Aug 3, 2018

Astro Turf

It was originally named “ChemGrass” before being used by the Houston Astros Major League Baseball team in the Astrodome.

Contrary to popular belief, AstroTurf was not first used or invented for the Houston Astros. Before being used by the Astros, it was used at such sporting venues as Moses Brown School in Rhode Island, among others. AstroTurf was originally invented in 1964, two years before the Astros would use it, by Donald L. Elbert, James M. Faria, and Robert T. Wright, working for Monsanto Company. At the time, a subsidiary of Monsanto, Chemstrand, was developing synthetic fibers for carpeting and they decided to try their hand at also making an artificial playing surface for sports that would not require the extensive maintenance typical grass surfaces need when heavily used, as many sporting surfaces are.

During 1965, the Houston Astros organization began investigating artificial surfaces for the Astrodome baseball field. Originally, they attempted to use a special type of natural grass on the indoor field. Unfortunately, the semi-transparent ceiling panels did not let in enough sunlight and all the grass died within a few months. This resulted in the Astros organization having to paint the dirt field green, to make it appear more like a normal baseball field.

By the start of the 1966 season, the Astros decided to go with the relatively new ChemGrass. Due to there being a limited supply, though, they were only able to get the infield covered with ChemGrass for the first half of the season. The outfield was still just painted green dirt. Shortly after the All-Star break, the entire field was covered in ChemGrass and this artificial surface received national attention for the first time. This media attention after being successfully installed in the Astrodome was largely responsible for ChemGrass becoming popular over other similar synthetic grass surfaces being created at the same time.

Relatively shortly after being used in the Astrodome, other sporting teams began using ChemGrass, even some for outdoor stadiums, particularly those in colder climates where maintaining real grass can be difficult. Because ChemGrass became popular thanks to being used in the Astrodome, the product was subsequently renamed “AstroTurf”, by Monsanto. By 1987, AstroTurf had become so popular that Monsanto made it an independent subsidiary, named: AstroTurf Industries, Inc.

Wordology, Onychophagia

This is the technical term for biting your nails. It ranges from 20 to 33% during childhood and approximately 45% of teenagers are nail biters. By the age of 18 years the frequency of nail biting decreases; however it does persist in some adults

Nine More Google Facts

Google searches 30 trillion web pages, 100 billion times a month.

Google rents two hundred goats from California Grazing to mow the lawns and fields around its headquarters.

Type "solitaire" in the search box, or "pacman", and a screen with the game will appear under the box.

Type what sound does an emu, or other animal make and you will hear the sound.

The “I’m feeling lucky” button costs Google US $110 million per year, as it bypasses ads.

Google processes more than 2.3 million searches per second, or one hundred billion searches per month.

Over 60% of Google searches are on mobile.

Google still intends to scan all known existing (as of 2010) 129 million unique books by 2020.

Google offers various perks to its employees including free lunch, breakfast, dinner, haircuts, state-of-the-art gym, and the nap pod.

Superior Opinions

A recent study found that people who think their opinions are superior to others may be most prone to overestimating their relevant knowledge and ignoring chances to learn more.

Those people with the highest belief superiority also tended to have the largest gap between their perceived and actual knowledge. The belief superior consistently suffered from the illusion that they are better informed than they actually are.

Garbage Bag Hack

It is difficult to take an overloaded trash bag out of a garbage can. An easy fix is to drill several holes in the bin toward the bottom so that air is let in to prevent the vacuum effect, which is the reason the trash bag sticks to the garbage can. You are welcome.

Happy Friday

Smiles fund a happy retirement.

I am fully funded and gaining interest while celebrating a Happy Friday!

Funny Stuff

Came across this post on Reddit and had to share. It's a guy thing, made me laugh out loud. Fifty seconds long. Enjoy! LINK

Bing Cherries

Bing cherries are dark deep red, sweet, glistening, and big. The Bing cherry is America’s most produced variety. The man who helped propagate it, a Chinese foreman named Ah Bing, is a mostly forgotten representative of the Chinese workers who labored to establish orchards in the old American West.

During the mid 1800s, the Lewellings Quaker family headed west with 700 fruit trees. Their journey took them to Milwaukie, Oregon, where they established the West Coast’s first thriving nursery business. The Lewelling orchards of prunes, apples, and cherries kickstarted Oregon’s fruit-growing industry.

Ah Bing worked on the Lewelling’s farm. Sarah Ledding described him as more than six feet tall, of Manchu descent, hailing from the north of China. Ah Bing worked for Lewelling for more than 30 years, grafting, propagating, and caring for trees. The Bing cherry, Ledding recalled, surfaced one day when Lewelling and Ah Bing walked through the rows of cherry trees, where each man maintained separate rows.

In Ah Bing’s row, there was a marvelous new type of cherry. Someone suggested that Lewelling name the cherry after himself. But he said, “No, I’ll name this for Bing. It’s a big cherry and Bing is big, and anyway it’s in his row, so that shall be its name.” Next time you see them in the store I know you will say under your breath, "Ah, Bing."

Wordology, Ullage

The amount by which the contents fall short of filling a container. It is the empty part of a container between the top and the contents. "The ullage in the bottle of wine was more than I expected."

Resolution Limitations

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. Of course, most cable TV shows and movies are also self limited to 720p. Antenna reception is much better than the vast majority of cable. That is why so many people are rediscovering the antenna. Oh, and another bonus, antenna TV is still free.

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

TVs and computer hardware used to be the limiting factor in technology. Now TVs and computers are vastly improved past the point of technicians being able to make full use of them. The pendulum has swung to the point that TVs are upgrading the crappy input from cable companies to give us a better picture. It will be grand when the industry jumps to take advantage of all that TVs can show us. Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube and the various streaming services are leading the way with higher quality, better prices, and more options than cable, and that is why they are so successful.

Perseverance and Obstinacy

“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.” Anon

Four Bonnie and Clyde Facts

Bonnie was a 4’11” and Clyde was 5’4”.

Clyde was just six days away from being released from a labor camp and cut off two of his toes with the hope of forcing a transfer to a less harsh facility. He severed his left big toe and a portion of a second toe with an axe. At the time, he had no idea his mother persuaded the judge to let him out on parole. As a result, he walked with a limp for the rest of his life and could not drive while wearing shoes.

Bonnie also had a severe limp caused by an auto accident, where the car battery spilled acid on her leg and burned much of it, some down to the bone. Sometimes Clyde (who was driving and caused the accident) would need to carry her.

Bonnie and Clyde are buried in separate cemeteries in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Kissing the Blarney Stone in Texas

Shamrock, Texas has a piece of the original Irish Blarney Stone encased in a local monument.

The fragment of the original Blarney Stone is immured within a concrete monument on Main Street in Shamrock, Texas. This genuine chunk from the ruins of Blarney Castle was accidentally knocked off of the original Stone according to the Shamrock official who brought it to Shamrock in 1959. The landmark is a theft-proof, pickup-truck-crash-proof cylinder, regularly painted solid green, standing on an empty street corner.

The small town east of Amarillo holds a festival each year and crowns a Miss Irish Rose. Kissing the Blarney Stone is supposed to endow the kisser with the gift of gab . . . with great eloquence.

Google Prank

When the Google Streetview vehicle passed by an auto mechanic’s shop in England, the shop’s owner playfully staged a murder scene. A year later, a user browsing Streetview spotted the mechanic brandishing a pickaxe, standing over a man lying prostrate on the ground, and  informed police of what looked like a potential homicide. Police showed up and questioned the shop owner who quickly explained and apologized for the prank.