King Al's Stupid Questions

WTF?

2008-11-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

In Yahoo! Answers, someone asks:

What is the activation code for math book course 1 McDougal littel plz if i don't then i got Saturdayschool?

WTF? If he acquired it legally, why doesn't he have the code? If he didn't get one, shouldn't he have asked the teacher instead of the general public? In addition, he also needs to attend extra English classes...

Can you be any more vague?

2008-09-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

A blogging newbie asks:

hi how do i go use my blog effectively i hrd abt a blog n i created it (sic)

Could you possibly be any more vague? The first answer ("Add content?") was the best answer, since this person has no content (at this time).

Misadventures of a home-buying newbie

2008-09-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

This is a good example of what NOT to do when buying a house at an auction.

I bought a house at an auction a few days ago. The house was sold "as is." I am a first-time home buyer. After I won the bidding, they took a $5,000 deposit (cashier's check) and $2,500 extra after the auction was done. They had me sign papers I did not know was a contract.

It happened very quickly. They just said sign here and here, and I did. The next day, I went to the office and got my copy of the contract. When I took my friend to see the house, we found out it has a lot of termites. We did not go to a title company yet. Can I back out and get my deposit back? Or can I ask them to fix the property because they did not disclose about the termites?

What part of "as is" do you not understand?

2008-09-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is funny. A student is asking

lol i hate my drama class so much and we're doin our scenes next week and i need to know ways to get sick. any suggestions? haha

The first answer given was the obvious one - go out in the cold. Another person suggested that since (s)he is a drama student, (s)he should fake it...

How to create an email account

2008-09-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

Somebody asks on Yahoo! Answers

"How do I create an extra Email address with hotmail?"

Um, go to www.hotmail.com ?

Isn't everybody ready for World War III?

2008-08-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

This stupid question is from BlogCatalog.com:

Are you ready for the third world war? If yes why and if no why?

Don't you know anything? Everybody has already prepared their personal fallout shelter and stocked them with supplies.

The best answer came from Kat, who said:

You know I was just thinking about this...this morning when I got out of bed. And I said to myself , hummm you know I think it's about time we had another world war....come on what are we waiting for people, I mean if I had my way we'd be on like WW69 already ! Are you kidding me with this question ????? seriously

Officer, I was wearing my seat belt!

2008-08-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows that law enforcement hears the "Officer, I was wearing my seat belt" excuse all the time, right? Apparently not.

I recently got a ticket for not wearing my seat belt. I did take it off momentarily to reach to the floor at a red light for my sunglasses, which had fallen from the visor. When I explained this, the officer's eyes gave me that "Sure, buddy" look. Why would he not believe me?

If this guy was a teacher, would he believe a student who said "The dog ate my homework"?

Wants a free calculator

2008-08-25T22:20:00.001-07:00

Apparently this person has never heard of the phrase "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

Where can i get a FREE math calculator mailed to me?

i want a free calculator, that has pi. and other ice stuff, any calculator you know of, as long as its free, and only serious answers!

Yeah, right. Why don't you wish for infinite wishes while you're at it?

Is there a sucker born every day?

2008-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Not a question, but this person must think everyone is an idiot:

Friends if you have verified and unused paypal account then I can give you $10 for using it for one day.

Yeah, right. I'm really going to allow you to possibly spend thousands of dollars on things that will be charged to my checking account or credit card. Maybe if you gave me $100,000,000...

An idiot's commentary/question on swimming

2008-08-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

This is the first comment in a Washington Post blog post about the Olympics:

I don't get the hype over Michael Phelps. He keeps getting medals for THE SAME SPORT!!! He is NOT the greates (sic) olympian. He is competing in the SAME SPORT against the SAME OPPONENTS. Why would anyone expect the result to be any differnent (sic)? While their at it why not add 3 more swimming events and let him collect more meaningless gold? Phelps or ANY athlete should only be eligible for ONE medal in the same sport. Gymnists have to master many pieces of equipment to be eligible for multiple medals. Swimming is just swimming.

Either this guy is a troll or he is one of the stupidest people on the planet. Even a non-swimmer such as myself is well aware that freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke are completely different and require different skill sets.

Child's privacy

2008-08-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

This question comes from Randy Cohen's New York Times column (registration required):

After my niece’s 1st birthday party, her parents sent videos and I uploaded them to YouTube for family members to view. My sister-in-law sent me a stern note saying that unless images of my niece are accessible only to people approved by her and my brother, I may not post them. YouTube lets you restrict access, so I complied, but isn’t her request overprotective and unfair?

How dare your sister-in-law want to protect the privacy of her daughter? The nerve of that woman!

What channel is this on?

2008-08-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

Some idiot asks:

What time does is the Baby Borrowers on?

Time and Channel, USA

Yeah, right. You'd have to be an idiot to think it's going to be on the same channel everywhere in the USA.

Breaking leases

2008-08-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

A very concerned mom asks:

I have a 22-year-old son attending college out of the area. At the beginning
of last semester, without my knowledge or approval, my son decided to give
notice and move out of his college dormitory. He has rented an apartment near
campus on a 12-month lease with some other students.
I recently met his roommates and was unimpressed and do not like the environment that he is now living in. I want to know how I can break the lease and get him to move back on campus. His grades are slipping, and I believe that he might even be suicidal. Is this justification to break the lease and get a full refund of his security deposit?

Mom, grow up. Why should the landlord care if you approve or not? Since your son is over 18 and signed his lease, the landlord has every right to collect his rent. Unless you can show that your son was not mentally competent when he signed the lease (and "might even be suicidal" does not qualify as mentally competent), you have no business trying to break a lease.

Does this pyramid scheme work?

2008-07-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

Why do people still ask if pyramid schemes work, or even worse, fall for them? (Edit 7/30: That discussion thread was removed, so the link will not work.)

As Seen On OPRAH & 20/20 - TURN $6 into $24600
Earn money using PAYPAL as seen on Oprah & 20/20
Here is how it works. There is a list of 6 email addresses (you’ll see it as you read further). Each of these people has already taken part in this system. When someone new comes along (such as yourself) he/she removes #1 off of the list, moves the other five email addresses up one position (i.e. #6 goes to #5, #5 to #4, etc.), and places their Papal email address in the #6 position. This process is what develops the power of compounding. The bottom line is this. Honesty and Integrity creates Profitability. Following this EXACT process is what creates the money. Altering the system creates weak results. The legality of this system comes from the idea that you are of course creating a mailing list, and a service is being provided.
INSTRUCTIONS: STEP 1: The first thing to do is highlight and SAVE this entire post in word or notepad on your computer so you can come back to it later. After that, if you are not already a Papal user you need to go to the Papal website at www.paypal.com And SIGN UP. If you want to be able to receive credit card payments from other people then you will need to sign up for a PREMIER or BUSINESS account (not just a PERSONAL account). This is highly recommended to allow others easy payment options. In order to place the initial $6 into your account, you will have to verify your bank account with PAYPAL (which may take a few days). PAYPAL is 100% secure and is used by millions of people worldwide.
STEP 2: The first thing to do is to send a $1.00 payment to each of the 6 email addresses on the current list from your Papal account. To do this quickly and successfully, follow these simple steps:
1. Login to Papal and click on the Send Money. Tab near the top of the screen.
2. In the Recipient’s Email field enter the email address
3. In the Amount field enter 1. (This is your $1.00 payment)
4. In the Category field select Service. (Keeping it legal)
5. In the Subject field type EMAIL LIST. And in the NOTE field enter PLEASE PUT ME ON YOUR EMAIL LIST. By doing this, you are creating a service and maintaining the legality of the system by paying for the service. 6. Finally, click on the Continue button to complete the payment. Repeat these steps for each of the
6 email addresses. That’s it! By sending the $1.00 payment to each address, you are implementing the compounding OWER of the system. You will reap what you sow!
Here is the current e-mail list:
*************************************************
#1) email address deleted
#2) email address deleted
#3) email address deleted
#4)email address deleted
#5)email address deleted
#6) email address deleted
************************************************
STEP 3: Now take the #1 email off of the list that you see above (from your saved file), move the other addresses up (6 becomes 5, 5 becomes 4, etc.) and add YOUR email address (the one used for your Papal account) as number 6 on the list. This is the only part of the document that should be changed. ** Make sure your email address is the one you have registered with Paypal **
STEP 4: Post your amended article to at least 200 newsgroups or message boards. Keep in mind that there are tens of thousands of groups online! All you need is 200, but remember the more you post the more money you make - as well as everyone else on the list! Use Netscape, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or whatever your internet browser is to search for various news groups, on-line forums, message boards, bulletin boards, chat sites, discussions, discussion groups, on-line communities, etc. For example, log on to any search engine like yahoo.com or google.com and type in a subject like “MILLIONAIRE MESSAGE BOARD”, “MONEY MAKING DISCUSSIONS”, “MONEY MAKING FORUMS”, or “BUSINESS MESSAGE BOARD”, etc. You will find thousands and thousands of message boards.

The blog software should be able to read my mind!

2008-07-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

Someone is co-authoring a blog with her sister and wonders why when her sister blogs, it still shows her as the author. I guess she expects her blog to be a mind reader since they both login using the same id...

Calling emergency number to find out when Internet started

2008-07-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

This isn't a stupid question per se, but how she tried to get the answer was very stupid.

UCD Library

2008-07-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, I used to work in a university library. Of course, we had our share of stupid questions. These were actual questions asked (though the wording might be slightly different since these occurred in the Stone Age...)

Me: The physics journals are downstairs.
Patron: Do they move?
Me: What?
Patron: The stairs.
Me: No, they are stairs, not an escalator.

Me: I'm sorry, but the book has been declared missing. [There is an extensive search process before a book can be officially declared missing.]
Patron: Where is it?
Me: If we knew where it was, it wouldn't have been declared missing.

Introduction

2008-07-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

On my other blog, King Al's Thoughts of the Day, I occasionally some really stupid math questions that students ask on Yahoo! Answers.

I have decided to post stupid questions on this blog (though the math ones will still stay on my other blog.)