Peculiar Periodicals
It turns out there are even more unlikely publications than The Journal of Unlikely Science. Every Thursday, our very own Dr Steer turns his attention to another improbable periodical.
This week: QUEUEING SYSTEMS
| Name – Huh? Queueing systems? How many systems of queueing can there be? Single file; in pairs holding hands; higgledy-piggledy; around the block; get your ticket from the counter... hang on a minute, maybe there's more to queueing than I first thought. |  |
) "click to enlarge") Front cover – No. No, no, no, no, no. What is this? Have some frickin' pride. |
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| Off-the-wallness – While initially looking very strong on the off-the-wall scale - after all its not every one who studies queues... for a good reason - I found it's not actually about real life queues for bananas and nylon stockings etc, but computers queueing to use networks and so on. Disappointing. |  |
| Usefulness – They're helping Second Lifers all around the world gain quicker access to their virtual worlds of self indulgence. This keeps them off the streets for longer, something for which we should all be grateful. |  |
| Impressiveness – One article starts "We explore M/G/∞ systems ‘fed’ by Poissonian inflows with infinite arrival rates." Grrrrr. Now that's science. |  |
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| Overall – Early expectation soon gave way to near hopelessness. However, in the end it was all worth waiting for. |  |
Impact factor: Harsh, like being slapped back into your picket line by the riot police.
Previously in Peculiar Periodicals:
Fragblast (37)
Deviant Behaviour (36)
The European Journal of Pain (34)
The Journal of Peanut Science (31)
The Journal of Happiness Studies (30)
Biofouling (30)
Gut (26)
Archives of Oral Biology (26)
The Florida Buggist (15)
See all the journals
More journal jocularity to come next Thursday. Until then why not find a phunny phobia?
Image: Emin Ozkan
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