Twitter and the Stock Market

The mood on Twitter predicts what's going to happen in the stock market with 87 percent accuracy. Researchers from Indiana University analyzed the tweets of 2.7 million Twitter users in 2008, dividing them into six categories of emotions. They were surprised to find that the higher percentage of "calm" tweets on a given day, the higher the Dow Jones Industrial Average was in the following two to six days. This method yielded a 87.6 percent rate of accuracy.

Whats in a Name

According to Chicago, it doesn't matter, as long as you pay. Next spring, 2011, the commuters of Chicago may no longer be taking the Red Line to Addison if they want to catch a Cubs game. If the Chicago Transit Authority has its way, they could be riding on the Budweiser Express and getting off at Pizzeria Uno Station. The CTA announced last week that it intends on selling off the naming rights to just about everything it possibly can, including rail lines and stations, bus routes, retail concessions, and special events. Even the venerable CTA logo will be on the auction block. "We want to find new ways to generate revenue," said the CTA president. Maybe during election years, politicians can get their name plastered on every bus and train in town. Take the Obama express downtown.

Black Friday Under Ten Dollar Deals

Here are some cheap appliance deals:
• Chefmate 2-slice toaster, $3.00 (Target)

• Sunbeam 4-slice toaster, $9.88 (J.C. Penney)

• Black & Decker 5-quart coffeemaker, $9.88 (Target)

• Cooks 12-cup coffeemaker, $9.88 (J.C. Penney)

• Hamilton Beach 12-cup programmable coffeemaker, $9.97 (Walmart)

• Chefmate 5-speed electric hand mixer, $3.00 (Target)

• Rival hand mixer, $2.97 (Walmart)

• Cooks 1.5-quart slow cooker, $7.88 (J.C. Penney)

• Cooks 6-quart slow cooker, $9.88 (J.C. Penney)

• Hamilton Beach 3-quart slow cooker, $8.99 (Target)

• Hamilton Beach 5-quart oval slow cooker, $9.97 (Walmart)

• Dirt Devil Versa Power Stick Vac, $9.00 (Target)

• Bissell 3-In-1 Stick Vac, $8.62 (Walmart)
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Friday Thought

Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.

I see it coming and feel the need to achieve a Happy Friday!

Psychologically Satisfying

PayScale surveyed 10,800 workers who graduated college between 1999 and 2010 on their level of job satisfaction. It found that only 26 percent of psychology majors are satisfied with how their career is going. It is the lowest satisfaction percentage among all college majors. The second-lowest-rated of the 20 majors surveyed were people who studied environmental engineering and economics. Forty percent of college graduates holding those degrees stated they were satisfied with their career.

The majors with the highest rate of career satisfaction were chemical engineering and management information systems, both at 54 percent. PayScale only included in its survey folks who actually had jobs. One of my degrees was in Psych and now I am glad I didn't pursue it as a career.

Crow Bar

The word crowbar with the bird-name "crow", due to the crowbar’s resemblance to the feet or beak of a crow. The first use of the word shows up around 1400. They were called simply crows, or iron crows, and sometimes Jimmy Bars. William Shakespeare used the term iron crow in many places, including his play Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 2: 'Get me an iron crow and bring it straight unto my cell'. I thought a crow bar was a place where politicians hang out and talk about themselves.

Big Government, Small Government

Many discuss the size of big government, but most do not realize that the local governments are much larger than the federal government. During the past year, state and local employment has been reduced, mostly through not filling vacancies, by 258,000, or 1.3%, to 19.2 million workers, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compensation for government workers accounts for half of the $2 trillion spent annually by governments. For workers who remain, compensation increased 2.5% compared with 0.8% for private-sector workers for the year ended June 30, 2010.

The federal workforce, meanwhile, grew 3.4% to 2.2 million during the past year and promises to keep growing.   The worst part of having this many federal and state workers, is that when they retire, we get to pay for them for the rest of their (and our) lives.

Government Signs

Recently the Federal Highway Administration decided that it takes way too much time for us to read road signs printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. So, the newest FHA Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices says that all such signs must be replaced by those with an initial capital letter, followed by the remaining letters in lower case.

According to a September article in the New York Post, New York City has already begun the process of changing its 250,900 signs. City officials estimate it at $110  each, that amounts to $27.6 million, just for New York City. Maybe it is a secret 'shovel ready' project to keep prisoners busy.

Bacon Soda

It finally happened, Jones Soda has come out with a new flavor drink. It is vegetarian friendly and kosher bacon soda. How's that for an oxymoron?

Tasters have mixed reactions. We'll see how this one goes. Some other flavors in the Jones line-up, Blue Bubble Gum, Pizza, and WhoopAss energy drink. I have tried a number of the drinks and love the Black Cherry.

Two Turkey Myths

Some things to think about as we approach the great Turkey Day.
MYTH No. 1: The turkey is cooked when the juices run clear or when the leg pulls away from the bone.

FACT: Color is not an indicator of safety or doneness. Turkey juices do change from raw-meat pink to a clear color as the bird cooks, but that doesn't equate with safe eating because color doesn't show the temperature that the salmonella or campylobacter are killed (165 degrees).

MYTH No. 2: You should cool your turkey to room temperature for a while before putting it in the refrigerator.

FACT: Decades ago, when people plopped a hot turkey into the refrigerator, the heat would overload the system and lead to spoiled milk, but refrigerators today are now built to keep the temperature constant. The safest thing to do is get the leftover meat in the fridge within two hours of removing it from the oven.

What's in a Name, Refrigerator

From the Latin re frigerare - to make cool again. The first known artificial refrigeration was demonstrated by William Cullen at the University of Glasgow in 1748. Between 1805 and 1902 when Willis Haviland Carrier demonstrated the first air conditioner, many inventors contributed advances in cooling machinery. In-home refrigeration became a reality in 1834 with the invention of the cooling compression system by the American inventor Jacob Perkins.

The absorption refrigerator was invented by Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters from Sweden in 1922, while they were still students at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. It became a worldwide success and was commercialized by Electrolux. In 1923 Frigidaire introduced the first self-contained unit. The 1950s and 1960s brought in technical advances like automatic defrosting and automatic ice making and, as of 1955, 80% of American homes had a refrigerator. The Chinese cut and stored ice in 1000 BC.

Warming Thought

According to a September ScienceDaily, the first eight months of 2010 tied the same period in 1998 for the warmest combined land and ocean surface temperature on record worldwide. Meanwhile, the June-August summer was the second warmest on record globally after 1998, and August was the third warmest August on record. Separately, last month's global average land surface temperature was the second warmest on record for August, while the global ocean surface temperature tied with 1997 as the sixth warmest for August. What all that means is that global warming (now politically called global climate change) has caused the world to be almost as warm as it was about twelve years ago.

Most Popular Cell Phone

The Nokia 1100 cell phone is in the hands of over a billion people (as of 2009) around the world. The iPhone gets most of the press and has sold millions, but the Nokia 1100, which has been around since 2003, just keeps selling and selling. It has also been named the best consumer electronics device in the world. BTW - Android phones are currently outselling the iPhones by almost two to one. Much has to do with the high cost of the iPhone.

A Penny for your . . . Birdbath

Prevent algae from growing in a birdbath by tossing a few pre-1982 pennies into the water. The copper keeps the organisms from multiplying so fast.