Wordology, Pilcrow

The pilcrow was used in the Middle Ages to mark a new train of thought, before the convention of physically discrete paragraphs was commonplace.

The pilcrow originated as a letter C, for capitulum, or chapter in Latin. This C was the symbol that replaced in the function of marking off paragraphs the Greek-style paragraphos, and other symbols including the section sign.

It is now used in word processing software and page layout programs to mark the presence of a typewriter style carriage return control character at the end of a paragraph. Most programs allow the user to turn on or off the symbol to visualize page layout.

Twenty Texas Facts

The great state of Texas is interesting and its people have always liked to brag. Here are some interesting facts about the great state.

1. Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles - Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles
2. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
3. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, July 4, 1883.
4. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America that was built over water.
5. The Heisman Trophy is named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston.
6. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
7. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
8. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
9. The first word spoken from the Moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston."
10. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than the state of Rhode Island.
11. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43 inches in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July, 1979.
12. Texas is the only state to enter the US by treaty, known as Constitution of 1845 by Republic of Texas to enter the union, instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag, and allowed to divide into 4 States.
13. A Texas Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1,500 years old.
14. Caddo Lake, a 25,400 acres lake and wetland located on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in northern Harrison County and southern Marion County in Texas and western Caddo Parish in Louisiana is the only natural lake in the State.
15. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. (There is no period after the Dr in Dr Pepper)
16. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia, Austin.
17. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. that is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet).
18. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.
19. The State animal is the Armadillo. Armadillos always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.
20. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.

Atlas Obscura Day

Sorry I missed a few Atlas Obscura Day celebrations this year, but here is a site where you can catch up on the latest happenings. LINK

Happy Good Friday

It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do for which we are accountable.

Only you are accountable if you do not have a Happy Friday and today is not just Happy, it is also Good!

Easter

The Easter Bunny, at least as we know it today, first appeared in 16th century writings in Germany. In the 1700s, Pennsylvania Dutch settlers brought the tradition of the Easter Bunny with them to the US. Their children believed that if they were good, the Easter Bunny would come and lay eggs and treats into nests the children made out of upturned hats and bonnets.

It is believed that the tradition of hiding Easter eggs was first started in Southern Germany. While the legend of the Easter Bunny laying eggs in the grass had been around for sometime, the Germans decided to have children hunt for the eggs in hard to see places. Happy Easter!

Twelve Twinkie Facts

Another fun treat around Easter or anytime of year is Twinkies. Here are some facts that might surprise you.

Twinkies were first thought up by James A. Dewar, Vice President of Continental Bakeries, which sold the Hostess brand. Dewar was trying to come up with a way to utilize the machines used to make cream filled strawberry shortcake when strawberries were out of season and the machines normally sat idle.

The name Twinkies was also thought up by James Dewar. On the way to a marketing meeting, he saw a billboard advertising “Twinkle-Toes Shoes” and came up with the name Twinkies.

Exploding the common belief that Twinkies can last forever, Twinkies are only good for about 25 days.

According to Hostess, it takes about 45 seconds to explode a Twinkie in a standard microwave.

Twinkies were originally filled with banana cream, hence the coloring and shape. During WWII, bananas became scarce, so they switched to vanilla cream. After the war they didn’t switch back because people liked the vanilla cream better.

In 2006, Hostess briefly brought back a banana filled Twinkie as part of a promotion for the release of King Kong on DVD.

During the 1980s, Hostess introduced a strawberry cream filled Twinkie, but it was not successful.

Among the artificial ingredients in Twinkies is cellulose gum, which gives Twinkie cream its smooth feel.

Another ingredient in Twinkies is corn dextrin. This gives Twinkies their sticky crust.

Of the 39 ingredients that make up a Twinkie, only one of them is strictly a preservative. Some of the other chemicals in Twinkies have preserving side effects, but their use is primarily as substitutes for dairy ingredients.

Despite their the 150 calories each, Hostess made more than 500 million per year.

Twinkies are made by baking the Twinkie for 12 minutes; injecting it with cream; and flipping it over so the round bottom becomes the top. Hopefully Twinkies will be back on store shelves soon.

Bacon Toothpaste

After you finish munching on all those Twinkies and Easter candies, do not forget to brush. Here is a great way to brush, bacon toothpaste.

Umm, yummy bacon flavor.

First Wireless Brain Interface

Researchers at Brown University have created the world’s first wireless brain-computer interfaces, or computer control chips that can be applied directly to your brain. These chip works by broadcasting brain activity as a wireless broadband signal, similar to how a cellphone works.

The scientists tested a series of these 2.2-inch devices by implanting them into the heads of three pigs and three rhesus monkeys for nearly 16 months. The rechargeable wireless brain sensor proved itself by relaying real-time activity from 100 neurons for up to six hours.

Up until now, most of the brain-computer interfaces have been just beneath the patient’s skin and required a wired connection.

The Brown team is working to further miniaturize the device while bumping up the neural data transmission rate beyond 24 Mbps. It is also working to improve the device’s safety and reliability so that it can someday be used for clinical applications in people with movement disabilities.

Another Ten Interesting Facts About Humans

1. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day. Am glad I have not grown up.
   
2. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
3. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet.
4. The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. Your brain generates as much energy as a small light bulb even when you are sleeping.
5. The brain is much more active at night than during the day.
6. The brain itself cannot feel pain. The brain might be the pain center when you cut your finger or burn yourself, but the brain itself does not have pain receptors.
7. The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger and the nail on the middle finger of your dominant hand will grow the fastest of all. Nail growth is related to the length of the finger, with the longest fingers growing nails the fastest and shortest the slowest.
8. The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average.
9. Human hair is virtually indestructible. Aside from it’s flammability, human hair decays at such a slow rate that it is practically non-disintegrative. Hair cannot be destroyed by cold, change of climate, water, or other natural forces and it is resistant to many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.
10. The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. Hydrochloric acid, the type found in your stomach, is not only good at dissolving pizza, but can also eat through many types of metal.

Coincidences

A deck contains 52 cards, 12 court cards, 4 suits, and 13 ranks.

A year contains 52 weeks, 12 months, and 4 seasons of 13 weeks.

The given name of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, is Edward Anthony Richard Louis.
His initials are E.A.R.L.

Five Famous Name Origins

Wendy’s: The first “Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers” was opened on November 15, 1969; the restaurant being named after the fourth child, Melinda Lou Thomas, of founder Dave Thomas (who incidentally was a high school dropout and before founding Wendy’s helped stop Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) from going out of business.) You might be asking yourself, “How do you get ‘Wendy’ out of Melinda Lou Thomas?” This was a nickname given to her as she couldn’t pronounce her own name when she was young, instead she would say “Wenda”, which is how she got the nickname “Wendy”.

Arby’s: Although some people believe that the enunciation of Arby’s stands for “roast beef”, this isn’t true. It actually comes from the initials of its founders, the Raffel Brothers (R.B.’s). They originally planned to name their company “Big Tex”, but someone already owned the rights to that name.

eBay: The company was originally supposed to be “Echo Bay Technology Group”, but the domain “EchoBay.com” was already taken, so they shortened it and got eBay.com, which was available.

Starbucks: Not many companies dive into the world of fiction literature to find inspiration for their brand, but Starbucks is not just any company. Its name comes from a character in the story of Moby Dick.

Nintendo: This famous company name comes from the Japanese name “Nintendou”. Roughly translated “Nin” means “entrusted” and “ten-dou” means “heaven”, so basically “leave luck to heaven”. If this seems a strange name/slogan for a company, perhaps it’s important to note it started out as a playing card making company in 1889.

Nine Ways to Keep Food Fresh Longer

• Put onions in pantyhose, and tie knots between onion - will last up to 8 months.
• Freeze green onions in a plastic bottle. Make sure the green onions are completely dry before storing or they will get freezer burn.
• Use a vinegar solution to make your berries last longer.
• Spray leftover guacamole with cooking spray before putting it back in the fridge.
• Store potatoes with apples to keep them from sprouting.
• Add a dab of butter to the cut side of cheese to keep it from drying out.
• Wrap celery, broccoli, and lettuce in tin foil before storing in the fridge.
• Keep ginger in the freezer.
• Keep mushrooms in a paper bag, not a plastic bag.

Is TV Real or Fake

TV shows are using green screens more than we realize and it has been going on for years. It is becoming difficult to know what is real and what is not. Here is a LINK to some of the tricks that popular TV shows use to make us believe the shows are shot on location when they are not.

Happy Friday

The most dramatic conflicts are perhaps, those that take place not between men but between a man and himself.

There is never a conflict when it comes to having a Happy Friday!