I read this in the early 70's   The ring in question is surgically grafted onto a convicted criminals finger and enables him to be tracked. It triggers intense pain if the conditions of his parole are breached.   Unfortunately, that's all I remember! Can anyone help?
123800
I remember reading one of my father's books when I was younger.  It was about a guy who ended up getting in trouble with the law and was required to wear a ring that could not be removed and would shock the wearer any time they committed a crime (No matter how minor.)    The book was probably published in the early to mid 80s.  I thought the name of the book was 'The Ring', but I am unable to locate anything.  The cover had a car with a single wheel driving on a metal I-beam.
24936
100 prisoners are imprisoned in solitary cells. Each cell is windowless and soundproof. There's a central living room with one light bulb; the bulb is initially off. No prisoner can see the light bulb from his or her own cell. Each day, the warden picks a prisoner equally at random, and that prisoner visits the central living room; at the end of the day the prisoner is returned to his cell. While in the living room, the prisoner can toggle the bulb if he or she wishes. Also, the prisoner has the option of asserting the claim that all 100 prisoners have been to the living room. If this assertion is false (that is, some prisoners still haven't been to the living room), all 100 prisoners will be shot for their stupidity. However, if it is indeed true, all prisoners are set free and inducted into MENSA, since the world can always use more smart people. Thus, the assertion should only be made if the prisoner is 100% certain of its validity.  Before this whole procedure begins, the prisoners are allowed to get together in the courtyard to discuss a plan. What is the optimal plan they can agree on, so that eventually, someone will make a correct assertion?    I was wondering does anyone know the solution for the 4,000 days solution. Also, anyone got any ideas on how to solve this?   Just wanted to know if anyone got any ideas how to solve this.  is offering prize money for a proof of a optimal solution for it. I suppose to make it clear the people want a plan that would mean on average it would take least amount of time to free the prisoner. The point is the average run time is as low as possible.
53410
In Looper, it is established that permanent physical harm to a young looper will instantaneously affect the old version of the same looper. For example, a looper can send a message to his older self by permanently carving it in his arm.  I assume Abe and his gang know about this. Why is it, then, that in Seth's case:      when the killers capture young Seth, they torture and mutilate him in order to force old Seth to come to them, then end shooting him up? Wouldn't simply killing young Seth get rid of both Seths? Is the torture simply sadism?   We know the above will happen, since something similar happens later in the movie. And if Joe, who is definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed, can figure it out, surely Abe must also know it?
71782
In MIB3, the proposed explanation for K's lack of emotion and human interaction can be traced to the happening at Cape Canaveral. When J goes back to change the otherwise altered past, K comes out more lively and joyful. As far as I know, though, the only thing that changed was that he killed Boris the Animal rather than arresting him, so what changed him so much for the better?  J's dad still died, if that isn't what devastated him, what did?
27571
I have a problem called "The Prison Problem" that I need to explain to my 9-year-old cousin. I would think that he has just started learning about divisors and perfect squares, and as such, I have a proposed solution. Any input from you guys would be welcome, as to what is the best way to go about this.  Problem:  There was a jail with 100 cells in it, all in a long row. The warden was feeling very jolly one night and told his assistant that he wanted to give all the prisoners a wonderful surprise. While they were sleeping, he wanted the assistant to unlock all the cells. This should be done, he told the assistant, by putting the key in each lock, turning it once. The assistant did this, then came back to report that the job was done. Meanwhile, however, the warden has second thoughts. "Maybe I shouldn't let all the prisoners free," he said. "Go back and leave the first cell open, but lock the second one (by putting the key in and turning it once). Then leave the third open, but lock the fourth, and continue in this way for the entire row." The assistant wasn't very surprised at this request as the warden often changed his mind. After finishing this task, the assistant returned, and again the warden had other thoughts. "Here's what I really want you to do," he said. "Go back down the row. Leave the first two cells as they are, and put your key in the third cell and turn it once. Then leave the fourth and fifth cells and turn the key in the sixth. Continue down the row this way." The assistant again did as instructed. Fortunately, the prisoners were still asleep. As a matter of fact, the assistant was getting pretty sleepy, but there was no chance for rest yet. The warden changed his mind again, and the assistant had to go back again and turn the lock in the fourth cell and in every fourth cell down the row. This continued all through the night, next turning the lock in every fifth cell, and then in every sixth, and on and on, until on the last trip, the assistant just had to turn the key in the hundredth cell. When the prisoners finally woke up, which ones could walk out of their cells?  Proposed solution:  Ten cells are left open after this process. Every cell that is a perfect square will remain open (1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, and 100). If a number is not a perfect square, then it has an even number of divisors, therefore it will be "toggled" an even number of times and end up where it started (closed). Perfect squares have an odd number of divisors, so they will end up the opposite of where they started (open).
14148
I read a story--the first part of one, at any rate--years ago, and haven't tracked it down since. It started with a man been sent to a planet under attack to pose as a monk--he arrived in the middle of an assault, but still had to do penance for being late. So he wore a hair shirt, that created an agonising reaction. He was captured by the attackers (who took him for the man he was posing as), who then stood off the planet in their starships and watched as a 'hell burner' weapon tumbled out of deep space and torched the planet. The attackers then explained that they weren't responsible for the hell burner, but every time they arrived at a planet, a hell burner turned up afterwards, at shorter and shorter intervals.  As the story developed, there was some kind of time travelling dimension, and a character turned out to have his organs reversed. I may have got some details wrong, but this was the shape of it.  Anyone know this story, and the author?
81566
I read this story in middle school or high school and I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. I think it started off in a small clan of people, there was a young boy who had just come of age and he had some kind of gift that related to the books? Also I think the injecting was illegal, because I vaguely remember the boy encountering an old man who had a bunch of books that he had to keep hidden. There was also a city and he met a girl there that was Special some how. I may just be merging memories but I think at some point the boy and girl went to an underground city?  Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
75868
When Sauron is shown killing Elendil and then being destroyed by Isildur he is clearly not invisible and he is wearing the Ring.  But any time Bilbo or Frodo put on the Ring they went invisible without fail.  Did the Ring change after Sauron was destroyed or is Sauron capable of controlling the rings power unlike anyone else?
17483
So on a lot of HP merchandise the exact details of Harry's scar are different. The scar is a lightning bolt in a 'N' shape and not the other way around, right?   And does anyone know is Rowling made Harry's scar shaped like the Nordic sowilo rune on purpose?
74580
So uh i've got this problem with a penetrating object and another object that serves as something like a condom if you will    So what I want, is for the penetrating object to not deform while moving into this "rubber cylinder", while the rubber cylinder does deform and reshape itself to the outer form of the penetrating object. That is, if the pen. object is bigger than the entrance hole ofc.  Also, when the object leaves the "rubber cylinder" I want the outer edges to follow (mid object in picture) and then jump back (right object in picture)    Parenting the size and position of the "rubber cylinder"-entrance to the position of the penetrating object would work i guess, but I think it'd create problems when the pen. object enters from another angle (not perpendicular to the entrance). I just read another post where someone mentions Vertex Weight Proximity modifier in a combination with a cast modifier. Don't know if thats gonna work yet. Couldn't find the time to test it.
78864
I just had occasion to write she's got him wrapped around her finger (under complete control).  I'd never really thought about this one before, but my guess would have been the idiom had some connection to wedding rings. On the other hand, intuition (and a Google Books search) tell me that the expression usually involves a little finger - not normally associated with wedding rings.  Does anyone know when/why the idiomatic usage arose? I can't find anything in OED or a cursory search online.
103843
It says that Sauron waited over a thousand years or more laying dormant regaining his strength after being destroyed when his ring was severed from him. But does the text say how he actually recovers strength?
35526
I watched Prisoners but I didn't fully understand Bob Taylor. Why is he so obsessed with mazes and what are those boxes full of snakes? Also, why did he buy children clothes and steal Joy's and Anna's?  Did he participate in the kidnappings in any way?
50284
What would happen if a metal wire that was one-atom was pulled across your finger? Would it cut off your finger, or would it pass through your finger without harming you? What if the metal one atom thick was "unbreakable"?
20142
I  always used to wonder why this happens..   when one stretches a rubberband to nearly it snapping point holding it close to your skin - preferably cheek(helps feel the heat), it emits heat. While releasing the stretched rubberband holding it close to the skin produces a cooling effect on the skin. Can some one explain the physics behind this pls?
4681
I have very vague impressions of a book I must have read as a child/teenager in the 1980s (so probably published in the UK in the 1970s or early 1980s).  It featured a man who had been technologically enhanced with special powers that he could activate only for short periods (probably because they took a lot of energy), possibly by tonguing one of his teeth.  They gave him:   Much faster reactions; everything around him slowed down. Greater strength/speed. Metal fingernails/claws. Possibly some sort of enhanced vision, too.   I think it described him engaging these powers as: He activated. or similar.  He may have been a mercenary type, who had paid a lot for them; they were rare or unique.  I don't recall any plot or other characters; it was probably a techno-action story.  (No magic, armies, warrior races, telepathy, vampires, or mutants, and I don't recall aliens or space travel.)  It may have been part of a short series of 2 or 3 books.  I'm afraid this isn't much to go on!  I'd completely forgotten about this book until recently, and my impressions are very hazy, so any of the above could be wrong.  (I remember enjoying it, though.)  I've not found anything I recognise on this site, or others; nor in lists of adult and young-person's SF for that period (so it probably wasn't a big-name author).  Does it ring any bells for anyone?
105932
So, I was just assaulted by a trio of fairly well armed thugs while walking out of Riften. Before attacking me, they informed me that they were 'here to teach me a lesson.'  After dispatching them in due course, I found this on the body of what I can only assume to be the leader, given his vastly superior armaments:   Orgnar is the innkeeper in Riverwood. Now, I admit, I've stolen a fair amount, but I pride myself on having never been caught. My total bounty to date is at zero. So, how did he figure out that I stole something, why is he taking the law into his own hands, and if I go back to Riverwood, am I going to get shanked?