Top 10 Weirdest University Courses in UK

By a certain age, it’s a given that you’ll start being inundated with people telling you what you should and shouldn’t be. Be a doctor. Be a lawyer. Be a teacher. Be a dentist. Blah blah blah.

But for all of those out there who don’t see themselves filling in rotten teeth or putting criminals away while wearing a funny wig, or for those who simply enjoy defying their parents, do not fear. Here’s a list of bizarre university courses to help you break the mould...

1. Be a ghostbuster!
Ever fancied your chances at talking to the dead and blasting away paranormal scum? Well at Coventry University (no, really it does exist) you can take a degree entitled ‘Psychology of Exceptional Human Experiences’ where you’ll investigate brushes with ghostly apparitions and learn all about the fine line between the living and the dead. Proton guns optional.


2. Be a shelf-stacker!

Ever walked into your local supermarket and just yearned to know more about exactly why the Coco Pops are placed next to the Corn Flakes? Luckily Tesco have just launched the much-anticipated Tesco Retail Foundation Degree which teaches display design and how to put out products efficiently. Its apparently defined as an ‘Arts’ degree. ‘Arts’.


3. Be a bed-seller!

Ever felt so comfortable in your own bed that you never wanted to leave it? Even for work? Look no further. In association with bed manufacturer Dreams, Bucks New University have a one-year course leading to a foundation degree on just why you should purchase that bed-frame or that mattress. Forget a heart transplant, a good night’s sleep can save a life.


4. Be a surfer!

Ever wanted to know the real science behind surfing? Enrol at Plymouth University and you can study surf science. Your well-spent three-year degree will even provide you with ‘opportunities for practical surfing’. That’s right, you’ll get to surf every now and then and only pay over £3000 a year for the luxury!


5. Be an expert in stained glass windows!

Ever gazed up at stained glass windows and felt like you finally knew what you were meant to do? At the University of York you now have the chance to spend two years researching the beauty and magic of staining glass windows. Windows without stained glass are like so yesterday.


6. Be a walker!

Ever looked at people in buses and cars and just felt really really mad? You’re not alone. Over in Danville, Kentucky you can study the ‘Art of Walking’. By appreciating the power of using your feet you will become closer to nature and slowly transform your life. Only at the very end of the course will you finally get your walker’s license.


7. Be a funeral director!

Ever get bored of living people? Well if you fancy spending more time with dead people the University of Bath has the course for you. The Foundation Degree in Funeral Services is ‘dying’ for you to enrol. Surprisingly, there is still quite a lot of space…


8. Be a puppeteer!

Ever found humans just simply not willing to listen to you? For those who find solace in puppets, there is hope. The Central School of Speech and Drama in London offers an undergraduate course in puppetry, learning about rods and even shadow puppets. Friends are much better when you can control their every move.


9. Be David Beckham’s biggest fan!

Ever found the magazines, advertisements, football games, haircut changes, TV appearances and underwear modelling just not enough? For those of you that simply need more Becks in your life, Staffordshire University are giving students a new insight into the man himself. Modules in ‘The Life and Works of Victoria Beckham’ are so far unfilled.


10. Be an agricultural marketer!

Ever driven past a field, seen a cow and thought hey that cow would look great with a sandwich board strapped on its back? You’re not alone. At Newcastle and Harper Adams you can finally learn how to fully utilise the marketing options that a cow or a lamb really gives you. It’s the one thing farms are desperately missing: flyers.

10 FUN FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT GOOGLE

“Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.” So began the “letter from the founders” penned by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in the company’s securities registration form in 2004. Despite ever-increasing commercial success since that date, Brin and Page have kept to their word.

Google is an unconventional company with a huge stake in our online lives. It is a source of fascination for many, including us, but what really happens in the Googleplex? And what cool factoids and stats exist from the company’s relatively short past?

Here we bring you 10 fun facts about Google to quench our own thirst for Google knowledge as well as hopefully offer you a distracting diversion from your daily life.

1. The First Google Doodle

Google’s famous homepage “Doodles” (the changing Google logo graphics) are well known and enjoyed by millions around the world as a way to mark an event or anniversary. But did you know that the very first Google Doodle was designed as a kind of “out of office” message?

In 1998 Brin and Page took the weekend off to go the Burning Man festival in Nevada. The Burning Man doodle (shown above), was designed by the Google guys and added to the homepage to let their users know they were out of office and couldn’t fix technical issues like a server crash.

2. Interesting Figures from the Google IPO

While the initial price for Google’s stock at its Initial Public Offering in August 2004 is an interesting stat in itself, there’s more to the story. The opening price for Google’s stock was $85 per share. At the time of writing, the stock price was $483 but has soared as high as $600 in the past year, making GOOG a rather nice investment for many.

A bonus factoid from Google’s IPO process is the value Google stated it hoped to raise on its S-1 form — as much as $2,718,281,828. It may just look like a string of numbers to non-mathletes, but 2,718,281,828 is actually the first ten digits of the mathematical constant ““e”,” showing that even as their company was planning to go public, the Google guys could still geek out with a bit of numerical humor.

3. The First Google Storage Was Made From LEGO

As proud hosts to Google back when it was still a research project, and known as “BackRub,” here Stanfordnow showcases the original Google storage from way back in 1996. It’s made up of a whopping 40 GB (less than a modern iPod) and it’s made from, as fans of the building bricks will be delighted to see, LEGO. It even hash funny mini-figures on the top.

Legend has it that the reason for the LEGO construction was that the Google guys needed an easily expandable, and cheap way to house 10 4 GB hard drives, and LEGO fit the bill. Whether the primary colors of the bricks used were the hues that went on to inspire the Google logo’s design is up for debate, but we’d guess it wasn’t just a coincidence.

4. Google’s First Ever Tweet

Google's first ever Twitter Post  was as satisfyingly geeky as you could hope for. The message, sent in February 2009, reads “I’m 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101100 01110101 01100011 01101011 01111001 00001010.”

For anyone not fluent in binary, here’s a hint — it’s a well known phrase from the company’s homepage. Got it? Yep, it reads: “I’m feeling lucky.”

5. Google Rents Goats

This one isn’t actually one of Google’s infamous April Fools’ Day jokes: Google rents out goats. Yes you read that right. It rents goats from a company called California Grazing to help cut down the amount of weeds and brush at Google HQ.

The operation of 200 goats (plus herder and a border collie) is kind to the environment, and as Google puts it: “A lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.”

6. Google’s Impact on Language

While you’d think the news that the Merriam-Webster and Oxford English Dictionary adding “google” as a verb to their lexicons in 2006 would thrill the search engine, Google was actually none too pleased with the development.

“We’d like to make clear that you should please only use ‘Google’ when you’re actually referring to Google Inc. and our services,” the company wrote in a blog post at the time.

The rationale behind the semantic displeasure was that Google had “a brand to protect,” and feared Google would “slip from trademarked status into common usage.” Now, four years later, we have to say Google was fighting a losing battle — just ‘google it.’

However, we’ve found some other Google-themed linguistic delights for you — a Google staffer is commonly referred to as a “Googler,” while a new team member joins as a “Noogler.” Nooglers also used to wear a colorful hat with a spinner on top. According to a former employee, those hats are now pretty scarce in some offices, instead: “Every Noogler gets a yellow smiley balloon and a nameplate.”

7. Google Is Dog-Friendly

Google is a super dog-friendly company. It proudly names “company dogs,” like Yoshka (described as a “free-range Leonberger”) pictured above. Yoshka accompanies Urs Holzle, senior VP operations and Google Fellow to the Googleplex. Less senior staff are also allowed to bring their dogs to the office.

According to Google’s “Dog Policy”, one indiscretion too many on the Google carpets, or aggressive behavior, means Lassie will have to stay at home in the future. Strong bladdered and friendly canines are more than welcome across the campus.

Unfortunately, cats are not quite as welcome. Here’s an excerpt taken directly from Google’s Code of Conduct: “Google’s affection for our canine friends is an integral facet of our corporate culture. We like cats, but we’re a dog company, so as a general rule we feel cats visiting our offices would be fairly stressed out.”

8. Google’s First Ever “Company Snack” Was Swedish Fish

Back in February, 1999, the chewy candy known as “Swedish Fish” became the first ever company snack (not counting beverages) that was ordered into the Google office.

Although a relatively small event, it has led to big things. Google is infamous in the industry for treating its employees to not just free drinks and snacks on tap, but full-on gourmet meals, three times a day at a plethora of on-site cafes and eateries, as well as regular BBQs during the summer.

Brin and Page have been quoted in the past as saying no Googler should have to go more than 100 feet for food, leading to snack-filled “microkitchens” that are liberally dotted around the Google offices.

In fact, the free food is said to be so tempting that Googlers risk the “Google 15,” similar to the “Freshman 15,” where they pile on weight soon after joining the company. Good thing they also have a Google gym.

Backing this up, here’s a stat from Google — “Bay Area Googlers consumed approximately 5,500 pounds of handmade chocolates from the snack bins in the microkitchens in 2007.” Wow.

9. The Google Logo Was Not Centered Until 2001

Google’s famously sparse homepage is considered a classic design in the online world. The Google logo, however, wasn’t actually centered on the page until March 31, 2001. As early users will remember, the homepage had a bias to the left-hand side, and even earlier — back in 1998 — Google sported a Yahoo-style exclamation mark.

10. Google Has a Company Dinosaur

By all accounts, there are many wondrous sights to be seen at the Googleplex, but one of the most arresting is surely the gigantic T-Rex skeleton — nicknamed “Stan” after a “real” dino found nearby — that looms menacingly at Googlers in Mountain View.

Joining Stan in the unique campus decorations is a scale replica of the SpaceShipOne, enormous Android-themed models, pink flamingos, a large LEGO man, Google-colored phone boxes and grown-up size ball pits. One thing seems for sure — just like the company itself — life at the Googleplex must be far from dull.

BANNED GOOGLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

15 BANNED Google Interview Questions That Will Make You Feel Stupid

Google is almost as famous for its amazing workplace – (Free valet parking! Amazing retreats!) – as it is for its incredibly painful hiring process.

SOME OF THE PAINFULLY SILLY GOOGLE INTERVIEWS QUESTIONS WHICH WAS ANSWERED BY PROFESSIONALS 

How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?

ANS:

This is one of those questions Google asks just to see if the applicant can explain the key challenge to solving the problem.

Reader Matt Beuchamp came up with a dandy answer, writing:

I figure a standard school bus is about 8ft wide by 6ft high by 20 feet long - this is just a guess based on the thousands of hours I have been trapped behind school buses while traffic in all directions is stopped.

That means 960 cubic feet and since there are 1728 cubic inches in a cubit foot, that means about 1.6 million cubic inches.

I calculate the volume of a golf ball to be about 2.5 cubic inches (4/3 * pi * .85) as .85 inches is the radius of a golf ball.

Divide that 2.5 cubic inches into 1.6 million and you come up with 660,000 golf balls. However, since there are seats and crap in there taking up space and also since the spherical shape of a golf ball means there will be considerable empty space between them when stacked, I'll round down to 500,000 golf balls.

Which sounds ludicrous. I would have spitballed no more than 100k. But I stand by my math.

Of course, if we are talking about the kind of bus that George Bush went to school on or Barney Frank rides to work every day, it would be half that....or 250,000 golf balls.

How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?

ANS:

Answer: This is one of those questions where the trick is to come up with an easier answer than the one that's seemingly being called for. We'd say. "$10 per window."

In a country in which people only want boys…

…every family continues to have children until they have a boy. If they have a girl, they have another child. If they have a boy, they stop. What is the proportion of boys to girls in the country?

ANS:

This one caused quite the debate, but we figured it out following these steps:

• Imagine you have 10 couples who have 10 babies. 5 will be girls. 5 will be boys. (Total babies made: 10, with 5 boys and 5 girls)
• The 5 couples who had girls will have 5 babies. Half (2.5) will be girls. Half (2.5) will be boys. Add 2.5 boys to the 5 already born and 2.5 girls to the 5 already born. (Total babies made: 15, with 7.5 boys and 7.5 girls.)
• The 2.5 couples that had girls will have 2.5 babies. Half (1.25) will be boys and half (1.25) will be girls. Add 1.25 boys to the 7.5 boys already born and 1.25 girls to the 7.5 already born. (Total babies: 17.5 with 8.75 boys and 8.75 girls).
• And so on, maintianing a 50/50 population.

Design an evacuation plan for Sanfrancisco

ANS:

Again, this one is all about the interviewer seeing how the interviewee would attack the problem. We'd start our answer by asking, "what kind of disaster are we planning for?"

Why are manhole covers round?

ANS:

So it doesn't fall through the manhole (when the plane ordinarily flush with the plane of the street goes perpendicular to the street.)

How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?

ANS

Answer: We'd answer "However many the market dictates. If pianos need tuning once a week, and it takes an hour to tune a piano and a piano tuner works 8 hours a day for 5 days a week 40 pianos need tuning each week. We'd answer one for every 40 pianos."

On Wikipedia, they call this a Fermi problem.

The classic Fermi problem, generally attributed to Fermi,^[2] is "How many piano tuners are there in Chicago?" A typical solution to this problem would involve multiplying together a series of estimates that would yield the correct answer if the estimates were correct. For example, we might make the following assumptions:

1. There are approximately 5,000,000 people living in Chicago.
2. On average, there are two persons in each household in Chicago.
3. Roughly one household in twenty has a piano that is tuned regularly.
4. Pianos that are tuned regularly are tuned on average about once per year.
5. It takes a piano tuner about two hours to tune a piano, including travel time.
6. Each piano tuner works eight hours in a day, five days in a week, and 50 weeks in a year.

From these assumptions we can compute that the number of piano tunings in a single year in Chicago is

(5,000,000 persons in Chicago) / (2 persons/household) × (1 piano/20 households) × (1 piano tuning per piano per year) = 125,000 piano tunings per year in Chicago.

And we can similarly calculate that the average piano tuner performs

(50 weeks/year)×(5 days/week)×(8 hours/day)×(1 piano tuning per 2 hours per piano tuner) = 1000 piano tunings per year per piano tuner.

Dividing gives

(125,000 piano tuning per year in Chicago) / (1000 piano tunings per year per piano tuner) = 125 piano tuners in Chicago.

A famous example of a Fermi-problem-like estimate is the Drake equation, which seeks to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in the galaxy. The basic question of why, if there are a significant number of such civilizations, ours has never encountered any others is called the Fermi paradox.

How many times a day does a clock’s hands overlap?

ANS:

AM

12:00
1:05
2:11
3:16
4:22
5:27
6:33
7:38
8:44
9:49
10:55

 PM

12:00
1:05
2:11
3:16
4:22
5:27
6:33
7:38
8:44
9:49
10:55

Explain the significance of "dead beef"

ANS:

Our (wrong) answer: Beef is always dead. Calling something "dead beef" is redundant -- a no-no for coders.

The actual answer, from a reader:

DEADBEEF is a hexadecimal value that has was used in debugging back in the mainframe/assembly days because it was easy to see when marking and finding specific memory in pages of hex dumps. Most computer science graduates have seen this at least in their assembly language classes in college and that's why they expect software engineers to know it. From wikipedia:

"0xDEADBEEF ("dead beef") is used by IBM RS/6000 systems, Mac OS on 32-bit PowerPC processors and the Commodore Amiga as a magic debug value. On Sun Microsystems' Solaris, it marks freed kernel memory. On OpenVMS running on Alpha processors, DEAD_BEEF can be seen by pressing CTRL-T.[3]"

A man pushed his car to a hotel and lost his fortune. What happened?       

ANS:

He landed on Boardwalk(Painful, right?)

You need to check that your friend, Bob, has your correct phone number…

but you cannot ask him directly. You must write the question on a card which and give it to Eve who will take the card to Bob and return the answer to you. What must you write on the card, besides the question, to ensure Bob can encode the message so that Eve cannot read your phone number?

ANS:

Since you are just "checking," you ask him to call you at a certain time. If he doesn't, he doesn't have your number.

Too simple? A reader suggest: "In that case you need a check-sum. Have Bob add all the digits of your phone number together, write down the total, and pass that back to you."

You're the captain of a pirate ship…

…and your crew gets to vote on how the gold is divided up. If fewer than half of the pirates agree with you, you die. How do you recommend apportioning the gold in such a way that you get a good share of the booty, but still survive?

ANS:

You divide the booty evenly between the top 51% of the crew.

You have eight balls all of the same size…

7 of them weigh the same, and one of them weighs slightly more. How can you find the ball that is heavier by using a balance and only two weighings?

ANS:

Reader Hyloka nailed this one first:

Take 6 of the 8 balls and put 3 on each side of the scale. If the heavy ball isn't in the group of 6, you know it's one of the remaining 2 and so you put those two in the scale and determine which one. If the heavy ball is in the 6, you have narrowed it down to 3. Of those 3, pick any 2 and put them on the scale. If the heavy ball is in that group of 2, you know which one it is. If both balls are of equal weight, then the heavy ball is the one you sat to the side.

You are given 2 eggs…

You have access to a 100-story building. Eggs can be very hard or very fragile means it may break if dropped from the first floor or may not even break if dropped from 100th floor. Both eggs are identical. You need to figure out the highest floor of a 100-story building an egg can be dropped without breaking. The question is how many drops you need to make. You are allowed to break 2 eggs in the process.

ANS:

The maximum egg drops for this method is 14 times.

Instead of partitioning the floors by 10, Start at the 14th floor, and then go up 13 floors, then 12, then 11, then 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 until you get to the 99th floor, then here.  If the egg were to break at the 100th floor, it would take 12 drops (or 11 if you assume that it would break at the 100th floor).  Say, for example, that the 49th floor was the highest floor, the number of drops would be the 14th, 27th, 39th, 50th (the egg would break on the 50th floor) plus the 40, 41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48, and 49th floor for a total of 14 drops. 

Explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew.

ANS:

The point here is to test the applicant's ability to communicate complex ideas in simple language. Here's our attempt, "A database is a machine that remembers lots of information about lots of things. People use them to help remember that information. Go play outside."

You are shrunk to the height of a nickel…

and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

ANS:

This one is all about the judging interviewee's creativity. We'd try to break the electric motor
.