Recently in Tests Category

"If you are unprepared to encounter interpretations that you might find objectionable, please do not proceed further...I am aware of the possibility of encountering interpretations of my IAT performance with which I may not agree. Knowing this, I wish to proceed with either the Democratic Candidates task or the Republican Candidates task." As the 2008 Democratic primary season degenerates into a Clintonian morass of identity politics and invective, now seems as good a time as any to test your own internal bias with an Implicit Association Test. (For more info, Slate's Jay Dixit covered the test and it social implications a few years ago.)

As for me, I took it three times. At first, my reptile-brain displayed a bias for Hillary Clinton, with Barack Obama and John Edwards exactly tied below her, and Bill Richardson lagging considerably behind. (My apologies, Governor Richardson. I think it might be because you look older than the rest of the candidates. At least, I hope that's the reason.) The second time I took it involved just the candidate's names, and it was completely inconclusive -- all four were tied exactly in the center of the chart. The third time -- perhaps because I was growing more used to the interface -- Barack Obama was up high, followed by Edwards, followed by Clinton followed by RIchardson.

Just in case you were lacking for things to do this New Years' Eve, two rather addictive online games: First up, Desktop Tower Defense, which my family spent a good deal of time on over the Christmas break. Second, Travelpod's Traveler IQ Challenge, a test your geography knowledge sorta thing. So long, Spider Solitaire.

Ok, this one's a bit creepy. By way of Webgoddess, watch the rotating dancer to ascertain whether you're left-brained or right-brained. I'm pretty right-brained, it seems (which makes sense, since I'm both left-handed and left-footed). But, if I changed tasks while the dancer was on -- say went to click another window or focused on the list at left, she'd sometimes switch direction. Weird...well, I just hope my right-brain knows what my left-brain is doing.

"Who was Alexander Hamilton -- Alexander Humboldt -- Alexander Pope?...Mention any work by Chaucer -- Thackeray -- Tennyson -- Washington Irving -- Whittier." Could you have been a top-tier engineer in the Gilded Age? Try your hand at the MIT entrance exam of 1869-1870, a test in four parts. (Via Cliopatria.)

By way of a Netflix/History friend, here's a fun Excel-based timekiller: An "invisible movie" identification quiz (along the lines of the many here.) With a little help, I got all 60...eventually.

By way of Do You Feel Loved and Ed Rants respectively, see how many member UN nations (143) and American states (49) you can name in ten minutes. Harder than you might think, particularly if you go about it randomly rather than systematically. (Or, at least, that's my excuse.)

By way of my sister and much like the M&Ms horror film game blogged a few weeks ago, test your skill at deciphering Viking Stationery Movies. So far, I've got 18-20...missing the markers in the road and the paperclip fellow getting run over.

By way of my sister-in-law Lotta, the chocolate-covered cinema buffs at M&Ms have put out a decently entertaining diversion for film folks: Find the fifty hidden horror movie names in this Halloween-themed painting. I eventually got 'em all after staying up too late with it last night...for what it's worth, it helps to [a] broaden your conception of "horror film" and [b] take some of the images at face value. (I'm looking at you, you gaggle of circle-toting fiends.)

"For $800: DAILY DOUBLE!!!!: Thomas Edison is more famous, but this man's alternating-current system actually won out over Edison's direct-current variation." [Think The Prestige...Nicola Tesla.] The American Prospect's Michael Tomasky offers up a Jeopardy-style cultural literacy test in American history and political philosophy. (Via The Late Adopter.)

Lots of Co. points the way to a fun timekiller: the MyHeritage Facial Recognition Analyzer, wherein you can compare a photo of yourself with their celebrity database. To be honest, the results seem kinda arbitrary. I tried three pics and never got the same result. In fact, I got:

Pic 1: Jeff Bridges, Sean Astin, Bela Bartok, Ashley Olson

Pic 2: Chloe Sevigny, Natalie Wood, Jude Law, Matt Damon

Pic 3: Ernst Lubitch, Carrie Underwood, Billy Boyd, Rupert Grint

So, I seem to look androgynous and hobbitlike...but, hey, at least Anthony Michael Hall didn't come up.

By way of Cliopatria, What book are you? Sixty-four different choices, and they aren't as readily guessable as in most online quizzes. As it turns out, I'm "Watership Down...Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits." Ah, rabbits.

Sigh...it's time to face facts. I'm a failure as an American historian. All that time spent reading big, high-falutin' books, and I could only muster 3 out of 7 Presidential Haircuts the first time around? Oof, the ignominy. (By way of my sis.)

Test your geography skills, via Pith and Vinegar. Oof, my performance on the South American map the first time around was pretty embarrassing.

By way of Cheesedip and Do You Feel Loved?, test your knowledge of 80's lyrics. As a child of the Eighties, I got a 97.

Via a friend in the program, look up the top market segmentations within your zipcode. I guess I'm probably Bohemian Mix or Young Digerati.

Test your sensory acuity. (Via Webgoddess) I ended up being utterly average, although I really want to appeal the bacon one.