Impromptu thoughts are like mental wild-flowers.
I just occurred to me that I need to have a wild and Happy Friday!
Nov 26, 2011
Does Size Matter
You might not care one iota about size, but we live with small things every day. For instance, an iota is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. Maybe you have wondered why Yoda, in the movies was so small. A Yodh or Yodr is the smallest letter in the Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets.
The phrase 'not one jot or tittle' comes from the 15th century bible translation. A tittle is the small mark above the letters i and j. Tittles have been around since the 11th century Latin manuscripts to distinguish those letters from the ones next to them and making reading text easier. The Irish may tipple, but do not bother with small things like tittles and do not use them for their letter i. A jot is the name of the least letter of an alphabet or the smallest part of a piece of writing. So, jots and tittles are small things. We have a thought and jot it down. We dot an i, but Chaucer would have tittled his. Size matters and small is important.
The phrase 'not one jot or tittle' comes from the 15th century bible translation. A tittle is the small mark above the letters i and j. Tittles have been around since the 11th century Latin manuscripts to distinguish those letters from the ones next to them and making reading text easier. The Irish may tipple, but do not bother with small things like tittles and do not use them for their letter i. A jot is the name of the least letter of an alphabet or the smallest part of a piece of writing. So, jots and tittles are small things. We have a thought and jot it down. We dot an i, but Chaucer would have tittled his. Size matters and small is important.
Vending Machines
Did you know the first vending machines were invented in the first century in the city of Alexandria. The only goody sold was holy water. When a coin was dropped into a slot, its weight would pull a cork out of a spigot and the machine would dispense a trickle of holy water.
During the early 1880s, the first commercial coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London, England and dispensed post cards. An English publisher and bookshop owner invented a vending machine for selling books.
In 1888, the Thomas Adams Gum Company introduced the first vending machines to the United States and installed them on the elevated subway platforms in New York City. Naturally they sold Tutti-Fruiti gum. Round candy coated gumballs and gumball vending machines were introduced in 1907.
Polyvend introduced the first glass front snack machines in 1972 and the first frozen food vending machines are introduced in 1987. Coffee machines didn't appear until 1991.
Today vending machines sell everything from live bait to hot and cold full meals, including one that actually mixes ingredients and bakes a pizza while you wait. Australians love the machines that make fresh french fries while you watch. Mmmm!
Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita, with about one machine for every twenty-three people.
During the early 1880s, the first commercial coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London, England and dispensed post cards. An English publisher and bookshop owner invented a vending machine for selling books.
In 1888, the Thomas Adams Gum Company introduced the first vending machines to the United States and installed them on the elevated subway platforms in New York City. Naturally they sold Tutti-Fruiti gum. Round candy coated gumballs and gumball vending machines were introduced in 1907.
Polyvend introduced the first glass front snack machines in 1972 and the first frozen food vending machines are introduced in 1987. Coffee machines didn't appear until 1991.
Today vending machines sell everything from live bait to hot and cold full meals, including one that actually mixes ingredients and bakes a pizza while you wait. Australians love the machines that make fresh french fries while you watch. Mmmm!
Japan has the highest number of vending machines per capita, with about one machine for every twenty-three people.
Ineptocracy
A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.
Bacon Turkey
In case you missed it, here is a nice pic to make your mouth water all over again.
Also, warm up your leftover turkey in the oven with a few strips of bacon draped on top. It enhances the flavor. Partially cook the bacon first, so you do not overheat the leftover turkey.
Update - Bud sent this along to one-up me - Bacon covered Turducken, chicken stuffed in duck stuffed in a 15 lb. turkey, all nicely packaged in pork bacon. The bacon isn't just on the outside. The chicken pieces were wrapped in it then the duck was bundled in bacon, and then the turkey was lovingly covered in more bacon, resulting in a total of five pounds of the porcine product. Mmmm!
Also, warm up your leftover turkey in the oven with a few strips of bacon draped on top. It enhances the flavor. Partially cook the bacon first, so you do not overheat the leftover turkey.
Update - Bud sent this along to one-up me - Bacon covered Turducken, chicken stuffed in duck stuffed in a 15 lb. turkey, all nicely packaged in pork bacon. The bacon isn't just on the outside. The chicken pieces were wrapped in it then the duck was bundled in bacon, and then the turkey was lovingly covered in more bacon, resulting in a total of five pounds of the porcine product. Mmmm!
Recruiting With Bacon
Another reason why I love Google. This week, it set up tables outside of Amazon headquarters to recruit new employees. It hired the ad agency Wexley School for Girls to find a solution.
They set up a food cart outside of Amazon.com’s headquarters and invited workers there to have some free bacon. A bunch of bacon lovers braved the rain for free strips of pepper bacon. They also had toppings of spray cheese, peanut butter, maple syrup and chocolate sauce. Serious candidates can even get a bacon air freshener. How can you not appreciate the unique way to steal employees.
They set up a food cart outside of Amazon.com’s headquarters and invited workers there to have some free bacon. A bunch of bacon lovers braved the rain for free strips of pepper bacon. They also had toppings of spray cheese, peanut butter, maple syrup and chocolate sauce. Serious candidates can even get a bacon air freshener. How can you not appreciate the unique way to steal employees.
Shameless Self Promotion
In addition, Bloginalia 2011 will be out no later than February, as I have been adding to it weekly. Anyway, if you want a whole collection of interesting tidbits and facts to read while you are having a bacon sandwich, these might be just for you. Fun stuff and great Christmas stocking stuffers for kids and adults of any age. They will also be available on Kindle for those who need a bit of light reading while on the go. Thanks
Nov 22, 2011
Buying Technology
As we approach the buying season, here are a few tips to remember when buying technology. Memory (RAM) is more important than speed. Most do not use the full capacity of their computer, so getting more memory actually translates to more speed than chip speed.
Texting is more expensive than voice time, so watch your contract for cost of messages.
Buy the best components, and the cheapest cables, because all those claims about gold cables, ultra cables are almost meaningless.
When looking at cable plans, buy speed, not channels, because hundreds of those channels have nothing worth watching. Plus if cable internet is fast enough, you can watch more TV and videos on your PC for free. You can do like my brother and hook up your laptop to TV for Netflix movies. Wouldn't you like a 50 inch monitor to surf the net?
When it comes to TVs, remember that size really does matter. A larger screen is more enjoyable to watch than paying for faster refresh rate. Technology has come a long way and refresh rate is way less important than it used to be. Also, LED LCD is much better than LCD alone.
3D TV is an immature technology waiting for an audience, which will not likely happen until at least the next one or two generations. Save your money and wait.
Camera lenses are more important than the camera and most lenses can be re-used on next year's wizbang camera model.
Texting is more expensive than voice time, so watch your contract for cost of messages.
Buy the best components, and the cheapest cables, because all those claims about gold cables, ultra cables are almost meaningless.
When looking at cable plans, buy speed, not channels, because hundreds of those channels have nothing worth watching. Plus if cable internet is fast enough, you can watch more TV and videos on your PC for free. You can do like my brother and hook up your laptop to TV for Netflix movies. Wouldn't you like a 50 inch monitor to surf the net?
When it comes to TVs, remember that size really does matter. A larger screen is more enjoyable to watch than paying for faster refresh rate. Technology has come a long way and refresh rate is way less important than it used to be. Also, LED LCD is much better than LCD alone.
3D TV is an immature technology waiting for an audience, which will not likely happen until at least the next one or two generations. Save your money and wait.
Camera lenses are more important than the camera and most lenses can be re-used on next year's wizbang camera model.
Home Robots
Still time to buy a robot for Christmas. While Roomba vacuums your living room, Scooba is scrubbing the bathroom floor, Verro is power washing your pool, and Looj is clearing out your gutters. You can kick back, catch the game, and the house will be spic-and-span just in time for the party. Prices are coming down, too. A few hundred bucks for many and up to a few thousand for the really slick and sophisticated ones.
Millions of home robots have been sold and are busy every day. Ava, an autonomously-guided, mobile robotics platform that has a PC tablet, a smart phone, etc. for its brains. This mobile interface will allow us to become a night watchman, or see things that we currently can not, or anything we can think of, only limited by developers’ imaginations. This and others are all open platform, which means we can do our own programming and teach our bots to do our personal bidding. The home bots are coming and the next generation will be absolutely amazing. We will likely have to wait for a few years, but the trend is up.
Millions of home robots have been sold and are busy every day. Ava, an autonomously-guided, mobile robotics platform that has a PC tablet, a smart phone, etc. for its brains. This mobile interface will allow us to become a night watchman, or see things that we currently can not, or anything we can think of, only limited by developers’ imaginations. This and others are all open platform, which means we can do our own programming and teach our bots to do our personal bidding. The home bots are coming and the next generation will be absolutely amazing. We will likely have to wait for a few years, but the trend is up.
Google and Facebook
Google will now begin adding Facebook comments that are public and your comments could end up in a Google search. One more reason to watch what you type on Facebook, especially when you type personal information or names. This stuff lasts forever on the web, so it pays to think ahead before you type.
Nov 18, 2011
Grating Butter
When you're buttering your bread, or other goodies, it is a pain when the butter is cold and hard. Instead of microwaving or waiting, you can solve the problem with a cheese grater. Grab your butter brick and grate it over whatever you're going to eat. This process generates a little bit of heat, but mainly the smaller pieces will melt faster and spread better when they hit your warm piece of toast or muffin. It works on bread for sandwiches and is also a good idea for baking.
Fenelon Funicular
The Fenelon Place Elevator in Dubuque, Iowa is an incline railway running 296 feet from bottom to top. It first went into business in 1882, and has been owned by the same family since 1912. It was originally built so workers could get up the hill quickly to go home for lunch. Now visitors take the one dollar ride up the hill for the scenic views.
This year, four inspectors from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) arrived in black vehicles to secure the 'railroad' and conduct inspections and investigations to prevent attacks.
To give you an idea of how far 296 feet is, the farthest baseball throw was 445 feet 10 inches by Glen Gorbous of Canada August 1, 1957 while playing with the St. Louis Cardinals Triple A team.
A funicular is a railway up the side of a mountain pulled by a moving cable and having counterbalancing ascending and descending cars. Yep, that's our government dollars at work. Oh, we are safe. They did not find any security threats or WMDs.
This year, four inspectors from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) arrived in black vehicles to secure the 'railroad' and conduct inspections and investigations to prevent attacks.
To give you an idea of how far 296 feet is, the farthest baseball throw was 445 feet 10 inches by Glen Gorbous of Canada August 1, 1957 while playing with the St. Louis Cardinals Triple A team.
A funicular is a railway up the side of a mountain pulled by a moving cable and having counterbalancing ascending and descending cars. Yep, that's our government dollars at work. Oh, we are safe. They did not find any security threats or WMDs.
Organic News
True and funny. Nebraska troopers patrolling the state fair grounds in September told a woman that she had an "illegal" message on her T-shirt and that if she wished to remain at the fair, she would have to either change shirts or wear hers inside out. The message was a marijuana leaf picture with the slogan "Don't panic, It's organic." She was at the fair to attend the night's live concert starring self-proclaimed marijuana user Willie Nelson.
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