The Straight Dope 02/21/2003

____________________________________________
The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

You are subscribed as: [[email protected]]

To unsubscribe CLICK on the URL below this line:
mailto:[email protected]
If you can't "click" above, then send a blank email to:
[email protected]
____________________________________________
THE STRAIGHT DOPE 02/21/2003

Dear Cecil:

I've noticed that networks are always proud of how
many people were watching their shows, as shown by
the Nielsen ratings. Who is Nielsen, and how is he
counting the 7.8 million people who were watching
the latest reality show? How do they figure out
what I'm watching? I have a feeling they ask a few
hundred thousand people what they were watching,
and just say that therefore, statistically, x
number of people must've been watching.
--Joe Marcus, El Paso, Texas

~~~~~~
Looking for the perfect gift for that wedding, birthday, or
bar mitzvah? Straight Dope books are the very thing! See
http://www.straightdope.com/store.html
~~~~~~

Cecil replies:

You're one sharp cookie, Joe. Yes, Nielsen ratings
are based on a representative sample--they don't
ask everybody in the country. The sample size isn't
a few hundred thousand people, though--for daily
ratings, called "overnights" it's just 25,000 homes
(5,000 for national programming, 20,000 for local
stations), which collectively are supposed to reflect
the viewing habits of 106 million U.S. households in
210 markets. That leaves a pretty wide margin for
error, you might think, and you wouldn't be the only
one. Nielsen Media Research, an offspring of the
firm founded in 1923 by market research pioneer
Arthur Nielsen, recently began introducing new
sampling technology that it hopes will depict local
TV viewership with much greater accuracy. Early results
have been controversial, mainly because, in highly
simplified terms, they consist of the following:

Q: Do people actually watch all this crap?
A: No.
    
For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030221.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

The signals from a television's remote control are
invisible, yet one amazing thing is that instead of
pointing the remote control at the sensor on the TV
as normal, I can also point it at a MIRROR in front
of the set (which is facing the sensor) and it will
work! How can signals bounce off mirrors? I have not
tried this with other remote controls, like say for
an automatic car alarm or something but I guess that
would work too. --David X, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada 

SDSTAFF Karen replies: 
Why wouldn't remote control signals bounce off a
mirror? Light waves bounce (reflect) off a mirror;
sound waves bounce (echo) off a mirror; even a ball
will bounce off a mirror. 

Maybe you have the idea that some kind of magic
emanates from the remote, some kind of essence of
vampire that is unsusceptible to reflection. Nope. 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mremotereflect.html


STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 09/02/1983

Dear Cecil: 
            
Sitting here on the sun deck, we've been involved in
a heated debate for the past several weeks. It seems
these midwesterners and New Yorkers have some distorted
perceptions about the capacities of the sun's rays.
Those of us from the south and southeast, having far
more experience and innate wisdom, know better. 

You see, they insist that absolutely no ultraviolet
rays can pass through the plain clear glass of a car
window. I have apparently hallucinated the tan or burn
I've noticed after driving across the desert. And,
according to them, sun lamps either don't give off
ultraviolet rays or the bulb is not glass. Please
enlighten my poor misguided friends. In return, I'll be
happy to share with you the lunch I win from this
wager. --Alice, Los Angeles

Cecil replies:

Good thing I'm on a diet this week, Alice, because
you lose. For what it's worth, those other
characters don't know what they're talking about
either. 

To summarize briefly: some ultraviolet rays can pass
through car window glass, although most of the burning
(as opposed to tanning) rays can't. On the other hand,
most sunlamps aren't made of ordinary glass--they're
made of quartz or special UV-transparent glass.

Having thus confronted our ignorance, let us humbly
endeavor to learn. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_163b.html

____________________________________________
Here's how you can get your OWN FREE Subscription:
Send a blank mailto:[email protected]
____________________________________________
Copyright 1995 - 2003 Chicago Reader, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
You may forward this document by email ONLY if you
include the entire document INCLUDING the information
at the bottom of this publication
____________________________________________
Visit our good friends at Joke A Day http://www.jokeaday.com
They're kind enough to mail THE STRAIGHT DOPE for us.
Join the World's Largest Daily Humor List and receive daily
laughs in your email by sending mailto:[email protected]