> What is the official limit on the number of things you can shake a stick at, anyway?

I think this conversation from RinkChat speaks for itself. I hope you find it helpful.

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* Nyperold recalls the "Huh?"-ish question on the Forum.

Nyperold: What is the official limit on the number of things you can shake a stick at?

Wes: It depends what sort of things, and how strong you are, which limits the size of the stick you can shake. Stick size is mesured in weight, not length. Also, in low gravity situations, the number increases, as you can shake a bigger stick.

Wes: It also depends on whether the things you are shaking at are very close to one another. If so, it's easier to shake a stick at a large group, than it would a small group which was spread very far apart.

Nyperold: Ah. Another factor would be the average number of times you shake the stick at each item.

Wes: Well, no. The statement 'shake a stick at' implies only one shake needed. You would have to get *all* of the items shaken at in only one shake, which is what makes it tricky.

Wes: Also, if the things were moving around really fast, it may make it easier or harder to encompass said things in a single shake. So you see, it's not as easy to determine how many things you can shake a stick at than you would think.

Morris: Also, it depends on the amount of space the things you're shaking at take up. For example, you could shake a stick at a microwave, which takes up, like, five square feet, but you could not shake a stick at an acre of microwaves.

Wes: Morris: Precisely.

Wes: Which is why it depends on the type of things.

Morris: Yes.

Nyperold: Ah...

Nyperold: So there's no official limit; it's more like a large algorithm.

Nyperold: With quite a few variables.

Wes: Right.