Oct 11, 2013

Free Mug Shots

There are over a hundred web sites that publish mug shots and request payment to take them off. These are legal, but can be very bad for someones reputation and job prospects. The sites get away with their actions because the United States Supreme Court has ruled that mug shots are public records and many law enforcement agencies regularly publish them online. Mug shots are taken at time of booking and many people are exonerated or have their charges dropped.

Mug shots have been online for years, but now there are many more sites. They get most of their images from sheriffs’ and other law enforcement web sites. Some sites offer a courtesy removal for people who have been exonerated or never charged, to get their image removed for free. Others charge hundreds of dollars for removal. Unfortunate for the people who land on many sites. It could cost them thousands to have their mug shots removed.

Lately PayPal and some credit card companies have been dropping known mug shot sites as customers, making it more difficult for them to get paid. This is good for their corporate consciences, but makes it even more difficult to get mug shots removed from the web.

Vitamin C Myth Lingers

As we approach the cold and flu season, I thought it might be interesting to follow up on the persistent vitamin C myth of using it as a prevention and cure for the common cold. Some people have also claimed it to be a cure for cancer.

Hundreds of studies have now concluded that vitamin C does not treat the common cold. The results of many studies of various types, involving hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have all arrived at the same conclusion - vitamin C has no effect to prevent or cure colds or cancer.

The FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Dietetic Association, the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services do not recommend supplemental vitamin C for the prevention or treatment of colds. Vitamin C does have other benefits and the studies did not say vitamin C is bad for you, it just does not provide the cancer and common cold remedies claimed.

New Toothbrush

It has been a long time since toothbrushes have changed. This interesting personally tailored brush, called the Blizzident is 3D printed to order and claims to clean your teeth in six seconds. The Company does have FDA approval for materials and production, but toothbrushes are FDA Class 1 devices and therefore generally do not need an FDA approval.

It looks almost like a set of dentures and has 400 bristles in a mold of a person's mouth. By biting down on the mouthpiece and grinding on it, the 45-degree angled bristles are supposed to clean your teeth in six seconds.

There are also inter-dental bristles that get between teeth. The Blizzident comes with slits where dental floss can be inserted to clean between teeth and the handle has a container for the dental floss. In the middle there is also a tongue scraper and brush so you clean your tongue at the same time.

The toothbrush is tailored to a person's mouth through either a dental impression or a dental scan performed by a dentist. The 3D scan can be uploaded to Blizzident's site, where it is used to make the toothbrush with a 3D printer. The first Blizzident brush costs $299 and recommended annual replacement brushes sell for $159. The company also offers to refurbish a brush by replacing the bristles for $89. Here is a LINK to the site. Wow, personally tailored low tech and high tech in one package.

Potato Facts

China grows the most potatoes of any nation on earth, followed by Russia, India, and US in fourth place. China consumes almost half of all potatoes produced and the Europeans, per capita consume the most potatoes annually. Potatoes rank as the world's fourth most important food crop, after corn, wheat, and rice.

A fresh potato contains about 80 percent water and 20 percent dry matter. About 60 to 80 percent of the dry matter is starch. On a dry weight basis, the protein content of potato is similar to that of cereals and is very high in comparison with other roots and tubers. In addition, the potato is low in fat. Potatoes are rich in several micronutrients, especially vitamin C, if eaten with its skin. A single medium sized potato provides nearly half the daily adult requirement. The potato is a moderate source of iron, and its high vitamin C content promotes iron absorption. It is a good source of vitamins B1, B3 and B6 and minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, and contains folate, pantothenic acid and riboflavin. Potatoes also contain dietary antioxidants and dietary fiber.

Boiling potatoes in their skins prevents loss of nutrients. Baking causes slightly higher losses of vitamin C than boiling due to the higher oven temperatures, but losses of other vitamins and minerals during baking are lower.

More than 5 000 native varieties are still grown in the Andes. While the Incas called it papa (as do modern-day Latin Americans), Spaniards called the potato patata, apparently confusing it with another New World crop, the sweet potato, known as batata. In 1797, the English herbalist Gerard referred to the sweet potato as "common potato", and for many years S. tuberosum was known as the "Virginia potato" or "Irish potato" before finally displacing batata as the potato.

Daylight Savings

It is getting to that time of year when we need to change our clocks again. (November 3 this year)  Benjamin Franklin  is often credited with the idea, but he only mentioned it in jest in a satirical essay.

The idea was never seriously pushed until 1895 when George Vernon Hudson, presented the idea as a way for people to have more daylight and consequently more leisure time after work. While there was interest in Hudson’s idea, it still didn’t catch on until 1916 when Germany adopted DST as a method to save fuel during World War I. Others, including the US and Great Britain, used DST during World War I and II, yet reverted to standard time during peace years. It wasn’t until about 40 years ago, during the energy crisis of the 1970s, that Daylight Savings Time was made permanent in many areas.

Much has been argued for and against Daylight Savings benefits. I side with the majority who think it is a waste of time and energy to change clocks twice a year. Likely more time is wasted discussing the matter than any real or imagined benefits from it.

Wordology, Orchestra, Symphony, and Philharmonic

“Orchestra” is a broad term for any ensemble featuring a large proportion of string instruments. There are two basic orchestras; chamber orchestras (small) and symphony orchestras (big)

A symphony orchestra and a philharmonic are almost the same thing. They are the relatively same size and they play the same kind of music. The two terms help us tell different orchestras apart, especially in cities that have multiple groups, as Brooklyn Symphony and Brooklyn Philharmonic. Symphony orchestra is a generic term and philharmonic orchestra is mostly part of a proper name.

Every philharmonic is a symphony, but not every symphony is a philharmonic. Also, 'Pops'  is an orchestra that usually also plays (popular) show tunes.

Twilight Zone

Came across this site that has links to the top ten full  episodes of Twilight Zone. LINK
Thought some might enjoy a bit of classic writing and acting.

Another Benefit of Laughing

Laughing helps burn calories by increasing your heart rate by 10 to 20 percent. Your metabolism increases as well, meaning you will burn more calories at rest once you have stopped laughing. Find something hilarious which makes you laugh, watch a funny movie or TV show for 15 minutes and burn up to 50 calories.

Over the course of a laughter-filled year, the daily calories burnt from laughing result in a net loss of more than 4 pounds.

Oct 4, 2013

Happy Friday

It's sad to think that the current generation of children probably have no idea that Prince used to be known as 'The Artist Formerly Known as Prince'.

A princely idea for today is to have a Happy Friday!