Things you didn't care about, but maybe now you will, or not...
World's Cutest Photos
American Gothic - The real deal
Nan Wood Graham and Byron McKeeby.
Not married, not husband and wife,
and surprisingly, not to be portrayed [in the artist's mind]
as husband and wife, but father and daughter instead.
12 Days Of Christmas are when?
Flexible Flyer
The inventor of this marvel of the late 1800's was one Samuel Allen, Philadelphia born, then relocated to what at the time was Westfield NJ [now Cinnaminson].
For a pretty thorough history of the man and his sled, follow the link below.
There is even a tie to the Jersey Devil. How's that for a bonus?
Link: The South Jersey Coaster
Water water everywhere, especially in the air
#water #science #technology
Fred who? Fred Smith? Who's that?
Fred Smith had an idea while in college that had to do with shipping companies and his belief that there had to be a way to get things shipped faster than was common at the time, but he was advised [ironically] by his professor that his idea wouldn't fly, and that might have been the end of that, but Fred gambled on that idea a few years later and his idea became Federal Express, or FedEx as we call it today.
Fred's new company quickly grew, but quick growth can turn out to be expensive. Economics soon caught up with Fred's idea, and he found himself with only $5,000 to his name, and literally millions in debt. The 5 grand wouldn't be enough to get one plane off the ground, and that's where he gambled again.
In a quick trip to Las Vegas, Fred put it all on the line, and wound up winning $27,000 at Blackjack. That bought enough fuel to keep his idea in the air for about another week, and that was all the time he needed to secure more funding and keep his new baby afloat.
This story took place 50 years ago, based on an idea that was born 10 years before that. So why get into it now? Fred Smith is retiring this year, leaving behind a company with annual revenue of around $70 billion. Sometimes you just gotta go for it...
No more passwords? For real?
FIDO. What does it mean? What does it stand for? Well, not your dog's name, so eliminate that one. FIDO [Fast Identity Online] refers to the Fido Alliance, a group that, 10 years in the making, claims to have found 'the' way to do secure internet authentication without the use of passwords.
Now if you're like me, I have so many accounts I have to log in to, that I need a written list of all the different passwords required. Sure, Google remembers most of them, and the Remember Me on most sites works most of the time, but every now and then, for who knows why, I have to revert to the list to get where I want to to go. Kind of like having a GPS, but keeping a map in the console just in case.
Anyway, if we're talking about a brave new world that always, always, remembers who I am when I get to the log-in screen, I'm all for it. I mean, how can you not be, right? You have to like it, and the people involved [it's a collaborating effort] are developers that work for companies like Intel, Qualcomm, Amazon, Meta, American Express, Bank of America, Google, Microsoft, and Apple, and if they think they've got it right, then there's a pretty good chance that they've got it right.
For more particulars, check out the article at Wired, or go right to FidoAllianc.org .
#password #security #internet #fido
Vertical farming... in New Jersey?
Ever had a hankering for a particular fruit or veggie when it's out of season, and what you find at the grocery store just doesn't seem to cut it because it's been packaged and shipped from another part of the world where the seasons are different and its most likely been picked too soon to enable it to survive the journey?
Well that could all be changing thanks to something called Vertical Farming, and a major player in the field is located in New Jersey, which historically has been known as The Garden State because of its abundance of fields and farmlands [yes, that New Jersey, the one that's nestled in between Philadelphia and New York].
The concept is that these vertical farms can be established in large warehouses near urban areas, eliminating the need for long transports, serve as additional growing space for farmland we're running out of, use less water than a traditional field, and supply fresh produce all year long without facing the struggles of summer heat, winter freezes, too much rain, too little rain, etc etc etc. Sounds like a no-brainer from here. Read more at CNBC.
How sinful is your state?
Lamborghini Huracan - Unsafe at any speed?
This is a Lamborghini Huracan, made in Italy. It costs just over $200,000, and has a top speed of just over 200 mph, so it's basically 1 mph of speed for every $1,000 you wish to shell out. Now for that kind of money you would expect your car to be perfect in every way, even though you know, going in, that Italian supercars can be a bit finicky at times, and you accept that.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA] expects that kind of perfection too if a manufacturer wishes to sell their vehicles here in the United States, and to that end the NHTSA has deemed that the current version of the Huracan is simply not safe enough to be allowed on American highways.
Could it be that 202 mph top speed number that they're worried about? Well, not exactly, and to be honest, any car that can go that fast is only as safe as the driver behind the wheel. No, the NHTSA has a problem with a piece of plastic that is on the car, or should be on the car, but in this case it isn't there.
The piece of plastic in question is called a Blanking Cap, probably about the size of a fingernail, and it covers the screw that allows for adjustment [as in aiming] of the headlights. For this, a recall has been issued for 5,000 or so Huracans that have the piece missing. Lamborghini appealed, claiming that the issue amounted to inconsequential noncompliance, but the NHTSA said "No no no, bring them all back", and so the recall stands.
I remember a time when an old Camaro of mine failed inspection at the local DMV here in New Jersey, because one of the headlights wasn't aimed correctly. Yes, they used to check almost everything back then, and with my rejection sticker I was given a diagram showing how high off the ground at a given distance the beam of light should hit a fixed object, like a wall. At home, it took about 2 minutes with a screw driver to aim the faulty headlight at a mark I had placed on my garage door, then back to the DMV to get the car passed. It was that easy to do because the screw was that easy to get to. That's what it was there for, but... not anymore I guess, because big government always knows what's best for us now.
The NHTSA has about 700 or so employees based in Washington DC, and has an annual budget of right around 1 billion dollars per year. I'm glad my tax dollars are being put to such good use when they are spent on the kind of in-depth investigations this case probably took.