Time-wasting

I don't know if anyone needs any more things on which to waste time, but I found another one.  You may already be enjoying Google Earth, a downloadable program that allows you to move about the earth and look at stuff.

Unbeknownst to me, about three months ago, Google added a flight simulator to Google Earth.  Somewhere, I stumbled across this news the other day, but I had no time to check it out.  Until tonight...I downloaded the new version (4.3), and there it was, Tools/Enter Flight Simulator....  It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the current Microsoft product, but the price is right.

Now maybe you're not a fan of flight simulators, and that's fine, but I am (in fact, it is my contention that the original Bruce Artwick Flight Simulator was the most important program in the early days of PCs, but I won't fight that out tonight).  This new one is simple, offers only two airplanes, but it's still a hoot, so check it out.  Oh, and it allows you to take off from now-defunct Meigs Field in Chicago, which was the default in the Microsoft product, so you can fly around the Windy City without having to come in from O'Hare.

Free thesis topic here

Pat: the category is Place. Spin the wheel.

------- ----

Contestant #1: I'll take an N.

------- ----

#2: T, please.

------- ----

#3: Let me have an S, Pat.

------- ----

#1: I'll take a Q.
Pat: Are you sure?
#1: Yes.

------- ---Q


And now the answer is possible to see (I'll save it until the end).

My idea for a thesis, available to anyone free of charge, is to determine which letters are most valuable in Wheel of Fortune. Most people walk roughly down the letter probability frequency (one example is etaoinshrdlucmfwypvbgkqjxz) to make their guesses. But is 't' really the best choice? Because it is so common, it has the least predictive power.

Perhaps 'q' isn't really that good, despite my example above. Maybe the best letter is one near the middle (in much the way that it has been calculated that the orange properties have the most value in Monopoly).

So it might be interesting to design and carry out such a study, giving an optimal strategy for Wheel, or Hangman. (By the way, the answer is Baghdad Iraq).