Pub quiz cheat service reaches a milestone
What are this week's lottery numbers?
FIFTEEN MILLION is the answer, but what is the question? Well, that would be how many queries AQA 63336 has now answered.
It was the world's first SMS-based question and answer service launched in 2004 - a service which has increased popularity and had the guts to fight off competitors.
Its 1,400 researchers answer around 20,000 questions every day from knowledge-thirsty Brits.
The 24-hour service receives a range of weird and wonderful questions from the philosophical "What is the meaning of life?" to the desperate "Will I get laid tonight?"
The 15 millionth question, which was asked yesterday at 7.30am, was, "After the 8:06 to Brighton from London Victoria, what time is the next train and what time does it arrive?" to which AQA answered "The next train after the 08.06 from London Victoria to Brighton departs at 08.20. It arrives in Brighton at 09.22. The next train after that is at 08.36."
So, there's a freebie for anyone wishing to know that particular gem of south coast of England travel-based information.
AQA has now helped over two million UK customers with their weird and wonderful queeries at £1 a pop (free at www.aqa.63336.com).
However if you have a frequently asked question, here are the top five:
What’s the meaning of life?
Life is the result of a complex sequence of chemical reactions and has no
underlying meaning. Assign yourself a meaning: find out what you love & do
it.
What came first the chicken or the egg?
The egg came first. DNA in the fertilized egg of a chicken-like bird mutated.
Subsequent cell division produced an embryo that made the 1st true chicken.
When will I die?
You will die in a freak parachuting accident aged 98. Your memorial service,
attended by over 1,000 of your closest friends, will be held at Wembley.
Why do men have nipples?
Male nipples develop before the gender of the embryo becomes male, as all
embryos start off female. They have no real function, except sexual pleasure.
Why is the sky blue?
The sky is blue due to "Rayleigh scattering" - molecules in the air scatter
blue (short wavelength) light 10 times more than other colours in sunlight. µ
Comments
the meaning of life ?
Surely everybody knows that the correct answer is 42...The ultimate question
@Al... 42 is the answer to "what is the answer to the ultimate question?"It would require a computer much larger to answer the question "what is the ultimate question?"
AQA was not the first such service
Sorry, AQA launched 3 years *after* my own service - which is still running, 6 years of daily service later - called GTIP (www.gtip.co.uk). GTIP launched commercially on January 2, 2001, after 3 months of initial testing.