Wow, 4k is not even the current standard and the TV companies
are already pushing the next generation. It will be a few years
before 4K is standard and a few more years after that for 8K
movies and shows to kick in.
Currently, broadcast
TV, such as CBS, NBC, etc., and cable providers have no short
term plan or intention to even consider 4K. They are too busy
scrambling to squeeze every penny out of current outdated low
resolution shows. They have been given the gift of 4K upscaling
built into new TVs to make pictures look better.
The logo can be used
starting in January 2020.
To use that logo, a TV
must have resolution of "at least 33 million active pixels, with
at least 7680 horizontally and 4320 vertically within a 16:9
viewable window." One or more of the HDMI inputs must support
"7680x4320 pixels; bit depth of 10-bits; frame rates of 24, 30
and 60 frames per second; HDR transfer functions and colorimetry
as specified by ITU-R BT.2100; and HDCP v2.2 or equivalent
content protection." It must also be able to upconvert SD, HD
and 4K video for display at 8K resolution and be able to receive
and render 10-bit 8K images.
Bottom line, if you
need or want a new TV, save your money and get a 4K TV. Experts
recommend a 65 inch as the smallest 4K TV to buy so you can
enjoy the wonderful resolution.
Jelly Belly's inventor, David Klein recently launched a
business called Spectrum Confections that makes jelly beans
infused with cannabidiol, or CBD, the non-psychoactive component
of marijuana. The jelly beans come in 38 flavors and each bean
contains 10 milligrams of CBD.
Roku is the company which supplies TVs with its own operating
system and a number of devices to hook into other TVs for the
purpose of bypassing the cable companies and providing streaming
TV shows and movies. It has 52 million such devices in the
market. Amazon has 30% of the streaming stick market and Roku
37%. In addition, one third of all branded smart TVs use the
Roku operating system.
The Roku name comes
from the Japanese word 六 (roku) meaning "six" and was named so
because it was the sixth company that Anthony Wood, founder and
CEO started.
"Thanks are the highest
form of thought and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." ~
G. K. Chesterton
I never wonder why I
love a Happy Friday!
Sunday, Sept. 29 is National Coffee Day. Restaurants,
convenience stores, and brands are toasting the made-up holiday
by giving away free coffee or serving up discounted brew.
Starbucks does not have a freebie this year, but many fast food
and doughnut places have freebies or deals with coffee
discounts.
One
hundred ninety nine years ago On September 26, 1820 the great
pioneering frontiersman Daniel Boone died quietly in his sleep
at his son’s home near present-day Defiance, Missouri. He was
85.
He was an American
pioneer, explorer, woodsman, and frontiersman whose frontier
exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United
States. He was also a businessman, soldier, and politician who
represented three different counties in the Virginia General
Assembly following the American Revolutionary War. Boone is most
famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now
Kentucky. He was not at the battle of the Alamo, which happened
during 1836.
J
ust as there is a difference between THC and CBD, there is
also a difference between CBD and hemp oil.
Most people use the
words “cannabis,” “hemp,” and “marijuana” interchangeably, but
cannabis is actually the name for the genus of plants. All of
the plants within the cannabis genus contain many compounds
called “phytocannabinoids.” The most well known are THC and CBD,
with THC as the only one that gets you high.
The leaves and flowers
of marijuana plants are used to make joints and edibles because
they typically contain 15-20% THC. CBD oils are made from the
hemp plants, which contain, at most, 0.3% THC, so CBD oils do
not get you high.
All mammals naturally
produce compounds called “endocannabinoids.” Endo means
“within”– within your body. All these compounds work together to
keep your body’s endocannabinoid stems functioning normally.
Phytocannabinoids, phyto meaning “plant”– as a compound that
occurs naturally in a plant work with the endocannabinoid
system.
Many CBD products are
made from hemp extract oil, but there are also products
called hemp seed oil, which is different. Hemp seed oil is
derived only from the seeds of the hemp plant, no
phytocannabinoids. The oil is rich in healthy omega-3 fatty
acids, so it can help skin issues, but does not have the same
benefits as CBD oil.
CBD works with your
body’s natural systems to help you manage, among other benefits,
everyday stress, sleep better, reduce pain, and function at a
higher level. As with all products, the best way to ensure that
the CBD is up to the standards you would have for everything
else you consume is to use products from companies that you
trust. It might be difficult to judge the effectiveness of the
new CBD sports bras, bath salts, and doggie treats, but have
fun. There does not appear to be negative side effects, at least
so far.
Bottom line, hemp oil
is better for cosmetics, skin conditions, and eating hemp seeds
is rich in healthy omega-3 fatty acids, while CBD compounds are
taken internally and also used as oils, creams, and in other
consumables, used to relieve pain, anxiety, depression, acne,
heart disease, promote more restful sleep, etc.
Incidentally, the
FDA has approved the first CBD medicine for reducing seizures.
It is pronounced GOR-bel-eed and means having
a large belly: fat. From gorbelly (large belly), from gor (gore)
+ belly, from Old English belig (bag). Earliest documented use:
1529.
“Falstaff: Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? No, ye fat
chuffs. ”William Shakespeare; Henry IV, Part 1; 1623.
T
he game seems to originate in hand games from
China, likely going back a few thousand years. The trail gets
more clear starting around the 17th century when some of these
games migrated to Japan and explicit references to them in
surviving text. One of those games, in turn, spread from Japan
throughout the world in recent times.
There were a myriad of these hand games using a series of hand
gestures, sometimes even using various chants. As for the many
three hand gesture variants, these are called sansukumi-ken.
As variant of this, the Japanese “mushi-ken” used hand gestures
representing a frog, a slug, and a snake. The specific gestures
were the thumb as the frog, which defeats the slug. The slug is
represented by the pinky finger and defeats the snake. The snake
is represented by the index finger and defeats the frog.
The direct ancestor to
Rock, Paper, Scissors is the game of jan-ken, which has been
played in Japan going back to around the 17th century and uses
the Rock, Paper (or cloth), Scissors trio of hand gestures we
are all familiar with.
Up until relatively recently, these games were primarily used as
drinking games, particularly popular at Chinese and Japanese
brothels. Yakyūken is a version of Rock, Paper, Scissors played
in Japan that is the game of choice for the hand gesture
equivalent of strip-poker.
It then spread to the
world between the 1920s and the 1950s. For example, some of the
earliest references of the game outside of Japan include one
account in France in 1927 where it was called “chi-fou-mi”, or
another in Britain in 1924 where it was called “zhot”.
As to why this particular hand gesture game caught on in the
wider world when so many others did not, it is speculated that
it is because it is one of the simplest to understand and play,
as well as that it makes a very effective and seemingly random
way to settle a dispute or decide something between two
individuals.
Fast-forwarding to today, the game has even become a competitive
sport with various organizations formed in different countries.
For example, in 2002, the brothers Walker formed the World RPS
Society and formalized the rules for international competition.
They held the “Rock, Paper, Scissors World Championships” in
Toronto every year from 2003 to 2009, which was televised on Fox
Sports Net at one point.
If someone wins, they are more likely to make the same choice
the next time. If they lose, however, they are likely to choose
the next item in the sequence from the one they just lost with.
So, if one loses with rock, they are likely to choose paper the
next time. If they lose with paper, they are more likely to
throw scissors the next time. Thus, they are picking the thing
that they just lost to.
Players who repeat the same sign twice are extremely unlikely to
throw the same sign a third time, allowing you to improve your
odds slightly by ruling that one out as something they will pick
in most cases. Thus, if they throw scissors twice, your next
throw should be paper, as they are likely to choose either paper
or rock, improving your odds of a tie or win.
Incidentally, In America, another name for Rock, Paper,
Scissors is “Rochambeau.” The commonly held story is that it
is from a French general by the name of Jean-Baptiste Donatien
de Vimeur de Rochambeau.
We all love the mostly ad free YouTube videos, TV shows, and
movies. Here are a few tips to make your viewing easier.
Use the following keys:
K = Play/Pause
J/L = Back/Forwards 10 seconds
Left/Right Arrow Key = Back/Forwards 5 seconds
Up/Down Arrow Key = Volume +/- 5%
F = Toggle Fullscreen
T = Toggle Theater Mode
I = Toggle miniplayer
M = Toggle Mute
Keys 0-9 = Skip to different parts of the video
C = Toggle Captions
If in a Playlist, Shift+p (capital p) = Previous video
Shift+n (capital n) = Next Video in playlist or next recommended
video
< = Decrease Video Speed
> = Increase Video Speed
, = Rewind single frame
. = Advance single frame
You can press shift+/ (?) to see all these and more commands.
For those on mobile you can also go back/forwards 10 seconds by
double tapping the left/right side of the video.
If you use Chrome,
double right click the video to always have the miniplayer on
screen, as long as you do not go into fullscreen.
While on YouTube,
use the search for "Free TV, Free Movies, or 4K movies. You
will be amazed at the number of full TV series to watch - and
mostly ad free.
Happiness is the best
opiate.
You can never
overdose on happiness, even on a Happy Friday!
After WWII, there were not
enough cocoa supplies in Italy. So a pastry maker Pietro Ferrero
created his concoction made from hazelnuts, sugar, and just a
little bit of cocoa that was later transformed into Nutella, by
his son.
It began as a solid
block called pasta gianduja which could be sliced and served on
bread, but later evolved into a spreadable version called
Supercrema. The Nutella name came about during 1964
as a result of combining the English word ‘nut’ and the
Latin suffix for sweet – ‘ella’.
Satellites go way back, and were mostly used for specific
purposes. The new LEO satellite constellations require thousands
of satellites talking to each other and allowing internet
anywhere, even the remotest parts of the planet.
1957—The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1 and kicks off the space
race.
1958—The US launches its first satellite, Explorer 1.
1958—The world’s first satellite designed for
telecommunications, successfully transmits its first message.
1962—The Communications Satellite Act of 1962 gives the FCC
regulatory power over communications satellites.
1962—Bell Labs launches Telstar 1, which successfully executes
the first satellite television transmission.
1967—The Soviet Union creates, Orbita, the first
television-satellite national network.
1972—Canada launches the first North American geostationary
television satellite, Anik 1.
1975—RCA builds Satcom 1 for ABC, NBC, CBS, and later HBO® to
begin broadcasting via satellite.
1976—Radio engineer Taylor Howard builds a homemade satellite
dish and receiver that picks up both North American and Soviet
satellite television signals. It showed in-home satellite
television service could work.
1979—The Satellite Home Viewer Act lets US homeowners operate
their own home satellite system.
1991—A group of cable TV providers, including Time Warner Cable,
Cox, Comcast, and more, create the first direct broadcast
satellite television service in the US, PRIMESTAR.
1993—Hughes Aircraft Co. applies for an FCC license to launch
Spaceway, the first satellite designed to use the Ka-band
frequencies making satellite a reasonable means for transmitting
internet signals.
1996—Hughes Electronics buys PanAmSat, starts Hughes Network
Systems, and begins offering consumer satellite services.
2003—News Corp buys DIRECTV, Hughes Network Systems, and others
to form the DIRECTV Group.
2017—Viasat launches Viasat 2, which delivers the fastest
residential satellite internet in the US to date.
Between 5G communications, ATSC3 over the air TV, and low earth
satellites, pulling multiple millions of miles of physical
cables around the country and the world may become a thing of
the past, but it will not happen this year or next.
During 2018, Americans bought 17.3 million new cars
and 40.2 million used ones. Is that recycling?