Jun 29, 2018

Michael Phelps Gold Medals

Michael Phelps has won more Olympic gold medals than India, Nigeria, North Korea, Portugal, Taiwan and Thailand combined.

Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails are both part of the same class of gastropods. Gastropod comes from the Greek words gastros (stomach) and podos (foot). Most gastropods live in water. Snails and slugs are the only gastropods that can also be found on land, but the majority of snails and slugs live in water.
The most obvious difference between snails and slugs is snails have shells. Their only other differences are in habitat and behavior. Without those big shells to carry around, slugs can squeeze themselves into many different habitats that snails cannot.

As they move along, leave behind a slimy trail, called mucus. Snails and slugs make mucus so that they can move on the ground and keep their bodies from losing moisture to the dry soil beneath them. It also protects them from being cut by sharp objects in the soil. Snails and slugs can completely destroy gardens by eating plants and fruits, including their roots, leaves, and stems. One redeeming feature is that escargot, which is made from land snails, tastes great.

Browser Resolution Format Limits

Below is the maximum resolution for each web browser on a computer. If you have a PC hooked up to your TV, you will not get the best picture quality due to browser limitations. A 720p format has a resolution of 1280×720. Most entry level TVs these days are 1080p and upscale whatever image is given, but higher resolution input looks better.

 Google Chrome: Up to 720p
 Firefox: Up to 720p
 Internet Explorer: Up to 1080p
 Microsoft Edge: Up to 4K (requires HDCP 2.2 connection to 4K display, with at least Intel’s 7th gen Core CPU, and Windows 10)
 Opera: Up to 720p
 Safari: Up to 1080p (requires OS X 10.10.3 or greater)


There are browser addons available for services, such as Netflix, to up the resolution to 1080p. Better to get a streaming box, than using a PC if you want the best quality pictures for your TV.

Jun 23, 2018

Happy Friday

Life happens, whether you take advantage of it or not.

Take advantage of being happy by celebrating a Happy Friday!

Five Kool-Aid Hacks

Remove the toilet tank lid and pour in a dark-colored Kool-Aid packet. Wait about 30 minutes without flushing the toilet. If any of the colored water appears in the toilet bowl, there is a leak. You may need to replace the flapper, or you may need to investigate further.

Fill your empty dishwasher’s detergent compartment with lemon Kool-Aid and run a normal cycle. The citric acid will help remove buildup.


Run 1/4 cup lemon or orange Kool-Aid in a regular wash cycle in your washing machine without clothes and repeat as needed to help remove scum buildup.

Kool-Aid mixed with water is a cheap way to dye Easter eggs or to color hard boiled eggs (without the shell), for a fun way to perk up a salad or meal.

Singular and Plural Words

In many languages there are certain words which have no singular form, only a plural form. It is called "plurale tantum", which is Latin for "plural only". Very often there no particular reason for it and does not conform to the rules you learn at school.
In English, pluralia tantum, the plural of "plurale tantum" are usually things that function together as pairs or sets: scissors, pants, pajamas, pliers, spectacles, etc.


There is also "singularia tantum", which are words that have no plural form, such as information.

There are some examples of pluralia tantum that have become singularia tantum. One such is 'news', which was originally plural, but is now always singular. 'Data' was originally the plural of 'datum', but is now pretty mostly a singulare tantum.

Some words can be used as ordinary nouns or as plurale tantum, and you can decide which is the most appropriate. For example, if you want to tell somebody they should apply some thought to a matter, you can say either "Use your brain" or "Use your brains". A bad person would want to blow your brains out, rather than just your brain. There are some that we always get two of, such as pants. There is one "pant" on each leg, but we never talk about them separately, because you need both. A pant would signify just one leg hole.

Ten Percent

        In 1900, less than 10% of families owned a stove, or had access to electricity or phones.
-- In 1915, <10 a="" br="" car.="" families="" of="" owned=""> -- In 1930, <10 a="" br="" clothes="" families="" of="" or="" owned="" refrigerator="" washer.=""> -- In 1945, <10 a="" air-conditioning.="" br="" clothes="" dryer="" families="" of="" or="" owned=""> -- In 1960, <10 a="" br="" color="" dishwasher="" families="" of="" or="" owned="" tv.=""> -- In 1975, <10 a="" br="" families="" microwave.="" of="" owned=""> -- In 1990, <10 a="" br="" cell="" families="" had="" of="" phone.="">


Today, at least 90% of the country has a stove, electricity, car, refrigerator, clothes washer, air-conditioning, color TV, microwave, and smart phone.

Inventions By Year

The year some items were invented might be related to why less than ten percent of people owned them.
1913 The zipper
1916 Electric power drill
1917 Radio tuners
1929 Car radio
1930 Jet engine
1931 Electric razor
1932 Electric can opener
1935 Radar
1939 Helicopter
1940 Color television
1941 Artificial heart
1944 Kidney dialysis machine
1950 Alkaline batteries
1958 Pacemaker
1962 LED.. light-emitting diode
1964 Plasma television
1976 Lithium batteries
1982 IBM PC
1988 Digital mobile phones
1989 World Wide Web (1991 live)
2001 Apple iPod
2003 Blackberry 6210
2004 Samsung OLED TV
2007 Apple iPhone
2009 Twitter
2010 Apple iPad

Pagers were originally designed and built during the 1950's, but did not take hold in terms of popularity until the 1980's. These one-way communication devices were often used by emergency services, doctors, and others who needed to be reachable at all times.

Original mobile phones basically did nothing, but call and send text messages. They are now mostly obsolete. The precursor to the modern smartphone, they were extremely useful in their time and ran for days without requiring a charge.
Fax machines were essentially a modern version of the telegram. For many years, they allowed people and businesses to transmit scanned documents from one phone number to another. They are almost gone now, except for medical and legal offices.

We originally connected to the World Wide Web via analogue and dial-up modems.

Broken Bulb Fix

If your light bulb breaks there is no need to panic. Before taking action, turn the light switch off. Round the end of the potato with a knife, put on protective gloves and jam the cut potato into the broken bulb. Turn the bulb counterclockwise, then remove.

More Google Search Tips

Asterisk - Use an * (asterisk) in place of unknown word or words. This is great for song lyrics or quotes that you may only half remember. Alternatively, ones that are often misquoted. Example: Play * Sam.
Double Period - Use a double period between two numbers to convey ranges. This is handy for pricing, dates, and measurements. Example: Samsung TV buy $1000..$2000.
Define: - Use define: to learn the meaning of words, including slang. Example, define: mortgage.
Flip a Coin – Example: flip a coin. Google will actually show a coin spinning then land on heads or tails.

Some characters used for searching, such as ~ (tilde) for synonyms no longer works in Google.

Veteran Discounts

There is a website that shows 230 businesses that offer veteran discounts. Many, like Lowes offer up to 30%. LINK The list includes airlines, home improvement stores, phone companies, hotels, outdoor stores, clothing, etc. If you need proof and do not have a small copy of your DD214, you can have them add the word 'veteran' to your driver's license for free. When in doubt, just ask the cashier if there is a veteran's discount available.

Five Factoids

Male horses have 40 permanent teeth, while females have just 36.

Giraffes Have Black Tongues.

Giant Anteaters Have Two-Foot Tongues.

Tigers Have Striped Skin. It’s not just their fur that bears a distinctive pattern.

The hollow behind your knee is called a hough, pronounced ho.

Google Reverse Image Search

This is very handy if you want to find the origin of a photo you have randomly stumbled across on the web. For example, a plate of delicious looking food that you would love to know the recipe for.
Reverse image searching is also great for tracking down original photographers, identifying things (celebrities, flora and fauna, unlabelled products you want to buy), discovering where your own work may be getting used, and debunking fake social media posts and profiles.

You can do a reverse image search by going into the ‘images’ tab on Google and clicking on the camera icon in the search bar. You can then either upload an image to look for like images, or insert an image address (right click on an image and hit copy image address). Google will then deliver its best guess about the image. Incidentally, Google was formed during 1998 and Facebook during 2004.

Jun 15, 2018

Happy Friday

If you worry about what Was or what Will Be, you miss what Is.

Get up and decide it Is time to be happy, especially on a Happy Friday!