Counting - discussion thread

[GuyBarry]

Should I have another go at breaking the chain?

Your post for 1583 is absolutely fine and within the rules. However, recently the regular players of the game have started to add an extra little twist by trying to create some sort of factual link between the new post and the previous post. You weren't to know this, so it doesn't matter. I'll try to start a new chain with your post, so that you can see how it works.

[GuyBarry]

QI are one behind now.

[tubeguru]

Is this still going?

[GuyBarry]

Yup - it's the game that can never die! And QI have now pulled level at 1597, so I'm sure you'll regard it as a matter of honour that they don't get to 1600 before us...

EDIT: Ah well, they did. Only two to catch up though (at time of writing).

[The Orange One]

Sounds delicious!

This is one of the first globes made by the Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator in 1541, 472 years ago. Mercator is best known for giving us the map projection that is still used for navigation today.

And speaking of maps...

Mercator (the man behind the Mercator projection) posthumously published his Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura - which seems to be the first ever atlas, in 1595.

I just went back over the early posts. I'd completely forgotten Mercator had made a previous appearance in the thread!

[GuyBarry]

We're ahead again!

[GuyBarry]

There is, presumably, a reason for the following page to exist, but that reason escapes me:

Translate 1613 Smiley to 21 different languages

Wikipedia to the rescue! 1613 Smiley is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 16, 1950 by S. Arend at Uccle. It is named after American astronomer Charles Hugh Smiley (1903-1977).

[DrainBrain]

I did not know that. I claim a double connection to earlier posts, even if it was inadvertent.

[GuyBarry]

I don't believe that the Latin translation of 1613 Smiley is "1613 Smiley". Surely it's something like "MDCXIII Smilius"?

[GuyBarry]

Well, congratulations on your hundredth birthday (in base 7, anyway)!

It was certainly my 100th birthday in base 7, but I wouldn't say it was my hundredth

I guess you didn't stay the night in Bristol, but returned home before the night was out. And if I'm right, I think your home town could well have this gentleman as a former MP? His name is Sir William Bassett, and he was born in 1628.

Indeed, I live in Bath (though I hadn't heard of him).

Incidentally, at 1630 we reached our longest unbroken chain so far (48 posts). QI are 20 ahead of us though - possibly their strongest lead ever

[GuyBarry]

QI are 50 ahead now - don't think there's any prospect of catching them up soon. Still I think our version of the game is more entertaining

[RobbieM]

Just posted 1637 - we nearly let it go for over a week without an entry. Dread to think where QI are at now...

[GuyBarry]

They're on 1701. Of course, if we wanted to catch up quickly we could just copy all their posts

[RobbieM]

Dread to think where they are now - I've just made the first post in our thread for nearly two months...

[GuyBarry]

1764 at time of posting. Not only did you make the first post in the Counting thread since March, you made the first post in the whole of Quizzes and Games since 24th March! I can't recall anything like such a long gap since I've been here.

But what a shame you didn't wait until 28 May at 16:47! Then, amazingly, a post of "1639 bells" would have been valid under both Counting and Tumbleweed rules...