Dec 8, 2017

Text 911

For texting to 911 to work, emergency numbers need to be set up to receive texts, and then people trained and paid to receive and respond to those messages. Most departments have not had the time or money to implement.

There are some localities within the United States who do have the required infrastructure to take 911 messages through text. This does not mean you should take it for granted, as far fewer places can take text messages than cannot. If you are interested in being able to text 911 in an emergency, call up your local police non-emergency hotline and find out first if they have the service. If you are not 100% sure the service is provided in your area, call 9-1-1.

Creating New Tabs

Many times, clicking on a link in your browser opens it on top of what you are reading. This makes you go back after you are finished reading the page that interrupted you. Fortunately there are a few ways around this. Look for options and you can tell your preferred browser to open everything in a new ltab, or you can try a few of these tricks below.

Clicking on a link with the middle mouse button opens that link in a new browser tab. Go ahead and give it a try. It will change your life - or at least your browsing.

The oldest method is to right-click a link and select 'Open in new tab'.

For laptop users, sometimes pressing both trackpad buttons at once works as a middle click.

Finally, you can left-click a link while holding the CTRL key.

Fresh vs. Frozen Food

It is a natural tendency to believe fresh fruits and veggies are better for us, and taste better. However, unless you live in an area with local farms, your produce probably came from a place that is far away. From the moment that spinach was picked, it has been slowly decaying and losing its nutrients during the long journey to the grocery shelf. In addition, it was tossed into a refrigerated storage room for a while, then spread out in the produce section for a while hoping to get selected, then left in your fridge at home after you bought it.

What that all leads to is when it comes to nutrition, frozen produce will probably always be better than fresh. It is flash frozen immediately after it is picked, so it loses fewer nutrients between being harvested and landing on your plate. The same is true for some canned foods. For instance, canned tomatoes are higher in the cancer-fighting antioxidant lycopene than their non frozen counterpart, due to how they are preserved.

There is a caveat, the convenience and cost of frozen or canned foods makes them attractive options, particularly when fresh foods are out of season in your area. However, make sure you carefully read nutrition labels before purchasing frozen or canned foods. Some of these foods have high levels of added sodium or preservatives, which can make them less healthy options.

Frozen or canned food often allows you to buy higher-quality produce that was picked in-season and kept at that level of freshness. Even Popeye preferred canned spinach.

Three Quick Facts

Oscar Hammerstein II is the only Oscar to win an Oscar.

Tipping the hat comes from the military salute, which in turn comes from men in armor lifting the visor to show their faces.

Wine drinkers pour 12% more wine into a glass they are holding than one that is sitting on the table.

Velveeta

Velveeta does not fit into the fresh or frozen category of food, because it is neither picked nor frozen. It was invented by Emil Frey back during 1918. It is smooth and creamy, melts like a dream, and is one of the truly all-American foods. It was a pantry staple during the 1950s and lives on today. We grew up on many grilled cheese sandwiches made with Velveeta.

Real cheese was originally a part of the recipe, but today it is primarily milk protein concentrate and whey protein concentrate mixed with fat, milk, preservatives, and stabilizers, which the US FDA does not officially recognize as cheese. In 2002, the company was forced to change its official designation from Pasteurized Process Cheese Spread to Pasteurized Recipe Cheese Product.

During the 1920s Velveeta was advertised as a health food, and several years later it became the first cheese product to gain the American Medical Association’s seal of approval.

Like cream cheese, Velveeta contains both whey and curd, resulting in a creamier product. The whey is drained off of most cheeses, which are made from the resulting curd. Despite the fact that Velveeta is not a true cheese, it is a good source of CLA, containing more than most whole milk cheddar cheeses. It is also a good source of calcium

Today, Velveeta has more than thirty varieties. Its Kraft website calls it 'liquid gold'. It also comes in slices for easy grilled cheese sandwiches. There are the popular shells and cheese as well as variations including broccoli rotini and cheese, Nacho Supreme Cheese Skillets, Cheese Bacon Scalloped Potatoes, and Cheesy Chili Cornbread Casserole. among others. Its website even has a recipe for creamy Velveeta fudge. The many varieties of Velveeta cheese dips have long been a favorite for game day snacking.

Why Are Planets Round

Have you ever wondered why all the planets are mostly round? The spherical shape of all the planets is caused by gravity. When the planets in our solar system began to form, space was filled with billions and billions of pieces of dust and gas.

As these pieces bumped into each other, they began to form clumps that slowly grew larger and larger. Eventually these clumps of material grew large enough to develop their own gravitational fields. As the forming planets continued to grow, the force of the collisions with additional matter caused them to become hot and molten. Each planet's gravitational force is centered at its core. It pulls equally in every direction from the core, thus pulling all the molten material into a spherical shape. Scientists call this process "isostatic adjustment."

Think of a bicycle wheel. The center of the wheel is like the core of a planet, where the planet's center of gravity is. The gravity pulls equally in every direction, like the spokes of the wheel. The natural shape of the wheel formed as a result is a circle. In the case of a three-dimensional object, it becomes a sphere.

Planets are not actually perfectly round, because they also spin. When planets spin, the forces created by spinning work against gravity, causing planets to bulge out around their equators. Scientists call this extra width the "equatorial bulge." None of this has anything to do with getting older and developing our own human 'equatorial bulge' around the middle.

First Moon Meal

Speaking of the solar system, the first full meal eaten on the Moon consisted of bacon, cookies, and coffee, along with some peaches, and a glass of grapefruit juice. However, this is not the first food consumed on the moon.

When Buzz Aldrin set off on the Apollo 11 mission, he took with him a small communion kit given to him by Rev Dean Woodruff, so that he could symbolically take part in the ceremony with the other members of his Presbyterian church. This kit contained a small piece of communion bread and a small vial of wine, both of which Aldrin consumed after saying a prayer during the Apollo 11 radio blackout. This was also, unsurprisingly, the first religious service held on the Moon. Of course moon meal, another first for beloved bacon. It proves bacon is out of this world goodness.

Dec 1, 2017

My Latest Book

Tis the season for presents and stocking stuffers. My latest book, fourth in a series, Amazing Facts IV LINK should fit well into both categories. In fact all of my books are great presents to give to yourself or a loved one this holiday season. Where else can you get this much wisdom between two covers? Great way to shop without leaving the comfort of your home. Type my surname name on Amazon for a view of all my books, including free sneak previews inside. Happy Holidays! Also, if you do buy any, please leave a review.


Since I have no ads and never charge for producing these weekly Friday Thoughts, picking up my books is a great way to show your support. Thanks!

Happy Friday

Everything happens for a reason.

Today is the reason I am happy to celebrate a Happy Friday!

FedEx Facts

FedEx is very busy, especially during the Holidays. Normally, an average of 13 million packages are delivered daily.

FedEx Express and FedEx Ground are actually two separate entities. Most of the routes for Ground are contracted out to save money. People can purchase the routes from FedEx and then hire their own drivers. While that should not affect the consumer, sometimes people are upset that Express employees cannot pick up Ground packages. Ground drivers tend to handle the larger, heavier items that are not being sent overnight.

FedEx's general tracking services rely mostly on barcodes, barcode scanners and a Web interface that customers can access. With such access, a customer can follow a package from scan point to scan point, either via a tracking, invoice or purchase order, or customer account number.
Many Express Ground trucks are not loaded with GPS or other high-tech distractions. The company provides turn by turn maps for each package. Some Ground drivers provide their own GPS equipment. FedEx drivers get automated delivery information and can have it sent to their own GPS device.

Toothpaste Hack

If you get an ink stain on your clothes, one way to get it out is to rub the stain with non-gel toothpaste, let it dry, then wash as usual.

Top Online TV

Vizio took home the gold in Brand View’s latest analysis of 4K TV online selling. Brand View analyzed online performances of the top five most-listed 4K TV brands in the following sites: BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, Target.com, Crutchfield.com, and Frys.com.
In calculating the scores, Brand View used the following criteria:

Discoverability
*Can shoppers find the products on the digital shelf?
*Do the products return on the first page of results when searched for by category, or by keywords, such as “4K television” or “4K TV.”

Representation
*Is the brand name present and correct in product descriptions?
*Is key product information, including descriptions, images and videos, accurately listed on retailer websites?

Engagement
*Are shoppers engaging with the brand online?
*How do the product reviews and ratings represent the brand?

Although Vizio took top billing with an overall score of 3.6 stars, it was a tight race, with LG coming in a close second at 3.3. Brand View determines its overall rankings using a proprietary weighted method, not an average

Vizio 3.6
LG 3.3
Samsung 3.0
Sony 2.8
Hisense 2.3
Incidentally Toshiba recently sold its TV and visual solutions business to Hisense.

Wordology, Mamamouchi

Mamamouchi rolls easily off the tongue and has an equally delectable meaning: A pompous title, someone who believes themselves more important than they really are. In other words, an ostentatious, self-important, and ridiculous pretender.

Related Panjandrum -  A mocking name for a pompous, pretentious, self-important official.

Organic Food Myth

There is a myth that organic foods contain more nutrients than conventional counterparts. In fact, there are many misconceptions surrounding the organic label you see on foods at the store or farmer's market. The term “organic” is regulated by the US Department of Agriculture. Legally, foods labeled “organic” must be grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, or growth hormones. Organic farmers also often follow production practices that are less harmful to the environment and to animal welfare.

However, many people still believe that organic products are inherently more nutritious or healthier than their conventional alternatives. Large scale studies of this topic has shown that it is not true. There is no difference in the amount or quality of the nutrients found in conventional foods versus their organic counterparts.