My useful and useless facts thread

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<strong>The next time you hear a politician use the</strong>




<strong>word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about</strong>




<strong>whether you want the 'politicians' spending</strong>




<strong>YOUR tax money.</strong>




<strong>A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,</strong>




<strong>but one advertising agency did a good job of</strong>




<strong>putting that figure into some perspective in</strong>




<strong>one of its releases.</strong><strong>








A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.





B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.





C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were </strong>




<strong> living in the Stone Age.</strong><strong>





D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.





E. </strong><strong>A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and</strong>




<strong> 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.</strong> <strong>


</strong><strong>


</strong>
 
Yes, you can read this...go ahead..



I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
 
did you know the reason why american spellings of certain words differ from the english spellings (color/colour, center/centre, honor/honour) is because noah webster believed english spelling rules were unnecessarily complex. in his later life he even advocated a further move away from the english spellings and developing an even more simplified, and uniquely american, system of spellings based on pronunciation, as well as eliminating unnecessary letters such as q. nouh webstr wuld hav us rite like this. intresteen huh?
 
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071213/sc_livescience/magmamaybemeltinggreenlandice">Magma May Be Melting Greenland Ice</a></p>

<p>SAN FRANCISCO—Global warming may not be the only thing melting Greenland. Scientists have found at least one natural magma hotspot under the Arctic island that could be pitching in. </p>

<p>In recent years, Greenland’s ice has been melting more and flowing faster into the sea—a record amount of ice melted from the frozen mass this summer, according to <a href="http://www.livescience.com/environment/071211-ap-arctic-melt.html">recently released data</a>—and Earth’s rising temperatures are suspected to be the main culprit. </p>

<p><a target="ss" onclick="return openSS(this.href);" href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Icebergs-float-bay-off-Ammassalik-Island-Greenland-July-19-2007/photo//071212/481/45429d403dfb4d40a093c6edf708d278//s:/livescience/20071213/sc_livescience/magmamaybemeltinggreenlandice;_ylt=Avqb8mlWmSgRyQKh0RosHGmzvtEF"><img height="106" alt="Icebergs float in a bay off Ammassalik Island, Greenland, in this July 19, 2007 file picture. A record amount of Greenland's ice sheet melted this summer ? 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark ? U.S. scientists are reporting this week in an ominous new sign of global warming. (AP Photo/John McConnico, file)" width="180" border="0" src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071212/capt.45429d403dfb4d40a093c6edf708d278.correction_arctic_melt_ny350.jpg?x=180&y=106&sig=2DVe3Ynlge0tfS6ZWcrGxg--" /></a></p>
 
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.local6.com/news/14857286/detail.html">School in FL</a> is once again safe from blade-wielding 10-year-olds.</p>

<p>Best Fark comment:</p>

<p><em>Which ones allow knives?





I want to send my kids to that one.





2 kids enter, one kid leaves.</em></p>
 
LawyerLiz, unfortunately sanity has left our school system. James Taranto (of OpinionJournal.com) does a regular series called Zero Tolerance Watch highlighting various schools with ridiculous reactions to things that supposedly are threats to students.





Here are a few of them.





http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010506





<a target="_blank" href="http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/95563"><strong>Zero-Tolerance Watch</strong></a>


"An East Valley eighth-grader was suspended this week after he turned in homework with a sketch that school officials said resembled a gun and posed a threat to his classmates," reports the East Valley Tribune of Mesa, Ariz.:

<p>But parents of the 13-year-old, who attends <a target="_blank" href="http://ww2.chandler.k12.az.us/payne-jrhigh/">Payne Junior High School</a> in the Chandler Unified School District, said the drawing was a harmless doodle of a fake laser, and school officials overreacted. . . .</p>



<p>Payne Junior High officials did not allow the Tribune to view the drawing. The Mostellers said the drawing did not depict blood, injuries, bullets or any human targets. They said it was just a drawing that resembled a gun. </p>



<p>But Payne Junior High administrators determined that was enough to constitute a gun threat and gave the boy a five-day suspension that was later reduced to three days.</p>

<p>Someone must have told the school officials that "drawing a gun" is dangerous.</p>




http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110009984





<a target="_blank" href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070424_Students_shooting_animation_sets_off_alarm_at_high_school.html"><strong>Zero-Tolerance Watch</strong></a>


The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on more silly overreaction to the Virginia Tech massacre:

<p>It was a crude animation of one stick figure shooting another created for a school graphics class in Gloucester County last week. </p>



<p>But during the same week of a shooting massacre at Virginia Tech, officials at Williamstown High School in Monroe found nothing innocent about the sketch. As a result, the student says a vice principal told him he would not be allowed to attend classes again until he passes a mental-health evaluation. . . .</p>



<p>During a graphics design class on April 16--hours before the world knew that Seung-Hui Cho had killed 32 people at Virginia Tech--J.K. said he was asked to make animations for a program they were learning. </p>



<p>J.K.'s sketch consisted of two stick figures, one with a raised gun that had dashes leading from it to the head of the other one. </p>



<p>The next morning, he said, he showed the drawing to a teacher, but told her he was not done with it. In court papers, he said he planned to show the victim deflecting or destroying the bullet. But, he said, the teacher did not listen to him further. </p>



<p>Two days later, he said, Vice Principal Paul Deal told him that he was not being suspended or expelled, but that he might be a threat to the school or himself. J.K. said he was told to leave and not return until being cleared by a mental-health professional. </p>

<p>Sanity has more or less prevailed at Yale, however, where the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/20913">Yale Daily News</a> reports administrators have rescinded their ban on fake weapons in stage productions. But those producing such plays will be required to warn their audiences that they may see objects that look like weapons.</p>

<p>But the <a target="_blank" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070423/ap_on_re_us/professor_fired">Associated Press</a> reports that a Boston college has declared itself a pointing-free zone:</p>



<p>An adjunct professor was fired after leading a classroom discussion about the Virginia Tech shootings in which he pointed a marker at some students and said "pow." </p>



<p>The five-minute demonstration at Emmanuel College on Wednesday, two days after a student killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus, included a discussion of gun control, whether to respond to violence with violence, and the public's "celebration of victimhood," said the professor, Nicholas Winset. </p>



<p>During the demonstration, Winset pretended to shoot some students. Then one student pretended to shoot Winset to illustrate his point that the gunman might have been stopped had another student or faculty member been armed. . . .</p>



<p>The college issued a statement saying: "Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct, and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene language." </p>

<p>"Campuses Cope With Irrationality Every Day," reads a headline in the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/NEWS/704230367/1006/NEWS">News Journal</a> of Wilmington, Del. You can say that again!</p>
 
<p>What's going on G ? Again, my pics aren't posting ! </p>

<p>I need a prescription...</p>

<p><img alt="" src="http://img107.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/12/14/fukitol-48u673mmu.jpg" /></p>
 
<p>Nokia has finally designed a cell phone for people who need to make a cell phone call while in East St Louis, Memphis, South Chicago, South Dallas, Houston, L.A., Miami, Detroit, Tampa, Philadelphia or Atlanta.</p>




<img src="http://img108.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/12/16/nokiagun-48uyhrblh.jpg" alt="" />
 
The end of a 125 year old product....... <a href="http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/its-lights-out-for-traditional-bulbs/20071217142609990001">It's Lights Out for Traditional Bulbs - AOL Money & Finance</a>
 
<p>I don't like the compact flourescents because of the mercury hazard. My kids came home from their Irvine school with a free compact flourescent in their backpacks. This is nuts - why would you give kids a breakable glass object with mercury in it?</p>

<p><a href="http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2007/03/a_darker_side_o.html">http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2007/03/a_darker_side_o.html</a></p>

<p>CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, a neurotoxin that can cause brain and kidney damage at high exposure levels. While an intact bulb doesn’t pose a danger to you, disposing of spent CFLs improperly can add mercury to landfills, where the toxin can potentially contaminate soil and groundwater. That’s why <a href="http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=ls&a=HHW&cat=9&serviceid=#13">recycling a bulb</a><a href="http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=ls&a=HHW&cat=9&serviceid=#13"> </a>at the end of its life in accordance with the hazardous-waste laws in your town is so essential.</p>

<p>If a bulb does break, don’t handle it and t<a href="http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf">ake these precautions</a> when cleaning it up. </p>

<p>http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/promotions/change_light/downloads/Fact_Sheet_Mercury.pdf</p>
 
<p>I'm a hazardous waste freak - proper use of the material also means proper disposal. </p>

<p>Irvine has an e-waste day, usually in April. Drop off stuff for free. I'm going to check out the e-waste program as well.


Recycle plastic bags at Ralphs, however I have no idea what they do with them.


Ikea recycles compact flourescent lights.


Pump gas when the temperature is cooler, it'll be more dense? </p>

<p>Recycling site: <a href="http://www.coopamerica.org/tools/print.cfm?page=/pubs/caq/articles/21Things.cfm">link</a>


On the downside, our "recycled" e-waste just gets sent to China <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5grC1HAbo8Yg_C05kyp60v4c0n5NgD8T08HPG0">link</a></p>
 
ant,

"Pump gas when the temperature is cooler, it'll be more dense?" is pretty much a non-starter. The gas is stored in underground tanks and moved in underground pipes to the pump islands. The temperature and density of the gasoline doesn't vary much in a day's time because the ground temperature doesn't vary that quickly.



Irvine has a household hazardous waste disposal facility open (free) to the public Tuesdays thru Saturdays 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. 6411 Oak Canyon. Waste solvents, paints, computers, electronics, herbicides, etc. all accepted if you are a resident of O.C. and waste is 'residential' quantity, not commercial or industrial.
 
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