July 11,
Bowdler's Day - This day honors the prude namesake of the word
bowdlerize. English doctor Thomas Bowdler quit
his job to focus on expunging from Shakespeare all lewd and indecent
references. His version, Family Shakespeare, came out in
1818.
July 12, Night of Nights - On July 12, 1999, the US closed
commercial Morse operations, but every year since, on that
anniversary, the Maritime Radio Historical Society commemorates
maritime radio by bringing stations KPH, KSM, and KFS back on the
air for one night. Other existing radio stations participate with
related content.
July 13, International Town Crier's Day - This holiday,
celebrated annually on the second Monday in July, is a chance to
honor the lost art of speaking loudly and starting proclamations
with "Hear ye, hear ye!" in celebration of the ancient practice of
town crying. Now Facebook is used much the same way.
July 15, Saint Swithin's Day - Swithin was the Bishop of
Winchester in the 800s. Many years after his death, his relics were
transferred to the Winchester Cathedral on July 15, 971, a day which
had heavy rains there. Since then, the belief has been that if it
rains on this day, it will continue to rain for 40 more days.
July 17, Yellow Pig Day - This is a Princeton
mathematician's holiday celebrating yellow pigs and the number 17.
It is celebrated annually since the early 1960's, primarily on
college campuses, and primarily by mathematicians. On campus, Yellow
Pig Cake and Yellow Pig Carols are tradition!
July 19, National Ice Cream Day - Sundae Sunday, annually the
third Sunday in July.
July 22, Spooner's Day - Reverend William Archibald Spooner
was a scholar and the warden of New College at Oxford. He also had a
habit of transposing the first letter of certain words. It is from
his frequent, funny slips of the tongue that we get the word
'spoonerism'. Examples: a blushing crow a crushing blow, tons
of soil sons of toil, our queer old Dean our dear old Queen,
we'll have the hags flung out we'll have the flags hung out.
July 24, National Tell an Old Joke Day - Mary Rose sat on
a pin. Mary rose!
July 30, National Chili Dog Day - Celebrated on the last
Thursday in July.
Jul 10, 2015
Wordology, Hebdomadal
It is pronounced as heb-DOM-uh-dul and is an
adjective meaning taking place once every seven days. I hope you
enjoy my hebdomadal Friday Thoughts.
Eight Strange Things You Can Find in a Library
Erie,
Pennsylvania’s Blasco Library loans out fishing poles and tackle
boxes, while several branches of the Chicago Public Library run a
“Rods and Reads” program that provides poles and tackle sets for
adults and kids.
Many libraries lend out passes for free or discounted admission to museums and other institutions. In Michigan, the Library Network provides “Michigan Activity Passes” for admission or discounts at more than 100 museums, galleries, and other institutions across the state. Georgia libraries have passes for Georgia State Parks and historic sites that provide admission for four people and cover parking fees.
Libraries in Ann Arbor, Minneapolis, Iowa City, Aurora, Ill., and Braddock, Penn. have original artwork, prints, posters, and even sculptures that you can take home and display.
The Chicago Public Library and New York Public Library both loan out mobile hotspots so patrons can have mobile broadband Internet access at home or on the go.
Arizona’s Pima County Public Library has seeds for hundreds of types of vegetables, herbs, and flowers that patrons can take home and plant in their gardens. The library encourages borrowers to save and donate seeds from their grown plants.
Berkeley and Oakland public libraries both have a variety of carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical, and landscaping tools to lend out. The Ann Arbor library has a tool collection, but focuses on uncommon tools like thermal leak detectors and air quality meters.
The Forbes Library in Northampton, Mass. has banjos, bongos, and ukuleles to lend.
Libraries around the world host “human library” programs where visitors can sit down with human 'books' and learn about their different cultures, backgrounds, and life experiences.
Many libraries lend out passes for free or discounted admission to museums and other institutions. In Michigan, the Library Network provides “Michigan Activity Passes” for admission or discounts at more than 100 museums, galleries, and other institutions across the state. Georgia libraries have passes for Georgia State Parks and historic sites that provide admission for four people and cover parking fees.
Libraries in Ann Arbor, Minneapolis, Iowa City, Aurora, Ill., and Braddock, Penn. have original artwork, prints, posters, and even sculptures that you can take home and display.
The Chicago Public Library and New York Public Library both loan out mobile hotspots so patrons can have mobile broadband Internet access at home or on the go.
Arizona’s Pima County Public Library has seeds for hundreds of types of vegetables, herbs, and flowers that patrons can take home and plant in their gardens. The library encourages borrowers to save and donate seeds from their grown plants.
Berkeley and Oakland public libraries both have a variety of carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical, and landscaping tools to lend out. The Ann Arbor library has a tool collection, but focuses on uncommon tools like thermal leak detectors and air quality meters.
The Forbes Library in Northampton, Mass. has banjos, bongos, and ukuleles to lend.
Libraries around the world host “human library” programs where visitors can sit down with human 'books' and learn about their different cultures, backgrounds, and life experiences.
Oxford's Student Atlas
Had to share a recent finding;
one of my books showed up in the Oxford's Student Atlas, 0198325800,
9780198325802, Oxford University Press, Incorporated.
"Medical Humor, Medical Nonsense to Tickle Your Funnybone, Thomas F. Shubnell Ph. D., 2008, Humor, 340 pages. Laughter is an orgasm triggered by the intercourse of sense and nonsense. Pain killers are released during a deep laugh and stress hormones are decreased." I am chuffed to bits.
"Medical Humor, Medical Nonsense to Tickle Your Funnybone, Thomas F. Shubnell Ph. D., 2008, Humor, 340 pages. Laughter is an orgasm triggered by the intercourse of sense and nonsense. Pain killers are released during a deep laugh and stress hormones are decreased." I am chuffed to bits.
Tech Tidbits
Many people are afraid to charge their phone
or tablet overnight because they think it might overcharge and
destroy the battery, but modern electronics automatically stop
charging and will not overcharge.
Do not leave your gadget in the car or outdoors as extreme heat and cold will harm both your battery life and battery health. Cell phone batteries can swell and be destroyed within hours due to extreme heat. In extreme cold areas batteries run out very fast
Older Nickel-Cadmium batteries had a memory effect that meant you had to drain them every time. Newer lithium-ion batteries do not have that problem. In fact, li-ion batteries last longest when you keep them between 40% and 80% charged.
Whether you shut down your computer nightly comes down to personal preference and the vagaries of Microsoft operating systems. If you never shut down your computer, it tends to slow down over time, so a restart every now and then will keep the speed up.
If your Internet connection is slower than usual, try unplugging both your modem and router from the Internet source for 10 to 15 seconds. This usually works to speed things up. Unplugging many from the power source does not work as they have internal batteries, so using the reset button another way to solve this.
Every Web browser has a private mode. When private browsing mode is on, the browser will not record where you go and it wipes most of the information someone could use to piece together your online travels. However, private browsing isn't foolproof. It doesn't hide your browsing from your Internet service provider, the sites you visit, or any law enforcement that happens to be watching. Companies typically log sites visited. Private just means that it is harder to find.
Do not leave your gadget in the car or outdoors as extreme heat and cold will harm both your battery life and battery health. Cell phone batteries can swell and be destroyed within hours due to extreme heat. In extreme cold areas batteries run out very fast
Older Nickel-Cadmium batteries had a memory effect that meant you had to drain them every time. Newer lithium-ion batteries do not have that problem. In fact, li-ion batteries last longest when you keep them between 40% and 80% charged.
Whether you shut down your computer nightly comes down to personal preference and the vagaries of Microsoft operating systems. If you never shut down your computer, it tends to slow down over time, so a restart every now and then will keep the speed up.
If your Internet connection is slower than usual, try unplugging both your modem and router from the Internet source for 10 to 15 seconds. This usually works to speed things up. Unplugging many from the power source does not work as they have internal batteries, so using the reset button another way to solve this.
Every Web browser has a private mode. When private browsing mode is on, the browser will not record where you go and it wipes most of the information someone could use to piece together your online travels. However, private browsing isn't foolproof. It doesn't hide your browsing from your Internet service provider, the sites you visit, or any law enforcement that happens to be watching. Companies typically log sites visited. Private just means that it is harder to find.
Interesting YouTube and Twitter Facts
It would take more
than a thousand years to watch every movie on YouTube and another
one hundred hours of video are uploaded every minute. YouTube
Content ID scans over 400 years of video every day. More than 1
billion unique users visit YouTube each month.
The number of words posted on Twitter each day would fill more than a ten million page book.
The number of words posted on Twitter each day would fill more than a ten million page book.
Jul 3, 2015
Happy July 4th
Tomorrow is July 4, and is Independence Day
in the US. It is commonly known as the Fourth of July or July Fourth
and is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the
adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776,
declaring independence from Great Britain (but we are still
friends).
Excavator Hot Dog
Just in time for a hot dog holiday, a
Finnish excavator operator puts together a hot dog with fixings for
a friend in this commercial for Statoil, a European gas station
chain. Very delicate operation with a monster machine. Fun to watch
and only a minute long. LINK
Help With ToDo List
Need some help getting things done
around the house so you have more time to play on July 4th?
Crowdsourcing is great for getting things done through the power of
crowds. TaskRabbit is an interesting site I recently found. It helps
people to get others to do their chores. The most interesting thing
about TaskRabbit is that you can pay someone to do chores you do not
like or have time to do and you can also sign up to do tasks that
you do like and have someone pay you. Think of it as like an Angie's
List for smaller tasks. There are Taskrabbits in 19 cities so far
and more are coming.
Typical tasks listed on the site include; clean your house, run your errands, clean your oven, build your IKEA furniture, hang your shelves, do your shopping, help with a party, and more. LINK
Typical tasks listed on the site include; clean your house, run your errands, clean your oven, build your IKEA furniture, hang your shelves, do your shopping, help with a party, and more. LINK
Robots and Games
Rock-paper-scissors is a game that tends
to get very frustrating when you lose. Now think about losing to a
machine and every time. The rock-paper-scissors robot is called
Janken robot and was developed by the Ishikawa Watanabe Laboratory
in Japan.
As for how the robot is able to beat its human opponent every time, the Janken robot cheats. The main purpose is not that of beating people at rock-paper-scissors. The robot uses visual feedback to respond to the actions of a human hand in a matter of milliseconds. This technology opens the door to potential applications that involve precise cooperation between a human and a robot. The robot can be used remotely as the sensors responsible for recording the signals of a human do not need to be in the immediate vicinity of the machine.
The Janken robot is able to respond so fast to human movements that it can potentially be used to help out in a wide variety of fields. Ishikawa Watanabe Laboratory says that the robot can also be programmed to have a delayed response to human actions if needed, which might make it even more useful depending on the situation. Incidentally, they used to play rock, paper, scissors, bacon. They took out bacon because it always won.
As for how the robot is able to beat its human opponent every time, the Janken robot cheats. The main purpose is not that of beating people at rock-paper-scissors. The robot uses visual feedback to respond to the actions of a human hand in a matter of milliseconds. This technology opens the door to potential applications that involve precise cooperation between a human and a robot. The robot can be used remotely as the sensors responsible for recording the signals of a human do not need to be in the immediate vicinity of the machine.
The Janken robot is able to respond so fast to human movements that it can potentially be used to help out in a wide variety of fields. Ishikawa Watanabe Laboratory says that the robot can also be programmed to have a delayed response to human actions if needed, which might make it even more useful depending on the situation. Incidentally, they used to play rock, paper, scissors, bacon. They took out bacon because it always won.
Five Internet Firsts
Symbolics Inc. registered the first
domain name, Symbolics.com, on March 15, 1985, before the real
internet was born. Symbolics Inc. grew out of MIT’s Artificial
Intelligence lab, and was the first company to make workstation
computers.
CERN launched very first website on August 6, 1991. It was a simple page, similar to a Word document with black lettering on a white background with blue hyperlinks. It briefly described project W3, better known now as the World Wide Web.
The first picture ever uploaded to the World Wide Web on July 18, 1992 was a picture of the all-girl comedy group Les Horrible Cernettes. The group was made up of administrative assistants and partners of researchers at The European Organization for Nuclear Research.
A little-known band called Severe Tire Damage, played live on the Internet for the first time on June 24, 1993.
YouTube was registered as a domain on February 14, 2005. On April 23, 2005, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim posted the first video called 'Me at the zoo'. The 19-second video features Karim standing in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo, talking about his interest in “really, really, really long trunks.”
Incidentally, the Internet is what you connect to and the Web is how you view it.
CERN launched very first website on August 6, 1991. It was a simple page, similar to a Word document with black lettering on a white background with blue hyperlinks. It briefly described project W3, better known now as the World Wide Web.
The first picture ever uploaded to the World Wide Web on July 18, 1992 was a picture of the all-girl comedy group Les Horrible Cernettes. The group was made up of administrative assistants and partners of researchers at The European Organization for Nuclear Research.
A little-known band called Severe Tire Damage, played live on the Internet for the first time on June 24, 1993.
YouTube was registered as a domain on February 14, 2005. On April 23, 2005, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim posted the first video called 'Me at the zoo'. The 19-second video features Karim standing in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo, talking about his interest in “really, really, really long trunks.”
Incidentally, the Internet is what you connect to and the Web is how you view it.
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