Showing posts with label fact. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fact. Show all posts
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Science Fact
1. Raindrops are not shaped like a teardrop (as they are almost always depicted in drawings) – they are actually spherical.
2. When something “sublimes” it turns directly into a gas from a solid – bypassing the liquid state. This is what would happen if you throw dry-ice into a fire.
3. Gorillas sleep in nests – they weave together soft foliage and bent branches from trees. Males tend to like sleeping on the ground while females like to have their nests in trees.
4. Champagne doesn’t fizz because of carbon dioxide – it fizzes because of dirt or dust. In a completely smooth glass with no dust molecules in it, champagne would be completely still.
5. Most digestion occurs, not in the stomach, but in the small intestine. This may be the reason that a person can be bulimic whilst still staying fat.
6. The red juice that comes out of rare steak is not blood – it is myoglobin a close relative of blood. Almost all the blood has been removed from a steak by the time it hits the market.
7. Plastic bags are better than paper bags for the environment. The manufacturing process that makes paper bags requires far more energy than that which produces plastic. Recycling paper bags takes more energy than recycling plastic, and paper bags take up more space in a landfill. Because landfills are usually airtight beneath the surface, paper and plastic are equally bad at biodegrading.
8. Polar bears are fascinating creatures. Their fur is transparent (not white), their skin is black (not white), and when kept in warm humid environments, their fur can turn green from algae.
9. Pet allergies are usually not allergies to fur but allergies to the animal’s dead skin, saliva, or waste matter. Regularly cleaning pets can dramatically reduce allergies.
10. The tongue map is a lie – you can taste all tastes on all parts of the tongue. The tongue map is derived from a discredited German paper from 1901.
11. When you hold a shell to your ear to hear the sea, the sound you hear is actually your own blood rushing through your veins! You can use any cup shaped object to hear this effect.
12. When you are alive, your brain is pink. When you die, it turns grey. While we describe the brain as “gray matter” and “white matter”, this is not a true description of its color.
13. Mercury, the fascinating liquid metal is not the only liquid metal. Gallium (Ga – pictured above) is solid at room temperature but will melt if held in your hand, caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr) – the second rarest naturally occurring element, can also be liquid at or near room temperature.
14. Dolphins don’t drink water – if they drank sea water it would make them ill and potentially kill them. They get all of their liquid needs through the foods they eat.
15. The Soviet Union was the first country to have a spacecraft on the moon – not the Unites States. In 1959, Luna 2 was the first craft to crash-land on the moon. In February, 1966, Luna 9 was the first soft-landed craft on the moon which relayed back pictures. Four months later, the United States landed its first craft on the moon (Surveyor I).
Taken from http://listverse.com/2011/01/03/15-science-factlets-you-dont-know/
2. When something “sublimes” it turns directly into a gas from a solid – bypassing the liquid state. This is what would happen if you throw dry-ice into a fire.
3. Gorillas sleep in nests – they weave together soft foliage and bent branches from trees. Males tend to like sleeping on the ground while females like to have their nests in trees.
4. Champagne doesn’t fizz because of carbon dioxide – it fizzes because of dirt or dust. In a completely smooth glass with no dust molecules in it, champagne would be completely still.
5. Most digestion occurs, not in the stomach, but in the small intestine. This may be the reason that a person can be bulimic whilst still staying fat.
6. The red juice that comes out of rare steak is not blood – it is myoglobin a close relative of blood. Almost all the blood has been removed from a steak by the time it hits the market.
7. Plastic bags are better than paper bags for the environment. The manufacturing process that makes paper bags requires far more energy than that which produces plastic. Recycling paper bags takes more energy than recycling plastic, and paper bags take up more space in a landfill. Because landfills are usually airtight beneath the surface, paper and plastic are equally bad at biodegrading.
8. Polar bears are fascinating creatures. Their fur is transparent (not white), their skin is black (not white), and when kept in warm humid environments, their fur can turn green from algae.
9. Pet allergies are usually not allergies to fur but allergies to the animal’s dead skin, saliva, or waste matter. Regularly cleaning pets can dramatically reduce allergies.
10. The tongue map is a lie – you can taste all tastes on all parts of the tongue. The tongue map is derived from a discredited German paper from 1901.
11. When you hold a shell to your ear to hear the sea, the sound you hear is actually your own blood rushing through your veins! You can use any cup shaped object to hear this effect.
12. When you are alive, your brain is pink. When you die, it turns grey. While we describe the brain as “gray matter” and “white matter”, this is not a true description of its color.
13. Mercury, the fascinating liquid metal is not the only liquid metal. Gallium (Ga – pictured above) is solid at room temperature but will melt if held in your hand, caesium (Cs), and francium (Fr) – the second rarest naturally occurring element, can also be liquid at or near room temperature.
14. Dolphins don’t drink water – if they drank sea water it would make them ill and potentially kill them. They get all of their liquid needs through the foods they eat.
15. The Soviet Union was the first country to have a spacecraft on the moon – not the Unites States. In 1959, Luna 2 was the first craft to crash-land on the moon. In February, 1966, Luna 9 was the first soft-landed craft on the moon which relayed back pictures. Four months later, the United States landed its first craft on the moon (Surveyor I).
Taken from http://listverse.com/2011/01/03/15-science-factlets-you-dont-know/
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
How the tax work..
A good math lesson:
by: David R. Kamerschen, Ph. D
Sometimes politicians, journalists and the liberal
left exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the rich!" and
it is just accepted to be fact.
But what does that really mean?
Just in case you are not completely clear on this
issue, I hope the following will help. Please read
it carefully.
Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner
and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go
something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day
and seemed quite happy with the arrangement,
until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Since you are all such good customers," he said,
"I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by
$20." Dinner for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we
pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected.
They would still eat for free. But what about the
other six men - the paying customers? How could
they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would
get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if
they subtracted that from everybody's share, then
the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up
being paid to eat their meal.
So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would
be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the
same amount, and he proceeded to work out the
amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first
four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant,
the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He
pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only
saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times
more than me!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why
should he get $10 back when I got only two?
The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison.
"We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits
the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner,
so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it
came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important.
They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the
bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is
how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the
most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for
being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they
might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat
friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph. D
Professor of Economics
by: David R. Kamerschen, Ph. D
Sometimes politicians, journalists and the liberal
left exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the rich!" and
it is just accepted to be fact.
But what does that really mean?
Just in case you are not completely clear on this
issue, I hope the following will help. Please read
it carefully.
Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner
and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go
something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day
and seemed quite happy with the arrangement,
until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Since you are all such good customers," he said,
"I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by
$20." Dinner for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we
pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected.
They would still eat for free. But what about the
other six men - the paying customers? How could
they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would
get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if
they subtracted that from everybody's share, then
the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up
being paid to eat their meal.
So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would
be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the
same amount, and he proceeded to work out the
amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first
four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant,
the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He
pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only
saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times
more than me!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why
should he get $10 back when I got only two?
The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison.
"We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits
the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner,
so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it
came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important.
They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the
bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is
how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the
most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for
being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they
might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat
friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph. D
Professor of Economics
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Presentation no-no
A total of 548 people responded to the survey over a six week period in September and October of 2009.
(69.2%) The speaker read the slides to us
) Text so small I couldn’t read it
(48.0%) Full sentences instead of bullet points
) Slides hard to see because of color choice
) Overly complex diagrams or charts
Suggestion
Poor Presentation Skills
Presenters not being prepared
Non-professional graphics and use of animation
Packing too much on a slide
Poor on non-existent template design
Taken from http://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com/articles/annoying_powerpoint_survey_2009.htm by Dave Paradi (2009)
(69.2%) The speaker read the slides to us
Suggestion
Poor Presentation Skills
The comments were very clear that this is a big issue. One respondent captured it well when they said, “The presenter lets the technology, not the content, become primary.” Audiences get annoyed when the presenter places more importance on the slides than the basics of communication, such as proper structure and delivery skills. Many people echoed the idea that the slides should support the message, not the presenter supporting the slides. This shows up in presentations in a number of ways, from presenters having way too many slides for the time allotted, presenters using canned slides without analyzing the needs of the audience, to not knowing how to use the technology. It is imperative that presenters get training on the basics of communicating a clear message and presentation skills in order to understand that PowerPoint should just be a tool to support their message, not the message itself.
Presenters not being prepared
The second most commented area was presenters who were not prepared either on the topic or the slides. Many comments talked about presenters who were not knowledgeable about the topic they were speaking about and relied on reading the slides since it was all they knew on this subject. My advice has always been to decline invitations to present where you are not knowledgeable. You make yourself (& your organization) look foolish. It was also clear that too many presenters don’t even run through the slides a single time before getting up in front of the audience. When you fumble through what is on each slide, you say to the audience that they are not important enough for you to have spent even thirty minutes preparing for this presentation. You would be better off e-mailing it to them. Again, it looks like we have to educate many presenters on the basics of preparing to communicate a message.
Non-professional graphics and use of animation
While these areas were covered partially by the main question on the survey, the third most popular area of comments dealt with the graphics and animation that makes the presenter look silly. The presenter may think it is “cute” or “cool”, but the audience certainly has a different opinion. They look at the cartoonish clip art, joke slides, garish colors, unnecessary reflections or shadows and effects such as 3-D and they immediately think less of the presenter and the ideas they are sharing. Remember that your audience is comparing your visuals to the professional ones that others use and in that light you will come up short of the mark. Everything you use in your presentation should demonstrate your professional approach and expert position on this topic. Don’t undermine your stature with amateurish selection of visuals or wacky animation effects.
Packing too much on a slide
The issue of text overload has been clearly articulated, but the comments also showed a dislike for packing a slide with graphics and tables or spreadsheets. When there are too many graphics on a slide, the audience is confused as to how they relate to one another and they miss the point you are trying to make. With large spreadsheets that have been pasted on the slide, the audience has no hope of figuring out what is there or what it means to them. That is why I suggest using the break down and zoom in technique to explain complex visuals.
Poor on non-existent template design
The final issue that was popular in the comments was the impact template design plays on the audience’s ability to listen and understand the message being delivered. As people said in the comments they wrote, when there are many fonts, titles change position, bullet points aren’t lined up, colors don’t seem to have meaning and the design leaves little room for content because of advertising and graphics, people get distracted from the message. In my experience there are two issues here. The first is the presenters who use no template or one of the distracting built-in templates. At least create a simple, clean one that is easy on the eyes. The second issue is with the templates designed by professionals who are good at design but don’t know how to create a proper PowerPoint template. It causes the presenters to manually adjust the position of objects to make it work, and most presenters aren’t designers, so what results is an inconsistent mish-mash on the slides. Every organization who pays a design professional (in-house or from the outside) to create a PowerPoint template must ensure that they know how to create the template so it is easy to use by the presenters.
Taken from http://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com/articles/annoying_powerpoint_survey_2009.htm by Dave Paradi (2009)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Fact about food
1. The Japanese eat very little fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
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