Jan 5, 2018

Mattress Myth Debunked

Many have heard that a normal mattress doubles in weight each eight to ten years, due to accumulation of mites, dead skin, etc. It is totally false and the story was made up long ago by a Wall Street Journal reporter.

Robo Calls Getting Worse

Does it seem like we are getting more unwanted calls on smart phones? We are, and they are more and more difficult to stop. We are now in the phase where bad technology leapfrogs good technology and until that changes again, it is something to deal with.

US Federal Trade Commission data released during December 2017 shows a massive 4.5 million consumer complaints about robocalls in 2017, up from 2016's 3.4 million. For every single month of the year, robocalls topped the list of "Do Not Call" violations.
The six most common ones in no particular order include:
Reducing your debt (credit cards, mortgage, student loans)
Dropped call or no message
Vacation and timeshares
Warranties and protection plans
Calls pretending to be government, IRS, businesses, or family and friends
Medical and prescriptions.

In addition to all the complaints, use of the "Do Not Call" registry hosts 226 million active registrations.
The reason for the increase is the cheap new telephony equipment, ease of placing millions of calls without a person needed to do the dialing, and  digital calling systems that make it simple to automatically spoof caller ID numbers. Robo calls are becoming the 'Nigerian Prince' scam for phones.

Incidentally, the worst thing you can do is respond. The bad guys have no do not call list to put you on and no reason to stop calling. Also, once you respond, your number goes into the bank of live persons and your number will be sold to other scammers. Robo call apps help blocking, but cannot keep up with the ever shifting use of numbers used, including what appear to be local numbers.

Tongue and Taste Myth

Your tongue does not have independent zones for different types of flavor, sweetness, or saltiness. The confusion comes from the mis-translation of a German study. Actually all of the tongue is more or less equally capable of detecting different flavors, although there are different patterns of strength.

What is generally categorized as “taste” is basically a bundle of different sensations. It is not only the qualities of taste perceived by the tongue, but also the smell, texture, and temperature of food.
Incidentally, “hot” or “spicy” is often described as a taste. Technically, this is just a pain signal sent by the nerves that transmit touch and temperature sensations. The substance “capsaicin” in foods seasoned with chili causes a sensation of pain and heat.

Do Not Recycle These

Ribbons, bows, Styrofoam and the glue that sticks them to the gift are not to go in the recycling bin.

You cannot recycle wrapping paper that has metallic, glossy, glitter, or velvety flocking on it.

Plastic bags, twine, and anything else that is long and stringy cannot be recycled.

Shiny Christmas cards printed on photo paper, have metallic embossing, or glitter cannot be recycled.

Disposable plates, cups, plastic tableware, napkins, and paper towels should not be recycled. Some plastic cups may be recyclable, but read the bottom for recycle symbol. (Many people think that rounded arrow symbol means it is recyclable, but that is the resin code. Different municipalities can recycle different resins, but only number one and two plastics are recyclable in most places.)

Do not recycle candy wrappers or the bags that coffee comes in.

Pizza boxes and fast food carryout bags may include the additional message, “Recycle if Clean & Dry,” since pizza boxes and bags dirtied by a significant amount of grease or food residue are often not accepted for recycling.

Chip bags cannot go into the recycle bin, since most chip bags are made from aluminum laminated with polypropylene.

The popular K-Cup® pod as a whole cannot be recycled.

All is not lost as cardboard boxes are great to recycle, even with some tape on them.

Pantone

Pantone is the self-proclaimed global color authority. It has released its 2018 color of the year. The color is Ultra Violet 18-3838, a dark blue violet, halfway between cobalt and periwinkle. I do not understand why they cannot just call it purple.

2017 Word of the Year

The field is crowded, and the fight for Word of the Year will be fierce. The American Dialect Society will chose the winner during January 2018. For 2016, the word was 'dumpster fire'. Here are some contenders for 2017:
    Fake news
    Alternative facts
    Collusion
    Nothingburger
    Normalize
    Antifa
    Resistance
    Persisterhood
    Dotard
    Reclaiming my time
    Taking a knee
     Covfefe

According to the Oxford University Press, use of the word "Trump" has increased 839 percent. It analyzed over 100,000 short stories written by British children for a competition, and has already declared "Trump" to be the Children's Word of the Year 2017.

Feminism ranks as Merriam-Webster’s 2017 word of the year. It is defined by Merriam-Webster as: “the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity in support of women’s rights and interests.”

'Complicit' is Dictionary.com's word of the year - "Choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having complicity."

Recent past Words of the Year were not so overtly political: The American Dialect Society gave us "Dumpster fire" for 2016, An emoji was used during 2015, and 2012 brought us "hashtag." Back in 2009, "tweet" was word of the year.

During 2016 snollygoster was voted the first Haggard Hawks Word of the Year. It is a word for an unscrupulous politician

'Whatever' was voted the most annoying word of the year for the ninth year in a row.

Six Benefits of Parsley

Parsley is full of vitamin C, an essential nutrient and best known for giving the immune system a boost.

Parsley can actually improve kidney functionality by helping the human body do away with excess fluids. It is a diuretic and according to Livestrong.com, it plays an important role in the process of removing unnecessary fluids from the body.

Parsley contains ample amounts of folic acid and research from Harvard Medical School shows that foods high in folic acid can help the body regulate blood pressure and produce and maintain new cells.

Parsley Contains Vitamin K an important nutrient in helping the body respond to injuries. It helps in the clotting process, giving the body a chance to stop the damage and begin the healing process. Vitamin K has also been shown to help reduce the risk of bone damage and build bone durability.

Parsley contains compounds that can aid in digestion, according to research from WebMD,

Parsley contains anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce inflammation around the joints and ease the pain associated with conditions like osteoarthritis.

Wordology, Obdormition

It is pronounced ob-dor-MISH-uhn. It means numbness in a limb, usually caused by pressure on a nerve. Also known as falling asleep. From Latin obdormire (to fall asleep), from dormire (to sleep). Earliest documented use: 1634.

Incidentally, there is a good word that comes after obdormition: paresthesia, known as pins and needles.

Cord Cutters

Cord cutters are people who have decided to give up cable TV and find another way to watch TV and movies. The main alternatives have been streaming TV over the internet (OTT) and subscribing to services, such as NETFLIX, YouTube, Amazon Video, etc.

Another alternative gaining a growing following is using a TV antenna. The antenna technology is much better than the traditional antenna service and is extremely cheap, with no monthly fees. Recent studies have shown that over 90% of the US population is within range to stream free over-the-air HD television. Antennas do not lose stations like satellite subscribers suffer from during bad weather. In addition the signal is not compressed, so there is a noticeable improvement in picture quality vs. cable and satellite. In addition, usually there are 30 to 60 free channels available. Many find that an indoor antenna is sufficient, so no need to climb up on the roof for installation.

As of November, the latest analysis by Kagan indicates that another 1.2 million Americans cut the TV cord during the past quarter, lured away from expensive traditional cable TV bundles and by the rising availability of cheaper, more flexible streaming alternatives. The losses once again broke records for the industry, contributing to a net loss of 2.9 million traditional pay TV subscribers so far during 2017, after a loss of another 2 million during 2016.

Since 2015, TV watching growth has been in the number of antenna-equipped homes with broadband access. These increased 36 percent.