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Q: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969 ( No Answer,   9 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
Category: Miscellaneous
Asked by: myoarin-ga
List Price: $7.00
Posted: 07 Aug 2005 16:05 PDT
Expires: 14 Oct 2005 06:43 PDT
Question ID: 552839
Has anyone got an idea of how the above item appeared.  I noticed it a
couple of days ago.  At present it is in the 241-250 range of
questions sorted by activity, but will move higher.  It is copied
below with bits from the questions above and below it.
"CAR" is the subject of the next lower question.


    	  06 Aug 2005     	  28 days left     	  $26.00


Category:
Asked by: 	31 Dec 1969    	expired    	$0.00
CAR
Subject: CAR Asked By: gohstrider-ga 1988 E REGISTERED FORD ESCORT ECLIPSE

Strange ....?

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 07 Aug 2005 18:13 PDT
I haven't been here since day one, but I'm pretty sure Google Answers
began back in the '60s in the very, very, very early days of search
engine technology.

Is the question date strange to you because it was New Year's Eve, and
they should have been out partying?

paf

Clarification of Question by myoarin-ga on 07 Aug 2005 18:42 PDT
Hi Paf,
I did not realize that Google Answers was THAT old.  Kind of thought
it was early 2000.  Learned something.
I am just very curious how this question without content suddenly came
out of the distant past.  Yes, the 31 Dec is also interesting, but I
was thinking that it was computer-calendar generated, like when one
plugs in a new fax or answering device.
I was sort of imagining that someone "kicked the box" and jarred the
000000 or 000001 question to go online again.   ???
It is to me strange that questions pop up as current without any new
posting: clarification, comment, answer or rating.  But there has to
be a little mystery about the web and Google.  This just seems so
strange.
Myoarin

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 07 Aug 2005 18:49 PDT
Behold, thy leg hath been pulled.

Clarification of Question by myoarin-ga on 08 Aug 2005 03:48 PDT
Paf wouldn't do that ....  Good thing that I do this sitting down.

Clarification of Question by myoarin-ga on 10 Aug 2005 18:00 PDT
77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777 $$

Greetings all,

Has the volume of questions doubled recently? Seems so, but that is not one.

OKAY, since this question is about G-A anyway, I have boosted the
price a bit and will change the question:

Why did G-A stop showing "sponsored links"?

What can make a question come back to "the top of the pile" although
there has been no new posting of any kind, e.g.:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=490738

I don't expect that answers can be documented so just a knowledgable
ones will be satisfactory.  :)
Myoarin
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: omnivorous-ga on 07 Aug 2005 18:45 PDT
 
John Titor posted that question:
http://johntitor.strategicbrains.com/TimeMachine.cfm

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: pinkfreud-ga on 07 Aug 2005 18:45 PDT
 
This is the fabled "Flying Dutchman Question" which is doomed to
wander GA until archae0pteryx's book is published, or shoaib gets a
loan, whichever happens first.
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: myoarin-ga on 08 Aug 2005 03:45 PDT
 
I truly appreciate the high quality research and researchers  - the best. :)
More welcomed.  Maybe Scriptor can relate Pink's comment to Wagner and
the Festspiele in Bayreuth.

But the phantom question is really there.  Strange ....

thanks and greetings to all, Myoarin
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: philnj-ga on 08 Aug 2005 06:13 PDT
 
I apologize for butting in if you guys are just having a bit of fun,
but I can explain where the Dec 31, 1969 date come from.

It is literally the start of time.  The UNIX operating system defines
time as the number of seconds elapsed since the start of January 1,
1970 GMT.  Through some database glitch, a question has its time tag
reset to zero.  When it is displayed and converted to Pacific Time,
the date becomes December 31, 1969 (probably 4PM or so).

BTW, the end of time is somewhere in 2038, when the number of seconds
since 1/1/70 overflows a 32 bit word.  It will be like Y2K all over
again.  I view it as an employment windfall just before I retire.

BBTW, how rich would you be if you invested G**gle in 1969?
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: myoarin-ga on 08 Aug 2005 08:23 PDT
 
PHil,
That's great, thanks:  "the start of time"!  Like that.  "The end of
time", 2038; don't know if that gibes with Revelations.

It does kind of take the fun out of speculating about how a phantom
question got thrown into the system.  I will stick with my idea that
someone literally did kick the box of a server, but I am open to
better suggestions.

GARs can draw straws on posting an answer.  There may even be a tip if
the suggestion is good. ;-)

Thanks again, Phil, Myoarin
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: archae0pteryx-ga on 08 Aug 2005 12:47 PDT
 
Ha ha, Pink.  Bet on my novel, and thanks for the plug.  At least I'm
not trying to purify a protein.

Tryx
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: pinkfreud-ga on 10 Aug 2005 18:12 PDT
 
Myoarin,

Regarding questions that leap to the top of the heap for no obvious
reason, this is often because the Editors have deleted a comment from
a spammer, or an offensive or nonsensical post of some kind. Today,
for instance, there were several spam comments deleted from questions
that concerned cats. The commenter apparently thought it was funny to
go through the site posting "your cat is gay." When these comments
were deleted, the questions to which they were initially appended rose
to the top of the list in which questions with the most recent
activity are at the top. Deletion counts as an activity.

~Pink
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: pinkfreud-ga on 10 Aug 2005 18:16 PDT
 
I just noticed that in my previous comment, I referred to the "your
cat is gay" remarks as "spam comments." This is, of course, not what I
meant to say at all. Spam comments and nuisance/nonsensical/offensive
comments all get the same axe, though.
Subject: Re: Source of phantom question dd. 31 dec 1969
From: myoarin-ga on 11 Aug 2005 03:36 PDT
 
Pinkfreud-ga,
Thank you. That wouldn't seem to be the case with the link I posted,
but one never knows.
Spam & cats.  Spam could be food for cats with bad taste  (the canned stuff), 
and also for some cypber-cats of another ilk.

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