3 March 2011

63336: a 24/7 service come earthquake, rain or shine

Posted by: Helen Wright

Kim Randerson 1a

 

New Zealand-based 63336 researcher Kim Randerson is busy getting her world back together again after the earthquake that rocked Christchurch. Judging by the photo of her house, Kim had a very lucky escape.

Kim writes: “I was at home, doing 63336 work, right at the time of the quake:   the last answer I submitted was sent just 2 minutes before the quake hit. The house we lived in is pretty much a write-off now… and I don’t know how I got out of there unscathed. I was knocked to the ground with the force of the quake, as I was trying to get away from our floor-to-ceiling windows, which all starting caving in towards me. (It had seemed like such a good idea to position my desk right in the window, as the house overlooks the city). Our enormous book case missed me by inches as I was on the floor. We live just a couple of kilometers from Lyttelton – the epicentre of the quake –  so the shaking was unbelievably violent. There are now huge cracks all over the house, gaps between the walls and the floors, the toilet is at a 45 degree angle, glass everywhere, fitted oven came out of the wall, etc. My partner was at work in the city at the time, and thankfully he’s okay too.  Compared to others, we’re amazingly lucky. We’ve fled to the north island, and I’m just easing myself back into doing 63336 work – we’re going to need every penny we can get now!”

Kim Randerson 2a

24 June 2010

63336 Alternative Report on the iPhone 4 launch

Posted by: Paul Cockerton

Yet again, intrepid researchers from 63336 met with punters queuing up patiently to get their hands on the latest piece of Apple kit, the iPhone 4, outside Apple’s Regent Street store in London.

The big question we posed to would-be purchasers was ‘are you buying an iPhone 4 for video calling?’, swiftly followed by ‘and would you put on make up to do so?’ Yes, we did ask the men as well.

Comparisons were drawn to the launch of the iPad earlier this month, where the first in to pick up an iPad was mysteriously wearing a 63336 t-shirt. So here’re the answers to everything you need to know about what’s driving people to the iPhone 4:

Q. How many people were in the queue at the iPhone 4 launch?
A. The Apple store doors opened at 6.59am when there were 668 people in the queue. This is more than the iPad queue:  that had 431 people when its doors opened at 7.55am.

Q. What did the queue members say was the standout feature for them of the iPhone 4?
A. 24% identified the new slimmer look; 24% also liked the high resolution screen. 19% said the faster processor, 15% liked the 5 megapixel camera, 12% said better battery life and just 6% said video calling.

Q. Why did people think video calling hadn’t taken off before?
A. The biggest group, 27%, said that they didn’t even want video calling. 24% cited poor execution from manufacturers, 21% said too few people have video phones, 16% felt smartphones in the past hadn’t been powerful enough and 12% blamed the operators for not supporting the function.

Q. How many people in the queue would smarten up or put on make-up to make a video call?
A. Only a quarter of the iPhone 4 queue in London (24%) admitted that they would smarten up to call a loved one or their mother. Most wouldn’t bother.

Q. What network will those in the queue be going with on their iPhone 4?
A. 31% of the people surveyed in the queue will stay on O2, 17% on Vodafone, 4% on 3 Mobile, 3% on Orange and 1% on T-Mobile. 44% were buying the device outright with many putting in international SIMs.

Q. What will be the most popular iPhone 4 model in the UK?
A. The 32GB Black version of the iPhone 4 was the most popular, judging by the 63336 exit poll of people in the queue on the day of launch, with over half (53%) going for this model. 47% wanted the black 16GB version. No-one wanted it in white as those haven’t been manufactured yet.

Q. How old are iPhone 4 customers?
A. 50% were 18–25. Compare this to the biggest group of iPad owners, who were aged 26–39 (36%). 31% were 26-39, & 12% were 40-55. Just 7% were older than Steve Jobs (55).

Q. What time on average had people been queuing for?
A. Alex Lee (no relation to Jake Lee at the head of the iPad queue) started the queue at 11.48pm on Tuesday night. 42% were queuing last night. 16% queued from 3am, 16% from 4am and 36% from 6am.

Q. How many women were in the queue?
A. 28% of the queue were women. This compares to just 8% of women in the queue for the iPad launch. Of the men in the queue, 48% had facial hair.

18 June 2010

A super-tax for supermarket beers

Posted by: Stephen Williams

Proposals to save the British Pub and reduce antisocial behaviour

budget box 2

George Osborne has his day in the spotlight on 22nd June as he announces his new budget measures. First and foremost he needs to repair the nation’s finances. However, fiscal policy can also be used as a tool for good by influencing social policy. It is in this spirit that 63336 puts forward some simple but quite radical budget proposals that will not only help the exchequer but also promote greater social cohesion, curb anti-social behaviour and help save that great British institution – the pub.

What is the problem?

Extraordinarily cheap alcohol bought at supermarkets is the cause of the problem. This has driven many small off-licenses to the point of extinction and contributed to the mass exodus of people from the pub to their sitting rooms. This is a huge social change that has accelerated over the last 15 years with the explosion of multi-channel television but it has become most notable during the recent recession.

The explosion of cheap supermarket alcohol, some of it alledgedly sold below cost price, has also contributed to the increases in loutish, anti-social behaviour from youths as they fill up on cheap lagers at home before going out to clubs and bars later in the evening.

We at 63336 have seen this change first hand. When we first started the service in 2004 we received a lot of our questions from customers who were out and about enjoying the vibrant social scene. Now though, many of our questions now come from people watching television at home.

This change in customer habits has huge consequences for British society as a whole. People and families are going out less and interact less, leaving town centres in the evening as the preserve of a very narrow and increasingly loutish age group.

Unlike many commentators we don’t think the answer is to tax alcohol in pubs more – this will only drive more people to drink at home. Instead, we think the answer is to get more people, from all generations, back into the social scene. If more people went out, especially older people and parents then social and peer pressure would help curb loutish behaviour and binge drinking. To encorage this we need to ensure that drinking in pubs is affordable whilst alcohol purchased from supermarkets exceeds certain minimum pricing levels.

How do prices compare?

We conducted as quick experiment checking out the price of Becks beer at a supermarket and then at a pub. The difference is shocking.

becks beer bottle

Morrrisons- 30 bottles for £15 = £0.50 a bottle

Dog and Duck – local pub £3.50 a bottle

50p for a bottle of lager is clearly too low. Minimum pricing for all bottled lager should be imposed through a supermarket tax. At the same time help for the pub trade, already overloaded with bureaucracy and rules, should be available through a reduction in beer duty for alcohol purchased for consumption on those premises.

63336 budget proposals

1 Impose a tax of £3 on every bottle of lager/beer purchased in a supermarket

2 Reduce excise duty on beer and wine bought in pubs and restaurants by 50%

Change for good

Current, so-called market forces, are driving us to live in isolation from our neighbours and friends, communicating with one another through facebook and the internet, whilst watching wall-to-wall television. Supermarket price promotions on beers are encouraging this trend and, unless positive steps are taken by government to help the pub and restaurant trade, we will see further pub closures and further erosion of our traditional communities.

So we call on Mr Osbourne to act now and impose a super-tax on supermarket beers and reduce the tax on beer bought in pubs.

15 June 2010

Based outside the UK and want to be a researcher?

Posted by: Bill Batchelor

Most of 63336’s researchers are from the UK, but we’re always looking for more applicants based in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the US and Canada.

As with most employers, 63336 see recruiting overseas researchers as an opportunity. It is an opportunity because it is always useful for a service that operates 24 hours a day to have researchers from different time zones as part of the team and because these researchers bring a different perspective and vibrancy to our answers.

It’s not easy to apply for a job in a different country, but overseas researchers complement the excellent researchers we have in the UK.

What will you get from it?

This is a great opportunity to work for the UK’s most popular text Q&A service. If that’s not enough, you work from home at hours that are convenient to you and we’ll pay you for every question that you answer. Your performance will be reviewed regularly to ensure you meet our high standards. Yes, you can stay in bed, start work when you like and earn money doing something challenging, diverse and interesting.

If you are starting to think this could be ideal, you’ll be interested in ‘So you fancy a job with 63336′. However, if you have never visited the UK, it is well worth spending some time to appreciate some of the cultural differences and potential pitfalls.

What are the differences?

It doesn’t matter where you live, submitting a successful application is difficult. During the process, applicants are asked about their experience in the UK and this is an opportunity to make it clear why you would be good at answering the UK’s questions.

One Australian applicant was keen to point out that visiting the UK was like going back “to the 1980s”. Thinking the UK is stuck in the 1980s is not the best approach. After all, there have been some advances and it’s not all ripped denim, shoulder pads, shell suits and big hair.

Also, speaking English doesn’t always guarantee an understanding of questions from the UK. There are many differences and you need to acknowledge this. Sometimes these are obvious, sometimes much more subtle. They include spelling variations, currency, weights and measures, sport, travel, TV and many more things in everyday life. It can be confusing and, without recognising some of the cultural idiosyncrasies, it will be hard to succeed in your application.

Some of these differences are highlighted at every stage of the application procedure. Here are some examples:

Q: Glasgoe Knorich train
A: The Glasgow to Norwich train ride is 314 miles and 506 kilometers. There is a train rout that goes from Glasgow to Norwich. Bring a book along!

Q: Which cost more debenhems or boots for make up?
A: Debenhams has a wide selection of boots and make up products. Boots can run as low as 25 pounds. Whereas, many make up products are less expensive.
or
A: Debenhams can cost over 400 pounds, so boots would be cheaper right now. It is a great look, but who knew it could be so pricey?

Q: How long is a Smartie’s tube to the nearest millimetre?
A: The length of a Smarties tube is between 755mm to 760mm but only Smarties have the ‘real’ answer!

Q: Hi! Can you pick me a fantasy football team for The Sun’s competition?
A: Choosing a fantasy football team can be tricky. Try watching football live. It’s so much better than pretend.
or
A: Sure, Try playing against the Spectacular Zebras, heard they were good this year, 17-0.

Some applicants aren’t in touch with the type of questions people are asking, but others offer a different perspective and sometimes mix it with flashes of brilliance and humour. And remember, it’s humour not humor.

Getting the customer’s perspective

One recent test question highlighted many of the difficulties more than most:

Q: Will Saints be promoted from League 1 this season?

To some this will seem a relatively straightforward question about Southampton FC (Saints), but to others it conjured up images of the NFL, Super Bowl XLIV and answers asking: Who dat?

Many of the answers given by applicants were intelligent and showed a genuine interest and knowledge of football (not American football), and an understanding of the UK is clearly an advantage.

It may be a step too far to claim Sean Payton’s time with the Leicester Panthers influenced the outcome of the Super Bowl, but it is always easy to have an idea, make an assumption and run with it. The best approach is to put yourself in the customers’ shoes. If the difference between Southampton FC (Saints) and New Orleans Saints is still unclear, a quick look here may help.

Making a difference

Our answers rely on great content, accurate British English, opinion and humour to maintain 63336’s unique identity. It is this style that builds recognition and customer affection.

If you can see this and understand there is more to the UK than being a “good place with all the climatic conditions”, then you may be exactly what we are looking for.

If you feel you can make a difference and want to become a 63336 researcher, we want to hear from you. One applicant claimed an “ability to think of my feet” would help in the role. More important is fluency in English and excellent writing skills. We do provide computer systems that will help, but you also need to be able to use your own knowledge, and internet search skills, to create brilliant answers to wow our customers. So, if you’re not busy thinking of your feet and think you’re good enough – you should apply. Just click here for details.

N.B. All the examples and quotes used above are from real 63336 application forms and tests. Follow us on twitter for latest news, questions and humour from 63336.

14 June 2010

63336 Alternative Report on the USA vs. England game. Who was the biggest sinner?

Posted by: Paul Cockerton

Our latest Alternative Report takes its inspiration from a question we received last week “who’s the biggest sinner in the England team, according to the seven deadly sins?”

For those of you not intimately acquainted with Dante’s inferno, we used this and the Catholic church to get our expert 63336 researchers to focus on the sins of greed (annual salary), sloth (laziness on the pitch), envy (shouting for the ball), pride (too proud to sing the national anthem), gluttony (weight), wrath (shouting at the ref) and lust (we could have measured kisses, but these are rare on the actual pitch, so we looked in more depth at the footballers’ personal lives).

Our researchers carefully recorded stats throughout the game on Saturday, coming up with the result that Wayne Rooney is the biggest England sinner for the England side, and Clint Dempsey for the USA.

You can see the tables below, but here’s some of the questions we also answered relating to the seven sins.

Greed

Q. What is the average wage bill of the England and USA teams?
A. England players take home an average of £71,600 against the USA’s £10,200 per week. Proof that, in some things, the English are bigger than the Americans.

Gluttony

Q. Who was the heaviest player in the England vs. USA game?
A. The heaviest player tonight was Rob Green at 93kg; Gerrard was England’s beefiest outfield player at 83kg. The USA’s heavyweight Oguchi Onyewu was 91kg – though that was partly beard.

Lust

Q. Which of the England players is the most lustful?
A. Ashley Cole. Just imagine guys, married to Cheryl and still playing away; not once, not twice, but 4 or 5 times. Terry was naughty, but only with 1 lady.

Envy

Q. Which England player called for the ball the most?
A. There was little calling for the ball from England; they knew exactly where to put it. Aaron Lennon called most; Crouch is so tall he blinked rather than gestured.

Pride

Q. How many players in the England team sang the national anthem? And the USA?
A. Our boys did us proud, with 8 players piping up for the anthem, compared to 5 US players. Rooney, however, looked like a constipated Easter Island statue throughout.

Sloth

Q. Who was the laziest player?
A. USA defender Onyewo covered the least distance, running just 8,798 metres. Heskey was England’s most slothful, running 7,960 metres over 89 mins.

Wrath

Q. Who was the angriest player on the pitch?
A. Rooney; he got hot under the collar after an offside ruling, gave Tim Howard evils for doing his job, and complained to the ref for not defending him more.

Overall

Q. Who was the biggest sinning English player?
A. Rooney. With a high salary, one sex scandal, not singing the national anthem, and poor touches of the ball his sins of Greed, Lust, Pride, Wrath and Gluttony easily make him the biggest sinner.

Q. And who was the English saint – on the pitch?
A. Shaun Wright-Phillips was the saint of the game. He is one of the least fat (weighing in at 64kg), never got angry with the ref and remembered to sing the national anthem.

England 7 Deadly Sins Chart

Click to open Google Docs spreadsheet

To get regular updates from 63336 download the 63336 mobile app by pointing your mobile browser to http://63336.com/a. The 63336 mobile app is free, comes with a free question, and allows customers to browse the top questions and answers, 63336 buzz, and view their question and answer history. Alternatively, customers can follow 63336 on twitter: http://twitter.com/the63336.

1 June 2010

63336 Alternative Report on Eurovision

Posted by: Paul Cockerton

63336 Eurovision researcherEach year 25 European-ish nations gather together to compete for the prize to host next year’s Eurovision, and 63336 was on hand this year to run the latest of its Alternative Reports. Rather than focus on dress, style, or verse, we simply focused on the notes themselves. Which nation would sing the most off key notes? What songs were ripped off in the process? And who really deserved to win?

For the 2010 Eurovision contest, held in Oslo, we used the talents of a perfect pitch researcher, LJ Rich, who comments on the process in some detail on her blog.

Our analysis showed that despite finishing in last (25th) place, the UK were actually more in tune than the winners Germany.  Moldovia and Serbia topped the list for the most out-of-tune songs, with Serbia’s Milan Stanković hitting 117 bum notes all on his own.

Our league table (see below) shows that Belgium hit all the right notes despite only finishing 6th in the competition. Winners Germany hit an astounding 64 wrong notes per minute.

Q. Who should have won Eurovision?
A. Belgium. Their Tracey Chapman-esque entry hit just 8 bum notes overall and, with just one person on stage, referenced great hits such as Walking in Memphis.

Q. Which countries did the biggest rip-off songs?
A. Iceland ripped off Womanizer by Britney spears; Denmark copied Every Breath You Take & Simply The Best, Romania ripped off Lady Gaga’s Pokerface, and Ireland did an almost perfect rip off of My Heart Will Go On.

Q. Who had the most shocking key changes?
A. Spain, Norway and Portugal all had 2 shocking key changes. On the night 63336 felt that Portugal had the most obvious key changes, ripped off from James Horner’s composition for Titantic.

Q. Who had the most people on stage in Eurovision 2010?
A. 13 countries had the maximum of 6 people on stage. Spain unintentionally broke the record by having its stage stormed, adding a protestor and security to take its first set up to 8 people.

Most out of tune nations, Eurovision 2010

Country

Performer

Song

Bum Notes

Shocking Key Changes

Key on album

Finished
1. Serbia Milan Stanković Ovo Je Balkan 117 0 G minor 13 (72 points)
2. Moldovia Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira Run Away 71 0 Eb Minor 22 (27 points)
3. Germany Lena Satellite 64 0 B minor 1 (246 points)
4. UK Josh That Sounds Good To Me 49 0 G major 25 (10 points)
5. Greece Giorgos Alkaios & Friends OPA 46 0 Ab major 8 (140 points)
6. Spain* (2nd) Daniel Diges Algo Pequeñito (Something Tiny) 38 2 D minor 15 (68 points)
7. Azerbaijan Safura Drip Drop 31 0 Eb minor 5 (145 points)
8. Albania Juliana Pasha It’s All About You 31 0 F minor 16 (62 points)
9. Denmark Chanée & N’evergreen In A Moment Like This 29 1 F# Major 4 (149 points)
10. Iceland Hera Björk Je Ne Sais Quoi 27 1 Eb minor 19 (41 points)
11. Spain* (1st performance) Daniel Diges Algo Pequeñito (Something Tiny) 27 2 D minor 15 (68 points)
12. Ukraine Alyosha Sweet People 26 0 E minor 10 (108 points)
13. Israel Harel Skaat Milim 23 1 AB minor 14 (71 points)
14. Portugal Filipa Azevedo Há Dias Assim 22 2 F# major 18 (43 points)
15. Belarus 3+2 Butterflies 22 1 C major 24 (18 points)
16. France Jessy Matador Allez Olla Olé 21 1 Ab minor 12 (82 points)
17. Armenia Eva Rivas Apricot Stone 21 0 B minor 7 (141 points)
18. Bosnia & Herzegovina Vukašin Brajić Thunder And Lightning 19 0 F minor 17 (51 points)
19. Turkey maNga We Could Be The Same 20 0 D minor 2 (170 points)
20. Georgia Sofia Nizharadze Shine 19 0 G major 9 (136 points)
21. Romania Paula Seling & Ovi Playing With Fire 17 0 E minor 3 (162 points)
22. Ireland Niamh Kavanagh It’s For You 13 1 C major 23 (25 points)
23. Russia Peter Nalitch & Friends Lost And Forgotten 13 0 C major 11 (90 points)
24. Norway Didrik Solli-Tangen My Heart Is Yours 10 2 D major 20 (35 points)
25. Cyprus Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders Life Looks Better In Spring 9 0 C major 21 (27 points)
26. Belguim Tom Dice Me And My Guitar 8 0 A major 6 (143 points)

And finally, some of our most FAQ about Eurovision:

Q. Why is Israel in Eurovision?
A. Israel is geographically in Asia; specifically part of the Middle East. Culturally, it is considered European, qualifying for the UEFA Cup & Eurovision.

Q. What’s the record points in a Eurovision contest?
A. Norway won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009, with Alexander Rybak & his infuriatingly catchy song Fairytale. His 387 points were a Eurovision record.

Q. Did Celine Dion really take part in Eurovision?
A. Celine Dion represented Switzerland when she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, despite her being Canadian.

28 May 2010

63336 Alternative Report on the iPad… queue

Posted by: Paul Cockerton

63336-Ipad-Man_white_webOur latest Alternative Report was prompted by a question “How many people would queue for the iPad launch in London?” The answer, as the doors opened, was 451.

As you’ll see below, we also got some 63336 researchers to churn some stats on what people were buying, what clothes they owned, and how they measured up to Steve Jobs. Of course, whilst we were there, we took the opportunity to hand out books, t-shirts and bananas to the people waiting patiently for their latest slice of Apple technology. This resulted in Jake Lee, the first to go through the doors, being photographed for the UK’s newpapers wearing our 63336 t-shirt.

Q. How many people in the queue don’t own a Mac?
A. 25% in the queue just used PCs. 38% owned a Mac and 37% owned both. Everyone owned a computer of some sort. Jake Lee, first in the queue, owns a Dell Vostro 1510 laptop, Mac G4 and eMac.

Q. What is the average age of the iPad customer?
A. 36% were aged 26–39. 18–25s were the next-largest group with 26%. 11% were older than Steve Jobs at 56 or over.

Q. How many people had actually seen or tried out an iPad before buying it?
A. Only 44% in the queue had ever tried an iPad before. The majority – 56% – were buying the product based on reviews, international success and a blind faith in Apple products.

Q. Why did people queue at the Apple Store on Regent St?
A. Most queued for the atmosphere and ‘to be there’ (44%), whilst only 2% admitted to being die-hard Mac fans. Interestingly, 25% wrongly assumed the iPad would only be available from the Apple Store – it is available nationwide in Currys and Dixons today too.

Q. How many women were in the queue?
A. Only 8% of the queue for the iPad were women. Of the 92% of men in the queue, 16% had beards. 5% of everybody in the queue admitted to owning a pair of ‘John Lennon’ circular glasses, made doubly famous by Jobs.

Q. But what is the point of an iPad, according to the first UK queue?
A. 57% said they’d use if for browsing the net as their No.1 purpose. 27% said for them, it was for Apps – with 12% being for games alone. 9% will use it mostly for listening to music and just 4% for reading books. Watching films and TV came in at 3%.

24 May 2010

63336 Alternative Report on England vs Mexico

Posted by: Paul Cockerton

The England vs Mexico friendly international saw 63336 launch its Fabio Index, a measure of how well the England coach performs at important matches. In the true spirit of the 63336 Alternative Reports, rather than measuring the mundane, such as possession, shots on target or fouls, 63336 chose to focus on Fabio’s ability to sing the national anthem, attire, movements and tactile gestures.

Master tactician that he is, Fabio Capello clearly got wind of 63336’s plans to monitor his every move, and resolved to stand as still as possible all game. Apart from a few hurried points, and a moment of weakness when he crouched down in delight, the England coach scored a measly 42.7%. He didn’t smile all match, and only once touched a player – Adam Johnson the lucky recipient in the 84th minute. The signs were there early on, with his stony silence through the national anthem and his funereal dark blue tie. Improvement needed, Fabio. We’ll be watching.

As well as measuring Fabio’s performance, researchers from 63336 analysed the commentary from Radio 5live and ITV. A sampling of these results,  in the form of Q&As, are provided here for your entertainment:

Fabio Index

Q. What was Fabio’s most common gesture during the match?
A. Fabio managed a measly 7 finger points, followed by 5 winces. Quite where his usual stony-faced silence stops and the winces start is a difficult call.

Q. Who did Fabio touch the most?
A. Adam Johnson was the only person to get a touch, with a pat on the back in the 84th minute. They don’t have fleas, Fabio. You can shake their hands.

Q. How many words in the National Anthem did Fabio sing?
A. Not one. He stood – as he did for most of the match – in stony silence. Pull your finger out, Fabio. You’re supposed to be leading the nation to glory.

Q. Ok, the important things: what has his tie like?
A. Fabio’s tie was as mundane as his actions in the match. The dark blue tie did have some classical style, but was just too funereal. 63336 scores it 3/10.

Commentator analysis

Q. How cliched was the commentary by the ITV team?
A. ITV’s commentary was surprisingly un-cliched and factual. Townsend tended to the bizarre, mentioning the park (pitch), pretty football (good shot) and a bit mucky (not very well played).

Q. Which BBC radio commentator was most disappointed with the England performance?
A. Chris Waddle expressed his disappointment at England’s play the most, 16 times compared to 14 mentions by Mike Ingham & 5 by Graham Taylor.

Q. What were the most frequent buzzwords in the England vs. Mexico game for 5Live?
A. The 5Live commentators were most keen to remind us all of the upcoming World Cup, with 36 mentions. Injuries got a total of 17 mentions.

Q. What were the most frequent buzzwords in the England vs. Mexico game on ITV?
A. The 3 most frequent buzzwords in the England v Mexico game were ‘World Cup’; ‘Injury’ & ‘Beckham’. Neither metatarsals or 1966 were mentioned by ITV.

Master tactician that he is, Fabio Capello clearly got wind of 63336’s plans to monitor his every move, and resolved to stand as still as possible all game. Apart from a few hurried points, and a moment of weakness when he crouched down in delight, the England manager did all he could to thwart the 63336 Fabio Index, scoring a measly X%. He didn’t smile all match, and only once touched a player – Adam Johnson the lucky recipient in the 84th minute. The signs were there early on, with his stony silence through the national anthem and his funereal dark blue tie. Improvement needed, Fabio. We’ll be watching.

For live alternative views on life, the universe and everything, follow 63336 on twitter.

7 May 2010

Please 63336, who’s won?

Posted by: Paul Cockerton

This is one of our most frequent questions today, and one that now does have an answer, albeit somewhat disappointing. Nobody. Officially we have a hung parliament as no single party can get a majority.

As expected the Conservatives have gained, and Labour has lost seats. An unexpected turn of events, if you were to believe the Clegg mania of recent weeks, is that the Lib Dems have fared poorly and look set to lose seats overall compared to their results in the 2005 UK general election.

So what does this mean? A fair amount of negotiation over the next few days to see if parties can join together to create a majority. It seems we’ll have to wait some while before we have a real ‘result’.

In the meantime, what we can share with you, is some of of the funniest, quirkiest, most popular and plain weirdest questions, 63336 buzzes and tweets from around the UK last night and this morning.

A text

To start off with, here’s an interesting political question texted to 63336 yesterday:

Q. Which country has the most cabinet members with moustaches?
A. India has the most cabinet ministers with moustaches. 14 of the cabinet have moustaches. 3 others have full beards. There are 33 ministers in total.

A tweet

Here’s another question that we received, and duly put out on the 63336 twitter feed, much to our followers amusement:

Oh dear. Question texted to #63336: But why weren’t Brown, Clegg and Cameron’s names on my voting paper?

And a buzz

As always, we were also following what people are interested in on 63336 Buzz, which you can access for free from your mobile phone. 63336 Buzz is regularly updated throughout the day (and through the night yesterday) and is based on popular questions, news, and events. Here’s the best one from the last 24 hours:

If you want to be kept up-to-the-minute with what’s going on in the UK, download the 63336 mobile app by pointing your phone browser to http://63336.com/a

30 April 2010

63336 Alternative Report of Reports

Posted by: Ruby Cowling

Hot on the smoking heels of the third Alternative Report into the televised leaders’ debates comes the Report of Reports – 63336’s overall picture of how the three leaders stuttered, deviated, joked and buzzworded their way through the three TV debates. We don’t so much care who “won” the debates – voting on 6 May is all that counts, after all – we just revel in the detail of their performances, and the number of times they charmed, surprised or scared us. Not to mention how knackered they looked by the end.

Some conclusions we’ve come to:

Q. Who had the most fun over the 3 debates?
A. Underdog Nick Clegg was the most relaxed, with 13 jokes, laughs & flirts over the 3 weeks. David Cameron took it all more seriously with only 7, while Brown managed 11.5.

Q. Who was the most disagreeable?
A. Gordon Brown agreed just twice with the other 2 leaders, while disagreeing 80 times. Nick Clegg agreed the most (14 times), but also disagreed 66 times – more than David Cameron’s 59 objections.

Q. What did they do with their hands?
A. Nick Clegg was the “handiest”, using both hands to emphasise his points a huge 851 times over the 3 debates. That’s nearly 4 times as much as David Cameron. Both Gordon Brown & Nick Clegg used their right hands twice as much as their left, while left-handed Cameron was more evenly balanced.

Q. Who told the most jokes over the 3 debates?
A. David Cameron just pips the others with a total of 6 jokes over Clegg & Brown’s 5 each. With the total at only 16 jokes across the 4.5 hours of debate, Michael McIntyre’s probably not worried.

You can also still get our three individual reports, from week one, week two and week three.

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