Bing cherries are dark deep red, sweet, glistening, and big. The Bing cherry is America’s most produced variety. The man who helped propagate it, a Chinese foreman named Ah Bing, is a mostly forgotten representative of the Chinese workers who labored to establish orchards in the old American West.
During the mid 1800s, the Lewellings Quaker family headed west with 700 fruit trees. Their journey took them to Milwaukie, Oregon, where they established the West Coast’s first thriving nursery business. The Lewelling orchards of prunes, apples, and cherries kickstarted Oregon’s fruit-growing industry.
Ah Bing worked on the Lewelling’s farm. Sarah Ledding described him as more than six feet tall, of Manchu descent, hailing from the north of China. Ah Bing worked for Lewelling for more than 30 years, grafting, propagating, and caring for trees. The Bing cherry, Ledding recalled, surfaced one day when Lewelling and Ah Bing walked through the rows of cherry trees, where each man maintained separate rows.
In Ah Bing’s row, there was a marvelous new type of cherry. Someone suggested that Lewelling name the cherry after himself. But he said, “No, I’ll name this for Bing. It’s a big cherry and Bing is big, and anyway it’s in his row, so that shall be its name.” Next time you see them in the store I know you will say under your breath, "Ah, Bing."
Aug 3, 2018
Wordology, Ullage
The amount by which the contents fall short of filling a container. It is the empty part of a container between the top and the contents. "The ullage in the bottle of wine was more than I expected."
Resolution Limitations
Below is the maximum resolution for each web browser on a computer. If you have a PC hooked up to your TV, you will not get the best picture quality due to browser limitations. Of course, most cable TV shows and movies are also self limited to 720p. Antenna reception is much better than the vast majority of cable. That is why so many people are rediscovering the antenna. Oh, and another bonus, antenna TV is still free.
Google Chrome: Up to 720p
Firefox: Up to 720p
Internet Explorer: Up to 1080p
Microsoft Edge: Up to 4K (requires HDCP 2.2-compliant connection to 4K display, with at least Intel’s 7th gen Core CPU, plus Windows 10)
Opera: Up to 720p
Safari: Up to 1080p (on Mac running OS X 10.10.3 or greater)
TVs and computer hardware used to be the limiting factor in technology. Now TVs and computers are vastly improved past the point of technicians being able to make full use of them. The pendulum has swung to the point that TVs are upgrading the crappy input from cable companies to give us a better picture. It will be grand when the industry jumps to take advantage of all that TVs can show us. Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and the various streaming services are leading the way with higher quality, better prices, and more options than cable, and that is why they are so successful.
Google Chrome: Up to 720p
Firefox: Up to 720p
Internet Explorer: Up to 1080p
Microsoft Edge: Up to 4K (requires HDCP 2.2-compliant connection to 4K display, with at least Intel’s 7th gen Core CPU, plus Windows 10)
Opera: Up to 720p
Safari: Up to 1080p (on Mac running OS X 10.10.3 or greater)
TVs and computer hardware used to be the limiting factor in technology. Now TVs and computers are vastly improved past the point of technicians being able to make full use of them. The pendulum has swung to the point that TVs are upgrading the crappy input from cable companies to give us a better picture. It will be grand when the industry jumps to take advantage of all that TVs can show us. Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and the various streaming services are leading the way with higher quality, better prices, and more options than cable, and that is why they are so successful.
Perseverance and Obstinacy
“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.” Anon
Four Bonnie and Clyde Facts
Bonnie was a 4’11” and Clyde was 5’4”.
Clyde was just six days away from being released from a labor camp and cut off two of his toes with the hope of forcing a transfer to a less harsh facility. He severed his left big toe and a portion of a second toe with an axe. At the time, he had no idea his mother persuaded the judge to let him out on parole. As a result, he walked with a limp for the rest of his life and could not drive while wearing shoes.
Bonnie also had a severe limp caused by an auto accident, where the car battery spilled acid on her leg and burned much of it, some down to the bone. Sometimes Clyde (who was driving and caused the accident) would need to carry her.
Bonnie and Clyde are buried in separate cemeteries in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Clyde was just six days away from being released from a labor camp and cut off two of his toes with the hope of forcing a transfer to a less harsh facility. He severed his left big toe and a portion of a second toe with an axe. At the time, he had no idea his mother persuaded the judge to let him out on parole. As a result, he walked with a limp for the rest of his life and could not drive while wearing shoes.
Bonnie also had a severe limp caused by an auto accident, where the car battery spilled acid on her leg and burned much of it, some down to the bone. Sometimes Clyde (who was driving and caused the accident) would need to carry her.
Bonnie and Clyde are buried in separate cemeteries in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Kissing the Blarney Stone in Texas
Shamrock, Texas has a piece of the original Irish Blarney Stone encased in a local monument.
The fragment of the original Blarney Stone is immured within a concrete monument on Main Street in Shamrock, Texas. This genuine chunk from the ruins of Blarney Castle was accidentally knocked off of the original Stone according to the Shamrock official who brought it to Shamrock in 1959. The landmark is a theft-proof, pickup-truck-crash-proof cylinder, regularly painted solid green, standing on an empty street corner.
The small town east of Amarillo holds a festival each year and crowns a Miss Irish Rose. Kissing the Blarney Stone is supposed to endow the kisser with the gift of gab . . . with great eloquence.
The fragment of the original Blarney Stone is immured within a concrete monument on Main Street in Shamrock, Texas. This genuine chunk from the ruins of Blarney Castle was accidentally knocked off of the original Stone according to the Shamrock official who brought it to Shamrock in 1959. The landmark is a theft-proof, pickup-truck-crash-proof cylinder, regularly painted solid green, standing on an empty street corner.
The small town east of Amarillo holds a festival each year and crowns a Miss Irish Rose. Kissing the Blarney Stone is supposed to endow the kisser with the gift of gab . . . with great eloquence.
Google Prank
When the Google Streetview vehicle passed by an auto mechanic’s
shop in England, the shop’s owner playfully staged a murder
scene. A year later, a user browsing Streetview spotted the
mechanic brandishing a pickaxe, standing over a man lying
prostrate on the ground, and informed police of what looked
like a potential homicide. Police showed up and questioned the
shop owner who quickly explained and apologized for the prank.
Jul 20, 2018
Happy Friday
Happiness is an agreeable interlude that never ends.
It is nice to enjoy an agreeable interlude, especially on a Happy Friday!
It is nice to enjoy an agreeable interlude, especially on a Happy Friday!
Google Factoid
If you type “google in 1998” into Google search bar, it will
take you to what the site looked like the year it was created.
Google originally only included text results. This changed in
2000, when the top search result on Google was of Jennifer Lopez
in an exotic green Versace dress at the 42nd Grammy Awards. Soon
after, Google created Google Images to search criteria. By 2010,
more than ten billion images were indexed to the search engine.
Vocal Fry and Upspeak
These are both manufactured speech
patterns used by certain groups. Although they often run
together, vocal fry and upspeak should not be confused. Think Valley girls and the Kardashians. Fry
is like the low,
croaky voice you have when you are sick and drop to your lowest
register. The easiest way to understand is to have an example,
so there are links for each below. Personally, they both drive me crazy. Like,
totally!
Upspeak or uptalk or Valleyspeak is a rising inflection, interrogative, or high rising intonation of some variants of English where declarative sentences or clauses end with a rising-pitch intonation. It is usually accompanied with heavy doses of the word 'like'. It is like when you like end a like declarative sentence like in a raised tone. It makes a statement “We are going to the mall for fun” sound like a question “… for fun?”. LINK
Vocal fry is making croaky, graveled vocal styling emissions while speaking. Women tend to use this much more than men. Here is an example of vocal fry. LINK
Upspeak or uptalk or Valleyspeak is a rising inflection, interrogative, or high rising intonation of some variants of English where declarative sentences or clauses end with a rising-pitch intonation. It is usually accompanied with heavy doses of the word 'like'. It is like when you like end a like declarative sentence like in a raised tone. It makes a statement “We are going to the mall for fun” sound like a question “… for fun?”. LINK
Vocal fry is making croaky, graveled vocal styling emissions while speaking. Women tend to use this much more than men. Here is an example of vocal fry. LINK
Bee Fact
One in every three bites of
food around the world depends on bees who pollinate around
eighty percent of the Earth’s flowering plants.
Six Netflix Facts
Netflix is one year older than Google, 1997 vs. 1998.
In 2016, Netflix reported it was available in 190 countries and had more than 74 million subscribers.
About two billion hours of Netflix content gets streamed around the world every month.
Netflix has about 33 million subscribers in the country, outpacing regular old cable.
During 2017, Netflix spent six billion dollars on original content. During 2018, it plans to spend eight billion dollars.
According to the website CordCutting.com, a Netflix subscriber will get an extra 158 hours of content during the same watch time by having no commercials.
In 2016, Netflix reported it was available in 190 countries and had more than 74 million subscribers.
About two billion hours of Netflix content gets streamed around the world every month.
Netflix has about 33 million subscribers in the country, outpacing regular old cable.
During 2017, Netflix spent six billion dollars on original content. During 2018, it plans to spend eight billion dollars.
According to the website CordCutting.com, a Netflix subscriber will get an extra 158 hours of content during the same watch time by having no commercials.
Gobs and Smidgens
A gob is a
general term meaning a large amount. It is often used in its
plural form: gobs. So, if you had gobs of fun, you had much
fun.
A smidgen refers to a very small amount and it also has a specific, measurable meaning. Many cooks believe that a smidgen is equal to 1/32 teaspoon. Others believe it may be 1/25 teaspoon.
Below are unique measurements for very small amounts:
tad = 1/8 teaspoon
dash = 1/16 teaspoon
pinch = 1/24 teaspoon
smidgen = 1/32 teaspoon
drop = 1/60 teaspoon
hint = a trace.
A smidgen refers to a very small amount and it also has a specific, measurable meaning. Many cooks believe that a smidgen is equal to 1/32 teaspoon. Others believe it may be 1/25 teaspoon.
Below are unique measurements for very small amounts:
tad = 1/8 teaspoon
dash = 1/16 teaspoon
pinch = 1/24 teaspoon
smidgen = 1/32 teaspoon
drop = 1/60 teaspoon
hint = a trace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)