Four Cookie Facts

The Fig Newton is named for Newton, Massachusetts where it was originally made.

Lorna Doones  were introduced in 1912. The shortbread biscuits were considered a product of Scottish heritage, and back then, Lorna Doone character was symbolic of Scotland.

Nabisco created 'Barnum's Animals' in 1902 and sold them in a little box designed like an animal cage with a string attached to carry and hang on Christmas trees. In 1948, the company changed the name to its current 'Barnum's Animal Crackers'. Fifty Four different animals have been represented by animal crackers since 1902. Currently, each package contains 22 crackers consisting of a variety of animals. The newest, a koala was added in September 2002, but later retired. Current animals include bear, camel, crocodile, elephant, giraffe, gorilla, horse, lion, seal, tiger, and zebra.

The name Oreo was inspired by the gold color used on early package designs. The French word for gold is Or. A number of other versions for the name persist, but this is most widely accepted.

The original name was Oreo Biscuit. It was renamed in 1921, to "Oreo Sandwich. In 1948, the Oreo Sandwich was renamed the "Oreo Creme Sandwich." It was changed in 1974 to the Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie. Oreos are a knockoff of the Sunshine Hydrox cookie invented two years earlier.

Today, China has become the second largest Oreo market, after the United States.

Sugar and HFCS

According to a report published by The American Council on Science and Health, "Since the 1970s, the use of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the US food supply has increased dramatically, typically as a replacement for sucrose (table sugar) in soft drinks and many food products.

The prevalence of obesity has also increased substantially between the 1970s and the early 2000s. Because of this coincidental timing, HFCS has been erroneously demonized as a unique cause of the obesity epidemic in the United States.

Sucrose and HFCS have essentially the same composition, and thus it would be highly unlikely for them to have different effects on body weight or metabolism. Experimental evidence, as well as analyses of epidemiological data, indicate that sucrose and HFCS have equivalent effects on food intake and therefore on body weight. Scientific evidence does not support the notion that HFCS is responsible for the American obesity epidemic."

Silicon vs. Silicone

Silicon is a naturally occurring chemical element, and silicone is synthetic.

Silicon has properties of both metals and nonmetals and is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, after oxygen. It  is rarely found in nature in its pure form. We usually find silicon dioxide or silica, better known as quartz, the most common component of sand.

As silica, silicon is a key ingredient in bricks, concrete and glass. As silicate, it is used to make enamels, pottery and ceramics. It is also used widely in modern electronics, because it is an ideal semiconductor of electricity. When heated into a molten state, silicon is formed into semi-conductive wafers, which serve as the base for integrated circuits. Silicon Valley, California was named due to the high concentration of computer and electronics companies in the area producing silicon-based semiconductors and chips.

Silicone is a synthetic polymer made up of silicon, oxygen, and other elements, typically carbon and hydrogen. Silicone is generally a liquid or flexible plastic. Its useful properties are low toxicity and high heat resistance. It also provides good electrical insulation.

In the medical field, silicone can be found in implants, catheters, contact lenses, bandages and more. It is also contained in items, such as shampoos, shaving cream, non-stick kitchenware, personal and automotive lubricants, sealants, and sex toys. Silicone is heat resistant and slippery.

Silicone is also used in electronics to make casings that can shield sensitive devices from electrical shocks and other hazards.

Internet Usage

Iceland (96%), Norway (95%), and Sweden (94%) have the highest percent of populations using the Internet. The Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg, Bermuda, and Finland all have over 90% of their respective populations using the net.

Canada is 16th with 86% of its population using the Internet. The US ranks 28th, with 78% (244 million people) online.

China has 591 million people using the Internet, but that is just 44% of the country's 1.3 billion population.

Wine Colors

Red wine and white wine do not come from red and white grapes. The color in wine comes from the inclusion of the grape skins. White wines are made from just the pulp.

Zinfandel is a variety of red grape. Red zinfandel and other red wines are made from it as well as white zinfandel and rosé (by using the pulp and not skins).

Why Number 2 pencils

Pencil makers manufacture No. 1, 2, 2½, 3, and 4 pencils, and sometimes other intermediate numbers. The higher the number, the harder the lead and lighter the markings. Number 1 pencils produce darker markings, which are sometimes preferred by people working in publishing.

The current style of production is profiled after pencils developed in 1794 by Nicolas-Jacques Conté. Before Conté, pencil hardness varied from location to location and maker to maker. Earliest pencils were made by filling a wood shaft with raw graphite.

Conté’s method involved mixing powdered graphite with finely ground clay, shaped into a long cylinder and then baked in an oven. The proportion of clay versus graphite added to a mixture determines the hardness of the lead. Although the method is usually the same, the way companies categorize and label pencils isn't.

Today, many U.S. companies use a numbering system for general-purpose, writing pencils that specifies how hard the lead is. For graphic and artist pencils and for companies outside the U.S., systems use a combination of numbers and letters known as the HB Graphite Scale.

Testing centers prefer Number 2 pencils, because their machines use the electrical conductivity of the lead to read the pencil marks. Early scanning-and-scoring machines couldn't detect marks made by harder pencils, so No. 3 and No. 4 pencils usually resulted in erroneous results and softer pencils like No. 1 smudge. Because of this and general wide acceptance, No. 2 pencils became the industry standard.

Data by the Numbers

Humanity produces more data each two days than it has from the beginning of time up to 2003.

Wordology, Apron

An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as to protect clothes from wear and tear.

The apron was traditionally viewed as an essential garment for anyone doing housework until the mid-1960s  in the United States. Wearing aprons remains strong in many places.

A pinafore is a full apron with two holes for the arms that is tied or buttoned in the back, usually just below the neck. Pinafores have complete front shaped over shoulder while other aprons usually have no bib, or only a smaller one.

Cobbler aprons are a type of apron that covers both the front and back of the body. It is fastened with sides ties or with waist bands that tie in the back. It covers most of the upper part of the body and is often made of leather.

The Salon Apron protects clothing from hair color stains and hair clippings while serving as a place to keep tools quickly accessible. A Salon Apron is typically water repellent.

Barbecue aprons are fashionable for the back yard chef (with at least one pocket to hold a beer), while white half aprons are still used by serious chefs.

Apron is a corruption of the original old French word “naperon,” a change that likely occurred when people misheard “a naperon” as “an apron.”

Happy Friday

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word.

You never need to hunt for the meaning of having a Happy Friday!

Free Hug Day

Did you get yours? The first Saturday in July is free hug day. It started by an Australian who realized the healing powers of a simple hug. He went to a shopping mall equipped with a “Free Hugs” sign and soon overcame leery passersby to give his free hugs exactly as advertised. 

In 2006, the Australian band Sick Puppies made a video of his endeavor, and helped spread the movement by way of a 74 million times viewed video on YouTube.

Eleven Ways to be Happy

Hugs may not be on this list, but they should be.
Spend money on other people. A study  concluded that "the happiest people were the biggest givers, no matter what they earned."

Count your blessings. A University of Pennsylvania professor proved that people who wrote down three good things that happened to them every night were significantly happier than control group who did not.

Try something new. People who try new experiences are generally happier, research has shown.

Delay gratification. Anticipating happiness actually makes you happy. Studies have shown that it's human nature to forestall an enjoyable event.

Expose yourself to more blue. Researchers showed that exposing yourself to the color blue sent "self confidence soaring, cut stress, and boosts happiness."

Set goals for yourself. Psychologist Jonathan Freedman claims that people who set objectives for themselves are happier than those who don't.

Go to church. In a study, people who attended church regularly responded that they were happier and more satisfied with their lives than people who were not religious.

Sleep at least six hours every night. Six hours and 15 minutes a night of un-interrupted sleep makes for the happiest people, a British study found.

Make sure you have at least 10 good friends. Adults who said they had 10 good friends were happier than those who could count five or less close friends.

Fake it 'til you make it. Several studies have shown that just the act of smiling can cause people to experience happy feelings.

Have a romantic relationship. People in relationships were generally found to be happier than other people, and spouses have the highest sense of well-being whether they are happily married or not, according to a study from Cornell University. Of course, listening to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" always makes me smile.

Worcestershire Sauce

This is difficult to spell and more difficult to pronounce liquid is made of vinegar and soy sauce, spices, and liquefied anchovies. The anchovies are soaked in vinegar until they are totally dissolved, including the bones.

It is named for the town  in England where it was originally brewed. (woos teh shur) Here is one Heinz pronunciation LINK

Driest and Wettest

Parts of Antarctica have had no rain for two million years, so it is considered the driest place on earth.

A desert is technically defined as a place that receives less than 254 mm (10 inches) of rain a year. The Sahara desert gets just 25 mm (1 inch) of rain a year. Antarctica’s average annual rainfall is about the same, but 2 per cent of it, known as the Dry Valleys, is free of ice and snow and it never rains there at all.

Antarctica can also claim to be the wettest, since seventy per cent of the world’s fresh water is found there in the form of ice.

The next-driest place in the world is the Atacama Desert in Chile. In some areas, no rain has fallen there for 400 years and its average annual rainfall is 0.1 mm (0.004 inches).

Hot Day Car Tip

To keep from burning your hand on your gear shift lever, put an upside down beer cozy over it. Instant cool.