Whither the reference books

A conversation about reference books overheard in Dave's mindscape.

Devon: Hey Dave, there are some new editions of science dictionaries available, namely Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry, and Biology. Are you going to get them?

Dave: With only 200-300 new entries in each one, I don't think that provides enough value to purchase a newer edition. I bought the current ones in 2006, and they're the 2003/2004 editions, so the contents are reasonably recent. This brings to mind the whole issue of printed reference works in the digital age -- are they still relevant?

Devon: I think that's the Achilles heel with any printed reference works -- not being up to date. You mentioned this issue in talking about buying printed science dictionaries before, that books still have the advantage of being portable, editor reviewed, and at times convenient.

Dave: Those advantages still hold true, although the quality of web information has improved too, and the updated aspects is a strong plus for internet information. This issue is exemplified by another recent quandary. I saw a used and good condition set of Encyclopedia Britannica in a thrift store. It was the 15th edition from 1976. $60 for the 20 volumes of Macropedia plus Propedia, and $40 for the set of 10 volumes of Micropedia.

Devon: At less than $5 per volume, that seems like a great buy, considering a new set costs $1300. That's about 1/13 the price!

Dave: That's right, yet the key drawback that stopped me from buying that impressive shelf anchor piece is that it is more than thirty years old. Furthermore, I could get the Britannica 2008 software for less than half that price. While the historic, biographical and fundamental information is still accurate, science and recent world developments in the last quarter century will be missing.

Devon: I can see why the printed encyclopedia market is in decline. If there was no digital alternative, the thrift store buy would be excellent. But the low-cost software and free internet sources available, spending $1000 or even $100 for a outdated dead-tree version doesn't seem to make sense anymore.

Dave: There were other encyclopedias at the thrift store too, such as World Book, Colliers, and New Book of Knowledge. And also CD encyclopedias such as Grolier's, Compton's, and Encarta from the before 1999. So in a sense all non-internet encyclopedias also face the same problem.

Trivia generation gap

My alter ego Devon noticed something about the categories of questions in subsequent Trivial Pursuit (TP) editions, and had a discussion with me about it.

Devon: The first edition of TP had what I think are more cerebral categories, or at least more academic sounding, such as Geography, Art and Literature. In later editions you have People and Places, and Arts was rolled into Arts and Entertainment. And with more pop culture categories in other editions, I've read that some trivia fans lament this "dumbing down" of the questions.

Dave: I wouldn't used quite harsh a term as dumbing down, but there is definitely a trend in replacing field-specific knowledge questions with generation-based, pop culture questions.

Devon: How do you distinguish between those two types of questions?

Dave: For field-specific knowledge, one can imagine a history buff, a science geek, a well-read bookworm, a well-travelled person, etc. These can be people of any age. They don't have to be working in that field, just have an interest. Through reading anyone can gain field-specific knowledge.

For generation-based knowledge, it is based on what one experienced during a specific time, usually while in the teens to early thirties. For example, the "baby boomers" have more knowledge of the pop culture trivia related to the 1950's and 1960's than say their parents or their children.

Devon: In other words, field-specific knowledge can be had by a larger group of people, and generation knowledge by a smaller group. So why would trivia game makers opt for something that caters to a smaller group?

Dave: It turns out there are much more people who are knowledgable about generation specific trivia than people who are knowledgeable about a wide variety of general trivia. One might say that generation specific trivia is in fact the "general" trivia that everyone knows a lot about, because it was something they grew up with. But field-specific trivia is more specialized, and very few people are good with arts and science and history and sports and entertainment.

Devon: What would be your ideal categories for a field-specific trivia game?

Dave: I would love to have a Science based Trivial Pursuit, with the six categories being Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Technology, and Multiplicity (other branches of science).

Statistics on question-based boardgames

Here are some statistics on the question-based board games that I have. Like much trivia, they make for trivial collection and might be of interest to other trivia fans.

Game	Year	# Questions/ Cards	Genre: Categories
Acronym	1985	3456	words: Corporations, Products & Slogans, Agencies, Proverbs, Science, Sports & Rebuses, Movies, Music
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?	2007	600/300	general
Battle of the Sexes	1990	672/224	male vs female: 92 "Countdown" couples or movies with 3 hints, 120 "Showdown" categories
Beginner's Marathon	1991	2500/600	general kids
Bezzerwizzer	2008	3000/150	general: architecture, art & stage, business world, communities, design, film, food & drink, geography, history, humans, language, literature, music, nature, politics, science, sports & games, technology, traditions & beliefs, TV & radio
Buzzword	2003	400/200	words
Chalengah	1995	400	brain teaser
Cranium Primo	2001	800	brain teaser
Cranium Turbo	2004	1000	brain teaser
Don't Quote Me Kids	2005	1000/200	general: action, faces & places, human hands, books arts music, what on earth
Gender Bender	1988	350	male vs female
Gender Gap	1997	620	male vs female
Global Watch	1991	2400/600	Nature: Environment, Living World, Science and Tech, Geography
Gray Matter	2002	1000/500	general
Huggermugger	1989	2000/400	words: anagram, spell, definition, potluck
In Pursuit	2002	2400/400	general: Who & Where, Pop Culture, Headlines, Science & Tech, Sports & Games, Wild Card
Inquizitive	1984	2304	general: education, history, geography, science, books & music, TV & film, sports, inquizitive
IQ 2000	2000	2000/500	general kids: General, Storybook, Heroes & Villians, Cartoons & TV, Language Arts, Animals, Games and Sports
Jeopardy	1992	2040/204	general
Judge for Yourself	1999	500	legal dilemma
Malarky	1999	942/314	general
Men are from Mars...	1998	720/360	male vs female: Family Affair, Communication, Scoring Points, Gender Benders, Dating Circuit, Island Fantasies, In the Flesh
Mindtrap	1991	512	brain teasers and lateral thinking
National Geographic Global Pursuit	1987	972/324	Geography: Historic Happenings, People and Places, People and Products, Planet Earth, Wildcard
National Geographic Global Pursuit set 2 cards	1988	795/265	Geography: Historic Happenings, People and Places, People and Products, Planet Earth, Wildcard
National Geographic Mission: Survival	1995	1000/250	Nature: Rain Forest, Desert, Mountain, Ocean
Newsweek Ultimate Trivia	1984	3000/500	general: history, geography, biz/eco/math/sci/tech, arts, showbiz, misc
Numaro	2007	1800/300	general numbers
Outburst Junior	1989	400/200	category kids
Picture Pursuit	1994	2100/350	general: People & Places, Art & Entertainment, History, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure, Wild Card; 208 picture puzzles
Professor Noggin's Creatures of Myth and Legend Card Game	2005	180/30	Mythology; kids games
Professor Noggin's Dinosaur Card Game	2002	180/30	Dinosaurs; kids games
Psychologizer	1990	600	personality: Love & Sex, Philosophy, Current Events, Sports & Recreation, Morality, Personality
PunchLines Comedy Game	1985	1600/200	Comedy tasks: Impersonations, Riddles, One Liners, Limericks, Groaners, Tongue Twisters, Culture Jokes, Story Jokes
Scruples	1984	245	dilemma
Scruples 2nd Edition	1986	240	dilemma
Scruples '90s Edition	1990	240	dilemma
Snap Judgement	1985	700	legal dilemma
Super Quiz	1982	5760/960	general: sports, history, science, geography, words, movies
Super Quiz II	1983	5760/960	general: mostly music, TV, spelling, famous people, leisure & travel, potluck
Table Talk	1995	1200	food and cooking
Taboo	1989	1008/504	words
Telepaths	1992	720/360	words
Tribond	1989	1300/300	category: Entertainment, Sports & Recreation, Academics, Misc
Tribond Kids	1996	1100/200	category kids
Will Shortz Tribond	2010	1308/327	category
Trivial Pursuit I	1983	6000/1000	general: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure
Trivial Pursuit Genus II	1984	6000/1000	general: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure
Trivial Pursuit Genus III	1994	4800/800	general: People & Places, Art & Entertainment, History, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure, Wild Card
Trivial Pursuit Genus IV	1997	4800/800	general: People & Places, Art & Entertainment, History, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure, Wild Card
Trivial Pursuit Genus V	2000	4800/800	general: People & Places, Art & Entertainment, History, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure, Wild Card
Trivial Pursuit Genus 6	2003	4800/800	general: People & Places, Art & Entertainment, History, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure, Wild Card
Trivial Pursuit Baby Boomers	1983	6000/1000	pop culture: Television, Stage & Screen, Nightly News, Publishing, Lives & Times, RPM (Music)
Trivial Pursuit Bet You Know It	2009	1782/297	general: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure
Trivial Pursuit Disney Family Edition	1985	6000/1000	general kids: Places, Music, People, Fantasy, Science, Leisure
Trivial Pursuit for Kids Volume 6	2004	1200/200	general kids: All About Nature, Fun & Games, Today & Tomorrow, Whatever, Yesterday, Music Movies & More
Trivial Pursuit Junior 4th Edition	1996	1200/200	general kids: Stories & Songs, Games, Every Day, Fun, Nature, Science
Trivial Pursuit Lord of the Rings	2003	1800/300	pop culture: Good Characters, Evil Characters, Things, Places & History, Warfare, Making Movies
Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture	2003	1800/300 (+??? on DVD)	pop culture: TV, Fads, Buzz, Music, Movies, Sports and Games
Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture 2	2005	1800/300 (+600 on DVD)	pop culture: TV, Fads, Buzz, Music, Movies, Sports and Games
Trivial Pursuit The 1980's	1989	4800/800	pop culture: Entertainment, In the News, Personalities, Sports & Leisure, That's Life, Wild Card
Trivial Pursuit The 90's	2004	2400/400	pop culture: Oops (Mistakes), Wired (Tech), Viewing (Media), Trends (Pop culture), Important (News), Hanging (Leisure)
Trivial Pursuit TV Edition	1991	4800/800	pop culture: Classics, Sitcoms, Drama, Kids & Games, Stars, Wild Card
Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary	2002	3600/600	general: Global View, Written Word, Sound & Screen, Innovations, News, Game Time
Trivial Pursuit 25th Anniversary	2008	2592/432	general: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure
Trivial Pursuit Young People	1984	6000/1000	general kids: People & Places, Good Times, Science & Tech, Art & Culture, Natural World, Games & Hobbies
Ultimate Outburst	1999	600/300	category
Urban Myth	2002	1000/700	pop culture: Celebrity, Health, Classics, Nature, Business, Crime
What the F*ck	2004	432	dilemma
Who Wants to be a Millionaire	2000	2000/1000	general
Who Wants to be a Millionaire Junior	2000	1000/500	general
Wise and Otherwise	1997	2500/500	cultural sayings
Wit's End	1999	1600/400	brain teasers: Teaser (analogy), Odd One Out, Sequence, Wild Card
Yuk Yuk's Comedy Game	1990	512	comedy: 125 opener cards, 387 closer cards

Our inner vulture -- or return to boardgames

I've been buying used board games lately, so my alter ego Devon talked to me about my thoughts and experiences on this current fad.

Devon: I know you like reference books. So what got you interested in trivia board games?

Dave: I was searching for information on a tile-shifting board game called The Amazeing Labyrinth. That lead me to discover the tile-placing board game called Carcassonne, which in turn peaked my curiosity in boardgames in general. I had played board games when I was young, but have not played it as an adult. This new curiosity to revisit something new yet familiar, combined with an interest in reference and trivia information, and the thrill of getting a bargain at a thrift store, lead to the purchase of some used, question-based board games.

Devon: I see from your list of games there several are from the Trivial Pursuit family.

Dave: Having been to only two thrift stores, I can non-scientifically state that the game of Trivial Pursuit is a staple item in thrift stores. I suppose the nature of question-based games lead to their non-replayability after awhile, so its off to find them a new owner. I did notice that the original Trivial Pursuit (Master's Game Genus Edition) tend to have more copies than its many other editions and expansions.

Devon: TP was very popular, but given its popularity, why wouldn't there be more used sequels available?

Dave: My guess is that since trivia fans will collect the games, they won't be giving up their gems easily. Thus it is up to the general public to release their copies. But the non-trivial-buff public probably would have bought only TP, played it and enjoyed it but not so much as to buy more of the same because they only know a minority of the answers and what's the fun in looking like a hermit around the smug know-it-all's. Hmm, come to think of it that's why I didn't get into the Trivial Pursuit craze.

Devon: So why are you buying questions-based games now, given that you actually have little interest or time or trivia comrades in playing them?

Dave: The hunter-gatherer experience encoded in our genes can be expressed, or in modern parlance get dead stuff for less. The essence of questions-based games are in the questions. Through years of blood, sweat and tears the game creators came up with intellectual property that now lie in decrepit boxes and can be had for one dollar.

Devon: That sounds like a sad ending, like the dinosaurs.

Dave: I say that not as a statement of lament, rather as a statement of joy. Those games' journey are not yet over, for they, like used books, have found a new home where their eclectic knowledge can sit side by side with universally recognized tomes such as dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Devon: So your inner vulture is just an admirer.

Using an MP3 player

After I had my MP3 player for a week, my alter ego Devon talked to me about my thoughts and experiences.

Devon: Dave, I see you carrying your Creative Nano Plus MP3 player everywhere. I assume you are pleased with it?

Dave: I love my MP3 player! It' so nice to have music everywhere.

Devon: Are there any usability issues resulting from your daily use?

Dave: Specific to this player: the lowest volume setting could be a little quieter. 512Mb is definitely too small for me. I wish the display can also show the Artist information, or be able to switch between showing song info and song filename.

In general, how do people carry their MP3 players? There isn't always a pocket to put it in. The belt clip case is very useful in this case. However, the earphone cord dangles too much. I guess this is why I see people with cords coming out of their shirts and collars. I'm going to try that to see if it works better when I'm wearing shirts with pockets.

Devon: Are you finding owning an MP3 player is like joining another social circle, like computer users?

Dave: I wouldn't call it a social circle, but there is definitely a new mindset. Its analogous to cell phones allowing long distance communication away from home. Some people embrace the idea and treat it as normal as a conversation. Others still think it is something techno new, so using it in a group or library is still a bad but talking face to face is ok. Personal audio give you possibilities like private background mood music that other's don't have to be subjected. And your soundtrack of life can have lasting impressions too. When I was first read the Hobbit in my teens, I was also listening to music from the movie "Laura: Les Ombres d'Ete". It is soft, beautiful music, but it still makes me think of Middle Earth.

And I agree with becoming a new class of users, like computer users. There are things we do that non-users wouldn't think about, like buying skins and planning the next upgrade and selecting music for upcoming activities.

Devon: Will you turn into one of those people who accessorize their accessories?

Having a different mindset certainly entail some economic empowerment. Now I understand why personal audio accessories are sold everywhere. External speakers solves the problem of no being able to wear headphones due to circumstance, or when you want to have others share in the music too. An FM transmitter the car would also be good. I only have a basic CD player in the car, so this will make being stuck in traffic that much more tolerable. An a skin is like putting little shirts on your pet -- it's your inner child playing dress up disguised as a style statement.

Devon: Its wonderful to see that joining the earbud generation didn't distract from your oblique observations.

Buying an MP3 Player

Yesterday, I finally join the audio-tech revolution and bought my first MP3 player. Here is a summary of the thought processes I went through during this purchase, as well as some of the initial experiences, presented as a dialogue between me and my alter ego Devon.

Devon: So Dave, with 50 gigs of mp3 files and hundreds of unripped CD's, which of the colossal hard drive models what did you buy?

Dave: Actually, I went with a 512Mb Creative Zen Nano Plus, which was on sale for $50 plus an additional $25 rebate.

Devon: Isn't that a bit small in term of storage, compared to the amount of media you have?

Dave: A few hours after playing around with the Nano I realized something at least 2Gb or more will better suit me needs. But this was my first player, and so I don't quite know what I'll need in terms of managing and organizing files, and how greedy I would be in wanting tons of music available.

Devon: In a nutshell, what are the strengths, weaknessess, and overall recommendation for your choice?

Dave: Strengths are: Light weight, can display song titles that has Chinese text, easy to use, good mp3 and FM sound quality, drag and drop copy without additional software.

Weaknesses: flimsy scroll button and battery cover, no playlist or ID3 sorting.

Overall: This is an excellent player if you are just listening to audio. It is easy to use, full featured, and easy to carry.

Devon: Did you consider an iPod?

Dave: I definitely consider not getting an iPod for several reasons. First, it's my protest against Apple. Somehow the media lets them get away with their proprietary, monopolistic policies but blasts Microsoft for their every move. Second, I can get more value and features from non-Apple products.

Devon: What kind of features and requirements did you have?

Dave: I wanted something small, uses regular batteries, has a reasonable long battery life (e.g. 12-16 hours), has an FM tuner, uses Windows Explorer drag and drop to transfer files, has a display, and has some way to group and navigate files. Capacity has to be at least 512Mb (although now I would change that to 1-2Gb), and price has to be around $50 Cnd.

The plug-and-play drag-and-drop file managment was very important for me. This was the showstopper that I didn't get the Zen V Plus.

Devon: Wouldn't a player with built-in rechargable batteries be better for the environment?

Dave: Built-in batteries have two disadvantage. The first is that they will eventually wear out, just like laptop batteries. When that happens, it will be impossible or costly to replace, so you're throwing out a player to get another. The second is that when the battery needs recharging you must have computer access, which is difficult on long trips. With regular batteries, at least you can carry spares or quickly buy a spare. I can get a compromise by using rechargable AAA batteries.

Devon: You mentioned it has no playlist or ID3 sorting. So without the ability to view by artist/album/genre, etc, how does that Nano Plus organize files?

Dave: It uses directories and filenames to organize your files. The playing order is based on the sorted directories, and then within that the filenames. This is an advantage for me because my song filenames are in artist-album-00-song format. I can also manually organize files by copying the directories over. The key is that files in a directory are already sorted in playing order.

But if your are only in song or 00-song format, then the alphabetical order of playing may not be to your liking.

Devon: What are some of the suprprises?

Dave: 1. Some of my music has Chinese in the Title info, and that showed up perfectly fine. 2. Although the player doesn't support ID3 sorting, it will display the Title info when it is playing the song. If the Title isn't available, it displays the filename. The display can also be flipped upside down to suit left/right handed use. After a power-off, the player resumes playing exactly where it left off. That's an advantage if you are listening to spoken text or in the midst of a long piece.

Devon: Any particular gripes?

Dave: The menu organization isn't optimal for my use. Some of menu items that I tend to use frequently are not grouped together. So for example switching between Music and FM takes a bit of extra navigation. After completing a menu item, you are returned to the play mode instead of the previous menu, which creates extra work when configuring several options. Fortunately, the previous menu selections are the ones that are selected by default.

Also, the USB transfer speed is just USB 1.1 full-speed (1.5Mb/s), not USB 2.0's hi-speed (30-60Mb/s).

Devon: In closing, would you buy this again?

Dave: I would definitely recommend this to other if the features fit them. For my own needs, the features are right, but next time I'll get a bigger capacity model.

Periodic Table - 118, long form, other versions

With the (re)discovery of element 118 announced recently, it gave me an opportunity to update my periodic table. It turned out I did the update exactly one year after I posted my version. What a coincidence!

A year ago I wrote about some non-standardness in treating what is in the lanthanide and actinide series. With this update, I resolved that issue by referring to the pattern of the elements in the long form of the periodic table. The most common form of the table (also the form of my table) puts the lanthanide and actinide series separated from the main table. But really these two series fit into the regular pattern of the table, as shown below in the "long form" of the table.



In this arrangement, one sees that the series are from La-Yb and Ac-No, and the elements Lu and Lr that are often part of the series are in fact the start of the next block.

I was also curious about other English-Chinese periodic tables. A search on the phrase "english chinese periodic table" turns up only my version. That was a little less than what I expected. After all, with billions of web pages in existence, there must be other science enthusiasts out there who have made other version. As the new saying goes, if you first don't succeed, try other keywords. A search on "chinese english periodic table" finds one by Dr. Kia-Boon Wong.
http://www.esaurus.org/chemical_element.htm

Another good version is by Michael Dayah.
http://www.dayah.com/periodic/?lang=zh_tw