To start with, how 'bout some computer trivia about the "computer bug"? Go here to my pseudo business site for a colorful article about the origin on the term a "computer bug". Use the back button on your browser to return to this page.
Politics :
The "Science" of Measurement :
Only in politics can we find the definition of the word "decrease" to mean "a reduction in rate of increase" - as in unemployment, crime, inflation, taxation,etc."
Four students - a chemist, a physicist, a mathematician, and a humanities graduate - were each given a barometer and told to measure the height of a church tower. The chemist knew all about gases. He measured the air pressures at the top and bottom of the tower with his barometer and from the barely perceptible difference produced an answer of "anywhere between 0 and 200ft" (0 - 60m). The physicist was used to handling expensive equipment casually. He dropped his barometer off the tower and timed its fall, calculating the height as 90 - 110ft (27 - 33m). The mathematician compared the length of the tower's shadow with that of the barometer, arriving at a height of 99 - 101ft (30 - 30.5m). The humanities graduate sold the barometer, bought the building custodian a few drinks with the money, and found out that the tower was exactly 100ft (30.4m). Intelligence requires creativity to become accomplished.
Science:
Because of the rotation of the earth, an object can be thrown farther if it is thrown west.
According to acupuncturists, there is a point on the head that you can press to control your appetite. It is located in the hollow just in front of the flap of the ear.(Try it!)
The outdoor temperature can be estimated to within several degrees by timing the chirps of a cricket. It is done this way: count the number of chirps in a 15-second period, and add 37 to the total. The result will be very close to the actual Fahrenheit temperature. This formula, however, only works in warm weather. (Try it!)
At any given time, there are 1,800 thunderstorms in progress over the earth's atmosphere.
During a severe windstorm or rainstorm the Empire State Building may sway several feet to either side.(they could sell tickets!)
Beauty:
The formula for cold cream has hardly changed at all in the 1,700 years since it was originally made by the Roman physician Galen.
In 1500 B.C. in Egypt a shaved head was considered the ultimate in feminine beauty. Egyptian women removed every hair from their heads with special gold tweezers and polished their scalps to a high sheen with buffing cloths. (isn't this style returning?)
In eighteenth-century England, women's wigs were sometimes 4 feet high. These remarkable head- dresses were dusted with flour and decorated with stuffed birds, replicas of gardens, plates of fruit, or even model ships. Sometimes the wigs were so elaborate they were worn continuously for several months. They were matted with lard to keep them from coming apart, which made mice and insects a constant problem. Special pillows had to be constructed to hold these giant creations, and rat-resistant caps made of wire were common. The wig craze died out quite suddenly in 1795, when a hair-powder tax made their upkeep too expensive.
Animal and Plant Kingdom:
Most elephants weigh less than the tongue of the blue whale. (that's alot of tongue burgers!)
There is approximately one chicken for every human being in the world.(now THERE is a scarey thought - I'm glad they like grain)
Crocodiles and alligators are surprisingly fast on land. Although they are rapid, they are not agile; so if you ever find yourself chased by one, run in a zigzag line. You'll lose him or her every time. (keep this in your travel notes)
Human Interest:
After Albert Einstein had been at Princeton for some months, local news hounds discovered that a twelve-year-old girl happened to stop by the Einstein home almost every afternoon. The girl's mother hadn't thought to ask Einstein about the situation until the newspapers reported it, but when she got the opportunity after that she did so. What could her daughter and Einstein have in common that they spent so much time together? Einstein replied simply, "She brings me cookies and I do her arithmetic homework."
Commerce and Trade:
In the United States, a pound of potato chips costs two hundred times more than a pound of potatoes.
Sports:
The first automobile race ever seen in the United States was held in Chicago in 1895. The track ran from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois. The winner was J. Frank Duryea, whose average speed was 7½ miles per hour.(how many "G's" is that?)
