Cartogram

An interesting example of a cartogram.

From the website:

A cartogram is a map in which a variable of interest (e.g. population, income) is substituted for area. In this case, we've taken the population of each US state as determined by the census, conducted every decade.

The animation below illustrates high-level trends that have happened in the United States over its lifetime, such as a general migration westward. Click "Replay" on the left side in order to watch the animation again, or click any of the year labels on the right to navigate directly to a certain year.

US Population Trends Over The Last 220 Years [Cartogram]

If You Printed the Internet

It would take 57,000 years non-stop to read it!

Read more fascinating facts: Print What Matters

What a Leg-acy!

American gymnast George Eyser won six medals during the 1924 Summer Olympics, despite having lost his left leg as a young boy after being run over by a train.   Wearing a wooden prosthesis,  he won gold in the vault, an event which then included a jump over a long horse without aid of a springboard.

This is definitely one case of NOT having a leg up on the competition!

Passion Purpura

Passion purpura - the medical term for a hickey.

Ever played that "either/or" game when you were a kid?  "Would you rather be blind or crippled?" or things like that.   I remember this one:

"Which is worse?  Going to kiss your grandma and she slips you the tongue...or a hickey on a hemorrhoid?"

Despacito- Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee

The most streamed song ever, with (at the time of this post) nearly 2.7 billion views.

Sultans of Swing Cover

I've seen some unusual instruments used in covers, but never before have I seen a Gayageum, a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument. Check out more from Luna Lee on her YouTube channel for more covers.

You'd have to admit, she's got Seoul.

Dealey Plaza Webcam

A "bump" of this post from over a yr. ago to note the anniversary of the JFK assassination.

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Another webcam I frequently visit is the Dealey Plaza Webcam in the southeast corner window of the sixth floor in the former Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. This is the view from the window from which an assassin fired the shots that killed President John F. Kennedy and severely wounded Texas Governor John Connally as the presidential motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963.

Here is the Google Earth street view looking back towards the sixth floor. The white "X" on the road marks the spot (the black arrow points to it) where Kennedy was shot.  The black arrow at the top right of the building points toward the storage room where Oswald was perched and fired the shots. It is now the Sixth Floor Museum.

Another street view of the grassy knoll where many think some or all of the shots were fired.

A photo taken that day:

During the day there are almost always tourists and sightseers and I find myself holding my breath while watching someone running out to have their photo taken on the "X".  (the person in the graphic below is hard to see because I had to enlarge it, but they're right in the center of the screen shot.)  This was at around six p.m. and even though the rush hour traffic has lessened, the road was still busy and they quickly had to scamper back as so to not get run over by cars speeding around the corner.

Dealey Plaza Webcam

The Sixth Floor Museum website

Keep It or Toss It?

Wondering if that jar of horseradish is still good to eat? Find out at StillTasty, your ultimate shelf life guide. There's a fridge-full of other info on the site with answers to many common perishable food questions:

Can You Safely Drink Milk After the Sell-By Date?
Is it OK to Put Hot Food Directly Into the Fridge?
Are Eggs Still Safe After the Expiration Date?

(yes, yes, yes, but as for me re: the milk-ONLY after intensive sniffing and extremely cautious sipping. Personally, I would rather get slapped in the face than drink sour milk.)

StillTasty.com

The McFarthest Spot

What's so special about this place in S. Dakota?

According to Atlas Obscura, it is the McFarthest Spot -the farthest you can be in the continental US from a McDonald's location.

From the website:

Geographically speaking, in the lower 48 United States it is impossible to get farther away from a McDonald's restaurant than this location in South Dakota. From the McFarthest Spot it would take 145 miles driving (only 120 miles as the crow flies) before a visitor could devour their next two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

McFarthest Spot

Hamlet vs PayPal

PayPal's Terms and Conditions (including their privacy policy, acceptable use policy, eBay shipping services policy and billing agreement terms) has a longer word count at 36,275 than does Shakespeare's Hamlet, which has 31,950 words in total.

The Day the Music Died

The Day the Music Died: Rock’s Great Tragedy

Referenced in Don McLean's American Pie
 

Need the meaning of the lyrics? They have a website of their own.

Words Per Minute

The average person can read 200-350 words per minute.  The rate is slightly higher on paper vs. screen.  Speed readers clock in at 1500+ words per minute.

Check your reading speed via the link on this earlier post.

 

Leading & Lesser Languages List

There are roughly 6,500 spoken languages in the world today. However, about 2,000 of those languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers.

The most popular language in the world is Mandarin Chinese, with over 1.2 billion people who speak that language.

In 2008, The International Civil Aviation Organisation decreed that all Air Traffic Controllers and Flight Crew Members engaged in or in contact with international flights must be proficient in the English language as a general spoken medium and not simply have a proficiency in standard ICAO Radio Telephony Phraseology.

Some languages are nearly extinct and are spoken by only a few older people.

Top 10 Rarest Languages Still Spoken in the World

The origins of many languages aren't clear to historians and researchers, but many people believe the Biblical tale of the Tower of Babel.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Tower of Babel (Vienna) 
Licensed under Public Domain via Commons

One Trillion Dollars

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

giblets

giblets gib·lets [jib-lits] plural noun

the heart, liver, gizzard, and the like, of a fowl, often cooked separately.

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There IS one more definition, classified as slang, but I didn't see it at Dictionary.com.  It was a LONG time ago during a football practice and after a play, one of my teammates was still on the ground after the play was over.  The coach leaned over the prostrate boy asking him where it hurt.  I wasn't close enough to hear the muffled answer, but the coach got up with a smile on his face.

"He'll be all right." he informed the rest of us. "He just got hit in the giblets."

That was a scene that came to mind at every Thanksgiving dinner after that.

Since the Word of the Day was more-or-less related to Thanksgiving, I'll just combine two posts into one.  I was going to write one about how many calories were in the average Thanksgiving dinner: from 3-4,000 and the average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Calorie Control Council. (there were other sources that cited different numbers, but I like the alliteration of that website's name) 

That would take a LOT of exercise to work off that many calories!  A nice brisk walk would be better than spending the day in a gym, so check out the Walking Calories Calculator to see how far/fast you need to walk to get rid of those excess calories, or you can use the Holiday Calorie Counter to figure both the calories in your holiday meal and the amount of exercise needed to work off the meal.

I have my Thanksgiving meal already prepared.

Pathetic, huh? One good thing is that it will be ready in a minute and a half after I pop it in the microwave; another good thing is that it's only 290 calories with 9 grams of fat. I'll work that off watching the football games on TV!

Goat's Eyes

The pupil in a goat's eye is rectangular.

20 Questions Squared

A 4-year-old child asks an average of 437 questions a day.

pics on Sodahead

I don't ask that many per day, but I do wonder about a good number of things each day and thanks to the Internet, I can find my own answers. The only thing I don't ask that children do is "Why?"...because as an adult (technically), I know there's often no answer at all to that particular question.

Left or Right?

No, not talking about your political views, but telling one from the other.

Just last night I was lying down to watch some programs on my tablet;  I plugged in my earphone "buds" into it, then pulled one side close to my eye so I could see if the tiny letter said "L" or "R".  The first one said "R" and I stuck it in my ear...

My LEFT ear.  I realized my mistake when I put the "L" one into my right ear.  They're molded a little differently to better fit the slant of the ear canal and don't fit correctly if reversed.  Annoyed, I switched them and turned on the tablet. I caught up on some programs, then fell asleep with the buds in my ears.  At least I didn't roll over on my tablet like I've done in the past.

I get up this morning, make some coffee and rub the inside of my ear where the bud had irritated it because I slept on that side, sat down at the computer and tore off yesterday's entry on my trivia calendar and found this for today:

"One out of 4 adults can't tell their left from their right."

Hmmm....I usually don't have any trouble, but will admit to a few cases where I've had to think about it...last night's mix up wasn't typical, though.   A quick search on the Internet showed that bit of trivia to be true.

There's even a test: Right - Left Confusion?

This probably explains why *some* people have trouble learning to march in the military. Not this bunch, though.

Red Hair is Really Rare

According to the National Institutes of Health, only 2% or less of the world's population has red hair.  Red hair is associated with the gene MC1R, a recessive and somewhat rare gene and both parents must carry a copy of the gene to produce a red-haired child and often the trait skips generations. Rarest of all are redheads with blue eyes; the majority have brown eyes or hazel or green shades.

Ireland has the highest per capita percentage of redheads in the world -- anywhere from 10 to 30 percent, according to Eupedia, a website that explores European genetics and ancestry. They are almost equally prevalent in Scotland and other pockets of Celtic pride. A slightly lower percentage hail from Cornwall in England and western parts of Switzerland.

Humungous Fungus

The largest living thing (by area) is a mushroom (Armillaria) located in Malheur National Forest. It covers 2,200 acres and is between 2,000 and 8,000 yrs. old.