How Awesome is Picard?

Captain Jean-Luc Picard of "Star Trek: the Next Generation" is pretty amazing. I've collected a few facts illustrating why I think he may be among the greatest men who will ever live.

• Captain Picard has his own holiday.
• Captain Picard met the devil and wasn't impressed. He sued her. And won.
• Captain Picard was mistaken for God. Twice.
• Captain Picard lived a lifetime in 25 minutes.
• Captain Picard can make stating the time sound impressive.
• Captain Picard regularly lectures a god on morality.
• Captain Picard threw a saddle at a pirate.
• Captain Picard went back in time in order to get stabbed through the heart. Again. And it still tickled.
• Captain Picard hired Whoopi Goldberg to tend his bar.
• Captain Picard mind-melded with a vulcan to help him with self-control.
• And he did it while overcoming a prim French name.

Chess in "Donald in Mathmagic Land"

In the Disney short "Donald in Mathmagic Land," Donald watches a game of chess. This is supposed to show how math is used in an everyday setting.
The game is shown without players, pieces moving on their own through stop motion. The game is played rapidly, lasting only about 24 seconds. In order to finish the game in such a short time, some moves begin to take place before the previous ones have finished.
The game begins as the Blackmar Gambit, but quickly devolves into a shallow novice game designed to remove pieces as quickly as possible rather than exhibit strong play. The simple discovered check in 16...Nc5+ seems to have come as a complete surprise to white. It is a flurry of movement to entertain and impress the uninitiated, but it is useless for serious study. I record the details here for the curious.

1. d4 d5
2. e4 dxe4
3. d5 c6
4. dxc6 Qxd1+
5. Kxd1 bxc6
6. Nc3 Nf6
7. f3 exf3
8. gxf3 e5
9. Bh3 Bxh3
10. Nxh3 Bb4
11. Bd2 Bxc3
12. Bxc3 e4
13. Bxf6 gxf6
14. fxe4 Nd7
15. Nf4 O-O-O
16. c3 Nc5+
17. Kc2 Nxe4
18. Rad1 Rxd1
19. Rxd1 Nf2
20. Rd6 Kc7
21. Rxf6 Rf8
22. Nd5+ cxd5
23. Rxf2 Re8
24. Rxf7+ Kc6
25. Rxa7 Re2+
26. Kb3 Rxh2
27. a4 Kb6
28. Rd7 Rd2
29. Rxh7 d4
30. cxd4 Rxd4
31. Rh6+ Ka5
32. Rc6 Rd3+
33. Ka2 Kxa4
34. Rc4+ Kb5
35. b3 Rd5
36. Ka3 Rd8
37. Rb4+ Kc5
38. Ra4 Kc6
39. b4 Kb5
40. Ra5+ Kc6
41. Ka4 Kb7
42. b5 Ra8
43. Rxa8 Kxa8
44. Ka5 Kb7
45. b6 Kb8
46. Ka6 Kc8
47. Ka7 Kd8
48. b7 Ke8
49. b8=Q+ Ke7
50. Qe5+ Kf8
51. Qe6 Kg7
52. Kb7 Kf8
53. Kc7 Kg7
54. Kd7 Kf8
55. Qe7+ Kg8
56. Qf6 Kh7
57. Ke7 Kg8
58. Qe6+ Kh8
59. Kf7 Kh7
60. Qg6+ Kh8
61. Qg7#
The white queen is shown capturing the red king.

Why Forward Must Be Up

When signs need to indicate a forward direction, they typically use an upward pointing arrow. "Forward" is actually perpendicular to the face of the sign, so an up- or down-arrow is equally wrong. However, roads leading away from you rise in your field of vision as they get farther away, so an upward vector is the more sensible choice.
I've wondered for years about the apparently arbitrary "up equals forward" convention, and I just today realized this satisfying explanation.