Google's "Bacon number" search • Hacker News Board

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#51

Post by lutusp » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 7:20 PM UTC

mcguire wrote: post #27

yen223 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strange times we live in, when making an algorithm to calculate a random piece of trivia is no longer considered 'geeky' =)

Well, yes, but it's not an interesting piece of trivia. Like the Erdös numbers.

> Well, yes, but it's not an interesting piece of trivia. Like the Erdös numbers.

Yes, true, but by not being actually interesting as the Erdös numbers are, this makes it ... interesting. Sort of like the least interesting number, which ... oh, I'm sure you follow. :)

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#52

Post by ajanuary » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 7:24 PM UTC

chubot wrote: post #41

Hm, it seems like basically any actor you can think of off the top of your head has a Bacon number of 2 (or less). I guess that makes sense. Anyone have some interesting examples of 4+ bacon numbers??

Robson Green has 3.

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#53

Post by mammalfriend » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 7:33 PM UTC

What this tells me is that someone in the Google PR department had an idea, and a bunch of really smart people actually were resourced to work on it. While at the same time, my search results for useful queries have more spam than ever.

Hm.

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#54

Post by mnicole » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 7:38 PM UTC

jerf wrote: post #35

dylanz wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was at a dinner event in New Zealand, started talking to this old guy about random topics, and as it turns out... he has an Erdös number of 1. I was definitely a bit floored as he started to describe what they worked on (in person at one point), especially as most of what he spoke of went right over my head. It was a pretty neat and random thing to experience. As for a "Bacon Number"... I'm giving myself a 1. I act…

That would still be 1. To have a bacon (non-capital) number of 0, you would have to be the bacon.

"Be the bacon" I hope someone takes this ad campaign idea and runs with it.

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#55

Post by irishcoffee » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 7:40 PM UTC

smcl wrote: post #33

Weird, Adolf Hitler is meant to have a Bacon number of 3, but he doesn't return anything on Google. From the Wikipedia page: Adolf Hitler was in Ewige Jude, Der (1940) with Curt Bois Curt Bois was in Great Sinner, The (1949) with Kenneth Tobey Kenneth Tobey was in Hero at Large (1980) with Kevin Bacon

I see little need to waste CPU cycles on him, personally.

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#56

Post by gyaresu » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 7:50 PM UTC

There's a Gareth Bacon...

:(

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#57

Post by mhartl » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 7:58 PM UTC

For the curious, confused, or uninitiated, this whole phenomenon is almost certainly based on the coincidence that "separation" and "Kevin Bacon" sound similar, combined with the well-known phrase "six degrees of separation" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation). Thus, "six degrees of Kevin Bacon".

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#58

Post by blah2 » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 8:04 PM UTC

chubot wrote: post #41

Hm, it seems like basically any actor you can think of off the top of your head has a Bacon number of 2 (or less). I guess that makes sense. Anyone have some interesting examples of 4+ bacon numbers??

David Beckham has a bacon number of 3!

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#59

Post by sobriquet » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 8:10 PM UTC

chubot wrote: post #41

Hm, it seems like basically any actor you can think of off the top of your head has a Bacon number of 2 (or less). I guess that makes sense. Anyone have some interesting examples of 4+ bacon numbers??

Mark Zuckerberg's Bacon number is 4 Mark Zuckerberg => Ehren McGhehey => Johnny Knoxville => Sarah Jessica Parker => Kevin Bacon

Re: Google's "Bacon number" search

#60

Post by jdechko » Thu, Sep 13, 2012, 8:13 PM UTC

Apparently I have a Bacon Number of 4. I dated a girl who was an extra in "Footloose" (2011 remake), with Dennis Quaid, who was in "The Right Stuff" with Fred Ward, who was in "Tremors" with Mr. Bacon.

Neat.