Northern Hemisphere Pwnage

This week's trivia question was not a simple one. Obviously the northern part of the globe has more than 50% of the Earth's population, but how many of the soon-to-be 7 billion people live south of the equator?

You may be surprised to learn that estimates say that 90% of the world's population lives in the northern hemisphere. More precise measures have that percentage at 88% (2000 data). Anyone else find it weird that the population is so lop-sided in favor of one hemisphere? I guess it's due to water covering so much of the planet, but given a random sample of similar planets you'd expect a balance over all hemispheres.

And "north" seems so arbitrary anyways. You could flip the solar system upside down and say Antarctica is the "northern" part of the planet. It kind of irks me how in space battles in movies the ships are all practically on the same plane and "right-side-up." I don't know where I'm going with this.

Genetically enhanced super-humans done in by a lack of 3-dimensional thinking - it can happen to them, it can happen to YOU.

Anyways, this week's trivia question is not trivia, but in fact a poll: where should I go on vacation next summer? I just got back from 11 days in Turkey and am thinking ahead to what I should do next year.  Below are the options, and feel free to comment on the pros and cons you see.

• Japan
• Pros: baseball, sumo, sushi, anime, twisted TV game shows.
• Cons: the language barrier could be insurmountable, freaking crowded.
• Brazil
• Pros: land of soccer, great beaches, totally different country/culture, Brazilian babes.
• Cons: crime, not nice to white gringos like me, could be entirely under construction for the World Cup ('14) and Olympics ('16).
• East Germany
• Pros: know some German, never made it to Berlin last time, lots of revamped post-Cold War areas, beer.
• Cons: Already been to Germany.
• Somewhere in the USA
• Pros: plenty of options, less of a travel hassle, no language/cultural barriers, keep $$ in 'merica.
• Cons: potentially less of a "wow" factor.

Thanks - real trivia next week, I promise. Plus I hope to be posting more now that I'm back.