Banana, Herb or Fruit

The banana plant is a hybrid, originating from the mismatched pairing of two South Asian wild plant species. Every Cavendish banana, the most widely known in the world, is genetically identical.

They are cultivated from cuttings under the ground. A banana (the yellow thing you peel and eat) is a fruit, containing the seeds of the plant. However, commercially grown banana plants are sterile and the seeds are reduced to little specks. The banana plant is called a 'banana tree' in popular use, but it is technically regarded as a herbaceous plant or herb, not a tree, because the stem does not contain true woody tissue.

Bottom line, a banana is both a fruit and herb.

Landline Call Blocking

AT&T, Verizon, and others have a feature for home landline phones that blocks 'Anonymous' and 'Private' callers. It will not block 'Unknown' or 'Out-of-Area' callers, so aunt Bertha's call will get through.

Pick up your phone and dial *77. This will activate the Anonymous Call Rejection feature on your landline. Anonymous and private numbers will not cause your phone to ring. When Anonymous Call Rejection is turned on, private callers will hear an automated message. The automated message will prompt them to hang up, unblock or “un-private” their number, and call again. If the caller makes their number visible and calls again, your phone will ring. If they remain private, your phone will never ring.

To turn off this feature, pick up your phone and dial *87.

There are also other options, such as dialing *60 for AT&T landline phones to block 10 local numbers, but the company charges a monthly fee for the privilege.

Happy Friday

Giving away a smile is an inexpensive gift that returns a wealth of joy.


I always like to give away smiles, especially on a Happy Friday!

Tai Chi Day

Last Saturday of April each year we celebrate World Tai Chi and Qigong Day in 80 nations. People come together, to breathe together and provide a healing vision for our world. Click the link to see videos of past events -  http://www.worldtaichiday.org/photovideogallery.html

Talking Bandages

Bandages now can detect how a wound is healing and send messages back to a doctor. 3-D printing is used to manufacture the dressings. Nano-sensors within the bandages report to doctors about events such as detected infections and blood clotting.

The work on smart bandages is at Swansea University, and could be set for trials within the next twelve months. The smart bandage effort is part of a 5G test hub for digital innovation. Professor Marc Clement said experts at the Welsh Wound Innovation Centre are also involved in the project.

Routers and Modems

 Routers and modems perform different functions. Modems connect to the Internet and (MOdulate and DEModulate) the incoming signals and routers send/route wired (Ethernet) and wireless traffic around the house. Most home boxes contain both a modem and router and, because of this the terms are often used interchangeably.

Internet Speed

Here is a look as the average internet speed for selected countries. Interesting stuff.

Older is Better

Research has shown getting older could also mean getting happier. During 2016, research from the UK Office for National Statistics concluded the most joyful age bracket was 65-79.
The survey looked at more than 300,000 adults across the UK and found life satisfaction peaked at that age before declining over 80. However, those in their 40s were shown to be less happy and with the highest levels of anxiety.

In a blog post on Psychology Today, Dr. Romeo Vitelli says that happiness can be a tricky thing to define. It can mean the kind of joy that only occurs at key moments in our lives, or it can simply be the amount of positive emotion we happen to feel at any given time. There appears to be an upswing as we get older.

A United States research project found happiness was relatively stable for people in their mid-20s to late 30s, then it declined during the 40s and slowly rose to a peak from 60 to 69 years old.

It is all relative, and there is no set rule for how happy anyone will be at certain times in life. I believe, regardless of age, you can be as happy as you choose to be.

Need to Read

We just passed World Book Day and it reminded me of the pleasure of reading. In fact, reading is the cheapest and easiest form of intellectual pleasure. TV and movies may be fun, but are rarely intellectual.
There are various ways in which pleasures may be derived. It may be the pleasures of eating delicious food, listening to music, sitting in the cool shade of a tree and enjoying the beauty of nature, inhaling the perfume of flowers, or simply delighting in the soft touch of petals. These, basically, are pleasures of the senses.
Reading, however, is an Intellectual Pleasure and should be nurtured from an early age. Learning the truths of science or philosophy is also a form of intellectual pleasure.
There are various elements that make reading a pleasure. The reader may appreciate the style of the author, the language skills used in expressing ideas, or the arrangement of ideas. Logical sequence of thoughts or the thoughts themselves may also be appealing. The pleasures of reading are truly inexhaustible as there are a variety of books, essays, novels, dramas, sagas, poems, and speeches.
The sages of old recommend that whenever you feel dejected, depressed and under the weather, get into the company of great authors and read their books. Books can be your never failing friends and they can never get you into trouble.
Reading improves your vocabulary and enhances your imagination. The more you read, the more knowledgeable you become. With more knowledge comes more confidence and confidence builds self-esteem. Reading widens your horizons. Finally, reading exercises your memory muscles. I hope my blog and my books provide fodder for great conversations.