The last Saturday of April
each year (April 25, 2015 - 10 am local time) in hundreds of cities,
spanning 80 nations, people come together to provide a healing
vision for our world.
Tai chi (tie chee) and Qigong (chee gung) combine deep breathing
techniques, gentle body movement, and visualization techniques. Tai
chi is a form of Qigong and is an ancient Chinese tradition that is
practiced as a graceful form of exercise. It involves a series of
movements performed in a slow, focused manner and accompanied by
deep breathing.
Tai chi is a noncompetitive, self-paced system of physical exercise
and stretching. Each posture flows into the next without pause,
ensuring that the body is in constant motion. It has many different
styles. Each style may have its own subtle emphasis on various
principles and methods. There are also variations within each style.
Some may focus on health maintenance, while others focus on the
martial arts aspect of tai chi. I have been learning tai chi
locally for the past six months and, although some call it gentle,
it is still a workout.
One World ... One Breath. Here are some interesting tai chi day
videos. LINK
Apr 24, 2015
Eye Color, Green
Just two percent of people in the world
have green eyes, making it the least common eye color. The color
green is generally associated with jealousy, which is a common
character trait amongst people with this eye color. However, they
are also passionate people who have a zest for life and enjoy living
life to the fullest. Others see people with green eyes as being
mysterious and curious, but also highly intelligent.
Green eyes originate from Siberia and now can mostly be found in Europe. Interestingly, in Iceland the number of females with green eyes is greater than the number of males with green eyes! Ireland is also a hotspot for green eyes as they are believed to have Celtic ancestry, making green eyes and red hair a typical combination. Elsewhere around the world green eyes are very uncommon, but individuals can be found in all corners of the globe, including the USA, Europe, Asia, South America and Northern Africa.
Sometimes green eyes can bear a striking resemblance to cat's eyes, resulting in the myth that people with green eyes were evil. History is full of stories of women being condemned as witches, simply because of their green eyes. My cousin tells me she and her brother were born with brown eyes, but they are now most often hazel, and sometimes green.
Green eyes originate from Siberia and now can mostly be found in Europe. Interestingly, in Iceland the number of females with green eyes is greater than the number of males with green eyes! Ireland is also a hotspot for green eyes as they are believed to have Celtic ancestry, making green eyes and red hair a typical combination. Elsewhere around the world green eyes are very uncommon, but individuals can be found in all corners of the globe, including the USA, Europe, Asia, South America and Northern Africa.
Sometimes green eyes can bear a striking resemblance to cat's eyes, resulting in the myth that people with green eyes were evil. History is full of stories of women being condemned as witches, simply because of their green eyes. My cousin tells me she and her brother were born with brown eyes, but they are now most often hazel, and sometimes green.
Frogs and Toads
Toads have dry and pebbly skin, and frogs
have moist and smooth skin. Frogs like water and toads prefer land.
Toads and frogs lay their eggs in water, because their babies start off as tadpoles. The difference is that frog eggs are laid in bunches or clusters, and they have a jelly-like substance around them. Toads lay their eggs in lines or strands, on leaves of plants that live in the water. A baby toad is a tadpole or toadlet
Frogs have slim bodies and long legs, and jump to get around. Toads have short forelimbs and hop or walk. Toads have big glands behind their eyes, called paratoid glands, which produce poison.
There are three names for baby frogs, depending on which segment of the life cycle they are in. After 21 days of being an embryo, a baby frog is called a polliwog and at this point, has a long tail and lives in the water. It becomes a tadpole when it sprouts legs. As a froglet, it has almost matured into a full-grown adult that breathes with lungs, but still has a bit of a tail. The sequence is polliwog, tadpole, froglet.
Frogs don’t actually drink water with their mouths; they drink it through their skin. A frog’s skin absorbs water when it is in the water so its body gets all of the hydration that it needs that way.
True toads do not have teeth and the skin on the head is typically ossified to the skull. Toad’s skin lets out a bitter taste and smell that burns the eyes and nostrils of its predators, much like a skunk does. True toads belong to the family Bufonidae, which consists of 50 genera and nearly 600 species, native to all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Toads belong to the order Anura, and are actually a subset of frogs. In popular use, toad seems to be used to refer to any frog that has a dry warty skin and short legs.
Frogs:
Need to live near water
Have smooth, moist skin that makes them look “slimy”.
Have a narrow body
Have higher, rounder, bulgier eyes
Have longer hind legs
Take long high jumps
Have many predators
Hibernate in the winter.
Toads:
Do not need to live near water to survive
Have rough, dry, bumpy skin
Have a wider body
Have lower, football shaped eyes
Have shorter, less powerful hind legs
Do not have many predators
Will run or take small hops rather than jump.
Bottom line, all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads and neither frogs nor toads will give you warts.
Toads and frogs lay their eggs in water, because their babies start off as tadpoles. The difference is that frog eggs are laid in bunches or clusters, and they have a jelly-like substance around them. Toads lay their eggs in lines or strands, on leaves of plants that live in the water. A baby toad is a tadpole or toadlet
Frogs have slim bodies and long legs, and jump to get around. Toads have short forelimbs and hop or walk. Toads have big glands behind their eyes, called paratoid glands, which produce poison.
There are three names for baby frogs, depending on which segment of the life cycle they are in. After 21 days of being an embryo, a baby frog is called a polliwog and at this point, has a long tail and lives in the water. It becomes a tadpole when it sprouts legs. As a froglet, it has almost matured into a full-grown adult that breathes with lungs, but still has a bit of a tail. The sequence is polliwog, tadpole, froglet.
Frogs don’t actually drink water with their mouths; they drink it through their skin. A frog’s skin absorbs water when it is in the water so its body gets all of the hydration that it needs that way.
True toads do not have teeth and the skin on the head is typically ossified to the skull. Toad’s skin lets out a bitter taste and smell that burns the eyes and nostrils of its predators, much like a skunk does. True toads belong to the family Bufonidae, which consists of 50 genera and nearly 600 species, native to all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Toads belong to the order Anura, and are actually a subset of frogs. In popular use, toad seems to be used to refer to any frog that has a dry warty skin and short legs.
Frogs:
Need to live near water
Have smooth, moist skin that makes them look “slimy”.
Have a narrow body
Have higher, rounder, bulgier eyes
Have longer hind legs
Take long high jumps
Have many predators
Hibernate in the winter.
Toads:
Do not need to live near water to survive
Have rough, dry, bumpy skin
Have a wider body
Have lower, football shaped eyes
Have shorter, less powerful hind legs
Do not have many predators
Will run or take small hops rather than jump.
Bottom line, all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads and neither frogs nor toads will give you warts.
Bangers and Mash
The British meal of sausage
and mashed potatoes goes back a long way. Sausages can be traced
back to ancient times. Victorians were skeptical of what was in a
sausage, suspected horse meat, and nicknamed them ‘Little Bags of
Mystery’. After the outbreak of the World War, food shortages led to
a dramatic reduction of meat in sausages, so producers packed them
out with scraps, cereal, and water, which caused them to pop when
cooked over hot fires. That is how the name bangers came to be. The
mash comes from the way potatoes are cooked - mashed.
Crap Email Hack
We all get way too much marketing stuff in
our inbox. One way to reduce it is to filter for the word
unsubscribe and send the mail straight to trash. If you want to keep
some of the materials, set up a folder for marketing and send the
emails there. That way you can keep the info, but it is not mixed
with important emails.
Origin of Credit Cards
In 1949, Frank McNamara, an
executive at the Hamilton Credit Corporation, was embarrassed to
find himself short of cash when it came time to pay for a dinner
with clients at a New York restaurant. Charge accounts were already
common, allowing customers to add up a tab at certain establishments
and pay it later, but those accounts were only for each specific
business. McNamara had the idea of making a card which could be used
at multiple unconnected upscale New York restaurants. Diners Club
would pay the restaurant, and the diner would pay Diners Club, plus
interest. Diners Club's had 20,000 members in its first year, who
could use it to pay for services at 28 restaurants and two hotels.
Bacon, Vitamins and Minerals
Bacon provides us with
substantial amounts of the important, necessary vitamins and
minerals our bodies need to function healthfully. From bacon, we
receive: 65% of our Recommended Daily Intake of Thiamin (Vitamin B1)
as well as 47% of our Niacin (Vitamin B3), 38% of our Vitamin B12,
36% of our Zinc, 24% of our Vitamin B6, 22% of our Riboflavin
(Vitamin B2), 22% of our Phosphorus, 10% of our Pantothenate, 10% of
our Magnesium, 9% of our Iron and the Protein to fat balance in
bacon is actually 4 to 1, which is one of the highest protein to fat
balances found in any meat, fish, or fowl found on Earth.
International Dance Day
April 29 is International Dance
Day. It was introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Council
(Conseil International de la Danse). The main purpose of Dance Day
events is to attract the attention of the wider public to the art of
dance. Emphasis should be given to addressing a new public, people
who do not follow dance events during the course of the year. Every
year, the president of the CID sends the official message for Dance
Day which circulates in every country of the world.
US National Dance Day was created by Nigel Lythgoe and takes place in the United States on the last Saturday in July. It was founded and officially recognized in 2010 when American congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a National Dance Day resolution to promote dance education and physical fitness.
US National Dance Day was created by Nigel Lythgoe and takes place in the United States on the last Saturday in July. It was founded and officially recognized in 2010 when American congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a National Dance Day resolution to promote dance education and physical fitness.
Apr 17, 2015
Happy Friday
There is no doubt in the honesty of a child's smile.
I cultivate the habit of smiling and sharing a Happy Friday!
I cultivate the habit of smiling and sharing a Happy Friday!
Wordology, Trivia
The word trivia originates from the Latin word trivium (plural
trivia), where “tri” stands for triple and “via” means way.
Basically, the word means a place where three ways meet. This word
gained prominence in Rome, where people would often chin wag with
others at a trivium. The word trivalis in Classical Latin meant an
appropriate street corner and commonplace. In medieval times, the
word gained broader meaning and came to refer grammar, rhetoric,
and logic. Much of what you read here can be referred to as
trivia.
Internet Archive
The Internet
Archive is mostly known for archiving the web, which the San
Francisco-based nonprofit has done since 1996, two years before
Google was founded.
It is also called the
Wayback Machine and indexes over 435 billion webpages dating back
to 1996. It is the largest archive of the web. The archive also
hosts:
- Books. One of the world’s largest open collections of digitized books, over 6 million public domain books, and an open library catalog.
- Videos. 1.9 million videos, including classic TV, 1,300 vintage home movies, and 4,000 public-domain feature films.
- The Prelinger Archives. Over 6,000 ephemeral films, including vintage advertising, educational and industrial footage.
- Audio. 2.3 million audio recordings, including over 74,000 radio broadcasts, 13,000 78rpm records, and 1.7 million Creative Commons-licensed audio recordings.
- Live music. Over 137,000 concert recordings, nearly 10,000 from the Grateful Dead alone.
- Audiobooks. Over 10,000 audiobooks from LibriVox and more.
- TV News. 668,000 news broadcasts with full-text search.
- Scanning services. Free and open access to scan complete print collections in 33 scanning centers, with 1,500 books scanned daily.
- Software. The largest collection of historical software in the world.
Crocks, Gators, and Plovers
Crocs and gators keep their
mouths open as a way to avoid overheating. Keeping cool may be the
primary purpose, but for some species there's a secondary gain from
the behavior. For crocodiles living in the range of the Egyptian
plover, or 'crocodile bird', sitting around with their mouth open
means they get free teeth cleaning from the small birds. The plover
acts as both a dental hygienist and a warning system for danger.
PawNation writes, "The plover comes along and, using its sharp little beak like a toothpick, removes the bits of meat from between the crocodile's teeth. This feeds the plover and removes parasites from the croc's mouth. The plover serves as a security alarm system for the crocodile. If, while in the croc's mouth, the plover senses danger from an oncoming animal, it screams and flies away. This behavior alerts the crocodile to the imminent danger, so it can slide into the water and out of harm's way."
PawNation writes, "The plover comes along and, using its sharp little beak like a toothpick, removes the bits of meat from between the crocodile's teeth. This feeds the plover and removes parasites from the croc's mouth. The plover serves as a security alarm system for the crocodile. If, while in the croc's mouth, the plover senses danger from an oncoming animal, it screams and flies away. This behavior alerts the crocodile to the imminent danger, so it can slide into the water and out of harm's way."
Eye Colors, Hazel
Hazel eyes appear to be a mixture of
brown and green. They are very uncommon so it's thought that they
are caused by a recessive gene, but in fact, very little is known
about hazel eyes and what causes them. This is a much less common
eye color than brown, but it is still more common than green.
People with hazel eyes are generally thought of as having quite upbeat, fun-loving, spontaneous characters. These people enjoy mischief and adventure, and become bored if there is little to entertain them. If you're after a good time then you'll want someone with hazel eyes around, as typically they're adaptable, courageous and even rather sensual. One word of warning would be that you should try not to cross them, as people with hazel eyes can have quite a fiery temper!
Myths state that hazel eyes change color according to mood and the person's surroundings. This is actually true - the subtle blend of green and brown coloring means that different lighting brings out different effects from the hazel eye color, sometimes looking more green, while other times having a browner tone.
Most people with hazel eyes descend from European ancestors, so many can be found in the USA and Europe. Hazel eyes are very rare in Africa and Asia, where brown eyes are the most common. My eyes are hazel.
People with hazel eyes are generally thought of as having quite upbeat, fun-loving, spontaneous characters. These people enjoy mischief and adventure, and become bored if there is little to entertain them. If you're after a good time then you'll want someone with hazel eyes around, as typically they're adaptable, courageous and even rather sensual. One word of warning would be that you should try not to cross them, as people with hazel eyes can have quite a fiery temper!
Myths state that hazel eyes change color according to mood and the person's surroundings. This is actually true - the subtle blend of green and brown coloring means that different lighting brings out different effects from the hazel eye color, sometimes looking more green, while other times having a browner tone.
Most people with hazel eyes descend from European ancestors, so many can be found in the USA and Europe. Hazel eyes are very rare in Africa and Asia, where brown eyes are the most common. My eyes are hazel.
Limiting Baby Names
Up until 1993, France had a list of
official names that new parents were required to pick from. After
1993, they were allowed to pick almost anything they wanted.
However, one that caught the attention of the court was a girl named
Nutella. The court ruled that the name would lead to the child being
teased and was not in the best interest of the girl. When the
parents failed to appear in court, the judge ruled that the girl’s
name be changed to Ella.
Belgium has a list of approved baby names.
Denmark has a list of 7,000 approved names.
Italian law says a name cannot be chosen "when the child's name is likely to limit social interaction and create insecurity."
In Japan, only official kanji may be used in babies' given names. The purpose is to make sure all names can be easily read and written by the Japanese. The Japanese also restrict names that might be deemed inappropriate.
Malays cannot name their children after animals, insects, fruits, vegetables, or colors.
In Morocco, there is a list of approved names that appropriately reflect 'Moroccan identity'. You can name a baby 'Sara' (Arabic version) but not 'Sarah' (Hebrew version).
Norway has an official list of acceptable Norwegian names and parents may be fined and go to jail if they choose to use a name not on the list.
In Sweden, "First names shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name."
During 2013, New Zealand released a report with all the names it has banned. A name may be rejected if it is thought to "cause offense to a reasonable person," is "unreasonably long" or "resemble an official title and rank." New Zealand has an agency that signs off on baby names.
In the Mexican state of Sonora, government officials pulled 61 names from the baby registry that were banned for being "derogatory, pejorative, discriminatory, or lacking in meaning".
The German government rules state that a name must clearly identify the person as male or female, and it cannot be offensive. No surname names are allowed in Germany, or are names of objects or products.
Iceland has a list of 1,712 male names and 1,853 female names. The lists exist to avoid embarrassment for the children, and are based on meeting certain rules of grammar.
The UK deed poll service has restrictions on name changes. It must have both a first and last name, and it cannot be vulgar, promote racial or religious hate, or the use of controlled drugs. A name cannot ridicule people or government departments.
Portuguese authorities ban nicknames from birth certificates. Tomás would be OK, but Tom is not allowed. Portugal has an 80-page document outlining names which are acceptable and which are not. Children’s names must be traditionally Portuguese, a full name, and not unisex.
Spain bans names that can be unisex.
China babies are required to be named based on the ability of computer scanners to read those names on national identification cards. The government recommends giving children names that are easily readable, and encourages Simplified characters over Traditional Chinese characters. Numbers and non-Chinese symbols and characters are not allowed.
Saudi Arabia released a list of names that were banned including western names and names with royal connotations like Prince.
Hungary, Lithuania, and Poland also have laws dealing with children naming conventions.
The US has fewer naming laws than most countries and is rooted in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, but a few restrictions do exist. Restrictions vary by state, but most are for the sake of practicality, such as several states limit the number of characters, due to the limitations of software used for official record keeping. Some states ban the use of numerals, pictograms, or anything other than the 26 characters in the alphabet. A few states ban the use of obscenity.
Belgium has a list of approved baby names.
Denmark has a list of 7,000 approved names.
Italian law says a name cannot be chosen "when the child's name is likely to limit social interaction and create insecurity."
In Japan, only official kanji may be used in babies' given names. The purpose is to make sure all names can be easily read and written by the Japanese. The Japanese also restrict names that might be deemed inappropriate.
Malays cannot name their children after animals, insects, fruits, vegetables, or colors.
In Morocco, there is a list of approved names that appropriately reflect 'Moroccan identity'. You can name a baby 'Sara' (Arabic version) but not 'Sarah' (Hebrew version).
Norway has an official list of acceptable Norwegian names and parents may be fined and go to jail if they choose to use a name not on the list.
In Sweden, "First names shall not be approved if they can cause offense or can be supposed to cause discomfort for the one using it, or names which for some obvious reason are not suitable as a first name."
During 2013, New Zealand released a report with all the names it has banned. A name may be rejected if it is thought to "cause offense to a reasonable person," is "unreasonably long" or "resemble an official title and rank." New Zealand has an agency that signs off on baby names.
In the Mexican state of Sonora, government officials pulled 61 names from the baby registry that were banned for being "derogatory, pejorative, discriminatory, or lacking in meaning".
The German government rules state that a name must clearly identify the person as male or female, and it cannot be offensive. No surname names are allowed in Germany, or are names of objects or products.
Iceland has a list of 1,712 male names and 1,853 female names. The lists exist to avoid embarrassment for the children, and are based on meeting certain rules of grammar.
The UK deed poll service has restrictions on name changes. It must have both a first and last name, and it cannot be vulgar, promote racial or religious hate, or the use of controlled drugs. A name cannot ridicule people or government departments.
Portuguese authorities ban nicknames from birth certificates. Tomás would be OK, but Tom is not allowed. Portugal has an 80-page document outlining names which are acceptable and which are not. Children’s names must be traditionally Portuguese, a full name, and not unisex.
Spain bans names that can be unisex.
China babies are required to be named based on the ability of computer scanners to read those names on national identification cards. The government recommends giving children names that are easily readable, and encourages Simplified characters over Traditional Chinese characters. Numbers and non-Chinese symbols and characters are not allowed.
Saudi Arabia released a list of names that were banned including western names and names with royal connotations like Prince.
Hungary, Lithuania, and Poland also have laws dealing with children naming conventions.
The US has fewer naming laws than most countries and is rooted in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, but a few restrictions do exist. Restrictions vary by state, but most are for the sake of practicality, such as several states limit the number of characters, due to the limitations of software used for official record keeping. Some states ban the use of numerals, pictograms, or anything other than the 26 characters in the alphabet. A few states ban the use of obscenity.
Robert Liston, MD
He was a Scottish speed surgeon during the
1800s. In one case, he amputated a leg in less than 2.5 minutes (the patient died afterward
from gangrene). He amputated, in error the fingers of his young
assistant (who died afterward from gangrene). He also slashed
through the coat tails of a distinguished surgical spectator, who
was so terrified that the knife had pierced his vitals he dropped
dead from fright. It was the only operation in history with a 300
percent mortality.
SUV vs. Crossover
A crossover is based on a car's platform,
while an SUV uses the chassis of a truck. The result is that
crossovers use "unibody" architecture, meaning the body and frame
are one piece, while SUVs use a "body on frame" design, meaning the
body is built separate from the frame.
SUV is often applied to both crossovers and SUVs. In the past, that was even more common. Before, SUV brought up negative associations with large size and poor gas mileage. That is when many automakers started using the term "crossover" to describe a vehicle that was "crossing over" from the practicality of an SUV to the drivability and fuel efficiency of a car.
Many vehicles, such as the Explorer, Highlander, Grand Cherokee, Nissan Pathfinder, Lexus RX, and Acura MDX are technically crossovers.
The Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition, and Mercedes G-Class are all SUVs in the original sense of the term.
If you are unsure whether a vehicle uses a car-based unibody design or body-on-frame construction, it is safe to use the term SUV. That acronym is still used to describe nearly anything with available all-wheel drive and raised ground clearance.
SUV is often applied to both crossovers and SUVs. In the past, that was even more common. Before, SUV brought up negative associations with large size and poor gas mileage. That is when many automakers started using the term "crossover" to describe a vehicle that was "crossing over" from the practicality of an SUV to the drivability and fuel efficiency of a car.
Many vehicles, such as the Explorer, Highlander, Grand Cherokee, Nissan Pathfinder, Lexus RX, and Acura MDX are technically crossovers.
The Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition, and Mercedes G-Class are all SUVs in the original sense of the term.
If you are unsure whether a vehicle uses a car-based unibody design or body-on-frame construction, it is safe to use the term SUV. That acronym is still used to describe nearly anything with available all-wheel drive and raised ground clearance.
Eyelash Facts
A study published in the Journal of
the Royal Society Interface reports that eyelashes divert airflow to
prevent drying of the eyes and protect against airborne
particulates.
Twenty two species of mammals possess eyelashes of a length one-third the eye width. Wind tunnel experiments confirm that this optimal eyelash length reduces both deposition of airborne particles and evaporation of the tear film by a factor of two. This happens because of the incoming flow's interactions with both the eye and eyelashes.
Another study found that growth of eyelashes occurs in response to exposure to allergens. Children with allergies have ten percent longer and denser lashes than those without allergies. Allergens trigger mast cells within the inside of the eyelid to release prostaglandins that promote hair growth, which presumably protects the eye. If models only knew their long lashes make them look like they have allergies.
Twenty two species of mammals possess eyelashes of a length one-third the eye width. Wind tunnel experiments confirm that this optimal eyelash length reduces both deposition of airborne particles and evaporation of the tear film by a factor of two. This happens because of the incoming flow's interactions with both the eye and eyelashes.
Another study found that growth of eyelashes occurs in response to exposure to allergens. Children with allergies have ten percent longer and denser lashes than those without allergies. Allergens trigger mast cells within the inside of the eyelid to release prostaglandins that promote hair growth, which presumably protects the eye. If models only knew their long lashes make them look like they have allergies.
Effective Mood Elevator
Bacon makes us feel
happy, satisfied, and blissful, which greatly reduces stress in our
lives and effectively relieves the negative effects of frustration,
self deprivation, and sense of lack in our existence.
Apr 10, 2015
Happy Friday
Life is a gift. It is up to you how to play with it.
I tie mine up in happiness and float it toward a Happy Friday!
I tie mine up in happiness and float it toward a Happy Friday!
90-Mile Beach
It appears, New Zealand might be stretching the
facts a bit. New Zealand's 90-Mile Beach is only 55 miles long. Back
when missionaries traveled on horseback a horse could travel on
average about 30 miles (50 km) in a day before needing to be rested.
The beach took three days to travel therefore earning its name.
However, the missionaries did not take into account the slower pace
of the horses walking in the sand, thus thinking they had traveled
about 90 miles (140 km) when in fact they had traveled just 55
(88km).
Eye Colors, Grey
The exact causes of grey eyes are a bit
uncertain, but there is a possibility that it is the eyes having
more collagen and less melanin than blue eyes. As a result, when
light enters the eye it is scattered slightly different, causing
them to look grey, rather than blue.
Those with grey eyes are generally believed to have strong characters, with a dominant, rational, analytic mindset.
Grey eyes are most commonly found in Northern and Eastern areas of Europe. They can also be found at various locations around the world, including North West Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Incidentally, Gray and grey are different spellings of the same word, and both are used throughout the English-speaking world. Gray is more common in American English, while grey is more common in all other varieties of English.
Those with grey eyes are generally believed to have strong characters, with a dominant, rational, analytic mindset.
Grey eyes are most commonly found in Northern and Eastern areas of Europe. They can also be found at various locations around the world, including North West Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Incidentally, Gray and grey are different spellings of the same word, and both are used throughout the English-speaking world. Gray is more common in American English, while grey is more common in all other varieties of English.
Millions of Lakes
There are 117 million lakes on Earth,
covering 3.7 percent of the continental land surface. This does
not include Antarctica, Greenland, or the Caspian Sea. About 90
million of these lakes are less than two football fields in size,
or 0.5 to 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1 hectares).
Weekday Name Origins
Sunday has been set aside as the “day
of the sun” since ancient Egyptian times in honor of the sun-god Ra.
The Egyptians passed their idea of a 7-day week onto the Romans, who
also started their week with the Sun’s day, dies solis. When
translated into early German, the first day was called sunnon-dagaz,
which made its way into Middle English as sone day. For some in the
Christian tradition, the first day of the week is named in
accordance with the creation tale in the first book of the Bible,
Genesis, where one of the first things God did was say “let there be
light, and there was light.” Not every culture has Sunday as its
first day, and notable exceptions are found in the Slavic languages,
where Sunday is the last day of the week and is not named in honor
of the sun. For example, in Hungary, Sunday is called Vasárnap and
means market day, and in old Russian, where Sunday was sometimes
called free day.
Monday was named after the moon. In Latin, it was known as dies lunae (day of the moon), and this made its way into Old English as mon(an)dæg and the monday in Middle English. In early pagan traditions, Monday was dedicated to the goddess of the moon, although in some Christian traditions, assigning the moon to the second day also follows the story of Genesis, where in between the first and second days, darkness was separated from light and “evening came.”
Tuesday has always been dedicated to a war god, and in ancient Greek, it was known as hemera Areos (day of Ares), modified only slightly by the Roman dies Martis (day of Mars), and later in Old English Tiwesdæg, in honor of a Norse god of war and law, Tiwaz or Tiw.
Wednesday was dedicated to the messenger of the gods, and for the Greeks, it was known as hemera Hermu (day of Hermes), then to the Romans as dies Mercurii (day of Mercury). When it was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons, as Mercury’s areas of expertise overlapped with his, they dedicated the day to Odin, Woden in Old English (calling the day wodnesdæg).
Jupiter was awarded the fifth day, dies Jovis, by the Romans, and it was assigned to Thor by the Norse, where it was originally called thorsdgr, later modified by Old English into thurresdæg, and then into Middle English’s thur(e)sday.
Friday was assigned to Aphrodite and Venus, in Latin dies Veneris. In Old Norse and English, Venus was associated with Frigg, a goddess of knowledge and wisdom. By Old English, the day’s name had been modified into frigedæg (Frigg’s day) and by Middle English, to fridai. TGIF, for Thank God It’s Friday, dates back to 1946.
Saturday historically was dedicated to Saturn or Cronus to the Greeks, Jupiter’s father and a god associated with dissolution, renewal, generation, agriculture and wealth. In Latin, the day was originally called dies Saturni, which was transformed into sæter(nes)dæg in Old English and saterday in Middle English. For some religions, Saturday is celebrated as the weekly day of rest, known as the Shabbat in Judaism and Sabbath for Seventh Day Adventists.
Monday was named after the moon. In Latin, it was known as dies lunae (day of the moon), and this made its way into Old English as mon(an)dæg and the monday in Middle English. In early pagan traditions, Monday was dedicated to the goddess of the moon, although in some Christian traditions, assigning the moon to the second day also follows the story of Genesis, where in between the first and second days, darkness was separated from light and “evening came.”
Tuesday has always been dedicated to a war god, and in ancient Greek, it was known as hemera Areos (day of Ares), modified only slightly by the Roman dies Martis (day of Mars), and later in Old English Tiwesdæg, in honor of a Norse god of war and law, Tiwaz or Tiw.
Wednesday was dedicated to the messenger of the gods, and for the Greeks, it was known as hemera Hermu (day of Hermes), then to the Romans as dies Mercurii (day of Mercury). When it was adopted by the Anglo-Saxons, as Mercury’s areas of expertise overlapped with his, they dedicated the day to Odin, Woden in Old English (calling the day wodnesdæg).
Jupiter was awarded the fifth day, dies Jovis, by the Romans, and it was assigned to Thor by the Norse, where it was originally called thorsdgr, later modified by Old English into thurresdæg, and then into Middle English’s thur(e)sday.
Friday was assigned to Aphrodite and Venus, in Latin dies Veneris. In Old Norse and English, Venus was associated with Frigg, a goddess of knowledge and wisdom. By Old English, the day’s name had been modified into frigedæg (Frigg’s day) and by Middle English, to fridai. TGIF, for Thank God It’s Friday, dates back to 1946.
Saturday historically was dedicated to Saturn or Cronus to the Greeks, Jupiter’s father and a god associated with dissolution, renewal, generation, agriculture and wealth. In Latin, the day was originally called dies Saturni, which was transformed into sæter(nes)dæg in Old English and saterday in Middle English. For some religions, Saturday is celebrated as the weekly day of rest, known as the Shabbat in Judaism and Sabbath for Seventh Day Adventists.
Deepweb and Darknet
These two words are often spoken by
the news media and we hear them on some TV shows, but they are never
explained.
The Deepweb refers to part of the Internet, specifically the world wide web (anything that starts www) that isn't indexed by search engines, and can't be accessed by Google.
The Darknet refers to non-www networks, where users may need separate software to access them. For example, Silk Road and many illicit markets are hosted on Darknet networks like I2P and Tor.
The Deepweb refers to part of the Internet, specifically the world wide web (anything that starts www) that isn't indexed by search engines, and can't be accessed by Google.
The Darknet refers to non-www networks, where users may need separate software to access them. For example, Silk Road and many illicit markets are hosted on Darknet networks like I2P and Tor.
Amazon May Print Your Product
Amazon plans to create and
patent 3D-printing delivery trucks. The patent, called 'Providing
Services Related to Item Delivery via 3D Manufacturing on Demand',
describes an effort to deliver 3D printed items manufactured on a
truck to customers.
3D printing is a process, which three dimensional objects can be printed on demand.
The 3D printing trucks that Amazon is proposing will double as delivery trucks. The patent lays out a sequential series of steps in regards to how this process will likely happen: first, a customer places an order, the 3D printable order is sent to the delivery truck closest to the customer, and the item is produced en route and delivered once complete.
The patent also covers subtractive printing, which is the process of taking a block of material, usually metal and removing pieces in order to obtain the desired shape.
3D printing is a process, which three dimensional objects can be printed on demand.
The 3D printing trucks that Amazon is proposing will double as delivery trucks. The patent lays out a sequential series of steps in regards to how this process will likely happen: first, a customer places an order, the 3D printable order is sent to the delivery truck closest to the customer, and the item is produced en route and delivered once complete.
The patent also covers subtractive printing, which is the process of taking a block of material, usually metal and removing pieces in order to obtain the desired shape.
Rabbits and Hares
Rabbits and hares are often confused with
one another. Rabbits and hares do not breed with one another in
their natural habitats. Jackrabbits are a type of hare.
From the moment they are born, rabbits and hares are easily distinguished. Baby rabbits, called kittens, are born blind and furless. They are unable to move around much on their own and are weak. Baby hares, called leverets are born with their fur and their eyes open. A baby hare explores its new world shortly after birth.
Rabbits are more social and when they are in the wild they prefer to share their burrows with other members of their colony. They sleep in their burrows during the day, hiding from potential predators. If mother rabbit needs to leave her kittens, she will cover them up with fur and leaves to keep them warm and safe.
Each group of rabbits tends to have a dominant male that gets to mate with the majority of the females. Rabbits prefer softer foods, such as grass and vegetables. Rabbits have been domesticated while hares have not.
Hares are generally larger, lithe, wiry, and have larger back legs and paws. Their ears are longer, and stick straight up from the head. Usually, a hare’s ears will have black markings. Additionally, hares usually change color according to season; they are grayish brown in spring, summer, and fall, and turn white in the winter. A hare’s skull is slightly different in shape to a rabbit’s skull.
Hares prefer to live alone, coming together only to mate (with little contention among males over mating rights), and usually make their homes in nests among tall grasses rather than dig a burrow. They also are not afraid to leave their leverets just hours after the babies are born. Baby hares are well equipped to living without their mothers at just an hour old. Hares are more likely to choose harder foods like bark and twigs.
From the moment they are born, rabbits and hares are easily distinguished. Baby rabbits, called kittens, are born blind and furless. They are unable to move around much on their own and are weak. Baby hares, called leverets are born with their fur and their eyes open. A baby hare explores its new world shortly after birth.
Rabbits are more social and when they are in the wild they prefer to share their burrows with other members of their colony. They sleep in their burrows during the day, hiding from potential predators. If mother rabbit needs to leave her kittens, she will cover them up with fur and leaves to keep them warm and safe.
Each group of rabbits tends to have a dominant male that gets to mate with the majority of the females. Rabbits prefer softer foods, such as grass and vegetables. Rabbits have been domesticated while hares have not.
Hares are generally larger, lithe, wiry, and have larger back legs and paws. Their ears are longer, and stick straight up from the head. Usually, a hare’s ears will have black markings. Additionally, hares usually change color according to season; they are grayish brown in spring, summer, and fall, and turn white in the winter. A hare’s skull is slightly different in shape to a rabbit’s skull.
Hares prefer to live alone, coming together only to mate (with little contention among males over mating rights), and usually make their homes in nests among tall grasses rather than dig a burrow. They also are not afraid to leave their leverets just hours after the babies are born. Baby hares are well equipped to living without their mothers at just an hour old. Hares are more likely to choose harder foods like bark and twigs.
Satellite Orbits
The reason we do not hear about satellites
bumping into each other is because they each have their own
protected orbit, kind of like a one lane highway. Orbits aren't
patented, but “useful systems which incorporate particular orbits,
such as technological solutions for providing telecommunications
which utilize equipment in those orbits, are patent-eligible.”
So while a company couldn't attempt to patent a specific set of gravitational dynamics, it could exert control over an orbit by patenting the specific set of innovations needed to keep a satellite in that orbit.
US Patent No. 5,410,728, was issued to Motorola, and outlines how a formation of several satellites can optimize cellular coverage. The satellite orbit is not subject to this patent, but the process of deploying them into those orbits for some use as telecommunications is patented.
Incidentally, Sci-Fi author Arthur C. Clarke wrote about patenting orbits way back in 1945. The geostationary orbit he proposed that year is now home to hundreds of satellites, and has been officially designated the Clarke orbit by the International Astronomical Union.
So while a company couldn't attempt to patent a specific set of gravitational dynamics, it could exert control over an orbit by patenting the specific set of innovations needed to keep a satellite in that orbit.
US Patent No. 5,410,728, was issued to Motorola, and outlines how a formation of several satellites can optimize cellular coverage. The satellite orbit is not subject to this patent, but the process of deploying them into those orbits for some use as telecommunications is patented.
Incidentally, Sci-Fi author Arthur C. Clarke wrote about patenting orbits way back in 1945. The geostationary orbit he proposed that year is now home to hundreds of satellites, and has been officially designated the Clarke orbit by the International Astronomical Union.
Apr 3, 2015
Happy Friday
"Life is a mirror, if you frown at it, it frowns back; if you
smile, it returns the greeting." William Makepeace Thackeray
I smile in the mirror every morning and it sticks, especially on a Happy Friday!
I smile in the mirror every morning and it sticks, especially on a Happy Friday!
The Easter Bunny
Today’s Easter Bunny grew out of
religious practices in pre-Christian Germany. Eostra, a goddess of
fertility and spring, was associated with the rabbit because of
the animal’s high reproductive rate. The legend was subsequently
merged with the Christian celebration of Jesus’ rebirth.
Easter Eggs
Decorated eggs predate Easter and have been
found as early as 60,000 years ago. About 3000 BC in Persia, eggs
were dyed red given as gifts in celebration of the first day of
spring.
The practice of giving red Easter eggs, symbolizing the blood of Christ, became a Christian tradition, with the hatching of an egg symbolizing the resurrection. The Easter egg is also a byproduct of Lent, as many families would give up eggs during those fast days, which ended with Easter.
Some of the oldest egg dyes were made from a variety of materials, including onion peels, tree bark, flower petals, and vegetable and fruit juices.
Cadbury sells over 200 million cream eggs each year in the UK. More than three for each person who lives there.
The PAAS Dye Co. launched its product during the 1880s. The first packets contained five colors for 5 cents. The company now claims to sell more than 10 million kits annually including dyes, paints, stickers, glitter, etc.
In some European countries, children go from house to house to collect eggs.
The White House Easter Egg Roll, an annual tradition on the Monday after Easter, is the only time that tourists are allowed to gather on the White House lawn. The tradition actually started on the lawn of the Capitol, by Dolly Madison during the early 1800s, and was moved to the White House in 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president.
Many Easter eggs are formed from chocolate. In Scotland, a popular treat sold in fish-and-chips shops is deep-fried chocolate eggs.
The most valuable Easter eggs are the jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs, crafted in the late 1800s and early 1900s as Easter gifts for the families of Russian czars. Only 65 were known to have been made. Most are worth millions of dollars.
The world's largest Easter egg, as recognized by Guinness World Records, was made of chocolate in 2005 in Belgium and weighed 1,200 kilograms or more than 2,600 pounds.
The term for intentional inside joke, hidden message, author's names, or feature in a work such as a computer program, video game, movie, book, or crossword is Easter Egg. The term was coined at Atari after a programmer put his name in a hidden room in the game Adventure, released in 1979. The name evokes an Easter egg hunt.
The practice of giving red Easter eggs, symbolizing the blood of Christ, became a Christian tradition, with the hatching of an egg symbolizing the resurrection. The Easter egg is also a byproduct of Lent, as many families would give up eggs during those fast days, which ended with Easter.
Some of the oldest egg dyes were made from a variety of materials, including onion peels, tree bark, flower petals, and vegetable and fruit juices.
Cadbury sells over 200 million cream eggs each year in the UK. More than three for each person who lives there.
The PAAS Dye Co. launched its product during the 1880s. The first packets contained five colors for 5 cents. The company now claims to sell more than 10 million kits annually including dyes, paints, stickers, glitter, etc.
In some European countries, children go from house to house to collect eggs.
The White House Easter Egg Roll, an annual tradition on the Monday after Easter, is the only time that tourists are allowed to gather on the White House lawn. The tradition actually started on the lawn of the Capitol, by Dolly Madison during the early 1800s, and was moved to the White House in 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president.
Many Easter eggs are formed from chocolate. In Scotland, a popular treat sold in fish-and-chips shops is deep-fried chocolate eggs.
The most valuable Easter eggs are the jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs, crafted in the late 1800s and early 1900s as Easter gifts for the families of Russian czars. Only 65 were known to have been made. Most are worth millions of dollars.
The world's largest Easter egg, as recognized by Guinness World Records, was made of chocolate in 2005 in Belgium and weighed 1,200 kilograms or more than 2,600 pounds.
The term for intentional inside joke, hidden message, author's names, or feature in a work such as a computer program, video game, movie, book, or crossword is Easter Egg. The term was coined at Atari after a programmer put his name in a hidden room in the game Adventure, released in 1979. The name evokes an Easter egg hunt.
Cheese Weasel Day
April 3rd is Cheese Weasel Day, the
holiday where the Cheese Weasel brings dairy goodness to all the
boys and girls in the tech industry. It seems to have started
about 1992 when a weasel was spotted carrying a Kraft Cheese
Single. They assumed it must be the Cheese Weasel and therefore,
that it must be Cheese Weasel Day. He was off to put it under the
keyboards of good tech workers everywhere and that is what many
techies do today. Some offices put out a spread of exotic cheeses
for all to enjoy. Some still hide cheese slices under keyboards of
the unsuspecting.
What's in a Name, Cutty Sark
"Cutty Sark" is a
brand of whisky, and before that it was the name of a legendary
sailing ship. Originally, it referred to ladies' underwear. Cutty
sark comes from the now outdated words cutty (short) and sark
(shirt). The term first appeared in an 18th century Scottish poem
where it described a skimpy nightgown worn by a seductive, but
dangerous witch.
Incidentally, since the 1960s, American writers have increasingly used whiskey as the accepted spelling for aged grain spirits made in the US and whisky for aged grain spirits made outside the US. However, some prominent American brands, such as George Dickel, Maker's Mark, and Old Forester use the 'whisky' spelling on their labels, and the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, the legal regulations for spirit in the US, also use the 'whisky' spelling throughout.
Whisky/ey is an umbrella term for a type of spirit distilled from a mash of fermented grains. Within the broad category of whisky/ey are sub-categories, including bourbon, rye, Tennessee, Scotch, Irish, and Canadian style whiskies. Whisky usually denotes Scotch whisky and Scotch-inspired liquors, and whiskey denotes the Irish and American liquors.
A way to remember - Countries that have E’s in their names (UnitEd StatEs and IrEland) tend to spell it whiskEy (plural whiskeys). Countries without E’s in their names (Canada, Scotland, and Japan) spell it whisky (plural whiskies)
Incidentally, since the 1960s, American writers have increasingly used whiskey as the accepted spelling for aged grain spirits made in the US and whisky for aged grain spirits made outside the US. However, some prominent American brands, such as George Dickel, Maker's Mark, and Old Forester use the 'whisky' spelling on their labels, and the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, the legal regulations for spirit in the US, also use the 'whisky' spelling throughout.
Whisky/ey is an umbrella term for a type of spirit distilled from a mash of fermented grains. Within the broad category of whisky/ey are sub-categories, including bourbon, rye, Tennessee, Scotch, Irish, and Canadian style whiskies. Whisky usually denotes Scotch whisky and Scotch-inspired liquors, and whiskey denotes the Irish and American liquors.
A way to remember - Countries that have E’s in their names (UnitEd StatEs and IrEland) tend to spell it whiskEy (plural whiskeys). Countries without E’s in their names (Canada, Scotland, and Japan) spell it whisky (plural whiskies)
RIP Gary Dahl
Gary Dahl got the idea for the Pet
Rock, an ordinary rock, packaged in a pet carrier, requiring no
food or care, at a California bar.
Pet Rocks made Mr. Dahl a millionaire practically overnight. He passed away March 28, 2015
Pet Rocks made Mr. Dahl a millionaire practically overnight. He passed away March 28, 2015
Rich Folk Facts
In 2013, the world had about 2,170
billionaires. Women make up 8.5% of those. Ten of America's 43
self-made billionaires dropped out of college.
Sheldon Adelson dropped out of City College of New York ($36.4 billion)
Paul Allen dropped out of Washington State ($16.2 billion)
Andy Beal dropped out of Baylor University ($11.1 billion)
Michael Dell dropped out of University of Texas ($15.3 billion)
Larry Ellison dropped out of University of Chicago ($52 billion)
Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard ($81.6 billion)
Jan Koum dropped out of San Jose State University ($7.5 billion)
Jack Taylor dropped out of Washington University ($11.4 billion)
Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard ($33.1 billion)
Four of the youngest billionaires in the world are connected to Facebook (Dustin Moskovitz, Sean Parker, Eduardo Severin, and Mark Zuckerberg, ).
America's youngest self-made female billionaire is 30 years old and a college dropout.
New York has the largest number of billionaires, with 96, Hong Kong has 75, Moscow 74 and London 67.
Carlo Slim Helu, a Mexican billionaire worth $69 billion, is considered to be the first “world’s richest man from a developing nation.” He has lived in the same modest home for the past 30 years. His wealth is equal to 5% of Mexico’s economic output.
Millionaires -
The average millionaire goes bankrupt at least 3.5 times.
In the United States, approximately 7% of households are millionaires.
A 2010 study shows that millionaires pay approximately 40% of all taxes in the United States.
According to the book The Millionaire Next Door, only 20% of millionaires inherited their wealth. The other 80% earned their cash on their own.
Half of all millionaires are self employed or own their own business.
Eighteen percent of millionaires have Master’s degrees, eight percent have law degrees, six percent have medical degrees, and six percent have PhDs.
Those with Russian ancestry have the highest concentration of millionaire households in America, with $1.1 trillion, or nearly 5% of all the personal wealth in America. The Scottish rank second, Hungarians rank third, and English ancestry groups rank fourth.
A pentamillionaire is someone with the net worth of $5 million. A decamillionare has a net worth of $10 million. A hectamillionaire has a net worth of $100 million.
The number of U.S. millionaires dropped by 129,000, to about 5 million in 2011.
On average, millionaires are 61 years old with $3.05 million in assets.
Just twenty percent of millionaires are retirees.
In 2008, there were 10 million people around the world who were classified as millionaires in US dollars.
There were 185,000 millionaires in Canada in 2011.
The largest increase in the number of millionaires in the past year were in India (21%), China (16%), and Singapore (14%).
Top five countries with highest percent of millionaires.
Rank, Country, Percentage of Population with Millionaire Status, Total Number of Millionaires
#1 Singapore 17.1% 188,000
#2 Qatar 14.3% 47,000
#3 Kuwait 11.8% 63,000
#4 Switzerland 9.5% 322,000
#5 Hong Kong 8.8% 212,000
Sheldon Adelson dropped out of City College of New York ($36.4 billion)
Paul Allen dropped out of Washington State ($16.2 billion)
Andy Beal dropped out of Baylor University ($11.1 billion)
Michael Dell dropped out of University of Texas ($15.3 billion)
Larry Ellison dropped out of University of Chicago ($52 billion)
Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard ($81.6 billion)
Jan Koum dropped out of San Jose State University ($7.5 billion)
Jack Taylor dropped out of Washington University ($11.4 billion)
Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard ($33.1 billion)
Four of the youngest billionaires in the world are connected to Facebook (Dustin Moskovitz, Sean Parker, Eduardo Severin, and Mark Zuckerberg, ).
America's youngest self-made female billionaire is 30 years old and a college dropout.
New York has the largest number of billionaires, with 96, Hong Kong has 75, Moscow 74 and London 67.
Carlo Slim Helu, a Mexican billionaire worth $69 billion, is considered to be the first “world’s richest man from a developing nation.” He has lived in the same modest home for the past 30 years. His wealth is equal to 5% of Mexico’s economic output.
Millionaires -
The average millionaire goes bankrupt at least 3.5 times.
In the United States, approximately 7% of households are millionaires.
A 2010 study shows that millionaires pay approximately 40% of all taxes in the United States.
According to the book The Millionaire Next Door, only 20% of millionaires inherited their wealth. The other 80% earned their cash on their own.
Half of all millionaires are self employed or own their own business.
Eighteen percent of millionaires have Master’s degrees, eight percent have law degrees, six percent have medical degrees, and six percent have PhDs.
Those with Russian ancestry have the highest concentration of millionaire households in America, with $1.1 trillion, or nearly 5% of all the personal wealth in America. The Scottish rank second, Hungarians rank third, and English ancestry groups rank fourth.
A pentamillionaire is someone with the net worth of $5 million. A decamillionare has a net worth of $10 million. A hectamillionaire has a net worth of $100 million.
The number of U.S. millionaires dropped by 129,000, to about 5 million in 2011.
On average, millionaires are 61 years old with $3.05 million in assets.
Just twenty percent of millionaires are retirees.
In 2008, there were 10 million people around the world who were classified as millionaires in US dollars.
There were 185,000 millionaires in Canada in 2011.
The largest increase in the number of millionaires in the past year were in India (21%), China (16%), and Singapore (14%).
Top five countries with highest percent of millionaires.
Rank, Country, Percentage of Population with Millionaire Status, Total Number of Millionaires
#1 Singapore 17.1% 188,000
#2 Qatar 14.3% 47,000
#3 Kuwait 11.8% 63,000
#4 Switzerland 9.5% 322,000
#5 Hong Kong 8.8% 212,000
What's in a Name, Birdseye
The namesake of
Birds Eye Frozen Foods was the company’s founder, Clarence
Birdseye, who introduced the concept of flash freezing to the
world. He developed his technique after seeing food freezing in
action in the Arctic, and noting how much better frozen fish
tasted if it had been frozen immediately after been caught. He
helped pioneer flash freezing as a frozen food standard and helped
develop in-store freezer cases and refrigerated boxcars that
allowed his frozen foods to travel in comfort.
Birdseye’s food was the first frozen food sold commercially in the United States. On March 6, 1930, Birds Eye frozen foods were put on sale at Davidson’s Market in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first product of its kind.
Birdseye’s food was the first frozen food sold commercially in the United States. On March 6, 1930, Birds Eye frozen foods were put on sale at Davidson’s Market in Springfield, Massachusetts, the first product of its kind.
Eye Colors, Brown
Each of the various eye colors show
something about us.
Brown is the most common eye color in the world, because it is caused by a dominant gene. Brown eyes contain large amounts of melanin, a pigment that also causes skin to darken in the sun. If you are lucky enough to have brown eyes, you are much less likely to develop melanoma skin cancer than those with less melanin and those with fairer coloring.
There is a common myth that people with brown eyes are very confident, but it is not always true, as eye color does not determine confidence.
Very dark eyes are sometimes mistaken for being black, but truly black eyes only exist in fiction. Those people who do have incredibly dark brown, almost black, eyes share many of the same traits as those with a lighter shade of brown.
It is very uncommon to find people with brown eyes in some parts of the world, especially Iceland and other parts of Scandinavia. Conversely, brown eyes are everywhere in Africa and Asia.
Technically in the brown eye family, amber eyes are of a solid color and have a strong yellowish/golden and russet/coppery tint from the yellow colored pigment lipochrome in the iris (which is also found in green eyes). Amber eyes should not be confused with hazel eyes; although hazel eyes may contain specks of amber or gold, they usually tend to comprise many other colors, including green, brown and orange. Amber eyes are very rare worldwide, and are most common in Asia and South American countries. Amber eye color can range from golden yellow to a more copper tone. There is a new laser treatment undergoing human testing in Costa Rica that turns brown eyes blue. Reminds me of a song LINK.
Brown is the most common eye color in the world, because it is caused by a dominant gene. Brown eyes contain large amounts of melanin, a pigment that also causes skin to darken in the sun. If you are lucky enough to have brown eyes, you are much less likely to develop melanoma skin cancer than those with less melanin and those with fairer coloring.
There is a common myth that people with brown eyes are very confident, but it is not always true, as eye color does not determine confidence.
Very dark eyes are sometimes mistaken for being black, but truly black eyes only exist in fiction. Those people who do have incredibly dark brown, almost black, eyes share many of the same traits as those with a lighter shade of brown.
It is very uncommon to find people with brown eyes in some parts of the world, especially Iceland and other parts of Scandinavia. Conversely, brown eyes are everywhere in Africa and Asia.
Technically in the brown eye family, amber eyes are of a solid color and have a strong yellowish/golden and russet/coppery tint from the yellow colored pigment lipochrome in the iris (which is also found in green eyes). Amber eyes should not be confused with hazel eyes; although hazel eyes may contain specks of amber or gold, they usually tend to comprise many other colors, including green, brown and orange. Amber eyes are very rare worldwide, and are most common in Asia and South American countries. Amber eye color can range from golden yellow to a more copper tone. There is a new laser treatment undergoing human testing in Costa Rica that turns brown eyes blue. Reminds me of a song LINK.
Mar 27, 2015
Happy Friday
Absorb life like a sponge and squeeze out every drop of joy you can.
I always squeeze hard enough to have a swimmingly Happy Friday!
I always squeeze hard enough to have a swimmingly Happy Friday!
DNA
DNA is DeoxyriboNucleic Acid. The blueprint of every
living thing on the planet is encoded in DNA. It can hold a lot of
information. We could theoretically encode all the world's data
(emails, movies, books, pictures, etc.) on just a few grams of DNA.
According to New Scientist, a gram of DNA could theoretically store 455 exabytes of data. The world has about 1.8 zettabytes of data, according to a 2011 estimate. All the world's information would fit on a four-gram DNA hard drive the size of a teaspoon. Also, given the right conditions, DNA can survive for thousands of years. Long past the time traditional hard drives have degraded.
Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich encapsulated DNA in tiny, dry glass spheres. The researchers say that DNA kept at a temperature of 10 °C would remain uncorrupted and readable for 2,000 years. At even lower temperatures the data could last two million years.
However, preserving data in DNA is currently very expensive. Swiss researchers spent $1,500 to encode 83-kilobytes, which is smaller than the size a picture taken on a smartphone uses. There are a nearly two quintillion kilobytes in the world's 1.8 zettabytes.
According to New Scientist, a gram of DNA could theoretically store 455 exabytes of data. The world has about 1.8 zettabytes of data, according to a 2011 estimate. All the world's information would fit on a four-gram DNA hard drive the size of a teaspoon. Also, given the right conditions, DNA can survive for thousands of years. Long past the time traditional hard drives have degraded.
Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich encapsulated DNA in tiny, dry glass spheres. The researchers say that DNA kept at a temperature of 10 °C would remain uncorrupted and readable for 2,000 years. At even lower temperatures the data could last two million years.
However, preserving data in DNA is currently very expensive. Swiss researchers spent $1,500 to encode 83-kilobytes, which is smaller than the size a picture taken on a smartphone uses. There are a nearly two quintillion kilobytes in the world's 1.8 zettabytes.
Top Ten Sports
These are the top ten sports in the world
from the lowest to highest, according to number of fans. Seems it is
not the age of the sport, but the sport itself that makes it
popular.
- American Football, # of fans: 400 million (began 1800s)
- Basketball, # of fans: 400 million (began late 1800s)
- Golf, # of fans: 450 million (began 1400s)
- Baseball, # of fans: 500 million (began late 1800s)
- Table Tennis, # of fans: 850 million (began 1900s)
- Volleyball, # of fans: 900 million (began late 1800s)
- Tennis, # of fans: 1 billion (began in 1300s)
- Field Hockey, # of fans: 2 billion (began 3rd century BC)
- Cricket, # of fans: 2.5 billion (began 1600s)
- Soccer, # of fans: 3.5 billion (began 200s BC)
Baseball Season Opens
Abner Doubleday is routinely touted
as the inventor of baseball, but there is little, if any historical
evidence to back that claim. Much like Betsy Ross and the flag,
Doubleday had a good story which circumvented the truth. When
baseball started getting really popular, there was actually a
committee called the Mills Commission organized with the purpose of
tracking down the origins of the sport.
One of the men on that commission, Albert Spalding, did not like the fact that baseball was seen as a variation on the English game of rounders. He wanted this new beloved pastime to be 100% American and Doubleday’s story fit the bill perfectly. He had a decorated Civil War general who created the sport in his youth living in a small town in New York. And so the legend began. . .
One of the men on that commission, Albert Spalding, did not like the fact that baseball was seen as a variation on the English game of rounders. He wanted this new beloved pastime to be 100% American and Doubleday’s story fit the bill perfectly. He had a decorated Civil War general who created the sport in his youth living in a small town in New York. And so the legend began. . .
White and Black
The Proto-Indo-European word bhel evolved
into many modern words meaning "white," including Spanish blanco,
French blanc, Italian bianco, and Portuguese branco, as well as
white-related words such as bleach and blank. Bhel also referred to
anything bright, like fire, and the result of fire is blackened,
charred remains. Hence, black. Symbols and sayings about white and
black:
White
A white flag is the universal symbol for truce.
White means mourning in China and Japan.
Angels are usually depicted wearing white robes.
The ancient Greeks wore white to bed to ensure pleasant dreams.
The Egyptian pharaohs wore white crowns.
The ancient Persians believed all gods wore white.
A “white elephant” is a rare, pale elephant considered sacred to the people of India, Thailand, Burma, and in Sri Lanka it is either a possession that costs more than it is worth to keep or an item that the owner does not want, but cannot get rid of.
It's considered good luck to be married in a white garment.
White heat is a state of intense enthusiasm, anger, devotion, or passion.
To whitewash is to gloss over defects or make something seem presentable that is not.
A white knight is a rescuer.
A white list contains favored items (as opposed to a blacklist).
A whiteout occurs when there is zero visibility during a blizzard.
A white sale is a sale of sheets, towels, and other bed and bath items.
A whited sepulcher is a person who is evil inside, but appears good on the outside.
White lightning is slang for moonshine, a home brewed alcohol.
A white room is a clean room as well as a temperature-controlled, dust-free room for precision instruments.
White water is the foamy, frothy water in rapids and waterfalls.
Black
The ancient Egyptians and Romans used black for mourning, as do most Europeans and Americans today.
The Blackshirts were the security troops in Hitler's German army, also known as the S.S.
Black humor is morbid or unhealthy and gloomy humor.
A blackhearted person is evil.
If a business is “in the black,” it is making money.
A “blacklist” is a list of persons or organizations to be boycotted or punished.
Black is associated with sophistication and elegance. A “black tie” event is formal.
A black belt in karate identifies an expert.
A black flag in a car race is the signal for a driver to go to the pits.
A blackguard is a scoundrel.
The ancient Egyptians believed that black cats had divine powers.
Black lung is a coal miner's disease caused by the frequent inhaling of coal dust.
Blackmail is getting things by threat.
Black market is illegal trade in goods or money.
A black sheep is an outcast.
A blackout is a period of darkness from the loss of electricity, for protection against nighttime air raids, or, in the theater, to separate scenes in a play.
When you “black out,” you temporarily lose consciousness.
White
A white flag is the universal symbol for truce.
White means mourning in China and Japan.
Angels are usually depicted wearing white robes.
The ancient Greeks wore white to bed to ensure pleasant dreams.
The Egyptian pharaohs wore white crowns.
The ancient Persians believed all gods wore white.
A “white elephant” is a rare, pale elephant considered sacred to the people of India, Thailand, Burma, and in Sri Lanka it is either a possession that costs more than it is worth to keep or an item that the owner does not want, but cannot get rid of.
It's considered good luck to be married in a white garment.
White heat is a state of intense enthusiasm, anger, devotion, or passion.
To whitewash is to gloss over defects or make something seem presentable that is not.
A white knight is a rescuer.
A white list contains favored items (as opposed to a blacklist).
A whiteout occurs when there is zero visibility during a blizzard.
A white sale is a sale of sheets, towels, and other bed and bath items.
A whited sepulcher is a person who is evil inside, but appears good on the outside.
White lightning is slang for moonshine, a home brewed alcohol.
A white room is a clean room as well as a temperature-controlled, dust-free room for precision instruments.
White water is the foamy, frothy water in rapids and waterfalls.
Black
The ancient Egyptians and Romans used black for mourning, as do most Europeans and Americans today.
The Blackshirts were the security troops in Hitler's German army, also known as the S.S.
Black humor is morbid or unhealthy and gloomy humor.
A blackhearted person is evil.
If a business is “in the black,” it is making money.
A “blacklist” is a list of persons or organizations to be boycotted or punished.
Black is associated with sophistication and elegance. A “black tie” event is formal.
A black belt in karate identifies an expert.
A black flag in a car race is the signal for a driver to go to the pits.
A blackguard is a scoundrel.
The ancient Egyptians believed that black cats had divine powers.
Black lung is a coal miner's disease caused by the frequent inhaling of coal dust.
Blackmail is getting things by threat.
Black market is illegal trade in goods or money.
A black sheep is an outcast.
A blackout is a period of darkness from the loss of electricity, for protection against nighttime air raids, or, in the theater, to separate scenes in a play.
When you “black out,” you temporarily lose consciousness.
Roller Skate Dancing
Received this from my cousin and
thought I would share this little skating, tap dancing, musical
interlude. Four minutes long with amazing Gene Kelly. Enjoy! LINK
Internet, IP, Web, and URL
The Internet is a collection of
computers and cables that form a communications network.
The Web (World Wide Web) is a collection of HTML (web) pages on the Internet. The Web is the user part of the Internet.
The term Interweb is a combination of the words Internet and Web. It is most often used in the context of joking or sarcasm.
A URL (universal resource locator) is synonymous with Internet address. A URL is usually a combination of code and text, such as 'http://www.google.com', but numbers are also allowed. A URL always starts with a protocol prefix like http://, but most browsers will type those characters for you. URLs are internally converted to IP addresses
IP address (Internet Protocol address), is a unique identifying number given to every device on the Internet. Like a car license plate, an IP address is a special serial number used for identification, such as 208.185.127.40 = www.about.com.
Bottom line, all URLs have an IP address, but not all IP addresses have a URL.
The Web (World Wide Web) is a collection of HTML (web) pages on the Internet. The Web is the user part of the Internet.
The term Interweb is a combination of the words Internet and Web. It is most often used in the context of joking or sarcasm.
A URL (universal resource locator) is synonymous with Internet address. A URL is usually a combination of code and text, such as 'http://www.google.com', but numbers are also allowed. A URL always starts with a protocol prefix like http://, but most browsers will type those characters for you. URLs are internally converted to IP addresses
IP address (Internet Protocol address), is a unique identifying number given to every device on the Internet. Like a car license plate, an IP address is a special serial number used for identification, such as 208.185.127.40 = www.about.com.
Bottom line, all URLs have an IP address, but not all IP addresses have a URL.
Google News is Cool
Why read twenty newspapers to
get a glimpse of what is going on around the world? Google News
watches more than 4,500 news sources worldwide and you can search
about 200 years of articles. You can personalize news to your
specific taste if you have a Google account and you can get alerts
of topics that interest you. It also works on your smartphone. Type
google news in Google and it will take you to the site.
Computer on a Stick
Intel is coming out with a 'Compute
Stick' that is a full personal computer. It is about the size of a
USB memory stick. On one end, the device has a full-size HDMI plug
which attaches to your TV or monitor. On its side is a microUSB port
which plugs into the wall for power using a standard USB cable. A
second, full-size USB port allows you to attach peripherals and a
microSD card slot provides for memory expansion.
Not to get too technical, but it is a quad-core Atom-powered mini PC with 2GB of RAM, 32GB eMMC storage, running Windows 8.1. The price when it comes out later this spring should be about US $150.
It also has a power button, and in addition to its USB port, it can pair with a keyboard and mouse using Bluetooth. Since Bluetooth sends a signal to about 30 feet, you can sit in your easy chair and have the best of TV and PC on one device, with no extra wires or gadgets. It also supports 802.11n Wi-Fi for connecting to the Internet and your home network. Now you can have a real PC TV with a keyboard, etc. No longer necessary to send YouTube videos from your PC as they are already on the screen. Am very sure I need one of these and hope by the time it is available I will be able to explain/justify to myself why.
Not to get too technical, but it is a quad-core Atom-powered mini PC with 2GB of RAM, 32GB eMMC storage, running Windows 8.1. The price when it comes out later this spring should be about US $150.
It also has a power button, and in addition to its USB port, it can pair with a keyboard and mouse using Bluetooth. Since Bluetooth sends a signal to about 30 feet, you can sit in your easy chair and have the best of TV and PC on one device, with no extra wires or gadgets. It also supports 802.11n Wi-Fi for connecting to the Internet and your home network. Now you can have a real PC TV with a keyboard, etc. No longer necessary to send YouTube videos from your PC as they are already on the screen. Am very sure I need one of these and hope by the time it is available I will be able to explain/justify to myself why.
You've Got Mail
This phrase and other familiar phrases
spoken by your computer including 'Welcome', 'File’s done' and
'Goodbye' were voiced by Elwood Edwards. He said his wife worked for
a company called Quantum Computer Services that became AOL and she
volunteered his voice in 1989 to the then future CEO, Steve Case. He
recorded the words on a cassette deck in his living room. The
familiar voice made it into a movie of the same name and continues,
even though Edwards has been retired for a few years.
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