Author Archive
The Origin of Father’s Day
By Chad Upton | Editor
Although I often think about how lucky I am, I rarely take the opportunity to thank my dad. I’m sure most people are the same and that’s one of the reasons why we take one day every year to honor our fathers.
The first Father’s Day was celebrated on July 5, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia. It was inspired by two recent events. Several months earlier, 210 men died the Monongah Mining Disaster, many of whom were fathers. Also, the first Mother’s Day celebration took place nearby only a few months prior.
But, the founding of Father’s Day is often credited to Sonora Dodd, who independently started her own Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington two years after the first one in Fairmont, West Virginia. Her father was a widowed single dad who raised six children on his own. This was unusual for the time since widowed men typically remarried quickly or found others to care for their children. The heroism of Sonora’s dad inspired her to create a day that recognized fathers.
Father’s Day is celebrated all over the world at different times of the year, although most countries recognize it at some point during the summer months. Father’s Day celebrates all fathers, paternal bonds and the influence of father’s on society.
You don’t have to buy your dad an awesome gift, you can give him something that he probably tried to give you: food, fun and great memories. If possible, go visit your dad and do something that he will enjoy.
I’ll give you a few ideas. You could take him to visit a childhood home and remember the good times you had there. You might go for dinner at one of his favorite greasy spoon restaurants or buy a load of fireworks and set his deck on fire again.
On that note, perhaps you and your father don’t get along well. But, hopefully you can find an example of some positive contribution your father has made to your life and be thankful for that. If nothing else, try to let him know that you appreciate that.
I wish that everyone could be as lucky as my brother and I, to have a great dad who has made many sacrifices, along with our mom, to give us wonderful experiences, beneficial opportunities and unconditional love.
Thank you.
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Sources: Wikipedia, TimeAndDate.com
Whales Have Regional Dialects
By Chad Upton | Editor
It’s pretty common knowledge that whales, dolphins and various porpoises “speak” to each other in a language we don’t completely understand. Sperm whales in particular, speak in a series of clicks called “codas.”
Much like we recognize the voices of our friends, whales can tell which member of their group is clicking. Also like people, researchers have discovered that whales from different regions have distinct accents.
Sperm whales have a call known as the “Five Regular” which is used by sperm whales worldwide. It’s a series of five evenly spaced clicks believed to be used for individual identity.
This communication is very useful for navigating in dark waters — whales can dive as deep as 1000 meters (3280 ft)!
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Image: Tim Bayman (cc)
Sources: Science Daily, Wikipedia (Whales)
Starbucks is Named After a Moby Dick Character
By Chad Upton | Editor
In 1971, an English teacher, a history teacher and writer started a coffee roasting business in Seattle.
It’s not surprising that such an intellectual group would have an affinity for classics like Moby Dick. In fact, Starbucks was nearly called Pequod, the name of the whaling ship in Moby Dick. Thankfully, one of the partners rejected the name. Instead, they went with Starbucks, the name of Pequod’s first mate.
Although Starbuck was a fictional young quaker from Nantucket, there were a number of real sailors from that era named “Starbuck.” Naming a coffee company was not the first time the Starbuck name was borrowed either. There is an island in the South Pacific, a popular region for whaling, called Starbuck Island.
Starbuck Island was heavily mined for phosphate in the late 1800s and many ships were wrecked there. The high frequency of shipwrecks was probably caused by the reefs that surrounded the island, but there is a mythical explanation too.
In Greek Mythology there are seductresses who lure sailors to shipwreck on the coast of their islands. These mythical creatures are called Sirens and the Starbucks logo contains one.
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Images: Wikimedia (Starbucks)
Sources: Wikipedia (Starbucks, Moby Dick, Starbuck Island, Siren)
Indy 500 Winners Celebrate with Milk
By Chad Upton | Editor
Forget champagne this Sunday, one of the most popular car races in the world will award the winner an unusual prize: milk.
This Indiapolis 500 tradition was inspired by Louis Meyer. After winning his second Indy in 1933, he requested a glass of buttermilk. He requested another glass after his third win in 1936, but was given a bottle instead.
A photographer captured Meyer holding up three fingers, signifying his third win, and holding his glass of milk in the other hand. A dairy executive saw the photo and realized the marketing potential by promising the winner of future races a bottle of milk.
The tradition has persisted to this day, apart from 1947 to 1955 and two other exceptions when drivers declined to drink the milk. Most notably, in 1993, Emerson Fittipaldi drank orange juice instead of milk. He owned orange groves in his native Brazil and wanted to promote the citrus industry. The self promotion and break from tradition earned criticism from fans.
Although Meyer started the tradition with buttermilk, that’s not an official option — the winner can choose between skim, 2% or whole milk. However, the winner can buy a lot of buttermilk with the cash prize, estimated around $1.5 million.
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Photo: Tim Hohm (cc)
Sources: Wikipedia (Indy 500, Emerson Fittipaldi), Yahoo, about.com
Seattle’s Best Coffee is Owned By Starbucks
By Chad Upton | Editor
If you’re not wired into the coffee industry, that Seattle’s Best at the mall may look like a suitable competitor to the Starbucks outlets that flank the mall corridor.
Actually, that’s kind of what they want you to think. If you’re anti-Starbucks, you might feel right at home with Seattle’s Best. It’s still high quality coffee, but it’s cheaper than Starbucks and doesn’t have the same cache, which is exactly what some people are looking for.
Even if you knew they were owned by Starbucks, you might not realize that Seattle’s Best is a few years older than Starbucks. Both companies began in Seattle, Starbucks officially started March 30, 1971 and Seattle’s Best began sometime in 1968.
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Sources: Wikipedia (Seattle’s Best, Starbucks)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Solubilized Ibuprofen Fastest Non-Prescription Painkiller
By Chad Upton | Editor
If you get a lot of headaches, you might be dehydrated and need to drink more water. If you’ve tried that and you’re otherwise healthy, then you probably want the fastest over-the-counter drug you can buy.
Typical painkillers come in a number of formats:
- Liquids
- Liquid Gels
- Chewable Tablets
- Capsules/Caplets
- Hard Tablets
This list is in order of the quickest for your stomach to break down. Generally, the harder it is for your stomach to breakdown the pill, the longer it will take to mitigate your pain. While the format does impact the speed of absorption, the drug itself does too.
In one scientific study, researchers found that solubilized ibuprofen (active ingredient in Advil Liqui-gels) was faster at curing headaches than acetaminophen (Tylenol). The median time for solubilized ibuprofen was 39 minutes while acetaminophen had a 53 minute median time.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you should take Advil over Tylenol. If you’re not sure which you should take, start by looking at this comparison of common over-the-counter painkillers and talking to your doctor.
Generic brand solubilized ibuprofen is available at many pharmacies too.
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Sources: PubMed.gov, Wikipedia (Tylenol, Paracetamol, Advil)
Rulebook Specs for Home Plate are Impossible
By Chad Upton | Editor
The earliest known reference to “baseball” comes from a 1744 British publication called, “A Little Pretty Pocket-Book” by John Newbery. At the time, the field was triangular and used poles instead of bases. This game was brought to America sometime before 1791, when the first American reference is found in a town bylaw for Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Of course, the game has changed a lot since then. The infield is has gome from triangular to “diamond” (square) shaped. Home base was originally a round metal plate, which is why it is often called “home plate.” Home plate became a square shape in the 1870s, making it jus t like the rest of the bases.
The rear point of home plate sat at the intersection of the baselines from first and third bases. Although this point never changed, in the year 1900, home plated went from four sides to five.
The front of the base was squared in relation to the pitcher. This was done to make it easier for the pitcher to see the left and right edges of the base. When the base was a square, there was only a small point on each side, which was difficult to see and could easily be covered with dirt. Having a long edge rather than a small point also makes it easier for the umpire to see if the ball passes over the base and make an appropriate call.
The official Major League Baseball rulebook specifies the dimensions for home plate. They say it should be a 12 inch square with two corners filled in so one edge (facing the pitcher) is 17 inches. It also specifies that the two sides should be 8.5 inches. That sounds good on paper, but that is an impossible shape to create — according to Pythagorean theorem. If the 12 inch sides are supposed to be at a right angle to each other, then the hypotenuse would be 17 inches according to the rulebook. Mathematically, the hypotenuse would have to be 16.9 inches.
Some would say it’s a small difference, but it’s actually a large difference in modern day manufacturing tolerances. Either way, the point stands: nobody can create a home plate with the exact specifications set in the rulebook.
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Sources: MLB.com, wikipedia (baseball, home plate), MAA
Photo: JC Derr (cc / graphics overlaid)
The Signature Line on Checks is Not a Line at All
By Chad Upton | Editor
Although personal checks are antiquated by modern payment standards, they still have some valid uses. For example, they’re still popular for personal and bill payments by mail. They’re also used to dodge online transaction fees to pay friends or submit payments for online auctions.
Turning a blank line into any amount of money has obvious fraud potential. Unlike most currency, the paper itself is not particularly special. However, the print on the paper has some security features built in.
Photocopying is thwarted in a couple of ways. First, the light blue ink is a specific color of blue that does not photocopy well.
There is also a feature called micro-security print, usually indicated with an “MP” (micro-security print) logo on the signature line. The logo indicates that very tiny print is present. While the signature line looks like an ordinary horizontal line, it is actually made up of very small repeating print, “AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE.” This text is extremely small; so small that it will become completely blurry and unreadable if it is photocopied.
The next time you see a check, try reading the fine print.
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Sources: 4checks.com, Yahoo! Answers
Poppy Seeds Can Cause Drug Test Failures
By Chad Upton | Editor
Poppy seeds are tasty, especially on bagels or in muffins and lets not forget about cakes either. But, poppy seeds can cause serious situations that might make you think twice the next time you see poppy seed encrusted baking. There are many documented cases of people losing their jobs or even their children because of drug tests with false-positive results.
Poppy seeds are oilseeds that come from the opium poppy. Although the seeds are not used in creating opiate drugs such as morphine or codeine, they do contain a small amount of opiates. If a person consumes enough seeds in the 48 hours leading up to a drug test, they can test positive for opiates in their system.
US federal prisons test inmates for drugs and therefore, they do not serve food containing poppy seeds within the prison. Prisoners on furlough, who are allowed to leave the prison, are forbidden from eating poppy seeds, so they can’t use it as a defense if they do test positive for opiates.
Because there have been so many false positives, testing standards were updated in 1998 to allow a higher amount of opiates before it is considered a positive result. This was done reduce the number of false positives from poppy seeds. Some labs still use the old standards and some medical journals claim that the new standards can still report false-positives in certain cases.
So, if you are at the mercy of drug testing, you might want to avoid poppy seeds entirely.
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Sources: Snopes, Wikipedia (Poppy Seeds, Opiate), Poppies.org
Photo: Johnson (cc)
Relevant
There are a lot of unpleasant opiate withdrawal symptoms that an opiate abuser will have to deal with to finally eliminate the drug from his system.
Urinals are Not Just for Men
By Chad Upton | Editor
Urinals are common in most men’s bathrooms, but they’re rarely seen in the ladies room. But, Urinals.net maintains a short list of ladies rooms with urinals built just for women. It’s not a complete list, but it’s a curious one.
Ladies’ urinals haven’t caught on for a variety of reason. First of all, they’re confusing. They are often very different from men’s urinals, so women aren’t sure if they should be used forward or backward. Also, they’re not as practical for females because of differences in anatomy and the types of clothing that men and women wear.
Urinals are very common in men’s rooms of course. But, there are some surprises there too.
For example, most guys have probably come across this in a bar at some point, whether they remember it or not: some bars and clubs fill the men’s urinals with ice during busy times.
People are inherently bad at flushing public toilets, likely because they want as little contact as possible with these appliances. Therefore, many public restrooms have automatic flush toilets. But, a much cheaper option is to use ice. You see, when urine melts the ice, the water from the melted ice dilutes the urine and flushes away the smell. It’s a low-tech automatic flush system.
Also, melting ice is fun, so it improves aim and that reduces the number of bathroom cleanings that are required.
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Sources: Wikipedia (Urinals)
Photo: Christian Church (cc)
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