Trivia

[okarol]

In Yagoona, a suburb of Sydney, in 1971. A sad day for Australia. Had you heard that McDonalds has changed it's Australian signage to read "Maccas", in order to reflect the great Australian tradition of abbreviation?

  Right you are. Yes, there are many slang names or nicknames for McDonald's.
THAT should have been my trivia question!

Here are some:

Macca's (Australian slang)
Mackey-D's (British slang)
MakDo (Filipino slang)
MacDoh (French Canadian slang)
McDo (French slang)
Makku or Makudo (Japanese slang)
McDoof (German slang)
McD's (Scottish slang)
Meki (Hungarian slang)
Mec (Romanian slang)
Donken, ''Mackid nnkan'' (amongst tweens) (Swedish slang)
Golden Arches (U.S. slang)
Mickey-D's (U.S. slang)
Mick-dicks (U.S. slang)

Ok galvo - you're up! 
 

[galvo]

You'll recall the tragic mass shooting at the San Diego's Maccas in 1984, when James Oliver Huberty killed 21 people and wounded 19, before he was subsequently shot by a SWAT member.

Huberty had eaten at the Maccas some hours before and his widow, unsuccesfully, sued Maccas for causing her husband to go on his murderous rampage.

What was the basis of her claim?

[Ang]

the food

[Riki]

In Yagoona, a suburb of Sydney, in 1971. A sad day for Australia. Had you heard that McDonalds has changed it's Australian signage to read "Maccas", in order to reflect the great Australian tradition of abbreviation?

  Right you are. Yes, there are many slang names or nicknames for McDonald's.
THAT should have been my trivia question!

Here are some:

Macca's (Australian slang)
Mackey-D's (British slang)
MakDo (Filipino slang)
MacDoh (French Canadian slang)
McDo (French slang)
Makku or Makudo (Japanese slang)
McDoof (German slang)
McD's (Scottish slang)
Meki (Hungarian slang)
Mec (Romanian slang)
Donken, ''Mackid nnkan'' (amongst tweens) (Swedish slang)
Golden Arches (U.S. slang)
Mickey-D's (U.S. slang)
Mick-dicks (U.S. slang)

Ok galvo - you're up! 

Don't forget Rotten Ronnie's.. or maybe that's just what we call it around here..

[galvo]

More details, please, Ang.

'Rotten Ronnie,s'! That's funny, Riki.

[cariad]

You'll recall the tragic mass shooting at the San Diego's Maccas in 1984, when James Oliver Huberty killed 21 people and wounded 19, before he was subsequently shot by a SWAT member.

Huberty had eaten at the Maccas some hours before and his widow, unsuccesfully, sued Maccas for causing her husband to go on his murderous rampage.

What was the basis of her claim?

This was another attempt at the so-called Twinkie Defense made famous by Harvey Milk's assassin. In that case, the defendant argued that he was sent insane by consuming Hostess Twinkies, arguing that the sugar content was so high that this could happen. In the McDonald's case, I would guess it was the sugar content in Big Macs? McDonalds does add sugar to their meat products, plus the 'special sauce' probably contains more sugar than you'd think people could tolerate.

[okarol]

Maybe he had a large shake. 

[galvo]

Good thinking, all. She actually claimed it was 'poisonous metals' in his Macca's meal. So over to you (tosses coin) cariad.

[Ang]

More details, please, Ang.

'Rotten Ronnie,s'! That's funny, Riki.

if your talking about mickey d's, isn't it laways the food(was just a guess)

[cariad]

Poisonous metals, eh? Sadly, I'd believe it.

OK, let's turn our attention to the world of literature.

Which writer was famously interrupted at work by a Person from Porlock, and what was the title of the composition that the author was never able to finish (as originally intended) after this unexpected visit?

[cariad]

I cannot be the only one who knows this story. I don't even like this writer's work all that much.

[skg]

I know the story, but then I'd have to come up with a trivia question. (Too much like work!)

[galvo]

I just looked up the story on Wiki. Interesting and I now intend to use the expression, but I will leave the answer open for someone who knows rather than someone who googles.

[cariad]

What a pair of teases you two are!

I may have to invoke Questioner Privilege and draft someone. Yes, I can do that. Look at The Official Trivia Rules and Regulations Manual, page 37, towards the bottom. Consider yourselves on notice, galvo and skg! 

[skg]

All right. The answer to your question, Cariad, is Coleridge and the poem is Kubla Kahn which starts out:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

Hmmm.

What is the earliest and best known magic word in computer games and what game did it originate in?

[cariad]

What is the earliest and best known magic word in computer games and what game did it originate in?

I don't even know what a 'magic word' is in this context? Do you mean a sort of cheat code or something? I'm technically challenged, help me....

I remember playing those text-based games as a kid and loving them to bits. I still think they were more fun than most video games, but maybe that's just me showing my age.

[skg]

This word is from the earliest of text games (and has appeared in various ways since in other games).

[galvo]

I always thought 'the magic word' referred to something naughty!

[cariad]

I always thought 'the magic word' referred to something naughty!

You'll note our complete lack of surprise!

I *think* that first text game I played was called Zork. Is that the magic word perchance?

Resisting the urge to google.... This seems like a question Riki would know the answer to.

[skg]

The magic word does appear in Zork, but the response to it is "a hollow voice says 'fool'", which is an oblique reference to that magic word's origin.

[cariad]

Wow, this is fascinating. I have no idea what to guess next, but I love learning about these little sub-cultures. Can't wait to hear the answer!

[Riki]

unfortunately, I don't know the answer to this one.. I'm not even sure what a text based game is, but I'm betting I have played one

[skg]

The magic word also appears in mathematics, where it can be used as a mnemonic when computing cross-products.

[skg]

Seems as though that may have been too obscure. Maybe just the game? It was the first (computer) text adventure game ever.

Or, as an alternative, maybe try this one -- An early, well known, computer game company drew its name from a term used in the ancient Japanese game of Go. What company was it (with bonus points for knowing the meaning of the name/Go term).

cheers,
skg

[cariad]

Seems as though that may have been too obscure. Maybe just the game? It was the first (computer) text adventure game ever.

Or, as an alternative, maybe try this one -- An early, well known, computer game company drew its name from a term used in the ancient Japanese game of Go. What company was it (with bonus points for knowing the meaning of the name/Go term).

Gah, I just found the 'magic word', although I still don't know what it means. I prefer not to google answers, but your question reminded me how much I do love those text games. So, I looked for the games online, and they are freely available to play. I decided to play the first one created though I cannot quite remember the name - Colossal Cavern Adventure, maybe? Anyhow, I only played for about 30 minutes and happened upon the magic word pretty early on. It is "xyzzy". Have not figured out where to use it, nor what it could possibly mean. I'm a bit of a maths person myself, but don't recall what crossproducts means, so not sure how that would help.

I did like the story about why the game was created - that the author had just had a divorce, missed his children and enjoyed caving, so he decided to write a game that he could play with his kids that included his interests. Does the magic word have something to do with spelunking navigation?

Obscure makes for great trivia questions! People are perfectly free to use google in this game, but a handful of us are purists. I don't know the answer to your question about Go, but as always it is up to the asker to decide if your question has been answered sufficiently. (you could always save your Go question for another round....)