How The Internet Can Make You An Insufferable Expert


One of the wisest things my old Dad ever said to me was that the computer was the future for mankind. Unlike his predictions on space food and flying cars he turned out to be right. Ever since I have had an internet connection I have turned into an insufferable expert in areas such as the following:

Dubious Old Quiz Questions Finally Answered
I have a friend who lived more than two decades with a heavy burden on his slender shoulders. He felt that he had been cheated out of a pub quiz in Glasgow in the 1990s. The question was about the first sailor on Columbus’ expedition to sight land. The answer was Rodrigo de Triana and it turned out that the quizmaster had been right all along and that my friend could now sleep more easily.

Talking About Pneumatic Fittings and Solenoid Valves
My sister loves taking machines apart and putting them together again. The problem is that she sometimes ends up with bits left over or missing bits. This means that while she is sitting on the floor scratching her head I go online and try to work out what all that bits and pieces lying on the floor beside her are. After doing this for a few times I have found that I am now educated enough to fit in words like pneumatic fittings and solenoid valves into everyday conversations pretty effortlessly.

A Human Atlas

As a kid I loved stating at the Atlas. I once tried to memorise the names of all the volcanoes in the world and I once even used the word Popocatepetl in a job interview once. However, the geographical nerd inside me leapt to a new level once I could look up thinks on the internet. Now I can actually virtually visit the places whose names I learned so long ago. Popocatepetl isn’t as exciting as it sounds, by the way.

I Eat Sports Statistics for Breakfast

Fans of sporting statistics love the internet and I am one of them. I just can’t resist looking up the kind of facts and figures which would put other people to sleep. In fact, sometimes I miss a big game on the television because I am so busy looking up the statistics from the last one. This means that I can go to any pub quiz in the land with far more confidence than my friend did a couple of decades ago.

For all the information you could possibly need on pneumatic fittings the internet is the place to go to.