A blind child read Braille on an American coin for the first time, and it was the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar.
The United States Mint produced fewer coins in 2009 due to so many coins being cashed in from savings because of the bad economy. It was the lowest production in 45 years.
The mint made up for other losses by selling 1.7 billion dollars worth of gold bullion, eighty percent higher than 2008.
Jan 14, 2011
Jan 13, 2011
What's in a Name
Twitter - A small group of employees from Odeo, the San Francisco podcasting startup where Twitter initially began, had a brainstorming session. They were trying to come up with names that fit with the theme of a mobile phone buzzing in your pocket with an update. After narrowing down the options (which included Jitter and Twitter), they wrote them down, put them in a hat, and let fate decide. Fate decided on Twitter as the name was literally picked out of a hat.
Yahoo - Founders David Filo and Jerry Yang started what would become Yahoo when they were Ph.D. candidates at Stanford University. The project originally consisted of categorized lists of favorite links on the web, which made its original name, “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web,” at least accurate if not so catchy. Yahoo is actually an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.” According to the company, the team chose the name for its definition: “rude, unsophisticated, uncouth.”
Yahoo - Founders David Filo and Jerry Yang started what would become Yahoo when they were Ph.D. candidates at Stanford University. The project originally consisted of categorized lists of favorite links on the web, which made its original name, “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web,” at least accurate if not so catchy. Yahoo is actually an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.” According to the company, the team chose the name for its definition: “rude, unsophisticated, uncouth.”
Toilet Talk
Had to share this strange, but useful web site 'where do i put the paper' for travelers. LINK It provides a guide to toilet and use of toilet paper habits around the world. Don't expect pictures or fancy text, just a black and white text of what to expect. You will be surprised at how many cities do not have facilities for flushing and how many do not provide paper. For instance, in Greece you should use the bin next to the toilet, because the plumbing system can't handle the paper. OK, if you are not planning to take a trip, skip it. If you are planning a trip, it could provide some good advice to save a bit of embarrassment.
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Off Road Vehicles
For those of you who like unusual off-road vehicles, this site is very fascinating.
You can waste a few hours looking at these strange and unusual vehicles and robots. LINK
You can waste a few hours looking at these strange and unusual vehicles and robots. LINK
Top Ten Congressional Districts
Have you ever seen a map of Congressional Districts? As we approach this year and the resulting restructuring of Congressional Districts due to the new census results, you might enjoy some that have already been jiggered in interesting ways. Check the Illinois, Congressional District #4. It looks like two distinct districts, but is really one connected by a median along the highway. Leave it to those folks in Illinois. I wonder if it was done when Rod Blago was still in office? LINK
Blekko
Those of you who read my missives know how much I like Google, but I have found something that might provide some more relevant and limited results. It is called Blekko and the way it works is with use of slash tags. Those are those words preceded by a slash / to narrow your results. Many of us never get past the first few pages of results, so the limited pages is not an issue, and it does a fairly good job of filtering out spam pages. Super for searching business information.
If you want to search for pneumonia, and follow it with /health, you wind up with only 200 or so sites, but they are relevant sites. Each result also has a 'spam' button, so you can click the button to forever ban that site from your results. There is a few minute demo on the upper left side of the screen. It is in beta, but working now. Not completely ready for prime time, but getting close. Very cool stuff. LINK
If you want to search for pneumonia, and follow it with /health, you wind up with only 200 or so sites, but they are relevant sites. Each result also has a 'spam' button, so you can click the button to forever ban that site from your results. There is a few minute demo on the upper left side of the screen. It is in beta, but working now. Not completely ready for prime time, but getting close. Very cool stuff. LINK
Jan 7, 2011
Happy Friday
Buddha said - Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
I do not dwell in the past or dream of the future, I am concentrating on having a Happy Friday!
I do not dwell in the past or dream of the future, I am concentrating on having a Happy Friday!
Paying For It
Here is an interesting site as we jump into the new year. It is called daystopay. The site provides a calculator that helps you find out how many days you have to work to pay for things you want to buy. For instance, if you want to buy a new television and it takes 100 days to pay for it, is it still worth the price. Fun site, easy to use, and provides for some fun budget discussions. LINK
iPhone Applications
Be careful with that new technology in your hand. An examination of 101 popular smartphone apps (games and other software applications for iPhone and Android phones) showed that 56 transmitted the phone's unique device ID to other companies without users' awareness or consent. Forty-seven apps transmitted the phone's location. Five sent age, gender, and other personal details to outsiders.
The findings reveal the efforts by online-tracking companies to gather personal data about people in order to build databases of information about them. Many companies don't have privacy policies and there isn't much you can do about it.
iPhone apps transmitted more data than the apps on phones using Google's Android operating system. Apps sharing the most information included TextPlus 4, for text messaging. It sent the phone's unique ID number to eight ad companies and the phone's zip code, along with the user's age and gender, to two of them.
Both the Android and iPhone versions of Pandora, a music app, sent age, gender, location, and phone identifiers to various ad networks. iPhone and Android versions of the game Paper Toss each sent the phone's ID number to at least five ad companies.
Millennial Media lists 11 types of information about people that developers may transmit to "help Millennial provide more relevant ads." They include age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and political views. MySpace also sent a user's income, ethnicity and parental status. Bottom line, the more you play, the more you pay is even more true in the information age.
The findings reveal the efforts by online-tracking companies to gather personal data about people in order to build databases of information about them. Many companies don't have privacy policies and there isn't much you can do about it.
iPhone apps transmitted more data than the apps on phones using Google's Android operating system. Apps sharing the most information included TextPlus 4, for text messaging. It sent the phone's unique ID number to eight ad companies and the phone's zip code, along with the user's age and gender, to two of them.
Both the Android and iPhone versions of Pandora, a music app, sent age, gender, location, and phone identifiers to various ad networks. iPhone and Android versions of the game Paper Toss each sent the phone's ID number to at least five ad companies.
Millennial Media lists 11 types of information about people that developers may transmit to "help Millennial provide more relevant ads." They include age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and political views. MySpace also sent a user's income, ethnicity and parental status. Bottom line, the more you play, the more you pay is even more true in the information age.
Brain Stuff
The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
1. Learn the “It” in “Use It or Lose It”. A basic understanding will serve you well to appreciate your brain’s beauty.
2. Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we intake?
3. Remember that the brain is part of the body. Things that exercise your body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.
4. Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mindset and you look forward to every new day in a constructive way.
5. Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges. Challenge your brain often with fundamentally new activities.
6. We are the only self-directed organisms in this planet. Aim high. The brain keeps developing, no matter your age, and it reflects what you do with it.
7. Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more attention to your environment.
8. Don’t Outsource Your Brain. Make your own decisions, and mistakes. And learn from them. That way, you are training your brain.
9. Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are “social animals”, and need social interaction.
10. Laugh Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor, full of twists and surprises.
1. Learn the “It” in “Use It or Lose It”. A basic understanding will serve you well to appreciate your brain’s beauty.
2. Take care of your nutrition. Did you know that the brain only weighs 2% of body mass but consumes over 20% of the oxygen and nutrients we intake?
3. Remember that the brain is part of the body. Things that exercise your body can also help sharpen your brain: physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.
4. Practice positive, future-oriented thoughts until they become your default mindset and you look forward to every new day in a constructive way.
5. Thrive on Learning and Mental Challenges. Challenge your brain often with fundamentally new activities.
6. We are the only self-directed organisms in this planet. Aim high. The brain keeps developing, no matter your age, and it reflects what you do with it.
7. Explore, travel. Adapting to new locations forces you to pay more attention to your environment.
8. Don’t Outsource Your Brain. Make your own decisions, and mistakes. And learn from them. That way, you are training your brain.
9. Develop and maintain stimulating friendships. We are “social animals”, and need social interaction.
10. Laugh Often. Especially to cognitively complex humor, full of twists and surprises.
Did You Know
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his life.
Romeo had more lines than Juliet.
Wilt Chamberlin was never fouled out of a game.
Q is the only letter that does not appear in any US state name.
Starting this month, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65, a pattern that will continue for about the next 19 years.
Romeo had more lines than Juliet.
Wilt Chamberlin was never fouled out of a game.
Q is the only letter that does not appear in any US state name.
Starting this month, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65, a pattern that will continue for about the next 19 years.
Record Firsts
Everyone likes to show the top ten lists from the past year, but for something different, here are top ten sports firsts from days gone by.
• The first to swim 100 meters in under a minute: Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), July 9, 1922
• The first sprinter to break 10 seconds in the 100m: Jim Hines, 9.9 seconds, at the 1968 AAU Championships
• The first high school student to break the four-minute mile: Jim Ryun, 3:58.3, in 1965, for Wichita East High School
• The first NBA player to reach 20,000 career points: Bob Pettit, 1964
• The first baseball player to reach 3,000 career hits: Cap Anson, 1897
• The first golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Jack Nicklaus, 1970, after taking second place in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am
• The first woman golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Kathy Whitworth, 1981, after taking third place in the U.S. Women's Open
• The first million-dollar gate for a fight: 1921, Georges Carpentier vs. Jack Dempsey
• The first Indianapolis 500 winner to average more than 100 miles per hour: Peter DePaolo, 101.27 mph in 1925, in a Duesenberg Special
• The first winning Super Bowl coach to wear headphones on the sidelines: Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XVI, 1982
• The first to swim 100 meters in under a minute: Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan), July 9, 1922
• The first sprinter to break 10 seconds in the 100m: Jim Hines, 9.9 seconds, at the 1968 AAU Championships
• The first high school student to break the four-minute mile: Jim Ryun, 3:58.3, in 1965, for Wichita East High School
• The first NBA player to reach 20,000 career points: Bob Pettit, 1964
• The first baseball player to reach 3,000 career hits: Cap Anson, 1897
• The first golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Jack Nicklaus, 1970, after taking second place in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am
• The first woman golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings: Kathy Whitworth, 1981, after taking third place in the U.S. Women's Open
• The first million-dollar gate for a fight: 1921, Georges Carpentier vs. Jack Dempsey
• The first Indianapolis 500 winner to average more than 100 miles per hour: Peter DePaolo, 101.27 mph in 1925, in a Duesenberg Special
• The first winning Super Bowl coach to wear headphones on the sidelines: Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XVI, 1982
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