Official Pastime

With the new projects not properly outlined, old ones headed for a dump and the boss getting busy with his stuff, it was all free time in the office. (Can the posts in a blog be held against an individual in a legal processing? Hope not!) To use the time constructively I engaged in two means to feed my brain, luckily both turned out to be nice pastimes. Remember, not mere pastimes, it’s official.

1> If you haven’t checked out howstuffworks.com, pay a visit. They are explaining, well, how stuff works and the range of stuff is quite extensive. If you want to find out how stuff related to computers, science, people, entertainment, electronics or any-field-you-name work, go to the site and do a search. Do you know how a hair dryer works or a speaker or a telephone or a TV or an atomic bomb?

2> Next one was an old game rediscovered. Solving puzzles. Here are two of the best I encountered recently –

a. There are 12 balls exactly identical in shape, size and color but one is defective though whether it is lighter or heavier is not known. Find out the ball using a common balance (without weights) using minimum tries

b. A scientist has 1000 beer bottles. He will use those during a party scheduled one month from now. He comes to know that one bottle is poisoned. How can the scientist find out the poisoned bottle using minimum number of mice?
If a mouse is fed the poisonous beer, it dies after a month.

Will you try to solve the puzzles?

If you know the answers beforehand, don’t let the word out!