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The Coins – A Riddle

Hi everyone,

I have a riddle for you! I hope you enjoy!

Your team has ventured into the Amazon Forest and found the legendary treasure of 100 doubloons. Now, your team must divide the treasure according to the Adventurer’s Code (which is not legit, please do not quote me).

As head adventurer, you get to decide how to divide the coins. Your team will vote “yes” or “no” to your plan (you also count as one “yes”). If the “yes”s are equal or greater than the “no”s, then the plan goes through. Otherwise, the next adventurer in succession will decide how to divide it without you. All of your fellow adventurers will think logically as well.

There are four adventurers, Joe (you), Bob, Dan, Timmy, and Tommy.

How will you ensure that you get the most gold?

– Solution –

Think logically and backward. Let’s say it’s just Timmy and Tommy. Timmy will say “I get all of the gold” and Tommy’s one “no” won’t be able to override it, and Tommy knows this too, so he wants to avoid this.

Now, let’s go to where Dan’s head adventurer. Dan knows Tommy doesn’t want head adventurer to go to Timmy, so Dan secures Timmy’s vote with one coin.

Let’s go to Bob. Bob knows Tommy doesn’t want the vote to go to Dan, so Bob gives one coin to Tommy and nothing else.

Finally, let’s go to you. You know if head adventurer goes to Bob, Dan and Tommy will have nothing. So you give Dan and Tommy one coin each, and you keep 98. You know that Dan and Tommy know that your proposal is the best, so they begrudgingly say “yes”.

Congrats! You’ve solved the coin riddle! I hope you enjoyed!

Credit: WordPress

 

 

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Einstein’s Riddle

Hi everyone, Everyone knows Einstein as a genius scientist. You know, the dude who created E=Mc^2? That dude? Yeah. Apparently, he created a very challenging riddle, and I’ll share the riddle with you today! – One night, a famous heirloom was stolen from the museum: a nearly 600-year-old painting. The police chased down the thief…
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Making Ice Cream is Hard

Hi everyone,

Making ice cream is hard. I tried to make ice cream over the three day weekend, and although the instructions seem easy, it’s not really. Let me explain.

There are six ingredients to making ice cream: Milk (or half-n-half/heavy cream), sugar, vanilla extract, crushed ice, rock salt, and the patience of a monk trying to run a daycare without screaming.

First, you have to crush the ice (or if you’re lucky enough, you have a crushed ice setting on your fridge) and sprinkle rock salt over it. But hey, you better put a butt-load of ice because that sucker is gonna melt in three seconds flat while you’re trying to conjure this mixture into ice cream.

Then, you gotta mix a cup of milk, a tablespoon of sugar, and 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract into a plastic bag. Seems simple, right? Well, this recipe (or at least the one I was following) doesn’t make a lot of ice cream. So you gotta get a small bag to minimize waste. But the bags that I have don’t really fit into a cup so I have to juggle the bag and the big cup measurement while trying not to spill the whole thing (which by the way, I did, so I had to waste a whole container of ice-salt mixture).

After that, you double baggie the mixture and plop that into the container of ice, cover the ice container, and mix for 20 minutes. And while you’re waiting, feel free to research some frostbite treatments while you’re mixing this thing and getting sticky water all over everything.

And after a lot of waiting and probably putting the mixture into the fridge because you’re fed up with the noise of ice shaking, you got a lot distinctly-flavored vanilla ice.

Congrats, you’ve created a sticky mess and you have to clean that all up now. Have fun!

Recipe:

1 cup of milk/half-n-half/heavy cream

1 tablespoon of icing or granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Crushed ice

Rock salt

  1. Pour crushed ice into a container and pour rock salt over it.
  2. Combine the milk, sugar, and extract into a quart-sized plastic bag.
  3. Seal the bag and put it into another bag.
  4. Put the bag into the container, seal it, and shake for 5-20 minutes.
  5. Place in freezer for 5 minutes if it’s not solid enough.

I hope you enjoyed this silly little post. Goodbye!

Credit: bakingdom.com

 

 

 

 

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The Dark History of the Treadmill

Hi everyone,

We’ve all made that “exercise is torture! oh, noes!!1!11!” joke. However, did you know that treadmills were actually used in the 1800s in English prisons?

Back in the ye old timey days, English prisoners’ treatment was bad. If they were found guilty of a crime, they’d be deported, executed, or locked away in filthy cells for long periods of time.

Many prominent figures protested against this treatment, like the famous author Charles Dickens. They wanted to reform the prisoners in place of these cruel treatments. When the movement succeeded, entire prisons were remodeled with new forms of rehabilitation. One of those forms was the treadmill.

The treadmill was invented by English engineer Sir William Cubitt in 1818. Unlike today’s treadmills, the design for this treadmill was very different. Prisoners stepped on the spokes of a large paddle wheel. As the wheel turned, prisoners were forced to keep stepping or fall off. These treadmills also pumped water, crush grain, and even power mills (which is where the treadmill got its name). This was seen as a great way to whip prisoners up into shape, and also gave the added benefit of helping England recover from the Napoleonic Wars.

It was a win for everyone except the prisoners. It was estimated that on average, prisoners spent six to eight hours on these machines. That’s about halfway to the top of Mount Everest! Think about doing that five days a week with no food or water. Unsurprisingly, the stress of walking continuously with no food or water made prisoners suffer mental breakdowns.

Treadmills in England lasted until the late 19th century, where it was banned due to being excessively cruel under the Prison’s Act of 1898. However, the treadmills struck again- now targeting consumers. In 1911, a patent for a treadmill was registered in the U.S. Instead of the cylindrical design, it was replaced by the flat conveyor belt design we all know (and most of us probably don’t love, sorry treadmills) today.

I hope this gave you a bit of information on a topic we probably don’t know about! Goodbye!

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o・)┛♪

See the source image

Credit: Flickr

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A History of Dogs

Hi everyone,

Almost everyone knows about the furry “man’s best friend”: the dog. If you don’t know what a dog is, you’re either lying or you’re under 2 years old. Sorry. Anyways, I’m here to present to you: A History of Dogs! Enjoy, roll the tape! 😀

Wolves were first domesticated somewhere in Eurasia. Wolves were first attracted to human camps to scavenge for food. As time progressed, wolves started traveling with nomadic humans and a “natural selection” of wolf domestication occurred. According to various research, women may of first started owning wolves/dogs as pets.

Surprisingly, the domestication of dogs occurred all around the world. The first estimated domestication of wolves were around Central Asia 15,000 years ago. In some studies, it shows that the Chinese domesticated wolves 7,000 to 9,000 years ago to herd animals. Some other studies show that dogs were domesticated 18,800–32,100 years ago in Europe from a small strain of gray wolf that now inhabits India.

Some studies show that some dogs actually descend from jackals instead of wolves! These studies also suggest that these wolves did not travel with nomadic humans; rather that they came to the Americas 10,000 years ago.

Dogs were pampered in Ancient Egypt. They were thought to be godlike figures. Only royalty was allowed to own purebred dogs, and they were indulged by their own servants, outfitted with jeweled collars, and fed closely selected diets. When a ruler died, their favorite dog was often placed in their tomb so the ruler wouldn’t get harmed in the afterlife, per Egyptian beliefs.

Pictures/paintings of dogs have also been seen on walls, tombs, and scrolls throughout Europe. The pictures often depict the dogs hunting game with their owners. Statues of dogs also guard entrances to tombs and burial crypts.

During the Bronze Age, there were five distinct categories of dogs: mastiffs, wolf-type dogs, sight hounds, pointing dogs, and herding dogs.

I hoped this post gave you a bit of info on one of the most popular animals of all time! Goodbye!

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o・)┛♪

Sources:

Britannica

Credit: Bing

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Why Almost Every Price Ends With 99 Cents

Hi everyone,

When you shop, online or in-store, you’ll probably see prices like $6.99, $3.99, etc. There’s actually a psychological reason for this, instead of storeowners pricing things willy-nilly. There’s even more tactics used to separate you and your hard-earned money.

Method 1: The 99 Cents Trick

This is the most common pricing trick: ending your prices with .99. The reason for this is pretty simple: We’re just really impatient people. See, when we shop, we usually look at the first number. For example, $3.99 and $4. Obviously, you’d go for the $3.99 because it’s cheaper, but cross that out for the sake of the explanation.

Our brains would pretty much only process the front number. You’d automatically look at 3 in the $3.99 price tag and think “Wow, that’s way cheaper,” even though it’s only 1 cent off $4. This is really effective when pricing really expensive items too, like video-game consoles. Even though $99.99 is only 1 cent off $100, you’ll think “Wow! What a steal!” because there’s one less digit on 99 than 100 and you’ll focus on the big number too. It’s a double whammy, pretty much.

Method 2: The Random Pricing Trick

This one’s pretty simple too. Now that everyone’s using the 99 Cents trick, store owners and manufacturers have to come up with new ways to trick consumers. It’s not like having an honest business is profitable, right? Pshh… Take for example $8 and $9.18. You’ll probably notice the $9.18 more because it’s, well, random. This can create a myriad of thoughts, like “Wow, this must be discounted” or give the shopper more viewing time, therefore, more time to think about whether they really need this product. Who knew that slamming your hand on the numbers can create even more money?

Method 3: The “Package” Trick

Take some time to think about ways online businesses make money. If you’ve answered “Monthy Subscriptions,” you’re correct! Most online businesses make money by selling online subscriptions. You know, that 30-day free trial to watch a movie that you forgot about? Sneaky, but, it’s not illegal, I guess.

Now, think about different “packages” these companies offer. I’m going to use Netflix because Netflix is a pretty big company. You have the Basic Plan, the Standard Plan, and the Premium Plan. The way companies get you to buy their product is pretty sneaky. You see, since we have to be more selective with our spending since we’re not Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos or even Trump (sorry), our brains will use some process of elimination.

Since the Basic plan doesn’t even offer HD, we’ll probably cross that off. Then our brains will drift to Premium. However, the Premium plan is crazy expensive at $15.99 a month (hey, look, the 99 cents trick), so we’ll go to the Standard plan. The Standard plan comes with HD and a reasonable price. Ka-ching, money!

I hope this post answered some questions that might’ve been floating around. I hope you enjoyed!

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o・)┛♪

Credit: Bing

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Robots – A Riddle

Hi everyone,

I have a riddle for you all! I hope you enjoy!

You’re the designer for an engineering contest. In the contest, you have to design a robot to battle. Your opponents are the Blue Cats and the Yellow Bees.

Their robots are fierce. Blue Cat’s robot will defeat their opponent 70% of the time. Yellow Bee’s even fiercer robot will defeat their opponent a stunning 90% of the time.

You’re now presented with the choice of choosing the robot your team will enter. You have the Jumpy-Bot, a bot equipped with super-durable springs. The bot will beat its opponent 60% of the time. Another choice is the Speedy-Bot. It will defeat its opponent 80% of the time. And for your engineering group’s pièce de résistance: The Battle-Bot. Equipped with razor-sharp blades, the highest-quality wheels, and more, the Battle-Bot will defeat its opponent 100% of the time.

Each bot will attack any opponent it likes. It will go in a clockwise rotation, you being first, then the Blue Cat’s robot, and then the Yellow Bee’s robot. To avoid draws, if no one is eliminated after the Yellow Bee’s robot, then all of the robots will be destroyed and you will lose.

Which bot will you choose to make sure you’re the last one standing?

RULES:

  1. This is a 3-way duel. Starting with you, everyone will take turns taking a move against another robot. If everyone is standing at the end of a round, then everyone will lose.
  2. You can’t target two opponents.
  3. You can miss.

Hint: Think realistically! Every opponent will prioritize. What will be prioritized is a secret, but you’ll probably figure it out! ;D

SOLUTION:

Pick the Jumpy-Bot. If you pick the Battle-Bot, then all of the bots will come for you. But if you pick the Jumpy-Bot, you’ll be the least threatening. However, there’s the dilemma of being first. The solution? Miss! After missing, Blue Cat’s robot will be forced to choose Yellow Bee’s robot since it’s the most intimidating. He’ll have a 70% chance of winning. After he wins, you’ll have a 60% chance of winning!

I hope you enjoyed! Goodbye!

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o・)┛♪

 

 

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The Museum – A Riddle

Hi everyone,

I have another riddle for you! This one is pretty easy and it’s based on the River Crossing riddle, but I hope you enjoy!

You’re working at a very famous museum in Nowhere-Land. Your job is to oversee the various artifacts being moved from exhibit to exhibit. Since these artifacts are very fragile, you use a machine called the Artifact-Transporter 3000. There’s one problem though: The Artifact-Transporter 3000 will transport any object no matter its weight, but the speed of transporting will change depending on the object to make sure it gets transported in one piece.

You’re now overseeing a shipment of four items: An ancient papyrus scroll written by an Egyptian king, An old jewelry box given to a Chinese princess, An unknown Roman Emperor’s tombstone, and a Renaissance inventor’s unfinished invention. These items vary in weight. The papyrus scroll will take 1 minute to transport, the jewelry box will take 2 minutes to transport, the tombstone will take 5 minutes to transport, and the invention will take 10 minutes to transport. Your job is to bring all of the items from Exhibit A to Exhibit B. Unfortunately, you have only 17 minutes to transport all of the items, and you only have 1 Artifact-Transporter 3000s which can transfer at the most one item, going at the speed of the slowest item. To make matters worse, to use the Artifact Transporter again, you’ll need to attach an artifact to make it work.

Can you find a way to transport all of the items in time with the restrictions? There are no tricks involved: no buying more transporters, no asking your (strict) boss for more time, and no faking illnesses!

RULES:

  1. You can bring two items (artifacts) over at a time, going at the speed of the slowest item. For example, if you’re transporting the invention and the scroll, you’ll take 10 minutes. You’re allowed to bring one item at a time, however.
  2. To use the Artifact Transporter, you’ll need to attach an artifact to bring it back. For example, if you just transported the jewelry box to Exhibit B and you need to get the invention to B as well, you’ll need to attach an artifact that’s at B to bring the transporter back to A.
  3. You can bring items back from each Exhibit.
  4. To win, all items must be at Exhibit B before time is up.

HINTS:

  1. The slowest artifacts will move the least.
  2. You will use all of your time.
  3. The jewelry box will be the second-to-last move.

SOLUTION:

  1. Bring the scroll and the jewelry box to B. (+2 minutes)
  2. Bring the scroll to A. (+1 minute)
  3. Bring the tombstone and the invention to B. (+10 minutes)
  4. Bring the jewelry box to A. (+2 minutes)
  5. Bring the scroll and the jewelry box to B. (+2 minutes)
  6. Congrats!

Congrats! You were able to save your job and bring the artifacts over for one of the largest museum events of all time. Now, let’s see about that tropical beach vacation…

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o・)┛♪

 

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The River Crossing Riddle

Hi everyone,

Have you ever heard of “River Crossing” riddles? It’s where there’s a river (or any other obstacle) and a bunch of people. They have to cross the obstacle using something like a raft depending on the riddle. However, the item carrying the people across can only hold two people and there’s rules for what can stay on each side with what.

I have a pretty hard riddle for you to try out. Hope you enjoy!

There’s a forest fire catching up to some groups of animals. Among the animals are a pack of wolves with their two cubs, a group of rabbits with their two kittens (basically baby rabbits), a goat, and a hunter. There’s a big river between the lit-up forest and another stretch of land. The only way to the other side is a rickety old bridge. However, only two animals/people can cross at a time or else the bridge will break.

(Simple version below) The animals and the hunter have called a truce, however, there are a few obstacles in their path. If the wolves are left alone with the rabbits, then they will eat them. If the rabbits are left alone with the wolves, then their wild instincts will kick in and they will run into the forest fire. The rabbits and wolves can’t be left alone with the hunter or the hunter will kill them. The goat must be with the hunter or the hunter must be alone on either side. Wolves will travel with their own kind or the goat, the same with the rabbits. Only the mother wolf, the mother rabbit, and the goat can help the baby animals cross the bridge.

Rules:

  1. The bridge can only support two people (animals can go alone, however).
  2. Only the mother wolf, the mother rabbit, and the goat can go across the bridge without help.
  3. The mother wolf cannot be on the same side as any of the rabbit kittens, and the mother rabbit cannot be alone with any of the wolf cubs (The two mothers can be alone together, however).
  4. The hunter cannot be alone with any of the animals without the goat.
  5. The animals and the hunter must all be on the other side to win in the least moves.

There are eight characters: The mother wolf, her two cubs, the mother rabbit, her two kittens, the hunter, and the goat.

If you’re having trouble, drawing and cutting out pieces of paper with the names can help.

HINTS:

  1. You may have to move characters around a lot, so don’t be reluctant to move a character on the safe side to the other side.
  2. The mother wolf moves the most and the mother rabbit moves the least.
  3. In the beginning you will need two animals that can cross the bridge themselves on the safe side so they can get back to the other side. The selection of these animals is very important.

SOLUTION:

  1. Take the hunter and goat to the other side.
  2. Take the goat back.
  3. Take the goat and one of the wolf cubs to the other side.
  4. Take the hunter and the goat back.
  5. Take the mother wolf and the other wolf cub to the other side.
  6. Take the mother wolf back.
  7. Take the mother wolf and the mother rabbit to the other side.
  8. Take the mother wolf back.
  9. Take the hunter and the goat to the other side.
  10. Take the mother wolf back.
  11. Take the mother wolf and the mother rabbit to the other side.
  12. Take the mother rabbit to the other side.
  13. Take the mother rabbit and one of the kittens to the other side.
  14. Take the hunter and the goat back.
  15. Take the goat and the rabbit kitten to the other side.
  16. Take the goat back.
  17. Take the goat and the hunter to the other side.
  18. Congrats!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed and goodbye!

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o・)┛♪