Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scout cookies trace their roots back to 1917, when an Oklahoma scout troop sold cookies as a fundraiser at their local high school.

The cookies are produced by two bakeries: ABC Bakers (a subsidiary of Interbake Foods) and Little Brownie Bakers (owned by Keebler/Kellogg’s). There are some major differences between the cookies they produce, but the core five cookies are the same, although with different names: Thin Mints, Trefoils or Shortbread, Samoas or Caramel deLites,  Tagalongs or Peanut Butter Patties, and Do-si-dos or Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

Samoas, Tagalongs, Trefoils, and Do-si-dos, are produced by Little Brownie. Shortbread, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches are produced by ABC. The only cookie name shared by both companies is Thin Mints.

Other, newer names cater to specific audiences. Both Little Brownie’s Toffee-Tastic and ABC’s Trios are gluten-free. Little Brownie’s Thin Mints and ABC’s Lemonades, Thanks-A-Lots, Thin Mints, and Peanut Butter Patties are vegan.

About 25 percent of all Girl Scout cookies sold are Thin Mints. Samoas or Caramel deLites are second with 19 percent of sales. Once the cost of the cookies is repaid to the bakery, all of the net revenue raised through Girl Scout Cookie sales stays with the local councils and troops. Am waiting for a new flavor, bacon peanut butter sammie.

Happy Friday

"I think you can destroy your now worrying about tomorrow." - Janis Joplin

I never worry about tomorrow while enjoying a Happy Friday!

Buying Light Bulbs

We typically have been buying light bulbs based on how much energy they consume (Watts), regardless of light emitted (Lumens). All that began to change with the advent of different types of light bulbs, such as CFL, halogen, LED, etc., since they consume different amounts of energy to produce the same amount of light.

Lumens measure how much light you are getting from a bulb, regardless of type and regardless of energy consumed. This equalizes all bulbs and types for comparison. More lumens means brighter light.

Another measurement that is not well understood is Kelvin. It is a scale of measurement for the color a light produces. The higher the Kelvin (K) number, the cooler the light appears. Most bulbs will be in the 2,500K to 6,500K range, with 2,500 being the warmest and 6,500 the coolest. Kelvin is usually ignored except for specific lighting circumstances. The 2,700K to 3,000K range is warm and inviting, 3,500K casts a neutral light, 4,100K casts a cool and bright light, 5,500K to 6,500K range is closest to daylight.

To compare brightness of typical old style bulbs, here are a few examples:
Replace a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a bulb that gives you about 1600 lumens,
Replace a 75W bulb with a bulb that gives you about 1100 lumens,
Replace a 60W bulb with a bulb that gives you about 800 lumens,
Replace a 40W bulb with a bulb that gives you about 450 lumens.

Sixty watt bulbs used to be the standard as they offered the best compromise of minimum required light and cheaper cost. Now that energy cost has been so greatly reduced, 1100 lumen lights are becoming the standard minimum. Brighter lights make it easier to see and make everything look better, especially when trying to sell your house.

Wordology, Accumagate

When an individual, while under the influence of alcohol, stumbles over his or her words and accidentally invents a new one, they have accumagated, such as while trying to say 'communicate' you accidentally say 'accumagate'. It goes with the next morning feeling crapulous.

Addyi a Year Later

So, my friend Jeff asked another puzzler this week, "What happened to Addyi?" Addyi is the brand name for a little pink pill called flibanserin and known as the 'female Viagra'.  It received approval from the FDA, in August, 2015. It is a non-hormonal serotonin to treat a little or no sexual desire disorder in pre-menopausal women. The manufacturer states that flibanserin corrects an imbalance of dopamine and norepinephrine, both responsible for sexual excitement, while decreasing levels of serotonin, responsible for sexual inhibition.

The difference between Addyi and Viagra type drugs is that the men's medications are physiological. Addyi targets lack of libido and affects the balance of certain chemicals in the brain. It also requires a daily (taken at bedtime) dose. JAMA reported a benefit for flibanserin over a placebo.

One study showed marginal results for women, compared to Viagra's immediate physical results for men.  Severe adverse reactions have been observed, including dizziness, low blood pressure, and passing out after taking the drug along with much alcohol.

Incidentally, in English the meaning of the name Addy is ardent (characterized by intense emotion).

Internet Users

Here is a chart that shows the increasing number of internet users for the past few years.

Number Seven

I may be a day late, but seven is still a special number. The world was formed in seven days, there are seven wonders of the world, seven deadly sins, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, seven hills of Rome, seventh heaven, etc.

•     Shabbat is the seventh day of the week. Shabbat connects the six days of the week. All of the other days revolve around it. It serves as the center for the three days before it and the three days after it.
•     Number 7 is the number of perfection, security, safety, and rest.
•     Number Seven contains the number three of the heavens and soul with the number four of the earth and body.
•     The Pythagoreans called the number 7 “the Septad”.
•     Seven colors of the rainbow. Isaac Newton identified the seven colors of the rainbow as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
•     There are seven days in a week.
•     Each airplane in Boeing's line of passenger jets is named with a 3-digit number beginning and ending in 7.
•     There are seven dwarfs.
•     As You Like It by William Shakespeare's contains Shakespeare's 7 Ages of Man theory.
•     There are seven notes to the diatonic scale.
•     Music has seven notes in an octave (the eighth is a repeat of the first): Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La Ti, Do.
•     There are seven letters in the Roman numeral system.
•     Seven circles form the symbol called “The Seed of Life”. The Seed of Life symbolizes the six days of creation. The central circle symbolizes the day of rest.
•     Number seven is the number of Neptune.
•     In the Harry Potter series of novels by J.K. Rowling, seven is said to be the most powerfully magical number.
•     Number seven is lucky for Cancer and Pisces.
•     In the Tarot, seven is the card of the Chariot. The Chariot is symbolic of the need to focus.
•     September means “the seventh month” in Latin.
•     The British fifty pence coin is a heptagon (seven sided).
•     Nitrogen (N) has the atomic number 7.
•     Number 7 is the international country calling code for Russia.
•     Lotus Seven was an open top, two-seater sports car.
•     The opposite sides of a dice always equal the number seven when added.
•     In Japan there are Seven Lucky Gods. They have a ship called Takarabune, the Treasure Ship. They arrive in town every New Year and give gifts to all worthy people.
•     In Hindu weddings the bride and groom walk around the holy fire seven times during the wedding ceremony.
•     Seven people have been beheaded privately on Tower Green within the walls of the Tower of London.
•     There are seven continents – Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.

I could go on, but it is already the eighth.

What's in a Name, Frisbie

William Russell Frisbie bought a bakery in Connecticut in the late 19th century, which he called the Frisbie Pie Company. After Frisbie's death, his company continued to flourish and it 1956 reached a peak production of 80,000 pies per day. Pies and cookies made by the company came with plate-shaped tin bearing the name 'Frisbee Pies'.

Yale students discovered a second use for the tins, and began to hurl them around the university campus. As the flying disk approached its target, the thrower would shout "Frisbie" as a warning. The slightly different spelling "frisbee" is now used for the toy.

Internet and Web

The Associated Press announced that the next edition of its stylebook will endorse 'internet' over 'Internet' and 'web' over 'Web'.

The change is the latest in a long-running debate over whether 'the internet' is a proper noun,  no different than a television or a hair roller. AP Standards Editor Thomas Kent said, “The changes reflect a growing trend toward lowercasing both words, which have become generic terms.” Hopefully the automated spell checkers will be updated by then.

Amazing Facts III Trivia Treasures

Amazing Facts III Trivia Treasures is now available on Amazon (my 52nd book). If you liked the first two Amazing Facts, you will love this one. If you have not read the others. Try this one and you can always go back to buy the others. LINK

Thousands more amazing facts about things you don’t know, but want to know, and facts you think you know but don’t. Hundreds of facts about food, laughter, health, medicine, technology, etc. Origins of words and sayings. Popular myths debunked and so much more. If you are interested, disinterested, lazy, or sharp of wit, this book will keep you amazed, interested, entertained, and anxious to share your new-found knowledge to impress friends and family. All organized and fully indexed for your inner geek to find specific information.

Happy Friday

“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.” ~ Lucius Seneca

There is always an opportunity for kindness, especially on a Happy Friday!

Cheese Weasel Day

On April 4, 2016 give your favorite tech person a Thank You using #cheeseweaselday on Twitter. Send someone you know in the tech sector a Cheese Weasel Day Greeting card. Arrange secretly for a slice of cheese to be placed under the mouse pad of a tech person you know. They will understand.