βAmazon has a mascot. His name is Peccy. Heβs called Peccy because he represents our peculiar ways. We call ourselves at Amazon very peculiar.β
Most people want the same 4 things in the same order:
Smart Phone
Refrigerator
HVAC/ Climate Control - Air Conditioner
A Car
On December 19, 2023, the U.S. added an area of about 1 million km2 (roughly 386,000 square miles) to their size. The U.S. extended their continental shelf (ECS). The ECS is a maritime area extending beyond a country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The largest chunk of the additions was in the Arctic, and gives the country certain rights to the seabed and subsoil.
In 2015, Samuel L. Jackson revealed that he became a cheerleader in college so that he could meet women. He went to an all-guy school, so they helped the all-women school from across the street.
Honey never spoils! Archaeologists have discovered pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that are over 3,000 years old and still perfectly edible.
Oprahβs given name is Orpah.
Crop circles were first seen in the 80βs in the UK in corn and wheat fields. After many years, 2 old guys, in their 80βs proved that they were the ones that made them.
Reparata and the Delrons sang the back up vocals to Honky Tonk Woman by the Stones. They also did a version of βDo Wah Diddyβ.
99.9% of all species that have ever existed, are extinct.
The speed of a computer mouse is measured in βMickeys.β
One summer (around 660 BC), the philosopher Thales predicted Greece would have a good crop of olives. Before they ripened, he rented all the presses on the islands and then grew rich when, come harvest, everyone went to him to press their olives.
The human heart beats more than 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime. Happy Valentines Day! β€οΈ
We didn't know what the moon was made of until we got there and when we got there and tested it it was the same as earth. No cheese. The moon is a chunk of the earth.
78 year-old pharmacist Bill Pagel collects Bob Dylan memorabilia. He owns 15,000 photos, 4,000 posters and twoΒ housesΒ that Bob Dylan lived in as a child.Β
Ukrainian defenders printed out giant 1:1 life-size aerial photographs of damaged airfield hangars on to large sheets and draped them over their fighter jets as camouflage.
Total wealth in the USA, including non-monetary assets, is around $149 trillion. And both Microsoft and Apple Inc.βs market cap is $3 trillion USD each which is 4% of the value of all US assets combined. (as of Dec/23).
In 1938, the psychologist Abraham Maslow β who later became famous for his βhierarchy of needs,β which ranked human necessities from the physiological (air, water, food) to the transcendent β spent six weeks with the Siksika (Blackfoot) people in southern Alberta (Canada). He discovered a community where wealth was not measured in money or in property. βThe wealthiest man in their eyes is one who has almost nothing,β he wrote, βbecause he has given it all away.β
Maslow lived until 1970. In his later years, he added a new apex to the pyramid: self-transcendence:
Scientists in Singapore have developed a tiny flexible battery, powered by the salt in human tears, designed for smart contact lenses.Β
Researchers asked 100 people whether a reasonable person would unlock their phone and give it to an experimenter to search through. Most said no. Then the researchers asked 103 other people to unlock their phone and give it to them. 100 of them complied. [Rob Henderson]
Not only is Elon Muskβs $500. βflamethrowerβ (BCF) not an actual flamethrower, it is about 400% more expensive than it should be. https://medium.com/root-ventures/so-you-want-a-flamethrower-76289ad2338b
In the late 1300s and for over a millennium, Europeans followed a sleep pattern known as Two-phase or 'biphasic' sleep. During this period, individuals divided their nightly rest into two segments, referred to as the 'first sleep' and 'second sleep.' Before the prevalence of artificial lighting altered bedtime habits, people typically retired at nightfall and awoke before midnight.
After being awake for a few hours, they would return to sleep until morning. The time between the two sleep phases was used for various activities. This historical sleep pattern persisted for centuries, reflecting a different approach to rest and daily routines compared to contemporary sleep patterns.
80 to 100 people Release 3,000 Pounds of Confetti on Times Square By Hand Every Year!
Advertisers place a single brown pixel on a bright background in a mobile ad. It looks like dust, so users try to wipe it off. That registers as a click, and the user is taken to the homepage.
Collective Nouns For Birds
There are a lot of phrases for more than one of a particular bird species. Here are a few:
A wisp of snipe
A kettle of swallows
An invisibleness of ptarmigans
A committee of terns
A descent of woodpeckers
A pitying of turtledoves
A banditry of titmice
A circlage of house martins
A scold of jays
A charm of goldfinches
A fall of woodcock
A deceit of lapwings
A worm of robins
A parliament of rooks
An exultation of skylarks
A murmuration of starlings
A hermitage of thrushes
A volery of wagtails
A museum of waxwings
A chime of wrens
A wake of buzzards
A brood of chicks
A clutch of chicks
A chattering of chicks
A brood of chickens
A peep of chickens
A horde of crows
A hover of crows
A mob of crows
A murder of crows
A muster of crows
A parcel of crows
A parliament of crows
A storytelling of crows
A bevy of doves
A dole of doves
A flight of doves
A piteousness of doves
A pitying of doves
A dopping of (diving) ducks
A plump of (flying) ducks
A paddling of ducks
A flush of ducks
A raft of ducks
A sord of ducks
A team of ducks
A twack of ducks
A flamboyance of flamingos
A waddle of penguins
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Iβm betting a rethink of Maslowβs hierarchy of needs today would have to include interconnectedness, to the internet, and group acceptance, via virtue signalling on social mediaβ¦
Okay come on now. I didn't know ANY of these and all of them blew me away in some form. Especially the Ukrainians printing life size images to camouflage their assets. That is mind blowing!