Apple and i

The i- prefix for Apple products was created as part of the iMac in the late 90s and was adopted into a full product line shortly after. The original meaning was "internet", meaning the iMac was capable of internet connectivity out of the box.

Later Apple and Steve Jobs used it more to refer to individual, innovation, instruct, inform, and inspire.

It became a handy and easy to remember code for all things Apple.

Seven Super Brain Foods

Whether it is a new dance or a foreign language, the older you get the harder it is to learn new things. Some foods have been found to be beneficial to keeping the brain sharp. Alzheimer's researchers like to say what is good for your heart is good for your brain.

Blackberries can get the conversation flowing again. They provide potent antioxidants known as polyphenols that zap inflammation and encourage communication between neurons, improving our ability to soak up new information according to a Tufts University study.

A recent Finnish study of 1,400 longtime coffee drinkers reveals that people who sipped between three to five cups of coffee a day in their 40s and 50s reduced their odds of developing Alzheimer's disease by 65 percent compared with those who downed fewer than two cups a day. Researchers believe that coffee's caffeine and antioxidants are the keys to its protective affects.

Apples are a leading source of quercetin, an antioxidant plant chemical that keeps your mental juices flowing by protecting your brain cells. According to researchers at Cornell University, quercetin defends your brain cells from free radical attacks which can damage the outer lining of delicate neurons and eventually lead to cognitive decline. To get the most quercetin bang for your buck, eat apples with the skins on.

Chocolate can lower blood pressure and it can also keep your mind sharp. A Journal of Nutrition study found that eating as little as one-third of an ounce of chocolate a day (the size of about two Hersey's kisses) helps protect against age-related memory loss. They credit polyphenols in cocoa with increasing blood flow to the brain.

Cinnamon research from the University of California at Santa Barbara reveals that two compounds in cinnamon, proanthocyanidins and cinnamaldehyde may inactivate tau proteins that can cause brain cells to die.

Spinach is packed with nutrients that prevent dementia, such as folate, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Just one-half cup of cooked spinach packs a third of the folate and five times the amount of vitamin K you need in a day. A 2006 Neurology study revealed that eating three servings of leafy green, yellow, and cruciferous vegetables a day can delay cognitive decline by 40 percent. Of these three, leafy greens were found to be the most protective. Try spinach drizzled with a little olive oil. Its healthy fats boost absorption of fat-soluble vitamins E and K.

Scientists found the heart-healthy polyphenols in red wine and Concord grape juice can also give your brain a boost. When researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine gave twelve older adults with declining memory a daily drink of Concord grape juice or a placebo drink for three months, they found that the volunteers who drank the grape juice significantly improved their spatial memory and verbal learning skills. Researchers believe that, just like blackberries, grape juice polyphenols improve communication between brain cells.

Spoiling the Bunch

 One bad apple can really spoil the bunch and the same may be said for bananas, cantaloupes, and a number of other fruits and vegetables. It is all due to a plant hormone called ethylene.

Ethylene is a natural plant hormone released in the form of a gas. It triggers cells to degrade, fruit to turn softer and sweeter, leaves to droop, and seeds or buds to sprout. While some fruits and vegetables are high ethylene producers, others are more sensitive to it.

You can use this knowledge to extend the life of your produce by keeping certain items separate in the fruit bowl or refrigerator drawer. Ethylene is the reason you should not store onions and potatoes together. Ethylene may also be used when you want to accelerate ripening. This is the principle behind placing unripe fruit inside a paper bag or other closed container, which concentrates the ethylene. Adding another high ethylene fruit, such as a ripe apple or banana, may also speed up the process.

Ethylene producing foods include: apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, cranberries, figs, green onions, guavas, grapes, honeydew, kiwifruit, mangoes, nectarines, papayas, passion fruit, peaches, pears, persimmons, plums, potatoes, prunes, quince, and tomatoes.

Ethylene sensitive foods include: Asparagus, blackberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, garlic, green beans, kale, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, parsley, peas, peppers, raspberries, spinach, squash, strawberries, sweet potatoes, watercress, and watermelon.

Bottom line, separate your fruits and veggies to let them ripen naturally, unless you are in a hurry, then pair them up to speed the process.

Johnny Appleseed Day

On Saturday Sep 26 we celebrate the guy who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and West Virginia. He became an American legend while still alive, due to his kind, generous ways, his leadership in conservation, and the symbolic importance he attributed to apples.

Android vs. Apple Phones

Android continues to dominate the smartphone market, in spite of Apple advertising domination.

Origins of Apple Words

Steve Jobs came back from working on a commune-type All-One Farm in Oregon and announced to his partners that he had a name for their company, Apple Computer.

Jef Raskin, an Apple employee who first started the project, picked "Macintosh" because the McIntosh was his favorite apple. The spelling was changed to avoid copyright infringement. Steve Jobs said the product was "insanely great".

The slogan, Think Different, was dreamed up by an art director, Craig Tanimoto.

TBWA ad agency came up with the 'i' prefix to infer internet. It also connoted individual, imaginative, and more.

App Store was pure Jobs and meant both applications and a contraction of Apple.

Pink Pearls

The Pink Pearl apple is an inner pink-flesh apple cultivar with cream colored skin developed in 1944 by Albert Etter, a northern California breeder. US plant patent 723 for the Pink Pearl was obtained later that year. It is the offspring of the Surprise apple, an old English variety and was cultivated from an older rosy-fleshed apple introduced by German settlers in the mid 1800s. It is different from the Pink Lady apple, which has pink skin and is not a novelty.

Pink Pearl apples are low in calories, high in water content and contain vitamins A, C and B. They also contain a dietary fiber known as pectin, which has been shown to lower cholesterol levels, and trace amounts of boron, which has been touted for its ability to help build strong bones. Great for pink applesauce or as a color burst in salads.

Pink Pearl apples are generally medium sized, with a conical shape. They are named for the color of their flesh, which is a bright rosy pink sometimes streaked or mottled with white. They have a translucent, yellow-green skin, and a crisp, juicy flesh with tart to sweet-tart taste. Pink Pearls are grown in various countries, but generally available in the US from California, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, as well as Canada, England, and Australia.

Cell Phone Facts

Although Apple iPhone smart phones generally receive the most publicity, they make up just 11.7% of all world-wide smart phones.

Android has 84.7% market share according to Business Insider (August 15, 2014). The rest, to equal 100% are other brands.

The top 5 countries with the most active cell phones are: China, 1.2 billion; India, 904 million; US, 327 million; Brazil, 276 million; and Russia, 256 million.

A scientific study by the Mayo Clinic in 2005 proved cell phones cause no electromagnetic interference with hospital equipment.

Scanner Radio App

One of the most valuable things in an emergency is real-time information. Now you can add an app to your smartphone to be informed. LINK

Get access to live police, fire, weather, and radio repeaters from around the world and add local stations to a favorites list. This app is free for Apple and Android smartphones.

Google Compare

Here is another great feature of Google that might help improve your health and decrease your waistline. Google has a nutrition comparison feature that allows you to compare two types of food for nutritional values.

If you want to compare the calories, nutrients, and other values of apples and oranges, type in "compare apples oranges" without the quotes. You will see photos and a chart revealing calories, sodium, vitamins, minerals, etc. It also lists other normal results, like web sites, etc. I also tried "compare banana potato" and found there is only twelve calories difference between them. Very interesting and useful tool.

Apple Tracking

No, not a way to look for apples. It is a way Apple is tracking your iPhone. The new operating system that came out a few weeks ago has a feature that is turned on by default. IFA or IDFA stands for "identifier for advertisers." It is a random, anonymous number that is assigned to you and your iPhone.

The good news is that you can turn it off so advertisers cannot track your every move.

First, what it does. When you look at an app, or browse the web, your presence generates a call for an ad. The site you are looking at passes the IFA to the ad server so an advertiser knows a specific iPhone user is looking at a specific publication and can direct a specific ad to you.

To disable this, go to "Settings," "General," then "About," and then "Advertising." The tracking control is titled "Limit Ad Tracking," and must be turned to On. On means 'limit tracking' so tracking is not working. Interesting, you have to turn it on to turn tracking off.

A Rose by Any Other Name

Apples, apricots, blackberries, cherries, loquats, peaches, pears, plums, quinces, raspberries, and strawberries, wild or cultivated, are all relatives of roses.

Typically, they have showy flowers with five equal petals arranged around a central cup bearing one or more fruit-forming pistils and a large number of pollen-bearing stamens. Their leaves are placed alternately on the twigs or stalks. Some of them simple leaves and some of them compound leaves divided into three, five or more leaflets like the rose itself. Some are trees, some are shrubs, and some are vining herbs. All are roses and all taste good and are good for us.

Expensive Phone

Do you think your phone was expensive? Try this one. The Goldstriker iPhone is encrusted with 271 grams of 22 carat pure solid gold and more than 200 diamonds. The Apple logo on the back features 53 gems and the home button is covered with a single 7.1 carat diamond.

It is also decorated in a chest carved from granite and kashmir gold along with a lining made from top Nubuck grain leather. Oh, the cost, $3.2 million.

Kinect

This revolutionary technology is mostly unknown to people that do not play computer games. Kinect uses a 3D camera and motion recognition software to let people play videogames on the Xbox 360 using natural body movements and voice commands instead of hand-held controllers. Watch for many hackers developing cool ways to use this gesture sensing technology for interacting with computers.

Microsoft tells us that sales of the gesture-sensing Kinect for the Xbox 360 videogame console makes it the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever and it has sold more than 10 million standalone Kinect games worldwide.

Microsoft sold an average of 133,333 Kinect units per day between the day of its launch on November 4 and January 3. No other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span. Amazing that profoundly changing technology comes out as a game first. Move over Apple, Microsoft has a hit.

Nine Interesting Food Facts

1 Apple is made of 25% air, that is why they float.
2 Avocado has the highest protein and oil content of all fruits.
3 Carrots were originally purple in color, changing in the 17th Century to orange with newer varieties.
4 Cherries are a member of the rose family.
5 Corn always has an even number of ears. It only makes up about 8% of the weight in a box of corn flakes.
6 Honey is the only edible food for humans that will never go bad.
7 Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries.
8 Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite.
9 Pear is a fruit that ripens from the inside out.

School Books on Your Phone

US and Canadian college students can pack textbooks into their pockets instead of spine-bending backpacks. A northern California supplier of electronic textbooks on Tuesday released free software that makes digitized forms of college textbooks available on Apple's iPhone or iPod devices.

Instead of lugging old-fashioned ink and paper books to classes, students can use iPhones or iPod Touch devices to access textbooks online for reference during classes.

The company (Courtsmart) began offering eTextbooks in 2007 and as of Tuesday had reportedly sold copies to students in more than 5,900 schools and works with a dozen major textbook publishers to stay current with electronic versions mandated by professors for classes. It claims its prices are typically about half that of print versions. Wow, half price with no publishing costs. They probably make more than the authors.

Smart Phones?

A new Apple iPhone application called Email 'n' Walk from Phase 2 Media takes a live feed from the phone's camera, which is mounted on the rear of the device, to show the user what's in front of them as they type.

The text of your email appears as white lettering superimposed on top of the video feed - and is more than clear enough to read without blocking the view of the path or road ahead. Let's not let reality get in the way of email, duh!