Woolworth's outlet the product of aliens

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

One possible conclusion from this pinpoint accuracy is that the Woolworths tribal duty managers positioned the stores as a form of "landmark satnav". This allowed travellers to find their nearest outlet for sweets that could be acquired in any combination they desired. This could offer us a fascinating insight into what life was like in 2008 England, and we can't rule out that alien help was required to position stores this precisely and to offer the Ladybird clothing range at such low prices.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2010/01/aliens-with-a-taste-for-pick-n-mix-woolworths-stores-follow-uncanny-geometrical-patterns.html

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

Are there even still Woolworth's in business?

I haven't seen one in 15 years or more.

[NotPublished]

They're like weeds here

[Brotep]

 

Awesome article.  Not sure it's high weirdness, though--just funny.

Or it could be that I just skipped over the vast majority of the Woolworths locations and only chose the few that happened to line-up. From 800 stores, there are over 85 million possible triangles; the 1500 prehistoric sites that Brooks used give over 561 million triangles. From these millions of options it is easy to pick out the few that seem to be impossibly precise.

It is mathematically known that if you have a sufficiently large set of random data, you can find any pattern that you want with any given level of accuracy. What Brooks and I have discovered says less about any meaning to the patterns and more about how the locations follow a truly random distribution.

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

I realize that the original article was about the law of fives, btw. I'm presenting it the same way boingboing did.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That was great!

[Cain]

Are there even still Woolworth's in business?

I haven't seen one in 15 years or more.

They closed down at the end of 2008, due to the financial crisis.  Might not have been reported over there (I didn't know they were also in America) but it was a pretty big deal here.

[Suu]

Woolworth's was based in NYC for years. The Woolworth's building is still there. But yeah, I haven't seen one open since I went there to buy pogs and sit in the luncheonette they had for grilled cheese. So that was middle school for me.

[MMIX]

LolFnordPineal23whateverwhatever . . .whatever
Someone should do this for Starbucks . . .

[Rumckle]

Are there even still Woolworth's in business?

I haven't seen one in 15 years or more.

They are still one of the biggest supermarket chains in Australia.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Retail chains using the Woolworth name survive in Germany, Austria, Mexico, and South Africa, and, until the start of 2009, in the United Kingdom. The similarly-named Woolworth's supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand are operated by Woolworths Limited, a separate company with no historical links to the F.W. Woolworth Company or Foot Locker, Inc. However, this company did take the name from F. W. Woolworth as it had global appeal.

[Bruno]

Woolworth's was based in NYC for years. The Woolworth's building is still there. But yeah, I haven't seen one open since I went there to buy pogs and sit in the luncheonette they had for grilled cheese. So that was middle school for me.

Woolworths: Famous for their lunch counters.

[LMNO]

Hey, isn't that New Edition?

[Rumckle]

Retail chains using the Woolworth name survive in Germany, Austria, Mexico, and South Africa, and, until the start of 2009, in the United Kingdom. The similarly-named Woolworth's supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand are operated by Woolworths Limited, a separate company with no historical links to the F.W. Woolworth Company or Foot Locker, Inc. However, this company did take the name from F. W. Woolworth as it had global appeal.

Nevermind, Australiancentric worldview strikes again.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Retail chains using the Woolworth name survive in Germany, Austria, Mexico, and South Africa, and, until the start of 2009, in the United Kingdom. The similarly-named Woolworth's supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand are operated by Woolworths Limited, a separate company with no historical links to the F.W. Woolworth Company or Foot Locker, Inc. However, this company did take the name from F. W. Woolworth as it had global appeal.

Nevermind, Australiancentric worldview strikes again.

Could have fooled me. The only reason I bothered to look it up is because I'm a massive nerd.