I was thinking a USB drive, but this seems to exclude it.
[QUOTE]1)is it box shaped ? No[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;235632]I was thinking a USB drive, but this seems to exclude it.[/QUOTE]
I have a USB drive that's ellipse-shaped... :grin:

17) Does it store digital data?

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;235632]I was thinking a USB drive, but this seems to exclude it.[/QUOTE]

That's odd. I know of no USB drives that are box-shaped. They all have a "plug in" part that is smaller than the "body", which makes them non-rectangular and hence non-box-shaped. I've also seen eliptical ones like Max has.

I personally think that Max has nailed it here. I'll be curious to see.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;235632]I was thinking a USB drive, but this seems to exclude it.[/QUOTE]This is my thought also.

[edit] Since the answer was very clearly "no" that suggested that it cannot possibly be boxed shaped, and since some USB devices [i]are[/i] boxed shaped (with retractable connectors, or connector covers) then this eliminated them in my thinking.

[QUOTE=mdettweiler;235633]I have a USB drive that's ellipse-shaped... :grin:

17) Does it store digital data?[/QUOTE]By itself it cannot, however, and this clue has some heft to it, with at least two of them in the correct arrangement you can...

[QUOTE=lavalamp;235655]By itself it cannot, however, and this clue has some heft to it, with at least two of them in the correct arrangement you can...[/QUOTE]
Positive enough for mdettweiler to be entitled to ask question 18?
I would say yes, but perhaps lavalamp might make this judgment. In previous rounds the answerer has been doing this when the answer hasn't been a clear yes or no, so maybe we could include this as a requirement for answerers in the rules of play.

I'm not really in favour of that rule, it's ok on some gameshow, but all it does here is prevent some people from asking questions when they are able to and slows the game down.

Personally I think it would be better if the rule was "no asking questions before the last one is answered." But there would even be an exception to that rule if you wanted to ask a followup question on the condition of some answer to the previous question.

I also think the 24 hour time out after a negatory answer is quite steep. 12 hours might be better as it allows for a morning and evening question.

[QUOTE=lavalamp;235666]I'm not really in favour of that rule, it's ok on some gameshow, but all it does here is prevent some people from asking questions when they are able to and slows the game down.

Personally I think it would be better if the rule was "no asking questions before the last one is answered." But there would even be an exception to that rule if you wanted to ask a followup question on the condition of some answer to the previous question.

I also think the 24 hour time out after a negatory answer is quite steep. 12 hours might be better as it allows for a morning and evening question.[/QUOTE]
I think that the rounds have moved fast enough. We haven't had to wait 36 hours for a question or answer. Some folks work at their computer and check the forum often. Others check in once a day, but routinely. The rules that I stated intially (I don't own the game) were designed so that one person (or a small number) won't dominate the game, because they were always on. And that forum regulars can get involved easily.

I understand that was your intention, but by getting an affirmative answer, one person "owns" the next question and everyone else is frozen out. It seems to have the opposite effect to your stated intentions.

[QUOTE=lavalamp;235655]By itself it cannot, however, and this clue has some heft to it, with at least two of them in the correct arrangement you can...[/QUOTE]

Questions about rules aside, what sort of thing can't store digital data by itself but can with two or more of them in the correct arrangement? Since the clue has some heft to it, this most likely isn't a trick answer as in "If you put them side-to-side call it a 0 and if you put them on top of each other call it a 1! Presto, binary data!" But what is it? Hmm...

I think the 24 hour rule is fine. There is no real rush anyway.

And getting a "yes" has a small reward of having exclusive right to ask the next. That encourages people to try and move toward a result. Else the situation could happen that different people ask a series of Qs all with yes/no and before you know it all 20 are gone and no one has any idea what the thing is. If someone keeps getting "yes" they might be on to something and they get a chance to follow it through without someone else butting in and spoiling the train of questioning.