Sep 18, 2015

Android vs. Apple Phones

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

Autumnal Equinox

The Autumnal or Fall Equinox is a floating date around September 22-23 that marks the first day of autumn, when day and night are of equal lengths. The sun crosses the equator moving southward (in the northern hemisphere). The Autumnal Equinox marks the beginning of shorter days and longer nights and the passage into winter. On this day, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west; the sun will begin to rise at the South Pole after six months of darkness, to bring six months of daylight; and the zenith passes directly overhead on the equator, so the sun casts no shadows. For centuries, friends have gathered to celebrate the day and strengthen their spirits in preparation for the passage into winter.

8K TV

We do not even have much content for 4K TVs and now Sharp has announced an 8K, 85 inch LV-85001 for just US $133,000. In fact broadcast testing of 8K is not scheduled to begin until 2016.

8K is 7680 x 4320, which is 104 pixels per inch at the 85-inch size; the contrast ratio is 100,000:1 with viewing angles of 176 degrees. It will be available October 31, 2015.

When I first got into the technology business, hardware was always lagging behind need. Seems during the past ten years technology is leading, and searching for content and relevance before its typically ultra-short life cycle ends. Thank goodness for early adopters, who take the arrows and pay the big bucks so we can enjoy later.

Free Happy Dance Friday


Sep 11, 2015

Bacon Orgazmia

The stars have aligned and my latest (50th) book Bacon Orgazmia is now available on Amazon. More information about bacon than has been allowed to be known about any subject since the beginning of the known universe. Please take a look. Peek Inside will be added soon for a free preview.
LINK

Suffix Ough

English is such a fun language. There are seven ways to pronounce the suffix 'ough'


  • dough              doe
  • tough               tuff
  • hiccough         hiccup
  • bough              bow
  • ought               awt
  • cough              coff
  • through           thru

Five Peanut Butter Facts

Grand Saline, Texas, holds the record for the largest peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which weighed in at 1,342 pounds.

More than half of the American peanut crop is used to make peanut butter and the US is the world’s third-highest peanut-producing nation, after China and India.

It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.

Peanut butter sales were confined to regional markets until the development of hydrogenation in the 1920s. Hydrogenation stops the separation of peanut oil and solids by raising the melting point so that peanut butter is a solid at room temperature.

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the top of your mouth.

Children's Logic

A virgin forest is a forest where the hand of man has never set foot.

The spinal column is a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the top and you sit on the bottom.

The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom.

Heteronym, Homograph, Homonym, and Homophone

A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word, but has a different meaning, such as lead (to go in front of) and lead (a metal). The ending –graph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the same spelling.

Heteronyms are a type of homograph that are also spelled the same and have different meanings, but sound different, such as above or bow (tied with ribbon)
bow (of a boat).

A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word, but is spelled differently and has a different meaning, such as to, two, and too. The ending –phone means sound or voice, so a homophone has the same pronunciation.

A homonym means either a word that is spelled like another, but has a different sound and meaning (homograph) or a word that sounds like another, but has a different spelling and meaning (homophone).
OR
A word that is spelled and pronounced like another, but has a different meaning (homograph and homophone), like by (near) and buy (to purchase).

Strictly speaking both homographs and homophones are homonyms, but homonyms can be either or both a homograph and homophone. Heteronyms are always homographs, but homographs are not always heteronyms.

Poisonous vs. Venomous

If you bite it and you die, it is poisonous.
If it bites you and you die, it is venomous.

Cling Wrap Hack

Did you ever come across a bowl which plastic wrap never seems to cling to? Here is an easy fix, put your finger in water and run it across the outside surface and rim of the bowl. Plastic wrap has a substance much like gelatin that becomes sticky on contact with water and this quick trick takes advantage of that reaction.

Wordology, Justiciable, Moot, and Unripe

Justiciability is one of several criteria that the United States Supreme Court use to make a judgment. In order for an issue to be justiciable (liable to be tried in court) by a United States federal court, all of the following conditions must be met.
The parties must not be seeking an advisory opinion.

There must be an actual controversy between the parties, meaning that the parties cannot agree to a lawsuit where all parties seek the same particular judgment from the court (known as a friendly suit); the parties must each be seeking a different outcome.

The question must be neither unripe nor moot.
   An unripe question is one for which there is not yet at least a threatened injury to the plaintiff, or where all available judicial alternatives have not been exhausted.
   A moot question is one for which the potential for an injury to occur has ceased to exist, or where the injury has been removed.