List #004 - The First 100 Prime Numbers

One of the first websites I visited regularly on the Internet was The Prime Pages (http://primes.utm.edu/). The website was created and maintained by Professor Chris Caldwell at the University of Tennessee at Martin. The Prime Pages has everything one needs to know about prime numbers: definition of prime numbers, why certain numbers are prime or not prime, types of prime numbers, trivia, and much more. (Plus, you can join the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search to discover new record prime numbers.)

So what are prime numbers? Prime numbers are whole numbers (0, 1, 2, 3,...) that have only two factors: 1 and the number itself. Factors of a number are whole numbers that divide into the number evenly. For example, the factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12; while the factors of 7 are only 1 and 7. In this case, 7 is prime and 12 is not prime (the latter being a composite number for having more than two factors).

A couple millenia ago, the mathematician Euclid proved there were infinitely many prime numbers. The website has several lists of primes, including the first thousand primes and Top 20 lists (http://primes.utm.edu/lists/). For this post, here is a list of the first 100 prime numbers.

2	3	5	7	11	13	17	19	23	29
31	37	41	43	47	53	59	61	67	71

List #003 - Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire"

"Piano Man" Billy Joel wrote "We Didn't Start the Fire" around his 40th birthday in 1989. The lyrics depict a list of historical events and famous people through the first 40 years of his life. The overall theme of the song, repeated in its refrain, was that he and his generation were not all responsible for the conflicts and turmoil he experienced, as the "fire" was "burning since the world's been turning."

"We Didn't Start the Fire" would become one of Joel's popular songs. It was his third top-charting single in the United States, and was nominated for a Grammy. It would also make an impact in history courses at several schools, and many parodies and takeoffs were made based on this song. Joel would admit that the lyrics (which we wrote first) were better than the music, and that he often has a hard time singing it live.

The first two stanzas of the song are listed below. For the complete lyrics, plus details on each event and person featured in the song, please visit the sources below (or search the web).

'49 
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray 
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio 
'50
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television 
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe 

Sources:
School for Champions: We Didn't Start the Fire (Facts) History Summary from 1949-1989
http://school-for-champions.com/history/start_fire_facts.htm
Songfacts: We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1581
Wikipedia: We Didn't Start the Fire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Didn%27t_Start_the_Fire

List #002 - Top 15 The Legend of Zelda Games

Last year, 2011, Nintendo celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda video game series with a number of special events and releases. The Legend of Zelda remains among the most noteworthy franchises of Nintendo and in video game history.

Recently, GameInformer magazine made Top 10 lists of the best trademarks, bosses, and items of the series. (See links below.) I felt a number of items for each list should have been included and these lists should each have around 25 items. Hence the purpose of this and more lists to come. Some Zelda lists I'd like to post in the future include trademarks, unique items, bosses, enemies, and music.

To start, this list is my ranking of the 15 main Legend of Zelda games released in these past 25 years.

Scratch and Sniff: games where several frustrating tasks can wear out the touch screen or cause you to reset often.
15. Spirit Tracks (Nintendo DS)
14. Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS)