Weird Google searches (part 4)

A few weeks ago in my 'Things that happen every second' article, I mentioned the weird Google search term...

'Dinosaurs were made up by the CIA to discourage time travel'

...which incredibly, gets 20 searches every month!

There are many more weird Google searches made every month, so here are a few more, starting with one search which makes me agree with Einstein that stupidity has no bounds...

1) "My PC is on fire"

...30 searches per month

Surprisingly, I didn't have a photo of a computer on fire,
so here are two separate photos of a computer and fire.

I can only say .... er, what!?  Presumably the people googling 'My PC is on fire' subsequently searched for...

'How do I treat burnt fingers?'

Being serious, if my laptop was on fire my first thought wouldn't be, 'Hmm, how I can put out the fire?  I know!  I'll google it!  Using my laptop that's on fire!'

If it was then presumably my next thought would be, 'Ow!  Ow!  Ouch!  That's hot!'

Novelty bets for 2017

As if the next president would
be someone off the telly!

Last year I featured a selection of novelty bets which were judged less likely than Leicester winning the Premier League.

Here are a few more noteworthy unusual bets...

1) Next US President

You can already bet on the winner of the 2020 US presidential election with some surprising names mentioned...

Leonardo DiCaprio - 80/1
Kanye West - 100/1
George Clooney - 100/1
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - 100/1
Vince McMahon - 200/1
Kim Kardashian - 275/1

Vince McMahon and Kim Kardashian!  Ha, ha!  I mean, as if the next president is going to be someone off the telly!

Don't try this at home!

Last week I featured a photo of me dancing on top of a flying aeroplane, and I captioned it with the warning...

Public Service Announcement:
Necklaces should be worn in the traditional manner, and
not ripped through the neck for entertainment purposes.

"Don't try this at home!'

With hindsight, I may perhaps have underestimated the intelligence of my blog readers, as I would guess that most readers probably already realised that dancing on the roof of a aeroplane during a flight was dangerous.

Judging by many TV shows nowadays, it seems that some TV producers also underestimate the intelligence of their viewers, because the legal disclaimer 'Don't try this at home' seems to pop up at even the merest hint of danger.

For a stunt which is unexpectedly risky, you can maybe understand the logic of this warning, but other times you have to really question how stupid they must think we are if we need to be warned not to try some of the most dangerous stunts at home.

Anyway, here are a few examples I spotted where apparently, viewers are too stupid to realise how dangerous the following stunts are.

1) Ripping a necklace through your throat

Dynamo: Magician Impossible...

Dynamo swallows a polo, then forces a necklace into his throat.  He then rips it back out through his skin with the polo attached.  An impressed David Haye then warns viewers...

"Don't try this at home!"

Micromorts: The risk of dying

Caution: If you suffer from thanatophobia (fear of death), discretion is advised before reading this article!

Fighting with a light sabre has a rating of 187,500 micromorts.

2016 was a memorable year in many ways; Leicester's incredible Premier League win, a new Star Wars movie, and of course the release of 'How To Poison Your Husband And Get Away With It', my collection of crime themed short stories (available for kindle from Amazon).

However, it was also a scary and sobering year in the way that so many celebrities seemed to die. It's a morbid thing to think about, but it's also a reminder of how temporary life is, and to take a positive approach, it's a reminder of how we should make the most of every day because you never know how long you've got left.

Believe it or not, there's actually a statistical unit which is a measurement of the risk of dying called the micromort. A micromort is a one in a million chance of death, so for example if an activity has a rating of 1 micromort that means there's a relatively small one in a million chance of dying, whereas a rating of 1,000,000 micromorts would mean certain death.

Here are some micromort ratings for a variety of activities, from just living your life, to more dangerous pursuits...