~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
July 13, 2013

★~  Today’s Quote: “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” – HAL, 2001: A Space Odyssey

★~ International Puzzle Day:

International Puzzle Day is celebrated on Architect Erno Rubik’s birthday (he was the  inventor of the famous Rubik’s Cube). Rubik’s Cube became a worldwide craze in the 1980s. Over 100 million Rubik’s Cubes were sold between 1980 and 1982 and, interestingly, the toy is not protected from unauthorized copies under patent law; instead,  the Rubik’s Cube is protected from reproductions as a work of art. When Erno Rubik invented the toy in 1974, he created one hand-made cube, and part of his goal was to create a challenging three-dimensional puzzle with aesthetic value. The cube is protected by copyright law until 70 years after the death of its creator. Fittingly, the Rubik’s Cube was placed on exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1981.

★~  Embrace Your Geekness Day:

The term geek means different things to different people, but basically, it’s an endearing term describing a really smart individual who lacks social skills or “coolness.” However, these days, with superstar geeks like Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook; Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc.; Bill Gates, co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation; and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, being a geek has turned the corner and become a lot cooler!  Click to find out more about famous geeks who changed the world 

Did you know?

Shawn Fanning, inventor of Napster and father of the digital music revolution, named his life-changing invention after his “nappy” hairstyle.

★~ Fool’s Paradise Day:

Traditionally, a fool’s paradise is “a state of happiness based on false hope.” The phrase dates back centuries to when the first recorded example was found in the Paston Letters of 1462: “I wold not be in a folis paradyce.” Shakespeare later used it in Romeo and Juliet in 1592. Perhaps another way to look at a fool’s paradise is to think of it as a world outside the box; a world filled with dreams, imagination, and possibilities; a place where we can go and gather the courage to march forward to the beat of our own bells. A fool’s paradise is not a final destination, but it may be a very good starting place to consider where we want to go next.

★~ French Fry Day:

Sweet, curly, spicy, cheesy, crinkled French fries are loved by everyone . . . everyone! Do you know one single person who does not love French fries?  Although the exact origin of French fries is unknown, one theory suggests that they date back to 17th century Belgium. The inhabitants of this region often cooked small fried fish to accompany their meals. When weather conditions made it too dangerous to go fishing, they cut up potatoes in long, thin strips (to resemble the fish) and fried them! Good to Know Fry Facts

• Many fast food fries are coated with a sugar solution to help produce the golden color. The sugar caramelizes in the cooking fat, producing the golden color customers expect.

• Belgium is known as the leader of the French Fry. They happen to consume more of it than the French. They will even serve them with an egg on top.

• In Europe, fries are often eaten with a tiny, wooden fork.

• To burn off the calories from consuming McDonald’s French fries, you have to do the equivalent of 58 minutes of cycling or 90 minutes of bowling.

• Steak fries tend to have lower fat content than normal French fries, due to the lower surface-to-volume ratio.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1812 – The first pawnbroking ordinance was passed in New York City on this day. Pawnbroking can be traced back at least 3,000 years to ancient China, and has been found in the earliest written histories of Greek and Roman civilizations.

♥~ 1939 – Frank Sinatra recorded “From the Bottom of My Heart” and “Melancholy Mood” with the Harry James Orchestra. It was Sinatra’s first record.

♥~ 1991 – Timothy Badyana set a Guinness World Record by running 10 kilometers in 45 minutes 37 seconds in Dayton, Ohio. He ran backwards.

♥~ 1969 – Over 100 US radio stations banned The Beatles new single ‘The Balled Of John and Yoko’ due to the line ‘Christ, you know it ain’t easy’, calling it offensive

♥~ 1977 – The Chrysler building went dark – and so did the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, and all of the Manhattan skyline. The storm-related power outage lasted just over 24 hours.

♥~ 1978 – Ford Motors canned company president Lee Iacocca, the developer of the Mustang, on July 13th, 1978. Within two years, Iacocca became a household name as the new chairman of Chrysler.

♥~ 1995 – The temperature in Chicago, Illinois reached its all-time high — 106 degrees (Fahrenheit) — recorded at Midway Airport.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 100 B.C. – Julius Caesar Roman writer, orator, politician, emperor, dictator: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”; month of July named for him; assassinated Mar 15, 44 B.C.

♥~ 1949 – Patrick Stewart (1940), alias Capt. Picard from Star Trek.

♥~ 1942 – Harrison Ford actor: The Fugitive, Clear and Present Danger, Presumed Innocent, Indiana Jones series, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, American Graffiti, Sabrina, The Devil’s Own, Air Force One, Six Days Seven Nights, Random Hearts

Side Connection: Both Stewart and Ford  became famous as fictional pilots of spaceships

♥~ 1944 – Erno Rubik, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube.

♥~ 1946 – (Richard) Cheech Marin Cheech of Cheech and Chong; comedic actor: Desperado, Far Out Man, Born in East L.A., Rude Awakening, Nash Bridges, Judging Amy

★~ Good to Know:

Google Tips and Tricks:  Just type any of the following information into your search bar and prepare to be amazed

♥~ Understanding your browser. This  Browser video by Common Craft is short, helpful and fun

♥~ Web History: Here is where you will find  a log of websites you’ve visited, a timeline of your actions and the ability to search your own online history. Try it out at www.google.com/history.

♥~ Start simple: No matter what you’re looking for, Googles motto is “keep it simple.” Start by entering a basic name or word. If you’re looking for a place or product in a specific location, enter the name along with the town or zip code.

♥~  Ignore spelling: Google’s spell checker automatically defaults to the most common spelling of a given word, whether or not you spell it correctly.

♥~  Don’t worry about cases:  Search isn’t case sensitive. A search for new york times is the same as a search for New York Times.

 ♥~ You don’t have to type “http://www” into your Web browser. Just type the remainder: “https://oddlovescompany.com” or “deerantlersforpups.com,” for example. (In the some browsers, you can even leave off the “.com” part.)

♥~ Time: To see what time it is anywhere in the world, search time and the city or country. Example:  “time Melbourne, Australia”  in your search bar and the current time for Melbourne will pop up. 

♥~ Weather: To see weather conditions and a four-day forecast for any U.S. location, type “weather” and a city or zip code. For example: “weather 79912” or “weather  El Paso, Texas”

♥~ Map: To map any location, type in the city name or zip code followed by the word [map], and you’ll see a map of that location. Click on the map to see it on Google Maps.

♥~ Movies: Find movie info by typing “movies,” or the name of a current film, into the Google search box along with your location (city and state or zip code).

♥~ Location: Add a zip code to the end of any place search like barbecue ribs and get results showing the nearest rib joints, along with phone numbers, a map, and even reviews. If you don’t include your zip code, we may suggest places near you.

♥~ Sunrise-Sunset: To see the exact times of sunrises and sunsets in cities around the U.S. and the world, search sunrise or sunset followed by the city name.

♥~ Package tracking: Enter the tracking number of a package from FedEx, UPS, DHL, or USPS into the search box to find out when your package will arrive

♥~ Flight status: Check the status of a U.S. flight by typing the name of the airline followed by the flight number. For example, to see the status for United Airlines flight 134, search for “United 134.”

♥~ Measurement conversions: You can get height, weight, and cooking measurement conversions. For instance, type “2 liters to cups” to see how many cups are in two liters.

♥~ Currency conversions:  Simply enter the currency conversion into the search box. For example, “80 pounds to dollars.”

♥~ Definitions: Type “define” followed by a word in the Google search box to get the definition, like “define perspicacity.”

♥~ Q&A: Ask a fact-based question or query (“population of Japan”) by typing it into the Google search box. You’ll see the answer at the top of your search results as well as a link to the source to find out more.

♥~ You can use Google to do math for you. Just type the equation, like 23*7+15/3=, and hit Enter. On the computer, * means “times” and / means “divided by.”

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Don’t you just love google? It’s friendly, smart, and available at the click of a button. Be a bit of geek today and try a few new google tricks or remind yourself to use some old ones. Or maybe you have a tip to share?

Have a super Saturday! And remember to keep your eyes on your fries!!