Research - Tutorial 4

This week we went on an online 'Scavenger Hunt' in search of the answers to obscure questions. The catch? We could not use google or wikipedia. So, instead I opted to use the search engine www.ask.com for the majority of my search.

Here goes.

P.S.
To avoid repetitive referencing, unless otherwise stated, I have in every instance copied the question into the www.ask.com search engine and acquired my answer from the list of results.

1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin? How long did it take to grow?

BigPumpkins.com congratulates Joe Jutras on his 1689 pound pumpkin weighed at the Topsfield Fair GPC weigh-off in Topsfield, MA on September 29, 2007. Joe grew this monster on the 998.6 Pukos 2005 and crossed it with 1225 Jutras 2003.
Source: Bigpumpkins

"That pumpkin grew in 87 days. It was an average of 20 pounds a day. I went on vacation for three days and came back and it was huge."

Source: Salemnews

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

I asked a girl (who wishes to remain nameless) what the answer was seeing as I was having no luck using www.ask.com. She replied that the easiest way to contact Lilly Allen is via Twitter as she kept hearing on the news and in the media.

And so using my communication skills I acquired the information.

Source: Twitter

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?

Funny enough, the search engine popped up a blog from several years ago that had been given a similiar set of 10 questions, with 3 being identicle. Man I love the stream of information.

Source: Emaleighsblog

"I found on Altavista that an adult giraffe's tongue can be up to 27 inches long. I also found out a theory behind why a giraffe's tongue is black, and that is to prevent it from being sunburned. I also found out that Giraffes sleep no more than 5 to 30 minutes in a 24-hour period. There is so much I didnt know about Giraffes."

http://www.flying-dreams.com/spotted/facts.phpng-dreams.com/spotted/facts.php

4. How would you define the word 'glycomics'? In your own words, what does it really mean ? What does the term 'seagull manager' refer to?

“Glycomics,” the scientific attempt to characterize and study carbohydrates, is a rapidly emerging branch of science, for which informatics is just beginning.

My understanding is that Glycomics wishes to study and define carbohydrates more precisely.

Source: Ploscompbiol

Definition of Seagull Manager:

transient, highly critical manager: a manager whose interaction with the workforce consists in arriving, criticizing everything and everybody harshly, and leaving again ( slang )

Source: UKencarta

5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film? Which of his films Had 'Blondie' in it?

The first feature film David directed was 'Transfer; in 1966. The first film he acted in though was 'Into the Night' in 1985. 'Blondie' appeared in a film he directed called 'Videodrome.'

Source: IMDB

6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?

The original Hacker Manifesto was written in 1986 on the 8th of January. It was written by a person via the alias 'The Mentor'.

Source: Mithral

7. Why do phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?

The answer lies 30 years ago or more when the use of exchange names as part of the telephone number was still popular in the USA. Dials had letters as well as numbers and the first 3 letters of the exchange name were dialled followed by numbers. An example might be CENtral 78978. You dialled CEN 78978 or, using all numbers, 236 78978.

It so happened that 5 on the dial corresponded with J K and L and you can’t make any English place names using any combination of J, K and L as the first 3 letters. So the 555 code was allocated to service levels such as Directory Assistance, Operator, Repair Service, etc.

Due to the "low fill" of the 555 code, Hollywood was encouraged to quote 555 numbers in their productions to prevent real subscribers being harassed by members of the public trying out the numbers quoted on the screen. Generic and satirical advertisements and commercials often used 555 numbers. In the early days of exchange names the prefix KLondike-5 was used as this exchange did not exist.

Source: Telephone Collecting

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from the Gold Coast to Sydney?

$103 travelling Virgin Blue airlines.

Source: Airfaresflights

This is infact the cheapest form of travel as a bus costs $123.

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?

I couldn't narrow it down to a specific week, however I did find this song which topped the Australian Pop Charts back in 1965.

RAY BROWN & THE WHISPERS
Fool, Fool, Fool
(Rudy Clark)
Australia 1965
#1 Sydney #4 Melbourne #2 Brisbane #1 Adelaide #1 Perth

Chart-topping Sydney band that originated in the surf music scene as The Nocturnes. After acquiring Ray Brown as their lead singer, they went on to become one of the most popular Australian bands of the British Invasion era. See full history at Milesago.

Source: Poparchives

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?

Stephen Stockwell was in the punk band called "The Black Assasins". This information is from

Source: Bdins2.wordpress