Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Worst-designed Sport Of All Time

(As you could have predicted, the Russians also led after the first run.) If youre not in the lead after one run, you should probably give up on the gold. And if youre in fourth place or worse, your chances of getting any kind of medal are slim. In more than 70 percent of all races, every position on the podium is locked in once three runs are complete. A well-designed sport has enough variability to create suspense. Imagine if after three quarters of a football game the winner could be predicted 100 percent of the time. (Ad time in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl would be much cheaper, at least.) Golf, similar to bobsled in that it features an open field competing on the same course four times, is vastly different in terms of predictability. Over the past 10 years of golf majors, the eventual winner was in the lead 15 percent of the time after the first day. After days two and three, the percentage increased to 35 percent and 45 percent respectively. (Even when you account for the fact that there are a lot more competitors in a golf tournament than in a bobsled event, these numbers are still stark45 percent is a whole lot less than 100 percent.) Is it inherently bad to have a sport thats so predictable? It is at least in the case of bobsled, considering that it features four anonymous helmets poking out of identical sleds, with no particular strategy discernible to the naked eye. Given those parameters, youd think suspense would be the only reason to watch. Since theres absolutely no suspense to be had, youd be better off switching to Animal Planet whenever you see a bobsled charging across your television screen.
For the original version visit http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/fivering_circus/2014/02/sochi_olympics_bobsled_why_it_s_the_worst_designed_sport_of_all_time.html

Monday, February 17, 2014

outlets For Humor On The Internet




We all need a little laughter in our lives and it helps to know where we can go to get it. Because most of our interaction is done on social networking sites we can also use them to find some humor. Believe it or not there are actually a lot of websites out there that post funny stuff like: cartoons, jokes, stories and other things. There are places you can go to complain about your current or ex, and places you can go to see funny pictures. These sites have so much funny stuff you can look up while you're sitting around bored, and they are all accessible from your cell phone. So make sure not the party downer and have something interesting to talk about. It can be short videos, it can be a funny picture, or even a story that is really funny, whatever it is you can access it online or post some of your own. We use the internet for so many things, so why not use it for some humor once and for all?

One of the hardest things to admit about the social networking sites is that some times we cannot be expressive or really shoot our ideas out there or even vent because of the fear of what will be noticed. You can't say how much you hate your job if your boss or a few coworkers are friends with you online. You can't complain about how stupid your boyfriend is online if he's your friend so where do you go? You can say stuff to other people to try and vent but really that doesn't work because sooner or later they are going to tell the person you were venting about. Sometimes our funniest moments, are most entertaining rants come when we are talking to a complete stranger. Sometimes we benefit from having the opinion of someone we never met. That's why you get with these websites where people post some funny. It would be nice to have a website you can go to and look up funny other people have posted and see what there is to talk about. You would be surprised the relief it can bring to some ones day reading about someone else complaining and ranting about something. Half the television shows that exist today are about people talking about what they see on the internet, so go to the source.
We all need a little laughter in our lives and it helps to know where we can go to get it. Because most of our interaction is done on social networking sites we can also use them to find some humor. Believe it or not there are actually a lot of websites out there that post funny stuff like: cartoons, jokes, stories and other things. There are places you can go to complain about your current or ex, and places you can go to see funny pictures. These sites have so much funny stuff you can look up while you're sitting around bored, and they are all accessible from your cell phone. So make sure not the party downer and have something interesting to talk about. It can be short videos, it can be a funny picture, or even a story that is really funny, whatever it is you can access it online or post some of your own. We use the internet for so many things, so why not use it for some humor once and for all?

One of the hardest things to admit about the social networking sites is that some times we cannot be expressive or really shoot our ideas out there or even vent because of the fear of what will be noticed. You can't say how much you hate your job if your boss or a few coworkers are friends with you online. You can't complain about how stupid your boyfriend is online if he's your friend so where do you go? You can say stuff to other people to try and vent but really that doesn't work because sooner or later they are going to tell the person you were venting about. Sometimes our funniest moments, are most entertaining rants come when we are talking to a complete stranger. Sometimes we benefit from having the opinion of someone we never met. That's why you get with these websites where people post some funny. It would be nice to have a website you can go to and look up funny other people have posted and see what there is to talk about. You would be surprised the relief it can bring to some ones day reading about someone else complaining and ranting about something. Half the television shows that exist today are about people talking about what they see on the internet, so go to the source.
We all need a little laughter in our lives and it helps to know where we can go to get it. Because most of our interaction is done on social networking sites we can also use them to find some humor. Believe it or not there are actually a lot of websites out there that post funny stuff like: cartoons, jokes, stories and other things. There are places you can go to complain about your current or ex, and places you can go to see funny pictures. These sites have so much funny stuff you can look up while you're sitting around bored, and they are all accessible from your cell phone. So make sure not the party downer and have something interesting to talk about. It can be short videos, it can be a funny picture, or even a story that is really funny, whatever it is you can access it online or post some of your own. We use the internet for so many things, so why not use it for some humor once and for all?

One of the hardest things to admit about the social networking sites is that some times we cannot be expressive or really shoot our ideas out there or even vent because of the fear of what will be noticed. You can't say how much you hate your job if your boss or a few coworkers are friends with you online. You can't complain about how stupid your boyfriend is online if he's your friend so where do you go? You can say stuff to other people to try and vent but really that doesn't work because sooner or later they are going to tell the person you were venting about. Sometimes our funniest moments, are most entertaining rants come when we are talking to a complete stranger. Sometimes we benefit from having the opinion of someone we never met. That's why you get with these websites where people post some funny. It would be nice to have a website you can go to and look up funny other people have posted and see what there is to talk about. You would be surprised the relief it can bring to some ones day reading about someone else complaining and ranting about something. Half the television shows that exist today are about people talking about what they see on the internet, so go to the source.