Laying in bed one night, I proposed the idea that perhaps any subject worthy of a wikipedia page could be linked to another, in only 6 links. The rules would be simple, using only internal links on the main page (not talk) of the article. It can be done in either order, but must be a continual link (not A links to B and C links to B -- it must be A links to B which links to C).
My wife offered the first test:
Napoleon to John Hancock Center
I started with the John Hancock Center:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_buildings
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_and_structures_in_Paris
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
So there I found it in minutes, manually, and in only 4 steps. Then I googled the title of this post, and found that not were other people doing this, but there was a web program that would find the shortest path.
It told me that JHC links to:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century which links to
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
But I think that using the program takes a lot of the fun out of it. I'm sure that not every article could link to every article, but it sure is find to try.
So that's what happens when Meat and Potatoes are in bed?
ReplyDeleteYou expected something a little more saucy? Barbecue, perhaps.
ReplyDelete