision website has links to each of their stations and the webcams at these stations.

There are no Hotels at Antarctica but there are plenty of travel companies that can take tourist there with accommodation on a boat. One site that I looked at is Antarctica Cruises and Tours which offer a range of tours to Antarctica.

Sites visited 10/08/2010

http://www.aad.gov.au/asset/webcams/casey/default.asp

http://www.aad.gov.au/asset/webcams/mawson/default.asp

http://www.aad.gov.au/asset/webcams/davis/default.asp
http://www.adventure-life.com/cruises/antarctica-cruises/

7. What song was top of the Australian pop charts this week in 1980?

This question I found to be difficult. What I did find is that the ARIA charts, which is the current body who compiles this information only goes back as far as 1988. So no luck there. I did find some books and thought I was going to get the answer but then found out I would have to buy these books, sorry but I don't need to know the answer that bad.... If it wasn't for the word "Australia" in the question it would have been easy.

It took me about 5 second to find the number 1 for the USA this week in 1980 - It was Olivia Newton-John with Magic thank to the Billboard magazine.
(http://www.joshhosler.biz/numberoneinhistory/08/0810.htm, http://www.ariacharts.com.au/, 10/08/2010)

8. How would you define the term 'nano technology'? In your own words, what does it really mean?

Before I looked up this question I had a bit of an idea what nano technology is, well at least I thought so. Turns out that nano technology is much smaller and used more widely then I first thought. Originally I thought it was used in electronics with research into applications in medicine, but it is used in everyday items to make lighter, stronger and more durable. 'Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions between approximately 1 and 100 nanometers'. To put that into persective a sheet of paper is 100 000 nanometers thick.

(http://www.nano.gov/, 10/08/2010)

9. What type of camera is used to make ‘Google Street View’?

To create street view Google used an eleven lens Dodeca 2360 camera which was attached to the roof of a car that captured images in every direction as they drove their cars around the world.
(http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5114117_google-make-street-maps.html, http://www.ehow.com/facts_5295795_google-create-street.html, http://www.immersivemedia.com/products/capture.html, 10/08/2010)

10. Translate these questions into Klingon.

Well it would be an over statement if I said this question was fun to look up.... I mean Klingon.... really? Yes this it a tech course and I like sci-fi movies, but Klingon isn't a language no matter how many conventions you go to or how many chat rooms you go on, it will never be spoken at the UN.
Disspite my aversion to this question I managed to track something down, a site called 'Mr Klingon'. Here are a few questions translated.
1. nuq 'oH vo' chay' 'ar ta'ta' 'oH Daq chen
2. nuq 'oH HochHom Daq (I don't think it know how to translate "Ozzy Osborne
3. ghorgh 'ej nuq ghaHta' wa'DIch vo'

(http://www.mrklingon.org/, 10/08/2010)