Rickety

Mostly about Utah

Rick Needs

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Rick needs

Rick Needs

I last tried this in 2008 and it never fails to amuse me. It seems to work for almost any name. The idea is to search on Google with the words Rick needs, but substituting in your name. Then examine the first ten hits and extract the essence of the results and compile a list of what you supposedly need.
Here are the first ten Rick needs that Google listed when I searched tonight:

  1. What Rick needs. [This is my 2008 post.]
  2. Rick needs a massage.
  3. Rick needs a sparring pal.
  4. Rick needs to get his own show on Oprah.
  5. Rick needs numbers. [Rick went swimming with his phone and needs to rebuild his phone list.]
  6. Rick needs chord inversions.
  7. Rick needs an expert weapon smith.
  8. Rick needs moral support. [After rotator cuff surgery.]
  9. Rick needs more babies in Connecticut.
  10. Rick needs solid breath.

Interestingly, one of the commenters on the original 2008 post made a prediction that did indeed come about:

Over time, the browser will shift and new needs will appear…perhaps listing the rick’s needs sets about filling needs? (Galveston Wizard Comment)

Comparing the August 2008 results with today’s it looks like the only thing I still need from 2008 is a massage.

Try your name and see what you need. Then share the results.
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QR Codes

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Calendar Event QR Code

Stake Conference Calendar Event QR Code

A QR Code is a matrix barcode readable by mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. QR is the acronym for Quick Response, as the code allows its contents to be decoded at high speed.

QR Code Uses

QR Codes can be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user’s device, to open a URI or to compose a text message or email. Users can also generate and print their own QR Code for others to scan and use by visiting one of several free QR Code generating sites.

Creating A QR Code

I tried experimenting with QR Codes by creating a QR Code Calendar Event for our Stake Conference General Session. In the top right is the QR code I created using the QR Code Generator from the ZXing Project. I selected a Calendar event, entered the details, and chose a medium (M) barcode size. The screenshot below shows the results. Click on the image to enlarge.

QR Code Generator screenshot

Generate your own QR codes at the ZXing Project.

Nexus One displays data from QR Code scan

Displaying data from a QR Code scan

Reading A QR Code

To read the QR code on my smartphone I used ShopSavvy that I already had installed. I selected “Search for a product”, and held up the camera to my QR Code at the top right of this post. ShopSavvy immediately recognized the code as a Google Calendar Event. To add the event to my calendar I scrolled down and selected “Done.”

The results were less than satisfactory. I found that ShopSavvy did not add the location and the description of the event to Google Calendar. By using Barcode Scanner by ZXing Team I got much better results. As you can see from the Google calendar screenshot below, all the information was captured and saved.

Google Calendar screenshot

QR Code Readers

Many Android phones come with QR code readers already installed, as do most Nokia phones running S60 3rd Edition or newer. Blackberry phones running Blackberry Messenger 5.0 (or more recent versions) can also scan QR codes using the “Scan A Group Barcode” option in the BBM menu. Both the Android Market and the iTunes App Store offer several free applications that can decode QR matrices. Similar software can be downloaded and installed onto S60 phones.

See if your cell phone camera will recognize my QR code.
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Google Plots Fertility Rate

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If you cannot see the graph click here or here.

Google recently added the World Bank’s World Development Indicators to their existing US unemployment and US population data sets. The World Development Indicators consist of 17 data sets that Google plots as an interactive graph using their public data search. The graphs can be linked or embedded on a web page as I have done above. Note that in some data sets, a few countries do not have data, for example Andorran GDP growth rate.

In my graph I included the countries with the highest fertility rate (Niger, 7.0) and the lowest fertility rate (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1.2). I show the U.S. at exactly the 2.1 replacement rate. The World fertility rate has dropped to 2.5.

Links to Data Sets

I found that I could not easily access the public data sets. I had to display them using the right words in a search. Once I discovered the URLs I could save the links and go directly to the graphs. The links are listed below that have the World Development Indicators made available through Google’s public statistical data search. Clicking a link will bring up a blank chart, allowing you to select one or more country’s data to display. I have included the U.S. population and unemployment public data sets for completeness.

External Articles

This list is updated occasionally, with newer additions listed first.

Updates

Google now has a Public Data Explorer with a lot more data sets available. Andorra now has a GDP growth rate.
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What Rick Needs

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Using Google search for amusement

Searching for What Rick Needs

Here is something I found amusing. I saw it on Titania’s blog a few days ago. The idea is to search on Google with your name first and then needs, for example Rick needs. I tried using Rickety needs but the results were nonsensical. Here are the first ten Rick needs that Google listed when I searched on Wednesday:

  1. Rick needs a massage.
  2. Rick Needs YOU!
  3. To run a strong race Rick needs our help, including financial help.
  4. Rick needs to be cloned.
  5. Rick needs bail money.
  6. The only weight Rick needs to be trying to deal is to see if NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, Atkins, Slim fast and Weight Watchers will let him be the spokesperson for his next rap album.
  7. Rick needs to borrow your engine hoist.
  8. Rick‘s cool but he needs to open up more.
  9. Rick needs to tag the load instead of letting the guy wire tag it for him.
  10. What Rick needs now: partnerships with ad agencies that want to deliver big, beautiful graphics to their clients.

Amalgamating What Rick Needs

Now try and connect the ideas of all ten results together in one sentence. I have numbered the part of the sentence that matches the search results. For example, in the sentence below to pay is the essence of search result number 3, including financial help.

Cool (8) Rick needs you (2) to pay (3) for his massage (1) with bail money (5) to help him lose weight (6) so he doesn’t need an engine hoist (7) to lift him but he really should tag himself (9) before he is cloned (4) or produces any graphics (10).

If you try it yourself, share your results in the comments.

Results may vary by location and could be skewed by personalization based on your web history. Results may not amuse and are not insured by the FDIC. No animals were harmed during computations and all-electric search engines were employed to protect the environment.