Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Facebook clarification

Of all the things I've seen people post on Facebook, this one has got to be one of the best and worst ones this year;

"August 2010 had 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays and 5 Tuesdays. This only occurs once every 823 years, and according to Feng Shui those who tell their friends about this during the month of September will receive a lot of money. So copy and post!"

  1. I hate chain statuses.
  2. Feng Shui.. money.. tell your friends.. oh please!
  3. This message doesn't even make any sense and is clearly designed to see who has brains... and who doesn't.

Every time August starts on a Sunday, there will be 5 each of Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. This happens every five or six years, except for when leap years makes August 1st go from Saturday to Monday, skipping Sunday.

Our dates follow a pretty easily discernible pattern; if August 1st is on a Sunday this year, it will be so again in 11 years. Then 6 years, 5, 6, 11, 6, 5, 6, 11 and so on.

Meaning this happens in 1993, 1999, 2004, 2010, 2021, 2027, 2032 etc etc.
Not every 823 years.

The way our calendars are planned, nothing happens only once every 823 years.


What on earth makes people post things like this without checking the facts?

But hey, I shouldn't complain - at least I learned something new today. I do get way too detailed some times...

And maybe I shouldn't be too hard on other people - if it weren't for them, Facebook would be an awfully boring place!

...823 years...

4 comments:

  1. 823 years.

    I'm just trying to picture that in terms of time. What would've been going on then? Would they even wonder about us, 823 years in the future, typing away on arcane machinery that communicates through means both mysterious and exciting?

    Probably not. Like today, back then they were probably preoccupied with bashing their heads into rocks.

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  2. Anonymous3:46 PM

    So funny, chica! It is as if I could hear you talking about it.
    The pattern is correct, of course, yet I thought you'd go about wondering what would make those 3 days of the week any more special than the rest, when they happen 5 times in a given month...
    Nice post :)

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  3. Geoff - I have a feeling we're never going to get away from the stage where people want to bash each other's heads in with a rock... I do wonder what Earth will be like in 823 years though - assuming it still exists.

    David - Well you're not here to explain it to me this time are you, so I had to figure out the details on my own ;)

    I'm assuming Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were picked, in that order, since the American week starts on Sunday. The Norwegian week starts on a Monday but I'm not sure about the rest of the world. How about Spain?

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  4. Totally agree with you. Sometime I find those stuffs that people wrote on their wall are quite ridiculous but without them I would have not much weird stuffs to read about. Hope you have a great day today. Don't worry, you don't have to pass this on to feel great. Ha ha ha

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