Car Options

There is an option for BMW's Mini Cooper that will tell you how long your convertible top has been down. It is called the openometer and it keeps track of the minutes and hours that you have your top down. At the other end of the spectrum, the Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe has a feature that creates the illusion of a convertible at night. Hand sewn into the headlining are 1600 fiber optic lights that create the illusion of a starry night overhead.

Google Voice and Image Search

Two very cool new ways to make your life easier while searching. For Google Voice Search, click on the microphone icon to the right of the search box and start speaking. For Google Image Search, you can use a photo from the web, from your PC, or scan a photo in. To use this, you need to click on 'images' while on the Google page, then click on the little Camera icon on the right of the search bar. It will provide any information it can find, such as location, history, or whatever.

I used voice and it works as well or better than typing, and there were no mistyped words. Tried images and had interesting results. First used a photo of myself and it found many pictures with the same pose and coloring, but the people did not look similar and it did not find any pictures of me, although there are many on the web. Next I tried a picture of a church and it found similar colored pictures and many buildings, but also showed pictures of beaches, people with camels, etc. Next, I tried a logo, using the IBM logo. It immediately came up with 'best guess' and guessed IBM logo. It then gave history, company facts, Wikipedia info, and a thousand other results.

Bottom line, Google voice is easy, fun, and works if you have a mic on your PC (most laptops and all phones (duh) have a mic built in). Google image is not yet ready for prime time, except in limited situations, such as finding info on famous locations, buildings, logos, etc. Google Image is available now , but Voice is not available to the whole web yet. You will know when you can use it, by looking for the microphone icon in the search bar.

Sleeping Bag Bed

For those who do not like to get up and make the bed every day, how about a sleeping bag bed. Just zip it up and you are done. Makes me wonder, why didn't I think of that.

What's in a Name

In 1946, Earl Tupper introduced plastic storage ware with airtight seals patterned after the inverted rim on a can of paint, which prevented food from drying out, wilting, or losing its flavor. Despite their breakthrough nature, the products didn't sell well in retail outlets, primarily because consumers needed demonstrations in order to see how they worked. In response, the first Tupperware Home Party was held in 1948.

Origin of Bacon

A friend of mine, Sherri Moore asked me where that funny word came from, so it sent me crawling around the web for an answer, beginning with the online etymology dictionary. Records of bacon, by its many names go back to 1500BC. The word we use derives originally from the Old High German “bacho”, meaning “buttock”, which derived from the Proto-Germanic “backoz”, meaning “back.”  By the 14th century, turned up in Old French as “bacun”, meaning “back meat”.  By the 16th century, it came into Middle English as “bacoun”, which referred to all cured pork, not just the back meat. Lately, aficionados have been calling it 'nature's candy'.

American Bacon, or “streaky bacon” as the Brits call it, is usually cut from the fatty sides of a pig’s belly.  Canadian Bacon, known as “back bacon” is made up of the tender loins located on the back of pigs. Guess that means they are calling it 'back back meat', ay.

Bacon contains a nutrient called choline which has been shown to boost memory and muscle control. When deprived of choline in their diet almost 80% of the men and postmenopausal women developed liver or muscle damage. The study also found that young women can supply more choline because pregnancy is a time when the body's demand for choline are highest. Choline is particularly used to support the fetus's developing nervous system. You can also get choline from eggs, liver, milk, chicken, and various nuts. That proves it, bacon and eggs are good for you.

Happy Friday

A smile starts on the lips, a chuckle comes from the belly, but a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, overflows, and bubbles all around.

I always smile, and chuckle, and laugh when I am having a Happy Friday!

Father's Day Gift

If anyone has been wondering what to buy me for Father's Day, I have a suggestion from Beafeater. LINK

This grill is 24-carat gold plated and has six-burners, wok burner, convection roasting hood and warming rack, quartz start ignition, vaporizer grid and reflector system It also comes with a lifetime warranty. It is a perfect device for cooking up bacon wrapped, cheese filled hot dogs. Mmmm!

Origin of the Bikini

The United States tested the first nuclear bomb in 1946 in the Bikini Atoll, Pacific Ocean. At the same time, another kind of weapon was being tested on other beaches, the bikini.

Louis Réard, a French car engineer who was running his mother's lingerie shop in Paris, introduced two small pieces of clothing and advertised them as "the smallest bathing suit in the world."

Simultaneously, fashion designer Jacques Heim was working on a similar design. He called his the Atome (French for Atom)

Réard named his invention the bikini because of the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests. He thought that everyone would be shocked by the risqué display of curves and belly buttons. The joke at the time was that that the 'bikini split the atom'.

The bikini came to the US in 1947, but was not seen much in public until about 1960. In 1964 Sport’s Illustrated published its first Swimsuit Edition.

The real origin of the Bikini can be found in the above mosaic discovered in Sicily. Its thousands of colored tiles show women in bikinis playing and exercising by the beach.

Incidentally, in 1932, one of the first men's chest-revealing swimsuits, the “Topper,” was introduced. It boasted a detachable top that could be zipped away from the trunk bottoms. Many men chose to go topless in this swimsuit and were arrested for indecent exposure.

What's In a Name

The Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company, founded in 1910 by Jesse Shwayder, made suitcases and briefcases that emphasized durability and strength.

Shwayder named one of his first cases after the biblical figure Samson, a man given supernatural strength by God to defeat his enemies, wrestle lions, and slay entire armies.

It started using the trademarked name "Samsonite" in 1941, and changed his company's name in 1966. Relevant names are easier to dominate the minds of the public, than family names.