- The peanut is misnamed since it is actually a legume.
- Pineapples are coalesced berries.
- If a raisin is dropped into a glass of fresh champagne, it will float and sink over and over.
- From 1923 to 1969, Illinois had a law making American their official language[1].
- After Canada and Mexico, Russia is the nearest neighbor to the United States, via Alaska. In the middle of the Bering Strait, Russia’s Big Diomede Island and the U.S.’s Little Diomede Island are only two miles apart. "I can see Russia from my house."
My personal glimpse into the first half of the 21st Century for some yet to be known future
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Senseless Sunday: fruitville
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Android Top 10 Utility, Tools and Communications Apps for 2010
A lot of new apps are now available on the Android Market this year. With so many new apps and Android phones, it's hard to keep up. So, I'm going to do several top ten app lists for various categories this year. This is the 2010 installment of my Top 10 Android Utility, Tools and Communications Apps for 2010, in no particular order.
- Star Contact by StarObject provides advanced Contacts search functionally that is missing from almost all smartphones (even Palm). Though I do not use this app every time I need to look up contact, it proves itself to be essential when searching contacts based on criteria other than a person's name. (Also listed in 2009.)
- Easy Dialer Premium by UIP ($) does cost a small nominal fee, but it is worth the chump change! It provides a well designed speed dial interface that really should be the standard for any Android smartphone. There is a free version with small and unintrusive ads called Easy Dialer. (Also listed in 2009.)
- App Referrer by Drathus allows one person to quickly give an app to another person's phone by scanning a simple barcode. (Requires Barcode Scanner app from Google.)
- Blogaway by Kumar Bibek is a simple and convenient method to post articles to your blogger.com blogs.
- WordPress by Automattic, Inc (WordPress makers) is a fairly powerful app that allows you to add and edit comments, articles and pages to your WordPress blog.
- Shazam by Shazam Entertainment Ltd is a powerful tool that can quickly identify a work of music just by listening to it, with information about the artist, myspace pages, etc.
- FPT System Manager by FPT Software is a powerful app provides detailed system and app information, with many tools built-in. Unfortunately, this app may no longer be available.
- Mute by Marko Mitic is a very simple tool that allows for one-button press to toggle the fully muted mode on the Android phone. This is on my home screen and I use it almost every day.
- Tip Calculator by Techmind determines a tip on the pre-sales tax price. It also calculates the amount each person owes on split bills. There are many tip calculators on the Android Market, but this is gets straight to the point with a simple and easy to use interface.
- Twidroyd for Twitter by PostUp, Inc is a great Twitter client app with a lot of bells and whistles that are missing from Twitter.com homepage. It tracks multiple accounts, has LivePreview which automatically shows webpages or profiles associated with a particular tweet, and has an intuitive interface. There is also a paid version called Twitdroyd Pro for Twitter, which I recommend if you want additional control over your Twitter experience.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Senseless Sunday: stop the numbers!
- Adding 10 inches to 6 millimeters equals exactly 26 centimeters (10 in + 6mm = 26cm).
- Tautonyms is the word for scientific names where the genus and species are the same.
- Taxi is spelled exactly the same in English, French, German, Swedish, Portuguese, and Dutch.
- Mexico uses the Spanish word alto on stop signs; Spain uses the word stop.
- Don’t ask a quantum physicist to define the time length for a jiffy. You might get a long answer.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Senseless Sunday: eyeing time
- The old statement “a broken clock is right at least twice a day” is meaningless if the clock is digital.
- A giraffe can clean its ears with its 18 to 21 inch long tongue. Find more random giraffe facts here.
- The tool used in old shoe stores to measure foot size is called a Brannock Device.
- The eye muscle is the fastest reacting muscle of the whole body. It contracts in less than 1/100th of a second.
- The number googolplex cannot be written out since a googol of 0’s (zeros) cannot fit into the observable universe.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Free Right Turn rule in California
There are a lot of areas of confusion about some California driving laws. This was discussed in article that is part of an on-going series in the San Jose Mercury News that covers readers' questions about driving. The article supposedly provides some final answers about some very common driving questions. Since the article doesn't site many of its sources, it's tough to trust it 100%. The article does make some interesting statements.
One of the biggest questions in California is about something called free right turn. Many larger intersections have right turn lanes that are separated (channelized) from the intersection by a traffic island. These lanes rarely have signals or signs directly associated with cars in the lane. The confusion comes from how to use the lane when there is a red light in that direction. In most cases, a right turn is allowed on a red light only after a full and complete stop. However, when there is a separated lane, the car may treat it as a yield. In other words, it's OK to precede on a right turn as a yield on a red light (if safe) for separated right turn lanes.
Here's the funny part. There is no law on the books in California that actually make this declaration, as far as I know. The free right turn rules seems to come out of the same absence of law regarding the requirement for a stop on red for those lanes. It's important to note that this rule only applies if the traffic signal is after the segregation of the right turn lane (which does make sense).
One of the biggest questions in California is about something called free right turn. Many larger intersections have right turn lanes that are separated (channelized) from the intersection by a traffic island. These lanes rarely have signals or signs directly associated with cars in the lane. The confusion comes from how to use the lane when there is a red light in that direction. In most cases, a right turn is allowed on a red light only after a full and complete stop. However, when there is a separated lane, the car may treat it as a yield. In other words, it's OK to precede on a right turn as a yield on a red light (if safe) for separated right turn lanes.
Here's the funny part. There is no law on the books in California that actually make this declaration, as far as I know. The free right turn rules seems to come out of the same absence of law regarding the requirement for a stop on red for those lanes. It's important to note that this rule only applies if the traffic signal is after the segregation of the right turn lane (which does make sense).
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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