Normally, I extremely dislike
commercials and mute them at best or change channels. Have heard a
few lately that struck my fancy because of the background music. One
in particular had a track I remembered, but could not recall the
artist. As usual, I scoured the web to find out more information.
It was Parov Stelar, one of my new besties. His musical style is
called Electronic Swing. The first YouTube video I remember from him
'All Night', complete with amazing dancing LINK.
Here is one with vocals from singer Cleo Panther (I think I love
her) 'Nobody's Fool' LINK.
Here is one for the oldies, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing
to Parov's 'Booty Swing', with samples from 'Oriental Swing' LINK
and a rousing live version LINK. These
will get your toes a tappin.
Oct 10, 2014
What's in a Name, Starbucks
Starbucks is named for
Captain Ahab’s first mate, Starbuck in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick.
The founders had considered naming it Pequod's, after Ahab’s ship.
Coffee related and true - The first webcam watched a coffee pot. It allowed researchers at Cambridge to monitor the coffee pot without leaving their desks. Well, call me Ishmael.
Coffee related and true - The first webcam watched a coffee pot. It allowed researchers at Cambridge to monitor the coffee pot without leaving their desks. Well, call me Ishmael.
New Internet Rumor Tracker
Emergent is a real-time rumor
tracker. http://www.emergent.info/about
It is part of a research project with the Tow Center for Digital
Journalism at Columbia University that focuses on how unverified
information and rumor are reported in the media. It aims to develop
and best practices for debunking misinformation. Kind of like a
"real time" version of Snopes.
You can view a list of rumors being tracked on the homepage, along with their current claim state (True, False, Unverified). Click on a story to visit a page that visualizes the sources reporting the rumor, and a breakdown of social shares per source. You can also click on individual articles on the story page to see specific revision and social share data about that article.
You can view a list of rumors being tracked on the homepage, along with their current claim state (True, False, Unverified). Click on a story to visit a page that visualizes the sources reporting the rumor, and a breakdown of social shares per source. You can also click on individual articles on the story page to see specific revision and social share data about that article.
Wordology, Crocodility
I love the way that word rolls off
the tongue. Crocodility is an ancient word for fallacious reasoning
See if you can follow this paradox. A crocodile snatches a young boy from a riverbank. His mother pleads with the crocodile to return him, to which the crocodile replies that he will only return the boy safely if the mother can guess correctly whether or not he will return the boy.
There is no problem if the mother guesses that the crocodile will return him. If she is right, he is returned; if she is wrong, the crocodile keeps him. If she answers that the crocodile will not return him, however, we end up with a paradox: if she is right and the crocodile never intended to return her child, then the crocodile has to return him, but in doing so breaks his word and contradicts the mother’s answer. On the other hand, if she is wrong and the crocodile actually did intend to return the boy, the crocodile must then keep him even though he intended not to, thereby also breaking his word.
The paradox is such an enduring logic problem that in the Middle Ages the word 'crocodilite' came to be used to refer to any similarly brain-twisting dilemma where you admit something that is later used against you.
See if you can follow this paradox. A crocodile snatches a young boy from a riverbank. His mother pleads with the crocodile to return him, to which the crocodile replies that he will only return the boy safely if the mother can guess correctly whether or not he will return the boy.
There is no problem if the mother guesses that the crocodile will return him. If she is right, he is returned; if she is wrong, the crocodile keeps him. If she answers that the crocodile will not return him, however, we end up with a paradox: if she is right and the crocodile never intended to return her child, then the crocodile has to return him, but in doing so breaks his word and contradicts the mother’s answer. On the other hand, if she is wrong and the crocodile actually did intend to return the boy, the crocodile must then keep him even though he intended not to, thereby also breaking his word.
The paradox is such an enduring logic problem that in the Middle Ages the word 'crocodilite' came to be used to refer to any similarly brain-twisting dilemma where you admit something that is later used against you.
My Blog Statistics
Interesting statistics
from last month show that the top five viewing countries to my
blog, in order were Ukraine, US, France, Russia, and UK. It has
been a very long time since US was not first on the list.
Thanks and welcome to my new best friends from Ukraine.
Oct 3, 2014
Happy German-American Day
It became Public Law 100-104 when
President Reagan signed it on August 18, 1987. The US celebrates
German-American Day on Oct. 6. It commemorates the date in 1683 when
13 German families from Krefeld, near the Rhine landed in
Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown,
Pennsylvania, the first German settlement in the original thirteen
American colonies. About 1 in 4 Americans claim part or full German
heritage.
Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is observed on October 3, when the official German holiday commemorates Germany's reunification in 1990, when East and West Germany once again became one country known as the Federal Republic of Germany die Bundesrepublik Deutschland).
German Pioneers Day is celebrated in Ontario, Canada on the day after Canadian Thanksgiving, second Monday in October. A law passed by the Ontario provincial Legislative Assembly in 2000 proclaimed the annual celebration of the German contributions to Canada on the day after Canadian Thanksgiving.
Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is observed on October 3, when the official German holiday commemorates Germany's reunification in 1990, when East and West Germany once again became one country known as the Federal Republic of Germany die Bundesrepublik Deutschland).
German Pioneers Day is celebrated in Ontario, Canada on the day after Canadian Thanksgiving, second Monday in October. A law passed by the Ontario provincial Legislative Assembly in 2000 proclaimed the annual celebration of the German contributions to Canada on the day after Canadian Thanksgiving.
National Pizza Month
It was first observed in the US during
October 1984. The observance was thought up by Gerry Durnell from
Santa Claus, Indiana and the founder of Pizza Today magazine. It is
also observed throughout much of Canada.
The US has about 63,000 pizzerias and 94% of Americans eat pizza at least once a month. About three billion pizzas are sold in the United States every year, plus an additional one billion frozen pizzas. That works out to about 100 acres of pizza per day, or 350 slices per second.
The US has about 63,000 pizzerias and 94% of Americans eat pizza at least once a month. About three billion pizzas are sold in the United States every year, plus an additional one billion frozen pizzas. That works out to about 100 acres of pizza per day, or 350 slices per second.
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