Idézet: ChaoticGemini - 2010.08.12. 21:18:26

On the other hand, a google search turned up the correct answer quickly. I think this is basically the same case I was asking about in http://forum.doomlord.net/index.php/topic,72.0#hsz12. If the context gets in the way of the question, or there's just not enough characters allowed to fit both the context and the question, and google is sufficient without the context, is it ok to leave the context off?

again, i just don't see the spelling mistake. can anyone help? thanks.

Who first proposed that the planets have elliptical orbits?

Aristotle
Galileo
Copernicus
Kepler

Idézet: manunkind - 2010.08.13. 00:39:19

No red lines anywhere, meaning the spelling checker didn't think there's anything wrong with it.
Maybe they think the grammar is incorrect somehow? I don't think it's necessarily wrong though...
"Who was the first to propose planets have elliptical orbits?" would be another way to phrase it.
I don't know how they check spelling though, it might just be that it it done automatically and that one or more of the names aren't listed...

I protest! This is not an arithmetic problem. You do not have to calculate anything. Not like the brick one, or the one where the correct answer is 88^2 + 33^2 = 8833, or this one that I just got:

Those are all arithmetic problems, mine is a general mathematical knowledge question. Please clarify, if there is a guideline that my question does not satisfy, what guideline it is.

I agree its not an arithmetic problem. However i would have given the special evaluation since is something most people will not be able to answer in 5min hunt time.

Idézet: stekkos - 2010.08.13. 15:18:33

How about if I changed the wording from "mathematical symbol" to "mathematical constant"? Then google's top search result is the wikipedia article that answers the question.

I'd also like to hear an evaluator comment on the Ghostbusters question I posted in the will my question be accepted thread.

As mentioned many times, it is not the ease of finding the answer in google that makes a question good. Like a question about what weapon rambo did not use in its movies, it is not accepted because the big majority of players, including those that saw all 4 movies, will not remember the answer. Yours falls in that category, is not a bad question (far better then some in the quiz, i admit that ). Still most players will not be able to answer, and even if they do find the answer will have to have a certain mathematical background to understand it. I studied advanced math calsses both in highschool and college, and cannot bring myslf to remember this one after all these years...

Coclusion: Its a good question bad not good for the general public lets say

I must say the given answers in LittleJon's question are well chosen though, it makes the question a lot easier to answer. They're all well known constants as well and almost impossible to confuse with e.

As for my own question that was considered ambigious:

Which country has the highest percentage of twin births?

Paraguay
Nigeria
Yemen
Cambodia

Why is this ambiguous? Do I need to state a year because it might change some day? Or can the question be misinterpreted in some way? Would it be better to change 'percentage' to 'rate' or 'ratio'?

I will say it again: His question was much better written than some which were accepted. I hope he will understand the reason i would reject it, it is not the quality of the question.

As for your question, the date is a must, unless Nigeria has a magic way of staying on top of the rest in twins
Other than that, i dont see a problem, if the evaluator that examined the question logs in she might give a further explanation

Ok thanks
I wouldn't call it magic, but the racial differences and eating habits are thought to be the main causes. I don't see them changing any time soon. Although it is possible that the higher average age of pregnant mothers-to-be in other countries will cause a twin-boom there and then there's fertility drugs and the like...who knows, the USA could make a come-back someday

I didn't put in a date because it makes it seem so specific and Nigeria has been leading for a while.
If I got a question now, which country had the highest twinning rate in 1950 it would be weird...

I'll just write another twin question
Thanks again for your quick replies

From what I find on the internet, some user generated sites list Nigeria as having the most twins due to their yam consumption, and it was probably accurate at one time. But, when I pull up raw data from reporting agencies and do the math, there are several countries in recent years with higher twin birth rates.


Edit:
The idea that yams could contribute to twin birth rates is an interesting idea.

A date still needs to be added in my opinion. Things are not set in stone for eternity; in the end everything has the possibility to change.

Heck, if plants can sprout in the desert and humans can breathe in a specific liquid solution everything is possible.

Idézet: stekkos - 2010.08.14. 04:19:54

I understand that's the theory, but I just don't believe it in practice. For one thing, if a question comes in on a topic that is completely outside the evaluator's experience, the only way they have of seeing whether the question is special or not is using google. If they can't find the answer in 5 minutes, they would have to reject the question by default. If they find the answer in the top link of google, of course they are more likely to approve it. You imply as much here:



Also, from the players' point of view, having an obscure question that is easily answerable via google is all good. If the question is both esoteric and hard to google, that's a problem. I'm not saying that google should be used as a litmus test. But in cases where the question is in a gray area on the specialized knowledge test, the googlability should be considered as one factor (and, like I said, I believe it typically is, in practice).

Idézet: stekkos - 2010.08.14. 04:19:54

I'm guessing that your math teachers might be a little disappointed to hear that. I figured there was a 50/50 chance of getting that question rejected due to the arguments you make. In the US, I'd say at least half the population never makes it to the level of math where they would encounter e. I expect the population that plays Doomlord is generally better educated, but some of the players might not be old enough to have gotten that far. Anyway, moving on now...

Don't bother with anything maths or shape related..

Some time ago this question of mine was rejected: "What shape is the Earth", the answer was "Spheroid" and was considered an arithmetic/special knowledge. In the 21st century the shape of the planet we live on is specialist knowledge, huzzah at that. Who would have guessed eh..? And here I was thinking that it was actually a cube!


Thus, I simply chose not to bother anymore (apart from the couple of rants here and there). I still stand by my argument of months ago that the system needs a change. Loads of suggestions were made but no one heard us out; it's simply pointless to post anything related to quizzes.

Why players still bother trying to figure out possible questions; incessantly hoping for that one stroke of luck that it gets approved is beyond my mental capacity. In the end, it's a couple hundred SE and simply not worth the effort required or the excruciating frustration that is caused by this idiotic system. Let the verifiers fill the damned database up themselves, since it appears that they are the only ones that actually understand what's actually specialist knowledge and what's not. The rest of us are simply dumbfounded trying to make a sense of something which doesn't make any sense at all.

The more players that boycott the quiz system, the higher the chances that this idiotic situation is fixed.

Idézet: LydonB - 2010.08.14. 22:34:37

Hear, hear. Granted, things HAVE gotten somewhat better since the "guidelines" were created - but ultimately, writing questions just isn't worth it. I renounce on 80-90% of my opportunities, and that's about the right amount in order to stay sane.

@ LydonB, the challenge can be fun on it's own...or maybe we're just of the M type ^@^
I must confess I'm about 50/50 with good and bad questions so it's kind of nice to get one approved

@ ChaoticGemini, In that case I'm sorry, I looked around quite a bit but couldn't find anything contradicting Nigeria being the leader of the pack. I guess I can't match a quizmaster's googlability

why my question rejected? Its very very obvious what the correct answer is. Any google serach will put the information number one in results......
What is `Agent Orange'?

A herbicide used in the Vietnam War
A character from the game half life 2
A character from the movie `Bananas in Pajamas go Wild'
A grunge rock and roll band


The question is valued as "Bad, incorrect question"!
Your answers are ambiguous or wrong to this question.

Your last question
How many countries worldwide have not adopted the metric system as their unit of measurement?

one
three <---------
five
none

The question is valued as "Bad, incorrect question"!


How Fn' hard is this question? Its global, Its a subject that anyone with some intelligence can lkook up and find out, what is the issue with this question? Is it to stupid for the incredible minds that play this game or what? A country either uses the metric system or something differant like the US system, or imperial system, how hard is that? it take 2 secs to look it up or is that to much work?!?

Idézet: Vulture01 - 2010.08.16. 23:16:59

There appears to be a real band named Agent Orange. They don't sound very grungy, but maybe that was enough for the evaluator to reject it. Other than that, and the fact that I hate backquotes, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Idézet: V3nG3nC3X - 2010.08.16. 23:36:46
There is a similar question in the database, and one of the 3 countries might adopt it, invalidating the question, so at minimum a year is needed.