Oct 7, 2010

Chinese Inventions

Did you know the Chinese invented making silk from the cocoons of certain caterpillars. They also invented the compass, gunpowder, porcelain, wheelbarrow, paper, and early computer called an abacus. This was a simple calculator using beads which were moved along wires.

Others, including the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Japanese also used it to perform arithmetic problems. It can be used to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and to calculate square roots and cube root. The abacus is still in use today.

Food Fact

The Forbes 2020 team of experts and authors predicts that by the year 2018, 20% of all food consumed in U.S. cities will come from rooftop and parking lot farms.

Reusable Grocery Bag Bacteria

They may be good for the environment, but reusable grocery bags are also a breeding ground for bacteria. Many responsible shoppers choose their groceries and put them into the same bags during each trip to the store. Bits of food and debris drop to the bottom and form a perfect haven for bacteria. New food becomes contaminated and provides new droppings for the germs already in the bag.

If you plan to use reusable bags, the best idea is to find some that are washable and wash them in hot water to kill those little buggers living in the bottom.

New Intel Computer Chips

Intel's new computer chips are 32nanometers. Compared to Intel’s first microprocessor, introduced in 1971, a 32nm CPU runs over 4000 times as fast and each transistor uses about 4000 times less energy.
 The price per transistor has dropped by a factor of about 100,000.
  If you walked a billion steps, you would go around the earth 20 times.
 The original transistor built by Bell Labs in 1947 was so large it was put together by hand.
 More than 60 million 32nm transistors can fit on the head of a pin.
 More than 4 million 32nm transistors can fit in the period at the end of this sentence.
 A 32nm transistor contains gates that are so small, you can fit 3,000 of them across the width of a human hair.
 A 32nm transistor can switch on and off over 300 billion times in one second. It would take you 4000 years to flick a light switch on and off that many times.

Oct 1, 2010

Happy Friday Oct 1

Teens have time and energy, but no money.
Adults have money and energy, but no time.
Elders have time and money, but no energy.

I have the time, money, and energy to have a Happy Friday!

Smelly Room

Put out a plate of water, sprinkle some cinnamon in it, and let it sit overnight for a fresh smelling room.

What's in a Name - Aids

When Joan Woehrmann started her ambulance company in Whittier, CA, in 1955, she hit on a pretty brilliant acronym: AIDS. The letters stood for attitude, integrity, dependability, and service, which are all great qualities for an ambulance line. The name was also easy to remember in times of crisis.

By 1985, the LA Times reported that Woehrmann’s drivers were being taunted and that the public mistakenly started to think that the line only transported AIDS patients. Finally, she had enough and changed the line’s name to “AME,” even giving up the ambulances’ customized line of “AIDS 1” and “AIDS 2” license plates.

Gelotology

Gelotology is the study of humor and laughter, and its effects on the human body. It is also the psychological and physiological study of laughter. The word is from the Greek gelos, geloto meaning laugh, laughter.

A group of scientists at the University of California medical school say they have found the part of the brain that controls laughter. All of us are born with the physical and neurological apparatus for laughing, and we will do it without being taught how, starting at about 4 weeks of age.

Research has led to new and beneficial therapies practiced by doctors, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals using humor and laughter to help patients cope or treat a variety of physical and psychological issues. There seems to be something to the old saying "laughter is the best medicine." As Voltaire said, "The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease."

-   Humor Therapy: It is also known as therapeutic humor. Using humorous materials such as books, shows, movies, or stories to encourage spontaneous discussion of the patients' own humorous experiences.

-    Laughter Therapy: Clients' laughter triggers are identified such as people in their lives, things from childhood, situations, movies, jokes, comedians, etc. that make them laugh.

-    Laughter Meditation: In laughter meditation there are some similarities to traditional meditation. However, it is the laughter that focuses the person to concentrate on the moment. Through a three stage process of stretching, laughing and/or crying, and a period of meditative silence.

-    Laughter Yoga and Laughter Clubs: Somewhat similar to traditional yoga, laughter yoga is an exercise which incorporates breathing, yoga, and stretching techniques, along with laughter. Maybe they should just read some of my books.

Feeling Nostalgic

Here are a few links to some old time radio commercials and old radio shows. COMMERCIALS  RADIOWORLD You can also hear the original "Who's on First" HERE