InFrequently Asked Questions

IFAQ

InFrequently Asked Questions

IFAQ000	IFAQ001	IFAQ002	IFAQ003
IFAQ004	IFAQ005	IFAQ006	IFAQ007
IFAQ008	IFAQ009

IFAQ000 What is an IFAQ?
An IFAQ is an "infrequently asked question." There is usually very limited interest in the answer, but it was a burning question for someone, and the answer wasn't readily available elsewhere. IFAQ is a source of last resort. Need help? Ask IFAQ. Questions should be concise, understandable, and (most importantly) answerable. No questions about the origins of the Universe, please.

IFAQ001 What is Vice-President Al Gore's middle name?
The Vice President's full name is Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. His father's name is Albert Arnold Gore, Sr., of course, but neither Al Gore seems especially proud of their middle name. It is listed in few biographies, and even folks at the White House seemed to have no clue. What is wrong with "Arnold"? It's no worse than "Albert," and it's worn proudly by one of the greatest golfers in the world, and one of the greatest actors. Is Arnold an old, embarrassing, family name?

IFAQ002 The Federal laws say that it is a crime to record a telephone conversation between two parties unless one of the two parties is aware of it. Which of the fifty states go farther, and say that it is a crime unless both are aware of it?
California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are the states which require both parties' consent to record a phone conversation. What if one is in Georgia and the other is in California? Well, the law is fuzzy, but it appears that the less restrictive Federal law holds, if you're recording in Georgia. (Thanks to Jol Andrew Silversmith, then a student at Harvard law school, and the Reporters Committeee for Freedom of the Press First Amendment Handbook, Surreptitious Recording, Overview).

IFAQ003 What were the amendments to the United States Constitution proposed before the Bill of Rights?
The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, were actually proposed as amendments 3 through 12. The first one proposed had to do with apportionment of Representatives, and it has been superceded by the 14th amendment. The second one proposed is now the 27th amendment, which restricts a Congressional pay hike from going into effect until after an election has occurred. It took over 200 years to be ratified, and there was 105 years between the time that the 7th state (Ohio) ratified it in 1873 and when the 8th (Wyoming) ratified it in 1978. The necessary 38 states finally ratified it, and it became law in 1992. Congress now puts limits on how long an amendment can be considered for ratification by the States.

IFAQ004 How do you pronounce FIFA (the acronym for the international governing body of soccer)?
FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (notice that it says Football), and it could be pronounced Fee fah, or Fie fah, or just plain Eff Eye Eff Aay. The consensus seems to be FEE fuh, but we've also received some suggestions that are unprintable.

IFAQ005 What will be the first day of the 21st Century?
Personally, we're going with the odometer approach. When the big digit rolls, we celebrate. So, the first day is Jan. 1, 2000. This is getting to be an important question, since the first day of the 21st Century is also the first day of the 3rd Millennium. There was a huge argument the last time (over the first day of the 20th century), according to Stephen Jay Gould in his book Dinosaur In A Haystack, and people didn't have the Internet available then. It may pass to a Frequently Asked Question. (Addendum: Stephen Jay Gould has published a whole book about this, entitled Questioning the Millennium, and he agrees with us, of course.)
Contrary arguments are based upon the fact that there is no year zero, so the "first" hundred years were the years 1 through 100, and the first century didn't finish until the last day of year 100. However...
The calendar wasn't invented until what we call the 7th century, so technically speaking, there wasn't even a first century.
The concept of zero hadn't been invented by the 7th century, or else there would have been a year zero. Insisting upon 2000 as the start is not evidence of mathematical ignorance. As it is, the folks who insist upon 2001 as the start of the new century are supporting a mathematically naïve system.
The person who created our current calendar considered the birthdate of the religious personality whose anniversaries are denoted by "AD" (anno Domini) to be December 25, 753 A.U.C. (ab urbe condita), which is in our year 1BC. That makes 1BC the same as year 0AD, as astronomers have insisted for a long time. Actually, the founder of the Christian faith was probably born in the year 3 or 4BC, which would have us celebrating the start of the millennium in 1997. So, maybe, you've already missed it. Remember, Bishop Ussher and others decided that the world began on October 26, 4004BC? So, the start of the seventh millennium was October 26, 1997. (Nevermind that the geology textbooks seem to have the dates all wrong.)
All of this confusion underscores the fact that this is an extremely petty issue. The turn of the century is just something to rally around, an excuse for a party and a huge marketing blitz. If you like to party, celebrate both on Jan. 1, 2000 and on Jan. 1, 2001. Oh...you had already planned to do that?

IFAQ006 Why does the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America include the words "under God"? Isn't there supposed to be a separation of church and state in the United States?
The Pledge of Allegiance has an interesting history, and there is hardly a word of it that hasn't been analyzed for sinister motive. The words "under God" were added to the pledge by Congress in 1954, during the red scare era. 'Nuff said here, but there are some other opinions.

IFAQ007 Is the Earth really as smooth as a billiard ball?
We contacted an engineer at Brunswick, and he gave us their specifications for their better billiard balls. Each ball is rolled and measured and an average diameter is computed. The average diameter must be no greater than 2.258 inches, and no less than 2.245 inches. Deviation from the average diameter must be no more than .002 inches. So, if you only consider such minor outcrops as Mt. Everest (6 miles high), the Earth, if reduced to the size of a billiard ball, would pass the smoothness test. Unfortunately, because of the Earth's rotation, the Earth's equatorial diameter is 24 miles more than its polar diameter. The Earth is smooth, but it is out of round. No cosmic corner pocket shots for us.

IFAQ008 What is the most commonly used number base?
A while back, a quick answer of base 10 would have been acceptable, but with the onslaught of the personal computer age, one might be tempted to suggest binary (base 2) or hexidecimal (base 16) or maybe even octal (base 8). None of these answers are correct. The most common number base is sexagesimal (hey, sounds good). Base 60 was used by the Babylonians, and their division of degrees and hours into parts of 60 minutes and then 60 seconds have resisted all attempts at metricization. Like the Babylonians, we use a modified sexagesimal system, where the sexagesimal digits are written in base 10. So, every time that you look at a clock, or see a computer generated time, you are using base 60.

IFAQ009 Where did we get the hour?
This seems to be lost to antiquity, as the saying goes. There are plenty of people who have presented theories. For example, if you hold out your arm with your hand straight up, the Sun appears to travel the length of your hand in one hour. (Addendum: the previous link appears to have expired. If anyone has an updated address, we'd appreciate your sending it to us.) Our favorite theory, because it's ours, is that the early astronomers noticed that the Sun's journey through the sky (the year) was broken up into approximately 360 parts (days), and decided to subdivide the moon's journey in a similar fashion. Since the moon's perceived orbital period is about 30 days, this would subdivide each day into 12 parts (30 x 12 = 360). This is exactly what some of the first timekeepers, the Sumerians, did. When the Egyptians built their sundials, they modified this concept somewhat (because sundials are notoriously ineffective at night) and divided the daylight into 12 parts. Hence, our hours.

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Comments via E-mail.

IFAQ000	What is an IFAQ? An IFAQ is an "infrequently asked question." There is usually very limited interest in the answer, but it was a burning question for someone, and the answer wasn't readily available elsewhere. IFAQ is a source of last resort. Need help? Ask IFAQ. Questions should be concise, understandable, and (most importantly) answerable. No questions about the origins of the Universe, please.
IFAQ001	What is Vice-President Al Gore's middle name? The Vice President's full name is Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. His father's name is Albert Arnold Gore, Sr., of course, but neither Al Gore seems especially proud of their middle name. It is listed in few biographies, and even folks at the White House seemed to have no clue. What is wrong with "Arnold"? It's no worse than "Albert," and it's worn proudly by one of the greatest golfers in the world, and one of the greatest actors. Is Arnold an old, embarrassing, family name?
IFAQ002	The Federal laws say that it is a crime to record a telephone conversation between two parties unless one of the two parties is aware of it. Which of the fifty states go farther, and say that it is a crime unless both are aware of it? California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are the states which require both parties' consent to record a phone conversation. What if one is in Georgia and the other is in California? Well, the law is fuzzy, but it appears that the less restrictive Federal law holds, if you're recording in Georgia. (Thanks to Jol Andrew Silversmith, then a student at Harvard law school, and the Reporters Committeee for Freedom of the Press First Amendment Handbook, Surreptitious Recording, Overview).
IFAQ003	What were the amendments to the United States Constitution proposed before the Bill of Rights? The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, were actually proposed as amendments 3 through 12. The first one proposed had to do with apportionment of Representatives, and it has been superceded by the 14th amendment. The second one proposed is now the 27th amendment, which restricts a Congressional pay hike from going into effect until after an election has occurred. It took over 200 years to be ratified, and there was 105 years between the time that the 7th state (Ohio) ratified it in 1873 and when the 8th (Wyoming) ratified it in 1978. The necessary 38 states finally ratified it, and it became law in 1992. Congress now puts limits on how long an amendment can be considered for ratification by the States.
IFAQ004	How do you pronounce FIFA (the acronym for the international governing body of soccer)? FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (notice that it says Football), and it could be pronounced Fee fah, or Fie fah, or just plain Eff Eye Eff Aay. The consensus seems to be *FEE fuh*, but we've also received some suggestions that are unprintable.
IFAQ005	What will be the first day of the 21st Century? Personally, we're going with the odometer approach. When the big digit rolls, we celebrate. So, the first day is Jan. 1, 2000. This is getting to be an important question, since the first day of the 21st Century is also the first day of the 3rd Millennium. There was a huge argument the last time (over the first day of the 20th century), according to Stephen Jay Gould in his book Dinosaur In A Haystack, and people didn't have the Internet available then. It may pass to a Frequently Asked Question. (Addendum: Stephen Jay Gould has published a whole book about this, entitled Questioning the Millennium, and he agrees with us, of course.) Contrary arguments are based upon the fact that there is no year zero, so the "first" hundred years were the years 1 through 100, and the first century didn't finish until the last day of year 100. However... The calendar wasn't invented until what we call the 7th century, so technically speaking, there wasn't even a first century. The concept of zero hadn't been invented by the 7th century, or else there would have been a year zero. Insisting upon 2000 as the start is not evidence of mathematical ignorance. As it is, the folks who insist upon 2001 as the start of the new century are supporting a mathematically naïve system. The person who created our current calendar considered the birthdate of the religious personality whose anniversaries are denoted by "AD" (anno Domini) to be December 25, 753 A.U.C. (ab urbe condita), which is in our year 1BC. That makes 1BC the same as year 0AD, as astronomers have insisted for a long time. Actually, the founder of the Christian faith was probably born in the year 3 or 4BC, which would have us celebrating the start of the millennium in 1997. So, maybe, you've already missed it. Remember, Bishop Ussher and others decided that the world began on October 26, 4004BC? So, the start of the seventh millennium was October 26, 1997. (Nevermind that the geology textbooks seem to have the dates all wrong.) All of this confusion underscores the fact that this is an extremely petty issue. The turn of the century is just something to rally around, an excuse for a party and a huge marketing blitz. If you like to party, celebrate both on Jan. 1, 2000 and on Jan. 1, 2001. Oh...you had already planned to do that?
IFAQ006	Why does the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America include the words "under God"? Isn't there supposed to be a separation of church and state in the United States? The Pledge of Allegiance has an interesting history, and there is hardly a word of it that hasn't been analyzed for sinister motive. The words "under God" were added to the pledge by Congress in 1954, during the red scare era. 'Nuff said here, but there are some other opinions.
IFAQ007	Is the Earth really as smooth as a billiard ball? We contacted an engineer at Brunswick, and he gave us their specifications for their better billiard balls. Each ball is rolled and measured and an average diameter is computed. The average diameter must be no greater than 2.258 inches, and no less than 2.245 inches. Deviation from the average diameter must be no more than .002 inches. So, if you only consider such minor outcrops as Mt. Everest (6 miles high), the Earth, if reduced to the size of a billiard ball, would pass the smoothness test. Unfortunately, because of the Earth's rotation, the Earth's equatorial diameter is 24 miles more than its polar diameter. The Earth is smooth, but it is out of round. No cosmic corner pocket shots for us.
IFAQ008	What is the most commonly used number base? A while back, a quick answer of base 10 would have been acceptable, but with the onslaught of the personal computer age, one might be tempted to suggest binary (base 2) or hexidecimal (base 16) or maybe even octal (base 8). None of these answers are correct. The most common number base is sexagesimal (hey, sounds good). Base 60 was used by the Babylonians, and their division of degrees and hours into parts of 60 minutes and then 60 seconds have resisted all attempts at metricization. Like the Babylonians, we use a modified sexagesimal system, where the sexagesimal digits are written in base 10. So, every time that you look at a clock, or see a computer generated time, you are using base 60.
IFAQ009	Where did we get the hour? This seems to be lost to antiquity, as the saying goes. There are plenty of people who have presented theories. For example, if you hold out your arm with your hand straight up, the Sun appears to travel the length of your hand in one hour. (Addendum: the previous link appears to have expired. If anyone has an updated address, we'd appreciate your sending it to us.) Our favorite theory, because it's ours, is that the early astronomers noticed that the Sun's journey through the sky (the year) was broken up into approximately 360 parts (days), and decided to subdivide the moon's journey in a similar fashion. Since the moon's perceived orbital period is about 30 days, this would subdivide each day into 12 parts (30 x 12 = 360). This is exactly what some of the first timekeepers, the Sumerians, did. When the Egyptians built their sundials, they modified this concept somewhat (because sundials are notoriously ineffective at night) and divided the daylight into 12 parts. Hence, our hours.