What's in a Name, Crayola

Crayola means “oily chalk.” The name combines “craie” (French for “chalk”) and “ola” (short for “oleaginous,” or “oily”).

Exploding Phone Myth Debunked

As long as we are discussing cell phones, might as well dispel another myth. A popular myth hanging around since at least 1999 is that explosions in gas stations have been caused by cellphone use. Emails were purported to have been sent by Shell Oil and others, but this was proved false.

There never has been a documented case of a cellphone causing an explosion at a gas station, no one has been able to prove that it is even possible in scientific testing. The American Petroleum Institute said, "We can find no evidence of someone using a cellphone causing any kind of accident, no matter how small, at a gas station anywhere in the world." Mythbusters TV program tried and could not find a way to make it happen.

Police and firefighters often assume a connection between the two to be valid, but have never followed up with proof. The city of Cicero, Illinois (with no evidence to back it up) has made the use of cellphones at gas stations illegal. So, is it possible, yes it is possible, but it has not happened yet with over five billion phones in use.

Get Free Directions

Many people do not know that most email programs and contact lists on PCs and smart phones what the symbol next to the address is used for.

The purpose of this icon is to give you a map and/or directions. Simply click on the icon and your device will ask if you wish to see a map and/or to get directions. Very informative and great help if you need quick directions. Also, on your smart phone, you can save the map for offline use, in case you are in an area without GPS coverage.

Sugarloaf

Sugar used to be refined into what was called a sugarloaf, a tall cone shape with a rounded top. People have been making sugarloaves since at least the 12th Century.  Raw sugar was refined by a series of boiling and filtering processes. When, at the final boiling it was considered ready for granulation it was poured into a large number of inverted conical molds. The popularity of sugarloaves declined as new processes were invented making it easier to refine and be sold as the small cubes and granulated sugar we are familiar with.

Pieces were cut from it by hand using sugar nips, pliers-like cutters. Typically, the bigger the sugarloaf, the lower the grade of sugar.

Portuguese explorers who discovered Rio de Janeiro in 1502 named Sugarloaf Mountain, due to its resemblance to a sugarloaf cone.

Ten Oreo Cookie Facts

More sweet stuff. Oreos are the world’s best-selling cookie. The first Oreo cookie was made in 1912 in two flavors, original and lemon meringue at the original Nabisco bakery in New York City

The origin of the name Oreo is unknown, but a leading theory is that the name was derived from the French word “Or”, meaning gold (the early packaging was gold tin).

The cookie-to-creme ratio of an original Oreo cookie is 71% to 29%.
Double Stuf Oreos were introduced in 1974.
Big Stuff Oreos were introduced in 1987, and were about 10 times larger than a regular Oreo. They were discontinued in 1991.
Oreos became kosher in 1998.
50% of all Oreo eaters pull apart their cookies before eating them. Also, women twist them open more often than men.
In 1998, they introduced Oreo’Os cereal. The cereal was discontinued because Post and Kraft are no longer co-branding. Post owns the recipe to the cereal and Kraft owns the rights to Oreo

Wordology, Scripturient

I have been afflicted with scripturience for a long time. These Friday Thoughts and my many books are symptoms of my affliction. Scripturient means having a desire or passion, and sometimes violent or overwhelming urge to write.

Happy Friday

A smile is a sign of joy and a laugh is a sign of happiness.

I have both a smile and laugh while having a Happy Friday!

Father's Day

Father's day is coming up this Sunday. In Germany along the River Elbe, a special Father’s Day tradition is upheld. It is the tradition of Christi Himmelfahrt.  The fathers pull wagons full of alcohol through the streets to celebrate their day. They fill a hand wagon, large enough for a few coolers and maybe small keg with locally crafted hefeweizen, Gewürztraminer, and schnapps, then pass through the city into the forest, walking slowly until the sun has set and the wagon’s contents have been drained. For luck, they also carry bratwurst, mustard, pretzels, Ritter chocolate, and a small hookah.

It is an important tradition to specific places within Germany and will often get out of control with drunken mayhem. Father's day always coincides with Ascension Thursday, a holiday whens all the stores are closed. The men get their beer and later use their wagons to be dragged home after getting drunk. Happy Father’s Day to all the Germans and everyone else who knows how to party.

What's in a Name, Couch

Father's Day for some is spent reclining on a couch. How many ways can you say couch? I can think of Couch, Canape, Chesterfield, Divan, Davenport, Loveseat, Sofa, Sectional, and Settee. Variations include sofa bed and futon.

A couch or sofa is a piece of furniture for seating two or more persons in the form of a bench, with or without armrests, that is partly or wholly upholstered, and often fitted with springs and tailored cushions.

The term 'couch' is used in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The term 'sofa' is generally used in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The most common types of couches are the loveseat, designed for seating two persons, and the sofa, with two or more cushion seats. A sectional sofa, often just referred to as a sectional, is formed from multiple sections and usually includes at least two pieces that join at an angle of 90 degrees or slightly greater, used to wrap around walls or other furniture.

Other couch variants include the divan, the fainting couch (backless or partial-backed), the canapé is an ornamental 3-seater. To conserve space, some sofas double as beds in the form of sofa-beds, daybeds, or futons.

In the United Kingdom, a Chesterfield is a deep buttoned sofa, with arms and back of the same height. It is usually made from leather and the term Chesterfield in British English is only applied to this type of sofa, but others use the term more generically. The first leather chesterfield sofa, with its distinctive deep buttoned, quilted leather upholstery and lower seat base, was commissioned by Phillip Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield.

In Canada, the term chesterfield is equivalent to a couch or sofa. The use of the term has been found to be widespread among older Canadians, but is vanishing from Canadian English. Northern California is the only place in the US where chesterfield is a synonym for couch or sofa.

Making Cotton Candy

This guy takes it to a whole new level. Fascinating to watch. I love to watch an artist at his craft.   http://www.wimp.com/likeflower/

George Washington's Teeth

Here is something for fathers day from the father of our country, his teeth.

George Washington suffered from poor dental health and spent his life in frequent mouth pain. He used a variety of tooth cleaners, dental medicines, and dentures. Dr. John Baker fabricated a partial denture with ivory that was wired to Washington’s remaining real teeth. When Washington was inaugurated President in 1789, only one real tooth remained in his mouth.

Dr. Greenwood fashioned a set of dentures of hippopotamus ivory and gold wire springs and brass screws holding human teeth. Greenwood left a hole to accommodate Washington’s single tooth. When Washington finally lost this final tooth, he gave it to Greenwood who saved it in a special case.

Web and Internet Defined

Internet technically began to exist in the form we know it on January 1, 1983 when its predecessor, Arpanet began using TCP/IP – the system of network communication still used today.

The web was invented by Englishman Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. The World Wide Web is made up of servers (which serve the pages) and clients (like Firefox, Safari, and IE) which display the page.

The Internet is the set of technologies beneath the web which enable the web to exist. If the Internet did not exist, the web would not function. If the web did not exist, the Internet would still function.

Other programs that use the Internet and have nothing to do with the web are email, IRC (Internet Relay Chat), most internet messaging programs, newsgroups, BitTorrent, telnet, FTP, etc.

What's in a Name, Lacrimal Caruncle

The lacrimal caruncle, or caruncula lachrymalis, is a small triangle-shaped pink bump located in the corner of the eye. Within it are sweat and oil glands. Some accessory lacrimal glands, hair follicles, and tiny pieces of fat are also contained inside this small cutaneous mass.

The purpose is to lubricate, cleanse, and moisturize the eye, along with serving as an antibacterial.

The glands in it secrete a thick whitish oily substance that is sometimes seen in the corner of a person’s eye after sleeping. On each side of the lacrimal caruncle are two tiny openings called lacrimal puncti that suction tears by vacuum each time the blinking motion of the upper eyelid has ended.

Soccer

Soccer is the national sport of Greenland, but Greenland is not a member of FIFA. Greenland cannot grow or support a grass field, due to its harsh climate. All soccer matches in Greenland are played on artificial turf.

A grass field is a requirement of FIFA, but FIFA's recent approval of FieldTurf may allow Greenland to create FIFA-standard playing pitches and apply to play full internationals.