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January 21, 2009 A Free Paper of Trivia, Humor, Puzzles, and More ISSUE #8
Where is Svalbard? Video games have been around since selling video game series ever,
International Info. . . . . . P AGE 4 long before the Wii, Xbox 360, and with over 200 games and more
PS3. Here are some fun facts about than 200 million copies sold.
How did January the classics of gaming.
get its name? • Rivaling Mario in popularity is
Monthl y Mythol ogy. . P AG E 5 • While Atari’s Pong Pac-Man. Since his debut in the
helped popu- 1980 game of the same name,
What is the G8?
By the Numbers . . . . . . . PAGE 6 larize video Pac-Man has ap-
games when peared in games
Which historic theater opened it was re- on several video
75 years ago this Monday? leased in game systems,
This Week in History . . . PAGE 7 1972, it board and card
Illustraion: MS
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ISSUE #8 www.gistweekly.com Page 5
Illustrations: MS
TRIVIA QUIZ
Each question below relates to the Monthly Mythology:
topic of a feature in this issue of
Gist Weekly, but is not answered in
it. Answers are on page 8.
1. Classic Video Games (page
Janus
1): What video game for the • The month of January gets its organizations in the James Bond
Nintendo Entertainment System name from the Roman god Janus film GoldenEye and the film Judge
was titled Rock Man in Japan? (pronounced JAY-nus), god of Dredd.
2. Svalbard (page 4): Svalbard is d o o r w a ys , ga t es , a nd —
• M i c ro so ft ori gi n al l y g av e
home to many of the world’s appropriately, given January’s
Windows 3.1 the codename
northernmost things, including positi on i n the cal endar—
“Janus.” The codename was later
the northernmost school, bank, beginnings and endings.
reused for Windows 2000 and is
hospital, and movie theater.
• In addition to giving us the now the name for a form of
Which country has the north-
English name for the first month Windows Media copy protection.
ernmost capital city?
of the year, Janus also provides
3. Janus (page 5): Janus Friis is a • A “Janus word”—also called an
the name for modern caretakers
Danish businessman known for auto-antonym, autantonym, or
of doors and hallways: janitors.
co-founding KaZaA and what contronym—is a word that can
popular application for making • Because of his role as guardian of have two opposite meanings. For
A bust of Janus
phone calls over the Internet? doors and gates, Janus was exam pl e, “fast” can m ean
depicted with two back-to-back • Since Janus was the god of “moving quickly” or “not moving
4. By the Numbers: 8 (page 6):
heads so that he could look at beginnings, Roman prayers to at all” (as in “stuck fast”) and if
Buddhists try to live their lives
both sides of a doorway at the multiple gods often invoked something is “out,” it can be
by following what group of
same time. The heads also allow Janus’ name first. shining (stars) or not (light bulbs).
eight principles of right living?
him to see both the past and the Other Janus words include
5. This Week in History (page • “Janus” was also the name of a
future. “cleave” (“separate” or “adhere”),
7): Apple’s “1984” commer- secret government program in the
“ s a nc ti on” ( “ all ow ” or
cial—which debuted 25 years • According to one legend, Janus recent, short-lived television
“penalize”), and “table,” which
ago this Thursday—featured got his second head from Saturn, series My Own Worst Enemy. On
means to remove something from
themes and imagery taken from god of agriculture, for showing the show, the Janus program gave
debate in American English but
the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by him hospitality. Today, Janus is secret agents two different
to put it up for debate in British
which English author? the name of one of the moons of personalities. Janus has also been
English.
the planet Saturn. the nam e of proj ects or
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10 words
By the Numbers: 8
• Eight is “Excessive bail shall not be re-
Illustraion: MS
the retired quired, nor excessive fines im-
j e r s e y posed, nor cruel and unusual pun-
number of ishments inflicted.”
B as eball
• Eight is considered a lucky num-
Hall of
ber in China because the Manda-
Famers Yogi
rin word for “eight” is pro-
Berra, Joe Mor-
nounced like the word for
gan, Cal Ripken, Jr., Willie
“prosper” or “wealth.”
Stargell, and Carl Yastrzemski.
• The Group of Eight, or G8, is an
• In U.S. customary units of meas-
international forum for represen-
urement, there are eight fluid
tatives from the governments of
ounces in a cup and eight pints in
eight major industrialized nations:
a gallon. Some lesser-used (and
Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
lesser-known) conversions in-
Japan, Russia, the United King-
volving eight include eight fluid
dom, and the United States. The
drams in a fluid ounce and eight
group holds annual summits to
furlongs in a mile.
discuss major world issues.
• V8 juice gets its name from both
• In computing, a byte is made up
V8 engines and the eight vegeta-
of eight bits (1s or 0s).
bles in the original V8 Vegetable
Juice: tomatoes, beets, celery, car- • The 8-track tape, also called Ste-
rots, lettuce, parsley, watercress, reo 8, was invented in 1964 and
and spinach. was popular until its decline in the
late 1970s and early 1980s. The
• Eight is the atomic number of
last major 8-track release is gener-
oxygen. Oxygen makes up 88.8%
ally considered to be Fleetwood
of the mass of water.
Mac ’s G r eat es t H i ts i n—
• Spanish pieces of eight were legal appropriately—1988.
tender in the United States until
• The eight-hour workday that is
1857, even thought the U.S. Mint
common for many jobs today is a
was created in 1792. The use of
relatively recent invention. It did
the pieces of eight gives us the
not become standard in the
slang “two bits” meaning twenty-
United States until the passage of
five cents since two bits (eights of
the Fair Labor Standards Act in
a piece of eight) made up one
1938.
quarter of the coin.
• In the U.S. military, “Section 8”
• The Eighth Amendment to the
refers to discharges due to being
United States Constitution reads,
mentally unfit for service.
Online!
Next Week
in Gist Weekly:
Advertise without
• Groundhog Day is Monday, February 2. You won’t know
until then whether or not the groundhog will see its shadow,
breaking the bank!
but thanks to Gist Weekly, you will know some fun facts
about this peculiar holiday.
• In Birthdays, one of the world’s most influential women
turns 55 and a history-making athlete would be 90.
• This Week in History covers the 50th anniversary of a big
day in music history as well as other historical events that
took place between January 28 and February 3.
• Plus the usual assortment of puzzles and games, including a
crossword, sudoku, scavenger hunt, and more.
—SCAVENGER HUNT—
Locations
A. Page 7 (“This Week in History”)
B. Page 5 (“Monthly Mythology”)
C. Page 4 (“International Info”)
D. Page 3 (Americans for the Arts ad)
E. Page 6 (Earth Share ad)
F. Page 1 (“Classic Video Games”)