For those sipping during the big game, this
should provide a conversation starter. "If you are a cognac, you
have to be made in the Cognac region. If you are a champagne,
you have to be made in the Champagne region. It is the same for
scotch. Single-malt scotch whisky
is made at a single distillery, exclusively from malted
barley, and must be aged for at least three years in oak
casks.
Bourbon and rye are
native American spirits. Aside from the point of origin, what
differentiates variants of whiskey (Irish and Americans), or
whisky (Scots) is the 'mash bill', or list of ingredients used
to make it.
Bourbon in the US must have 51% or more corn, and the rest of
the mash bill is traditionally rye and malted barley. All bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey
is bourbon.
Rye whiskey must have
51% or more rye, and the rest is usually corn and malted barley.
In addition, both must be aged in brand new American oak
barrels.
Feb 2, 2018
DFW Airport Facts
Dallas-Fort Worth Airport has 17,207 acres (6,963 hectares; 27
square miles) and is larger than the island of Manhattan. It is
also the second largest airport by land area in the United
States.
It is the third busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements and the eleventh busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic as of 2016.
With nearly 900 daily flights, American Airlines at DFW is the second largest airline hub in the world and the United States, behind Delta's Atlanta hub.
DFW has its own police, fire protection, and emergency medical services.
Airports Council International named DFW Airport the best large airport with more than 40 million passengers in North America for passenger satisfaction during 2016
It is the third busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements and the eleventh busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic as of 2016.
With nearly 900 daily flights, American Airlines at DFW is the second largest airline hub in the world and the United States, behind Delta's Atlanta hub.
DFW has its own police, fire protection, and emergency medical services.
Airports Council International named DFW Airport the best large airport with more than 40 million passengers in North America for passenger satisfaction during 2016
Wordology, Doohickey
The word first appeared in the November 12, 1914 edition of
Our Navy magazine, where it states, “We were compelled to
christen articles beyond our ken with such names as
‘do-hickeys’, ‘gadgets’ and ‘gilguys’.”
A Sailor Boy’s Log by Robert Brown in 1886, where he also notes one of the first known instances of “gadget”- “Then the names of all the other things on board a ship! I don’t know half of them yet; even the sailors forget at times, and if the exact name of anything they want happens to slip from their memory, they call it a chicken⁓fixing, or a gadjet, or a gill-guy, or a timmey-noggy, or a wim-wom.”
Doohickey soon spread to being used by airman as well, with it noted in Edward Fraser & John Gibbons’ 1925 Soldier & Sailor Words, that “doo hickey” was an airman’s term for small, detachable fittings. Within a couple decades, the word was being used widely throughout America as a placeholder name for anything one could not remember the name of.
Doohickey probably derives from “doodad,” which has uncertain origin, but first popped up in documented form about a decade before “doohickey,” with doodad meaning “a superfluous ornament.” The sailors simply meshed this term with “hickey,” which meant “a device for bending a conduit or a small fitting used in wiring for electric lights, a fixture piped for gas."
Who first used the term “doohickey” has been lost to history. Other names used around the time were doodad, hickey, doojigger, thingamawhatsit, watchamacallit, thingummy, gadget, widget, gilguy, etc.
Incidentally, during the late 1920s or early 1930s, hickey mostly referred to pimples, then other marks on teenager necks, and later began being used by printers to refer to various blemishes in engravings.
A Sailor Boy’s Log by Robert Brown in 1886, where he also notes one of the first known instances of “gadget”- “Then the names of all the other things on board a ship! I don’t know half of them yet; even the sailors forget at times, and if the exact name of anything they want happens to slip from their memory, they call it a chicken⁓fixing, or a gadjet, or a gill-guy, or a timmey-noggy, or a wim-wom.”
Doohickey soon spread to being used by airman as well, with it noted in Edward Fraser & John Gibbons’ 1925 Soldier & Sailor Words, that “doo hickey” was an airman’s term for small, detachable fittings. Within a couple decades, the word was being used widely throughout America as a placeholder name for anything one could not remember the name of.
Doohickey probably derives from “doodad,” which has uncertain origin, but first popped up in documented form about a decade before “doohickey,” with doodad meaning “a superfluous ornament.” The sailors simply meshed this term with “hickey,” which meant “a device for bending a conduit or a small fitting used in wiring for electric lights, a fixture piped for gas."
Who first used the term “doohickey” has been lost to history. Other names used around the time were doodad, hickey, doojigger, thingamawhatsit, watchamacallit, thingummy, gadget, widget, gilguy, etc.
Incidentally, during the late 1920s or early 1930s, hickey mostly referred to pimples, then other marks on teenager necks, and later began being used by printers to refer to various blemishes in engravings.
Whats in a Name, CliffsNotes
If you attended any organized school, you
likely have heard of CliffsNotes. You maybe even used them.
Cliff Keith Hillegass dropped out of a Master’s program studying
physics and geology at the University of Nebraska in 1939, got
married, and took a job working for the Nebraska Book Company.
During 1958, Cliff met Jack Cole, the co-owner of Coles Toronto book business which published a series of Canadian study guides called Coles Notes. Jack agreed to sell Hillegass the US rights to the guides.
Catherine MacDonald, was a co-founder of Cliff'sNotes (original spelling) with her first husband, Cliff Hillegass. She typed an initial mailing to college stores of about 1,000 letters. Catherine operated the fledgling publishing company out of the basement of the family home and during the first few years shipped over a million Cliff'sNotes with a tiny staff including the couple’s children. They divorced in 1967.
He designed the first yellow and black cover himself, with a visual pun of an outline of mountain cliffs. He used graduate students to write the guides. Cliff never wrote any of the guides. He paid modest fees to its writers and no royalties, sold printed booklets for pennies a copy.
The first run published in 1958 comprised 16 of Cole’s Notes’ Shakespeare study guides, funded with a $4,000 loan. The study guides were a hit, selling a reported 58,000 copies in the early going allowing Cliff to expand his enterprise. From his first Cliff's Notes, a summary of Hamlet, in 1958. He eventually published more than 220 titles and sold more than 50 million CliffsNotes worldwide.
The company was selling more than 5 million pamphlets annually and reaping multimillion-dollar profits. Cliff retired from CliffsNotes, selling the company to IDG Books for $14 million. He died at age 83 on 5 May, 2001.
During 1958, Cliff met Jack Cole, the co-owner of Coles Toronto book business which published a series of Canadian study guides called Coles Notes. Jack agreed to sell Hillegass the US rights to the guides.
Catherine MacDonald, was a co-founder of Cliff'sNotes (original spelling) with her first husband, Cliff Hillegass. She typed an initial mailing to college stores of about 1,000 letters. Catherine operated the fledgling publishing company out of the basement of the family home and during the first few years shipped over a million Cliff'sNotes with a tiny staff including the couple’s children. They divorced in 1967.
He designed the first yellow and black cover himself, with a visual pun of an outline of mountain cliffs. He used graduate students to write the guides. Cliff never wrote any of the guides. He paid modest fees to its writers and no royalties, sold printed booklets for pennies a copy.
The first run published in 1958 comprised 16 of Cole’s Notes’ Shakespeare study guides, funded with a $4,000 loan. The study guides were a hit, selling a reported 58,000 copies in the early going allowing Cliff to expand his enterprise. From his first Cliff's Notes, a summary of Hamlet, in 1958. He eventually published more than 220 titles and sold more than 50 million CliffsNotes worldwide.
The company was selling more than 5 million pamphlets annually and reaping multimillion-dollar profits. Cliff retired from CliffsNotes, selling the company to IDG Books for $14 million. He died at age 83 on 5 May, 2001.
Jan 26, 2018
Happy Friday
Happiness is the
best habit to cultivate.
Happiness always blooms, especially on a Happy Friday!
Happiness always blooms, especially on a Happy Friday!
Australia Day
On January 26, Australia Day
a National Holiday of Australia is celebrated.
Australia Day, celebrated annually on 26 January, is the official national day of Australia, commemorating the establishment of the first British settlement on the continent of Australia. The date is that of the foundation of a British penal colony at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson, New South Wales in 1788, by Captain Arthur Phillip, in his capacity as the first Governor of New South Wales. Australia Day is an official public holiday in all states and territories of Australia, and has also been known as Anniversary Day and Foundation Day.
Australia Day, celebrated annually on 26 January, is the official national day of Australia, commemorating the establishment of the first British settlement on the continent of Australia. The date is that of the foundation of a British penal colony at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson, New South Wales in 1788, by Captain Arthur Phillip, in his capacity as the first Governor of New South Wales. Australia Day is an official public holiday in all states and territories of Australia, and has also been known as Anniversary Day and Foundation Day.
Thomas Crapper Day
Squeezed in between Australia Day and Auckland Anniversary
is Thomas Crapper Day on January 27th. Thomas Crapper Day is a
holiday devoted to the man who purportedly invented the flush
toilet, although he actually did not.
As with many inventions, the flush toilet did not suddenly spring into existence, but was the result of a long chain of minor improvements. Thomas Crapper's plumbing company built flush toilets of Giblin's design.
He was not the original inventor, but popularized the siphon system for emptying the tank, replacing the earlier floating valve system which was prone to leaks. The similarity between Crapper's name and the much older word 'crap' is merely a coincidence.
As with many inventions, the flush toilet did not suddenly spring into existence, but was the result of a long chain of minor improvements. Thomas Crapper's plumbing company built flush toilets of Giblin's design.
He was not the original inventor, but popularized the siphon system for emptying the tank, replacing the earlier floating valve system which was prone to leaks. The similarity between Crapper's name and the much older word 'crap' is merely a coincidence.
Auckland Anniversary
On the Monday closest to January 29
Auckland Anniversary Day is celebrated.
Auckland Anniversary Day is actually the 29th of January, but it is observed on the Monday closest to that date. Auckland Anniversary applies to the Auckland Province which includes Northland, Auckland, Waikato, King Country, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, and Gisborne and East Coast Regions. The date 29 January itself is not the actual day on which Auckland was founded, but the day on which explorer and first governor of New Zealand William Hobson first sighted North Island at the Bay of Islands.
In 1840, Hobson arrived in New Zealand and quickly signed a treaty with the Maori, the Treaty of Waitangi, which led to New Zealand becoming a new British colony. It was on 18 September of 1840 that Hobson founded Auckland and made it the capital city of New Zealand.
Auckland Anniversary Day is actually the 29th of January, but it is observed on the Monday closest to that date. Auckland Anniversary applies to the Auckland Province which includes Northland, Auckland, Waikato, King Country, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, and Gisborne and East Coast Regions. The date 29 January itself is not the actual day on which Auckland was founded, but the day on which explorer and first governor of New Zealand William Hobson first sighted North Island at the Bay of Islands.
In 1840, Hobson arrived in New Zealand and quickly signed a treaty with the Maori, the Treaty of Waitangi, which led to New Zealand becoming a new British colony. It was on 18 September of 1840 that Hobson founded Auckland and made it the capital city of New Zealand.
Super Bowl and Olympic Cameras
Even though we will not be seeing the
Super bowl in 4K in the US, it will be filmed in 4K. The same
is true for the Winter Olympics, which will be filmed in 4K
and 8K HDR, but will not be shown on cable in 4K in the US,
except by Xfinity. Unfortunate that the rest of the world gets
to enjoy 4K, while we do not. Seems many countries have more
advanced distribution systems than the US. The good news is
that regardless of the game play, the Super Bowl commercials
are always worth watching.
Olympic feeds will all be distributed in 4K, then locally distributed by country. South Korea will be broadcasting the Winter Olympics in 4K HDR throughout the country. It utilizes the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting that will be tested in the US beginning this Spring. This standard will replace the current antenna (OTA) signals in the US and allow us to receive 4K TV with an antenna.
For the Super Bowl, NBC Sports will deploy 36 cameras with a mix of Canon and Fujinon lenses. Among them will be:
Four Sony HDC-4800’s operating in 4K,
Seven Sony HDC-4300 hard cameras configured for 6X super-slo-mo
One Sony HDC-4300 operating in 4K,
Two Sony HDC-4300 handhelds configured for 6X.
Eight Sony HDC-2500 hard cameras,
Eight Sony HDC-2500 handheld cameras,
Two SkyCams and a few robos.
The four Sony HDC-4800 4K cameras, outfitted with Fujinon PL 85-300mm Cabrio lenses, will be positioned in the left and right end zone and the near-left and far-left sideline. The Sony HDC-4300 4K camera, with a Canon 95X lens, will be positioned in the high-left end zone.
Olympic feeds will all be distributed in 4K, then locally distributed by country. South Korea will be broadcasting the Winter Olympics in 4K HDR throughout the country. It utilizes the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting that will be tested in the US beginning this Spring. This standard will replace the current antenna (OTA) signals in the US and allow us to receive 4K TV with an antenna.
For the Super Bowl, NBC Sports will deploy 36 cameras with a mix of Canon and Fujinon lenses. Among them will be:
Four Sony HDC-4800’s operating in 4K,
Seven Sony HDC-4300 hard cameras configured for 6X super-slo-mo
One Sony HDC-4300 operating in 4K,
Two Sony HDC-4300 handhelds configured for 6X.
Eight Sony HDC-2500 hard cameras,
Eight Sony HDC-2500 handheld cameras,
Two SkyCams and a few robos.
The four Sony HDC-4800 4K cameras, outfitted with Fujinon PL 85-300mm Cabrio lenses, will be positioned in the left and right end zone and the near-left and far-left sideline. The Sony HDC-4300 4K camera, with a Canon 95X lens, will be positioned in the high-left end zone.
Super Blue, Blood, Snow Moon
We will be able to view a super moon, blue
moon, and a total lunar eclipse (blood moon) all on the same
night.
The blue moon is the second full moon in a month and the first full moon showed up on January 1. The full moon (blue moon) will occur at 8:37 a.m. ET Jan. 31. It is the first blue moon total lunar eclipse in the US since March 1866.
The lunar eclipse on January 31 will last about 3½ hours from the beginning of the partial phase at 3:48 a.m. PT until it ends at 7:12 a.m. PT, from western North America across the Pacific to eastern Asia. In the United States, the best view of the eclipse will be along the West Coast. For skywatchers in the central and eastern US, only a partial eclipse will be visible.
The full moon will take on a dark, reddish appearance during the eclipse and is described as a blood moon. This full moon was also known as the "snow moon" by some Native American tribes.
A super moon occurs when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth.
The blue moon is the second full moon in a month and the first full moon showed up on January 1. The full moon (blue moon) will occur at 8:37 a.m. ET Jan. 31. It is the first blue moon total lunar eclipse in the US since March 1866.
The lunar eclipse on January 31 will last about 3½ hours from the beginning of the partial phase at 3:48 a.m. PT until it ends at 7:12 a.m. PT, from western North America across the Pacific to eastern Asia. In the United States, the best view of the eclipse will be along the West Coast. For skywatchers in the central and eastern US, only a partial eclipse will be visible.
The full moon will take on a dark, reddish appearance during the eclipse and is described as a blood moon. This full moon was also known as the "snow moon" by some Native American tribes.
A super moon occurs when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth.
Bigger MicroSD
Many are familiar with those little cards in smartphones,
and used by many laptop computers. They are called microSD
cards. Micro due to physical size and SD means Secure Digital.
Interesting to think that anything called micro could be considered large. However, there is now a microSD card capable of holding over half a terabyte of data. Integral Memory’s new 512 gigabyte card. It should hold about 24 or more hours of 4K video, depending on compression rate.
To give a perspective, 64GB is often the standard for high-end casual users and is capable of holding hundreds to thousands of high-quality photos. However, HD movies take up much more space.
Incidentally, just a few years ago, 32GB card was thought to be all you would ever need for storage. Before that, computers were sufficient at 32k. My how quickly times change.
Interesting to think that anything called micro could be considered large. However, there is now a microSD card capable of holding over half a terabyte of data. Integral Memory’s new 512 gigabyte card. It should hold about 24 or more hours of 4K video, depending on compression rate.
To give a perspective, 64GB is often the standard for high-end casual users and is capable of holding hundreds to thousands of high-quality photos. However, HD movies take up much more space.
Incidentally, just a few years ago, 32GB card was thought to be all you would ever need for storage. Before that, computers were sufficient at 32k. My how quickly times change.
Sizes Explained
Using the metric system 1,000 bytes would be a k, or
kilobyte, but in the computer industry a k is equal to 1024
bytes. That means each of the below metric designations are
approximate for computer terminology. Some medical computers
currently have storage measured in petabytes. Even as devices
have shrunk in size, demand for storage has increased in
inverse proportion.
kilo = thousand
mega = million
giga = billion (There are 1,024 GB in 1 TB.)
tera = trillion (There are 1,498 CD discs in 1 TB)
peta = quadrillion (A human brain can store about 2.5 PB of data)
exa = quintillion (Almost 11 million 4K movies can fit in 1 EB)
zetta = sextillion (1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424)
yotta = septillion
kilo = thousand
mega = million
giga = billion (There are 1,024 GB in 1 TB.)
tera = trillion (There are 1,498 CD discs in 1 TB)
peta = quadrillion (A human brain can store about 2.5 PB of data)
exa = quintillion (Almost 11 million 4K movies can fit in 1 EB)
zetta = sextillion (1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424)
yotta = septillion
Jan 19, 2018
Happy Friday
Tomorrow, as with
climate cannot be accurately predicted.
Do not worry about tomorrow, be happy today and celebrate a Happy Friday!
Do not worry about tomorrow, be happy today and celebrate a Happy Friday!
January 23 - National Rhubarb Pie Day
I love rhubarb, whether in
pie, stewed, poached, or baked. It is a seasonal thing, so grab
some when you can.
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